Chapter 13 – Doubts Begin To Settle
"Okay Mikey read that back to me." Leo said as he and his brothers sat at the kitchen table with paper spread around its surface.
"So far the guest list at this awesome wedding is: Ancient One, Usagi, the girls, us, Master Splinter, Angel, Casey, April, Leatherhead, The Professor, Dr Chaplin, and the Justice Force." Mikey replied, reading the current guest list for Leo and Kim's wedding. "Am I missing anyone?"
"What about the ninja tribunal?" Donnie suggested
"No." Mikey whined in reply.
"Okay how about our fellow ninja tribunal acolytes?" Leo recommended
"No!" Raph cried
Leo, Mikey and Donnie turned to look at the red-banded turtle in confusion at the outburst and Raph coughed uncomfortably and sat far back in his seat.
"Faraji, Adam and Tora sure." He rectified, "But not Joi."
"Why?" Leo asked
"Let's just say I don't want to have a girl fight on Leo's big day." Raph replied
"Haha!" Mikey laughed loudly, "Raphie-boy has an admirer!" He added before he started laughing hysterically.
Donnie took the guest list from Mikey and looked down it. "Okay so that means that, including the bride and groom, there will be 24 people attending." He said
"What about Drake, Emily, Charlotte and those acolytes you mentioned?"
The guys all jumped, startled at the new voice that appeared in the kitchen. They turned and saw Violet standing in the entryway of the kitchen with a smile on her face and her arms full of binders and paper.
Donnie smiled, stood up, walked over to her and greeted her with a kiss. Violet smiled back when they pulled away and she sat down in the spare chair next to Donnie.
"You guys bored yet?" Violet joked as she placed the binders and paper on the kitchen table.
"Yes." Raph and Mikey replied before Leo glared at them.
Violet giggled at them. "Sorry guys but consider this practise."
"For what?" They asked simultaneously.
"For when you guys propose to Lilly and Riley." Violet answered with a smirk.
Raph fell out of his seat from shock and Mikey's eyes grew in size. Leo and Donnie laughed at their brothers while Violet rolled her eyes.
"Boys." She sighed before looking over at Leo. "So, what about those extra guests?"
Leo took the guest list from Donnie and wrote the extra guests down. "With Drake, Emily, Charlotte and the acolytes the final guest list is 30."
"Perfect!" Violet cried with a smile as she took the list and placed it in a sleeve in the binder in front of her.
Violet then took one of the papers and checked off the guest list from it. "Okay so we've got the guest list, the setting, the dress-"
"The dress?" Leo interrupted with a raised eyeridge.
Violet looked up from her list and nodded. "Yeah. Lilly offered to design and create Kim's wedding dress in time for the wedding." She looked back down at her list. "We've got the maid of honour, the flowers, and music."
"So what's left?" Mikey asked
"Um…Oh!" Violet gasped before looking over at Leo. "Your Best Man. Who's that?"
"Raph." Leo replied
Raph smirked and high-fived Leo. "Thanks bro."
Violet looked over at Donnie and Mikey and saw that they didn't care about not being Best Man.
"Wow." She said, "Guys really don't care about being the Best Man?"
"'Course not." Mikey replied, "There are more chances. Why, did you guys get trouble with Maid of Honour?"
"Yes." Violet groaned as she crossed Best Man off her list. "It took us over an hour to figure out who can be the Maid of Honour. By the way it's Riley." She looked up at Raph. "So you'll be walking Riley down the isle."
"Good." Raph smiled, "So that all?"
Violet shook her head and looked at Leo. "What date?"
Leo shrugged. "Whenever Kim wants."
"Well we need to know now so we can make invitations and give them out. We also need to tell the Rayonian priest and inform the Rayonian public-"
"Whoa wait what?" Leo interrupted, "We have to inform the public?" At Violet's nod Leo shook his head. "No. I don't want anyone to know until after we're married. That way, no one can try and interfere or try and stop this from happening."
Violet nodded. "Right. No public announcement then."
"Um, what's the setting again?" Mikey asked sheepishly.
"It's in our old lair." Violet replied with a smile. She then looked over at Leo. "Are you sure that you want to go through with this?" She asked seriously.
"Yes!" Leo cried, "Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"Just checking that we're doing this for the right reasons." Violet said
"She does know that you're doing this for love, right?" Donnie asked
Leo rolled his eyes. "Of course she does." He replied
"You sure?" Mikey asked, "I mean that proposal sucked."
"You're still going on about that?" Leo sighed, "Yes, even though my proposal 'sucked' I'm positive that Kim knows that I'm marrying her because I love her, not to make her decision easier."
With that said Leo stood up and walked to his room, closing his door behind him. The boys looked at each other in confusion while Violet looked down worriedly.
'I hope she knows, Leo.' She thought, 'After that discussion you guys had in the living room she asked you to tell her when you knew what you wanted to do about your future. I really hope you went to her after that to tell her that this is what you do want.' She looked over at the empty seat Leo vacated with a sad smile. 'God I hope she knows.'
Kim cried as she appeared in Rayon in a floor-length white ball gown with white Rayonian style shoes and a silver tiara in her hair and fell over her feet. Two guards, Edmund and Jesire, saw her appear and quickly went over and helped her up.
"Are you alright, my princess?" Jesire asked
"Yes. Thankyou." Kim replied with a smile as they helped her back up and she fixed her dress and tiara. "But I'm late. If you'll excuse me, gentlemen." She added before she took off to the hall on her right and started running.
She was running down the hall so fast and caught up in her thoughts that she didn't see Lord Renaldo exit his chambers. He turned in her direction and the two collided and fell to the floor.
"What in the world!" Renaldo growled from underneath Kim's form.
Kim looked down and gasped. She quickly crawled off Renaldo and stood up. Renaldo sat up, wiping dust off his coat and was about to yell at the person he bumped into when he saw that it was Kimberley. He smirked wide at her.
"Well hello there, princess." He sneered, "Where are you headed to in such a rush?"
"None of your business, traitor." Kim hissed
Renaldo chuckled. "Me? I'm not the half-blood here." He replied, "But I must congratulate you. You're engaged, how sweet." He stepped closer to Kim. "Enjoy it while it lasts."
With that Renaldo walked around Kim and continued down the hallway.
"28 days left, princess!" He called back without turning around.
Kim glared at him before she shook her head and continued with her rush down the hallway. Renaldo finally turned around and watched her hurry down the hallway with a wide smirk.
"From this moment on
Your pain is increased
Your good luck isn't well.
Enjoy your bad luck, Kimberley
Your life is now Hell." He chanted, causing a low green light to glow around Kim's form as she continued her journey and disappeared around a corner.
Renaldo placed his hands in his pockets and laughed evilly.
"Oh, I hope I haven't jinxed you 'your highness'." He sneered before he turned and walked back down the hall Kim came from, his laugh echoing as he went.
Kim finally came across the West Wing Study and saw two guards standing on both sides of the door.
"Sorry!" Kim said to the guards as she burst in.
"She's here. The sparrow is flying." One of the guards said as Kim ran into the room.
"Sorry, I'm sorry. I am almost in time though." She gasped as she ran to the centre of the room to face Lord Drake at his desk and Emily at his side and two guards behind them.
As Kim tried to stop on the polished floor she started sliding across the room.
"Ah!" She cried as she slid across the floor. "Okay, sorry, got it, I got it." She said as two guards ran forwards to stop her from falling. "You know what? I'm okay. I'm fine." She said once the two guards finally helped her stop in the centre of the room and helped her sit down in a chair. She thanked them and looked up at Drake. "What are we learning today?"
Lord Drake kept his face blank in the company of his guards and looked up at his charge.
"You are learning the art of the fan." He replied
"Fascinating." Kim mused
"Yes." Drake nodded
"No offence or anything Drake, but do you have any knowledge in the art of the fan?" Kim asked with a mischievous smile on her face.
Lord Drake raised an amused eyebrow and indicated to Emily beside him. "That is why Emily is here. I will not be teaching you. After Charlotte's betrayal I have entrusted Emily with the remainder of your training. We must continue if we are to convince the subjects of your loyalty to Rayon. Do not worry, I will only watch."
Kim nodded and Emily walked from behind Drake's desk and walked up to her friend.
"Get up. Get up." Emily said as Kim stood up from her chair. "We only have about ten minutes in which to communicate this since you were late." She reprimanded her friend gently but with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Now, first of all, one handles a fan very deliberately. It's a tremendous tool of communication." She said as she handed Kim a large pink fan and she held up a large gold fan in front of her face.
Kim looked at her friend, opened the fan and copied her friend's movement.
"That's it." Emily smiled, "With a fan you can say things without actually saying anything." Kim raised an eyebrow in disbelief and looked over at Drake, who nodded in agreement. "For example, you could say 'I'm feeling flirtatious. Come hither.'" She explained, placing the opened fan in front of her face, covering the lower half of her face so that only her eyes were seen and she batted her eyes numerous times.
Kim tried not to laugh at her friend and instead placed the fan in front of her face and copied the actions at Drake, who rolled his eyes in amusement at his charge.
"You can say, 'I never wish to speak to you again. Go away.'" Emily continued, extending the fan in front of her and turning her head away from the fan with a look of anger on her face.
Kim nodded and copied the actions again, though feeling quite bored and mischievous at the same time. She looked back at Drake and he crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at the evil glint in his charge's eye.
"You could even say, 'I'm feeling terribly shy today.'" Emily added, not noticing the change in her friend's demeanour. She bent her face down low and covered her entire face with the fan.
Unbeknownst to Emily, while she was still teaching the art of the fan, Kim held her fan close to the left side of her face and had an exaggerated smile on her face. She moved the fan to the right side of her face and suddenly had an exaggerated unhappy face. She brought the fan back across her face to the right side and she suddenly had a wide smile, indicating laughter. Drake watched his charge and couldn't help but snicker slightly.
"And you-" Emily heard Drake's snicker and looked over at her friend to see the exaggerated face of laughter her friend had. She brought her fan down and stood tall. "Are you sassing your friend?" She demanded, shocking Kim and causing her to gasp and hide completely behind her fan.
"I would never sass you, Emily." Kim replied, bringing her fan down to smile innocently at her friend. "I guess I can use the fan for pulling funny faces and for hiding, too."
Drake snickered but tried to cover it up with a cough. Emily looked at him and then at Kimberley. She folded her fan back up and started playfully whacking her friend with it.
"This is also a way of showing you're annoyed." She said as she continued to playfully hit Kim with the fan.
Drake rolled his eyes at the two and sighed. "I believe she understands the art of the fan, Emily. Kimberley, why don't you go find Lila and Riley?" He suggested
Kim and Emily stopped and looked over at Drake.
"Why?" Kim asked
"They are with Sir Albert trying to control their new powers." Drake answered, returning to his paperwork.
"What powers do they have?" Emily asked
"Lila has earned the power of telekinesis, and Riley has earned the power of molecular manipulation, specifically the separation of molecules." Drake replied, not looking up from his paperwork.
"Huh." Emily said with a nod before looking over at Kim in confusion.
Kim rolled her eyes at Drake. "She can blow stuff up, but the technical name is molecular manipulation. Molecular manipulation can refer to a multiple of things, such as separation of molecules, i.e. explosions, or freezing of molecules, i.e. freezing objects, people and time."
"Ohhh!" Emily said with a smile. "Cool."
Kim nodded. "I'm going to see how they're doing. See ya!" She called before she left the study.