Disclaimer: I don't own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Also I know it's late, shush, I've been ill.


Victorious though they were, the Hamato clan did not leave Shredder's lair unscathed. In fact, they piled into the Shellraiser as a crowd of blood, bruises, breaks and concern.

Since Leo wasn't fit to drive, Raph took over as Donnie started playing doctor. The red-clad turtle was, due to his pragmatic nature, littered with cuts and bruises, but he had insisted that Donnie should take care of the others first. He had been especially worried about Mikey; the youngest had sustained a lot of damage to his left arm when Rahzar wrapped the turtle's kusarigama chain around it and twisted. Raph feared his brother's arm was broken, and almost ripped off the van's steering wheel when Donnie confirmed it.

"It's not a bad break," Donnie assured his little brother. "As long as you don't aggravate it, it'll heal as good as new."

He set Mikey's arm, then Karai's nose. He winced. "Yeah, this is a lot worse than last time. Sorry, this is gonna hurt..." Karai gasped as he quickly adjusted her crooked nose. "Sorry! Oh man, some of these cuts don't look so good either... Hang on, I'll get some antibacterial spray..."

Karai shivered despite the blanket she was bundled in, and Leo thought she was going to cry again. She had cried the whole way out of the building. Sighing, Leo turned back to his father. Splinter, like Raph, had refused to be treated until the rest of his family had been, so was currently assessing Leo's injured knee. After several painful extensions and some prodding, the turtle was relieved to hear, "I do not think there is any permanent damage, Leonardo. It is an old pain; it will be tender for a week or two, but with rest, it will pass."

"Thanks, Sensei," Leo replied gratefully. His gaze coasted over to Karai again and he frowned. "Do you think her old pain will pass?"

Splinter exhaled slowly. "She called that man 'father' for sixteen years, my son. This must be hard for her to take in. She too will need much rest to heal. Though I am certain that with enough time and enough support... Miwa will be fine."

Leo nodded in agreement as his father set his leg in a temporary splint, just in case. Once that was done, he used the walls of the Shellraiser to aid him across the vehicle, then enfolded Karai in his arms. "How're you doing?" he murmured kindly to her, and her façade shattered before his eyes. She leant into him and just wept. After a few moments, she moved to climb into his lap for a closer proximity, but Leo winced and shifted her weight. "Ow, okay, not that knee, Kiba. Shh, it's fine, don't worry. Just stay there, okay?"

Eventually, Karai settled down, nuzzling into Leo's plastron. Donnie awkwardly coughed for his brother's attention. "She's just about done. I had to give those cuts on her stomach a few stiches, but they'll heal up fine."

"Thanks, Don." Leo smiled at his brother, before shuffling himself and Karai aside so Casey could bring Angel over.

The vigilante had scooped his little sister up into his arms the second he saw her (even though April had managed to awaken her by then, and she was walking fine on her own) and had been examining her head in the corner while Donnie worked. She also needed stitches, but was much more excited about them than Karai had been; several of Casey's past injuries had required stitches, and Angel had always been jealous.

As Donnie reached for the skin-coloured thread, Angel interrupted, "Hey, do you think you could do it in a different colour? Like that dark green, please? It'll make sense, since I'm getting them from a turtle."

Donnie frowned. "Won't your dad be worried that you got hurt? Or confused that the hospital gave you green stitches?"

Angel pouted, eyes wide. "Please?"

"Don't worry, Don," Casey interjected, "I'll tell Dad I took her out on my skateboard and she fell. He'll know she chose the coloured thread."

Relenting, Donnie agreed. He numbed the cut with an injected anaesthetic, flushed it with saline, and cleaned the area around the cut with an antibacterial liquid. He stitched the wound shut and coated it in an antibiotic ointment before wrapping it in a bandage.

"Well done, Angel; you didn't freak out at all!" he congratulated her.

"Of course not, this is so cool!" she giggled.

He patted her shoulder. "You'll need to come down to the lair in a week and get them removed though, okay?"

"Okay… As long as it scars." She winked teasingly at him.

"Alright, alright, move along." Donnie ushered her aside as April took her place.

Luckily for the Hamato Clan, the Foot had dissolved into chaos and disorder as soon as Shredder's body was discovered, so they had no pursuers as Raph speedily drove them home. As Donnie worked, Leo glanced down at the girl in his arms. She had been broken so many times, and he feared that this time, they wouldn't be able to fix her.

However, his fears did not come true. While Karai was undeniably damaged, she was healing.

She slept a lot, spending almost the entirety of the first few days in her room, only leaving to use the bathroom. Leo - or, when Leo was actually up and about, Raph - spent a lot of his time keeping her company. Mikey made it his responsibility to ensure that she ate enough, and Donnie made sure that she drank enough water, which was quite difficult with how much she cried.

That was the weirdest part for them all, seeing her cry so much. It wasn't even mourning, they were sure - and they were right, it wasn't, really. But clearly Oroku Saki's demise had unbalanced her, as had the fact that it came at Hamato Yoshi's hands. This was evident in the way she folded in on herself any time Splinter came near her, as if she just couldn't face the last stage of eradicating Shredder from their lives. The celebrations the other teens expected never came to pass, since they were all so caught up trying to help Karai recover.

To the clan's utter relief, she was doing so, if incredibly slowly. After the first few days, Leo managed to get her out into the living area for a whole day, and the day after she agreed to share a pot of tea with her father while her brothers patrolled. It was slow, but she was healing.

She was almost back to normal by the end of the week, and excitement filtered back into the lair again as her birthday became the topic of conversation. For the first time in her life, she was actually looking forward to her birthday. Her brothers still never got an answer in regard to what gifts she wanted, though - she couldn't think of anything she really wanted that she didn't already have.

The night before her special day, Karai was sat cross-legged on her bed, with the duvet pulled right up to her neck. Leo soon entered, and chuckled at her. "Chilly?"

"A little." She wasn't lying; it was December, and Donnie's home-made central heating could only do so much.

Leo extended his arms. "C'mere then, and I'll warm you up."

She shook her head. "You come here."

Rolling his deep blue eyes at her, he obeyed, sitting on the edge of her bed and holding his arms out again. Taking care not to let the duvet slip, Karai shuffled forward until she was buried in his hug. The hug didn't last long, though. As soon as Leo's arms touched her back, they jerked away and he gawped at her. In response, she dropped the duvet, and his eyes widened even more at her alabaster flesh.

Karai moved into a kneeling position so he had the best view possible, but he wouldn't look at her. "I'm ready, Leo."

This time it was him shaking his head. "I'm not sure you are, Rai," he told her. "Are you sure it's not just the Shredder thing messing with your head?"

"I'm sure," she promised. "I've been thinking it through for days, and I'll admit, it has something to do with him. When he was... well, you know, you save what he was going to do to me-"

"Don't remind me," he said quickly, subconsciously reaching for her hand.

She let him take it and continued, "Well, when he was... when he was doing that, all I could think about was... you and how I'd have felt if... if you were there, and... doing that..."

He swallowed hesitantly, stroking her hand. "And how would you have felt if it was me?"

"Nothing," she answered, "because I realised it wouldn't be. I realised that if you wanted intercourse, you would sit down calmly with me and ask my opinion, then wait patiently until I told you I was ready." Karai smiled. "And that's how I knew that I was."

Leo paused, before nervously leaning forward to kiss her. She kissed him back eagerly. When they had to break for air, he glanced over her and whispered, "Karai, you're so beautiful." She shook her head and began to protest, but he silenced her with another kiss. "You are. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

This time, it was her initiating the shut-up kiss. "I'm serious, stop it."

"Why should I?" Leo challenged. "You're my partner and I want you to know how perfect you are for me."

Karai was quiet, before admitting, "If anyone in this relationship is perfect, it's you."

Before he could argue and ruin the moment, Karai kissed him passionately. He complied, and the kiss escalated. When Leo let his lips slip down to her neck, then her chest, Karai rolled him onto his carapace and straddled him.

"Are we really doing this?"

Karai could see the desire in his eyes beneath the worry. "I guess we are."


In their afterglow, Karai sighed blissfully. Leo had been wonderful, even more than she could have imagined. He had been determined to satisfy her, holding off his own ecstasy until she reached her own, and after their union, he couldn't even lift his head.

The turtle still lay beneath her, panting. "Whoa..." he breathed. "That was... Wow..."

She laughed lightly. "That's a pretty good description..."

"I love you, Karai," he murmured, stretching his arms up to her. "Thank you for sharing yourself with me."

Taking his hands, she slid down onto the bed beside him. "Thank you for allowing me." Karai knew they still needed to turn off the lights, but she couldn't bring herself to move. Instead, she curled into Leo's side and whispered, "Thank you for showing me..."

"Showing you what?" Leo prompted, expecting a playful, flirty answer.

To his surprise, the girl beside him kissed his cheek and nestled close. "Showing me why it's called 'making love'. I've never understood that until now."

Leo froze, and she caught the hopeful light in his eyes before he snuffed it out. "Yes, Leo, you heard me right. We made love." Karai tucked her head into the crook of his neck. "I love you, Leonardo."

For a long moment, he was speechless. Then, he managed an, "I love you too, Kiba."

"I noticed," she teased.

Silence descended upon them for so long that she wondered if he had fallen asleep, and smirked at the thought that she had exhausted her warrior so. In fact, she was about to go and turn out the lights when he said softly, "Karai?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for trusting me with that."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I can't think of anything I wouldn't trust you with," she admitted honestly.

Leo pulled her bare body closer, snuggling into her. She assumed he was trying to keep her warm. "I love our partnership..."

"I... I love it, too."

"Karai?"

"Yes, Leo?"

"... Can we do this again tomorrow?"

Karai outright giggled at the request. "Sure we can."

"Awesome." The turtle kissed her lips, then her cheek, then her neck, and started to progress down her body.

One thing that had originally surprised her about Leo was how much of a cuddler he turned out to be; he loved physical contact, she had discovered, especially just holding her. It was nice.

Mustering up some energy, Karai grabbed one of her training shoes from the floor and threw it at the light switch. The room plunged into darkness, but Leo continued his ministrations until she lifted him back up to head-height. "Save some of that passion for tomorrow, okay? I want to get some rest."

"Okay," he agreed, embracing her once more. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she replied, kissing him on the cheek before rolling to face away from him. His arms encircled her fully and tucked her against his plastron, and she fell asleep with a smile on her face.


"Happy birthday!"

Karai smiled at her family gathered together in the living area of the lair. She stood at the edge of the room in the black lace dress April had given her so many months ago, her make-up as dramatic as always and her hair twisted to the side and pinned with a black and silver flower clip. A home-made banner was clumsily hung from the ceiling above the turnstiles and small clusters of balloons and streamers were dotted around the area.

Mikey dashed up to her, throwing his good arm around her waist and pulling her close. "You're eighteen, sis!"

She hugged him back and chuckled. "I'm aware, little brother."

"Come open your presents!" he cried excitedly as he dragged her to the couch.

He shoved a ripped envelope into her hand, and when she opened it, her eyes watered. It was a folded piece of paper with a crude family portrait drawn on the front in crayons and the words 'Happy Birthday Karai!' scrawled below it. Each member of her family had written a message inside.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. Then Mikey was pushing a gift wrapped in newspaper onto her lap, and she carefully opened it. It was a small teddy bear with an orange bow around its neck.

The little turtle sat beside her. "I thought he'd help with your nightmares."

She glanced up worriedly. "Mikey, I can't take your bear-"

"Oh, no, it wasn't mine; I saw it in a shop window on patrol and gave April money to get it for me. The bow came from one of my old masks, though."

"Aww, Mikey… thank you." She hugged him again warmly.

As soon as she released him, Raph was throwing something at her. "There ya go, princess." She lifted up the black, glossy helmet and gasped. "For next time you wanna take a joyride on the Stealth Bike. Don was gonna make you your own bike, but-"

"I couldn't find the materials," Donnie explained as he offered her something rectangular, "so I made this instead."

Karai quickly realised that it was an empty photograph frame, made of painted coils of wire intricately woven together. She grinned. "Okay, we need to take a picture for this today."

"Then perhaps my gift to you will link nicely," suggested Splinter, as he offered her a slim box.

She gently opened it, and gasped at the gorgeous black kimono adorned with deep red floral patterns folded inside. The girl eagerly hugged her father, then hurried to change into the garment. When she returned, Angel impatiently presented her with a plastic bag containing a dark brown leather jacket, with a few badges sewn on.

"Since you lost your old one when you-know-who attacked you, Casey and I thought you needed a new one," she explained.

"You can decorate it however you like," Casey added. "We weren't sure what you wanted."

"Well, that makes my gift look super lame," April joked, as she held out Karai's tantõ sheath.

Karai blinked. "Oh. I guess that's why I couldn't find it."

The sheath she used for storing her favourite weapon was no longer plain silver. Now, it had various careful carvings covering it, the most prominent of which being the Hamato Clan logo, though Karai did not miss the turtles, rat, or serpent that were also woven in.

"How did you do this?" she asked.

The redhead laughed. "I used a soldering iron in school. That teacher must think I'm really weird, though."

Lastly, Leo approached her with a little box. April squealed involuntarily at the sight, before clamping her hands over her mouth to shut herself up. The turtle knelt before his partner, offering the box to her as he opened it. Inside was a silver ring with a small black stone.

Karai gave him a warning and worried glance. "Leo…"

Leo suddenly seemed to realise what the situation looked like, and hurriedly shook his head. "Oh, no, no, I wasn't- that wasn't, uh- I'm sorry. No, I wasn't gonna ask… I wasn't gonna ask, honest. I just wanted to, uh, wanted you to- wait- oh man, uhm- Look, it was supposed to be more of, like, a promise ring? Proof of our partnership? If you don't want it, it's fine- Man, I messed this up, uh-"

The rambling turtle was cut off when Karai kissed him on the cheek. "It's lovely, Leo, thank you. As long as you're not expecting too much commitment of me."

"Of course not."

He smiled at her as he slid the ring onto the fourth finger on her right hand, very pointedly ignoring the 'ring finger' on her left. He then lovingly kissed the ring she wore, much to the verbal disgust of their brothers.

When the group began to disperse to get snacks and music, Karai pulled Leo aside and requested that he speak to her, alone. Nervously, he agreed and followed.

"So…" Leo began when they were alone in her room.

"Leo, you know from last night that I trust you, right?"

He didn't miss a beat. "Definitely. You know the feeling is mutual, I assume."

"Yes…"

"Then what's the matter?"

"… You never did explain why you did it," she admitted quietly.

Leo winced at the memory of himself overpowering Karai, forcing her to obey his will. He shivered at the thought. "Sorry… I've kind of been blocking it out, if I'm honest."

"Well, can you tell me now? Because… I need to know."

"You deserve to know," he assured her, stroking her cheek, before sighing and dropping his hand. "Y'see… This is going to sound so stupid, but… I've always been the big brother, the older sibling, the protector. For so many years, that was my role in the Hamato Clan. Then…"

"Miwa came back?" Karai guessed, suddenly beginning to understand.

He nodded in admission. "Well, yeah. Don't get me wrong, I love you being here Karai, and I love how you look after our brothers, but I was starting to feel… unnecessary, expendable. Like the team didn't really need me any more because they had you. You could be the leader, you could take charge."

"And you felt threatened by that? Leo, I've never wanted to be the leader. I like being the guys' big sister, but when it comes to it, you're still first in succession for the clan, even if I am a bit older." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I couldn't do it, Leo, and I don't want to. You'll always be our leader."

He grasped her hand lightly. "That was why I got so bossy with you, and why I- well, you know. I was worried that I was losing my place, and that I had to fight to prove that I was in control." Leo scoffed. "It's stupid, really…"

"Yes, it is," Karai conceded. "You should have just talked to me about it."

"Note taken." The turtle smiled. "So, am I forgiven?"

She pecked him on the lips. "What do you think?"

"Should we head back to the party then?" Leo laced their fingers together.

Karai nodded. "I'd like that."

As they exited her room to the shouts of their family and friends, Leo whispered into her ear, "Karai? Are you happy with… well, everything?"

"Maybe not everything," Karai confessed, before sending a glowing smile her partner's way, "but yeah, I'm happy."


Whoa... It's finally over. 3,500 words in this chapter... I guess it makes sense that the last one is the longest.

I suppose all I can say is thank you so much to anyone who helped support this story, and thank you for sticking through it this long. I'll try not to get all sappy, but... wow... I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the whole of the story, and thank you again for all of the feedback and motivation! XD See you next time, maybe?

~ MusicRocks807 xxx