I do not own the TMNT…this is getting monotonous.

Sandalwood laced the air, not yet having faded since the last incense Leo had burned. His door was open, unusual when he was in his room, and he was reading. The book he was reading was titled with something having to do with the history of some dead empire. Overall the room and its single occupant should have held an air of solemnity and peace, and it would have; if Leo weren't lying on his shell with his feet propped up against the wall and his head and mask tails hanging over the edge. When he turned the pages of his inverted book his fingers fumbled with the awkward feel of gravity pulling the book 'up'.

Finally he noticed Kit standing in the doorway and closed the book. "Hey." He greeted her as he sat up. Kit had spent the day more or less holed up in her room again, but today there had been a feeling of business to her isolation. She seemed to have been working on some kind of a project.

"Hey. Come on in." At Leo's invitation Kit took a few steps inside.

"Hey." Kit was smiling a little, but still looked serious. "Leo, could I ask a favor?"

Leo grinned, "'Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom.'" He was rewarded with a bemused smirk from Kit.

"I hope that guy isn't one of your role models." Leo blinked and tried to recall who he had just quoted, he hoped it wasn't Hitler or somebody like that. At the blank look on his face Kit smiled and gave a silent chuckle, "Don't worry about it, I don't want anyone beheaded anyway." Leo's face grew even blanker.

"…Beheaded?"

Typically when it came to history Leo was pretty good at it, but he had inherited his father's knack for being able to source a quote. It would probably bother him if he knew that the man he had just quoted was famous for beheading a guy just because a pretty girl had asked him to.

"You wanted to ask me something?" Leo quickly changed the subject.

Kit was still smiling, "Um, yes, I was wondering if you could be my guide tonight. There's something I need to do, and the last thing I need is to get lost for a week."

"No problem, where to?" Leo reached for his katana.

"Actually, before we leave I'm going to have to grab some clothes." Leo blinked and glanced down at Kit's gi. "Street clothes." She explained. Leo's eye ridges rose as high as they would go, but he didn't say anything.

...

A lone figure stood out by the street, the hood of a black sweat jacket was pulled up over the figure's head obscuring the face. The figure stood still for several minutes, head bowed, in front of a flowery road-side memorial. From time to time a man in a business suit or a woman in fine clothes would bustle past this rather scruffy looking figure, careful not to look concerned in case the person asked for a handout.

Finally this person turned around and walked across the street, past several large, prominent buildings until the figure turned into an alley. Another figure, this one bulkier but also with hidden features, stood in the alley, apparently awaiting the first. The first figure pushed back the black hood and looked into the face of the second. "Thanks Leo."

"Anytime." Leo said. He knelt down and lifted the manhole cover at his feet, the two figures hopped down into the tunnels beneath the city.

Once safely out of sight Kit pulled off the hoodie and straightened her gi underneath, beside her Leo checked to make sure his katana were still properly positioned. Once free of the constraining clothing required to move among humans on the surface they started down the tunnels toward their home. It was a longer trip than normal because the destination Kit had chosen was in a better, more upper class section of New York than they usually frequented.

Leo glanced over at Kit. She was walking along quietly, her thumbs hooked in the straps of the backpack they had stuffed their street clothes into and her gaze directed at her feet.

"Thinking about your mom?" Leo asked gently. She nodded and hummed the affirmative. He hesitated before asking the next question, "What was she like?" For once Kit didn't throw up the walls of defense or anger.

"She was…" Kit squinted, peering into her memories, "She was warm, loved to laugh and in some ways she was like a big kid." Her eyes widened, "Not like Mikey." Leo chuckled at that. "In some ways she was just like most of the girls at school, she loved to talk about the cute guys she met at work, hair, makeup, Hollywood gossip. These things took on a special pleasure for her when she discovered how much I couldn't stand that kind of talk." Leo laughed out loud at that.

"But she also liked to talk about serious stuff, like politics and why people wanted to do evil stuff." They had stopped walking and were now sitting with their backs to the tunnel wall.

"Evil stuff?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Kit hesitated to answer that question, "like Columbine and the…the attacks." Leo nodded; a lot of people would rather forget about that stuff.

"We used to stay up for hours talking about everything from the serious stuff to the gossipy junk. Then she'd spend the mornings trying to stay in bed until the next day." Kit smirked and her tone got lighter, "Now, I just couldn't allow that could I?"

Leo laughed some more, waking up Raph on his bad mornings was something Kit never got tired of, even when Mikey was shaking in his shell at the idea.

Kit told several stories about her mom. Most were entertaining, others more serious. The more she spoke though the sadder she seemed to become, her ears drooped and eyes dimmed. "Kit, is something else bothering you?" Leo asked after Kit had finished one particular story. Instead of answering right away Kit actually picked up Leo's hand and examined it. Leo waited for her to answer.

"My mom was a really great person…" Kit gently traced the lines of Leo's palm, it was clear she was just trying to avoid eye contact. "She deserved everything good that she got, and then some. The last few months I lived with her I can't remember a single truth I told her. Mom didn't deserve that." Kit placed Leo's hand back on his leg. "She didn't deserve any of what I did to her." With a sigh, Kit braced her hands on her knees and stood up. Beside her Leo stood up as well. The depression Kit had been feeling earlier was back.

A strong arm rested across her shoulders. "You were just doing what you knew needed to be done." Leo said. "If your mom knew you half as well as I do, I'm sure she would have known that. Even if she didn't understand the reasons."

Kit blinked; she could almost hear her mother's voice as clearly as she heard Leo's:

I'm proud that you always stand up for what you know is right.

"Thanks Leo." Kit put her arm behind Leo's shell as they headed for the lair.

Leo moved his hand and ruffled Kit's ears before resting it across her shoulders again.