Chapter 4

I walk inside the dojo, and see a giant rat sitting on the floor. I jerk to a stop and stare.

A giant rat…didn't Mikey say something about a rat. What was his name was, Splinter?

The rat stands up and walks over to me and Leo. Ethan hinds behind me, and I don't blame him.

"Good morning Miss Kai. I hope your sleep was pleasant." The rat said to me.

"Uh…y-yes it was." I replied, still a bit creeped out. "Thank you for letting me and my brothers sleep here. I hope we didn't cause too much trouble?"

The rat smiled. "Not at all child" He then looked at Ethan and gave a small bow. Ethan in return shuddered more behind me but then peaked around me and gave a small nod.

"Can we please start with the ninja training now, pleeeease?" An impatient Nathan whined.

"Yes we shall start now. We will begin with a few kata's. Miss Kai, will you be joining us as well?" Splinter asked.

Shaking my head I replied, "I don't think I could really do all that with my ribs hurting and all, and Ethan's not big on hitting folks. But Nathan is more than happy join in."

"If you wish. Please feel free to watch." He walks back over to the four turtles and my brother. "Begin."

I watch with wide eyes as the moved into different stances with grace. Well, Leo had more grace than the others. It's almost as of their dancing. Nathan tried to be as balanced and easy as Leo but struggled to keep his balance. I gave a small smile to his enthusiasm though. I glance at Ethan who sits beside me and watches with curious eyes. He tugs on my pants and I lean down.

"Kai." He whispers to me. "Can I play with Nathan too?"

I smile at his request. "Sure you can, just go up and tell Splinter, kay."

He looks at the rat and then back at me. I nudge his toward Splinter and he tapped his shoulder.

"Um, Mr. Splinter, sir, c-can I train with my brother?"

Splinter smiles. "Yes you may." He guides his to stand next to Nathan. His older twin gives a big grin that takes up his whole face.

The rest of practice had to do with some meditation; Ethan did really well with this according to Splinter. Saying he has a very calm mind. After meditation was over, there some little sparring between brothers, Raph with Mikey and Leo with Donnie. Nathan wanted to fight against Raph, but I didn't think that was a good idea. Splinter agreed with me on this. After the matches were over the Master Splinter announced that practice was over. I watched as he got to his feet and walked out the room.

"That was so cool! I actually trained with real ninja's! Did ya see me Kai, I was all boom, bam and ka-pow!" An excited Nathan jumped around the dojo. Ethan jumped around with him and they giggled together.

I chuckle. I'm glad the twins are finally enjoying themselves. It's been so long since I've seen Ethan smile. I wish we could stay here…

I was jumped out of my thoughts when Mikey came up to me. "Hey Kai, wanna play video games with me?" Already pushing me toward the couch.

"No thanks, I'm not big on video games." I lied.

"Actually Mikey I need to talk to Kai." Leo speaks up. I give a worried look.

Mikey saw this and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry Kai, Leo's just being his typically over protective self."

That doesn't make me feel any better Mikey. I follow Leo into the dojo again and he sits in the middle of the floor. I follow his movements and sit across from him. I had a bad feeling about this.

We sit in silence and it just makes me feel more awkward. I shift to get more comfortable on the floor. The more Leo stares at me the more I try to avoid his eyes. That's a pretty hard thing to do when you have nothing else to stare at.

Gosh Leo, why don't you just stare into my soul while you're at it…if you're not already doing that…I wonder what he's thinking. Leo doesn't seem like the type of guy to yell at someone without a reason. Heck, what kinda reason would he yell at me for? I barley know the guy! Well I did lie to them…but he wouldn't yell at me for that, right?

"Leo, would you please just tell me why you wanted to talk to me." My patience had ended.

He didn't speak and that irked me.

"What's your story." He asked.

That took me by surprise. "My story?"

"Yes"

I still didn't get the question. "What do you-

"I mean, why did we find you out in an ally after we dropped you off."

I give a sad look and stare at the floor; no longer wanting Leo to see my face. Leo was trying to get me to open up to him about all my problems. Does he think I would really tell a complete stranger?

"I ran away." I quietly say.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Why do you need to know?" Annoyed with all these questions Leo was asking.

"If you're going to stay here, I at least need to know the reason why."

"What is this Dr. Phil? I don't need to talk about my feeling Leo! I don't need someone to baby me! Why does someone always assume that something is wrong?" I yell at him.

"Kai, I just want to help. I didn't mean to upset you." He tells me.

"I don't want your help Leo! What I want is to keep my brothers safe. What I want are my parents back!" I stand up and storm out of the dojo. Leo calls after me but I don't stop, I ignore the strange looks I got from the others and ran to the door.

"Kai! Wait!" I hear Nathan yell. I continue to run down the sewers until I couldn't breathe anymore. I use the wall for support while I catch my breath. I lean against the wall and slide down.

Man my ribs hurt…I can't believe I just yelled at him. All he wanted to do was help...but it's not any of his business. I chose to run away, so I have to live with the consequences. Gosh this is so hard. I wish you guys were still here…

I tuck my legs close to my chest and rest my head on my arms. My eyes start to water when I think about all the good times I had with my parents. I remember when my father dressed up as a clown at my 6th birthday party, and started to make balloon animals. Of course the only one he knew how to make was a snake, but I still loved the thought he put into it. Another time was when we built a homemade fort out of cochins and blankets. Mom didn't like it when I broke her vase trying to put up the blanket though. My parents were the king and queen, while I was there little princess. I had begged my mother to let is sleep under it and after some puppy eye trick and some whining from my father, she agreed. We watched movies under the fort until we fell asleep.

I sadly smile at the memory. But that was a long time ago. Things have changed now. The real world has come into view, and I had to be the grown up. I sigh. "Ugh why does growing up have to be so hard?"

"It's only hard if you don't know what to do."

I jerk my head up and see Mikey sitting on the opposite wall.

"When did you get here? Wait, never mind I don't wanna know." I stand up to leave but Mikey catches my hand.

"Let go of me!"

Mikey pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arms around me. I struggled trying to get away from him but he refused to let go.

"Kai you know you're not alone right."

I stopped struggling. Mikey doesn't let go of me and I don't care, I just stand there in shock.

"We knew you were lying when you told us that you lived in an apartment. After we dropped you guys off we waited until you left the building and followed you to that ally. I Know you don't want to talk about it Kai, but I think it would really help. Donnie says that it's not healthy when you keep to yourself and not talk to anyone."

He lets go and I look at him and he sits in the floor and waves a hand over to sit next to him. I reluctantly sat next to the orange banded turtle and he puts an arm around me. He doesn't say anything, which I'm thankful for.

"Whenever you're ready to talk, I'll be here."

I sit there next to Mikey and think. How can someone I just meet care for us so much? "When I was little my parents were like my idols. They taught me good from bad and to always smile no matter what people say about you. So that's what I did. I didn't let people tell me what I would do; I just said that I have to work harder. My mom worked as a lawyer and my dad worked with cars and stuff. They got pretty busy at some points, but they would always fine time for me."

"They sound like nice people." Mikey says.

"They were." I swallow the lump in my throat and continue. "A couple years after the twins were born I was turning 9 and my parents took me out on a birthday dinner. I still remember what I had. It was chicken strips with fries and honey mustard on the side. We had a great time together. The whole staff came and sang happy birthday to me and I got a free brownie ice cream Sunday. It was so much fun." I stopped talking not wanting to finish.

Mikey squeezes my shoulder and tells me to go on.

I can feel the tears run down my face. "When we got home from the restaurant, my dad got a call from one of his old friends. He didn't tell me what his friend said but when he looked at my mother, she took me to my room and told me to start packing everything I don't want to leave. I didn't know what was going on but I still followed my mother's orders. I had started to pack when there was a banging on the door.

Flashback

I stared at my mother who put a finger to her lips. I didn't say a word. She crept to my door and peaked outside. My father told us silently to be quiet. Mom told me to go get my brothers as quietly as I could. I did exactly that. I ran quietly into the twins' room and to my relief they weren't crying. I grabbed them both and went back to my mother. She kissed them both and then kissed me.

"I love you both. Don't ever forget that okay sweetie." She whispers to me. She presses her head on my forehead and says a quick pray.

"Honey we need to go now." Dad says to mom. She sucks in a breath and dad takes the twins and mom takes my brothers. My dad leads us into the den and pulls up the rug to reveal a door. He pulls in open and inside are old wooden stairs that look like they will break with one step. My father pushes me down the stairs and gave me the twins. He kisses my head and pulls me to look in his eyes.

"Kai, no matter what happens, no matter what you hear, you don't come out until morning. I love you and your brothers so, so much. I promise that you may not get it now but when you're older everything will be alright." He takes my hand and puts a necklace inside it, and rolls my fingers around it. "Keep this with you at all times. Watch over your brothers, keep them safe. Oh how I love you." He kisses me one more time and goes up the stairs.

My mother tries to hold back her tears. "Sweetie, I love you so much. Don't ever forget that we'll always be with you. Keep smiling and watch over your brothers." She hugs me tightly and brushes my hair. Then as quickly as she hugged me, she left. She walked up the steps and looked back at me with a sad face.

'I love you.' She mouthed as my father closed the door.

That was the last time I saw them.

Flashback ended

I now had tears pouring down my face. Mikey tries to comfort me but it's not working.

"You don't have to continue Kai."

"No, I-I want to." Believe it or not, talking actually helped.

"The police came to my house and they found me and the twins. We were taken to the police department and they asked questions. I couldn't answer them because I didn't know anything. I…I wish that I did but...I didn't. Everything about that day I don't really remember. But I did know one thing. I knew that I was never going to see my parents again."

I look down and twiddle with my thumbs. "We were taken to our aunt and uncle's house. They…weren't the nicest couple but they were the only family I had who lived close. I stayed with them for seven years. My uncle would beat me when I did something wrong. He didn't care about me or the twins. My aunt would just so up late at night drunk; she never helped when he went too far. That's how I got this."

I pulled of my glove to reveal a burn mark. Mikey gasps and covers his mouth. The bur ran down the palm of my hand to my wrist. I stare at my hand and gently touch it.

"Some days weren't as bad as others, but… I put up with them for seven years. Seven years of hell. Ethan and Nathan tried to help but I didn't let them. I-I didn't want them to get hurt. Ethan didn't talk, not even to me or Nathan. I couldn't get his to say anything for months. It was like he just broke, and I could fix him." I sob into Mikey's shoulders and he rubs my back. "I didn't know what to do. My mom said to always smile but…how could I when she left me. She left and I needed her."

Mikey doesn't say anything; he just lets me cry out. We stayed in silence until I said something.

"When my uncle and aunt left one night I told the twins we were leaving. With all the money that I earned performing on the streets and my job, we took a train from Chicago to New York. I knew that they could find us here. We've been in the streets ever since then. I'm sorry I lied to you. I just...I didn't know what you would do if you found out that we were runaways. I thought you would take us back." I squeeze Mikey and bury my face in his chest as he strokes me head.

"We would never do that, and Kai I promise that as long as your with us, nothing will ever happen to you and the twins. I promise." He murmured in my ear. I sob and Mikey continues to stroke my hair. I just accept the embrace and continue to cry. I can hear my sobs bounce of the walls and echo down the tunnels.

Mikey asks if I'm ready to go back to the lair and I slowly shake my head. To be honest I wasn't ready to go back. Going back meant that I would have to talk with Leo, and that's something I don't want to do right now.

"C'mon I know somewhere we could go." He lifts me to my feet but they buckle and I fall.

"Easy, easy."

I allow Mikey to carry me and I rest my head against his plastron.

Im so tired. I wish I could just fall asleep…

Tap tap tap

I open my eyes and look around. When did I close them? We were on a fire escape. Mikey looks down at me and smiles.

"This is our good friends April's apartment. Don't worry she's really nice and you'll like her. Plus there's someone living with her that I think you'll like." He tells me.

A red haired women came to the window and smiled. "Mikey! It's so good to see you. Oh, this must be Kai."

"It sure is dudette, now can you let us in its kinda cold out here."

"Oh sorry, c'mon in."

Mikey carries me and I tell him to put me down and April comes and hugs me.

"Hi, I'm April O'Neil. I don't know if they guys mentioned me but I'm a good friend of theirs."

"It's a pleasure to meet you April." I say.

"Hey April, is Ava here?"

"Yeah she's changing. Wait here, I'll go get her."

April disappears into another room.

I look at Mieky. "Who's Ava?"

As he's about to answer April comes out and behind her is a tall blond girl with wings attached to her back.

Wings…why am I not surprised. C'mon Kai you've already seen giant turtle.

"Hey Mikey what's up. Is that her?"

Great and she knows me. How many people did the guys tell about me?

"Sure is. Now you two play nice while I talk with April." He walks in the kitchen with April following him.

My attention is still on the new girl and she walks up to me.

"Sup. My names Ava and I know what you're thinking." She stretches her wings at wide from wall to wall. "These bad boys are real."

I guess I should have seen this coming…