Yo, I'm Rori.

This will be a couple of shots of Leo's time in South America. We'll see how this goes.

I don't own TMNT

Chapter 3: A new friend; A new enemy

Despite our first encounter, Rei and I became fast friends.

Rei was the quiet type, very street smart - or, jungle smart. He was sixteen years old, and an orphan. His parents had both been hunted down when he was young, and that's why he had attacked me; he thought that the man responsible for their deaths had come back to finish the job. We shared stories about our pasts. He told me that at one point there had been a whole clan of those like him, but bit by bit, they died off. Humans had wanted their furs or heads as trophies, sicknesses came and took them because they didn't have access to proper medicine.

I told him about my family, about our friends and the city. He wrinkled his nose at the parts about the thugs and gangster, at the way people would treat each other on the street. He told me more about the people I was protecting, about jungle life. He started showing me which plants to avoid, where to get the freshest water. We quickly grew inseparable.

He had gone years without interaction with anyone.

I had gone less than a month before going crazy. I couldn't even begin to imagine...

-TMNT-

"Leo!"

My head snapped up and away from my newest letter from Master Splinter, a grin spreading across my face. "Yeah, bro?"

He slowed a moment, before chuckling. He rushed to my side, peering over my shoulder from where I sat. "What are you lookin' at?"

"I got another letter," I offered it to him. The sixth month mark was quickly coming around the corner. I looked around as he glanced over the letter. I had decided to move closer to his lair. So far I was liking it. We were closer to the village here, closer to our water source. I had a few paintings hung up, a new table that held all the pictures that Mikey kept sending me. Warm furs made up my bed, and I was really beginning to love being here.

I couldn't bring myself to go a day without sunlight.

"So, Donnie's birthday is coming up right?" His voice jarred me from the dark thought of going back to the city and being confined to the darkness like a criminal or monster.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, he likes old things, right? Like artifacts?"

"Yeah. He's made it a point to see as much of what April brings home as he can before she has to take it to its new owner." I chuckled, remembering April's latest letter. She complained quite a bit, but I could just tell that she was happy. It was good to see that things were turning for the better for her; she really deserved it.

"Well, I got to thinking about the old temple. There are tons of artifacts there. Wanna go for a hike?"

"Shell yeah!" I was on my feet in a second, dropping the letter on the table, intending on writing back that night. I grabbed my sack; I had bought it from the village's festival, snatching the bag and dropping the money in it's place without being seen. In it, held my first aid kit - courteous of Don - my polaroid camera and several cases of film - thanks to Mikey - my machete - geez, Raph - and a few other things like food and water.

Rei had one a lot like mine. I had slipped another first aid kit into his and an extra bottle of water.

-TMNT-

It was middle of August when we started running into problems.

Bandits began raiding our little village, taking food and money. They hardly left any for the people to survive on, let alone prosper. Rei and I had shared a look when we heard about it from our spot in the trees. And suddenly, I was back home with my brothers, with them waiting for me to take control, to decide our plan of action.

I put my hand on his shoulder, "Rei...I know you don't like helping humans because of what happened to your parents..."

-TMNT-

With my help, he quickly came along in his fighting. He went from hardly being able to fend for himself to something almost fierce. He went from friend and brother to student and warrior. It made me so proud to see him put aside his hatred for the few to help the many; every time we managed to help the village win a victory against the bandits, every time were able to get a member or two thrown into a jail far, far away, we celebrated.

By Halloween, though, I realized something.

Not once in my letters had I mentioned Rei. My family did not know about him and I was due home in just three months. How was time slipping through my fingers so quickly? Hadn't it only been spring a few weeks ago? I still hadn't learned anything about leading! There was no one to teach me!

I turned to Rei, where he had fallen asleep on my bed. I couldn't leave him here alone. I wouldn't.

I set about writing a new, unexpected letter for my family. I intended on explaining who he was, where he had come from, about our adventures together but everything just seemed to blur together. I couldn't pick where one memory began and another ended. My life had gone from being so aware to being so narrowly focused. I put my head in my hands and squeezed my eyes shut.

When I heard a noise, I looked over at his sleeping form. Tears sparkled in the corners of his eyes as he slept, trapped in a nightmare. "N-No...Leo...Don't l-leave me too..."

I stopped writing letters to my family.

I didn't know what to do, what to say.