A/N: This is the end y'all. It's been a very long journey and I'm sad to see it end, but Kallie's story has been told. Thank you for all of the support and love you have shown me and this story. I have had so much fun writing this and I know it wasn't really consistent but I still had a blast. Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own them. Still. Ugh.
"You have to promise not to freak out."
"I'm not going to freak out."
"You say that now, but-"
"Kaliyah, I'm not going to freak out."
Kallie sighed and asked herself once more what exactly she had been thinking.
It had been a month since everything had happened. One whole month since the truth of who Robert was came out. One month since she found out who she really was.
And now Kallie was in her new home with her mom by her side and her other family hidden throughout the living room. How four giant turtles and a talking rat were able to hide so easily and swiftly still remains a mystery to her.
Leonardo had spoken to Master Splinter about revealing everything to Danika. Apparently it took two weeks' worth of meetings because Kaliyah had not received any word on the matter until the day before she moved in to her house. Master Splinter told her that after everything her mother had been through, she definitely deserved the truth.
So Kallie had told her the truth. Her mom took it much better than she had expected. Danika shook her head at first when Kallie came clean about Robert. She hadn't wanted to believe her daughter. But after Kallie went into detail about what Robert had said and done and the fierce look her daughter had, she had believed everything Kaliyah said. Danika had sobbed and apologized and clung to her daughter. Kallie had cried too, she had cried with her mother and for her mother. Kaliyah had apologized to her as well, for all the years she had stayed away and had been so angry. Mother and daughter had reunited and Kallie knew then that Danika was ready to meet her new family.
And so here they were.
"Okay, so you're about to meet five very important family members," said Kallie. "And no matter what, that's what they are. Family."
Danika looked at her daughter and noted the very serious look on her face. She reached out and gently cupped her daughter's cheek. "If they're important to you, they're important to me."
Kallie nodded and tried to still her rapidly beating heart. She had no idea how her mother was going to react.
"Okay guys, you can come out. Just...just try not to freak her out too much. That means you Mikey."
"I resent that." Mike replied as he stepped out from behind the wall separating the kitchen from the living room. He was grinning of course, completely calm about this whole thing. Donatello was next, following Raph, Leo, and finally Master Splinter.
"Hello Ms. Danika, it is a pleasure to finally meet you." Master Splinter greeted with a slight bow of his head.
"Um, mom, meet my other family." Kallie said lamely.
"I am Master Splinter," the ninja master pointed at each of his sons next. "These are my sons; Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo."
Leo bowed his head, Don gave a small smile, Raph inclined his head, and Mike waved enthusiastically.
"I've been staying with them ever since my apartment burned down. They uh...they saved me. Twice."
"Three times." Don corrected.
"Well, if we're gonna get downright technical it'd be like, 7." Mike added.
"Last time I checked, I was the one who got rid of the Foot goons that last time." Kallie interjected.
"By the way, you're due for another training session." Don told her.
Kallie groaned. "I still have a headache from our last session."
"My sons, let us have that conversation another time. The focus of today's meeting is Ms. Danika."
As if just remembering that she was there, Kallie looked at her mom with wide worried eyes. She hadn't said anything since the guys had first appeared. Danika was wearing a clam expression though and she stepped forward, closing the distance between her and Mikey (he was closest to her) and hugged him.
"Thank you for taking care of my daughter."
Michelangelo looked stunned. He just stood there for a few seconds before he carefully wrapped his arms around Danika and hugged her back.
"Anytime." He replied softly.
And then Danika made her rounds, hugging each and every single one of them. Leonardo was next and though he was a bit stiff when she first hugged him, he hugged her back. Donatello welcomed the embrace warmly and smiled. Raphael patted her back awkwardly while replying with a 's'all good.' Master Splinter hugged her back much like Donnie had.
"I am so very grateful for everything you've done for her." Danika said as she backed up to where Kallie was. "I can never repay you for the kindness."
"It was our pleasure Ms. Danika." Master Splinter replied.
"Please, call me Dani."
Kallie snorted and Splinter sent her a look. The young girl smiled sweetly at him and he rolled his eyes.
"He's a stickler for first names." Kallie told her mom.
Danika smiled and Kallie couldn't help but beam with pride at how well her mother was taking all of this. She was sure that she was going to freak out. In all honesty, Kallie herself had freaked out a bit when she had first met the guys. It helped that they had just saved her life though.
"I hope she didn't give you too much trouble." Danika said.
"Heaps." Raph replied.
"Loads." Don stated.
"I don't know if we'll ever fully recover." Mike added.
"Oi!" Kallie cried.
"Don't listen to them," said Leonardo. "She was a very pleasant guest."
"You're my new favorite Leo." Kallie told him with a grin.
"Hey! I thought I was your favorite this week!" Michelangelo pouted.
"And now you've lost the status." Kallie told him with an upturned nose.
"Ha ha." Leo said softly, a rare and wicked smile on his face.
"I'm sure she was a delight." Danika said with a wry smile on her face.
"I'm always a friggin' delight." Kallie murmured.
Raph barked out a laugh at that.
The seven of them sat in a circle in Kallie's new living room, swapping stories. Danika of course brought up a few of Kallie's more embarrassing stories of her childhood.
"My favorite story of Kaliyah is when she was three years old and we had just bought a Mrs. Buttersworth bottle of syrup—"
"Mom, no."
"Kallie, it's rude to interrupt your mother now hush." Don told her.
"Thank you Donatello," said Danika as Kallie groaned and dropped her head onto her arms. "So we had just made pancakes and Franklin had set the bottle in front of Kaliyah and she grabs it and stares intensely at it for several minutes before she pushes it across the table and starts crying hysterically."
"Mom please!"
"Why was she crying?" Leonardo asked, a small smile on his face.
Danika was giggling as she replied, "When we asked her what was wrong she pointed at it and wailed, 'she won't talk to me!'"
The four brothers roared with laughter while Master Splinter ducked his head to hide his own grin. Kallie was blushing furiously as buried her face in her hands.
"She was so mad that the bottle wasn't talking like it did on the commercials." Danika explained, still laughing.
"Oh man Kallie that is too precious," Mikey said while wiping a stray tear from his eyes. "I can picture it perfectly."
Kallie picked up a pillow and tossed it as his face, which he of course caught with very little effort. She was then teased for the next few minutes before Master Splinter announced that they would take their leave.
"Thank you Kaliyah, Ms. Danika. It was a pleasant evening, but we must go for our patrol starts soon."
"Thank you again, for saving my daughter." Danika said, giving them all a hug once more.
"Anytime." Mikey said with a wink.
They all bid their goodbyes, Danika included and soon Kallie was alone in her new home. She turned on some music and grabbed a book, intent on reading until she tired herself out. Unfortunately reading only seemed to wake her up more. It was nearing midnight when she finally yawned. She stood to her feet and went to put her book away when she heard something on her roof. She froze for a moment, fear gripping her as she remembered the fire but then she heard a muffled 'some ninja' and she grinned. She knew they would easily pick the lock on her backdoor so she decided to have a little fun of her own and went and hid behind the wall right next to her door. And sure enough the lock was picked and the four turtles slid easily inside, whispering about whether she was asleep or not.
"The light is still on." Don was saying.
"The little nerd was probably readin'." Raph added.
"BOO!" Kallie shouted as she jumped out from behind them.
Mikey shrieked like a little girl, Don gasped, Raph let out his own shout, and even Leo flinched a bit. Kallie of course was laughing her ass off, leaning her elbows on her knees.
"Real hilarious Blondie." Raphael grumped.
"I think I just had a heart attack." Mike said as he clutched at his heart.
"It wasn't that scary." Leo sniffed.
"You so jumped!" Kallie accused through her laughter.
Leo arched a brow which Kallie took as a challenge of course.
"Donnie set up security camera's we can get a replay if you'd like." She responded smoothly.
"I barely flinched." Leo amended.
"Still flinched so it still counts," said Kallie. "Get over it Sir-Flinches-A-Lot."
Leonardo rolled his eyes as Mikey started giggling.
"Oh that one's gonna stick." The orange banded ninja stated.
Kallie grinned at him. "So what brings y'all back to my humble abode at this unearthly hour?"
"What are you still doing up? Don't you have classes tomorrow?" Don asked. "You should already be sleeping."
"You know, there's this reference I've heard somewhere about a kettle and a pot…" Kallie replied.
Don blushed.
"In all actuality it's too quiet to sleep," said Kaliyah. "I'm used to a lot of racket now I guess."
The boys grinned at her.
"Never thought ya'd say that huh?" Raph asked.
Kallie laughed. "Definitely not."
"Want some company?" Leo asked.
Kallie smiled warmly. "I've got some extra blankets and the couch folds out into a bed."
"Awesome! All night monster movie marathon!" Mike announced, punching the air.
"There's no way we're watching yer lame ass movies all night." Raph replied.
"My house, my rules!" Kallie called. "I vote monster movies!"
Mikey high fived Kallie and soon they were watching some truly awfully cheesy monster movies from the 60s and 70s. There was popcorn and soda cans strewn all over the place along with blankets and pillows galore.
"Have you been practicing?" Don asked after the second movie was about half way through.
Kallie groaned. "Ugh...yes...and let me tell you, it hurts!"
Don smiled sympathetically. "I know, but your brain waves show that you're actually getting stronger and so far there have been no actual injuries to the brain."
"Tell that to my migraines." Kallie muttered.
"Dude, you are like totally a Jedi." Mike commented.
"I don't feel like a Jedi."
"You should!" Mike cried. "You can totally move things with your mind!"
"It's a lot harder than it looks." Kallie replied dryly.
It was true. It was a lot harder than it looked. Kaliyah had been in training sessions with Donnie and Master Splinter ever since she was cleared by the genius turtle. The sessions consisted of meditation for an hour to clear her mind, next she went through a series of simple tasks such as moving an object from one side of the room to the other, after that another hour of meditation following more difficult tasks such as manipulating an object to twist or turn or form any shape that Master Splinter or Donnie wants it to before making it go back into the regular shape it was first in. Don was interested to see if she could do the same thing with a person.
Kallie thought his mad scientist was showing.
At the end of every session she always had a headache. They were getting less intense, but with each new thing she tried to do they lasted a bit longer. Master Splinter had told her that if she didn't want to continue the training then she didn't have to. She had seriously considered stopping the training, but...if she was totally honest with herself, she thought it was pretty cool.
Kaliyah was able to keep Mikey entertained for hours on end. He would constantly ask her to get something for him using her powers and he would laugh and look amazed and Kallie couldn't help but cater to his every whim. Besides, Mikey made her feel like a superhero and he never made her feel like a freak.
"Yeah, but you're a Hamato so you'll be a ninja at it in no time." Mike replied with a shrug. Kallie beamed at him, relishing in the upmost faith that Michelangelo had in her. They were lying next to one another on the floor right up front and Kallie stretched out before snuggling against his side. He wrapped his arms around her and grinned.
"Comfy?" He asked.
"Yup." She responded sleepily.
"Looks like Blondie is about to fall asleep on us." Raph commented.
"We should all get some sleep." Leo added.
The lights were turned off shortly after that as the group got comfortable and allowed sleep to lull them away to dreamland.
Kaliyah couldn't help but feel as if her heart was full to burst. She had never been so happy before, not since before her father died. Her life was so different now, and not just because she was some kind of genetic freak or that her family consisted of mutant turtles and a mutant rat. No. Her life was different because she had finally learned to trust people, to believe that there is good in this world, and that there were people out there who truly cared for her.
She didn't have a wall anymore. It had crumbled after the whole Robert incident. And she couldn't have been happier.
"I love you guys." Kallie whispered into the darkness.
She couldn't see the huge grins on the others faces, but as they each responded in kind (including Raphael), she could hear their grins. Mikey pressed a kiss to the top of her head and she grinned in the night.
Kallie didn't need to be alone anymore, she didn't need to shelter herself from other people, she didn't need to be the tough on her own because with her family by her side she will always be Strong Enough.
