"Karai?" Leonardo spoke softly while carefully leaning forward. Her frightened expression made him wince. Not knowing exactly what to do, he patiently waited for her. The humanoid serpent cornered herself, hugging her knees as she sat between the box crates. The brightness of her jade colored eyes illuminated from the darkness of the night sky. The supple waves of the ocean paced the same rhythm as their breathing; long and even. He reached out to her, only to make her flinch at the contact.

"Nooo," Karai whimpered. "Please, just leave me." Her constricted eyes darted anywhere but him as she hugged herself tighter. From his crouching position, he sat on his knees, waiting.

"I'm not going to leave you. I'll stay here all night if I have to." Finally, she lifted her gaze, wide green eyes meeting small blue. "Let me." The tenderness in his voice made her fearful. She didn't want to embrace him, because of the potentiality of harming him. Her mind hasn't yet been fully intact, in which her transformation from serpent to human has created discomfort and distress. Karai shook her head before interlacing her fingers.

"I'm...afraid," she admitted while glancing back down. "I'm scared that I might...hurt you." Leo frowned.

"I know you won't ever do that." Quickly, her fingers clutched the straps that ran across his plastron.

"You don't know that!" Hesitantly, her hands ran down the buckle while staring at the soft indents and scratching of his shell. "I'm not sure what I'm capable of anymore." Just before her hands fell, his thick fingers grabbed them. She gasped at the sudden touch and looked up.

"I know you, Karai. You aren't capable of hurting the ones you care about." Trying to unlatch away from him, he only held her tighter. "Don't run away from me, please." His face lowered until he brushed his forehead against the tiny coils of her cheek while her eyes watered when noticing his sincere tone. Leo finally let go of her, but continued to stare deeply. Karai blinked a few times prior to raising her right hand, inching close to his face. He refrained from urging and rushing her, afraid of making her run off. Instead, his hands rested on the wooden floorboard of the docks as he kept still. Leo sensed her desperate silent plea as her hand continued to get closer.

Her mouth slightly ajar, enough to reveal her sharp fangs, irises showcasing the tiny glimmer and golden specks spread across. He knew that she was still there, somewhere, and believed that she could fight this. Karai sucked in a breath through the silence of the night, making him inch just a bit closer, wanting to listen in.

"Save me," she whispered before her tears trickled onto the back of his hands.