Author's Notes: Here we go! Another chapter...speaking of which...I'll have to speed up writing...I'm maybe 3 more ahead (which is strange for me...usually it's at least 5) :o
Disclaimer: I own what I own and don't own what I don't own :P (aka Violet + Plot + Guest = mine!)
Chapter 16: Parenthood
"You've all let your training slip, haven't you?" the cloaked figure suddenly speaks.
I manage to force myself into a sitting position as they move the tessen away from me.
"Now where is he? Where is Splinter?" they ask suddenly.
Raph moves over and pulls me up off the floor. "Why would we tell you?"
I freeze, realization creeping in. I know that voice!
"Mum?!" I say in disbelief, shocking everyone else but Mikey.
"WHAT?!" Raph grabs me by the shoulders, "What do you mean?"
Mikey steps in. "Well…uh…" he hesitates.
The cloaked figure comes over and moves Raph's hands off my shoulders. "Calm down Raphael"
This sets him off more. "How the fuck do you know my name?" he demands angrily.
I back off slightly, only to see Raph scolded. "Language! Where did you learn such…vile words?"
Raph manages to answer with a confused "Huh?"
They remove their cloak, revealing their soft grey fur, black kimono, and long fluffy tail to my brothers.
"Welcome back, Master" I bow to her quickly.
She returns the bow but continues to inspect the others. Mikey quickly bows as she approaches him.
"It is good to see you again Michelangelo." She smiles to him.
"Um…" Don steps forward shyly. "Stupid question…but who are you?"
I rush forward, "Guys…this is my Master Keiko…our…uh…mum…" My voice kind of trails off as I speak, unsure how they'll react to this information.
In the past, I've told my brothers about Keiko, but never a physical description or family matters…her and Splinters requested I didn't, so I obliged.
"Are you sure?" Leo asks me quickly.
I nod briskly.
"All of you boys have grown since last I saw you". The only one she'd seen recently was Mikey when she picked me up.
"We've met?" Raph asked, still kind of dazed.
She chuckles again. "Of course, you were down here though" she holds her hand at the height of her hips.
I glance at Don; he's shaking slightly. Parental matters upset him at the moment, especially because of the Splinters thing…but he's blocking his emotions from me again.
Keiko notices and approaches him slowly. "Donatello, what's wrong?" she brushes his cheek with her furry paw. I suspect she may be able to read his emotions anyway; she's more in tune with her empathy than I am.
He remains quiet.
She suddenly embraces him, humming a tune quietly as he cuddles into her soft fur. I see a small amount of realisation creep onto his face.
"I…I…know that song…" he mutters slowly.
"I used to sing it to you when you got scared" Keiko moves away from him, giving him a small smile.
He frowns somewhat. "I think I remember…you used to cradle me…singing gently to calm me"
She nods to him, bringing her gaze to the other two uncertain brothers. Leo merely stands silently, patiently and furthermore, calmly. Raph on the other hand looks freaked out, and very confused.
"You never did let yourself get close to me" she speaks directly to Raph. "You were worried I'd take Splinters away from whence I came"
He shakes his head. "I don't…"
She looks at him fully. "You loved me, but you also didn't want to trust me"
He closes his eyes, obviously trying to remember.
"Do you recall what I always said though?"
He goes to say no but then instead says, "The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them"
She turns back to Leo. "And that leaves you Leonardo."
He doesn't respond, politely being quiet.
"You were always interested in me, but you would never ask me anything." She stands before him, "You always seemed shy around me"
He swallows before answering. "Well…"
"Relax!" she places a hand on his shoulder, "I'm not going to do anything to you…" she then winks at him, "…at least not yet"
His tenseness leaves, his shoulders slumping slightly. "So…um…Okasama…what brings you here?"
"You don't need to be so formal," she sighs slightly, "I came to find out what has happened to Splinter-san, he disappeared for a while and I couldn't sense him, then a faint feeling returned…almost as if he's here, but isn't"
After a lot of explanations, everyone seems clear on what is going on.
Keiko decides she will stay for a while, at least until she can see Splinters again, but hasn't said much about her plans beyond that. I think she also wants to get us back into daily training sessions again, thinking we're all too unfocused and laid-back right now.
I rest down on my bed, chest rising and falling quickly. Because my brothers went out to get more data bits, Keiko decided to do some sparring with me…the joy.
She was impressed by how much I'd improved since she last saw me, but she said me and my brothers had been neglecting our training too much recently.
I stare up at the ceiling, thinking about everything that's happened recently.
Mikey flops down next to me after a few minutes, kind of startling me. "You okay?" he smiles to me.
I grin, "Maybe…"
"Oh really?" He gives a smirk and brings himself up so he's pinning me down somewhat.
I yawn, "You'll have to convince me Mr. Knight…"
"Is there any other way to play this game?" he asks me cheekily.
"Good enough" I half shrug, quickly pulling him towards myself.
We both laugh together for a brief moment before the real fun begins.
Someone shakes me lightly, waking me up. With a groan, I look up to see my oldest brother, Leo.
"What is it?" I ask, sitting up, feeling a little groggy.
"We need you." He sounds serious, so I jump up as fast as I can.
"Okay" I nod to my brother then follow him, picking up my tessen on the way out.
It's then explained to me that the Cyber Shredder has taken over all computer networks, so the city is in chaos. We all get into the Battle Shell, Raph and Casey on their own motorcycles, and head to the city central mainframe. Keiko stays at home with Serling, obviously using this almost like a training exercise for us to see if we have let our training slip like she has previously suggested.
Mikey sits close to me in the back, with Leo driving and April and Don working up front, we're practically alone. He's pretty quiet though.
"Nervous?" I ask, knowing full well that he is.
He sighs, "Maybe a little, but more for you"
"Me? Mikey, I'll be okay! I promise!"
We exchange a smile when we hear Leo yell from the front "Hold on!"
Next thing we know, the truck is on its side and we all have to climb out. Mikey helps me up from the floor…well, side of the truck and gets me to clamber out first.
As we gather outside with everyone else, Leo quickly ushers us to the closest manhole. "Hurry up, this way! The streets are too dangerous!"
We all jump down into the sewers and start our walk towards the mainframe building.
"Anyone else hear that?" Raph asks as a low rumbling noise surfaces, gradually getting louder.
We all turn to find a tidal wave of water coming at us! We begin to run, but are soon forced to dive under as it surrounds us. We swim to the next manhole cover, climbing back onto the streets soaked and gasping for breath. Luck must be on our side though, because we've come out in front of the central mainframe building.
"Quick! There's no time to lose!" Don raises his voice as we begin to run.
As we enter, Leo reminds us Khan and the foot could be anywhere. Gradually sneaking forward, we find ourselves approaching the central terminal when all of a sudden Khan jumps out, shortly followed by a bunch of foot ninjas.
"It's over Khan! Release the city!" Leo orders as he raises his katana.
"It is not his to release!" The Shredder comes forward, surprising all of us.
Mikey looks confused and worried now. "He escaped out of cyberspace?"
"But how?" Leo demands.
Raph steps forward stubbornly. "Who cares? Now we can put the hurt on him for real!"
"I have long waited for this moment. Destroy them!" The Shredder raises his hand and all the foot cronies run at us.
I pull out my tessen and quickly flick them open, attacking the few nearest me. One jumps at me, so I leap up and kick him away. As I land, I feel a little woozy, but I shake it off as more run at me. I hold my open tessen as if they're running at it, then flick it closed as they approach, jumping and hitting them with it while it's folded, knocking them unconscious.
As we clear the room of Khan and his cronies, we are led to attack the Shedder while April works on cleansing the system.
"You never should've left cyberspace!" Raph growls and attacks him at the same time as Leo.
We all follow as he backs off, Leo and Raph being forced to the floor. Mikey throws an exploding shuriken at him that lodges in the floor and forces him to go flying into the room behind.
"After him!" Leo stands up again.
All of us run into the next room, Don quickly telling us it's a back-up power station. I look wearily at the floor below; we are on a high ledge above all the generators that are sparking dangerously. I shiver as I think about the time I was forced into a ships control panel that was sparking similarly…which didn't exactly end too well.
I quicken my pace, as my brothers and Casey are now quite a way ahead of me. It's then when the Shredder jumps out and knocks Casey to the edge.
We all attack, Don being knocked down pretty quickly, groaning in his half-conscious state. Leo is next, quickly followed by Raph. Mikey looks almost terrified, so I jump at the Shredder, holding on tight as I grab round his neck, trying to pull him down.
I catch Mikey's glance before being thrown off, his eyes are full of worry…for me. I land easily onto the ground and grab my tessen, attacking once more. I attempt to block each deadly slash from his gauntlets with them, just about managing. As I block one particularly strong blow with a folded tessen, he laughs at me.
"What's so funny Shred-" I'm cut off as a spike comes out from between the blades of his gauntlet, stabbing my wrist somewhat. "Sh…shit!" I gasp as I pull away quickly.
Before I can react, he kicks me in the stomach, which is suddenly surprisingly tender for me, and I slide across the floor in defeat, unable to get up from lack of energy.
"And then there was one!" I hear him gloat as I close my eyes sleepily.
Eventually, I hear an explosion and re-open my eyes, trying to regain myself somewhat. I sit up and flinch with pain as the area he kicked hurts again. I ignore it and stand, looking at the small cut on my wrist he caused.
I approach my brothers slowly, Mikey checking me over quickly, full of worry again.
I wave him away and smirk. "I'm fine, honest"
He smiles and soon, we are running from the building, disappearing into the shadows like we used to, all so we can avoid the cops.
A couple of days pass, I find myself at home, practically alone. Mikey and Raph went somewhere; I vaguely recollect Mikey talking about a comic book convention he was excited about last night while I was trying to sleep. Meanwhile, Don and Leo are off getting more pieces of Master Splinter's data bits, Keiko is meditating in Splinter's study, and Serling is…well Serling! I have no clue what he does all day!
I haven't been feeling great recently; I think I was badly bruised by the Shredder in that fight because my stomach area has really been hurting! I don't know if it's the pain, but I often feel woozy too.
I walk out of our home, into the sewers, slowly making my way to Leatherhead's lab. I haven't seen him for a while and I need his help.
I've been in all this pain recently, but I don't want to worry Don…and I need to find out something else too. I've just been worrying about everything! I can't help it though…
As I enter slowly, I call out nervously. "LH? You here?"
"Violet?" I hear someone scrabble up onto their feet somewhere out of view. Soon I find him approaching, beaming happily at me. "I haven't seen you for quite a long period of time"
I hug him quickly. "I know! And I've missed you too" I grin, reading his emotions easily. I sigh somewhat, "But right now, I…I need your help"
I tell him of the fight and the pain. He questions me and I answer, very basic diagnostic skills really.
"I'd like to x-ray you just to be safe" he explains to me how it could have damaged my plastron or something. I agree.
After a little while, I sit and await the results he's processing. I bite my lip in anticipation, rubbing the sore area to try soothing it.
Leatherhead appears from the side room again, smiling warmly. "Violet, nothing is wrong with you. You're perfectly healthy"
"But…the pains?"
"Violet, you're currently gravid, it's probably mild bruising like you thought. You're body is just compensating for it"
I am horribly confused. "Gravid? What? I don't know if I should be overjoyed or insulted…"
His smile is very friendly, and his emotions are all positive, but what is he trying to tell me? What?
He chuckles slightly. "Violet, you should be happy, gravid means you're pregnant"
I freeze again like last time this happened. Did he really just say that to me? I'm not dreaming, the pain is real…oh boy…
"I'm…" I can't finish my own sentence.
He merely nods, producing the x-ray he took, showing me the egg that showed up.
I'm glad I'm already sitting down…otherwise I think I would have collapsed. I am happy…but I'm panicking too! How the hell can I just tell the others? Should I just walk up to them as a group and go "Oh well, Mikey got me knocked up and now I'm carrying our child, hooray!"
I think Leatherhead senses the torment. "Violet…I'm sure your family will be overjoyed for you and Michelangelo"
"Thanks LH" I smile to him as brightly as I can.
I chat for a while about our adventures in the future and cyberspace before leaving back for the lair.
As I walk through the sewers, one thing comes to mind. "Ugh…I'm going to have to watch my diet" I pull a face as I continue down the path.