Sons of the Saints
His back hurt. His front hurt. His head, chin, feet, stomach. They all hurt.
At least his hands where numb by now, even if they where hard to move. He could barely feel anything at all in them. If he died, would the pain would stop all together? In that case, he should just stay still. Actually, it probably didn't matter at this point. This was as deep shit as one could get into.
So he didn't move, just barely opening his dark, muddy eyes as he looked up at the young man in the police-cadet uniform standing over him, sword in hand. The old man's subjugator pressed the tip of the shining blade harshly against the vein in his neck.
"I'll teach you to steal old man! Say your last prayers!"
What god would hear them? he wondered silently. Better not bother, in case the gods were angered by his plea. He was, after all, just a rat in human skin.
As the sword rose to the dark night sky, a scream was heard from the backdoor of the main house. A woman's voice.
"NO! NAGI, DON'T!"
A young girl, fifteen or sixteen years of age with long thick hair, a round face, and wearing a blue and white kimono rushed out to stop the young man. She pushed him aside and kneeled down in the dirt beside the older man, the one who had tried to take the bunch of vegetables she had left out by the door.
"You poor thing. You look absolutely famished! Come inside, I'll make you something warm to eat. Can you stand? Here. Lean on me."
The man was trying to understand the turn of events, though it was more difficult than expected. He couldn't remember the last time someone had spoken so kindly to him. But then again, he could not remember much of anything.
"Are you insane Shen?!" the man called Nagi cried angrily. "He's a criminal, not some stray puppy!"
The young woman's eyes snapped and burned fiercely at the young cadet as she put the old man's arm around her shoulders to support him.
"I remember what it was like to starve, Nagi, even if you do not! Not everyone is as blessed as we are! Either move out of the way or help!"
The heavily muscled youngster chose to move, swaying a bit in indecision. His eyes were cast low, unable to meet the girl's steady gaze. Shen moved past him without another word. The old thief found him self herded into the kitchen, seated at a low, steady table and served a bowl of hot stew and rice. He hesitated for a second, looking up through the graying strains of dirty hair that covered his face. Then, as she smiled at him, he dove at the hot food, gulping it down almost faster then he could chew. The girl, Shen, laughed and filled his bowl a second time, assuring him that the meat he swallowed so desperately was quite dead and would not run away, even if he took his time eating.
"Besides, I find it most rewarding seeing people enjoy my cooking," she laughed. "So please, chew before you swallow."
The second helping took a bit longer, and the worst of his hunger stilled as Shen's gentle words calming him. He tried to ignore the icy stare of the young man, Nagi, who was seated on a chair by the door, his katana resting over his lap. There was something not quite right about him, something the old man could not put his finger on, but it was little use to ponder over that now. Better just eat while he was allowed.
As he wiped up the last grains of rice with his hashi, there was noise outside the sliding paper door. With a loud bam it slid open and another teenager, this one a bit older than Nagi and also donning in a cadet's uniform, entered the kitchen. His eyebrows arched up as he looked upon the strange scene in the room; Shen serving a strange old man and his friend Nagi in a foul mood. The older boy he smiled a half smile and sat down across the table from the stranger.
"Good evening, ojiisan. I presume you are a friend of Shen's."
"You presume too much, my brother." Nagi's voice cracked in anger. "That is nothing but a lowly thief that should have been tossed out on the street, not served dinner!"
Shen glared some more at Nagi before she took the old man's now empty bowl.
"As I said before and will say again, I have not forgotten what it was like to starve."
"Nor have I…Stay as long as you like, ojiisan. May I ask your name? Watashi no namae wa Hamato Yoshi desu. I am Hamato Yoshi. Pleased to meet you."
The old man gulped and returned the little bow, trying to straighten out his dirty, worn haori.
"I'm afraid I have no name to offer you in return. I never knew it. People call me Nezumi, the rat."
The young man Yoshi made a surprised face for the second time that night, then smiled and reached out to take the old rat's hand.
"They should call you splinter. Whatever have you done to your hands?"
The man looked down on his numb hands, filled with tiny needles of wood and covered with dirt and contusions.
"I ran, there was a wooden fence, I climbed it and ended up like this…"
"OH, MY!"
Shen had noticed the condition of her guest's hands. In her generous nursing spirit she immediately started digging through the cupboards in search of the first-aid kit. Nagi grunted and stood as he stood, disgusted, kicking open the door and stepping outside.
"I'm going home!" He cried with a last defiant air of righteousness. "This is madness. Do not blame me when he slits your throats in your sleep!"
"Nagi, That was rude! Hasn't Saki oniisan taught you any manners?"
Nagi just grunted again and slammed the door shut. Yoshi sighed and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, ojiisan" Yoshi offered a tiny seated bow. "…He has been on edge ever since he was taken in by the Oroku household. Before that he lived here with us. I suppose he is still trying to adapt…I apologize."
The old man waved it off. He had been put through worse treatment for less. It would not haunt him.
"I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. Being so rude to an elderly…"
Shen sat herself down beside the old rat, laying a towel in her lap and placing his hands upon it. Then, she took out a pair of tweezers and smiled a bit at him.
"Just hold still ojiisan, I'll fix your hands for you."
He gave a faint smile back and turned his hands, palm up. She turned them back and he turned them again.
"I can not fix you if I can't see what I'm doing!"
"I can't touch a young woman's legs in such a familiar way!"
She sighed, rolling her eyes, and placed his hands palm down firmly, grabbing his wrist and yanking out the splinters with a look of steel.
"Turn the other hand if you like, but I have to see where these splinters are if I'm ever to get them out!"
Yoshi had been watching the whole struggle without a word, chin in his hand, a thought forming in his mind. When it was done he stood and turned to the door.
"Excuse me Shen, Splinter-ojiisan, I'll be back. I just have to ask father something!"
"Ah! Don't take long Yoshi! You haven't eaten yet!"
"It won't, I promise!"
With that he was gone. The old man looked after him, pondering a bit over the new nick-name he had received. Soon enough, Shen deemed his hands free from wood and proceeded to wash, disinfect, and bandage them. As she was fastening the last one, Yoshi returned with a short white-haired man beside him. Shen bowed and greeted him as "Otousan," Father. Splinter understood that this was indeed the head of the household. He bowed in tandem with Shen.
"My son tells me you are a thief" the man said, addressing his words to Splinter. "Shen took pity on you and let you in to have some food and to heal your wounds, is that correct?"
"Hai, Hamato-san. That is correct."
The white-haired man eyed him, stroking his long mustache. He was really short, probably a full head shorter then Splinter, who was no where near tall.
"You have a very polite way of speaking, Nezumi-san."
"I find that people will not despise me so much when I address them this way…Sir."
"I see…In any case, my son proposed to me that we take you in, as a helper, mind you. He has just joined the police-school, and can no longer help Shen out around the house during the day. Will you take his place in this?"
Splinter's head jolted up, surprise and shock written all over his face.
"Y-you would take me in just like that? Even though I'm nothing but a thief and a vagabond?"
The old man smiled and winked at him.
"My son was nothing but a beggar seven years ago. True, he was no thief, but then again he had not lived as long as I suspect you have. If you are willing to work, there is a place for you here."
Splinter cried. For the first time in years he allowed himself to cry in front of strangers. They did not judge him for it as others had. Rather, they accepted him, for they all knew far too well the feeling of such tear-bringing joy.
That night, He laid upon the new futon in the smallest room near the kitchen, feeling fresh and new from the bath and haircut. The look on the kid's faces had been priceless when they saw that he was not yet past forty. He smiled as he remembered. Now, with his stomach full and his hands slowly regaining their dexterity, he smiled as he drifted off into sleep, wondering if that boy, Nagi, hadn't killed him after all. Surely, this must be heaven…
And so his life began. Even though his body was well over thirty, his soul was as new and his mind as blank and eager to learn as a young child's. He arose in the morning before all else, chopped the wood for the bath and the stove, helped Shen make breakfast and pack Yoshi's lunchbox before moving on to what ever other job needed be done throughout the day. Both the adolescents asked him lots of questions about his past, listening to his answers and respecting his silence alike.
About a month after his "birth" he began learning ninjutsu.
At first he had just done it purely for the fun, just to see if he could. When Yoshi was practicing in the dojo, Splinter would sweep the porch outside. He'd glance in and sometimes mimic the moves he observed. The sweeping collided with Yoshi's training sessions more and more often, though soon little actual cleaning was done. Splinter made sure to be quiet on the squeaky floorboards, not wanting to disturb the young master's training, and watched eagerly as the young man went from punch, to kick, to jump, to duck.
Little did he know he himself was being observed. The head of the house, who was called Furuino; the Ancient One, had a good view from his study, and was intrigued by what he saw.
Naturally, he told his son to start teaching their new helper a few moves.
"See if he has any talent or if he's just good at mimicking!"
With that said, the old man left the two others alone. Yoshi looked after him, then turned his eyes to the grey-haired man sitting next to him, the hands on his knees shaking and his eyes hidden by his lowered head. The young man sighed and turned slightly so he faced Splinter, stretching out his legs leisurely.
"Why didn't you just come inside?" the young man asked curiously.
"I…Didn't want to disturb you, Master Yoshi."
"You don't have to call me master, you know that."
"Shen may have convinced me not to say her name with honorifics, but, with all due respect, you do not have her talent for persuasion, Master Yoshi."
Yoshi's reply came out somewhere between a sigh and a laugh.
"True, true enough, but to get back to the subject. Do you want to learn ninjutsu? I'm not as good as my father, but I think I can teach you a thing or two."
"I would be honored… It's by the master's orders…"
Yoshi sighed again and shook the older male by the shoulders.
"Splinter, please! Just this once, look at me and tell me what YOU want!"
Splinter did look at him, but was mute from surprise, eyes wide in question. They grew even wider when the teenager, desperate for finality about the rat's feelings, suddenly hugged him close.
"Just this once, please be selfish! You always act as if we would hate you if you asked for anything. Do you really think so little of us? We're your family!"
Such displays of affection were still something he was getting used to, and this was the first embrace he could remember. Naturally. Splinter froze like a scared rabbit, not really knowing what to do. Was it really okay? Was he allowed to be more then a shadow in this house? Was it really alright for him to think of them as family? To consider this a home? Was he really entitled to breathe?
"What is it that YOU want Splinter?"
Well if it was a dream, might as well dream it to its end.
"I would very much like to learn ninjutsu from you, Master Yoshi."
Yoshi let him go suddenly, shocked that the old man had actually replied in such a warm tone (even if he never cut the whole the "master" thing). Splinter was usually more hesitant and servile with his voice, but this time he had spoken more as a friend then as a servant. It made Yoshi smile.
"There we go. Then let's go through a bit of the basics before dinner, shall we?"
Splinter noticed that the more familiarly he spoke, the more the teenagers smiled. The rat stopped distancing himself from them, if only to see them happy. It was a bit weird, feeling like a little brother to them when he was twice their age, but it mattered little. For the first time ever, he was happy, and people where happy because of him.
The real proof of this his new life came at the next New Years in the form of a paper placed in front of him as they all had finished eating.
"Ha-ma-to…Splin-ter…?"
"You are now officially part of the family register," the Ancient One stated genially "I had Yoshi pick up the paperwork last week. Thought it would make a good gift."
Splinter still stared at the paper, wondering if he had misread it. The kanji still blurred and danced in front of his eyes before he was able to harness their meaning, but no matter how he tried to rephrase it, it came out the same. He was a part of this family, now and until the day he died. He had a name now; two, even! Suddenly, it started to feel less and less like a dream, and more like reality. This was not something that would end when he woke up. It was real.
"I would have put you down as Nezumi, but none of us have called you that in months. I hope you don't mind."
"N-no…I…"
He had to clear his throat, only now realizing that his eyes where clouding up again.
"I prefer Splinter. It's the name my… My family gave me."
So years passed. Yoshi and Nagi graduated, and even with his esteemed job as a police officer, Yoshi still made time to met with Nagi's adoptive brother, Saki. The two of them started making plans; plans to get their country out of the backwaters, plans to connect with America, to make their homeland grow. Soon enough, Yoshi quit the police force despite the many rewards and promotions he had been given, and threw himself into the world of trading. The ancient one helped both his son and Oroku Saki, giving them both advice and generous gifts of finances.
On her twentieth birthday, Shen was proposed to by Yoshi. She accepted.
They got married in the spring. Oroku Saki attended the ceremony. Nagi did not.
The same day that Splinter realized that it must be soon fifteen years since he had moved in, Shen got sick. All over the kitchen.
She was rushed to the hospital by her husband, almost as ill with worry. Splinter following with a bag of spare clothes. When he got there he paused at the door to Shen's sanitized room, slightly worried by the shocked look on Yoshi's face as he stared at his wife's lowered head. She was sitting up in the bed, her hands in her lap and her face hiding in the thick hair flowing down like a waterfall of ink over her shoulders.
"Master Yoshi, Miss Shen? Is everything alright?"
Yoshi held out a hand to say he would reply in a moment, there was just something he had to confirm first. He turned to his wife.
"Are they sure? One hundred percent?"
Shen nodded, a sob escaping her trembling figure.
For a second, Splinter feared the worst.
But all worries where pushed aside as Yoshi let out a joyful scream and swept her up in his arms and started spinning her around, the sheets floating around them like waves on the ocean, laughter filling the room.
"WE'RE GOING TO BE PARENTS! YOU'RE GOING TO BE A MOTHER!"
Splinter dropped the bag, all bad omens forgotten, all worries left behind. The two people he loved the most where going to have a child! A child!
"Yoshi! Hahaha! Yoshi, darling put me down! I'm going to be sick again!"
Despite her threats, Shen was still laughing when she was placed back down on the bed, the sheets in a mess around her legs. Then she was kissed over and over again before Yoshi finally managed to let her go.
"I'll be right back! I'm just going to call father! And Saki and Nagi! And…EVERYONE! Wait right here! I'll be right back!"
Then he flew out the room, giving Splinter a spinning hug in the process, disappearing in a cloud of laughter and joy.
Splinter smiled after him, then proceeded to help Shen straighten out the bed and change into her own yukata. It took a lot of tissues before she had cried out all her tears of happiness. Over and over again, she kept thanking him for his support.
"Things will probably get a bit tougher on you now," she cautioned him in a semi-firm tone "In a couple of months I'll hardly even be able to move."
"Don't worry Shen, I'll manage. You're the one that will be having it hard, making a miracle like this come true."
"We are so lucky to have you Splinter… Thank you."
"For what?"
She turned to him, the last fluffed pillow placed on the bed.
"For being here… For existing! We couldn't have made it without you."
Being accepted was something he had gotten used to by now. Being an acknowledged part of a family was his life as well. But the feeling of being needed was something he could never fully get used to. It still seemed unreal that people relied upon his existence just to keep going.
He just closed his eyes and shook his head, dissipating the fantasies. They where strong people. They would have found a way even without him.
Shen knew far to well what he was thinking, but she didn't feel like arguing just then. He would understand one day. So, that day she just put her arms around his shoulders and hugged him. When they had first met, they had been about the same height, but now Splinter barely reached her shoulder. So much time had passed already. But then again, they were in no hurry.
"Hey, Shen…"
They both looked at the door, Yoshi startling them with his sudden entrance. He looked at them with that hint of an idea in his eyes. The rigorous run through the hospital seemed to have calmed him down, even if he was literally vibrating from excitement.
"Why don't we have Splinter name the baby?"
"That's such a wonderful idea, darling!"
"What?!"
Yoshi smiled a huge smile and came over to Splinter and Yoshi, placing his arms around the two of them.
"Would you be the godfather of our child Splinter?"
"But…There must be someone better for that job! Ask Nagi-san! Or Oroku-san! Or…"
"Splinter…"
Shen stopped his rambling by placing her hand on his keikogi-clad arm. Even now, as an official member of a wealthy family, he still preferred his clothes in deep browns, almost like monk-robes.
"We're asking you, Splinter. You are the one we want to name this child in my belly. Will you please do us the honor?"
Looking from face to face, he found himself in the familiar position of not being able to turn them both down at the same time. He sighed and surrendered.
"I…I will try to think of a good name…"
As was custom when he submit to the youngster's wills, he was buried under them as they hugged and kissed him with never-ending "thank you"s.
Over the months, Shen's belly grew, a bit more then expected even, and when the time for the first ultrasound came, so did the answer to why.
"HOW many did you say?!"
Shen only smiled at the three men in her life and held up her hand, thumb placed on her palm.
All three of them sat down at the exact same time, all in shock, mouths wide open and eyes going from her hand to the now showing little bulk under her obi.
"You're going to be the father of four, darling."
Yoshi took a deep breath and swallowed. Then he smiled a bit nervously and turned to Splinter.
"Guess you'll have to think of a few more names there, old friend…!"
The Ancient One clapped his hands with a pleased smile.
"This is most fortunate. Soon the house will be full of children again!"
Time kept passing, never stopping for anything or anyone.
With time Shen grew and grew. She developed an appetite for warm cucumbers and soy and her mood would turn in a heartbeat. Splinter found it refreshing to have her raise her voice for once. She was rarely angry at all. It was even more soothing to watch Yoshi calm her down, patient like a tree in a thunderstorm, bending and turning at her every will, but always there to support her when she had used up all her energy.
It was when watching them that Splinter started thinking that having a baby (or in this case, several) was a bit like gardening. You place a seed in the soil, and with just the right amount of nourishment, timing and luck, soon a new life will start to grow. Just as any gardener, the man will have to tend to the earth where he has planted his seed, care for it, nurture it, give it sun and water. It was not something that could be done alone.
But then again, sprouts finding their way up through the dirt was a slow and painless process, much unlike the panicked day when Shen's water broke, two weeks ahead of schedule. Someone (or perhaps all of them) in her body was eager to get out.
That was probably the worst night in Splinter's new life. Not only did he have to sit out in the hallway listening to Shen's pain-filled screams, but he also had to watch Yoshi, his face in his hands, shoulders so tense Splinter partially expected them to snap from the pressure. Those who say that men have it easy have never watched a man in love listen to his wife as she screams in pain and curses him for what he has done to her body, totally incapable of doing anything at all to help her. All he could do was run in and out as she called for him one second only to order him out of her sight the next.
As morning broke in though the windows and filled the rooms with light, the screaming stopped and Splinter and Yoshi were allowed inside. For all the pain and suffering that had happened during the night, there was even more love and joy now in the morning sun. Splinter's worst night was just the preview for one of his happiest memories. Even after years to come, the image of Yoshi sitting on Shen's bed, both arms occupied by the tiniest little creatures would never leave Splinter's heart. Yoshi's smile matched only by Shen's as she held the other two small bundles close to her body. That image, that memory, was the warmest and brightest moment of the old man's life.
Even if the little boys where born early, and even quadruplets tend to be a bit frail at birth, the newest additions to the Hamato house were strong. They made it through their time at the hospital without any complications and soon enough they where all released to go home.
Shen had specifically asked Splinter and Yoshi to make a big crib.
"My sons will not be separated. If that was the case they would have come one at the time. These four will stay together, now and always!"
Neither of the men could find anything to say to that, so a big crib was made and the brothers slept side by side during their first time out in the world.
Splinter would be stand over them in the dead of the night, looking at their faces, names running through his mind like water, unable to catch one with his hands, let alone four. These where the most precious things. The most important existences in his world. Shen and master Yoshi where strong and could live on their own, but these little ones couldn't even sit up by themselves. The need to protect them grew in him every day.
He ended up looking through the books The Ancient One had given him for studying (after all, he didn't want an unschooled family member) in search for names to suit them, names that where strong yet gentle, new, yet filled with ancient blessings. Most importantly of all; names that fit together! Shen had a point. If the four could have lived separately, they would have been able to wait, but they needed to be together, so he had to find something.
Finally, he did.
"I knew you'd find something. I new it."
Splinter smiled and looked down at the four boys, wobbling around and poking at the brothers next to them. Yoshi and Shen stood on the other side of the crib, the proud grandfather by their side. He gulped.
"I don't know if they are good names, but I give them to you with my blessings…"
He reached down and stroke the one he knew was the oldest over the soft hair, the one whose eyes already seemed sharp as daggers.
"I give you the name Leonardo, after the man who never feared a challenge and never gave up on his ideals or beliefs."
Yoshi looked a bit surprised at the choice to give them western names, but he did not disapprove. On the contrary, this was better then anything he could have given his sons. So he smiled wider as Splinter let his fingers be caught by the boy with the darkest curls.
"I name you Raphael, after the master who could bend even the hardest rock into looking as soft as silk with a touch of his hands."
Shen giggled, remembering telling Splinter which of her sons had the hardest grip. The boy's godfather moved on to the one whose eyes where darting all over the room, curious as ever over his surroundings.
"I name you Donatello, After he who took what knowledge there was in the past and made a way for the future, never thinking of what was impossible."
The Ancient One smiled as big as he could, his round cheeks almost folding into themselves as he peeked over the edge of the crib down on the last little boy who was busy sucking his toes.
"And you; you I name Michelangelo. The name of a man who was never beaten, whose imagination placed him apart from all others and who saw the sky as his only limit."
Splinter looked up at the parents, a bit worried that the names had not been good. But he relaxed as he saw the beaming smiles on the other side.
"Leave it to Splinter to find the perfect names for our boys, huh love?"
"Mh! Never doubted him for a second, darling!"
"Better names are hard to find! You did an excellent job, Splinter-san!"
All he could do was smile and look down at the small lives whom he had just given names, all his words spent. Yoshi patted him on the shoulder, content. If there was a person in the world who knew what importance a name held, Splinter was the one. He knew what a blessing it was to have one, and he would never have wasted it.
Oroku Saki came by the day after to have a look at the offspring of his partner.
"Western names? And for the Great Masters none the less! What an idea! But I'll agree, it might suit them. People have a way of growing into their names, after all."
This was the first in a long time that Splinter had been in the same room as Saki for a substantial period of time, and somehow it left a bitter taste in the back of his mouth. It seemed both Saki and Nagi had the same oddities about them, something that just didn't sit well with Splinter. It was something about the way Saki looked at the crib that just made Splinter want to step between them. It was the same with how Nagi looked at Shen, but still different.
"Perhaps you're setting a good example for me, Yoshi my old friend. Perhaps I should make a business of settling down myself. Children are such a blessing, after all."
The younger of the two partners patted his friend's back, a big smile on his face, the total opposite of the stone-faced man.
"I keep telling you! You and Nagi both!"
The smile Saki gave to this comment made Splinter absolute sure never to let him near the boys. It send chills down his spine.
"Yes… I'll tell Nagi to hurry up and find the girl of his dreams."
Splinter couldn't sleep that night. There was a cold, iron hand around his heart, making him sick with worry. He was sure now.
The Oroku family is dangerous… They are not to be trusted…
Time passed faster then ever. Soon the little cherub-like babies started developing more and more personal attributes. They made noises that started to sound like words and just as Shen had predicted they could hardly stand to be apart for long periods of time. Particularly Raphael and Michelangelo where hard to keep apart, since Raph would start screaming and Mikey would whine to the point of almost crying when separated.
Before he knew it, Splinter was cleaning up after their first birthday-party. The little ones where asleep in their usual pile and Shen had collapsed in the tea-room, accompanied by Yoshi, who served tea to her and his father. Splinter had assured them that he could handle straightening up the garden by himself, prepared to do anything just to get Shen to relax after running around all day. He was just taking down the last lanterns when he saw a quick shadow disappear over the wall. He didn't call out. Years of training under Yoshi's strict watch were finally paying off. He dropped the cable on the soft moss and made his way over to the wall quickly and without making a single sound. His greatest talents had always been stealth and precision. He jumped the wall in a way that seemed impossible for a man of almost fifty, and looked around for any movement.
He spotted the shadow almost instantly, moving away with high speed. He didn't follow for two reasons. One; the person had not done anything (that he knew of), and two; He didn't want to have to explain to his family why he had been gone. They would just worry. But there was something familiar over the shadows movements. Something frighteningly familiar.
It wasn't until two days after that he figured out who it had been. It was Yoshi's strange conversation that had started the train of thoughts that connected the dots in his brain.
"I know it must be a burden on you but…"
"No! No, it's not a burden! But why?"
Yoshi sighed, an unfamiliar worried look on his face. No, not worried. Worse. Afraid.
"I… I just have to make sure that nothing happens to them…"
"What would happen? Why are you so scared, Master Yoshi? And surely, there are people better fit to be the boys' guardian?"
Yoshi shook his head firmly.
"I have talked this over with Shen and father. Should anything happen to me and her, you will be the guardian of the kids."
Splinters hands crumbled the edges of the official documents that stated the same thing Yoshi had just said.
"Why are you so afraid? What will happen?"
Yoshi placed his hands on the old man's shoulders, gripping them so tightly that Splinter had bruises for days afterwards. Their eyes met and there was a bottomless fear in Yoshi's eyes, but also determination. Taking him down would be hard. It had always been.
"Don't let Saki anywhere near my sons."
So he had been right. Oroku was a threat. Splinters resolve hardened with the thought. He placed his hands on Yoshi's arms and nodded.
"I will not let anyone harm them. Ever."
Two nights after that conversation, the police knocked on the door. It was in the dead of the night, the rain heavy in the air. As soon as he opened the door and saw the faces of Yoshi's old comrades on the force, Splinter knew his world had changed forever. He knew it would be raining for a long time.
It was still raining at the funeral. It had been almost a week because the police had wanted to investigate the reason why Oroku Nagi would have seemingly driven his oldest friends off the road. However, little evidence could be found, for all parts involved in the accident had met their end in the cold dark water under the bridge
Splinter had yet to cry. The Ancient One had collapsed with grief, unable to handle the loss of all three of his foster-children at the same time. Splinter had been dangerously close to doing the same, but he had snapped back when the boys had started crying. They were the only thing that kept him going now.
They can't even sit up on their own. They need food, water, shelter. They needed someone. He had promised, sworn, to care for them. The most precious things in his whole world. He had to protect them.
Saki came the day after the funeral. He had attended, but Splinter had avoided him and urged the Ancient One to go home and rest. Now they stood on opposite sides of the doorframe, like they would do once again in many years to come, the same look of despite in their eyes.
"Must be hard on two old men like you to care for those little ones" Saki said smoothly. "… I'm here to offer my assistance."
"Not needed."
He would not fake politeness with this man any more. Not while Saki could look at his adopted brother's grave with such a look of cold disappointment. The thought turned Splinters stomach.
Had he pushed his own brother to commit murder? Had he planed to kill his friend and partner? It didn't seem too far-fetched when looking into his cold empty eyes.
"My my. Surely the authorities will favor them being raised in a wealthy household by young parents over the thought of leaving them here?"
The raven-haired man made a gesture at the house. It was big, almost too large for one old man to care for. No worries. The Ancient One was as rich as a troll. He could hire any help he needed, and the boys weren't staying anyway.
Splinter had been prepared for this encounter. He pulled out the bunch of papers from his obi and showed them to the much taller man.
"Yoshi's will and testament." He explained to the ominous tycoon. "Shen's says the same. I'm the boy's legal guardian. I say what happens to them now, and I say that you will never, EVER, lay your hands on them! This conversation is over! Please leave!"
The dark eyes dropped below freezing point as Saki narrowed them and glared at the older man.
"I own half of this country by now, and soon I will be unstoppable. You think you can keep them from me?"
"You will never touch them. Master Yoshi has outsmarted you. Give up."
Saki grunted.
"Never!"
"Leave! Or I call the police! The same applies if you should ever return here!"
Saki almost roared as he grabbed Splinters haori and pulled him closer with a hiss.
"I'm not beaten yet, rat! I will win this battle!"
Splinter only clicked his tongue and smirked. Saki growled and pushed him back before turning to leave.
Splinter took the boys on the plane to the States that same night. There was no point in wasting time. Their grandfather stayed behind, unwilling to leave the house filled with memories but understanding the danger of keeping the boys so close to Saki.
It was hard at first, moving in to the new house Yoshi had already bought in New York, but Splinter made it work, for the boys. It wasn't that big, but there was room for a lot of people none the less. Splinter guessed that roughly seven people would fit comfortably. That thought made him a bit happy, and yet a bit sad.
Still, it was hard to feel depressed for long periods of time when surrounded by lively children. All the loss he felt over Shen and Yoshi he found reverting into love when he saw the four boys laugh and grow. It wasn't easy, not even with the support he got from their grandfather, but they soldiered on. When they started calling him dad, even though he had made sure they remembered Yoshi and Shen, he couldn't help but to think this was the last blessing his first friends and family had given him.
"And so, knowing this story, what will you do, Leonardo?"
He looked down on the boys, his sons, and realized they had grown so much. They looked back with wide eyes, the whole truth dawning on them. There had been more to their story then they had ever imagined. Mikey looked close to tears, Don made an almost horrified face, Raph looked like he was about to go berserk, and Leo was completely frozen with what he had just heard.
"Well, Leonardo? Can you still love her, even if she is the daughter of your parents' murderer?"
[CLIFFHANGER!! 8D oh how much you guys hate me now huh?! XP don't worry! This was the hard chapter! I've been through the rest of the story so many times in my head that I'm surprised it hasn't materialized on its own… thanx again to my beta Chao-pal who fixed my lousy japanese and the stuff she usualy does! owe you more pictures of karai, just give me the word hun!XB and remember kids, comments makes Tai type faster! X3]
