No One's P.O.V.-
"She won't remember you. You know that, right?" A brief pause. "Yes." "So why? What makes her so damn special?" No reply.
Fourteen Years Ago:
A young man with long, light brown hair sat on the steps of the Vincigliata in Florence. He had snuck in yet again, being thin and petit enough to do so. The city was unusually crowded due to a Rock Zilla concert. He personally had no taste for the music and wanted to go somewhere where he could sit in peace. Being a child assassin was draining on the nerves.
While sitting amongst the various flowers, gently twirling one in his hand, he heard the sound of something, or someone off in the distance. Glancing up, he was surprised to see this small child- this tiny toddler- making her way over to him. Her feet faltered, it was clear that she hadn't been walking for long. She watched her little feet the whole way, careful not to stumble. Surprise turned to curiosity as he observed the tiny creature. She appeared to be alone, there was no one else around. It was just the two of them there in the castle gardens, so it seemed.
The longer he watched her, the more susceptible his feel his emotions grow. This little person, this small thing was a human being; he couldn't wrap his head around that for some reason. She was nothing be a bundle of potential- she'd grow up, probably move, meet someone, and get married. She hadn't even looked up at him and he already planned out her whole life. He felt his heart constrict a tad; his eyes softened onto her little figure. Children…. They almost didn't seem human; they seemed like something else entirely. Something much more pure and innocent; almost too good for this ugly, ugly world…
The boy didn't know what to think when she finally reached him. With no sense of personal barriers, she grabbed onto his knee and straightened herself up slightly. Then she looked up at him with the biggest, most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen. There was something about those eyes….. He recognized that immediately. It's like they were seeing right through into his soul, his very essence.
His thin, pale lips parted a little in awe as he stared down at her transfixed. He'd heard rumors and stories about it before but he never thought he'd see it for himself. This girl- this beautiful, beautiful thing- had the sight. She could see…. He slowly began to comprehend what he was witnessing. She could see…..
Gently, very gently, her hand reached over to wrap itself around his forefinger. In that moment, he felt a little disgusted with himself; something so pure was touching something so tainted. But she didn't seem deterred, as she just stared up at him with those big, big eyes. The children stayed like that, staring aimlessly into each other's wide gazes, like they were soaking the other in. Eventually the boy smiled- the first real smile he could remember.
Slowly his head bent down until their foreheads were pressing together; he made sure not to push too much so to set her off balance. And for those few precious moments, he held her tiny hand back. She won't remember this, he thought as his eyes gently shut. She won't remember me, or this garden, or that she has the vision….. All of that will disappear with time. But right now; right now she has….. "You can see the light," he said in the kindest, most profound way.
They stayed like that for a long minute until he eventually pulled away. Still smiling, he reached behind him to pick a sprig of lavender and handed it to the girl. She held it eagerly and gave him a happy expression. This only widened his own smile. Not in a hurry to do anything, he was just going to sit there with her until a voice broke the peaceful silence. "Babycakes! Babycakes, where are you?!"
The girl immediately turned to the side and started making her way down the path, still clenching the lavender in her hand. She gave one last look to the boy, adding the sweetest smile he'd ever seen. Then she disappeared behind a hedge, never to be seen again. His smile began to fade as he stared off down the path she vanished on. Then, very slowly, his eyes returned to his hand; the one she touched. He knew she saw; she saw but didn't understand. How could she? She was only a child. Still…. His jaw clenched a little. I wish she hadn't seen that.
Present Day (still no one's P.O.V.)-
The tall man with dark brown hair stood in Shredder's waiting area. He wasn't used to being told to wait but decided not to address it; his new boss seemed moronic enough, why go shaking waters? The door eventually opened and Tiger Claw stepped out. "Are you Micheletto?" He nodded, not verbally responding. "Come with me."
The mutant tiger ledge Micheletto down the hall to Shredder's personal layer; he was already waiting inside for them, gazing out the window with his hands clasped behind his back. "Micheletto, sir," Tiger Claw offered as an introduction. Shredder just looked at the man, scanning him up and down with a hint of curiosity. "Are you Micheletto, the legendary assassin of Florence?" "Yes." "Yes "sir"!" Tiger Claw corrected angrily. Micheletto didn't seem the least bit intimidated, peering over at him as if he was more of an annoyance than threat. "Enough, Tiger Claw," Shredder held out his hand, impressed by the man's indifferent reaction.
"Why have you hired me?" Micheletto didn't see the point in making small talk; he was here on a mission. The sooner he got it done, the sooner he could back to Italy. "I contracted you because you're the best assassin in Europe and there's this little pest problem I need you to take care of." "You summoned me here to exterminate some vermin?" This did irritate the great assassin, who wasn't afraid to show it in his expression. "I assure you, these are more than mere vermin," Shedder said with severity.
"There are four mutant turtles in the city." "Turtles? You want me to assassinate turtles?" "No; even I know they are no match for you, but they are being trained by someone. My old foe, Hamato Yoshi, otherwise known as Splinter. You were outrageously expensive to hire and since your boss charges by the body, I will leave the turtles to my other men. But I want you to find and kill Hamato. Give him the information, Tiger Claw," Shredder then addressed to his second in command. Without a word, the tiger handed him a file full of details on Splinter. After a quick once over, Micheletto shut the file.
"Alright, this shouldn't take more than a week." "Good, I expect to see some evidence when the job is done." "I'll see," Micheletto shut the file away in his side bag. Tiger Claw and Shredder looked at each other before the latter turned back to the assassin. "There's one more thing I want you to do for me. My sources indicate that there's someone living in the city with psionics. We haven't identified who it is besides the fact that they're human; from what we can tell, their powers have been dormant for many years. But those abilities are valuable to me. I want you to find the person and bring them back to me- alive." "I see, so you want me to go after someone who has "the sight"?" "I don't care what you call it in Italy. Just find me the one who can see the light."