A/N: I really gotta flesh out those last four chapters. /sobsob/

D - When you get to this chapter, thanks. It's the start of many talks yet to come between those two. XD

Duckie - As you can see, Coyo has an issue with thinking things through. SMH But enjoy another step forward!

Sciencegal - Laughter is good. We need it to alleviate the heaviness, even if it comes full circle in the end...

CHAPTER 16: CONNECT

Coyolxauhqui inched along the riverbank much like a child who feared they would slip in. "L—Leo?" she asked.

Leonardo plucked a stone from the mud he sat in then skipped it across the river's surface. "Don't you have a meeting?" he countered.

"Oh, uh. Meeting end. Tonalquizca hunt."

"Without you?"

"Coyo stay."

"Obviously."

The woman frowned at the turtle-man's detachment then joined him at an arm's length away. She dug her toes into the moist mud with hopes that he would talk further, yet the longer he remained silent, the louder the rushing water seemed to grow.

"Leo—"

Leo, stone in hand, pointed at the Chieftain. "Don't start."

"Coyo much sorry!"

"Yeah? Do you know how embarrassed I was last night? You left me in the dark, Coyo."

"No; fire make light."

The turtle-man flashed a funny look. "I meant you lied. You never mentioned Flower Song was a lovers' holiday or that playing a song together was as sacred as an engagement. Yeah. Huitzi explained everything."

"Leo, please." Mud smeared Coyo's shins as she twisted to kneel at Leo's side. Her forehead met the ground when she bowed and her hands tucked under her chin. "Coyo much sorry. Much, much sorry. Please, understand. Her hope Elders make exception."

"What exception?"

The woman lifted her gaze. "Us," she said. "Leo and Leo's song fun. Share song with village, make village happy."

Leo scoffed then tossed the stone he had been holding onto. It sunk into the river current.

"Leo no share?" asked Coyo.

"Not blindly. But that's not what I…"

Coyo's head cocked. "Tlen?"

"You say I'm fun? That's rich."

"Rich?"

The turtle-man scoffed again—maybe more so to cover the fact that he whispered over his shoulder than to mock Coyo. "I don't think I've ever been associated with fun before," he said. "Of all the days we could've—I mean, had I gone through with it. Why yesterday? Why couldn't we play 'Sakura, Sakura' another night?"

"Xochicuicatl special."

"So you've said."

"Xochicuicatl not only lovers' day. Day K'ekchi forget sorrow, forget"—the woman swallowed—"dead. Faith strong. Vows made. With peace. Coyo play Leo's song in peace, not war."

"Why, though?" Head shaking, Leo picked up another stone to clench. "Why is that so important? What war? What did Huitzi mean by the K'ekchi 'protect the strange'? Just what do you—?" The turtle-man stopped short. The spark in his eyes dimmed, and he hung his head, adding, "Never mind."

"Amo." Coyo didn't realize how far her head had risen until she bowed it once more. "Forgive selfish Coyo. She want happy Xochicuicatl. She want—I want connection with you and K'ekchi."

"A connection? Through my song? A foreigner's song?"

"Music powerful."

"Well, I think you waste too much effort on me and not enough on your people, Honorable Chief."

Leonardo's words cut Coyolxauhqui like Ayannite spears, thin yet sharp. She curled her fingers into the mud and inhaled through her nose. Should she reveal why she could not dismiss the turtle-man as easily as he did her? If he knew, would he trust her more?

"Leo body heal," she said, still bowing. "No his mind. I understand."

Leo glared—an act Coyo sensed even though she faced the ground. "You know nothing."

"Coyo know sickness. Mantli sick. Tatli sick. Teachcauh sick. Leo sick. He whisper. Look lost. Have nightmares. Feel pain. Coyo see. Coyo know." The woman lifted her head with great effort. It felt weighted and her chest clenched when Leo's gaze found her. "You no want sickness."

"It's what I deserve."

"Amo."

"Bet you'd change your tune if you saw what I've—" The turtle-man sighed, digging out another stone from the riverbank.

What tune? Now they were talking about music? Oh. Coyo's face scrunched. Maybe it was another English saying.

"What is with you?" Leo added. "Do you get a kick out of prying?" Coyo hardly had a chance to guess what he meant by 'kick' before he continued. "No one asks about me. No one wants to know what I think or likes listening to me ramble. No one thinks I'm interesting or important. So…Why do you keep insisting?"

"Coyo help."

"You can't help everyone. That's life."

"Coyo try." The woman steeled her expression, fingers raking up mud as she leaned forward. "Nimitztla tlauhtia. Please. I help."

"E—even if I wanted help. How?" Leo blinked his glossy, unfocused eyes. "How could you do anything? A mind isn't a broken bone. You can't brace it or forcefully realign it."

"Quema. Mind need more. Need change. Security. Release. Need…"

"What? More therapy sessions from the Medicine Woman?"

"She ask meet you."

"Hasn't she already?"

"Leo honest? Want know who K'ekchi guard? Why Coyo no find turtle-man unnatural?" Leo's large mouth closed under the woman's stare. She could just imagine her brother's future fury. But the risk was hers to take, and something inside convinced her that the turtle-man sympathized with the gravity of her questions. "Trust Coyo, connect. Tatli…Tatli no trust. He proud. Leo different."

"You think?"

"Quema."

"And what does that matter?"

Coyo fought a smile; Leo sounded hopeful yet also ashamed. She dug out the stone from his fist then tossed it aside. "Tihuitz," she said, their dirty hands squeezing together. "Coyo show you."

Should Leonardo follow Coyolxauhqui? It seemed his world grew a little crazier every time she led him somewhere, and, to be honest, part of him feared what would come next.

'That's right, Freak,' Donald whispered, his voice like ice against Leo's brain. 'Instead of helpin', things could go sideways. They usually do.'

Yeah, like last night. Even in another country, Turtle Luck struck.

'Give her a chance,' Joseph added. 'Every step she has taken has been with you in mind, Leonardo.'

Fat chance. Leo was little more than a pet in her eyes, an experiment. Besides, the K'ekchi's secrets were not his business. Why should he meddle? For the off chance of exorcizing his ghosts?

Donald sniggered. 'We won't leave that easily.'

'Leo'—Joseph's tone was soothing—'consider it. Maybe this is what your father had hoped for.'

The mutant growled, fists clenching. Bullshit. While wise, Splinter was far from omniscient. He could've never foreseen another near-death experience would bring Leo to Coyo, let alone know that her insistence would expand the mutant's experiences. The old master was just tired of watching his son fail. He wanted Leo gone. They all did.

'You can't believe that; they love you. You—'

"Leonardo!"

Leo's body jerked. Gravity hurled him back when his foot slipped, and his shin hit something hard as a grip on his wrist prevented his fall. He looked up, dizzy, into wide orange eyes that peeked over a rocky ledge.

"L—Leo okay?" she asked.

The mutant didn't answer, preoccupied with the treetops he seemed to hover over. When had he begun free climbing a damn cliff?

"Coyo say watch foot!" The tribeswoman groaned, although her cracked voice caught Leo's attention. Had she been about to cry? "Step on root, not rock. Hurry."

By the time Leo let Coyo help him up the cliff's remainder, the thumps in his ears had eased. He panted, glancing down at the rainforest. It spread out like a green ocean rolling in the breeze, and he was unsure whether he should be concerned or thankful that his mind had blocked out so much of his journey.

"Come, Leo."

"Coyo, wait." The mutant struggled against the Chieftain's hold on his hand. "Maybe this was a mistake."

"Amo"—Coyo captured his hand again—"close."

"This doesn't seem close. This? This is—it's…What is it?"

Leo squinted at a gateway arched between two cascading waterfalls. It looked untouched by both time and man; however, its surface was too smooth to be natural, and the bright dot embedded at its top resembled neither paint nor a gem. In fact, it glowed?

"This Intzalan, gateway," Coyo explained.

"Gateway to what?"

"Teonehnemi. Spirit Walkers. K'ekchi protect Teo."

"So they live apart from you?"

"Come." The tribeswoman beckoned with a hand towards the arch, where darkness awaited, despite the high sun.

Sure, Leo, follow the eccentric tribal chick into a black, foreboding forest. For all you know, it could be a wormhole or another dimension. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time he encountered such things, would it? The mutant sighed then stepped through the gate. The temperature dropped in an instant like opening a freezer on a summer day underground. And was he hallucinating or did specks of blue whirl around him?

"Co—Coyo?" he asked.

Coyo's voice sounded from ahead. "Leo see. Soon." Whether she meant that literally or metaphorically didn't matter; all Leo wanted was a better idea of the terrain. "Intzalan has no light," Coyo continued.

"So how do we see?"

"Imihio—spirit, essence—guide."

"Guess that makes me blind in more ways than one." Leo hated how his heart raced, and even more so how it ached at Coyo's wounded tone.

"Zaddir help blind."

"Who's Zaddir?"

'Zaddir is the name given to this Languu by the K'ekchi.'

Leonardo spun in tight circles, searching for the layered voice that invaded his thoughts and stole his breath.

"Zaddir no harm," Coyolxauhqui said. Her fingers brushed the mutant's bicep as he stumbled back. "Teo no have lips. Speak with mind."

That would explain why this 'Zaddir' felt as insidious as his ghosts, but not how its tone resonated with every nerve in Leo's body.

"My brain has enough company," he snapped. "Thanks."

"Sorry, Zaddir. I—"

'No, I thank you, Coyolxauhqui. And ask forgiveness as well. I cannot allow you any further into Ihiyoyahualli.'

Leo blinked as a humanoid figure flickered into existence. He could describe it no better than blue fire personified. Its thin limbs faded into pure light before they ended it either hands or feet, and the way it floated through the darkness left the impression of dancing electricity. It had no mouth to smile with or nose to scrunch, yet the pinpoint pupils inside its sunken eye sockets left the mutant with an amused impression.

'Consider me female,' Zaddir said. 'I understand it is easier for those with spoken languages to choose a set of pronouns.'

"Ho—how?" Leo gulped. "You know English grammar?"

'I know what you allow me to know, Leonardo.'

"I never said you could—"

'It is arcane knowledge, easily accessed through the simple want to connect.'

"Who said you could connect with me?"

'And who said the connection is conscientious?' Zaddir chuckled, or at least her layer voice grew jumbled. It ignited Leo's muscles with a prickling sensation. It was familiar. But from where? 'Fear is pointless, Leonardo. Your secrets, your demons are safe from my touch.'

Leo sneered. "Sorry to disappoint."

"Leo!" Coyo shoved the mutant. "Connect important. Remember?"

"How do you even—? Can you hear her speaking to me?"

'Coyolxauhqui hears in Nahuatl as you hear in English.'

"Yo—you can speak two languages at once?"

'Intents are universal. The mind chooses how to decipher them. I speak to you in the same way as you speak to yourself.'

"That's…" Amazing, though Leo dared not say so.

'Forgive Coyolxauhqui's…' Zaddir faced Coyo then waved an arm. Light trails sputtered in its wake in slow-motion after images. 'We share Mozallo.'

"Mozallo mean join," Coyo added. Leo watched her smile, although Zaddir's body barely lit her round face. "Teo stay many seasons with K'ekchi, form strong bond. Spirits become one."

Zaddir either hummed or groaned. 'This is how I knew to meet you today. And to warn you. Unsanctioned visits Ihiyoyahualli will misbalance the other Quizzinteyo.'

"Coyo no mean trouble."

'She wishes to help. I know. Just as you know my curiosity. Many days have passed since you brought this being to the village. Every day, I hear his screams, feel his emptiness. His agony is a beacon.'

No. That was impossible. Right?

'I believe you can answer yourself, Leonardo.' The Languu began circling Leo, perhaps banking on his discomfort to keep the conversation progressive. 'I cannot and will not aid the unwilling. The choice is yours.'

"Like you'd let me leave after you've revealed so much," Leo countered.

'I would. The only thing more painful than being in the presence of tortured spirits is to correct one that fights.' Zaddir trailed off with some semblance of a sigh. Although she unlikely breathed, it may've been a manner she adopted from living amongst humans. 'I sense your doubt. The hesitation is not unfounded, and I respect it.'

"Zaddir!" Coyo fell silent when the Languu's pinpoint eyes found her.

'Leonardo, what do you want?'

"I…" Leo looked down when the prickling in his limbs worsened. It was stupid how one question could be so profound, and he swore the ground shifted to emphasize his unsteady opinion. "I—I don't know," he whispered.

'No?'

"I just said I don't."

'Do you want help?'

Leo growled then ran a hand down his face. "What can you do? Huh? Not even my clan thought they could help! Why should I say yes?"

'You tell me.'

What a maddening alien; her calm Chi polluted the mutant's resolve, weakening him. He attempted another growl, a frown, a scoff—anything to show defiance. But he lacked the will as if hammered down by every mistake he ever made. He hadn't been the best leader or brother or friend. He had done so much wrong, let so many people down. Donald was right; he didn't deserve deliverance yet he lived anyway. And he was tired.

"I just," the mutant licked his lips, glancing up, "I want to think straight again. Or die. I—I can't carry this anymore. Carry them."

Zaddir would know who Leo meant; he willed it and braced himself for rebuke. Had he been with his clan, they wouldn't have taken kindly to suicidal thoughts. But he neither heard nor felt any scorn from Zaddir or Coyolxauhqui. They regarded the mutant's desperation with silence, and for a split moment, he felt liberated from his body.

A/N: I HAVE BEEN DYING TO GET TO ZADDIR/THE LANGUU FOR YEARS! You have no idea. This wraps up Act 1 of the story. Now, the real healing begins.

Zaddir (Zahd – deer)
Tonalquizca (Toe – nahl – keys – kah) = Sun Protectors
Xochicuicatl (Show – chee – kwee – cal) = Flower Song Day.
Imihio (Ih – me – he – oh)
Nimitztla Tlauhtia (Nee - meetz - tla Tlaw - ti - ah) = Please
Intzalan (Int - sah - lahn) = "Between", the entryway to Ihiyoyahualli