In case you were wondering..
Gi: a light weight, two-piece, usually white garment worn by bare footed martial-arts participants, consisting of loose fitting pants and a wrap around jacket with cloth belt
I was thinking more about karate gi's when I wrote when he gets his, but you can think of what you like.
I finally got to this story again! Yay! Hope you like it. I skipped a few years, I didn't need to mention the rest of them.
Leo cracks his eyes open and takes in the dim light of the room. He sees the fold out bed that is against the wall, under the window. He blinks slowly and then looks down at the blanket in his hand. Even with barely any light coming from the window, he can make out the deep royal blue.
He carefully shifts his body out from under the brown covers and lightly pads across the floor and onto his mattress. He had a nightmare late last night. He didn't want to wake up Heather, so he just shifted to her side and went to sleep. He stays awake for a moment, sitting on his bed criticizing himself.
'It's been a few years. And I suddenly get another nightmare… I'm eleven years old. I'm not a kid anymore. I've grown.' He looks at his blanket. He can't let go of it. No matter how much he tries. He had tried sleeping without it. But either he couldn't or he had terrible nightmares.
The one he had last night wasn't too bad, but he wasn't used to having a nightmare anymore, so the image of his brothers cowering under their father's form. Leo couldn't do anything to help them, no matter what he screamed. Splinter didn't do anything to them, but the look in Mikey's eyes, pure terror, is enough to send Leo into panic. Never did he want his baby brother to be hurting. And with all three with matching expression sends Leo reeling.
He had woken up in a cold sweat, which is very strange for someone that is cold-blooded. He felt like he had just ran through a downpour and he had to find heat. The first thought in his mind was Heather and her warm bed.
He hasn't seen his family in about one year and three months. It's December. Mikey had checked in a few times throughout the years, same as Donnie. But they say that Raph is too busy in the dojo, or lifting. At the last Christmas, Splinter got him a bench press. By what Leo hears, it's his favorite piece of equipment.
Leo shakes his head. It's too early to be going over thoughts. He pulls back the sheets on his simple yet comfy bed and tries to get a few more hours of sleep before training starts.
Heather wakes up to the sound of the six thirty alarm. She sits up and looks around. Leo's bed is made neatly and his blanket is laying on his pillow, folded up. She smiles tenderly at the piece of cloth. It's an object directly from Leo's past. Instead of treating it as something that brings bad memories, he treasures it as something to ward them away.
She isn't ignorant though. She felt Leo's shivering hand grab hers last night. She knows that he had some kind of nightmare. After a few years of no problems, she is awakened when something alerts her heightened guard at night. But she could tell he was trying not to wake her up, so she didn't make it known that she did. Heather has been watching Leo progress. He's been trying to hide when he is feeling weak, or vulnerable. He probably doesn't like how he's still attached to his blanket, even though Heather finds it endearing.
She stretches and gets up. Leo's not here, so he probably got up early to practice what he learned before so he'll be prepared for the day's lesson with Master Bācharu. Like he usually does. Heather gets up and changes to go on a run. She grabs a quick breakfast and gets a message from Jarvis. Leo's virtual sensei would like to her to join them for today's lesson. He's a program, she knows that. But Jarvis means that the program has found Leo's progress to the point where he is to start a new part of his training.
She smiles at this. Leo will be happy with the news. She'll be the one to tell him, which makes it all the more exciting. She finishes the toast and milk as she puts on her boots and jacket, exiting the A-house. She her feet crunch through the snow as she walks to the barn. She looks through the window of the closed door. As expected, Leo is going through katas, new and old. His winter gear is in a pile by the wall and he has his gi on. Heather takes out her phone, which she keeps with her at all times. She had transferred the photos from her camera to it. She takes this moment to look at the picture when she first saw him. He's on Donnie's examination table, dirty, hurting, and very malnourished.
She looks up at the present Leo. He had grown. He's taller, stronger, his muscles more refined. Even at age eleven, he has come a long way. She watches for a while, then leaves for the forest, putting her phone away.
The past three years had just flown by. Heather stops for a moment and looks up at the sky. She always gets wondrous whenever she thinks about her age. She was sixteen when she found Leo. Now, almost to the anniversary, she's twenty. She gave four years to helping Leo. 'And you know what? It was totally worth it.' She had more time to herself when Leo trained more with his virtual master and on his own, so she tapped into Jarvis' teaching abilities and finished up high school. She has a diploma and everything. It isn't as great as walking on stage and shaking her teachers' hands, but she still proud.
Getting back to running, she treks through the whiteness until she reaches the obstacle course. She lays in the snow, staring at the tree tops and the sky. Leo has been over achieving in school. Instead of only having school in part of each year, he's had class every weekday throughout the year, taking breaks for special occasions and holidays. He's already up to seventh grade level, two full years farther than his age would suggest. Her phone beeps. She gets up, dusts snow off her jacket, and jogs back. Leo is starting up the dojo sim when she arrives.
"One moment Leo, let me get mine," Heather says, grabbing her sim-g's. He waits until she has them set over her eyes and them he orders Jarvis to start it up. They arrive in the dojo and Master Bācharu is waiting. Leo bows to him.
"Sensei," he says. Master Bācharu returns the gesture and they walk out the door. I follow and sit on a boulder as they go through exercises on the stone tile patio to the left of the dojo. After an hour of this, Master Bācharu signals for Leo to stop. He walks into the dojo and after a moment, comes back out with three wooden swords or bokken, as Heather learned they are called. Leo kneels on the stone and waits for his sensei to tell him when to stand. He does and Leo stands in one swift movement. Master Bācharu holds one sword hilt for Leo to take. He does and Master Bācharu slides one in his belt. They get into sparring stance.
"Hajiman!" Master Bācharu proclaims. They clash for a moment, the elder coming on top. "Yame. Widen your stance, Leonardo." He lets his pupil stand. "Again." They go again. "Yame. Do not lower your guard. Again." Leo listens to the instructions and corrects himself each and every time. Heather watches them go through the exercise, over and over. Then Leo clocks his sensei. He freezes a moment, wondering if he'll be mad. Master Bācharu takes this opportunity to pin Leo. "You hesitated, Leonardo. Do not let your opponent take control of the situation." He lets the turtle stand. "But good. You have exceeded the potential for your age, even with your late beginning." The usual age to start training is six, and Leo was seven and a half. "I believe it is time. You should not have to wait until you are twelve." Master Bācharu motions to Heather. She smiles and stands up. "You are dismissed."
"Arigato, sensei," Leo bows. We walk back to the dojo.
"You did very well," Heather comments as Leo puts away the swords. The sim turns off and Leo puts his sim-g's away.
"What was Master Bācharu talking about? What am I ready for?" He asks, getting right to the point.
"When a ninja in training turns twelve, they receive their weapons. Master Bācharu decided that you would be given yours now," Heather explains.
"I have trained with many weapons. The sai, the kama, the naginata, the bo staff, the tanto.." Leo rambles, saying every weapon Master Bācharu had him try to use. "What is going to be my weapon?" He finally asks. Heather smiles and walks to the weapons vault. She picks up a leather shoulder strap, belt, and two empty sheaths.
"The weapon of a leader. One that is elegant and deadly in equal terms. Something you fit to like a puzzle. I know you will use them well." She walks out, giving him first the belt and shoulder strap. He puts them on over his training gi. Under his wrap around style top, he has a t-shirt fit to him, since it's cold this time of year. On the back of the brown strap, the empty sheaths wait to be filled.
Leo is filled with excitement, but he holds it in. Heather smiles at Leo, proud of how far he's come. She walks back into the vault and picks up the handles of two new katana. She brings them out and Leo's eyes grow wide. She hands them to him.
He looks at the swords, their blades long and gleaming. He bows to Heather and slips them in the sheaths on his back. "I will not abuse the privilege of wielding a weapon, nor the responsibility these katana demand," he promises before straightening. Heather smiles and holds her arms out. Leo accepts the hug.
"I'm very proud of you, buddy. You've grown stronger. I'm happy that you are more confident in your abilities." Leo nuzzles his head into her neck, content with the praise. "But Leo," Heather pulls back enough so he can look at her. She puts a hand under his chin. "You don't have to shut it all out, okay? I will still love you. You have nothing to fear."
"I know, Heather." He pulls back into the hug, "I love you, watashi no Kibō." Heather smiles and kisses his green head.
watashi no Kibō: my hope
I felt it appropriate.
Okay, I have good news, and bad news.
Good news first? No? Okay, let's start with the bad news.
- This morning, or sometime last night, my cat died. My family wasn't at home when it happened. Our neighbor called. (we have another and a dog, but I'll still miss Romeo.)
Alright, got that out of the way, since I felt like sharing. Now the good news.
- THERE IS ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE AFTER THIS ONE! I wrote them both on the way home and saw how long Chapter 25 would be, so I split it. Why? I wanted to.
How do you like it?