Hey guys! I've been really busy, but I promise that I will try to update this story at least once a week!

This chapter took me a really long time for the simpler reason that is really long! The color's correspond with the turtle's bandanas, which will tell you whose POV it is, and Midori is of course green, so anyway…

This is the longest chapter I have ever written, but I am very happy with it! Enjoy! Reviews are always appreciated! Thanks for all your kind support!

Leah by Michelangelo

Ch. 8-Colors

Blue

Raph had jumped straight into the fray, completely ignoring my orders, as usual. I signaled Donnie and Mikey to flank either side of the Foot bots and stick to the shadows. They nodded. I saw Raphael chuck one of his sai straight into a Foot's head, making the crate in its arms fall noisily to the ground.

Turns out it was a pair of old jitte. I was intrigued. Of course there is money to be made in smuggling ancient Japanese artifacts but what is there to gain from shipping old weapons that would only be placed into display cases? You would think the Foot would choose something more worthwhile.

Mikey and Don were about to emerge from the shadows to help Raphael confront the vigilante, who upon closer inspection was actually a girl. I motioned my two youngest brothers to desist and they nodded, though I could tell Michelangelo was nervous about letting Raph fight this new vigilante all by himself. I too was concerned, but I concealed it masterfully.

Raph attacked her, and she dropped into a defensive stance. He used his sai to disarm and seize one of the jitte. I expected him to continue the assault, but instead he stopped and for a moment the two of them just stared at each other.

Donatello and Michelangelo moved over next to me and the three of us watched from the shadows. Mikey turned towards me and waggled his eyebrows suggestively, nodding his head towards our brother and the vigilante. I rolled my eyes, forcibly fighting the urge to slap him.

Raphael gripped the jitte tightly before giving it a gentle twirl. "You're sure this isn't what you're after?" he asked.

Before she could answer Foot bots appeared and ambushed them. Michelangelo almost rushed in to help them, but I put out an arm and blocked him. "No. Let's see how they do on their own first. She's already seen one of us, no need to bring her in any deeper unless we absolutely have to."

Both of them frowned but made no other movement.

Orange

My older bros and I watched as Raphael jumped in headfirst and started kicking some serious Foot butt. The box turned out to contain two jitte which, of course pulled up old memories from our childhood…

Raphael had always been rather skilled with the jitte. Then again, it is kinda similar to the sai. (Not to mention Master Splinter himself had taught Raph the basics of the jitte before he even laid his hands on the Sais.)

I remember how annoyed Raph was that all of us had already been using our weapons for weeks and he hadn't even touched the ones Sensei had told him were going to be his. But once he got them, all that extra work learning defense with the jitte really paid off. Raphael won almost every sparring match, making a certain blue-banded turtle, whose weapons were incredibly susceptible to both the sai and jitte, extremely jealous. Of course that only made Leo work even harder to improve his swordsmanship, which in turn made Raph up his game, resulting in a strong sibling rivalry.

My mind came back to the here-and-now and I realized that Raph was about to fight this strange masked girl by himself. My eyes narrowed and I was just about to step in and help my bro when Leo put an arm out in front of me. I stared at him inquisitively and he motioned for us to stay in the shadows. I couldn't help the slight nervousness that entered me as I watched Raphael hit her in the side.

We'd never seen this girl before, and for all we know she could be dangerous, really dangerous. It's not that I don't think Raph can handle it, quite the opposite, I just worry that's all. Of all my bros Raph is unquestionably the most reckless. But if there is one brother I'd always be willing to turn to in a tight spot, its Raph. My hot-headed bro would do anything for me, and when we're in battle, whenever I turn around, Raphael will always be there, watching my back. It's just the kind of brother he is: always watching out for me.

As much as I don't like how rude he is about everything, I'd much rather go to him than any of my other brothers because Raph was the strongest, and sometimes, to borrow a phrase from my childhood: He's the only one who can chase the monsters away. For that reason, I've always been extremely watchful of Raph, just to make sure he doesn't get in over his head, or lose all of his control. I feel like I owe him that much, at least.

The female vigilante dropped into a defensive pose and my eyes narrowed. I don't like the looks of this. Raph managed to hook the prong of his sai just beneath the prong of the jitte and with one strong twist, the ancient weapon was freed from her grasp. He took the ancient iron weapon into his hands and looked over it appraisingly before turning his gaze back to her. I took a short moment to glance at my brothers, but both of them were staring intently at the unfolding situation. I turned back to the confrontation at hand.

Raph and the girl circled each other briefly, he looked her up and down, before all movement ceased and they stared intently at one another. I stared at my older brother's green eyes and saw a look I didn't quite recognize. It was very different from anything I'd seen on his face before yet there was a somewhat familiar feeling about it. Where have I seen that look before? Of course! That's the face D always makes just before he starts making goo-goo eyes at April!—

Whoa, whoa, whoa—hold the phone! Raph…likes a girl?! Ah hahahahaha! That has got to be the funniest thing I ever…! Hahaha! It's too much! My face filled with mirth and I had to put a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. I elbowed Leo, who slowly looked over at me. I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively and pointed to Raph and the girl. My big bro rolled his eyes with annoyance and I could tell he really wanted to face-palm. I just grinned happily. Raph is interested in a girl! Aw this is gonna make such great blackmail material!

The smile was wiped off my face when at least thirty Foot Bots jumped down and surrounded our brother and the vigilante. Donnie and I were about to jump in when, again, Leonardo told us to hang back.

I really don't like this. We can't stay hidden forever, and the longer we do the higher the chances of Raph getting hurt. I watched, with surprise, as the red-masked turtle and the black-clad vigilante fought back to back, their moves almost in tandem. I was astounded by how well they worked together for a first meeting…or is it a first meeting? A light bulb went on in my head at that thought. All sorts of possibilities bounced around in my brain and I was slack-jawed. Could it be that that's where Raph's been sneaking off to all this time?! My eyes must be the size of dinner plates. Of course! The reason why Raph's been so adamant about getting out is because he has a girlfriend topside! That totally makes sense!

How could I have missed this for so long? The longer I watched them interact the more I was convinced that my assumptions were correct. Raphael has a girlfriend and this…is her. Wait a minute, what is she—NO!

All three of us tensed as we saw her throw a jitte straight at our brother. Leo, Donnie and I held our breath as time seemed to slow, the iron weapon barreling right over our brother's shoulder and straight into a Foot bot's head. We exchanged nervous glances before looking back at Raphael, who had a shocked look on his face.

The hot-head recovered almost instantly and grinned. I had to strain my ninja hearing skills to make out what he murmured next, "Not bad, thanks." Raph saying thanks?! Just like that?! My eyes bugged out of my head in shock.

"Don't mention it." Came the quiet reply.

My bros and I watched Raph approach her and hand back the jitte with a smile on his face. Leo and Don both looked confused, but not me. Nope. I had all of this figured out. Yep that's right! Me, the one they call the dumb one! Well who's the dumb one now, huh?! Hahaha, Raph is so into her! Just look at the way he smiles at her!

Then, right when things were about to get interesting, more Foot bots jumped down from above. We looked at Leonardo and he gestured: 'Fan out' and 'shuriken.' Donnie and I nodded, each of us throwing as many shuriken as we could at the Foot bots from the shadows, taking care to ensure that none of them went too close to our brother or the girl. Once all the Foot had been defeated, Raph looked nervously towards the shadows, where he knew we were concealed. He muttered something unintelligible to the girl before throwing down a smoke bomb and the four of us headed for the nearest rooftop to make our escape.

Purple

We darted swiftly and silently across the rooftops. Raph and Leo ran side by side up in front while Michelangelo and I followed a few yards behind them. Just when I was about to question him, Leonardo beat me to it. "So, what's with the girl?"

"How should I know? Never seen her before." My hot-headed brother stated tersely, his eyes narrowed. The way he and the girl fought together made me think otherwise, but I could tell from his tone that Raphael, for once, was being completely forthright.

"You fought well together." Leo looked at Raph expectantly, but received no reply. Ever since that woman was killed by the Foot, our brother has been uncharacteristically silent. To say we've been concerned would be a severe understatement. "Who is she?"

"Calls herself Jade." My eldest brother raised an eye-ridge and Raph continued, "Obviously she fancies herself a vigilante."

"Then let's hope she'll quit before she gets hurt." I could hear the hint of regret and guilt in Leonardo's voice and I knew that his thoughts had been drawn back to Karai. Poor Leo, he still feels responsible for what happened to her…

"Doubt it." Raph's rough voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I was once again enthralled by my older brothers' rather casual conversation. Leo glanced at Raphael questioningly, "Trust me, I know the type. She isn't going to stop until she gets what she wants."

"And what exactly does she want?" I cut in, noting the fact that Raph tensed as he realized that Leo wasn't the only one listening to this conversation.

Bright green eyes turned back towards me slightly as he spoke, his voice low and guarded, "Revenge."

Leonardo snorted in disapproval and Raphael gave a mild grunt of agreement.

Indeed, revenge is always a dangerous game, especially since there are so many variables that could go wrong. We should know. Kar-er-Miw—our sister-was lost because she wouldn't accept that revenge would only lead to more problems. We still don't know where she is…but back to the situation at hand. If this Jade person does attempt to get revenge on the Foot, she could end up being in way over her head. Unfortunately our job means that we have to protect people, even from their greatest enemies: themselves. But we'll take care of her later. Right now we just need to get home and report to Master Splinter.

I glanced at my immediate older brother who was currently running directly in front of me. When we were about two blocks from April's Raphael suddenly screeched to a halt. My blue-clad brother looked back at him curiously. "What is it Raph?"

Raph's eyes narrowed and glowed. "Casey."

"What about him?" I asked, not bothering to conceal the disdain that seeped into my tone.

"He's going on patrol later tonight…"

"No." Leonardo cut him off. "Sorry, Raph, but I'm gonna have to put my foot down. We've all had enough action for one night."

"I wasn't talking about going with him." We all stared at him confused, "I'm just gonna run by and tell him to keep an eye out for this Jade character, just in case she decides to get herself into any more trouble tonight. I'll meet you back at the lair in half an hour. Promise."

Deep blue eyes narrowed as my eldest brother considered it. Finally he sighed, "Fine." And with that Raphael was gone.

Michelangelo cackled evilly and I gave him a questioning look. He just smiled. I huffed with annoyance, "Mikey would you stop smiling, it's getting creepy."

My younger brother completely ignored me and rushed on a mile a minute, "Aw come on, you mean you two don't see it?"

Leo raised an eye-ridge. "See what, exactly?" The question was slow and cautious, obviously he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know the answer.

Mikey rolled his eyes, "Seriously? I'm the only one who's figured out where Raph's been going?"

My brown eyes slid over to meet my older brother's dark blue ones. We both turned our full focus back to Michelangelo, who had a very disturbing, all-knowing smile on his face.

"Raphie's been keeping secrets from us, bros." We nodded, prompting him to continue. "I mean it's obvious once you think about it," again he paused. He's doing that on purpose. I realized and my eyes narrowed. I bonked my younger brother on the head with my fist lightly and he continued. "Ow! Hey watch it! Anyway it's obvious that Raph's been sneaking off to meet someone, right? But what if that someone isn't Casey? What if he's actually been having secret meetings with…a girl!" Mikey finished.

I gave Michelangelo a dry stare. "Really? That's what you came up with?"

"Aw, come on Donnie! Raph's been acting weird: staring off into space, getting distracted on patrol, it has to be a girl, dude! It's the only possible explanation!"

"No Mikey, it is one theory in a number of interchangeable explanations. For all we know he could just be blowing off steam, hanging out with Casey, or, or—"

"See! We have no idea what he could really be doing, so who's to say it couldn't be a girl?"

I face-palmed, "Because it just isn't!" I was so frustratedly flustered that I started stammering slightly, "I-I mean, R-raph with a girl? Never in a million years."

Red

I jumped into the fray before Fearless could get a word in edgewise. That guy needed help, and I wasn't about to stand around and do nothin! I descended upon one of the Foot bots and pulled it down, stabbing it repeatedly before looking back up at the vigilante. He was—wait a minute—make that she was doing well. She slashed through several robots with her tachi, before zoning in on the Foot minion holding the weapon case. The Foot robot was putting up a pretty good fight and I belatedly noticed that my brothers had taken care of the rest of them.

Without further ado, I threw a sai straight into the head of the Foot holding the case and it fell, bursting open. The female vigilante removed two ancient jitte. Man, it's been years since I used those things! I pushed those thoughts aside and with a growl I leapt and kicked her in the side. I internally noted that I had only one of my sai, and that the other one was still stuck in the fallen Foot bot's head, so I proceeded with extreme caution. She dropped into a defensive position and it was plain to see that she was no stranger to violence. Or ninjitsu for that matter.

As I attacked I took note of her clothing: tight black pants, a wide belt, black top, red chest and calve guards, black shoes with dark red laces, dark red helmet with black pin striping and elbow-length red fingerless gloves. Huh. It's surprising that she leaves her midriff completely bare, then again, Karai's armor was much the same: silver plating on her chest, shoulders, arms and legs, but none really in the middle, probably to allow maximum flexibility. She wasn't dressed like the Foot, at least. That, plus the fact that she's fighting them means she probably isn't one of them. But as Master Splinter always says: the kunoichi, like the ninja, is a master of deception, and her disguises are often times more clever and misleading than those of her male counterpart. Therefore, beware the kunoichi's power of deception, or she will catch you off guard.

Well she isn't catching me off-guard. My sais hit the jitte in her hands with a loud clang. I hooked the prong of my sai under the prong of one of the jitte before I twisted my wrist and the ancient iron weapon fell from her hand. I took the jitte into my free hand and spun it, gauging its weight and bearing so that I could wield it as effectively as possible.

A dark black visor met my bright green eyes and I glared. "What do you think yur doin?"

"Settling an old score."

Great, another nut out for revenge! And I thought Karai's attempt was stupid! What this girl's doing is practically suicide! "Don't ya know this kind of stuff is dangerous?" I growled at her.

"Maybe that's why I like it." I didn't have to see her face to know she was smiling as she said that.

My fists clenched and I had to fight the urge to start yelling at her. "Life is valuable. Ya should treat it that way." I growled darkly.

"There is no life for me as long as the Foot exist." I tried to come up with a retort, but I couldn't bring myself to contradict her reasoning. My mind flew briefly to Midori, but I shook it off.

I gripped the jitte I took from her in my right hand. I spun it a second time and glanced over it. It was obviously ancient. The iron was thick and heavy, but the weapon itself was strong and well-preserved, I could probably fight with it, though it wouldn't be able to take too much abuse. I looked up at her and raised an eye-ridge, "You sure this isn't what you were after?" I waved the jitte for emphasis.

She shook her head. I frowned in thought. The next thing I knew, a clicking noise made me look up. Foot Bots were all around us and I stepped towards her, my protective instincts taking over. The robots surrounded us and we stood back to back. Leery as I was about having a complete stranger watch my back, right now destroying the Foot bots was more important. I used the jitte in my right hand to deflect enemy attacks and the sai in my left to decommission them. We turned as the enemy attacks came from all sides.

I flung one of my sai into the head of a Foot bot over her shoulder, and another one came at me with a sword. I used the jitte to catch the sword. I turned and reached over so that I could yank my sai out of the fallen Foot's head. I looked over my shoulder at the girl, who was currently beating the crap out of the Foot. "Mind giving me a name?"

I saw her fling the jitte straight at me and I stiffened, my eyes widening in shock. My ears rang as the weapon whistled as it cut through the air, flying right over my shoulder and straight into a Foot's head.

"Call me Jade." She replied.

I stared wide-eyed between the jitte and the girl before a smirk spread across my face. I pulled the old iron weapon from the Foot's head. "Not bad. Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Jade whispered. My bright green eyes snapped up to the lithe figure in front of me. That voice…

I approached her slowly and she tensed. If she is who I think she is it would explain why Jade didn't seem surprised by my appearance... I stopped about a foot away from her and offered her the jitte. The one I had been wielding was tucked safely away in my belt, but I'll give her that one later. I could feel myself releasing tension, calming down. There's only one person who's ever been able to do that. Midori. "You know, you're not half bad with this." I motioned to the jitte, "Keep practicing."

"Thanks." Jade replied.

I felt elated when I heard a hint of a smile in her voice. Suddenly more of those pesky Foot bots dropped in on us and I was about to give them what-for when shuriken came flying out from all directions. I tensed as I realized that my brothers had witnessed our entire exchange and for a moment I was afraid they would try attacking Jade. My older brother appeared in the shadows directly behind her and motioned to me using hand signals: 'Time to go.'

I nodded and muttered that I had to go before throwing down a smoke bomb, yanking my other sai from the dismembered Foot bot's head on my way out. On the rooftops I turned back to get just one last look at her and my eye-ridges shot up in confusion. What is she…?

Jade bent down and pulled a shuriken out of a Foot robot. What in the world? She turned it over and saw the symbol. I watched as she tensed, staring at it in shock for a moment, before pocketing it and running off at high speed. I wonder why…wait a second…I wonder…no, it couldn't be…

I was completely buried in my thoughts as my brothers and I made our way home. Leo and I ran in front while Don and Mikey followed close behind. Fearless edged closer to me and I looked him in the eyes, knowing he was about to ask me something and begging him to get it over with. "So, what's with the girl?"

"How should I know? Never seen her before." I snapped, the words sounding much more bitter and resentful than I had intended. It wasn't completely a lie, after all, I had never seen Jade before…

Leonardo must have noticed because he backed off a little. "You fought well together." My older brother leveled a stare that basically meant he expected me to comment. So I deliberately ignored him. "Who is she?" He asked, slightly perturbed.

"Calls herself Jade." The leader raised an eye-ridge at that and I continued, "Obviously she fancies herself a vigilante."

"Then let's hope she'll quit before she gets hurt." I ignored the tinge of regret in his voice.

I snorted and he sent me a sideways glance. "Doubt it." I said. "Trust me, I know the type. She isn't going to stop until she gets what she wants."

"And what exactly does she want?" Donatello asked, and for the second time today I was reminded that there were other people listening in on my conversations, besides just my addresser.

"Revenge." I answered. I watched a contemplative frown spread across Leonardo's face and my lips bent down into a look of subtle disapproval. That look on Leo's face was never good.

We continued on in silence and my thoughts went back to Midori. The way she reacted to our shuriken still puzzled me, but if my suspicions were correct, protecting her was even more important than I had originally thought. Unfortunately however, the only way I could find out whether or not I'm right is by confronting Midori on the subject. And the only way to do that is to tell her that I know that Jade and Midori are one in the same. But…I can't do that. I want her to tell me herself. And I'm confident that she will. As soon as she trusts me, that is. We need to be careful, whatever we do. My brothers are already getting suspicious.

There has to be a way to get Leo to let me go… I've got it.

My feet ground to a halt in the middle of an old warehouse rooftop. Lame-o-nardo turned and gave me a strange look. "What is it Raph?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Casey."

"What about him?" Donnie asked, and I turned to address all three of my brothers.

"He's going on patrol later tonight…" I began, but Fearless leader cut me off before I could finish and I growled quietly.

"No. Sorry, Raph, but I'm gonna have to put my foot down. We've all had enough action for one night."

I rolled my eyes at them and sighed dramatically. "I wasn't talking about going with him. I'm just gonna run by and tell him to keep an eye out for this Jade character, just in case she decides to get herself into any more trouble tonight. I'll meet you back at the lair in half an hour. Promise." I held up my right hand as though making a solemn confession.

Deep blue eyes narrowed as my older brother considered it. Finally Leo sighed, "Fine."

I didn't even wait to hear the answer. Instead, as soon as I perceived that my brother was about to let me go, I was gone. I knew I was probably going to be berated for it later, but I had promised Midori I would see her tonight. And that was one promise I wasn't about to break. Unfortunately I couldn't say the same for the one I just made to my brothers.

I pulled out my T-phone and held down the speed dial. It rang three long times before my human friend answered.

"Hey Raph!" Casey's voice sounded pumped and ready to go and I smiled. "You comin' up tonight?"

"Sorry Case, Little Boy Blue thinks I should go home asap." Jones sighed and silence spread over the line for a moment. "Hey, Case?"

He took a moment before responding. "Yeah?"

"Could you cover for me? I told Leo I was going over to tell you about a new vigilante roaming the streets. But I really have to see someone and…Look, if Fearless calls just tell him I stayed and talked you for a while, 'kay? He'll buy that. Can you do that?"

"Sure, anything for my best bud." He replied.

"Thanks, I owe you one."

"Damn straight." I smirked at that. We said our goodbyes and I ended the call.

I headed straight for Midori's uncle's place, darting across the rooftops, a shadow in the night.

Green

It was late when I returned to my uncle's house. I slipped into my room through the window and immediately changed out of my costume. I pulled on a button down pajama top and pajama shorts, before going over to sit at the vanity and tie my hair into a mangled bun. There was a quiet knock at the door and I tensed, dropping the hair pin that had been in my hands onto the floor.

"Midori? It's me. Uncle Ryuu, may I come in?"

"Of course uncle."

The door opened, my uncle's large muscular frame practically filling the doorway. He was older than my mother but only by a few years, now in his early fifties. Uncle Ryuu had dark black hair and deep black eyes that glimmered brightly in the dim light of my table lamp. He stepped in and sat slowly on the bed.

"I am sorry that I haven't been here for you more often, little one. Especially after…what happened. I know that you've probably wanted someone around you can go to, and I just wanted to let you know that I am here. If you need anything just let me know alright?" I couldn't help the tears that began sliding down my face as he went on. He looked up when I sniffled with a sad smile. Uncle Ryuu stood and came over, wrapping me tightly in his arms. "Shh, it's all right. I'm here for you, Midori. I just wanted you to know that. I miss her too." At the last sentence his voice cracked and he hugged me desperately, both of us crying softly.

"I-I know uncle. I understand. And I already have to thank you for all you've done for me…"

We pulled apart, slowly. He smiled slightly and wiped his tears away. "Oh, no my dear. It's what anyone would do. Goodnight, niece. Sleep well."

"I will. Goodnight, uncle." I replied softly as he left my room, closing the door behind him. Less than half a second after he had gone, there was a knock on the window. I glanced over to it and saw Raph standing outside. I rushed over and stepped out onto the fire escape beside him. "Raph! This is not a good time! My uncle's home early and if he hears us…"

"I promised you I'd come tonight, so here I am. I have some things to tell you."

I motioned him to proceed up the fire escape and onto the roof. We sat on the edge of the building with our feet dangling off the side. I glanced over at him and him at me. Finally I decided to begin. "So…what did you want to tell me?"

"It went well. They got what was coming to them, and we found out what the weapon was."

I raised an eyebrow, pretending to be confused.

"It was a pair of jitte." He answered slowly. His fists clenched and he grit his teeth in pent-up frustration as he glared at me. I glared back unabashedly and he exploded. "What did you think you were doing Midori?! I told you to stay out of it, here, where it's safe!"

"So I could do what? Sit here knowing that I'd sent you into a fight alone?! The Foot are dangerous and I refuse to be responsible for putting someone else's life at risk! Besides, it's my life and I can run it the way I like!" I stood and took a few steps away, stomping my feet angrily.

The turtle was up within seconds and following me, his face filled with anger. "If you think I'm just going to stand by and watch you get yourself killed you've got another thing coming, brat!"

"You don't have to stand by! You can just run off into the night and leave me alone!" I yelled, trying desperately to keep my voice form getting too loud.

He stared at me, his eyes now filled with concern as he approached me, slowly. "You can't keep doing this to yourself Midori. You're tearing yourself apart. Your revenge on the Foot, this vendetta of yours, it's not enough is it?"

My eyes closed slowly and I turned away. "You wouldn't understand." I muttered quietly.

I could feel the turtle tense behind me. And he took three large steps towards me before he grabbed my shoulder and turned me around, roughly. "I understand better than you think." Raph's green eyes beamed, their brilliant light penetrating my very soul. "Saki killed my mother." He growled lowly. My eyes widened in shock, but he went on. "My sister was mutated because she wanted revenge." I stared at my turtle friend and my formerly angry gaze softened slightly. Raph's voice lowered until it was practically only a whisper. "I understand better than anyone, and I'm telling you right now: it isn't worth it." His eyes stared deeply into mine before he turned and ran off the edge of the building, into the night. I followed his shadowy shape as he jumped from one building to the next, my mind racing with the surprising facts I had learned about my reptilian friend.

Little did I know, that behind the door of the roof-top access stairwell, a dark, shadowy figure was grinning evilly.