Chapter 7

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Amanda

"Oooh boy that was too good" I leaned back in my chair, looking around the table at everyone. I think most of them felt the same.

"Oooh cake bad" Jade muttered from my other side, almost falling off her chair but managing to stop herself.

"Oh no, cake is awesome!" Mikey almost cheered, throwing his hands up happily.

"Techinically" Donnie raised a finger, shifting his glasses up with the other hand "It's Miah's opinion of the cake that matters"

"Oooooh I think she loves it" Rachel laughed, pointing at the table with the kids. We all followed her gaze, giggles and laughter rising from all the adults.

Miah Rose had cake all over her face, and had grabbed a glob, now smushing it into Dean's face. To our surprise, Dean was giggling, soon grabbing some of his own cake and smushing it into Miah's face.

Soon all the kids were doing the same to one another, the adults unable to do anything but laugh.

It was Miah's third birthday, and we were all out in a large meadow, protected mostly by a large force field and cloak that Donnie and Ithiell had designed, just enjoying the quiet and each others company.

All of our families as well as the rest of the Animorphs were here, so there was a fairly large group of us.

"Kids just love to make a mess" Marco grinned madly, laughing again when he saw little Jake jump on Dean, putting cake all down his shell.

"Ah, just hose em off" Raph huffed, and I saw Serah glare at him.

"You could give them a damn cold doing that!"

"Ha! They're kids! They'll live"

"I don't want Cassie baby sick again" Mikey frowned a little, a look of worry on his face. He loved his little girl so much...

"Oh baby she'll be okay. You know she's like you" Kristiana leaned her head on his shoulder, watching as he started to relax, smiling as he put his arm around her waist.

"Too much like you sometimes" I giggled, smiling at him to let him know I was joking. He returned it, and I turned to the kids, seeing Eoran was being half attacked with more cake by both Cassie and Miah. He was making a weird little sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a huffing sound as the girls surrounded him, hearing them laughing as well.

My little boy had come a long way since he was born. He was fast, but he always listened to me, and when he didn't listen to me... well, Ithiell would make sure he didn't step too far out of line. It seemed that flaring his wings at our son scared him more into submission than a good yelling.

Thankfully the terrible twos had passed quickly with him, and he was now more curious than anything. Always wanting to know what his dad was up to, or what I was up to, and surprisingly, was always willing to help me out, and help me keep things clean. Even wanting to help me cook dinner sometimes... he was so cute.

"I do believe it is time to put an end to the food fight" Splinter's soft but stern voice made us look over again, seeing Jake and Dean had started to have a serious rumble.

"We'll get them" Leo shared an almost amused look with Raph, who got up as well to pull the two apart.

Eventually we got them cleaned up enough without having to hose them down, putting them in another little force field area especially designed to let them run around and play. Ithiell and Donnie had made sure that this force field had a roof of sorts, so Eoran couldn't get out either. He didn't have his wings yet, but he could climb on almost anything now. And I was sure he'd be able to climb his way up the force field.

I found out through Rtaia that he would probably start to grow his wings in about five or six, and they would be fully formed by the time he reached puberty. And... as Rtaia said... then he would go through the normal stages of male puberty. Which... I wasn't sure if any of it was going to at like thirteen/fourteen or if he would start earlier than that. I half hoped he wouldn't...

I watched as Miah and Dean started kicking a ball around, smiling as they soon kicked it to Eoran, all three of them squealing madly and enjoying themselves. Cassie and Jake were now sitting on the ground, the two of them looking like they were having a serious conversation about fingers. It was adorable to see.

"They play well together" I sighed, looking at Jade, then over at Leo, who was smiling at his son.

"Well... mostly. Hey Leo... I think our boys take after us" Raph chuckled a little, nudging Leo.

"Just a little" Leo shook his head, smiling at his brother and nudging him back.

"Well I know who Miah takes after" Jade said, jabbing her thumb at Donnie, who grinned happily down at her.

"What? I can't help it if my daughter takes after me in... intellect..." Donnie now looked like he regretted saying it, all of us watching as Jade rose from her chair, making Donnie cry out as she knocked him down.

"Well Donnie, bet you're regretting that now" Ithiell laughed, folding his arms a little, and just looked at him, narrowing my eyes a little.

"We know who Eoran takes after... and it's not me"

Ithiell just smiled, and I gave in to the temptation to do the same thing to him as Jade had done to Donnie.

Ithiell yelped as I started to tickle him in his most sensitive spots, his hands trying to get me off him but I refused, being relentless in my attack.

Jade soon copied me, and we hard Donnie yelping "No, stop!" And Jade laughing evilly.

"Hey guys, guys" Raphs voice made us all look up, me yelping when Ithiell rolled us over, now finding he was straddling my waist, grinning down at me.

"What's up Raph?"

"Why don't we do a free for all sparring session? Like we used to"

"You including us in that or what?" Rachel said from somewhere, watching as Ithiell leaned down a little. I took the chance to grab his face in my hands, kissing him as hard as I dared and catching him off guard.

"Well... I just... I..."

"I think the five of you... sorry, six" Serah corrected, knowing Robert would want to join in "Need to let off some steam. It's been a while, so..."

"Yeah, I'm with her" Kristiana said, and Ithiell finally gave up, getting on his feet pulling me up with him, making me let go of his face. I turned to Kristiana, seeing her start to push Mikey over to Raph and Leo.

"They're right" I looked at Ithiell, who gave me a strange stare.

"About what?" He asked, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Jade pull Donnie up.

"You need to go spar"

Ithiell scoffed "I do not"

"Come on Ithiell" Leo encouraged, and I took the opportunity to stroke just under Ithiell's chin, seeing him shiver a little.

"Damn woman" He grunted, half glaring at me. I just smiled sweetly back at him.

"Oh you love me" I pushed him forward "Now go kick butt"

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"And of course they'd bring their weapons to a family event" Jade grumbled, shaking her head at Donnie, who only smiled sweetly back at her.

"I don't need no weapons" Ithiell grinned cheekily, winking at me as he held his claws up "I am a weapon!"

"Ha ha, very funny" Came Leo's sarcastic response as he flicked his wrists, the katanas in his hands becoming a blur as he moved.

"Who else is betting that this won't end well for at least one of them" Serah asked, shaking her head.

"Hmm... I think they'll all get hurt" Kristiana nodded in agreement, watching as they all lined up to spar.

"Oh ye of little faith" Robert said, making us all raise our eyebrows at him.

"Oh, he'll be the first" Jade jabbed her thumb in his direction, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Who said I'd be unarmed" He half glared at her, reminding me of the old days, before he started to shift. To our surprise, he became Ithiell's double, smiling at the two of us when he was done.

"Is that permitted in a free for all?" Marco asked from somewhere.

"I will permit it" Splinter now, and we all turned as he sat on the chair near where the sparing area was going to be. I was kind of glad that the rest of our families had left at this point, not knowing what my dad or brothers would think of this. Conner would probably think it's cage fighting or something... freak out and tell us not to do it...

"All right!" Raph was flicking his Sais around, grinning madly "Let's do this!"

"That's my line" Rachel grumbled, folding her arms in front of her. She obviously wasn't impressed that she wasn't included.

"I do believe I have medical equipment in the fighter if any of you are injured" Rtaia said, sitting beside Splinter, and we soon all followed, sitting on the cool ground and watching as they all took a stance in a large circle.

"Bet Raph and Leo will go for each other" Kristiana whispered in my ear, and I half nodded, looking at Ithiell. He was on all fours, his tail whipping slowly back and forth, eyes narrowed and waiting for the go ahead.

Splinter would be the referee, and us girls would all... well, help in a way.

"Hey Marco" Tobias half nudged him "Why aren't we in on this?"

"Because my fighting days are over man" Marco clasped his hands behind his head "Not even sparring..."

"Well... that doesn't sound fun" Rachel raised an eyebrow at him.

"What can I say" Marco suddenly grinned "I'm a lover, not a fighter... and a great lover, so I'm-"

"Ewww! Marco!" Tobias pushed him now, making him almost fall over "Too much info man"'

"Fight!" Splinters voice cut the conversation short, and we all turned to see the six boys start to run at each other.

As predicted, Raph and Leo went at it, blades and sais making a loud clash, before they both flipped away from each other, taking a quick stance before it was on again. I was surprised to see Donnie take a swing at Ithiell, who expertly dodged, almost flying at him.

Robert and Mikey were on each other, Mikey managing to get a hit in on Robert's side, who growled and dove at him harder. Mikey dodged, before they went for one another again.

The rest of us just stared in awe as the boys went at it, attacks flying madly, but none of them lethal thankfully.

Soon Mikey got knocked into Leo and Raph's fight, and he had to dodge attacks from them as the opponents switched. Robert went for Raph, and Leo started to swing his katanas at Mikey, who knocked them away with his nunchucks.

Then, before we knew, it, opponents had changed again. Ithiell and Robert had somehow managed to find each other in a one on one battle. Donnie had just stepped back, his Bo almost smacking Raph in the back of the head, and soon the hotheaded turtle was on him, almost knocking the Bo out of Donnie's hands. But Donnie kept his grip firm, soon cracking the Bo at Raph and making him step back a little.

"Holy... this is just too much!" Rachel suddenly exploded upwards, her hands balled into fists "I can't just sit here"

I saw her grab Jade's arm, who looked genuinely confused, moving her over to a spot not far from where the six were going at it.

"Rach-" Jade yelped, ducking when Rachel swung a fist, backflipping when she started to kick at Jade.

"What in the world?" Was all came got out of my mouth, watching as Jade blocked kicks and punches coming at her, managing to get in a swing herself, which Rachel quickly blocked.

"Girls sparring sesh! Let's go!" Serah got up, soon jumping into the mix, watching as Jade was now trying to block attacks by Serah as well. Thankfully, Jade had more experience when it came to fighting, although I could see she was struggling.

That's when I made my decision.

I had to go save my best friend!

I got up, moving over to the trio, sweeping my leg as Rachel came close and knocking her down.

"Oh... so you're here too!" Rachel grinned, going to get up, then both of us almost being barrelled down by Jade and Serah.

"Now all they need is bikinis and some mud and it would be a show!" Came Marco's laugh.

"You're disgusting" Came Tobias's response as I righted myself, looking around at the three other girls.

"Ha!" Rachel threw out a leg to me, and I managed to push it aside, glad I'd spent some time training with Splinter now, before the other two exploded into action.

"Look-" Kristiana tried to call, but it was too late. My back slammed into a large chest, the two of us tumbling to the ground.

I looked up to see Mikey smiling sheepishly at me, and I went to apologise, before both of us realised Leo was coming at us, yelping and scrambling to get out of the way.

"Toss aside your weapons, now!" Splinter instructed, and I soon heard the clatter of katanas, as well as saw Sais tossed to the ground, now sticking up from the earth.

Soon, it was just pure madness. I was dodging attacks from the other girls, as well as trying not to get flattened by the boys.

I threw my own kick, getting Donnie in the side and hearing him grunt, going to turn to me before he was body slammed by Leo, the two of them tumbling to the ground, head over shell.

"This is madness!" Jade cried as she dodged under an attack by Mikey, watching her backflip away from Raph, before I had to duck my own opponent.

"This is so much fun!" Rachel yelled, cat rolling sideways as Mikey now came at her, then out of the way as Robert went past, before Ithiell was on me, slamming into me and half knocking me to the ground.

"Hello there" He grinned "Long time no-"

He stopped talking when we both saw Leo come at us, rolling us out of the way as he threw a blind punch.

"Uh, guys?" Came Krisitana's voice, but I think we were all focused on just trying not to get hit in this pile of utter madness.

"Guys!" She called again, but I don't think anyone was listening as I finally found Jade, smiling at her as both of us started to-

I half yelped as I felt some unseen force grab me, lifting me slightly in the air. I looked around to see the others had the same... uh... problem.

"Guys!" We now looked at Kristiana, who was holding a hand up and probably using her telekinesis to hold us in the air, using the other to point towards where our kids were.

"Oh boy..." Ithiell muttered from somewhere as I saw Jake almost bodyslam into Eoran, hearing him let out a surprised cry. I noticed Dean was between the girls, although they were being a little less brutal than Jake and Eoran were being.

"They are copying your actions, it seems" Rtaia observed, getting a little annoyed at her calm tone. I don't think I'd ever heard her just loose it...

"So... who votes the next time we spar like this, we don't do it around the kids" I said, hearing them mutter sounds of agreement.

"Glad that's sorted" Kristiana sighed, then suddenly we were all dropped, hitting the ground hard.

I would have to... thank... her later.

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Whoo! Who thought that was intense? I did! :D

Anyway, as always... hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you do!

Constructive Criticism appreciated!