Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT

Chapter 20: Leonardo-Fear

Minus one year

He had gotten used to it the raw terror that rolled off of people when he stepped out of the dark with a blade in his hand. He'd gotten used to the pleas for mercy.

What he hadn't gotten used to was the sound of a wife screaming, of children crying for their father…or the numb stare of a man who walked into his home to find his wife dead and death itself waiting for him to be next.

The tally marks on his arms were obvious enough to the fact that every individual that he was forced to kill remained on his conscious. They remained behind his eye lids and haunted him every moment, every second of his life.

Only Hana.

Only her; she managed to push back the darkness that haunted him, that tortured him, that forced his mind to shudder and crawl to twist and flail against him.

She understood his oath to protect his family and understood his fear of everything that had happened and what could happen to him.

Hana was his light in the stormy night, a beacon of trust and hope that slowly lead him out of the musing of the tortured mind.

The fear of losing everything he had just barely gained still ripped at his soul. The fear of waking up to find the orders to kill his friends or the woman that he had chosen as his mate, his wife.

It was something that terrified him to no end and rocked him to the core of his very being.

She was everything.

She was quite simply, hope.

Hope for a better day.

A better life.

Of something that the nation was founded on:

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

He only hoped that he could achieve it.

A/N: Sorry for the Looooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnggg gg delay folks. Got married June 23rd, and finally got done with the transition of moving on the 5th this month. Been working and unpacking so this is my first chance to type and post. This is the end of Book One, but Book Two will be added directly into the same "story" just look for the Book Two: Liberty in the tag line. Thanks for hanging in there and don't worry the new story will start up soon! Please leave me a review guys!

p.s. what did Raph and Mike find in Leo's apartment…find out soon…