Turning Point
Evil Wanda: Read on ;)
BubbleShell22: Thank ya :D Of course his bros will help him out :)
Sunbune: Thankies :) And the ending... I guess y'all can consider it happy :D And about "Leo never really..." he never really made sure that... never mind just read!
Epilogue
All the Foot ninjas in the throne room scattered, some dashing out through the door, others scurrying to the shadows. Ignoring the Foot, Raphael ran towards his brother. "Leo!" Raph winced at the sight of the deep slashes on his brother's chest.
"Raphael…"
Leatherhead limped over to the turtle. Bruises and scratches covered the giant crocodile's body, and upon closer inspection, Raphael noticed that the tip of Leatherhead's tail was gone. "We've got to get Karai's body and Leonardo out of here."
"Could ya go get Karai? I'll take Leo." Raph's voice was soft, barely above a whisper as he picked up his brother.
The crocodile nodded before doing so.
Raphael gasped when he caught sight of Karai's limp body in Leatherhead's large arms. "I-is… she really…" he was unable to finish his sentence as he looked away from the stab wound. Karai was so determined… so full of life the last time he saw her.
"I thought she was dead, but then I realized that she's breathing!" There was a hint of either joy and relief in Leatherhead's voice when he spoke, filling Raphael with relief knowing that Karai was alive. Though it was gone when the crocodile added, "She's alive, but barely."
Leonardo wasn't sure where he was, nor did he care as he sat down, his face in his hands, his mind filled with thoughts of Karai. Grief tore at the turtle's heart as he recalled all he and Karai had been through in the past few days. So many things had happened in the small number of days that had passed. He remembered that time when Karai lay on the sofa, suffering from both physical and emotional wounds. Then the memory of Karai showing him her vulnerable side for the first time entered Leonardo's mind. How she gazed at him with teary eyes, how she spoke in such a soft voice… then how she rested her head on his shoulder…
"Why?" Leonardo muttered to no one in particular. The turtle's voice rose to yell by his next question. "Why did he have to kill her? Why?" Leaping to his feet, the turtle's hands clenched into fists as he searched for something to take his anger out on.
He stopped when he saw Karai. She was with two other people, a man and a woman who looked to be in their late forties. The man was tall, broad shouldered with black hair and brown eyes, the woman had long black hair, green eyes and a face that looked to be an older version of Karai's.
Leonardo took several steps closer; he could hear their voices now.
"Karai," the woman's voice was kind and motherly, affection and admiration in her eyes as she gazed at Karai, "Look how you have grown!"
"You are the very image of your mother!" the man remarked.
As the man said this, it dawned on Leonardo that these were Karai's parents. All of a sudden, the turtle was unsure of whether or not he should be there, listening and watching them. Another part of him, however, was filled with curiosity and interest.
Karai's smile left her face as she avoided their gazes, her voice a soft whisper that Leo just barely heard, "Why did you abandon me?"
The man moved several loose strands of Karai's black hair away from her face, "We never wanted to, Karai." His voice was sincere, sorrow glimmering in his eyes, "But all our problems started piling up… we could barely feed ourselves…"
"We hoped that someone who was better off than us would be able to care for you." Karai's mother added, sadness clearly in her voice.
"The man who raised me was a merciless monster." Karai muttered.
"Which is why we are so proud of you!" The woman gave Karai a hug before letting their green eyes gaze into each other, "You were raised by someone who was evil, but you yourself did not become evil."
"But did I not make many wrong choices?"
"You have indeed made several mistakes, but in the end, your heart led you to make many right choices, choices we very much approve of." Karai's father replied.
Karai smiled, and Leonardo noticed something leave her eyes, as if some great problem within her that had never been solved had finally been solved.
"Now, Karai, why don't you go and greet Leonardo? He has been watching for some time already."
Leonardo was surprised by what Karai's mother had said, so she did know that he was there! Smiling sheepishly, he approached them, a part of him guilty for watching their reunion.
"Leonardo!" Karai's smile widened as he got closer.
"Karai…" Leonardo smiled, feeling good to be near Karai again. Unable to stop himself, the turtle hugged her, "I… I thought the Shredder… the murderer…" he trailed off, calming down as she returned the hug.
The pair gazed into one another's eyes when they pulled away, Leonardo sounded awkward as he asked, "Are we… dead?"
Karai looked as if she didn't know either. The pair let their gazes fall on Karai's parents.
The couple's happy faces were replaced by those of sadness, "It will be a long and painful journey going back, but your lives would have ended very soon if you decide not to go back." answered Karai's mother.
Karai's father continued for his wife, "You will leave behind friends and family who care very much about you."
"Family?" Karai asked, "But you and the Shredder have been my only family."
"What about Leonardo?" The man was smiling as he said this.
Leonardo didn't know how to react when Karai's father said this. All the more he was unsure of how to react when Karai let her green gaze fall on him.
"And Leonardo's family has also treated and accepted you as one of their own." The woman added.
"You are right…" Karai seemed thoughtful. Sadness was clearly in her voice when she said, "But we will have to part again, right?"
The couple nodded sadly.
"You can go on with them…" Leonardo spoke in a voice barely more than a whisper. No matter how much it would pain him, he didn't want Karai to go back to a world of pain and injury just because of him.
"Are… are you sure?"
Leo closed his eyes for a moment, preparing himself for parting with Karai. She would always have a special place in his heart. Opening his eyes he replied, "Yeah."
Karai seemed unsure, glancing from her parents to Leonardo several times. Finally, she let her gaze fall on Leonardo, a new kind of determination in her eyes. "We will both go back." She replied.
"But… but didn't you parents say that it'll be a painful journey?" Some part of him suddenly began worrying about her.
"I will endure the most painful agonies, swim in the deepest of oceans, run through the most scorching of fire as long as I know you will be there on the other side."
The turtle could only smile, too touched by her words to say anything.
"Then you must both go." Karai's mother saved him the trouble of coming up with what to say.
"Go now before the journey becomes longer and more painful." Karai's father added.
The couple then began to fade away, "Goodbye, Karai. We love you! Do not worry; we will meet again in time."
"See ya on the other side." Leonardo told Karai as she began to fade as well.
"See you, Leonardo."
Hun's large, broadly-built, muscle-bound form towered over the large crowd of Foot and Purple Dragons as he stood upon the Shredder's chair. The eyebrow-deprived giant had been the only one strong, fierce and dominant enough to get the Foot to get over their shock of the Shredder's death right away as well as allow the Purple Dragons into the tower.
"Instead of standing around wondering what to do now that the Shredder and Firia are dead, we should be making plans for revenge!" Hun told the crowd, "Listen, all of you! We will unite as the Dragon Foot and seek out the Shredder's murderer! We will not rest until the turtle Leonardo is slain!"
Among the crowd, Chaplin stared up at the new leader of the Foot. Ever since he had learned Karai had been killed, he wasn't so sure if it truly was right for him to be working for these people. His joy and enthusiasm seemed to have gone away with the object of his affection and admiration.
Raphael found himself having confused, blurred dreams with hazy, distorted images of Leo, Leatherhead, Karai, the Shredder, and others he could barely identify. The red-banded turtle immediately awoke when he heard Leonardo's groan. "Leo!" relieved, Raphael watched as Leonardo's eyes opened.
"Bro!" Unable to stop himself, Raphael gave his waking brother a hug, "Oh, Leo!" The hot-headed turtle was unable to put his emotions of relief to words.
"Heheh… hey Raph…"
The turtle leader obviously sounded surprised by his sudden show of emotion.
"Er… Ow! Raph… bro… too tight!"
"Oh… sorry, bro!" Embarrassed, Raphael let go of his brother, chuckling sheepishly. "You okay? Need any o' yer bandages changed? Anythin'?" For some reason, worry and concern for his brother filled Raphael.
"Uh… my chest's bugging me a bit, but I'm okay, Raphy." Leonardo winced as he sat up. The turtle glanced left and right. "Is Karai here?"
"No… Right after you guys took out that Firia person and buckethead, LH and I took you two to Case and April, who were waitin' outside. They took Karai t' the hospital while Croc-man and I took you to our new home which Donny found." Raph hoped Leo wouldn't ask how Karai was, even if that would probably be the turtle leader's second question.
"How's sensei?"
'Well if it ain't the second question, it'd be fearless leader's third question.' This thought was running through the red-banded turtle's mind as he replied, "Master Splinter's in 'is new room restin', doin' fine. The Shredder beat 'im up pretty bad, but April an' Don say he'll be okay after a while."
"And you guys?"
'Make that fourth' "We're fine, Mikey's more annoying than usual coz he'll have t' get used t' havin' no games an' stuff like that 'till we get new ones… Donny's gotta make whatever he was makin' all over again… I need another bike… other than that, yeah, we're fine."
Here it comes… "How's Karai doing? Did April and Casey say anything?"
"Uh… well…" Raphael avoided his older brother's questioning brown gaze. Trying not to get into detail, he replied, "Surgery an' all that crap's been done, we've already paid for it by doin' some jobs fer some people…" When Leonardo raised an eyebrow, Raphael added, "We didn't show our faces of course!"
"Like what jobs, exactly?"
"Er… well…" Raphael shrugged, "Different jobs, from helpin' people with movin' stuff, carpentry… that's what Casey an' I did… Mikey entertain kids by pretendin' to be some guy in a turtle costume… Don sold some inventions from our previous lair that weren't destroyed when the Foot found the place… LH and April helped Donny with that… plus the doctor was an ol' friend o' April's, and she managed to convince her to lower the price a little bit…"
Leonardo's eyes widened with surprise, "Really? All that for Karai?" the disbelief was obviously in his voice.
The red-banded turtle shrugged once more, "'Ey, she's sorta one of us now. Besides, if you were awake a couple of days ago, you would've tried to raise the money on yer own, even while ya were still injured."
"I guess…" Leonardo looked like he knew Raph was right. "Wait… how long have I been out?"
"This is yer fifth night…"
"So… wait… you never told me how Karai was."
Raphael shuddered inwardly, "She…" the red-clad turtle let out a sigh before continuing, "She hasn't woken up yet."
"She hasn't?" the turtle leader's voice was filled with worry, not the cool, calm voice Raph had gotten used.
"Yeah…"
"Can't she be brought here?" Leonardo asked, "She might wake up if I'm around… or can I be brought there?"
Leonardo's worried attitude alarmed Raphael, "What? Leo, it's three in the morning!"
"It is? But-"
"Leo, Leo, buddy!" Raphael tried to calm his brother, something the hot-headed fighter wasn't used to. "If ya go back to sleep, I promise ya I'll ask April first thing in the mornin'."
Leonardo lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, waiting for morning to come, too alarmed to sleep knowing that Karai still hadn't woken up, a part of him blaming himself for it. What if Karai was being tormented by the Shredder as she lay in some hospital bed her mind lost and wondering? She herself had said that she was going to go back to living as long as he'd be there. Some selfish shell-for-brains he was not being there for her!
Immediately, he leapt out of bed when he heard someone knock on the door, ignoring the pain the action caused certain wounds to feel. The turtle hurriedly opened the door, almost hitting Raphael with it as he did so.
"Well?" he asked excitedly, some part of him taking note of how Mikey-ish he sounded.
"Are you sure you're up to it, bro?" Raphael asked, concern in his voice, replacing the usual gruff growl. "You're supposed to be restin' an' recuperatin', y'know."
"Yes, now where are our coats and clothes?"
"Leo,"
"What?"
"Did ya just hear yerself? Yer acting like Mikey goin' to some comic book store!"
Leonardo instantly froze. He was acting very much like Michelangelo. He had pushed the thought to the back of his mind, but now that Raph mentioned it… that was just embarrassing!
"Er… uh… sorry, Raph…" the sheepish smile on the turtle's face left when he said his next statement, "I just want to see Karai and… y'know… help her somehow…"
Raphael seemed to understand as he nodded his head, leading the way out of their latest lair.
Leonardo pulled up his jacket's hood and removed his shades before tentatively walking into the room where Karai was staying. The moment he caught sight of her, any uneasy feelings he had of being unarmed left him, replaced by concern for Karai.
Sitting on the chair next to her bed, the turtle gazed at Karai. The woman who had gone through so much with him, who had changed in just a month or so from a devoted worker of the Shredder who was torn between duty and honor to the strong ally she was to the turtles and their friends now… and so much more to him…
"Karai…" he said softly, hoping it would wake her. "I've… I've… y'know… finished the 'journey'… how 'bout you? How close are you to the end?" How stupid did he sound? 'So what? I've got nothing else to say!' The turtle let out a sigh before trying something else, "Karai… please wake up… I dunno what I'd do if you didn't wake up…" Just as he said this, Leonardo couldn't help thinking of how possible and how close to happening that was.
Leonardo gulped, pushing away the sorrow and grief that was threatening to overwhelm him. "Karai…" Leo found himself lost for words, unable to think of anything to say, afraid of sounding like a selfish brat if he tried to beg her to wake up.
"My 'journey' is at an end."
A smile instantly appeared on the turtle's face when he heard Karai's voice. "Karai!" Leonardo just barely managed to keep himself from hugging her and possibly hurting her. "You're awake!"
"Where are your friends and family? I must thank them for all they had done."
"They were willing to do..." Leonardo trailed off, "Okay, Casey wasn't really thrilled, but my brothers didn't seem to mind all that much, heck, even Raph says you're sort of one of us now…"
Karai smiled, "Like family."
Leonardo smiled back, "Yeah, like family."
Karai sat up, moving herself closer to Leonardo, "Thank you, Leonardo, thank you for being so kind, compassionate, understanding…"
If normal turtles couldn't blush, mutant ones probably could, and Leonardo knew that he was. "Uh… heheh… thanks…" Something in Leo told him to lean forward towards Karai. Unsure of how she would react, Leonardo did so. Surprisingly, she leaned forward as well. The turtle's heart began beating faster as the distance between their faces grew shorter, an indescribable feeling forming in him.
Just as their lips met, the door burst open as Mikey poked his head in. The cap and shades the turtle wore nearly fell off as he made a surprised jump. "Whoa!" The shocked, open-mouthed look on Mikey's face was replaced by a huge grin. "Karai an' Leo sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S- ouch!"
Raphael's gloved three-fingered hand smacked the back of Michelangelo's head before roughly pulling the turtle out of the room. "Mikey, ya immature bonehead!"
Leonardo gazed at the closed door, wondering if anyone else would be walking in. The turtle relaxed when Karai let a hand rest on his shoulder. Returning his attention to her, he smiled "Where were we?
There, after about... I think twenty one or twenty two days, this thing's done! Wow... that's unusually short... Tell me what y'all think about this chapter, how the story ends and the overall story... blehblehbleh. By the way, their new lair... just picture it as their latest one, the one in season four, after Prodigal Son.
Good? Bad? Conry? Cool? Tell me watcha think! Note that I'm not the greatest at er... romantic scenes, so if I wrote any in a lame way... suggestions and comments would help :D And if there are any loose ends I might have forgotten to tie, tell me.
If y'all liked this, I may or may not write a sequel, if an interesting plot comes into my mind, I might write it, though I'm not sure if it'll be updated as often. Or I might write a Raph x Karai not related to this... or perhaps a (really) short Mikey x Karai just for fun XD Lol, Mikey x Karai is an amusing opposites attract and Raph x Karai is an interesting love-hate thing, and I'm just drawn to love-hates, heheh...