Book One In The Ahh-Ness Of Things Series: April & Donnie were once inseparable, but now almost six years have passed since she left NYC. What if April O'Neil could set the record straight, once & for all! The only girl down enough to chill with the...
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Leonardo motioned for me & I bowed to him before I closed the space between us. I knelt in front of him & placed my face to the floor at his knees. I wanted to please him. There was this ability he had to reassure you with his steadfast calm. Clearly, this was why he had been Master Splinter's first choice as successor. It was without a second thought that I would follow him now. He was to be my sensei, just as his father had been before & I was happy he would work with me. Infact, I was a little surprised at how ready I was to get back to it.
"Will you sit with me?" He smiled & placed his hand on the floorboards next to him. It was an extension of favor. In the household we were family, but once we entered this room; he was my Master & I would only do as he said. For him to ask though, was a tender endearment.
He stared straight ahead as I rested close to him. He smiled & rocked back with his legs crossed; "Its so good to be back in here isn't ?"
I looked over at him & agreed. I felt satisfied, like a long trip had finally ended & I could relax.
"Nothing has changed. At the same time, everything has." I sighed; it was a sad admission.
"Everything grows, Sis." he looked towards me; his eyes unable to focus on my face & he knew it broke my heart a little. So he rested his hand on mine. He could easily pick up on body language & moods. This was from years of training; to be as quietly observant as he could. Something he had mastered; the subtle changes in breathing & tone of voice. Tiny sounds or a shift of light. It served him well now that he was blind. I was glad I sat to his left & couldn't see his troubling scars.
"We grow & we change." He was worried.
I took a deep breath. I needed his advise more than anything right now. I wished I could just talk to him, but it wouldn't be right; with Donatello in the dark. I wished I could cry on Raphael's shoulder. I wished I could put my fist through a wall & hear him cheer me on.
"April, you can't go back in time. Well... we can't all be Renet!" Leo squeezed my hand gently & laughed. "Put one foot in front of the other & you will find your way. You have to."
He turned to face me; "You must. Either you will grow stronger, or you will grow indifferent to the past, but either way you will get past this & grow."
"I just want to go back. I made so many wrong choices, I wasted so much time."
"No! April, you were learning. Show us what you learned."
"That I never should have left?"
"You know, I meant what I said about you finding your way back to us. So now, you're back; what are you going to bring. What do you have to offer?"
I suddenly felt like he was calling me out & remembered my place. I was contradicting the advise I was so desperately wanting.
"April, I don't mean to sound cold. We already know who you were. Who are you now?"
I held my breath. I really couldn't answer & I wasn't so sure he wanted me to. It was meant more so for me to ask myself.
He relaxed a little to ease the tension; "Don't worry, I asked Donnie the same question."
He looked off in the distance at Mikey now doing backflips off of the wall.
"We're going to run through goshingi today. Nothing too aggressive. Just get an aptitude for your self defense. I'm sure you haven't been attacked by anyone in a while, right?", he blurted out.
"No, not really. not since I stopped hanging around you." I shoved him playfully, happy to know it wasn't all formalities.
"Har dee har, funny."
"Wait, how will you see m..."
"I'll know what I need to." He was a little riled. He knew I wasn't questioning his ability to judge his pupils without the use of sight; I was just pointing out the obvious, stubbornly. It was definitely a sore spot. "Besides I'm going to have you start with Mikey. He's loud. He never learned the meaning of stealthy in stealthy steps."
I couldn't help but laugh as just then Michelangelo let out a loud "YESSS!". He had accomplished something he was after, in all of his somersaults.
"Never learned his damn inside voice either." Leo ran his finger across the floor in irritation. "He'll make jokes, Raphael will make insults & Donatello will complain. I have all I need." He winked at me & cupped the side of his head as if he had a visible ear. Which he did not. "Idou kihon. Start with light budo kumite, with him."
"Hai, sensei." He meant for me to practice basic body movements in self defense of an attacker. He would pay attention to both my ability to defend my self & to further counter an attack.
I stood a bowed to him & he called to Mikey seriously, "Kihon only. And no weapons."
Mikey looked at his nunchaku disappointedly. "Okay."
The sound of the doors parting distracted us as I prepared myself to spar with Mikey. There was a commanding presence when their older brothers came into the room. Raphael moved across the floor as if he were a hulk-ish Samurai in full armor, returning from the battlefield. Donatello, close behind in determined conviction. They kept a respectful distance from each other as they approached the sensei. It was apparent the agitation between them hadn't quite yet passed & they seemed eager to work it out.
They knelt in tattehiza, side by side on one knee before the sensei, in a ready position. They both outsized him in weight & Donatello in height as well, but they were in his house & this his sacred space. Etiquette was expected & respect a necessity. Their argument would take the back seat in his presence. If they acted like fools in here, their little brother would take the upper hand without warning.
He looked to Raphael; "Sai kihon no kata, thirty minutes. Then switch to tonfa, for thirty."
"Hai, sensei." Raphael bowed & walked away.
"Kai bo kihon no kata, thirty minutes."
Donatello looked up, surprised; "Now?"
Leonardo firmly spoke up; "You're going to practice eku & then we'll switch to naginata bo kihon no kumite."
"Who am I sparring with?" Donatello was still bowing but looking directly at him.
"Donnie. You're going to work with April. She can handle a suburito, she can handle wooden swords."
Donatello looked up at me, still head down & stared distantly in a strange way I couldn't gather. It made me uncomfortable & I didn't know exactly where to turn my eyes. Some how Leonardo could feel it.
"You work the best with her. Donatello, you're a great teacher. It is our responsibility to bring her back up to speed. She's a part of this family, put your emotional attachments aside; there's no room for it here. She won't learn if you're afraid you might hurt her."
Donnie blinked as if he were holding back tears. I thought he just really didn't want to be near me. Then I heard the echo of a silent voice, so sincere. She's afraid I will.
Leo didn't know what he thought, & I wasn't sure Donnie was aware I did. If he was, he didn't intend for me to know how he felt. Leo simply took it as being challenged when he didn't respond.
"I'm not asking you. It's a command."
Donatello stood straight & stared at his brother as if he'd been asked to take me out out back & put me out of my misery.
