The Turtle Charm

Ofrenda

It had been about a week since Leo and I...became closer. I didn't know if I wanted to say we were dating or anything like that since we had only really been making out in secret. It just wasn't the right time to go public with our current relationship. For the most part, we kept it to our connected rooms. That's what happens when two teens who are attracted to each other have a conjoining door. 

Other than that, Leo had been asking me a lot of questions about the other versions of his family. "Wait, wait, wait! So you're telling me that the other me from that '2012' universe had a thing for Karai!"

"Oh, yeah. And she defiantly had a thing for him. It was like Romeo and Juliet if Romeo and Juliet were highly skilled ninjas trained from birth...Ah, I tell you, she was sexy as hell! I probably wouldn't have known I liked girls if it weren't for her...Oyes, you okay there?" 

Leo seemed to be gagging when he said, "It's just...I get it's a different universe, but...In this one, Karai is my Grangran!"

"Your grandma?"

"Well, more like a super great grandma, who founded the Hamato clan to oppose her demon-possessed father, Oroku Saki, the Shredder."

"You're related to the Shredder! Holy shit, that'd be one awkward family gathering..."

"So, were not related in the other universes?"

"We'll...there's a gray area in some depending on how you see it..." Before I could explain further the complicated relationship between his counterpart and Karai in TMNT 2012, a knock came from Leo's door.

"Leo!" said Raph, "Let's get going! Trick-or-treating ain't going to do itself! Mikey, go see if Tina's ready."

"Well, that's my cue to go...You're almost done with that ofrenda thing, right? Hey...isn't it a little spooky for a traditional Dia de Los Muertos alter?" 

For the past hour, I had been setting up my display for the Day of the Dead, which, in addition to traditional sugar skulls and marigolds, included jack-o-lanterns and cobwebs."

"Today, we celebrate and honor the dead with things they like. Papa always said Halloween was his favorite American holiday. He especially liked the candy!" 

A bit after that, we separated, coming out through our own separate doors, and joining the others for a surprisingly uneventful TMNT Halloween. It was just regular old door-to-door candy extortion. But, as it turned out, it wasn't going to be a regular Dia de Los Muertos.

Upon returning, I opted to go finish up paying my respects to Papa, giving him the best of what I got in my candy pail instead of heading to the tv room with the others to binge some scary movies.

"We'll, it's not exactly a Milky-Way, but these Jupiter Jim bars are pretty close," I said as I dropped them into a small bowl in front of a picture of Papa I had developed from my phone.

The door between mine and Leo's room opened. When I turned to him, he asked, "Hey, I was wondering...can I put this on there," he showed me a family portrait by Mikey that included a beautiful woman at the center, "This is my family's Karai. I didn't know her for long, or very well, but...she was important to me...though not in the way that other Leo saw his Karai. Just to be clear."

I chucked and said, "I get it. Go ahead. I'm sure your abuelita would be happy to know she meant so much to you." 

Leo placed it near Papas. He took a glance at my dad and said, "You know, you look just like him. It's no wonder you're so beautiful."

I felt a bit of a blood rush, saying, "You Hamatos have really good genes yourself. Like I know Karai is your grandma, but damn, that woman's a GILF if I'd ever seen one."