Love and War - A Leo Love Story (TMNT)

7

Akila was caught off guard by this girl, Karai's, relaxed aura. But still, she was an enemy, so Akila held her stance. "Let me guess," she began with an eye-roll, "you're here to kidnap me back to the Shredder. Well let me spare you the trouble because we all know I'll just escape again."

"I highly doubt that," Karai countered with a taunting voice, "that nice doctor isn't around to save you anymore."

Akila felt fury build up in her chest. "What did you do to him?" She demanded.

"Him? Oh, you'll be pleased to hear he ran off before we could punish him accordingly," Karai responded in an uncaring voice. She then began to walk over to Akila casually. "But no, I'm not here to kidnap you," she added, "the Shredder has a message for you."

"I don't care," Akila replied immediately.

Karai ignored her and went on, "he wants you to know that you'll always be welcome in his presence." She continued to walk toward the other girl.

Alarmed by Karai's approaching, Akila swung her kamas expertly in warning. "Come a little closer and I'll make sure the Shredder gets my message," she growled.

"You're a fighter..I like that," Karai observed with a nod of approval. "But you don't want to fight me."

"I like my odds," Akila retorted, refering to how quickly she'd learned a lifetime of kunoichi techniques. Then at last, she lunged for Karai.

Karai dodged with ease, immediately whipping out a short sword of her own. When Akila slashed her kamas down toward the other girls head, Karai stopped them both with her sword. They were face to face for a moment, eyes only six inches apart. "That's not what I meant," Karai corrected in a strong tone.

But Akila continued to attack. "Why wouldn't I," she began, pausing as she swung again, "want to fight an enemy kunoichi?"

Again, Karai blocked. Her eyebrows were drawn down in annoyance. "You don't know who I am," Karai warned.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" Akila taunted with a short laugh. She spun her body around and managed to slice the other girl's leg just enough to make her bleed.

Karai looked both shocked and angry. Akila could see that she wanted to fight back so badly, but for some reason, she was holding back. Then, Karai leapt backwards, doing a few flips in the air until she was out of Akila's reach. "You're too stubborn for you're own good," she called back to her. "What I was trying to tell you," she paused for a moment to make sure she had Akila'a attention, "...is that your blood doesn't end with just the Shredder. There's another."

Akila's heart nearly stopped. Her guard fell completely as she thought back to Malick's memory. And the other, Shredder had said. Things began to fall into place in her head as her eyes glued to Karai with a look of every mixed emotion that existed. "..You..?" She asked, her voice coming out weaker than she'd intended.

Karai smirked. "See ya 'round, sis," she shouted, then disappeared.

• • •

Akila didn't leave that rooftop for a few hours. Her mind was a jumble, and for the first time ever, she felt a pang of longing for her family. Her blood family. I have a sister, she thought to herself on repeat, unable to think of anything else. She tried to meditate to find more of Malick's memories about this 'Karai' girl, but her mind simply wouldn't calm.

It was only then that Akila realized how right Leo had been about her. She was constantly moving, constantly up and alert. And now, it was coming back to bite her by making meditation so difficult. So Akila decided that she'd lay off the extra training for a bit as she made her way through the sewer and back to the lair.

"Oh, hey, Akila," Donnie greeted from the couch as he saw his friend enter. He and Raph were both in the living room. "How's Casey?"

"I, um.." Akila began, but found herself unable to tell the truth. "He's good," she assured with a small smile.

Why did I just say that? She asked herself. Then she reasoned, if they find out that I have a sister, they might start getting suspicious of me. And then she asked, why would they? It's not like she changes anything.

But she did. Akila felt her heart thump as she realized that finding out she had a sister changed everything. Still, she couldn't just flat out lie to her turtle friends. "I made a new friend, too," she decided to say.

Raph finally looked up from his comic book. "Really?" He asked in surprise. Akila raised an eyebrow at him as if to ask, 'what do you mean?' "It's just," Raph paused to chuckle lightly, "you're not really the friend-making type."

Akila rolled her eyes. But before having to give an explanation as to why she suddenly had a new 'friend', Leo walked in. "Did I hear Akila?" He asked before she came into his view. When he spotted her, he smiled warmly.

"Hey, Leo," Akila greeted with a loving smile. She walked over to meet him with a kiss on his cheek.

"How was your time out?" Leo asked.

"It was nice," Akila responded.

"And she made a new friend," Raph interrupted.

Leo's eyes widened a bit in surprise. "You," he began, pausing briefly, "made a friend?"

Akila sighed. "Is it really that hard to believe?" She wondered aloud.

Raph was unable to hide his laughter at this, which earned him a glare from Akila. "So this friend," Leo spoke before his girlfriend could yell at Raph, "what are they like?"

Akila took a moment to think, trying not to panic. How was she supposed to describe her evil sister without letting on that she was an evil sister. But thankfully, she was interrupted again. Mikey popped his head into the room with a wide grin. "You made another human friend?!" He asked excitedly, "when can we meet 'em?!"