she cannot let the boys see her like this.
the boys are gentle and sweet and kind. they’re GOOD people, and she can’t bear to let them see her like this. fresh from a rage, a fight she couldn’t have won but DESPERATELY needed to finish. if she went to the boys, they would all surround her, overwhelm her. it would be too much.
and to go to her uncles would be to start another street war. no matter how much animosity lingers between herself and the purple dragons, they both have a clear understanding of when to let a fight finish. they are not to kill her, for fear of a war, and she is not to tell her uncles a THING for the same damned reason.
what she needs is silence, and a moment to heal.
and so she gets close enough to the lair to hear them, to feel the LOVE that flows from the brothers, but does not enter. instead, the woman finds a cutout; something that used to be a tunnel, before it caved in near the entrance. there, leah tosses her shoes to the side, throws down her coat, and flops down on top of it. she buries her face in her hands.
as a master ninja, splinter knows how to move silently. sometimes he does it to get the surprise on an assailant, other times it’s to startle the boys when he KNOWS they’re doing something wrong. rarely has he needed to use it to approach an ally, especially one usually so loud and animated when she enters the lair.
from behind the huddled form, splinter taps his cane against the stone floor. the sound echoes through the deafening silence. leah’s head lifts suddenly, and she turns to face him. dark eyes peak out from between bloody fingers, darting back and forth, as though sizing him up. recognition dawns.
but instead of relaxing at the sight of him, the woman tenses. she tucks herself farther into the dead end, tries to bury her face in his knees. he starts forward.
there is no need for him to speak, even as she snarls and spits in his direction. even as she presses against the dirty wall behind her.
i’m fine. it’s not a big deal! a little street brawling never hurt anyone. i just needed to breathe, and then i’m gunna go home. no need to worry the boys about--
silence as he touches her chin, lifts her face up to look at him. blood and bruises darken her face and neck. her lip is busted and swollen. leah lifts a hand, to knock him away from her, but he’s quicker than her. he turns her hand in his, to examine busted knuckles. an eyebrow arches as splinter finally turns his gaze to hers. she flinches.
“these will need to be treated.”
her heart sank in her chest. “i can’t let the boys see me.”
dark eyes twinkle. both hands return to his cane, and splinter turns from her. his tail twitches once, twice. “do you think they know of every entrance to our home, ms. akayama? you will tend to your injuries, and we will enjoy a cup of tea. then my sons will escort you home.”
struck wordless, leah can do little more than follow him through the tunnels.
