Liz: A TMNT Story

Chapter 6

(timeskip to 3 months later. This would be after the Vision Quest episode)

(Leo's P.O.V.)

I huffed as I lifted another bag into the back, clapping my hands to rid them of dust. I glanced at Raph, who was helping Casey hook the hot rod up to the Party Wagon, and at Mikey, who was saying goodbye to all his chickens. April and Donnie were talking on the porch while packing the last of the supplies. This was it. We had decided to charge back into the city and take back our home. I gulped a bit at the thought, and glanced momentarily down at my formerly injured leg. It had been fine since my trip up the mountain a few days ago, but I couldn't help wondering what I'd do if it suddenly gave out again. I couldn't let my brothers and friends down, not again.

I cast my eyes down, walking past the porch and through the door of the farmhouse. I made my way up the staircase and turned to the room I'd taken for my own during the time we'd been forced to stay here. I didn't have much in here, only my katanas and a few things my brothers packed for me before we fled New York City. I sat on the bed, knowing that I should probably pack all of this stuff up, but my mind spun with too many thoughts. So much had happened since I'd woken up. But however many things had happened at this farmhouse, there was still something that bothered me.

I thought it had just been a figment of my imagination when I looked back on the day of the invasion, but when I was fighting the Foot bots and Shredder's henchman, I remembered... a girl. I couldn't get her out of my head. She hadn't seemed afraid of me when I turned and saw her.  Sure, maybe a little shocked, but concerned, not fearful. Her brunette hair was flying wildly in the wind when her staggering grey eyes stared at me. I only partially could recall the things that happened on that rooftop, but every time I reimagined it, her eyes popped up, full of warmth and brightness.

I shook my head, sighing. I also could grasp the memory of Fishface chasing after her as I was being dragged away. I closed my eyes, frowning as I somewhat saw her wheeling around and running out of sight. I didn't even know her name, but since I'd come to terms with the fact that she wasn't some delusion, I'd hoped that she had escaped whatever fate she had been faced with.

"Leo?" I jerked my head up as April gently rapped her knuckles against the doorframe, "You alright?"

"...Yeah," I replied, "Just thinking."

"You've been doing that a lot lately," she observed, coming to sit beside me, "You seem different."

"Really April, I'm fine," I tried to reassure her, but I knew she didn't buy it.

"What happened on that rooftop, Leo?" she inquired.

"I've already told you guys everything."

"You sure? I thought you said you saw someone."

"Someone? N-no... did I say something about that? I must've meant Shredder."

"No, you said 'she'."

"When did I tell you that?"

"Just answer the question: was it Karai?"

"No, I must've told you. I didn't know her."

"Ha! So you admit that you did see a girl?"

"What? I thought I had already told you that!"

"Nope," April smiled a bit, "So who's this girl?"

"Whoa whoa whoa," I made a time-out gesture, "So, you're saying you've never heard me talk about seeing a girl on that rooftop?"

"No."

"How did you know about it then?"

"I didn't. But you just confirmed my suspicions," April grinned triumphantly, and I sighed in defeat. I had no idea what had just happened, but April sure did know how to pry a story out of a person.

"Alright, I admit, there was someone there. But I honestly had never seen her before in my life."

"'Kay, before we get into anything else," April started, "Is she part of any evil group of terrorists or affiliated with anyone like that?"

"She's not like Karai, April," I insisted, "She just seemed like a normal girl. I saw her as I was fighting the Foot, and then before I blacked out, I saw Fishface chasing after her."

"What did she look like?"

"She was about your height, maybe shorter. She had brown hair and really bright grey eyes. Do you know her?"

April thought for a moment, before shaking her head, "She doesn't sound familiar to..." Then she paled.

"April? April, what is it?"

"Nothing."

I furrowed my 'brow' at my friend. I wasn't going to get her to open up, I wasn't as good with words as she was. April rose up, also frowning and buried in thought, walking out the room. Before she disappeared, she turned her head to me. We stood like that moment, each waiting for the other to say something, before April sighed and left.

I started to pace the room, trying to sort through all my thoughts. But that girl's face stood in the way of anything becoming clear. I huffed in frustration, looking around the room. The desk in the corner had a few scraps of paper. I walked over, searching the drawers before finding a pencil. I sat down and started sketching furiously, not really realizing how much effort I was putting into it until I finished. I leaned back in the chair, rubbing my eyes to clear them up, before looking down at the drawing. The girl's hair still was whipping around her face, eyes filled with determination and worry. I thought for a moment before taking up the pencil and jotting down a caption in the corner of the paper: The Girl With the Grey Eyes.

I folded up the drawing and put it in a bag, before slinging the pack over my shoulder and grabbing my katanas from beside the bed. I heard Raph shouting, "Leo! Get your lazy shell down here!"

I walked hurriedly out the door, stopping as my hand took hold of the doorknob. I glanced around the room, thinking about everything that had happened and was about to happen. I took a deep breath, muttering, "First we find Splinter, then we save the city..."

As I walked down the stairs for the last time, a part of me finished, And then I find that girl.