A Gift

Chapter 8

Raph had asked Tiger Claw to stay the night, which he accepted. Raph had gotten a room with two queen beds. So while he slept with Lea on one bed, Tiger Claw slept on the other bed.

But neither boys had slept that night, to worried about Lea not awakening or something  else that could happen. Around 8 a.m. both boys had finally fallen asleep.

All three mutants had slept all day. Both Raph and Tiger Claw had woken at 8 p.m. that night, but Lea still hadn't woken up. Both watched over her, silence between the two. At 11 p.m. Lea had finally woken up.

"Lea!!! Come on...you got this...come on wake up!!!" Raph was yelling at her while she was having trouble opening her eyes.

After 5 minutes of patience and anxiousness from Raph, Lea had finally opened her eyes. Raph loved seeing her ocean blue eyes again, loved seeing her awake, seeing her small smile.

"Lea...finally your awake!" Raph exclaimed.

"I'm so glad too...agh...where's...agh....where's Tiger Claw?" Lea asked.

Tiger Claw was standing on the opposite side of the bed. He smiled knowing Lea had remember him, his heart fluttered knowing that she wanted to know where he was.

"I'm here." He said, smiling. Lea turned her head towards his voice, whimpering in pain a little.

"Tiger Claw...thank you..agh...for helping me escape..." she said sincerely, smiling at him. She moaned in pain turning back to look at Raph.

"When can we leave?"

"When you can walk and maybe a couple of days after that." Raph told her, struggling to hold back tears.

"Raphie....it's ok...agh...I'm okay..." Lea said, whimpering while cupping Raph's cheek.

Raph smiled sadly back to her. He then looked up at Tiger Claw then back to Lea. He thought for a moment, really thinking hard on the subject, then he finally turned to Tiger Claw again.

"Come with us." He stated bluntly.

Tiger Claw was startled by his demand. "I am not for sure I could do that." He stated. Raph stared at him, and then he noticed Leona had fallen back to sleep. He thought hard and long about Raphael's demand. He really wanted to stay with Lea, he loved her but...he had also sworn to Shredder to stand by his side and be his second in command. Work for him, go in missions when required or asked, help train the soldiers. He didn't know what to say.

In the end though, he'd rather betray his vow to his master and go with Lea and Raphael. He didn't want Lea out of his sight anytime soon. He wanted to get to know her, he wanted to try to win her, knowing that he might not win her heart but at least he can be by HER side and not the Shredders.

Honestly, he didn't like hat his master made him do half the time.

"I will go with you." He finally stated, seeing Raphael smile.

"Thank you!"

"But, I want to know why you want me to go with you."

"Tiger Claw...she obviously cares about you! Plus you helped me find her and helped me with her injuries and wounds. I...thank you...I don't know what I would have done without you. I probably would still be out there in the streets trying to find her. Plus I want to get to know you and I know you want to get to know her too. So, that's why I want you to come with us. Plus..you willing to go against Shredder tells me that you don't really like working for him."

Tiger Claw just smirked, "okay, you have convinced me and yes, I do hate working for Shredder."

Raph just smirked, he looked back down at Lea just now noticing she had fallen back to sleep. He started caressing her head before Tiger Claw had put his hand down upon head forehead to check for a temperature. Raph looked up at him.

"She has a slight fever but it should break in a couple of hours or tomorrow if it gets worst."

Raph nodded. He really appreciated Tiger Claw being with him, he couldn't do any of the things he did by himself. Heck, he has never helped someone with injuries like Lea's. All he knew what to do was make beer!

"Tiger Claw...I can't say it enough...thank you."

"You are very welcome Raphael."

They both looked away from each other to look at Lea. Tiger Claw took a glance and looked at Raph for a minute. What he saw most in his friends eyes was love. He knew as well that Lea had a feeling of love for the other turtle as well. When he held her within his arms when they first came here, he saw love in her eyes when she first saw Raph again. He saw her try and reach out to him, and understood why she flinched back, she was in pain. She followed her body's command to flinch back and not move, for if she did, she would feel pain. He would do anything to get the two turtles together even if it causes him heartbreak. He loved her with a passion, but he didn't want to break what the two had. He changed his mind about trying to get her to love him. He was going to help the two confess their love for one another.

Then out of know where he said, "you love her don't you?"  Raph looked started at first, before turning to look up at Tiger Claw. He stared at him for a minute, then looked back down at Lea.

"I do...I just....I'm afraid I'll lose her...and....I didn't get a chance to tell her I loved her. I would die for her, I'd do anything to win her heart...I love her. She's a beauty, she's just the one....her eyes make my heart flutter everything she looks at me....her smile makes me smile...her laugh is just adorable, cute and all out gorgeous...she's the one that I will love forever."

There was silence between the two.

"Then tell her."

Raph looked up at Tiger Claw, "but...I don't know if I can."

"If oh love her that much, you can tell her. You said your self you'd do anything to win her heart....If I were you, I'd tell her now that you loved her before another man came and swept her off her feet before you could." Tiger Claw explained, while pointing at him.

Raph thought long and hard. He was truly afraid of rejection. He didn't want her to say no. But somewhere deep inside him, something was telling him that she wouldn't say no. Raph looked up at Tiger Claw once more,
"I'll tell her."