Unforseen [TMNT + OC]

Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time in New York City

Author's Note

Okay, here goes nothing. Chapter one. Please let me know what you think! If you get confused by anything, check the Opening Notes. If it's not there, you can ask, but it's probably not mentioned because plot.

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CHAPTER ONE
[ Once Upon a Time In New York City ]

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Of course it would be raining today, so cliche, and yet so fitting. Aneka sighed from her place in the passengers seat, the pet carrier in her lap emitting sounds of displeasure. She stuck her fingers through the grating of the door, trying to calm her most trusted friend, and felt the roughness of his tongue as he licked and nipped at the tips of her finger in a desperate attempt to plead his way out.

"Oh, Andy" She sighed again, trying to be soft enough that her father in the next seat over would not hear her, "I know..."

"Would you stop it," Her dad glowered at the road, never taking his eyes off the damp pavement as he began his typical dismissal, "There is no point in sulking, we've already sold the house, and the apartment is waiting. Rosella will be waiting when we get there."

"Yes, sir..." Aneka murmured, scritching Andy's cheek as it was all she could really reach.

There was no point in arguing with him. There was never any point in arguing. It just meant she was more of a failure. Besides, Rosella Briard was a family friend, her maternal Grandmother's best friend, who's children had in turn been close to Aneka's mother.

Her teeth grazed her bottom lip to keep another sigh at bay, "Daddy...why do we have to go to New York, though? Of all places! It's...it's so far from her!"

Now it was the man's turn to sigh. He didn't answer. She thought that he might not answer at all.

Aneka toyed with the heart shaped locket on the short chain around her neck as she waited to see if he would break the strange silence. The locket held a picture of the four of them...

Aneka was holding Andy, her father was in the middle of telling her to get the animal out of the picture while she desperately pleaded that Andy was family too. Her mother was playing intermediary, gently trying to convince the man that having the family pet in the family photo would be fine. The parents and their child wore their best red and green attire, with Aneka in a deep red crushed velvet that hung loosely over her collar bones.

This was from last Christmas, one of the photos that didn't qualify as 'card suitable' according to her dad. It was Aneka's favorite anyway, her mom's too. When the diagnosis came...she had caught her mother holding a copy and crying. In front of the family, the woman tried to be strong, but Aneka saw her. When you have months left, how strong can you be?

So as soon as she could, Aneka had dug out the gold locket that she had gotten three years earlier for her birthday. She had wanted it so badly, then hadn't had anything to keep in it. When she knew she wouldn't have her mother much longer, she decided that that Christmas fail was just the picture she wanted.

She was pulled out of the memories by her father's voice, "We aren't leaving her behind...She's with us."

With a stifled sniff, the teen released her grip on the heart shaped pendant and wiped the tears she had only just realized were falling. Sometimes, probably more often than she admitted, her father said the right thing.

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At some point Aneka and Andy must have fallen asleep, because the next thing Aneka was aware of, she was being jolted awake by the stopping car, and her father calling her name. Stupid Andy could sleep through anything...or wake up at the sound of the cupboard door creaking. Now, he managed to sleep.