𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀ ꜱʜᴏʀᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ.
****
The two brothers, Leonardo and Raphael, are attempting to determine how best to assist Afina-Jade in this predicament. Based on his recent eavesdropping through Jade's window, Raphael knows that she fled from her ex-boyfriend after he physically beat her. It's unclear if he's looking for her. The cobalt and crimson brothers came together in the dojo where they had gathered earlier before Afina-Jade left and sparred with each other as a way of thinking through things.
"Being physically abused is not easy to talk about." Leo breathed, blocking one of Raph's blows.
Raphael answered, striking once more and missing his brother's shoulder. "That's why we gotta ease in... then, we help her defend herself. We don't know if her ex wants to find her."
Leo signaled his brother to take a short time out so he could get a drink of water from the side. He wiped the drenching sweat from his forehead and took a seat for a moment, looking at Raph who stood in the middle of the dojo. "Not just help her defend herself physically, but mentally, too."
Then out of the blue, Raphael asked his older brother a question that is possibly difficult to answer from their point of view. "How do you think she got here? She left her ex-- left everything behind."
Leonardo drank from his water jug, gulping down a great amount and looking at Raph. He shrugged at the crimson-masked turtle, indicating that he didn't have the slightest clue how a shy girl escaped her abuser. What matters is that she survived and lived to see another day. "I dunno, man. But you're right. We gotta help her. She just seems so..." He trailed off, not sure how to continue. Leo couldn't put his finger on it.
"Dedicated," Raph answered for his leader. Surprisingly, that was the word Leo was looking for and he nodded in agreement. "Let's help her out."
"Yeah," Leo answered hushedly.
"Y'think we should visit her apartment tonight?" Raph asked.
Leo sighed with slight stress and uncertainty in his tone. "It might be the best thing to do if we want to help her, y'know? When someone gets out of their comfort zone, they might experience the greatest result."
Raphael didn't disagree with that. "And the faster we help, the better."
It's been decided. "We'll visit her tonight." Leo got up from his seat in the dojo and picked up his water jug. "I'll text Casey."
****
In the evening, Afina-Jade is sitting at home alone once again. She surrounds herself with a thick and soft blanket, drinking her caffeine and watching a flick or two before going to bed. Just when she was going to get that last sip from her mug, her phone notified her that she had received a text. She plucked her smartphone from the surface of the couche's cushion and saw it was an unknown number which she assumed was a spam caller.
Out of curiosity, she opened it and found the words:
𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝙳𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘. 𝚁𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎? 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝... 𝙼𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚁𝚊𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙻𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝙴𝚃𝙰, 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚗𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖! 𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐.
Afina-Jade set her phone face down on the couch, instantly getting up from her spot to place the mug in the kitchen. If these brothers are coming here to her safe spot, she'll defend herself no matter what she is feeling. The knives she hid throughout the apartment were handy, and she always took advantage of them. She snatched the closest one, gripping it firmly and holding it at her side. Next, she cuddled up into her blanket on the couch and watched the living room window very closely. She waited for the curtains to sway, or listen to the window unlock itself...
Then, three minutes had passed and right on the dot, she heard the lock on the window unlatch itself. Hearing this made her heart race until finally, she saw the two brothers revealing themselves. "Good evening, Jade." Raphael said with a smirk, stepping in with Leo behind him.
With a sharp sigh of relief, Jade continued to hold onto the knife beneath the cover. She has extremely valid causes for her extreme paranoia. "Hey." She says faintly, her tense muscles relaxing. Jade gets off the couch again with her blanket and quickly sets the knife down on the counter's surface. Leonardo and Raphael noticed that Jade did have a knife in her grasp and she chose to relieve it. They were able to determine her mental state regarding both her past and present circumstances simply by observing her carrying a weapon in an environment meant to make her feel safe. "Sorry, I... I feel safer."
"N-No problem." Raph chuckled nervously.
"So, why are you both here? Is it because I acted the way I did earlier?"
Leonardo convinced Jade that she did nothing wrong, but wanted to express how invested they were about helping her. He wanted to get this conversation going smoothly without her feeling like her privacy was invaded. "We just wanna talk."
"About?"
Leo answered her. "From us knowing Casey and Casey knowing you, things tend to get back to us. We recently learned you're having difficulty living your new life because you left your old one so quickly."
Jade scoffed at him. "Casey's been telling you about my life?"
"The kid has good intentions, Jade." Raph backed up his human friend.
"Look, I came here because I want to be an adult." She says. "I want to get away from my hometown in Texas! I didn't want to meet any mutants-- no offense!" She held her palms up at them. "But I don't understand why my background is being brought up." Jade lowered her hands.
Raph disagreed with her. "Jade, no one just runs away from home because they want to be an adult."
"Who said anything about running away?" Jade chuckled, walking to her kitchen as the boys stood in the middle of her living room. She fixed herself up some warm banana bread with melted butter in a napkin. Her back is turned.
"Jade," Leo says to her. "We--... You've told your friend Raquel already. But we wanna help you with... the one who mistreated you."
Afina-Jade quit prepping the banana bread on the counter, frozen in place and shocked about what they knew. How do they know this already? Did Rocky say something to Casey to get back to the Brothers? Jade swiveled back to them. "That is none of your guys' business!" She hissed. "Who told you these things?"
"We have our ways," Raph says, knowing very well he eavesdropped on Jade and Rocky's conversation not too long ago. He knows a lot about Jade's past and what she dealt with. For a fact, it's known she ran away from the man who wanted to control her. "You've been running and hiding, right? Let us help you. Jade, we can teach you to defend yourself."
She felt the tears well in her eyes, forcing a hand to her mouth to silence her cries. As she lets her emotions consume her some more, Jade is already imagining the way Damien could locate her, confront her, or even control her. If she knows him well enough, he will probably gain the courage to go find her. And she needed to come to terms that she still was in danger even if she was farther up north.
But still, she had to let someone help her not feel so alone. She needed to be heard by someone else other than Raquel. These brothers could help her if she allows them to. All she needed to do was agree and move forward with learning how to defend herself properly before he somehow ended up finding her here in the Big Apple.
"Please," Says Leonardo, looking into her sorrowful eyes knowing for a fact this girl is drowning in her own life and couldn't even live in peace. He wanted Jade to give it all to Leo and his brothers, to help her. The way her pale skin reflected off the light in the living room made Leo wonder what it would be like to caress her skin with the back of his hand, or what her black hair felt like in between his fingers. But most of all, her eyes are what he loved the most. Of course, it is such a cliche thing to notice about a girl, but the windows to her soul captivated him so much. To Leo, she is beautiful and fragile.
A delicate lotus flower on a lily pond is what she is.
Jade cleared her throat, trying her best to push away the negative outcomes and outweigh them with the positive things she'd be experiencing. Gulping a massive lump in her throat and feeling her trust for this mutant family, she nodded. "Okay." She paused, looking up at each of them. "I'll let you help me."
Both of the brothers sighed happily. "Good." Leo said to Jade. "We'll start in the morning."
Jade cocked an eyebrow at him. "In the morning?!" She exclaimed. "But, I got things to do! I work, I pay bills, I clean and I need to watch the next episode of Cobra Kai!"
Raphael chuckled at her. "Cobra Kai?" He laughed some more. "Those people know nothin' about being a ninja."
"A ninja..." She repeated. It sounds like this is what she is going to become since she agreed to be trained by these brothers and their father.