Destiny stares down at the streets below her, tail swaying like a pendulum as her eager gaze traverses the sidewalks and alleyways and up onto the horizon. Her wings tense against her back and she closes her eyes, sucking in a long, cleansing breath. She focuses on the feeling of her wings, their weight and the place where they meet her back, and she imagines every bone and how to move it with the feathers.
"Tonight's the night, Leo," she says as her eyes open again and land on her watchful companion. "Weeks of work, of getting used to these things...I'm going to fly today."
"I believe in you," Leonardo says with a smile. Her tail wags faster. "So, what's your plan of action? Running start?"
"I've done that a lot, but I think it messes up the transition. I go from using my body to using my wings and," she says, pouting her lips out as she taps her foot, "I don't know, I want to try something else. You gonna catch me if I fall?"
"Well, if you insist..."
She reaches over and slugs his arm, making him laugh and hold his hands up in mock surrender. With a quivering smirk, she turns back around and sucks in the cool night air. She shakes her limbs out, stretches her wings, feels the wind kiss and caress each feather, and lets the practice, the work, and instinct take over.
With a powerful flap, she shoots into the air, gusting stray leaves and gravel dust past Leonardo and making him shield his eyes. He coughs, waving away the dust and rubbing his eyes before finally looking up as a whoop of glee sounds above him. Destiny's silhouette soars above him, turning and banking in the air as her laughter rings like a church bell in the dead of night.
"Holy shell," Leonardo whispers, his heart pounding. "She did it!"
She goes zooming past, dust and bits of gravel chasing after her in a race that they can't hope to win. There are tears flowing freely down her face, tugged out of her by the whipping wind, and her arms are spread as wide as her wings.
"I DID IT! SCREW YOU, GRAVITY!" she screams. She lets out a howl that rattles the stars and makes Leonardo's smile outshine the moon.
----------
In honour of Destiny's first flight, Splinter decides to let her do her own patrol, or at least one separate from the turtles. With the thrill of her success thrumming in her veins, she practically bounces along the tunnel behind the turtles, backpack thumping against her side and uchigatana attached firmly to her hip.
Once on the surface, Leonardo gives his usual spiel about being alert and gives a bonus spiel to Destiny about being extra safe. She's too excited to care, so her eye-rolling and teasing towards the leader are absent, replaced by nods and absentminded "yes sirs". When he finally backs off, Destiny flies to the rooftops with a howling laugh, earning a muttered "show off" from Raphael.
She's never felt freer. Her wings have gone from being useless lumps of feathers to working, beautiful extensions of her body. Can she fly perfectly? No. Can she go for hours without end and move gracefully without any trouble? Also no, but she can fly and that is enough for now.
"Desti-bear! Wait up!"
Her landing is rough, the heels of her sneakers digging into the gravel and she stumbles forward in the pinwheeling gait of an amateur unicycle rider. When she finally steadies herself and turns around, she's greeted by Michelangelo's breathless, smiling face.
"Mikey?" she asks.
"First off, I know it's your first patrol and that's, like, über special and stuff," he says, holding up one finger. He puts up another. "Second, I know that you want to be all cool and have your solo mission." Another finger. "Third...even with all that stuff, it's dangerous out there. Fourth—" He stops and stares at his hand for a second, then shakes his head and smiles at her. "I don't have enough fingers, but can I please come with you?"
Her lip quirks at the side, just a ghost of a smile, but it fades. "Did Leo put you up to this?"
"No!" he insists. "I just haven't been able to spend a lot of time with you lately and this is a good time to catch up! Plus...I wanna see you fly more. It's so cool." His eyes get starry and he lets out a squeaking giggle that makes Destiny's heart soar.
She sighs. "Okay, fine," she says with a slight laugh. "But this is still my mission."
"Of course, Captain Destiny!"
He salutes, making her tail wag, and together they head off.
The two of them gather what materials they can, going off the lists that Donatello and Sarina made for each of them. Destiny's backpack gets more and more full, warping Crankshaw's and Ryan's faces. Growing tired, the teens wander back to the rendezvous point, stopping to sit down on the edge of a small apartment building. Destiny pokes around in her backpack, examining their loot, and comes across her battered copy of Romeo and Juliet. She smiles wistfully and stares at the rose on the cover, brushing her fingertips across it as if it's as delicate as the real thing.
Michelangelo peers at the book with a confused look. "I don't get Shakespeare, with the weird English and no pictures. He doesn't even describe what's happening," he says.
"They're plays, meant to be performed and interpreted. Reading them is just part of that. You figure out what's happening through the words of the characters." She braces her elbows against her knees and exhales through her nose. "It's beautiful."
He shrugs. "Whatever puts cheese on your pizza, dudette."
She laughs at that, just for a moment. She flips the book open and stares at the weathered name on the inside cover, the dog-eared corners of the pages and the spine creased with the effort of being opened and closed so many times. This book has been loved and while Destiny doesn't know where she got it from, the poetic story that echoes in her head is in the voice of someone she once knew, someone she longs to remember.
"Des!"
She startles and there's a thwap from down below. Destiny's eyes widen and she stares at her fallen book, her hands frozen as if holding its ghost. Michelangelo is already on his feet, amusement dancing on his cheeks.
"You zoned out, dude," he teases.
"I...I'll get it," she says, half-mumbling.
She stands and leaps off the edge, extending her wings and flapping enough to parachute her to the ground, but the alleyway is tighter than she expected and maneuvering is no easy task. She wobbles, her body dragging her down, and when she tries to touch down she ends up swerving into the nearest dumpster and uprooting the trash bags. There's a laugh and a question of whether she's okay from Michelangelo, to which she offers a weak thumbs up.
As she climbs from the dumpster, picking a banana peel from her hair and fluffing her feathers, a light switches on above a nearby door. Destiny freezes, waits, then shuffles towards her book and kneels to grab it when the illuminated door nearby flies open and casts a pool of yellow light onto the pavement. A shape appears in the doorway and panicked, she dives behind the dumpster, forgetting her book in the process.
Another light appears, a more white and singular one that appears to be coming from a phone. Destiny peeks out just enough to see a young man, maybe in his mid-twenties, standing in front of the apartment with his eyes narrowed, aimed at the spilled trash.
"Raccoons," he mutters, tucking his phone into his shirt pocket as he shuts off the light. "Why doesn't anybody take care of this stuff?"
He stomps over to the trash can and starts piling spilled bags back inside, muttering to himself the entire time. Destiny watches, breath hitched. His button-up shirt is wrinkled and there's a ketchup stain on the hem, but judging by his clean-shaven face and the glistening watch on his wrist, he's probably just an average guy with an average job. Just another New Yorker.
The man stoops for the last few scattered soup cans when he sees the copy of Romeo and Juliet. Destiny forces back a weak "no" when he grabs it, dusting off the cover as his face floods with a softness that erases the exhaustion of his workday. He flips open the cover and his eyes widen.
"Winchester..." he whispers. "What? How did..."
"Um...sir?" He startles and looks beside the dumpster, where he can just see Destiny's bright eyes. His face pales and she clears her throat. "That...that's mine. I just dropped it."
He backs up, bringing the book closer to him. "How is it yours? It has my name on it."
"Your name?"
"My surname, that is." He squints. "Can you come out? Why are you hiding?"
"Believe me, it's better if I stay put." She shifts, reaching her hand out so that the light kisses her skin. He eyes the pale markings on her arm and the goosebumps that rise all around them. "Please, that book means a lot to me. Can I have it back?"
He hesitates, then shuffles closer and hands off the book. She clutches it close, waiting for him to turn tail and go back into his house, but he stays put. He rests one hand on his hip and coughs into his remaining fist, then unfurls it and lets it drift down to scratch his five o'clock shadow.
"Where'd you get that?" he asks.
Silence, then, "It belonged to someone that took care of me, a long time ago. I think she read it to me, but she's gone."
"Sharon?"
"I think so, yeah."
The man smiles a little. "Well...that's my grandma," he says. "She died a long time ago, must've been...I don't know, ten, maybe eleven years since she passed." He drops his head, hooking his thumb on the belt loop of his jeans as he lets out a small, sad laugh. "She was the greatest. My parents worked a lot but grandma was always ready to babysit my brother and me. She made us snacks and helped us with homework and for a while, she had the funniest dog; this big black mutt that looked almost like a wolf. Probably a husky—"
"Wait, what?" Destiny has to stop herself from standing up, her heart pounding. "A dog? I...I knew a dog."
"You knew Bear?" His dark eyes get a little wider, a tiny smile reaching it and crinkling the edges. "Bear was great. Smartest dog I've ever seen. She would hop up on the table next to me and my brother and watch while we practiced writing, reading, math; it was like she was trying to learn too. Heh..." He takes a deep breath. "But...when grandma died, we went back to get Bear and she was gone. It was like she just...disappeared. I never saw her again."
Quiet. A cricket chirps.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
The man frowns at Destiny's choked voice. He steps a little closer to the dumpster, already digging out his phone. "Hey, uh...I've got a picture of her. Look." He opens the device and starts scrolling before finding it. "There."
He turns the phone towards her and she has to hold back a gasp. The picture shows an elderly woman with silvery curls and gnarled hands seated in a rocking chair, a knitted shawl draped around her shoulders and her soft blue eyes gleaming with life. At her slippered feet are two little boys, one about nine and the other maybe five. The older one is hugging the neck of a shaggy black dog with bright green eyes and a lolling smile.
"Could...could I get a copy of that?" Destiny asks softly. "It's okay if you say no, I just—" She sniffs hard and lets out a short, creaking breath. "It's been so long. I didn't have a picture of her."
"Uh, sure. It's on my Instagram, one of my throwback Thursday things. You can get a screenshot."
He tells Destiny his username as she gets out her phone, locating his profile. "Jonathan", she notes his name with a tiny smile. She eventually finds it and takes a screenshot, quietly thanking him as she slips her phone back into her pocket.
"Have you got a name?" he asks. "I mean, I already can't see you but apparently you knew my grandma, so..."
"I'm Destiny," she answers, a little shocked by her own boldness. "And you're Jonathan."
"That's me." He pats his chest with both hands before extending his arms. He laughs, earning an invisible smile from her, then lowers his arms back to his sides. "Well, uh...it was nice meeting you."
"Yeah, you too."
He turns to leave. Destiny starts to stand up, casting her gaze to the rooftops, when she hears Jonathan turn around and she goes absolutely still. He rubs the back of his neck and goes a little closer to her, squinting into the darkness. He can still see those eyes, those eyes that remind him of someone he once knew.
"Look, I'd like to shake your hand," he states. "It's kind of cool to meet someone who knew my grandma, someone that has her book. It just feels weird to not have actually seen you. What if I'm just making you up?"
"I'm real. I'm just afraid that if you see me, you won't think I'm real."
"Oh, really? Why is that?"
She dares a few steps closer to the light. "How can I trust you?"
"I swear, a friend of grandma Sharon is a friend of mine."
Destiny takes a deep breath, heart pounding, shoulders aching. This is stupid, she tries to tell herself. This is irresponsible, idiotic. He's a human. She doesn't just reveal herself to humans. But this human is one of the children that taught me to read, she thinks. I owe this much.
She shifts into the light, allowing it to spill across her face and front but leaving most of her wings and tail obscured. Jonathan startles, mouth gaping, and Destiny extends her hand. It tremors in the empty air, disturbing the flecks of dust dancing in the light. Please, she begs. Please, take my hand. Keep your promise.
He reaches out and clasps her hand as a wary smile lifts his cheeks. "Destiny...nice to meet you."
"Jonathan." It's nice to see you again. You've grown. So have I. "It's nice to meet you too."
----------
"Dude, you just showed yourself to a human?!" Michelangelo repeats for the umpteenth time. Destiny grips her human ears as she hugs her knees to her chest, looking everywhere but at the orange-masked turtle. "You don't just do that, homie! That's loco!"
"That human..." She shakes her head as if to dislodge the cobwebs and dust obscuring her memories like a veil over an antique mirror. "He knew me and at some point in my life, I knew him. I just...can't remember more than whispers."
She can hear them if she concentrates; the groans of frustration that comes with elementary school homework, the wobbly hands trying to figure out cursive and stringing words on a page together coherently. Destiny wishes more than anything that she could remember more than just the shards. She wants the whole picture.
"Des...are you okay?"
She finally looks up at Michelangelo. "I feel lost."
"How about some gyoza at Murakami's? You haven't seen him in forever," he suggests.
"You know what?" She smiles a little. "I'd love that."
They waste no time. They head for the noodle shop and from the second they walk inside, they've come home. Murakami greets them warmly and settles in with them as they eat, chatting and catching up with all that they can. They let the time pass by without worry, grasping on to the little shreds of peace that they can get. With full stomachs and hearts that feel a little lighter, Destiny and Michelangelo finally head home.
"Thanks for being with me, Mikey," she says. "This was a good first patrol."
"Aw, you're welcome. That's what the Mikester is here for," he says with a wink, bumping his shoulder with hers. She returns it and they share a laugh.
When they reach the lair, Leonardo is waiting for them at the gate. His posture visibly relaxes when he sees them, a soft look of relief accenting the exhaustion in his eyes.
"Hey," he greets. "How'd it go?"
"Good! We got some good stuff!" Michelangelo chirps.
"Yeah? Anything exciting?"
"In a way, but...that's a story for later. I'm drained," Destiny admits.
The lab doors open and Sarina comes out, immediately locking eyes with Destiny. She perks up and hurries over to them, eyes flashing. "Did you tell her?" she asks Leonardo.
"No, not yet," he replies.
"What? Tell me what?" Destiny asks.
Leonardo and Sarina share a long look, then move in synch to look at her again. "The others narrowly avoided another attack," Sarina admits, making Destiny's stomach flip.
"Dude, what?" Michelangelo gasps.
"We've gathered in the lab," Leonardo says, grave. "You should come see." Without argument, the four of them start towards the lab, already able to hear strains of conversation. "It would've been worse," he continues when they reach the door, "but we got help from a friend."
"What do you...?"
Destiny trails off as she walks inside. Splinter is there, Raphael and Donatello are there, and standing with them is a tall, pale boy in a black cloak, and at his side is an auburn-haired woman with a radiant smile. Destiny's heart stops and her eyes start to burn as everyone turns to look at her.
"Hey Des," Diaval says with the tiniest hint of a smile. "M back."
Destiny literally takes flight, bringing both him and Melanie into a tight, squishy hug as she starts to sob. Diaval clears his throat, stiff as a board, and starts to pat her hair mechanically despite the loving look on his face. Melanie laughs and returns the embrace, tears returning to her dark eyes as well. From the doorway, Leonardo smiles and Sarina giggles to herself, hands clasped at her mouth.
"I missed you so much, oh my god," Destiny cries, unwilling to let go of either of them. "There's so much I need to tell you. I flew today, Mels. I flew!"
"You did? Oh my word, I'm so proud of you, girl!"
"Yes, I really did. I legit flew, like...oh my god, and I found out some stuff and I talked to my other friends and, Diaval, holy crap, I didn't get to see you meet Sarina! Sarina is like my best friend after you. She's the best. There's so much. So much. I'm so glad you're back. So glad."
Diaval rests his cheek against her head and Melanie squeezes her a little tighter, the two of them surrounding Destiny as if they're parents welcoming a long lost child home.
"M happy to be here," Diaval murmurs. "Missed ya like...a lot."
The rest of the family gathers at a distance, keenly aware of the emotional distance needed. Raphael meets Leonardo's gaze and the eldest brother immediately looks to his father, who smiles just a little and nods.
"What does this mean, Leo?" Raphael asks.
Leonardo takes a deep breath. "It means that it's time."