Golden Angel

“MIKEY!!!!!!!!!!”

Said turtle jumped, completely immersed in his monster movie.

“Artie?”

“What the SHELL did you do with my spare sheets?”

Mikey grinned sheepishly.

“Cut them up?”

“I CAN SEE THAT!”

“I forgot! I’m sorry!”

“Sorry that you couldn’t hide the evidence!”

“Well…yeah.”

“I’m going to kill you!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

Artemis only feinted a lunge, but snorted.

“I go to try training in different styles, and what do I get? My sheets cut up after you spilled soda on my bed!”

“I apologized for that!”

“’Sorry’ won’t take out the stains, Mikey!”

“…It won’t?”

“…I can’t believe I’m related to you…”

Turning to go to the dojo and take out her irritation doing some kata for Ba Gua, a fully defensive art that she’d taken up to clear her head.

This was mainly done because the ‘movement of air’, as Mikey called it after becoming obsessed with ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’, seemed to soothe her body.

Mikey, when watching her sometimes, would jump up and exclaim that she just moved the air with her hands.

Artemis would then give him a weird look, and tell him that Airbending, or any other bending, wasn’t real.

But, as strange as she felt it sounded, she DID feel the air push and pull around her, and sometimes jumped when, as she practiced other styles, how the water in pipes seemed to jump when she did Tai Chi.

Mikey had gone all anime-nerd on her when he’d overheard her discussing the feeling with Don, not only with Ba Gua and Tai Chi, but Hung Gar and Northern Shaolin.

Mikey, being a nerd, had found the styles each element bending was modeled after, and remembered it at that moment.

He spent a good half hour jumping around, shouting that she was the Avatar, and if she was going to do ‘Energybending’ like in the show.

She’d scoffed, saying it wasn’t even possible.

However, she’d seen Splinter’s eyes, seen the thoughtful, sad look, and felt something fill her gut.

Understanding or sympathy, she wasn’t sure, but it made her feel strangely…

Balanced…

ANYWAY…

As she went through the smooth movements, getting a feel for the air as it ‘moved’ with her, and smirked when near-silence met her ears.

She closed her eyes as she almost FELT the energy moving through her as she slipped into Tai Chi.

The now-familiar rattle of pipes was accompanied by the moving water in the pond.

Leo was watching her, eyes half-lidded.

He didn’t mean to stare, but she looked almost like she was dancing.

Her skin started shining with sweat, her eyes still warm with a softer fire…

“Hey!”

He blinked, coming out of his trance to find Raph waving a hand in his face.

“What?” He asked, pushing the hand down.

A smirk spread across the red-banded turtle’s face.

“Yer thinkin’ dirty thoughts, ain’t ya?”

Leo’s face flushed.

“No!”

“Aw, come on. Ya don’t go all misty-eyed when ya ain’t thinkin’ somethin’ a bit dirty.”

Looking away, the blue-banded turtle crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

“Maybe for you.”

Raph shook his head, smirking.

“Well, ya better tell ‘er ‘fere she figures it out fer ‘erself.”

Leo seemed thoughtful as Mikey went to annoy Don and Artemis slowed in her movements, switching to Hung Gar, and then Northern Shaolin.

Mitsukai was on her back, playing with yarn that Mikey had wrapped around her limbs, and seemed happy.

That happened to be when an annoying sound sliced through the air…

Artemis, standing on the tip of her toes in complete concentration, fell over in surprise, landing rather comically.

Mitsukai yelped, falling off the couch, and whimpering as she covered her ears with her paws.

“MIKEY!!!!!!!!”

“What did I do?!”

Don didn’t even seem to have an answer to that question…

“What DID you do?!”

She sighed, rubbing her forehead, as the ‘ninja dog’ untangled herself.

“You know what, I don’t want to know.”

“Artie-.”

“I said I don’t want to know, Donnie. It’ll save me a headache. I’m going to my room.”

Turning, she walked straight into the room, closing the door firmly.

The bolt lock slid into place with a loud snap, and there was silence…

“What’s her problem?”

SMACK!!!

“OW!!! RAPH…”

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An alarm went off, but Artemis just covered her head with a pillow.

‘No more! I’m burnt out! Done!’

Looking up from under the fluff, she stared at her wall.

It had a poster of the different stances for Tai Chi, and she traced the positions with her eyes.

This whole thing about bending elements was bologna, and she knew it, but she couldn’t help imagining what it would be like.

She’d watched a couple episodes with her youngest brother, and had enjoyed the fight scenes.

She’d been drawn more the Airbending, but Waterbending interested her as well.

Something about the styles and movements, and perhaps the very elements themselves, drew her to them.

But it was by accident that she took up the very martial arts they were derived from.

Artemis sat up when she thought she heard the boys leaving.

‘I’m going to try it.’

And she was serious.

She was going to see if she could seriously do Waterbending.

Slipping out of her room, she headed straight for the pond.

Taking a wide-footed stance, she held up her hands.

Breathing out to calm herself, she felt her Chi move to her hands.

It drew the water, pulling it up with unnatural force.

Watching it move with half-lidded eyes, she shifted her arms and legs, moving the liquid with it.

Clenching her fingers, the water froze, and she spun.

The ice seemed to shatter, icicles flying, but she stopped, and they hovered in midair before she relaxed her fingers.

They melted, individual drops of water levitating in the air at her will.

Dropping her arms to her side, she heard the water splash.

‘Airbending…’

Bringing herself into a simple stance of Ba Gua, she brought her arms around in a circle.

Speeding up her arms, she almost SAW the air moving with her arms and hands.

Stopping the movement, it dispersed in a gust.

Doing a roundhouse kick, the air moved past her leg, flying into the bricks.

She stopped when the boys got back, and Mikey jumped on her in a frightened hug.

Artemis was cut off guard and fell over, the orange-banded turtle on her shell.

“…Mikey…”

“Yes?”

“…GET OFF!!!”

He was pushed off roughly, and she snorted before standing.

“What is UP with you?”

“Monsters!”

“…Why do you watch late-night monster movies if they make you like this?”

“Stop joking!”

Don went to study something he’d found, and Artemis rolled her eyes before patting Mitsukai.

“Hey, girl. Need to go out?”

Barking, the husky was let out into the sewers.

As Don studied the little piece of rock, Mikey clinging to Artemis’s shell like a monkey, the she-turtle sighed.

Mikey was panicking, babbling into her ear and shaking, as Raph calmly took a drink of water.

He then threw the rest into Mikey’s face.

The gold-banded turtle glared as some splashed onto her cheek and shoulder, and dropped Mikey in favor of smacking Raph upside the head.

Don was explaining to Splinter what he’d learned, and the elderly rat inadvertently gave them access to go exploring.

“Everybody in favor say ‘aye’!”

“Aye!”

The three looked at the gold and orange-banded turtles, but Artemis shook her head.

“I have…too much on my mind right now…”

She smirked, pulling Mikey forward.

“But Mikey can go!”

“…Meep…”

“…Close enough…”

“Good luck, my sons. May you return safely.”

“Yes, brothers. Good luck to you.” Mikey added in a withered tone.

“Come on.” Raph stated, grabbing his youngest brother by his mask tails.

Watching them go, Artemis shared a glance with her sensei.

“How do we live with them?”

“It’s a miracle of life. But, as I’ve often said, ‘Never look a gift horse in the mouth’.”

“Got it.”

The four turtles packed, Mikey with some monster comic books, before leaving.

Breathing out a bit, she caught her father’s eyes.

“…Sensei?”

“Yes, my daughter?”

“What if I told you…I wasn’t normal?”

She saw understanding, but he didn’t show any.

“What do you mean, Artemisia?”

“…I’ll show you…”

Stepping a few paces away, she slid into a Tai Chi stance, lifting her palms up.

The water from the bricks came up, condensing under her palms, so close she could feel the coolness against her skin.

Moving slowly, smoothly, it followed her, and she suddenly whipped one of her hands out.
It went thin, like a whip, slashing some bricks.

Lowering her hands, the water fell through her fingers.

“…I feared this day would come too soon…”

“Sensei?”

“Come. I must speak with you.”

Following him warily, she patted Mitsukai’s head absently.

“…What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing is wrong with you, Artemisia. You are simply different spiritually.”

Sitting down on one of his mats, he motioned for her to take the other.

“Your Chi attracts the elements powerfully, and it flows in such a way that you can control them. It’s much like this ‘bending’ Michelangelo has been talking about.”

“…So I’m like…the Avatar or something?”

“Similar, yes. You’re here now to keep the world in balance.”

“…If I can’t?”

“That is not a circumstance I wish to see…”

Her heart clenched in worry, and she closed her eyes.

“…Can I…do anything?”

“Besides continuing your training, only time will tell.”

“…Father?”

She looked up tentatively.

“…Do you think I can do this?”

He touched her face, bringing her eyes up to lock on his.

“If there was anyone I knew that could handle such a thing, it would be you.”

“But…”

“You have a fire in your heart, and a wind in your soul. You’re stable and smooth, but can be rigid. No matter what you chose, I doubt you will ever stray from your path.”

Nodding slightly, she smiled.

“…Thank you, sensei…”