Angel's Child

Angela was laid out on the couch, a good book in her hands as her dog dozed on her legs.

Barely grown, the white husky was known as a good family dog that always loved her owner's company the best.

When the jade-skinned turtle was out on training runs or in the dojo, the dog spent time with Mitsukai.

The massive Sky Bison still held a place in Angela’s heart, and she often spent time with both animals in her free time.

Flipping through ‘Inkheart’, Angela smiled as a white snout pushed at her hand.

“Alright, Light…I know your lonely…” She soothed, patting the furry head as the pointy ears laid back.

Dark crimson eyes were half-lidded as Light seemed to growl in approval, nuzzling her plastron.

“Angie?”

Looking up, the sky blue-banded turtle smiled at her little sister.

“Hey, Ari. What’s up?”

“Could you sing for me again?”

A gentle smile as she sat up, adjusting Light so she curled up on one end of the couch, and she put down her book before lifting her sister onto her lap.

“Which song do you want to hear?”

“I wanna hear…Shiny Teeth!”

“From Fairly Oddparents? Alright…”

Angela smiled, getting ready to sing…

“When I'm feeling lonely/as sad as I can be/All by myself on uncharted island/in an endless sea/What makes me happy/fills me up with glee/those bones in my JAW!/that don't have a flaw/My Shiny Teeth and ME!”

Ari giggled, and her older sister cuddled her playfully.

“Angie, HELP!”

Looking up, the eldest turtle sighed…

“What’s E up to now?”

E was actually Elena, Mikey’s youngest girl and a turtle after his own heart.

Unfortunately, that meant she was known to…get Isabella mad…

“GET BACK ‘ERE!!!”

Artemis looked over her newspaper as the two turtles ran around the lair…

“…This looks familiar…”

“What does?”

She looked back at Raph, who was eating his cereal, and Mikey, who was stuffing noodles into his mouth…

“…Never mind…”

Chi rolled her eyes, sipping her coffee as she leaned back on the rear legs of her chair.

Kasai was heating up some pizza with her Firebending, and Mizu was making tea for the people who didn’t like coffee.

The only thing keeping their lives interesting were the kids…

Not that ‘interesting’ always meant ‘fun’…

“MOMMY!”

Elena jumped into her mother’s lap, nearly knocking her to the ground, and Isabella skidded to a halt.

“Let me ‘it ‘er. PLEASE.”

“What did she do now?” Chi wondered.

“She dented all my weapons! Threw ‘em at sheets ‘a metal!”

“I was practicing my aim!”

“Don’t hurt her, Izzy. She’s only ten.” Angela soothed, still holding Arianna on her shell.

“But she-!”

“It’s alright.” The sky blue-masked turtle assured.

“We’ll just sharpen them, and they’ll be good as new. No worries.”

“…A’right…”

Isabella marched off, still muttering darkly under her breath, when Z walked in.

The Earthbender stopped, took a step back to watch her older cousin march off, and the thirteen year old quirked an eye-ridge at everyone in the kitchen.

“Do I wanna know?”

“No…”

“…Good.”

Sitting down, she grabbed an apple and twirled it on her finger before taking a bite.

Angela rolled her eyes, setting her sister down and going to make some eggs.

Light trotted in, smiling and wagging her tail, nuzzling her owner’s legs asking for lunch.

It was still too early for roughhousing…

Lily walked in, rubbing at her eyes thanks to another late night perfecting her healing, as her brother followed.

Gabriel was only a year younger than Zaira, and was more of a secluded turtle, a bit darker than his sister, with dark midnight eyes.

He made inventions and such alongside his father, and showed talent.

He rarely came out except for meals and training, so it was always a treat for everyone.

Don followed after his children, just as sleep-logged from another restless night.

“Hey, Rosie.” Arianna greeted.

Rosie was short for Rosalia, and she was the youngest daughter of Raph and Kasai.

She was a bit older than Elena by a few months, since both were ten, and was normally a noontime riser if no one woke her.

She was strangely shy for someone in this tight knit family, but she always seemed happy nonetheless.

“Training’s in twenty minutes.” Leo informed, walking in and taking his cup of tea.

“You’d all better hurry up and get dressed. Whoever’s late gets thirty flips.”

The kids always seemed to run faster in the morning…

“Don’t push them too hard today, love…” Artemis advised, flipping through the pages.

“If they pull something, Mizu won’t be happy…”

“Alright…”

Walking out into the dojo, the blue-banded turtle was glad to see everyone dressed for the day.

‘Record time…’

Splinter would have come out, but he was feeling a bit under the weather.

Mizu headed off to check on him as Leo set his tea on a table.

“Are you all ready?”

They all nodded, ready for training.

“It’s time for sparring. Pair up.”

The pairs for it were almost always the same.

Angela and Isabella, Lily and Z, Gabriel and Rosie, and Elena and Ari.

Angela and Isabella always used weapons and bending against each other in tandem, in almost perfect sync with each other.

Even as opposites, they seemed connected.

Lily and Z solely bended, since they weren’t trained in any weapons, and it was usually an interesting match to see.

A mix between graceful Ninjitsu and the sometimes roughness of Earthbending.

Gabriel and Rosie used solely weapons, since the former had no bending at all.

Ari and Elena used only hand-to-hand against each other, since they weren’t trusted with weapons and hadn’t developed an element yet.

Leo oversaw it all, the sharp movements and blocks and strikes…

He corrected where he needed to, made sure no one would miss just enough to hurt someone else…

Artemis would sometimes watch from a distance as she fed Mitsukai and Light their lunch, and always noticed how anal her mate could sometimes be.

He’d constantly correct his eldest daughter’s form, how she held the katana or how she rotated her wrist…

Trying to make her fighting perfect…

Artemis knew, somehow, that Angela would eventually crack.

Yell and scream and fight under the pressure.

Once training was over and done with, Angela called over her own pet and headed out with Isabella for a training run.

Lily and Z followed, since the eldest four cousins were more close-knit than the others, so no one worried.

With Lily there, they knew nothing would happen…

Oh, how wrong they were…