Angel's Child

“Light? Light, where are you?”

Angela sighed, putting her hands on her hips.

It was time for the husky’s bath, and she just went ninja on her owner.

“Don’t make me come get you, Light! You’re getting a bath!”

A low whimper, and the sky blue-masked turtle pounced on a shadow.

A yelp, and the two were wrestling on the floor when someone coughed.

Both stopped, looking up with their matching crimson eyes at Leo…

“…Oh…Hi, daddy…”

“Is there a reason you’re on the floor wrestling with your dog?”

“Actually, there’s a VERY good reason for this…”

“And that reason would be?”

“…She doesn’t like baths…”

“…Oh…”

“Daddy! Daddy!” Little Ari called, running up to her father with a smile on her face.

“Lookie at what I drew with Ellie!”

It was of a rooftop, sketchily done, with a female turtle crouched on it, katana drawn.

Even in the uneven strokes you could see shapes in the shadows…

“It looks amazing, Ari.” He praised, taking the picture for a better look.

“Why don’t we go put this on the fridge for your mom to see?”

“YAY!”

Angela sighed, eye almost twitching as she watched them walk away towards the kitchen…

“No need to help, daddy!” She called sarcastically.

“It’s always EASY to give Light a bath!”

“Need some help, Angel?”

She looked up at her mother with an innocent expression…

“…Please?”

With a good-natured eye roll and practiced ease, Artemis lifted the white husky into her arms and headed for the bathroom.

Light didn’t DARE bite her owner’s mother…

Let’s just say she learned her lesson a while ago…

“Mommy?”

“Yes?” The gold-masked turtle wondered as she stepped into the bathroom and gently placed the dog into the tub.

“Why is daddy so hard on me all the time?”

The older turtle sighed…

She had known this question would come eventually…

“He just wants you to be prepared, Angel.”

“But I am.”

“…There are a lot of things out there we don’t want you to know about.” Artemis admitted, starting the water and making sure it wasn’t too cold.

“Dangerous things…We just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Mom.”

The gold-banded turtle looked up, seeing a familiar fire in her daughter’s blood-red eyes…

Passion and determination and that stubborn fierceness that made them both so alike…

“I’m ready for anything. You and dad always told me I could do anything as long as I BELIEVED I could…All I had to do was TRY…”

The sky-banded turtle kneeled next to the tub, placing a gentle hand on Light’s head, eyes sad…

“…Why don’t you think I’m strong enough? Did I do something wrong?”

“Oh, Angel…”

Artemis pulled her daughter into a hug, and the wet husky nuzzled her owner’s cheek with a worried little whimper.

“That’s not it at all…You and your sister are just so precious to us…We don’t want to take any chance that we might lose you…Especially your father.”

“But…I don’t want to go anywhere…” The young turtle admitted, hugging her mother back…

‘I’m too scared…’

Artemis smiled, and they stayed like that a moment before she patted her daughter’s shell.

“Well, this dog won’t get clean by herself!”

“Right.”

Once Light was cleaned of sewer water, muck, and matting mud, she was dried and free to run about the lair once more.

Angela followed, scanning her home…

Izzy and Z were playing ‘Left4Dead’ on the largest screen, yelling at each other as the zombies attacked…

E and Ari were on the floor below them, coloring and drawing and laughing…

Lily was off to the side, reading through medical books and taking notes, sometimes peeking over to see the screen…

Gabriel sat at a workbench, tinkering with a Shell Cell, taking notes and muttering things to himself…

This was her family, her whole life, but…

Sometimes, deep in her heart, she felt something was missing…

And now there was another ache…

Like something bad was coming, and her very soul was preparing for its imminent arrival…

“Angie?”

She blinked, looking down at her little sister…

A smile covered her face, which seemed to reassure the youngest turtle, and Angie crouched down.

“Yeah, Ari?”

“I drew this for you…”

She held up the picture shyly, and the sky-masked turtle blinked.

It was of her, swimming through water graceful as a dolphin…

Even in the blue drawn thickly on, you could see that Ari had replaced her sister’s legs with a beautiful fish’s tail…

Angie’s heart sped up in anxiety, but she fought it valiantly from her face.

“What made you draw this, Ari?”

“I saw it in my dream last night.”

The little turtle gave the sweetest smile…

“I dreamed you saved me.”

The crimson-eyed older turtle smiled, gently taking the paper.

“Thanks, sis. I’ll hang this in our room, okay?”

“Really?”

“Of course. And when I get back, we’ll have some ice cream.”

“YAY!”

Ari scampered off, and Angie sighed as she stood up straight, heading for the room they shared…

‘I should have known she’d find out eventually…’