Angel's Child

Angela pulled herself out of the water pool in the lair carefully, bringing her legs up carefully.

As if she was still unsure if they were legs…

“Angie?”

Her head shot up, but the sky-masked turtle instantly relaxed when she realized it was Ari…

The little turtle was in her Biyomon nightdress and rubbing at her eye cutely, a glass of water in her hand.

“Hey, Ari…Just go on to bed. I’ll be right behind you.”

“But Angie…”

“I’ll tuck you in and read you a story if you don’t ask any questions.”

A slight hesitancy, and the little gold/white-banded turtle set off.

With a sigh, Angela pulled herself fully out of the water, and used her bending to dry herself off.

Once clean, she headed for her room, pulling off the drenched clothes and changing into a dry pair of pajama pants for bed.

“Angie…Are you going to tell mommy and daddy?”

“No, Ari…”

Angie sighed, thumbing through the books on the shelf above her sister’s bed.

“They wouldn’t understand…”

“…Can you read ‘The Little Mermaid’, Angie?”

“…Why not?”

Slipping it free of its brethren, the sky-masked turtle sat on the side of the bed, smiling a bit as Ari snuggled closer, wrapping her arms around her older sister’s waist.

Her voice was soft as she began reading, weaving the words around her tongue and out into the air like a tapestry of colors…

Ari always loved to hear her sister read…

She brought life to the words, made colors brighter, danger more ominous…

Once the book shut, light chocolate eyes had to blink before she was back in her bed, being laid down by her sister.

“That’s your story for tonight. And no more getting up late for water. You’ll get in trouble.”

“What about you?” The little turtle murmured, already beginning to doze…

“…I’ll be fine, but you need your rest.”

Ari nodded heavily, going to sleep…

Angie was about to crawl into her own bed, but Light beat her to it.

“Alright, alright…” She whispered, opening the covers for both of them.

“But don’t come whining to me when dad starts yelling at you…”

The husky seemed ready to take that risk, and curled up near the pillow…

“Yeah, yeah…You’ll care tomorrow…”

Resting on her side, she let herself sink into the mattress as her eyes started closing…

Her alarm woke her up what felt like minutes later, and she jolted in bed.

At least Light seemed happy for morning as she licked her owner’s face.

“Yeah, yeah…Go annoy Ari…” She grumbled, pushing her dog away and shoving her alarm clock to the floor.

Burying herself in the covers, she managed to block out all noises around her and start dozing…

“Angela?”

‘Oh no…’

It was her dad…

“Angela, are you feeling okay?”

She tried to respond, but found her voice couldn’t get above a hoarse whisper…

“No…”

He seemed concerned, and put a hand on her forehead…

“You’re burning up…”

She started feeling it, too…

That heat building up inside, under her skin…

Too hot…

“D-Daddy…”

“DON! MIZU!”

The Waterbender was the first to make it, recognizing that tone of voice…

“What’s wrong?”

“She’s got a fever, and she can hardly speak!”

Artemis skidded in, hearing the commotion as Mizu tried to find out what was wrong.

“Angel?!”

The young turtle seemed to choke, but she managed to get air into her lungs…

“I think she’s dehydrated, but…It’s like a heat stroke…”

Mizu looked worried and confused at the realization in those light crimson eyes…

“Angie? Honey, what is it?”

“L-Let me up…” She managed, shakily getting to her feet…

“Angela, you’re too weak-!”

But she’d already taken off in a mad dash for the living room, and dove into the water pool…

When she resurfaced, it was with a breath of relief…

Then panic seemed to grab hold, and she turned her head sharply to see everyone rushing to see what was going on…

‘Oh shit…’

Relying on instinct, she dove into the water, and all anyone saw was a flash of silvery jade scales…

Deep underwater, it felt like she was breathing air, and it felt so much BETTER than up there…

With a deep breath, she looked down at her fin…

“Stupid thing…” She muttered.

“I get you out a few times a week, but you still manage to mess with me during the day…”

Swimming through the tunnels, she managed to get out to the river…

Surfacing carefully, she slid through the water and managed to get to a dry warehouse she knew.

Pulling herself into the shadows of the building, she managed to change her fin back into legs…

‘Finally…’

Carefully, she slipped inside through a window and looked around…

‘Here it is.’

Her uncle had made motorcycles for her and Izzy when they turned fifteen, and she kept her own here near the docks.

Pulling on her biker jacket and pants, she spun the helmet around her finger before looking at the drawing on it.

It was of a dolphin, artfully done, and it was supposed to represent her free spirit.

Izzy’s had a phoenix, showing her fiery passion.

Slipping it onto her head, she straddled the bike and revved the engine.

‘Come on, baby…’

She shot out through the doors, and Angela almost whooped at the adrenaline rush.

Avoiding trucks and slow-moving cars, she managed to actually gain momentum…

A car was coming to intercept her on the street ahead, but a quick wheelie and pop sent her flipping over, landing on the wheels on the other side.

She kept going, but it seemed the car wanted an explanation, or the person inside did, because they started following…

‘Oh great…’

Popping into the air again, she spun the motorcycle around a corner, giving an army salute before disappearing into an alley.

Cutting the engine quickly, she hid behind a dumpster…

Holding her breath, she was glad her wheezing went away once she went for a dip…

The car stopped nearby, and someone stepped out of the back.

He seemed like a Japanese businessman, and he looked around with narrowed eyes.

For a moment, it was like he saw her in the shadows, and she shrunk back…

She chalked it up to paranoia when he got back into the car and drove off…

‘Man, I’m going nuts…’ She thought to herself, starting up the engine and heading home…

‘I could’ve sworn he saw me…Well, I’ve got bigger things to worry about…’

She filled with dread…

‘What am I going to tell my family?’