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Hamato Karai	By : MercyJinn Category: Comics > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Views: 9488 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
TITLE: Hamato Karai
AUTHOR: Jinn-Jinn
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Quite poor. Don't sue.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am SO SO SO sorry it has taken me this long to get to this chapter but sure enough I got hit with a writer’s block the likes of which you couldn’t believe! Please forgive me! I sincerely hope this makes up for those lost months!

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Leo paced around in his old bedroom at 4 in the morning, not having been able to sleep at all. He was somewhere between anger, worry and a gut-wrenching hurt.

Six days ago Karai ordered him to leave their house of nearly three years, because she said he was in danger of being killed and she was determined to fight the enemy alone. He had pleaded with her not to do that and wanted to stand by her as they dealt with the problem together, but Karai was firm. A bitter fight broke out the likes of which they hadn’t had in a long while.

“Leonardo the only way you could help me is by leaving!” She said harshly, standing there in their living room as firmly as any warrior.

“You can’t even promise me that this problem will go away soon! How long do you want me gone??” He protested, his face growing hot with growing anger and desperation. “Karai, I love you! You can’t just expect me to walk away!”

Karai curled her hands into fist, wanting to grab her husband and shake him hard. “Husband….I have to face him alone. When you are with me its all I can do to stop myself! He’s taking over!”

“He’s DEAD!” He retorted, wishing he could hit something. “How could he possibly be doing this! It’s all in your head! If we fight this together-”

And the cycle began again; it almost made her want to scream in frustration. “How, Leo? HOW? He’s inside me, screaming, shouting, hissing in my ear! He’s robbed me of my sleep and he’s determined to kill you.”

“You’re stronger than him, Karai! I know you are!” Impulsively he finally grasped her arms tight. “Karai…wife….How can you expect me to walk away?”

Karai clasped his face between her hands and she could feel that evil urge to sink her nails into his dearly loved features. “You will….because you and I both want to stay married….and I feel that this is the only way.”

She could feel his mind sway. “I am not leaving you, but you can’t stay. Go, before my father makes me kill you.”
“Say you love me.” Leo said in a voice that had a bare trace of tears. “And I’ll go.”

Her fingers pulled Leo to her and she kissed him with everything she had. “Not yet.”

Leonardo paced and paced until frustration took him outside his room. He didn’t really want to be out there because of his family. It’s not that he doesn’t love them, it’s just they were of no help when it came to this. He had already punched Raph in the face when his insults and criticisms went too far. “Let’s go to Foot Headquarters and waste the bitch” got his molar knocked out of him and “Didn’t I tell you she would dump your sorry ass?” resulted in the breakfast table being flipped over on him and a hot coffee burn on his lap. Splinter, Donnie and Mikey wisely decided to stay mum about the whole thing and let Leo figure it out for himself.

The elder turtle learned not to stew in anger since it led to absolutely nothing except evil, but this time he indulged himself in hating with all his being Oroku Saki. The man was dead and gone, but somehow he had managed to creep up into his life and ruin the peace Karai and he have cultivated. How could this have happened?? Where did it all go so wrong?

“It’s my fault.” He finally blurted to himself, digging his nails into the thick palm of his large hands. “It’s that damn ring!”
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It was a white gold ring, delicately twisted in the shape of two dragons who met at the center, each one bore a tiny jade in its mouth; one ball of red and the other green.

“It symbolizes us” He had said, the blazing red of her clan and the soothing green from his. It didn’t look cheap at all and she wondered how he gathered the money to purchase this lovely little thing. While he didn’t tell her, he did say why he got it for her. He no longer wanted a simple ban of gold which symbolized their arranged marriage; he wanted something more profound, something that spoke of his love for her, which was eternal.

Karai fingered it and held it in her fist. She hadn’t gotten the nerve to wear it yet. It’s not because she thought it ugly nor that it was cheap. No, something nagged at her in the back of her head every time she thought of putting it on her finger. At first she dared not tell Leonardo about it, even though he was aware that something was wrong and that the ring was responsible. He told her she didn’t have to wear it if she it distressed her so much, but she refused to give it up. She tried to reassure him that she would be alright, that what was going on was nothing, but they both knew it was a lie. Because no matter how persistent she was about being fine, her nightmares became more and more intense.

Most nights now, not too long after he gave her the ring for their anniversary, she would wake up in a sweat gasping harshly sometimes with her small tanto drawn out for protection. Leo would always wake up with her and tried to comfort her. Always he would ask what the dream was about and every time Karai would not reply. He quickly guessed however that the dream was about them, because the moment she was focused she reached out for the ring placed on her side table and clutch it tight in her fist.

“Please, please tell me.” He would plead gently to her, his voice soothing her ear.

Sometimes her mouth would open as if ready to confess, but then it would lodge in her throat and she’d fall silent. “I’ll be alright.” She had said simply.
But she knew she wasn’t alright. Something was incredibly wrong with her.

It started long before actually, on the day she realized to herself that she loved Leonardo. A part of her, hidden deep inside her darkest mind began to rebel and took shape the moment the ring was presented to her. It was none other than her father. He had come to torment her and rage at the dishonor she had involved herself in. Before she had been able to suppress the nagging voice, but the ring had brought his hisses to a roar, infecting her nightmares and destroying her well bring.

Almost nightly he called her a coward and a deceitful whore of a daughter for being with Leonardo.

“I raised you! You betray me who gave you this life! Submitting to our enemy like a bestial whore! Shameful, conniving, honor-less! You are no daughter of mine! You have no one!”

He screamed it in her dreams, until she woke up shivering and vulnerable, feeling as if each horrid word had been beaten into her flesh. No amount of medicine or meditation could bring her peace. The only thing she knew could stop her father’s cruelty was Leonardo’s blood.

Karai shuddered and rubbed her temples.

Twice she came close to doing it and it was the second time that she finally confessed to her husband what it was that was plaguing her. Thankfully he did not laugh at her and called her dreams absurd, instead he held her close and reaffirmed his trust in her control. They both agreed that yes, Saki was gone, but that some things had yet to be settled by them.

She admitted, much to her chagrin, that she never once faced the alter of her father in complete truth. She faced him like a dutiful daughter, a warrior and a business woman. Her identity has always been of two people: one the ruthless, cunning warrior of the Foot clan, the other the willing mate of her father’s enemy. It had always been a careful balance, one she had prided herself in keeping for so long, but somehow the ring became a sudden indication that it could no longer be so. Her mind and spirit tired of playing two roles, one hating, one loving and all done in half measure. The only way to remove Saki from their lives was for Karai to finally confront her deceased parent as a whole person.
On this they both agreed, but what they disagreed on was her doing it alone.

“I must face him.” She said to herself as she rose for the sixth day in a row. Anger and frustration filled her and she looked upon herself with self-loathing.

“Coward.” She called herself. “Is this what you want? Six days without him! Enough! You must face him! He’s dead! You don’t have to bend to his will!”

Did Saki’s approval still meant that much to her? Did her love for Leonardo mean nothing? A hunger for Leo knotted in her stomach and she closed her eyes. She tried to focus on him, only to once again have her thoughts soak themselves in blood.

“Shit!” She snarled, stalking away. Tonight, it had to be tonight.

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It was another fruitless day and Karai could barely stomach herself. What was she afraid of? A picture? Really? A piece of paper in a frame? Had it been anyone else she would’ve scoffed at the weakness of the individual.

The days and turned cold, but for some reason the apartment felt particularly icy. She was wearing her black ninja garb but she wrapped her arms around herself anyway.

“Cold?”

Her gaze darted over to the very familiar shape of Leonardo emerging from their bedroom. “I couldn’t stay away any longer.” He said apologetically.

Karai frowned, wanting to scold him and order him away again, however….

“Make yourself useful then.”

Leo smiled, knowing an invitation when he heard one, and embraced her tightly. Karai sighed softly and rested her head against a powerful shoulder, musing once again how it was a cold-blooded turtle managed to give off such warmth.

“I-I haven’t resolved it.” She murmured disliking the hesitation in her voice. “But I will. I will.”

Leo’s breath stirred her hair and he hugged her tighter. “I know….I just wish I could help you more.”

“This is a good start.” She drew back a bit. “How about you keep going?”

His brown eyes lit up and a soft chuckle escaped him. “I really did miss you, Karai.”

“I did too.” She shivered at his kiss and her heart tightened. “Leonardo I should be honest….”
His mouth left her lips, but continued to gently nuzzle
her jaw. “What?”

She gave him a quick kiss and caught his gaze again. “It’s about what’s inside me. I’ve been meaning to tell you, but…..” She swallowed heavily. “….The way I feel about you….I have decided to be honest.”

Leo’s eyes widen and she could nearly hear his heart catch in his throat. “I’ve always hoped…..Are you telling me….?”

Karai nodded and moistened her lips. “Leonardo….I…..”

He suddenly stiffened and jerked sharply. Karai opened her mouth to say something, her eyes dragging down to her husband’s chest and to her tanto buried hilt deep into it. She tore her hands away from it, but they were already smeared with his blood. She reached out to clutch Leo’s beloved face only to see those beautiful eyes closed forever.

“No…..”

“My most obedient and loving daughter.”

Saki appeared from the shadows and smiled with cold pride. “Thank you.”

“NO!”
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“No!”

Leonardo woke up with the word leaving his mouth. It was 4 in the morning and his inner voice was wailing in his ears. Quickly he got up, threw on his gear and rushed out of the lair not evening bothering to leave a note.

Something was going on at home and even though he’d likely catch hell from Karai later he didn’t care. He *needed* to be there now!

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Karai nearly leapt out of the bed such was the force of her fear. Frantically she looked at her hands and let out a shuddering breath to see them clean. A dream, another unbearable dream.

‘No’ she thought to herself, her heart racing like mad. ‘No, no, never…..ENOUGH!’

Panic gave way to a sweeping anger white-hot; the likes of which she had not felt in a while. Thoughtlessly she threw herself out of the room and headed for the dojo.
She threw aside anything in her way and with a snarl of disgust she pried open the sliding doors that hid Saki’s alter. Small stubs of candles still held flicking licks of flame; a hint of incense was in the air and perched above it all was a picture of her father along with the broken face that was once part of the statue Leonardo destroyed so long ago. Furiously she knocked everything but the framed photo off, sending it all crashing onto
the smooth floor.

“I refuse! You cannot ever make me!” She snarled. “I have had enough of your manipulations, father! You think to take it all away from me now? If you didn’t want this to happen than you should not have brought me here!”

She swore she saw the cold image of her father change to shock. “Yes! This was your doing! You brought me to him! You told me to look at him, observe him, know him! You raved at his family, you swore at him the most! How you hated his skills, his honor, his very face! His name was on your lips and soon it was on mine!”

Words came out in a mad rush and though she knew she looked insane yelling at a frame she didn’t care, it needed to be said.

“How did you expect me to resist him? Did you think his face and form could hide such loyalty, such strength?” She felt tears sting her eyes. “Did you expect me to forget that I am a *woman*??”

“I need, father! I burned! But I held it back, buried it in submissive loyalty to you! Tried to kill it with vengeance! I nearly had his hate, father! I was ready to destroy it all……”

The bluster went out of her and she gasped for a breath. She sunk down to her knees, panting. “….and then he gave me love. How did you expect me to fight that? You gave me no weapons, no skills to resist……”

“…..Three years I fought his love. I cannot fight anymore.” Karai looked up at the ruined altar and took Saki’s portrait in her grasp. “I owe you my happiness and you will live with that knowledge. Go away now; you have done your part in all this. I don’t need you anymore, just him, because……..I love him.”

Solemnly, she set the frame face down on the altar and let out a sigh that released all that worried her for the past years. Shakily she rose to her feet, then smoothed her disheveled hair from her face. “I love him.” How easy it was to say suddenly! A bittersweet smile spread on her lips. “I can say it now and he isn’t even here to hear it.”

“Say it again.”

Taken utterly by surprise, Karai whirled around to see Leo emerging from the shadows and for a moment she had a horrible thought that she was still dreaming. “Are you real?” She breathed.

Leonardo covered the distance between them and took her by the shoulders firmly. “I hope so…..Karai…..please.” He heard her, he knew he did, but he wanted to hear it again so badly he was on the verge of tears.

“I told him to leave and I know I’ve conquered him.” Her smile strengthened. “I spoke the truth….I….I love you.”

Did the world stop? Leo swore it did or at least his heart did since it felt like it just got hit by lightening. She said it, finally, finally. He never had to doubt, nor question their marriage anymore. She was his; all his.

“Husband? Did you hear me?” Karai nudged him a bit when he didn’t respond. She was rewarded with a full embrace and then he kissed her.

“Again.” He murmured, his large hands starting to wander over her, removing the belt of her short robe.
Karai sighed as anxiousness and fear gave way to passion. “I love you.”

“More.” He breathed and a tear escaped him. His mouth travelled over her lips, her jaw, down her throat to her racing pulse. Karai kept saying I love you and soon he was saying it back.

Gently their bodies sank down onto the gym mats and there in the dojo before the ruined altar with only the moon for light they did something they hadn’t done before.

For the first time in three years they made love.
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Hamato Karai