Searching for April O'Neal

Chapter 2: The Feeling of Betrayal

The Feeling of Betrayal

Immediately after Leo walked into the lair, he knew something was wrong. The entire place was silent, and Ellie, Mikey, and Splinter were no where to be seen.

Karai, Donnie, Raph, and Casey were all arguing over whatever pointless thing they were arguing about, and didn't notice.

"I'm gonna talk to Sensei. I'll be right back," Leo called over his shoulder as he headed for the dojo.

No one heard him except Karai, who peered over Donnie's shoulder and flashed him a grin before joining back into conversation.

"Hey, Sensei?" Leo said as he lightly tapped on Splinter's door. No one answered. Leo opened the door to find the room empty.

For a second, Leo panicked. What if someone found the lair? What if whoever was searching for Splinter had found him and taken him? What if Sensei was dead?! But reason took over, and Leo knew that there would definitely be some signs of struggle. And attackers usually left a message if they were kidnapping someone.

Leo walked out of the dojo, heading towards Mikey's room to talk to him and Ellie. But on the way there, he saw Splinter and Mikey in Donnie's lab.

Splinter was talking in a quiet voice, and Leo knew from the look on his face that he was feeling great remorse and shame. And Mikey..he just looked completely heartbroken. Recent tear marks on his cheeks indicated that he had recently cried, and did a lot of it.

What are they talking about? Leo wondered. And where's Ellie?

Leo decided that he should just walk in, so he started.

He heard the last part of Sensei's sentence, "--to no avail, anyway. Because she has found me."

A chill went up Leo's spine, even though he had no idea who Splinter was talking about. He took a deep breath and asked, "Who's found you?"

Mikey flinched, as he always did when he was startled, and Splinter turned to stare at the blue-clad turtle, surprise in his eyes.

When no one answered him, Leo asked another question that was on his mind. "What's happened?"

Mikey looked at his older brother for a second, and then stood up and walked out of the room, not saying a word. Splinter sadly watched him go.

"Father?" Leo looked at his Sensei. "What's happened?" he repeated, dreading the answer.

"Leonardo." Splinter locked eyes with him. "We have found who took April."

Normally, that would've been good news. But from the look on Sensei's face, it wasn't. "Who did it?" Leo inquired.

"Get everyone else, Leonardo. I feel that they all must hear this."

...

No one spoke. The silence was almost tangible, it was so thick, after Splinter had finished telling the true story of Tang Shen. Casey, who hadn't exactly heard the false one, seemed a bit confused, but everyone had a look of horror on their face. Especially Karai.

Finally, Karai broke the silence by saying, "My mother's alive?" Splinter nodded. Karai stood up off the sofa, anger clearly visible on her face. "So all this time you lied to me? You let me believe that my mother was dead?!"

Splinter didn't have a reply.

Tears filled Karai's eyes as she hissed, "You're just like Shredder." Everyone turned and gaped at her as she stormed out of the living room.

"Karai!" Leo called after her. She didn't respond, so he stood up and chased after her. "Karai!" When he caught up to her in the hallway, he touched her shoulder lightly. She spun around, tears already falling down her face, makeup smearing.

"What?" she almost yelled.

Leo sighed. "Karai, just calm down for a minute--"

"Calm down?! I can't calm down, Leo! Everyone on this entire earth has let me down and betrayed me..lied to me about my family...Why can't they just all tell me the truth?" Tears were falling harder down Karai's face, and Leo didn't know how to respond. He'd never seen Karai cry before. She was always so tough, and now her walls were breaking down.

"I trusted Splinter," Karai continued. "He let me down; everyone lets me down. I just want..I just want someone that I know will never lie to me, and I thought..that Splinter might be that person.." Her voice trailed off, and she didn't say anything for about five beats. "..but he's not."

Leo reached up and gently used his thumbs to wipe Karai's tears away. He stared into her brown eyes. Even though all her makeup was smearing everywhere, and she looked a mess, Leo thought that she'd never been more beautiful.

"Karai, Splinter made a mistake," Leo whispered. "A big one. And we're all hurt by it." He paused to think about his next words. "But he's a good man inside. One mistake can't change that. We've gotta forgive him, okay?"

Karai placed her hands over Leo's, which were still resting on her cheeks. "Okay."

Leo then pulled her into a hug. Usually, Karai would've pushed it away. She wasn't used to affection; she'd never received any from Shredder, but this time she accepted it and hugged Leo back.

"I'm never going to let you down," Leo said softly into her ear.

"Really?" she inquired.

"Really."