This is a tribute story for FantasiaWandering's great story "Falling" in celebration of the second Fallingiversary on October 13th (yes, I know, I'm late .) and a little thank you-gift for the awesome story I got from her for my birthday (you can find it here.)
Thanks for your writing, Fantasia, and I hope you like this story. *hugs*
There to Catch Her
The roaring of the helicopter's rotor blades was pounding in her ears. She could feel the cold of the landing skid against her fingers. She was holding on to it for dear life, but her fingers slipped, and then she was falling.
The helicopter's angry roar faded as she was falling deeper and deeper. A cold feeling built up in her stomach and spread through her body when she realized what was to come next. The pure thought knocked out the air of her lungs.
And she still was falling, deeper and deeper into darkness.
April?
She knew that voice. It used to make her feel better.
But she was falling, for heaven's sake, falling to her early grave!
April!
The voice was louder now, more demanding, but with a tiny ring of fear to it.
Something touched her shoulder, something warm, fighting against the cold in her body, wiping it away as this warm, secure feeling took over.
April opened her eyes.
Blinking a few times she found herself in the living room of the lair.
Her head was still spinning from the dream, but then she realized the warm feeling on her shoulder and turned her head to look at it.
Donatello's warm hand was resting on her shoulder.
And suddenly her head stopped spinning, but the remains of the dream, the feeling of falling, it didn't fade completely.
"Are you okay?" Donatello asked worriedly. "You fell asleep and it looked like you were having a bad dream."
April nodded, but the worried ring to Donnie's voice had her thinking, and so she smiled at him to assure Donnie that she really was okay. But Donnie didn't blush at this like he usually did when she smiled at him or touched him. The look on his face was still one of concern when he gave a tiny nod and removed his hand from her shoulder.
April turned her head to look at the other three turtles.
They all looked worried, too. And that knowledge finally fought off the last bit of this feeling of falling into darkness. Knowing her friends were there for her made her fall stop completely.
However, when she looked at Raphael a second too long, the worried look from his face disappeared and was replaced by a twisted mouth and an angry frown.
He crossed his arms over his plastron.
"Well, she looks fine to me now," he growled as he marched back to his place on the couch and slumped down.
"I don't know what to make of this," Mikey said.
"Like you don't know with most of the things," Raph chimed in.
Mikey shot him an angry glare before he turned back to April.
"Tell me, April," he continued, "how can you fall asleep while watching the awesomest, excitingest movie in the world!?"
"I'm sorry," April said, ducking her head a little. "I had a rough week."
"Nah, it's okay," Mikey replied with a smile and sat down on the couch next to her, punching her arm playfully. "I was just kidding."
April replied to that with a smile.
"So you're okay now?" Leo asked.
"Yes," April said.
"Good." Leo got back to his place next to Raph.
"Now can we rewind to that helicopter-scene? It's the last scene I remember," April said.
"Are you sure?" Donnie asked. "You looked a bit…uhm…shocked at that scene."
April raised a brow. "Huh?"
"Hey, where were you looking at while watching the awesomest, excitingest movie in the world?" Mikey chimed in.
Donnie froze for a second.
"I was worried, okay?" he defended himself then. "What April had experienced with that helicopter could be called a traumatic event, and of course I wanted to make sure she was okay which is what friends do and…"
April placed a hand on Donnie's which made him immediately shut up. And there it was again, Donnie's blush.
"Donnie," she said with a smile. "It's okay."
And now the blush even turned a brighter red as he quickly nodded and turned back to the TV.
April removed her hand and watched as Mikey rewound the movie to said scene.
The helicopter noises filled the room, and April felt a little panic rise within her.
She closed her eyes for a moment, forcing herself to remember the warm feeling Donnie's touch had given her.
The panic, the feeling of falling faded, but just in case she let her eyes wander over her friends. Donnie was still blushing, his eyes pinned to the TV, and Mikey, Leo, and Raph were too absorbed by what was going on on the screen which was good, so Mikey didn't realize she was looking away from the awesomest, excitingest movie in the world. They had all been concerned about her, they would all jump from a helicopter to save her, she knew that.
And this thought stopped her fall again.
With a smile April turned back to the TV. Yes, the helicopter sounds still scared her a bit. Maybe they would for a very long time.
But it was okay because she knew if she'd ever fall again, her friends would be there to catch her.