When Leo came through the window, April was standing at the stove finishing up dinner, singing a song to herself. It took a little bit for him to realize that the song wasn't in English.

"You speak Japanese?" he asked, causing her to jump. April turned to towards him, and gave the oldest turtle a playful glare.

"Haven't I told you about sneaking up on me like that? Make some noise when you come in next time, or one of these days you'll give me a heart attack!" She turned back to the food, turned off the burner, and pulled the pot to the sink. "Dinner should be ready soon; it's just the two of us tonight, right?" Leo leaned against the doorframe as he watched her strain the pasta she had made.

"Yah, Raph and Mikey have patrol tonight and Donnie had some important updates he had to do on our security system." She transferred to pasta back into the pot and set it on the table, next to the pot of sauce that was already on the table. "You never answered my question." April blushed and cleared her throat.

"I got into anime when I was a teenager and wasn't happy that a lot what they put out over here was edited for American TV, so I'd get it on DVD. I enjoyed it more in the original language, but disliked having to read subtitles, so I got into a class at a local community center and learned how to speak it pretty fluently. I can't write it to save my life, though. I know that sounds like a stupid reason to learn another language, but that why I did." She bit her lip and played with her hair, turning a deeper red. Grabbing a plate, she filled it and handed it to him.

"So what ones do you like?"

"Hmm?" April finished filling her plate and moved to the living room where they could both sit down.

"What shows did you watch?" Leo followed her into the living room and sat down on the other end of the couch. "Once Don got the internet up, we would watch video online. Well, me and Mikey did, Raph thought they were boring and Don was always interested more in his projects then TV or anything." April smiled and relaxed a little.

"I'm finicky about what I watch. I got into it watching stuff like Tenchi Muyo and Dragon Ball Z, so some of just feels redone. My all-time favorite was Ruruoni Kenshin, though. A good plot line, likeable characters, a lot of action, some romance, it just seemed to have it all- at least until they caught up with the manga, then it got weird." She put her plate down and looked up at him. "You want to watch it? I got the entire series on DVD. You might like it."

"That sounds good" Leo said as he shifted into a more conferrable position on the couch. April smiled at him

"Let me just set it up." She said as she moved to the stack of DVDs she had. As she put the first disk and moved to sit back down, she turned to him with a mischievous smile. "You need the subtitles?"

The blue-clad turtle glared at his Hogosha and said several point words in Japanese as she laughed and settled in to watch the show.

Three hours later, April was passed out on the couch and Leo had just turned off the DVD player and TV as Raphael came in the window. The largest of the brothers looked at the sleeping woman and smiled.

"Have fun I take it?" He asked as he picked her up in his arms. Leo heard her make a small sound in her sleep, and watched her wrap her arms around his neck.

"Yah, we'll probably do this again next time you're on patrol with Mike or Don. That is, if you're okay with it." Leo knew that his brother could be protective of his Girlfriend and was always worried that he could lose her. Raphael just continued on his way to the bedroom.

"Have at it; she needs someone to geek out with over that stuff anyway. " He shifted her to one arm so could open the door. "I'm staying with her tonight, but I'll be back in the lair in time for training." The leader nodded as the red turtle slipped in the room and closed the door.

Watching Raph take April into her room made Leo envious. He hated the sick feeling that came to his stomach when he saw them together, but he was jealous of his younger brother. April looked at Raph like he was the one thing she held dear in her life, that she would do anything for. He wondered what it felt like being on the receiving end of that adoration.

Giving one last glance to the now-closed bedroom door, he moved into the kitchen to clean up dinner, his mind wandering on the evening and the other times is was just the two of them hanging out, discussing things that he couldn't with his brothers. Politics, Social issues, various ways that people lived; she always was able to give him new things to think about and different sides of the story.

Leo finished up the dishes and went to check on April one last time; even though he knew it was a ridiculous thing to do because Raphael was with her. He opened the door gently to see April curled up tight against his brother's plastron. A dim light was on next to the bed, casting a pale light on the two lovers. Raph's face was one he had never seen before, relaxed and content as he shifted slightly in his sleep and pulled the woman in his arms closer. A hard lump rose in his throat as he quietly closed the door behind him.

Leaving April's apartment and making sure he closed the window behind himself, Leo took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Letting Raph be with her was the best thing for them, even if it hurt Leonardo to not be with her.

You could be with her, a voice in his head whispered, Challenge Raphael, show April you can protect her better than he could. FIGHT FOR HER.

Leo shook his head at the possessive voice, urging him to take the only female that they knew, as his 'rightful' claim as the Alpha of their little family. It was nothing more than a remnant of his baser instincts, and he was above that. He turned one last time to her bedroom window, trying desperately to fight the tight clench of longing in his heart. Climbing up the fire escape, towards the roof and to home, Leo had only one thought on his mind.

You better not screw this up, I don't know what I'd do if you ever hurt her.