A/N: This is a (hopefully) romantic one-shot that came to me as I was listening to a song by Above and Beyond. If you're interested in the inspiration, check out "A thing called love" (acoustic). I'll try to put a link, but it may get stripped. Go to youtube and add this:

watch?v=HcIzwSYtujo

Without further ado, I give you- A Thing Called Love

~Shadow

He turned and walked away. Silent, except for his dark red mask which snapped sharply in the icy wind of the rooftop. In seconds, he reached the edge of the building and dropped out of sight.

He never looked back.

The moment he disappeared, she raised her head and howled; voicing her pain to the uncaring sky. She lost everything with his dismissal.

Not just a companion, for she saw that end approaching. Raphael needed someone stronger. Someone to challenge him. Someone worthy. She was not enough to hold his attention. It hurt, but she could survive.

The real agony was losing the rest. The ones she came to regard as family: her brothers; her father; and the heart she truly desired. Because Raphael asked her not to return. A clean break, he said. And she could not ignore his request, so rarely were they made.

Their lives will go on without me.

His words effectively sealed her fate, for she had no one else. No other relations. No past and... no future. Black despair crushed her soul.

I brought this on myself.

Tears laced her cheeks and blurred her vision. Wind slashed her hair across her face. The thin strands stung, a thousand tiny whips drawing their penance. She felt faint, dizzy. The world spun too fast. Her knees buckled and she moaned as the gravel of the rooftop dug deep into her bones. The only thing left was her life.

It's not enough.

Time stretched before her, infinite and empty. Even if she somehow struggled on, she would always be a liability for her one-time clan.

The Foot will take me, or some other dark fiend.

And though she would never betray them, they would feel obligated to intervene. Putting their precious lives at risk for one she no longer valued.

Unacceptable.

It was only a few steps to the ledge. A short rush of air and it would all be over. She rose to her feet, hands clenched at her sides.

One step. Two.

Her goal was clear. The end in sight, if she bothered to open her eyes. This was easy, for she'd already made the worst mistake of her life.

There was a time she had a choice. A chance at true happiness. Yet she let fear force her hand. Doubt haunted her. She was sure to fall short of his high standards. Fail to meet his needs. Instead of risking it, she scorned him. Pursuing something 'safer.' If one could ever put Raphael in such a category.

I was a coward.

He honored her decision and let her go. Over time, his beautiful eyes, once so welcoming, turned away from her; along with his heart. Now there was no going back. No chance to repair the damage she'd done.

She fixed his steady gaze in her mind, remembering his face that fateful night. The night she'd run from him. Calm, certain of his own emotions. Eyes clear and deep. Layered with intense desire.

I wish I could see them that way again... But I never will. They are ninja. Invisible but to a chosen few. And I have proven unworthy.

A third step. A fourth.

Nothing but emptiness lay in front of her, a yawning void which matched the desolation she felt inside. One more stride was all it would take.

She raised her foot.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her, lifted her up, and jerked her away from the edge. They held her fast; shaking, desperate. She wriggled violently, but couldn't escape.

She could have sworn she was alone. Raph would have made sure. He didn't want anyone to witness what he was going to do.

Have our enemies found me already?

She was plunked hard on her feet and spun around as two large hands fastened on her biceps with a grip like iron. She couldn't shift, though she tried. Even the moves Raph once taught her didn't shake this hold. Cracking swollen eyes, she blinked rapidly when her tears refused to cease their endless fall.

Her vision became reality.

His face was inches away, but the expression differed dramatically from the one in her mind. Eyes of steely blue-grey glared back into her own, full of fear and fogged with a pain he didn't try to conceal.

Stunned, she could do nothing but stare. A moment ago, her soul languished; parched and deserted. Now it drowned in his tormented gaze.

"What are you doing here?" she managed to choke out, breathless and distraught.

Leonardo ignored the question.

"Whatever Raph said," he began with a soft shake of her shoulders, "it isn't worth this."

If only he knew...

Leo studied her face. She couldn't tell what he was searching for, but he uttered a strangled little sound as he scooped an arm under her legs and drew her close. He knelt, knees collapsing as if unable to hold him, tucking her head under his chin.

Rocking back and forth, he clutched her to his chest. His breath hitched and broke at odd intervals in what could only be described as heart wrenching sobs. She pulled back and he loosened his grasp, but refused to release her entirely. His face shone wetly in the dim light and his expression was twisted, tortured.

This raw emotion shocked her.

"Hey," she said lightly, not able to bear his pain as well as her own. She reached out to wipe his tears with her thumb, cupping his cheek in her palm. He shivered beneath her touch as if she tasered him. "I only got dumped. Save these for something important."

Her words jolted him out of his tears and she lowered her hand.

His mouth dropped open, his eyes widened, and again he tightened his grip. He was going to leave marks on her biceps and thighs... if she lived through the night.

"How can you say that?"

For a long time he stared, dumbfounded. Finally, he shook his head, closed his eyes and drew in a number of deep, even breaths. It took several minutes for him to collect his thoughts, but she was content to lie in his arms as long as he would have her.

The ledge wasn't going anywhere.

Eventually, he re-assumed his usual smooth expression, the one she found most frustrating to read. But his eyes were still doing emotional acrobatics. They softened as he gazed down into her face again, slightly loosening his death grip.

"I admit," he said, "I guessed that was the case. And I cannot reverse Raph's personal decision, though I think him an absolute fool. But he could have chosen a better time and place."

His eyes flicked away and swept the desolate rooftop. There was nothing to see. No railing, no garden. The windows of the surrounding skyscrapers were black.

There was only a heartbroken girl and the darkness of midnight. Raphael truly had left her bereft and alone.

"What the hell did he think would happen?" Leonardo growled under his breath.

She closed her eyes, cheeks heating. Raph knew she wasn't going to take the news well, but he hadn't selected this location to injure her. He'd only been trying to grant her privacy. He cared, but they'd never been close enough for him to anticipate her reactions. It was one of the reasons she knew they wouldn't work long term.

Leonardo, on the other hand, always seemed to see right through her. She peeked between her lashes as his intense stare return to her face and her whole body tingled, tensing.

"Dear one," he said, softening his tone. "there is always hope. Perhaps one day Raph will change his mind. If you..." he paused to swallow hard, "remove yourself, what chance will he have?"

She didn't answer right away and his expression tightened as he waited, but he let her take her time.

"Raph and I will never work," she mumbled, dropping her chin to her chest.

Leo shook his head and tilted her face back up with two fingers.

"Please," he begged, still meeting her eyes. "At least give him a little time to consider what his decision means. I will talk to him if you wish. Just come home with me."

"I can't."

Anguish overwhelmed her and tears escaped again.

"Fine. Your apartment then. Or April's? I'll take you wherever you want to go."

The desperation was returning to his voice.

"Leo, why are you here?" she asked.

This building wasn't on any of their normal patrol routes. In fact, there was not one scheduled for tonight, which was why Raph chose it. Leonardo should have been in deep meditation by now, or finishing up the evening briefing.

Despite practically living in the lair, she couldn't know for sure, since she hardly saw him anymore. This was the longest conversation they'd had in months that wasn't about the weather, or some other inconsequential. He turned his face away.

"I swore I'd catch you."

His reply was so soft, she wasn't sure she'd heard him right. Then her eyebrows shot up and her eyes went wide as she remembered.

"I may not be able to keep you from falling," he had said, "but I'll always be there to catch you."

His expression remained carefully blank, but the gleam in his eyes said he wasn't referring to the physical kind of plummeting. That cryptic statement was the only remark he ever made about the growing attachment he saw between her and his brother.

Leonardo watched, waiting anxiously as the memory blossomed in her eyes. She thought he had removed himself from her life, but now she saw he was always there. Silently observing from the sidelines as her romance with Raphael unfolded, then unraveled.

"But why would you want to, after what I did?" she asked.

He shrugged, the movement dislodging the bright blue bandana tails from where they had settled on his shoulders. His eyes, however, never left hers. For a split second, a spark of passion flared there. The same desire she had rejected so long ago.

Her breath caught. Was it possible he would offer her another chance to make the right decision? But the light was smothered as quickly as it had come, pain taking its place.

"I'm taking you back," he declared. "Raph doesn't always think things through and... he needs to know how deeply you feel."

Disappointment shot through her like an arrow. Leonardo had obviously gotten over his earlier infatuation. She'd missed her chance. She struggled weakly in his grasp. Raphael made his feelings clear and she did not wish to see the red-banded ninja again tonight. Even if he hadn't all but forbade her to return to their home.

Leonardo did not let her down. As he rose to his feet, she fought harder. He threw her over his shoulder and she pounded on his shell with her fists, but he ignored her. Finally, she resorted to words, always the best weapon with the intelligent leader.

"I don't want Raph back," she cried. The ring of truth in her voice made him still. "And I promised never to come back to the lair."

"What?"

He set her on her feet but held on to one wrist as he addressed her, afraid she would fling herself over the nearest edge if he let go.

"Why?"

"There's nothing left of us," she said. "He wanted a clean break. No reminders. He's exiled me from the Hamato clan."

"He can't do that," Leo protested, horrified at the thought. His eyes hardened, anger creeping in. "Raphael does not speak for the family. Father will rescind the request, and if he does not, I will make Raph reconsider."

"Don't," she whispered, and the tears began again. "I don't want to cause strife. It doesn't matter." She eyed the distance to the edge. It was farther now, and didn't seem nearly as inviting as before, but nothing had changed. "I don't matter."

"You matter to me," he said. When she didn't look up, he knelt in front of her. "You've always mattered."

She shook her head.

His sharp eyes hadn't missed her quick glance at the ledge. He took her hand in both of his, one thumb caressing her palm. She began to tremble as the sensation sent small jolts of current through her system. Each one jumpstarting the heart she tried to silence.

Why is he doing this? Can't he see it's better if I quietly exit their lives?

"Why?" She whispered. "If I matter, why did you let me go to him in the first place?

He frowned.

"I wasn't going to fight your choice. I wanted you to be happy. Besides, he's my brother. How could I begrudge him something we all yearn for?"

"And now?" She asked.

Anger stirred, rushing to the forefront of his gaze like a tsunami racing for the shore.

"Now we are going to have words."

"I wish you wouldn't," she moaned covering her face with a hand.

"He hurt you," Leonardo said, and the furrow between his brows deepened.

"Kind of hard not to when you're breaking up with someone," she said. Trying to lighten his mood.

"That pain, as hard as I knew it would be to watch, was allowable. But not…" His voice trailed off as he looked away to the edge. The ledge she had been dangerously close to throwing herself over. "He can't take the rest of us from you. We want you around. Think of the others. Think of poor Mikey and Don. They'll be crushed."

I was thinking of them. I'm trying to spare us all pain.

"What do you want from me, Leo?" She asked through clenched teeth.

"I want you to stay," his voice was deep, and his gaze so intense she couldn't look away. "Stay alive for a second more. Just one minute, then another. An hour. Two. Let it become days. Weeks. Months. Years. Stay until you can't imagine ever leaving."

"But why?" Her cry was anguished. "There's nothing left! Why should I stay?"

He dropped all his masks. His face, lifted to hers, was full of tortured desire. She couldn't breathe. The spark hidden in his gorgeous eyes reappeared, fanned into a roaring flame. Time held its breath and her heart stopped its frantic race.

"Stay for me," he whispered. "Stay for love."

Darkness overcame her and she slumped to the ground.

She awoke cradled in his lap. His mouth covered hers and his sweet breath filled her lungs. With a soft cry, he broke off when he felt her tense under his hands. Her eyes fluttered open and her arms wound around his neck of their own accord. She blinked rapidly and gazed blankly around, befuddled. Leonardo freed a hand to cradle her cheek in his palm, tilting her face back to his.

"You with me, love?" he asked. "You scared me. You have to remember to breathe."

"Oh," she said as color rose in her cheeks. "It's just... I thought you said-"

"I love you," he interrupted. "Then and now, always and forever."

Her breath caught as he moved in closer still. Their lips met, she closed her eyes and melted into his embrace. The kiss deepened and his mouth opened, tongue darting through to taste her hungrily. She didn't break it until dizziness overwhelmed her again.

Leonardo rested his forehead against hers lightly, holding her close.

"Will you stay, love?" he asked. "If Raphael is no longer your desire, will you be mine?"

His breath caught as he heard her whisper.

"Always and forever."