So I only own that which I made up: Cabbage, Pipes, Shima and Sterling. Everything else is as much mine as the outer rings of Saturn, which is to say, not at all. This drama/soap opera/rambling fanfiction is the sequel to HANAMI. I strongly suggest reading that first. I know HANAMI had a lot of chapters, but they were short, and if you can't stomach my writing style, at least you'll know before you waste any more time with this fic. Um. This one will cover a less ambitious amount of time. Until I learn to combine good story and brevity, that's the best I can do. I do hope you enjoy it…
Kyabetsu presentsNever-NeverLand
Chapter 1
April was late. Raphael leaned with his elbows on the front porch railing. He'd watched the sunset, and the moonrise. The stars were so bright out here in the country. You couldn't see the Milky Way, but then, he'd only ever seen that once: long ago in Japan. His thoughts didn't linger on the stars, though. She was loose in his mind. He hated her. He admired her. He wanted her. He wished he'd never met her.
Cleaning up after the campfire, Leo had found a way to corner him. Raph had been so caught up in his own private fantasies that he just hadn't noticed Leo's fierce glare. Though his brother's words caught him like a slap across the face. "You're really disgusting, you know that? I saw you watching her. I know what you were thinking. That's the LAST thing she needs. She and her sisters have been through hell and back. We promised them a safe place, and you dishonor yourself and the rest of your family the first chance you get! You DON'T HIT those who CAN"T FIGHT BACK. " Raphael's euphoria shattered. Leo looked at his brother in open amazement. "You forgot didn't you? You broke her jaw, you insult her, tackle her, THEN you rely on her word to get you out of the mess – AND YOU FORGOT?! " Leo shook his head. "Your behavior reflects on us all, Raphael. It's past time you learned some control." Raphael pushed past his brother, but the damage had been done.
'Leonardo, the fuckin' free-lance conscience, goddamn him! Nosey piece of shit! I hate that tight-assed, tea-baggin, whore-smackin', ass-kissin', shit-spoutin', fuckin' mother-fucker. He's so far off fuckin' base. Some one should take their fuckin' fist and ram it down his fuckin' throat. Knock that sanctimonious son of a bitch right off his fuckin' piece of shit high horse.' Raphael hung his head, willing himself to quit thinking of her skin, her eyes, the feel of her heavy breathing beneath him. She was strong too; took his anger and didn't back down. 'But then you hit her. Then she hurt herself WORSE gettin' your ass out of the fire. Shit Raphael, a day later and you're ready to tackle her again. You can be such a pathetic asshole. Just leave the poor girl alone.' He stood outside in the cold February night wind, determined to be miserable. 'Leo's right… you're the worst thing that could happen to her right now.'
Inside, Leonardo hung up the phone. "Yup, she's officially delayed. I didn't get a chance to talk to her, but the Channel Six secretary, Irma—remember her?, says she's on assignment. Apparently there's some kind of hostage crisis at a supermarket. Irma seemed to think it wouldn't last much longer; the SWAT team's already been called in."
Donatello shook his head. "I hate it when they give her assignments like this. I thought that was the point of being an anchorperson. You didn't have to be out there in the middle of New York with a gun-toting madman." He distractedly moved a bishop across the board, seizing Sterling's rook. He cursed softly; the rook had been bait.
Mike looked up from his spot on the couch. "There's not much we can do, I mean, we're 3 hours northwest and waitin' for a ride. If Irma's not worried, I say April'll probably be ok, right?"
Leo pulled out the radio, "We can at least listen to the news stations, make sure she's ok." Splinter nodded.
Mike hesitated, "Ok, dude. But keep it low, I don't want 'em to wake up." After several hours of stories that explained in great detail, the coolness that was April, Pipes and Cabbage finally seemed to relax and had even fallen asleep. Mike couldn't have been happier. 'So lucky! I'm a MIKEY sandwich! Cabbage asleep with her head on my shoulder! Pipes asleep with her head on my thigh!' Grinning like a thing possessed, Mikey felt Pipes snuggle a little closer. 'She's so cute. I could sit like this forever.' Cabbage shifted a bit in her sleep and her hand landed on his other leg. 'I could die happy right now.'
Shima smiled silently. She'd made some serious progress on the dress she had started. Her needle and thread hadn't stopped moving since the guys had announced that the farm was all cleaned up and ready to be vacated. Splinter had not said anything about the clothes, but Leonardo kept looking at her funny. Shima could understand his confusion. After all, judging from this weekend, the guys only wore clothes when they were absolutely necessary. It suited her sisters and her just fine; the only clothes they had been forced to wear were lab coats or work smocks.
Shima held the dress up, noting that the fabric seemed to drape nicely. It wasn't that she wanted to act like a human. She returned to her stitching. There were just certain necessities when you were a woman: human, turtle, or otherwise. She cringed inwardly at the thought of having to explain the sudden fit of modesty which would possess her and her sisters at various points in the upcoming month. 'Oh god! I didn't think about that. We'll need more than one dress, if … where's a calendar when you need one?' She took a deep breath and worked faster. 'Stupid cycles… though I guess they call Nature a 'Mother_____' for a reason.'
Raphael snapped out of his masochistic internal mutterings at the sight of headlights on the driveway. "SHE'S HERE!"
Raphael's shout rang through the living room like a gunshot. Pipes and Cabbage were sitting upright and stretching before Mikey knew it. 'No!' Mike sighed. 'God damn it, Raph.' Mike silently vowed to put slugs in his brother's bed.
Donatello and Sterling threw the chess game into overdrive, playing speed chess and dropping most of the captured pieces. "Check!" Donnie exclaimed. Several more high-paced moves ensued.
"Checkmate!" Sterling wrote on her notepad.
"Aaargh! I demand a rematch!"
"Donnie, hush." Leo had turned the volume up on the radio.
"….been mere moments since the hostage crisis was resolved. All those trapped in the supermarket at gunpoint are free to go home to their families. All the gunmen are in custody, and there were no casualties. The NYPD and the SWAT team in particular are to be commended for their heroic efforts…"
Leo and Donnie turned to one another. Leo spoke first. "It's a three hour drive."
"But the hostage thing just ended."
"So that can't be April outside…."
Raphael waited until the headlights cut off before jogging across the lawn. He stopped short when a voice in the darkness called out, "Hey Dome-Head! You and the rest of the Pond Scum Suckers ready to go?"
"Casey…?"
Please Review. If I don't know what's Poopy about my work, I can never make it better. Thank you. -kyabetsu