A/N: Gosh, this is moving right along, isn't it? Happy Easter everyone!

In an alley barely a block away from the theater, Shinta leaned against the wall laughing. "Yoshi's gonna kill me!"

Amber giggled. "Not before Star kills me!" She pulled out her cell. "We better turn off our phones. I have a feeling they'll be calling us any minute."

Shinta pulled his cell from his pocket and frowned at it. He knew it wasn't a good idea to turn it off. It was his lifeline to his family. It was irresponsible, even dangerous. But maybe it wouldn't hurt, just for an hour or two. And he'd be sure to check in as soon as he and Amber had a proper date alone. He hesitated another moment and Amber frowned at him. "You don't have to, if you don't want to. I just thought…"

Shinta shook his head and smiled. "No, it should be okay." He pressed the power button and the screen went dark. In for a penny, in for a pound. And a pounding was what he was likely to get from Yoshi anyways, so he might as well take advantage of his freedom. He smiled down at Amber. "What do you say we get some real food? I know a pizza place not far from here."

Her eyes sparkled in the street lamp light. "That sounds great."

Raph dumped an arm load of firewood beside the already burning campfire. He straightened and looked up at the star filled sky. "Nice night, eh guys?"

Leo leaned against the trunk of the tree he was sitting under. "Yeah. I'd forgotten how peaceful it is out here."

Don smiled. "You guys remember the first time we went camping?"

"It was right after we met April. We'd had a big battle with Shredder and needed a place to crash." Mikey smiled a little at the memory. "We were lucky to have run into April before things got crazy."

"She's been a good friend to us." Leo looked into the fire. "No more than a friend. She's family."

Donnie nodded. "We owe her a lot."

"I'm glad we talked her into movin' in with us. I used to worry about her bein' over there all by herself." Raph settled on the ground near Mikey.

Donnie chuckled. "I don't think Leo was going to take no for an answer."

The eldest brother smiled. "Nope."

Mikey sighed, his gaze shifting to the heavens. "Thanks for doing this, guys."

Raph put a hand on his shoulder. "What else are bros for?" Mikey gave him a weak smile.

Don sat up a little. "You want to talk about it?"

Mikey remained silent, only giving the slightest shake of his head. What could he say that he hadn't already said? She was gone. That was the end of it.

"I know what it feels like," Leo said softly, drawing their attention, "to wake up to an empty bed, to smell her and feel her all around you, but not be able to see or touch her. I know what it feels like to look at my child and see her reflected in his eyes. It's like living with a ghost. She's there, yet not." He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "I know what it's like to reach for her in the middle of the night only to find the cold sheets beside you."

Mikey felt his chest tighten and diligently stared into the fire, willing away the pain. "Yeah…that's it…" His response was almost inaudible.

Leo stood and moved closer to the fire. His blue eyes shimmered in the golden light as he met his little brother's gaze. "I also know that how I dealt with that pain was wrong." He looked about the circle. "I pushed you all away when I needed you the most." His gaze fell on Raphael. "You showed me that."

Raph allowed a small smirk. "Someone had to. You're just lucky I didn't beat your shell in."

Leo smiled lightly. "At the time, you probably could have."

Raph's smirk grew into a wicked grin. "Still can, bro."

"Unlikely." Leo said with a touch of a challenge in his voice.

Raph took the bait hook, line, and sinker. "Unlikely? We'll just have to see about that." He stood up and squared off with his brother. "I think you'll have to prove that to me."

"Any time." Leo's gaze sparkled with a touch of amusement.

"Now is as good a time as any."

As Raph and Leo began to spar, Don moved to sit beside his younger brother. "Feels kind of like old times, huh?"

Mikey smiled a bit. "Yeah." Then he gave a small laugh. "As long as they don't start fighting all the time again."

Don grinned. "I doubt that. I think they're just having fun."

Mikey nodded. "Hey, Don?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever think about what life would be like without Sarah?"

Donnie frowned. "I have in the past, every time we had a close call, but I honestly don't think I'd survive her death. Our physiology is too intertwined now."

Mikey stared off into the fire again. "I never really gave it any thought. Not till she got sick. Not till…I had to. Is that wrong? Was I being selfish? Was I taking it for granted that she'd always be there."

Don sighed. "No, it's not wrong. We all take it for granted at times. But you were lucky. At least you got to say goodbye, a lot of people never get that opportunity. Leo didn't."

"Do you think she thought about it? I mean, a life without me. Do you think the others think about it, when we're out on patrol and stuff?"

"Yeah, I do. I think it's something they had to accept when they each decided to be with us. They had to accept the possibility that we may not come home someday."

Mikey frowned. "I don't know how they do it. I still haven't accepted it. It's like Leo said, I catch myself reaching for her at night or looking for her when we're all together or listening for her voice in the morning. I am living with a ghost. And it's one I don't want to let go of." He glanced at Donnie, who was watching him with a very pensive expression. "That sounds crazy, right?"

His brother drew in a deep breath. "No. No, it's not crazy at all. You're just trying to hold onto what you had. But at some point you're going to have to realize what you have is more important now, than what you had."

Mikey frowned, not really understanding. "I don't get it."

Don smiled and patted him on the shell. "That's why we're out here, to give you a chance to clear your head so you can think things through without all the distractions at home." His smile broadened. "As adorable as those distractions might be."

Mikey couldn't help his own smile at the thought of his granddaughter. "She is adorable, isn't she?"

Don chuckled. "Yeah, Mikey. Kaz did good, real good."

"Ugh! I feel sick. Can you overdose on Twinkies?" Cat rubbed her stomach and groaned.

Sarah shot her a slightly amused look over the top of her hand of cards. "Overdose, no. Get a stomach ache, yes."

Jamie folded her arms with a little pout. "Severs you right, eating the whole box without sharing."

April's eyes widened. "You ate the whole box!"

Cat frowned. "So? We're on vacation, right?"

"Cat, that was a jumbo pack." April rolled her eyes when Cat just stared blankly back at her. "You just ate forty Twinkies in one day!"

The blonde's brows slowly rose. "Seriously? No way." Her stomach suddenly turned again. "Okay, I believe you!" She tossed down her hand of cards and jumped up from the table. "I fold!"

The other three shook their heads as they watched her dash for the bathroom. "Ha! I might actually win a hand for once!" April threw a few more pennies in the pile at the center. "I call!"

Sarah flipped over her hand. "I've got three of a kind."

Jamie frowned. "Aw, shoot. All I got is two pair."

April grinned. "Finally! Read 'em and weep, girls! I've got a straight flush!" In the distance they heard the toilet flush, making both Sarah and Jamie chuckle.

Jamie leaned forward as April started to collect the pot of pennies. "Just out of curiosity, what did Cat have?"

Sarah reached over and flipped her hand over. She immediately burst into laughter. "A royal flush!" The toilet flushed again in the other room. Still laughing, Sarah stood and headed for the bathroom. "I'll go check on her."

April stared across the table at Cat's cards. "How does she keep doing that!"

Jamie snickered. "The girl's got talents."

"You're telling me! How she managed to eat forty Twinkies and not throw up four hours ago is beyond me!"

"I think she's built up a tolerance eating Mikey's pizzas all these years. It's given her a cast iron stomach."

April chuckled. "That would do it alright."

Sarah leaned in the doorway of the bathroom, shaking her head as she watched Cat empty her stomach again. Cat glanced up at her and groaned. "I'm glad Raph isn't here to see this. He'd be freaking out right about now."

Sarah shook her head again with a little smile. "Oh, don't be so dramatic. You'll be fine once you get some of that sugar out of your system. And once you get something solid it eat."

Cat sat back against the tub, the wave of nausea mostly gone now. "Ew, how can you talk about food at a time like this?"

Sarah moved forward and offered her a hand up. "Come on. We'll start with something easy like toast."

"Damn it!" Yoshi stormed through the front door. Star managed to catch it before it slammed. All eyes in the living room turned to see the enraged turtle. K-three, Mira, and Kaz were on their feet.

"What's wrong?" K-three glanced at the door expectantly and when it didn't open again, he turned back to Yoshi. "Where's Shinta?"

"He ditched us!" Yoshi growled. "The runt took off!"

Mira lifted an eye ridge. "Took off? Why?"

Star shot Yoshi a look, before answering. "We were kinda on a double date. He slipped out of the theater with my friend Amber."

Kaz's mouth hung open. "You mean he's out there with a human girl that knows nothing about us -alone!"

Yoshi paced back and forth, throwing his hands in the air. "He wasn't supposed to be alone! He was supposed to stay with us! That's the reason we went to that boring movie in the first place!"

K-three glowered. "You two took Shinta on a date without telling any of us?"

Star blushed and shot her spouse another look before answering. "He asked us not to."

Kaz folded his arms with a sour expression. "Well, gee that makes everything better, doesn't it?"

Yoshi glared at him. "Don't talk to her like that! This ain't her fault!"

Kaz glared right back. "No, it's yours! Don't you remember what happened the last time you took Shinta out without telling anyone?"

Yoshi took a step towards him. "I did tell someone we were goin'! You were sitting right here!" Kara began to whimper in Ona's lap and Yoshi lowered his voice a bit. "We just didn't say we were meeting someone there."

K-three put up a hand. "Alright, everyone calm down." He looked down at his spouse, who had already been working her phone. "Mira?"

She shook her head. "I'm not getting a signal from his phone. He must have turned it off." K-three dragged a hand down his face. This was bad. Leo hadn't been gone a full day and they'd already lost his son.

"Shinta's eighteen." Ona pointed out. "You guys are still thinking of him like a kid. He's not. You're going to have to start trusting him on his own at some point."

K-three sighed. "It doesn't look like we have much choice but to trust him. If he isn't back in a few hours though, we'll go look for him."

After their shared pizza and some alone time to get to know one another better, Shinta escorted Amber home. She held onto his arm as they strolled down the street. "I hope I didn't get you into too much trouble."

Shinta gave a small laugh. "My cousins I can handle, it's my dad I have to worry about."

She frowned. "Oh, will he be mad?"

"Probably, if he finds out. But he's not home right now, so I might be able to smooth things over before he comes back."

"That's good." Amber gave a small nod as they came to a stop in front of her house. She smiled up at him. "I had a lot of fun tonight."

Shinta's smile was wide. "I did too." She took a step forward and leaned in as if to give him a goodnight kiss. He scrambled back a few paces and reached for his phone. "Uh, hey! Yeah, I'm headed back now. Alright, see you in a few minutes."

Amber blinked at him in confusion. She hadn't seen him turn his phone back on.

He quickly stuck it back into his pocket. "Sorry, I've got to go."

He started to walk away, but Amber called to him. "Shinta?" He paused to look back at her. "Text me and let me know how it goes."

He nodded. "Sure. Bye."

She waved. "Bye."

Shinta turned and hurried up the sidewalk. He could feel the sweat dripping from his brow. That was close! If she'd kissed me, she would have known something was wrong right away. Not that I would have minded a kiss. He smiled a little. She'd wanted to kiss him. Did that mean she really liked him for him? Pulling his phone from his pocket, he turned it on. The phone flashed ten missed calls and two messages. Well, what had he expected? They were probably freaking out right about now.

A/N: Hehe! I think Yoshi's still pretty ticked off! Don't forget to review!