Chapter 4: White Noise

I rose early the next morning with a little more hope in my system. I was glad Donny had walked into the room last night to check on me, it just made me feel a little more at ease. I smiled, thinking about how adorably awkward he had been, dumbfounded at the sight of me in my undies. A part of me wished that my Donny was still that awkward and cute more of the time. I mean, he was pretty awkward, being the geek of the family, but he had grown far past his 'uncomfortable around women' side. Although, that would probably be mostly my fault in the long run.

Out of habit, I walked over towards the dresser, come to find out it was only filled with pieces of junk and scraps from Donny's projects, and..not my clothes. I sighed heavily, scratching my head, "Guess this means I'm doomed to wear the same outfit as yesterday. Why not just call me a cartoon character?" Unwillingly, I picked my pants up off the floor, which I had taken off shortly after Donny left the room, and put them back on, "Alright, let's do this."

I raised my arms to stretch as I walked casually out of Donny's room, a rumbling in my stomach. I hadn't eaten much before I slept last night, so I was ready for some food.

Raph scoffed as he saw me walk into the kitchen, "Looks like little miss sunshine is up, although, I doubt she'll brighten anyone's day."

Leo shot him a look, "Cool it Raph, the past is behind us."

"Oh yeah, who said you could tell me what not to say, huh?"

"Raph, she's a guest in our home whether you like it or not, so you're going to have to get used to her." Leo stared at him for a long moment with stern eyes.

Raph lowered his head to take another bite of his toast, ripping it angrily with his teeth, "Hmph, whatever.."

Suddenly, Mikey came bounding across the room, a giant smile on his face, "Anocari! You're up!" I braced myself as he grabbed me in a hug, "I have so much planned for today! I'm gunna show you allllll around!"

I laughed a little, "Mikey, this may not be my world, but I know what this place looks like, inside and out. I could even recite the exact route of how to get here from any man hole cover in Manhattan."

He pouted, "Then..what are we supposed to do now?"

I thought for a moment, "Well, back in my world..." I stopped, thinking it would be funny to see him beg for an answer, "Naaah, you don't care about that."

His eyes were wide as he stared intensely at me, "..Don't care about what?"

I waved my hand, "Nah, it's nothing, really, you wouldn't even care."

He clasped his hands together, "Please tell me! Please!"

I let out a laugh, "Oh, alright, but, I'm telling you, you won't care! I mean, who really cares that much about a silly video game I used to play with you all the time."

Mikey seemed to internally explode as I said the words 'video' and 'game' in the same sentence, "You..you...you play video games with me!?"

"Yeah, just a silly one called Battle Star: Shadow Doom."

He put his hand up to his forehead, acting faint, "Leo! Take my temperature! I think I'm dying!"

Raph looked up to give him a dull look, "Mikey, we're all dying here just looking at you."

I put my hands up, laughing, "Okay, okay, but first, I really need to eat something." I put my hands over my stomach as it let out a lurching sound.

Donny appeared quietly in the kitchen, glancing shyly at me as he walked past and over to the counter, "I think..we have some pizza left from last night?"

I smiled lightly at him, "That would be great."

He blushed, looking away to pull the pizza out of the fridge, "It's cold, but you can always heat it up."

I sat down at the round, wooden table as he placed the box on the tabletop, "That's okay, I like it cold." He nodded, watching me pull a slice out. Since it was early, I didn't want any heavy toppings, so I picked off the pepperonis, placing them to the side.

Mikey watched, horrified at what I had just done to the pizza, "W-what have you done?!"

I looked up at him, "What? It's early."

He stared at me, still shocked, "What are you trying to eat healthy or something!?"

I blinked a few times, "I'm not answering that."

Mikey looked around for a moment, confused.

Raph chuckled under his breath, "Good goin, pea brain, you just made her mad at you."

Mikey put a hand on his chest, offended that Raph would accuse him of such a thing, "W-what?! Was it something I said?"

Raph rolled his eyes, "Uh, yeah, mush-for-brains, you just implied that she was fat."

Leo and Donny tried not to laugh as Mikey slowly looked back to me, realizing he had said the worst possible sentence you could ever say to a woman, "I'm so SORRY ANOCARI. FORGIIIVVVEEE MEEEEEEEE." He fell to his knees, holding his hands up in the air, "I'm such a fool to have spoken!"

Raph sighed, "Oh for the love of...Mikey would you shut up already?"

He faked a sob, keeping his hands in the air, "No! I must gain the acceptance of milady! For-for..If I do not, she may never play video games with me!"

I almost choked on my pizza, trying not to laugh, but it was no use. I let out a burst of laughter, tearing up a little as I held my stomach. Mikey stared at me blankly as I tried to stop laughing.

He put a hand up to whisper to his brothers, "Guys...I think she's insaaane.."

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I patted Mikey on the head, "No, no, I'm okay. I just.. I miss hearing that stuff from you."

He gave me a worried look, "What stuff? Wait..do you mean...in your world..I'm dull?" He threw his head back, "Noooo! This can't be happening!"

"Mikey," I began, "You're not dull, I promise. Things have just been..tense.." I looked off to the side, thinking about how rough things had been with Karai back in my world. Ever since her father was banished, she stopped at nothing to make our lives miserable..we barely even had time for fun like this anymore..

Donny suddenly stopped forward, "Are..you okay?"

I nodded, trying to keep a straight face, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just thinking."

Just as I was about to get up from the table, a piercing noise rang through my ears, making my knees buckle as I fell to the ground. I held my ears, screaming in pain as Leo jumped up to catch me, "Anocari!" I coiled in pain as he caught me, curling my toes as the screeching noise continued, feeling as if it would make my ears explode from the sound, "Anocari what's wrong?!"

I fought hard to squeeze some words out, "M-my..my ears!"

Leo looked to Donny, "Don, go get your scanner! I think there might be something in her head!"

I writhed in pain, as their voices soon grew into muffled sounds, my ears feeling as if they were withering away, "P-please! I-I.. I can't take it anymore!"

I watched as Donny placed the scanner over my head, moving it along my forehead. I saw him nod to Leo, pointing at the screen as the examined it, wishing I could hear what they were saying.

Then, just as soon as it had started, it stopped. My body fell limp in Leo's arms as I placed a hand on my head, feeling as if I could pass out at any given moment, "I-it stopped..."

Donny took my hand, "Are you alright? Do you need anything?"

I smiled at him, feeling myself drift between conscious and unconscious, white noise buzzing around in my mind, making it hard to think straight, "All I need is you, Donny..."

I felt his hand tremble as I closed my eyes. I never really did figure out if I thought I was speaking to my Donatello..or not.