Well everybody, it took me awhile but I finally finished this chapter, aren't you happy? I was getting worried I'd never finish it, heh.

Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT, the good, the bad, or the incredibly ugly. I do, however, own a very cool TMNT tanktop, so I'm happy with that... kinda.

I also do not own Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy IX... though I wish I owned FFIX... I'd go nuts with happy feelings...

GO AMARANT, ZIDANE, AND VIVI!!

Enjoy!


Sarah's POV

Damn... I'm such a chicken.

Why didn't I ask him? Why? I wanted to ask him... I mean it's not like I didn't want to ask him. I could see the question so clearly in my mind too.

Could I kiss you?

Arrgh, why didn't I do it?! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! I hate myself now. The moment was right, and he didn't look as though he would say "No"... so why didn't I do it?

I sighed... I knew why... I'm too self-concious... always have been. Stupid! I'm so stupid!

We got to the lair and went to bed without saying a word. I looked at Raph's sleeping form. He was kinda cute that way, peaceful even. That saying "An angel when he sleeps" popped into my head as I watched him. He was so different asleep than when he was his somewhat tough, swearing, hard-shelled awake self. No pun intended.

I smiled, he really was cute like that.

I fell asleep smiling and no more bad dreams interupted my good ones.

I later awoke to the sound of... purring. I opened my eyes to find an orange... something in my face.

"Gyaahhh!" I screamed as I fell out of bed...

And landed on Raph, thus waking him up.

I gave little squeak of surprise and watched as his eyes widened and he turned as red as his mask.

I quickly scrambled to get off of him and stood, looking around to find the orange thing that had woken me up and trying to keep the blush slowly creeping up my neck from being seen.

With little sucess, might I add.

I saw it, Mikey was holding it and petting it, "Morning Sarah! I just thought you might want to say hello to Klunk, my cat. Isn't she cute?"

"Mikey! You scared the crap outta me!" I said, breathing heavily, "What was that for?!"

His face turned apologetic and he said, "M'sorry Sarah, I just forgot that you hadn't met Klunk yet and I wanted you to know that she was here so I..."

I sighed. It was hard to stay mad at a face like that... I hung my head, "Just... don't do that, okay? You made me fall outta my bed and land on Raph."

Oh that's right... I landed on Raph...

I turned around and saying, "Oh Raph, I'm so sorry, did I hurt you? Are you alright? I didn't mean to land on you like that."

He got up, "Meh, m'fine, just startled me s'all. Did you hurt your shoulder?"

I stopped and reached a hand around to feel my shoulder. There was blood, fresh and newly trickling from the bandage.

"Donnie!" I cried.

"Yeah?" he said, hurrying up the stairs.

"Um, not to be a bother or anything, but do you have any more bandages, my shoulder started bleeding again." I said.

Raph slapped Mikey upside the head, "See what you did?!"

"Ow!" he said rubbing his head.

Donnie's brow creased, "How it do that?"

I blushed, "I sorta, um, fell out of bed and..."

"She landed on Raph!" Mikey said, nearly busting a gut.

Raph hit Mikey again, this time saying, "Shut up!" and getting even redder.

"Jeez, if that's how you're gonna be, fine, I'll just tell--

"Mikey, don't you dare or I'll pummel you so hard Klunk'll feel it!" Raph growled.

He made as if he was going to throw a punch at Mikey and the orange-clad turtle sprinted from the room, his cat trailing behind him.

I wonder what that was all about?

"Come on down to the living room, I've got more bandages in my lab." Don said.

I nodded, slightly embaressed and followed him down.

After rewrapping my shoulder I felt kinda hungry, "Have any of you guys had any breakfast yet?"

He shook his head and I got off the couch saying, "I'll see what's in the fridge and make a big breakfast for all of you, how's that sound?"

"You don't have to go to all of that trouble Sarah, we'll eat something before we start our training. We always do." Donnie said.

I shook my head smiling, "It's the least I can do for you, I mean, after all, you took me in even though you knew The Foot were after me. Besides, I used to be a killer cook when I was younger and I wanna see if I still got the fire!"

Donnie scratched the back of his head, "Well... alright, but don't strain yourself, okay?"

I nodded and went over to the kitchen. I peered into the fridge to find bacon, eggs, butter, and all other kinds of things that'd make a good breakfast. I took out as much as I could carry, which was pretty much everything, and carried it over to the counter.

Leo came up yawning, "What're you doing?"

"Making breakfast." I said.

"You sure can eat a lot." he mumbled sleepily.

"It's not for me you dork," I joked, "It's for you and your brothers."

"Yeah," Mikey said bounding up to the counter, "She said she used to be a "killer cook" and she wants to see if she still has the "fire"."

I waved a spatula in his face and said, "Laugh all you want, but you won't be laughing when you taste my awesome cooking."

"Is it really that good?" he asked sitting down on a stool.

I nodded, "The very mention of me cooking got my brothers out of bed like that." I snapped my fingers to emphasize.

His eyes widened, "So... can you... make cinnamon rolls?"

I chuckled a bit, "Totally. And from scratch too. You want me to make some?"

He nodded viciously, his mouth already watering, which, in turn, made me laugh even harder.

"Dork." I said settling down.

I put ingrediants in a bowl and let Mikey mix them while he occasionally asked me a question or two. My favorite stuff mostly.

"Do you like music?"

"Love it."

"What kind?"

"Anything mostly. Except female opera and talk radio, blegh." I shuddered.

"Not even sports talk radio?"

I considered it, "Sports talk radio is... well, it's okay."

"Do you like video games?"

"Dude, I used to be the best gamer in the household, and that's saying something cause the twins were unstopable when it came to fighting games."

"What's your favorite one in terms of RPG?"

I racked my brain for my favorite, "That's pretty hard but I'd have to say Final Fantasy 9 and Final Fantasy 7. Definetly those two."

"Do you like girly stuff?"

"Like what?" I said.

"You know, the color pink, stuffed animals, singing, dancing, flowers, things like that." he said, as though it was obvious.

"Firstly," I sad smacking him upside the head, "And secondly, my favorite colors are green and red because they remind me of Christmas, which is my favorite holiday. I hate, hate, hate pink, because it's so stereotyical but I think dancing and singing are fun, so long as your having fun, I mean, it makes sense right? Stuffed animals are okay as long as you don't go overboard. As for flowers... I guess I'd say my favorite would be... Daffodils, they're not as romantic as Roses, and more upbeat than Lilies."

He stared at me a moment, thinking, "What about... comic books? Do you like them?"

I stopped staring at the bubbling mass that was the soon to be scrambled eggs, "Are you kidding me?! I love comic books! I remember when I was a little kid Xander would always let me read any new comic he bought, of course that is after he read it first. I especially loved the Silver Sentry comics, oh, they were my favorites!"

I probably seemed a tad too excited but hey, comic books used to be an important part of my life.

They used to be anyway.

His eye twitched a little and suddenly he was gone, running at full speed to his room.

Was it something I said?

I shrugged my shoulders and went back to my cooking. The cinnamon rolls were baked, the hash browning and the eggs made, as well as the bacon. Pity there wasn't any sliced ham, I could've made a really good ommlet. I started making a pot of coffee and a pot of tea, I wasn't sure which they liked. Leo looked like he liked a nice cup a' joe in the morning, Raph did too. Donnie I wasn't too sure about and Mikey...

He didn't need any caffine.

Speak of the devil. Mikey was back, running at full speed, again, and this time carrying something very... large.

He was about to pile them on the counter when I ran in front of it and shielded it with my body, "Stop! Mikey, stop, you'll ruin the breakfast! Stop!"

He stopped, and just in time too. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and focused my attention on the bundle he was carrying.

"Mikey... is that?" I started in a low whisper.

He was nodding so hard I thought he was going to get whiplash, "Every Silver Sentry comic except the first one... sadly. But anyway, I thought you might want to catch up on your reading so... yeah."

"Mikey... just... wow, that's... that's incredible!" I said.

He set the pile down on a different counter and I nearly tackled him with my overjoyed hug. I gave him a noogie and said, "Mikey, you are so cool! Thanks!"

I skipped back to the stove and turned the hash so it wouldn't burn, "Mikey, could you hand me a bowl please?"

He handed me one and I scooped the hash off the skillet and into the bowl.

"Ow!" Mikey said as I slapped his hand.

"That's what you get for trying to steal the bacon." I said.

The coffee pinged and the tea kettle whistled and I took care of them simultaneously.

"Wow Sarah, you really are a whiz in the kitchen. And everything smells so good!"Donnie said getting up from his chair.

I smiled proudly, "Well, since you two like my cooking so much, I'll tell ya what, I'll give you both two extra pieces of bacon if you go get Raph; it seems he went back to bed. Does that work?"

They were gone before I could finish my sentence and I shook my head in wonder. The things people would do for extra bacon.

Raph's POV

After that whole Sarah-fallin-on-top-of-me thing, I decided teh go back teh sleep. I was startin teh fall asleep again when somthin woke me up.

Scratch that, two somethins.

"Ughh, what d'you two want?" I half growled, half muttered.

Mikey threw a wet washcloth at my face, "Get up Raph, Sarah made us breakfast and it smells so good... I think I'm gonna start drooling on the floor if you don't get up soon dude."

"Do it and I'm wipin it up with your face." I said, turning over.

Don moved over teh look inteh my face, "Raph, think about it. If you don't get out of bed, and you don't go eat the breakfast she made just for us, it's as if you're insulting her and her cooking."

I could hear the smirk in his voice. Damn it!

I groaned and got up offa the floor, "Happy?"

They nodded an I followed them outta the room.

"You know Raph, I think Sarah likes you." Donnie whispered.

That woke me up, "Wh-what? She does? Did she tell you that?"

He chuckled, "No, but you can tell. It's pretty obvious if you ask me."

"Uh... wow." I said. That was all I could say. I never saw it and... it... surprised me.

"Wow? That's it?" Mikey said startin teh laugh as well.

They both started laughin they're asses off, Donnie was tryin not teh and Mikey wasn't even tryin teh hide it. He was in hysterics.

At least Don was tryin teh hide it... even though he wasn't too good at it.

He set his hand on my shoulder, tryin teh steady himself, "She's a sweet girl as far as I can tell. I think she's good for you Raph. I approve and so does Mikey, right Mikey?"

He elbowed Mikey and he said, "Course I approve, I mean, she likes comic books, how could I not like her? She's fun!"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, even so... what do I do? How do I tell her? It's harder than it looks y'know."

Mikey, "I'm sure Donnie and I could think of something."

He started in with his fake "evil" laughter. Dork.

Don chuckled a bit, but I think that was because Mikey's laughing sounded so stupid.

At least... I hoped so.

As I got closer and closer teh the table, the smell of all that food hit me like a two-ton wrecking ball.

It smelled good.

No, not good, it smelled fantastic!

Leo was already there, chattin with Sarah. Teh think, she made all this and without even breakin a sweat.

I think I'm startin teh like her even more now.

I caught the last of their conversation as I sat down.

"So do you want to join us for our morning workout? I'm sure the others wouldn't mind." Leo said.

She cocked her head, then nodded, "Sure, but I as I said last night, I'm not that skilled at ninjitsu. I studied the abridged Book of Ninja Fighting."

"Yes, but you were also taught other things, were you not?" Master Splinter said sittin down, "I'm sure where you lack in ninjitsu, my sons can help you, and where you excel in other things, you can help my sons."

"Yes... Splinter," she said, "It feels odd to call you just 'Splinter' so... may I call you 'Splinter-san'?"

He nodded, "As you wish, but my, this meal looks delicious. You made it in gratitude?"

She smiled, "Yep, I sure did Splinter-san! You guys deserve it for being so nice to me."

"Enough talking, let's dig in!" Mikey yelled grabbing the bowl of eggs an scooping some onteh his plate. Greedy butthole.

We wasted no time in making ourselves plates an eatin teh our hearts content. I poured myself a cup of coffee an said, "Hey Sarah, ain't you gonna eat with us?"

She shook her head, "I had a few bites of food here and there while I was cooking. I'm good."

"Well... alright, but if you get hungry..." I started.

She put up a hand teh stop me, "I'll eat if I'm hungry, don't worry."

I shrugged and continued chowin down on the eggs, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, and bacon. Shell, that stuff was good. And made by a beautiful cook teh boot.

After I'd finished my meal, which was about three helpings later, I sat back in my chair and sighed.

That, I think, was the best breakfast I'd ever eaten in my entire life.

Mikey let out with a loud burp, "You weren't kidding dude, that was the most awesome food ever! Except for pizza, nothing beats pizza."

"Mikey, quit being rude," Don said, also lettin out a loud burp, "It's better than any pizza I've ever tasted, that's for sure."

She giggled, " I think I'll take that as a compliment. You guys sure do seem to like pizza."

She giggled again.

It made me smile, that sound. It was sweet, but also sincere. What shocked me came next.

She burped.

Not like those delicate, girly ones. Sarah actually belched, probly rivaling me or Mikey.

That was sayin somethin.

She blushed, "Sorry, I do that from time to time. Though I'm not sure if that's something Casey would do, or if it was something I would do."

"Do you not remember anything from your real past?" Leo asked.

She shrugged, "Only the smallest things. But... sometimes it's those things I want to remember the most, heh."

I picked up a few dishes an carried em over teh the sink. Don an Leo followed.

"So what're we doin today? Sparring?" I said flatly.

"No," Leo said, "You know how Mikey's no good at combat with smoke bombs?"

I nodded, the last time we'd practiced that he ended up trippin over his own foot an fallin over a chair.

And the chair wasn't even near where we were practicin.

"We're doing that. Don'll help Sarah out if she needs it, though judging by the looks of things, she won't." he said.

Don finished drying the dishes an said, " She seems to have great balance and is pretty good at multi-tasking."

"Multi-taskin? How d'you figure that?" I asked.

He chuckled, "She has to be good at that when cooking, I mean think about all the food she made! Plus she had a conversaation with Mikey, and that alone takes concentration."

I rolled my eyes an put the last of the dishes away.

We joined Sarah an Mikey out on the practice mat and readied our smoke bombs.

Master Splinter stood off teh the side, observin.

Don stood next teh Sarah, givin her pointers an such. He looked up at me an gave me a thumbs up.

No idea what that means.

Master Splinter gave the signal an we threw down our bombs, all of em exploding at once.

I leapt inteh action, keepin my wits about me, keepin an eye out for Mikey, that klutz.

There! I saw him, he was just standin there, like a deer in headlights.

He was goin down!

Sarah's POV

Shit! I can't see a thing!

Oh wait... duh, of coursse I can't see.

What had Donnie told me again? Be aware of your surroundings? What what was it that he had said?

Oh yeah...

Don't stay in one place for too long.

I whipped my head around, expecting to see Leo or Mikey, they said they'd help me too.

No one.

I sighed, ' Boys...'

I closed my eyes, focusing on only sounds.

Where? Where?

Where were they coming from?

clink

Chains?

clink clink

Ah, I see now. Mikey's nunchaku, a little off to my right.

shing

Leo... his sword, that's what it was. To the left... I think.

Now where were Raph and Donnie?

Wait.

What was that?

This sound... it was everywhere all at once, I couldn't focus!

I could see something coming at me, charging at me. But who was it?

I suddenly felt myself being pushed, no, more like shoved towards my approaching enemy.

But why?

Raph's POV

What the shell?

Mikey was being shoved towards me by... Don!!

Wait... that's not Mikey! That's Sarah!!

"I'm sure Donnie and I could think of something."

So this is what they meant?

Hmm... well planned.

I put my sais away as I continued to run tehwords her and got ready.

If she really did like me, then I could only hope she wouldn't slap me.

As I reached her one of my arms wrapped itself around her waist while the other shot up teh touch her cheek.

I hesitated for a second, but only a second. And then...

I kissed her.


Thanks for readin guys, aren't you glad you did?! I think I did well with this, but don't worry, it's not the end, we still have to take down Stockman, grr, and find out what happened to Xander!

Oooo, I wonder what's gonna happen next, is Splinter-san going to be mad? Eeek, I hope not! That would be so sad...

P.S. I deserve no bashing just because some don't like Final Fantasy 9, okay? So... if you're gonna mention it, it better be in a positive conotation...