The cool air washed over Raphael's face like the lake did to his feet. Evening was falling quickly and the Sun was slowly sinking into the horizon.

It was one of the rare moments he got to share with Katrina. The dojo was being used by a karate class and he hadn't fancied going to the library with Blossom, so they had parted ways and he had ended up outside. Katrina had been there before him, playing with two wooden sticks. After a brief 'hello', he had lain down and Katrina had continued striking the air with her sticks, like they were a pair of weapons.

She was pretty good with them. She wasn't as good as him or his brothers, for she wobbled slightly and didn't know any fighting stances, but he reckoned that with proper training she could be quite skilled with them. He wasn't sure that two small branches were very efficient weapons (though Donatello and Master Splinter would probably disagree), but still… she was getting the hang of using them. After them, she could go onto other weapons. You had to start somewhere, and if it was with some sticks from a tree then so be it.

A stick hit him on the back of the head before shooting across the grass and landing at Katrina's feet. He sighed, looking over his shoulder at her. She smiled at him apologetically.

"If I was a student, I would be allowed to use real weapons. They are able to receive extra lessons and become qualified with them," declared Katrina, dropping the other stick onto the ground. "Sticks aren't very… sufficient."

Raph grinned, his eyes closed. "It ain't the weapon. It's the person usin' them."

A long ago memory of Splinter telling this to Leonardo made itself present at the front of his mind.

Katrina frowned. "But surely the weapon has some impact on the overall skill of the wielder."

"Nope. I know two people who can use sticks very well. Ya practice with them and then I'll get ya some real ones from the dojo."

She narrowed her eyes, bending down to pick up the sticks. "I shouldn't have to be confined to using these. I could get myself some proper weapons, if I wanted to."

"Do it then."

"I would." She looked sideways in anger and sadness. "But the Lord would punish me if he found out. I… I have used some before, you know. Swords. A year ago. I snuck into the weapon's closet and played around with them. The Lord caught me and punished me very badly. I haven't dared to take some since, but sometimes... sometimes I really want to. Just to get the feeling of being able to hurt someone... not to cause pain, but to make a mark on someone... so I would be remembered- so I would be someone who did something... However, the punishment..."

She stopped, looking worried.

"On a scale of one to ten, where did the punishment lie?" he asked.

"He…" she shook her head, hearing a ringing between her ears. "I would say te-four. Four."

Raph knew it was an understatement, but he also knew that she had made the number low so he wouldn't be bothered by it. He was, but he didn't want to force her to say anything she didn't want to. He shrugged his shoulders and continued soaking in the heat while it was still there. Katrina began trying some of the katas he had shown her earlier.

After ten minutes, Katrina threw her sticks away, sitting down next to the mutant turtle's body. The stillness of his body had caught her attention, as well as the crease in his forehead. She resisted the temptation to smooth it with her hands, knowing that doing so would not alter his expression into a relaxed one. She stared at the lake. "You look… troubled."

Raph opened his eyes. "Troubled?"

"Yes. Has something bothered you recently?"

"A few somethings."

"What things?"

"Oh… the usual. Foxglove… the diary… Blossom… school… life in general."

"I thought you got on well with Blossom. On my way to the Lord's office this morning I saw you two dancing in the dojo."

Raph sat up, blushing. He had hoped that no one had seen them. Raphael… the ninja ballerina? It didn't have a nice ring to it. "We do get on, most of the time. It's just… she had a bad dream and she said somethin' about pretendin' to be happy sometimes. She says someone has to or else everyone will get scared. She got all upset and I didn't know what to do. Then she wanted to dance. I dunno how she cheered up so quickly. One minute she was bawlin' and the next she was tryin' to teach me to warts. I mean waltz."

"Oh." Katrina breathed out, placing her knees against her chest. "Well… how do you know she cheered up? Maybe it was an act because she didn't want you to be scared."

Raph laughed hollowly. "What do I have to be scared of?"

Katrina shivered in the heat."Everything."

Raph didn't reply. He lay on his stomach and stared into the distance. Katrina got up and picked up her sticks, before practicing with them again. She threw them into the air and caught them when they fell back down. Raph turned his head to watch her. Not only did she throw them high, she also caught them pretty easily. He remembered when he had been in Warumagi's office a few weeks ago, and how Katrina had jumped and caught his empty glass effortlessly.

"Hey, Kitty, how come yer so good at throwin' and catchin'?"

"It's a talent." She shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway, I'm sure things will get better. As for Foxglove, she has a reputation for being a…"

She tried to think of a suitable word. Raph could think of many adjectives, but he didn't think they were very appropriate to say in front of her. He chose the best one that wouldn't have earned a hit on the head from his sensei.

"Jerk?"

She nodded. "Yes, that's it."

"I don't suppose ya have any idea who ripped up the diary?" he asked, looking up at the sky. "Then maybe at least one of ma problems would go away."

"No," said Katrina hurriedly. "I don't think it matters. It's ripped, it's ripped. There isn't anything you can do to change that. Now, tell me whether I'm doing it right."

She began to bash the air madly, before stabbing the stick into the ground. She looked at Raph, who had sat up and was now staring at her with his arms crossed.

"Is there somethin' yer ain't tellin' me, Katrina?" he queried.

"No, of course not," she said. "Oh look! The sun's going down. I should be going now. The Lord will be wondering where I am. See you tomorrow, maybe. Bye!"

She ran across the fields and made her way towards the school, shrinking and darkening until she was a speck on the landscape. Raph watched the black speck disappear into the main building, before resting his chin on the grass. It tickled his bare skin, so he lifted his head and put it on a bare spot of dirt. He closed his eyes, realizing how light his body felt now the Sun wasn't so high in the sky. Feeling comfortable, he began thinking. He thought about all the problems he had told Katrina, as well as the ones he hadn't. It was like counting sheep.

And, like the consequence of doing that, he drifted off to sleep.

TMNTNMT

He woke up. The sky was nearly pitch black. He tried to remember when it had gotten so dark but infuriatingly found that he didn't know. He came to the conclusion that he had fallen asleep, which ticked him off. He hadn't meant to fall asleep. He got up, stretching his arms in a yawn.

"Ooh, you're awake now."

He jumped, spinning 180 degrees in the process. Behind the tree next to the lake was the gently swaying tail of something orange.

Something fox orange.

Raph marched around the tree and wasn't surprised at who he saw. Foxglove smiled at him innocently, holding her hands in front of her chest.

He glowered at her. "Foxglove, what are ya doin' here?"

She smirked. "Is it a crime to stand here? Is it illegal?"

Raph grinned, putting his hands behind his head. "Oh, I get it now. Ya don't wanna admit that ya were stalkin' me. I get ya; ya don't have to say it."

His remark had the desired effect.

"Why would I want to stalk you?" she half shouted, clenching her fists. "If you must know, I was waiting for you to wake up."

Raph raised his brow. "Ya know how stalkerish that sounds, right?"

Foxglove gritted her teeth. "Oh, ha ha. Don't think for a second that I wanted to be here, waiting for you to wake up. I'm only here because I wanted to get some things sorted out."

"Sure…" he snickered, "And it just couldn't wait until the morning. No… it had to be now."

"In the morning you'll have your groupies with you. I want to talk to you and only you. I was on my way to my room when I saw you go out to see the servant-"

"She has a name, ya know."

"-servant," she continued, ignoring his interruption. "Then, I saw her leave and go away. I saw you lying down. I left the school and decided to wait behind this tree. You snore, did you know that?"

Raph narrowed his eyes. "Look, if ya have somethin' ya so desperately need to tell me, tell me so I don't have to listen to ya say it. I haven't got all day."

Foxglove poked him. "Okay. You know that I brought you here and stuff? Well, I had researched New York very well, planning for my trip. Then you had to go and get yourself beaten up by those Purple Dragon guys while I was nearby. I took you back with me, thinking that doing so would solve everything."

Raph started to say something but she raised her voice over his.

"Shut up and let me finish speaking. I thought that if I took you to the Lord, I would be able to leave this place. I thought he would graduate me and let me move on. But no, you had… you had…" She waved her arms, unable to find the word for what she wanted to describe.

"I had what?" he said quietly.

"You had… to be you," she finished. "When I found you… I thought you were somebody else."

She bowed her head forwards, reminding Raph of a disobedient child who had just been sent to time-out. He stared at her, before gulping and finding his voice once more. It came out mostly casual, but there was an underlying tone of curiosity.

"Ya thought… I was someone else?"

She nodded dumbly.

He couldn't repress the smile that was spreading onto his face. "So ya were lookin' for another giant turtle? How'd ya mess that one up?"

"Argh." She marched off, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "You're impossible. I never wanted you to come here. All you've done is make everyone hate me. I should have left you there to die."

He went after her, wanting to know who she had mistook him for. In any case, he didn't want to leave the conversation in her favour. "Hey, I didn't do anythin'. They hated ya before I came here."

"No, they didn't." She sprinted off. Raph grinned, seeing this as a competition. He passed her within ten seconds and reached the door of the main building first. He chuckled, putting his hand on the handle of the door and pulling it. He frowned, tugging at it again. He pressed one of his feet against it and pulled for all he was worth. He was still trying to open it when Foxglove caught up with him, steam practically coming out of her ears.

She shoved him out of the way. "This is a woman's job."

She gripped the handle tightly and threw her weight back. She lost her balance and landed on her back. Moaning, she sat up and narrowed her eyes hatefully at the unmoved door. Raph didn't try to hide his smug expression. She got to her feet and pulled the door handle gently, as if she thought reverse psychology would work on the inanimate object.

"It's locked," she admitted.

"Really?" he exclaimed sarcastically. "Nothin' gets by ya, does it?"

"It's not funny. Do you know that we're gonna be dead meat when it's morning? We're not allowed to be outside at this time. It's against the rules."

Raph raised his brow. "Didn't ya go outside when ya kidnapped me?"

"I didn't kidnap you. Firstly, if I'd left you, those Purple Dragons would have woken up and taken you to their hideout or something. I pitied you. Secondly, I had to take you back with me because… the person I did want… they would have made me graduate and then I could have gone and found people who did like me. The Lord let me off expulsion because you were you. If I hadn't brought you back with me… Fang and I would have been expelled. I knew this wolf hybrid called Silver and he snuck out to buy me chocolate… he was real sweet like that… but he got caught and was expelled. I never saw him again."

"What happens if yer expelled? Ya can't leave the school without the teleporter."

Foxglove sighed, her eyes unfocussed. She shook herself and glared at him. "I don't want to find out, okay?"

"And why would he expel ya for goin' outside? I woulda thought he'd give you detention or somethin'. Expulsion is a bit… extreme."

An inhuman growl sounded in the distance. They looked at each other.

"Hey, dat wouldn't happen to be yer stomach rumblin', would it?"

"Don't be stupid," she snapped, but with less fervour in her voice than before.

Something caught her eye. She slowly raised her hand and pointing at something in the distance. Confused, Raph looked at her horrified face. His gaze went down her face and onto her right shoulder, before crawling up her arm and falling onto a space near the lake.

A large and dark creature was walking about, with what appeared to be its snout pointing upwards. It froze, trying to figure out where the enticing smell of flesh was originating from. Raph nudged Foxglove and murmured, "If it comes towards us, we gotta run like mad. Don't scream 'cos dat might provoke it."

After not getting a reply, he turned his head to see that she was no longer next to him. He spun around and found her banging her fists against the door. He looked back at the creature, which was slowly going towards them.

He got out his sai.

So much for stealth.

"There's a monster!" she screamed at the door. "Someone open this. Now!"

At any other moment, he would have laughed at her behaviour. Now though, he looked at her and stated seriously, "Doors can't open by themselves. Ya have to calm down."

"It's easy for you to tell me to freaking calm down when you're the one with the blades. What am I meant to fight it off with? My mind? Or how about I fight it off with my feminine charms?"

"Ya can't fight it off with things you ain't got," he muttered, positioning himself into a fighting stance. Foxglove stood behind him, watching the creature get closer and closer to the point where she could make out its smaller details under the light of the moon.

It was approximately ten feet tall, towering over the pair of them. Under its dark brown fur were thick heavy muscles that made the circumference of its arms look the size of dinner plates. Its eyes contained something that was too savage to be life, which was also promoted by the jagged claws on the ends of its fingers. It sniffed, opening its triangle filled mouth, which leaked out water that oozed down its chin. Raph could feel its hot breath, despite being a fair few yards away. It stopped, lowering its head slowly and peering at them.

"Don't… move…" hissed Raph. "One false move and ya will provoke it."

"I'm not going anywhere," she reassured him in a higher voice than usual.

The creature raised its fist and pummelled the ground, aiming at Raph. He jumped backwards, nearly landing on Foxglove. He ran forwards and kicked it from beneath the chin. The creature snarled, whacking its face, thinking that a fly had landed on it. Raph backed away so he was standing next to Foxglove.

"Can we run now?"

"No," he snapped, catching its oncoming claws with his sai. He tried to twist its arm, but it removed its hand and punched at him. Raph grabbed Foxglove and rolled out of the way. The creature's fist went through the door, creating a large hole in it. It pulled its fist out and shook its head, the large amount of fur on its head shaking. It looked a bit like a mane.

The two students got off the ground and stared at the hole.

She turned to him. "Now can we run?"

"No," he scowled, jumping at the creature.

Foxglove rolled her eyes and leaned against the door. "Suit yourself."

The creature swung its fist at Raph, who ducked out of the way. He slammed his sai into its right cheek, causing it to stumble and fall over. It lay on the ground, unusually still.

Foxglove moved towards it slowly. "Is it… dead?"

"I doubt it," he told her, panting. "Ya might wanna stay away from it, in case it wakes up and attacks ya."

"You just knocked it out, it's not going to wake up any time soon," she retorted, poking it with her foot. "See? It's asleep."

"Foxglove, I wouldn't do dat," he said angrily. If she did something stupid and hurt herself, he knew that he would get the blame.

"Who are you, my mom?" she retorted defiantly. "I think I can tell when a monster's asleep, so why don't you just shut the-"

The creature's arm rose abruptly and whacked Foxglove in the face. Her body was flung through the air, and she hit the wall of the school building. The creature got to its feet and looked up, roaring ferociously.

"Are ya alright?" asked Raph, going to her side and helping her up. "Did he hurt ya?"

"Why would you care?" she asked thickly, sounding like she had a nosebleed.

"I'm not exactly yer best friend, but I'm not a cold-hearted monster," he told her, putting her arm around his shoulder. She leant heavily on him, which told him that she had more than a mere nosebleed.

"I can walk," she insisted, moving away from him and looking at the door. She eyed the hole in the door nervously, before looking back at him calmly. "Can we run away now, or do you want to wait until it kills one of us?"

Raph exhaled. He didn't like running from fights. It wasn't his style. However, he didn't want to see what would happen if the punch in the door went through him. And… he didn't want Foxglove to get even more hurt. "That… might be a good idea."

He let Foxglove go through the hole first, distracting the monster by hitting it lightly and jumping back. When he was sure that she had escaped through it, he went after her. To his surprise, she was waiting for him on the other side.

Raph tilted his head to one side. "Yer still here?"

She mimicked his gesture, not wanting to admit that she had wanted to make sure that he was alright. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He motioned towards the monster that had just stuck its arm through the door, before smashing it and stepping inside.

"Oh... Good point." She ran away, Raph close on her tail. He could have sped up, but he didn't want to leave Foxglove behind. He didn't like her, but he didn't want her to be eaten by a rampaging monster.

Foxglove suddenly stopped, spinning around and facing the monster. Raph skidded to a halt, looking at her as if she was mad. He decided to express this. "What are ya doin'? You were the one dat wanted to run away from it so much."

"We can't lead it into the school, idiot." She raised her fist, knowing that she didn't have a chance in hell of being able to put up a fair fight against it. "Suppose it wants to have a student sandwich?"

"I was under the impression ya didn't really like any of the students."

"There's Fang, remember?" she said, watching the creature approach them slowly. "I… I just don't want him to get hurt."

She felt something land on her shoulder. She jumped, surprised to see Raph's hand resting on her shoulder. "He doesn't happen to be like dat Silver dude ya talked about earlier, does he?"

She shook her head. "They're completely different." She lowered her gaze. "Silver liked me, for one thing."

Raph went past her and began fighting the creature. Although it was far stronger than him, Raph was a lot quicker and managed to land many blows on it. The creature, its rage building from being hit so easily, suddenly stuck out its fist and smashed it into Raph's chest. The turtle flew backwards and landed at Foxglove's feet. She looked behind her. She could have run. She could have run as fast as she could and left the creature to take care of Raph. What had he done to help her? He had only made things worse.

Yet…

She couldn't bring herself to escape.

She fell to her knees next to him. Raph peered up at her in pain. "Hey… why aren't ya runnin' for yer life?"

"Do you want me to feel bad for the rest of my life?" she asked him, before adding quickly, "Blossom would never let me forget this. Honestly, it'd be so much easier if I die here with you."

"Sure…"

"Shut up."

The creature jumped forwards, baring it teeth at its two victims.

"Hey, Raphael?"

"Yeah?"

"I always thought… you were kinda cool."

"Yeah… I thought I was kinda cool too." He grinned.

"Idiot," she growled, smiling slightly.