OK considering the vote was 4:1 this is going to be a Zoe/Raph chapter. I promise the next will be a Ava/Mikey chapter though. :) I have no idea what the plan is with either couples right now so it's all just going to flow.
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Zoe rubbed her eyes to get the crust out of them. She yawned and stretched her arms before sitting up on the couch. Taking a moment to remember where she was, she wondered where Master Splinter had disappeared to. The last thing she remembered was talking to him as she sat her head on his lap and he gently stroked her hair.
'The comfort of a parent.' Was her last thought before she fell asleep. A grin grew on her face. The turtles were lucky to have a father like that.
Taking in her surroundings, Zoe could see that no one was in the room and decided to look around. The house was silent, so she thought that no one would bother her as she reacquainted herself with the place. She grinned as she wandered the halls, reliving the few memories she had in the home.
'Home.' She thought. The word had become foreign over time. Although her and her sisters had lived in the apartment for quite some time, it barely had the homey feel. She felt as if it was only temporary. At first, her sisters had grown closer together. But now with work getting in the way, the only time they all seemed to spend together was whenever they went out into the club, at which Zoe drank until her sorrows disappeared. Although the slight comfort, Zoe was getting sick of drinking until she had a pounding headache the next morning and couldn't remember what had happened the night before.
Then Zoe stopped and thought.
The girls hadn't spent a night at the club since they had met the turtles. She smiled. They weren't that bad of an influence if they made her forget about alcohol.
Grinning from ear to ear, she raised a hand to enter Don's lab when another hand grabbed her wrist. Looking up at the turtle who was holding her, she felt herself stiffen. She hadn't spent a moment alone with Raph since...
Her throat tightened at the thought.
"Can I help you?" She asked with a straight face. Raph became slightly shocked at her being straight forward, but quickly recovered.
"I wouldn't go in there if I was you." He spoke.
"Well, you're not me. So if you would let go of my hand."
Raph hesitated.
"Please."
Finally complying, Raph let go of Zoe's wrist and she opened the door.
"Thank you." She finished before entering the room. She gently rubbed her wrist before looking up at the table in the lab. She stopped, her breath hitching in her throat.
"L... Lara." She whispered.
Zoe stared as Lara lay on the table, a bandage wrapped around her side. Tubes and wires were coming from all kinds of different places, and she could see blood splatters in places on the floor. On the other side of her was Don, sleeping and holding on tightly to her hand.
"Told you that you shouldn't come in here." A voice whispered behind her. Zoe didn't turn around as her heart broke at the sight of her sister.
"What happened?" Zoe asked, holding back tears.
"When you went missing, everyone went out looking for you. Lars and Don went to the junk yard and where attacked." Raph replied.
"It's my fault." She murmured. Turning around and ignoring Raph, she left the room, her feet leading the way.
"Where you goin?" Raph called out to her, closing the door to the lab behind him.
"Anywhere. To the apartment, the nearest hotel, shell even the park. I can't stand seeing her like that."
"Who?"
"Lara!" Zoe shouted and turned towards him. "It's my fault that she's in there. If we hadn't started that stupid argument."
"What were you fighting about anyway?" Raph asked.
Zoe thought back for a moment before replying.
"It... It was about..." Zoe sighed. "I wanted to prove that I could make it on my own."
Raph stared at her, confused. "Huh?"
Zoe bit her lip. "Being the youngest... the others always feel the need to take care of me. Even if I can do things by myself and go out then come home fine, they all still feel like they need to protect me. Like I'm some sort of china doll or something. So, one time when I say to Lara that I'm considering going to the other side of town by myself, she goes crazy. She starts telling me that it's dangerous and that I shouldn't even consider leaving home to get to some place that I've never been. How I could get lost or mugged."
Zoe frowned and crossed her arms.
"So I ran away. To try and prove that I could make it on my own. And, what do you know, I get lost. So the first thing I did was find the nearest man hole and climb into the sewers. Turns out I can find my way around down here easily than I can up in New York. Then I made my way to your home. Some way to prove your independence huh?"
Zoe stopped to try and hold back tears.
"And now, Lara's in there because of me. It's all my fault. If I hadn't run away, she would still be around. Grumpy at me, but still here."
"Hey." Raph interrupted. Zoe looked up at him.
"Lara's not dead. She is still here. Just not up and walkin yet." Raph frowned. "And I think I have an idea to help you defend yourself so the others don't have to worry so much."
"Like what?" Zoe asked.
Raph smirked. "Follow me."
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"Shell Zoe, that was great!" Raph grinned.
Zoe blushed and smiled up at him. "You think so?"
"Yeah. Keep that up and you'll be able to handle any thug that attacks you in no time. Now do it again."
Zoe nodded before doing some high kicks at a training dummy Raph had brought out into the dojo. After five weeks, Lara had awoken and come back home while Zoe often visited the turtles to train with Raph. Said turtle watched her moves intently to make sure she was hitting the doll just right. Although her hits were a little rough around the edges, she still managed to strike the doll in the spots she was supposed to and put enough power on behind each kick. He grinned at her as the dummy fell to the ground.
"You're getting real good at this." He spoke.
"Thanks." Zoe smiled.
"Now, for yer next lot of training." Raph got into a fighting stance. "Attack me."
"What?" Zoe cried and shook her head. "No."
"Why not?" Raph asked.
"Because I'm practising for defence. I do not plan on attacking anybody some time soon." Zoe replied.
Raph nodded and smiled. "Ah, I get ya."
He lunged at Zoe unexpectedly and she screamed in surprise. She managed to dodge his attack by getting on all fours as he jumped over her. She managed to spin her leg at his foot, making him fall over. Being a ninja, Raph landed on his hands and jumped back up before Zoe could move. He gently kicked Zoe's side, but accidently hit her harder than expected. Zoe whimpered and clutched the part he hit.
"Oh shell! Zoe I'm sor-" Raph began, but didn't get to finish his sentence before Zoe had hit his legs again, making him fall on top of her. Zoe laughed at Raph's face when he had fallen, not expecting her to attack again.
"Oh that was brilliant!" Zoe giggled. Raph eventually laughed with her before they stopped and stared at each other.
Zoe bit her lip.
"I like you, Raph." She confessed. "I like you... a lot."
Raph stared into her eyes and his heartbeat quickened. Gulping, he shook his head and stood up.
"Raph?"
"Lara." Raph responded.
Zoe looked at the ground and held back tears.
"I know. I know that you like her." She took a deep breath. "But she doesn't like you. Not in that way. Not in the way I do Raph."
Zoe smiled. She knew it was time to confess her feelings.
"Everything about you is exciting and new to me. I mean, you have this hard exterior. Not just the shell but the way you act. You hit bad guys and you protect others without a second thought. You're amazing Raph. Not just on the outside, but on the inside too. I know that even though you act tough, you're just a sweet guy with a lot of emotions. One that is loving and caring and-"
"Stop." Raph interrupted. "Just stop right there."
Zoe frowned as Raph held his hands in the air.
"There is no way, that I'm gonna stand here and listen to some stupid girl talk about emotions and crap."
"But... That's what you're like. I can tell, just by looking in your eyes."
"You're a hopeless romantic, that's what I can see."
Zoe tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"
"Listen here Princess, and listen good." Raph snapped. "Just because I saved your life one time does not mean that I'm gonna go and kick whoever's butt when they hurt you."
Zoe's mouth dropped. "What!"
"You should probably get out of this fairy tale world you're living in. I ain't no prince charming. I don't care if you have a little crush on me, because it's not gonna work out. I don't care if you think that I'm just going to immediately admit that I am exactly what you think I am, because I'm not. I don't care whether you suddenly believe that I actually have feelings because I don't. And I sure as shell, am not gonna turn my entire life around, because one girl admits that they 'like' me. I ain't no wuss."
"Raph," Zoe choked, tears welling in her eyes again. "I didn't-"
"Ah!" Raph spoke again. "I don't wanna hear it."
Raph turned around and headed for the door. Zoe ignored the tears flowing from her eyes, trying to keep a straight face as he went. Anger crawled up inside her as she stared at his retreating back.
"I'm sure glad that we never developed a relationship like I hoped then." Zoe spoke, her voice breaking lightly. "Because I don't think I could ever be with a jerk of a prince like you."
Raph hesitated for a moment and took a small glance at her, before shaking his head and walking off. Zoe stared at the door once he was gone before she wiped off her tears and left. The tiniest bit of hope in her had broken off, as well as the last shard of her heart.
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Well, only a small mention of Lara, but at least she's ok. Next will be an Ava/Mikey chapter I think.
Naw Zoe. :( She tries her hardest to get Raph to like her and then he screws everything up. I don't think he really wants a serious relationship though now that I think about it.
It's all going to work itself out in the end though! Don't worry petals!
Love yas! (Although you probably all hate me right now...)
~MR