He could smell her. The sweet scent of jasmine was twirling his senses and made him all dizzy. She smiled at him. Her emerald eyes were glowing brightly, shining with joy and her long black hair surrounded her beautiful face. He touched inches of her hair between his rough fingers. It felt so soft. As he gazed upon her with eyes, warmth and burning with desire, she began to move her body closer to him, inviting him to go further in his search. He gave her a wry smile, before he pulled her closer in the intention of kissing her soft lips…
Raphael suddenly woke up. His body was trembling and dripping with sweat. His blood veins were thumbing wildly inside of him, and he raised his hand to the left side of his torso. He could feel his heart beating like crazy. It had only been a dream and yet it had felt so real. Raphael moved his arm beneath his pillow, resting his head for a bit. She had been so beautiful, so near that it was almost like he had been kissing her in person. Even his own lips were burning though he was aware that it was only a dream.
Raphael turned around, turning his attention to the small clock on the wall above his bedroom door. He had slept for a long time, longer than he normally did anyway. It was 3 pm, which meant he had slept for more than nine hours.
Raphael moved his legs under the blanket, trying to wake up. His body was still tensed from the night earlier. His muscles were hurting and Raphael began to massage the muscles beneath the backside of the lower end of his legs. He knew if he didn't do that, then there was a chance of his body could go into convulsions. It was an experience the red-masked turtle tried to prevent as much as he could. As he came near his foot, he felt something different. It felt weird. As his hand followed, he sensed shape of a long slim scaled body. It was a snake! With a quick reaction, which occurred in almost a half second, he pulled the thing out from the blanket with a small gasp of surprise.
"Mikey! He lamented with disgust.
The snake wasn't alive, but was a small toy. The snake was made of green cotton cloth and the mouth was smiling at him, mocking him for feeling worried for a second. Raphael narrowed his eyes in irritation of his youngest brother's latest prank. They couldn't even be in battle the previous night, before Michelangelo was goofing around again. Raphael clenched his fist tightly around the snake, so the head suddenly became twice as large and then the tempered turtle pulled the blanket away to get up from his bed. He didn't care if Michelangelo was sleeping or not. This meant war!
Raphael seized his weapons beneath his pillow and placed them back in his belt. With a grim look on his face, he turned his eyes to the entrance of his room and moved with determent steps towards the opening. He was tired and irritated with his younger brother and his silly jokes. His head was thumbing and Raphael suddenly suspected that a big headache was going to appear soon. Stupid Mikey! Raphael walked with clear intentions to make Michelangelo regret that he pulled pranks on him so often.
However; as soon as he passed through the entrance, Raphael suddenly slowed down his movements. He turned his eyes to both sides of his room and then he moved to the edge of the upper level of the lair instead of walking towards Michelangelo's room. The tempered turtle turned his gaze for a second upon the small lake in the middle of their home. It all seemed quite as his whole family was sleeping after the events last night. Raphael turned the small snake's head in his hand. It was still mocking him, laughing at his silly reactions.
Yet, the red-masked turtle felt his fingers loosening his grip around the furred toy, and then it felt through the air, landing on the ground. Raphael closed his eyes for a brief moment and quietly he tried to calm his anger. At some point he realised that it wouldn't help trying to chase down Michelangelo. Not now at least. Raphael rested his head at the stone pillar next to him as he looked down at his beloved home.
They could all use the rest before the battle. It would be insane and selfish to wake up his youngest brother. Though he deserved it, Raphael thought with a grin on his face. Normally the red-masked turtle wouldn't care less if he got back on Michelangelo for his joke with the snake. After all there had been a couple of times where Raphael had tried to send of his brother to Africa away in a box. However the upcoming final battle with Rex was a big dark cloud and even Raphael was unable to ignore that they all needed to recover their strength if they should defeat her.
Suddenly low tones of whispers broke the silence in the lair. Raphael turned his attention to the place where the sounds were coming from; Leonardo's room. Was Aki awake? Raphael wondered and rose from the floor. A sudden urge to speak with her alone grew stronger as he thought about his dream. Normally it was hard for him to talk with her without having his brothers around, but now when all were sleeping; it would be a unique opportunity to talk with her.
Raphael had always disliked seeing the sorrow in Leonardo's eyes, when he was looking at Aki. His older brother had in Raphael's eyes been a coward and a fool. There was no doubt in Raphael's mind that Leonardo was in love with Aki as well as he was. However, Raphael felt disgust by his brother's soul pain.
All was fair in love and war and Raphael had no intention in hiding his emotions from the young Asian woman. He wasn't a 100% sure if she was feeling the same for him, but he had felt an emotional connection with her, when they had fought each other in the dojo. Something he knew that she couldn't deny. However, Raphael was careful about his actions. He had no intentions of scaring her either. His great desire for her would remain hidden until she was ready for it. Yet in his mind, Raphael knew that it was a chance he had to take. None of them would find love ever, if they didn't try to reach out for it.
Master Splinter had warned them many times about falling in love with humans as most humans wouldn't accept their existence or their lives in the sewers. Yet, Raphael knew that it wasn't impossible for humans to like them. April had accepted them and Casey too. Then it was possible for humans to see behind their appearance and if so, then there was a slight chance to find love as well. Raphael turned himself towards Leonardo's room with silent steps. In case that he had heard wrong, he didn't want to take the chance of waking her up either.
Raphael heard the whispers became louder and with his sensible ears it was easy for him to detect that Aki wasn't alone. She was talking with somebody. Raphael stopped, and his heart began to beat faster as he suddenly anxious if he really wanted to see who was speaking with Aki at the time, where everyone should be asleep. His blood was pumping faster through his veins as he finally found the courage to look inside Leonardo's room.
Then his heart stopped. Every thought, every move, every inch of the red-masked turtle froze as he gazed upon the sight in front of him. A voice inside of him told him that it was a bad dream. That he was still in his bed sleeping and this was only an imitation of his worst fears. And yet he couldn't ignore what his own eyes were showing him. A scaled light green coloured body which was surrounding a female figure.
Raphael felt an urge to throw up, seeing his oldest brother touching Aki in a way that Raphael had only dreamed of this night. They were whispering to each other, sweet words of love. This was the sounds he had been hearing. Raphael swallowed hard and moved instantly as Leonardo lifted his eyes towards the entrance. Leonardo gazed at the opening for a few seconds.
"What is the matter Leo?" Aki asked, as she noticed his frowned forehead.
"Just a second Aki," Leonardo said lowly and kissed her softly on her nose, before rising from the bed. "I think I saw something move."
An instinct had told him that somebody had been there, looking at them. Leonardo had learned a long time ago to let his instincts guide his actions. Master Splinter had trained them in using them to be able to detect nearby presence. When Leonardo walked out of his room, he wasn't surprised that he couldn't see anything. All the members of his family were all trained in the art of Ninjitsu and therefore mastered the art of hiding quickly in the shadow.
Suddenly a noise came from the head entrance and Leonardo turned his eyes to the front door where he noticed a dark shadow move away before the door slammed behind it. Normally Leonardo wouldn't have a clue which of his brothers it was. However this time the light had been in his favour. It had lightened one of the weapons which the turtles were carrying most of the times in their brown leather belts. A sai confirmed that the intruder had been no other than the most tempered turtle in the bunch.
"Oh shell," Leonardo mumbled and then heaved a deep sigh in frustration. This was going to be hard to explain.
___
Raphael ran as hard and as fast as he could with no destination in mind. He felt like if he could go to the end of the earth and back again without exterminating this fury that was raging inside of him. How could this be possible? How could they be together, when Leonardo hadn't had the courage to show Aki his feelings? Bitterness ran trough his mind, since the answer was obvious even to him. Leonardo had shared his feelings with her. Angry tears streamed down Raphael's face as he ran blindly through the darkness. He had roamed these sewers his entire life. He would be aware of his surrounding no matter where he ended up. He would always be able to find his way back to the lair. But when the tunnels ran out, he still kept running on towards the rooftops where he could stay hidden from human eyes. He was running; running from his past, from memories he didn't want to have. There had been so many times, where Raphael had wished he could be different. There had been so many times that he had wished that he could be more like Leonardo. The perfect son, the perfect leader, the perfect pain in his eyes! Leonardo had always been a constant reminder to Raphael of how imperfect he was. This incident showed the tempered turtle that Leonardo wasn't perfect, but somehow, he had always thought he was.
Where Raphael had decided to give in for his feelings for Aki without many regards or concerns about the consequences of his actions, he had been certain that Leonardo would have been able to resist. Raphael clenched his teeth in pure rage as he recalled the memory of his brother being in the same bed as the woman he loved. How dared Leonardo forget who he was? He was supposed to be their idol, to be the one who was doing all the right things. He was supposed to be the one to show his brothers perfection. In the depth of his heart, Raphael hated Leonardo, loved him, respected him, and ridiculed him... all at the same time.
Raphael stopped, staring at the sky which was covered with dark grey clouds. It wouldn't surprise him if it would start raining soon. Raphael kicked an empty can in a violent movement and gazed with fury as the small can was thrown over the roof top. Then the tempered turtle felt down on his knees. He wanted to scream at the sky and yell his pain out to the world. He felt betrayed by his brother and rejected by Aki, who clearly was in love with Leonardo. Raphael sobbed and collapsed on the ground, letting the tears flow freely for the first time in years. He was alone; truly alone.
___
"Hey Dudette, are you awake?" Michelangelo asked and smiled brightly, as he showed his face at the entrance to Leonardo's room.
"Yeah, I'm awake," Aki responded as she placed the magical potion in a belt around her waist.
Michelangelo watched her, as she pulled down her black shirt over her belt, hiding completely the potion from vision. It was almost the same outfit she had been wearing the night they met. The black clothes would prevent her from being spotted in the dark hours. Aki gazed upon the small alarm clock on the night stand next to Leonardo's bed. It was almost 6 pm. He had been gone for a long time now. Aki wondered what had happened, since Leonardo had felt that he had to leave the bedroom. However his gentle kiss on her lips had insured her that she didn't have to worry about if it was their new relationship that was bothering him. Aki gave a small shake of her head before she turned to Michelangelo. She just had to trust Leonardo in this case.
"I have been awake for quite some time to be honest," she admitted and then added with a little smile. "So it had been quite awful for me to wait for you to finish the dinner. It has smelled good for almost an hour now."
"Hehe, I'll think you will like it," Michelangelo said and moved to let her pass through.
"It smells like pizza," Aki said as she walked down the stairs.
"Not just any pizza. It is one of my specialities. Pizza a la Michelangelo. It is fantastico," Michelangelo said with an Italian accent and made wild movements like an Italian cook who was praising his food.
Aki laughed at his impersonations. "Then I can't wait to try it. Are the others awake to?"
"I have woken Master Splinter, though I'm not sure that he will be joining us. He seemed pretty tired," Michelangelo said with a saddened tone in his voice.
"Well, he has been through a rough time last night."
"Indeed," Michelangelo agreed with a single nod of his head. "However I know our Sensei well enough to realize that if I don't wake him for dinner, I'm going to regret it."
Aki smiled at Michelangelo who was showing that he was merely joking. The orange-masked turtle was so easy to be around. Though he could be quite enthusiastic sometimes, he always kept a good mood, making it all look more positive than it maybe was. As they walked into the kitchen, Aki noticed Donatello take some dinner plates out from the upper shelf.
"Hey Aki," Donatello greeted and she gave a small wave back, then the genius turtle turned his attention to Michelangelo. "Where are Raph and Leo?"
"I got no clue," Michelangelo admitted and shrugged his shoulders. "There is absolutely no trace of them, except from the snake I left in Raph's bed."
"Mikey!" Aki burst out and grinned. "Why did you do that?"
"Just for fun," Michelangelo said and giggled. "I'm surprised that he didn't chase me like he normally does. Raph doesn't like to be teased much."
"And that is why you're doing it so much," Donatello and commented dryly. "Because you wouldn't dare to do this either to Master Splinter or Leonardo."
"Leonardo maybe, Master Splinter definitely not," Michelangelo said and laughed. "He would just beat me with his cane hehe."
"However if neither Leonardo nor Raphael are in the lair, we better give them a call," Donatello said and therefore changed the subject. "They need to get back here in time, so we can prepare ourselves for our next strike on Rex. However it is not wise of them to leave the lair all of a sudden. Why would they do that?"
"I don't know," Aki commented and then trailed off.
Aki recalled the expression on Leonardo's face as he had gazed upon the entrance to the bedroom. Could this mean that Raphael had discovered that she and his brother had been together? At some point Aki didn't hope that she was correct in her new suspicion. After all; living together with the four turtle brothers for almost a month, had showed her that Raphael and Leonardo commonly was having conflicts though she didn't know exactly why it was like that.
"They are hopefully together though," Aki added.
"Don't know what would be the most dangerous situation for them though being alone or together," Michelangelo said with a big grin.
"Bonehead," Donatello said and turned around to find the drinking glasses. "Are you going to call them Mikey?"
"In a minute," Michelangelo nodded and went to the oven. "I need to take the pizza out first. Otherwise the dinner would be ruined."
"Ah we don't want that," Aki smiled and helped to place the plates on the dinner table. "After all I have been hearing so good things about this famous pizza."
Donatello began to laugh at her words and then received a wet towel in the face from his youngest brother.
___
Raphael was leaning on the cement ledge, staring down at the rain-swept street below when he heard him approach. There had gone many hours since Raphael had left the lair, but he hadn't bothered to return home. Neither did he bother to turn around to face him. He knew who it was. His presence was all too familiar. Raphael held back the urge to shoot some sadistic remark at him. Though he felt a great sorrow in his heart, he didn't want to fight right now, but Raphael didn't like the fact that he had been followed.
He approached with caution, probably expecting that the tempered turtle would blow up at him for showing up here.
Rightly so, Raphael was a turtle who valued his privacy above all. And after Raphael had disappeared from the lair it shouldn't be a surprise to him that Raphael wasn't seeking his company. Raphael felt annoyed by his presence and wanted to shot at him to get the shell back to the lair. The red-masked turtle needed some time to think, and he didn't want his brother to breath down his neck while doing so.
"You're okay?" he asked.
"Fine," Raphael mumbled. It was the first exchange of words since yesterday afternoon where they had departed to sleep for the night. Apparently for older brother to sleep with Aki! Raphael could tell that he wasn't sure what to say, and it somehow amused him. He was walking on eggshells, trying not to say anything that might set his brother's temper off. Pathetic, that Raphael could see it so easily. And pathetic, that he had to be so careful. But they both understood. Raphael had left the lair as he wanted to be alone. His brother was pushing him just by showing up here.
"What happened, Raph?" he asked. "Why are you so upset?"
"None of your business Leo," Raphael shot back. At some point he had suspected that it was only a matter of time before he had to talk about his reactions to what he had seen in Leonardo's room, but he wasn't ready to fight with him about it. After all Raphael wasn't even sure how hard he felt about this betrayal.
Leonardo caught his breath, like he was going to snap back at him, but he didn't. "What is it about her that is bothering you?" he asked quietly.
"Shut up, Leo," Raphael glared. His words were just as sharp as they would've been if he'd yelled them. Maybe more so, because he was so calm, so balanced. Raphael hated it more than anything. He hated that he was always so calm.
"Well, what is it, Raph? It isn't a secret that I love her. It worries me that it upsets you so much"
Raphael turned around to face him with anger sparkling in his eyes. "Look, Leo, I do not need you to worry about me, okay?" Raphael yelled, jabbing his finger into Leonardo's chest.
Raphael spun and left, leaving Leonardo standing at the ledge, half-wishing his older brother would follow him. On the other hand his presence had given him a serious urge to kick his ass. And somehow Raphael was aware of the fact that he only had himself to blame for this confusion. Aki had never directly indicated that she had been interested in him. He had been building illusions for himself, but it was hard to admit. Instead it was easier to blame the one who held the cause for all his problems; Leonardo.
