"Really, Leo? 'Let's ketchup'? Real comedy material," Raphael snickered. April had told them Leonardo's lame attempt to make a joke and now he was being taunted and teased. She felt slightly guilty but she had to admit, the results were entertaining. Leo lowered his head down to shoulder level and darted his eyes away, his face flushed.

"Hey, even if it is a lame joke, it is pretty funny," Michelangelo came to Leo's aide, finding the joke to be a bit amusing. "Lame jokes are always funny! I don't see how you didn't laugh, April. That is lamely funny."

"More like adorable," April laughed. "It's so lame that it's adorable."

"Adorable?" Casey and Donatello both blurted in unison, a bit nerved.

"Guys, haven't I had enough?" Leo asked. "Now I shouldn't even make any jokes."

"No, no, really, I wanna see what other jokes you've got!" Mikey chirped. "Shoot!"

"Erm, now?" Leo asked. "I don't wanna embarrass myself more than I already have. Kudos to April," Leo shot her a look. "Let's not."

"Awh, come on! Just one, you've got to have at least one more lame joke up your sleeve."

"Ugh, fine," Leo cleared his throat as all eyes went on him. He smiled nervously and sighed. "Okay. So there's a watermelon. It's in love."

"Barf, neeext," Raph joked, getting a laugh out of Casey.

"Let me finish! Okay, so the watermelon says, 'Let's run away together!' to its lover. Its lover says, 'I can't.' The watermelon asks, 'Why not?' The lover, who is a cantaloupe, replies, 'I cantaloupe!' Get it?" Leo scanned the faces staring at him and he immediately flushed again. "I should really shut up."

"April's right," Mikey smiles, biting on the insides of his cheeks.

"What do you mean?" Leo asks.

"It's so lame it's adorable! It's lamedorable- no no wait, ladorable!" Mikey pinches Leo's cheeks as he coos to Leo.

"Mikey," Leo grumbles, his cheeks heating up now. "How about we do something else?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Maybe you could make one of your homemade pizzas since we have food supplies now?"

"Yes! Yes yes yes!" Mikey jumped up and grabbed Leo's wrist, dragging him to the kitchen. "Okay, where is the dough?"

"Mo dough, mo problems, amirite?" Leo elbows Mikey, feeling confident in his zinger. After Mikey gives him a blank stare, he growls. "Geez, I can't win today."

"Knock on wood," Mikey replied immediately. "Seriously, go knock on wood."

"Wha- okay?" Leo ran over to Donnie, grabbed his bow staff, knocked on it, dropped it and ran back into the kitchen.

"Leo! What the shell?" Donnie yelled to him.

"Sorry!" Leo hollered back. "Okay, find the dough?"

"Yeperooni!" Mikey slammed it onto the counter, his hands a bit covered with flour. "What are we putting on this puppy?"

"What do you want?"

"Hm." Mikey ran out to the others and asked what they wanted. He came back with a stumped expression on his face. "They said 'whatever, just don't make it nasty' like what? What do you want? Cheese? Peperonni? Sausage? What the shell!"

"Hey, hey, calm down," Leo smiled. "Just make a cheese pizza, plain and simple. I'll just give them some juice. Chef Mikey is fiesty."

"Fiesty is what gets food on the table, Leo!"

Leo poured some juice in cups and came out with them, handing one to each of them. As soon as Leo sat down, their eyes landed on him. Shifting uncomfortably, Leo groaned. "What?"

"I finally got it," Raph said. "The cantaloupe joke- that's kinda funny. Lame, but funny."

"You just now caught on?" Leo asked. "Never mind."

"So Leo, April told us you're gonna spar with her again," Donnie starts. Leo felt as if Donnie's stare was pressing into him. "When are you gonna spar?"

"Later..." Leo replied slowly. "April why do you keep repeating things I say?"

"I don't know," April shrugged, trying to flash Leo an innocent smile. "Just felt necessary. So when are we?"

"I told you earlier we would later." Leo shot her a confused glance. "I'm gonna go see what kind of pizza Mikey is making." Leo quickly scrambled to his feet and averted into the kitchen, peeking out and watching his two brothers and two friends. "The shell?"

"What?" Mikey asked, quickly licking off the pizza sauce on his finger.

"I don't know, I feel weird," Leo replied. "I'm gonna go hang out in the dojo or something. What pizza is it, by the way?"

"I was gonna do cheese, but this 'zza needs some pizazz, yanno? So I added peperonni."

"Okay, just tell me when it's ready, okay?" Leo bolted out of the kitchen and into the dojo. He stared at the beautiful tree and the light shining down on it and started to calm down a bit. He sat down in front of it and closed his eyes, steadying his breathing.

"At peace, my son?" Leo jumped at the voice and turned around, smiling as his eyes landed on Master Splinter.

"Sensei, you startled me," Leo smiled. "Yeah. I am."

"Nature has a way of easing the nerves and calming the spirit. Does something trouble you, Leonardo?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. I felt okay and happy because Casey and April are finally down here. I reminded her of our sparring session and I said we could do it later, but she told the guys and I don't know why, but I feel this intense pressure. It came out of nowhere, and I have nothing to feel pressured about."

"Perhaps it is just the oblivious fact that your brothers, Casey and April are making you the center of attention that is making you feel pressured."

"Maybe. I guess my lame jokes are so bad it hits me," Leo smiled weakly. "You're going to watch us spar, right, Sensei? That's the whole point of the sparring session, after all."

"Of course, Leonardo. I smell cheese. Is Michelangelo making a pizza?"

"Yeah," Leo chuckled. "Want a slice after it's cooked?" Hearing a shriek from the kitchen, Leo lept to his feet. "Put a pin in that, I'll be right back, Sensei." Leo ran to the kitchen and looked around, seeing no one in sight. "Mikey? Mikey, are you okay? I heard you scream- if that was even a scream, sounded more like a shrill. Krill shrill," Leo laughed at himself. "Uh, I mean, are you okay? Where did you even go?"

"Here!"

"Holy shell-" Leo immediately swung his fists, freezing them when they were about to collide with Mikey's face. "I'm so sorry- no, why'd you do that?!"

"Don't freak out," Mikey cooed.

"What?" Mikey backed Leo into the counter and smiled at him. "Mikey..."

"Leo," Mikey replied. "Thank you."

"Huh?" Leo was baffled. "Thank me for what?"

"Being your pushy, nerdy, annoying self these past couple days," Raph added, pulling Leo's head in his embrace.

"Being respectful and understanding," Donnie piled on, smiling sweetly at Leo.

"Being nice and huggy," Mikey smiled. "Pushing aside your feelings to help us out with ours."

"Heh, uhm," Leo smiled nervously, not understanding still. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Don't play dumb," Raph snickered. "Yanno, when we were down about being stuck down here or not seein' April and Casey, or when we'd complain about how things don't feel the same- all that mushy feeling stuff. You tried to help us out even when you were kinda bummed out too."

"We wanted to thank you, Leo." Donnie shrugged bashfully. "You're a good big brother." Then Donnie and Mikey wrapped their arms around Leo and Raph, nuzzling their heads against Leo. Raph patted Leo's shell and tightened his embrace around him. Leo looked down at his three brothers smothering him and he felt warm- happy. He hugged them back and smiled. Donnie was the first to let go. "So, sparring with April, huh?"

"Hehe, yeah," Leo shrugged. "She wants Master Splinter to watch. I'ma assume you guys are too, huh?"

"Smart thinking," Raph joked, elbowing Leo. He left his brothers to talk amongst themselves in the kitchen and headed out. He was met by April and he jumped a bit in surprise. "Woah, April, ya kinda scared me there."

"I figured," April smiled. "So, mushy feeling stuff, huh?" April arched her eyebrow up and smiled smugly at the red-banded terrapin, chuckling as he flushed a bit. "Didn't know you shared your feelings."

"I don't," Raph waved her off, trying to drop the topic.

"Seemed like you did. You know, Casey missed you. I missed you too. We missed all of you."

"Yeah, we know. It's good that we're all seein' each other again so none of us coulda got even more bummed out. That woulda been bad."

"Jeesh, Raph," April rolled her eyes.

"What?"

"I was trying to get a mutual understanding but I guess I'll just have to shoot," April said. She threw her arms around Raph and waited for Raph to do something. She wanted to hug him. She didn't care if he would pull away or if he would just stand there. She wanted to hug all of them. Raph hesitantly raised an arm up and wrapped it around her back. He raised the other and hugged her, then after a couple of seconds pulled away. "You should work on your hinting skills," April joked, playfully shoving him.

"Wh-whatever," Raph mumbled, feeling a bit warm from the hug. He jogged up to Casey's side and went into the dojo with him. Meanwhile April walked into the kitchen. As soon as she did, the three turtles' conversation was put to a halt.

"Mikey," April smiled, holding her arms out. Mikey perked up and ran to her, pulling her in his arms. He lifted her up and spun around a bit, both of them laughing.

"My good ol' freckle buddy is finally back!" Mikey chirped, setting her down and hugging her tightly. "We can finally do that prank war after you and Leo spar!"

"Oh my gosh, yes!" April bounced. "If that's okay with everyone else, that is."

"Mikey, we just cleaned up the mess from the other one," Leo pointed out, crossing his arms. Mikey pouted out his lip and pulled the puppy eyes. Leo sighed in defeat, he just couldn't say no. "Fine. Tell Raph and Casey."

"Booyakasha!" Mikey piped up, running out of the kitchen. Leo shook his head and smiled.

"Good to have you back, April," Leo said as he was walking out.

"No no no," April said, grabbing and tugging on his wrist. He spun on his heels a bit and widened his eyes as she hugged him tightly. He chuckled and hugged her back, then went to follow Mikey.

"I'll see you when you're ready to spar?" Leo questioned.

"For sure," April nodded. "There's no backing out, Leo," she joked. Leo gave her a playful challenging look, then left her and Donnie alone. She turned and they both gazed at each other for a moment. Donnie let out a little smile and rubbed the back of his head. She flashed Donnie a big smile as her eyes glazed a bit. "Donnie," she said softly, walking towards him a bit. "Gosh, you don't know how much I missed you. I'm sorry I couldn't call you back sometimes when you did, I really wanted to, but-"

"Don't worry about it," Donnie said, looking down at her, his eyes soft and tender. "You know I'm always there for you, even when you don't want me to be."

"I know." April slid her arms behind his shell and nuzzled him a bit. "Thank you." She then wrapped her arms around Donnie's neck and rested her head on his shoulder. Donnie hugged her back and pressed the top of his head on top of hers, enjoying her embrace that he waited so long for. He pulled away and chuckled a bit.

"We should get you in there. I know you've been waiting to spar," Donnie acknowledged. "Shall we?"

"We shall," April laughed, following behind Donnie. "I'm kinda nervous."

"Why? 'Cause Master Splinter is watching?"

"Exactly that," April replied.

"You'll do great, I know you will. Show him what you've learned." They both walked into the training area and saw the rest of the teens huddled around and talking. All eyes landed on the two standing. Mikey waved his hand over to them for them to join, so they did. "We all ready?"

"Me and April?" Leo corrected. Donnie rolled his eyes playfully. "I am, and I'm sure April is, too. Should I get Master Splinter now, or do you want to wait a couple of minutes?" Leo asked, looking at April.

"Let's get to it," April replied, raising her fists up.

Leo nodded and jogged to Splinter's part of the room. Splinter came back beside Leo and everyone sat. Leo and April stayed standing and walked to opposite sides of the room. Splinter looked at the two teens and waited for them to become ready. Leo slid a foot out in front of him a bit and bent down a bit, ready to either charge or avoid an oncoming attack. April simply raised her fists in the air and bent down slightly, her gaze meeting with Leo's. Raph, Mikey, Donnie and Casey all watched with anticipation. They all awaited the word.

"Hajime."

April took in a big breath of air before she charged full speed towards Leo. She whipped out her tessen and aimed for Leo's plastron. Leo was surprised by how quickly she had charged but quickly shook off the feeling and jumped back. Her arms shot out and grabbed Leo's wrist. She threw him over her shoulder and heard his shell collide with the ground and make a loud "thud" sound. Leo's legs pivoted around April's and he turned his waist, sending her down to the ground. He jumped up quickly before April could send a blow to his face. As she got on her feet, she threw her tessen in Leo's direction. It hit his leg a bit and fell to the ground. She swept her hand on the floor and grabbed it, standing boldly in front of him. Leo narrowed his eyes and took out one of his katanas as she once again charged, ready to hit him with her tessen. He blocked her intended blow and pushed her away, collecting himself quickly.

Master Splinter watched, intrigued. He was impressed by April's speed and dexterity. He closely watched how she charged, how she attacked, how she blocked incoming attacks and how she performed with her tessen. As April swung her leg out at Leo and delivered the blow successfully, he widened his eyes. She has progressed very well, Splinter thought to himself. "Yame."

"Sensei?" Leo panted, puzzled at the call to cease the session.

"April, have you yet sparred with all my sons at once?"

"N-no," April stuttered. She didn't know if she was ready to take on all the turtles by herself and she was far from being confident about doing so.

"You perform as if you have," Splinter said, stroking his long, narrow beard.

"Sh-should we continue, then?" April asked.

"Yes, continue."

April nodded. Leo jumped in front of her and swept his leg under hers, watching as she stumbled back a bit. The leader quickly popped the joints in his fingers before April recovered and began to charge. April narrowed her eyes as she watched Leo prepare a block and decided to do a surprise move. Leo had his arms folded in front of him so as to block April's attack. April copied Leo's position and pressed her arms into his, trying to push the turtle back with as much force as she could. Leo's feet slipped behind him a bit so he curved his feet tightly onto the ground to maintain his footing. April raised up her leg and kneed Leo in the stomach area, sending Leo falling on his carapace. Leo's breath was knocked out of him and he gasped for air. He swallowed hard and dryly, quickly getting up. He raised his fists up, ready for anything April would give. April swung her arm out and almost managed to deliver a blow to the turtle's face but was cut off by Leo's katana.

April flicked her wrist, throwing her tessen at the turtle. The tessen managed to hit Leo in the arm with a good and hard blow. Leo hissed as the sharp weapon had cut his skin open a bit and felt some warm blood come out. April grabbed her weapon and started to try to attack again. He blocked all of her attacks and was ready to make his move. He grabbed her wrists with one hand. April gasped softly and lifted her leg off the ground, swinging it towards him. Leo jerked his body away from her leg and lifted up one of his legs, kicking her in the torso and sent her sliding across the room. She scrambled trying to get to her feet but she wasn't quick enough. Leo ran over to her, pulled out his katana and pointed it down to her face, breathing heavily. The light shimmered onto him and it enhanced his serious facial expression. Their eyes met each others, both nodding with mutual understanding.

Leo offered his hand down to her, a small smile on his face. She smiled back and grabbed it. Leo used his other hand to grab her arm to help pull her up. She grunted as she got on her feet, slinging her arm around Leo. They both walked towards Splinter and sat on their knees, bowing their heads down to him. Raph, Mikey, Donnie and Casey all sat behind the rat master, all their mouths agape as they took in the fight that they had just witnessed. Donnie quickly closed his and proceeded to close Mikey's, not wanting to be caught. Raph and Casey quickly shut theirs as well, awaiting Splinter's words.

"Excellent work, the both of you. Leonardo."

"Yes, Master Splinter?" Leo raised his head up, looking into his father's eyes.

"You are dismissed. As are the rest of you."

"Hai, Sensei," Leo nodded, helping April up on her feet once again. All the teens headed for the the exit.

"April," Splinter called out. "Would you mind staying behind for a moment?"

"Sure," April replied. "I'll catch up with you guys in a minute." She walked back to Splinter and stood in front of him.

"April, you have excelled at how you execute your moves and at what you have learned despite the circumstances you were put under. I am proud of you."

April was touched. She couldn't suppress the smile that came to her face at Splinter's words. Splinter smiled warmly at her. She ran to him and embraced him tightly, her eyes producing hot tears. "Thank you, Master Splinter. That means so much coming from you."

"We still have much training to do, April," Splinter chuckled, hugging her back.

"I know," April laughed. "Still. Thank you."

"You may go back with the others if you'd like."

"Oh, of course," April smiled. She let go of Splinter and started to make her way out. "Can't wait for training, Splinter!" April yelled as she ran out. Splinter shook his head, smiling as she ran out.

"You will become a kunoichi soon," Splinter said as she left. "You will become an outstanding one."