Chapter Thirty-Six

Keeping Things Civil

The following night, the turtles, Mona and Splinter stayed in the lair and wondered whether they could visit Casey or not, April hadn't called, but they hoped that Casey was alright.

Michelangelo was sitting in front of the TV watching a movie, Splinter was in his quarters meditating, Donatello was fiddling with a gadget on a table near the TV area, Leonardo was practising his sword play and Mona was in the gym area clawing and punching the sandbag.

Both had hardly any sleep the day before, as they were still debating over what to do or say to the other.

At breakfast as they were under the eyes of the other turtles and Splinter, they tried to keep things civil and normal, but they didn't know what to say to each other or how to approach each other.

Luckily none of the other turtles nor Splinter had noticed anything strange between except that they saw Mona wasn't angry or resentful towards Leonardo any-more.

In fact before they went about their daily stuff, Donatello, Splinter and Michelangelo had conversed in the living area to talk about Leonardo and Monalisa whilst the two other reptiles were out of earshot.

"It seems your adopted sister has put aside her anger, her resentment." Splinter commented as he sat on the sofa with his eyes closed "She may still be hurting from Raphael's death...but she seems to no longer blame Leonardo..."

"It seems that way." said Donatello "I have to say I'm kinda relieved, I've had so many sleepless nights worrying about those two..."

"So you think they might be friends again?" asked Michelangelo "They were in the bedroom for a while last night, until Leonardo came out looking flushed."

"Flushed?" asked Donatello "He was in Mona's room?"

"Uh huh." said Michelangelo "I think they talked for a while, Mona was really upset Casey was hurt by Cobra."

Donatello frowned as he thought of both Black Mamba and Cobra.

"Those snakes!" he said "They have no honour at all...When will it be enough for them and the rest of the Venomous Five? Seeing us all dead? The ones we love hurt?"

"I want to wipe that smirk off that Golden Cobra's face!" said Michelangelo as he stroked his nun-chucks on his belt.

Donatello looked at his baby brother, seeing him angry and wanting to kill something, but he understood why his brother was so angry.

"Justice will soon be served Mikey." said Donatello, though he was never the aggressive type of turtle in the family, he still would loose it like anyone would if anyone hurt his family or friends.

He, like the others, wanted to make the Foot and the Venomous Five pay for what they did, but he wasn't sure where to start and whether going after the Venomous Five would result in more casualties.

After the loss of Raphael and now the wounding of Casey Jones, he felt more terrified that any other fight or patrol would cost them another family member.

Later at lunchtime, as everyone was sitting around the table, Mona looked up at Leonardo as she slowly ate her cheese omelette, the food clogged in her mouth and tasted dry as she tried to eat. The blue masked turtle was looking down at his food picking up the bits of pasta and twisting them on his fork.

Every time he looked up, he sometimes caught sight of Mona and would look down again blushing.

He tried to focus on Michelangelo as his younger brother ate his lunch, he was pleased that Michelangelo was eating normally now, well, almost normally as he still didn't eat piles of food or snacks like he used to, but at least he was eating again after mourning Raphael for so long.

Of course, the empty space at the table still ate away at everyone's hearts and souls knowing someone who was no longer there sat there just a few weeks ago. As if preserving whatever used to be there, no-one dared touch it, not even sit on it.

Leonardo took a sip of his coffee and looked at the empty space as he tried to imagine Raphael sitting there with them again, laughing and joking, maybe even throwing insults at Michelangelo or slapping him around the head if the youngest turtle made any annoying jokes.

As he looked at it, he felt the memories returning, he remembered how at breakfast Raphael and Mona would sometimes display scenes of affection, such as stroking each others hands or sometimes Raphael would lean across and give her a kiss or nuzzle, it was always a beautiful sight, he had never seen a couple more in love, and now, sitting here at the table and Mona just across the table eating her breakfast quietly and keeping her head down, almost hidden by her hair, he wondered what was going through her head.

Looking across to the empty space, he felt guilty and embarrassed, even though Raphael was no longer there, he felt like he was betraying him by kissing his mate.

He then remembered what Raphael said as he died in his arms.

"I need you to look after Monalisa...Look after her for me..."

"Please...take care of her...take care of Mona."

"Show her Love...love her, comfort her...make sure she's alright...show her she's not alone"

Leonardo swallowed hard.

"I said I'd look after her, brother..." he said softly "I tried before, and she pushed me away in her grief and anger, but now...she's finally let me in...and now I've screwed up...I've invaded her space...touched what's sacred to you...I'm so sorry..."

Leonardo sipped his coffee again and looked up at Mona. His stomach lurched as his eyes skimmed over her perfect figure, her toned arms, her broad shoulders and the way her soft silky brown hair fell in loose ringlets on her shoulders.

After a moment Mona stood up to take her plate and cup to the sink so she could wash up and without thinking, Leonardo's eyes followed her and he saw her slender waist and shapely hips, her powerful tail and toned legs.

All that Kung-Fu and karate training as a human had given her those muscles and now ninjutsu had contributed.

"It's so hard not to look at her." he thought "Those muscles show how strong and powerful she is a fighter, yet her face, her ways when not in battle...she's so beautiful, it's so hard not to keep my eyes off her, hard to keep my feelings from exploding out of me...seeing her and Raphael together, sometimes it was so hard to watch...hard to stomach until I finally got around it...and was able to watch them without feeling jealousy and anger within, even though there was that niggle of wishing that she was at my side, but I was happy to accept her as a honorary sister I was happy to be next to her, talk to her, be there for her, at her side as we fought enemies..."

Leonardo squeezed his eyes shut as he watched Mona then looked away so he could finish his coffee then stood up picking up his plate and cup.

Walking away from the table, he took the empty plates of Splinter Michelangelo and Donatello who were still conversing at the table and walked up to help Mona with washing up.

He felt his stomach doing several flips as he placed the dishes in the water and he accidentally brushed Mona's arm as he did so.

Mona looked up to see him and instantly blushed.

Leonardo blushed back and almost dropped the plates.

"Sorry..." he said "You...you need help with washing up?"

"That would be great thanks..." said Mona as she placed her hands back in the soapy water and began to scrub at the plates "I'll wash, you can dry."

Leonardo agreed and picked up a towel so he could dry the dishes.

He tried to keep his eyes on the cutlery but he couldn't help but glance over at Mona's hands and her delicate wrists as she placed each plate and utensils on the draining board.

Part of him wished he could swap places with her so her skin wouldn't have to suffer the soapy suds, but he said nothing.

He was still feeling embarrassed about what happened in the bedroom and he was so unsure of what to do or say to her.

Even though they were sharing a chore together they weren't having a conversation that would satisfy whether they were ok with each other or not.

"Man..." Leonardo thought "I hope she's not upset with me...after all we've been through..." he dried another dish and put it aside, his eyes every so often glancing over to Mona as she continued washing.

Mona passed a frying pan to Leonardo after rinsing it. She couldn't bring herself to look into the blue masked turtle's eyes.

Her heart still beat hard in her chest as she thought about the kiss again and how she could possibly talk to Leonardo again without the thought and feel of his lips on hers.

"This is wrong..." she thought "I love Raphael...I can't betray him..." tears filled her eyes as she thought more about Raphael, she knew he was dead, but she had sworn an oath to him with her heart and soul that she would remain faithful, though there had been no ceremony to make sure of that, and after Raphael's death, Mona wished in her heart of hearts that they had some kind of bonding ceremony, but it never happened.

Nevertheless, Mona had given her heart to Raphael, and her heart was broken due to his death, mentally touching her chest, she wondered if it would mend, that brief moment with Leonardo did sort of make her forget the pain she felt,kissing his lips almost felt like she had Raphael back in her arms again, but she knew in her heart that it wasn't Raphael and she felt terrible to think such a thing.

"What is wrong with me?" she thought as she glanced at Leonardo who had turned to put away the dishes already dried.

Just then Donatello's shell-cell rang making them all jump.

In fact Mona almost dropped a plate back in the water as that happened and Leonardo almost dropped the plates he was carrying.

Everyone turned to Donatello as he quickly picked up the phone and answered it.

"Donatello" he said causally.

"Donnie!" April's voice was heard on the other side which brought everyone's attention.

"April!?" cried Donatello "What is it? Any news on Casey?"

"The good news is he's awake and he's ok for visitors." said April "He's still in pain from his injuries and they say because of the wound in his stomach he needs to use a wheelchair for a few weeks."

Everyone looked concerned, though deep down, Mona felt pleased, mainly because she knew Casey wouldn't insist on coming with her and try and take down Black Mamba again. She didn't want to risk him getting hurt again, after seeing him injured once, she didn't want to risk it again.

"Are we able to visit him then?" asked Donatello.

"He's in a single ward so yes." said April "I analysed the area where the window is, he's on the north side on the seventeenth floor."

"So quite high up." said Donatello "Not a problem April, we can maybe abseil down from the roof and climb through the window to see him."

"I'm heading to the hospital right now to visit him for the evening." said April "I'll meet you there if you want to come now?"

Donatello looked at the others and they all nodded their heads agreeing they wanted to see Casey.

"Well, we'll all be there as soon as possible." said Donatello "See you soon April."

"Bye." said April before Donatello hung up the phone.

"So Casey's ok for visiting hours?" asked Michelangelo "Sweet!"

Mona looked really relived.

"I'm just so glad he's gonna be ok." she said.

"Well come on then." said Donatello "Let's get to the battle-shell so we can see him at the hospital."

The others agreed and followed the brainy turtle out of the kitchen and to the exit of the lair.

Whoa, awkwardness between both Mona and Leonardo, they both feel embarrassed but are showing signs of being attracted to each other, I wonder how it will progress over time?

Meanwhile, April's said Casey's ok for visitors, how will the visit go and will he say anything about Mona being Hell's Angel?

Well, tune in to find out!