CHAPTER 10

Oh, btw, quotes/scenes you may have recognized from the last chapter came from 2 cartoon episodes- "Heroes in a Half Shell" and "Michaelangelo Meets Bugman". Quotes in this chapter (and some in the next chapter too, I think) are from Romeo & Juliet and may not be exactly right. I actually COULD NOT FIND a copy of the play, so all this is from memory. If I forgot a line without noticing it, I apologize. LOL You'll just have to forgive me.

LEONARDO:

She stood at the end of the couch, and faced me. But she said nothing. I glanced up. "You alright, Rei?" I questioned. "Need something?"

A hardened look crossed her face. "I talked to Michaelangelo last night."

I set the book down, immediately sensing the seriousness in her tone. "About what?"

"About April."

My stomach tightened. For a moment, I was speechless. I hadn't heard that name in months. But I guess I wasn't surprised that it still hurt to think about her. We'd never talked about it, after the initial reaction to news of her death. And yes, I knew that had been the turning point in Michaelangelo. But it was still entirely too difficult to talk about. Besides that, I didn't know what I could possibly say to him about it. None of us did, so we'd avoided talking about it.

Rei waited patiently. "That surprises me," I finally managed.

"You don't believe me?" she challenged.

"No, I didn't say that," I answered. "I just said it surprises me."

Her arms crossed over her chest. "And are you still going to tell me you don't know what's wrong with him?"

Her tone was accusative. I sat up and put my feet on the floor. "I never said I didn't know what's wrong with him, Rei. I said I didn't know why he was refusing to deal with whatever it was."

"Deal with it how?" she shot. "How's he supposed to deal with it when he has no one to go to?"

I shook my head. "You can't say that, Rei, you don't know my brother."

"I know you turned your back on him when he needed you to..."

"No," I protested, cutting her off. I stood to my feet, feeling anger boil inside of me. She had no right to accuse me like that. I loved my brother, and she had no right to say that I didn't. "I did not turn my back on him. I don't know what would give you that impression but I would never..."

"You disowned him, Leo?" she interrupted, her voice ringing with disbelief.

I stared at her, momentarily stunned. "What?"

"That's what he said," she shot. "Is it not what he meant?"

Her sarcasm could've rivaled Raphael's. I stared at her, trying to figure out what she was talking about. "Rei what are you...?"

"I don't know, Leo, you tell me," she snapped, cutting me off.

I turned away from her, my mind racing through painful memories. Why would he say that? Why would he even think it? My mind raced through painful memories, and suddenly I knew what he meant. I leaned forward and buried my face in my hands. "Oh, god," I whispered. "He really thinks that, doesn't he? He really thinks I meant that."

"What else could you mean by it?" she demanded coldly.

I stared at her. She wasn't the one I needed to be talking to. "Where is he?" I questioned.

She studied me for a moment. "I think he's in his room."

I didn't hesitate. I got up and walked up the stairs, then knocked on his door. "Mike, you there?"

He didn't answer for a long time. Then the door opened. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"Yeah, Mike, we need to talk."

He opened the door wider, and stepped back. "About what?"

I considered the millions of ways I could go about this, and decided not to beat around the bush. "About April," I sighed.

He tensed noticeably, as if he were preparing for a verbal attack. Then he glared at me. "Rei talked to you, didn't she?" he demanded coldly.

I sighed. "Mike, this isn't about Rei," I informed him. "This is about me and I'm sorry."

He stared back, a blank look on his face. I looked away. "I remember what I said," I mumbled. "Telling you to leave." I glanced up. "But you gotta understand, Mike. Sometimes we do things and say things we don't mean because we…"

"Save it, Leo," he interrupted. "I don't need this speech."

I watched him for a moment. "It's not a…"

"Leo," he cut me off. Our eyes met and he sighed. "Just don't. I know, okay? You didn't mean it, you were just pissed."

"Yeah, you know it, but do you believe it?" I challenged.

He stared down at the floor. "I don't know, Leo. There's so many things I don't know right now, I…"

"Mike, look at me," I ordered. Reluctantly, he raised his eyes, and I rested a hand on his shoulder. "But you've always been a part of this family, and you always will be regardless of what you do. Got that?"

"Yeah, Leo," he mumbled. The tone of his voice warned me that he was just trying to get me to leave. But I hoped that at the same time, he knew how serious I was.

MICHAELANGELO:

"Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, Which mannerly devotion shows in this, For saints have hands that pilgrims hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmer's kiss."

I reached my arm back and threw a flat stone into the calm water, watching it skip over the glossy surface. "Have not saints lips?" I replied, lost in thought about other things. "And holy palmers too?"

"Ay pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer."

I glanced over at Rei and she smiled, waiting for the next line. But I didn't remember it. It had been a long time since I'd rehearsed Shakespeare, and never with anyone else. She glanced back up at the house, to make sure no one was watching, then raised her hand to the side of my face, her soft eyes dancing. "Oh then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do..." she cued. And I remembered.

"They pray," I continued. "Grant thou lest faith turn to despair."

She brushed her thumb back and forth over my cheek, studying me. "Saints do not move though grant for prayer's sake," she mumbled.

Again, I looked to see if we were being watched. The house was still, and the shades were drawn. It was still pretty early, though well after sunrise, and I figured everyone was probably still in bed. Except, of course, for Leo. And he was out running along the nature trail. He wouldn't be back for quite a while. "Then move not by my prayer's effect I take," I whispered, turning my attention back to Rei. "Thus from my lips by thine my sin is purged."

I came close and kissed, our tongues touching hesitantly. She pulled away slowly, but sooner than I would've liked. Still close, she held my head close to hers. "Then have my lips the sin that they have took?" she breathed. Her lips brushed mine as she spoke.

"Sin from my lips?" I whispered back, burying my fingers in her hair. "Trespass sweetly urged give me my sin again."

I forgot what I had been thinking as we kissed deeply. She rose to her knees as our tongues played over each other, and towered over me. My hands moved themselves down her sides, acting of their own accord. The feel of her soft skin tingled against my palms. The light blue and green string bikini top hid very little from my exploration. I reached the top of her jean shorts and stopped, resting my hands on her hips.

She put her arms on my shoulders and pushed me down, onto my back. I didn't resist her, and lay down in the sand. She followed me, our lips still locked together, her hands on my shoulders. When she broke the kiss, she moved down to my neck, licking and sucking gently at my skin. I felt the excitement growing between my legs, but forced it into submission.

"We're gonna get caught, Rei," I sighed. I knew what would happen if her brother looked out the window and saw this.

She pulled away slowly and sat up, sighing deeply. "I know," I sympathized. Every part of me felt that same sigh. I rose next to her and took her hand. "Later, huh?" I grinned at her.

"Later what?" she teased, smiling back.

"Later you can do anything you want to me," I informed her. My body tingled with the exhilaration of the idea.

She laughed and shoved me playfully. "Who says I want to do anything to you?" she smirked.

I caught myself on my arms and resisted the urge to retaliate. If we ended up rolling around and wrestling on the sand, we would get caught. I glanced over my shoulder again to make sure we were still alone, and looked out over the water. There was a barge in the distance, halfway between us and Canada. I sighed as I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees, and tried not to think about anything at all.

RAPHAEL:

I know they didn't see me. If they did, there was no way in hell they would've been fooling around like that. I wasn't surprised. In fact, it was kind of a relief to know that I was right. I watched them talk, keeping their hands to themselves. They were afraid of getting caught. And with damn good reason. Yukio would probably try to kill them both.

My thoughts came to rest there, and I felt bitter frustration seep into my thoughts. The way he treated Rei irritated me. But the way he spoke of my brother, and me for that matter, royally pissed me off. I hoped that when they did get caught, Mike would stand up for himself. It was gonna happen eventually. And I could only pray I was there if Yukio got violent.

Rei stood and walked away, leaving Michaelangelo on the beach. She approached me unsuspecting that I was even there. Her hands were buried deep in her pockets and a slight smirk was on her lips.

"Hello, Rei."

She jumped, startled. "Omigod! Raphael! I didn't see you!"

I smiled. "That was the idea."

Her eyes darted back to Michaelangelo, then to me. A panicked look was on her face. I decided not to say anything about what I'd seen. It would only freak her out. And I had no intentions of using it against them. "You okay?" I asked. She nodded quickly. "There's coffee in there." Her eyes darted reflexively to the mug in front of me.

"Why, uh, are you hiding?" she finally stammered.

I smiled. "What makes you think I was hiding?"

"You pulled that chair into the trees, Raph," she reminded me. "Why not at the table?"

I shrugged. "The chair was already here," I answered. That wasn't a lie. "And I'm too lazy to move it back. Besides, the shade is nice."

She considered that for a moment, and apparently decided that she believed me. I looked back at the beach, toward Michaelangelo. He lay back on the sand and stared up at the sky. "He doesn't know I'm here either, does he?" I thought out loud.

"Uh," Rei stammered. "No."

I said nothing. There wasn't much to say. After a long, somewhat uneasy silence, I sighed. "You like him, don't you."

It wasn't really a question. I knew the answer before I ever asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a puzzled expression on his face. "Of course I like him, Raph."

I could tell by the way she said it that she'd missed the point. "No, I mean you really like him."

She caught the implication and flushed slightly. "I..."

"Mmm," I mumbled, hiding a smile behind my hand. What a surprise.

"You mean..." she struggled. "You mean would I date him?"

"Yeah," I shrugged. "Sure."

Her eyes fell. "I... I don't know."

I studied her for a few minutes. She was pretty good, acting like she'd never thought about it before. "It's okay," I assured her. "Not like I'm going to say anything to your brother."

She clenched her arms across her chest and rubbed her upper arms. She didn't say anything. She was waiting, trying to feel out my reaction. I let her sweat for a few seconds, turning my eyes toward Mike. "You know, Rei, I don't care if you and my brother are fucking with hats off; I've just got one thing to say to you." I turned and looked her straight in the eye. "You break his heart, I break your neck." She tensed, but said nothing. "And I mean that most sincerely, Rei. I don't care what you two do, but you better not tell him you love him unless you really mean it."

Her gaze turned ice cold. "You don't have to threaten me, Raphael," she glared. "I'm not like that."

I stared at her, unwavering. "Just don't screw him over, Rei," I warned. "That's all I have to say."

An indignant glare answered me, and she said nothing as she walked away. I'd pissed her off. Not that I really cared. She'd get over it.

For a few minutes, I was alone. Michaelangelo stood and walked to the water. I debated for a minute, then stood up. I walked to the edge of the sand and stopped for a minute. It was warm and soft. A ridge of rocks separated us. I looked both ways down the beach to make sure no one was around and started toward the water's edge.

I kicked a stone as I stopped behind him and he spun around. I smiled. "Hey," I greeted.

He studied me for a minute before turning back to the smooth, calm water. "How long've you been here?" he questioned.

I shrugged. "You turned around as soon as I walked up."

"No, how long were you watching me from up by the house?"

I stared at him for a minute, surprised. "Yeah, I was... talking to Rei. Not for very long, though/"

"About me?"

I grinned. "Yeah, Mike, we have nothing better to talk about."

I left him to figure out if that was sarcasm or not. He studied me, then turned away. "Why?" he asked.

"Why what?"

"Why do you care?"

I stared at him for a minute. "About what? Her?"

He shrugged. "Her, me. Anything. Why's it your concern?"

I was a little thrown by the question. "Why wouldn't it be, Mike? You're my brother, for cryin' out loud."

He hung his head and said nothing. I let the silence continue for a minute, then sighed. "I do care you know," I mumbled. After a moment's hesitation, he looked up. Still, he said nothing. "And if you want the truth, I think she's good for you, Mikey."

He flinched at the name, but didn't hit back. I knew I was pushing it. A month ago, he probably would have tried to take my head off for using it. He'd rejected that name violently after that night, when he'd changed. So much about him changed, in an instant. He'd walked out of here his usual, carefree self... and walked back in at the brink of a nervous breakdown. He was like a different person. And I didn't like who he'd become. Dark, depressed... Shit, he was worse than me. I kept my problems to myself, but his ability to keep silent damn near put me to shame. In the past four months, he'd said about as much as he'd managed in four minutes, pre-crisis.

That's what it was. A crisis. It was as if the world had come to a screeching halt, trapping him in a state of being that was drastically different from who he really was. Now it looked like he was finally starting to come out of it. And in spite of my reservations, I knew exactly what was causing it.

"You've been more like yourself since she's been around," I continued quietly. "Like you're starting to get back to normal."

He looked up. Pain was written all over his features. "I don't want to be normal, Raphael," he whispered. "I don't want to be anything like who I was."

His words struck me. "Why? Why would you say that, Mike? I mean, we need you around here." He turned his gaze away again. "Hey, I don't know if you've realized this but things just aren't the same around here without you easing all the tension." I grinned. "I've come uncomfortably close to killing Leo twice already, and you didn't even notice."

That was meant to be a joke, but it was true, too. We needed him around. Me, especially. I wasn't about to admit it to anyone else, but I knew he balanced me out. Eventually, I would go off the deep end. It was already getting bad.

He looked back toward the water. "I..." he started. "I notice. I just..."

"Don't care," I finished for him. It wasn't an accusation. It was just the facts.

He sighed and shook his head as he stared down at the sand. "I just don't know anymore, Raphael."

I hesitated for a moment, then raised my hand to his shoulder. "I know," I mumbled. "I don't expect you to. Not yet. But I think..." I stopped and thought for a minute about what I was about to say. I didn't want to give him bad advice. "I think you and Rei... are good together. I see the way you act when she's around, and it's more like you. And whatever you do, Mike, I'll back you up."

He was silent. After a long pause, he nodded. "Thank you," he whispered, eyes closed. And for once, he didn't sound like he was on the brink of tears.