Disclaimer: HAHAHA!! You think I own the ninja turtles. Well I don't.

Lona breathed hard as her feet pounded on the sidewalk. She looked down at the ground as she ran, ignoring the burning feeling in her throat. She bit her lip as she neared the street her apartment building was on. Please let it be a fluke, a mistake, anything!

As she rounded the corner she immediately smelled smoke. "Oh no no no no no…." she muttered to herself as her flame-engulfed building came into view.

Mikey flipped off one rooftop and landed on another, his feet running before they even hit the surface. He kept his eyes on the street while he ran, looking for any sign of Lona so he could stop her before she got to the building. Seeing none, he assumed she had beaten him there. "Where are you?" he whispered. As her building came into view, he saw her running towards it, and immediately started making his way to the ground.

As Lona got closer to her building, a police officer stepped in front of her. "I'm sorry miss, but you can't get any closer to the building."

"My…my uncle's in there," she said quietly, willing herself not to lose control. The police officer looked nervous. "What?" she asked him.

Before he could answer, a fireman clad in his heavy fire uniform came up to him. "We got all the people we could, Bob. Lotta people died."

Lona forced herself to stay calm. "Excuse me," she asked the fireman, "Where are the survivors?"

"Right over there," the fireman said, pointing to a circle of ambulances. "Why?"

Lona didn't answer him. She rushed over to the ambulances and pushed through the paramedics. She caught sight of many families she knew, hugging each other and crying. She looked all around for her uncle. She pulled one paramedic aside.

"Um…did you rescue anyone by the name of Fred Morrison?" She asked.

The paramedic looked at her, and consulted a list in her hand. "Hmm…let's see…we got a Jane Morris, but no Fred Morrison. Sorry."

Lona thanked the paramedic, and walked dazedly into a nearby alley. There, she sank to her knees. "No…please god no…" she whispered to herself. She repeated this louder and louder until she was screaming at the top of her lungs. "NO! NO NO NO! OH GOD NO!"

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She whipped around and punched Mikey in the face. Realizing who she had hit, she gasped, tears still running down her face.

"Oh god Mikey, I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was you…and…and…" Lona broke down sobbing and fell against him.

Mikey bit his lip, rubbing his beak where she had punched him. He had no idea what to do. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her and let her cry.

Back in the lair, Mikey opened the door to his bedroom and led Lona inside, suddenly wishing he had cleaned up a little first.

"You can sleep here," he told her. "I'll be okay on the couch…"

Lona said nothing, just slowly walked into the room and wrapped her arms around herself. "It's cold in here," she said quietly, her voice trembling with grief and exhaustion.

Mikey scratched his head. "Well…yeah, I mean, you are in the sewers. Hang on." He disappeared, and came back with a really big black sweatshirt. "I wear this sometimes on training runs when it's cold outside," he said. "Sorry it's so big, it's the only way I could fit my shell in it."

Lona gave him a tiny smile as she slipped on the huge sweatshirt. "It's okay, Mikey. It's fine. But…I have a really bad headache, would you mind leaving for a while?" Mikey nodded, and left his room.

Mikey sighed as he sank down on the couch, remote in his hand. He glanced up as Leo walked into the room.

"Hey, anything good on?" Leo inquired.

Mikey shrugged. "Nah…just reality shows."

Leo sat down. "Hey Mikey…"

"Yeah?"

"I saw you come in with Lona. She looked really upset. What happened?"

Mikey turned to look at him. "I thought you didn't like her," he stated.

Leo sighed. "Yeah, well…I guess I was a little hard on her. I mean, I didn't really get to know her or anything."

Mikey leaned back into the couch. "Leo, you know that fire that was on the news?"

Leo nodded.

"That's where Lona used to live. With her uncle."

Leo looked around. "Is her uncle here too?" he asked.

Mikey shook his head. "No."

"Then where is he?"

"He didn't make it. Lona and her uncle lived on the top floor."

Leo was silent, reflecting.

"So that's what's wrong with her." Mikey said. "Try to be nice to her, okay?"

Leo shrugged. "Sure. I never meant to be mean to her in the first place."

Mikey grinned. "Okay, well, then make sure Raph is nice to her."

Leo snorted. "Good luck."

Lona woke up in a strange bed. She sat bolt upright and tried to remember where she was. All of a sudden everything came back. Her uncle was gone. Her house was gone. And now she was in a sewer with five mutants. Lona groaned and buried her head back in the pillows. She stared at the ceiling for a while, and then decided to come out, since she couldn't sleep anymore.

Lona cautiously stepped out of Mikey's room and listened for any sound of movement. Hearing none she made her way to the kitchen.

Upon entering the kitchen, she found herself face to face with Leonardo. "Oh!" she gasped, "I didn't know you were in here, I'm sorry-"

Leo put a hand up. "It's okay…Lona, right?"

Lona nodded.

"Well…as I was saying…it's okay. You're allowed to be in here too."

Lona stared at him. Why was he being so nice?

Leo sighed. "I'm really sorry about how I acted before, I'm just really wary of strangers."

Lona shrugged. That explained a lot.

Leo looked at her for a while, then got a pot from under the sink. "Want some tea?" he asked.

"What kind?" Lona asked.

Leo smiled. "I thought you weren't going to say anything to me. Um…we have green tea, Irish breakfast tea, and strawberry tea."

"Strawberry please." Lona said, taking a seat at the table and rested her chin on her arms.

Ten minutes later, Leo set a steaming mug in front of Lona. She picked it up, took a drink, and made a face. Looking around, she caught sight of a sugar bowl on the table. She pulled it towards her and started shoveling huge amounts of sugar into her mug, watching it disperse through the red liquid.

"You're gonna get sick if you put all that sugar in there," Leo said.

Lona brought the mug to her mouth and drank, not paying any attention to the elder turtle's words.

Leo sighed, and put his own cup down. "Um…Mikey told me about…the fire and everything. I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

Lona watched him carefully over the rim of her cup, but still said nothing. She gave a deep sigh, and rose from the table. "What should I do with this?" she asked quietly, indicating her mug.

"Just leave it in the sink, we'll get to it," Leo told her. Lona obeyed, and retreated back to Mikey's room, the headache coming back. She was unaware of the pair of eyes watching her from the couch.

Mikey walked into the kitchen, stretching. Leo looked up from his book. "Hey Mikey," he greeted him.

Mikey yawned, and plopped down at the table.

Five minutes later, Splinter came out of his room and joined his sons at the table, closely followed by Raphael.

Mikey raised an eyeridge at Raph. "Shouldn't you still be in the Med Room?" he asked.

Raph waved a hand. "Naah. Donnie said I was fine."

Leo looked skeptical at this. Seeing his look, Raph put his hands up defensively. "What? He did. You can ask him."

Leo looked to Don, who had just come in yawning. "Yeah…I did, Leo," he confirmed. Leo shrugged and went back to his book.

Mikey sighed and pushed his scrambled eggs around. Splinter looked sharply at him. "Does something bother you, Michelangelo?"

Mikey groaned. "Well…I dunno, I just feel really bad for Lona, and there's really nothing I can….wait a minute…" he interrupted himself. "I can't make her life go back to the way it was, but I can make her feel better!" With this, he leaned in and informed his family of his plan.

Lona woke up to whispering voices. Her first thought was Oh my god I've finally gone crazy. But as she woke up more, she realized the voices were coming from the living room. She stumbled out of Mikey's bedroom, shaking matted brown hair from her face.

There she saw Mikey and Don chatting with a pretty red-haired lady. Leo and Raph were nowhere to be seen. Lona caught bits and pieces of the conversation.

"-But she's really cool, April, and-"

"-Well, I'll be happy to help-"

"-While you're out, can you get some pizza?"

Lona smiled. She had only known Mikey for a few days, but she knew one thing: his mind was only on food. She decided to make herself known. She approached the living area, and Mikey caught sight of her.

"Lona!" He said, "This is April." He indicated the redhead, who stepped forward and offered her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Lona," April provided.

Lona shook her hand, and was suddenly aware that her hair was not brushed and she was clad in an overlarge T-shirt and pajama pants. Lona ran a hand through her hair, utterly embarrassed. "Um…hi. Nice to meet you too, April, can you excuse me for a minute?"

Lona rushed off, quickly climbed into her jeans and black T-shirt featuring a logo that said: 'I Love Darth Vader.' She ran into the bathroom, pulled a brush through her hair, twisted it into a messy bun, and ran back into the living room. "That's better," she gasped.

Mikey chuckled a little. "Lona, April's here to take you out for a little while."

Lona cocked her head at him, and then at April. "Take me where?"

"Shopping," April provided, "If that's okay?"

Lona shrugged. Usually she would have jumped at the chance, but she was still depressed. April, having been informed of the situation earlier, smiled sympathetically. She motioned to Lona. "Come on, let's get outta here."

Lona cast a glance at Mikey, and pulled on her too-big army jacket. "Later much," she said to him, waved goodbye to Donnie, and followed April out the door.

Lona stuffed her hands in her pockets as she and April made their way down the busy street. "So…do you have a favorite place to shop?" April asked. Lona shook her head. She glanced up at April, and shook a few stray wisps of hair from her face. "April, I don't want to be rude. I really appreciate what you're trying to do, but…"

"You're still feeling depressed, right?" April finished for her. Lona nodded. "It's okay," April told her. "I felt the same way when my father died. Hmm…tell you what. I know the perfect place we can go."

Soon April and Lona arrived at a little restaurant nestled in between two buildings. April opened the door and motioned Lona in, following behind. An elderly old lady stood behind a counter which displayed many kinds of cakes, pies, and other yummy things that are bad for you.

"Hello April!" The old lady said happily. "Haven't seen you for a while."

April smiled. "I've been busy Sheila. I want you to meet a new friend of mine." Lona looked down in embarrassment. "This is Lona," April said.

Sheila smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you Lona. Now, what would you like?"

Lona bit her lip. "Um…could you give me a few minutes to decide?"

Sheila nodded, then turned her attention to April, who approached her while Lona looked through all the pastries and such. April whispered something in her ear, and Sheila nodded once more.

Lona glanced up from where she was examining the sweet snacks, and made her way to the counter. "I'd like two really big slices of cheesecake please." She said matter-of-factly. Sheila opened the glass divider and got the desired food, and handed it to Lona. "Enjoy."

April led Lona over to a table and sat down. Lona was confused. "I thought you had to pay…?"

April laughed. "Nope. Not today. Sheila's my friend, and she said it was on the house for you."

Lona raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as she dug into her cheesecake.

Mikey flopped on the couch with the remote in his hand after a rigorous two-hour practice session. He looked up as the heavy door to his home swung open, and April and Lona walked in.

Mikey bounced up immediately, glad to see his two human friends. Lona looked a lot better. The sadness still showed in her eyes, but she wasn't totally lethargic anymore. "Lona!" he called. "Teen Titans is on!" he pointed to the TV, where Lona's favorite cartoon had started playing.

Lona grinned. "Cool." She held up a white paper bag. "I got you a present, Mikey."

Mikey was surprised. "Really?"

Lona nodded. "Yep. Here." She handed over the paper bag, and Mikey peered inside. Resting on the bottom of the bag was a humongous piece of cheesecake.

"Alright!" Mikey exclaimed. "I love cheesecake." He went back to the couch, and started eating.

Lona turned to April. "Thanks April," she said quietly.

April shrugged. "No problem. I'd better be going." She waved goodbye to Mikey, and left.

Lona jumped onto the couch next to Mikey, and watched the rest of the cartoon episode with him. When it was over, she turned to him. "Hey Mikey, would it be alright if I explored a little?"

Mikey nodded. "Sure. Just don't go in Raph's room, or Splinter's room."

Lona gave him a thumbs-up. "Got it." She wandered off down the hallway, and suddenly realized she never had asked anyone about that weird pool in the middle of the lair. She sighed, and dismissed it, meaning to ask later.

Soon she came across a door. She opened it, and peeked inside. Inside the room there were weapons of all different kinds hanging on the wall, and mats covered the floor. She knew what this was. A dojo…she thought to herself. She knew this from the few jujitsu lessons she had attended as a child.

She immediately sat on the floor and tugged one shoe off, but then had a little trouble with the second one. She leaned against the wall and tugged so hard she fell onto her back, still trying to get the shoe off.

Lona was soon aware of a shadow over her. Mikey was looking down at her, an amused look on his face.

"May I ask what you're doing?" he asked.

"I can't…get…this shoe….OFF!" Lona said, pulling as hard as she could.

Mikey laughed and sat down on the floor next to her. "Should I help?" he asked. Lona held her foot out to him, and with one mighty tug, it was off.

"Thanks," Lona said. "Now I can go in there."

Mikey looked past her to the dojo. "Why exactly do you want to go into the dojo?"

Lona shrugged. "Why not?"

Mikey grinned. "Good answer. Come on, I'll go with you." He took Lona into the room.

"Hey, Mikey, could you teach me some of your moves? Your ninja moves? I took jujitsu a long time ago…but I forgot everything."

Mikey nodded. "Yeah, sure. The first thing is," he mimicked Splinter, "The way of invisibility."

Lona laughed. "Mikey, you shouldn't make fun of Splinter."

Mikey just grinned.

A/N: Ha, no cliffhanger for you today. (Honestly, I couldn't think of one.) I have mixed feelings on this chapter. When I was writing the beginning, I cried, and then I was laughing because I was crying, so I was crying and laughing at the same time. It was weird. Anyway, this chapter was hard, because I had to work up to…other things I'm planning. Enjoy.