A/N: Well, here's chapter four. I put a bit of Akasha's background into this one, hope you approve. I might change it a bit, we'll see.

Chapter 4

Spilled Milk.

April stepped out of the elevator and into the dimly lit hall. She trudged down it, dragging a suitcase behind her. She reached her apartment door and leaned her suitcase against the wall, delving in her bag with the other hand for her keys. Her fingers met cold metal. She drew the ring of keys out and fumbled for the right one, stifling a yawn; she was exhausted from the long plane trip.

The lock clicked, and the doorknob turned with a rusty squeak. April grabbed her case and hauled it into the living room, shutting the door behind her. She stumbled into the kitchen, nearly tripping over a saucer on the floor. Liquid slopped onto the shiny surface.

"Who left a saucer of milk on the floor?" April wondered, stooping to pick it up.

"Sorry," a voice behind her said. April jumped and turned around, skidding on the spilled milk. She grabbed the edge of the counter to stop herself from falling, frantically trying to see who had spoken. Her neice Akasha stood there, a glass of juice in one hand, and a guilty expression on her face.

"Akasha?" April sputtered. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at home?" Akasha walked over to her aunt and helped her to her feet, avoiding the milk.

"I got in a fight at school, and I needed a place to clean up," the girl said. "And I figured that it wouldn't matter if I stayed a little longer . . ." she trailed off.

April regained her composure and propped one hand on her hip, trying her best to glare at Akasha through eyes that refused to focus from lack of sleep.

"Your mother will be worried," April told the younger girl, opening a cupboard in search for rags to clean up the milk. "I know you two don't exactly see eye-to-eye-" Akasha snorted contemptuously- "but you're all she's got since your dad passed away, and you're never there. Give her a chance, Akasha! She deserves it, even if you don't think so!"

"She does not!" Akasha spat, snatching up the rags from the cupboard and starting to scrub at the floor with undue ferocity. "The things she does to those animals! It's not fair! I'd like to mutate her into a bloodthirsty monster. She can't get much worse!"

"Er, are we interrupting?" the turtles stood in the doorway, looking a little embarrassed at walking in on a private conversation. April stared at them.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"They came to check on you," Akasha explained, looking more than a little ashamed at the way she had just spoken to her aunt. "So they decided to spy on me to see if I was stealing stuff or whatever, but I caught them at it."

"And you didn't mind their, er, peculier appearance?" April asked, looking a little confused.

"My mom has seen to that," Akasha said bitterly, returning to mopping up the milk. "Compared to what she deals with, they're practically normal! Besides, they were worried about you, so they decided to stay 'till you got back."

"And anyway, it's not as if she'd never seen us before," Mikey interjected. "She'd seen your sketches of us in your journ-" Akasha slapped her hand over his mouth, cutting him off. April's eyes narrowed.

"You what?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at her neice.

"Er," Akasha sidled towards the door. "Well you see . . ."

"You read my journal?" April demanded, coming towards the squirming girl.

"Was I not supposed to say that?" Mike asked.

"Ya think?" Raph rolled his eyes.

"Just how far did you get, exactly?" April growled.

"Oh, you know, here and there-" Akasha began to say, but April overtook her.

"What page number?" she asked.

"Er, umm, two hundred and sixty-four," Akasha invented wildly. April shook her head.

"I haven't got that far yet," she informed the girl. "What's the real number?"

"I don't know! I've just got to the part where you found Klunk, I think." April sighed with relief.

"That's okay, then," she said. Akasha's eyes gleamed with curiosity.

"What aren't I allowed to read?" she asked.

"Never mind," April replied hastily. "I'm going to bed. You can all leave now-" She was drowned out by a wave of complaints.

"We haven't finnished our card game!"

"Can I just read a bit more? Please?"

"But I've almost figured out the moleculor system of a-"

"Enough!" Leo roared. The others quieted. "If April wants us to leave, we'll leave."

"They can sleep in the living room," Akasha said abruptly. "I'll get some blankets." She ran off.

"Sometimes I wonder if this is even my house any more," April muttered to herself, following the grinning turtles into the living room. Behind them, Klunk began to lap up the unattended pool ofmilk.

A/N: So? What da ya think? Please review, and tell me if there is anything I should change.