Have you ever had a story in your head, able to SEE the exact scenes in your mind's eye... and then only able to express said thoughts with a vague outline? No? Just me?

November 2, 2007

Raph landed on his shell, the wind knocked from him. "Oof!" He grunted. Leaning his head back, the turtle grinned as a hand entered his vision.

"That's time. I won this round." April helped her brother up, both of them covered in a heavy sheen of sweat. While everyone participated in Splinter's group training, April had taken to warming up by herself each morning. Sometimes others join her, but most of the time it was Raphael.

The red turtle cracked his neck as he returned to standing. "Not bad, Red." He offered his hand for a high-five on his way to his towel. "I have to admit, I didn't see that move coming. I'll be on the lookout for it next time we spar. You ready for a cool-down?"

April and Raph loved to spar and practice with the others and each other, but they especially loved their cool-down time when it was just the two of them. Mikey had discovered a new channel available on their hijacked cable package called Nickelodeon and it included the show Avatar: The Last Airbender. All five preteens loved the animated adventures of the benders, but April and Raph took it a step further. They studied the movements of each bending style and incorporated it into their routine. Today, they were cooling down with 'water-bending'.

"Yeah. Let's do this." April took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she began to move her feet in sync with Raph's. "I think Mai is coming over later with some Christmas decorations."

"It's too early for Christmas," Raph muttered, his eyes also closed. He was beginning to drift into a zone.

"It's never too early for Christmas. It's my favorite time of the year, since it brought me to you guys…" April drifted off, frowning as the world around her suddenly fell away to something… familiar…

"It is time for Experiment 274 to have Experiment 274's blood drawn for the Test."

"She's not feeling well from YESTERDAY'S bloodwork, you monsters! She's just a CHILD!" A man's voice… Do I know it? I feel like I should… April dove further into her vision – memory?

"Very well. Kraang shall postpone Experiment 274's bloodwork for the Test until tonight. Experiment 274 WILL be prepared."

"APRIL!"

Donnie's voice from the common area startled the girl out of her trace. Stumbling, she fell into Raph, both of them ending up on the floor.

"What does the Dork want now?" The red-clad turtle groaned. He groaned again as April smacked him upside the head.

"Don't call him the Dork. You know we'd all freeze down here without him."

"Yeah, I know…" Raph grumbled. He helped April to her feet. "Hey, you okay? I've never seen you go that deep into a trance before. Do you want to meditate on it?"

April shook her head. "Nah, I'd better go see what Donnie wants. I might do it later, though." She sighed as Raph brought her into a side hug. Despite their rocky beginnings, the two had become close.

"Always here for you, Sis."

"Always here for you, Bro."

As they always ended their sparing matches, they bumped forearms before departing.

"April? I found something you'll LOVE!"

"Alright, Donnie." April used the towel around her neck to dab at the sweat trickling down her face as she emerged from the dojo into the common area. "What's got your tail in a twist?"

The boy gave her a wry smile. True, it was typical of red-eared slider turtles to keep their tails as they aged; however, the four mutant turtles appeared to have lost their tails due to their transformation. Donnie appreciated the science jab, nonetheless. He scooted over on the couch to avoid a now snoring Michelangelo. The youngest was currently passed out from gorging himself on Halloween candy he had collected while they were topside trick-or-treating with Mai. April kissed the top of Mikey's head on her way to her seat next to Donnie. The boy smiled in his sleep as he shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Okay," The purple turtle adjusted his glasses, barely containing his excitement. "I was waiting to show this to you, but I need to make some adjustments to my computer, and I wanted to show it to you before I had to perform the necessary-"

April lightly pushed Donnie's head. "Just show me, Dee!" She twisted her body to see the article currently pulled up on screen:

'A SWIM THROUGH MERMAID COUNTRY: Disney's newest screen-to-stage adaptation, The Little Mermaid begins performances Nov. 3 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.'

"WHAT?!" The girl wrenched the laptop from Donnie's hands to scan the rest of the article. He chuckled as he moved his arm behind her on the back of the couch. "Little Mermaid is really coming to Broadway? This HAS to be the best thing ever! Wait-" April pointed at the screen. "Donnie they start performances tomorrow. Why'd you wait to show me?"

The arm that had previously rested behind April moved to rub the back of Donnie's neck. "Well, I didn't want to get your hopes up, April. These are just the previews and there's rumors of a bunch of Broadway stagehands going on strike…" He trailed off, seeing her grin. "You like it, though?"

She nodded, her smile able to light all of the Theatre District. "Yeah, Dee. I really like it. Even if I never get to see it, it's nice to know that Ariel's finally walking around up there, part of our world. " April sang before returning the laptop. "Well, I need to shower up and go meditate. I had another… episode during cool-down…" She rubbed her arm nervously. "Will you come meditate with me when I'm clean?"

Donnie held out his hand his hand, indicating April should take it. She extended her own, feeling his three fingers squeeze her own five delicate digits. "Of course, April. You know I'm always down to help you. I'll go grab the candles, you worry about getting clean because I wasn't going to say anything but…" The turtle held up his hands in mock surrender. "You do sort of smell…"

April scoffed, throwing a pillow at the boy while he laughed. "Shut up!" She hopped over the back of the couch to grab what she needed to shower. "Meet you in the dojo in 20."

"Copy…" Donnie was already lost in his thoughts again, staring at the Little Mermaid article. Part of her world, huh? Maybe something could be done about that…