With a deep groan, Raphael rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

As his vision became clear, he looked up at his hand. He started for a moment before realizing that there was nothing out of the ordinary. Green, three appendages, and reptilian. Yup, that was his. The thought of being attached to something with five thin fingers was clearly the remnant of a dream.

Or was it? He tried to sit up, but found that his back was incredibly stiff. Looking down, he saw that he was tucked into an unfamiliar bed with unfamiliar black sheets. A sweeping gaze around the room only confused him more, as he was sure he had never seen it before. When he caught sight of a tank on a desk, Raphael realized that he had simply never seen Allison's bedroom during the daytime.

Forcing himself up, Raphael saw that the spot next to him was unoccupied and looked as though it had been undisturbed the entire night. Dimly wondering where the others were, he hobbled over to the tank to observe what was inside. Sure enough, there within the tank was a turtle. It was a large one, with a misshapen shell. Raphael's first thought was that it had went through one too many battles, and he couldn't help but laugh at the thought of a pet turtle experiencing half of the things he had. But hey, I had just about resigned myself to being this little guy's neighbor, so I guess anything's possible.

"Oh!" Raphael turned around, surprised by the sound. Allison was standing at the doorway, a tray in her hands. The first thing Raphael noticed about her was how… different she looked. Granted, his clearest memories of her as of late were as a rat, but he had never seen her like this before. She was wearing a simple white dress with a pale yellow cardigan. Her hair was up and she was barefoot. She looked so… young. And so… feminine.

"Oh," Raphael echoed, more for the sake of saying something than needing anything to exclaim about. They stared at one another for a few moments, not knowing what else to say. Finally, Allison looked down and continued her way into the room. "April and Casey are showing the guys around LA," she explained, putting the tray down on the night table. "As much of it as they can, at any rate. I told them I'd stay here and look after you."

Raphael dropped his eyes down to the tray and burst out laughing. On it was a bowl, a spoon, some milk, and a box of Honey Nut Cheerios. "You remembered," he commented. She looked at him quizzically before realizing the connection. "Oh, yeah," she laughed, looking down at the cereal. "It was on sale a few weeks after I moved here, so I bought it and it's kinda become my cereal of choice."

Raphael laughed softly again, mostly because he didn't want the awkward silence to creep in. Luckily, Allison remembered something that kept that from happening. "Oh, I made you something!" He followed her with his eyes as she walked towards him and sat at her desk. As she opened her drawer, he asked, "Made me somethin'? Since when?"

"This morning," she replied. "I woke up early and remembered I had some fabric left over…." Finding what she had made him, she pulled it out and offered it to him. Taking it, he saw that it was a red bandanna. Touching his face, he remembered that he had taken his off at Bishop's base the night before. With a smile, he put it on and said, "Thanks. I'll take this over a pair of stupid pants any day."

Allison gave him a small smile before motioning over to the tray she had set down. "You'd better eat something. You might not be a puny human anymore, but I'd rather have you at your best." Raphael didn't move as she turned towards the turtle sitting at her desk. "Time for you to get some food, too, Botticelli. You must be starving."

He stepped back and sat on the bed, watching her unscrew the lid of a jar of dry pellets. Grimacing, Raphael reached for his cereal and started filling his bowl. "Thoroughly revolting," he remarked. Sparing him a glance over her shoulder, Allison smirked, "If you think this is bad, you should've seen the stuff he was forced to eat before I took him in. Poor guy probably thinks he's in heaven right now."

Raphael contemplatively poured milk into his bowl as Allison finished feeding Botticelli. "Kinda sad, isn't it?" Raphael commented lowly. "He's sittin' in a tank all day, thankful just to be fed. Kinda makes me wonder what I got to complain about."

At the expanse of silence, Raphael looked up. Allison had turned to face him completely, and was looking at him with concern in her eyes. Happy that she cared and yet, by habit, annoyed by her worry, Raphael dug into his food. "No worries," he said around a mouthful of cereal. "I know when I'm better off. Happy as a clam, that's me."

Allison stood and slowly advanced towards him. "Raphael," she said quietly. Raphael quickly interrupted her. "Don't start, kid. Yesterday was just a bad nightmare. I'd rather forget it." Sitting besides him, Allison inquired, "All of it?"

Raphael stopped in mid-bite. He wanted to look at Allison, but he knew that looking at her—especially in that dress—would only remind him of what had nearly happened the night before… and of what can't happen. "Yeah," he finally answered. "All of it."

Allison shook her head. "I don't think that's true-" She was sharply cut off by Raphael, who spun around to face her. "Well, think what ya want, okay?" Rather than retaliate, which is what her usual response would have been, Allison merely gazed at him steadily before reaching over and embracing him, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Not expecting this, Raphael didn't know what to do. She didn't seem to be crying. He hadn't insulted her or done anything to hurt her feelings. Therefore, he couldn't rightfully comfort her or apologize. Leaning over as much as he could to put his bowl down, Raphael simply waited for some clue as to what to do next.

"I wish you could understand," she whispered. "Just understand the contradictory things going through my mind right now. How happy I was for you last night, that you would be able to go out and have a life of your own, a life that you wanted. How you were just the average sixteen-year-old kid. And at the same time… how relieved I was when you changed back. Because that other Raphael wasn't Raphael at all, you know? It was who you would have been had your life been different. It was still great, but… this is you. This is what you're really meant to be. This is the person who helped change my life."

Instead of relaxing, Raphael only became more and more uncomfortable as she spoke. He didn't want to remember the night before. It tugged at a sad part of him that he didn't want to think about. It was a different sort of sadness than the times that his brothers have been in trouble, or when his shell cycle has gotten wrecked. This was a deeper, more personal sadness. It made him feel selfish. He could feel violent, malicious, and vain. Don't make him feel selfish.

"I didn't do anything for you," he told her, still not moving within her embrace and willing himself not to look at her. "You had the guts to write a movie, to move out to California, and to be yourself. That's somethin' that I can't take credit for."

Allison looked up at him. Staring at his profile, she could see that his jaw was clenched, as though he were holding something back. Did he honestly want to believe that the entire night before was just a nightmare? "Raphael… I'm only saying this because…." She stopped. She knew why she was saying it, but was she really so close to actually admitting it?

Sensing her confliction, Raphael slowly turned his head to look at her. There was something going on in both of them, something that neither of them was used to. It brought a sense of unease to Raphael. If he made the wrong choice, something very bad and irrevocable would happen.

"I'm saying this," Allison finally continued quietly, "because I want you to know how I feel about you." She could feel him tense up, though his face managed to keep any and all reactions at bay. There. She had said it. Did he also expect her to do something about it? Seeing no movement from him whatsoever, she decided that she would have to. Taking a deep breath, she slowly moved into him.

Breaking out of her grasp, Raphael stood up. Allison nearly stumbled onto the spot where he had just been sitting. Looking up at him, she saw that he had given her his shell, a sure sign that he didn't want her to see his face. He usually only ever did that when it exhibited an actual emotion.

"I know how you feel," Raphael told her somewhat breathlessly. "I know. But it just ain't gonna happen, so we might as well forget about it." Allison stood up, her hands clenched into fists besides her. He tried to move backwards out of the room, but stopped when he sensed that Allison had countered his movement.

"You said 'we,'" she observed, almost desperately. She had let herself be vulnerable in front of him, if only because he had been the same way the night before and she felt it was only fair. "If you're saying 'we,' then you can't just back out of here without telling me what it is that you're feeling."

"Does it matter?" Raphael asked sharply, spinning around to meet her pleading gaze with his fiery one. "Maybe somethin' coulda happened if I was still some 'puny human.' Not now. Take a good look at me, kid. We can't hold hands comfortably. We can't be seen in public together unless it's Halloween. I don't even have real lips to… to do what you were just gonna do. Okay? I've seen King Kong. I've seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame. People like me don't get the girl at the end, and if they do, it usually doesn't have a good ending."

Her arms hanging limply at her sides, Allison murmured, "Lots of great movies don't have good endings. It's something that the audience is willing to forgive… so long as the rest of the film is amazing." She warily took a step towards him, lowering her voice to a bare whisper as she gingerly took both of his hands in hers. "Raphael… there's no reason why we can't make an amazing film."

He looked down at her small hands in his much larger ones. Slowly, his gaze rose to meet her eyes. She was being earnest. But why? Did she really believe that he had made such a difference in her life to warrant that look in her eyes? The idiot, Raphael thought as he saw her step towards him once again. She doesn't know what she's gettin' herself into… and I'm tired of warnin' her.

This time, Raphael let himself lean in against her as well. Trying to ignore how long he had actually been wanting to this, he finally allowed her lips to touch his mouth, mildly surprised by how soft her lips were. He found himself wondering what it would have felt like had he still been human, but forced himself to ignore everything else other than what he was actually feeling right now.

At length, they parted. Allison still had a hold of Raphael's hands, and slowly looked down at them. Though she tried to resist it, a light blush came to her cheeks. She thought it was ridiculous, since she was an adult and should be well past the age of being embarrassed over romantic feelings. The blush only intensified, though, when she heard the lock on the front door open.

"Oh!" Allison exclaimed, dropping Raphael's hands as she remembered that she had given April a spare key to her apartment. She turned to look at the partially-open door of the bedroom, and could see Casey come in with numerous bags and packages from various shops down the boulevard.

"Psh." Raphael muttered. Turning to look at him, Allison saw that his face went back to the customary sarcasm at the arrival of the others. "You and your metaphors." He said nothing else as he left the room to meet with his brothers and two friends.
With a sigh, Allison wryly wondered what exactly she had gotten herself into.

­­­­­­­­­­­----------------------------

Raphael sat contemplatively in the space cruiser as the group traveled home.

"I still don't get why she couldn't come with us," he complained. Leonardo peered up from his new book on the history of martial arts cinema and spared his brother a glance. "Relax, Raph. She's still in the final editing process of her film. As soon as it's over, she said she'll come back and pay us a visit."

"Yeah, but with Bishop's goons-" Raphael protested. He was promptly cut off by Donatello at the controls. "I told you. Even if Bishop is in any condition to exact some half-baked revenge, the new security system I set up at her place won't even let ants come in."

"Why so worked up, bro?" Michelangelo remarked slyly. "You've been acting just as lovesick as ever this whole week. What went on when the two of you were alone in Bishop's labs? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"Mikey," Raphael barked, annoyed. "Unless you wanna go sky diving without a parachute, you'd be better off keepin' your trap shut." As Michelangelo continued to tease and Raphael's threats became more and more violent, Leonardo offered them both a bemused sideways glance. Despite his silence on the subject, he was just as aware as Michelangelo was that something had happened between Allison and Raphael. The interaction between the two of them for the remainder of the week hadn't been as fraught with tension as it usually was, though they still willingly threw insults as one another. Though he knew better than to ask Raphael about it in front of the others, he expected to have a long conversation with him about it in private.

"I'm going to have to work overtime to pay off my credit card debt," April bemoaned. "I should have known better than to go into every tourist trap I came across." From the seat behind her, Casey groaned, "Hey, I told ya that once my back started hurtin', you were overdoin' it with the shoppin'. But do ya ever listen to me? Nooo."

Between his brothers' and the humans' bickering, Donatello couldn't help but smile as good old New York City came into view. "On the whole," he stated, "despite a couple of road bumps early on, I'd say this was a pretty successful vacation."

"Sure," Raphael criticized. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one who's been hooked up to weird machines on-and-off for a week to make sure your genes don't explode or nuthin'." Rubbing his arm where Donatello had injected him with various stabilizers, he grumbled, "Cliché or not, I'm gonna be needin' a vacation to recover from this vacation."

"Hey, guess what, guys?" April exclaimed after looking at a screen on the control panel. "According to this, the high in New York today is only eighty degrees Fahrenheit! Guess the heat wave's edged off a bit."

"Yahoo!" Michelangelo shouted in joy. "With the heat wave gone, the bad guys shouldn't be as restless and Master Splinter will ease off some on us." As Donatello activated a small whirlpool by the bridge that would gain them entrance to his hidden launch pad and lead them directly into the lair, Leonardo closed his book and said, "I highly doubt that, Mikey. There's probably been a good deal of problems that he needs us to-"

"Hey, come off it, Leo," Raphael countered, stretching his back. "Splinter ain't as unreasonable as all a' that. Even without Case 'n April, I'm sure that he hardly even noticed that we were gone. The quiet was probably such a relief to him that he'll want us to tack on another week to the vacation."

The others murmured in agreement as they began to descend into the lair. Leonardo raised an eye ridge, but said nothing. As they landed into the large room where Donatello had kept their helicopter (which was so small in comparison to the space cruiser that it was actually riding in the cargo area), they saw a rectangle of light at the doorway of the dark room. Approaching, they made out Splinter's silhouette just as the rat reached out for the light switch and revealed himself.

A smile was on the sensei's face as he watched the large space cruiser settle into a landing. Surely, for them to have traded their helicopter for an alien spacecraft was proof that they had a most adventurous holiday indeed. Watching his four sons and their constant human companions pile out, Splinter hoped that they had taken many pictures.

"My sons! How long this week without you seemed!" His voice changing into a slightly more sarcastic tone, he added, "I thought the peace and quiet was going to drive me insane." Raphael looked to his brothers as he remarked, "See? I was almost right."

"Sensei," Leonardo said, stepping up to Splinter and putting his book away in the canvas bag he had with him. "So much has happened this week. Most of it within the first few minutes of our being in California."

"We went to San Francisco!" Donatello broke in. "We just piled into the helicopter one day because we felt like making the trip. It's such a beautiful place, Master Splinter!"

"And the beaches!" Michelangelo gushed. "The waves were kicking, and we swam so far into the Pacific that hardly anyone noticed us. And the fishing was totally awesome, too!"

Splinter laughed at the enthusiasm his students all seemed to exude. "I am most pleased that you enjoyed yourselves, my sons, and that you managed to bring some old friends with you on your journey." At this, Casey and April glanced at one another. "Uh, yeah," Casey remarked. "I guess you could say that we went on a whim."

The turtles all grinning, Splinter felt himself growing in contentment. "And now that you are rested and happy, it should be simple to resume your training." Grins fell, and most of the jaws slackened as he continued. "I have planned today's schedule accordingly, and you may begin as soon as your things are unpacked and your rooms cleaned."

As the sensei turned away, gladness still within his heart, the downfallen turtles looked at one another. Crossing his arms over his chest, Leonardo asked, "So, should I say 'I told you so' before or after we get our stuff unpacked?"

Groaning, the turtles pushed him away as Casey and April stood aside, repressing chuckles.

----------------------------

"Thought you might wanna see this."

Raphael looked up from his weights as Michelangelo dropped a magazine on the bench besides him. "What's this?" Raphael asked, trading the weights in for the magazine. He searched the page until he figured out that it was Entertainment Weekly. He didn't see anything that would interest him until his eyes came across a familiar name in bold. Allison Grayson.

As his brother sat down to read the excerpt, Michelangelo crossed his arms over his chest. "Just picked it up today. The Sewer Dwellers premiered in Hollywood last week. It opens all over the country tomorrow. You game?"

Raphael said nothing as he raised his eyes to look at the picture. Allison was standing on a red carpet, laughing at something in response to someone or something behind her. Raphael could hardly recognize her. This dress was red and black, with a kimono-like pattern. Even with this glamorous get-up, she still didn't have a bit of make up. It made her look even more beautiful.

"No. She looks good, though," Raphael commented lightly. "Happy. I would be too, if Donnie told me I'd never mutate into a rat again." When he handed the magazine back to Michelangelo, Michelangelo held his hand up and shook his head. "Naw, keep it. I already read it."

Surprised, as Michelangelo never let someone else touch his magazines without a good deal of begging, Raphael thanked him and set it down by the bench. He was only more surprised when Michelangelo sat besides him. "So," Michelangelo asked, seeming to be serious, "do you think she's really coming back?"

Raphael tried to reproach his brother, but found that the question didn't seem to be aimed at getting under his skin. Continuing with his bicep curls, he answered, "I dunno, Mikey. She's a busy kid. Talented, too. Maybe Cali's the right place for her." Looking at him oddly, Michelangelo asked, "You mean, you're not waiting for her?" Raphael set the weight down again, looking Michelangelo right in the eye.

"I don't wait for no one."

Understanding that Raphael still didn't want to talk about the subject, Michelangelo got up and moved to the television. Raphael watched him go. Once he was sure that Michelangelo had gotten to a program he was interested in and wouldn't pay him anymore mind, Raphael again put the weights down and picked up the magazine. I'm not gonna wait for something I don't need. And I don't need this. This'll only make things more complicated. Life's complicated enough.

Trying not to concentrate on the fact that he sounded as though he were trying to convince himself of something, Raphael noticed that something had fallen out of the magazine when he picked it up. Thinking it was a subscription advertisement, he stooped over to retrieve it. He was surprised to see that it depicted the red-and-brown teaser poster of The Sewer Dwellers. Turning the card over, he realized that it was a ticket to an advanced screening. "Admit One," the ticket pronounced. According to the clock on the wall, the screening started in thirty minutes, in a private theatre in Manhattan. Hmm, he thought. No harm in seein' if there's a back way in.

Hoping to look casual, Raphael quickly put his weights away and left the lair.

----------------------------

It is kinda weird, Raphael admitted.

As he jumped the rooftops in the mild summer night, Raphael pondered over the ticket. It was unlikely that every copy of that week's Entertainment Weekly would have an advanced screening ticket. His only guess would be that Michelangelo had somehow come across it and decided to leave it for him. Still, didn't most ticket giveaways include two tickets? Allison herself had said that it was unusual for someone to go to the theatre alone.

Slowing down as he arrived on the roof of the small theatre, Raphael began to have second thoughts. Looking down into the street, he saw no signs of a crowd getting ready for a New York City premiere. Even if he did, he didn't expect that that would be a big comfort to him at this point.

"I thought I'd find you up here."

Raphael whirled around at the sound of the unexpected voice. Allison was standing on the roof, a shawl draped over her shoulders as a breeze sailed by. "A… Allison!" Raphael sunk his face in his hand as he muttered, "Why do I get the feelin' that I've just been scammed?"

"No scam," Allison told him, taking a step towards him. "I sent April a letter with tickets for all of you to watch The Sewer Dwellers tomorrow. I told her that, if you didn't want to go with them, there'd be an extra ticket for you to come alone tonight to this private screening my friends at this theatre are letting me have. I figured you'd be more likely to come if you didn't think anyone would know you were coming."

Looking away from her, Raphael grumbled, "Great. Here I come expectin' to be all ninja-like and instead end up feeling like a putz." He brought his eyes back to her when she heard her giggle. "Come on," she said quietly, holding her hand out to him.

"Let's get inside. It looks like it might rain."

----------------------------

"Hands off my roommate, buster!"

The character named April turned to see that the new arrival was Irma, her bespectacled roommate. "Irma! What are you doing here?" Having picked up the staff that had been flung out of Donatello's hand by a fierce attack of a mutated monster, Irma took her stand besides her friend. "Mysterious phone call plus growls and screams… usually means that something's just a bit out of the ordinary."

Raphael stared at the screen as the minor character that Allison portrayed suddenly became the rescuer of the heroine, using her briefly-mentioned self-defense skills against two giant cockroaches. The sound of a motorcycle tore through the small theatre, and the strangely-accurate vigilante character named Casey raced onto the scene, a CGI turtle riding behind him.

How strange it was. A damsel in distress. A rescue by unlikely friends. What started out as a small conflict escalated until the fate of the world was in the hands of this strange motley crew. And yet… it was all so realistic. Raphael found it difficult to imagine that he was actually a part of this on-screen mayhem as he sat in the dark theatre, eating popcorn as Allison curled up against his shoulder.

After nearly two hours, the end credits flashed onto the screen. Allison sat up, stretching her arms as Raphael gaped at the credits. "Well?" Allison asked. "What do you think?" The turtle slowly turned to her, his eyes wide. "I'm thinkin' it's the mind-meltin' blockbuster 'a the summer!" Allison laughed and thanked him. "Man," he continued. "Hangin' around with us makes for some completely warped monster movies. Mikey'll love it!" Looking to her, Raphael lowered his voice as he asked, "Ya got any other projects you workin' on?"

Allison scratched the back of her head and avoided eye contact as she answered, "Sort of. The director wants me to write a sequel, and maybe even start a television series based on the characters. I've got a graphic novelist who's been asking me about something similar."

"Wow," Raphael breathed. "Completely mainstream before the thing even hits theatres. That's awesome." After a brief pause, Raphael looked down and murmured, "I wish ya the best 'a luck."

"Oh, I'm not doing it."

Raphael shot his eyes back up at her. "What? What ya mean, 'not doin' it?' How come?" Allison shrugged, looking away from him. "Oh, I don't know. I guess I just don't want to stay in California anymore. I miss New York. I kinda just wanna work freelance, and not be tied down by just one group of characters I invented. Besides… the longer I work on it, the more fictional it seems. I don't want it to become fictional in my mind. Might as well just let the director do what he wants with it."

Raphael couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Oh man… I think this is how those Crow movies started going downhill." Allison merely shrugged, a half-smile still on her face. Looking at her and deciding that this really was what she wanted, Raphael asked, "So, what are ya gonna do now?"

"Funny you should mention that," she said. "I got a storage unit over here and have already moved out of my apartment. Now all I need is… an actual apartment in New York." Raphael let the silence take over before asking, "Where you staying in the mean time?"

Looking up at him with a wry smile on her face, Allison replied, "I happen to remember a certain green-skinned friend of mine not making an objection when I said I might be forced to crash with him for a while." Raphael let out a breathy laugh. "Awkward City, kid. Awkward City."

"Why?" Allison inquired. "It'll only be for a couple of weeks, at most. I'm sure your brothers wouldn't mind. It's not like I'm a stranger or anything. You know who I am." Raphael slowly turned his head to look at her. "Yeah," he told her quietly. "I know who you are. You're me, minus a shell." As the film reel reached its end and left them alone in the darkness, Raphael leaned down to kiss her.

At that moment both of them knew that they'd never have to be alone again.

END

Author's Note- Hello everyone, and thanks for making it this far. Though this is much shorter and more linear than "Reflections," I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as you enjoyed its predecessor. For those who haven't read "Reflections," I hope that this was easy to follow and that it managed to entertain you. I'd like to thank all of you for your patience and great reviews, and Mr. Eastman and Mr. Laird for giving me some of the most amazing characters I've ever come across. And, of course, major kudos goes out to Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. I put those guys through waaaay too much.

-Starry Oblivion