A/N: BAM! Two chapters in one day. This will probably never happen again, lol. I must leave a disclaimer for this chapter. There is a bit of physics talk here. Math and science are NOT my forte, so I researched just enough to write this chapter. Keep in mind that Donatello knowledge of physics far exceeds my meagerly attempts of writing physics, lol. Anywoo, hope you enjoy it!

Reposted 2/24/15 - Grammatical revisions

Chapter 8

"Casey?!" I instantly regret the acute pitch of my voice, especially when he gives me that smug look.

"Sup, Egghead," he smirks as he flops down in a purple beanbag chair. "So you gonna help us ace this project or what? He crams a handful of gyozas in his mouth.

So much for avoiding unforeseen variables...

"Dude, you look like a mummy," the little punk gestures to my arm and leg wrappings, "Halloween isn't for another six weeks." He let's out a blunt 'ha' laughing at his own pathetic joke.

I ignore his jab and manage to hold back the sneer that's trying to twitch its way across my face. I turn to April. This has to be a misunderstanding.

She gives me a fatigued smile, but doesn't seem to notice my look of confusion and slight betrayal.

Betrayal? She isn't your girlfriend, genius.

"Thanks, Donnie, I'm so glad you're here," she says, exhaustion evident in her voice as she gestures me further into her room, motioning for me to take a seat in the swivel chair at her desk, "Casey and I have been studying for hours but have only covered about half of the material that's supposed to be on our Physics test tomorrow. We also have a project due, which my unreliable partner hasn't even started on yet!" She raises her voice, angrily glaring at Casey whose cheeks are currently puffed full of gyozas…..The gyozas meant for April and me.

"Hey, I told you I had hockey practice this week!" He mumbles, spewing food particles as he speaks.

"You're not going to be on the hockey team much longer if we flunk this class!"

"You worry too much, Red," the hockey jock waves off her valid concerns, "I'll throw in a few biology terms during our presentation and voila…instant 'A'!"

Apparently April's had quite enough of his ill-placed cockiness as she snatches the box of gyozas from his greasy hands. I cringe at the force she uses to slam them on her desk beside me, "It's Physics, not Biology, you blockhead, and I already wrote our report; you were supposed to come up with a demonstration of Newton's Laws!" Her voice lowers to a dangerous octave, as she paces the floor with the heels of her hands pressed into her forehead, "Biology...how could you possibly think we've been studying biology for the past 2 hours..." she mutters between grinding teeth.

Casey pulls out his cell phone and immediately starts texting. I watch her pace the floor two more times before she flops down on the edge of her bed with a hopeless sigh. I can understand the frustration of someone not caring about the things you value; my brothers do it to me all the time when I try to explain my latest inventions to them.

She only called you over so she and her boyfriend would make a decent grade for class. She's just using you.

I ignore the pessimism leaking into my thoughts. April is my friend and I'll make sure she gives a stellar presentation and aces her test even if it means I have to teach her mentally-challenged partner the difference between biology and physics. My eyes skim over April's desk. Various notes are scattered around an open book with several highlighted sections. On the corner of her desk is what looks like a typed report.

With the utmost care, I pick up the stapled set of papers, "Is..is this your Physics report?" I wave it at April as she looks up and nods with a sigh. I read over the 4-page report on Newton's Laws of Motion. It's a solid and accurate description of the laws with some minor grammatical errors. "Looks pretty good, April," I confirm my thoughts out loud, "So you just need a demonstration?" I arch my brow a little surprised at the simplicity of the assignment. I don't foresee needing my Quantum physics book for this.

"It's not that simple otherwise I would just throw an apple Casey's head and call it inertia!"

"That may not be such a bad idea." I mutter to myself, although I think Casey heard it because he looks up from his cell phone and glares at me.

April gives me a no-nonsense expression as she clarifies, "It has to be a principle of physics in relation to an everyday activity," She says at the brink of panic, "And we still need to finish studying!" It's obvious my tone came across a little patronizing and my off-handed joke was not appreciated, so I hold my hands up in what I hope is a calming gesture.

"Okay. Okay," I say peacefully, "No problem. Surely we can think of a physics-based activity simple enough for Casey to explain."

"Just write down some science mumbo-jumbo and I'll memorize it," Casey chimes in nonchalantly as he continues to text someone on his cell phone.

"I am not doing your work for you, Jones. Besides you don't have the brain capacity to memorize my thesis of Newton's Laws. Even if by some stroke of genius you did manage to recite it, your teacher would immediately notice the quality of intellect, know it was well above your capabilities, and see right through to the glaring plagiarism." This time I don't try to hide the condescending flair in my voice.

"What're you tryna say, I ain't smart or something?" He bristles at my words and before I know it, he's off the beanbag chair and in my immediate personal space.

You should just punch him in the face; Knock the rest of the teeth out of that idiotic mouth of his.

Before I even consider this mental suggestion, April squeezes between us pushing us apart, "That's enough, you two," she glares between the two of us, though her eyes linger on Casey, "Stop acting so immature, Casey. Donnie is here helping us because of your insufferable procrastination!"

Told you. You're just their free pass to an easy A.

Ignoring my thoughts I look at the alarm clock on April's nightstand. It's 8:15. I backpedal a bit to bring us back to the task at hand, "its okay, April. Not a big deal," I lie, burying my irritation behind a fake smile as I glance over her report again, "I'm sure we'll cover additional study material as we plan out the demonstration—knock out two objectives in one task," I give a reassuring smile, "Newton's Three Laws of Motion deal with inertia; the relationships between force, mass, and acceleration; and action versus reaction, so we just need to demonstrate an activity that encompasses all three laws, right?"

"Right," April breaths out her frustration and sits down again on her bed as Casey flops back into the beanbag chair.

I tap my chin thoughtfully. I glance over to Casey who is still texting someone on his phone. What activity could I possibly describe so this nitwit will comprehend its relationship to physics? I'll have to speak his language somehow. I shudder at the thought.

Speak his language.

My eyes widen as the perfect demonstration comes to mind.

I'm not sure how long Sensei and I have been in my core, but it feels like forever. I'm not afraid of the boundaries anymore. They no longer feel like bars of a cage but more like padded walls that bounce me back to my center when I roam to close to edges. Master Splinter says I have an emotional awareness that draws me to others, but it's important to know myself just as well as I know everyone else. It's been pretty cool exploring the funhouse of my psyche, but I can feel myself becoming restless now. I think Master Splinter senses it too.

"I know this stillness is difficult for you, but you are doing well. I think you are ready to try a small drift exercise." Finally! I can't help but let out a small squeak of excitement. "But," he says sharply, putting a pause to my anticipation, "you must do exactly as I say, do you understand?" I eagerly bob my head up and down. I'm so ready for this.

"Release yourself from the thoughts that anchor you to your body. Let your aura float away from your core." Awesome. This is the moment I've been waiting for; I let the mantra of anchoring thoughts drop away from my aura like weights from a hot air balloon and feel myself quickly rising to the edges of my physical body. Faster and faster and fast-

"Slowly," Master Splinter says sternly. The warning in his tone makes me reluctantly tap the spiritual break pads of my aura, "Exiting too fast from your body can cause disorientation." After a few more agonizingly slow minutes, I can feel my spirit approaching the warning boundaries of my body. As I cross the threshold separating my body from the spirit world around me, I feel a sudden pressure and sensation of losing my breath, like pressing my face against a plastic wrap barrier. The suffocating feeling only lasts a few seconds as I gently push through the confinement and float lazily above my body. I blink my eyes in this new realm. I don't feel dizzy like I did this morning. Everything is clear, but fuzzy at the same time. I look down and see Master Splinter and me, or rather our bodies, sitting lotus style facing each other. Our bodies look blurry and so does everything else in Sensei's bedroom. It's like there's a thin milky veil coating everything. Wait, where's Master Splinter? I feel myself starting to panic aura form until I feel a comforting presence behind me.

"I'm right here, Michelangelo."

I spin around and stare in awe at my Sensei's aura. Even though his aura is nothing more than a wispy vapor like me, he still looks like himself. Against the murky background, Master Splinter's aura is a glowing contrast; his smooth grey impression is sharp and brilliant in color, like a raincloud right before a downpour, yet soft and gentle like the wings of a moth. The more I search his aura, the deeper it seems to extend. Just when I think I've reached the core of who he is, I am instantly surprised with a tunnel leading deeper into his being. The warmth of his spirit draws me closer with a gentle magnetic pull. Even as I brush against the unspeakable hurts and pains of his past, it's nothing compared to the endless burrows of unconditional love that I can't fully wrap my mind around.

"Have you found what you are looking for?" He asks, soft amusement ringing in his voice.

I jerk away shaking the remnants of his aura from my spirit. Suddenly his presence becomes more solid, not allowing me to dig any deeper into his being. Shame fills me as I realize I'm being rude and nosy, "Sorry, I didn't realize, I mean I didn't know—"

"It is quite alright, my son," he smiles lovingly at me as his aura radiates a comforting glow, "You are curious; it is understandable. However, from this moment on, your first rule in drifting is never to pry into the aura of another without an invitation to do so. You must respect the aura of others, for they hold one's most endearing passions and deepest fears. It is the very essence of who we are. No one has a right to pry into such realms of another's spirit. Do you understand?"

"Hai, Sensei." I say, taking his cautionary words to heart.

"Good. Now you must tune in to your surroundings."

I look in a complete circle at the fuzzy world around me, "Tune in to what, Sensei? Everything's a big blurry blob."

"You are not tuning in to the right things. Try again."

I sigh as I press my lips together in concentration. Looking around, I see absolutely nothing worth 'tuning in' on. Alright Mikey, think. I can't see anything worthwhile, but no biggie; I have four other senses to choose from. I sniff the air, but smell nothing. I strain my ears, but hear nothing. There's nothing to reach out and touch besides Sensei, and I really don't think he would appreciate me tasting his aura. I'm fresh out of senses and stumped; how am I supposed to tune into anything if none of my senses work here? I raise my brows as an idea strikes my mind. I remember watching a movie about a kid who sees dead people, like a sixth sense or something. Hmm…it's worth a try.

I take a deep breath and think about my happy place again. I think of all the emotions that tie into that special place in my aura. My feelings take on an orange tint as I release them out into this strange spiritual world. I can see all my happy feels ripple away from me like the small waves of a pebble in a pond. I watch as the sonar-like waves of emotions bounce off Sensei and return to me in waves of grey color; I instantly feel the imprint of his presence hit my aura. Two more emotional waves—one red and the other blue—make their way back to me as well. The red one hits me like a brillo pad, its ridged edges scrapping against my aura making me cringe from the contact. The blue one follows shortly behind like a cool summer breeze. Sensei smiles at my new discovery. I can't help but grin with giddiness at this super awesome ability.

"It's Raph and Leo!" I blurt out, no longer able to contain my excitement. I immediately take off in the direction of the red wave.

The red waves are starting to fade, but I find its source before it completely disappears. Raph's red aura is a blazing flame in the murky shadows of what I think is the den. I squint, forcing my eyes to see the blurry silhouette of my brother as he hits his dummy post. Cautiously floating toward my brother's aura, I reach out to touch the dummy as it swings in my direction from one of Raph's punches. My vapor-like hand goes right through it. Apparently in this world, auras are easily seen, but things in the physical world are more ghostlike, blurring in and out of view. A reversed world; totally trippy. I tilt my head slightly as I look at my brother's aura.

The edges are jagged flames licking the blurry boundaries of his physical body. My eyes drift toward the center of his aura, the source of these vicious flames. I feel a protective warmth there; the kind of warmth I only feel from Raph when Leo, Donnie, or me are really sick or hurt. I reach out to touch it, because this raw display of compassion is rarely shown by my red-clad brother and I need to touch it to know that it's real. I yelp as a searing hot pain rips through my outstretched hand when it makes contacts with Raph's aura. My whole aura aches from the sudden pain, but it quickly fades to a small numbing sensation. I back away and watch as Raph stops in mid-punch and defensively turns around. He's staring right at me, or rather right through me. Narrowing his eyes, he slowly turns around to resume his dummy-punching routine.

In my excitement I forgot what Sensei said just moments ago:

You must respect the aura of others, for they hold one's most endearing passions and deepest fears.

I get it now. Auras are filled with a lot of squishy feels that most people aren't ready to share with others.

"Sorry, bro." I whisper quietly from behind him. Even though Raph is a major jerk and deserves to be pranked every chance I get, there are some lines I just won't cross. Quickly leaving Raph, I take off in search of my oldest brother. His aura isn't hard to find, because it's nearly as bright as Sensei's. I immediately pass through Leo's closed door and stop abruptly to find him sitting on the floor in a lotus position. His true blue aura is glowing brightly just like Sensei and me. It teeters up and down like a weighing scale. Cool! He's meditating, too!

"No touching," I remind myself as I float a little closer to my brother's aura.

"Hey, Leo! Leo, can you see me bro? Look over here!" I shout and wave at my brother's aura hoping to talk with him in this strange new world. I watch as his aura's scale image suddenly stops swaying, turns into a blue vapor, and twirls calmly in a figure eight motion. I call out to him again and his aura stops glowing, dimming down to a less active shade. Leo jerks from his meditation state and looks around the room totally befuddled. Heh, I'll have to tell Donnie I used one of his 'word of the day' words.

"M-Mikey?" He whispers, probably wondering if he really heard me or if he's finally flew over the cuckoo nest. I snicker at my brother's uncertainty. Man, the pranks I could pull here are boggling my mind, yo! I gasp as a thought comes to mind. I wonder what Donnie and April look like in the spirit realm? I zip upward with all intents of going topside.

"Michelangelo, yame!" The harshness of Sensei's voice startles me to a halt. I guess he finally caught up with me. "You are never to drift topside! I forbid it!" I duck down from the ceiling, embarrassed by his yelling. He hovers over me stern and unmoving. I risk a glance at Sensei's spiritual form and sense he is fearful for me, than angry with me. I uncurl from my hunched posture knowing I'm safe from punishment.

Master Splinter sighs as he reaches out to me; without hesitation, I draw closer to him.

"It is dangerous to drift too far away from your body, my son, and even more dangerous to drift for too long. Come, I think you have learned enough for one day." And with that, he leads us back to our bodies which are still deep in meditation.

I'm in meditation watching myself meditate…did I mention how trippy this is?

Sensei does a calming countdown to slowly bring our auras back to our bodies.

I blink a few times and look around the room. There is no longer a milky covering over everything; All is back to normal…well, almost everything. I turn to Master Splinter, who looks like himself but I can still see a grey hue swirling around his torso. I blink harder and shake the fuzziness from my head, but the grey is still there.

"Sensei, I still see your color." I say, fiercely shaking my head again to clear my vision.

"It is just an aftereffect from the spiritual plane. It will fade in a moment or so." I nod my understanding. "I believe your brothers will be patrolling soon. We will continue these lessons later. While you are learning to master your drifting ability, you are not to mediate by yourself." He gives me a pointed look.

I try not to snicker at his instruction, but seriously, the last thing Sensei needs to worry about is me meditating on my free time. I make an act of mulling over his words, "No meditation on spare time, I think I can handle that." He gives a forewarning smile before dismissing me with a small wave of his hand. Rising to my feet, I quickly bow before capering out of the room.

Leo and Raph are in the den sheathing their weapons in their strap holsters apparently waiting for me. I rub my eyes with my fists. I can still see a faint impression my brothers' auras in the center of their plastrons.

"What did you get in trouble for this time, Mikey?" Leo asked automatically assuming I was being punished for something. I can't blame him, heck, I thought the same thing.

"Nothing. Master Splinter's just helping me with my meditation."

My oldest brother eyes me suspiciously.

"Were…did you…?" I smile innocently back at him, "It was you I heard, wasn't it?" Leo says pointing his finger at me with that 'I knew it' look on his face.

I grin excitedly at him as I grab my nunchucks from the back of the couch, "Dude, I was totally in the spirit world! It was so trippy!" It's the only way I can describe it as I make slow circular motions with my hands on either sides of my head. Leo and Raph exchange curious looks as we make our way to the entrance for our evening patrol. My voice echoes through the sewers while I walk backwards, in front of my brothers. I energetically give voice to and pantomime my experience in the spiritual plane.

I level my narrowed eyes at him and he mirrors my determined expression. There are a few moments of silence before I take a meaningful breath and rattle off questions at drill sergeant speed, "You're skating at a consistent speed to score a goal, but a member of the opposing team bodychecks you. What is this an example of?"

"First law of motion—inertia." Casey replies, his tone both confident and focused.

"If a hockey player has a mass of 100 kilograms and is accelerating at a rate of 30 kilometers per hour, at what force will he collide with another player?"

"3000 newtons."

"If a larger hockey player bodychecks you, how does it affect the larger hockey player?"

"The big guy's gonna get hit with the same amount of brutality that he dishes out—Third law of motion, baby." Casey answers cracking neck from side to side with that annoying smirk on his face.

"By George, I think he's finally got it," I say with forged enthusiasm.

"Oh yeah! Casey Jones is da man!" He exclaims with an unnecessary 'woot'.

April gives a sigh of relief. It's been a maddening and patience-provoking forty-five minutes of helping Casey see the physics behind his beloved sport of hockey (really, how could he not see it?). April caught on to my physics-hockey analogies fairly quickly and helped me explain the relation to the hockey jock. She would make an awesome lab partner.

She'll never be your lab partner.

I push down my thoughts, and look between April and Casey, "So, I was thinking next we could review…"

"Uh, yeah, I gotta bounce." Jones interrupts me smirking slightly as he looks down at his vibrating cell phone.

"Wh-what? But we're not finished studying," April says with irritation, but the way she holds her lips in a small pout, I can see the undertones of disappointment.

"Sorry, Red. I just…I just gotta go," Casey says distractedly as he maneuvers his thumb quickly over the buttons of his phone. He rushes as he grabs his jacket and the near-empty box of gyozas that were not for him, "I'll see you in class tomorrow, 'kay?" He gives April a wink and a quick smile before turning to me with an annoying once-over glance and a superior expression, "And, uh, thanks for the nerd session," With those eloquent parting words, he bolts out the window. April exhales with a small hum as she closes the window again. She stares out into the night streets, no doubt watching Casey disappear around the corner. She turns around to face me, though her thoughts seem to be elsewhere.

Probably wherever Casey is.

Thankfully, April breaks the silence before my thoughts spiral into further dejection, "I should probably call it a night," she walks over to where I'm sitting at her desk and gathers her notes into folders before placing them in her bookbag. In such close proximity, her body fragrance tickles my nose. She smells like wildflowers…a new body spray, maybe?

Pervert.

The heat of embarrassment burns my neck as I realize I just sniffed her like some stray dog. Luckily, she doesn't notice. A weary smile graces her face as April sits on the bed, "I guess if I don't know it by now, then I'm pretty much screwed," she says leaning her elbows on her knees and cupping the sides of her face in the palms of her hands.

I chuckle, "You're far from being screwed," I say with my arms crossed low on my plastron. Using the heel of my foot, I turn side to side in the swivel chair, "You don't give yourself nearly enough credit, April. I'm 98.5 percent certain you could ace your test, all while single-handedly presenting your project with ease tomorrow."

"You're only 98.5 percent certain?" She deadpans with a grin.

"Well, there is the 1.5 percent that accounts for school closings due to natural disasters, bomb threats, or alien attacks."

"Well, the quota for alien attacks was definitely met." We share a chuckle at our small joke as our eyes meet. There's a flush of pink in her cheeks before she looks away. Now that the 'unforeseen variable' left for the evening, the circumstances will rectify themselves and return to the original probability. I can't help but look away and smile at the thought of April's lips against my cheek again.

Leaning back on her bed, she twists to the side to reach the drawer of her nightstand. She pulls out two snack size candy packages. "Skittles?" She offers; they sound like marbles clanking together as she shakes them in her hand.

"Sure, I love Skittles. They serve as an excellent source of glucose-filled brain fuel for late night lab work." My voice sounds extra nerdy even to my ears, but she simply smiles and tosses one of the bright red candy bags to me which I catch with ease. Tearing a corner off the candy package, I turn to April's desk and pour the rainbow-colored candies onto a sheet of paper. "So how are your other classes coming along?" I ask as I begin separating the reds candies from the green ones.

"As much as I gripe about this semester, it's actually going pretty well. It just gets a bit overwhelming at times, you know?" She says, plopping a few skittles into her mouth. I nod my head affirming her words as I move on to separate the orange and yellow ones. "I'm taking two other science classes this semester and joined the debate team so I could add an extracurricular activity to my college….Donnie, what are you doing?"

"Hm?" I look up from my red, green, orange, and yellow candies piles.

"Are you….are you organizing your skittles?" She points at my neat little piles of candy. The look on her face is a mixture of confusion and amusement; or maybe she's just questioning my sanity.

"Uh, well I, uh," I stammer as I hunch over awkwardly, hoping my arm will shield my borderline obsessive-compulsive habit from her prying eyes. I've practiced this skittle-sorting ritual since I was five. My brothers call it a 'quirk', like everything else I do that seems to be out of their range of normal behavior.

April smirks at me as she bounces down on her bed using the momentum to stand and casually walks toward me. Her small fingers curl around my larger forearm. Even with the extra wrappings on my arms, her touch gives me goosebumps. She gently pushes me back until my shell meets the backing of the chair I'm sitting in. Her lips part slightly as she breathes out a small 'huh' getting a better look at my handiwork.

"….It just tastes better this way." She doesn't ask why but I feel the need to justify my silly habit anyway. My stomach knots together in unexplainable nervousness.

Now she has proof that you're a weirdo.

Without a word, she puts one hand to the edge of the desk and uses her other hand to sweep all of the green skittles into her palm. She plops them into her mouth and chews thoughtfully. "Mmm," she says in an exaggerated savory way to emphasize her experience, "it's like an apple orchard just exploded on my tongue."

I cover my mouth with my hand, smothering a snort of laughter threatening to further shame me. The snort was hidden, but laughter is still heavy in my voice as my eyes widen in agreement, "See? Complete flavor enhancement, right? Sidenote: I am slightly partial to the original lime flavor over the new green apple."

She giggles, nodding her head in agreement as she swallows, "Okay, you make a valid point, but" she holds her index finger up and sobers her expression, "I'd like to offer an opposing hypothesis."

"And that hypothesis would be?" I arch my brow and play along good-naturedly. The muscles in my stomach loosen immensely at the ease of our casual, yet eccentric conversation.

"If you combine two of the more promising flavors, then the newly created palate will override the original flavors used to create it."

"Nice hypothesis, but I think I'll just—" as I pinch a few purple candies with my fingers, I am promptly popped on the wrist, hard enough to make me drop my possession and watch them scatter back to the desk. I rub my offended hand and stare precariously at April.

"Ah, ah," she wags her finger at me while jutting her chin out rather haughtily, "I tested your hypothesis, so now you have to test mine." She doesn't give me a chance to negate her claim as she plucks up a few purple and red skittles and drops them into my cloth-wrapped palm. "Well, go on, try it," April says gesturing expectantly with her hands. I pull my lips inward, trying to fight the urge to finish separating and lining up my skittles in alphabetical order by color. "You're acting like I just asked you to eat a cactus." She folds her arms at her midsection with a less than pleased look. Then she gives me a suspiciously sweet smile, "Sometimes two things that don't seem like they go together actually make a great couple."

"I was talking about the food!" I squeak out in panic as April uses my deplorable pick-up line against me.

"That's totally what I'm talking about, too, food." She confirms seriously, though the mischievous glint in her eyes tease me and somehow imply more.

With a final look at the crafty girl in front of me, I cup my hand to my lips allowing the mismatched purple and red candy to tumble into my mouth. I chew tentatively. Saliva forms inside my mouth mixing the sugary grape and strawberry flavors over my tongue. The cheery sweetness of the strawberry and the mellow aftertaste of grape confuse my taste buds, but not entirely in an unpleasant way.

"Well? What's your conclusion?" I look up to her from my seated position. When she speaks, I can see where the apple-flavored skittles have tinted her tongue green. I feel a goofy smile spreading on my face despite my efforts to hide it.

"I conclude that while certain color combinations do yield a somewhat pleasurable taste, one cannot truly appreciate each color's vibrant flavor unless they are consumed in same-color groupings."

She snorts at my response, making one side of her face crinkle in a way that make her button nose wrinkle in fake disgust; it's extremely cute.

I shrug apologetically as I snatch up at pile of orange skittles and funnel them in my mouth. April shakes her head at me, apparently realizing this is a moot case.

I arch my brow as she reaches out to touch my head, "Be still you have something on your," April stops mid-sentence as her expression pales, "Donnie, your…your skin is…" I realize moments too late what she is trying to say when a large scale of skin, thin as a sheet of paper, drifts lazily to my lap.

To be Continued! It'll probably be a week or two before the next chapter. Thanks for reading! If you have a moment please review! :)