Here's an interlude before I plunge into the new episode, Mind Games, which I've been dying to give you guys.

Anyway, the present chapter was created on a demand for bit more romance. Sorry, no kiss yet; I have my reasons. It's coming. Ashley, MrsDragonfire911, and a certain guest, this one's for you. :)

Abducted/ Mind games interlude

Ara

Ara quickly glanced in both directions. The coast was clear… no turtles or sensei in sight. This mission would require flawless stealth and utmost bravery. She slid off the couch and onto her stomach, bending her knees so that her lower legs and feet jutted into the air to avoid hurting her broken feet. Ara crawled forward, arm over arm, soldier-in-trenches style. Her mission: obtain one of Raph's comic books from where they lay at the far end of the pit. Okay, yeah, it was a really stupid mission, but after two and a half weeks of sitting on the couch doing nothing while everyone else went topside, she was willing to do anything that required getting off the cursed couch. Ara closed in on her target. Three yards, two yards, one y… "Ara!"

Ara flinched at the exasperated voice and looked up to see Donnie. "Oh, um… hi."

Donnie jumped down into the pit, then placed his hands on his hips and started tapping his foot in annoyance. "Ara, I've told you a thousand times: no getting off the couch! You don't want to wait another four or five weeks for your feet to heal if you hurt them, do you?"

Ara lowered her head, mumbling out, "no."

"Well then…"

"Supper!" Raph's voice rang from the kitchen. It was his turn to cook, which meant they were probably having takeout.

Ara looked hopefully up at Donnie. "Can I eat in the kitchen with everyone else instead of on the couch?"

"No."

"But I…"

"No."

"Oh, come o…"

"No."

Ara sighed. Donnie rarely put his foot down like this, and when he did, there was no bending his iron will. But she had one more tactic to try. Ara sniffed, widening her eyes in a cute, pleading sort of way. Ara saw something flicker in Donnie's stony expression. He was giving way. Donnie let out a groan. "Ara don't… no! You can't…" Ara let her chin wobble with another sniff. Donnie threw his hands in the air. "Okay, okay, fine!"

With a squeal, Ara reached forward and squeezed Donnie's feet into a hug. Donnie shook his head, but when she looked up, he was fighting a grin. "Mikey teach you that one?"

"Maybe." With that, she raised herself into a headstand and started for the kitchen.

Raph rolled his eyes as she entered the kitchen and strategically climbed onto one of the seats. "Welcome back, Ara. You've been in Couch-land for far too long."

Ara smiled. "I'll second that. And we're having…?"

"Chinese."

Leo walked in and seated himself across the table from Ara, raising an eyebrow as he did so. "Does Donnie—"

"I know, and it's just this once." Donnie entered the kitchen, dragging along Mikey by one of his mask ends.

Mikey was clawing the air behind him. "I was almost to the BONUS LEVEL, Donnie!" Donnie sat Mikey in a chair before sitting down himself. Raph tossed everyone a takeout carton and some chopsticks, which was the normal amount of service he usually gave on his days to "cook."

Ara grabbed a fortune cookie. Mikey always insisted they open them first, because he couldn't stand to wait until afterwards. Raph opened his, reading aloud as he chewed on the cookie. "Your impulsiveness and anger are holding you back from your full potential." He blinked as snickers started sounding around the table and wrinkled the little slip of paper in disgust. "What kind of fortune cookies are these?!"

Mikey grinned. "True ones."

Raph conked him on the head. "Whatever."

Donnie opened his. "Your true love will soon approach?"

Just then, April walked into the kitchen. "I just got a text from my aunt, and I have to leave." She grabbed her backpack from the corner and headed out the door. "See you all tomorrow!"

Jaws dropped. After a moment, Mikey spoke. "That. Is. CREEPY."

Donnie blushed. "She's not my true love!" Even as he said it, Ara saw him neatly fold the paper in half and tuck it behind his belt.

Ara swallowed hard. "Who's next?"

"I'll go." Mikey slowly opened his wrapper, humming the tune to The Twilight Zone as he did so.

Raph rolled his eyes. "This was all a coincidence. They're just normal fortune cookies."

Mikey cracked his cookie in half, ate it, then slowly read the fortune. "You are wise beyond your years. Ha! I always knew it!"

Raph grinned triumphantly. "You just proved my point, little bro. That's the opposite of the truth."

Leo had already opened his and was reading the fortune. "Your leadership qualities will be tested and proven." He raised a brow at Raph. "Not true?"

Raph shook his head, stubborn as always. "I'VE gotten that one before."

Ara took her cookie from it's wrapper, ate it, then silently read the fortune with all eyes on her. Ara furrowed her brow when she finished. "What does THAT mean? It's not even a fortune!"

"What? What does it say?" Mikey craned his neck to try and read the fortune, so she handed it to him. He read it aloud. "Blue and green go well together?"

Donnie scratched his head. "Sounds more like an artist's tip than a fortune. Wait a minute. Blue and green?" Donnie looked at Leo. "Blue…" he turned to Ara. "and green?"

Mikey nodded. "Oh, I get it. That's fortune cookie language for Leo and Ara are in looooove." Donnie, Raph, and Mikey exchanged glances, their faces twisting and contorting as they tried to hold back giggles. Finally a little snicker escaped from Mikey, and suddenly all three of them were howling, holding their sides and pounding on the table.

Ara blushed, sat awkwardly for a few moments, then did the only reasonable thing to do: picked up her chopsticks and started eating. She looked up at Leo only once. He was eating too, his face as red as she imagined hers was. The other three eventually stopped laughing and turned to their food. When they finally caught their breath, Raph grinned. "Maybe you're right, Leo! I think those things ARE true!" Leo punched his brother's shoulder before excusing himself, and Ara followed soon after. She grabbed a couple of Raph's comics on her way back to the couch, preparing herself for another boring evening.

Ding! The text notification on Ara's T-phone woke her, and she lay there for a moment, debating whether or not to pick it up. She was in a REALLY comfortable position. Then again, the turtles were probably out on a mission. What if this was an emergency? Ara fumbled along the floor beside the couch for her T-phone, finally finding it despite the pitch-black darkness of the room. She blinked for a moment as she brought it to her face, her eyes adjusting to the brightness. It was 2:00 in the morning. What could it possibly be? Her stomach churning with worry, Ars selected the new text message from Leo.

Don says there's a big meteor shower 2nite. Want 2 see it?

Ara rolled her eyes. Some emergency.

Sure but it will b kinda hard 4 me 2 get up there.

No more that 10 seconds after she sent it off, there was another ding.

I could come get u.

Ara shrugged to herself.

K.

Minutes later, the lights snapped on to reveal an excited-looking Leo. "It's about to start!" He picked Ara up, one arm going underneath her knees and the other supporting her back. Ara was the lightest of all the turtles, so Leo easily carried her out of the lair and through several stretches of sewer, but then they were staring at an open manhole five feet above their heads. Leo tapped his foot. "I didn't exactly think this far."

"Just toss me up."

Leo looked doubtful. "You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I'm a ninja. APRIL could do it."

"Okay…" Leo shifted his hold so that he was grasping Ara's waist. "One, two, THREE!" He launched her into the air. Ara's ninja reflexes did all the work. She caught onto the rim and pulled herself through the hole

Ara sat on the cement next to the manhole, looking around. A homeless dude sat up from where he had been laying under a newspaper, eyed her for a moment, then said, "nice weather we're having, huh?"

Ara looked at the black sky. "Umm…. yeah. You're not going to run away?"

The man shrugged. "Nah. I've seen a lot weirder than you in this city… giant spiky dogs and stuff. Those darn aliens are the worst. Besides, you look nice enough. Spare a buck?" He held out a tin cup.

"Sorry. I don't have anything on me."

The man nodded, lowering his cup. "The mutants never do. Well, g'night." He lay back down, Ara staring at him the whole time.

Leo surfaced from the manhole. "He's a weird one, isn't he?"

Ara nodded. "You said it." Leo carried her up a fire escape to the top of a building, and Ara couldn't help but sigh when they reached the top. "I really wish I could walk again. It would feel so good to jump from building to building, just kinda free, y'know?"

"Yeah…" Leo's words trailed off as one of his thoughtful looks took over his features. "Hey, why don't you move to my back?"

"Err, okay." Ara shifted so that her arms circled his neck from behind and her legs looped around his waist.

Leo tilted his head back at her, smiling mysteriously. "Got a good hold?"

"Yeah. What are we doINGGG!" Leo took off like a shot, launched himself off the edge of the building, and soared into the air. Ara's eyes widened in surprise, then squeezed shut in bliss as she sucked in the crisp, fresh air. Leo landed lightly on his feet, only to launch himself off the next building, this time spiraling straight forward.

And so it went, Leo soaring and spiraling and doing flips that Ara never thought were possible with her tagging along. All the while Ara, was grinning and failing miserably to hold back giggles of glee. Sure, it wasn't quite as fun as when she did it herself, but it was the next best thing. And for someone who had spent two and a half weeks on a couch in a sewer doing nothing, it was pure heaven.

Finally Leo stopped, breathless and grinning. "How…was that?"

Ara slid around, and Leo caught her in his arms once more. She beamed at him. "Amazing." She reached forward and gave him a hug. "Thanks."

"No problem. Just don't tell Donnie, okay?"

"Well, duh. Where is Donnie, by the way?"

"Right there." Ara looked in the direction Leo had nodded to. Donnie was sitting on the edge of a building two away from theirs, right next to April. He would point into the sky every now and then, probably showing her constellations.

Ara smiled. "He looks pretty happy."

"Yeah. I think we should keep our distance. He doesn't get a lot of alone time with April." Ara nodded, and Leo set her down against one of the walls of a staircase opening. He sat down beside her, then pulled out his T-phone, checking the time. "It should start sometime around now."

All of a sudden, the street was plunged into darkness as every streetlight, house light, and any other source of man-made brightness was snapped off. Several angry curses sounded in the houses surrounding them. Ara looked quizzically at Leo. "How…?"

Ara just managed to make out a smile on his face in their darkened surroundings. "Now you know the advantages of having Donnie as a brother. It's a lot easier to see the sky." His eyes widened. "It's starting!"

Ara looked up into the sky. Bright slivers of light streaked through the heavens, as if a star was hosting a pizza party on the planet over and everyone was rushing to get to it. Ara blinked. Did she honestly just think that? Mikey had been keeping her company over the past couple weeks, and Ara was beginning to think that he had been keeping her TOO much company. Leo heaved a sigh next to her. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Ara gazed at the silver blotches soaring through the inky black sky and smiled. "Yeah, it is."

"It's kind of nice to be out here for once, actually having fun." Leo knitted his hands behind his head. "I don't have to worry every second about leading, and I don't have to stress over making the right decisions. I can just relax and enjoy the view."

Ara nodded. "I hear you. Right now, the Kraang? Shredder? The foot clan? All those evil mutants? It feels like they don't exist. But of course I just ruined it by bringing them up."

Leo laughed. It was a carefree, real laugh that Ara rarely heard from him, as opposed to his usual short chuckles. "No, no, it's fine. You just reminded me that all our adversaries are most likely asleep in bed. Somehow, Shredder doesn't seem so threatening when you picture him snoring with drool coming out of his mouth."

Ara snorted, joining in. "Wearing his My Little Pony pajamas."

"And hugging his old teddy bear."

Leo and Ara collapsed into laughter. Nothing they were saying was terribly funny, but something about cracking bad jokes with Leo made Ara warm and happy. Laughter was as good a way to express that happiness as anything else.

"Could you guys pipe down?!" Donnie shouted irritably a few houses over.

"Sorry Donnie!" Ara and Leo called at the exact same time, only to erupt in laughter seconds later.

"Is this because I laughed at the fortune cookie?!"

The two exchanged glances before Ara called out, "Maybe…"

"Well, I'm sorry!"

Leo rubbed his hands together with an evil smile. "How sorry?"

A groan drifted from Donnie's direction. "Sorry enough to do all your guys' chores for the rest of the week if you SHUT UP!"

"Done!" Leo and Ara settled back, gazing into the sky once more. Ara's chores these days usually consisted of fixing broken weapons and doing homeschooling work, but she was pretty sure she could convince him to hold the offer until she could walk. Donnie was that kind of guy, and it made you feel kind of bad for blackmailing him.

All of a sudden, Ara found herself talking. "My dad and I used to do this," she murmured.

Leo didn't say anything, but Ara could tell he was listening. "He'd ask me about my day, and then he'd say how well I was doing in training and what he wanted me to work on. We'd just look at the stars and let all the worries of the day slip away. He'd always say, 'Well, little cherry blossom, I think it's time you went to bed.' And then he's tweak my nose and we'd go inside and he would tuck me in. It was kinda our thing."

Ara let out a shaky breath, her eyes beginning to sting. "There's not a lot I wouldn't give to be able to do that again with him, just once."

Leo put his arm around her shoulder. "I know it's not much, but you have us. You have me. I'll always be here for you. That's a promise."

Ara leaned against his shoulder, savoring Leo's warmth and watching as the last few meteors streaked across the sky. "I know."