What You Need

"Both of them?" April asked, amazed.

Girl talk over a cup of tea was a new experience for Luna. It wasn't something Olympians ever did. Their daily lives mostly involved power struggles and political maneuvering and didn't allow for something as simple or wonderful as a heart-to-heart with a like minded female.

It hadn't taken Luna long to realize April was the benefactor who provided the clothes for her and a few indirect queries had revealed that it was also April who had helped Donatello treat her when the turtles first brought her home.

Apparently Donatello had been keeping her updated on the Luna situation, but hadn't called yet to fill her in on the last two night's adventures. Luna was mostly happy to do so, though she was a little hesitant to tell her everything.

April gave off a kind of big sister vibe about the turtles and Luna didn't want her to think she was trying to take advantage of the guys sweet natures. Besides, she liked this April O'neil, and it would be nice to have a friend that she did not have to trade favors for or worry about politically.

She was actually relieved that April already knew about her heritage. Trying to explain or conceal her powers from this observant woman would have been difficult. But she still blushed at April's shocked expression as she told the story of the battle on the rooftop and her second soulmate.

"It's not as if I planned it!" Luna protested, laughing a little in nervous embarrassment.

"Well, all I can say is good luck to you," April said, relieving Luna's worry with a smile. "Leo is a dream, but Raphael may be a bit rough around the edges. Plus, I don't think either of them has ever had a girlfriend, and at 28, that's a lot of pent up sexual frustration you'll be dealing with my dear!" April teased.

"Not a problem." Luna replied, her mind only half on the conversation. "Thousands of years of experience here." She paused then blushed again as she realized what she'd just said.

April's eyes widened, "Just how old are you?"

The question slipped out before April could edit it, and it was her turn to blush.

"You don't have to answer that," she said quickly.

"No, I don't mind," Luna paused to consider. "I don't know exactly, but I came into existence somewhere in the neighborhood of 650 BC, so just a smidgen over 2500? I'm one of the youngest."

She looked down shyly.

April blinked, a little stunned by this information. As a dealer in antiquities, she was familiar with objects of that age, but people? Donnie had said Luna was an ancient goddess stuck in a human form and April had believed him, but the ancient part hadn't really sunk in.

After being friends with the Turtles for more than 10 years, seeing aliens, and visiting parallel dimensions April thought that nothing much could surprise her anymore. But this was… astonishing.

"Zeus thinks that's why I am so much trouble." Luna continued as April tried to process the amount of history she must have seen. "He thinks the others give me far too much leeway. But after tonight… And Raphael..."

April looked up concerned. Something big had happened tonight, and she didn't think it had anything to do with their sudden run in with the Foot. In that one statement Luna's tone had totally changed from friendly conversation to one that was almost heartbroken.

"Luna, did something happen tonight with Raphael?"

April knew only too well that the guys were lacking social graces in the dating department, but she didn't think Raph could come up with something that would offend a goddess with thousands of years experience.

"He refused," Luna eyes were confused, fixed and far away. Her voice was so soft April wasn't sure she'd heard her right.

"Raph? Refused what? The soulbond?" April asked, surprised. That didn't seem right. Donatello said Raph was pining for the girl. And Donnie was usually not mistaken about such things. Luna shook her head.

"Zeus' word is law, and I'm in disgrace," Luna mumbled, thoughts still far away. "Raphael saw it all. He was angry, so angry. He is not Olympian, so he didn't know it was his right to...leave," her voice broke again, full of shame. "to distance himself from the dishonor."

April blinked as she tried to follow this convoluted explanation.

"So you told Raph he could leave," she said gently, nodding in sudden understanding, "and he refused."

Probably violently, April thought.

Luna nodded, fighting tears.

"I have to tell Leonardo too. I- I don't know if I can even speak to him about it!" Luna said, panic in her voice. "His honor is above reproach. I cannot drag him down with me! He'll be so angry."

"Luna, I guarantee you that Leo will refuse as well," April said. "And he'll be angry for the same reason Raph was."

"You understand this?" Luna asked April, her eyes wide and her voice lost.

April reached across the table and squeezed Luna's hand.

"Honey, Raph and Leo don't care about anyone else's opinion. They care about you. Raphael was angry because you are hurting."

"But Zeus is King and god of all, why would they dare his displeasure?" Luna did not understand.

"Zeus has not been a king on Earth for more than a thousand years." April replied. "And as far as I know, the guys have never worshipped a god."

Until now. April thought, eyeing the pretty goddess in front of her.

Luna stared at April, shocked. This change in Earth culture was something she had not taken into account. It would bear some serious consideration.

Luna suddenly cocked her head to the side as if listening. And her expression changed abruptly.

"Raph and Casey are headed back," she said. "I guess we'll be going home soon."

April took note of the word 'home'.

"Luna," she said seriously, still grasping the girl's hand, "Where is home going to be when you've found all the missing pieces?"

Luna opened her mouth to say she didn't know, that she hadn't decided what to do. That her parents needed her. That she was the heir and couldn't just abandon her responsibilities, even if the other gods reviled her.

"Wherever they are," she whispered instead, just as Raph knocked on the window.

Raphael was in a much better mood as he and Casey returned to April's after the fight. Letting out his frustration and aggression was one of the best ways of controlling it, and with this new firestarting talent of his, control was definitely something he needed to practice.

When he tapped on the window, April and Luna were sitting together at the kitchen table, chatting. It looked like they were getting on ok. Raph was glad, cause a little earlier, he'd felt some confusion and sorrow from Luna, and he'd been worried.

It was late, so it wasn't long before they said their goodnights to April and Casey and climbed out the window back to the roof. Luna looked tired, but Raph wasn't really in a hurry to get home and face Leo and a barrage of undoubtedly hostile questions. Besides this was the first time he'd been with Luna alone.

He wanted to make it last a little longer.

"Back home?" Luna asked, turning to head toward the smaller metal ladder.

"Nope," Raph scooped her up from behind into his arms. He looked down into her startled face and gave a sort of lopsided smile. "Care ta go for a run?"

She smiled back, the first carefree looked he'd seen on her face in days and nodded shyly.

Running with her was easy, even though he was tired. She weighed next to nothing and he was the strongest of his brothers. Carrying her would never be a burden. Raphael glanced down at her, still smiling up at him, as he jumped them over larger and larger gaps, until it felt like they were flying.

He admired the way her hair blew in the wind and the sparkle of excitement in her amber eyes as she looked out over the lights of the city. He couldn't help but contrast this vision of loveliness to the memory of carrying her broken body home after the Fall barely a month ago.

That memory struck fear into him, and he held Luna a little tighter, fiercely glad that Leo and Don had taken out every one of those evil, god-forsaken, bastards. Thinking of them, made him want to run even further with Luna, to hide her away somewhere safe, where no one could find her but him.

Suddenly he knew just where he wanted to take her. There was a little grotto in the courtyard of an office complex, well tended but never occupied that he used to visit as a teen when he needed to get away. It would be perfect.

Luna was really enjoying the run. The night was warm, the stars were bright, and her heart leapt with joy each time she glanced up at Raphael's face. Amazing as it was, he wanted to be with her. His strong arms held her firmly against him, but gently, as if afraid she would break.

She let herself relax and breathe his slightly woodsy scent in deeply as she considered the conversation she'd had with April. It had never occurred to her that her new family would not care about the priorities of an Olympian life, or even worry about offending the head of that hierarchy.

Zeus has not been a king on this Earth for more than a thousand years.

April's words replayed themselves over and over in her mind.

It was true that Olympians had been pretty much ignoring the mortal realm for a while. The focus had shifted from the politics of power on Earth to a more purified, cutthroat version amongst the gods themselves. Only a few who had responsibilities to the mortal realm, like her parents, dealt with the Earth on a day to day basis anymore.

She didn't think many Olympians realized the extent of the change amongst the mortals living there. Maybe that's why their immortal underlings were getting so restless. Most of them had been created to maintain power within the mortal realm and now they were being ignored.

Luna looked up from her thoughts, as Raphael tightened his grip around her, and she gasped in startled wonderment as he leapt off into open space. They were falling inside of an extremely tall office building. Raphael easily turned their fall into a controlled descent with the use of a few drain pipes and assorted ledges. He navigated the way down easily as if he knew this place well.

She soon understood why he would like to visit here. It was a perfect little courtyard completely hidden from the outside world. Only the interior offices looked out on to this heavenly little space, and this late there was no one to admire the view.

There were full sized trees, weeping birch and cherry, which cast a canopy of long trailing branches low to the ground. There was lush grass, so thick it was like plush carpeting. There were manicured hedges and even a little slate stone waterfall emerging from a giant boulder that created a burbling music all it's own.

The moment Raph set her on the grass, she squealed with joy. She leaned down, tore off her shoes and began to dance around on the soft grass barefoot, before racing toward the trees. She hid behind the nearest one and peeked out at him with a smile.

With her red hair and pale skin, she looked like something he'd seen once in a children's fairytale book, a tree spirit or something totally unreal. He stood admiring her until her chime-like laugh carried over the bubbling sound of the waterfall.

"Well, are you going to come and play?" she taunted.

Raph took off after her, suddenly not tired in the least.

She squeaked playfully and dashed between the trees when he almost caught her. She changed direction again, as he flipped around in pursuit. She didn't escape for long. She was laughing too hard for running.

Panting great, heaving, breaths she collapsed, giggling, under a the spreading canopy of a cherry tree next to the little stream and lay back in the soft cool grass. One arm cushioning her head.

God, she was gorgeous.

Raphael approached her slowly, entranced by her actions. His eyes roamed over her body like a predator evaluating it's prey, lingering on the smooth curve of her hip as she rolled to one side to watch him, then tracing their way up to the soft rounded edge of her chest, still rapidly rising and falling from her exertion.

He licked his lips but stood his ground, as needs long denied roared to life inside him. Never had he even dreamed that he would get the chance at romance, or anything more intimate, so now he was uncertain how to proceed.

Luna sensed his frustration. Desire was there but Raphael had quelled it for so long. Denied it. Buried it deep in his psyche, and used it's frustration to fuel his rage. In order to act, he needed to rechannel it, but she could help bring it closer to the surface.

She looked up at him seductively through her lashes, her eyes wide and dark, and responded in kind by licking her own lips. Slowly.

I have what you need. Her mind whispered to his, below the level of thought, as instincts long suppressed began to re-emerge.

Raph's breathing hitched, and his muscles tensed.

She eyed his muscular form with admiration as she climbed to her feet, equally slowly, and blushed while biting her lip. She glanced down shyly then back up at him.

I am what you need.

His blood began to boil, and his eyes ignited with desire.

She shifted her weight, dropped one shoulder slightly, and the neckline of her oversized T-shirt slid off her shoulder and slowly down her arm a few inches.

You are what I need.

Raphael moved.

In seconds, he had her in his arms and shoved back against the boulder that created the waterfall. His mouth fastened desperately on hers, and she wrapped her arms and legs around him as she kissed him back with passion.

His lips were needy and rough, but he gentled his strength for her. He balanced her weight with one hand under her hip and shielded her head protectively from the stone with the other even as he pressed himself against her.

Her hands roamed over him and traced patterns over his shell that drove him insane. He'd never felt like this before.

Raphael thought he knew his body. He thought he knew himself. But these sensations were nothing like what he felt when he had to relieve his own sexual tension. A growl began, deep in the back of his throat as he continued to kiss her fiercely, along with it came a growing need to possess her utterly.

Her lips left his and began to trace kisses down his neck to his shoulder and he threw his head back to give her room. She nipped him then, hard, and he gave voice to a deep thrumming purr that had been echoing inside him. A reflection of his need for her. He was almost startled. He'd never made such sounds before.

Enraptured, he recaptured her lips and moved them away from the boulder to the soft grass. He set her down gently under the cherry tree and removed his weapons, but set his sai carefully within arms reach. He didn't want her injured on them accidentally, but he would not leave her undefended in the open.

Raphael returned to her arms and her soft feminine form entwined with his. She was intoxicating. Every move she made drove him into a further frenzy and he felt his world spinning out of control. But he didn't care.

His heart and soul were on fire and nothing could quench it but her.