A/N: Sorry this is so late ; I'm trying to get caught up on school. I'm getting there, so hopefully I'll be able to update more!
Leo had never been so nervous before. The tech staff clipped on part of his microphone to his belt and made sure his headset was on right. It was then that Leo noticed how bad his hands were shaking. His hands, which had held katana blades steady and trained for years, were shaking. Just calm down He told himself in his mind. However, the thousands of voices coming from behind, or rather, in front of the stage weren't helping him any. It didn't matter that they had done this before, it still was hard to get over stage fright.
He glanced over at Cassi, who was adjusting her headset as the men left her. She looked at him and smiled. Cassi looked calm, but Leo could tell that she was just as nervous as he was, if not more. Somehow, she was always able to mask her fear. Actually, the more he thought about it, she was able to mask many things. She gave him a thumbs up.
April, Shadow and Master Splinter came over to them. The one year old squealed when she saw the five. The red head started talking to them the moment she could. All five turtles could tell that she was just as excited as they were, and she wasn't even performing! Cassi sighed. April had done this nearly every show so far.
"Okay guys, this is it! There's a crowd out there of about ten thousand or so, but don't worry."
"April…" Cassi cut in, trying to get her to stop. It didn't work.
"Remember to be energetic! You're using some footage from here for your next video, don't forget."
"April…" The five said together.
"Just go out there and have fun! You guys love doing this, so act like it!" Outside, the audience had quieted down some. Cassi guessed the lights had dimmed.
"Miss O'Neil," Master Splinter said, putting his hand on April's arm, "I believe they need to perform now."
"Yes, we do," Cassi agreed quickly. She hugged April, then Master Splinter, then turned on her microphone. "Are you ready, Mike?" She asked, starting just as they had planned. The crowd cheered at the sound of her voice.
"Oh yeah Cassi! I am so hyped about this!" He exclaimed, beaming at her.
"Not my choice of words, but I agree," Leo grinned
"So do I," Don agreed.
"Let's get out there!" Raph said.
"Wait! We forgot to see if they're ready! How 'bout it, Miami?" Cassi asked while running up on stage. The others followed her.
She ran onstage and the audience screamed louder. After doing a few simple flips to impress them and give Leo and Raph a few moments to get their instruments on, Cassi stopped in the middle of the stage.
"Show off," Raph teased as he started to play the opening to one of their songs. Cassi grinned and started to sing.
---
Things continued on this way. It seemed like every night they were in a different city. For months, they toured across the United States and Canada. All five had fun, but found themselves exhausted near the end. Home sounded better than it ever had.
Soon, and quite quickly too, their popularity spread. Everywhere you looked, there was something with 'Shell Shock' written on it. They had merchandise in stores everywhere. On their twentieth birthday, headlines screamed, "America's Favourite Teenagers Teens No More."
After the tour was finished, they headed home, but there wasn't time to slow down. They had about two weeks to relax, but then they had to get started on their next album. From there, it would mean promoting it and probably another tour, with different awards shows in between.
The boys thought it was great, and Cassi did too, for a while. She thought everything was moving too fast, and that wasn't necessarily a good thing. One thing was certain; she hated never having time to herself, or time for her relationship with Mike. Before, she loved her time, just being by herself and doing small projects. Cassi had no idea how crazy things were going to get.
---
Nearly two years passed. Cassi and the boys were coming up to their twenty-second birthday. They were currently headlining their own tour. The five had gone from one tour bus to four to carry all their equipment and staff. April still insisted on driving the group, and Casey and Shadow still came along.
Cassi had her bunk pulled down and was sitting on it. She was leafing through the scrapbook Chris had given her for Christmas a couple years ago. Cassi hated being away for so long. Her excuse to Chris was that she was staying with family in Canada for a while. At the moment, they were indeed in Canada, and she was with family. Thankfully, they were headed back home to New York.
The turtle sighed and lay back on her bed. Below, she could hear Mikey and Don trying to figure out lyrics to a new song. Raph was playing the tune. Leo added a thing now and then, but he was mostly occupied playing with Shadow. I can't wait to get home. We play one more show closer to New York, and then we get a short vacation. One month of doing nothing is sounding great.
It was sounding great to everyone. April was looking forward to catching up on sleep, like the rest. They had had tons of late nights. As hard as it could be, they enjoyed every moment.