Raphael Meets His Match 2
Part Three: Mona Lisa's Training (Introduction)
Mona Lisa slowly unfastened her eyes and they flickered and struggled to open all the while. Her vision was blurred for a few seconds, but when her eyes were completely open and her vision was crystal clear, she screamed at who was hovering over her.
"Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty!" Mikey loudly greeted. Being terribly terrified at his sudden outburst and very uncomfortable closeness to her, Mona Lisa sprang from the bed and landed beside it with a thud.
"Hey, she's awake, guys!" the comical turtle declared to his other three brothers who were enjoying a cereal breakfast at the wooden kitchen table downstairs.
"Wow, thanks for the wake-up call, Mikey," Mona Lisa sarcastically praised him as she stood from behind the bed and rubbed her throbbing head. Mikey and Mona descended the stairs and joined Donny, Leo, and Raph in the kitchen. "And don't you think you're a little too close for comfort sometimes?" Mona Lisa asked.
"Sorry, but Raph said to wake you up right away."
"I said to keep an eye on her until she wakes up, not yell in her face when she wakes up," Raph corrected his hilarious brother.
"Oh," Mikey sheepishly replied, rubbing the back of his neck,"oops."
"Let's not start this up first thing in the morning, okay guys?" Leonardo pleaded, knowing how when Mikey acted like a knuckle head that it made Raphael want to knock him in the head. He completed his breakfast and stood up from his perch at the table.
"Mona Lisa, do you care for anything to eat?" Leonardo inquired their guest all too politely.
"You've got any fruits?"
"Apples and bananas. Which one do you prefer?"
"Apple, please." Leonardo went to the fruit basket, selected the ripest, reddest apple of the bunch, threw it Mona Lisa's way, and she caught it with no flaw.
"Thanks." She slowly munched on the apple to make it last as Leonardo and Mikey proceeded to the workout room to begin their morning training, and the other teenage ninja turtles continued their breakfast.
When she was finished her small, but nourishing breakfast, Mona Lisa threw it in the trash bin, folded the blankets Raph slept with the previous night, and placed it on top of his pillow.
Donatello was observing her every step, nodded approvingly, and commented to Raphael, "Man, you picked the right girl. She's beautiful and she cleans up even the slightest messes."
"I don't even know her all that well. How does that make her my girl? She's only a friend."
"Oh, then why did I witness last night's little affair when she kissed you on the cheek as you slept, and you smiled just when she finally fell asleep?"
Raphael was silent for a moment, knowing what the tiny peck on his cheek was the previous night. He lowered his eyebrows and replied angrily, "You see too much. Next time, just go to sleep and leave me and Mona out of your concern. And besides, everyone was asleep. How did you see it?"
Don snickered uncontrollably and answered, "Oh, I just wanted to see what my big bro was up to. I had this certain hypothesis that Mona Lisa would need a drink in the middle of the night, and that when she would see you, she would congratulate you saving her with a quick kiss, if you know what I mean."
"Oh, great! It's crazy enough you're already a computer geek. Now you're goin' psychic on me?"
"I don't know. Maybe I am." Donatello nudged Raph in the shoulder and continued, "But she's a real attractive girl, isn't she?"
"Stop playing with my head, Don!"
Donatello responded, "Whatever you say, lover boy."
The playful joke devised Raphael to clench his fists so tightly to the extent they almost bled. The brains of the bunch joined his brothers in the workout room, in which left Raphael and Mona Lisa alone in the living room. They stared at one another and began blushing. Raphael shook his head and broke the ice after the many silent seconds of the stare down between him and Mona Lisa.
"Uh, I'm gonna go to the workout room to do my training. You wanna come? I don't want you sittin' around here all bored with nothing to do," Raph offered, scratching behind his head to somehow kill his chagrin. He grinned sheepishly.
"Sure, I'd like to see how the Ninja Turtles do their stuff."
"Heh, I thought you would."
The couple strolled to the workout room where Master Splinter, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello were sat cross legged on the floor of the room with their eyes closed and hands clapped together. Mona Lisa quirked her eyebrow at the event.
"What are they doing?" she asked in confusion.
"Meditation. We do that as a warm-up before our training every day," Raphael told the new comer in the practices of the ninja turtles' training. "Master Splinter teaches us the arts of Ninjutsu and how to harness the powers within our spirits. We have to look into and believe in our spirit as a ninja to concentrate and balance ourselves throughout combat. Just do as the guys do. It can prove better for your defense if you ever get in a fight again."
"It looks easy, when it comes to meditating, but it'll be even more mind numming when it comes to all that other stuff that's done."
"Just take it step by step. We'll guide you through it."
"Okay," she replied warily, sounding unsure of what she would be doing in a matter of moments.
Raphael and Mona Lisa perched beside one another on Leonardo's right, and took the form of the meditation exercise. For Mona Lisa only being a beginner in meditating, she thought it was pretty relaxing and peaceful and not as creepy as she first thought it to be. She opened one of her eyes to view how Raphael looked meditating. He looked as tranquil as he was in his sleep, she concluded. Mona Lisa smiled at him and closed her open eye to continue her meditation.
The meditation progressed for a timely fifteen minutes. Master Splinter then instructed his students, "Okay, meditation is over for now. We will now begin our training for the day."
The sensei noticed Mona Lisa in the presence of his students' training session and said, "Ah, Ms. Mona Lisa, I see you are joining us. I believe that Raphael must've gaven you a small introduction on what I teach, correct?"
Raphael cringed, just the sound of his name coming from his sensei and how his brothers were now snickering with no harnessed control at him for offering Mona Lisa to join the training embarrassed him to the core of insanity.
As Master Splinter gave Mona Lisa useful information to use during the training session, Leonardo whispered, "Hey Raph, don't try going easy on her just because she's your girlfriend, 'kay?"
"She's not my girlfriend, man," Raphael whispered extra queitly so Mona Lisa wouldn't detect the conversation. "Drop it now! She's a friend and that's it!"
"One thing that you must know about the art of Ninjustsu, Mona Lisa", Master Splinter informed her during Leonardo and Raphael's limited conversation, "is that it takes concentration, exact aim, and your natural strength and heart to succeed; you must be focused and calm when doing so at all times. If this is too strenuous for you, take small breaks, go at your own pace, and do not feel rushed."
"It won't be too bad for me," Mona Lisa declared with a reasurring smile. "I've experienced my few brawls here and there, but without any weapons and only my bare hands."
"Fine start for you. I'm sure you will do well. Now, to proceed to our training."
Before I can write the next chapter, I have to come up with some training exercises that I can use in it, so it might take a while. I'll get around to it eventually.