The Lion and The Turtle - 2nd in LeoxAsha series

Rating: K+

Leo and Asha sat on the small beach and watched as Raph, Mikey, Donnie, and Splinter had a swimming contest. Leo had no idea rats were such excellent swimmers. Splinter had beaten them badly with best out of five, then best out of seven. Donnie was always second, his lean body cutting easily through the water, which did nothing for Raph's ego or his temper. Since it was Sensei, he took it all in stride.

The sun started to dip below the treetops, sending red and gold ribbons across the western horizon.

"I'm starved! Dinner a la Mikey will be served in about an hour," Mikey declared, jumping out of the pond and flinging water in Leo's face as he passed by. Leo glared after him and wiped the water away, but otherwise not going after him. He flung some water in Raph's face too, and promptly got chased into the house. Splinter was last out of the pond, toweling himself off until his fur puffed out all around his swim trunks. For the first time in months he was walking without a pronounced limp. Leo, Donnie, and Asha silently looked after him as he entered the house. They all looked at each other, surprised to find they all had the same look of relief on their faces. He looked like the hail and healthy master the brothers remembered.

"Don't be too late if you two want anything to actually eat when Mikey's done. You know how he and Raph are," Donnie said as he passed by and disappeared into the warm light of the large country kitchen.

Alone now on the small beach Leo grabbed Asha's hand and held it in his lap. She had covered herself in her beach towel, as the temperature seemed to drop as the sun set. Leo was just looking at her, studying her face.

"What did you think of me the first time you met me?" The question she asked was so out of the blue, Leo just blinked a couple of times before he realized what she asked him.

"You want the honest answer to that question?" He gave her a sideways glance. She looked him straight in the face and nodded her head. He seemed to think about that for a moment.

"I was thinking you might be working for the foot clan to be honest," he said.

"The foot clan?" Asha was incredulous.

"I didn't know what else to think, I had never met another mutant, or shifter in your case. I was also thinking that if you made a wrong move you were toast," he said looking out over the pond.

"Oh please, you would have been in a hell of a fight," Asha said amused at the memory and playfully punching Leo in the arm. He moved with the playful hit, a smirk on his lips.

"That may have been so, but that's what we were thinking. I introduced myself just to see what you would do. I was also…curious I guess," he admitted.

"Hmm, that's interesting I suppose. Can't say I blame you. Were your other brothers as wary as you were?"

"Well, Mikey liked you instantly, but then Mikey likes anybody that he doesn't think is associated with the Foot pretty much. Raph hated your guts, I was indifferent, and Donnie was smitten," he said not taking his eyes away from the shimmering surface of the pond.

Asha sat still, her arm interlaced with his. She absorbed that for a moment. She had mistakenly allowed herself to believe that Leo wasn't as perceptive as he was, especially in the matter of his brothers and their feelings.

"He might still be smitten with you. It's my fault mostly," he continued, finally looking down at her as she turned her face up to meet his gaze.

"Donnie isn't smitten with me," she offered weakly. It felt untrue as it left her lips. Leo snorted.

"Yes he is. I've seen the way he looks at you, the way he treats you. When I was…in my own head, I considered just stepping back all the way and letting, whatever you two were building with each other just play out," he said, unlatching their arms, and then snaking it around her waist to pull her closer.

"What stopped you from doing that?" Asha asked, curious about this new information. Leo thought for a moment.

"I couldn't let you go. I couldn't give up on being happy with you. There's something about you that, I don't know, I'm just attracted to it."

A long few minutes passed without them speaking to each other. The silence wasn't awkward like it probably should have been.

"What would you have done if I had chosen Donnie? Or not chosen either of you?"

"Lived with it, no matter how much that would have hurt me."

Another stretch of silence.

"Leo, I need you to know something. You may or may not have thought about it, but I think you have," Asha turned his face to her, determined to speak this while looking in his eyes.

"Donnie and I, we've never done anything…inappropriate. I just wanted you to know that," Asha told him. There seemed to be the slightest look of relief in his eyes. Of course he'd thought about it. He smiled at her. She couldn't help but feel like it was a small gift she received every time he offered it.

Neither of them spoke or really even moved until Mikey hollered for them from the kitchen.

"Come on, let's eat," Leo said, stretching as he stood and gathering their towels off the sand. Once Asha was standing he grabbed her hand and led her inside. The smell of Mikey's homemade hamburger helper filled the air and mingled with the laughter of their family.