"Hey no fair! You're cheating!" Kayla shoved her arm into Mikey from where they were sitting on the couch. They were playing Mario Kart on their game station and Mikey had come up behind her, him playing Luigi while she played Yoshi, and shoved her off a cliff.

"Ha! All's fair in love and war, little sis!" Mikey cheered as he pulled into the lead and crossed the finished line. "Yes!" he jumped up and held his hands above his head as he did a little victory dance. Kayla rested her elbow on the arm of the couch, her cheek in her hand as she watched her brother celebrate; shaking her head and smiling in amusement.

"Yeah, yeah I get it. You win. Show off." Kayla tossed her controller onto the coffee table and leaned back on the couch crossing her arms.

Mikey stopped dancing and looked back at her. "Aw c'mon. Don't be a sore loser, Kay. Ya know you had fun." he pointed at her teasingly.

Kayla tried not to smile and tried to make herself look mad.

Mikey leaned over and wiggled his fingers threateningly. "Come on. Where's that smile?" he slowly moved closer to her.

Realizing what he was doing she scooted as close to the arm of the couch as possible. "Don't even think about it, Mike" she threatened, feeling a grin crack her face.

"Let's see that smile." he moved a little closer, his big, blue eyes glinting with mischief.

"Mikey, I'm not kidding. Don't." Kayla gripped the arm of the sofa. She screamed as Mikey lunged at her. She jumped over the arm of the sofa and raced into the kitchen, Mikey right on her heels.

"Donny, help me!" she yelled as she raced around the table where Don was sitting reading the paper. Don looked up and smiled in amusement before going back to his paper. When Kayla made a sharp turn her socked feet slid a bit and she bumped lightly into the counter before regaining her footing and racing out of the kitchen, feeling Mikey just barely miss her. She headed back for the TV area and was about to jump over the sofa, but before she could leap off the ground she felt two arms wrap around her stomach.

"Mikey!" she screamed as he lifted her off the ground, laughing evilly. His arms were completely wrapped around her and she kicked her legs to try to get free. She felt him curve his fingers in and started tickling her sides. She screamed again and twisted around in an attempt to get loose, her sides hurting a little from laughing.

She saw Raph enter the room.

"Raph! Help! He's tickling me!" Kayla screamed before she broke into a fit of laughter again. Raph smirked before heading in their direction, cracking his knuckles.

"My children." a calm, commanding voice spoke from the other side of their home. Mikey stopped tickling Kayla and she stopped squirming. Master Splinter was standing in the entrance of his room. Leo was nowhere to be found. "Come. Your brother has something to tell you." Master Splinter waved his hand to motion for his other kids to enter the room.

Michelangelo put Kayla down. The four siblings glanced at each other before walking to their father's room together. When they entered Leo was kneeling on the ground in his normal spot, his back to the entrance and his front facing their father. Kayla and her three other brothers moved to their usual spots. Leo sat in the center with Raph to his left and Don to his right, while Kayla sat on the end by Raph and Mike sat on the end by Don. As she knelt down Kayla looked over at Leo from around Raph. He was staring at the ground, his expression blank.

"My children, Leonardo has something to tell you." Master Splinter motioned to his oldest child. Leo sighed deeply as he stood up and moved to stand next to their father. He looked at his siblings, though Kayla noticed that he avoided looking any of them in the eye.

"Well, I'm…I'm not sure how to say this." Leo started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he looked at the ground. "Well, Master Splinter and I both agree that all of you deserve the best leader you can get and, well, I'm not so sure that that's me."

Don interrupted, "What do you mean, Leo? You're the best leader we could ask for. We all know what a great leader you are, you'd do anything for our family."

"I know Don, and that's true. I really would do anything for my family. But there are also ways I can improve in my leadership skills. So…" Leo breathed out, still unsure how to say it, "So Master Splinter and I agreed that I should go do some training…In Central America."

"What!?"

"Central America!"

Kayla's eyes stretched wide and suddenly her throat went dry.

"Wait," Mikey raised his hand, "you mean there's MORE than one America?" Don and Raph rolled their eyes while Kayla saw Leo smirk a little sadly.

"Yeah, Mikey." Leo answered quietly.

"So let me get 'dis straight," Raph started, his Brooklyn-accented voice giving away his anger, "You've always been obsessed with bein' 'perfect' an' all. So now you've become so messed up in da' head that you've decided ta go ALL the way over ta CENTRAL AMERICA just so ya can get even betta at bossin' us around than ya already were. That it?" his golden-brown eyes stared up at Leo, meeting his eyes angrily.

Leo looked at the ground. Master Splinter stepped forward and put his hand on Leo's shoulder.

"Do not be angry at your brother, Raphael. I was the one who suggested it."

There was a long silence before Don slowly raised his hand a little.

"Do you know how long you'll be there?" he asked his oldest brother.

Leo glanced at his father before meeting Don's eyes with his own. "Six months." he answered.

"When are ya leaving?" Mikey asked sadly.

Leo looked at the ground. "Sensei thought it would be best to leave late Saturday night, like around midnight, to catch a plane to Central America."

"Tomorrow night? That soon?" Don glanced at his other siblings, all of them looked equally upset, though Raph was hiding his grief behind a mask of anger.

"Yeah." Leo nodded sadly. He glanced over at Kayla, who hadn't said a single word since she entered the room. She was staring at the floor in front of her, her eyes wide and mouth open slightly. The others noticed, too.

Kayla couldn't even feel the gazes burning into her. The second Leo had announced he was leaving it seemed like her whole body went numb. Like someone could have shot her and it would've taken a few minutes for her to feel it. As if her legs had minds of their own she climbed to her feet and stumbled out of her father's room, bumping into the wall a few times. She felt her legs move faster, into a sort of speed walk, her eyes were getting blurry so she relied on memory to find her room.

Once inside she shut the door and managed to lock it before flopping down on her bed, shoving her face into her pillow. She clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, feeling her salty tears stain her pillow. She heard someone try to turn her doorknob, but since she locked it they couldn't get in.

She turned her head away and continued to cry. She jumped when she felt a hand on her back. She turned her head and saw her door open a crack, Leo's katana in his hand before he put it back in its sheath. He'd managed to pick the lock. Leo sat down on Kayla's bed by her with his hand on her back between her shoulder blades. She hid her face again. He didn't say anything, just sat there with his hand on her back. Finally the silence was unbearable.

"You lied." she choked out. She heard him sigh.

"I'm sorry, Kayla. Master Splinter wants me to train there. There's nothing I can do."

"You can say no." she whispered, her voice catching as her throat tightened.

"You know it's not that simple. Master Splinter wants me to be the best leader I can…for you. And apparently that involves training in Central America."

Kayla propped herself up on her elbows and turned back to look at him. "But what kinda training can you do in Central America that you can't do here?" she asked, her voice becoming a slight whimper.

Leo turned his head away slightly. "I'm not sure, Kay. I guess what I'm mainly supposed to do while I'm down there is protect the people in this small village."

"There are people here at home who need to be protected, too." she whispered back, turning her back to him and resting her chin on her pillow.

"Kayla, I'm sorry." he repeated. There was a long moment of silence and Kayla buried her face back in her pillow. Suddenly Leo spoke up. "What if I had a way to make it up to you?" Kayla lifted her head slightly, showing that she was listening, though she didn't turn to look at him. "How about I write to you every week, and you can write back. You can tell me all about how things are going here, and tell me how things are at school and stuff. Then I can tell you how I'm doing in Central America and help you out on what to do about the guys at school. Sound like a plan?" his voice sounded hopeful and it made Kayla's chest ache.

She turned to look up at him, her cheek resting on her pillow. "I just…I think I need some time alone to think." she turned her head back around so she couldn't see him.

After a few moments she heard him sigh again. This one gave away his sadness and it made Kayla's eyes burn. "Okay. I understand. You know where to find me when you want to talk." Kayla felt him get off her bed and heard her door open and close…and she was alone.

Casey was the last one to climb the fire escape ladder as they all stood on the roof in a semi-circle facing Leo. One by one Leo hugged all his brothers, Casey, and April. Even Raph got a hug, even though he was still acting ticked off about the whole thing. Leo had said goodbye to Master Splinter back at the den.

"We'll miss you." April said as she pulled back from the hug. His brothers all nodded in agreement.

"Same here." Leo sighed. He straightened the strap across his chest. Don had built him a hang glider for the trip. He glanced around at the familiar faces of his family and friends, but there was one face that wasn't among them. He sighed. "Kayla didn't come?" he asked sadly.

Don shrugged sadly at his brother. "I tried to get her to come out but she both locked and barricaded her door. And she wouldn't respond to anything I said. I really tried, Leo."

"I know, Don. It's okay." Leo smiled at his brother, even though they all knew how disappointed he was. Kayla had stayed locked in her room all Friday night and all Saturday. She hadn't come out for anything, not even to eat or go to the bathroom.

"Maybe if ya weren't ditchin' her like 'dis she wouldn't be so mad at ya." Raph pointed out sarcastically as he shrugged with his arms crossed. April smacked him on the arm.

"Cut it out." she turned back to Leo, "I'm sure she'll be fine in a few days. She'll probably brighten right up when you write to her."

Leo smirked again. "Yeah. Maybe." he glanced behind him towards the airport, which was about ten blocks away. His flight would be leaving shortly. "I better go." he turned back to them. "Goodbye." he said solemnly as he turned and broke into a sprint across the rooftops toward the airport.

His brothers, Casey, and April all stood in the cold wind as he raced away. As they watched him Mikey sighed. "Too bad Kay wasn't here. She should have at least said goodbye."

His brothers and friends all nodded in agreement. An extra gust of wind shot up behind them as something flew past them. They all stared as a small human form in a black hoodie raced off in the direction Leo took.

"Whoa! Was that," Mikey broke off and stared after the dark form.

Don looked equally surprised. "Yeah, I-I think it was." Don couldn't help but smile.

Leo closed his eyes a moment as he felt the wind blow his mask tails back as he ran. He was going at a steady jog since he had some time before the plane took off.

"Leo!" Leo opened his eyes as he continued to run. He thought he heard…"Leo!" Leo slowed to a stop as he looked back the way he came. He saw a small, dark form in a black, hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans racing towards him. He squinted his eyes to try and see the face, but the hood was up.

Suddenly the wind blew the hood back to reveal…Kayla. Leo turned to face her completely as he waited for her. He couldn't believe it. Kayla ran to him at full speed and he waited for her to slow down, but she didn't. She threw her arms around him in a hug, almost knocking him over with the force. Her arms wrapped as far around him as they could, about halfway between his shoulders and waist. He smirked as he hugged back, pulling her in just as tightly. They stood like that silently for a few moments.

Kayla's voice spoke from just under Leo's head, where his chin was resting on top of her head. "Write every week…promise?"

Leo smirked. "I promise." he pulled back and knelt down so he could look into her eyes. "And, Kayla, you have to promise me something." Kayla nodded and looked down at him, waiting. "Those guys at your school, they're going to say things to you. They're going to call you names, spread lies. They're going to try to make you mad, to get a reaction. Don't give them what they want. No matter what they say or do you CAN'T fight them. Promise?"

Kayla smirked down at him for a second. "I promise, Leo." she whispered. Leo stood up and hugged her again before pulling back and stepping away from her.

"Six months." he said with a small smile.

"Six months." she smiled back, hugging her arms.

"Goodbye." Leo turned and ran toward the airport, jumping off the roof of the next building.

Kayla stood there, her left hand by her side, the other in a loose fist on her chest, as she watched him leave. She saw him holding onto the side of one of the plane's wheels as it took off. Even though it was pretty far from her she saw him turn and wave back at her. Kayla lifted her left hand and waved back. A sudden gust of wind blew from behind her, blowing her hair forward past her face, following the plane as it sailed over the sea.