Kayla threw a series of punches and kicks into the punching bag. Her black hair was up in a ponytail, her bangs were sticking to her sweating forehead, she was wearing a black tank top, gray sweatpants that were rolled up to her calves, tennis shoes, and her fists were wrapped. She had been working out for nearly an hour by herself.

When she saw movement to her left she paused and rested her fist on the punching bag to stop it from swinging.

"Hey, April." she greeted the redhead as she wiped her sweating forehead with her wrist. "What's up?"

April leaned against the wall. "Well, I actually have a proposition for you."

Kayla nodded as picked up her water bottle. "Go on."

"Well, next week I have to go on a business trip. One of my clients wants me to pick up an ancient statue there and bring it back here. I'll be gone for at least four days."

Kayla smirked. "And what? You want me to keep your boyfriend out of trouble?" she joked. April chuckled lightly.

"I think Raph can handle that. I was actually wondering if you'd want to come with. I may need help and it would mean you'd miss the first couple days of school before spring break, but I didn't think you'd be too disappointed by that."

"Pfft." Kayla rolled her eyes. "Trust me; I won't be missed in the slightest. But yeah, I'd love to. Where is it?" she asked as she bent to pick up her towel.

April looked slightly uncertain now. "Well, um. It's in…Central America."

Kayla froze, still slightly bent over. She slowly stood back up, the towel in her hands. For a moment her mind was just blank, she didn't know how to react.

"Kayla?" April asked uncertainly.

Kayla blinked, then shook her head slightly. "Um, sorry April. I um. Actually I have some really big stuff going on at school just before break that I really don't want to miss." she lied. In reality, if it were anywhere else she'd jump at the chance to go on a trip and get out of school. But Central America was where Leo was, and if there was the slightest chance she'd see him she wanted to avoid it.

April narrowed her eyes, a mixture of suspicion and sympathy on her face. "From what Don's told me you're grades are extremely low, you're dropped from the swim team, and you claim you don't care about school anymore. What exactly qualifies as 'really big stuff' for you?"

Kayla glared at the ground, not liking that April was implying that she knew Kayla was lying, even though she was.

"Look, I just can't go, alright?" she snapped, turning to glare at April. She flinched and Kayla felt bad for snapping, but it was just getting annoying. Kayla had to get away from April before she did something she'd regret. She threw her towel around her neck on her shoulders, grabbed her water bottle, and passed April on the way to her bedroom.

She kicked her door shut, making it slam. She was so mad she was shaking. She needed to take her anger out on something. She went up to her bookshelf and picked a random shelf, throwing her arms back and forth as she knocked things off and threw them. She stopped to breathe and looked down. She saw an old notebook that must've been hidden under all the other books. She picked it up and flipped through it. It was one of her old writing journals with some of her old poems.

Kayla smiled to herself, deciding to read it. Reading her old poems always managed to put a smile on her face. So she sat on her bed and flipped it open, flipping through a couple pages until she found a poem:

I breathe deeply, taking in the cool night air

The warmth of the fire washes over me

and the light flickers over us in the wind

My eyelids grow heavy and I lean on a strong shoulder

A warm pair of arms lays me back and tucks me in under a blanket

I sigh in content under his watchful eye as I drift off to sleep

Knowing nothing can hurt me

Kayla's smile dropped to a frown as memories flashed through her mind. Memories of her and her brothers around a campfire from one of their many camping trips to the old farmhouse. Of her and Leo laughing by the fireside. Of when she was too tired to stay awake with them and fell asleep against Leo's shoulder.

Kayla squeezed her eyes shut, hoping she could block out the flood of memories pouring into her mind. She rested her face in her open hands, which were finally healed after her rope climbing incident, and rubbed her eyes with her fingers. Pulling them away from her face she looked down at her notebook. Then, she ripped the poem out of the notebook, crumpled it into a ball, and chucked it across the room at the trashcan. It bounced off the rim and landed on the floor near it. She knew she should pick it up and throw it away, but she couldn't bring herself to go near it.

A knock on her bedroom door caused Kayla to look up. "Kayla? Master Splinter wants us to have a training session." Don's voice spoke.

"Okay." she answered back, her voice slightly hoarse. She tossed her notebook onto the bed, grabbed her bow and quiver, and left her room. She met her brothers where they were waiting in their training room. Master Splinter first pit Raph against Donny. Raph won easily, knocking Don's feet out from under him and pinning him down.

"Michelangelo, Kayla. Your turn." Master Splinter announced as Raph and Don moved back to the side to watch. Kayla and Mikey stepped forward so they were in the center of the room. Mikey had his usual goofy grin on his face while Kayla forced herself to focus.

Raph and Don couldn't help but notice how different she seemed in this bout. In the past whenever she went into a bout against Mikey she'd be goofing off as much as him, laughing and teasing him. But right now she looked alert, almost angry in a way.

Mikey made the first move, rushing her with his nunchuks swinging. In a flash Kayla rolled to the side, easily dodging him. She used her bow to hook one of the nunchuks, yanking it out of his hand and throwing it across the room, nearly hitting Donny in the process. Mikey swung his other nunchuk at her, knocking the bow out of her hand. Kayla stared at him, her face full of concentration, her eyebrows furrowed.

When he rushed her Kayla did the last thing her family expected. She turned and ran from Michelangelo. Mikey chased her, but then she raced to one of the columns, running up the side of it. She then pushed off it, back flipping over Mikey's head. She landed directly behind him in a crouch, kicking out her right leg and kicking him on the inside of his knee, causing his legs to buckle. Kayla then leapt up into the air, landing on his shell just behind his shoulders, causing him to fall forward. As he was falling she grabbed his wrists and pulled them behind his back to keep him from catching himself and escaping. As he landed memories flashed in front of her eyes.

Master Splinter had sometimes taught her different, or altered, moves to make up for her size. When Master Splinter had first taught her this move he'd asked Leo to help, so whenever she practiced this move it was usually on Leo.

"Uh, Kay? Can you let go now?" a pained voice spoke up, breaking her out of her thoughts. Kayla looked down and realized she was still on Mikey's shell and she was still holding his arms behind his back. And because she was angry from her memories she was digging her nails into his skin and turning his arms so she was nearly breaking them.

She quickly let go and stepped off him. "Sorry." she mumbled as she stepped back to stand by her brothers. Don, Raph, and Kayla all stared ahead as they waited for Mikey to join them. When he did Master Splinter nodded.

"Good, my children. You are dismissed for the day." Kayla made to go to her room when Master Splinter called her back, "Kayla." she stopped and looked back at him, "I'd like to speak with you, please."

Kayla nodded and followed her father to his room. As she passed Raph, who was beating his punching, she heard a voice murmur, "Busted." she turned and glared over her shoulder at him, but he just smirked teasingly at her. Wanting to maintain some of her dignity she just rolled her eyes and kept walking. She entered the room behind her father and closed the door before kneeling in front of him.

"You seemed to have much on your mind in your bout with Michelangelo. Were you mad at him?" he asked, his eyes closed.

Kayla looked down at her lap. "No, Sensei. It has nothing to do with Mikey."

"Then what is troubling you, my child?"

"It's nothing Sensei. I just got distracted."

Splinter opened his eyes and his gaze seemed to burn into her. "Is that truly all it was, My daughter?"

Kayla looked back down, she was silent for a while. "I'd rather not talk about it, please."

"Does it have to do with Ms. O'Neil's offer?"

Kayla's head whipped up, her eyes wide in surprise. "You know about that?" she asked nervously. He nodded and she dropped her head again.

"Why do you not wish to go?" he asked. Kayla ducked her head and stayed silent. "Is it because of Leonardo?" he pressed gently. Kayla continued to stare at the ground, determined not to break in front of her Sensei. She heard her father sigh sadly before he spoke again. "Very well. You are dismissed, however remember that I am always here if you wish to talk."

Kayla nodded before standing and hurrying out of the room.