Here it is for your reading pleasure, chapter 7! I'm a bit ahead of schedule so yay for that! I'm having fun with this story more and more, and I've come up with some awesome ideas for the main plot involving both Leena and Cleo.
As Always, thanks for reading and please leave me a review/comment about what you think of the story so far! I always love to hear from my readers as it is what helps keep me going! Remember, constructive comments and thoughts are welcome, flames are not!
Chapter 7: Learning the Basics
The next day dawned bright and early for Leena, who was woken up by the enthusiastic knocking of Michelangelo, and a happy, though rather loud "Good morning sunshine!" when she opened her door. (Fully clothed in PJs this time.)
"Morning Mikey." Leena replied with a yawn.
"Gotta wake up and get moving! Breakfast is cereal and fruit today and then it's straight to the dojo for training!" The youngest turtle trilled brightly. "Hurry up!" And with that, he went bouncing off to the kitchen, leaving Leena to wonder where he got all his energy and wishing he'd share some. Just as she was turning back into her room, Raphael passed by on his way to the kitchen and gave her a knowing grin.
"Mornin', ya ready for training?"
"You bet I am!" Leena replied, all thoughts of being tired forgotten in the face of competitiveness. "Hope you're ready for dancing?"
"How ready do I need to be for that? It's nowhere near as hard as our training is." Raph replied dryly.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but you'll be regretting that comment later." Leena smirked.
"Doubt it." Raph shrugged with his own smirk. "See you in the kitchen then." And with that he left. Leena rolled her eyes at his retreating back and slipped back into her room to change. It only took her about ten minutes to change into a leotard and dance shorts, brush her hair into a ponytail and brush her teeth. As she started for the kitchen she remembered her dance shoes and ran back to get her half- sole ones. As she was on her way back, she ran into. Leonardo who smiled warmly, if a bit shyly, at her.
"Was just coming to check on you." He said, falling into step beside Leena.
"I guess I should get up earlier in the mornings if I took too long this morning..." She laughed.
"You weren't taking too long, just wanted to make sure you'd have time to eat. Sensei is very strict when it comes to being on time for morning training. I'm always the one to round everyone up since I get up early enough to meditate in the morning as well." Leo explained.
"Wow, that must take a lot of discipline and passion." Leena replied with relative surprise. "I mean, I can barely get myself up early in the morning even when I want to!" She laughed again and Leo joined her.
"It does, but I don't mind; it really is my passion to be the best Ninja I can be."
"Well, I think that's pretty admirable." Leena said. "And thanks, for thinking to come check on me; it was really sweet of you." She smiled brightly at him and Leonardo blushed lightly and tried to hide it with a sheepish wave of his hand.
"Like I said, kinda my job so it wasn't a big deal."
"Still, it's nice that you do it." Leena laughed. "Just take the compliment and say 'you're welcome!'" Leo laughed and nodded his head.
"Ok, ok, I get it. You're welcome." The blue banded turtle blushed again.
"Now, breakfast!" Leena said, walking into the Kitchen, Leonardo close behind her.
...an hour later...
Breakfast came and went in a similar manner as the day before, though somehow Mikey and Raph ended up in a burping contest that left Leena laughing, Leo shaking his head at the display of poor manners in front of a woman, and Donnie smirking while he pretended to fiddle with a gadget he'd brought from the lab.
Finally they made their way into the Dojo, Leena somehow channeling Mikey's personality as she bounced on the balls of her feet, practically bursting with her excitement.
"Ohayou." Splinter greeted them as they entered the turtles and Leena bowing to him in reply after they had formed a single file line before him. With a nod of his head, they took a seat on Dojo floor and waited expectantly. "As you all know, Leena will be joining us in our morning training, so after I set you to task, I will be focusing my attention on teaching her the basics." Splinter informed them, his sons nodding. "Let us begin." And the morning training commenced.
Leena picked up on the basic movements and disciplines much faster than Splinter had anticipated, even with her dance training, but it pleased him to know she was a fast study and a hard worker. He had her merely repeating basic exercises every young Ninja needed to master and unlike his sons often did, she did not complain but absorbed everything he said with rapt attention; she was eager to learn and Splinter knew she would excel quickly.
"Ya-me!" Splinter called out to his sons, who were in process of working on Taijutsu. The boys quickly ceased their sparring and fell into line once more, Leena doing the same as Splinter moved to pace in front of them. "Good work today my sons. You showed great discipline in staying on task while I worked with Leena." Michelangelo grinned at Splinter as he said this. "Tomorrow we will work on more hand to hand sparring with a focus on defense, redirecting and avoidance so that Leena may join us, I think she will manage to hold her own." Splinter's eyes sparkled with a bit of mischief as he regarded his students.
"Sensei… isn't that a bit too soon for Leena?" Leo questioned his look one of worry.
"Not at all. In fact, Leena was much more attentive yesterday then I had anticipated and she has already begun to pick up the beginning techniques. I want to challenge her and see what she can or can't do tomorrow so I know where I should really start with her training." Splinter mused, reaching up to stroke his thin beard. "That is all for today; you are dismissed." Splinter bowed to them all, which was returned as the turtles and Leena stood up. They watched Splinter leave, Donnie close on his heels as he wanted to get back to the lab to continue the work he had started earlier and Mikey heading out shortly after calling dibs on the game station. Raph hung back, as Leena had requested, while Leo took a seat back on the floor having decided he wanted to watch Raphael learn how to dance.
"Should prove entertaining." He grinned at his hot headed brother; Raph just rolled his eyes.
"Will probably be boring instead." He shot back, crossing his arms.
"It'll be interesting to say the least." Leena threw in, grinning at them both as she slipped on her half-sole shoes. "I'm actually going to be teaching you a Waltz, since I think it'll be the easiest partnering dance to pick up and won't require a huge knowledge on dancing right off the bat. The Waltz was the first ballroom dance style I learned myself." Leena explained, standing when she was set. "You ready to learn how to partner? It's a lot different from sparring or working as a team in Ninjitsu." She smirked at Raph.
"Can't be more difficult though." Raph chuckled, walking over to her.
"I think you'll be surprised." Leena replied, reaching out to take Raphael's hands in her own. "I'll start by teaching you proper dancing form for the Waltz and then we'll move onto the basic steps and the proper counting for them." Leena explained, smirking when Raph raised his brow at her. "Once you get a solid grasp on those few things, we'll move on to proper technique and how to be a good partner."
"When will I actually learn to dance?" Raph chuckled.
"Once we get through the beginning basics and you understand the terminology associated with Waltz." Leena replied with a smirk.
"Sounds a bit difficult to me." Leo commented from his spot on the floor.
"No one asked you." Raph shot at him. Leo raised his hands in mock surrender but couldn't help the smile that slipped across his face.
"Alright, let's begin. First thing's first; I'm going to show you the proper hold for a Waltz." Leena said, guiding Raph's right hand to her waist and taking his left in her right and pulling it up. "This is the posture you must hold when you dance the Waltz."
"The entire time you're dancing?" Raph asked incredulously.
"Yes. It requires a good amount of muscle endurance." Leena replied.
"No problem. I have plenty of endurance." Leena simply smiled at him in response.
...two hours later...
"I can't believe my arms actually feel sore." Raph complained as he walked out of the Dojo with Leena.
"Waltzing uses different muscles in your arms, legs and feet that you don't use as often in Ninjistu training." Leena laughed. "I told you it wasn't going to be as easy as you thought it would."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Once I have the basics down I bet it'll be a cinch." Raph replied. "But for now, I'm gonna get some lunch and then go work on my bike."
"Bike?" Leena questioned in surprise.
"Yeah, the Shell cycle, she's my babe." Raph grinned. "I've had her for a few years and I'm always tuning her up and making sure she runs smooth." He explained.
"You have a motorcycle?"
"I believe that's what I said."
"But, why?" Leena continued.
"Why not?" Raph chuckled.
"Well, do you even get to take it out for a ride? I mean, I don't think you could really go unnoticed by people. A giant turtle riding a motorcycle is bound to draw attention." Leena said with a small laugh, trying to picture what that would look like.
"I usually only go out at night and I wear a jacket to cover my shell and a helmet… so far it's been fine." Raph shrugged his shoulders.
"Huh. That's pretty cool." Leena said with a smile.
"Maybe I'll take you out for a ride sometime?"
"That actually sounds like a lot of fun! I'd love that." Green eyes met blue and the two smiled at each other.
"Ah, anyway, I'm still hungry so yeah. Gonna go get some food." Raph said suddenly, turning abruptly and heading off in the direction of the kitchen. He could feel his heart beating in his chest and it was a strange feeling that left him a bit breathless. He really couldn't deny how pretty Leena was but he had to wonder why this happened every time he caught her looking at him. It was a very new feeling for Raph and he didn't really know how to handle it.
"Oh, ok." Leena replied, waving at red-banded turtle as he walked off quickly, wondering if she'd done something to cause Raph's sudden retreat.
"Don't mind him; he can be a bit anti-social sometimes." Leena turned to see Leonardo walking towards her from the direction of his room. Leo had stuck around to watch the dance lesson for about twenty minutes before Leena had asked him to leave. Raph had tripped over his feet for the second time learning the basic steps and Leo had had a hard time not laughing; it had irritated Raphael to the point of distraction. Now, Leonardo was standing in front of her with a wide, warm smile, which Leena returned. "Did you finish your dance lesson then?" He questioned.
"Yeah, and Raph has now learned that dancing isn't going to be as easy as he first thought." Leena laughed.
"I'm not surprised." the leader said with another easy smile. "So what are you going to do with the rest of your day?"
"I'm not really sure… I was thinking about doing a little of my own dance practice and then I may get some lunch. Are you on your way to the Dojo?"
"I was just going to do so meditation, so if you want to practice your dancing some more go right ahead. I'll be in a corner anyway and your dancing won't disturb me." Leo replied.
"Perfect." Leena replied. And with that, the two of them headed back into the Dojo. However, unbeknownst to Leena, once she had begun to dance, Leo ended up finding it very hard to concentrate on meditation at all; he became much more interested in watching Leena and the beautiful way she danced. But Leo wasn't the only one who was watching. Peeking into the Dojo from a crack in the door was Raphael, who had stopped on his way to his room when he'd heard Leena and Leo heading back to the Dojo. In the moment both brothers were watching Leena, they had both unknowingly agreed that she was absolutely beautiful.