A/N: Welcome to tonight's episode where I try to write the Leorai angst I want to and in the end, I just manage to write fluffy and lovey-dovey stuff; yay for oocness :D (I'll put this along with the 'I want to explain everything in my stories and my characters are perfect so my writing ends up dull and boring' problem XD)

I literally wrote this chapter exactly the way I wanted in my head, but once I got in front of the computer, my mind went blank. XD Spoiler Alert; Leo loves Karai so much and the feeling is very much reciprocated.

"Speak low, if you speak love."

Their passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love. Love. Madness that is the greatest of heaven's blessings. Love. Hearts that are always young. ( A collection of one-shots with prompts, written for Leorai Week 2018 )

Do you got plans tonight?
I'm a couple hundred miles from Japan, and I
I was thinking I could fly to your hotel tonight
'Cause I can't get you off my mind
Can't get you off my mind
Can't get you off my mind

Romantic Trip

Leo can safely say that he did not expect that.

The cheers and screams of joy are pounding in his ears, make him feel like he's in a club or something – not that he'd know how that feels like – and he sighs in exasperation that turns into unconditional fondness when his brothers come close and nuzzle into him.

"Dudes, if you don't open them up now, I'm leaving," Casey declares somewhat seriously, but it's hard for everybody to take him seriously when his words are muffled with the frosty, delicious cake that is placed in front of the table.

Mikey really outdid himself, Leo thinks and the proud grin, a Sensei-like smile, cannot stay away from his face.

Mutation Day.

They're here; after another year of hard fights, collisions, smearing blood and stained innocence – a year of loss. But they are alive – and here to celebrate it. That's what he would like them to do, either way, Leo muses, biting his lip at the sight in front of him.

All of their friends – round in a circle and bundled up together with expectant smiles covering their flushed faces and gifts around them – gifts for them.

For the freaks of the sewers, the unnamed shadows, the unnamed heroes – Leo cannot blame Donatello for breaking the silence with a grin as the camera appears easily in his hand, "We have to capture this moment."

It's almost dream-like, the sparkles in his brothers' eyes that are not unshed tears anymore, the crunches the wrappings make when being ripped and the way the gifts fall in their hands like they belong to them.

Leo watches Raph give Mikey a wholehearted headlock and hold him there, like he's afraid a spell is going to be broken.

He watches Donnie pressing Casey into the tightest hug he has ever seen, soft murmurs passing between them as Donnie plays with his fingers.

Watches April stuffing her mouth with cake and twisting her expression into a blushing freckled thing when Shinigami offers to clean her up with soft fingers that run across the corners of her mouth – Karai clears her throat as her eyes set on him.

"Leo," her tone is laced with mocking disappointment as her eyes tinkle with what Leo guesses is mixed pride, mischief, and affection – the most beautiful eyes he has come to meet.

"You didn't open my present for you yet," she complains, tucking a lock of hair and it seems as if the whole party presented in the celebration agrees with her in less than a second, with matching grins.

Leo rolls his eyes at the 'Yes, Leo's', 'C'mon's', and 'What are you waiting for's', and catches the small, light file that has her name written on the table. It's red and rough when he takes it in his hands, weighing it, but the only weight he can sense are the odor of her whooshing perfume.

Karai's face is stretched with a lovely grin of anticipation and endearment that Leo hands-down adores and it forces him to open the folder more quickly with fidgeting fingers and quivering lips, which almost immediately fall loose once he sees it.

"Huh? Huh?" She sounds so excited that his now wide eyes look into hers with an expression torn between unbelief and astonishment.

"Are you – are you kidding?" His question is soft and logical to him, and Karai's nod with an ample grin that melts Leo's heart in slow and low drips makes him stay mouth-gaped and staring even longer.

He doesn't even realize it when Mikey grabs the papery note from his hands with ninja stealth-like moves that would usually make Leo's chest filled with pride, but he's too busy probably drooling in front of Karai right now.

"Is this… an invitation? To a hotel?" his youngest brother asks with a tentative voice, awkwardly trailing off before an inhuman sound leaves his mouth. "EEUGH! Holy Chalypa, dude! You're going to freaking Japan?"

And the murmurings of their friends around him, calls of joy and stupefaction drown in his ears as he gets up from where he's sat and speaks, "Karai," his tone feels weird to him, too, because his voice sort of cracks and maybe a daring 'aww' makes an appearance in the way he says her name-

But, she won't even let him speak, doesn't even make clear this whole – Leo doesn't even have a word for it – he chooses miracle, as she shrugs and winks at him deliberately.

"I mean, I thought to get naked in your room with only a bow tied around me and be your present, but I'm not sure you'd appreciate the gesture," she says as a way of explanation, with her lips turning upwards and it's perhaps the first time when Leo's cheeks don't get red at the snorts and nudges of his clan – of his family.

"I – I," he can't seem to know what to say, how can he speak when the person he loves so much that burns in his plastron and sets his heart to unforgivingly pleasant flames just stands with a small smile the edges of her lips, as if what she has just done isn't the most wonderfully meaningful and thoughtful thing he has ever been given?

Karai saves him from his fumbling mess with a feverish and passionate kiss that leaves him breathless and heavy at heart. After enduring a round of good-natured catcalls and jeers, she lets her lips linger on him a bit longer and they're tingling as Leo trembles a whisper on them, "This is the best present I have ever got."

And as Karai slides a hand around his broad shoulders and taps her fingers, soft and loud chuckles of different people with similar reasons echoing in their small and cozy kitchen and deadening Raph's whining gasp, "Hey Leo, I thought you said my handmade scarf was the best!" Leo wishes-

He wishes his father is somewhere around here, watching them silently and humming with his usual smile, feeling happy they seem to have everything taken care of and right. Because things are finally right. After so long. And Leo doesn't want the moment to end-

Except when it's to fly completely across the world, to his father's homeland – to feel him and his presence closer – to feel himself weightless.

Karai's crooked smirk does manage to make him years lighter and bright in barely two seconds, as well.

And Leo cannot keep the huge grin from covering his face as everyone, after hours of partying, cake and alcohol, go to sleep, splayed out on the floor and snoring – and Karai presses herself closer to Leo with a smile.

She chats quietly, gives details about all the plans she has for him – for them, explains the trip thoroughly, from the suitcases, the private jet flight to the hotel and the festivities she has organized.

It makes Leo jittery, not able to sleep, but he's not complaining since Karai grabs a blanket and tucks them in, opens the TV with a flash in the dark so they can watch Criminal Minds in peace and whispers in his ear tenderly.

Some murmurs make Leo laugh widely under his hand, because he is not waking up his brothers and friends, as Karai whispers to him, "I'd kill for you, too."

"I think murder is not a healthy flirting method," he says softly on her jaw and she snorts emphatically.

Others give Leo spins in his head and his heart swells so much with unbearably undeniable love while Karai brushes her molten lips on his neck again and again. His heart beats with as much love as surprise, because he can't believe Karai remembers all the mellow comments he had admitted about his desire to visit Japan – silly little things she kept tucked in her mind till now.

Karai tosses him the most heavenly gorgeous smile and Leo thinks she's like the sun.

"I really can't believe it," April says months later as she folds the edgy dark outfits in the suitcase, fighting to fit them all in.

"Are you going to need thicker clothes?" she asks with furrowed brows, opening another drawer, "Is it cold in Japan this time of the month? Though I'm sure you'll keep each other warm," she adds, smiling knowingly and Karai grins wickedly.

She can't believe herself she's returning home – the word fills her with a sense of comfort she's only able to find around Leo.

It took her a while to realize that home isn't necessary to be just a place, but a person, too and when she sees Leo is that for her – Well, introducing her new-found, warm home to her old-time home is a must-have.

Plus, Leo is just so adorably dorky when beaming charmingly.

She's a bit annoyed with herself if she's honest – getting so excited over a simple trip, over Leo – it's not her. She acts like a lovefool schoolgirl and it's starting to get in her.

But this is their trip – their moment. They deserve it, that's for sure, and Leo's bright grin can push away all of her doubts and insecurities in half a second.

She loves it when he's happy. She loves it when she makes him happy. She loves-

"Karai?" April's question startles her, and she turns her head to her – to her friend. She has friends.

"Don't forget to get toothbrushes," April says with all the concerned worry of a mother whose child leaves and Karai bites back a laugh. "And you T-phones," she continues and lifts her head from the shuffling clothed to look at her, "Oh, tampons too."

"Don't worry, I have it all covered," Karai sighs fondly and then, her expression shifts in curiosity as April's worried look turns in something unreadable.

Karai has come to understand that friends are not so easy to read as enemies – and it bothers her as much as it annoys her. April always said that, the wise man learns more from his enemies than the fool does from his friends, though.

They had had enough 'best-friend-sleepovers' to wrap her mind around it – she cracks a smile at the thought involuntarily, before pursing her lips as April clears her throat.

She moves closer, eyes narrowed and fidgeting fingers as she slips something in her hand and it takes all of Karai's willpower not to laugh out loud at her friend's reddened cheeks. She holds up the foil condom packages with a smirk tugging her lips and she thinks it's impossible how April blushes even more.

"April O'Neil," she drools on, and April's nervously rolled eyes are too amusing for her, "What are you implying?"

"Come on, Karai, you know what I mean."

And Karai cannot pretend she doesn't know what she means, but's it's a bit strange for her to see people care so much – it was weird enough with Leo, now April too?

April remains flushed as she starts, sighing, "Um, I just – I want you two to be okay, y'know, when you-"

"We don't," Karai snaps promptly, just to clarify, because she doesn't want April – or anyone in their clan that would die for Leo with no hesitation for that matter – to believe that this is her way of dragging Leo away for her scandalous intentions.

She's worked hard to earn their trust – Leonardo's trust, as well. The trip is what Leo needs and Karai is not planning on pressing him into anything.

April seems to get it, and she twirls a stray lock of hair in her fingers, moving back to the suitcase. "I know," she nods, "but if – if you had anything in mind, I just want you to be sure – and safe. I've seen you two. You're close. And you deserve it," she adds in the end, just to be accurate and the grin that appears on Karai's face is ceaseless now.

The warmth in her chest is full and Karai wants to express it – her gratitude to April for being such a – such a friend, because it is still an unbelievable and foreign concept to her – with an indirect teasing comment, of course, but hasn't the chance as April throws a sports bra in her face.

"But if you hurt him," she threats, serious eyes that gleam of protection and actually make her look vicious, and Karai can guess she's learned these tricks from Shinigami.

"Hurt him? As if he wasn't hurt enough," she sighs as a way of saying that no, she is not going to hurt him – not in the slightest, definitely not on purpose and not accidentally, too, even if it takes every bit of her heart.

Besides, at this point, it's kind of as if he owns her heart with a lovely solacing grip around it.

"Okay, good," April seems relieved as she stuffs Karai's make-up case in her suitcase – like Leonardo is the younger brother she has and wants to care about for miles – which makes Karai wonder if she spoke to him, too – and then, she smiles.

Slowly and gradually, looking at her with guileless eyes. "I'm happy you love Leo so much," she says fondly and Karai would honestly try to deny it fiercely if it wasn't for April's sudden hug that crashes her insides.

"You people are such cuddlers," is all that she manages to say and April's smile is teasing when she breaks the hug and looks at her.

"You say 'people' like you're not part of the family," she deadpans, "well, I've got news for you, Mikey's already organizing the decorations for you and Leo's wedding." She slides out of her room with that same joking expression on her face, before zipping her suitcase shut.

She just leaves Karai standing there, reddened cheeks and a ghost of a smile haunting her lips.

Her eyes move to the picture frame of Leo she has on her nightstand. His eyes are blue and beautiful, transmitting clenching feelings right in her heart and his smile pierces through her – and Karai tries to scold herself for wanting it there.

But she just can't.

The ghostly smirk widens in a genuine, crooked smile as Karai puts hastily the hotel's card in her pocket, as well as April's surprising little gift.

Because you never know.

"Karai, look, look! Clouds!" Leo's juvenile tone in the early of the morning makes her snort sharply through her nose.

He's almost pressed next to the window, eyes so wide and shapeless and Karai cannot prevent the sarcasm from dripping in her voice. "Woah, Leo, yeah, these are clouds."

"Karai," he turns his head to send her a deadpanned expression before twisting his face in something scrunchingly adorable. "Look how awesome they are! The sky looks so nice from here!"

"Have you never seen a sky?"

"Not from this close."

The air inside the plane is cold and rigid, forces Karai to pull the sleeves of her shirt till they reach her palms. She feels as if she's been sitting on the seat for days, although it's probably been only two hours.

She tries to stretch her neck. "Okay, before you start pressing your face on the window, c'mere," she orders with as much tenderness as she can and laughs with the way Leo clampers across the seats to get next to her.

He presses the corniest kiss on her cheek, barely at the edge of her mouth and Karai's lips quiver with anticipation. She's ready to say something, perhaps a snide comment about him being the sappiest nerd, but he preempts her with a smile.

"This is really great, Karai," the sincerity in his voice sends low waves of steadfast love in her heart, "Everything's great. I mean it. I don't know I can repay you," he adds with the slightest brush of lips against her skin and Karai twitches.

She sprawls her neck in exaggeration. "You can start by giving me a massage."

His large hands are no longer reluctant as they press against her shoulders and neck with exactly the right amount of force and – and love (he's able to love her with the simplest of ways) and Karai leans in the unfamiliar feeling of comfort, sighing.

She almost misses it when he asks, laced with honest curiosity, "What are you working on?"

She blinks and shakes her head, eyes heading back to the computer on her legs – hands still rubbing soothing circles and tracing the knots and scars of her shoulder blades. "I'm – I'm just checking to see if all's okay with the hotel."

"You're on an online-shopping site," Leo responds dryly.

"Can I not do our purchases at the same time?"

"Whatever you say," he breathes in her ear, fingers tickling the nape of her neck and raising goose bumps all over across her body, "Although, I'm not sure you're going to fit even more clothes in the suitcase."

"Oh," the exclamation is a mix of pleasure and real twinkling mischief as she turns her head to look at him, "don't worry about that. I'm actually just buying stuff for you more," she points out sneakily.

The bewilderment on Leo's face deserves all the Oscars.

"What? Why Karai?"

And then, suddenly Leo's look shifts in something Karai knows as 'are you kidding-you shouldn't have'. "Ah, don't make that face," she scolds him. "There are so many stuff we have to visit and I can't have you running around all turtle-y and ninja-y."

Leo pouts even more. "And the hotel won't mind having a mutant guest?"

"Pff, please," she waves off the uncertainty with gracious fingers, "the hotel is like, the most luxurious one there is – practically no one goes there."

Leo raises an eye ridge. And then, he exclaims as quietly as he can, throwing hands in the air and tossing glances to the front of the plane, which make Karai's eyes roll hard, "Oh, clothes and an expensive hotel? You can't just spend and so much money on stupid things, Karai!"

"I'm not spending them on stupid things," she says firmly, because she wants him to understand, "I'm spending them on you."

He looks still expressionless as Karai lifts a hand to caress his cheek; it's amazing how they're so different, and yet, manage to look like drops of water – because Leo seems to think he isn't worthy of all that. Well, he's wrong.

Then, maybe, she's wrong, too.

"Plus," she adds, to cheer him up, with a dark chuckle, "just think of it as a revenge on Shredder's credit cards. Does that make you feel better?"

Leo shrugs, a small smile tugging his mouth. "Kind of."

She giggles almost uncontrollably, raises his chin up and crushes her lips on his sultrily. "How about that?" she inquires with a smirk. "Better?"

"Much," he agrees fervently and meets her lips again with a grin.

"Good. Now check these stuff out!"

And they sit with eyes glued on the computer screen, their seats uncomfortable but they don't mind – being next to each other makes it cozier – and giggle at the crazy clothes Japanese fashion sites have to offer.

Leo picks the most insane for them to buy and wear – as if they're going to anime conventions – face glowing, innocent, boyish features he seldom reveals – and Karai's heart beats at that a hundred times faster – and a hundred feet away from the ground.

But he grounds her.

"It's sort of weird. This is my first New Year's Eve without my brothers and without, y'know."

"Yeah."

"I want a – a favor. To go to the Chichibu Night Festival. He always talked about that. He liked it a lot."

"Yeah, sure. That… that sounds very nice."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. It's a nice festival. I've been there. Not from up close, but lemme tell you-"

And just like that, Leo's eyes go bright and glittery and endless as Karai scoots closer to him – tries to bring into life all of her fleeting memories about it – the floats decorated with gorgeously colored carvings and the brilliant splashes of color in the winter time.

The fireworks, which bring the festival to its climax and manage to look identical with the flashes in Leo's eyes that are able to make her feel warm and go years back in the lands of memories.

She looks right through them, never breaking the contact – wanting to memorize the shape and feel of his eyes so she can compare it with the way they're going to sparkle when the fireworks are going to be right in front of him.

The room is so costly and so big Leo feels he's going to get lost in it – with a purple sofa, the hugest bathroom, too many lamps and lights that give the room a comfy view – or maybe that's because Karai is there with him.

She takes him by the hand and gives him the grand tour, her fingers trembling. They tidy up their stuff, fill their closets with clothes and shoes, the cups in the bathroom with toothbrushes and the tub with bubbles.

Karai sinks in the bubble bath with a sigh and Leo lets her rest, knows how much she needs this – especially after everything she's gone through for a present – just a present for him.

He finds the chance to video call his brothers; he has to wish them a happy New Year early, since hour difference is so confusing and impractical, and explain in detail his first day of the trip. His tone is too happy and childish, but his brothers welcome it, smiling in unison.

And between their comments; Mikey's "Dude, pictures, pictures, pictures!", Donnie's "Have fun and a great time!" and Raph's "Do I see only one bed in the background? Leo? Leo!" he is truly and immensely happy.

When Karai has finished her bath and Leo has taken his hot shower too, they decide to stay in – and sit in their spacey balcony, wrapped with blankets and wrapped around each other – with Chichibu's breathtaking view circling them, cold and promises of snow in the loud hoorays of people below them.

With cheap rose champagne in their hands, stolen courteously from the lobby (Karai's initiative entirely) as they watch and count backward till they reach zero and greet the new year with clinks of glasses and a yawny kiss.

They don't seem that sleepy when they get in bed, though, turned to face each other with grins that radiate in the pitch darkness of the room – just merely inches away from one another – it makes Leo nervous and uneasy.

So they stay under the bed linens and just talk – talk almost all night – about stupid, meaningless things, stories from the past, repressed feelings and untold truths, wishes for the future, which brush Leo's awkwardness away and replace it with a pulsing feeling that pounds in his plastron when Karai chuckles loudly, because no one is around to hear them this time – automatically and genuinely – as Leo says dorky things to have the honor to hear that winsome sound.

"You should get a new one," Leo says as he maps the tattoos on Karai's naked stomach and ribs – so muscly it makes Leo snicker adoringly (She is so strong and he likes that so much) and she squirms beneath his touch.

"Like what?" he likes her kind tone – he loves it when she's gentle – and the way she probes with their anticipation.

And Leo leans in, a dopey smile spread on his face as he replies with light up eyes, just to hear her snigger and watch her eyes dance in laughter, "Maybe a – a unicorn."

And the laughter does make an appearance in his ears as Leo closes his eyes, with Karai's fingers still weaving through his, and dreams of happy times and special things.

Leo's over eccentric clothes arrive a day later. Before they reach their destination, Leo and Karai decide to hang out in the room and stroll around the almost silent hotel.

It's too boring and Karai decides Leo and the room can provide her a better distraction – Leo has slightly the same idea, kind of. "You must be joking," Karai says and it's very hard for her to roll her eyes at him when she's laughing that hard.

Leo plants his feet on the purple sofa and grins. "Absolutely not." His face is too bright for her to look at it as she hides her chuckles behind her hand – because the fact that Leo packed their family Monopoly is beyond her.

"You're such a kid."

But they play anyway, Leo's grins are always the most difficult to resist – and Karai can't say she isn't enjoying this.

She regrets it moments later.

"I cannot believe you!" Karai exclaims theatrically, "after everything we've been through together, the battles we fought side by side, the sacrifices we made for each other, the bond we formed during times of bloodshed – you dare betray me like that?"

Leo is adamant. "Give me the two thousand, Karai and no one will get hurt."

And somehow like that, they end up rolling on the floor and sparring playfully – for fake money above all things – Leo's lips turned up in adorable ways that Karai always wants to see adorning his face.

She doesn't hesitate when she leans down to kiss him.

And she doesn't hesitate, as well, while she reaches for his calloused hand, fingers tangled between the bunches of people, as they walk around Chichibu.

He looks surprisingly cute in his human attire, wrapped around large pants, layers of jackets with too flashy colors, scarfs and beanies – and Karai dares to steal glances at the utterly cuteness that is his face as she points around things and explains.

They visit the Mitsumine Shrine – incredibly ornate structures that blend in well with the natural environment.

Leo stares the distinct stone statues that take the form of wolves with an expression that screams amazement and she can't help but melt into a smile, but when he turns to gaze her, he looks even more amazed – at the sight of her – and Karai cannot believe his face could twist into something even more endearingly adorable.

They join the Chichibu Night Festival, too – it makes her head spin to see all of this again, but this time from up close – massive floats decorated with glided wood carvings, lanterns, and tapestries paraded, with traditional flute and pleasant drum music playing in the background, not as pleasant as Leo's gasps and endless eyes, though.

His fingers tighten in her grasp, as if he's scared and surprised, when the impressive fireworks display starts – and continues for hours. It's so pretty along with the winter season in Japan.

Leo is still stunned – trying to take the whole festival in – the huge crowds of humans, the strange yet balmy festivities – and his fingers don't dare leave her hand.

When she tries to shake it off his grip – to fix her hair a bit, because she isn't such an idiot to stop holding him – her anchor – he squeezes it firmly, whispering in her ear, "I need you."

Karai's heart accelerated beat is just as inevitable as the smile that creeps on the corners of her lips. "For?" she inquires, trailing off and his short reply is breathed in her hair like a pray.

"Forever."

It's late and it starts to get colder. It doesn't bother them that much – they have a reason to stay muffled all snuggly, Leo's face tucked in his puffy, colorful scarf and her hair – to hide his face she guesses first, as the lights begin to dim – to smell her she thinks second, as she feels him sniff.

And her sigh is supposed to come out exasperated, but transforms into something fond that reddens her cheeks; only lightly.

They finish their walk way after midnight (there goes their curfew, oh, they're just breaking the rules), the streets having lost their enthusiastic crowds from before – passing next to the food stalls that sell sweet rice wine lined along the city lanterns and talk.

Talk countlessly and for hours again – (it seems as if late night, sometimes rooftop, conversations are their thing, Leo chirps in and Karai agrees with a smirk and a purr, "Just like swordplay foreplay" just to see Leo fumble and blush like a comely dork) – as they eat delicious Okkirikomi Udon soup that drips hotly on their jaws, which do get cleaned later – and banter friskily.

Karai loves it when they do that.

She loves it as the moonlight falls on Leo's giggling face and mirrors through his eyes – just like the fireworks did before – and Karai wants to slap herself back to her old and broody, sassy, emotionless self when she thinks he looks nothing else than beautiful.

His face is even more beautiful later, beneath her and lay on the soft pillows and rose petals, as Leo sounds breathless and panting.

She kisses it, with no reluctance what so ever, biting lightly his lower lip as he grips her lower back. Her fingers travel across his body, exploring all the dips of velvety flesh and hard shell, which seem pristine and when she hears her name out of his mouth like a plea, she grabs the hem of her thick shirt and takes it off.

Things get heated; hearts pounding, fingers scratching lines of pure passion, lips pressed fiercely – till Leo coughs.

He breaks the kiss, his hand at his chest and then lowering at his stomach, as his face scrunches in disgust. "I don't feel good."

Karai frowns, pursing her lips. "It's just the nerves, relax," she says with a tender, comforting voice as she runs her hands on his arms soothingly – because she actually believes it at first – but Leo almost chokes, his breath caught in his throat, blue eyes round and wide as he gets up and runs with tremendous speed at the bathroom.

And then he pukes.

The sound reaches Karai's ears and she groans – falling shirtless on the bed and sinking her face in both hands.

"I'm sorry," Karai says through the phone, for probably the millionth time these days – and she isn't sure what she's sorry for. Leo has spent two days in the bathroom before finally giving in to call Donnie, and she's the one who gets scolded on top of this.

"I'm sorry, I should have called earlier," she repeats again, scratching the manicure off her thumbnail with twitching fingers. "He's… not that good."

When Donatello asks for symptoms, she wants to fly off the window. Leo is really sucky. The greatest trip ever – not. "I don't know. He's been puking for days – and he has diarrhea – I think his head hurts too, it's –"

She moves her head to the bathroom door, in Doctor Don's orders, and asks, "Leo? Donnie asks what color it is."

The cry that comes from inside is incredulously outraged. "You DID NOT just ask that!"

Karai's nose crinkles in the same way it does when Leo's brothers play burp contests – and she rolls her eyes. When she said she wanted to get more intimate and close with Leo, she didn't exactly have that in mind.

"I meant the vomit, Leo," she mutters and when she opens the door slightly to give him the phone so he can communicate with Donnie better rather through her, his face is embarrassingly red.

It's even redder as Karai sits with him in the comfy armchair, between blankets and hot water bottles, and feeds him angel hair pasta.

She tries to be patient – really, but sick Leo (even if it's just a food allergy) is something new to her – and she realizes this type of Leo can be just as stubborn as Raph and just as childish as Mikey. Donnie had already told her to be more tolerant of him, like a lot, because he knows his brother better than everyone.

She guesses he acts even more headstrong now, because he's with her – and having a food allergy in front of your partner? Probably not the most attractive thing in the world. But she gets it. If she were to stay in the bathroom for three days with Leo outside trying to reassure her (or encourage her)-

Well. She'd rather die.

Leo presses his lips into a thin line, turning his head away from the spoon and Karai sighs. She feels as if she's just as embarrassed as he is.

When she urges the spoon in him, he swallows the spoonful with gaggings, before meeting her eyes with an expression that looks self-conscious, apologizing and burning altogether. "I ruined our trip," he whines, "I'm sorry. I'm gross."

"You're not. S'fine," she tries to soothe him. Keyword; tries. She's not good at this. Maybe it would be better if the positions were changed. "Don't worry. Remember the annoying, cranky maid? We'll ask her to clean the bathroom," she says, just for the laughs.

She gets worried that perhaps it's too early for jokes like this, but when Leo replies to her laughter with a soft chuckle and accepts the next spoon with a smile, she cheers triumphantly in her head.

They exchange sweet glances among the plates of angel hair pasta that come and go. Leo finds the time to complain ("I'm smelly. And I can't even sit. It hurts," he grumbles, and she is not surprised, if the days he spent in the bathroom were any indication) and Karai to mock him ("Imagine if you had used a suppository").

Still, she's too dumbfound – cannot believe how they've managed to keep close in the most awkward of moments; she guesses almost life-losing fights do that – and Leo's eyes are less glassy than before when they spend their night on the balcony, once his stomach is mostly settled.

"I'm still sorry," he says again, with those eyes that make her sink in them with the most delightful and inviting way.

"I still like you," she mimics his tone and means the sentence – because they have so many days before going back to have fun – because she's not brave enough or ready enough to utter the other word that starts with L – because his eyes are the most thoughtfully exquisite gift he could ever give her in return – and Leo huffs a laugh.

"I'd kiss you, but I've been throwing my guts up for the past days."

Karai catches his mouth in a searing kiss, either way, searching for greatest gifts in him.

The days pass smoothly, never-ending, with Leo finally all healed.

Karai wastes no time in getting him out of the room again, and he is more than glad to feel the cold wuthering on his face and breathe the fresh air – air he can only find around her.

It's amazing and he takes many pictures, because he promised so – the places he had only dreamed of, the places he heard from Sensei's stories and imagined them with bright eyes in the middle of the night – these places are now in front of him splayed wonderfully and maybe his childish gasps as he sees them are too dorky.

But he doesn't care.

He only cares about the sight before him – and her – Karai guiding him through these with her eyes, her hands and mouth – sighing towards the familiar sights before sharing a sharp tongue and tangy kisses with him.

The serene, almost meditating-like, calm expression she wears as the watch from the balcony on the last day – it's blissful.

"I liked it a lot here," he says in the silence of the moment, fingers searching to find hers. "Thank you," he murmurs, because she deserves to hear it, but she only snorts.

The starts on the sky light up beautifully and reflect on Karai's eyes in ways that seem impossible and fitting – Leo is ready to bring them down for her – only for her.

"I get why we came here," he says instead, smiling. "You love it," the words are boneless on his tongue, graced with sincerity, because he knows this for Karai – it's everything.

But, she just squeezes his hand tighter and he feels her shake her head on his shoulder, as if he has said something wrong. Her voice is hoarse when she whispers, "I love you."

And just like this, stars explode behind Leo's eyes and their constellations spell Karai's name in the language of love, promise, honestly and sanctity – his entire existence narrowing down to the shape and feel of this moment, as she leans in to close the tentative gap between them and leads them inside.

They make love for the first time, tangled under simple sheets, with no candles or rose petals, bodies intertwined, moving in the rhythm of their stubbornly beating hearts.

It's not premeditated, like before. It's unexpected.

And it's slow, warm and tender, overwhelming, almost like the most profound part of unflinchingly blended devotion.

Bathing in their afterglow, Karai urges Leo closer, his head tucked in the crook of her neck, pressing a chaste kiss on the top of his head.

Leo rumbles throaty in her hair, hiding the silly, goofy, little thing that is decorating his lips as they brush lightly and nip her earlobe. She hums. He lets his eyes close dreamily shut, and thinks how wrong he was.

The best present she ever gave him was her soul.

(They return – to their home – armed with shields of faithful love – love that didn't know existed but found its place senselessly in the empty parts of their souls. Graced with unwind shoulders as their burdens lay in Japan. They could kill each other – but they would die for each other.

If they see the ambiance floating around them – they don't point it out. They don't comment the difference – but they don't need it; they know it. They feel different.

Feel like they've dived in the waterfalls of the Garden of Eden as they all hang and laugh, playing karaoke as if they're young and pure again.

Leo's heart sings a song, at first incomplete – until Karai's heart whispers back.)