A/N: A request from tumblr. I am a SUCKER for Ramona, you have no idea :)

Enjoy!

A Date in New York

Mona Lisa had had her own idea of what Earth looked like, from what Raphael had described to her. She thought she had been prepared to gaze up at the grand sculptures and vast metropolises from which her beloved had come from during her journey through the cosmos. She had envisioned what sort of vehicles the earth dwellers used as their means of transportation, how they dressed, what food they ate – aside from the 'pizza' that Michelangelo acclaimed to be the greatest of all foods on the planet – and whatever else lay within the city the red clad warrior called home.

However, nothing could have prepared her for the real thing.

Standing on a high rooftop, her palms resting atop the edge as she swept her gaze over the vast new landscape, New York City was charming. Though its technology was far less advanced than her home planet, and the clothing choices she noticed most of the humans wore was…questioning, as was the music she could hear blasting from a 'club house' nearby, overall…

"Your home is quite incredible, Raphael," Mona acknowledged, looking over her shoulder at the turtle standing a few feet behind her. "Though your architecture is primitive compared to other planets I have visited…I think it is wonderful."

She smiled when Raphael visibly relaxed with a light sigh. "That's good. I mean, I thought that you'd find it, uh…well, I wasn't sure if you'd – ah, man," he stammered, lifting a hand to nervously scratch the back of his head, as he had a habit of doing when he was around her.

Shaking her head fondly at his sudden inability to form a coherent sentence, Mona Lisa stepped away from the edge of the building and approached him, bringing her tail up to lift the boy's chin, his surprised emerald eyes meeting hers. "As I have said, it is wonderful, Raphael," she repeated. "Anywhere is wonderful if you are at my side."

Her smile broadened when she noticed his cheeks turning a distinct shade of scarlet. "My, I had no idea that a turtle could turn such a color. Are you ill?" she teased.

Raph's mouth twisted into an embarrassed smile, his cheeks going darker. "Knock it off," he muttered as he playfully shoved Mona backwards, earning a chuckle from the Salamandrian, who had meant every word despite her jesting.

After a moment, she turned back to him, hands planted on her hips. "So, Raphael," she began, regaining his attention as he looked up at her, "you had mentioned once that you would like to 'go out'. Is this what you meant?"

Raph chuckled. "Uh, kind of. On earth, the term 'going out' means, like…going on a date."

Mona blinked, her head tilting to the side in confusion. "A date?"

Humming to himself in thought, Raph once again lifted his hand to scratch the back of his neck, his eyes drifting to the side. "Uh…how do I put this?" he muttered, before turning back to her. "Well…it's like, two people pick a day – or night – to go somewhere, have a meal, take a walk, get to know each other, have fun and just enjoy each other's company. That sort of thing." He shrugged. "Splinter calls it 'courting', but that's more of a fancy way of –"

"Oh, that is what you meant?" Mona said, dark eyes brightening with understanding. "Ah, I understand now. The term you had used confused me at first; perhaps it is a difference in dialect. In any case, this 'date' of ours has been very entertaining thus far, Raphael. I am eager to see more of what you wish to show me."

Raph stared at her, only half understanding what she'd said until that last part, before he met her smile with a full-fledged grin as he approached her. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. But the 'traditional' date here is to give the girl a bunch a flowers, take her out to a fancy dinner and stuff. And since we can't…y'know, do a few of those things on this planet, and you never really struck me as the kinda person who's into that mushy crap…I thought we could do something a little more exciting for our first official date."

Raising an eye-ridge at him, Mona stepped closer. "What did you have in mind, my love?"

Raph's signature smirk returned. Earlier, he had been somewhat disappointed that he couldn't truly take Mona Lisa out on the date she deserved; after everything they'd been through together, he wanted to give her something more than a night spent in the sewers or on a cold rooftop, more than a single rose he'd picked from a garden on his way to meet her, and much more than a box of pepperoni pizza from the fridge. Mona Lisa deserved the world.

But as he watched her, he knew that she was enjoying herself. It was as if even though he couldn't give her everything, as long as she could just be with him, it was more than enough. And Raphael couldn't restrain the warmth bursting from the pit of his chest in knowing this as he drew out his Sai's, spinning them atop his hands expertly before he caught the handles.

"You in the mood to punch some mutants in the face?"

It'd felt like a lifetime since he'd seen the pig and the rhino he and his brothers loved to hate, and a part of him felt like tearing up with joy upon seeing them as they trudged through the alleyway; he'd dearly missed beating the living daylights out of these particular goons.

The dynamic duo that was Bebop and Rocksteady had just busted their way out of yet another abandoned Kraang lab, hauling whatever loot they'd been ordered to steal for Shredder along with them. Neither of the dimwits had noticed they were being watched from above.

Crouching beside him, Mona Lisa stared at the pair of mutants with interest, her head tilting to the side once more. "So, these two criminals that you call Bebop and Rocksteady, you have fought them many times in the past?" she probed.

"Yep," Raph replied, still grinning as he gripped his Sais tight, preparing to leap down into the alley. "I gotta warn ya, though, these guys are pretty tough, especially the horn-head. They're some of the strongest guys we've ever come across, so –"

"Do not fear, Raphael," Mona interjected as she stood, unsheathing her sword – or as Mikey liked to call it, her 'lightsabre' – from its holster before turning to him, a confident smile gracing her beautiful features. "I have faced threats far greater than these creatures in battle, and won. They may be strong, do not forget – I am stronger."

Raph stared at her, before yet another helpless grin graced his lips as he shook his head in bewilderment. "I freakin' love you," he said, and was rewarded with a fond chuckle from the alien warrior before he leapt over the edge of the building, landing in a neat crouch in front of the pair of thugs, who jumped back in surprise.

"What the what?! You again?" Bebop cried, dropping his bag of stolen items as he and Rocksteady attained defensive stances. "How'd you find us?!"

Straightening from his crouch, Raph lazily jabbed a thumb behind him in the direction of the van they insisted on driving around the city parked on the curb.

The larger mutants shared a brief look. "Perhaps we should be getting the new van soon, da?" Rocksteady mused with a shrug, agreeing with the turtles' unspoken argument.

Rolling his eyes, though no one could see him do so with the shades over his eyes, Bebop turned back to face Raph, cracking his knuckles. "Ah, whatever. Besides, it ain't like you're gonna stop us, son; there's two of us, and only one of you!" He snorted. "What'cha gonna do, foo? What'cha gonna do –?"

A dull thud echoed from behind them, and the gargantuan pair whirled around to find the Salamandrian warrior, her sword grasped tightly with both hands, and her mouth set in a firm scowl as she glowered at them fiercely. Folding his arms proudly over his chest, Raph smirked at the confused pair of thugs.

"Have you guys met my girlfriend?"

Blinking hard in shock, Bebop and Rocksteady turned from Raphael to Mona Lisa, and their faces visibly paled with dread as the dots connected. "…snap-tizzle," Bebop muttered.

Without further warning, the turtle and the salamander leapt at the unfortunate pig and rhino, war cries ripping from their throats and terror cries ripping from their opponents. And during the very one-sided battle, as Raph fleetingly met Mona's gaze, he knew she was thinking the same thing he was.

Best. Date. Ever.