Chapter Three

All night long Leo dreamed about Arella, and when he woke up the next morning, his spirits were high. His brothers would probably ignore him again today, but that was all right. He had someone else to turn to now.

"Can you believe it?" he heard Mikey ask as he slid out of bed and headed over to the old picnic table they used as their breakfast, lunch, and dinner table.

"Believe what?" Leo wondered as he absently grabbed a box of cereal.

Mikey glanced at him, looking surprised that he was asking. "Didn't you hear? April and Casey are taking the big plunge."

"I heard," said Leo as he sat down. "April told me."

"I wonder if we'll be invited to the wedding?" Don mused jokingly as he stirred the bowl in front of him.

"I haven't a thing to wear," sighed Mikey, with mock despair.

"Maybe we can talk them into having it at a nudist beach," Raph suggested. "Surf, sand, and no stiff tuxedos required."

Leo glanced at him in surprise; that sounded more like something Mikey would say.

Beside him, Mikey widened his eyes in horror. "You mean I'd have to see Casey naked? No thanks, dude. They serve a lot of food at weddings and I don't want to lose my appetite."

"Hey, the guy's in pretty good shape," put in Don. "But, maybe April better keep the lights down later, just in case."

Raph snorted. "It's not like she'll be seeing anything she hasn't already."

"It was a joke, Raph."

Frowning, Mikey suddenly leaned over the table, a box of super-sweet frosted cereal in his hand. "You need sugar, dude," he informed Don.

"Do not," said Don mildly. "My breakfast is always optimized for maximum nutrition and energy for first thing in the morning."

"For energy, you need sugar," Mikey insisted.

To Leo's surprise, Don didn't protest as Mikey proceeded to dump a generous amount of the guaranteed-to-make-you-hyper cereal into his bowl.

Suddenly feeling a presence behind him, Leo turned away from his brothers' antics and looked to see that Splinter was standing behind him, watching him with a frown. "You have not practiced yet this morning," he noted.

Actually, Leo had skipped his before breakfast practice for the past couple of mornings, but this was the first time Splinter had commented on it. He didn't feel very hungry, so he pushed his half-eaten bowl away and stood. "I came in late," he said, though Splinter knew that. "Sorry."

"I had noticed. And I have been wondering what kept you."

Leo had been a little afraid he would ask that. "Patrolling," he said vaguely.

Which was almost true. He had kept his eyes open for trouble on his way to April's...sort of. He sure hoped he wouldn't have to reveal Arella so soon, or how they had met. If he told Splinter he had been seen because he let his mind wander...

It wasn't at all like the other times they had been discovered. Those times had been all but unavoidable, but this? Simply put, he would be in serious trouble if Splinter knew.

Currently those dark eyes of his sensei's were boring into him, knowing that something else was on his mind. "I went to see April, too," he volunteered. "That's how I found out about the wedding. After that I...kind of got lost in thought. I lost track of time."

He glanced away and looked at his brothers; he didn't like it when Splinter looked at him that way. "How'd you guys find out, anyway?" he wondered.

"She called us this morning," Mikey responded absently. "While you were still asleep."

Leo hadn't realized until now just how late he had slept. That wasn't like him at all; he was usually the first one up - well, the first one up after Splinter. But his dreams had been full of Arella's hauntingly beautiful face and he hadn't wanted to wake up.

The funny thing was, though, that now that he was awake, he was having trouble picturing her clearly. Her image had become blurry in his mind. And he knew there was a reason he wanted to keep her a secret, which had made perfect sense last night...but now he was having trouble remembering it.

The chatter at the table continued. Leo stepped over to a more open area and began his morning routine, which he kept at for an extra long time to make up for sleeping in. When he finally finished, he turned to see that his brothers were parked in front of the TV, watching cartoons. Typical.

"You guys do know that we're seventeen now, right?" he asked dryly as he wiped his sweaty face.

"What's your point?" said Raph, without taking his eyes off the screen.

"My point," Leo went on wearily, "is that in one more year we'll be eighteen - legal adults by most standards. And in four years we'll be twenty-one. Our days as teenagers are almost over."

"All the more reason to act as immature as we can," declared Mikey.

To prove it, he grabbed a nearby Nerf football and bounced it off Raph's head. Leo shook his own head, thinking about what this always led to. Mikey seemed to think he knew too; he was already up and running, looking ready to lead Raph on a rampant chase around the den.

Instead, Raph continued to watch TV as he munched on potato chips. Don looked a little surprised too as he glanced at him. "The quickest way to discourage him is to ignore him," Raph explained calmly.

As if to prove it, he tucked his head down into his shell until only his eyes showed. Looking disappointed, Mikey headed to the car with a comic book.

Leo could scarcely believe what he was seeing. Not chasing Mikey, or at least socking him when he was being a pest wasn't like Raph at all. "I don't even know you guys anymore," he exclaimed, spreading his hands wide.

Don glanced at him with a frown. "You okay there, Leo?"

"Fine," Leo muttered. "Great. Swell."

He remembered why he wanted to keep Arella a secret now. Because if his brothers knew he had made a new friend - especially one who was female and beautiful - they would follow him whenever he visited her. And he couldn't have that, not when they were exactly what he wanted to complain to her about.

Without bothering to say he was heading up, he turned and mounted the stairs to the ladder. He didn't look over at Splinter's room as he climbed out - he didn't dare - but he could feel his eyes on him, watching him with silent disapproval. Splinter discouraged them from venturing outside during the day unless it was absolutely necessary. He would probably be punished for it when he got back, but right now Leo didn't care.

Following his memories, it didn't take him long to reach the street outside the old movie theater. The 'for rent' signs were still in the windows, looking faded and time-worn. The entire block had that unkempt, rundown look.

The set of studio apartments above the movie theater didn't look much better. He had never seen inside them, but he imagined they were grubby, musty, infested with bugs.

He climbed up the uneven brick that faced the alley, using the tops of the theater's boarded up windows as footholds. As he skirted around the side to the back of the building, it occurred to him that he had no idea which apartment was Arella's, but he reached for a half-open window just the same.

It led into a narrow, poorly lit hallway. There were a few doors on one side and fewer on the other. Both the walls and floors were stained, and there was an odd smell in the air. Judging by the silence, either everyone was out or they were inside sleeping off a stupor. Leo knew that it wasn't always possible to find a place that was better than this, but he still found himself wishing that Arella would try. He couldn't imagine her living here at all, let alone comfortably.

He sure wasn't comfortable. Even though there was no one around, he felt exposed, and foolish. He was being needlessly careless and he knew it, but he couldn't bring himself to turn around and go home.

Come on, Arella, he thought to himself. Come on out. I need to talk to you.

A moment later, as if she had heard his thoughts, a door to his left opened with a squeak. The hall was shadowy, but that tiny figure, that brilliant coppery hair was unmistakable.

She had a small bag in her hand - probably trash she was taking out - but she stopped and looked over at him with a look of surprise. A smile lit her face. "I was hoping you might show up."

The words made his heart soar. He had been half-afraid she would tell him that this wasn't a good time to visit.

She glanced over her shoulder, then beckoned to him. Leo darted forward, around the open door and into the apartment; Arella closed the door behind him.

The apartment was even smaller than he thought it would be. It was square-shaped and the ceiling was low. The floor was hardwood and bare and the wall in front of him was lined with windows. They were covered by white blinds, which were open less than halfway, letting in thin strips of sunlight.

There was little else worth mentioning. A wire-frame bed in one corner. A nook with a toilet, sink and shower stall in another. Trunks that probably held her clothes were tucked off to one side. A table. A chair.

"There's no kitchen," he noted with a frown.

Arella moved past him, heading to one of the windows. "I eat out. Or I bring something in. It's no trouble."

Smiling, she grabbed the wand dangling beside the window and twisted it, opening the blinds a little more. The room brightened a fraction.

Enough to make the late-morning light seem to glow against Arella's skin. She was wearing a periwinkle blue blouse made from silk and held up with spaghetti straps. Her bare arms gleamed like ivory. The hair that hung around her shoulders in tight ringlets glittered like each strand housed tiny flames.

She was even more beautiful than she was last night, more beautiful than his dreams or memory could recall. His breath stolen, Leo watched as she uncurled her fingers from the wand and stepped barefoot across the room. She picked up something flat and oddly-shaped in one hand and something long and skinny in the other.

She brought the tip of the skinny object to her pursed lips. "What do you think? Too much blue? Or not enough yellow?"

Leo shook himself and gazed where she was looking. His eyes focused and he realized that she was standing in front of an easel. In her hands were a palette and paintbrush.

On the canvas was an oil painting of the seashore. The sun gleamed brilliantly off the white sand, water foamed against the rocks. Leo could practically smell the surf, and hear the cry of the gull that flew overhead.

"That's amazing," he said, breathless.

"It pays the bills," Arella said mildly.

"I'm serious. You have an incredible talent."

Looking shy, Arella smiled at him from beneath her thick lashes. As she did, she lightly bit her bottom lip.

Leo felt an urge suddenly seize him, one he had never experienced before. Not with a girl who was standing right in front of him, mere inches away.

He wanted to know what those lips felt like beneath his own.

Face heating, Leo looked away - it was easier to think when he wasn't gazing into those eyes - and focused on the canvas instead. "I think it could use more life," he decided. That gull looked lonely to him.

"This is life," said Arella, sounding like she didn't understand. "The sea is like an entity all its own - a powerful force that can't be matched."

Leo scrutinized the bare beach. "Still needs something," he said. "Maybe some kids building sand castles."

"Kids?"

"Sure. Kids are cute."

When he looked at Arella again, she was frowning. He preferred the dimples.

"I never paint people," she said firmly.

"Why not?"

She turned and dabbed her brush across the canvas with a sniff. "I have to look at people enough as it is. I'd rather paint nature. Life as it should be."

Without people? Leo wanted to ask, but didn't. New York got to some people like that sometimes; they felt stifled and wanted peace and quiet. Privacy.

Thinking about it reminded him of this morning. "My brothers are driving me nuts," he muttered as he watched Arella paint.

Arella's cheeks curved as she smiled. "That's a sibling for you."

"That's just the problem; they're not acting like my siblings."

And he found himself pouring out everything. Mikey and Don suddenly acting like best friends. Raph cracking jokes and not getting annoyed when Mikey pestered him. And of course he told all about how the three of them had become such a tight little trio, leaving him...

He really wasn't sure where that left him.

"I know I'm partly to blame," he went on glumly. He had taken a seat in the chair by the window. Arella continued to paint while she listened.

"I should have intensified my training more gradually, or suggested that we all do it together instead of tackling this on my own. I just figured that with me being the leader and all..."

Arella suddenly lowered her brush and looked at him. Her green eyes were bright and intense. "It sounds to me," she said lowly, "like you're not being appreciated in the way you deserve. What you've decided to do was for more for them than for you, wasn't it?"

Leo thought about it and realized she was right. He had been thinking about his brothers - their safety - when he decided it was time to train harder and stop playing. He hadn't been thinking about himself. He almost never thought of himself first - he was the leader. His brothers came first.

"It's the way it is," he mumbled.

"That doesn't make it right. They should be more thankful of how self-sacrificing you are. Not everyone can be like that, you know. It's easy to be selfish and self-centered. Giving of yourself the way you do takes real strength and resolve."

She paused, then set down her brush and palette and moved closer to him. There wasn't another chair, so she leaned on the wall next to him, folding her slender arms. "It takes more than strength to be selfless," she continued. "You must love them a lot."

"I do," he said. "But..."

But maybe, he suddenly realized with a chill, that was the problem. Maybe he loved his brothers more than they loved him in return. Maybe it had always been that way and he just never noticed.

After all he done to try and be the best leader he possibly could? With all he continued to do?

"It's just not fair."

He flushed a second later; he hadn't meant to say that out loud.

But Arella's smile was soft and full of understanding. "Sometimes it's hard for the ones we love most to understand why we do the things we do. Sometimes they never can."

So what would happen then? Would he and his brothers continue to drift apart? The thought chilled him to the bone.

"I don't want to wind up alone," he murmured.

Arella's eyes were gentle as she reached to take his hand. "You won't."

The dimples appeared. "You have me."