Chapter 4

Layla awoke early, unable to sleep. She was no stranger to anxiety-induced insomnia, although it wasn't severe enough to be considered a real problem.

Her first thought of the morning was of him. She mused that this must be her life now – having a stranger always on her mind.

A walk will clear my head.

She thought too hard about what she wanted to wear while applying her mascara. What would he think?

She glared at herself in the mirror. No, you shouldn't care about that. You hardly know him. Her small amount of self-discipline didn't work, as she stool looked long and hard at the clothes she brought.

Finally satisfied with her choices, she crept into the kitchen and quietly made coffee for her walk. On her way out she grabbed a pastry.

She surveyed the town and noticed a path leading out of the city up a grassy hill with a few trees. Not too far beyond lay a forest.

The city was still sleeping, with a few vendors mulling about their shops. The sun had just crept up beyond the horizon. The morning air was still a bit crisp, but the warmth of the sun promised a hot day.

Coffee in hand, she walked leisurely, taking in the sights. The alien birdsongs became more prominent as she exited the city. The path continued up the hill, and she followed it absentmindedly, lost in thought.

Her thoughts returned to him. Leonardo. Without realizing, she began to list out the qualities she liked about him. Dashing. Handsome. Tall. Great voice. Kindhearted. Funny. Humble, but then again, he was quite confident. Clearly he knows what he's doing in a fight – he looked cocky then. Kind eyes, great smile. A lot of people here seem to really respect him.

She sighed, shaking her head. I like the way he looks at me.

She had no experience romantically, and what she knew only came from tv. I don't think rewatching Pride and Prejudice a hundred times prepared me for this. She smiled to herself.

He seemed so sure of himself yesterday, even when he was clearly surprised by her and her sisters, it didn't affect his fight. He also seemed pretty collected at dinner. Then again, I did too. At least I hope so. I would hate for him to know how nervous I really was! Was he as intimidated as I was?

Her thoughts trailed off, spiraling into questions she would never know the answer to. She was overwhelmed, which most certainly did not help her anxiety, yet she couldn't help but feel excited. Thrilled even.

I thought I was going to be alone for the rest of my life. She bit her lip, unnerved that she attached so much importance to a stranger.

Her annoyance at her grandfather was short lived, as she recognized that his intentions were good. That wasn't going to stop her from making snarky comments towards him here and there, but there was no animosity.

As she neared the top of the hill, she noticed a figure sitting beneath a large tree. As she rounded the corner, she sucked in a breath.

Of course, she thought wryly, as she took stock of the turtle shell and blue bandana. He was meditating, and she smiled softly at how peaceful he looked. She didn't wish to disturb him, so she quietly turned to go back the way she came.

He heard her.

Leonardo turned around, and called out softly, "Layla?"

She looked up at him bashfully, "I'm sorry if I bothered you, Leo. I was taking a walk. I, um, didn't realize you were here."

When she looked into his eyes, the familiar flutter of butterflies surfaced in her abdomen.

"You didn't bother me," he stood, smiling. "It's a nice morning to walk." He glanced at the ground.

So he IS nervous too!

"I can walk back with you, if you want," he offered, voice lowering.

"Sure, I don't mind. As long as you're done?" She gestured to where he was sitting.

"Yeah, I should get ready for today anyways." He sauntered up to her. Did he mean to saunter like that, or is that how he normally walks?

"Do you meditate often?" She inquired, wanting to know as much about him as possible.

"Every day. Do you?"

"I really enjoy it, and I try to every day, but it doesn't always happen. So, in short, almost every day."

He chuckled at her, and they fell into a comfortable conversation, avoiding any of the awkwardness that seeped into yesterday's dinner conversation. If a stranger was to see them walking together, they would guess they were a young couple who had known each other for many years. They looked that comfortable around each other.

He is so easy to talk to.

"Do you think any of those flowers would grow on Earth?" She asked him, eyeing a patch of blue flowers.

"Only one way to find out. You should take some home and try."

"Do you think it'll be ok?"

"Well, I won't tell if you don't," he smirked at her.

The city was now awake, the hustle and bustle of shop keepers and their customers created a buzz in the atmosphere.

"I'll, um, walk you home," Leo offered. She observed that he seemed a bit flustered. He's staring at me, she thought to herself as she refrained from smiling at the thought. He was being quiet compared to yesterday, and asked her questions the whole walk, never once interrupting her.

"Thanks. So, besides ninjitsu and bonsai trees, and tea," she chuckled quietly, "oh and meditating, what else do you like to do?" She felt like he was being so polite asking her questions, listening, and she wanted to do the same. She was so interested in what he had to say. She surprised herself when she realized she held onto every word he said.

"Uh, well, just normal things I guess. Take walks," he smiled at her, "watch tv. Read books. Boring things really. Sometimes I play games with my brothers, although, we don't play monopoly or Mario Kart well together."

"Yeah we can't play monopoly together either. It always gets…ugly." They snickered.

"I have a hard time imagining you and your sisters fighting."

"Have you ever been around sisters?"

"I haven't, so I'll take your word for it. You'll have to tell me about it sometime," he chuckled as he gave her yet another sidelong glance, finding something new to admire about her features each time.

She stopped at a staircase leading up to a balcony and a door. "This is me," she said shyly. "I'll, um, see you later?"

"Yeah, um, definitely." He smiled while cursing himself inwardly for feeling bashful.

She stepped towards him, smiling warmly. "Good luck today, Leo. I'll see you afterwards."

"Thanks, Layla. I'll see you later." He made sure she opened the door before turning around to leave.

"So, where have you been?" Layla's dark eyed twin sat at the table, sipping coffee, eye bridge raised.

"I went for a walk," Layla replied casually. Mina knew her twin well enough to know it wasn't just a walk.

"With whom?"

"Myself."

"Are you sure? Because I could have sworn I heard a man's voice just outside the house." She smirked at her elder sister.

Layla rolled her eyes, relenting. She didn't want to keep her interesting morning to herself anyways. "I was walking up a hill outside of town, and I found Leo meditating under a tree. He walked back with me."

"Cute. So you know…spill. All the details. Now." Mina grinned.

The crowd was roaring as the contestants were divided up. The girls sat in the same section, snacks ready.

Leo took a deep breath to center himself as he sized up his opponent. He recognized him from previous tournaments. The alien's name was Zat – imposing, built like a tank, but the same height as Leo. He had purple skin and red hair, with a butterfly sword. They nodded at each other respectfully.

They charged.

Their swords clashed briefly before Leo gracefully rolled over his opponent's back. Their swords flurried.

Leo knew he could have finished his opponent already, but he didn't mind showing off…just a bit. It had nothing to do with present company, he told himself. It was for the anniversary, just a bit of showmanship.

Not wanting to tire himself out too much before the next round, which immediately followed this one, he lunged for a killing blow, only for Zat to be whisked away just before his sword could connect with his neck. The crowd cheered, and Leo couldn't help but feel a bit cocky. Despite this, there was still only one reaction he was interested in, so he glanced up and just to the left of the Daimyo's place.

She was beaming at him, but when she caught his eye, she blushed and looked away.

"He looked right at me, Mina," Layla whispered.

"Did he? I'm sorry hun, I wasn't paying attention." Mina said as she focused on Raph's fight.

Layla giggled at her shy sister's obvious infatuation. "I see you're a bit preoccupied."

"He won!" Mina clapped, but looked down, embarrassed, as soon as she realized what she did.

"He saw you clapping," Layla teased as she nudged her sister.

"I'm so embarrassed," she whined.

"Don't be!" Layla encouraged her, knowing Mina had really enjoyed her time at dinner. She confided in her sister that despite the way he looked, she felt comfortable around him, something that she did not expect. Layla agreed, and they shared joint surprise that they felt comfortable around an unknown male at all, past circumstances considering.

"I hope we will sit next to them at dinner again. I so badly want to talk, but he's kinda quiet, and well, you know how I am." Mina whispered.

"Me too. There are so many things I want to ask, but I'm just not brave enough."

"How do they not even look the least bit intimidated by all this fighting? Raph literally just fought some creepy alien that was like, three times his size, and he didn't once look nervous about it."

"I know right?"

Before he knew it, the next tier began, and Leo stood in front of his little brother, Donatello.

"Hey little bro," he grinned.

"I know you're gonna win, but at least let me go down with a good fight." Donnie rolled his eyes, cursing his bad luck. He wasn't a bad ninja by any means, he had even made it this far in the battle nexus, but he wasn't as into being a warrior as Leo was. Consequently, Leo was the better fighter.

"So you don't embarrass yourself in front of Talia?" Leo goaded him.

They all sat around the same table that evening.

Mikey and Donnie had been knocked out of this round, Leo and Raph remained. The number of contestants was dwindling, and the championship match was the following evening.

"Are you nervous?" Mina asked Raph.

"Nah. I like fighting."

"So," she whispered quietly next to him, glancing at Leo and her elder sister across the table. They were deep in conversation with Donnie and Talia. "Did you know your brother and Layla went for a walk this morning?" she smiled slyly at him.

"Fearless did what now? Like a date?" He quirked his eyebrow at her.

"Fearless? And no not like a date, not formally at least."

"Oh uh…yeah. It's a nickname we gave him when we were kids. Still use it."

"Oh ok. What nicknames do you have?" Raph noticed she was more talkative this evening, and breaking out of her shell just a bit. He admired how she was clearly trying, even though it was evident it was difficult for her. It emboldened him.

"Uh, my brothers call me Hothead mostly when they're pissed off at me," he chuckled. "Raphie-boy when Mikey is tryna piss me off. Red, sometimes. Big Red, that's what my friend Casey calls me." He shrugged at her.

She gave him a curious look. "No one calls you Raphie?"

"You can call me that, but only you." He winked at her, making her blush. "Do your sisters call you anything besides Mina?"

"We all use pet names with each other, but no one has anything specific. Nora calls me Mimi, but I hate it." Raph snorted when she said that.

He noticed that he had trouble siting still, and his leg kept bouncing, feeling overwhelmed by his desire to touch her, even innocently. His eyes kept gazing towards her hands or her shoulders, wondering if her skin felt as soft as it looks. He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable, so when he wasn't eating, he kept his hands clasped together. He frequently stumbled over his words and would get irritated with himself. Raph kept worrying he would say something that would offend her or make her shy away from him more.

Mina for her part was incredibly emotionally intuitive, a trait she shared with her elder sister. She could tell he was nervous, and she was nervous, and cursed her shyness. She wanted to know everything about him! She was grateful he was more outgoing than her. She sensed that he got easily irritated, but it was with himself. She found after a few conversations that she could sense when he would get frustrated after stumbling on his words, but it was easy for her to smooth that over with a comforting word. Judging by how often he glanced at her hands, or other parts of her, she also gathered was that he wanted to touch her. He certainly wasn't creepy about it, it was innocent and he was very respectful. She wanted to touch him too, even to just grab his hand or arm when he would get aggravated.

The next morning Leo woke up earlier than usual, very motivated to meditate in the same spot underneath the tree.

Layla had arisen early as well, taking her time to get ready. Ok Layla, look French girl chic. Effortless. Great but not like you're trying too hard. She stared at herself in the mirror, scrutinizing her appearance. Once she was satisfied, she headed down to the same stall she purchased coffee from the previous day. They didn't plan to meet each other again, but since she was hoping to run into him again, she made a small purchase.

Her pace quickened as she neared the hill. There he sat, back turned towards her, posture straight but relaxed. She didn't have to say anything, as he could feel her presence. He turned and smiled.

"I um," she stumbled nervously, looking down at her shuffling feet, "I brought you some tea. I wasn't sure what you liked – "

He cut her off by gently taking it from her hand, "Thank you so much. I like every kind of tea," he blurted out, eager to make her feel at ease.

Fuck me, I should have thought of this! He chastised himself.

He smiled softly at her. "Wanna go for a walk?" He could feel his palms clam up as he asked her. It was such a simple question, and it's not like he was asking her on a date, so why was he so nervous?

"Sure," Layla replied, equally as nervous, but eager to get to know him more.

The countryside was quiet again, and the sun was still not fully risen. Strange bird calls echoed through the hills.

They settled into a comfortable conversation, and Leo noticed how easy it was to talk to her about…well, anything really. She was attentive and kind, but never pushy with her questions. She listened to him. He also noticed that when the breeze blew her hair, he would get a faint whiff of her floral shampoo. As if the was she looked wasn't distracting enough.

"I can't imagine you nervous!" She asked, eyes wide with disbelief. "You've already been champion twice!"

"I promise it's true!" He laughed. "I guess I'm just a perfectionist, and I want to do well. I don't like…failing." His tone became more serious.

"But it isn't a failure if you tried your best. You shouldn't feel deep unhappiness or make your standards so high you lose sight of everything else that's important." She said softly. "Even if you don't win this time, you should still be proud." Layla looked up at him with a soft smile.

"Where were you a couple of years ago?" He chuckled tenderly at her. "Believe it or not I'm a lot better now about all that stuff."

"What happened a few years ago?" She admired that he could admit his faults, and was impressed with his maturity at how he had clearly grown from his experiences.

"That's a long story. I'll tell you sometime when we have a little more time." He paused, not ready to tell her about his time in South America, or the events with his family that transpired afterwards. "So, I can't be the only one with bad traits?" he quirked an eyebridge at her.

She laughed. "I'm really a perfectionist too. But other than that…" she trailed off. "I'm pretty serious and my family makes fun of me for it a lot. And I can be really melancholy. And it's hard for me to relax, like I'm a complete mom to my sisters and they hate it sometimes! Oh, and I can be self-conscious, but I love to judge people." He laughed at that last one, and shook his head in disbelief at how easily she listed off any negative qualities.

"Not all of those are inherently bad, you know. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"It's so easy though."

"I get that. You know, my brothers call me Splinter Junior when they get annoyed at me for trying to 'parent' them."

She brightened at that. "Mine just straight up call me Mom."

"I don't mind that you're serious. I am too. Although I don't tend to get sad, but more angry sometimes."

"I don't tend to get angry, I'm not sure why."

"That's not a bad thing. Raph and I have enough between us for everyone," he joked, worried the conversation would be too serious. She didn't seem to mind though.

They continued with their comfortable conversation as they made their way back to the city. It was later than they realized.

"I think our walk lasted longer than we thought," she blushed.

"I don't mind. Kept my mind off the competition for a bit, which is really nice," his voice was soft as he walked her back home. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

"Good luck today, Leo. I know you'll do well."

Does she always smile so sweetly? He asked himself.

"Thanks. I'll see you later," he almost whispered as he turned to go, but waited to make sure she got in the house alright. Once he heard to the door click, he turned around and let out a big sigh.

After several difficult rounds in the battle arena, Raphael had been eliminated. Angry at himself for not only getting injured, but also losing in front of Mina, he paced the healer's pavilion.

Mina steeled her nerves before walking through the door.

"Raphie?" He heard a soft voice that jerked him from his thoughts. She gingerly pattered towards him, looking concerned at the cut on his bicep.

He straightened, and sighed, shaking off the anger. That was the funny effect she had already had on him, he didn't ever want her to see the ugly side of him.

"I'm fine, just a bruised ego more than anything," he joked, and she visibly relaxed. Satisfied once he got the response from her he wanted, he motioned for her to sit down next to him so they could watch the final match.

"It doesn't hurt?" She gestured to his arm.

"Nah, trust me, I've had a lot worse," he chuckled at her. She looked at him, worried.

"That's not good either!" She protested.

"Hey hey it's fine." He softened his look, and she smiled at him again. "Thanks, for comin' up here."

"Of course," she blushed. "So, do you think your brother is going to win against my grandfather?"

"He might honestly. He's always been good, but now that we older…he's just, it's his thing. He's a master honestly. Plus, you know he's been training with ya grandpa, more than once."

"I know. You know, you should be really proud of how you did." Mina smiled shyly at him.

"Thanks, ya probably right, but it's hard to feel that. I'm a little…competitive." She snorted at that, then immediately covered her mouth, eyes wide.

Raph let out a full-on belly laugh when he heard her but quieted quickly when he noticed how embarrassed she looked.

"That's uh, um, that's cute," he reassured her as he cleared his through. "So, um –" but he was cut off by the announcer broadcasting the beginning of the final match to determine the champion.

"Kumquat! I knew I would see you here!" The Ancient One bowed.

"Ancient One," Leo returned the bow.

"I'll try not to embarrass you in front of Layla," he winked, a large grin plastered on his face.

"I think she'll be more embarrassed when you lose, Master," Leo retorted, the Ancient One's jest failing to catch him off guard.

The Ancient One beamed with pride at his student, confident, relaxed, in control of himself. He saw so much of Yoshi in him, and so much of Tang Shen in her.

Layla sat at the edge of her seat, focused completely on her grandfather and Leonardo. Her sisters' teasing did not reach her ears, so great was her focus.

Leo carried himself confidently, and with ease. She noticed them talking to each other and grinned at how well they got along.

They struck at each other lightning fast, and the crowd cheered. It was difficult to follow their fight with how quickly they moved. The crowd went from cheering to utter silence as everyone was trying to follow what was happening.

Leo and the Ancient One paused for a beat, catching their breath, and reassessing each other.

Leo badly wanted to look up into the stands but knew he couldn't afford to be distracted. Even looking away once and the Ancient One would take advantage. Leo used his youth and speed, and struck ferociously, hoping to catch him off guard. To his mild disbelief, it worked.

He had the Ancient One pinned, before he Gyoji appeared, and the Ancient One gradually faded away.

The crowd went ballistic.

Layla stood and clapped enthusiastically. She grinned when Leo caught her eye. She didn't notice her sisters next to her, cheering just as loudly.

Talia and Nora shared a look between them. Layla had told them about her walk this morning, and they fully supported their 'Mom's' crush. She insisted they were just friends who had hit it off, but Layla always buried her feelings.

Gyoji reappeared to name Leo the champion and transport him to the Daimyo for his trophy.

"Yeah Leo!" Raph shouted as he stood, pulling Mina up with him to cheer. Despite his hurt pride, he was genuinely happy for his brother. To win against the Ancient One was not a small feat.

As Leo walked up the stairs to the Damiyo, he glanced at Layla again. Everyone else was cheering loudly and clapping, and she was stood there, hands clasped, just simply beaming at him. He felt his chest swell with pride.

Don't be ridiculous, she's just a friend. He focused his attention back towards the Damiyo