So…I was watching reels on YouTube and I saw one about how turtles have a varied diet, which actually includes flowers. Their favorites being hibiscus and roses. And that is how I came to have this idea.

Instincts are a funny thing. Some you can control, while others hide under the surface, waiting for the opportunity to make their presence known. Leonardo was no stranger to overcoming natural instincts. He'd conquered his fear of heights, and tamed his natural urge to flee or pull into his shell at the first sign of danger. Through meditation, he'd explored the deepest dungeon of his heart and soul to find balance, and alongside his brothers, the young leader had learned many lessons that helped aid him into becoming the warrior he was today. However, fate has a sense of humor, and some instincts, unobtrusive as they are, sometimes prove difficult to ignore.

This happened on one such night, when the streets were enjoying a rare quiet. Leonardo, having reached a point in his recovery from his abduction that he no longer struggled with the strange bouts of weakness anymore, was leading his brothers topside. The quadruplets were running the rooftops, performing their nightly patrol as per usual, with all of their signature flair. The air was warm, and slightly muggy due to the recent spring storm that had rolled through, drenching the concrete and metal buildings. Puddles lay like shards of glass under the night sky, and the brothers were all too eager to splash through them in their play. Leo pulled in a deep breath, reveling in the scent of sun warmed stone accompanied by the smell of freshly fallen rain. It was moments like this that made him feel alive.

Granted, the thrill of battle would get his heart pumping, filling him with the thrumming pounding of almost primal drums as he cut through his foes, making him feel invincible. However, to this young turtle, there was nothing that could compare to running alongside his brothers. Muscles rippling as they leapt from rooftop to rooftop. The unconscious way each would look out for the other. Raphael tensing, ready to perform a last minute rescue, when Mikey's flamboyant acrobatics almost cause the youngest to crash. Or how Donatello always watched his siblings, reading their body language, monitoring the status of any recent injuries. The way their breaths would unconsciously sync up, until their hearts beat as one, a unified rhythm that tied them together in an unspoken promise that they'd always be a family. These were the moments that Leo lived for.

Throwing a grin over his shoulder at his fiery younger brother, Leonardo added a burst of speed to his run, silently taunting the brawler into racing against him. Raphael was more than eager to comply. With a gruff chuckle, Raph increased his own speed, chasing the blue bandana tails fluttering in the wind ahead of him. Don rolled his eyes, giving a good natured groan at their antics, maintaining a steady gait. Mikey didn't even notice the game, he was doing his own version of New York style street parkour across the rooftops.

"Ya really think ya can beat me?" Raph panted, a competitive grin stretching his features.

Leonardo made a show of thinking Raphael's question over, before chirping brightly, "Since I'm already ahead of you, yep!"

Raph plowed forward, frame resembling a steam train, "Not for long, Fearless!"

The blue ninja laughed gaily, easily out striding his sibling, "You'll have to do better than that, snail boy!"

The older siblings whooped and hollered, enjoying their race, and a night blessedly free of danger. Grateful that their enemies were nowhere to be seen, and that their leader felt well enough for a patrol, the exhilaration of the moment making the turtles feel almost weightless and giddy with joy. It was during this moment of peace that the leader noticed a new smell as he ran, something he'd never come across before. New enough at least to make his steps falter, and bring the turtle to a slow stop. Raising his head, Leonardo took a few more tentative sniffs, closing his eyes as the sweet scent caused his nasal passages to tingle and twitch. Whatever it was, it smelled amazing.

"What's the hold up?" Raph panted, "Ya ok, Fearless?"

Sapphire eyes popped open, and Leo met the amber gaze of Raphael, Donnie running up beside him while Michelangelo flipped to a stop. All looked confused, and slightly concerned. "You smell that?" The blue ninja asked.

Exchanging looks of mutual bewilderment, the three younger brothers sniffed awkwardly, searching for the thing that had stopped their eldest in his tracks. After a few tries, eyes widened, and the teens drew in ever deeper drafts of the scent. "I think I do," Donnie nodded, "and it's close too."

Raphael grunted an affirmative, angling his face to better pinpoint the source, then motioning with his hand for his brothers to follow. Like sleepwalkers in a trance, the mutant siblings stumbled across the roof and towards a nearby fire escape. Green heads popped over the edge, peering down through the dimly lit alley between the buildings, before finally spotting their quarry. Bodies flowing like ripples of water, the team flipped halfway down the building, landing on the metal balcony and finding pots of flowers. One in particular drawing their attention as it released its intoxicating scent.

Four muscular forms crouched silently, studying the bright red blossom, it's center stalk glistening with nectar, and leaves bouncing cheerfully in the breeze. Leo couldn't explain it, but every instinct in him was screaming to eat it. He'd never felt such a strong tug towards anything before. His mouth was literally salivating at the smell, and his stomach grumbled longingly for a snack. Before the young leader could snap himself out of him momentary insanity, his leaf green fingers had already plucked the bloom from the stem and popped it between his lips. Sapphire eyes widened in shock, his mind reeling from the fog induced by the flower's scent, and plummeting back into the real world. The leader couldn't help the look of panic that splashed across his features, as he wondered what on earth would possess him to eat a flower.

Mikey, Don and Raphael gaped, their faces equally aghast. "Dude…" Michelangelo spluttered, "did you just…eat it?!"

"Not intentionally!" Leo protested, mouth full of red petals.

Unfortunately, his predicament only became worse as he gave an unconscious chew, his eyes rolling shut as flavor exploded in his mouth. It had the same chewy texture as salad, but the juices were almost equivalent to liquid cotton candy. Only better. Leonardo tried to fight against the moan of pleasure, but it slipped out anyway, prompting a furious blush to break across the scaly cheeks. His brothers watched this, mouths hanging ajar, before bursting into uproarious giggles. The leader hunched his shoulders, embarrassment radiating from the shy turtle. Donnie patted Leo's arm in a consoling gesture, his mouth stretched in a bemused grin at their eldest sibling.

"I think you might be craving some vitamins, Leo."

An eye ridge rose in a silent question, the blue ninja not trusting himself to open his mouth, and take the chance of losing his sanity again by eating another bloom. Raphael verbalized his leader's confusion, "What are ya talkin' about, Donnie?"

The resident genius settled back on his haunches, grin growing impossibly wider as he shifted into teaching mode, "This, class, is a hibiscus flower." He orated, enjoying the chance to educate his brothers, "a particularly favorite snack for terrapins the world over. Many species of tropical turtle enjoy munching on it since it's a ripe source for vitamin C, calcium, iron, niacin and riboflavin, plus it is known to be a packed full of antioxidants."

"So," Mikey drawled, face still blank as he struggled to piece the information together, "what's that got to do with Leo eating it?"

The purple ninja chuckled, turning to look at the eldest and shrugging, "I'm willing to bet that you might be a little vitamin deficient, perhaps even slightly dehydrated, and the turtle part of our DNA couldn't help but sniff out the perfect snack to rebalance your system."

Leonardo pursed his lips in thought, considering Donatello's explanation, the embarrassment dying down to an ember. He was relieved that his actions could be explained so reasonably, he didn't like losing control in any situation, but this one was especially mortifying. However, he knew he was still in the throes of recovering from his abduction in the nexus, so the idea that he's vitamin deficient made a lot of sense. And now that he thought about it, he had been craving fruit and salad a lot recently. His mouth practically aching for a particular taste that he couldn't find, no matter how many times he scrounged through the pantry or their refrigerator. A taste that he evidently found in this flower.

"Huh," Raphael responded, casting a thoughtful amber gaze down on the blooms before swiping a blossom for himself. The petals disappeared behind forest green lips as the brawler gave a thoughtful chew, only for liquid gold eyes to practically glow in pleasure, "This is good!"

"Seriously?!" Mikey dove in, grabbing his own flower and munching it before giving a delighted squeal. The youngest wiggled in his spot, a happy dance of pure joy at the taste, "Raphie ain't kidding! This is seriously tasty!"

"Might as well," Donatello shrugged, grabbing another blossom and popping it into his mouth. The scientist gave a contented hum, chewing slowly so to savor the taste, "this is making me seriously consider growing our own flower garden so we have access to the vitamins we require."

"I wouldn't complain," Raph stated with a dark chuckle, unashamedly grabbing another flower, nodding to Leo to take it, "come on, Fearless, can't have ya vitamin deficient."

Leonardo huffed a soft laugh, swiping the blossom from his fiery brother, and watching as the red ninja grabbed another for himself, "Thanks,"

"You might not want to eat too many of those, though," Donnie cautioned, looking up from his tablet where he had been researching underground greenhouses, "hibiscus flowers are also used as a diuretic."

"Huh?"

Mikey's panicked question brought attention to the youngest, eyes wide and mouth stuffed full of multiple blossoms. Chewing fiercely before giving a swallow, the orange ninja quavered, "Does that mean what I think it does?"

Don opened his mouth, then closed it, unsure of how to respond, "Possibly."

"So what does that mean for me?!"

Leonardo couldn't hold back a mischievous grin, "Well," he chuckled, wiggling his eyebrow ridges at Mikey, "I'm sure you'll definitely be feeling very….fresh come tomorrow morning."

"Yeah," Raphael cackled, "he'll be fresh as daisy, but he sure wont smell like one!"

"Donnie!" Michelangelo whined, eyes raw with concern, "please, I'm begging you, I'm not gonna be stuck in the bathroom all night, am I?"

The genius leaned away from his youngest brother's pleading eyes, "I mean, maybe?" He tried, chuckles overtaking his frame, "I don't know, how many have you eaten?"

"Uh…"

The mutated team cast their gaze back to the bush, only to find it completely devoid of flowers. Only the stems and leaves remained. Donatello gaped, before slowly turning to the baby, "Michelangelo," he stated, voice devoid of emotion, hands clasping the orange ninja on the shoulders, "may the odds be ever in your favor."

"Don't say that! You make it sound like I'm gonna die!"

The blue turtle rolled his eyes, "Don't be so dramatic," Leonardo huffed, holding back a round of amused chuckles, "to be honest, the occasional colon cleanse is healthy. Not that I would volunteer for one, but the fact still remains. Besides, no one ever died from diarrhea, right?"

Crickets chirped far below them in the alleyway, and the young leader turned sapphire eyes to his smartest brother, "Right, Donnie?"

Chocolate brown eyes stared into the middle distance, even his mouth opened and shut helplessly, before the genius could only sigh, "You don't want to know the answer to that."

Leo and Raphael exchanged slightly panicked looks before the red ninja cleared his throat, "It was nice knowing you, Mike,"

"NO! I don't wanna die! Especially like this!" The youngest wailed, "There's still so many games I haven't played, comic books I haven't read, a whole life I have to live, I can't go out like this!"

"You're not going to die," Leonardo scoffed, flicking his brother on the forehead, "you'll probably be miserable tonight, but you'll be fine."

"You don't have to be so cold blooded!" Michelangelo ranted, grabbing Leonardo by the shoulder, "Part of it is your fault, this would never have happened if you hadn't taken us on this little side trip! Plus, you ate the flowers first, you started it!"

"I may have started it," Leo snorted, "but I never told you to eat the entire bush! That was all you, little brother!"

"Aw man!" Mikey groaned, suddenly pausing as his stomach gave an unhappy twist, "Uh-oh,"

Donnie cocked his head, confusion coloring chocolate brown eyes, "You ok, Mike?"

"Not anymore," the youngest moaned, "something tells me that she's about to blow."

"Oh no," Leo's exclamation was met with wide eyes, and panicked looks, "Donnie, what do we do?"

"Find a public restroom?"

Mikey shook his head, adamantly vetoing the genius turtle's suggestion, "No way! I'm not using a public toilet, the only ones we can use without getting caught are in the subway, and those things are filthy!"

"Mikey, you may not have a choice!" Don exclaimed, standing so to throw his arms up in the air, "I mean, that's working really fast, can you even make it home?"

The orange ninja's visage hardened into a look of grim determination, "I have to."

With that the siblings burst off the fire escape, and retraced their footsteps back to the lair. Michelangelo screaming much of the way back, urging his brothers to move faster, as he theatrically clenched his legs together. Leo released a boisterous laugh to the winds, grinning hard enough to make his cheeks ache. Palming the flower he had taken from the bush, the terrapin decided to keep it as a late night snack for later, then took the lead. Even with the night getting sidetracked in a seriously weird way, he couldn't help but feel immense love and gratitude for his insanely odd life.

I know…super short, but I promise, I'll write something longer next time. And angst filled. Oh yes, much angst.

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