Element Turtles

Confusion and Complication

April entered the Lair, in her usual attire, yellow long sleeved shirt with shorts over leggings, and a yellow headband over her red hair. She passed Mikey and Raph on the couch, Mikey watching some kind of movie, and Raph reading a comic book. She made a bee- line to the Lab, pushing the tarp back, and Donnie spun around hearing her enter.

"A-April! You're here!" Donnie exclaims, then tries to not look so pleased that she's here.
"So, um.. what brings you?"

"Eh.. just wanted to come down. Nothing's going on up top," April leaned on the desk, and Donnie's eyes darted from her to the floor repeatedly. "I thought I'd hang out with you guys, if you're not too busy."

Donnie's eyes grew insanely large, his gaze landing on his desk littered with projects and important papers. He dashes over and sweeps them off, cringing at the loud crash they made once they hit the floor.

"Nope. My schedule is all clear." He blocks the view of his inventions now on the floor, and April shrugs, opening her mouth to speak, when another voice cuts her off.

"Donnie!" You call cheerfully, entering the Lab with a bright smile, when you spot the pile of gadgets and inventions on the floor. "What happened?" You rush in, kneel down and pick up one of his gadgets, and Donnie scratches the back of his neck.

"A.. um.. accident..?"

"Donnie." You say in a stern tone, and Donnie sighs.

"Ok.. ok." He helps you pick up his things, not noticing April's shocked expression. When he glances at her, he realizes you two haven't met.

"Oh! April, this is Y/n. Remember? Y/n, this is-"

"Oh! April! I remember you telling be about her! It's so nice to meet you!" You smile and hold your hand out, and April comes to her senses, shaking your hand.

"You too. Although, I imagined you younger."

"Time passes differently in her world." Donnie informed her, and she nodded.

"Ok, I'll leave you two alone." You hug Donnie goodbye and leave.
April looks to Donnie, who was smiling to himself, and staring at the ground.

"So.. who is she?"

He looks up with a confused face.
"Y/n..? You just met her."

"No.. I mean, to you." April responds with a mischievous smile, and Donnie jumps back in surprise and shock.

"Wh-what?! N-no, no. S-she's, she's just a friend! My- our little Y/n. I-I could never.. I-I mean.. no!" Donnie exclaims, but it seems he isn't sure of his own words.

"Ok, ok. I was just asking. So, what do you wanna do?"

Donnie didn't respond. His face scrunched up as he thought. He wasn't sure what you were to him. At first, he thought of you like a little sister, but now.. now that you were older.. what were you? A friend? It seemed like that, but it didn't explain why Donnie felt his chest swell with joy when he saw you, why it felt a little harder to breathe when you smiled, especially to him.
Now he couldn't think straight. His head was spinning and he began to see spots.

"A-April.. I-I don't feel all to well. I think I-I need to.. lie down." Donnie grabbed the edge of the table to keep himself from falling, and April came to his aid, taking him to his room. There, in the dark, Donnie stared up at his ceiling, lost in his deep, confused thoughts.

»»»

Meanwhile, you found your way to the dojo, and saw the leader in blue meditating alone. With nothing else to do, you sat down in front of him and mimicked his position. You watched him for a moment, noticing how he breathed in deeply, and held a firm but relaxed stature. You tried to copy him the best you could, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. Leo then acknowledged your presence, opening his cobalt blue eyes, and smiled fondly. He pushed your slumped shoulders up and straight, and lifted your chin.

"Inhale through your nose, and exhale through your mouth. Clear your mind, and find balance." Leo instructed, and you smiled while nodding. Leo then tried to return to his trance, but his head was cluttered with thoughts, all directed to you. He opened his eyes again and scanned you over, at first for errors in your position, but then just to admire you. He memorized how your h/c hair fell, the small locks that brushed against your face, the rosy color of your cheeks-

Wait.. what was he doing?!

Leo began to panic, his eyes growing wide with worry, and he forced himself to stop staring at you. What was wrong with him?! You were like a little sister to him, he couldn't be.. well.. could he..? You're older.. But what would Master Splinter think?!
Well.. at least this wasn't as bad as Karai.. was it?

Leo tore his gaze from the floor back to you, so peaceful and relaxed. Seeing you so calm, he felt a little better. But he was still confused. And it didn't help that you were smiling, just a tiny bit. That tiny smile, although small, gave Leo a warm feeling, gave him butterflies in his stomach.
Wasn't this.. what was it?! This was something different. Something new. Something terribly complicated and confusing.

»»»

After a while, you decided to join Raph and Mikey in the living room. You sat next to Raph, and peeked over his arm, curious about what he was reading. He glanced at you with his green eyes, and lowered the comic so you could get a better look. You rested your head on his shoulder while you read it, unintentionally causing Raph to grow a tad flustered. His eyes darted from you to the comic book repeatedly, but you were too involved in the graphic novel to notice. Raph finally glued his gaze to you, although it was a bit uncomfortable since you were so close to his face. Raph tried to shift to a more comfortable position, and you did the same, ducking your head under his arm and leaning on his plastron, eyes trained to the story before you.
Raph could feel his face heat up, and he knew it wasn't the flames he could create. He was blushing. Why? He had no idea.
You turned the page, and Raph watched your eyes bounced around, taking in the words and pictures as you went deeper and deeper into the story. You were so beautiful. Still similar to that little girl they had to leave all those months, or years ago. But at the same time, you looked different. You weren't Raph's little Peanut anymore.
Raph cleared his throat and you looked up to him.

"I, uh, I'm gonna train, k?" He muttered, and you nodded, standing so he could get up. Raph left quickly, hoping you didn't see his blush as he went to the punching dummy. He didn't like how embarrassed he felt. He couldn't have those feelings towards you, could he? You were like.. a sister to him. The baby sister that he never had. So.. feeling like this was wrong.. wasn't it? Raph shook his head, and stormed off to the kitchen for a drink.
Why did he have to have emotions?!

»»»

The only one left was Mikey.
Seeing Raph had left, Mikey beamed and sat next to you. You smiled at him and focused your attention on the comic book, sitting crisscross applesauce on the couch. Mikey watched the tv, but found his eyes wandering back to you. So, he let them. His baby blue orbs took in all they could. The way you bit your lip at the suspenseful moments in the comic, how you smiled at the happy parts, scrunched up your nose at the cheesy and funny parts. Mikey caught himself smiling at you, and when he did, he stopped and made himself stare at anything but you.
He was confused. More than usual. Glancing back at you, he saw you tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, and he felt a bubbly sensation. You were absolutely adorable when you were a kid, but now you were a different kind of beauty.. cute, maybe?
Mikey suddenly tensed up, realizing what he just thought.
You, cute? Well.. yeah.. but.. not that kind of cute.. right? No.. no, definitely that kind. Is that bad? He didn't know. What he did know, was that, when he hugged you, he felt like would explode with joy. When you smiled, laughed, giggled, Mikey did too, without meaning to.

What did that mean?

(I have no idea if this is terrible or not. But, anyway, enjoy!)