"Wait, you know Em? The girl we rescued?" Madi asked and looked over between Leo and the teen from the alley, suddenly pulled out of her trance over the fact that Raph had woken up while she was gone. Splinter put his hand on Madi's shoulder.

"No, we did not rescue Em. You did." Her sensei told her with a smile, then cleared his throat so that everyone could hear what he would say next. "After all," he announced to the whole room. "You were the one who defeated all fourteen of those Foot soldiers unarmed." Everyone's jaws dropped- everyone except for Em, Leo, Madi, and Raph.

Em was too busy staring at the floor, trying her hardest to avoid Leo's gaze while Leo was trying so hard to resist the urge to run over to the girl of his dreams that he thought he had lost to Shredder's deadly blade so long ago.

Em felt terrible about leaving Leo to believe that she had truly been dead this whole time when really she had gone to start a new life. Em had believed that after the battle between Shredder and the Turtles where she had taken a near-fatal stab to the chest, it would've just been best if they went their seperate ways, to allow Leo to believe that she was gone forever that way he wouldn't need to worry about her anymore. 

Leo was in pure shock that the girl of his dreams, the girl he had loved and could never get out of his head, the person he'd take a bullet for any second just to make sure that she was alright, was less than a yard away. The urge to reach out and touch her, just to make sure that she was real, that she was really alive, was growing the longer he stood there watching her.

Raph was a little distracted as he stood completely in awe of Madi Oroku. She even looked more confident from the trip she had taken with Splinter. The way she held herself straight and tall like she could take on the world single-handedly. He wouldn't describe it as 'cocky' because Madi wasn't that kind of girl. He considered her just being aware of the skills she hadn't known she had possessed this whole time. Madi had changed a lot, but it had been for the best.

Madi was just enjoying the fact that everyone didn't look at her like an injured animal anymore. 

"Seriously? You took down fourteen Foot soldiers? Unarmed?" Jacob asked in awe, then grinned. Madi smirked.

"Well, actually it was fifteen. But who's counting, right?" She asked. 

"Madness! That's awesome!" Mikey said and playfully punched her arm. Surprisingly, it was alot more firm than it had before. She really must've worked hard on increasing her strength while away with their sensei. "And these arms, man!" He exclaimed as he grabbed onto her wrist and extended her right arm to its full length out in front of her. "Either you've injected some mutagen into your system or have been lifting weights!" Everyone laughed at his words. 

"Why don't we find out with some sparring matches in the dojo?" Madi suggested. Mikey lept up and down with joy. 

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" The orange-masked turtle shrieked with joy, then bolted out of the kitchen and into the dojo. The others followed the excited teen, Madi and Raph trailing behind while Leo and Em headed towards Donnie's lab where they could talk alone peacefully. Before Madi could enter the dojo, Raph quickly grabbed her wrist to stop her and was shocked by just how thick it had gotten compared to the last time he had seen it. So much had changed about her, even her hands weren't as soft as they used to be- they had been callused by the intense training that had taken place over five months.

"Hey," he began. Madi turned to face him and realized that her eyes weren't as soft as they used to be. Just like the rest of her, they had been hardened and shaped for fighting, to be alert and always on guard. What on earth had happened to his angel? "Can I talk to you for a second?" She nodded, but made sure to poke her head into the dojo and announce that she was going to go to the bathroom before she fought Mikey, even though everyone knew that she would be talking with Raph. 

She followed the turtle down the long hallway to his bedroom. Once they both were inside, he closed his door so no one could eavesdrop on their conversation, then turned around to begin talking to the one person in the world he cared most about when he suddenly felt the pressure of a body slamming against his chest and arms wrapping tightly around his neck.

"You're okay." Madi murmured under her breath with relief as she hugged him tightly. The last time she had seen him was when he had been laying in his bed, unresponsive and very unhealthy, with an I.V. shoved in his wrist. His state had been decreasing rapidly when she left that she had feared the worst for when she would return. He could've been dead when she got back instead of standing here now, with her. Tears of relief began to fight their way to the corners of her eyes, but she kept them down. She refused to cry. "Thank God you're okay."

Raph hugged her back, burying his face in her shoulder. So she hadn't been completely hardened by her countless days of training with Splinter after all. 

"I'm so sorry, Raph." She said. "It was my fault that you-"

"Stop saying it's your fault." Raph stopped her, still holding her close. "None of it was your fault. Things just happened. And besides, it was a long time ago. It doesn't matter now." She didn't reply, just hugged him tighter. They stood like that for a little while, just enjoying the fact that they were both together again. The idea of admitting his special feelings toward Madi bounced into his mind, but before he could say anything-

"Madi! You coming, or what?" Mikey shouted impatiently and pounded on Raph's bedroom door. "Everyone's waiting!" Madi pulled away from Raph and cleared her throat.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" She shouted back to the anxious turtle in the hallway. Raph mentally planned the terrible things he'd do to Mikey for interupting their moment as he let go of her. Madi saw the disappointment on Raph's face and quickly kissed his cheek, wiping the disappointed expression off of his face. He could feel the blood rushing to his face as he began to blush severely.

"Cheer loud for me, okay?" Madi told him with a small smile as she grabbed the doorknob and began to pull it open.

No. Raph thought. I'm not missing up on this chance again. 

Quickly, he shoved the door closed and grabbed Madi's shoulders. He read the look on her face as confusion based on his actions, but ignored it. All would explain itself soon enough.

"Raph?" Madi started questionably. The grip on her shoulders was tight, firm, but not painful. Her heart pounded in her chest. 'What is he doing?' She thought. Before he could wimp out again, he closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Madi's.