RaMona Week 2021

Day 1: First Date/First Kiss

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Did Raphael ever expect this to happen? Never. Not in a million years would he ever have thought he would go on a date, let alone find a girl who would love him for who he was, but today proved him wrong! After the big battle with Newtrailzer and Lord Dregg's army, Mona Lisa decided to stay on Earth. She claimed to her commander that it was so she could keep the planet safe from future intergalactic threats, but Raph knew her true reason why. So finally, after nearly a year of long distance, the struggles and conflicts they faced, and countless battles fought, Raphael and Mona Lisa were finally going on their first official date.

"Is this what you were referring to when you asked me if I wanted to 'go out sometime'?" Mona Lisa asked Raphael. They stood on a high building rooftop where Raph told her to meet him for their date. The sun had finally set, and the sky was growing dark while the building lights competed with its brightness with the shining stars above. The perfect time to go out and enjoy their evening.

"Yeah, basically," Raph tells her, "On Earth we call this a 'date'."

"Interesting... and what do you do on this date?"

"Anything we want," he explains, "Watch a movie, go to dinner, the whole purpose is to spend time together, but... most of the things people on my planet do on a date we can't..." Raph's tone turned timid. He started to blush as he confessed, "I was kinda hoping that when I did take you out we'd do something more, umm... romantic. You know?"

"I don't mind if we can't do the traditional customs on your planet," Mona says with a comforting smile, "All that matters is that I get to spend the evening with you."

"And that's why I love you..." Raphael says, looking at his date with a loving smile, admiring her in moonlight. She looked so beautiful. The moon made her blue skin and silver spots sparkle and her golden eyes glowed in the night. The only thing that caught Raphael off guard was her outfit. This whole time knowing her Raphael has only ever seen Mona in one outfit, in her blue and teal battle armor. However for tonight it was gone and for the first time he saw her in something different.

Mona notices Raphael's eyes were locked onto her, studying her, "What is it, Raphael?"

"Nothing, it's just, um..." He starts to rub the back of his neck, "I've just always seen you in your armor..."

"Oh..." Mona looks down to examine her outfit. She was so used to wearing her armor and was perfectly fine with wearing it tonight, but she was informed by April that a lady should not wear battle armor to a date. So for the night Mona removed her armor and changed into more comfortable Salamandrian clothing that she brought with her. A teal turtleneck crop top with black leggings. The only piece of accessories that originated from her armor was her blaster gloves, just in case of an emergency.

"Do you not like it?" Mona asked, looking back up at Raphael with concern.

"N-No! Not at all! You look amazing!" Raph tells her in a panic, scared that he insulted her. He doesn't want her to have that impression, "I'm just not used to seeing you in something that's not your armor. It's a nice change," he blushes, "You look beautiful..."

Mona giggles from his short moment of panic, a reaction she found rather amusing. Her face begins to blush as well, "Thank you, Raphael," she then approaches him and asks, "So, tell me, what do you have planned for us to do this evening?"

"Well, I was thinking I could take you on a tour of New York. Since you're going to be living here now you should learn the routes, plus the city is beautiful at night," Raph tells her as he pulls out his grappling hook and fires. The hook locks on to a far off building. Raph then turns to Mona and offers her his hand, "You in?"

Mona studies his hand curiously. For a moment she thought Raphael was offering her the Hand of Combat, but then she remembered that tradition is uncommon on Raphael's planet. That misunderstanding led to their battle and later their blooming romance. Mona reminded herself that Raphael was just offering her his hand to take. It made her realize there was much to learn about this new planet she will now be calling home.

Mona then smiles as she gently takes his hand, "I did say I'd go anywhere with you, my love."

Mona Lisa locks hands with Raphael and he pulls her close to him, wrapping one hand around her waist tightly while she wraps her arms around his neck.

"Hold on," Raph tells her as they take off, swinging from rooftop to rooftop, admiring the sights of the beautiful city of New York. Every location Raph could think of that he knew would amaze Mona he took her to.

"This 'Lady Liberty' must of been a very important woman if she was given a grand statue in her honor," Mona comments on their tour, making Raph laugh with delight, "And it's strange how you'd put a jungle right in the center of this busy city," She adds with curiosity.

He showed her the best places for sightseeing, locations mutants go to hang out, restaurants where they serve their favorite pizzas, and of course all the tourist spots, the museums, Broadway, Times Square (but they couldn't enter and look around for obvious reasons), and most importantly, in Raph's case, the best spots to find criminals to beat up.

"The docks are the best place to go," Raph advised her, "If you wanna find criminals to beat up, go to the docks. That's where all the troublemakers are."

Mona loved every moment of her tour. She loved the view, the customs, just how different Earth was compared to her own, or any planet for that matter. It was a whole new world for her and experiencing it all with the man she loves made the night even better.

After hours of sightseeing, Raphael and Mona Lisa decided to take a break. They sat together side by side on the edge of the rooftop on a high building to watch the city shine before them, admiring the breathtaking view before their wonderful night came to an end.

Raph would look over to see the joy in Mona's eyes, she was so mesmerized by the city and its shining lights. Seeing the smile on her face was just enough to let Raph know that she loved her tour of her new home.

"You know, Raphael," Mona said, breaking their silence, "I've seen some unforgettable things while traveling the galaxy, but New York is unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"In a good way or a bad way?" Raph asked.

Mona giggles, "A good way. You were right. The city is beautiful at night. I didn't realize that when I first arrived. I was so focused on our mission to stop Newtralizer that I didn't take the time to stop and see how astonishing your world is."

"I'm glad you like it," Raph says softly. He takes a deep relaxing breath as he turns to look at her, "Can you believe we've been together this long and we just now finally are going on a date?"

"Well, there were justifiable reasons as to why it took us this long," Mona says, "I was always in constant battle and you were busy saving your planet from the Triceratons. You and I had no time to stop and relax like we can do now. We've come so far and been through so much..."

"Yeah, but it wasn't easy..." Raph says with slight sorrow, "I had a small fear that when I returned to Earth that I would never see you again..."

"I felt the same way. I worried that once you returned to your home planet you would forget about me. Many men on my planet came my way to woo me, trying to get me to forget about you, but no matter where you were I never-"

"Wait!" Raph stops her, "Guys were flirting with you?!"

Mona shrugs, "Sometimes, but I never acknowledged them. You were the only man who ever caught my attention," she started to blush, "...And won my heart," she smiles as Raph turns red from her comment. She then looks at him with curiosity, "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Did you ever have any admirers?" Mona asked.

Raph softly chuckles, "This may come as a surprise to you, with my charm and good looks, but girls around here aren't usually attracted to mutant turtles, sooooo..."

"Oh..." Mona felt ridiculous asking that question. Raphael has told her about how humans treat mutants like him and his brothers. Yet there were some humans who weren't bothered by their presence, "What about your friend April? She seems interested in your brother Donatello."

"That's different," Raph explains, "April has known us for years so we kinda grew on her. She spends a lot of time with Donnie and they have a special bond. She's used to us. Humans aren't used to seeing creatures like you and I on a daily basis. They don't consider us 'normal'..."

"I see... So, out of curiosity, have you never had feelings for anyone before me?"

Raph thought about her question for a moment. Many girls have come and gone in his life, but none of them ever caught his attention. While Raph can admit he thought some of the girls he's met before were pretty, he even recalls admitting to Leo that he thought Karai was attractive before knowing the truth that she's his sister, a comment he now deeply regrets saying out loud, Raphael was never attracted to anyone. None of the girls in his life ever ignited a flame in his heart like Mona Lisa did. She was different from the others.

"Does a fictional character count? Cause I kinda had a thing for the Princess in Super Robo Mecha Force Five," Raph jokingly asked.

Mona giggles, "No. I believe it does not."

"Then no. You're my first crush and my first girlfriend."

"'Girlfriend'?" Mona repeats curiously.

"On my planet when two people are in a relationship with each other, like we are, we are referred to as," he gestures to himself, "Boyfriend'," then to Mona Lisa, "and Girlfriend."

"Strange titles to give each other. You are just acknowledging their gender and informing others that they're your acquaintance. On my planet we refer to our romantic partners as our 'Mate'," Mona thought it over. So many strange titles and slang on Earth that she must soon learn and understand. She could tell this was just the beginning of it all, but she looked forward to learning the rest of Earth's customs. Despite the small confusion, the thought of Mona being Raphael's "Girlfriend" excited her.

"But still," Mona continues with a smile, "It is rather thrilling to be called that. I'm honored to be your girlfriend, Raphael," She proudly smiles.

Raph laughs again from Mona's phrasing. He finds her so cute when she's trying to figure out Earth and its culture. It's one of the many things he loves about her, "And I'm honored to be your boyfriend."

"So, we've explored the city, recapped our history, promoted each other to 'Boyfriend' and 'Girlfriend', but I'm intrigued to know," she looks at Raph with curiosity, "What have you been up to since you've returned to Earth?"

"Ha! Where do I begin?!" Raph says, "A lot of things happened. My brothers and I went on some crazy adventures and been in some intense fights against robot ninjas, demo-dragons, gang members, mutant insects-"

"Mutant insects?" Mona repeats with concern, "I hope you were alright. I know from past experience that you are not too fond of those kinds of creatures."

"I... I was alright..." Raph told her. He started to feel uneasy thinking about that rather traumatic point in his life, "I mean... I did struggle a bit at first with the fight because I kept freaking out over the bugs. I almost let my team down, I put my brothers in danger, but the worst part is that I kis-" Raph realizes what he was about to say and quickly stops himself from talking any more by biting his tongue. It was best that he doesn't tell Mona of the gross and embarrassing moment that happened to him. If his brothers can never let it go and wont stop teasing him then he can only imagine the reaction he could get from Mona. Would she be angry? Would she consider his action as him cheating on her and dump him?! Raphael was too scared to know. He clears his throat and continues, "N-Never mind. Forget I said anything about that."

"What? Raphael, just tell me what happened during that fight."

"If I tell you then you'll get mad at me. What I did was stupid!"

"Raphael," Mona said in a calm tone, "It's alright. Just tell me."

Raph looks Mona in the eyes. He knows she wouldn't be upset with him if he just explains. Mona will understand, and besides it is best that he's honest with her now instead of having her found out later by someone else, "Okay, but just keep in mind that what I did, I-I wasn't myself... I was hallucinating. Which led to me doing the embarrassing thing..."

Mona nods, "Noted. So what were you hallucinating about?"

Raph blushes, "...You. I saw you and you were in danger... I-I rushed over to save you and when I did I started to, umm, kiss you but..." He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and says quickly, "When I snapped out of it, it turned out that I was making out with a giant mutant bug."

It was silent as Raphael braced himself for Mona's reaction, but to his surprise, Mona started to laugh. Raph looked at her confused, as she continued to giggle from what he told her.

"Did the bug enjoy it?" She teased.

"You're not mad?!"

"Why would I be mad?" Mona asked, trying to calm herself after the good laugh, "Like you said, you weren't in your right state of mind. I understand it was just an accident."

"Heh... That's not even the worst of it actually..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I thought I was ki-kissing 'you', umm... I kind of... French kissed 'you' as well."

Mona was silent as a confused look appeared on her face.

Raph groans in embarrassment as he face palms himself with both of his hands, "Saying that out loud just makes me feel worse! I feel like a pervert..." he mumbles to her.

"...You're not a pervert," Mona said as he places her right hand over his shoulder and gently holds his arms with her left hand to comfort him, "If I'm being honest... I did something similar."

"You kissed someone else?!" Raph asks as his head jerks up and looks at Mona with a look of panicked fear.

"No!" Mona said quickly, "I mean I did something that involves you that made me feel perverted as well."

"Oh..." Raph sighs in relief, thankful to know that Mona didn't make the same mistake as he did, but his curiosity struck him, "...What did you do?"

Mona bit her lip as she began to blush, just from that thought alone made her embarrassed, "I sometimes would have... certain thoughts about you..."

Raph raises an eyebrow.

Mona began to blush even more, "I would occasionally imagine you working out, doing push ups for example, and I'd get lost in that thought. My body would heat up and I'd forget about everything going on around me to the point where G'Throkka would be upset with me that I wasn't paying attention to important information I was being given."

"Ohhhh..."

"You say you feel like a pervert, but then there's me with my questionable imagination," Mona says with an awkward smile.

Raph chuckles as Mona Lisa looks at him confused. "I'm actually flattered," He smirks, "You know, Mona, you can come by the dojo anytime and get to see the real thing in action."

Mona Lisa blushes again as she starts giggling, playfully hitting Raph in the shoulder as he starts to laugh too. The couple laughed together, blushing from their embarrassing confessions, but relieved to finally have it out.

Raph felt good to laugh with her again. To have her by his side and enjoying each other's company is all Raphael desires when he's with her. As they sat on the rooftops edge, finally calm after their moments of laughter, Raph felt Mona begin to rest her head peacefully on his shoulder as they looked out to the city, seeing the buildings and streets glow with their bright lights.

"Raphael..." Mona said in a quiet tone as the couple kept their eyes locked onto the city.

"Yeah?"

"What is a French Kiss?"

Raphael's eyes quickly widened as his face turned bright red, "Heh... Well umm..." he turns and looks at Mona Lisa, seeing her bright yellow eyes sparkling in the night. She smiles at him as she waits for his answer. She looks so beautiful. Why is he panicking and getting nervous? This isn't like when he first met her. She's his girlfriend now. At that moment all of Raphael's awkward nervousness vanished and was replaced with a sudden wave of confidence. He then smirks at her and whispers, "I can show you if you want."

Mona blushes as her eyes lit up. She then bats her eyes as she nods. Raph felt his face begin to heat up as he lovingly smiled at her. He gently caresses her cheek as they both lean towards each other. Their eyes close as their lips are about to join in a kiss...

CRASH!

Raph and Mona stop before they could join in their kiss. They turn around and look at the source of the interruption. Far off behind them on the other side of the edge of the rooftop they see some broken flower pots and what looked like a pair of binoculars. Their eyes then travel up to where the items fell from to see the top of neighboring buildings towering over them. There they saw three figures. Someone was watching them!

"Is... Is that your brother Michelangelo...?" Mona asked, studying the three figures who stood on the neighboring building behind them, "And April...? And Casey?!"

Raph squints, trying to make out what he and Mona could see. She was right. On the next high rooftop was his little brother and his two friends spying on them.

"It is!" Raph said with a furious growl.

The couple look on at their three friends with anger. Together they get up and begin heading towards their unwanted third, fourth, and fifth wheel, to confront them.

"RUN FOR OUR LIVES!!" The couple hears April shout to Casey and Mikey.

The three friends begin to make a run for it as the furious couple chases after them through the city, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. It took awhile but eventually the couple caught up to their spies and had them cornered to confront them about their inappropriate actions.

"You know, I'd expect something like this from Mikey or even Casey, but YOU April?! Are you kidding me?!" Raph shouts furiously.

"Were you three spying on us all night?" Mona asked, crossing her arms as she glared at them.

"Not all night," Mikey explains, "Okay, maybe all night..."

"We are so sorry, guys," April says in a sadden tone, "We didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"Yeah. We were just curious to see how you'd be on your first date ever, dude!" Casey explained, gesturing to Raph.

"Your first date ever?" Mona repeated.

Raph's face began to quickly turn red, his eyes widened from embarrassment. He didn't want her to know that!

"Yeah! His first date!" Mikey says, "We all NEVER thought Raph would get a girlfriend, let alone ever go on a date so we were curious to see how he does on his first one ever!"

"And may I say," April adds, "As a girl, you were doing a pretty good job leading the date, but I do have a few notes-"

"J-Just get out of here!" Raph shouts angrily at the three who ruined his night with Mona. April and Mikey nod, apologizing one final time before quickly running off.

"Hey, Raph," Casey whispers to his friend as April and Mikey quickly leave. Casey's arm leans on his shoulder, "Just out of curiosity..." he smirks, "Were you actually gonna tongue her?"

"GET OUT!!"

With that outburst, Casey made a run for it as well, catching up to April and Mikey who were already far ahead. Finally Raphael and Mona Lisa were officially alone, with no annoying little brothers or noisy friends to bother them for the rest of the night.

Raph then groans with embarrassment as he leans near the brick wall of the neighboring building and slowly slides down, sitting on the hard rooftop floor. He cups his face, hiding himself, as he mumbles, "This date was going great! Why did they have to ruin it?!"

"This date isn't ruined. It was just one interruption," Mona tells him as she sits down next to him, "If it makes you feel any better, this is my first date ever too."

Raph lifts his head up and looks at her, "Really?"

"You forget so quickly that the term 'dating' is uncommon on my planet."

"Oh, right, sorry. So... this is not just our first date together as a couple, but literally yours and my first date ever, huh?"

"It appears that way."

It was silent between the couple for a while. They both felt strange once that information was out in the open. Both of them had never been on a date before and they were both trying to comprehend that fact. Raphael never really saw him ever going on a date in his life. He thought he never would. He's not a normal human, he's a mutant. "A freak" is what society calls him and chances of finding someone who will love him for him is small. For years Raphael accepted that life. He saw no point in being in love. He wasn't even looking for love, but love found him, or in his case, punched him in the face. The feeling was new, unexpected, exciting yet also scary, but Raph happily welcomed it. He finally found someone who would love him for him, despite his flaws. Mona happily listens to whatever he wants to say or rant about, helps him improve in his fighting by training with him, and never judges him when he shows her his soft side. Raphael can be himself when he's with her.

Mona Lisa was in a similar position when it comes to romance. Though she never lived in a world that didn't accept her, Mona never had her chance to be in a relationship with anyone. So young, but so devoted to her role as a lieutenant and her honor was a warrior that she never took the time to find herself a mate, but again she never was looking for romance either. Men did come her way, wanted to win her hand but none ever caught her attention. They were all the same. Dishonorable men who only wanted her for their selfish reasons, whether it was increasing their military status or for her to bear them offspring, Mona refused to let any man near her heart. They never wanted to love her, they wanted to use her. Then Raphael entered her life. A man who treated her with genuine respect not just as a warrior, but as a woman as well. Never once has he tried to use her for his personal gain or to degrade her to make himself seem superior. The very reason he loved her was because she was better than him and he longed for her to teach him what she knows. For the first time Mona Lisa could finally trust someone with her heart.

Mona looked over to her boyfriend, seeing his beautiful bright green eyes shine in the night. It made her heart beat fast. His eyes were actually the first thing she noticed about him. He looked so handsome, "Raphael," she said, breaking their silence once again and getting closer to Raph. She lifts his chin and turns him to face her. Their eyes met as Mona whispered, "Tonight was absolutely wonderful, but..."

Raph looks at Mona concerned, "But?"

Suddenly Mona leans towards Raph, her nose practically touching his, "But we were interrupted when you were about to kiss me," she says softly, batting her eyes. Mona then reaches out and starts twirling the tail ends of Raphael's red mask, "I don't know what makes a French kiss so special, but I'm still interested in you showing me..."

Mona's words sent a shiver down Raphael's spine. Her bright golden eyes locked with his, her twirling his mask's tails, and her forwardness made Raph feel like his body was on fire. He smiles at Mona and pulls her close to him, holding her in his arms. Mona bats her eyes again and cups his face with her hands, pulling his face closer to hers as they finally join in a loving tender kiss.

The kiss started gentle, carefully holding each other in their arms with an occasional satisfied moan escaping from each other's lips, but soon their desire grew. What started out as something slow and gentle, turned into a passionate makeout session in a matter of minutes. Raphael couldn't begin to describe the overwhelming sensation he was feeling when his lips touched hers. He held her tighter in his arms as his wave of confidence returned, taking action by having his tongue collide with hers. Mona's eyes widened for a moment, surprised by this feeling, but she quickly sunk into it, admiring the pleasure in their hot kiss. She wrapped her arms around Raph's neck as she pulled him towards her to deepen their kiss. They tumbled back, lying on the roof's concrete floor as their makeout session grew more intense.

Soon Mona broke off the kiss, giving the two a moment to gasp for air. Mona looked up at Raph who hovered over her and giggled, "Oh yes, that mutant bug must have definitely enjoyed that."

"Pleeeease stop mentioning the bug!" Raph whines before Mona laughs and pulls him back down towards her to continue their loving kiss.

The couple have shared many memorable kisses in their past, but something about this one was different. The kiss was full of love, passion, desire, and longing. They held each other tightly, not wanting to let the other go, scared that if they did their loved one would be gone. A kiss that was much needed for a couple who feared they would never be with one another again, but this kiss they shared destroyed all their past doubts. Without a single word spoken they both knew that this kiss set in stone the next chapter in their lives together. No more long distance and fearing if they will ever truly be together. Raphael and Mona Lisa knew just from that loving passionate kiss that they shared, they will be together forever.

"Raphael..." Mona moans softly as Raph deepens their kiss. "Raphael?" Mona says again, this time more serious.

Raph stops his actions, ending their kiss, and looks at Mona, "Yeah?"

Mona's eyes were looking out to the city, "Look."

Raph turns his head and looks out to the city of New York. There in the fair distance was the sun slowly peeking out of the horizon. The once dark starry night sky was turning blue with the sun's bright light out shining every building's light.

"Huh, it's dawn," Raph says softly as he sits back up.

    "We lost track of time," Mona adds as she gets up as well.

    "Eh, time well spent," Raph says as he leans back up against the wall with a confident grin, "I got to spend my night with, and kiss, the most beautiful woman in the galaxy," he then looks at her and smiles, "And I look forward to doing it again," Raph tells her.

"Oh, these 'dates' are recurring events?"

"They can if we want them to be," Raph chuckles as he gets up from the ground they sat on, "Usually couples go on dates at least once a week," He takes Mona's hand and helps her off the cold rooftop floor, "Since I decided what we would do on our first date, how about you pick what we should do for our second?"

"Hmm, well, if I recall you did say you'd love for me to teach you a few of my 'moves' when we were together in Dimension X."

"So a sparring date then?"

Mona happily nods.

"That works for me! How about tomorrow at noon in the dojo?"

Mona smiles, "That's perfect."

The couple shared one final tender kiss to end their date. Raphael then offered to walk Mona Lisa back to the Mighty Mutanimals place where they gave her a place to stay. Once Mona was safely at the Mutanimals' lair, Raph said his goodbyes to her and returned back home as well.

Raphael and Mona Lisa were now both home, alone in their rooms, unknowing to the other they both shared the exact same thought about their evening together.

"Best first date ever!"

~~~~~

Also if you're wondering, yes, my other oneshot "The Ramona Club" is connected to this oneshot ;D