the lazarus job - tmnt (2)

twelve

Donnie appeared puzzled; his lips were pursed and his forehead creased in thought, but it took a moment for Nadia to realize that he wasn't puzzled. 

He was worried. 

As if knowing the look on his face by heart, Florence stepped towards him and cupped his face. He lift his head to hers, the sad look in his eyes magnifying when he saw Florence frowning. 

"We'll get back in time to help him," she promised. "Then it'll be like old times. You can show me your new inventions." 

"And you'll get back to finishing your classes," he murmured softly with a smile as he pushed her glasses up with his fingers. Florence didn't even realize that they were falling. 

She nodded and softly grinned. "Just like old times." 

Florence turned around, taking Donatello's hand in her own as she followed Nadia who had begun to walk. 

Walking through the sand was like running through water; an action that no one seemed to do without trouble. But, it wasn't long before they began to transition from sand to dry and cracked dirt. 

It was dead, really dead. The entire scenery was just shades of brown with no green, hardly any flowers or grass. Just a clear blue sky and cracked dirt. 

"It's. . ." Leo was planning on going somewhere with his statement, but he paused when he realized there was nothing to saying about the place. 

"Dead," shrugged Nadia. "A small disadvantage." Then she managed a devilish smirk that practically consumed Raphael. He had to clench his teeth to not drop his jaw. She just looked so flawlessly dangerous that he couldn't stop staring. 

"Just wait until you see my home." 

"It's not so bad," sang Mikey from the back. "Open space is dope." 

Nadia turned, her brows creasing at the slang, but she chuckled when she saw Raph shaking his head as if to say, 'Ignore him'. She laughed and just shook her own head as she turned. 

They walked for a few more minutes before suddenly, they began to see small palm trees. As if it was a tiny island in the middle of an ocean of dirt, an oasis began to appear with its vibrant green colors. 

It was a truly mesmerising sight; one that literally took Florence's breath away as she gripped Donnie's hand a bit tighter. She hadn't let go since they started walking and the sight wasn't about to make her hand loosen up. 

"Wow,"  she breathed as she danced her eyes around the oasis. There were even colorful birds resting in the tip top palm trees, squawking loudly when they saw the turtles and girls walking to the oasis. 

To give an easier way to imagine the size of the oasis, it was about the size of Brooklyn, New York. It wasn't exactly giant, but enough for the small village of people inside of it. 

Nadia's face broke out into a grin. She hadn't come home in almost three years; the last time she was home was when she was sixteen and if she remembered correctly, her sister was seven. Her heart paused when she felt someone's hand grip around her own. 

She looked down, her lips softly breaking into a smile when she saw the green hand in hers. 

Raph felt her eyes slowly trail up and he swallowed, but he didn't look to her. He just flexed his jaw and continued to stare at the oasis while they got closer and closer. Nadia squeezed his hand and walked forward. 

Transitioning from dirt to soft grass was almost heavenly for their feet that ached and burned. Mikey even let out a sigh of relief when he felt the shade of the trees hide his frame from the merciless sun.