I wasn't looking for her and I know she certainly wasn't looking for me….. The image of a girl with long hair had her back to me resonated in my mind. She was sitting on a rock gazing out at the sea. I wasn't searching for her….. The girl's head slowly looks over her shoulder at me. I never wanted to fall in love; I never thought I could love anyone… "Raphael." The sound of her voice echoed all throughout my body. I wasn't looking, but I found her.

We somehow found each other.

"Uh, uncle; I like your new shop but…. do you think it was a good idea to put it right beside a Japanese restaurant?" I stood beside my very eccentric uncle in front of his new sub shop. He had always dreamed about owning his own eatery and he could make a mean sandwich. But the place was sketchy at best and next door to a well-established restaurant. I didn't want to hurt his business as much as I didn't want him disturbing my uncle's.

"Oh, it's fine!" My uncle waved his hand nonchalantly in the air. "Mr. Murakami is great! Besides, we make totally different food." "I can see that but…." "Don't worry, baby niece. It'll work, you'll see." Uh, ok; if he said so. With arms full of boxes, we entered the shop for the first time. From the first step, I was not impressed. Uncle, however….

Dropping the boxes full of cooking supplies, his arms spread out wide at his sides. "Just look, baby niece?! Isn't it wonderful?!" "That's… one way to put it. Um, did you see the place before you signed the lease, uncle?" "Of course not! Who has time for that?" Not you obviously. "Oh, look! Look over here," uncle pointed at one of the back corners behind the counter. "Rat traps!" Oh my god…. I couldn't even begin to measure how far my eyes rolled. This was going to be a long night. "With rats in 'em!" A long, loooooooong night.

I was in the middle of cleaning the smuggy window while uncle was a whirl behind the counter. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't notice the front door open for the first time. A short elderly Japanese gentleman stuck his head inside. "Hello?" "Oh! Hello sir!" I quickly scrambled to greet him. From first sight, I knew he was blind but rightly decided not to address it; hopefully my uncle was as woke. "Hi, hello! How are you?" "Mr. Zilla?" "Uh, no. I'm his niece, Baby Zilla." "Baby?" He shook my hand. "Is that your real name?" "Er yes… My father's favorite movie is Dirty Dancing…. for some reason." "Oh! It's um….. a unique name," I smirked at his struggle to compliment it. "Thank you."

"Who ya talkin' to, baby niece?!" My uncle hollered from behind the counter on the floor. "It's our new neighbour, Mr. Murakami." "Neighbour? Ah, the noodle guy!" He hopped to his feet running over to him. "Hi! Nice to meet you! I'm the sub guy!" I sighed as he shook his hand enthusiastically with both hands. "It's a pleasure, Mr. Zilla," Mr. Murakami's voice was much calmer and lower. "Wow! I've never met a blind guy before. And a cook too!" "Uncle!" I blushed absolutely mortified. Mr. Murakami looked like he didn't know how to react at first before casually smiling.

"And I've never met anyone related to a rockstar before." "Yeah; bro got the singin' talent and I got the cookin' talent." "What my uncle means, Mr. Murakami, is that my other uncle, Rock Zilla, is the family celebrity. We're just sandwich people." "There's nothing wrong with that," the nice Japanese man reassured us. "This city needs people like us; those with a passion for food. Speaking of which," he held up a take-out box. It smelt….. interesting. Uncle was definitely curious.

"What is it?" "Pizza gyoza." "What's gyoza?" I asked, eyeing the box with the pungent aroma. "It's like a dumpling with thin dough. They're very popular with my 'ahem' customers." "Dude! Pizza dumplings? What a good idea!" Uncle snatched the box to pop one in his mouth. His eyes lit up with surprised delight. "Whoa! These are amazing! A+!" "Many thanks," Mr. Murakami gave a slight bow with his hands folded over his chest. He then turned to me. "Please, try one, Baby-chan." "Haha, Baby-chan; you're "Baby-chan"." "Uncle," my eyes rolled; they did that a lot around him.

"Sorry, Japanese bro. Baby niece here doesn't eat pizza." "Uncle!" His lack of filter left me incredulous. "Don't eat pizza? Heh, you're in the wrong city, dear." "Oh, I'll manage," I cracked a grin. This seemed to suit uncle just fine, who was currently shoving as many gyozas in his mouth as possible- which turned out to be a lot. "Well, what do you like to eat?" "Uh, lots of meat, potatoes, candy; I do like ramen." "I can make you that," he grinned back at me. "Thank you, Mr. Murakami. I look forward to it."

"Well!" He went to head to the front door. "It was a pleasure meeting the both of you." "And you, sir." "Yeah, dude! Pop by anytime, especially if you have more pizza dumplings." "Gyoza," I correct with an overused eyeroll. "That's what I said- dumplings. Have a good night, Japanese bro." "You too. Let me know if you need anything; I'm just next door. Good evening Zilla-san," he gave me a kind smile. "Baby-chan." "Good evening, Mr. Murakami," I shut the door behind him. Uncle planted his hand on his hip and smirked. "Bet you wish you liked pizza now." "You'd be surprised."

The shop took a whole three hours to clean- in particular because uncle paused every time he found a dust bunny he found "funny" or "realistic"….. Cause dust bunnies can be mistaken for the real thing apparently. Anyways…. Needless to say, I was tired of cleaning but still somehow had some energy left by ten o'clock. I had just finished putting away all the cleaning supplies when uncle stood at the front of the shop in the most accomplished stance. "Looks good! We did a good job!" "Good, mediocre; one of the two," I joined him. "Baby niece," his arm draped over my shoulder. "This is an invaluable experience for you. You're gonna learn firsthand how to run- and clean- you're very own restaurant." "Um, you know I want to be a writer, right?" "And what do you need when you write? Food, of course! Can't create on an empty stomach."

"Uh… huh. Well that is a valid point, uncle, but I need to buy food before I can eat it." His finger wagged in the air like he completely understood…. which I doubted. "I see what you're saying. You want me to make you one of my famous "baby" subs!" "I would love nothing more but….." "With extra-cheese, just how you like it." "You know what I like, but there's only one problem, uncle." "What's that?" "We have nothing to make sandwiches yet."

Uncle glanced around like he had completely forgotten that little- not so little- detail. "Oh… right." With a sigh, I went to grab my coat and wallet. "I'm going to get something to eat. Want me to bring you anything?" "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold the phone! You, my precious darling baby niece, want to go out in a brand new city, after dark, alone?" "Uh….." "By all means!" His arms then tossed up in the air. "You sure?" "You're a mature young lady who can quote Plato. You can handle yourself out there." "Thanks, uncle," I smiled.

"Oh, but I guess I should be the "responsible" guardian," he groaned. "That's probably a good idea; yeah." "Soooooooo be home by…. Is midnight too late?" "Yes." "Fine, then eleven-thirty; not a moment later! Ok, maybe a few moments later." "Great parenting, uncle," I sent him an ironic wink. "I'll be back in a little while," I then headed for the door. "Get me some more of the pizza dumplings!" "I think Mr. Murakami might have gone to bed already." "What?! But its only ten! Ugh, fine! Um, then get me a burrito." "From…. where?" He shrugged. "Do they have Taco Bell here? If not, find a convenient store or something. It's a big city; they gotta have burritos somewhere." "Ok, great. My mission now is finding my uncle a "burrito" because why." "You're a doll! Thanks!"

Why indeed. Uncle and his weirdly specific diet; and he had the audacity to poke fun at my non-pizza-eating ways. I had to admit though, this area of town was super sketch. Not many street lights, countless dark and dingy alleyways, chalked-full dumpsters…. Yeah, maybe I should have thought this over twice before departing. Oh well, I was out now and uncle wanted his burrito. Now I had to find a Taco Bell or Mexican fast food place. Gees! And I didn't want Mexican food. Half-annoyed and half-anxious, I continued down the street in search of anything food-related still open.

Raphael's P.O.V.-

I stared in horror as my sai laid in the middle of the busy street downtown. Damn! I literally never lost my sai in battle; that never happened and yet… there it was. For everyone to see in plain old view. God! Could this get any worse?

Due to the low level of Kraang and Foot activity, Donnie had the "brilliant" idea to split up on patrol. I admit, I was kinda into it at first; I always wondered what it would be like going solo. Turns out, it sucked. The only positive was that my brothers weren't here to make fun of me for idiotically losing one of my sai.

I had a run-in with two Kraang bots. They weren't much of a fight but it was my first real action all week, so it was better than nothing. They lasted two minutes before lying flat on the pavement; short but sweet. Unfortunately, I accidently lost one of my precious sai in the ordeal. It went flying and landed on the ground, making a clink sound. Now, I couldn't go home without it; Sensai would murder me, not to mention Leo….. Damn. I gotta do something! But what?

While I was contemplating this up on a nearby roof and keeping a very close eye on my weapon, I failed to notice the girl holding a Taco Bell bag walk down the street. I wouldn't have seen her until she suddenly stopped in front of my sai. My heart skipped a beat- several beats- when she bent down to pick it up. What?! What is this bimbo doing?! My jaw literally dropped. That's not hers! Why is she touching it?! No! No, no, no, no! This is not happening! Crap! Now I have to get it back," I cringed as I went to follow her like a total stalker. But who cares! She's got my friken' sia. I'll take it from her by force if I have to….. I didn't want to think what that meant right now, but yeah…. basically the situation now.

Baby's P.O.V.-

I finally found a Taco Bell….. forty minutes later. Luckily for me though, it was in a more crowded part of the city- the main street downtown to be exact. Lots of people, lots of noise, and lots of lights. Well, better than nothing. And on top of the safety factor, there was an open Taco Bell! Now uncle wouldn't talk my ear off about not understanding how cravings work. Uh, news flash- I'm a girl! If anyone knows how cravings work, it's me.

Speaking of my femininity, I was a little nervous about going right downtown so late. But my nerves calmed when nothing happened and no one paid attention to me. That works just fine for me! Nothing unusual really occurred until I was about half way down the stretch. Something shiny caught my eye up ahead. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a weapon of some sort; like this weird dagger. Curious, I thought reaching down to pick it up. It wasn't a gun and didn't have blood on it so I thought it alright to touch it. It looked real enough; I doubt it was a toy. Still, why would anyone carry this on their person? It looks clumsy and difficult to use. It almost reminded me of a ninja tool, if that wasn't too out there.

With a slight shrug, I put it in the pocket inside my coat after a quick check to see if anyone was looking. Why not? It was cool, if not slightly awkward. Then I headed back towards home. I didn't feel followed the way back but I knew something was off by the time I reached my area of town. There was no one else around, not that I could see anyways. Still, I couldn't shake this feeling…. It was so strong that I almost felt like running a couple of times. But I decided it was just nerves after nothing happened after a while.

I was about to put my headphones back in and listen to my iPhone, completely unaware of the presence trailing close behind. But I became aware very soon afterwards. I was about to turn the corner before this loud crash made me flinch. It was so sudden that I didn't have time to ask "who's there". But to my absolute horror, the one- or rather, thing- that made the thud made his presence none. He kept himself concealed in the shadows but I knew he was here; I could see the outline of something- something big.

"Alright," he said in the deepest, most serious voice he could muster I'm sure. "Hand it over." "W-what?" I took an instinctive step back, not taking my eyes off the figure. "Give it back!" "What are you talking about?!" I took another few steps backwards. He gave an angry sigh- he was actually sighing… for some reason. But the biggest shock came to me as he reluctantly emerged from the darkness.

My eyes widened, my jaw dropped open. Standing in front of me was a human-sized turtle. The most distinctive feature about him was his red eye mask, which made him all the more intimidating. "I'm not gonna ask again," he held his gigantic green hand open my way. "Hand it over." His hands immediately retracted back up to his eyes at the piercing echo of my scream. My shriek was so loud that it rang all throughout the area.