Stepping out of the movie theatre into the early evening, Raph shivered and pulled his trench coat collar higher against the icy fingers of the wind cutting through the city streets. And any glances from the crowds and traffic they shared the street with. Leading the group down the side-walk; Leo, Don and April were caught-up in an avid discussion regarding the possibilities and implications of a machine developing a soul. Leo looking a little lost as Don and April started reverting to their own dialect. Behind them Mike was re-enacting his favourite bits of dialogue from ‘Ghost in the Shell’ for Tau as she laughed along with him.

Raph gave a low chuckle himself. He still couldn’t quite believe that she’d allowed Mike to dress her up so. But then Tau had been pretty nervous about the prospect of walking the streets; especially during daylight, as they’d had to get to the cinema on time. She was wearing the short, black wig again; tied up with large pink bows on either side of her head making the hair stick out almost at right angles. Mike had found the long, pink skirt dotted with a sunflower motif in a clothing donation bin. The yellow flip-flops were another relic from their childhood ‘dress-up’ collection, and the jumper was a hand-me-down from Don.

The woollen, violet pullover had been such a childhood favourite of his brothers’ that Don had steadfastly worn it until the day it simply refused to stretch all the way over his shell. He’d even needed a bit of help to get it off again. The neck of it had been stretched to the point it kept slipping down Taus’ right shoulder (she kept it pulled up snug to the left side of her neck to ensure her tattoo remained concealed), revealing the grey strap of the singlet she had stubbornly refused to replace with a frilly lilac blouse.

Raph had to admit he’d felt a little nervous too, during the film. But it was mainly due to the fact that, no matter how he’d shifted in his seat, they always seemed to end up touching. Not that he minded that, in the end he’d even pulled her head onto his shoulder. To stop the damn pigtails in her hair from tickling his cheek, of course. The fact Tau hadn’t objected to him leaving his arm around her shoulders was nice. Not quite as nice as the feel of her hand coming to rest lightly just above his knee. However, he had also quickly added that to his list of reasons he hated wearing pants.

Still, she had abruptly shrugged him off just before the credits. He’d actually opened his mouth to complain when the movement of someone leaning forward further down the row caught his eye. Breathing a sigh of relief, he was glad Leo hadn’t spotted the way they’d been sitting; the last thing he needed was a lecture when he hadn’t done anything!

The last two weeks had been their own special kinda hell. Raph was sure Tau was torturing him. It wasn’t anything she did, really. Or said. It was her smile. The coy, little look he caught her giving him on occasion.

At first he’d dismissed it. Sure, they weren’t fighting anymore, but he doubted she would be hugely happy with him again for some time. In the end it was Mike that had made him realise that Tau reserved that particular smile for him. His brother had come up with the theory, and had even flirted with her outrageously enough to eventually earn a playful bop on the head from her, but never that softness in her eyes, to prove it.

Even so, he’d staunchly tried to ignore it, not wanting to let his frustration get the better of him again. It was the same reason he tried to ignore the way her usual singlet and jeans moulded to her figure. At least he didn’t have to worry about that at the moment; the jumper was too baggy and long on her to reveal her curves much. Although, the skirt she was wearing did show off her ankles nicely… He caught himself with that thought.
‘Her ankles?! I must be goin’ nuts!’ ran through his mind as he shook his head briefly to clear it.

“Wassup?” asked Casey, walking beside him.
“Nuthin’!” replied Raph, a little sharply.
“Heh heh yeah.” Casey drawled with a taunting grin. “I can’t get the image of that chick outta my mind either!” He missed Raphs’ evil glare to continue, “If that’s the way o’ the future I can’t wait till I get arrested by some mostly naked, not-quite-invisible babe! And you guys were right, it was even better on the big-screen!”
“Huh? Oh, the movie! Yeah, right Case, whatever…” shrugged Raph. Casey eyed him dubiously for a moment.
“You sure you’re alright?”
“I said ‘yeah’!” snapped Raph. Casey threw his hands up in surrender.
“Ok, gees! Chill, will ya?” Raph only tugged his hat down further in reply.

Half a block later April brought them to a halt under a bright red fluorescent sign reading ‘Valentino’s’.
“Sorry guys, I’ll only be a few minutes. I just have to pick up the cakes for tomorrows progress meeting at work. You coming Casey?” she asked as she opened the door, the warm smell of fresh bread and chocolate escaping from within. Casey quickly followed her inside, leaving the rest of the group to drag Mike away from the scent into the mouth of the alleyway that ran down the side of the building.

They were careful not to go too far, around fifteen meters from the sidewalk the building was undercut by a loading bay wide enough to accommodate having a couple of cars parked within it as well. Light spilt from the bay, probably from an open doorway set out of view in the end wall of the alcove.

Raph leaned his back against the wall, glad to be sheltered from the breeze. His brothers looked a little chilled too. But Tau was practically blue; hugging herself and stamping her feet in an attempt to warm herself. She scowled a little as she jerked the errant jumper back up onto her right shoulder, only to have it start to slip down again almost immediately.
“Brrrr! Where are the 30 degree days when you need ‘em?” she griped.
“30!” exclaimed Mike. “It’s not that cold babe! And I’da thought you’d want it hotter?”
“She does Mike.” Don explained, giving the top of Taus’ arms a rub and getting a grateful smile from her for it, though it didn’t stop her shivering. “They use the Celsius scale in Australia, so that’s 86 degrees Fahrenheit.”
“Ooh!” nodded Mike.
“It’d be getting close to summer there now, right?” Don continued, asking Tau directly. She replied with a despondent nod.

Seeing her stood there so miserably; Raph got a sudden inspiration. Stifling a smirk with a frown for his brothers, since they weren’t doing that much to help Tau, he swiftly undid the front of his coat to pull her hard-up against him, enveloping her in the thick material too. Her small gasp of surprise at being yanked off her feet quickly changed to a grateful sigh as she snuggled into the warmth of his arms.
“Raph…” started Leo in a dark warning tone.
“What? She’s cold!” Raph sharply cut him off, stating the obvious.
“Yeah, cut ‘em some slack bro!”
“You know Leo; sharing body heat is a very efficient way to keep warm.”

Raph succumbed to a smug grin as Leo rolled his eyes, giving up his current argument with a shake of his head. His smile suddenly became very brittle however, as Tau squirmed slightly. He wondered what the hell she was doing, running a chilled hand down the edge of his plastron towards his belt. Unfortunately, or so he thought, it wasn’t any of the myriad possibilities that flickered through his mind. Tau tugged the handle of one of his sai to the side, out of the way of her ribs. She quickly settled against him again, curling her hands behind and over his shoulders with another small, contented sigh.

---------- ----------

Casey was starting to pace a little, already bored at looking at the few rolls, cakes and other treats left in the glass cabinets lining the walls. Thinking the proprietors hadn’t heard the door chime when they had entered, April rang the small bell on the counter. It was still another couple of minutes before a harried looking Italian matron made her way through the doorway from the kitchen to the serving-counter, the door swinging shut behind her.

“Oh, Miss O’Neil! I’m-a so sorry to keep you waiting!” she flustered, wringing her hands in her apron.
“It’s not a worry Mrs Valentino.” assured April. “I guess you’re a bit busy tonight, huh?”
“Si, si. Busy.” nodded Mrs Valentino vigorously, glancing back towards the door she’d come through. “Now how can I-a help you?” she smiled nervously.
“I just need to pick up the cakes my work ordered earlier.”
“Oh? Oh! Of course, how silly of me; forgetting. They’re all ready to go, I’ll just-a fetch them for you.” the elderly lady flustered as she hurriedly backed through the door, closing it behind herself again.

A couple of minutes later Casey wandered over to wrap April in a hug from behind.
“Do you think there’s something wrong?” she asked him, a little concerned at Mrs Valentino’s demeanour and the unusual wait. Casey shrugged, his attention given over to nuzzling her ear. A loud bang, metal on metal, that came from the kitchen made them both start.

“There is something wrong, we should help.” breathed April.
“It’s probably nuthin’…” another loud bang interrupted Caseys’ whisper. They shared a brief look to settle their agreement, before they snuck around the end of the counter to listen at the door. Casey grabbed Aprils’ hand as she went to push it open; silently indicating that he should go first.

Creeping through the door into the warmth of the kitchen, Casey and April ducked behind one of the long stainless-steel benches that ran through the middle of the room. The far end wall was dominated by huge walk-in ovens. The end closer to them featured a large sink and drying racks, full of commercial sized pots and pans and other utensils.

Peering from their hiding spot, they noticed a door was propped open, leading to the outside. The Valentino family were gathered at another bench close to the open door, surrounded by a large group of street thugs. Mr Valentino was restrained by a few of the youths, his arm being held out on the counter.

April and Casey watched as the elderly man shook his head. A punk stood over him with a metal baseball bat smirked,
“Wrong answer Pops.” then whacked his victims’ outstretched arm with his weapon. The ‘clang’ as the tip hit the bench echoed again. Whilst it was obvious the old man was in pain he barely uttered a sound. His wife was holding the end of her apron to her mouth, trying to stifle her sobs. Their son, in his early twenties, was struggling in vain against the trio that were holding and gagging him.

Creeping over to the racks of drying utensils, Casey quietly grabbed a long, heavy wooden rolling pin, handing it back to April. He took a large ladle and hefty looking metal spatula for himself. April started to fish her Shell-cell out of her pocket, about to call for back-up, when she decided not to bother. Sure she spied the briefest flicker of movement beyond the door…

---------- ----------

Raph had managed to relax again; Tau nestled snugly with her face against his neck. Her hands, still on his shoulders under his coat, had finally lost their chill. At the first ‘bang’ she had jumped, they all had really, and it had disrupted their embrace a little. At the second blow Leo, Don and Mike made their way over to the alcove to investigate.

With a groan Raph figured they had better make a move as well, reluctantly opening his coat to release Tau, Leo quick to motion them over. Realising what was happening inside the open door as the third blow was made Leo directed his team, getting them in position to strike. He was about to give the silent order to attack when he was pre-empted by a resounding “GOONGALA!” from the bakery.

In a heart-beat the turtles were through the door, the dozen punks taken by surprise and quickly overcome by the combined attacks. The last couple of thugs fell, one a-foul of Caseys’ spatula. The other was snapped backwards to the ground as Mikes’ fist connected with his nose, in concert with Tau dropping to sweep the punks’ feet forward from under him with an out-stretched leg.

Raph couldn’t help but grin as her move caused the hem of her skirt to ride up above her knees for a moment; instinctively standing a little straighter as she rose to give him a quick, side-long glance up and down. Her appraisal of him ended with a flicker of a coy smile, her look quickly hidden behind a hand as she reached up to smooth her wig. Still it was enough to leave him a little fidgety, feeling as if he were suddenly unsure what to do with his hands. Shaking his head to clear it of the distraction he dragged the unconscious ring-leader up from the floor, grimacing at the arthropod depicted crawling up the guys’ neck.
“Damn Scorpion scum!” he growled, dropping the hoodlum back to the floor with little regard for the dull ‘thud’ his head made against the linoleum.

“Who the hell are you?” demanded the younger Valentino, the brave timber of his voice undermined by the way he was backing into his father, away from the group that had stormed in through the outer door. Taking stock with a quick glance around, Leo was relieved to see none of his group had lost their disguises in the fray. However, he did do a quick side-step to come between Raph and the huddled Italian family, realising his brothers’ coat wasn’t fastened and at risk of falling open.

“Uh, we’re…” Leo searched for an explanation.
“Friends of mine,” April interjected. “They were waiting outside for us. Oh, Mr Valentino, I think your arm is broken!” she exclaimed, moving over to inspect the limb and draw the attention of the family. Leo snagged Dons’ arm before he too could approach to have a look for himself.
“And I think we’d better get these punks out of here and be on our way.” he ‘suggested’ to his kin.

Casey and Tau helped out as the turtles dragged the Scorpions out of the kitchen and tied them up a small distance away in the surrounding alleys. April stayed with the family, helping to calm them and keep them distracted whilst she wrapped Mr Valentino’s arm in a sling to keep it stable on the way to the hospital.

As soon as the last of the goons were out of the kitchen the Valentino’s locked up and left, with many profuse thanks to April from Mrs Valentino. The rest of the group gathered in the shadows behind the red-head, as she waved the family fare-well until their car disappeared around a corner. Turning back to her friends with a relieved smile she cocked her head suddenly in thought.
“Darn it!” April frowned. “I forgot the cakes!”

---------- ----------

“So it’s-a third left down that hallway, then first right, second left and then the second cubicle on the left? Si?”
“Yep!” smiled the receptionist. With a grateful nod the elderly lady settled the cloth covered basket on her arm and followed the directions through the offices of Cubesoft Inc. Reaching her destination she paused for a moment, unsure how to announce her presence since the cubicle didn’t have a door to knock on. Finally she gave a nervous “Ahem.” Immediately the red-head looked up from her computer screen in surprise.

“Mrs Valentino!” April exclaimed. “What are you doing here? Come in, come in!”
“Good morning Miss O’Neil. I realised that with all the fuss last night, I forgot to give you the cakes you were wanting to collect. So I-a brought them for you.” Mrs Valentino offered April her basket with a smile.
“Oh, thank-you!” grinned April. “You didn’t have to do that, I was going to drop by during my lunchbreak.”
“It was the least I could do, to thank you for your help last night.”
“Oh, it was nothing… I’m just glad my friends were there to help out.”
“Si! Si, please tell them all we are very grateful. I included some nice, fresh chocolate muffins in there for you all, on-a the house.”
“Heh, I’m sure my friends will love those! Thank you! Are the police going to do anything to make sure you all stay safe?”

“Tch.” the elderly lady muttered, her face becoming grave. “We did not call. My Marcello, uh Mr Valentino, he does not like to involve police. We have some-a… ‘patrons’ that took away the gangsters for us last night. Usually, we don’t need to worry about such things, mostly. But these days, the young-ones, they are getting cheeky. No?” she smiled nervously.
“Oh.” replied April, momentarily lost for words. She was curious, but decided she probably didn’t really want to know any more details about the family’s’ security arrangements. April changed the subject instead, “How’s Mr Valentino’s arm by the way?”

Mrs Valentino sighed, shaking her head slightly.
“He has a cast for a few weeks. The doctor’s, they tell him to rest. But my Marcello, he does not know how to do. Enrico, he’s a good boy. But he is wanting his own life now. I worry; how we will keep the bakery going? My Marcello says not to worry, we’ve been through worse. And he’s right, we have. But we are not so young anymore. The hard work, it takes its toll on him. I’m trying to convince him to take on an apprentice, but he won’t hear of it. ‘The recipes, they are for family, for Enrico’ he says, ‘No-one else’.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” April commiserated. “If there’s anything I can do to help…”
“Oh no, no, no!” flustered the old lady. “It is we that are indebted to you. If there’s anything we can do for you or your friends, please, just-a ask.” Mrs Valentino fidgeted nervously for a moment before she met Aprils’ eyes again with an over-bright smile. “But I have distracted you from your work, si? I am sorry, I’ll leave you in peace…”
“It’s no bother, really!” assured April, placing a gentle hand on the lady’s arm to stop her turning away. “And I just had a thought. Instead of an apprentice, would Mr Valentino accept a kitchen-hand to help you out? Even just for a couple of weeks until his arm has healed?”

Mrs Valentino tilted her head in thought.
“Maybe… We did try to take one on a couple of years ago. But the young people today, they don’t know the meaning of work, and they want so much pay!”
“Oh. It’s just that the girl who helped out with the fight last night, she’s looking for work. I’m sure she’d put a lot of effort in, and would probably be grateful for any money she could earn. But she has had a little… ‘difficulty’ with one of the local gangs. So if you don’t want to risk any more trouble I’ll understand.” April shrugged lightly.
“The young girl with the black hair?” asked Mrs Valentino. April frowned slightly in confusion for a moment.
“Oh! Yes, of course. Heh. She, uh, coloured her hair, the other day.” grinned April sheepishly.

“What kind of trouble is she in?” probed Mrs Valentino again.
“Um, she’s actually left a gang. But they weren’t too happy about it.” replied April, a little distractedly as she tried to think of an explanation that wouldn’t give too much away.
“And what’s her name?”
“Ta…” April caught herself just in-time, giving herself a mental kick for being so caught up with worry over how to explain things she almost gave it away anyway. “Uh, Natasha, yeah. Sorry, we always call her by her nick-name, heh.” she petered out.
“Well, it would be a big help. And it is the least we could do, giving her a chance.” murmured Mrs Valentino thoughtfully. “Could she come by the bakery tomorrow? Say at one o’clock? It will be up to Marcello, but I’ll put in the good word, si?”
“Si. Uh, yes!” laughed April. “I’m sure she’ll be there. Thank-you!”
“No, no, thank-a you!”

After a brief flurry of continued expressions of gratitude and good-byes the elderly lady departed, leaving April alone in her cubicle to wonder if her off-the-cuff idea to get Tau a job interview was really such a good one…

“Are you sure you’re sure about this?”
“Yes!” assured Tau impatiently, nervously straightening the smart black jacket April had lent her to go over her grey, square-cut dress. The seat belt running over her shoulder pulled the dark material out of alignment again as they rounded a corner.
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea, we’ll save the money eventually. You don’t need to do this! What if someone sees ya, huh? What if they decide to turn you in? What if…”

“‘What if’ you realise that I’m gonna do this no matter what you say Raph. Or how many times you say it!” interrupted Tau, giving him a sharp glare. “I promised you all I’d get a job if I could, and I’m not gonna go back on that. Besides, I do wanna go home. Hopefully before I have to apply for a ‘mature-aged student’ placement at a university!” she grimaced as she slid a finger under her wig, trying not to displace it as she took this last opportunity to scratch the annoying spot on her nape the hair-piece always made itch. Especially since she was having to wear it for the second day in a row.

Raph bared his own teeth in frustration, about to retort when Mikey trying to hide a giggle caught his attention. The scowl he gave his brother quickly became apoplectic as Mikey gave a flick of his hand that was curled as if holding the handle of something invisible, mouthing ‘Whipish!’
“YOU LITTLE… Graah!” Raph lunged, his seat-belt pulling him up just short of being able to reach Mike. His brother still jerked back against his own swivel seat, with enough impetus to send his hat tumbling off his head to land on the floor behind him.
“Keep it down guys!” admonished Don, looking back from his spot in the front passengers’ seat. “We’re almost there.”

Leo guided the Battle-shell down the alley and into one of the parking spots next to the loading bay. A second after the vehicle stopped all the turtles were on their feet; Leo to break-up the imminent scuffle, and Don making his way back to where Tau was seated. She was taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, fingering the blue stone dolphin she wore on a thin leather necklace.

“Do you want to test the alert again?” asked Don softly, completely ignoring the ruckus behind him. With a grateful nod and smile, Tau felt for the small button affixed to the back of the smooth stone resting just below her throat. The sudden loud ‘BEEP’ that sounded in the van gained the attention of all.

“GAH! What was that?” demanded Raph, his coat continuing the movement of his quick turn, one sai ready in hand at the alarm.
“GEES! Give a guy a heart-attack!” admonished Mike, hand to his chest.
“If you’d been paying attention, instead of acting like a pair of fools, you’d have realised that Tau was about to test her panic button.” stated Leo brusquely, continuing in a gentler tone, “Good work Donnie.” as his two errant brothers fidgeted sheepishly.

Don nodded, giving a wide smile to acknowledge the compliment;
“It’s not much, but it’s the best I could come up with at such short notice.” He turned back to the girl and gave her shoulder a light, encouraging clasp. “Well, you’re pretty much ready to go. Just remember, we’ll be right here waiting for you. If you get into any trouble, one touch of that button and we’ll be there as fast as we can, ok?” he assured, getting a resolute nod from her in reply.

Standing, Tau quickly fussed about needlessly smoothing her dress and jacket again, glancing at the clock on the dash to see she was still had a few minutes to spare. She then looked up at her friends with a brave half-smile.
“Thanks guys. Time to go!” she declared, determination in her stride as she stepped out of the vans’ back door. Tau had barely made it a couple of steps away from the vehicle when the sound of the rear door clicking shut a second time came as her only warning, an instant before a strong hand gripped the top of her arm, pulled her about and back along-side the truck.

“Raph! What do you think…?”
“Shhh!” he silenced her harsh whisper with his own, gripping her other arm as well to draw her close. “Listen. I really don’t like you doin’ this. It’s too dangerous. Don’t give a shit about what Leo or anyone else might say, I c’n deal with ‘em. But please, don’t do this?”

Her brave veneer dropped, her eyes suddenly so soft and sad they caused an ache in his chest. After searching his gaze for a moment, Tau dropped hers to timidly move her face closer, making him catch his breath. Raph almost expected her to kiss him, but she opted for tenderly nuzzling his cheek with hers, bringing her own hands up to rest on the thick material of his coat over his shoulders.

“I’m sorry Raph. I have to at least try.” Tau murmured by his ear, running her hands down his arms to free herself from his hold. She didn’t use any force at all and, despite not wanting to, he felt compelled to follow her silent, gentle directive. Tau held his hands as she pulled back slightly to attempt to look him in the eye again, though Raph seemed fascinated with something beyond her shoulder.
“Wish me luck?” asked Tau softly.
“Luck.” he grumped, still staring at the alley wall. She gave him a grateful smile regardless then turned to walk down the alleyway towards the front of the building.

Raph watched her leave, feeling too numb to move until she disappeared from sight. Then, leaning back against the Battle-shell, he thumped the back of his head lightly against the metal.
“Stupid stubborn fool.” he muttered.
“Uh-huh.” Raph jumped at the sound of his brothers’ deadpan remark, glaring over to see him leaning out the driver side window.
“Damn it Mikey!” growled Raph. “I meant… her!” he scrambled to cover himself.
“Uh-huh” nodded his brother again, the slightest hint of irony in his tone. Raph favoured him with a dark scowl in reply, turning his back on Mike to stalk to the rear of the van. There he issued another glower for Leo stood propping the back door open;
“This isn’t necessarily a bad thing Raph. You have to accept she is going to leave, sooner or later. And…” Deciding he really didn’t want the company of his brothers at the moment, Raph opted for stalking away to patrol the alley instead.

---------- ----------

“Hmm. I still don’t know. I’m not sure we’d have enough work for you, if-a you can’t serve on the front counter…” Mr Valentino rubbed his smooth chin with his un-bound hand, his arm set in a cast resting on the counter in front of him. Tausha shifted nervously under the old man’s scrutiny. At first he had seemed dismissive of her. But now, after half an hour of questioning her relentlessly, he had developed what she feared was a suspicious gleam to his eye.

Mrs Valentino was seated next to her husband on the far side of the metal bench, and was starting to look a little uneasy. However, she suddenly smiled to herself and leaned over to whisper something in his ear. Mr Valentino cocked his head in thought for a moment.
“Can you sing?” he asked. Taken aback by the unexpected question, Tau flustered;
“Uh, yeah, sorta. I… I haven’t had any training in it or anything.”
“Sing for us then.” Mr Valentino ordered, leaning back on his stool and running his hand through his black hair, peppered with grey and flour.
“Uh…” Tau dithered, trying to think of a tune.
“‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’. Come on now!” urged Mr Valentino abruptly.

After a nervous gulp Tau started singing the carol, slowly getting into the swing of it as she went. Even so her heart fell as the couple opposite grimaced at her less-than-stellar performance.
“She could still do spoken word, poetry.” Mrs Valentino optimistically suggested to her husband. He finally nodded once in agreement, leaning forward to address Tausha again.
“It’s a service we used to offer…”
“Enrico used to do, before he got too busy.” interjected Mrs Valentino, beaming proudly at the mention of her son. Mr Valentino only nodded once in acknowledgement whilst giving his wife a slightly darkened look for her un-required input before he continued his explanation.
“…delivering cakes and the like. For those willing to pay a little more Enrico would deliver a message with the goods; sing…”
“He has such a beautiful voice.” put in Mrs Valentino wistfully. Her husband heaved a weary sigh;
“…or speak, whatever the patron wanted. You cannot sing. But your legs work just fine, si? You would be willing to do too?”

“Uh, well, I wouldn’t say ‘no’, but for the risk of someone recognising me.” admitted Tau. “Like I said, I’d rather lay low, if I could. And I wouldn’t want to cause trouble for you if one of my old gang decided to stir it up if they spotted me. You know, steal what I was delivering, or something.” she tried a sheepish smile. To her surprise Mr Valentino simply gave a knowing grin and turned to his wife.
“Why don’t you fetch it out, see if it fits her?” he asked nonchalantly. Nodding enthusiastically Mrs Valentino practically leapt off her stool.
“Si! Si, I’ll be right back!” she assured, dashing off to a second door set near to the one leading to the loading bay. The inset wall seemed to continue past the end of the external alcove, and Tau soon realised why as the older lady used a key to open the second door and practically raced up the stairwell behind it.

“She will be a while.” predicted Mr Valentino with confidence. “Which is good. I want to see what you can do with the dishes.” he indicated to the massive pile of dirty trays, pans and such that towered over the sink at the end of the kitchen. Tau was sure every utensil they owned was stacked there. Biting back on a sigh and plastering a determined smile on her face instead she rose, fiddling with her jacket for a brief moment in indecision. She didn’t want to get Aprils’ coat wet, but taking it off…

In the end Tau removed the jacket to leave it neatly on a clean section of bench, since she’d already told them which gang she’d had her trouble with. It was hard enough having to remember her name was different, so she’d decided not to make things any more complicated for herself. Besides, if she’d lied, they’d catch her out as soon as they saw her tattoo anyway. And chances were it’d show sooner or later, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. However, she hadn’t anticipated it would be so soon.

To Taushas’ relief Mr Valentino didn’t so much as a bat an eye-lid at the image, following her over to the sink to stand cross-armed behind her as she set-to scouring the dishes with gusto, no regard for how the suds dampened the front of her dress slightly. He watched her work for a couple of minutes in silence.
“Your Father, he is a smart man, taught you the value of hard work, si?” Tau started at the mention of her Dad, but figuring Mr Valentino was just making conversation she nodded hesitantly.
“Yeah, though my Grandad helped a lot too. I’ve spent a lot of time scrubbing his stables and tack over the years.” she grinned.

“Your Father, he teach you good business sense as well?”
“Um…” she stalled nervously for a moment, grabbing another dirty pot.
“When we first came to America, the Purple Dragons were just starting out here too. Every business in this neighbourhood, they beat-down for ‘protection’ money. But not-a me, I refused. It was a hard time for us. Hun, he is a hard man, give me this for my trouble.” he pointed out an old, wide burn scar on the side of his neck. Tau grimaced slightly; partly in sympathy, partly in worry about where this conversation was headed.

“But in the end he come to respect me, that I would not give-in no matter what he threatened. He realised, I know; he did not want to destroy us completely. He had a good liking for my muffins and breads.” the old man smiled proudly at that. “So we work out a deal we could all live with. His gang leaves us alone, and anyone with a tattoo like that…” he pointed at the dragon on Taus’ shoulder, “gets a discount here. Not much mind you, never more than ten percent, if that. But I don’t give discount to anyone else. Especially not these new hooligans, they have no sense what-so-ever. They couldn’t and think they could get away with working-over these streets for long. Hun was not happy to hear of that at all!”

Unsure what to say Tau gave a sickly grin, murmuring;
“Oh, I’m glad you worked it out with them…”
“With him. I am not blind, I can see who you are. But I’m wondering now if you have as much business sense as your Father?” Slowly Tau turned away from the sink to face Mr Valentino. Her hand resting nervously on the dolphin at her throat, she petitioned as calmly as she could;
“I know you could get a lot of money for turning me in to him. But, please, just let me walk away.”

“Pfft, the money?” he scoffed, to her surprise. “It would be nice, very nice. But I’ve known Hun for more than 20 years. I’d think he’s only using the reward as-a bait to find those helping to keep you hidden from him. He would not give away so much if he saw a way out of it; probably a way that’s not so good or healthy for me and my family! And having his daughter scrub my dishes? That’s very nice too! So, here’s the deal. You work for me, consider it re-payment for all the money he’s cost me over the years. And I don’t turn you over to him, if you keep doing a good job.”

Tau took a moment to contemplate, dredging up the courage to say;
“I won’t work for free.”
“No, no, of course not; I’ll give you four dollars an hour, cash at the end of the week. I don’t want you here in the mornings; I don’t want you spying on my recipes. So, one to six o’clock everyday we’re open. Do the cleaning up, deliveries and any other odd jobs I have for you. If you don’t work, I don’t pay you. No holidays, sick-leave, nothing. Deal?”
“Um… make it four dollars fifty, and we’ll have a deal.” Tau negotiated hesitantly, jumping as Mr Valentino gave a hearty laugh.
“Ho! You are your Fathers’ daughter. Four twenty five, I won’t pay any more than that.” he countered, grinning at her expectantly.

Figuring a low paying job was better than none at all, Tau nodded.
“Then we have a deal.” she agreed. “But I don’t understand how I can deliver…” Mrs Valentino bustling back into the kitchen answered her question as the old lady held up a floppy grey costume with over-sized feet and gloves sewn to it. A large, rabbit-head held proudly aloft in her other hand -featuring a big, shiny red heart on its collar with ‘Valentino’s’ written across it in a flowing black script- completed the get-up. Mr Valentino simply grinned even wider as Tau glanced at him to get confirmation of her fear.

Tau let her face fall in despair, not bothering to hide it anymore since the rabbit-mask hid her expression. Its mouth and eyes were made of a painted mesh, allowing her to breathe (sort of), speak and see. Still it seemed to get warm inside of it pretty quickly and the bulk of it, plus the ears sticking out of the top, made it difficult to balance the head-piece easily. The over-sized gloves on her hands were of little help. The body of the suit hung very loose on Taus’ small frame. However Mrs Valentino was busy moving around her, mumbling to herself about how best to take in the material past a mouthful of dress-pins.

“We’re not open on Sundays, so you good to start on-a Monday?” asked Mr Valentino, leaning over his crouching wife to peer into eyes of the mask, his smug grin still firmly in place. With a sigh Tausha agreed with a slow nod, quickly having to steady the rabbit-head again at her movement. This was going to take a bit of getting used to…

---------- ----------

It had been a tough week, but Tau felt proud of herself as she looked down at the small envelope in her hands; the edges of the few coins within beside the notes making indentations on the thin paper. All things considered, her job had worked out quite well. She still got to join-in with the morning training sessions with the turtles. And although he worked her hard, she’d found her employment with Mr Valentino wasn’t quite as bad as she’d first feared.

Tau had spent most of her time in the bakery scrubbing dishes, cleaning floors and scouring ovens. Once he’d set her to a task Mr Valentino left her pretty much to her own devices, without any gloating or needless nit-picking. It seemed he was satisfied with having her do his menial jobs without wanting to rub it in, which Tau was grateful for.

Leo had seized her job as an opportunity for he and his brothers to get some extra training in, namely in surveillance and staying disguised on the surface during daylight. At least two of the turtles dropped her off in the loading bay, before utilising the hours to their advantage so prior to picking her up again; Raph and Leo invariably among them.

The only time Tau had seen them at all during her working hours was the one time she’d made a delivery; luckily just a quick drop-off to a local office without any need for a performance. Enrico had driven her there, cursing the red motorbike that had blatantly cut in front of his Lancer at the start of their journey before it raced away between the lines of traffic regardless. Even so, a couple of minutes later, only Tau spotted the same bike lane-hopping a few cars behind them again in the side-mirror.

If it hadn’t been for that she would have used the alarm button on her necklace the next day when she realised the Battle-shell was no-where in sight as she took some rubbish out to the dumpsters in the alleyway. An unfamiliar bird call had echoed between the alley walls, putting her on edge and making her rush back into the kitchen.

Somehow she had managed to stop herself from panicking for the last half-hour she’d had to work, relieved to find the van back in the loading bay when she’d finished for the day. However, she had been very thankful for the way Raph had warmly returned her hug. He only broke their embrace to give Mike a smack up-side the head as he teased her with his imitation of a Blue Jay again.

Now, she had survived her first week, gotten her first payment, and was desperately looking forward to having an afternoon off to relax the next day. There was just one more thing she had to do before dinner and spending the rest of this evening lazing on the couch watching B-grade horror movies with the guys.

“Come in.” came the soft reply to her knocking. A little nervously she slid back the screen door, bowing as she closed it behind her. Splinter was seated on his meditation cushion and he invited her to take a seat in front of him with a sweep of his paw and a warm smile. Quickly Tau made her way over to kneel where he’d indicated.

“You do not trust yourself to save this money?” he asked gently, a note of concern in his voice as she settled, fidgeting uneasily with the envelope in her hands.
“It’s not that, really. I’d just feel better if… you kept it.” she explained hesitantly.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Out of sight, out of mind?” she chewed her lip for a moment then continued in a rush, “And you have it handy if you need it.”

Splinters’ brow furrowed slightly.
“This is your money Tausha. You have earned it and it is for an important cause. Neither I nor my sons have any right to it.” he asserted firmly, benignly.
“I understand.” she nodded quickly, “But I want to do something to repay you all for everything you’ve helped me with…” She was stopped by an upraised paw, the Sensei taking a moment to appraise her with shrewd eyes.

“I have said to you before that money is not our motivation. I do not expect any payment in return for your staying with us. Why, then, do you insist on it?” he asked.
“Um, because I do feel I owe you board.” admitted Tau. “And I’ve done a bit of planning this week. If I can continue to work without too many interruptions I should be able to save around two grand by March, which is plenty for the plane ticket and even leaves a bit extra to help me get settled back home again. But, I’d like to stay until May, if you’re happy to let me. And anything I earn over and above the two grand in that time, I want you to have.”

Silence descended for a minute as Splinter considered her proposal, slowly stroking the small tuft of fur under his chin.
“Why May?” he queried.
“As a bit of a contingency if I do need to work longer.” Tau explained. “And I’ve missed too much school to just slot back into high-school, so I’ll have to enrol in a college to get my secondary certificate. There’s a few in Melbourne that do it, but enrolments for the start of next year have closed already. Not that I’d be able to get over there for the start of term anyway. So the earliest I could get in is the mid-year intake starting in July. John, my kendo-sensei, is happy for me to stay with his family. But if I can stay here a little longer it’ll mean less strain on them, and heading over in May still gives me a month or so to get myself sorted out before I start school again.”

“You cannot stay on your Grandfathers’ property, surely that belongs to you now?” persisted Splinter, his tone still gentle. Tau dropped her gaze to the floor before answering.
“It does.” she sighed, “When I left I thought I’d be gone for years, if not for good. I didn’t know things would go so badly living with my Dad. So I made a deal with our neighbour; Mr Reynolds. He got full use of our… my property in return for up-keeping it.” She gave a sad laugh, “It’s funny really ‘cos my solicitor wanted me to sell it, rather than ‘give it away’ as he put it. But Dad put him in his place for me. Anyway, Mr Reynolds has leased the house out, and the tenants still have almost a year left on the contract. When I emailed him a couple of days ago he did say he’d be willing to break the lease, but it might take a while and could end-up causing a bit of a mess for him, and I don’t want to do that. Besides Dad’s probably got tabs on the place anyway.”

Again Splinter took a long moment to contemplate before he caught her eye with a firm, discerning look.
“It would seem you have given this much thought. However, I can’t help but wonder why you have changed your mind from wanting to leave as soon as possible to delaying your departure. You have reasons for the change of heart, but none that cannot be over-come. It is also clear you will be taking a risk your Father will be able to trace you if you return to your home-land, perhaps more so than if you remain here. Are you still so committed to leaving then?”

“Yes, definitely. It’s… something I have to do.” stated Tau, shrugging slightly as Splinter quirked a grey brow in curiosity. “I know it’s stupid in a way, and my own fault. When my folks died Dad came over as soon as he heard. It was really good of him actually, and he was there for me to help sort out everything, and for the funeral. But I knew he needed to get back to his own business.” She shook her head sadly. “After the funeral he even asked me if I wanted some time alone… with them. I was an idiot and said ‘no’ and we flew out the next day. I… Now I just need to… I don’t know, say ‘goodbye’ to them in private I guess. And I owe it to Mum to get a good education.”
“Grief and circumstance are neither ‘stupid’ nor a ‘fault’.” Splinter asserted firmly. “Did your Mother ask that you strive so to continue your learning?”
“No.” admitted Tau after knuckling her eye, “But I know I cost her hers. And she and Grandad worked so hard to put me through school and everything… I can’t let them down now.” her voice broke as she studied the ground again.

She sniffled slightly, breaking the quiet; then started as Splinter took her hand gently in his paws, patting it consolingly a couple of times before resting his paw over it.
“I know, very well, that the past can dictate your future. Nonetheless, you cannot allow it to overwhelm you. I am sure your family are, and will be, proud of you; regardless of how you achieve happiness in your life. Joy comes only from walking your own path. Just be sure it is your path you are making these sacrifices for. If it is then I wish you every success and will offer any help I can. Neither I, nor your family, would wish to see you burdened with regret.” he assured solemnly.

Tau gave a slight nod and another snuffle.
“Thank-you. It is my path, I know it is. It’s pretty much the same goal I’ve had since I first came over here and this whole mess started. Not that I regret meeting you or your family at all! I just… didn’t plan on it. And as well as promising… myself I’d do this, I did make a promise to Leo, all of you, too.” she murmured, regaining her composure.
“Hmmm, yes, Leonardo.” the sage rat smiled ruefully. “I hold hope that this experience will teach my son some valuable lessons as well. Most, he knows already. However he needs to learn to apply them outside of a logistical setting. One lesson you would be wise to heed as well is ‘every plan benefits from being adaptable’.”

“Is that from some ancient Japanese philosopher?” she asked, with a small half-smile. Splinter released her hand and sat straight on his cushion again with a benevolent smile.
“Chinese, I believe; Sun Tzu.” he informed her. Tau frowned a little in confusion.
“Didn’t he write books on war?” she questioned, wondering about the relevance of the quotes’ source.
“Hai. And his central philosophy was; ‘the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting’.” Splinter contemplated that for a moment, from the puzzled look on Taus’ face she was too. “Hmmm, perhaps that is a lesson many of us could benefit from revisiting. I think I will make that the focus of our meditation tomorrow.” he mused to himself with a wry smile.

Despite Tau giving a slow nod after a minute, the bafflement didn’t leave her eyes.
“So, are you happy to look after this for me?” she asked tentatively, offering him the envelope. Splinter took it gently in both hands, holding it on his lap for a moment.
“You do not wish to keep a small amount for yourself?”
“No, I still have a little money in my room from before. I’ll use that if I need to.” she assured. With a nod of understanding Splinter turned, lifting a plate-like candle holder on the chest behind him to slip the envelope beneath it.

“It will be safe with me.” he promised, bowing from his waist. Returning the gesture, along with a smile of relief, Tau stood and left the Sensei to his meditation. Or tried to, at least. As she opened the sliding door, Mike yelling “Grub’s up!” from the dining table at the top of his lungs shattered the peace.

“Gees, hurry up you guys!” urged Raph, giving the empty section of couch beside him a brief pat. “Case said they were only a few minutes away!” Leo and Don shared a commiserate look as they made their way over after jumping down from the second level, Leo still drying his hands with a small towel.
“Well, if you and Mike hadn’t deserted, leaving us to finish all the cleaning up in the bathroom…” he accused as he and Don sat heavily on the couch.
“We wouldn’t have got dinner done on-time.” Raph finished for him.
“Obviously.” muttered Don sardonically under his breath, eying the way his brother was sitting laid back, hands cupped behind his head, with his feet up on the coffee table.

“Welcome to the Channel Six News Bulletin for this Thursday, the second of December. In tonight’s headlines: The NYPD are urging citizens to use extra caution on the streets in the lead-up to Christmas, in light of the recent escalation in gang-related violence. The Mayor is down-playing criticism that he has done little to avert the hostilities between rival gangs…”

“Ahem.” Seated in his usual armchair to watch the early evening news broadcasts, Splinter quietly got his sons’ attention and looked over toward the elevator doors. All three followed suite out of curiosity, to see the doors hiss open a moment later. Quick-as-a-flash Leo hid his cloth in the cushions behind him and sat up straighter, trying to look as if he weren’t hiding anything.

“Hey guys!” called April as she stepped into the Lair, each hand carrying a plastic bag. Walking in beside her friend, Tau grinned and gave a little wave with her one free hand. Looking utterly exhausted, Casey trudged along behind, barely able to peer over the mound of shopping in his arms before he dumped the whole load unceremoniously on the coffee table. Raph shot his friend a glare despite managing to move his feet out of harms’ way, just.

“Hey fellas, wha’sup?” asked Casey as he straightened, ignoring Raphs' dark look and wondering why Leo and Don were sharing a smug smile.
“Dinner, almost!” admonished Mike as he made his way over from the kitchen. “Whoa! What a load! So what didn’t you guys get, huh? This isn’t all for Tau, is it?”
“Heh, no!” assured Tau, pulling off her black wig with relief and shaking out her own hair. She ran her fingers through her loose tresses briefly before hunting in her pockets for a band to tie them back with. Out of luck she shrugged lightly, leaving her hair to fall free as she joined April in sorting out their bounty. A wily little half-smile chased the scowl off of Raphs' face; he surreptitiously felt for the little hidden compartment on his belt that was now almost full of small loops of elastic.

“There was a sale on.” April continued the explanation. “So we took the opportunity to pick up some cheap supplies too.” she beamed, pulling large five-litre pump bottles out of a couple of bags to put them on the table in front of Splinter. Two of the bottles were shades of cream and two shades of green.
“Domo… Thank you April-chan.” bowed Splinter from his seat. “I have been running low on such supplies. I must admit however, I favour the Jasmine scented shampoo…”
“I know; the Apple’s for Tau.” April smiled as she finished adding to a small pile of bags on the far end of the coffee table, placing the majority out of the way on the floor for now.
“Do you really need so much?” asked Leo, glancing between the large bottles and Tau, he could understand why Splinter needed it, but she didn’t have half as much hair as his father.

Tau gave him a grin.
“Yep. It’s not like this stuff goes off or anything. And it’s cheap, effective and comes in bulk!” the girls shared a knowing smile as Casey rolled his eyes behind them. “And believe me,” she continued, reaching over to grab the bottles despite the small plastic bag she still held, “you don’t want to know me on a bad hair day! I’ll just take these upstairs…”
“NO!” she started in surprise at Mikes’ yell, turning back quickly as she felt Splinters’ paws on her hands guiding her to put the bottles back down.
“Why don’t you show us what you brought for yourself first?” the Sensei suggested with a warm smile.
“Uh…, ok.” Tau agreed uncertainly, wondering what was going on.

“Here you go.” encouraged April, handing the girl one of the bags from those left on the table. Putting her confusion out of her mind Tau extracted a thick jacket to show-off to her friends.
“I shouldn’t feel the cold top-side anymore with this!” she grinned, slipping on the dark blue duffle coat. Next there came a couple of plain, long-sleeved t-shirts, both grey, and a large packet of hair-ties. Tau wondered why Raph had scowled at that point, but didn’t get a chance to dwell on it as Mike snatched up the small, black plastic bag she’d carried in herself. She hadn’t put it on the table, leaving it on the floor by her feet instead when she’d pulled on her new jacket.

“Hey!” she lunged to grab it back, Mike easily keeping it out of her reach.
“So, did ya get anything interesting? Like a real birthday present? Huh?” he taunted as she failed to catch the bag again.
“No. Give me that!” she ground out in a dark tone; Mike quirked a curious eye-ridge at her before quickly turning away to look in the bag for himself.
“GAH! Mike, that’s private!” she yelled, managing to reach around him to snatch the bag closed before he got to see anything more than a glimpse of something crimson.
“Aww, but you gotta show… OW!” Mike cried as he turned back, getting a sharp cuff up-side his head from his brother; he hadn’t noticed Raph get to his feet.

“No, I don’t.” stated Tau emphatically, clutching the bag protectively to her chest as she turned her back on him, nose in the air.
“Yeah!” agreed Raph, glaring at his brother and poking a finger at him to make his point. “She doesn’t have to show you anything,” his voice softened as he turned to the girl, “But you c’n show me, right?” he grinned cajolingly.
“Uh, no! It’s, uh, none of your business.” she flustered, grasping the bag even tighter. Splinter stood to interrupt the proceedings.
“My sons, perhaps the greatest gift we can give Tausha is a little something to keep to herself. Hmmm?” Begrudgingly the two turtles nodded in acquiescence as Tau gave the Sensei a grateful smile, tucking the bag into one of the inside pockets in her jacket for safe-keeping.

The incident seemed to be forgotten instantly as the door to the tunnels opening caught everyone’s attention.
“Finally!” grinned Mike in greeting as the Professor and Leatherhead entered. Leo shot his cheeky brother a small reprimanding frown as he led the way over to their friends.
“Our apologies for being so late.” offered Honeycutt, after everyone else had welcomed them. “I’m afraid we almost ran into some maintenance workers and had to take quite a detour to avoid them.”
“Where were they…?” Leo started to interrogate the newcomers, Mike ignoring him to bounce happily a couple of times.
“Now we’re all here, we can eat!” he declared, as the group started to move away from the door.

Don gave his exuberant brother a sceptical look,
“’We’re all here’? What about Angel, isn’t she coming?”
“Uhhhh…” Despite Mike’s sudden dithering it was Casey who answered with a shrug,
“I did ask ‘er, she said she was busy doin’ somethin’ else tonight.”
“Hmm, that’s odd. She’s never turned down an invite from us before…” pondered Don, rubbing his chin. Mike gave an uncertain laugh and an over-bright grin to assure his brother;
“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about Donnie… Hey, April, let us do that!”

Tau hung back a little as Mike and Don rushed over to help April lug the rest of the shopping into the kitchen, Casey tagging along behind them. Leo was still engrossed in his conversation with Leatherhead and Honeycutt as he led them to the dining table, the places already set complete with plates. Splinter was walking over to gather his bathroom supplies off of the coffee table when one of his ears flickered, turning back towards Raphael as his son stopped to ask Tau if she were alright. Raph was concerned about an odd look that had come over her face at Mike’s earlier declaration.

“Yeah… I’m fine.” she assured him quietly, not meeting his eyes. He wasn’t convinced.
“C’mon, I know you better’n that. What’s wrong?” he questioned; his tone a little short. She started to shake her head, but seeing him cross his arms with a determined scowl she thought better of it.
“It’s nothing, really. I just… When Mike said ‘all here’… It’s my first birthday without… any family.” she sighed, inspecting the ground.

Feeling he should say something to console her, but not sure what, he cupped her chin gently to raise her face, waiting until she looked up to give her a crooked half-smile.
“Hey.” he murmured. Tau attempted a brave smile of her own before she stepped close to run her hands up his arms to his shoulders. The hand he’d held her face with he shifted to the back of her neck, tangling his fingers in her hair. He felt a warm tear drip onto his skin as he gently pulled her head against his shoulder.
“Sorry.” she whimpered.
“It’s ok.” he assured softly, wrapping his other arm loosely about her waist.

“Soooo, April, what did Tau get, huh?” probed Mike as he put away some of the supplies she had brought.
“In all honesty Mike, I don’t know.” she shrugged, passing him the goods to go in the kitchen pantry. “I tried all afternoon to get her to buy something nice and fun, another dress or something. But she was so stubborn about not ‘wasting’ money on anything she thought she didn’t need. In the end I gave her thirty bucks and marched her into a, um, ‘ladies boutique’ and told her she wasn’t allowed out until the money was gone!”

April shook her head with a laugh. “I did feel a bit rotten doing that, but the look on her face was priceless, and I was at a loss at how else to get her to buy something… ‘impractical’. We waited outside for almost twenty minutes before she came out again, and she absolutely refused to show us what she’d gotten either! Actually, my guess is it’s just a pair of underpants, or something basic, and she’s kept the rest of the money for her savings. I’ve never known anyone to worry so much about having a day off of work, it’s not like they didn’t give her permission to! In the end it doesn’t really matter what she bought; I just wanted her to get something out of the ordinary for her birthday... What?” she asked a little defensively as she noticed the huge, cheeky grin on Mikes’ face.

“Oh, it’s just, ah… nothing.” he flustered, failing to wipe his face clear of the expression despite figuring it might better if he didn’t share the extra clue he’d spotted. Deciding a change of subject was in order he hurriedly glanced about, finding the solution in his hand. “Holy moly April! This is salmon, the good stuff! You didn’t have to get us this!” he exclaimed, pointing at the tin.
“Oh, it wasn’t a problem Mike. Like I said, there was a sale on; this stuff was almost as cheap as the brand you usually get.” she assured.

“‘Almost as cheap’ huh?” quoted Don, catching the end of their conversation as he approached, leaving Casey to finish storing supplies in the fridge. “You’re too good to us April.” he smiled warmly in gratitude. She returned the smile with a chuckle,
“No I’m not! You boys are…”
“Hungry!” interrupted Mike, closing the pantry door and pulling back a cloth from where it was draped over open rolls already piled with salad on the bench-top. “Time to serve out! We can’t just leave this lot to stay warm in the oven; the fries’ll turn to charcoal! Get everyone to the table will ya Donnie?” With a resigned sigh Don wandered out of the kitchen to comply with his brothers’ request, quickly followed by his two friends as Mike ‘shooed’ them out as well.

Tau had only dared to leave her head on Raphs’ shoulder for a minute. By the time Don was calling everyone to dinner they were stood a step apart again, as she managed a real smile once more. Feeling a little warm she slipped off her jacket, leaving it over the back of the couch as she and Raph made their way past it to join the others.

As soon as everyone was seated, squeezed in around the table on the collection of mis-matched dining chairs, Mike started bringing out the food he’d prepared. First, a couple of large serving bowls; one full of coleslaw, the other French-fries, and then a platter of big, ready-made burgers.

Noisily everyone set about serving themselves, Casey not bothering to grab anything else before he took a bite out of his bun. His happy munching slowed as his brow furrowed in confusion. Cautiously opening his roll, as he forced himself to down the first bite, he pulled a grimace at its contents.
“What the hell? Why’ve ya put a slice o’ beetroot in here… and a fried egg?” he scowled at Mike as he set about dismantling his meal, plonking the offending items on his plate in disgust.
“’Cos they’re ‘Aussie’ burgers lame-brain!” Mike explained with a laugh as Casey reassembled his sandwich, to his liking.
“Yeah? Well ‘Aussies’ are damn weird, if you ask me!” shot back Casey, taking a large bite of his altered meal to underscore his point.

Tau chuckled at the exchange, swallowing before treating Mike to a huge, grateful grin.
“And they do taste almost like they’ve come from ‘Hungry Jacks’, Mike! Even the sauce is… similar. Thank you!”
“Aww, its nothin’!” he assured as she leaned over in her chair to give him a brief clasp around the shoulders with one arm, “I just added a little powdered sugar to the ketchup for ya.”

Casey grunted dismissively, re-considering the egg on his plate before he picked it up and ate it in one bite.
“They’re alright I guess, but I’d rather a Whopper from Burger King any day.” he grumbled, glancing around the table with a confused look for the few sniggers his comment earned him. “What?” he demanded. Don managed to answer first, despite his mirth,
“‘Hungry Jacks’ is what they call ‘Burger King’ in Australia, Casey. They’re the same thing!”
“Huh? You’re kidding?” he shook his head in disbelief, continuing his mutterings to his plate as he started dissecting a second burger. With a roll of her eyes Tau decided to fight fire with fire.
“This from a guy who’s country invented the ‘peanut butter and jelly’ sandwich! Now that’s weird!”

The rest of the meal passed with a light-hearted (for the most-part) discussion on cultural differences; Mike clearing his throat to gain the attention of all as everyone finished. Raising his plastic cup of cola he proposed with a grin,
“A toast? To Tau: Happy Birthday, babe. You might not be sixteen anymore, but ya still sweet ta us!” She blushed slightly as the rest of the group joined the toast.

Putting down her glass, April turned to fish something out of her handbag, hung over the back of her chair.
“Here, I thought I’d save this for your party.” she smiled, offering a small package to the girl. Tau took the parcel, giving her thanks and taking a moment to read the return address on the back before giving a massive grin and tearing into the padded envelope to reveal two CDs.
“They’re from the guys back home! Oh man, have I missed listening to this stuff!” she exclaimed, turning the cases for Raph to have a better look as he leaned over to see.

As Tau got distracted discussing the music with Raph, the table was quickly cleared by his brothers; Mike re-emerging from the kitchen to proudly place a large, round cake in the centre of the table. It was a little lop-sided, the stiff meringue on its sides cracked in places, but not enough to dislodge the cream and slices of fruit on the top of it. Still, Tau gaped at it in awe.
“Oh Mike! You shouldn’t have! Is that… Is that what I think it is?”
“Yep! It sounded so good when you described it to me, how could I pass up an opportunity like this to try making a Pavlova? Does it look alright to you?” he asked, a little anxiously.
“It looks absolutely perfect!” she assured in all seriousness before she stood suddenly to give him hug in gratitude.

Taking their seats again, Mike shifted nervously under the scowl his brother shot his way behind Taus’ back. It seemed he was soon forgiven though, as they all enjoyed the gooey treat; especially since Tau chose to lean against Raphs’ shoulder as she slumped in rapture over the taste.
“I must confess, Australian traditions always seem to have a way of incorporating fruit, which I do appreciate.” smiled Splinter, attempting to wipe the tacky, soft meringue from inside the cake off his whiskers.
“It is times like this I do miss being able to ingest foodstuffs.” the Professor lamented slightly, taking another ‘sip’ of his oil.
“It is a shame, my friend.” Leatherhead nodded briefly before tossing the second half of his slice into his mouth, his jaws and tongue working noisily as the sticky treat clung to them.

Relaxing back in her chair, sated and happy, Tau gave Honeycutt a brief consolatory smile, before widening her grin as she addressed the group.
“Thank-you, everyone, for giving me such a wonderful birthday...”
“It’s not over yet…” interrupted Don, rising from the table, “we have something else to show you too!”
“Wha…? No, you guys have done plenty enough for me…” Tau tried to argue as Raph pulled her to her feet, the rest of the group following suite.

Don led the way across the Lair, up the stairs and into the second alcove, explaining;
“Well, I suppose technically this isn’t a gift for you. It’s kinda for April and Casey and anyone else who might end up staying with us too. It’s a project we’ve been meaning to complete for quite a while, since before you came to stay with us in fact. But, I think you’ll appreciate it anyway.” With a grin he opened the bathroom door, Tau already smiling herself in anticipation.

As she’d guessed, the bathroom that had been in a state of renovation up until now was finally completed; even the clothes washer and dryer were whole and set neatly against the far wall. But the main thing she was hoping was now functional still had its curtain drawn, blocking her view. Mike leapt to the fore, hand ready on the material as he waited for everyone to file into the room, before he dramatically revealed their masterpiece.

“Oh my.” whispered April.
“So? What d’ya think?” Mike prompted Tau for a response.
“It’s… it’s beautiful!” she stammered at the image that had been wrought in the mosaic lining the shower cubicle walls; a branch featuring fluffy balls of yellow set amid dark green leaves dominated, on a cream background.
“What is it?” asked Casey and Leatherhead in unison.
“A ‘Golden Wattle’!” explained Mike, beaming with pride. Don gave the two girls a sheepish smile,
“Originally we were going to do yellow roses. I know they’re your favourite April…”
“But its damn hard finding enough tiles in different shades of yellow that work well together!” interrupted Mike, in a rush, “So in the end we decided to go with something a bit simpler. And since Raph was no help what-so-ever, Donnie looked up the national flower for Australia and we went with that. Besides, April will always be with us. At least this way we have a reminder for when you go…” his excitement dissipated a little as he petered out into a slightly awkward quiet.

“So really it’s for everyone that comes to stay with us.” Leo picked up where Mike had left off. “It should make for a much more pleasant experience than the last time you lived here, April. You’d have a chance for a bit of privacy and room to yourself, at least.”
“Oh, this is so sweet of you guys!” smiled April. “But I’m not sure how much use I’ll get out of it, you shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.”
“It’s no trouble at all!” Mike found his grin back. “Even if you never live with us again, you an’ Case still spend the night every now and then. It’ll get plenty of use, I’m sure! Now all we need to do is set-up a spare bedroom…”
“We already have a ‘spare bedroom’, Mikey.” Leo reminded him, with a slight frown.

Tau ignored the continuing debate over how many the Lair could and should be able to accommodate to turn to Raph.
“Is this why you wanted to know my favourite flower?” she asked in a whisper. He gave her a strained smile in reply.
“Kinda; though Mike kept bugging me about it anyway. D’ya like it? I wanted ‘em to do a picture of a horse, or somethin’…”
“I love it.” she grinned, giving his shoulder a light nudge with her own.

The group spent the next few minutes admiring the work that had gone into the room, Tau making her way around the other turtles and Splinter to give each of them her sincere thanks, as did April. Finally, some started to make their way back down-stairs. Don and Leatherhead the first to leave as they started discussing a new gadget that was taking form in the Laboratory below; closely followed by Leo and Mike, still engaged in their debate.

It seemed coincidental that Raph and Tau were the last to leave the bathroom. Too caught-up in their own conversations, everyone else continued on out of the alcove as Raph stopped Tau outside her room with a gentle grip on her arm.
“I’ve got a little something for you too.” he said with a warm smile, reaching to open her door with his free hand.
“Oh, Raph…, you shouldn’t…” she flustered, unsuccessful in finding the strength to refuse the slight pressure he used to guide her through the doorway.

“Look.” he interrupted her to point at the bed-side table. Tau instantly forgot her protests to walk over and gently pick up the trio of small picture frames, joined by hinges. The photos had been cut down to fit, and one of the joints was a little out of alignment due one of the hinges being a bit larger than the rest, obviously a replacement. The picture on the left showed her grandfather, riding a mare. The one on the right was a portrait of her mother. In the middle was the image of her birthday from a couple of years before, where she was proudly holding up her katana amidst her family.
“I thought you might like a reminder that, even though they’re gone, they’ll always be with you.” he explained softly.

He started to get nervous as she continued to stare intently at the pictures in silence; worried she didn’t like his gift, but wasn’t about to admit it. The only movement she made was a slight twitch of her lips, and he had a sudden thought that she might be upset.
“They’re not the originals, so don’t worry; they’re back in your album. I got Don to make copies…” he faltered as she looked up at him, her eyes glistening. “You ok?” With a quick nod she tried to smile, failed and settled for glomping him in a strong embrace.
“Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! You are the best friend I’ve ever had, d’ya know that?” she half-laughed, half-wept into the crook of his neck.

Astounded, it took Raph a moment before he wrapped his arms about her; teasing gently,
“Yeah, yeah; whatever.” He hoped he sounded more nonchalant than anything, not wanting his voice to betray the disappointment he felt. He should be happy she was his friend, right? She chuckled, ending with a snuffle, and gripped him even tighter in response.

Raph enjoyed the cuddle, in no real hurry to end it. However, as her breathing settled back to normal after a couple of minutes, he felt the compulsion to say something, going with the first thing to pop into his head.
“So, does this mean I’m forgiven then?” he tried to joke.
“Huh? For what?” she asked, raising her head to blink at him.
“Uh, for the whole ‘making you mad about bugs’… thing.” This suddenly didn’t seem like such a great topic to start off with; especially as she furrowed her brow, loosening her grip on him to lean back slightly.
“Is that why you did this for me? Just to get back in my good books?” her tone was wary.
“No. It’s only, you’ve never said anything about it.” he gave a dismissive shrug. “It doesn’t matter, ‘k?” he appealed, hoping she’d let it go and just go back to hugging him closely again.

Tau tilted her head in consideration.
“Tell me; have you forgiven me for taking your sai yet?” she asked softly. He eyed her with a look that questioned her grip on reality.
“‘Course I have!”
“Well, there’s your answer then.” she stated matter-of-factly, though her lips started to curl into a coy, little smile before she rested her head back on his shoulder, fitting her arms snugly about him once more.

Raph took a moment to brood over her comment.
“So, we’re all good then?” he queried.
“Yep.” she quipped, Raph hearing her grin in her voice as it took on a mischievous edge “Though… I suppose I do still owe you a little payback for that...”
“Huh? Oh!” he gasped, feeling her teeth on his neck. She didn’t use enough force to break the skin, the suction she used was more painful. He was confounded for an instant, part of him wanting to push her off; until he realised he was instinctively tilting his head to give her greater access. It still hurt a little after his initial shock, but the pleasure of what she was doing quickly over-rode the pain.

He wasn’t sure how many seconds had passed before the sound of wood clicking against stone outside the room made her break-off the contact. However long it had been, it wasn’t long enough. Raph felt suddenly bereft as Tau took a quick step backwards, her own face colouring slightly as she glanced at the wall, the ground, anywhere but at him.
“Tausha, may I come in?” came Splinters’ voice from the alcove.
“Um, yeah? I mean, yes! Of course you can.” she flustered.

Taking in the scene in the room as he came through the doorway –Raphael with one hand resting on his belt, the other cupping his neck as he looked away in a pose that screamed he was nowhere near as innocent as he was trying to appear, Tausha giving a nervous smile as she fidgeted with the set of frames in her hands– Splinter felt compelled to ask,
“I am not disturbing your conversation…?”
“No. Not at all.” Tau assured in a rush.
“Oh, good. There is something I wish to discuss with you. I feel it is important, and that you may prefer to discuss it in private.”
“Ah,” unable to come-up with any reasonable excuse to deny the Master’s request, she conceded with a crooked smile, “Alright.” After exchanging an anxious glance with Tau, Raph took the hint in his fathers’ tone; leaving the room with an awkward bow.

Splinter took pity on the girl who could barely meet his eyes and was practically trembling with apprehension. Giving her a warm smile, he quickly took a seat on the edge of the mattress, draping her duffle coat that he’d brought with him over the foot of her bed.
“Please.” he invited her to sit beside him with a sweep of his paw. “You are not in any trouble.” Cautiously she took his offer, her curiosity piqued as he extracted his Shell-cell from inside the top of his kimono.
“I have every confidence in Donatellos’ assurance that the calls we make with these devices are untraceable…”

---------- ----------

It was getting late. The only light-sources in the room were the myriad pin points shining from the city spread-out below the floor-to-ceiling windows, the skyscrapers of Manhattan glimmering from across the East River, and a solitary, small candle. He knew he should blow it out. It was burning low; the wax had already created a rivulet running over the top of the chocolate muffin it was set on top of, to drip onto his desk. However, every time he leaned forward to do the deed he felt as if the flame were all he had left of her, once it was gone she’d somehow be lost to him forever.

It was stupid sentimentalism, he knew. And it pissed him off to be so weak; it wasn’t like him at all. Or maybe it was just the aggravation he felt at the note in his hand that was making him so moody. By the flickering light he scanned the page again, starting at the top with that symbol; the one he would have gladly given his service, his daughter, his life for less than a year ago.

     ‘It was our agreement that you manage our American interests, in the name of your own organisation, under the condition that you at least maintain the level of control we had prior to our consolidation in Japan. And that you maintain your loyalty to The Foot Clan.
     I have received recent reports of increased activity detrimental to our cause from other organisations within New York City, that you seem unable to address. And I am aware of your lack of co-operation with our requests and representatives. I remind you that your annual review is fast approaching. It will not be favourable for you unless significant progress is made towards achieving our goals.
     Take this missive as warning that we will remove you from your position if you do not pay heed to our treaty.
     Iuchiban - Jonin’

With a snarl he crumpled the note in his fist. This was his city. It always had been. He had sworn fealty to the Shredder, not the Foot. Part of that deal had allowed him to keep his own organisation, run things the way he saw fit, so long as he also met his Masters’ needs. That was before he’d discovered just what that ‘Master’ was. If it wasn’t for those damn interfering reptiles he would never have learned…

He choked back the bile that rose with that memory. There was no-way in hell he was going to do anything simply because the Foot ordered him to. As far as he was concerned all of their equipment and supplies still in his possession were compensation for the shit he’d had to put up with. And Karai? He liked having her close at hand, where he could watch her suffer. So, no, he hadn’t done anything to ‘help’ the Foot to extradite her to Japan as they wanted. Besides, right now, he had bigger things to worry about than some fucking ‘annual review’. Let them come and try to ‘remove’ him. They’d have one hell of a fight on their hands.

The candle sputtered and drowned in its own wax, the sudden darkness jolting him from his thoughts of the Foot. He did have something bigger to worry about…

A long moment later a buzzing from his pocket made him jerk up-right in his chair, the resulting movement of air across his face made it feel oddly chilled. Brushing his finger-tips down his cheek he gazed blankly at the moisture he’d collected as he fished his mobile phone out of his jacket pocket.

‘New SMS – Private Number’ glowed on the phones’ small screen. He furrowed his brow; no-one who had his number appeared without a caller ID. Figuring it was a wrong number, he opened the message anyway.
‘gday dad. dont worry. im happy healthy doing fine :-)’

He breathed a sigh of relief, then stood with every intention of taking his phone down to what passed for his ‘tech support’ these days; namely the goons in his employ that had at least started college, to get them to trace the number. Before he made it to the door of his office his phone buzzed again, the same alert showing on the screen as before. He paused to check the new message.
‘luv u’

Stood in the doorway between his office and living room, he tried to message back; forcibly throwing the hand-set against the wall with a growl as he received nothing but an error in response. Deciding not to leave his private rooms tonight, he headed to bed instead; gingerly collecting his battered phone from the floor and taking it with him, unconsciously cradling it against his chest.

---------- ----------

It must’ve been over an hour since he’d climbed into his hammock, but Raph felt no closer to falling asleep as he stared into the dimness of his room. Again he snatched his hand away from his neck as he caught himself fingering the bruise Tau had given him. Thankfully, no-one seemed to notice it after he’d left her room, probably passing it off as a result of sparring earlier that day. He hated to think of the lecture he’d get if anyone figured out what the mark meant.

The damage still ached slightly at his touch, but he couldn’t seem to stop his hand from creeping back up to caress the spot. He didn’t get it; she’d bitten him! If anyone else had tried that he would have floored them on the spot! As it was, he wasn’t sure what it meant that he hadn’t; or that he would really, really like for her to do it again. Or, even more so, that he would like to do it back to her.

That train of thought made him swallow thickly, rolling over onto his other side to study the stones in the wall beside his bed for the umpteenth time. He also wasn’t too sure what she had meant by ‘payback’. He had mulled on that for quite a while before he remembered he had once left a mark on her neck with his sai, and she’d been beaten for it. Maybe, he shouldn’t be feeling this way at all, was it just his animal instincts coming into play? Had Tau actually wanted his family to notice the mark and give him hell over it?

Raph jerked his blanket high over his shoulder, exposing his feet. Growling with frustration, he wrestled with the heavy material for moment before deciding it was pointless trying to get any sleep before he got some answers. With a loud huff he threw back his covers, hopped off his hammock and had stepped out of his door before he caught himself. He couldn’t just go barging into her room at this time of night…, could he? She was probably asleep already. But, if she wasn’t…

He was continuing that debate in his head, unwittingly pacing between his bedroom door and the ledge that led on to her alcove, when an unexpected voice made him start.
“Problem, Raph?”
“No, Leo.” Raph snapped sharply at his brother; who was stood outside of his own bedroom with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face.
“Doesn’t look that way to me.” Leo arched an eye-ridge as Raph stopped his pacing to glower at him.
“It’s none of your damn, fucking business. Alright?”

Leo opened his mouth to retort, to be interrupted by an irate order from below,
“My sons, not at this hour! Resolve your differences in the morning!” Favouring each other with a parting glare, the two brothers retired to their rooms once more.

---------- ----------

Tau shot upright at the sound of raised voices. Though she couldn’t make out what was being said through the walls of her room; she did recognise who was involved in the argument. At Master Splinters’ voice she strained her hearing in an attempt to figure out what was happening, to no avail. In the end, she slumped backward to lie flat on her bed again with a groan. She was sure she knew what had sparked the confrontation, the same thing that kept her from finding any rest.

“What a mess… Idiot.” she chastised herself in a murmur. It had been a stupid impulse, meant as a bit of a light-hearted joke. But the way it had made him clutch her tighter, and her own heart pound, it had immediately proven more than that. How could she be so unfair to him? Raph was her friend, and that was all he could ever be. He was a turtle after-all. T-u-r-t-l-e. What would her father think, for a start?

There were many other reasons; good, solid, logical reasons they couldn’t be more than friends, and she’d pondered them all tonight. She knew it was the only rational outcome. So why the heck had she followed that foolish compulsion? It was his fault; she’d concluded. All this was just a silly crush, a result of the novelty of finding there was a guy –no, male… no, turtle– who seemed to like her. If he hadn’t kissed her in the first place, they probably would never have ended up in this state.

With a heavy sigh she rolled over onto her side again, her blankets a hopeless tangle, and resolved to apologise to him; the first chance she got.

Raph wasn’t happy. Despite his fathers’ recent order for calm, he still couldn’t help muttering under his breath as he wheeled his bike away from the Battle-shell to secure it in the warehouse. Why the hell did they have to take so much stuff? They were only going for a few days. But Mike had insisted on taking extra blankets and guff, tons of food and, of course, the gifts had to be packed ‘just so’; so much for Raphs’ hopes of taking his bike for a spin through the Northampton country-side.

It certainly didn’t help that his temper had been a bit strained these past three weeks or so as it was. The morning after Taus’ birthday, he’d been sitting alone at the table whilst his brothers messed about in the kitchen, still self-consciously rubbing the small, tender spot on his neck. He wasn’t hungry, happy nursing his strong cup of coffee, clutching his mug with both hands as he’d heard her approach behind him.

Playing it cool, Raph hadn’t bothered to turn around, despite her standing there for a moment. Then, he had almost jumped when he felt her hand touch him on the shoulder, light as a feather, and heard her whisper in his ear,
“I’m sorry for what I did last night, I was outta line. It won’t happen again, I promise. ‘k?” Before he had a chance to answer, his brothers had come spilling out of the kitchen, so all he could do was give a grim nod that he’d heard her. Then she was gone; dashing off to fix her own meal, leaving him to curse over burning his hands on his mug once he realised how hard he’d been gripping the hot enamel.

For a week after that Tau hadn’t spoken to him much, not that he’d given her many chances to. He’d almost been grounded again for sneaking out of the Lair, and this time he’d paid heed to his Fathers’ warning, if only to avoid being completely trapped in the same place as her. He was worried that would lead to a fight, which would result in her being evicted all together. The saying ‘caught between a rock and a hard-place’ had taken on a whole new depth of meaning for him over those days, and he was grateful Tau spent most afternoons at her job; even if it made him realise over time that, despite everything, he did still miss her when she was away.

Gradually, they had managed to relax again around each other. Things were pretty much back to normal between them now; though he still found his patience was worn a bit thin. And Tau had been a little short with his brothers when they tried to goof around with her as well.

Raph was just unravelling the dust sheet for his bike when a tune sounded in the warehouse;
‘She’s so cold and human,
it’s something humans do.
She stays so golden solo,
she’s so number nine;
she’s incredible math,
just incredible math…’
The music cut off as Don answered his Shell-cell;
“Hey April! --- Oh, that’s no good. --- Um, I don’t think I have a spare one of those, but I’ll just go check…” he continued talking into his hand-piece, wandering away from the van to rummage through the various collections of vehicle parts stored about the place.
“That sounds a bit ominous,” commented Leo, handing another box up to Mike in the back of the truck.

“Careful with that!” Mike admonished unnecessarily; taking the parcel with exaggerated care, placing it on one half of the alcove seat and fussing about wrapping the seat-belt around it. He turned back to give a sheepish smile in the face of Leos’ reprimanding look.
“Just what do you think you are doing, Mikey? We might need that seat!”
“Nuh-uh, there’s six of us and seven seats. I’ve put a lot of work into that cake, there’s no-way I’m gonna risk it getting tossed about the back of the van if Raphs’ gonna drive!”

“Hey guys,” interrupted Don, tucking his Shell-cell back into its pocket on his belt. “A bit of bad news; Caseys’ pick-up has died. We can probably resurrect it, but neither Casey nor I have all the parts we’d need; and even if we could get them today, I doubt we’d be getting to the farm before late Christmas Day, if we stopped to fix it now. I was thinking I could rig up another seat…” he petered out, taking stock of the mound of supplies dominating every spare inch of free space in the truck. “And that roof rack I’ve been planning too, by the looks!”

“Eep!” objected Mike, protectively clasping his cake-box, “No way you’re putting my baby on the roof!”
“Why don’t we just strap Mikey to the roof instead?” taunted Raph as he returned to the van.
“Yeah! No, wait! Then who’d look after my cake?”
“Oh, for goodness sake…” groaned Leo, rolling his eyes.

A few moments later the elevator soundlessly rose from the floor, hissing open to release Splinter and Tau with the last of the supplies from below. The two paused in their own conversation, taken aback by the scene at the rear of the van. Mike valiantly (and loudly) fending Leo and Raph off of his precious box with a sweeping kick, though the tables looked to be turning as Raph caught his brothers’ leg in a lock, allowing Leo to get in closer to their quarry. Don was wandering past the back of the van, absorbed in a sheaf of blueprints, hefting a piece of squared pipe as he considered its’ suitability for… what now?

The rat and the girl glanced at each other; she in incredulity, he in weary resignation that he should have known his sons would be disproving his words of praise for their close family connection he had just been assuring her of.
“My sons…”
“Ki-YAH!” Mike managed to twist to free his leg and elbow Leo in the mid-riff (“Oof!”). Mikes’ escape knocked Raph off balance (“Aargh!”), and Raphs’ arms pin-wheeled momentarily to stop him toppling out of the van altogether, managing to connect with Dons’ metal pipe (“Hey! Noo!”) sending it, and all the blueprints, flying up into the air.

Tau ducked needlessly as Master Splinter deftly caught the metal projectile.
“My sons!” his stern tone gaining their full attention this time, except for Don who immediately set about collecting his papers off of the floor. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Master Splinter!” Leo straightened quickly to turn and give a quick bow to his Sensei. “Caseys’ truck has broken down, so we’re just trying to organise the Battle-shell to accommodate the two of them as well. But Mike is... well he’s…”
“Bein’ stupid!” finished Raph.
“Am not!” declared Mike.
“Are too!”
“Am NOT!”
“ARE T…”
“GUYS!” Leo yelled to stop his brothers, looking back to his father with a sheepish grin.

“We’ll have to leave some of our supplies here.” put in Don as he straightened, still trying to put his pages in order, and ignoring Mikes’ immediate protests, to continue, “And it’s gonna take me a while to fit another seat. Might as we’ll settle in for a bit of a wait, I doubt we’ll be able to set off until well after lunch.”
“But, that’s no way to spend Christmas Eve!” lamented Mike. “We should all be enjoying the day together! Besides, what can we leave behind? And we gotta get there in plenty of time to get a tree up! There’s gotta be another way!”

“Sometimes, there isn’t Mike.” stated Leo.
“Yeah, like we don’t spend enough time bein’ bugged by you as it is.” jibed Raph, half under his breath.
“For starters,” continued Leo, “you can take that box off that seat. I told you we would need it. And we’ll just have to consolidate everything else.” he directed, bending down to begin sorting through their supplies.
“Awww!” moaned Mike. “But it’s just not right. We need that, and that. That’s important! No, that’s gotta stay…”

Splinter gave a small sigh, watching the bickering in the van begin to escalate again as he stepped over to Donatello.
“Is there no other solution? Michelangelo is right that this should be a ‘harmonious’ day.”
“I’m sorry Master, but I can’t see how else we’re gonna fit everyone into the Battle-shell.”
“Hmmm, then perhaps the answer is not to.” pondered the Sensei. Don furrowed his brow for a moment, unsure of his fathers’ meaning he glanced over to where the vehicles were parked.
“D’oh! Of course!” he instantly grinned in comprehension. Turning back to see Tau looking utterly crestfallen, Dons’ frown quickly returned. “What’s wrong?”

Tau quickly pasted a brittle smile on her face.
“Nothing! I don’t mind staying here… I mean, I’m not really family, or anything.”
“Nonsense!” chided Splinter. “You may not be family, but you are a friend. We would not think to leave you behind if you did not wish to be. No, the remedy lies with Raphael.” he explained.

The situation in the truck was getting heated.
“Mike! There has to be something here you can live without!” vented Leo, slapping his hand down on a roll of blankets. The corner of a clear, plastic bag shot out from between the layers of wool, catching his attention. “What’s this?”
“That’s nothing Leo, just leave it…!” Mike failed to dissuade his brother from drawing it out; holding the small baggie, and the sprig of leaves it contained, up for inspection.
“Where did you get this from?” asked Leo, his tone suddenly deceptively calm and level, causing Mike to give a guilty, obsequious grin. “Didn’t I specifically ban this?”
“Well, yeah, but it’s traditional! It’s not Christmas without it!” his brother offered in his own defence. Leo didn’t buy it, fixing Mike with a hard glare.
“No mistletoe.” was his verdict, tucking the offending plant into his belt to confiscate it.

Mike opened his mouth to protest, but wisely thought better of it, settling for folding his arms and muttering under his breath in a grump.
“Suck it up, Mikey. I don’t get to take my bike, but ya don’t hear me complainin’” scolded Raph.
“Nah, you’ve already chucked your hissy fit over that!” Mike taunted sarcastically, the hot-head raising a fist in response.
“Watch what yer sayin’, or I’ll make ya eat those words!”
“Like to see ya try…!”

“Raphael, Michelangelo; enough!” Splinter brusquely interrupted the imminent brawl. “We have a solution that should satisfy everyone. Raphael can ride his motorbike to the farm.”
“Yeah? Yes!” Raph directed his fist in the air, as opposed to at his brother as he’d originally intended.
“Awesome!” agreed Mike.
“Uh-huh.” dead-panned Leo. “Now just shift that box and it’ll be all good.”
“Wha…? No!” Mike protested. “Why doesn’t Raph just take someone with him? Huh?”
“Like who?” Leo folded his arms.
“Ummm, like… Tau?” suggested Mike diffidently, backing it up with his most cajoling smile.

“I don’t think so!” Gob-smacked, Leo turned to see Tau stood around half a meter away from the back of the van, arms crossed, leaning back in a pose of cool defiance. The look on Raphs’ face was a carbon-copy of his brothers; he instantly discarded the objection he had been about to make.
“What the hell d’ya mean ‘you don’t think so’?” he demanded of her; Tau quirked a sceptical brow.
“I mean; I’ve seen how you ride that thing!”
“Smart girl.” Leo whispered in an aside to Mike, as Raph leapt down from the truck to stop with his beak no more than an inch from her nose, his eyes angry slits. Tau barely flinched, standing her ground.

“You dragged me off on some crazy ride on a damn horse, but you won’t ride with me on my bike?” he asked, his voice dangerously low.
“‘Crazy?’ Are you saying I wasn’t in control?” she countered, her own eyes narrowing.
“That friggin’ animal was huge, how much control could ya have had over it? At least my bike doesn’t have a mind of its own! Ya know what I think? I think you’re just chicken.” a goading grin started playing on his lips.

Tau was silent a moment, looking utterly affronted. Turning her nose in the air she tried to salvage as much dignity as she could, declaring;
“I am not ‘chicken’.”
“Prove it.” he uttered.
“Fine then, I will.” Tau nodded curtly.
“Good.” quipped Raph.
“Good!” Tau retorted.
“Great!”
“Great!”
“WONDERFUL!”
“Heh, maybe not!” Mike beamed his reply to Leo in a hushed voice; Raph and Tau continuing to bandy the ‘last word’ back and forth as they stalked away from each other.

---------- ----------

“You be a good kitty for Unca’ Leatherhead now, okay?” petitioned Mike, giving Klunk a last cuddle before handing the cat over to the towering mutant. Taking his friends’ pet with care, the croc assured,
“He will be fine with us. Enjoy your trip, all of you.”
“I wish you’d come up to the farm one day, big guy.” lamented Mike. With a chuckle Leatherhead shook his head.
“I don’t think so, Mikey. I have never found travelling in such vehicles over long distances a particularly pleasant experience.”
“C’mon Mike, time to roll-out!” interrupted Raph bluntly. With a final grin and wave for his friends, Mike jumped into the back of the Battle-shell, shutting the rear doors before he settled himself on the spare half of the bench seat, one arm draped triumphantly over his cake-box.

As Don started the engine of the truck, Leatherhead and Honeycutt waving them good-bye, Raph glanced back at the girl seated behind him. The visor of her helmet still up, she gave him a nervous grin. He shot her a cocky one in response.
“Just make sure ya hold on tight, ‘k?” he directed, a roguish note in his voice. He pulled his helmet on before she had a chance to retort. Her grin failing a little as she wondered just what she’d got herself into, Tau tugged down her visor; quick to grab him as tight as she could about his waist, giving a short squeal as the bike shot out of the warehouse, rearing in a small wheelie in pursuit of his family.

---------- ----------

After a quick stop to pick up April and Casey -at which point Raph, almost as much as his family, was relieved to see Taus’ expression was one more of exhilaration than terror- the little convoy headed north, out of the city. They had been on the road to Massachusetts for almost three hours now, and Raph had behaved himself; following Leos’ rules of staying close behind the Battle-shell, and not pulling anymore stunts.

It had gotten pretty tedious, having to stare at the rear doors of the van for the most part. He’d started to wish he could talk to Tau to relieve the monotony. Despite his initial fear that having her with him would make his trip uncomfortable, he’d quickly grown to enjoy the feeling of her pressed against his shell, her thighs tucked up behind his own. Even through the thick jeans and jackets they both wore, her embrace helped to keep him warm, fending off the wind-chill.

He’d taken it as vindication after their little spat that she seemed to relax pretty quickly, not gripping him quite as tensely as she had to start off with and picking up how to shift her weight through corners and the like in no time. Though she always kept one arm wrapped tight around his mid-riff, she started to rest her other hand lightly on his shoulder, or his thigh, he guessed as a way for her to relieve the stiffness in her limbs. Once they left the city behind, she had even started briefly pointing out things that caught her interest as they sped through the snow-dusted country-side.

As the Battle-shell pulled off the main highway, heading to the spot they usually stopped for a break in the journey to the Jones family farmhouse -and in this case, lunch- Raph had a sudden inspiration. Waiting until the convoy turned onto the dirt road that was the last stretch to their stop-over, he reached down to pick her hand off his leg; wrapping it back around his waist. She seemed to figure what he was planning, gripping him tight again and giving a nod that he felt against his shoulder as she peered past it. With a “WHOOP!” he swiftly over-took the truck, pulling his bike back up onto one wheel as they passed the side window, dropping back down in front of the van to give a cheeky little fishtail, spattering mud, before speeding away down the track.

Five minutes later the Shell-cycle roared into a small, deserted clearing. Raph made the back wheel skid about as they came to a stop, parking neatly under the overhanging branches of a large pine. Flicking his leg over the gas-tank, he was off his bike in an instant, yanking his helmet off to savour the smell of the surrounding woods. Tau dismounted a little more gingerly, giving her thighs a rub before doffing her helmet.

“Heh. I didn’t scare ya too much there, did I?” he asked with a grin. She beamed up at him from where she was bent over, massaging the tops of her legs again.
“Nah! That was fun!” she laughed.
“You ok?” he tilted his head as she finished her ministrations.
“Yeah; your shell just started to dig into my legs a bit after a while there.” she assured. Then her smile dimmed as she grew serious. “About this morning; I was actually tryin’ to give you an out, just… not very well.” she gave a sheepish shrug.
“An ‘out’? From what?” he creased his brow.
“From, well…, from having to ride with me. I wasn’t sure you’d wanna.” she murmured, toeing the ground.

Despite the fact he had been about to object to taking her on his bike, before she’d kicked up about it, he suddenly didn’t want to admit to it.
“Forget it. We’re friends after-all, aren’t we?” he threw out casually, hoping the sudden nerves he felt weren’t showing through; relieved when she gave him a warm, side-long smile.
“Yeah.” she drawled.

They both fidgeted for a quiet moment, before Raph reached to grab her hand.
“You gotta come see this!” he invited, though she didn’t get much chance to refuse as he quickly led her through the trees with a strong grip. Not that she minded, grateful for the support as her legs protested the sudden effort to keep up with him. They hadn’t gone far into the woods when they suddenly stepped out from the tree-line onto a narrow ledge, high above a winding river valley. The wilderness, an undulating patchwork of trees and snow, stretched away below them to the horizon; seeming to meld with the mass of roiling clouds that filled the sky, threatening more snow.

“Oh wow!” she breathed, barely loud enough to be heard over the rapids below. After being confined in the city for so long, the sudden feeling of immense space almost overwhelmed her; accentuated by the lonely cry of a hawk circling above.
“Thought you might like this.” he murmured, following the bird-of-prey with his eyes. She watched it too, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
“Thank you.” she whispered, her smile growing wider as he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.
“‘s what friends are for.” he assured quietly.

A minute later, the sound of an engine coming to a halt somewhere behind them filtered through the trees. Raph silently commiserated with the disappointed little sigh Tau gave, though neither of them turned away from enjoying the vista.
“Raphael!” they shared a jaded little glance as Leo approached. “What were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that? If you’d hit ice on the road, or lost control, you could’ve killed…”
“It was my fault, Leo.” Tau calmly interceded, stepping protectively in front of her friend; Raphs’ scowl quickly turning to a look of confusion. “I egged him on.”
“Wha… Why?” Leo glanced suspiciously between them both; thinking surely Raph wouldn’t be so low as to put her up to this.
“I needed to stretch my legs a bit.” she explained simply.
“Oh, well… you should both learn to be less reckless.” he lectured, feeling he’d lost his thunder a bit. With a quick, almost bewildered shake of his head Leo headed back to his family.

Tau jumped slightly as she felt Raphs’ hand wrap around her hip, pulling her so hard against his front she could clearly feel the wing of his sai, hidden under his long coat, impressing on the small of her back.
“I can fight my own battles.” he muttered by her ear, his gruff tone sending a shiver down her spine.
“Heh. I know that. I just felt I owed you one. Besides, he’s starting to get on my nerves too.” she murmured in response.
“Yeah?” Raph gave a low chuckle, loosening his hold on her a little; his mirth fading to ask in mild concern, “You cold?”
“A bit.” she admitted; figuring it wasn’t a complete lie.
“Here’s hopin’ Mike remembered to pack a thermos in with all the other crud, hey?” he smiled, leaving his hand gripping her far hip as he shifted to walk beside her, following his brothers’ tack.

It was a relatively lazy Christmas morning; a rare chance to sleep in, no training, Caseys’ ‘patented’ fry-up for breakfast. Most of the greasy plates were still sitting around the living room, at risk of being buried under rumpled, discarded wrapping-paper. Mike was the only one that wasn’t settled somewhere, busy making trips between the Christmas Tree and whomever was the recipient of the next parcel he picked up. He only paused to bounce happily when he found one of his own; tearing the paper off with glee, it often fluttering down to land on Raphs’ head, to rave about whatever he had received.

Raph and Leo were sat on the floorboards, either side of the hearth; occasionally feeding the paper their gifts had been wrapped in to the small fire they were trying to encourage to grow. Splinters’ feet and tail dangled from where he was seated in the wooden rocking chair, just behind Leo. Some of his gifts were yet to be opened, piled neatly on his lap; he was content, watching the happy reactions of his family and friends.

April was curled in one of the two well-worn, yet stout mock-leather armchairs set beside the staircase that ran up the side of the room. She was still in her robe and pink slippers, a steaming mug in one hand and one of her new books open in the other. Casey was sat, legs splayed, on the thick rug that covered the majority of the floor. Most of his wrappings made it over his shoulder to pile up haphazardly behind him.

Under the windows that looked out onto the front porch was the old, red vinyl couch. Don and Tau were sat shoulder to shoulder upon it, as he explained all the functions of her new Shell-cell to her. Catching part of their conversation every now and then, Leo thought some of her questions were a bit simple, stuff she surely could have figured out on her own. But then it did seem to distract his brother from glancing nervously about the room quite so often, especially whenever Mike passed another gift to April.

“Aww.” moaned Mike lightly, almost catching his bandanna tails on a low branch as he backed out from where he’d crawled under the tree. “These are the last ones!” he straightened with a small package in each hand. Leo kept a surreptitious eye on Don as his brother tensed, his eyes fixed on Mike as he crossed the room. “Here Sensei, this one’s for you.”
“Thank you Michelangelo.”
“Heh, guess we’d better have a bit of a tidy, huh?”

“Mike?” Leo half-asked, half-exclaimed, not sure what unsettled him more; Mike actually suggesting they clean up, or the way Dons’ knuckles were turning white where he gripped the wooden arm of the couch. “Who is that last gift for?” he prompted, getting to his feet.
“Huh? Oh, wha… this?” Mike lifted the gift slightly, his eyes darting to the small card dangling from it, now obscured in his other hand. “Uh, Raphie-boy!”
“It is?” peeped Don in shock, his voice cracking slightly. April looked up from her book.
“Are you ok Donnie, you look a little pale?” she asked in concern, quickly putting her mug and book aside to walk over to him.
“Uh, yeah! I’m fine, April. Fine! Just, ah, might be getting a bit of a cold, maybe, heh.” he faked a couple of light coughs to back up his story.

April eyed him with a slightly sceptical appraisal, unperturbed by the way he shuffled back against the cushions to rest the back of her fingers on his fore head.
“You do feel a little clammy. I think there’s some cough medicine upstairs, I’ll see if I can go find it, okay?” she smiled warmly. Don gave a weak little nod.
“Thanks, April.” he murmured diffidently, giving a despondent little sigh.

Under the pretence of gathering the mess off the floor, Leo made his way over to the side of the couch as April climbed the stairs. Crouching to Dons’ eye-level he gently gripped his brothers’ arm.
“Are you alright? I’m here if you need me.”
“Thanks Leo.” Donnie gave a crooked little half-smile; then started as Casey reached over from where he was seated on the floor to give his lower leg a rough rub.
“Buck-up dude! Christmas is no time to be getting sick!” he grinned encouragingly.

Tau despaired as her friends’ smile became strained. Rising from the couch she grabbed Dons’ hand and pulled him up after her.
“All you really need is a nice hot drink. C’mon, I’ll make you one while you set my ring-tone for me. Ok?”
“O… ok.” he agreed as he let her lead him into the kitchen, the door swinging shut behind them. Not wanting to draw too much attention to his brothers’ plight, Leo made quick work of gathering a few more bits of discarded plastic packaging under one arm, and some of the dirty dishes in his free hand, before he backed his way through the kitchen door as well.

As Don and Tau had left, Raph had given his brothers’ leg a light back-hand to get his attention.
“Earth to Mikey! You gonna hand me that or what?” Mike knelt beside him, to whisper in his ear as quiet as could be,
“It’s for both of ya, really. Just don’t let Leo see, ‘k?” before he handed over the present. Raph treated him to a suspicious glance. However, before he could comment, Mike was back on his feet and helping to gather up the rest of the rubbish as Leo left for the kitchen.

He couldn’t say why, but Raph felt an odd sense akin to dread as he gazed at the front of the small, home-made card. ‘For Raphael, from Mikey’ flowed in neat, red script diagonally across it. Inside was written;
‘Merry Christmas
VERY Happy New Year!
One way or another…’
It did very little to dispel his unease.

“I think a fresh cup of tea is in order.” said Splinter, to no-one in particular, as he slipped off the rocking chair and made a bee-line for the kitchen himself. Deciding to bite-the-bullet, Raph ripped the paper off his last gift, confused at what fell out. Looking up, he just caught sight of Mikes’ feet vanishing at the top of the stairs before he scowled back down at the items in his lap. A small jar of Nutella hazelnut spread with a little paint-brush taped to the side of it had been nestled inside a roll of silver duct-tape.

He didn’t get it. Raph picked up the card again, searching for clues. ‘One way or another…’ The dots seemed to be leading to something, and on a whim, he flicked the card over to look at the back. His chocking gasp caught Caseys’ attention, making his friend leave off trying to assemble his new model plane to come peer over Raphs’ shoulder.
“Huh? I don’t get it?” Casey admitted, spotting the jar of chocolaty spread and the tape. Raph made sure the card was well out of sight, hidden in his hand.
“It’s nothin’, just one of Mikeys’ pranks.”
“Huh.” grunted Casey, unimpressed. To Raphs’ relief, Casey turned his back to return to building his Spitfire.

Cautiously Raph opened his hand to peer at the small, but meticulous images gracing the back of his card. One had he and Tau looking not hugely happy at being trussed face-to-face, mummified together from shoulders to hips in silver tape, their clenched fists sticking out from the bottom of their confines.

The other featured them both from the waist up only, sans clothes, and detailed a rather unorthodox way for him to consume the chocolate spread. With a grimace Raph figured it wasn’t a useful image to have burned into his minds’ eye right now, making to throw it into the flames dancing in front of him. At the last moment he paused, glanced at the card again, and then tucked it into a pocket on his belt with a low, resigned growl.

---------- ----------

(Meanwhile…)
Tau settled Don on one of the high-backed stools in the kitchen, giving him a little time to himself for a few moments as she fussed with the kettle and a couple of mugs. Soon there was nothing else she could waste time with until the water boiled, so she leaned back against the counter next to where he was seated and waited in vain for him to talk.
“Are you ok?” she prompted, once it was clear he wasn’t going to look up from his inspection of the floor.
“Yeah.” Don sighed. “I… I’m not really sick.” he confessed.
“I know.” Tau assured levelly. “Have you ever considered telling her how you feel?”

Don didn’t look up, but it was clear from the way he froze he hadn’t anticipated that question. Leo came through the door shell first, nudging it closed with his foot as he turned to put the dishes in the sink, the rubbish in the bin. Quickly finishing his chore he glanced up at the two situated further along the kitchen bench, taken aback by the uncharacteristically evil glare Don was treating him to.
“What’s wrong?” asked Leo.
“How could you tell? You promised!” accused his brother, sounding close to tears.
“I… I didn’t ‘tell’ anything Donnie, I wouldn’t!”
“He didn’t have to Don.” added Tau. “I figured it out for myself. It wasn’t that hard really…”

The utter mortification on Dons’ face as his head shot up at her admission made Tau wish she could take it back somehow.
“You did? It… it isn’t? Does everyone know?” he whimpered. She shrugged, searching for the words to make it right.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I haven’t said anything to anyone but Leo.” Tau rubbed his arm in consolation. “I don’t think she realises, and I’m damn sure Casey hasn’t figured it out, if that’s any help.” Don tilted his head in consideration for a moment, before he gave a dejected nod.

“Don, you have to find a way through this.” urged Leo. “You can’t keep letting your emotions get the better of you.”
“I know, I know.” Don sniffled. “I knew from the start I didn’t have a chance, I just can’t… help it. She’s just a… an angel! And I’m…” a sob broke his voice. Tau grabbed a tea-towel off the side, offering it to him to pat his eyes dry.
“Thanks.” he gave her a sad, little half-smile once he’d regained his composure.

“Why wouldn’t you have had a chance?” Tau asked softly. Leo butt in before his brother could reply.
“None of us do. This is what I keep warning everyone about!”
“How can you think that?” she accused.
“Because we are turtles. Whether we like it or not, whether you like it or not, we are different.”
“That’s totally unfair…!”
“Yes, it is!” both Leo and Tau turned from their confrontation in surprise at Splinters’ sudden, stern input. “This is not the time, nor the place, for such an argument. I am sure the last thing Donatello needs at the moment is for you two to be squabbling over the semantics of the situation.”

Tau quickly copied Leo in giving the Master a brief bow and apology, though she turned to murmur, “Sorry.” to Don as well.
“‘s ok.” he replied softly, before furtively meeting his Fathers’ eyes. “You know too?” he asked plaintively.
“I have… ‘suspected’, for some time now.” Splinter admitted, his tone now one of warm compassion. “However, I made the error of assuming that since you were aware of the impending development in April and Caseys’ relationship, and still did not come to speak with me regarding your… ‘attachment’, that you had come to terms with what was occurring.” He stepped between Leo and Tau to place a consoling hand on his distressed sons’ shoulder. “I am always here for you, my son. Why did you not wish to speak to me of this?”

Don gave a little shrug.
“Too… embarrassed, I guess.” he explained, ashamed. “And I thought I had ‘dealt’ with it. I was all prepared for her to… get the ring this morning. But when she didn’t, it just kinda… threw me, heh.” he attempted a crooked smile, his Father returning the gesture.
“You do know you can speak to me regarding anything?” Splinter stated more than asked in earnest.
“Yeah, I know. I just… I know. Sorry.” sighed Don.
“There is nothing to forgive.” he was assured as Splinter held out his arms. With a grateful smile Don slipped off his chair to take the offered hug.

Sensing this was a bit of a ‘family’ moment, Tau stepped away to tend to the hot drinks, as Leo gave his brothers’ shoulder a consoling rub.
“You’ll be okay Don.” he murmured, the words sounding hollow even to his own ears.

---------- ----------

Lunch was simple fare; warm ham sandwiches with fruit-mince cakes to follow, so as not to spoil their appetites for the feast Mike had already started preparing for Christmas Dinner. Not that anyone was disappointed in the light meal; everyone had been snacking on various festive treats already. However, it was the first time they had all gathered together again after opening their gifts that morning; around the large, rectangular dining table that sat at the far end of the living room, just outside the kitchen door.

Most of the boys had spent the morning outside, trying to master the remote control for Caseys’ plane. Splinter and Don had merely watched the antics from the porch swing, hung in front of the kitchen window. Mike had spent a short time joining in with saving the plane from its frequent dives into the thin covering of snow on the ground, before heading inside to start on his turkey roast and other goodies.

April had gotten a copy of ‘Love Actually’ on DVD from her sister for Christmas, and since no-one else had accepted her invitation to watch it on her lap top –most rejecting it quite strenuously– Tau had yielded. The two girls had spent the morning lying on the living room rug, their bare feet warmed by the fire, as they watched the movie on the small screen set up in front of them on the floor. And they were both now regretting eating quite so many rum balls and candy canes during the course of the film.

Tau had wondered if she should tell April about the earlier events in the kitchen, but a good moment to bring it up never seemed to present itself. So, in the end, she decided to let it go. Besides, she figured it was probably more appropriate that Don talk to the red-head about it, though she despaired he ever would.

Raph had shot Tau an odd look as she quick-stepped over to sit beside him at the table for lunch, the floor boards feeling very chill to her warmed bare feet.
“Hey.” he dead-panned in greeting.
“Hey!” she beamed in reply, tipping her head back to flick her loose hair behind her shoulders with her hands.

Raph blinked, wishing she hadn’t done that. He’d been glad of the distracting cold and exertion of his mornings’ activities. They had almost made him forget Mikes’ damn drawing. But seeing her lean back like that for that split-second, she couldn’t have copied the pose his brother had drawn her in any closer if she had tried. Ok, so she was wearing clothes; more than usual in fact. She had on one of her long sleeve, grey skivvies and one of her baggy black shirts over the top of that. Though the front of the shirt wasn’t buttoned up, leaving it hanging open like a jacket; the edges of the darker material seeming to highlight the course his mouth had been taking in that infernal image…

“I got something on my shirt?” Taus’ question shook him out of his reverie, a note of concern in her voice for his unusual expression. He didn’t seem to realise the very tip of his tongue was poking out the corner of his lips.
“Huh? Uh, nuh! It’s nothin’… yeah, nuthin’” he trailed off before flashing an ingratiating grin. Tau didn’t look too convinced, eyeing him dubiously until she got distracted by Mike giggling as he took his seat on the opposite side of the table.

“What’s going on?” she asked suspiciously, her gaze flicking between the two brothers. Raph grimaced; at a muffled ‘thump’ from under the table Mike bent low over his plate, his mirth switching to a whispered monologue of “Ow ow ow!”
“Nothing.” stated Raph definitively, his tone making it clear it was the end of the matter. Quirking an eyebrow, Tau mouthed ‘O-kaaay’, deciding it was best not to pursue an explanation, and reached for a sandwich instead.

Glancing around the table, she was relieved to see Don seemed pretty much back to his old self again. Once the meal was finished he even stood with a grin to announce;
“Well, now seems as good a time as any for the annual family portrait. Should I go fetch the equipment?” As the rest of the group agreed, he dashed upstairs, returning a few minutes later with a small digital camera and a large tripod.

With the fireplace and Christmas Tree in the background, Don directed his brothers into a line that spanned the view visible through the camera; Leo on the left, a gap for himself, then Raph and Mike on the right.
“Alright, you guys stay where you are. If everyone else just stands either in front or behind we should be set!” he invited. Splinter moved to stand roughly in the centre, in front of his boys, whilst April and Casey slipped into place, passing behind Leo to stand just to the left of centre.

“Which button should I press?” asked Tau softly, peering past Dons’ shoulder. He gave her an incredulous look.
“It’s not a problem, it has a timer. You should get over there.” he tipped his head toward his family. With a sheepish little grin she stepped away, and Don turned his attention back to the camera.

“OK, we’ve got ten seconds before it goes off!” he instructed loudly, quickly heading over to take his place.
“C’mon Tau!” Mike waved her over as she remained stood by the couch. She shook her head.
“No, it’s a family portrait. I’m just a friend; it should just be for you guys…”

Mike and Raph shared a brief glance.
“C’m ‘ere!” ordered Raph as quick-as-a-flash they both reached out to grab her, catching her before she had a chance to move, pulling her bodily into place. Since the two turtles tried to step back to their original spots to keep within the shot, there wasn’t much room between them, and Tau found herself basically stood side-on in front of them, her right arm wedged between theirs. Raph had a strong grip on her trapped hand, and didn’t seem inclined to let it go, so she just managed to turn to face the camera a little better and plaster a smile on her face before the flash went off.

It was late, and Tau was enjoying the tranquillity of sitting alone on the rickety, wooden porch swing; watching the gentle fall of snow in the light spilling from the living room windows. Her face was the only part of her exposed to the chill of the night, just. She had her thick, woollen duffle coat on over her shirt and skivvy, her hands buried deep in its pockets and the hood drawn close over her head. As per usual, she had on her jeans and boots, but was grateful the jacket also covered her thighs, and that she had decided to pack her long football socks, having them pulled up to her knees under the denim.

After the fiasco with the portrait, everyone had set out on a tour of the farm to build their appetites for dinner. Casey was obviously quite proud to show off his Grandmothers’ property; though Tau had been surprised at the way April had prodded her for her opinion of the place, and she had tried to keep her appraisal of the ramshackle estate up-beat. The walk was cut short however, as the snow began in earnest. It hadn’t let up for the rest of the day, and everyone had settled down for a quiet afternoon of board-games to pass the time until dinner. Well, as quiet as having five fairly hyper guys trapped in a relatively small room together can get.

Tau pulled her hand out of her pocket to stifle a little burp. Dinner had been over two hours ago now, and she still felt absolutely stuffed. Not that she regretted it, it had been a darn tasty turkey, but she was starting to think the second serving of Christmas cake hadn’t been the wisest idea. She hadn’t wanted Mike to cut into it to start off with; the little scene of a snowman and Christmas tree he’d sculpted out of the thick layer of icing on the top of it looked way too cute to eat. Once it had been sliced through, she’d figured the best homage she could give it would be to enjoy it; so she had, very much so!

As soon as the meal was over Splinter had invited everyone to play a game with his new poker set. Tau had thought it odd someone would give the Sensei such a gift; he didn’t really seem to be the gambling type to her. After a few hands though, she found herself resolving to never play with him for real money. She hadn’t played card games much before, so she didn’t take it too hard when she lost her stack of chips before anyone else. Instead she took the opportunity to take a little time for herself; to enjoy the novelty of watching the snow fall, and mull over the days’ events. As much as she hated to admit it to herself, Leos’ earlier comment in the kitchen, and the way it had made her react, had given her plenty of food for thought.

The creak of the front door opening distracted her from her musings.
“Hey.” said Raph casually, walking by in front of her to lean on his forearms on the porch railing, looking out into the silent storm himself.
“Hey!” she smiled back. “Didn’t think you’d be out of the game this soon!”
“Nyeh.” he shrugged. “Never try to bluff against a rat.”

He turned around to face her as she sniggered lightly,
“You ok?”
“Yeah.” she replied breezily. “Why?” She shuffled over to the left, to give him room to sit. It meant she was closer to the darkened kitchen window, but could continue to watch the drifting snow flakes past his profile as he accepted her tacit invitation.
“I was wonderin’ why you came out here. You’re not upset or anythin’?” he asked cautiously.
“About what?” she countered, genuinely baffled.
“I dunno, thought you might be missing your folks.”

Taus’ smile dissolved and she chewed her bottom lip for a moment before she answered,
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t, but I have enjoyed spending Christmas here. Besides, I know they wouldn’t want me to keep getting so mopey every time I try to celebrate something without them. I think Grandad would have really loved this though. He always complained that sitting around a swimming pool barbequing shrimp was no way to spend Christmas.” She gave a little laugh. “He used to put on a ‘traditional’ Christmas dinner every year when I was a kid; until Mum banned him from using the oven ‘cos it made the house too hot!”

He joined in with her chuckle for a moment,
“Man, I can’t imagine a ‘hot’ Christmas!”
“Heh, this is my first ‘cold’ one since I was a really little kid; so I can’t remember them too well. You probably find it boring, but I just love watching the snow. It’s so serene and beautiful; makes it kinda hard to get too down about anything.”

Raph watched her as she studied the drift of the flakes that danced in the light from the windows for a moment; happy to see the little smile of wonder that played on her lips, noticing as she gave a little shiver.
“I wouldn’t call it ‘boring’.” he assured softly. “Pity it’s so damn cold though, huh?” Tau grinned, nodding in agreement.

“Here.” he invited, resting his arm along the back of the seat. The briefest thought flickered through her mind that accepting his offer might not be the smartest move. But she quashed it, reasoning she was too cold to care, and leaned into his embrace, resting her head against the thick material of his long-coat on his shoulder.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the peace and warmth of each others’ company. Feeling drowsy and content, Tau stifled a yawn and then snuggled her cheek back against him.
“Thank you.” she murmured.
“For what?” he asked quietly.
“For being a great friend.”
“You’re welcome.” Raph assured levelly, after a little pause. He tipped his head back to stretch his neck, and to make sure she wouldn’t catch him out, rolling his eyes in resigned frustration.

As his vision regained its focus, something hanging from the porch roof above them caught his attention. He suddenly wondered if he were the victim of some conspiracy to drive him completely mental.
“Ugh, damn it Mike!” he cursed under his breath, Tau perked her head slightly at his irate tone.
“What’s up?” she followed the direction of his gaze to the roof. “Oh! Well…, that’s nothing to get upset about is it? It’s just a silly tradition; it doesn’t really mean anything, or matter whether or not you do it.” she said lightly.

“I suppose not.” he concurred dismissively. “I reckon millions of morons must buy into that crap, and most of ‘em end up just kissin’ complete strangers or friends anyway.” Raph hadn’t given his response much thought, but he felt suddenly nervous as he realised the implications of what he’d just said. “So, ah, it can’t really mean… that much, really, huh?” he continued, he hoped nonchalantly.

Tau considered a moment, unconsciously taking the opportunity to let her eyes roam over the side of his face, the muscles of his neck, since he seemed intent on continuing to study the wooden beams above them.
“That’s true. It’s just a bit of a lark really…, um, between friends.” she murmured, giving an awkward little shrug as he turned his head toward her, neither quite meeting the eyes of the other.
“Yeah.” he agreed softly.
“Doesn’t mean a thing.” she whispered.
“Not a damn thing.” he breathed, just before their lips met.

Raph was at a loss how such delicate contact could make him feel so tense and breathless, not that he bothered to ponder that as he closed his eyes and gave himself over to enjoying the way the feather-touch lingered. Just as it seemed inevitable their kiss was about to end, he quickly followed her lead as she reapplied the pressure with slightly parted lips. He instinctively pulled her a little closer with his arm about her shoulders; hesitantly slipped his other hand inside her hood to cup her cheek. Then, realising she was gripping the front of his coat, he boldly tangled his fingers in her hair to draw her deeper into the kiss, a delicious shock running through him as the tips of their tongues inadvertently touched.

‘Creak, bang!’ The sound of someone barging roughly through the door made them jump, both hugely relieved that Don didn’t seem to notice they were even sitting there as he quickly stalked to the far end of the porch to lean out over the railing; a few stray snowflakes settling on the back of his baggy green woollen jumper.

By reflex Tau tried to sit up straighter as Leo then stepped out of the door, but Raph kept his arms tight about her in defiance of the stunned look on brothers’ face as he caught sight of them. Overcoming her first jolt of nerves, Tau quickly made a show of snuggling back into their embrace, enjoying the glint of ire Leo shot them before he decided Don was a higher priority at this point.

Clearing his throat to ensure his brother was well aware of his approach, Leo reached out a hand to rest lightly on Dons’ shoulder. They stood like that, in a silent tableau, for a long moment.
“I’m sorry Leo. It’s just been a long day…” Don finally murmured.
“I know this isn’t easy for you, Don. But you seemed to be handling it well since this morning, what happened?” probed Leo gently.

Don answered with a quick shake of his head, still Leo waited patiently for him to speak.
“There’s no-way I could give her everything she deserves, I know that. But sometimes I just don’t get what she sees in him. He couldn’t even carry her up the stairs without knocking her feet into the wall! I like Casey, but he’s such a… an oaf!”
“I don’t think he hurt her, she laughed it off pretty easily.” Leo tried to assure, Don responding with a “Hmpf”. He followed it up with an “Ack!” as he lifted his head to say something else, noticing the two on the swing for the first time. Raph was scowling slightly as Tau whispered something to him, finger to her lips.

“Oh, great! Thanks for telling me Leo!” Don gestured towards the couple in annoyance “Now Raph knows too!”
“It was meant to be some great secret?” retorted Raph sarcastically, cutting off Leos’ response. “I thought you’d gotten over her ages ago! Ya know, Case might not be all that ‘smart’, or ‘cultured’, or any kinda crap like that, but he’d die before he let anything hurt Ape. She’s made her choice. You shoulda taken your chance when you had it, rather than bitching about Case now.”
“Raphael…!”
“No, it’s ok Leo. He’s right, it’s not Caseys’ fault.” Don despondently interceded.

Tau felt compelled to break the awkward quiet that fell,
“It isn’t anyone’s ‘fault’, Don. Sometimes things just don’t work-out like we want them to. I do think you should talk to her about it...”
“No! I can’t do that! Not... now…” Dons’ shoulders slumped, looking to the floorboards, wrapping his arms about himself for comfort and warmth.

Before anyone else could speak, the front door opened again.
“Hey guys!” chimed Mike as he stepped outside. “What ya’ll doin’ out here in the co…? Hey, hey, hey!” he grinned massively as he caught sight of the couple cuddling on the swing. “Now that’s one way to stay warm!”
“Shove it Mikey.” grunted Raph as he and Tau quickly untangled themselves.
“Oh, and lookie at that!” enthused Mike, completely unperturbed as he pointed to the roof above the swing. “Aint that just the thing? You gotta kiss ‘er now, bro!”

Catching sight of what his brother was pointing at, Leo snapped,
“Michelangelo! Didn’t I say ‘no mistletoe’?”
“It wasn’t me!” Mike put on his best ‘persecuted innocent’ look. “Why do you always blame me first? It could’ve been anyone! Maybe Casey hung it up, or Raphie, or Santa…”
“Mike.” Leo interrupted the tirade with a dark warning tone. “I don’t care who hung it, no-one is kissing anybody!”
“Awww, but they gotta!” whined Mike, “At least on the cheek!” Given the way Tau mirrored his guilty little look, Raph guessed that option hadn’t occurred to her either.

“You shouldn’t be encouraging them to be stupid like this. This nonsense has gone too far as it is!” scolded Leo.
“Oh c’mon, it’s fine for friends to kiss on the cheek! You kissed Ape twice today yourself!” Mike cajoled.
“That is different; April and I would never push to be anything more…”

Tau leapt to her feet, her arms and clenched fists tense by her sides.
“Why the hell do you all assume we’re desperately trying to become more than just friends? Huh? Living in the gutter doesn’t mean your minds have gotta dwell there too! We are friends; end of story. But sometimes I do wish things were a little ‘different’,” she derided, “‘cos I would so love to prove you wrong, Leo!” She glared at him for a moment longer, though Leo was more taken aback by her expression of shock at her own outburst then by her anger. Then, with a little huff, she turned her nose in the air, stepped through the door and closed it behind her with a quiet but definite ‘clack’.

“Whoa.” drawled Mike. “What was all that about? ‘Prove you wrong’ about what, bro?”
“I… I’m not sure…” hedged Leo. But from the quirky little half-smile on Dons’ face, he feared that his gut-instinct was on the right track in warning him she was referring to their earlier argument.

Raph had no idea what Tau had been talking about either, but he couldn’t stop the sly little grin that was invading his face. Despite her insisting their relationship was purely platonic, again; Mike had pointed out a nice little loop-hole he fully intended to take advantage of. There was something else that niggled in the back of his mind, whispering things were looking up, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Maybe it was only a certain satisfaction at having someone else willing stand up to his over-bearing brother for once.

An unusual contemplative quiet fell on the brothers for a moment, until Splinter poked his muzzle out of the door.
“My sons, what are you all doing out here in the cold? Come in this instant before you catch a chill.” he fussed in parental concern, shaking his head as they filed past him to mutter to himself, “Kids! Can’t leave them alone for a moment…”

---------- ----------

For three days it had snowed relentlessly. The fall itself wasn’t particularly heavy, but the dawn after Christmas Day had brought with it a bitter, merciless wind that seemed to cut through the thickest fabric, finding the smallest gaps to drive ice into the breach. It had made even the porch a no-go area unless there was a need to go out.

The daily training sessions still took place, restricted in their scope in deference to trying to ensure the survival of some of the furniture and ornaments in the house. The rest of the time for the first two days was passed with board and parlour games, until Mike had threaded a heap of Cheezels on a string to make himself a wreath he placed on his head; proclaiming himself the ‘King of Parcheesi’ since no matter who he was teamed with he always won. A short scuffle later and Raph had bemoaned their lack of a TV around a mouthful of the cheesy snacks bitten off the string, from his seat upon his flattened brothers’ shell.

Never one to be daunted by the fact they didn’t have access to the ‘standard’ technology, and glad for an excuse to escape the house by himself for a little while, Don had braved the storm to dash out to the barn where the Battle-shell was sheltered. Returning with the largest of the monitors from the vans’ in-built tracking system, it hadn’t taken him too long to rig it up with Aprils’ lap-top computer. The screen was propped up on a dining chair, cables running down to the computer sitting tucked underneath on the floor, at the far end of the living room rug from the fire place.

By dinner on the third day they had watched the small collection of DVDs that had been gifted for Christmas, including Aprils’ ‘soppy chic flick’. ‘Brother Bear’ had been aired twice! The debate over how to kill time next had gotten heated as everyone pitched in to clean up the dishes and kitchen, no-one really noticing Mike had snuck away until he re-appeared in the doorway with a smug grin on his face and holding up a small box that stopped all argument dead.

“Why on earth did you bring ‘Lord of the Rings’, Mikey?” asked Leo in astonishment, with a huge smile.
“Well, I figured there’d be at least one lap-top here, and I still haven’t seen all the extras yet! Was gonna borrow a ‘puter to watch ‘em myself on a night. But I figure I may as well let you all watch ‘em too, given the circumstances.”
“Mikey, you are the turtle!” praised Raph, wrapping an arm around his brothers’ shoulders.
“So, you gonna apologise for callin’ me a jackass for packing so much stuff?” prodded Mike.
“Nope!” Raph grinned, pulling Mikes’ head down to give him a friendly noogie.

A few minutes later everyone was getting organised for a long night in front of the makeshift TV. Blankets and pillows were being fetched and rivalries over the best spots to sit were being mediated by Splinter. Tau wandered through the melee taking orders for hot drinks.
“Do you want a hand making them?” offered April.
“Oh no, I’ll be fine. Don’t get up.” assured the girl lightly, quickly stepping away to the kitchen. She was actually hoping the errand would give her a chance for a little bit of time to herself.

As much as she liked all her friends, and was happy to be getting a break from the Lair, she had to admit she was starting to miss the personal-space the mutants’ home provided. Here at the farmhouse she barely got a chance to be alone, except in her room at night; and that wasn’t always particularly restful. She felt she needed to talk to Raph, in private, but the opportunity had never presented itself. She still wasn’t sure what she would say to him anyway, if it did.

Just as Tau was about to place the last mug on the counter a low “Hey.” by her ear made her jump, silently cursing the fact she was so pre-occupied with her thoughts he’d been able to sneak up on her in an open, well-lit room. She placed the cup down with definite care, trying to salvage some dignity, before she trusted herself to answer lightly.
“He-ay!” her greeting turning to a protest as she realised she was trapped as he leant on the counter, an arm to either side of her, and felt his lips warm on her cheek. “What do ya think you’re doing?” she flustered, tilting her head away slightly.
“Bein’ friendly.” Raph explained casually, taking advantage of her exposed neck to press a quick kiss there as well.
“A little too ‘friendly’, I think!” she admonished, lightly swatting his beak away.
“I thought we established the other night…” he murmured, back in her ear.
“We agreed that didn’t mean a thing!” she stressed, Raph continuing completely unfazed,
“…that it was ok for friends to kiss on the cheek?”

He grinned as she froze, enjoying the little flush that crept up her face at her faux par. Deciding to risk it, he ducked his head to her neck again, gently gripping the sensitive flesh just below her ear in his teeth. He was careful not to use too much pressure, knowing full well any marks on her skin would show up a heck of a lot more clearly than they did on his own. Still, he had to force himself to release her, hearing her gasp in something that wasn’t entirely shock.

They stood stock still for a moment, until Tau made him take a half-step back as she turned about to place her hands lightly against his shoulders.
“Don’t do that.” she said softly.
“But you…”
“And I apologised for stepping over that line.” she suppressed his argument levelly. Raph grimaced in frustration.
“Yeah? Well, that ‘line’ seems to be getting a bit grey an’ fuzzy to me lately.” he pointed out sarcastically, surprised to see hurt flicker in her eyes before she dropped her head.
“I know.” she admitted sadly. “I haven’t been very fair to you, and I… I’m sorry for that. If… if things weren’t so ‘complicated’…”

“Hey guys, need a hand with…?” asked Mike breezily as he stepped through the door. Taking note of the way they were stood, the evil glare from his brother and the forlorn look from Tau, he continued without pause to turn on his heel. “Nope.” he answered his own question before he disappeared back into the main room, pulling the door closed again behind himself.

Raph rolled his eyes as Tau gave a little sigh.
“I’m gonna thump him one of these days…” he grumbled under his breath.
“He’s not to blame.” she murmured in reply, continuing after he grunted what she took to be his agreement. “I’d better get these drinks done before anyone else decides to check up on us.” He grasped her arm to pull her back around to face him, Tau despairing at the silent question in his eyes to shake her head. “We’re friends, Raph.”

She had just turned half-back towards the mugs when he pulled her close with the grip he still had on her to press a surprisingly gentle kiss to her cheek. The feel of his warm breath as he waited cheek to cheek for her response sent a shiver down her spine. Ignoring the screams of her better judgement she softly kissed his cheek in reply, breaking the contact to stipulate in a whisper;
“Friends only kiss on the cheek.” With a begrudging nod he let her go to return to her task, feeling not at all satisfied with the ground he’d gained; but relieved they weren’t caught in a compromising position as Leo stalked into the kitchen a moment later.

---------- ----------

The only light in the room came from the flickering of the fire, and the glow from the monitor as the end credits for ‘Fellowship of the Ring’ scrolled up the screen. Sitting up to give a huge stretch, limbering up his muscles after lying on the rug for the duration of the movie, Mike announced;
“I think I’m in luuuv. Is Arwen hot or what?”
“Duh!” derided Raph. “‘course she is, she’s the only chick in the film!”
“That’s not actually an accurate statement…” put in Don.
“Goh! Ok. She’s the only major chick in the film, happy now?” offered Raph sarcastically.
“Better.” nodded Don with a grin, “Though you do make the salient point that she is the focus for female characterisation in that chapter of the story.”

“Huh?” Mike eyed his brainy brother dubiously. “You mean the girls get more eye-candy, don’cha?”
“Well, no. I mean…” seeing his siblings’ eyes glazing over already Don gave up, “Ugh, I suppose that’s one interpretation.” Mike perked upright with a huge self-indulgent grin.
“Yeah, I’m right! So the important question now is, given they have some sorta choice; who do the girls like more?”

“Well duh!” April tried to imitate Raphs’ earlier response, though hers’ wasn’t as harsh in tone. “Aragorn of course. He’s been one of my heroes since I first read the books as a kid! And Viggo does a very nice job of bringing him to the big screen.”
“How ‘bout you Tau?” Mike immediately turned to continue his poll. She shrugged from where she was curled under a blanket in one of the armchairs.
“I gotta go Aragorn too. I do like Orlando Bloom, but I prefer him in the ‘Pirate’ movies. He’s just too clean cut in this really.”
“Yeah.” agreed April, sitting up from where she had been lying against Casey on the couch. “And he gets to do a bit more sword-play in those films; there is something about a guy wielding a blade that makes him especially hot, hey?”

With a laugh Tau nodded.
“Yep! Especially when they have that ‘unkempt’ look about em! Dunno if it’s just me, but Aragorn doesn’t seem half as good lookin’ when he’s all cleaned up for his coronation at the end of this.” she waved her hand towards the screen.
“That’s true!” exclaimed April. “I do like a guy with an unruly mop of hair.” she added warmly, tousling Caseys’ hair to wake him up.
“Waz’is… huh? The movie finished already?” he yawned.
“Yes, you big lug. Time for bed.” smiled April, standing to pull him up off the couch and bid goodnight to everyone before she led Casey stumbling up the stairs.

Mike stood to lean on his hands against the arm of Taus’ chair.
“What’s up?” she asked, seeing the look of puzzlement on his face.
“Hair isn’t that important… is it? For a girl to like ya, I mean.”
“You just heard both of them say it is, Mikey.” commented Leo, unique among his brothers in that he hadn’t instantly perked his head to hear her answer.

With a little scowl for the interruption, Tau said;
“Well, no, actually. There are a few guys I can think of that don’t have heaps of hair but are still considered good looking. Sean Connery has never had flowing locks, that I can remember, and he’s considered by many to be the quintessential ‘ladies man’.”
“Who else?” prompted Mike, Tausha unable to resist his earnest puppy dog eyes.
“Um, there’s Patrick Stewart, Yul Brynner…” it seemed a little flame of hope started to flicker behind the orange bandanna.
“And…?”
“Oh, Vin Diesel! He’s completely bald and very hot! ‘specially as ‘Riddick’.”
“Hmpf, he’s a try-hard loser!” was grumbled from where Raph was still sat on the rug.

Propping his chin on his hand as he bent over the chair arm, fascinated with his conversation with the girl, Mike ignored his brother.
“So, you’re saying bald guys can be… sexy?”
“Uh, yeah?” she answered cautiously, suddenly wondering where this was going.
“Cooooool!” he grinned as Leo ‘tsked’ from the armchair beside them. “Soooooo, now, is it only bladed weapons that make a guy look hot? Or does a couple of small lengths of hard wood and chain, deftly wielded to crush evil enemies into oblivion, do it for ya too?” he asked cheekily, quickly followed up with an “OW!” as he received a punch to the back of his leg.

With a resigned sigh Leo dispassionately watched his brother hop about the room. Figuring Mike had probably been punished enough for his insolence he decided to fore-go his lecture, asking instead;
“All those in favour of starting the next movie?”
“Aye!” was returned from the majority, Mike abstaining as he flopped down on the couch to nurse his aching calf. In the back corner of the room, apparently dozing in the rocking chair, and sure his son was complaining a little too dramatically for his hurt to be serious, Splinter struggled to stop the little smile from tugging on his lips.

The fourth day after Christmas dawned calm and bright. Tau gazed out through her second-story bedroom window, captivated by the way the rose coloured light reflected off the surrounding pristine snow. The tranquillity of the scene shattered as Casey and the turtles burst out of the front door to noisily romp through the knee-high drifts.

Within a matter of minutes the area in front of the house, that had been sculpted a smooth white by the wind over the previous days, was a frozen choppy sea of deep tracks lined with slush and mud. With a sigh, that couldn’t suppress her grin, Tau decided to head out to join them, quickly pulling on a few layers of her warmest clothes.

Heading out the front door, she found Splinter and April watching the boys’ antics from the porch.
“G’da-AY!” she yelled the end of her greeting as she just managed to duck a stray snowball.
“Sorry!” laughed Don, before he dashed away from an impending assault from Mike.
“Hmm.” smiled the Sensei, as April flashed the girl a grin in greeting. “Good morning Tausha. It seems we will have a day to enjoy outside before we return to the city.”
“Yeah! This is gonna be fun!”

Tau was stopped from jogging down the stairs by a gentle paw on her arm.
“You may wish to wait until my sons have worn themselves out a little.” he advised. Tau shook her head with a grin.
“Nah! This is gonna be worth a few bruises! But thanks!” she assured before leaping down into the snow to scoop up a handful, already scoping for a target.
“Hey! Tau! Over here!” Mike frantically waved her over.
“Just remember to be gentle with her guys!” warned Leo.
“Why?” retorted Tau. “I’m not gonna take it easy on you!” she emphasised by hurling her ammunition at the streak of green and blue. Leo easily ducked it, quickly popping back up to retaliate.
“That’s it!” he grinned evilly. “You are so gonna get it now!”

Splinter and April watched in resigned amusement as Tau raced away laughing, giving a little scream every time another snowball hit her square in the back of her head. Her run was stopped short by a tackle-glomp from Mike, as he dragged her into the trench in the snow he was now defending.
“Oh well, you did warn her.” giggled April.
“Yes.” sighed Splinter. “I should not worry so; Tausha does seem to hold her own reasonably well. I am only concerned that, after being confined in the house for so long, such exuberance may result in someone…”
“ARRRGH!”
“…getting hurt.” he finished, dead-pan, before he was moving quickly towards the source of the cry.

The whole group had gathered by the time Casey had pulled Raph back out of the dead bush the snow had hidden, leaving behind a few scraps of material and skin on the broken branches.
“Heh, sorry!” laughed Casey uncertainly. “I thought you’da dodged that easy! What got ya so distracted all of a sudden?” Raph answered him with nothing more than a dark look before reaching to feel for the damage done.
“Aww, shit!” he moaned, fingering the tear in the fabric of his trench-coat down the back of his left arm, less concerned about the blood he could feel on his fingertips.
“Language.” Splinter cautioned lightly, even as he turned his son about to inspect the wound for himself.

“It is not serious.” diagnosed Splinter after a moment. “However, the wood was rotten through. There are many fragments caught under the skin that will have to be removed.”
“What about my coat?” enquired Raph fretfully.
“That is of no consequence.” dismissed his father.
“But it’s my favourite…”
“Raphael, your well-being comes before that of your clothes.” admonished Splinter, shaking his head as his son turned his scowl to his sibling, roughly shoving Mike and his giggles away, forcing some of the others that had crowded around to step back momentarily.

“I can patch your coat for you, if you’d like.” offered April, from the back of the crowd.
“Yeah?” perked the hot-head.
“Your wound needs ‘patching’ as well.” reminded Splinter.
“Nah. It c’n wait, I don’t wanna head inside yet, I need a practice session.” entreated Raph, he was already pulling off his coat to hand it to April. Not surprisingly Splinter was immune to the ingratiating look his son attempted; he’d had to say ‘No’ to much more heart-wrenching gazes than that many a time before. Still, he did not want this situation to escalate, and it was true that all his sons required a hard training session to work off their excess energy. Giving the tuft of fur on his chin a thoughtful tug, he came up with a solution.

“Have your injury tended to first. It is not so bad you cannot join us again as soon as it has been cleaned and dressed.” he instructed.
“But…” Paying no mind to his sons’ objection, Splinter continued levelly.
“I am sure the girls will be happy to assist, so you can return quickly. April-chan? Could you repair the coat this morning?”
“Not a problem, Splinter.” assured April. “I can get it done while Tau helps clean him up, shouldn’t take long at all! Come along now, Raph. The sooner we get you inside, the quicker you can come back out.” she fussed motherly. The turtle opened his mouth to argue. However, seeing the determined glint in his fathers’ eye, he thought better of it; following April and Tau to the house with only a light grumble under his voice.

Once inside, April headed straight to the laundry, sure she had seen an old, ripped windbreaker jacket left in there she could use to make a patch. The colour wouldn’t match, but it would do until she could make a better repair back in the city. The bathroom led off the laundry, and she couldn’t help but grin at what she could hear from in there as she searched for the material and supplies to do her work.
“Nngh. Arrgh. Ow!”
“Sorry!”
“You’re meant to be pullin’ out the wood, not bits of me!” exclaimed Raph.
“You wanna do this yourself?” asked Tau irately, to be answered by silence. April could just picture the way Raph would roll his eyes at that. “Well then, stop bein’ a wuss.”
“I am not a ‘wuss’!” obviously spoken from between clenched teeth.
“Prove it.” April guessed Raph had taken the girls challenge as the quiet of the next few minutes was broken only by the occasional hiss of a sharp intake of breath.

Having found what she was looking for, April set about repairing Raphs’ coat; using the ironing board as a flat surface to work on.
“There, think that’s got ‘em all. That wasn’t so bad now, was it?” Taus’ voice carried from the bathroom.
“Just promise me one thing. I know ya wanna work with animals, but don’t become a vet.” beseeched Raph sardonically. Tau gave a little ‘hmpf’ and then warned with a slightly mischievous note in her voice,
“Alright. But this is gonna hurt.”
“No! Not Iodine! AAH…!” April figured Raph had bitten down on the rest of his cry.
“Heh, sorry, but it had to be done.” lilted Tau, not sounding particularly regretful, her voice warming as she continued, “And you’re not a wuss.”

April heard Raph grunt dismissively, starting to hum to herself as she worked over the light clatter from the bathroom, from what she guessed was Tau sorting through the medical supplies.
“You wanna ride back to New York with me?” he asked softly.
“Huh?” Tau sounded a little confused by the sudden change in the conversation, and April felt much the same. “Sure, why wouldn’t I?” the girl continued.
“I dunno. Leos’ saying he might come with me instead, since the roads will probably be iced over…”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Taus’ tone was a little cautious.
“Let me see… bro or babe? What d’ya reckon?” he retorted sarcastically, quickly followed with a whispered, “Ow!”

“Sit still, will ya? Or I’ll end up getting the bandage too tight.” admonished Tau, her voice softening again to continue their previous conversation. “It’s up to you really. But, you know, I don’t weigh as much as Leo, so you could argue you’d get a bit of a fuel saving taking me…” she pointed out casually.
“Hey, yeah!” he agreed enthusiastically. “That’ll shut ‘im up! Wouldn’t want to waste money that could go to feedin’ us, or savin’ for…” he petered out into silence for a few moments.

“It’s not really a bad patch job you’ve done there.” he spoke again, softly now. “And I shoulda told ya sooner, but I reckon you did a good job at the park too… Ya know, with riding that horse? That was a pretty awesome ride, nearly as good as my bike… Heeeeey, that was nice! What did my cheek do to deserve that?”
“Thank you. You are a good friend after all.” Tau assured warmly. Raph replied with a low chuckle.

April finished humming her ditty as she completed her task. Holding the coat up to appraise her handy-work, she had to admit it wasn’t the prettiest piece of needlework she had ever done, but it would suffice. Cocking her head, she suddenly wondered if Raph and Tau were still there; realising she hadn’t heard so much as a murmur from the bathroom for the past couple of minutes. Surely they wouldn’t sneak-out without saying anything to her at all.

Poking her head through the bathroom door, April was relieved to find them both still sat there, perched side-by-side on the edge of the bathtub. She got the impression, from the crooked little smile on Taus’ face, that Raph was whispering a dirty joke or the like in the girls’ ear, where his face was hidden behind hers. The image was only fleeting however, as Tau leapt up an instant later to fuss about tidying away the first-aid kit, the contents of which were still scattered on the counter-top.

“Here we go, all fixed up for you.” grinned April, holding up the coat for Raphs’ appraisal. He barely gave it a glance before taking it and pulling it on.
“Yeah, thanks April.” he mumbled distractedly. Having expected a bit more enthusiastic response, given Raphs’ earlier concern over the damage to the sleeve, April glanced between the two. The thought that she might be missing something here crossed her mind briefly. She dismissed the notion as Raph reached to grab Taushas’ hand as soon as the girl had finished putting away the kit, practically yanking her off her feet.
“C’mon!” he urged. “I don’t wanna miss-out on anymore time outside than I have to today!”

April chuckled as the poor girl was all but dragged past her, figuring Raph was just too keen to work-off his pent-up energy to realise what he was doing to his friend, or to be overly considerate with his gratitude. However, Tau quickly found her feet to keep up with him, both racing out of the front door. April followed them out, wondering if she should join the lesson for today as well. Since moving in with Casey she had let her training under Master Splinter slide quite a bit, probably too much.

Taking her place at the end of the line, easily falling into the steps of the warm-up kata the others were already doing, April wondered how they had managed to clear a large rectangle of snow away from in front of the house. She spotted a small snow-plough integrated into the front of the Battle-shell, obviously a recent addition to the trucks many apparatus. April couldn’t help but shake her head in admiration of her genius friends’ ability to incorporate goodness knows how many gadgets and such into one vehicle.

It seemed Splinter was determined to make the most of the extra space and the terrain, including laps of the house and barn into their exercise; which the boys quickly turned into a competition to see who could make the fastest time, adding more and more obstacles and requirements. A leap-kick here, roll there, a punch to the back wall of the barn... As the rest enjoyed the ongoing races, the Sensei took the opportunity to work one-on-one with each of his students.

Being the last to get her individual session with Splinter, April felt absolutely exhausted by the time her short work-out with him was over. She grinned up sheepishly from where she was leaning on her knees to regain her breath, feeling the Masters’ paw on her shoulder.
“You have done well April-chan.” he assured warmly. She shook her head in denial. She knew she was fit, she could run rings around any of her workmates, without a doubt. And she’d always prided herself on being able to keep up with the turtles, for a little while at least. April didn’t think too many others would be able to that. Though seeing Tau was still going strong -racing past in a hopeless attempt to catch up to Mike, both grinning all the way- April did feel a small twinge of despair.

“Tausha is six years your junior, and has trained with us daily for most of the past four months. Do not be disillusioned by her seeming vigour, she too is starting to tire.” advised the sage rat.
“I swear you can read minds…” chuckled April.
“No.” smiled Splinter. “However, it would be a gift I could appreciate having at times!” With that he raised his paw in the air, fingers out-stretched before he made them into a fist. Within moments all his students had gathered to him as per his silent order. Looking over them, noting all his sons still had the glint of exuberance in their eyes, the Sensei confirmed his plan in his own mind.

“In place of our usual sparring session, I wish to take this opportunity to undertake some war games. I would like one volunteer to be the first ‘Tagee’; the rest will split into two teams of two. The first team to capture and return the Tagee to the porch will win the right to decide the teams for the next round. The Tagee who lasts the longest for the day will be exempt from chores for one week. The only rule is; no weapons.” instructed Splinter.
“Aww.” moaned Raph lightly, despite pulling his sai out of his belt anyway.
“ME! ME! I wanna be the Tagee! Pick MEEee! Pleeeease!” Mike danced on his toes with his arm in the air, giving a “Whoop!” as Splinter nodded his approval.
“Just one question, Master.” put in Don quietly as he laid his bo on the porch. “If only five are playing, who’s sitting out?”

“In the first round Donatello, you will join Raphael, and Leonardo will be with Casey.” instructed Splinter, turning to address the gasp of indignation he had expected from the girl. “My apologies Tausha, I fear your inclusion in these exercises would bring to them an element of restraint from my sons, which may ultimately prove to be counter-productive. Especially given the more restraint they use, the longer it will it take them to wear themselves out.” he added with a warm, knowing grin.
“Aw! But, I wanna join in! I don’t want ’em to go easy on me. I c’n take it!” she petitioned.
“No.” was Splinters’ level reply. Sensing there was no room for argument Tau acquiesced with a small bow, unable to mask the disappointment on her face. Smiling again, Splinter re-assured her, “I don’t doubt your skill, and you are continuing to improve. Once my sons have had a good opportunity to utilise their abilities to the full, I will allow you and April to join the game, if you wish.”

Forcing a crooked half-smile, Tau gave a begrudging nod.
“Hey. Don’t sweat it.” comforted Raph, giving her shoulder a nudge with his own. “You c’n look after these for me in the meantime, ‘k?” he offered her his two sai magnanimously. She took them with a smile, appreciating the gesture, waiting till he’d flashed her one in return and jogged away to start discussing tactics with Don before she rolled her eyes.
“Yeah. Great. Thanks.” she muttered flatly under her breath.
“Come on.” invited April, wrapping her arm around the girls’ shoulders to guide her towards the porch steps. “Having ‘been here, done this’ before; believe me when I say the safest spot for us right now is in the house. Besides, it gives us a chance for a bit of quiet-time…”

Three hours later April was happily pillaging the kitchen pantry, pulling out ingredients and setting Tausha to the task of cutting vegetables. At least that way the girl could work by the window. Their ‘quiet-time’ had started off as just that; April quickly curling up in an armchair with a hot drink and a book, Tau seemingly doing the same on the couch. After almost an hour though, April decided more of a distraction was in order to keep the girl from her constant fidgeting and glances outside.

To that end they had spent the next couple of hours taking advantage of the fact that, once they tidied a room, it managed to stay that way for more than five minutes. Tausha completed every chore April gave her with gusto, if only to return to the windows that little bit quicker.

Now April was planning to spend the rest of the day in the kitchen. As much as she loved Mikes’ cooking, she had a hankering to do some baking herself. First up she had decided on a beef casserole for dinner. Fish was nice; sushi, Mornay, baked, in patties, salads, rolls, pies, with pasta and goodness knows what else… Mike could work wonders with a tin of tuna or salmon, and usually did, almost every lunch and dinner unless there was a special occasion. However, red meat was in order for tonight, by Aprils’ estimate.

A loaf of bread to go with the main meal, perhaps a cake for dessert; and why not some cookies for when the games were finished and the boys would inevitably come raiding for snack? Fit lunch in there somewhere and she and Tau should be pretty set for keeping occupied the rest of the day, was Aprils’ reasoning.

Pulling out a large bowl and setting it on the bench-top next to Taushas’ chopping board, April noticed the girl had paused in cutting a carrot to stare outside. Taking a look for herself at what had caught her friends’ attention, April cringed as she realised Casey was currently the ‘Tagee’. As he was being dragged towards the porch, he managed to slip the hold Don had on his wrist to attempt to run back into the cover of the woods that started only 30 meters or so away from the front of the house. Casey didn’t make it.

Instead her partner was quickly shoved face first into the snow by both Don and Leo throwing themselves on his back to re-capture him. They yanked him back up, and he had just enough time to shake the slush from his face before Raph and Mike launched a surprise attack from the roof of the house, resulting in Casey being treated to another face-full of snow.

A battle-royale broke out between the teams over their quarry, literally. Casey had his face planted at least twice more before he managed to crawl away from the melee. The fierce battle-cries, taunts and even some of the blows resounded loud enough to be heard clearly through the glass. Tau gave a little sigh and April eyed her dubiously.
“You’re with them pretty much 24/7, I would’ve thought you’d like a break away from them?” she probed.
“Yeah…” answered the girl wistfully, “I just wanted to enjoy getting some exercise outside too… Didn’t realise how much I missed it really, seeing blue sky without the sharp edges of buildings cutting into it, just trees. And the snow is such great fun… Well, when it’s not being blown at ya in a gale force wind anyway.” she chuckled.

“Oh, Tau, I’m sorry! I should have realised you haven’t had many chances to experience snow, and here I’ve been trying to distract you from it all day…” fretted April, feeling a little foolish.
“It’s okay.” shrugged Tau. “You were right; I probably would’ve ended up sitting here in the house with a bloody nose or worse pretty quickly anyway, if I’d tried to stay in the game. Kinda depressing to realise how much they do hold back for me sometimes…”

“Hm,” smiled April. “They are a good bunch of guys. Sweetest guys I know actually. Isn’t it funny that a girl’s gotta turn to mutants to find a real gentleman these days, huh?” she half-joked.
“Isn’t Casey a ‘gentleman’?” jibed Tau gently.
“He’s getting better…” admitted April with a devious grin. “But the turtles are a good influence on him.” her face fell a little as she continued. “It’s a crying shame really they don’t have any females of their own. If they were human they’d be fighting off girls as well as street-punks, ninja, aliens and God knows what.” she shook her head sadly.

Tau returned to chopping her carrot with meticulous care.
“You don’t think… one of them could find a girl that would like them?” she asked softly after a moment. April cocked her head in consideration as she sifted flour into her bowl.
“I don’t suppose it’s outside the realms of possibility.” she replied. “However, I think I’d have to seriously question the motives of any woman that said they liked one of them ‘that way’. I’d really hate to see any of them get hurt by some bi…, uh, ‘woman’ trying to manipulate them, or getting their hopes up only to break their hearts. The turtles are pretty street-wise, but I think they are still a bit naïve when it comes to girls and things.”

“Um, yeah, I suppose so. I reckon a girl could like ‘em though, without having some ‘agenda’ to hurt ‘em.” contended Tau.
“Well I must admit; I would like to think that could be the case. But it would take a lot for someone to be able to do that. I mean, it is easy to forget it most of the time, but they aren’t human. They’re still… animals… really…” April petered out uncertainly.
“So, um, you’ve never thought of any of them as…” Tau hedged, hoping she only sounded curious.
“Oh heavens, no! They’re like brothers to me!” flustered April, a bright blush creeping up her face that made Tau eye her dubiously. “Oh, alright, I did have these…, uh, ‘dreams’… Once! Ages ago!” she admitted hastily. “You can’t tell anyone though!” she ordered with a stern, dough-covered finger. “I mean, poor Donnie, he’s such a sweet kid! He’d just die of embarrassment if he ever found out…, I just know it!” she asserted whilst pummelling the goop in her bowl.

Tau decided to drop the subject, fearing from the way her friend was attacking her mixture that it had gone a little too far for comfort already. So she was surprised when April continued a few moments later, though she didn’t look up from her bowl.
“It’s all a silly notion anyway. I’m way older than him for a start! And can you see me living in the sewers? Sorry, tried that already, and it is not for me! And I know, if anything could have started, considering the whole ‘animal’ thing…” she circled a sticky hand in the air to make her point, “…it wouldn’t have lasted. It’s weird, ‘cos I’ve never really thought about it till recently, but ever since Casey let slip he was thinking about… you know, I’ve gotten really impatient about it! All I want to do now is settle down and… have some kids. Somehow fate always seems to make sure ‘settling down’ is something the turtles never get to do, and ‘kids’? I don’t think there’s any chance of that happening for them either.”

April gave a small sigh. “No, I think fate sent Casey my way. I actually thought he was a self-centred, ignorant buffoon when I first met him. I still do sometimes, but I love him anyway. Heh, I must admit I was kinda hoping…” she chuckled. “He’s such a dope; I could see him doing something tactless like giving me an engagement ring as a Christmas present. But I can see a real future with him, you know?” she asked rhetorically.

Tau nodded slowly regardless; opening her mouth to speak, she was cut off by the red-head continuing.
“I’d love to know what you think we could make of this property actually. I don’t know that much about farming, but if Caseys’ grandmother would let us buy it from her, it would be a wonderful place to raise children. Heh, I know the buildings could still use a lot of work and things, it wouldn’t be easy. But if we could set up a reliable enough connection to the internet from here, I could probably do my job remotely. And Casey could look after the live-stock and such and bring in some extra money that way.”

“It’s kinda hard to judge it, with all the snow and everything.” shrugged Tau. “And I don’t know anything about ‘farming’ as such. From the look of the barn and the size of the paddocks you have here, I’d say you could run horses; probably some cattle and sheep as well if you wanted. It’d be tough work for Casey though, doing it all on his own; especially if you wanted to be more than just self-sufficient out here.”
“Yeah.” agreed April. “I’m sure the turtles would help out some. They’d always be welcome here. At least they could enjoy being ‘uncles’!” she grinned. “I think they’d be great with kids, and I’d always want them to be a big part of my family. I love them all. You’d be welcome too; you’re a good friend to us all as well. And probably about as close as any girl will get to them.”

Shaking her head, in part to hide the slight colour on her cheeks, Tau gave a little laugh.
“I doubt I’m as close to them as you are! Can I ask ya? Have you ever suspected one of them might… have had a crush on you?” she probed, curious now if April had ever suspected Dons’ feelings towards her.
“I know you and Raph are good friends, but I didn’t think he would’ve told anyone about that. He never even admitted it to me! I am glad the two of you can talk about things though, I’ve always felt he needed someone, outside the family, to… vent to, I guess. More than the others do, anyway.”

“Oh, so, you know about him an’…?” Tau mumbled nervously. April interrupted her with a snigger.
“Of course I do! He used to drop by my place so often when I first got to know them. He nearly always came by on his own; especially after he’d had a falling out with his brothers or something. He’d just sit on my couch, or help me out with my house-work. We even got to talking a fair bit; though I was always a bit wary of his temper when he came by angry. That made things a little awkward sometimes. But it was pretty clear to me he had a little crush. I didn’t mind it really. If it helped him to work out some of his demons spending some time with me, and he didn’t push for anything, then it was all good. Once he met Casey though, I think he got over me pretty quickly. I suppose ‘busting heads’ is more his style of working things out of his system anyway.” she sighed resignedly.

Noticing the girl had gone a little pale, April tilted her head in concern to get a better look at her friends’ face; reassured by the crooked smile Tau gave her as soon as she realised she was under scrutiny.
“I am glad he has found you to talk to now. It’s got to be a healthier way for him to express himself. Besides, I think he was getting frustrated that Casey wasn’t going out with him quite so much after we moved in together. So it was good timing that he found you really! I think you should be a bit cautious though, I do think he might be starting to get a little crush on you these days!” April teased with a wink.

“R… really?” gulped Tau.
“Yep! Don’t worry, it’s nothing to get embarrassed about.” grinned April, sobering as she warned; “Just please don’t let him get the wrong impression. He might act mean and tough at times, but he has a good heart. I’d hate to see him get hurt over a mis-understanding. And even if such a thing were feasible, I know you’re not interested in a relationship at the moment. Raph thinks with his gut, not his head; so I doubt he’s picked up on that, even though you’ve been pretty obvious about it. You might find you’ll have to be a bit blunt with him, just be sure to let him down carefully, okay?”
“Uh…, yeah. I… I’ll be careful…” mumbled the girl, wandering away to dump her vegetable scraps in the bin.

---------- ----------

(The next day…)
It was still early; breakfast had only finished half an hour ago, but Splinter had allowed the group some free time before their daily training session, prior to their journey home happening later that afternoon. Don also suspected it was a justification for a shorter work-out today, in deference to the many bruises, aches and pains most of the group were suffering from yesterdays’ games.

Tau was no exception. Splinter had allowed her to replace Casey after lunch, and they had gone another three rounds of ‘Turtle Tag’ with her in the mix. She had actually faired quite well, managing to win the first round teamed with Leo. Don had been the ‘Tagee’ for that game, and had found he didn’t have to pull his punches as much as he’d originally intended to against her. He did suspect his brothers went a little soft on her as well though. And so did she; berating them for it after the game was finished.

As the ‘Tagee’ -by popular vote- in the second game, she hadn’t lasted long at all. Being as small as she was, Raph had easily hefted her onto his shoulder as he and Leo had charged through fierce opposition to get to the house and dump her unceremoniously on the porch. The fact she’d been hog-tied helped their cause as well. She hadn’t complained again after that.

The final match had been the longest of the day, and very scrappy. In the end everyone had been so tired and sore, the teams had decided to work together to find Mike and get him onto the porch so they could finally finish the game.

Despite her slightly blackened eye, and other contusions, Tau had offered to help as Don carried the monitor they had been using as a make-shift TV back out to the Battle-shell. He’d accepted her offer gladly. Not that he couldn’t re-install the monitor on his own, but with her help and slender, nimble fingers, it would make the job that much quicker.

Don knew he’d miss Tau when she left. He’d gotten quite used to having her working as his assistant in the lab. Electronics were definitely not her forte, but she did learn the basics pretty quickly. These days, even with her working at the bakery, she did a large proportion of the routine repairs to the appliances they sold to raise their own funds. Raph and Mike did the majority of the rest, tending to help her out so they could ‘rescue her to have some real fun’, as Mike had put it. Don was grateful for all their help; it gave him more freedom to work on his inventions and research.

Despite his brothers’ best efforts to save Tau from toiling in the lab, she still spent quite a bit of time helping out in there, even when there were no appliances left to be repaired. Don suspected she enjoyed the respite at times, especially when things seemed to be awkward between her and Raph. Don didn’t mind. She did possess one skill his more rambunctious brothers didn’t; the ability to work quietly and save any non-critical questions for a time he wasn’t doing something like concentrating on getting the explosive mixture for his latest batch missiles just right. Shiny red buttons didn’t seem to tempt her either; she had even swatted Mike away from his investigations of new remotes and key pads on occasion. The lab had indeed become a much safer place with Tau in residence.

Now, Don was working as fast as he could to complete the soldering work to ensure the monitor was secured back in its rightful location. Tau wasn’t complaining. But he could tell from the way she held herself, oddly tense, that she wasn’t comfortable supporting the weight of the large screen as she leant over the console to hold it in place. He guessed she might have some bruising to her ribs as well.

Completing the last join, Don gave her a smile and nod in thanks as he turned off his soldering iron. With a light sigh, Tau flopped down into one of the swivel chairs, her hand absently rubbing her side.
“You okay?” he asked in mild concern.
“Yeah. Just a bit stiff from yesterday.” she smiled weakly.
“Is that the only thing getting you down?” he probed gently.
“‘Down’? I’m not ‘down’. What makes ya think I’d be ‘down’?” Tau quibbled. Don gave a shrug.
“The fact you’re in here, instead of out there making the most of our last hours away from the Lair. I thought you liked the snow, and the chance to enjoy a bit of time outside.”

“I do.” assured Tau, not meeting his eyes. “But…, um…”
“Is it Leo? You’ve seemed a bit… ‘short’ with him lately.” Don casually remarked. Tau drummed her fingertips together as she chewed on her lip. Not wanting her to feel pressured, Don sat in the other swivel chair and busied himself starting the trucks’ in-built computer to do a systems check. Finally, she looked up to admit;
“No. I mean, he does annoy me a bit sometimes. But, I’m more angry at myself really. He just kinda… stepped into my line of fire the other night. I suppose…” she heaved a sigh. “I suppose I should apologise to him.”

“No. Don’t!” chuckled Don. “I think it does him good to be gainsaid every now and then.” His tone turned serious, “Why are you angry with yourself?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Tau shook her head. “I guess because of that rubbish Leo was saying in the kitchen the other day. I thought it was so unfair that he’d assume none of you stood any chance of having a relationship, just because you’re a bit different. And then I realised…” she dropped her head as she paused. “I was guilty of using the same excuse.” she mumbled.

Don tried to stop himself from perking his head at her admission, afraid she’d stop talking if she realised just how curious he was right now.
“Um, ‘excuse’ for what?” he prodded softly, trying to appear as if the code rolling up the screen in front of him was equally as interesting as her answer. It got hard to maintain his ruse as she took her time to reply.
“I don’t know why, it’s not like I don’t have plenty of other reasons already…” she murmured, practically to herself. Don was confused by the way she didn’t really seem to be answering his question, but thought better of saying anything in favour of letting her get things off her chest.

“I just hate to think you guys might never find someone.” she began, a little louder. “And I don’t think the way you look, or even the fact you’re not human, is enough to stop a girl from liking you. Once they get to know you, anyway. I’m sorry, but I admit, I didn’t think any of you were… ‘good’ looking to start off with. And it did take me a long while for me to realise that…” she faltered, a faint blush creeping up her cheeks.
“Raph?” supplied Don quietly, the way her face flushed crimson gave him his answer.
“I guess it was just an easy ‘out’ for me to think the way Leo does whenever I had to come up with a reason to deny...” she continued in a rush, inspecting the floor. “And when I did first realise… I worried that maybe there was something wrong with me! I didn’t think I was… ’kinky’ about animals or anything like that! But then, how do you know until you… know?” she petered out then suddenly looked up at him sheepishly. “Sorry, you probably think I’m awful…”

“Uh, no! No, I don’t… actually.” he assured. “I worried about the same thing when… April.” he shrugged with an awkward, bashful smile. “I mean, why would a turtle be attracted to a human, right?” he laughed uneasily. “At first I thought it was simply because she was the only female ‘anything’ we knew, and it was just my hormones making me think of… possibilities. But if that were the case, I surely would have felt the same way when we met Angel, and other girls. Then, like you, I started to worry that perhaps I… ‘wasn’t normal’ in, uh, who I was attracted to. I started to fret that my family might think I was… weird.” he glanced up to see her eyeing him dubiously. “Ok, ‘weirder’.” he chuckled. Tau shook her head.
“I don’t think you’re family would ever turn their backs on you.” she said earnestly.
“No. I know they wouldn’t.” Don genuinely smiled.

“Anyway.” he continued after a moment, “Seeing how Leo looked at Karai sometimes, Raph with you, and the way Mike hordes the ‘Victoria’s Secret’ catalogues, I don’t think I’m alone anymore in my, uh, ‘appreciation of the human female form’.” he grinned as the colour infused her face again. “To be honest, I still don’t completely understand why my brothers and I find women attractive. Perhaps growing up being exposed to the human ideal of what makes a good mate has warped our judgement. Maybe it’s because, morphologically, we are that much closer to humans now. Or, I suspect, because we’re ‘intellectually closer’ has a lot to do with it as well. I think the value the ability to communicate on the same level brings to a relationship is underestimated by many.”

“Oh.” responded Tau, looking a little lost for a moment as she tried to grasp all he had said. “So, why didn’t you ever speak to April about how you felt?” she asked. It was Dons’ turn to scrutinise the floor as his cheeks coloured slightly.
“I don’t know. I guess I wanted to be sure about what I feel, uh, felt. And by the time I was, she and Casey already seemed to be interested in each other.” he gave a little sigh. “I almost told her then. She was living with us and everything, it would have been so easy… you’d think. But I got so nervous, having her around all the time, that whenever she tried to speak to me… I was actually a bit mean to her at times, splashing her with water not quite by accident and walking away while she was still talking, that kinda thing, just because I was trying to hide my anxiety from her. And then Casey asked her out… and she said ‘yes’… and I…” his voice cracked and he shook his head sadly.

“I’m sorry.” murmured Tau sincerely. Don shook his head more vigorously, not yet trusting his voice. “No, I do owe you an apology.” she affirmed sincerely, reaching to grip his fore-arm in consolation. “I shouldn’t have interfered; telling Casey not to give her the ring for Christmas. If I’d realised it would cause you to suffer like this, I wouldn’t have.”
“It’s okay.” he sniffed. “It’s not your fault really. And, in the end, Aprils’ happiness is the most important thing.” Tau looked away guiltily.
“Y… yeah.” she agreed hesitantly.
“I mean it, Tau.” he asserted, regaining his composure. “I know she’s way out of my league, I doubt she’d ever think of me as anything more than a kid brother. If I had asked her out, and I don’t doubt she woulda said ‘no’, I don’t think we could be so close now. I’d still rather have her as a friend than not at all.”

They sat in contemplative silence for a minute; until Dons’ curiosity was piqued once more by the way Tau still looked so downhearted.
“If you don’t find our differences are necessarily an obstacle any longer, is there any chance for you and…?” he asked softly.
“No.” she answered flatly. “I said it was an excuse because it was an easy thing to think of whenever I felt… But there are too many other things making it ‘complicated’. Just because they aren’t as cut and dried doesn’t mean I can discount them.”
“What ‘other things’?” Don probed.

Tau gave a quick shake of her head, and a little sigh, before she explained,
“I suppose the main thing is; I don’t want him to get hurt. Or me! I’m not so naïve as to think that if we did get together it would be forever. But knowing I will be leaving, and soon, makes it a kinda different story. In a way it’d be easier for me, I get to walk away. He doesn’t.” Don moved his hand to cover hers, where it was still resting on his arm.
“Leo and Raph always have, and will, find something to go head-to-head over.” he tried to assure.
“I know, but you can’t deny I seem to… add fuel to the fire.” she sighed. Don tilted his head in consideration.
“That’s true.” he admitted, reluctantly.

“And before you ask,” she continued in a jaded tone. “I do have to leave. If I don’t, I might as well say good bye to everything I’ve ever wanted to achieve. Dad will probably still find me in the end, but I have a better chance of getting into a school undetected back home. And I suppose I am kinda hopeful that, if I can prove to him I’m capable of doing things on my own, Dad might… respect what I want to do with my life a bit more. I do miss him, and if I stay here I doubt I could ever reconcile with him. And I can’t give up on him like that. I just… can’t.” she looked away to murmur, “Sorry.”

Don studied the side of her face before he nodded slowly.
“It’s okay. It’s your life Tau; you have to live it for you. I don’t think any of us, Raph included, would want you to stay if it meant you would regret it.”
“Hmm, thanks.” she managed a crooked smile.
“I do think it would have been great if you had kissed Raph the other night though,” he grinned coaxingly. “Maybe if Leo saw something like that, he’d have to acknowledge we have some hope of forming relationships. I can understand it might make things uncomfortable for you, but I do hope you kiss Raph at least once before you go. Surely one kiss couldn’t hurt too much?” he asked optimistically.

Tau pulled back her hand to fidget with it in her lap as her face coloured scarlet again.
“Uh…, I…, uh… I guess… it um, couldn’t… But, ah, then again…” Don had expected her to be a bit embarrassed, but not for her to fluster to quite this extent. His eyes widened as a thought occurred to him.
“You haven’t already…?”

His query was cut off by the passengers’ side door behind him being wrenched open and the sound of someone diving inside to slam the door closed again. After sharing a glance in surprise, Don and Tau turned their attention to the front of the van. Cautiously Mike stuck his head out from his hiding spot in front of the passenger seat, under the dash-board. Looking about he started as he realised he wasn’t alone in the truck then shot the pair a sheepish, obsequious grin.

“Donnie!” Mike whispered in relief. “Am I glad I found you! We were playing with Caseys’ plane, and it wasn’t my fault, but they blame me anyway, and I need you fix this before they kill me! Pleeease?” he begged, puppy dog eyes working to their full, as he crawled toward his brother to offer up a mangled remote. Don took the pieces with a shake of his head.
“Alright.” Don relented easily. “But you owe me one.”
“Yeah! Yeah, of course…” nodded Mike vigorously before he glanced between the two seated above him, he wasn’t about to give away his position by risking being spotted through the windows just yet. “What’re you two doin’ in here anyways?”
“Fixing the monitor.” answered Don matter-of-factly. Mike cocked his head as he eyed the colour still fading from Taus’ face.
“Yeah?” he drawled. “You’re not tryin’ to make a move on Raphs’ girl, are ya?” he teased.

Don fixed Mike with a cool stare.
“No. Do you want me to fix this for you?”
“Yeah! It’s all good! There’s nothin’ going on here at all! Read ya loud an’ clear, brother dearest to my heart.” fawned Mike.
“Tch, good!” said Tau, rising from her seat. “’Cos I’m nobody’s ‘girl’, got it?” she stood over Mike with her hands on her hips.
“Awww! Oh, ok, I guess…” he muttered glumly as his objection was quashed by a stern look from Tau. With that she gave a satisfied little nod and stepped out the back of the van with a “Later.” tossed over her shoulder. The two turtles shared a significant glance.
“Uh-huh.” dead-panned Mike; as Don turned away to start on the repair job for his brother.

It was getting close to midnight, and Tau was starting to feel tired. Not that she was surprised, after working a full, hectic day for the Valentino’s Bakery. She had been a little worried about losing out on most of a week’s wage when Marcello had told her he and his family would be away visiting family over Christmas. But her boss had then asked her to start at five am on New Year’s Eve, the only day they were going to open the bakery between the Christmas and New Year holidays. She had readily agreed in order to make up for some of her lost earnings.

After a long day of quickly washing up utensils and scrubbing bench-tops so as not to hold up the next batch of loaves, cakes and sweet breads; and having to deliver to over a dozen customers wearing the floppy ‘rabbit suit’, Tau felt drained. Physically from the rigorous work and trying to walk about swiftly in the oppressive costume, and mentally from having to put up with Enricos’ drivel about fast cars and night clubs as he drove her about on her rounds. She’d only listened to him with half an ear, just enough to answer with an “Uh-huh.” every now and then; distracted as she was with her own, silent game of ‘spot the bike’. It still amazed her how easily a bright red motorbike could seem to vanish amid the mid-day traffic.

She knew she couldn’t complain really; after fearing she’d have to wear the uncomfortable costume regularly when she had started the job, this was only the third time she had actually been asked to do so. She had even over-heard her boss turn down one request for a delivery from the ‘bunny’; since it wasn’t for a ‘special occasion’. Marcello had sent his son, Enrico, to drop off the goods instead.

The bakery had been so busy Tau had worked back an hour past her usual finish time in order to get the kitchen completely cleaned up. To her astonishment, when Marcello handed over her earnings for the day, he also gave her a $20.00 bonus for working so hard, and a bottle of cheap champagne to wish her a Happy New Year!

Now she was stood, a glass of the bubbly ready in her hand, along with Splinter and the turtles watching the celebrations in Times Square via a live feed on the bank of monitors. Mike and Raph had wanted to go out, to watch the New Year Ball drop from the near-by rooftops. But Leo had vetoed that idea, citing the drunken crowds posed too much of a risk. Tau was secretly thankful they were staying in the Lair, even as she commiserated with her friends over a couple of beers. At least this way she might get to bed pretty soon after midnight!

She stifled a small yawn as the count-down started on the screens, Mike excitedly adding his voice to the announcement.
“…four, three, two, ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! CHEERS!” he shouted, raising his glass before he tossed back his champagne in one gulp. The whole group joined the toast. Tau still had her glass to her lips as Mike quickly snaked an arm about her waist, pulling her into a side-long hug to plant a loud kiss on her cheek. “Mmmwha!”

“Ugh!” grinned Tau, pretending to wipe slobber off her face. Catching sight of Leo frowning slightly out of the corner of her eye, she decided to plant a kiss back on Mikes’ cheek, an imitation of the one he had just given her.
“Oh whoa! Thanks babe!” Mike beamed in response. Leo stepped closer.
“I don’t think…” he started to object. Tau cut him off by cupping his face in her hands.
“Leo! It’s the New Year!” she laughed before pulling his face forward to give him a light kiss on the top of his beak.
“Oh! Um…” he flustered, Tau releasing him to walk over to Don.
“It is a long-standing tradition, Leo.” explained Don with a grin. “We’ve just never had a girl here…” Don faltered as he received his kiss on the cheek from Tau. “Heh, thank you!” he blushed.

Splinter was settling himself in his armchair once more as Raph flopped down to sit on the couch, dumping his feet on the coffee table; the knock making a couple of the empty beer cans left there topple onto the floor. Tau made her way over to the Sensei, giving a small bow first.
“Hmm.” the rat smiled warmly at the feel of her lips pressed lightly against the fur on his cheek. “Domo arigato Tausha-san.” he thanked her before she turned to his final son.

Raph was sitting with his arms crossed, trying to suppress a scowl. He looked up as she approached and felt a sudden irrational apprehension at the prospect of being kissed by her in full view of his family. There was something about the gleam in her eye that made him think everyone would realise it wasn’t the first time they had done such a thing, the heat flushing up his neck at the prospect of being caught-out.

“Don’t ya dare!” he suddenly warned her off with a stern, raised finger. Tau paused to quirk an eyebrow at him in disbelief.
“Ha! Get ‘im Tau!” urged Mike. With a bold grin she nodded.
“It’s only fair, after all!” she agreed before she pounced towards the couch. Raph managed to grasp her by her hips, fending her off. What he didn’t count on was her pivoting on his hold, toppling over above him to smack a kiss just below his bandanna. His eyes widened as he realised she’d just wantonly defied him.
“Arrgh! I’ll get you for that, you little minx!” he cried, tossing her on her back along the sofa to kneel over her, tickling her sides mercilessly. He didn’t stop until her face started going blue from laughing too much. He trapped her arms by her sides as she tried to catch her breath back.

She looked up at him as she recovered, her query regarding why she was being restrained clear on her features. Raph leaned in low over her face to explain roguishly;
“I told ya not to do that… Now, I’m gonna have ta retaliate.” Tau managed a faint gasp in exasperation, still struggling for the air to speak clearly, before he pressed his lips just to one side of hers.

Raph didn’t mean for the touch to linger, but he was distracted momentarily by the memories it evoked. Recollections of how she’d let him push back the boundaries of her ‘cheek’ to include her jaw, the top of her neck and her ear-lobe during the rare moment of privacy they had managed to glean in the farmhouse bathroom a couple of days ago. Taus’ own explorations of his face had gotten a little bolder as well, thankfully before April had walked in. Tau had seemed to become a little distant with him again after that. But if she was willing to be this cheeky…, maybe he’d been mistaken!

“Alright, that’s enough.” scolded Leo, snapping Raphs’ mind back to the present. The hot-head shot his imperious brother a scowl, not sparing the other two –whispering together, Mike hiding a giggle behind his hand– from his dark look either. Hastily he backed off the girl, to sit back on the couch as he had been originally.

Shakily Tau sat herself up. Feeling fairly self-conscious under the looks from his family, she laughed uncertainly.
“Heh, remind me not to kiss you again!” she taunted, eyeing Raph warily.
“That sounds like a New Year resolution.” commented Leo; taking a seat to the other side of her now there was space available on the couch. Raph gave a derisive snort.
“What?” asked Tau in umbrage of her close friends’ response. “D’ya think I’d break it?” she challenged Raph mockingly. He fought it for a moment, but had to surrender to the urge to flash her a dirty grin.
“Ya have to; it’s what they’re for!” expounded Mike, as he bounced down to sit on the couch arm next to Raph.

“Hmph! I keep my promises.” assured Tau, making a show of crossing her arms and turning her nose in the air.
“Well, in that case then, it’s a good thing ya haven’t made one then, huh?” winked Mike, undaunted. She opened her mouth to retort, to be interrupted by Leo.
“Mikey...” he drawled in a low, warning tone; deciding not to follow through any further with his reprimand as Mike cried out, Raph grabbing him by his bandanna tails to tug him down for a rough noogie. Tau yelped as she tried to dodge a flailing limb, and Don burst out laughing at the sight. Leo gave a little resigned sigh as he got jostled; it wasn’t like they would listen to him over the escalating ruckus anyway.

---------- ----------

A fresh new morning in a fresh New Year, and Splinter intended to start it as he meant it to go on. For that reason he wasn’t accepting any excuses for lateness in the dojo or slacking off from any of his students, regardless of how little sleep they had gotten the night before. Thankfully, it wasn’t too much of an issue for most of his charges. Even Mike –whom Splinter had ordered to bed at three am after his son had sung along loudly with yet another rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ on the TVs– had shaken the worst of the grogginess from his face by the time they had finished their warm-up kata.

Overall, Splinter was happy with the way his pupils fell back into their regular training routine. He had enjoyed the trip to the farmhouse, but did appreciate being able to get back to having a large area dedicated to being a dojo.

Given Tausha had worked in lieu of training yesterday, Raphael and Leonardo also missing out on their regular session to keep a watch on her. Splinter made sure all his students worked extra hard to make up for the recent dearth in their training over the holidays. By the end of the session, everyone was more than ready for lunch.

Since it was a public holiday, Tau not working thus giving them all the rest of the day off; a debate over how to spend the afternoon was being contested over the meal. The conversation was interrupted as the elevator doors hissed open, Casey and April strolling into the Lair, Aprils’ left forearm tucked up under her right as she hugged her boyfriends’ arm.

“Hey Ape, Case-man! Happy New Year!” greeted Mike around the fork in his mouth, waving to them from his seat. A chorus of welcomes came from the rest of the group as well as they turned in their chairs to face the new arrivals.
“Hi guys! A Happy New Year to you, too.” replied April warmly, resting her head on Caseys’ shoulder as they walked up to stand beside the table.
“How was your Boss’s party last night, April?” asked Don with a smile. The two humans shared a quick glance before April shrugged nonchalantly.
“Oh, the party was pretty much the same as it is every year.” she explained casually, though her smile grew wider with each passing moment. “Well, up until midnight anyway…” she beamed, deliberately leaving her sentence hanging.

“Oh, oh, what happened then?” Mike excitedly rose to the bait. April and Casey shared another quick look and a grin.
“This!” she announced with a dramatic flourish of her left hand, the diamond glinting on her finger.
“WOW!” yelled Mike, the first to launch himself from his chair, racing around the table to capture April in a bear hug. Most of the others were only moments behind him, Raph rising from where he he’d been seated in front of his buddy to thump Casey warmly on the shoulder.
“Way to go, Head-case!” he grinned as Casey coloured in the face of all the attention, Leo quickly grabbing his hand to shake it. Tau had been seated in front of April, and had gotten in a quick hug with her friend after Mike, before she’d ducked out of the way of Raph turning to glomp the woman.

Turning his attentions to Casey, Mike teased;
“So, you finally asked her, huh? We were all starting to think you’d chickened out!”
“Hey!” protested Casey, with a mock-scowl. “What d’ya take me for…?”
“‘Finally’?” interrupted April. “You mean; you guys knew about this?”
“Uh…, um…” Mike drummed his fingers together in the sudden silence that fell.
“We kept the ring in safe-keeping for some weeks, April-chan.” explained Splinter with a warm smile. A crooked grin snuck onto Aprils’ face.
“Oh, you guys! I can’t believe you all managed to keep this a secret from me!” she exclaimed happily, brushing away a tear to grip Splinter in a firm hug.

As the group continued to congratulate the couple –Mike begging to be told every little detail of how Casey had proposed, right down to the colour of the fireworks overhead– Tau found herself on the outer; stood next to Don. She didn’t mind stepping aside to let the others enjoy the moment. Given they were all practically family, she figured she had no right to intercede any further on their celebrations. Besides, despite his multiple assurances he’d be fine once April got engaged, Don seemed quite lost.

He had stood and rushed around the table with his brothers, but had shuffled to a halt just before he’d reached their friends. He didn’t appear sad, or happy, or anything; his face blank as he stared through the commotion in front of him. That worried Tau more than any emotion he could have shown would have. Don paid her no heed as she stepped over beside him. Gently she gave him a nudge with her shoulder, hoping for any kind of reaction. She didn’t get any for an interminable moment.

Finally, Don seemed to give a little jolt out of his reverie, tilting his head very slightly to acknowledge Taus’ presence, though he didn’t look her way. Still worried for him, Tau gave his hand a light squeeze. With a little sigh he met her eyes at last to give her a ghost of a grateful smile.

“Donnie?” Aprils’ concerned query got their attention instantly. Don quickly waved Taus’ hand away as April approached, to plaster a surprisingly passable grin on his face. “Are you ok?” she persisted. “Please say you’re happy for us. I’d hate to think you weren’t…”
“Yeah! Yeah, of course I’m happy for you, April!” he assured.
“Oh good!” she beamed in relief, wrapping him in a warm embrace.

After enjoying the cuddle for a moment, Don pulled back a little. Keeping a gentle grip on her arm, he caught Aprils’ eye with an earnest look.
“I was just waiting for the chance to…, to say… that I love you. Like a sister!” he added in nervous haste. “And that I know Casey will make you exceedingly happy. Because, if he doesn’t…” he fixed the man with a hard stare, “…he’ll have m… us to answer to!”
“Damn straight!” muttered Raph with an evil grin, Casey shifting uneasily as all of the mutants around him nodded in agreement with their kin.

Dons’ face softened as he addressed April again.
“I know you know this already. But if you, uh, either of you, ever need me, um, us. We’re always here for you. No matter what.” he pledged sincerely.
“Oh Donnie, that’s so sweet of you!” gushed April, pulling him back into another strong hug.

Waiting until his fiancé had released the turtle, Casey gave Don a friendly punch to the shoulder.
“Yeah, thanks, appreciate it. I think!” he joked half-heartedly, wondering if he’d misjudged the benefits of not having a live Father-In-Law to deal with, if he was gonna have to answer to five butt-kicking ninja instead!
“Tch!” April gave her partners’ chest a light tap with the back of her hand. “Of course we do! From all of you. And, you know, this doesn’t change anything. You can still rely on us to be there for you guys as well.” she smiled tenderly at all her friends.

“Oh!” she perked after a moment. “Speaking of which, here’s all your mail that’s come in over the past week or so.” April dug into her handbag and extracted a neat bundle of papers. Pulling off the elastic band, she divvied the mail to its respective recipients.
“Here you go Donnie; your latest issue of ‘New Scientist’, and these.” she handed the majority of the letters and a plastic covered magazine to the genius. There was an envelope for Mike; from the ‘Silver Sentry Fan Club’, and one for Splinter.

Used to not receiving anything in the mail Raph, Leo and Tau had started to gather the dishes off the table.
“And this last one is for you, Leo.” announced April, holding the letter out toward him.
“It is? I’m not expecting anything…” Leo eyed the envelope suspiciously before taking it, quirking an eye-ridge in puzzlement as he turned it over in his hands to read the notations on the outside. Curious, Raph leaned over to read the senders’ details listed on the back.
“What the…? The ‘Japanese Culture Appreciation Society’?” he asked, incredulous.
“Oh man! Just when I thought you couldn’t get any more square, bro!” teased Mike.

With a frown for his two brothers, Leo stalked into the kitchen to escape their jeers and to open the letter in some sort of seclusion, in case it contained anything dangerous. Tau was leaving a load of dirty plates on the counter when he entered. Spotting the letter in his hand she shot him a strangely obsequious grin, then quick-stepped it out of the kitchen to leave him in peace.

Tearing it open he quickly scanned the few pages within, glad the girl had left so no-one could see the way his jaw dropped in disbelief. Gathering the note back into its envelope, and his face under some semblance of control, he took a moment to consider his next step.

He figured he should just throw it in the bin; shred it first so no-one could fetch it back out of the trash to read it. But, inexplicably, he couldn’t bring himself to tear it up. Deciding he needed more time to contemplate the envelopes’ contents, he shoved it roughly into a pocket on his belt.

Raph and Mike picked that moment to enter the kitchen with the last of the table-ware from lunch. Leo made a show of dusting off his hands over the bin as they saw him.
“What d’ya do with your letter?” asked Mike, glancing about for the missive.
“It was nothing.” shrugged Leo.
“’Nothing’?” probed Raph sceptically.
“It was just some… promotional rubbish…” Leo covered.
“Uh-huh, how’d they get our address?” queried Mike.
“I, uh, I filled out an opinion poll? Yes, online, a while ago now. I must’ve included our postal details without thinking. Stupid of me, I know. So just drop it. I’ll send them a message to stop any future junk mail. Ok? Happy? Good. That’s that then.” nodded Leo brusquely, striding out the doorway.

Mike and Raph quirked an eye-ridge at each other;
“Leo? Stupid?” queried Mike.
“Yeah, he is. But, not that stupid!” replied Raph.

---------- ----------

Leo couldn’t sleep. He had managed a fitful doze before he’d heard his brothers’ door open. It only made the slightest creak, but he was accustomed to listening out for it, even in his slumber. In the past it had been to confirm his sibling had gotten home at some point all those times he’d stormed, snuck or simply walked out of the Lair alone. If he hadn’t heard the tell tale creak by three am Leo invariably found himself sitting on the edge of his bed wondering where he would start his search for his itinerant brother.

Now, it was different. There was still the occasional night he listened for his brothers’ return. But, more often than not, he was listening for his brother leaving. Tonight Leo had leapt out of his bed at the warning from his brothers’ door, to be met with a glower as Raph irately pointed out he was only heading to the bathroom for nothing more than a glass of water.

Leo had withdrawn to his own room after giving an apology, listening with his ear pressed against his closed door to ensure Raph did indeed return to his hammock after getting his drink. Once he was positive his brother had done just that, Leo had retired to his bed. That had been over an hour ago, and Leo was yet to close his eyes for more than a blink since.

At first Leo thought he was simply anticipating that Raph might attempt another excursion. But eventually he realised his sight was focused on the corner of the envelope he’d received that day jutting over the side of his desk. He had no idea how long he’d been staring at the slip of paper.

Feeling suddenly restless, Leo sat up to run his hand down his face. Then swiftly stood, leaving his blankets in a rumpled mess, and left his room. His foot hit the top step leading to the floor below, when a thought struck him. Turning back, he went to listen at his brothers’ door.

Raph was asleep, snoring like an outboard motor on the fritz. He stopped with a snort for a moment to grumble something Leo couldn’t quite make out through the wood between them then started the terrible racket of his breathing again. Surely his brother couldn’t fake that sound, Leo not wanting to actually open the door, wary of waking Raph if he did.

There was one other Leo wanted to check on before he made his way downstairs. Though given the way she had been very careful around him since he’d first read his letter after lunch, he doubted she would do anything to risk antagonising him tonight.

Unfortunately Tau usually didn’t snore, so he cracked her bedroom door open the slightest amount; just enough for him to peer through and confirm she was there and sound asleep. It was a little difficult for him to distinguish her form in the dimness of her room, but he realised it was definitely her huddled under the blankets, not some ruse. The toes on one of her feet were just poking out from under her covers.

Drawing her door closed he froze as he heard her stir, shifting about and groaning something in which Leo was sure he caught his brothers’ name. With a light scowl he waited until she had settled again to move, silently pulling her door to.

Swiftly, he made his way down to the kitchen. He fixed himself a sandwich as he pondered why he kept such a close guard on nocturnal activities within the Lair these days. Leo knew he was starting to antagonise Raph by questioning his every move after they had retired for the night. But then again, despite Raph always having a seemingly reasonable excuse to be up and about, there had been at least two occasions he’d been stood partway along the ledge leading to the next alcove when Leo had intercepted him.

He hadn’t caught Tau wandering about at night yet, but something niggled at Leos’ mind that it might just be a matter of time before he did. There was no solid evidence that he’d seen for his hunch. It was just a feeling he got at times when he spied her watching his brother.

The fact she hadn’t promised to not kiss Raphael the night before concerned him too. He’d gone over and over what everyone involved had said in his mind. And he was certain she’d never actually made such a guarantee; despite her starting that particular conversation by saying they shouldn’t do such a thing again.

Tausha seemed so determined to keep the first promise Leo had demanded of her. She worked hard and assured everyone that she would get on a plane back to Melbourne once she had the fare saved. He was sure he would sleep easier if she hadn’t evaded making the resolution he’d suggested last night.

With a sigh he returned to his snack, after putting away the bread, to lean on the counter. A hand either side of the small plate, he stared through it as he continued with his contemplation.

He had started to wonder recently if he was being too harsh in keeping his brother and the girl apart, or if it was worth his while to continue what seemed to be a futile battle. But receiving the letter today had hardened his resolve to continue the fight.

Leo doubted Raph would ever understand; much less forgive him, for his interference. However, if he could spare his kin the heartache Raph was sure to endure if he did take his relationship with Tau to the next level before she left, it would be well worth it; in Leos’ opinion. After all, the way things stood now, it was obvious that the hot-head was going to feel hurt as it was, when she did exit from their lives. Perhaps even more than Leo himself had been when...

Shaking his head to halt that train of thought, Leo strode to the kitchen door. Reaching to turn out the light he suddenly remembered he’d left his sandwich on the counter. Quickly he stepped back to scoop up the plate and carry it out into the main chamber. He paused for a moment to allow his eyes to readjust to the darkness, subconsciously peering up through the gloom towards Raphs’ room.

His own anguish was amplified enough to drive an ache into his throat at the thought that Raph may soon be forced to suffer as he did. He figured the hot-head just did not realise that such pain wasn’t fleeting; couldn’t be cured with bed-rest or bandages. It was more like a scar that never fully healed; an old deep-muscle injury that ached with the change in the weather. Eventually it would dull, perhaps could even be ignored for a time, but it always lingered. Always.

Leo counted himself lucky that his own naïve and misdirected feelings had never truly been returned, or possibly even realized, by the one who had given him his scars. He had received more than the gouge to his psyche to remember his harsh lesson by. There was the puckered skin on his side usually hidden by his belt, the chunk missing from his carapace, and a large number of the other nicks and marks adorning his flesh, he was sure.

And that was what kept him leaping out of bed every time he heard Raphs’ door open in the night. Despite her alliances, Tau didn’t fight his brother any longer. She didn’t spit his shattered honour back in his face. Leo was horrified by the prospect that, even now, Raphael was heading for far worse than he himself had ever had to deal with. It was difficult enough parting on bad terms; Leo couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to do it on good.

And if his brother did ever manage to consummate his affair with the girl before she left… Leo gave an involuntary shudder. No, he would rather have his brother loath him than step aside and let him fall to a depth that dark. At least if Raph despised him, it would give him an outlet, a way to work off his frustrations and hurt. And hopefully he wouldn’t shut-down, swallow the grief and harden his heart. Hopefully his brothers’ anger wouldn’t give him the option of facing that dark totally alone.

It suddenly registered with Leo that he was feeling chilled. How long had he been standing there, staring up at the mezzanine? Shaking himself in an attempt to snap out of his melancholy, he noticed the light seeping under the closed laboratory door. His heart plummeted, and with a heavy sigh he made his way over to peek into Donatellos’ sanctuary.

Seeing his genius brother sat at the computer, slowly flicking through photos on the monitor, gave Leo a depressing sense of déjà vu. There were more images than there had been last time, almost two years ago now; the night of Casey and Aprils’ first date. And Don wasn’t crying, not obviously anyway. At least Leo had a good idea of what the problem was this time.

The only sound was the slow ‘tack, tack, tack…’ of the keyboard as Don scrolled through the slide-show on the screen. Family photos, special occasions, a couple Mikey had taken goofing around, one out of focus… Just as before, there was only one common denominator. Every image featured their tall, red-haired friend.

Steeling himself, Leo slipped through the door and closed it behind him with an intentional ‘click’. Don started slightly, but didn’t bother to look away from his computer, or stop the measured rhythm of his finger on the ‘Enter’ key.

Leo slipped his plate onto a nearby desk as he approached to stand behind his brother, watching the images in silence for a few minutes. Then he reached out a hand to grip Dons’ shoulder in consolation.
“You finally told her, at least.” murmured Leo. Don took his time to answer.
“Yeah, I suppose.” his voice cracked slightly. A few moments later, Don reached with his spare hand to grip the one holding his shoulder; Leo shifting his to lock their fingers together.

Long moments stole by as the images continued to flicker up on the screen.
“She’ll be happy, right?” Don eventually whispered brokenly. Leo wasn’t too sure which answer his brother wanted to hear, but the edge of desperation in his voice made him go with,
“Yeah Donnie. She is happy.”

Finally, Don turned his head to give Leo the briefest of tremulous smiles.
“Thanks bro. I needed to hear that.” he murmured with a small nod, quickly fixating back on the monitor.
“Will you be alright?” asked Leo quietly.
“Yeah!” assured Don with a weak, unconvincing laugh.

A minute trickled by.
“I’m sorry Donnie. I should have… If I’d realised in the beginning how you were starting to feel towards…”
“Don’t sweat it Leo.” assured Don, his voice a little steadier now. “I told you last time this wasn’t your fault. You can’t protect us from everything, you know. And some things you just can’t… fight. All you can do is… pick-up the pieces afterwards.” He gave a little sigh and a sniffle.

Leo felt tears of his own threatening. Gently he wrapped his brother in an embrace with his free arm, resting his cheek atop Dons’ head.
“You’re not alone. You know that, don’t you?” he asked softly. Don gripped the hand he held on his shoulder a little tighter.
“Yeah. I do.” he smiled slightly, bravely.

They stayed like that for a long while, until Leo finally succumbed to a yawn.
“Go get some rest Leo. I’ll be fine.” prompted Don, his voice almost back to normal.
“You sure?” queried Leo, straightening his stiff back a little.
“Yes! Go, I’ll head to bed soon.” Don lightly admonished.
“Well, okay. Only if you’re really sure…”

Don silenced him with mock-scowl tossed over his shoulder. Taking the hint, Leo gave his brothers’ shoulder a light rub before walking slowly out of the lab, hesitating at the door to glance back for a final check on his kin.

A small, warm smile broke out on Dons’ face, even as he slowly shook his head in feigned exasperation as the lab door clicked shut behind his brother. His stomach growled and he swivelled his chair about intent on heading to the kitchen, when he noticed the sandwich left conveniently nearby.
“Tch, Leo!” he complained light-heartedly. “I’m not an infant!” he rolled his eyes, biting into the bread. “Mmpf! Wha’ th’…?” Don grimaced as his teeth met an unexpected resistance. Opening the sandwich he eyed the individual slice of processed cheese in disbelief. How on Earth could Leo forget to take off the plastic wrapping?

It had been almost a week since Leo had received the letter from the ‘Japanese Culture Appreciation Society’. He’d finally convinced his nosey brothers that it hadn’t been anything of significance, and had spent many hours meditating on what it had revealed to him. He still wasn’t sure just what it meant, or how it made him feel. Indeed, he had already tossed it in his waste-basket three times, only to find himself fishing it back out again a few hours later.

At a loss regarding how he could resolve his confusion, he had actually walked into his Masters’ room twice; leaving on both occasions after having asked his Father a completely unrelated question instead. That had given him much more food for thought. In the end, he had put it down to not wanting to bother his Sensei with such a trivial matter; one that he should have the maturity and fortitude to deal with on his own.

Still, it was clear he needed some form of advice regarding how to deal with the situation. So, he decided to go to the source of the problem. Tausha had been careful to avoid being caught alone with him, and had made an obvious effort to keep in his good books since New Years’ Day. That didn’t surprise Leo one bit, though it seemed to put Raphs’ nose out of joint a little. Raph and Tau were now spending some time apart after having a little disagreement over an insult his hot-headed brother had thrown Leos’ way on their ride home from her work.

Hesitantly, Leo knocked lightly on her bedroom door. She opened it a few moments later to greet him with a defiant glare, staunch hand on her hip and a devilish smile. Realising who was actually at her door, she immediately dropped the attitude and started to fluster.
“S… sorry! I thought you were… Um, wha… what d’you want?” she enquired nervously.
“Can I come in?” asked Leo.
“Uh, yeah? Yeah, sure… if you want…” she stepped back to invite him in with a sweep of her hand.

He waited silently just inside the doorway as she busied herself; collecting the book she had been reading off her bed to put it away in her bedside table drawer, then fussing for a moment with straightening her slightly rumpled blankets. She jumped as she heard her door click shut, her face going a shade paler as she spotted the letter now in his hands.
“Um, Leo? I… I c’n explain…” she started anxiously.
“I’m not mad at you.” he stated levelly, keeping his face straight, though he felt as shocked at his own admission as she looked.
“Oh? Oh! Well that’s, um, good to know…” she nodded, rubbing the back of her neck before she timidly met his eyes again.

“I just want to know; why?” he answered the tacit query in her eyes, his calm tone unwavering.
“Uh, yeah, I s’pose you would. Fair enough! I actually thought she wasn’t gonna reply, I wrote to her quite a while ago now…”
“I know; she included a copy of your letter for my reference.” Leo interceded evenly. “You wrote to her back in the middle of November. Why?”

With a sigh, Tau sat on the edge of her bed. Apart from her bedside table it was the only piece of furniture in her room.
“I don’t know.” she lamented. “I suppose I wanted some way to… thank you. Return the favour, so to speak. After Raph and I had that big fight –you know, over the bug thing– I was kinda worried it was going to be the end of our friendship. But you helped us out; giving us a little space apart and with the advice you gave Raph. It gave us both a chance to take a breather, have a think and really sort out our troubles. And I guess I just wanted to give you a chance at a similar opportunity. I know now I should just keep my big nose out of other peoples’ relationships. I only make things worse. So, I am sorry if…” she petered out with a little shrug.

Leo walked over to take a seat on the edge of the mattress beside her.
“Does anybody else know about this?” he asked; a thread of unease in his voice.
“No. I snuck it in the post while I was out shopping with April. I wasn’t sure if she would write back at all, so I didn’t want to… I dunno, ‘spoil it’ if she didn’t.” explained Tau, polishing the bare stone floor with the toe of her boot.
“Has she written back to you?”
“No. Though I didn’t ask her to, and I didn’t really expect her to. I mean, what would we have to talk about, really?” she smiled sheepishly.

“Huh.” grunted Leo in bemused reply, shaking his head slightly. “I’m surprised she wrote to me! You were pretty obtuse in your letter.”
“Yeah, I kinda didn’t want to give away too many details. And I figured, if she couldn’t work out who I was referring to, I was on the wrong track anyway.” Tau shrugged again.
“I suppose I should thank you for that. Apart from our postal address you haven’t given anything away. Reading this…” he pointed to the copy of her original note, “…it doesn’t even seem as if you know us that well, let alone are living with us.”

“Hmm.” smiled Tau crookedly. “I know Dad isn’t making her life any easier lately, so I was a bit worried she might try to play him and me against each other a bit if she realised where I was. I mean, I don’t know her that well, but I don’t think she would. Still, being stuck in a cell most of the time… I was worried she might’ve wanted to take her frustrations out on someone else.”

They sat in silence for a minute as Leo contemplated her reasoning. It didn’t make an awful lot of sense to him. He wasn’t opposed to Raph and Tau being friends, only. But, ‘saving’ their relationship certainly hadn’t been his motivation when he’d tried to get them to spend some time apart.

“I still don’t understand why she wrote to me.” he admitted quietly. Tau chewed her lip for moment before she answered.
“Sometimes Leo, when all you have are enemies, the least of them is the closest thing you have to a friend. It’s a dark place to be, I know. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody! And I was very lucky that Raph and you guys helped me out of it fairly quickly. I hate to think how she has to cope with losing everything, so I suppose I did it to help her out too.” she quietly explained.

After pondering for another minute Leo nodded, thinking he was finally starting to understand.
“I’m just… Do you think… I should write back?” he asked tentatively. “I mean, she doesn’t ask me to, and… well, she’s been pretty blunt.”
“That’s up to you really. What did she say?” queried Tau. Leo held out a single page featuring a small section of kanji for her to take. “Um, I can’t read this.” she reminded him.
“Oh, sorry.” he sheepishly took the page back, clearing his throat nervously to gather the courage to read it out loud. It took a lot more nerve than he expected to keep his voice steady. “It says; ‘Hamato Leonardo. I want to make one thing irrevocably clear. I hate you. A mutual acquaintance has suggested you may benefit from obtaining my point of view on certain matters. I do not see how it will change anything. Sincerely, Oroku Karai.’”

“Wow. ‘Blunt’ is a bit of an understatement!” commented Tau softly. “What’s this down here?” she pointed out a notation in English below the main body of the letter.
“It seems to be some kind of Post Office Box. Her return address, I guess.” explained Leo.
“Oh, maybe it goes direct to Bayview, rather than through the whole prison admin system… or something.” she speculated.
“Or it could be a trap.” added Leo. Tau quirked a dubious eyebrow at him;
“For what, your letters?” she asked sardonically.
“A way to trace where we live, or get my fingerprints off the paper, or… I don’t know.” he replied, getting a little exasperated. Tau rested her hand on his arm.
“Or it could just be her return address, Leo.” she pointed out gently.

The uncertain turtle stared at the letter in his hand, as if he could somehow see through the paper to the truth behind it.
“So, what do I do now?” he finally asked.
“Well, she has gone out on a bit of a limb just writing to you. I think the least you can do is write back; even if it’s just to tell her your ‘acquaintance’ is an interfering idiot, and you’re never gonna write to her again!” suggested Tau with a brief, self-effacing laugh. “But, seriously, it’s up to you. Whether you see it as an opportunity or a trap, I won’t try to change your mind or anything. Whatever happens between you two is your business. I’m stayin’ well out of it from now on!” she declared with certainty.
“‘Between us two’?” Leo picked out with a deep scowl. “You know that I don’t feel that way about her at all!”

Tau frowned back at him.
“That’s not what I meant; I thought you were friends once. I’m not about to assume it’s anything more than that, just because she’s a woman!” she reprimanded him lightly.
“Good.” nodded Leo. “So long as you understand that. And don’t think this is going to make me ease up on you and Raph becoming anything more either.” he warned. Tau fixed him with a cool glare.
“I wouldn’t expect it to. I do know you have more integrity than that, Leo.” she assured. “And so do I.” she added, haughtily turning her nose in the air.
“Alright.” he acquiesced shortly. “Then this is the end of the matter. I doubt I’ll write back. What’s the point of trying to settle our differences now anyway?”

The loud banging of a fist on wood cut off Taushas’ reply. With a sigh she gave Leo a brief, consolatory pat on the shoulder as she stood to go answer the door. Opening it, Raph was stood there with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Before she could say a word he gave a loud ‘Hmpf’.
“Look Tau.” he said sternly. “I’ll ‘pologise to you, ‘k? But there’s no-way in hell I’m gonna say sorry to… You!” he growled, spotting Leo past her shoulder as his brother got to his feet.

“Uh, Raph, wait…” Tau tried unsuccessfully to stop the hot-head from barging into her room.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” he demanded of his brother.
“Just talking, Raph.” answered Leo levelly, his letter safely hidden from sight in his belt pocket.
“Talking? Talking ‘bout what?” before his brother could answer his brusque questions Raph turned and gripped Tau by the top of her arms. “Are you ok?” he asked in sudden concern. “He hasn’t upset you; has he?”

Tau gave him a warm smile as she shook her head.
“I’m fine!” she assured, resting her hands on the top edge of his plastron to calm him. “It’s nothing for you to worry about, really.”
“Dinner!” echoed Mikes’ voice from below. Despite Taus’ assertions, Raph still turned his head to glower at Leo as his brother walked past them to head downstairs. As soon as Leo was out of sight, he tried to face her again to get the real story of what was going on; only to find his attempt hindered by her pulling him close to press three quick, warm kisses along the side of his jaw.

“What’s that for?” he asked, pleasantly surprised at her being so forward. Tau responded by wrapping her arms loosely around his neck and murmuring in his ear,
“I just realised; the only good thing about fighting is… making-up afterwards.” she explained with a mischievous note in her voice.
“I’m down with that!” he agreed, giving a low chuckle. He quickly trailed small nips and kisses of his own along her jaw-line towards her chin, turning her face towards him with a gentle hand on her cheek.
“No. ‘Friends’ remember?” she breathed, as his lips brushed close to hers; tilting her head away slightly to evade him, not enough to break the touch of his mouth on her cheek.

“HOY! I said ‘Dinner’!” interrupted Mikes’ raised voice again. The two of them stepped apart; Raph with a grimace, Tau with a resigned sigh. Just as they’d anticipated, Leo peered back in through the doorway to see what was keeping them.