A/N: This is the follow on from 'Cells and Serpents'. I'm hoping each of these 'Tausha Tales' will be able to stand on their own, though I won't go into a lot of detail about events in previous stories unless it is pivotal to the current story. Thanks heaps to CPQ for beta-reading this for me!

Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT, or any related characters (much to their relief, I'm sure!) If there is anything else in this story you recognise from somewhere else, then I don't own that either.

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

He loved October. Not too hot, not too cold and it had two of his favourite days of the year! Of course he had to wait till the end of the month for Halloween. But how could his brothers sleep in today? Well, ok, they weren't technically sleeping in yet… it wasn't quite five am. But there was so much to do!

He looked up at the light groan from the door to see Tausha wander in, rubbing her eyes.
"Rough night?"
"Talk later. First, caffeine." she waved his query aside, with a weak smile, as she shuffled past.
"Tch. Ya gotta tell Raph to let you sleep a little at least!" he teased. 'Clonk.' Tausha plonked a mug heavily on the bench, giving him a serious look.
"No, Mike." she reprimanded sternly, her tone softening a little as she continued "I've already told you. We're friends, nothing more."
"Uh-huh." That earned him a dark warning glare.
"I've just been havin'… vivid dreams." she murmured, practically to herself. Mike looked up from the mixing bowl in the crook of his arm to give her a wry sidelong grin.
"Ya know if you actually came to my room, instead of just dreamin' about it, I'd guarantee you'd still be tired. But you'd be a lot happier for it."
"Uh-huh." she sarcastically threw back at him.

Putting the bowl back on the bench his smile grew even wider as he noticed her paused in the act of digging out sugar to give a huge yawn. He decided to help her out, stepping over to wrap his arms over hers. He gripped her hand with the spoon, moving it to dump the powder in her mug.
"Uh…?"
"I've been thinkin', babe. We should run away together. Somewhere nice, like Fiji! We may not have much money, but I'm sure I could scrape together enough for a bikini and bottle of tequila." Despite his massive cheeky grin he still tensed in anticipation of an elbow to the gut. To his surprise she lightly rested her head back on his shoulder, gently twisting her hand free to drop the spoon in her mug and reach up to caress her fingertips up his other cheek.
"Mikey…" she breathed as she reached his bandana.
"Yeah?" he whispered, suddenly feeling very nervous.
"I hate tequila."
"OW!" he leapt back, shaking his head in response to her flicking him soundly directly over his ear.

He shot her a doleful look as she giggled at him nursing the right side of his head, almost over-filling her cup with steaming water.
"That was a rotten thing to do to a guy on his birthday!" he pouted. Her smug grin didn't waver as she rolled her eyes.
"What d'ya want me to do, kiss it better?" Tausha sighed in resignation as his face lit up in hope. Shaking her head she stepped up to brush a kiss so light he barely felt it by his offended ear.
"Happy Birthday, Mikey!" she lilted over her shoulder, grabbing her mug to prance out of the kitchen.

A few minutes later Tausha was stood in front of the TVs, watching the early morning news broadcasts. She'd never been a big follower of current affairs before. However, lately she tried to catch bulletins when she could; partly for any news relating to her father, but mainly for the rare little snippets from home. She grimaced slightly as she sipped her brew. The coffee was doing its job, but it had never been a favourite.

She started as an arm wrapped about her waist.
"Hey." said Raph, resting his chin on her shoulder, effectively dominating the serpent depicted there.
"Hey." Tausha happily sighed back; covering his hand with her own as it rested against the flat of her tummy. She took another sip.
"Coffee; nightmares?" he asked in gentle concern.
"Mm-mm." she shook her head a little, forcing herself to swallow "No… not really…" Before Raph could ask anything further, like why she coloured slightly, Leo interrupted.
"Anything interesting happening in the world?" he asked, arms crossed as he stood next to them, staring fixedly at the screens.
"Nah." came the joint reply.

Don couldn't help a smile at the tableau as he approached. He waited until the report on the Middle-east was wrapped up before he broke the silence.
"Morning!"
"Good morning."
"G'day."
"Yo."
"Where's Mikey? Thought he'd be up by now..." Don enquired.
"He is; he's in the kitchen. Making cake, I think." explained Tausha. Leo and Don shared a pained look.
"We'd better get some breakfast, before the place is a complete disaster zone." warned Leo, leading the way.
"Yeah. If he thinks I'm cleaning up after him again this year, he'd better think again!" added Don, following his brother.

Raph buried his face against the back of Taushas' shoulder with a groan.
"S'pose we'd better make a move too." he muttered, not lifting his head until she shifted; turning in the circle of his arm to face him. Resting her free hand on his shoulder, she glanced quickly towards the kitchen door his brothers had just disappeared through before she surprised him; leaning in to press a tender kiss to his cheek.
"Happy Birthday." she smiled timidly. Feeling her warm against him, her thumb ever-so-slightly caressing the crook of his neck Raph couldn't think of a thing to say. He did, however, find himself half-heartedly fighting the urge to test a little loop hole he'd thought of. After all, he'd only promised never to ask her for another kiss. How annoyed would she be if he just… acted?

'Shoop.' In an automatic response they stepped apart slightly, though Raphs' hand still rested on her opposite hip as she now stood beside him, taking another drink.
"Ah. Good morning." beamed Splinter, closing the door to his room behind him.
"Yeah. Mornin' Sensei." grumbled Raph.
"G'day." Tausha smiled.
"My son." Splinter queried, a look of concern clouding his face "Is there something wrong?" Shuffling slightly Raph answered,
"No." his Fathers' sceptical look banishing any thought of trying to get away without some kind of explanation "Not really. It's just that, um, Mike's already started wreckin' the kitchen. So, ah, we'd better grab some breakfast before we risk gettin' stuck to the floor in there. Yeah." With that he made a hasty retreat to join his brothers. With a small wry smile Splinter watched his son disappear, turning back to catch a slightly disgruntled look on the girls' face before it vanished into a smile again.
"Hmm, I would say that is a wise course of action." Splinter agreed with his departed son.

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

Don was sat at the computer by the TVs, hunting down the last few mp3s requested by his brothers, and making a final check of his lighting program for tonight. Raph was in with Master Splinter, getting his present. It was a tradition they had started years ago. With their meagre funds dedicated to keeping them fed during their early years, instead of giving them gifts Splinter wrote each of them a letter. On their birthday they each got to spend some time alone with their Father, going over the contents of their own note. It may not have sounded like much, but Don knew all of his brothers' had kept each and every page they'd received over the years hidden somewhere private, just as he did.

He was particularly eager for his turn this year. The racket from the kitchen was making the wait seem interminable. Despite the radio being turned up to full volume, Mike and Tausha were still managing to drown it out.
"At least Tau can hold a tune." he tried to console himself "Almost." He winced as neither of them made the high note of the song. He was starting to wish he'd joined Leo on a check of their security systems in the surrounding tunnels.

To Dons' great relief Tausha walked out of the kitchen a few minutes later, blowing a raspberry over her shoulder before making a brief run for it, laughing all the way.
"And stay out yer varmint!" Mike yelled, shaking a spatula at her from the doorway before disappearing back inside. Still giggling Tausha made her way over lean on the back of Dons' chair.
"You've been evicted, huh?" Don grinned up at her.
"Hehe, yeah. Apparently not even I'm allowed to see his masterpiece before his 'grand unveiling'!" They shared a laugh before an easy quiet descended.

"Hey. Can I ask you something?" Tausha tentatively broke the peace.
"Yeah, sure." Don shrugged, not looking up from the monitor.
"Um, I've been thinking… How do you guys actually know who old you are?" Don shrugged again.
"We don't. I actually suspect we may be up to a couple of years older than we originally guessed; going on what I've researched about hatchling growth rates and what Master Splinter remembers of us before we mutated."
"Oh. So how did you figure today was your birthday?"
"Heh! That was Mikey's doing in a way. Once he discovered what a birthday was he drove us all mental pestering to know when we were gonna celebrate ours. We were still really young at the time, and he just wouldn't accept that no-body knew. So, in the end Splinter showed us the coffee can he'd kept us in when he first found us, trying to explain what had happened. The newspaper that Splinter had torn up to keep us warm was still inside, and Mikey dragged a piece out that had the date the paper was published on it; October third. I think Splinter thought it would just be easier to capitulate than continue trying to explain the truth. Mikey was pretty stubborn, even back then! So that became our 'birth date', and we've celebrated it ever since."

"Wow." Tausha exclaimed softly "You know, I still have trouble picturing you guys as 'normal' little turtles. I know Raph doesn't, but do you… ever regret it? Getting changed, I mean." She stepped back as Don swivelled his chair about to face her.
"Heck no." he stated definitively "I don't think any of us do. Maybe, if we'd been caught from the wild or something, but I know we all used to have nightmares about being trapped in a little glass bowl."
"Sorry." Tausha murmured. Don smiled again.
"Don't be. It wasn't your doing. Besides, I don't think it really fazed us that much until we gained the intellect to interpret the memories and understand the concept of what we had been through. Bit of a Catch 22 really." he rubbed the back of his head with a diffident grin, Tausha returning it.
"Well, I know it hasn't been easy for you all, but I'm glad you became what you are." Don smiled wider, his response curtailed by Splinters' door sliding open.

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

"Hey April, let me give you a hand with all that!" Leo offered, dropping the cord he was supposed to be passing up to Don to race over to the elevator. His brothers quickly joined in helping cart the large number of bags and boxes April had been balancing over to the table.
"Thanks guys! Here's all the paper plates, and other stuff you asked me for."
"What's in here?" Mike asked excitedly, peering into a plastic bag containing a couple of large bundles wrapped in bright paper. Almost catching his beak as she snatched the bag closed April laughed,
"Your presents of course!" she ignored his heart wrenching puppy dog look to continue "And you can just wait till Casey gets here to open them."
"Awww."

"Where is Case?" asked Raph, looking around for his friend.
"He's coming along later. I'm not too sure what he's up to, he just muttered something about 'upholding a tradition' before he left this morning. He did say he'd be here before the party started though." April shrugged "Doesn't matter, gives us a bit of time to get changed and ready, hey?" she grinned at Tausha.
"Uh, yeah." Tausha agreed, a little hesitantly. April grabbed up a carpet bag, a long cardboard box and her hand bag.
"You are going to let me try that thing with your hair aren't you? Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Heh, don't look at me like that! I promise this won't hurt a bit, ok? Have you got your dress ready to go?" Even with all her luggage April somehow managed to wrap an arm about the girls' shoulders, guiding her towards the bathroom.
"Uh-huh. It's hung up in there already." Despite her agreement to the impending treatment Tausha still looked back at Raph, a clear request for a rescue in her eyes. All she got in return was a huge cheeky grin and a wave goodbye. She shot him back a look coolly expressing her 'thanks', along with a poke of her tongue before the door closed behind her.

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

"Wow, that looks great, if I do say so myself!" April exclaimed, turning Tausha to and fro in front of the mirror to examine the French roll in her hair "Thanks for letting me try it out on you. With a bit of luck I'm hoping to have mine long enough to do something like that for… well… special occasions."

Tausha smiled timidly at her reflection for a moment, surprised herself at how sophisticated the hair-do and dress made her look. She hoped it wouldn't give any of the Turtles friends she hadn't met before today the wrong first impression of her! After a moment it clicked that April may have been referring to a specific event.
"Anything coming up soon?" she probed gently. April sighed.
"Probably not. I hate to admit it, but Casey was right about us not having the money to cover a wedding for a while. But it's ok; I still don't think I would have been happy paying for it with Huns' money. It just wouldn't seem right. And I really wasn't expecting Casey to be thinking along those lines already. I mean, I doubt he's even bothered looking for an engagement ring. It's not like he's actually asked me or anything yet!" They shared a brief, commiserate smile.

"I am sorry you didn't get the money though." Tausha offered. April laughed as she started pulling an impressive collection of make-up from her carpet bag and dumping it on the cabinet.
"Don't be. Besides, it would have been a big help for you too. How are you going with saving for your trip home?" she asked, cupping Taushas' chin and giving her face a critical look over before searching through the pile of cosmetics.
"Augh, not great." Tausha admitted "The guys already recycle pretty much everything they can anyway, so we haven't made much more than they normally would to get by on. Splinter's putting aside what he thinks they can spare though."

"Hmmm, I think this shade will suit you." April murmured absently, getting Tausha to sit in front of the mirror again so she could apply the colour to the girls' face as she continued "So how much have you saved so far?" Tausha tried to answer between pulling odd faces at Aprils' direction.
"Splinter's only put aside $30.00 so far. He wants to be cautious about their savings, especially now they've got me to feed as well. He only wants to put aside what he's sure they can spare, because he doesn't want to have to draw on it; though he will if he feels the need to."
"Oh, that isn't a lot. It's only been a couple of weeks though, so it should get better. Do you want me to cash in that necklace you gave me for safekeeping?" queried April.
"Nah. I'd rather you keep it, in case the guys do ever need it. I haven't told Splinter about it. I tried to give him the money from the first two, but he insisted I keep it for myself, in lieu of getting any pocket money or anything. So I'm gonna save as much of that as I can too. And there's still the other two I've got, so I suppose I am part of the way there already. I was thinking of keeping those till I got back home though. At least I can change them for Aussie currency when I get there without having to worry about exchange commissions eating into it."

"There!" April announced with a flourish "All done, what do you think?"
"Whoa…" Tausha whispered at the reflection she barely recognised.
"Do you like it?" prompted April.
"Uh, yeah; feels funny though." Tausha just stopped herself from rubbing her cheek, afraid she'd ruin Aprils' work.
"Heh. I guess it does when you're not used to it. But don't worry, as soon as you discover boys you get used this stuff pretty quickly!" Turning to hunt through the pile of make up to select the ones she was going to use on herself April missed Tausha eyeing herself with dubious resignation in the mirror. It wasn't that she didn't look pretty; she just didn't look like herself.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Here's that scarf you wanted." April pulled the material out of her bag.
"Great, thanks!" Tausha smiled, wrapping the light grey fabric around her shoulders, tying it loosely in the front.
"I really don't think you need it though, that dress looks better without it." appraised April.
"Heh, yeah, I guess it does. But I'm just a bit nervous about how some might react, and I'm sure the guys don't want a huge reminder of one of their enemies on show all night."
"What do you mean 'how some might react'?" asked April, not looking away from the mirror as she applied her eye liner.
"Well, you know, like Casey did." Tausha mumbled.
"Oh. This probably sounds rotten coming from me, but honestly Casey is probably one of the weirdest guys the boys hang out with. If you can survive meeting him, you'll be fine coping with anyone else they can throw at ya!"

They shared a giggle for a moment.
"I suppose you're right. How many other big, volatile guys do they know, huh?" Tausha asked rhetorically.
"Not that many, unless you count Leatherhead, of course!" answered April with a grin. Her expression dimming a little as she realised Tausha didn't get the joke.
"They have told you about Leatherhead, haven't they?" April asked.
"Yeah. Raph said he was a cousin of theirs, or something like that…"

Putting the finishing touches on the decorations and other preparations around the lair the four turtles and Splinter all turned in surprise at the holler sounding from the bathroom.
"He's a WHAT!"