TMNT: My Girl

Authoress' Notes: Okay, three out of four reveiwers for my other TMNT story "Chemistry" asked that I continue with it, so here's another cute-ish one-shot for you all.

Summary: Sequel to "Chemistry"; but you don't necessarily need to read that to understand this. It's that time of year again; love is in the air! This is just a pointless, fluffy one-shot featuring Donny and his girlfriend.

Disclaimer: Nope, unfortunately I don't own Raph, Donny, Mikey, Leo, Splinter, Casey, April or any familiar characters; I think Mirage Studios does now, but I'm not quite sure... I do, howeva, lay claim on Kathy Jones, so no using her without my permission!

A Moment Like This...

"Hunnies, I'm home!" A girl called as she entered the lair, laden with bags. "Mike! Watch it, ya goof!" She yelped as the orange turtle launched himself at her.

"Presents!" He cheered.

"Uh, a little help would be nice!" The girl shrieked as she played "Keep the breakables away from the insanely perky turtle". As she dashed past him, her longish chestnut brown hair streamed out behind her. "Mike! Careful, some of this stuff is breakable; especially Raph's new CD player!"

"You ain't goin' nowhere near Kathy, then, Mike! There ain't no way I'm gonna let you break my new CD player!" Raph growled as he grabbed his brother in a headlock, effectively stopping Mikey from making further advances.

"Thanks, Raph," the girl, Katherine "Kathy" Jones, Casey's now eighteen year old cousin and ward, and Donny's girlfriend, grinned at him as she set the bags she held on the floor near the couch. "This one's your bag, this is Mike's, Leo's, Splinter's and... where's Donny?" She looked around for her boyfriend as she handed Leo, who had just walked into the room, his bag as Raph released Mikey and they both grab their seperate bags.

"He is in his lab, my child," Splinter smiled as he entered the room.

"Thanks, Splinter," Kathy smiled as she handed him his designated bag. "Here, I picked this up for you; even though Valentines Day isn't until next week, I thought I would give you guys your presents early," her Southern accent made the words float smoothly out of her mouth.

"Thank you, my child," Splinter chuckled. "Why don't you go see Donnatello? I believe that he is waiting for you."

She blushed, "I will." She waved as she walked towards her boyfriend's lab, "I'll talk to ya all lata, 'kay?"

"Later, babe!" Mikey called, blowing her a kiss, causing her to laugh.

Kathy, holding the bag that contained her boyfriend's gifts, knocked lightly on Donny's lab door. "Go away, Leo!" He shouted, and she was shocked to hear the anger that vibrated in his voice; Donny was the only one of the turtles who never got mad.

"Don? It's me, handsome," she called softly.

"Kath?" Donny opened the door and smiled slightly at his girlfriend. "I thought you were Leo; sorry."

Kathy saw the sadness, hurt and anger that churned in his chocolate orbs and her heart went out to him. She gently took his arm and steered him silently through the hallway, shutting the door to the lab as she did so. She was determined to help him in any way she could and she moved her grip to his hand and gave it a soft squeeze. He looked down at her, he was at least an inch taller than she, and squeezed her hand back; this was his way of telling her that he loved her, no matter what.

She smiled lovingly up at him and, still holding his hand, led him to his room where she closed the door and sat him down on his bed, placing the bag on the floor. She turned to him, sitting with one of her legs curled up underneath her, "What's bothering you, Don?" She still held his hand and squeezed it to get his attention.

"Kath, I..." he trailed off, not wanting to tell her what had transpired between him and his eldest brother earlier that day.

"Please, handsome, tell me; I only want to help you..." her hazel eyes glittered with hope, sincerity, conviction and, most of all, love.

"Leo and I got into a fight today," Donny confessed, knowing that he couldn't keep it from her.

"What about?"

"You," he said truthfully.

"Me?" She was taken aback by this revelation.

"Yeah," he cleared his throat. "Leo doesn't think we should be together... and, maybe, he's right."

"What? Why?" She was hurt by this and it showed in her expressive eyes. His heart nearly broke when the tears sprung to her eyes.

Donny wrapped her in his arms and cradled her to his plastron, stroking her hair, "I love you with every fiber of what I am, Kath, but, let's face it, you're in enough danger just by being friends with us; you don't need the extra danger that comes with being romantically involved with one of us."

"I need you," Kathy protested, curling up against him. "Donny, I love you."

"You don't need a freak like me," he said sadly.

"You're not a freak, Donnatello!" Her voice rose a few octaves in her hysteria, but she brought it back down to a whisper, "And I do need you; you're my heart, mind, body, and soul, Don. I can't... I won't live without you," she brought her face close to his and slowly pressed her lips to his in a kiss that conveyed her feelings better than words ever could.

When they pulled back, his face was indecisive, "But what if you get hurt? I'd never be able to forgive myself if you were to be hurt because you're my girl." His chocolate eyes were filled with fear that she might be hurt because of her relationship with him.

She cupped one of his cheeks in her small, delicate hand and lightly stroked her thumb over it, "Than protect me," she said simply.

"Always," he smiled, knowing at that moment he'd never be able to leave this woman for the rest of his days; she was his other half and he'd protect her with his dying breath. "Are you still my girl, beautiful?"

She smiled as they leant in for another kiss, "Until my dying day," she vowed before he captured her lips with his own in a heatedly passionate kiss.

They just laid there, kissing and snuggling until Donny, exhasted from being up all night in his lab tinkering with his inventions, fell asleep with his head laid on her lap. She was leant against the wall beside his bed, playing with the tails of his purple bandana as she watched him sleep. She became bemused when he snuggled closer to her when she stopped playing with his tails to glance around his room in amazement at all of the inventions that cluttered his room. She giggled lightly before she continued her previous activity of playing with the tails of his bandana and he settled down. She smiled fondly down at his slumbering form as she basked in the warmth he brought into her heart with just one of his shy smiles. Leo just doesn't understand, she thought to herself. Leo was the only one out of the four brothers who she didn't always get along with; they had a difference of opinion quite regularly. He felt that the less people who knew about them, the better off they would be; and he believed that the people who did know about them shouldn't get too close, especially since they were on the new "Shredder", Karai's, hit list. I think he's just sour because his "relationship" with her didn't turn out as he would have liked, she mused silently. He doesn't want any of his brothers to go through the heart ache and betrayal he did, she realized suddenly. She glanced down at Donny and felt an ache in her chest when she thought about life without him, now that she knew what it was like with him. She knew than and there that she couldn't leave him, even if her life depended on it; she was in love with him and she knew that nothing could change that. It feels like that's how it's always been, she said to herself thoughtfully. It's just... natural.

At that moment, a cautious knock came at Donny's closed bedroom door and she recognized it as Leo's. Carefully, she slid out from underneath his head and quietly tiptoed to the door. Silently, she opened it and stepped into the hallway and closed it behind her. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared up into Leo's serious blue eyes with her own sparking hazel. "Yes, Leo?" She asked a lot more calmly than she felt.

"I need to talk to my brother, Kathy," Leo replied, putting as much authority in his voice as he could.

"Sorry, Leo," Kathy shook her head defiantly as she stood her ground. "He's asleep and, besides, I'm not going to let you put fear and doubt into his head like you tried earlier today." When she saw the surprise etched accross his face she confirmed, "Yeah, he told me, Leonardo. And, quite frankly, you should be ashamed. You had absolutely no right to say those things to him. I bet neither of you told Splinter, because you know as well as I do how he would react, I'm sure. I know he didn't tell because he didn't want you to be punished for such harsh words, not to mention poor judgement." She raised her left eyebrow, daring him to contradict her words.

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt my brothers and if it means that Donny's going to be a little mad at me, than fine," Leo stated strongly.

"Not all of us are like Karai is, Leonardo," she replied quietly. "I love your brother with everything in me; I would never hurt him willingly. And as for me being in danger due to my relationship with him? That may be true, but I'm willing to take the risk; besides, Life as a whole is dangerous especially here in New York." As she spoke, she held his gaze stubbornly. "And, I know I'm not perfect, but noone is; not even you no matter how much you would like to think. We all have our faults; but we all also have our good points, too. I just wish you would realize that it's okay to lean on someone else every once in a while instead of being a stoic."

"You may be right, Kathy, but just the same..." He trailed off when he saw the fire begin to burn in her gaze.

"There is no "may be", Leonardo," she contradicted. "It's their lives; you won't always be there to hold their hands through everything that's thrown their way. Mistakes are a natural part of Life; and so is love. No matter what you may believe, Leo, love is a huge part of what makes us who we are. You can't help who you love; love chooses us, not the other way around. If you accept that, than you will have learnt one of the most important lessons of all. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a boyfriend waiting for me," she smiled slightly up at him before, not letting him get in a word, she quickly re-entered her boyfriend's room and closed the door quietly behind her.

"Hey," Donny spoke up from where he was still laid on his bed.

"Hope I didn't wake you, handsome," she smiled as he stood up and gathered her into his arms.

He shook his head, kissing her quickly on the lips, "No, you didn't, Kath. Besides, you know how light of a sleeper I am." He smiled when he remembered all the times that she slept over because Casey decided he wanted to have some "serious alone time" with April, his fiance, since they became a couple. They would sleep in the same bed, but do nothing but kiss gently and cuddle.

"I love you, Donny," Kathy sighed contentedly as he led her back to his bed and sat down, letting her plop onto his lap.

He smiled into her neck as he nuzzled it, kissing gently; this sent delightful shivers down her spine. "I love you, too, Kathy; forgive me?"

She turned around so that warm hazel met intelligent chocolate and said sincerly, "There's nothing to forgive, Don. You made a tough decision, and I'm very proud of you for it. No matter what, Donny, I will always be here for you. Even if, for some reason, we break up, I will always be the one you can lean on and confide in. You know that, don't you?"

He nodded seriously. "I know," he murmured softly, his breath tickling her ear. "The same goes for me."

"I knew there was a reason I loved you," she smiled fondly as his hands played with her hair.

"I thought you only loved me for my genius and superior intellect?" He asked, feigning surprise.

"Oh, yes, Donnatello, I love you only for your brain," she returned sarcastically, causing him to laugh. "Just like you only love me for my hair; which, for some odd reason, you enjoy playing with."

"It's like silk," he protested playfully as he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her in for a searing kiss.

Much later, Kathy lay gently snoozing with her head laying on her boyfriend's plastron, her hair splayed about like a waterfall accross her "pillow". The sheet was accross them, hiding them from the world. Donny smiled lovingly down at her, kissing the crown of her head as he settled down and drifted off to sleep himself with her snuggled against him in his embrace, watching her chest move up and down underneath the blanket as he basked in the purity that their love was made of. My girl...

End... for now.

Authoress' Notes: Hey, everyone, I know that this is a little late for Valentines Day, but I decided to post it anyway. It has a bit more of a serious undertone than I had originally planned, but I think it goes well with the story. To me, Leo would be the one more likely to oppose a relationship of the romantic kind, due to the failed one with Karai. I also have no clue how old they are in the new cartoon series, but during this they're a little over eighteen (Kathy's age), but nearly nineteen.

Let me know if you guys want me to do a story detailing how they met Kathy, or whatever. If you give me an idea for what you want to read, than I'll run with it and see where it leads. As it is, I'm thinking about doing a few more one-shots, connected like this and "Chemistry" is, with minor plot lines; mainly plenty of fluff.

As always, R&R, people. Good, bad, in-between... it don't matter to me. I love the three C's: Comment, Compliment and Critisism.

Kowabunga,

Laura a.k.a. uncutetomboy