Ashamed of who he was, Raphael refused to even look at a mirror so he wouldn't be able to see what he is. His brothers tried everything they could to help him, but he always pushed them away. They realized that the only one who could would have to show him kindness. But they didn't know anyone like that. Until, a young girl named Hailey was walking home from the book store. Hailey was a beautiful teenage girl, full of kindness and compassion for everyone. She had long dark brown hair, hazel eyes and pale skin. She was wearing a sky blue vintage sweetheart neckline dress, a white sweater, blue stud earrings, a necklace that said "just one more chapter" black flats, and her hair in a ponytail with a blue bow. She was always singing, she graduated high school at a young age, she was always there for those in need and never asked for anything in return. But there was one thing she didn't have. A friend. It's what she has always wanted, but everyone in the city thought of her as a beauty, but different. But that never bothered her. One day, Hailey was out for a walk when she tripped and her locket flew off and fell into the sewer grate. She tried to catch it but it was too late. She went home and started to cry. That was the only thing that she had to keep her parents close to her. Late that night, she went back to where she lost it. She turned on her flashlight and saw something shining down in the sewer. It was her locket. She stuck her hand through and tried to grab it, but she couldn't reach it.
Down in the sewer, Raphael was walking through when he saw her hand. "Need some help?" He asked. Hailey quickly took her hand out. "Hello? Whose there?" She asked. "Someone who cares about the city. What are you doing sticking your hand in there?" Raph asked. "Um, I was going to ask you what your doing down there, but you asked first. My locket fell down there earlier today. It means a lot to me." She said. Raph look down, saw it, and picked it up. "You mean this?" Raph asked. She looked through. "Yes. That's it. Can I have it back please?" She asked, very sweetly. "I will, but you have to promise not to tell anyone about me." Raph said. "You have my word." She said. "Done." Raph said, handing it to her. "Thank you." She said, still holding onto his hand. "Don't take this the wrong way, but what are you?" She asked. "I'm a turtle. My name is Raphael." He said. "Your a turtle? That is amazing. My name is Hailey." She said. "Hailey. That's a beautiful name." He said. "Aw thank you. Your very sweet. Um do you think I could get a better view of you?" She asked. Raphael knew he wasn't supposed to come out and show himself, but based on how sweet she was to him, he thought she could be trusted. Besides, it would only be for a few minutes. "Meet me in the alley across from you." He said. "Ok." She said, getting up. She walked to the alley. The sewer lid opened up and out he came. "Wow. Amazing. You must be one of the vigilantes of Brooklyn." She said. "That's me." He said. "Well, for that I say thank you for protecting New York. And thank you for giving me my locket." She said. She walked up and hugged him. Raph was surprised at first. "Well, I'd better get home. I hope to see you again, Raphael." She said. Hailey climbed up the fire escape into her apartment. Raphael watched her and when she went inside, he went down into the sewers. He told his brothers about her. "A human saw you?! Are you crazy?!" Leo said. "Leo, calm down. If she promised not to say anything and she didn't scream when she saw him, then she can be trusted." Donnie said. "Dude, maybe she likes you." Mikey said. "Pfft. I doubt it. She's nice in all, but I doubt she likes me." Raph said. That night, he hid in the alley across the street and saw Hailey, brushing her long wavy hair through the window. He noticed how pretty she looked. He decided to try and see her again the next day.
The next night, Hailey was up on the roofs, wearing glasses, reading. Little did she know, Raphael was watching her from the water tower. She began singing the words from her book. Raphael tried to get in closer to hear her, but he slipped and fell right in front of her. "Oh my. Are you alright?" Hailey asked, helping him up. "Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks." Raphael huffed. "I'm guessing you told your friends about me." He said. "Actually, no. You told me to keep a secret so I did what you asked me to do. I kept a promise and I never break a promise. Besides, I don't have any friends." She said. Raphael looked at her in shock. "None?" He said. "None. Everyone thinks I'm different. I'm even kind to those who don't deserve it and they believe I'm crazy for doing that. But I still continue it no matter what anyone thinks. I still have my parents with me at least, so I'm not completely alone." She said, holding onto her locket. "Can I see them?" Raphael asked. Hailey smiled and nodded. She opened her locket. Inside was a picture of her mother and one of her father. "Wow. Their a beautiful couple." Raphael said. Hailey closed it. "They died on the subway. I pray to them everyday. I just wish I could hear their voices. Just one last time." She said, tearing up. "I'm really sorry." Raphael said. Hailey wiped away her tears. "It's ok. It wasn't your fault." She said. "Hailey, look. Your a nice girl in all and I trust you, but I must ask you not to go down in the sewers." He said. "Is that where you live?" She asked. "Yeah." He said. "Alright. I promise." She said. "Thank you." He said. "So, what are you reading?" "Oh it's a song book I got at the book store. Would you like to read it?" She said. "I'd love to but I can't." Raph said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, why not?" Hailey asked. Raph looked away. "Because...I can't read." He said. "Go ahead. Laugh at me." Hailey walked up closer to him. "I'd be happy to teach you how to read." She said. Raph looked at her. "Really?" He asked. She nodded. For the past week, Hailey has been teaching Raph how to read so many different books. Her building had a whole floor made into a library. They went there everyday, reading so many books.
A few days later, Hailey was coming home from the market. Right when she stepped off of her motorcycle, she fell down into the sewers. The sewer lid was off and she didn't even notice. She was just about to climb up, when she saw a light. She was about to go towards it, but then Raphael was right behind her. "Why did you come here?" He asked.
"I just slipped down..."
"I told you never to come here."
"I'm sorry, I didn't..."
"Do you realize what you are doing?! Get out!"
Hailey ran out of the sewers, leaving Raphael. He then realized what he just did. He scared away a girl who wasn't afraid of him. Suddenly, his brothers came. "Raph, what happened?" Leo asked. "I yelled at her. I scared her off. She probably hates me now." Raph said. "The girl you were talking about?" Mikey asked. "Raph, relax. She probably feels that you need to calm down." Donnie said. "It's no use. She's so beautiful and I'm...well look at me!" Raphael said. "Dude we are all the same. Go after her." Mikey said. "You're right." Raph said. He quickly ran after her. Hailey was on the other side of the city. She suddenly ran into the foot. They saw her and attacked her. She took her purse and started swinging it at them. She hit a few in the head, but one took it out of her hands, and pushed her on the ground. He had his gun at her head. She was scared. But before he could shoot her, Raph jumped in and beat them all down. He was suddenly shot in the arm, but he pushed through. The foot retreated. Raph suddenly passed out. Hailey helped him to her home. She got some hot water and a towel. Raph sat down, holding his wound. "Here now. I need you to hold still." Hailey said. When she touched his wound with the towel, Raph let out a shriek. "That hurts!" He said. "If you hold still, it wouldn't hurt as much." Hailey said, in a serious tone. "Well, if you hadn't ran towards the foot, this wouldn't of happened." Raph said. "If you hadn't scared me, I wouldn't have run away. And I didn't even know where the foot were." Hailey said. "Well, you shouldn't have gone down in the sewers!" He said. "Well, you should learn to control your temper." She said. "Now please hold still." She placed the towel on his wound. "By the way, thank you. For saving my life." She said. Raph looked at her. "Your welcome." He said, smiling a little. He placed his hand on top of hers. "And I'm sorry for scaring you. I have an anger problem." He said. "Apology accepted." Hailey said, smiling. They soon became great friends.
Raph figured it was time to show Hailey the lair and meet his family. She dressed in something casual, but nice. She was a bit nervous. "What if they don't like me?" She asked. "They will love you. Your a great girl." Raph said. Hailey smiled. They started down to the lair. "Ok. This is when we meet Hailey. She is a very close person in Raph's life, so be nice, polite, and be yourselves." Leo said. "Leo, we get it." Donnie said. "Actually, I don't get it." Mikey said. Raph came in. "Guys, I'd like you meet Hailey." He said. Hailey stood right next to him. "Whoa. She's cute." Mikey said. "Hi, nice to finally meet you. I'm Leonardo. This is Donatello and Michaelangelo." Leo said. "Hello. I've heard so much about you guys. It's nice to finally meet you as well." Hailey said. They spent a few hours together. She spent about an hour with each of them separately. Leo was practicing his fighting skills. Hailey gave him a few pointers that he had no idea about. But he gave them a try and he improved his skills. Donnie was working on the turtle van. Hailey helped him with the wiring that he was unsure about. The van was as good as new. Mikey was practicing a skateboarding trick. Hailey taught him a trick to keep focus on his balance. He succeeded in his trick. They were all impressed by how much she knew. She told them about how she graduated early and about how she learned ninjutsu, and what she knew about different kinds of weapons. But later, it was time for Hailey to go home. "Well, I had a wonderful time. I'll see you guys later." She said, walking out. "Well, what do you think?" Raph asked. "She's one cool dudette. Raph, you seriously know how to pick them." Mikey said. "Yeah. She's terrific. Very smart." Donnie said. "And she is very considerate." Leo said. "Yeah. She's amazing." Raph said. "Raphie's in love. Raphie's in love." Mikey started singing. "Shut up, doofus! I'm not in love." Raph said. "You do seem to really like her." Donnie said. "Well, yeah I like her, but I don't like like her." Raph said. "Raphie and Hailey. Raphie and Hailey." Mikey sang. "Quit calling me in Raphie!" Raph said. But Mikey kept on singing. Raph started chasing him and then Hailey came back. "Sorry I forgot...What's going on?" She asked. "Typical fighting." Leo said. "I got this." She said. She walked up the them and pushed them apart. "That is enough. What is going on here?" She asked. "Raphie was going to kill me." Mikey said. "He kept calling me Raphie and he knows I hate that." Raph said. "Ok. Mikey, if Raph doesn't like that, please don't call him that. And Raph, you should say please don't call me that instead of clobbering him." Hailey said. "Sorry, bro." Mikey said. "I'm sorry too." Raph said. They hugged. "Wow. You are a miracle worker." Donnie said. "Violence only leads to more violence. I find that calm thinking and positive quotes helps with problems." Hailey said. "Oh, Hailey. Raph told us you like to sing. Do you want to help us with our hip hop Christmas album? We need a soprano." Mikey asked. "Oh I'd love to." Hailey said.
Meanwhile, at Shredder's lair, Karai told of who they found that could help get more mutagen. "Karai, we shall come up with a plan. Then get the turtles. And the girl." He said. "Yes, master." Karai said. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Raph has been great friends with Hailey. He started getting stronger feelings for her. Same for her. One day, Raph sneaked out of the lair and saw Hailey in Central Park. She was playing with a puppy. Raph felt something inside him when he saw how kind Hailey was. Whenever she fed a little squirrel or helped a little girl who hurt her knee or even helped an old woman across the street. Her kindness made him like her even more. "I never felt this way about anyone before. I want to do something for her. But what should I do?" He said to himself. He remembered that he saw an old greenhouse on her roof. He also remembered she loves flowers. That gave him a brilliant idea. After about two weeks, Raph cover Hailey's eyes, and lead her up to the rooftops. "Ok. Open them" He said. She did so, and she was speechless. The greenhouse was filled with lilies, pansies, lilacs, tulips, daisies, mums, violets, and so many other flowers. Including, Hailey's favorite. Whit roses. "Do you like it?" Raph asked. "Like it? Far from that. I love it!" Hailey said, in a very cheerful voice. She hugged him.
One night, Raph wanted to take Hailey to Central Park. He went to her apartment. He saw her in the alley, fixing up her motorcycle. "Hey, Hails." Raph said. She turned around, with oil and grease on her face. "Oh hi. What's up?" Hailey asked, wiping the oil from her face. "Tonight meet me at central park, and dress formal." He said. "Ok. See you then." She said. He went back to the lair. She went back to her apartment, cleaned off all the oil and grease from her skin and hair, and started working on her outfit. She thought of him the entire time. When the night came, he got ready. "I'm not sure if I can do this." Raph said. "Come on, dude. Your the one who invited her. You need to do this." Mikey said. "Just be yourself." Donnie said. "I am so nervous. I've never really done this before." Raph said. "You care for her, don't you?" Leo asked. "More than anything." Raph said. "Then tell her tonight." Leo said. Raph was ready. He went to the park. "Raph?" Hailey said, from behind him. "Oh hi, Ha..." Raph froze. His eyes never left Hailey. She was dressed in a gold one shoulder bell sleeve lace cocktail dress, a gold fancy necklace, gold dangley earrings, gold high heel shoes, her hair up in a curly bun with a red rose hairpin. "Wow." Raph said. "Do I look ok? Oh I knew I should've worn something else." Hailey said. "No no. You look...unbelievably beautiful." Raph said. Hailey smiled. "Thank you." She said. Raph put out his arm. Hailey took it and they walked around Central Park. They sat at the gazebo and watched the fireflies. "It's so beautiful." Hailey said. "Yeah, beautiful." Raph said, looking at Hailey. He played a song on his phone. "May I have this dance?" He asked, putting out his hand. Hailey smiled and took it. They danced the night away. They then rested. "Hailey?" He said, taking her hands. "Are you happy here with me?" Hailey smiled. "Yes. I am. You and your brothers have given me what I have always wanted. A friend." She said. She hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. But inside, he was crushed. From hearing the word friend. But still happy that she cares for him. He then walked her home and they hugged each other good night. He walked back to the lair. When he got home, his brothers were standing right next to the entrance. "So, how did it go?" Mikey asked. Raph didn't want to act like it was a big deal. "It was ok." He said. "So, what did you do?" Donnie asked. "Nothing. Just took a walk, we talked about stuff." Raph said. "Come on Raph. Tell us how it really went." Leo said. "I am too tired to talk about it. I will in the morning. Good night." Raph said. He went into his room, closed the door and just as his brothers were going to walk to their own rooms, they heard a loud, "YES! SHE HUGGED ME! I MAKE HER HAPPY!" coming from his room. The brothers smiled at each other.
The next day, Hailey woke up, feeling good. "What a wonderful night. I think I'll go visit him." She said. She grabbed her bag and went down to the lair. She saw Raph lifting his weights. She walked behind him and in a cheerful voice she said, "Good morning." Raph then turned around. "Well, good morning, Hailey." He said, in a suave voice. But he then lost track of what he was doing and the dumbell fell on his neck, choking him. Hailey quickly pulled it off his neck and helped him up. "Are you ok?" She asked. "Yeah. I'm fine." He said. "Sorry about that. I didn't expect you to get off guard on saying good morning." She said. "It's ok. I'm fine. I've done that a few times." He said. "Raph, may I ask you something?" She asked. "Sure." He said. "Raph, if your the one who saved New York, you should tell those people the truth." She said. "Uh I'd love to, but I can't." Raph said. "But they will accept you then. They will treat you as a human." She said. "A human? That's all you wanted? A human?!" He shouted. "No no. I just mean..." Raph interruptted her. "Well, I knew you wouldn't be any different! Why would they accept an ugly beast like me? I'm a terrible thing! I am bad tempered!" Raph shouted. "Yes! You are ill tempered, mean, nasty, and you push everyone away! That may be true." Hailey said. "Then why are you so nice to me? From the minute we met, why?" He asked. "Because I'm not perfect either! God loves me anyway. I'm just showing you that same love. I see that underneath your hard shell, lies a good heart. But if you don't want me to ever talk to you again, fine. You don't have to hear from me." Hailey said, tearing up. She ran out of the lair, crying. Raph began to tear up. "What have I done?" He asked himself. "I ruined the one chance I had with the perfect girl. What is this feeling?" "You're in love." A voice said. Raph turned around and standing there were his brothers. "What? I'm not..." He couldn't deny it. He loved her. He turned around. There standing were his brothers. "Ok I admit it! I love her." He said. "But I have to figure out how I'm going to say it." Hailey went home to her apartment, closed the curtains, and cried throughout the day. That night, Raph was on Hailey's roof when he was hit with a tranquilizer dart and got knocked out. He was then carried off by the Foot. The turtles wondered where Raph was. They then heard an alarm coming from the lab. They ran in and on the screen was a video sent to them. Donnie clicked on it and Shredder appeared. "Hello, turtles. I have your brother. If you ever want to see him again, you will bring me your human friend. Or I can take all of your blood as well." The video ended. "We can't put Hailey in danger. But we could use more help." Leo said. "Hailey can stand up for herself. I think we can bring her along. We just have to make sure no one touches her." Donnie said. "I'll get her." Mikey said. "We will all get her." Leo said. They went to her building and knocked on the door of her apartment. She answered it. "Oh hello. What's up?" She said, still upset. "Raph has been captured by the Shredder." Leo said. "Whose the Shredder?" She asked. "We will explain later. We need your help." Donnie said. "Well, ok." She said, grabbing her tanto, tessan, and throwing stars. "Let's go." She said.
They all ran to the garbage truck and drove to Shredder's lair. They explained everything to her on the way. He began sounding familiar to her. She didn't quite know how. But that wasn't important at the time. They finally arrived. All of a sudden, it started to rain. "Hailey, you try to get Raph. We will fight the soldiers and cover for you." Leo said. "Got it." She said. They faught them on the way and tried to get to Raph. They saw him getting beaten up by Shredder. "NO!" Hailey shouted. Raph looked up and saw her. "Hailey." He said, weakily. Before, Shredder could slice him, Raph grabbed his sword with both hands and pushed him away. He made his way up to the roof. Shredder ran after him. Hailey ran up the stairs to the tallest tower of the lair. Shredder searched for Raphael. "Come on out and fight!" Shredder demanded. No one came out. "Were you in love with her, Raphael? Is that why you gave yourself up? Why in the world would she want a beast like you?" He said. Raph came from behind him, grabbed him by the neck, and held him over the edge. But he then remembered what Hailey said. "Show love to others, even when they don't deserve it." Raphael then put Shredder safely down. "Raph!" Hailey shouted from the tower. He looked up. "Hailey." He said, smiling. She held out her hand. He then climbed up to the tower. He finally reached her hand. "Hailey, you came back." He said, raising his hand up to her cheek. Hailey smiled and placed her hand on top of Raph's. But suddenly, Shredder stabbed Raphael from behind, Raph was about to fall off the tower, but Hailey grabbed his hand right away, but Shredder went falling to his death. She then pulled him up and laid him down. He slightly opened his eyes and raised his head. "You came back." He said, weakily. "Of course I did. Oh this is all my fault. If only I got here sooner." Hailey said. "Maybe...it's better this way." He said. "Don't talk like that. It will be alright. We are together again. You'll see." She said. Raph raised his hand up to her face. "At least, I get to see you again one last time." He said. He then lowered his hand and fell back dead. "Oh no. Please. Please don't leave me." Hailey said, weapily. She laid her head on his chest and burst into tears. "I love you." She whispered. His brothers saw everything and began to tear up. Suddenly, a spark of light came down. Hailey lifted her head to see that Raphael was rising off the ground. The light rested onto Raphael's heart and went into his soul. He then was rested down carefully. He then got slowly and turned around to look at Hailey. She was so confused. "Hailey, it's me." He said. Hailey wasn't so sure. She stepped closer and looked into his eyes. He was right. "It IS you." She said, happily. Then his brothers jumped in and hugged their brother. Then Raph went back to Hailey. He stroked her long dark hair. She placed her hand on his heart. He then leaned in slowly and kissed her. They were soon married and like every fairy tale, they lived happily ever after.
THE END