SUMMARY: AU. What if Splinter hadn't been the only lonely soul wandering the sewers that day? After a teenage runaway with a love of animals and some street fighting skill gets caught up in the world of mutants, she finds herself becoming a mother figure for the boys. After all, how much trouble can four ninja turtles cause?
RATING: T.
DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED TMNT, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT MORE FOCUS ON THE SIBLING BONDS.
A/N: I know that there was a lot revealed in the first chapter about Engracia, but she had run away from home and was lonely. Therefore, she told Splinter all that she did out of a want for companionship. Also, this is from her point of view (3rd person limited, because I suck at 1st person point of view), so her back-story does get told rather early on. Besides, this isn't about her exactly, it's about how she sees and affects the turtles' lives. Hopefully I can do that without making her seem too Mary Sue-ish for you guys.
-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-
Something rolling over on her stomach woke Engracia up. Blearily opening one eye, she was startled to full alertness by what she saw. The little turtle that had slept next to her that night had doubled in size, brown eyes gazing at her with interest. "¿Qué?"
The turtle made a chirping sound as he nuzzled her arm. She just blinked. "How did you get so big, pequeñito?"
The turtle just chirped again, causing her to frown as she remembered a neighbor's pet turtle. "And how are you making that sound, tortuguita? Last I knew, the only sound tortugas could make was a hissing sound."
With another chirp, the turtle nuzzled her arm again, reminding Engracia of the mothers holding their babies in her old neighborhood. She cradled him carefully as she climbed to her feet, not terribly surprised to see that the other three turtles had also grown, even if they were still fast asleep. The rat had grown too. If Engracia had to guess, she'd say that the rat was now around four feet tall if he stood on his hind legs. "Señor," she whispered, not wanting to walk up the other turtles. "Señor, wake up."
The rat blearily lifted his head, startled by the sight of Engracia holding the turtle that was now nearly the size of a full grown red-eared slider. Engracia could know easily see intelligence in the rat's face, and part of her mind wondered if he could know speak. "The tortuguitas grew, Señor. You did too."
The rat glanced down at his paws, and backed up a little upon noticing that he was known as big as a human child. He looked back up and Engracia before looking over to where the three turtles still slept. "A miracle," he whispered, not seeming to notice that he was capable of speech.
Engracia did notice, however. "Señor, you can talk! Wow…" Her voice had been louder than she meant it to be, though, and she accidentally woke up the sleeping turtles. All three chirped at her with a hint of annoyance. "Sorry, niños. I didn't mean to wake you." She set the turtle that had slept with her next to the others, noticing that although he had been the smallest the night before, he was now the biggest, but not by much. The aggressive one was second biggest now, but Engracia wouldn't be surprised if in the future he was the biggest.
She could also see that the turtles all had slightly different skin tones. The biggest one was a plain green color while the aggressive one was the darkest green. The turtle who had been the second smallest last night was now the smallest and his skin held a blue undertone to the green coloring, while the second smallest had a yellow tint to olive green skin. "You know, you four are cute, aren't you, pequeñitos?"
"Yes, but I do not think my burrow is going to be big enough for them now," the rat said with a chuckle, causing Engracia to blush slightly. She had gotten so caught up with the turtles that she had forgotten about him.
"You're right, Señor," she said, pushing her embarrassment aside for another time. Engracia then frowned as a thought came to her. "Erm, do you have a name, Señor? After all, I can't exactly keep referring to you as 'the rat', can I?" She blushed again.
"You may call me Splinter, Miss Morales," the rat, Splinter, said. "Now, we must find a place for the young ones to be safe. Other humans would likely not be accepting of them."
"Or of you, Señor Splinter," Engracia said. She began packing up the food into her bag, but paused upon picking up the fish. Splinter noticed her look of uncertainty.
"Miss Morales, are you alright?"
"Sí, it's just… I didn't expect this to happen, Señor. And I'm not sure feeding the tortuguitas raw fish is the best idea now," Engracia explained. "They seem so much like human niños now. What if it makes them sick?"
"You must do what you think is right, Miss Morales," Splinter said. "I do not know what feeding them the raw fish would do to them, but I also do not know what the ooze has done."
Engracia nodded before tossing the fish into the sewer waters. "I still have the bread I bought, and the bag of salad. We'll probably need more water before long, but I have my Gatorade to drink, and I only opened one bottle last night, and that's still over half full."
"If we need to get more we will, Miss Morales," Splinter said. "But now we must move."
"Sí, Señor," Engracia said. "Vienen, pequeñitos." She and Splinter started down the sewer tunnel, the turtles following obediently.
They had been walking for maybe an hour when Engracia felt something bump her ankle. She stops and looked down to see that the smallest of the turtles was standing there, looking up at her with a pleading look. "¿Qué? Do you want to be carried, pequeñito?"
The turtle chirped happily, nuzzling her ankle again. Engracia just sighed before scooping him up. "You're going to be el bebé, aren't you, hombrecito? The one who insists upon getting special rights, eh, niño?" The turtle chirped as if in agreement. She giggled. "Alright, but don't think I'm going to spoil you completely, hombrecito. Your hermanos need their turns with me too, you know."
"What is it that you are speaking, Miss Morales?" Splinter asked. "I know English and Japanese, but not the language you keep mixing in when you talk."
"It's Espanol," Engracia said. "Spanish. If you'd like, I can teach you it at some point."
"That will not be necessary, Miss Morales," Splinter said kindly. "But when they have gotten older, it may be wise to teach them at least the basics."
Engracia just nodded, a feeling of nervousness overwhelming her. She had completely forgotten for a moment that the turtles were still babies, and as such, they still had a bit of growing up to do.
"¿Lo que me he metido?"
-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-
E/N: Engracia knows about animals, but not so much children. Oh, and I promise Splinter will play a bigger role in future chapters, but I have to get used to writing him first.
¿Qué?- What?
Tortuga- Turtle
Niños- Children
Sí- Yes
Vienen- Come (you plural form)
El bebé- The baby
Hombrecito- Little man
Niño- Child
Hermanos- Brothers, siblings
¿Lo que me he metido?- What have I gotten myself into?