* Calley's day is coming, she just doesn't know it yet.

Leonardo didn't realize how nervous he'd actually been feeling inside, until the massive relief of Ryan being the one to show up washed over him. He felt a little silly now, for how much thought he'd been dedicating to the riddle of their mystery guests.

He exhaled deeply as his gaze shifted to take in the entire room at once. All of the "old folk" were tiring out from their spirited evening, though the same could also be said for the youngest member among them. Leonardo had been sitting motionless with Reina for so long, it felt like his shoulder had fallen asleep. Still, he was less bothered by that than the idea of disturbing her.

Katherine approached Leonardo from behind, with Luke at her side. "Can you even feel your arm anymore, Leo?" she teased, as Luke took the baby from him, and the turtle shifted it awkwardly.

"Yeah, it'll be fine, Kat. She's really growing. The way she was pulling herself up tonight, it looked like she was going to try and walk."

"She's been 'cruising' holding onto furniture for a couple of weeks. It could still be awhile yet, but who knows? She could be on her own two feet before Christmas," Luke suggested.

Leonardo got up both to walk them to the door, and to say goodbye to Kirkland, who was leaving with Marc and April. "I'm glad you're here, Ryan. This is the best kind of surprise that we could have had."

The Brit winked at him. "I'm told the best is yet to come."

"Wait - do you have some kind of an inside track on this?" Leonardo couldn't believe he hadn't thought to ask sooner.

"I can't give anything away, Leonardo, you probably know that. You won't have to wait long though, your next guest is scheduled to arrive tomorrow evening."

Leonardo gave the man a smile, and threw an arm around his shoulder one more time. "Thanks for sharing this with us, Ryan. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow."

"Get some rest, Leonardo, and don't spend too much time trying to figure out the puzzle. You're supposed to be enjoying this," Kirkland chided lightly, and bid the turtle a good night.

The living area had almost completely emptied out. Jenna was saying goodbye to her mother Victoria and Tim in one corner, and Calley was still sitting on the edge of the couch, where she'd retreated after helping put other chairs away. Calley gave him a meaningful look, tossing short hair in a way that indicated she needed to talk to him. Leonardo nodded that he understood, and she got to her feet to join Jenna.

"See you tomorrow, Dad?" Calley asked.

Tim nodded, and gave the young woman a firm hug. His blue eyes rested on her mutely for a couple of seconds as if he wanted to say something, but then he let go of her. "Call me when you wake up, okay?"

"I will. Good night, Victoria." Calley smiled at the woman, and allowed her to embrace her as well.

When Calley had excused herself, and Leonardo had made his own goodbyes to the humans, the two of them wordlessly retreated to the solitude of the Lounge. The room's true purpose was set up more for their own jam sessions and Jenna's song-writing, but it had also become a secluded space to escape to.

The pair settled on the sofa against the far wall, and Leonardo gave the young woman an imploring look.

"Calley, what's wrong?"

"I wish there was a good answer for that, Leo," she admitted. "But it sort of feels like the same old thing. I can be so happy and content one moment, only to feel like I'm bottoming out in the next. I don't even know what really triggered it tonight, I'm just..."

"You're what?"

"I'm screwed up, Leo. I look at our little band, and how happy everyone is, and I really want to be the same way. I think about Becky and how much she's been through...but also how far she's come. She used to be so closed off to people, avoided as much contact as possible with the outside world. Her life became wrapped up like a cocoon, in her quest to stay safely hidden.

Even watching her tonight, it's hard to imagine that she was ever like that. Becky can be so free about everything. She wouldn't care if the entire world saw her with Mike, except for the obvious reasons," Called added ironically. "She lost her close family, was rejected by the rest, and still refused to feel sorry for herself. She's everything I'd like to be, Leo. Her heart and intentions are completely pure. Practically all she's ever done is give to other people, without the hope of getting anything in return. She's the kind of girl you deserve, the one who seems like she'd fit with you," Calley finished tearfully.

"Calley..." Leonardo wasn't quite sure where to start, so he hesitated for a few moments to gather his thoughts. "First of all, I'm not in love with Becky. I love you, and she's very much taken with my youngest brother. Your past doesn't matter to me. And taking things slowly to start with, you know that was only because of how much you were dealing with between counseling, classes, and getting your life back together on the surface again.

What happened with counseling, Calley? You haven't been going to the meetings as often as you were."

"Part of me actually believed that things could be better by now, Leo. I thought that coming to live down here would get rid of most of my anxiety, but it hasn't."

Without further warning she began to cry much harder, and the blue-masked turtle scooted closer to her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to disappoint you, and I know that I am!" she sobbed.

"You're not disappointing me," he said firmly. "But I need to know where this is coming from. It sounds like it's been brewing for awhile, Calley. What's going on?"

"These girls are a life-line for me, Leo, but they're also a reminder of everything that I'm not. As much as I try to repress it, there are some days when I just can't. And there are some days..."

Leonardo waited for a beat, motioning for her to continue.

"There are some days when I've seen you working out with your katana, and the same flashbacks of Shirou still come to me."

Leonardo was unable to hide the alarm that her statement incurred, and she sighed softly.

"I knew it would upset you. I can't control it, Leo - if I could, I would stop. If I could grant myself permission to be an equal with the other girls, I would do it. But I'm not like them, and I never will be. When you come from where I've been, when you've done what I've done...I don't think there's a full recovery for me. In my heart, I feel like part of me will always be trapped in the shadows, no matter how much time passes."

"Calley, everyone has things from their past that they wish they could have done differently. I understand that feeling completely. You may not be able to believe it right now, but I still think that you have the power to come through to the other side, that you'll find healing as time goes on.

You've got to stop comparing yourself with the others. That isn't fair...you may be different from them, but they're different from each other too. I love Becky like a sister, and I'm ecstatic over what she's done for Mikey. But there isn't a part of me that's standing back comparing the two of you to each other, or wishing that you were more like her. The only thing I wish is that you'd accept that I love you for who you are, and believe that it's enough."

"Leonardo, you're not the issue here. You've never been the issue. I don't think it's fair that someone like you is bound to someone like me, who's so disturbed underneath the surface. I want to relax and laugh, I want to dance on a real stage, and sleep a complete night through without waking up in a panic. But wanting those things doesn't put them in my grasp."

Leonardo cupped her chin in one hand, and brushed the fringed bang out her left eye with the other. "Maybe not, but I'm in your grasp. I'm not going anywhere, Calley, and I'm not giving up on you, none of us are. There's so much more love available to you than you're willing to accept."

Calley didn't say anything for a long moment, and then leaned her forehead against his cheek. "Your love has never been the problem, Leo. I'm sorry for making this so much harder than it needs to be. The last thing I want to do is drag this holiday down, particularly with what you have to look forward to."

"I want to look forward to it with you," he said pointedly.

"I know; that's why I wanted to talk tonight. I thought maybe if I got it out, it would act as a kind of release."

"And?"

Calley's gaze looked a little hazy, as she seemed to be pondering how she actually felt. "No, I don't think it has. But I'm going to try harder, Leonardo, I really am. From this moment on, I'll do the very best I can to keep a good face on."

"No one wants you to fake it, Calley," Leonardo objected.

"Don't call it that then," she answered. "Just say I'm...focusing on something else."

Leonardo stared at her quietly, trying hard to keep the worry out of his dark eyes, even though he knew it wouldn't be enough. Calley's sense of intuition, particularly as far as he was concerned, had always been very powerful. She didn't require an expression from the turtle to determine what he was feeling deep down.

"Leo, the dreams are just...dreams. I have to keep reminding myself that. And when the anxiety tries to rear its' ugly head, I'll remember where I am, and who has my back," she said more optimistically, and leaned in impulsively to kiss him.

Leonardo felt that it was partially only an attempt to shift the conversation, but decided against fighting her on it. His arms tightened around her frame as she held onto the kiss. The blue-masked turtle was breathless by the time she let go, and it wasn't because he hadn't been breathing.

"Why can't you believe how fantastic you are?" he asked, just playfully enough to prevent her from shutting down.

"You don't exactly have a lot of other experiences to compare me with, Leo."

"I don't have to compare you to someone else to tell me how I feel about you, Calley. I love you. I've never felt like this in my entire life - no one else has this power over me."

A wry smile appeared on the young woman's face. "I have power over the unshakable Leonardo?"

"As if that's some newsflash to you?" Leonardo scoffed. "You make me so jittery when we're around other people, sometimes I feel like I'm going to trip over my own two feet."

"That image is going to be stuck with me for awhile," she teased him, but then her gaze deepened again, as one ivory hand traced his jaw-line slowly. "I could get lost forever in those expressions of yours," she told him. "I've never seen such an incredible mix of power, patience, and grace, all wrapped up in one place. Adding in your boyish nerves on top of it is like the icing on the cake."

"You couldn't stop before you got there." Leonardo groaned.

"You set yourself up for it." She laughed.

He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, and pulled her closer to him again.

"When we're like this, do you ever..." he faltered, wanting to ask a difficult question. "You know, like the flashbacks from me practicing my forms..."

"Do I see Shirou?" she filled in. "No, Leo. I only see you."