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: Why is this idea so fun to write? Oh well. Bit of a time jump here. I have a thing for hurt/comfort and/or angst, so of course I'll be throwing some of that in here as this progresses. Just a forewarning. Besides, it's in the series.
-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-
6 MONTHS LATER
"Niños, stop all this running around when I'm in here cooking!" Engracia scolded. After coming across a perfectly good, well, perfectly functional , camp-stove, the almost-eighteen year old had taken to making the meals rather than stealing them. After all, she was able to buy ingredients for less than a pre-cooked meal cost.
"Sorry," Michelangelo and Raphael said in unison before both scampered from the kitchen.
"Esos niños será la muerte de mí," Engracia muttered to herself with a shake of her head, unaware that she had been watched from the doorway, or that the eavesdropper had picked up a few words of Spanish.
-TMNT-
"Señor, I'm starting to worry about Leonardo," Engracia said as she and Splinter drank their respective nightly hot chocolate and green tea. "He's been acting strangely, and it's starting to worry me. I mean, I know he's not as…active…as his brothers Michelangelo and Raphael, but this is a bit too much. I mean, Michelangelo asked him to play tag tres veces hoy, and all three times Leonardo said no."
"Yes, I know what you mean," Splinter said. "His behavior has been unusual. I will speak to him about it tomorrow morning, Miss Morales."
"Gracias, Señor," Engracia said. Finishing off the rest of her hot chocolate, she got to her feet with a groan from that came from sitting still too long. "Buenas noches, Señor." After placing her cup in the kitchen, she headed to her sleeping quarters after one quick check on the turtles.
-TMNT-
She couldn't place what had woken her up; she just knew that something wasn't right. Donning her bathrobe and a pair of mismatched slippers, Engracia quietly made her way to where the turtles slept.
Once there, she could easily guess on what had pulled her from slumber. Although his brothers stayed fast asleep, Leonardo was tossing and turning whilst trapped in the throes of a nightmare.
"Pequeñito," she whispered, gently shaking his shoulder. "Despierta, tortuguita."
Leonardo woke up with a gasp, and before Engracia could fully process it, he had thrown himself into her arms. Quiet sobs shook his body as Engracia rubbed circles on his shell. "Shh, pequeñito. Te tengo a ti. Ahora estás a salvo. Shh."
Not wanting to wake the others, Engracia carefully stood and carried Leonardo back to her room. It wasn't the first time as nightmare had ended with one of the turtles there, and she knew in her heart that it wouldn't be the last. Still, this was only the second time it had been Leonardo. And he hadn't been nearly so shaken the first time.
"¿Qué le pasa, pequeñito?" Engracia asked quietly, pressing her lips to Leonardo's forehead.
To her surprise, he answered. "You were talking to yourself in the kitchen," he whispered. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I swear, but Mikey had seen a cartoon about El Día de los Muertos, and, and…" He started sobbing again, burying himself in her bathrobe.
Engracia blinked, trying to remember what he was talking about. And what did the Day of the Dead have to do with-. "Oh, tortuguita… You heard what I said after I had to chase Raphael and Michelangelo out while cooking, didn't you?"
Leonardo nodded somewhat fearfully, lifting his head to look at her. Engracia shook her head lightly, smiling somewhat sadly at him. "I didn't really mean that, Leo." Part of her mind noted how easy it came to her to use the pet form of his name.
"But, but I heard you!" Leonardo protested.
"Because I said it," Engracia said, reminding herself that he was less than a year old, even if he seemed older. "But, sometimes, Leonardo, people say things they don't really mean. And in the kitchen that day; I didn't really mean it. Do you understand?"
"So, it was just a figure of speech?" Leonardo asked, brown eyes clearly displaying his confusion.
"Yes, pequeñito," Engracia said, smiling at him. "It's just a figure of speech. But why did this get so worked up? You've heard me say things before knowing I don't mean them. So what was different?"
Leonardo looked down. "Because you don't have to stay here."
"¿Qué?" Engracia asked, and her tone caused Leonardo to just start blurting everything out.
"You aren't like us. Sensei's told us how the humans couldn't accept us, but you are a human, so you could just leave any time you wanted, but I don't want to ever leave, because I like having you here. You're nice, and your singing is pretty, and you make me feel safe, and the others think so too, even if Raph won't admit it, and…"
"Whoa, whoa!" Engracia said, holding up both hands to cut Leonardo off so he could catch his breath. "Leonardo, I want, no, need you to believe me when I say that I'm not going anywhere. I couldn't. You are mi hijo, parte de mi familia."
"Your… But that'd make you…" Leonardo said, recognizing the words as a few of the words as some of what he knew.
"Sí, caudillo," she said with a smile, kissing his forehead before flopping onto the bed, allowing Leonardo to shift and wiggle but not escape. "Now, how about we get back to sleep, vale?"
"I can't do that if you won't let me up," Leonardo said, wriggling about until he was lying with his head on Engracia's shoulder.
"Looks like you're just going to have to sleep here with me, then," Engracia said, yawning. "Buenas noches, Leo."
"…good night," Leonardo whispered back. "Mom."
-TMNT-TMNT-TMNT-
E/N: Gah! Curse my fluff-loving streak that made me end this chapter like that! Oh, and before you look down at the list and don't find the nickname Engracia gave Leo, the translation of that isn't going to be revealed for…a while. Like, when I get to the season 4 adaption part. Sorry. If your curiosity is insatiable, feel free to look it up for yourself, but please, please, PLEASE, do NOT put the translation in your review. It's going to have a bit of a role to play when the meaning is revealed, and I don't want to spoil that for anyone.
Esos niños será la muerte de mí- Those children will be the death of me
Tres veces hoy- Three times today
Despierta- Wake up
Te tengo a ti. Ahora estás a salvo.- I've got you. You're safe now.
¿Qué le pasa?- What's wrong?
Mi hijo- My son
Parte de mi familia- Part of my family
Vale- Okay
