I am back, with a chapter^^

My first exam will be in three weeks, so this will probably the last in a month time or even longer... It sucks, i have so many things i want to write about, but no time at the moment...

I hope you all like this chapter, maybe you even know who the friend is i gave Winter.

And i really liked the interaction / fluff between Splinter and Winter XD

Love ya all, don`t melt in this heat...

Days turned to weeks. Weeks turned to months. In this time Winter helped Splinter in caring for his young ones or scavenging for some new items. Sometimes, to be precise more often than Splinter would like, she would go to the Second Hand Store again, buying things and helping out there, to gain a few extra Dollars. Splinter and his sons would come to visit and sleep over at her apartment a few times a week.

Winter loved that times, when she could relax with the babies and her furry friend, just talking or playing games, watching TV or showing Splinter how to cook so he could learn to do it by himself. But as the light outside would take longer to fade away, the visits were cut short, so she often had to climb down a manhole late at night before she could make her way to Splinter.

She was always anxious when she would come home from school, expecting her door to be opened with force or another note from the Purple Dragons, but there was nothing. Sometimes she would feel as if someone was watching her, but she never saw someone when she whipped around. The prickling feeling of being watched slowly started to follow her in her dreams, making her restless.

Soon the summer started and with it came the last exams and weeks of school. In that time Winter had barely the opportunity to visit the babies and Splinter, her day was filled with learning and working at the store. She even gave Splinter the reign over her kitchen, and regretted it instantly after her learning period was over as her eyes landed on the mess the rat had made. (Winter never knew that a pudding had it in it to be used as a hammer…)

The last week of school was one that Winter was looking forward to! It was supposed to be a cultural festival week, each class dedicated to another culture. Over the week the classes should prepare one event that will be presented at Friday. Everything was possible, from cooking over theater and dancing over typical sports or poetry. And so the spirits wished, there were several culture heritages in her class from which they could choose!

Spirits, she was excited! She didn`t think that her classmates would choose her heritage, but they had a boy from Africa, twins from Hawaii and a girl from Spain in her class. All of that backgrounds were interesting and exciting and Winter never passed the chance to learn new things!

The day had started very promising. The sun had been shining, no clouds were on the clear blue sky. Birds had been singing, in New York that was a wonder! And Winter had succeeded in making breakfast without spilling the first pancake over her blouse and her pants. All in all it was a very promising start for the day and her mood was high. But that didn't last long…

The sun was beating down more forcefully than Winter had expected and so she was slightly sweaty as she entered her school building. The air was disgusting, it nearly felt as she was swimming through it instead of just walking through. Her clothes started to cling to her body and she really wished that she had taken a towel with her, although she hadn`t sports classes today.

The hallways in her school were crowded with pupils and teachers, all of them pushing and grinding against each other. Winter shivered as sweaty body parts of others rubbed against her arms and chest, leaving her feeling dirtier than ever. Her mood dropped significantly.

She was glad that her way to her classroom wasn`t as long as it could had been and with a few muttered curses she slipped through the opened door, nearly jumping over to her seat in the back row and at the window. She was glad that the glass was tinted so her skin wouldn`t turn this ugly shade of red. The short exposure on the way to school had been enough to hurt her, giving a stinging sensation to her arms.

The chair beside her screeched as her table partner sat down heavily, slightly panting. A dark colored hand patted her on the shoulder, trailing along her arm, inspecting it carefully. Winter sighed and tilted her head at her friend, looking at him with annoyance. But the hand just travelled further to her wrist, lifting her hand up to the boy's face, who adjusted his glasses to get a closer look.

"Winter," he sighed mournfully "how often do I need to tell you, that you have to avoid direct sunlight? You should know better. Do you have your skin cream with you?" Winter tugged her arm back and a small smirk flew over her lips.

"Yes, Bax I have the cream with me. And I didn`t expect the sun to have so much power in the morning. It was a mistake on my side. But I was just so excited! Today we will choose the background and our event! And I just forgot about that. Don`t worry about me." She smiled at him, her eyes shut.

The boy beside her pushed his glasses up again, a soft red hue spreading over his dark skin and he coughed slightly, turning away to hide his embarrassment.

"I will always worry about you…" he murmured lowly.

"What did you say Bax? You were talking to your hands, I really couldn`t understand what you were saying."

"Ah… No, I didn`t say anything, you must have heard something else!" he waved his hands around frantically, the red hue now more prominent. Winter looked him over again, a small frown on her face. She leaned towards him, one of her hands extended. Her soft skin was now pressed against his forehead.

"Are you ok? You look a little feverish and red." The boy shook his head and took her hand from his forehead. Before Winter could say a single word the door to her classroom opened again and a middle-aged man with dark hair strode in, a small collection of booklets under his arm.

"Attention, class! You all know that today we will discuss a topic for our cultural event. At the end of last week we already spoke about different backgrounds of students of this class. Over the weekend I narrowed it down to the Hawaiian and the Spanish theme. They are easier to work with and more exotic and fascinating than the others, although I really don`t want to bad mouth any other cultures. So we will now vote which culture our event will cover. All in favor for Spain lift your hand now!"

A small part of the pupil lifted their hands, but neither Winter nor Bax were among them.

"All right. Seems like Hawaii is our winner. Nani and Temo please step in front of the class. You and your parents come from Hawaii, so you two will be responsible for the event. I will observe and judge all the input. And I will manage our budget."

As the two darker skinned pupil stood up and made their way to the front, Winter turned to one of her only friends in school, her eyes alight with glee and happiness because she knew that Nani was a dancer, just like her and Temo loved to cook with all his heart. This were two of her favorite pastimes and she already knew, that her day had brightened again!

"Bax! This will get so awesome! And I know that you can`t dance or cook, but fear not! I, my friend, will stand by your side and will guide you along the way! Together we will strive for perfection! You and me, my friend! And… all the others from our class, but that is not the point!" her fist was pumping the air furiously, her eyes glistening. A soft red hue dusted over her cheeks.

Bax stared at her, taking in how her whole posture changed from seemingly down to heaven in just a few seconds. Her voice was like the summer rain to him, refreshing after a long day. Since his first day at this institution he had always been near her, even if he only started talking to her after 2 years. And this had cost him all his courage and even then he didn`t think that he would have started a conversation with the snow haired female if it wasn`t for the fact that she had saved him from a few bullies!

And now, after a few years more, she promised to stay by him! (although just for the subject) For him, this was the sweetest promise anyone had ever gave to him! He could feel his own cheeks heat up and was, again, thankful of his darker skin color as he nodded and let his hand ruffle her long hair, to which she started pouting cutely.

"Thank you, Winter. I will always be by your side." Her smile was enough for him to throw his arms around her, wrapping her up in a gentle hug. Both ignored the snappy comments and whistles from around them.

The rest of the day was over in a flash, the discussion of what to do was relatively short. Since there were more females than males in her class and after Temo had offered to teach the Chaka, the warriors dance, the male population of her class had nodded the decision of dancing off, much to Winters happiness. To her side, Bax had paled and his head had hit the table rather loudly and she could hear his faint murmurs about dislocated joints and splintered bones. She had laughed about that, poking him slightly to get him out of his misery again to which he just reacted with a blush as she had tickled him a bit.

As every other day, Winter opened her windows facing the alley. The air was still warm and the sun was shining, but Winter didn`t mind that. Splinter had promised to come around with the small ones. The soft warm wind was soothing to her, easing away the pain from the sun, although Bax had tried to keep her under his umbrella to protect her.

Now Winter was standing in her living room again, slightly dancing along to a song the radio played, and looked over her list from classes today. She would have to wear a costume like the traditional dancers from Hawaii, if you could even call that a costume. It was a skirt out of fabrics, very colorful fabrics, better for New York than the older styled parts of plants from which the really old skirts are made of. And then there was the matching bra which could be matching in color or could be self-made from shells or coconuts. If you were not wearing the shells or coconut bras you would have to get a few shiny and flowery accessories to catch attention to that.

Her list included a color scheme as well, listing which colors were acceptable for her skirt and her bra and which were not. She and nearly every other girl had blushed as Nani had explained the parts of their costumes, not to say that the guys were not excited to see the girls with lesser clothes on. She had to convince herself that this wouldn`t be too bad, that she had danced in a similar fashion for her old school, as her grandmother had taught her some of her own dances, but it was still slightly embarrassing.

Winter didn`t think that she would find seashells or coconuts in her size, because of her slightly bigger than C-Cup, so she would have to opt for a shiny bra and accessories in a color of her liking. And flowers for her head and her ankles and wrists, a necklace out of tropical flower couldn`t hurt either and all of that should match in colors.

Her eyes wandered over her list of colors. She couldn`t use pale colors because of her own skin, than she would look more like a ghost than like a living being, but the few rich colors on her list weren`t for her liking. She would look disgusting in pink and yellow, and green would bite with her eyes. She could wear an ice blue, which would complement her eyes, but in which she would look like chalk. Or she could wear a shade of red, which would match her eyes, thanks to the small veins in it. The red color would highlight her hair and her skin wouldn`t look like that of a two days dead girl.

Maybe she could get some purple or light blue flowers and some gold accessories, that would make her outfit complete. Giddily she jumped from one feet to another and twirled around.

And crashed against a hard surface, which was hard, warm and soft feeling. Before she could fall over and hit the ground, hands grabbed her arms and tugged her against the surface, holding her close. All she could see was the green robe and small tufts of fur, his earthlike and musky scent infiltrated her nose. Unconsciously she leaned forward, into his warmth, her eyes closed slowly.

Splinter tilted his head, looking down at his small ones which were sitting obediently at his feet, their eyes alight with happiness. His tail wrapped around his small ones tightly as he climbed the ladder, shoving the manhole cover aside, after a few tentative sniffs. The air reeked of the usual mixture of car gases, rotting food, sweating people and the warm wind.

With fast movements he climbed out of the manhole, his tail already curled around one of his children, lifting the turtle to the surface. A quick look confirmed that the usual window was already opened. Little Donatello came into view, his small hands clamped down on his father's tail. Splinter snatched him into his arms and jumped to the window, leaning over the sill to set down the third oldest on the kitchen floor.

This treatment was repeated three times before he had all of his younglings in safety again. He shoved the manhole cover back in place, his ears twitching the whole time to look out for threats. But the alley was nearly never visited and today was the same. He closed the window behind him after climbing through, dully noting that only Leonardo sat where he had put him down on the floor. His other sons were already on their way through the small apartment, but he didn`t panicked as he would have a few weeks ago.

His female companion and he had tried to make the whole living space as baby friendly as possible, clearing all the tight spaces, tidying up all the books and pencils and shoes and everything else. All cables were safely tucked away and hidden, everything small enough for the babies to swallow was packed away. It had only taken them about 2 days at that time.

His keen ears caught the rustling of papers from the living room, indicating the whereabouts of his female friend. His nose twitched as he sniffed loudly, inhaling all the scents in the apartment, smelling his small ones and his friend but also a scent that was new to him, metal and oil and grease but it was faint in the kitchen. And it didn`t smell like the source of the smell was in here with them.

Splinter exhaled slowly, kneeling down to scoop up his eldest son, who instantly latched onto his robe with a big grin. He walked to the living room, noting that Michelangelo and Donatello were sitting in the bathroom door tugging at a small towel, their small grunting swallowed by the pink fabric. His eyes travelled over his surroundings, seeking out his last son, who had entered the bedroom and was sleeping on his back on the bed, snoring softly.

As soon as his feet crossed the threshold to the living room he sat down his eldest, who was speeding away instantly, crawling under the coffee table and shoving the small action-figure in his mouth. The smaller female at the table didn`t even notice his entering as it seemed, concentrating on the papers in front of her. The first thing that Splinter noticed was, that the new scent was coming from Winter, from her hair and parts of her shoulder. Underneath was her scent, this fresh and addicting scent which he and come to appreciate.

His eyes landed on her bare shoulders and arms which were slightly red and coated in something creamy. As he took another step forward the female began to wiggle around, giggling softly to herself and dropped the papers down on the table before jumping from one foot to the other. Splinter smiled at her antics and chuckled lowly, but even that was seemingly unheard by the female, which now whirled around and crashed into his chest. Before she could fall backwards his paws shot forward, grabbing onto her bare arms, cradling her against his chest so they both would not fall over from the force.

The new smell irritated his sensitive nose and he buried it in her soft silvery hair, deeply breathing her own scent. She felt tainted to him and he would not stand that. The smell which layered within hers was definitely male and his heart ached as that fact registered in his head. A small growl escaped his muzzle and his arms wrapped around the smaller female, who seemed to melt against him. He could feel her relax and sink against him, triggering his instincts.

The growl grew louder and he started to rub his head softly against her hair, chasing the other males scent away and trying to leave his own on her, to mark her as his own so that no other male would even dare to touch his friend again. His tail wrapped around one of her legs, leaving even more of his scent on her. His mouth opened as he neared it the side of her throat and his teeth were nearly scrat-

He drew back slowly, his arms let go of her like they were burned. Winter stumbled slightly but caught herself, her eyes fluttered open and she stared at him, a small red hue dusting her cheeks. She cleared her throat and took a step back, her fingers twiddling.

"Winter, my friend, your skin is red. Did you expose yourself to the sunlight again without your lotion?" Her face reddened even more and she huffed. Her hands were pressed together.

"Splinter…" she whined "How can you even tell all that? Bax, a friend in school helped me with the lotion, so you don`t have to worry."

"How was school?" He grinned as a bright smile lit up her entire face.

"It was great! We decided about our school festival and what we will do about it. We will learn and present some dances from Hawaii, where two of our class come from. I am so excited about learning more dances! Today we learned the first few steps and discussed our costumes. Look here!" she bounced to her table, snatched up the papers there and bounced back to him, nearly shoving the papers in his face.

Splinter chuckled again and softly took the papers, his eyes falling on a picture of a very revealing costume and much skin. The fur on his back stood on edge as his mind started to compare the costume and the female in front of him. He could feel the soft mixture of a growl and a purr growing in his chest and it was hard, so hard for him to not let the sound go, to not let it show that –

"Splinter? I need those papers, please don`t wrinkle them! Is … is everything alright with you? You seem a bit flushed." Her soft, oh so soft and warm, hand was pressed against his forehead, slowly wandering to his neck. He dipped his head so that she could reach it, his mental eyes roving over Winter in that costume.

"Hmm… everything seems fine. Maybe it is the heat.. I mean, you are covered with fur. I will get you and the boys something to drink, just wait for a second!" she strode after him in the kitchen and he just stood there, his gaze following her swinging steps.

"Yes, it must be the heat… Don`t worry. Ehm… you said that you learned the first few steps. Maybe you would want to show it to me?"

She started smiling so bright, her eyes alight with happiness and something else, he couldn`t name. Instead of a vocal answer she just nodded and nearly jumped over to the free area between couch and TV pressing a glass filled with Orange Juice in his paw. Splinter let himself fall on the couch, taking a sip from the cooled liquid.

"So you have to know, the dances from Hawaii are all about stories. You tell this stories with your body, more prominent you tell them with your hips as a woman, so I will focus more on my hip movements, even more as my grandmother showed me. The movements have to be fluent, like water, so would you kindly tell me if I move wrong?" Splinter could only nod, his mind filled with pictures of her.

"Fantastic! I really am thankful for your help! I really want to master this dance fast, because I have to help a friend of mine, Bax, to learn the male's warrior dance. But don`t worry, I will stop when your favorite soap opera starts." Splinters chest ached again, with warmth this time, as he tried to commit this moment to his memories. She was smiling, moving her hips in fluid movements, sometimes making mistakes and then starting over again, her eyes were sparkling. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see his sons, all 4, laughing and swinging with the rhythm of Winter`s movements, without music. But even so, this was one of the best evenings, he had in a long time.

And what made it even better, she smelled like him and was smiling, not complaining over his behavior from today, and she danced for him, entrancing him and his sons.