Here's a Sophie and Mikey's growing friendship, Sophie and Leo's evolving relationship and a Christmas based chapter before we get into the good stuff! What has Marsh got planned for Sophie? Tune in next weekend-nah I'm kidding, god knows what day the next one will come out on.

As Christmas approached, Sophie seemed to be one of the few students not to have left campus. She saw the speckle of other students around, all dressed in Christmas jumpers and winter clothing like she herself was wearing, and there were only one or two other then her in her dorm-both girls-who had invited her to drink hot chocolate with them and watch movies. She agreed, only because she knew one of the girls, Penelope, from Sarah's lectures who they usually stopped to talk to around campus and the other, Tiana, was nice enough whenever she passed in the hallway.

Sarah had went back to California for the holidays, leaving her present to Sophie on her bed only to be opened on Christmas Day. Her present to the redhead left with her, with the promise not to open in until the actual day. Sophie had a funny suspicion she opened it the minute she left anyway.

The reason why Sophie hadn't went back to England to celebrate Christmas was because of one thing; her parents. Plain and simple. Her entire two week break would be them talking about how sending her to America worked well in their favor and took all the credit. It was true they filled out the application form without her knowledge, but if she had put up more of a fuss or held onto a gate or something she wouldn't have left the country in the first place. She did not want to listen to hours and hours of self-appraisal from her already self-involved parents. And she didn't trust herself not to get mad.

They can celebrate Christmas without me this year, thank you!

She lied to them over the phone, saying that the university wouldn't her to stay back and give some sort of speech to teenagers visiting the campus who hope to join the following year. After a proud moment which slowly turned into another 'I told you so' moment, she hung up, threw her phone onto Sarah's bed, fell down onto her own bed and screamed into her pillow.

Nothing else could make the holidays worse, and she was right.

Ever since meeting Mikey on that day two weeks ago, they had been texting one another back and forth non stop. She told him of her interview with the police at the station and then being asked, along with Sarah, to present Hamato Yoshi with a medal on December 28th as a symbol of bravery.

Apparently, when Sophie had been running away from members of the Foot and the Turtle brothers were dealing with the others in the shadows-which was easy because the lights were all turned off-Hamato Yoshi rescued most of the hostages inside, including Sarah, all just with a katana. No armor, just that beautiful brown robe, or a kimono as she later found out.

Which is pretty fucking cool if you ask her.

They had all been taken to the middle of the shopping center, like Sophie had thought, and then sorted into groups; men, women, and children. Then, the group of women were then sorted into sub groups; adults and teenagers. Then from there, by hair colour.

The moment Sarah told her that the group of teenagers left were all brunettes, she knew the Foot had been after her.

That night, lying in her bed staring at the ceiling without a wink of sleep, she began to think over the last few days. Who had known about the photo to send members of the Foot Clan after her?

She knew the answer straight away though; Dr. Marsh.

But why would he want to take the photo? It wasn't like it could lead him to Leonardo and his family.

And why kill her? Well that was obvious; so she wouldn't tell anyone else about it's and the turtles existence.

Of course, the other people to know about the photo was Leonardo, Mikey, their other two brothers, their father, April O'Neil, a police detective Casey Jones and the Falcon himself, Vernon Fenwick. The four mutants wouldn't send the Foot after her-Mikey told her they had a bad history with them-and their three human friends had no business with them. If they wanted the turtles captured, they would be by now.

That left only Robert Marsh.

If he had control of the remnants of the Foot, then he could send them after her again and again, until either he captured the brothers or killed her.

She didn't get a wink of sleep that night.

"Maybe you should reconsider my offer, babe." Mikey said one night, a week after the Shopping Incident. The two had been meeting on the rooftop Sophie had taken Leonardo's picture when Mikey could get away from his brothers to meet up with her. The two would sit on the rooftop and talk; Sophie would bring food whenever she could and Mikey would bring his 'dazzling personality and humor'. "If this Mash man-"

"Marsh." she corrected, but he continued to speak like he didn't hear her.

"-is after you for the picture, or us, then you would be safer in the Lair. We could all look out for each other and find a way to stop him. Right?" Mikey was currently hanging upside down from the silos usually found on New York rooftops-for some reason unknown to her-swinging backwards and forwards casually, like he was on a swing rather then a thin metal beam.

Although small Mikey was pretty strong, and the continued creaks, the cries continually coming from that one beam, made her fear that it would break and he would end up hurting himself.

Thankfully, it didn't, but you could never be too careful.

"I can't just up and leave, Mikey." she replied. "I have university for another two-three years, and if I just disappear they'll contact my parents and get the police or even the FBI involved." she shook her head. "No can do."

"But if your life is in danger-" he began to argue, but this time it was her that interrupted.

"Then they'll put me in Witness Protection and I'll have to leave New York, my life, behind. I can't do that." she sighed. "Besides, the police can't do anything without the evidence that they were specifically after me."

He stopped swinging and remained silent for a few minutes, a look of disappointment on his face before it disappeared as quickly as it had came. "Okay. It's not like I can force you." he said, and the topic ended.

Sophie didn't know Mikey as long as everyone else he knew, but she guessed he wasn't this...serious. She didn't know why he did around her, even asking if calling her 'babe' was all right, unlike the first time they had met. He could be fun, of course, like that time he brought an iPod and the two jammed out to music for hours until someone in the apartment complex called the police and the two had to 'skedaddle', as he had said. But with problems of life and death, of the Foot, he was serious as he could be. She thought he acted like a child because he could.

From the descriptions of his brothers, this was most likely the case.

Michelangelo was the youngest brother, a fact instilled in him by his other brothers, who assumed because of his childishness he had to be the baby of the family. He was okay with that, but he hated that they saw him more like someone who needed guidance rather than someone who was their equal. They didn't know he felt that way because he had never told them. Sophie did, because like everyone said throughout her life, people could just tell her these things.

Maybe she just had that aura or they knew she wouldn't tell anyone, but she felt honored that her friends could just tell her anything with the utmost confidence.

The next youngest was Donatello; something you wouldn't presume because of how mature he was, and the fact he had his own corner of the Lair. While Mikey had to share a bunkbed with the second eldest, 'Donnie' or 'Don' as they called him, had made his bed by himself. It had been built into the sewer wall, fit so he could fall asleep in any position that also took his shell into the equation. He was the 'science nerd' of the family and stuck to his Lab while Mikey was the 'geek' brother. Donnie was the most responsible brother, and Mikey assumed it was because he had the knowledge and skills to look after the family, and not because he wanted to be.

Sophie pitied him.

Raphael, the second eldest, was the hothead. Sophie understood both positions quite well, and wondered if it was just the general layout of siblings that the second eldest had to be the most ill-tempered of the bunch. Unlike her, however, Raph was less kind. It wasn't like he was horrible, it was just he had a tendency to start physical fights with his brothers because of the littlest things and was the first to jump into action. He was the most heaviest Turtle, by means of 'he was built like a brick shithouse'. To the surprise of his family, and not to her because she understood completely, he was the most sensitive.

Thankfully for Mikey, he had Sophie there to give him a good guess on why he was like that. His rage, as she told him, is him showing his sensitivity. He gets into fights with them because they have offended him or someone he loves in some way, and that doesn't quiet sit right with him. He just can't put it into words, he can't verbally express what that person has done to upset him, and the situation is taken entirely out of control. Now that Mikey knew and understood this, Sophie believed he could help his brother and de-escalate the many fights between them.

She sometimes imagined how shocked his family would be with this newfound knowledge, and would giggle to herself.

Then you had Leonardo, the self-proclaimed eldest. The leader of the family and the very turtle subject in her photo (regardless if Mikey insisted that the orange fabric of his bandana counted as him also being into the picture). He was the most carrying, the most worried, of the Turtles. If he was human, normal as Mikey had said (much to her sadness), maybe he would be more down-to-earth. The three brothers loved their brother, but there was a rift there, a rift that they all saw but had no idea how to mend.

Sophie could not give him an idea; truthfully, her own sibling life was a mess and she had no idea how to fix it, she doubt she ever would.

But Mikey loved his brothers; it was obvious on the nights he relieved anecdotes of his childhood.

"You know you can call them Leo, Raph and Donnie, babe." he said after he answered a question she had asked him one of these days, a few days after the first conversation of her staying in the Lair was discussed. This time the two were sat on the edge of the rooftop, kicking their legs back and forth as they talked.

"Oh no." Sophie shook her head. "I can't. I was raised never to use someone's nickname if they don't know you; it's why I call you Mikey, but I won't call your brothers Leo, Raph and Donnie. Too personal."

"So you would use their nicknames if you knew them?" he asked. Sophie's eyes narrowed suspiciously; his voice was high-pitched, like it was a question that her answer would not change the outcome of.

Oh, he better not have-

"Yes...why? Are they hiding behind a silo somewhere?" she looked around the rooftop, trying to catch a glimpse of a shadow that might be one of his brothers as he laughed.

"Nah, they're not here." he kicked his legs, looking anywhere but her. "It's just-you told me you're not going home for Christmas, and I was thinking..."

He then turned his head to look at her, but she could only look at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, I can't."

"Oh...It's okay, I understand." his baby blue eyes were full with disappointment and she couldn't help but feel sorry, regardless if he had said she didn't have to.

"Your brothers and father don't know me or that you are friends with me in the first place, and I don't want to just suddenly pop up on that day, on Christmas no less." then, as his eyes got sadder, she smiled. "But next year."

His head shot back up and he grinned. "Really?"

"Yeah! Birthdays, Easter, Halloween-depends on when I meet them, just not now and not so soon!" she laughed. "Hey, maybe New Year? Who knows what will happen?"

"That would mean a lot, Sophie." he threw an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a side hug. "You know, I think my brothers are going to really like you. But you remember; no one takes Mikey's sweet cheeks away from him!"

She let out a laugh. "Oh really?"

"Yes really!" he jumped up and with no warning, picked her up and spun her around, laughing as she squealed. "I would be so lost without you! My friend, my amigo! My dazzling spirit would be crushed!" he then gasped, stopping his spinning which, frankly, was making her a little sick, to hold her up just by her shoulders. "I can mention you in our Hip-hop Christmas Album!"

"Hip-hop Chris-what?!" she asked and he laughed before setting her down, beginning to explain.

And now, after days of meeting on that very rooftop and texting each other back and forth, it was Christmas.

Mikey was spending the day with his family and the friends they had made, while Sophie spent her holiday alone. Her parents had sent all of her presents over, so she had a lot in her room, even the ones she received from friends here in New York.

But there was none from Mikey; she understood. They hadn't known each other that long, but regardless she had tried to buy him something he liked. She remembered he had told her that he only had one pair of pants, the one he was wearing, and so she had bought more for him. At least five pairs, all refitted so they could fit him. She remembered telling the person on the phone that the friend was pretty big and she couldn't find sizes that would fit him. They had understood, and personally made the size she had requested.

When they had arrived, rather quickly but it was Christmas, she had given the wrapped present to him and watched him open it in front of her. It wasn't Christmas Day yet, but it was much safer to open the gift away from his family so no one would ask who had given it to him. She and Mikey had taken a serious risk when she had decided that Leo would open his on Christmas Day with his family, rather then waiting until they had officially met.

Sophie watched Mikey's eyes light up as he unwrapped the gift, and had not stopped hugging her before going off into a playful rant about how she could not have given him a gift because he had nothing to give her and that must mean their friendship didn't mean anything if she had put him in this position.

He had been joking, and in the past she would have felt rather bad, but Mikey had a talent of faking seriousness and being able to showcase that he did not mean any of it, so instead she had laughed and played along.

Sophie had woken up the morning of Christmas Day and just like she did in the past, after brushing her teeth and taking a shower, went down for breakfast. Every dorm had a kitchen on the bottom floor, which she entered to get some food. Tiana and Penelope waved from their places and she smiled in return. There were other people, but not any who she knew personally.

After pouring herself some cereal she sat down, eating quietly before placing the empty bowl and spoon into the dish washer before going back upstairs to do the second thing she did on Christmas Day; open presents.

From family she received clothes and cash from her parents and younger sisters and a new camera from Irene because 'it's the 21st century Sophie, why are you using something from before you were born?'.

The Kodak camera she was using was from 2012. She didn't need a calendar to be certain that; one, it was from the 21st century and two, she was definitely alive during that time. She had been 13 for crying out loud!

Ass.

The gifts from friends were much better and more personal; Sarah gave her some new sketching pencils with a sketch book because in her spare time, whenever she wanted to just wind back, she would draw in her previous sketchbook that was full to the brim with drawings. She knew that she would definitely us them.

Elliot had bought, to her utter amusement, a set of vibrators and two dildos 'so she could practice before losing her virginity' as it said on the note she had also received. He had also gotten her a box of chocolates, which she had eaten gladly (although hesitantly so just in case she had locked her door).

She even had received a gift from Hamato Yoshi, who had given her a fan with her name written in Japanese to hang on her wall, which she gladly did.

Not a lot of presents, but she was grateful for every single one of them, regardless if some were more personal then others. She then spent the rest of her day on the Internet, lounging about on her bed until a knock on her door brought her downstairs into the dormitory's dining room.

There, on a long table, was a massive feast for thirteen (that was how many people had stayed behind). Five of them had gotten together and created a holiday meal, even if you didn't celebrate-which Susannah, who lived a floor above her and was Jewish, didn't-you could still join in. "Food is food!" one of the boys, Jordan, had announced.

Everyone sat down and dug in, laughing and smiling, regardless if most of them if not all were in their pajamas. For the first time in a long while, Sophie actually felt at peace.

She listened with amusement as Penelope shared a holiday anecdote from her home in the Bronx and followed along with interest when Tiana told everyone about one Christmas in Missouri four years ago. She kept quiet; she had no funny or heartwarming Christmas story, unfortunately. Nothing interesting happened.

It made her sad, how close everyone's families were, but not envious. She came out all right, in the end.

She just wished to spend one Christmas, one enjoyable holiday, with a family she had made. What was the first part of that quote from Lilo & Stitch?

'This is my family. I found it all on my own.'

She hoped to say that one day.

Leonardo, like every Christmas since 2014, received presents from every member of his family and his friends.

His father was the only one not to buy him anything ninjitsu related; instead, he had bought him another banzai tree after his first one had died earlier that year.

The others, however, had bought him things revolving around that topic he loved with a passion. To start with his brothers; Raph had gotten him polish for his swords, Donnie had made him a small machine that projected holographic targets for him to practice his katanas with and Mikey had bought him a video game that was all about the martial art.

Their friends had followed their lead; April had bought him a new dark blue bandana with his name stitched in light blue Japanese on either side of the fabric and Casey and Vernon had gotten together to buy him an expensive scroll with the eighteen disciplines of ninjitsu written across the paper, which he had hung up over his bed. Even the police force, and Rebecca Vincent, had got together to buy him something; a new pair of new, shiny authentic katanas made and shipped over from Japan.

Leo couldn't stop smiling. All of the presents delighted him and were well received, it was just-...

It seemed easy for people to just get him what they thought he loved above all; anything about ninjitsu, really. However, the martial art he had dedicated his life to, wasn't his favorite thing in the world, which would have surprised his friends and family if they had ever known. Instead, in that moment of time, it was Japan.

Just...Japan. It's culture, it's history, the places, the people, the views.

Oh the views!

His biggest wish, in the entire world, was to visit Japan. If he could have anything, it would be to see that beautiful, rich country with his own two eyes and not through pictures on the internet. It was a childish dream, really, to think he could ever see it himself. He was a giant mutant turtle! He couldn't really buy a passport and a ticket and just walk into an airport and board a plane, he would terrify everyone in the building!

It was one of the reasons he had regretted his decision not to permanently become a human. To his family he was perfectly content with staying a mutant, but deep down inside, hidden from them, he despised his decision.

"Leo!" Raph yelled in the direction of his 'corner' of the Lair. After the boys and Splinter had taken their gifts to their respected areas, Leo had sat on his bed to inspect his new katanas while Mikey and Donnie had taken April, Casey and Vernon into the kitchen to help finish making dinner. The trifle was in the freezer and the chicken defrosted. All that was left was the mash, gravy, vegetables and the stuffing. Easy really, and did not need seven people to finish. Leo and Raph had helped last year, now it was Donnie and Mikey's turn. "Ya still have a present left!"

Well, that was strange. He was certain he had opened all of his from everyone. Maybe someone had bought him an extra present and he had not seen it?

"I'm coming!" he called, placing his katanas down gently on his bed before getting up and heading back to where the Christmas tree was, right next to the TV so everyone could have a comfy seat while opening presents. There, in his brother's hand, was a blue-wrapped rectangle covered in snowflakes.

He knew right away it was a book, and who had wrapped it.

The only person who insisted on wrapping his gifts in colour co-ordination to the people who were receiving, so they knew exactly whose it was without checking for a name tag, was Michelangelo. The same Mikey who was currently holding a wooden spoon and singing a horrible rendition of Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas is You' alongside the radio as Donnie, April, Casey and Vern watched and laughed at his antics.

"Apparently Mikey bought you somethin' else." Raph shoved it into his hands before walking off, leaving Leo to stand along in the designated 'living room' holding an interesting parcel.

Unlike Mikey's usual Christmas ways, there was a tag sellotaped to the wrapping paper which he delicately and slowly opened. There, in handwriting that was definitely not his brothers, were two words:

'Thank you.'

He could only stare at the message, his brow ridge raised in confusion. Who had sent him this? Because it certainly was not his brother, that was for sure. He could not express how puzzled he was at the mystery before him, could not put it into words. So instead, he gently took of the paper.

In his hands was, like he had guessed, a book. And it blew him away.

The cover was beautiful; a light brown, made of a fabric he could not identify but was soft in it's own way, definitely softer then his own fingertips, with gold stitching keeping it secure to the book. In the middle was the outline of a butterfly made of blue, yellow, white and black thread, with gold Japanese writing above and below it. The title, a subtitle and the author.

JAPAN: The History and Culture of a Forgotten Land
by Hinata Takahashi

The butterfly, however, had caught his attention more so then the other parts of the cover. The outline and colours of the insect had been stitched into the fabric. By hand. To him, the cover was soft, but his skin was rough and so any other material felt like pillows to him. But to humans, it would be like if Donnie had stitched his tattoos into his skin. It was an achievement he awed at.

He gently opened the cover to take just a quick glimpse inside, and his eyes landed on writing, old ink that had been purposely written into the book rather then it having been printed onto the page. In Japanese, and underneath a translation in English, in handwriting that was not similar at all to the writing on the tag, was the quote;

"I am too young, and I've loved you too much" - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Immediately, he knew this was secondhand and that the message was meant from someone else to someone else, a lover perhaps. But deep down, a small part of him imagined that it had been written for him. Leonardo, a giant humanoid turtle living under New York City having an admirer or someone who loved him with all of their heart. A human, who could love a mutant.

The thought of it was impossible, and he felt that small spark in him die.

He looked up from the book and turned his head. His ninja senses alerting him to the fact he was being watched, and he successfully made eye contact.

Michelangelo was staring at him, rather intently. He had not bought him the present. Leo's eyes widen.

And he knows.

Splinter was deep in mediation as his family all prepared for their holiday dinner when a tap on the wall to his secluded part of the Lair made him open his eyes and look over at person who intruded on his mediation.

"Dad," Splinter knew it was always non-serious when his eldest son called him by that title. "Can you do something for me?"

"Of course my son, what is it that you need?" he replied, concern setting in as he stood up to face him.

Leo smiled.

That night, as Sophie laid in bed browsing her Tumblr, full after a beautiful prepared dinner-and a delicious dessert-her phone buzzed.

A single text from Mikey, after two hours of silence once he had informed her that the dinner he and his family had was all gone and well received.

'Check the rooftop.'

And she did. Throwing on pants, shoes and a coat she left her dorm and climbed the fire escape to the rooftop. At first, she didn't see what she was looking for exactly, and nearly sent a confused text back when she saw it.

Laying on the concrete edge of the rooftop, facing her dormitory building was a fan; a tessen, as she would later find out. As she got closer, she noticed that it had an iron frame, so different from the one Hamato Yoshi had given her, and that it was a dark black. As she picked up the quite heavy object, her eyes landed on the design in the center.

A beautiful, detailed bouquet (of sorts) of cherry blossoms. Sakura, as the Japanese call them.

It was a war fan, used by ninjas.

She turned it over to inspect it when she saw the little post-it stuck to the other side. With a tug, she ripped it off and read the words on the paper, words that brought a smile to her face: 'The book is beautiful. Thank you.'

"You're welcome." she whispered into the silence before holding the closed fan close to her chest and leaving, the post-it note now in her jean pocket. She couldn't keep the smile of her face as she entered the building and her room, leaning back against her closed door and kicking off her shoes, coat and jeans. She did remember to take the post-it note out and place it in her desk drawer before climbing back into her pajamas and sitting back down on her bed, the fan still tightly gripped in her hand.

Her phone buzzed a second time, and she looked at the text she had received. Yet again from Mikey, mimicking the words he had sent her that morning, just without the many emojis and the replacement of one word.

'Merry Christmas, Sophie.'

Her smile widened as she stared at her phone in the darkness of her room, the only light coming from the streetlamps outside streaming in through the tiny crack in her curtains Sarah had put up and the light from her bedside lamp, illuminating her cheerful face.

"Merry Christmas, Leonardo."

EDIT: Came back to add this little author's note at the end. My friend posted this on her AO3 (I have too many on my own and I don't want to clog it up) and someone thought Leo getting a bit too overboard with Sophie wearing purple eyeshadow was a bit too much. There is a reason for that, and I wanted to post my reply here too because Leo's possessiveness will become a key factor of the story and his journey throughout. So here it is:

'Like penguins, some turtles are surprisingly monogamous (they have one partner for the rest of their life). In this case, the turtle boys aren't but there are reports of red sliders (the species of turtle they are in the Bayverse) being 100% monogamous, so maybe they're actually like humans in this respect. But the four boys are mutated humanoids, and were raised to have a significant colour assigned to them so April/Dr. O'Neil/Sacks/Splinter could tell them apart, and so the boys have adopted this as their own (in this story anyway). Leo, in this case, has already established some sort of biological connection with Sophie. It's not like he is possessive of her because he wants to be, but he's possessive biologically. Deep down, he has instinctively chosen her as a mate, but he doesn't know it yet. Of course when they finally meet and become friends, that possessiveness will decrease but it will pop up from time to time and definitely scare him. That's a problem Leo has to face head on, with all the ups and downs it comes with, and that's his journey throughout the story. He can't be Sophie's partner without tackling this first, and yes this is a slow burn story so it'll take a while (like a long while you will be shocked).'

So I hope this soothes some concerns about that chapter, and to keep this in mind as the story continues. Also, I reached 20 reviews over on A03, which has never happened to me before! The largest I ever had was 11, until this story came along. If we can reach 20 reviews or more on here before Chapter 10, I will be internally grateful!