~~~Author's Notes: HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! We've finally reached up to 2,000 views! This is so awesome! Thank you all so much! And I most likely thank: divergentlover523, Dragonblooded, Anjanie, thebelowaverage, Syrlia, BearFangDK, AsTheDragonFlies, Carzygirl123, He4rtBreaker101, Hiniko, JellOtaku, bluevolleyball, i-like-writing-stories, and other guests who favorited, followed, and reviewed to my first story. Seriously you guys, I don't know how I could thank you enough. You made me so happy. :')

In the previous part...

The turtles returned back to the Secret Lair and told Master Splinter about the news. Knowing the Stones are still in danger, they've decided to keep the Stone family in the sewers until it is safe. After having a little disagreement from the Stone family, eventually they give in and packed up their stuff to move in with the turtles. But what will happen when Jocelyn meets Master Splinter...?

WARNING: This part has 5,000 words. So be prepared. ((Do you guys like long chapters? Idk. This is actually the 6th chapter if you haven't noticed. I had to break it into parts so it wouldn't be too long for you readers out there.))

So Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Author's POV

"I can't believe we're doing this."

Jocelyn watched Leonardo and Donatello struggle to shove Darcy's gigantic suitcase into the sewer hole as the sun rises from the horizon. Darcy and Jocelyn didn't know how long they've waited for the two turtles pushing the suitcase in the hole. So meanwhile, they watch Peter playing around with Michelangelo while Bubba runs around like a psychotic animal. Well...Bubba is a psychotic animal.

Raphael grunted below the sewer hole waiting for the suitcase to fall onto his hands. "C'mon, guys! Put more muscle into it!"

Darcy sweat-dropped at the two turtles sighing in frustration. "Do you... turtles need any help?"

Donnie glanced at the woman. "We're male turtles, ma'am. And apparently, we do."

Leo stopped shoving the suitcase. "We should've think this through."

"You think?!"

He gave Donnie a dirty look. "You're the one who has the brains here."

"Yes. But apparently someone decided to shove it in here!" Donnie remarked, glaring back at Mikey.

"Hey! That's not my fault!" Mikey shouted back.

Leo's frown deepened. "And who was the one who did this?"

"You guys always blame it on me!"

"That's because...You. Did. This," pointed out Donnie.

Raphael grunted in annoyance hearing his brothers arguing and bickering from the surface.

"...Do you guys always fight?"

Hearing Jocelyn's voice, the turtles immediately stopped arguing. They all blinked and looked at each other.

"Uhm...well..." Leo started.

Donnie scratched his head. "Occasionally...?"

"Yes!" shouted Raph underneath the surface.

Jocelyn lifted her eyebrow. "Uh huh. I'll have you know that you guys continue to argue while it's the morning. Which means that the sun is gonna rise soon. Which means the neighbors are gonna wake up any minute now. Which means-"

"Okay, okay. We get the point," Leo interrupted. "Let's quickly get this done."

Eventually, the turtles got all the large luggage through the sewer hole before the sunrise came and led the Stone family towards their Secret Lair.

Darcy pinched her nose at the powerful stench surrounding them. "My goodness...it's worse than I imagined." Jocelyn rolled her eyes. She would agree that it smelled bad but she experienced worst kinds of smells.

Peter looked back at Bubba running around Donatello. "We can bring Bubba?"

"You could," Donnie stated chuckling at the little boy happily cheering. "As long Bubba isn't a feline then Master Splinter should accept it."

Peter titled his head. "How come?"

"You'll find out momentarily."

Jocelyn lifted her brow, slightly astonished that Peter wasn't really disgust by the smell. She didn't realize Raphael kept staring at her.

"I'm surprised you're not complaining."

"Oh, I am actually. Inside my head," she simply told him. "'Sides, I smelled worse."

Raph scoffed. "Really? Like what?"

Jocelyn just smirked. "You just don't know, huh? You just don't know."

"Aaaand I don't want to."

She burst out a loud laughter. "Hey, you asked."

"Hm."

Jocelyn noticed a bit of annoyance in his expression. "You still don't trust me?"

Raph hesitated. The girl didn't seem like a harmful person now after she let them delete the two videos. "Well, I dunno. Maybe I can trust you a little..." after his response, he was taken aback by her bright smile. "But I'm still watching you, girly!"

The girl chuckled. "It's Jocelyn and you can watch me all you want."

Raphael looked surprised by her response but he kept the frown on his face and continued walking towards the direction of the Lair.

Once the turtles led the Stone family to the Secret Lair, Jocelyn looked around her surroundings in fascination. The place they lived in wasn't that bad. She thought to herself how they got the furniture in the sewers.

"Woah! You guys live here?" she asked.

Mikey grinned. "Yeah, girl! You like?"

"Hell yeah! Lovin' the mini crib."

Suddenly, Bubba barked and ran towards a tall mysterious figure. Peter turned his head and pointed at the figure. "Rat!"

A giant rat slowly walks towards the Stone family and bowed before them. "Welcome. I've notice you met my sons."

Their eyes enlarged at the sight of the giant rat. Wait. Sons? So the turtles father is...A GIANT RAT?

Darcy and Jocelyn faces paled and screamed.

"AHHHHH!"

"I-I-I-It's a-a-a...r-rat...!" stuttered Darcy frightened by the gigantic rat.

Splinter looked down at the white Pyrenees happily circling around him. "You've brought a canine with you?"

Donnie anxiously chuckled. "At least it's not a cat."

However, not all of them were scared of Master Splinter. Peter quickly approached to him and grinned. "Cool!" Peter attempted to reach his beard but he tucked it in his Japanese robe causing the little boy to pout.

Jocelyn glanced back at the turtles. "You weren't kidding when you said he was different from you guys." she whispered.

"I told you so," murmured Leo. "But at least try to act polite to him."

Darcy gulped nervously and cleared her throat. "I apologize for screaming," she said while pulling Peter away. "I'm Darcy Stone."

Master Splinter nodded at the woman. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Darcy. My name is Hamato Yoshi but my sons call me Splinter," Splinter walked over to the four turtles. "Here is Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo."

Darcy politely smiled. "Splinter. You have wonderful sons. I thanked them for saving my niece."

"You also have wonderful children as well."

Darcy showed her gratitude. "Thank you. Peter is my adopted son and Jocelyn is my niece."

Unexpectedly, Mikey spoke up, "Peter, mah man~!"

Donatello rolled his eyes at him. "Mikey..."

Master Splinter glanced down at the young girl. "Jocelyn."

Jocelyn was slightly startled when he called her name. "Yes?"

"How is my son?" Splinter asked.

Leonardo face paled. 'Oh no...'

"Son?"

"Leonardo."

Jocelyn wore a puzzled expression while looking back at Leo. He avoided her and broke eye-contact. What's going on?

"Uhh...good?"

Splinter stroked his beard. "I see. He's been meeting you every night, hasn't he?"

Recalling the time when Leonardo and the turtles met her because of the video incident, Jocelyn simply nodded.

"Uhm...yeah, he did."

Jocelyn just blinked when Splinter looked at her suspiciously. She seemed to be telling the truth. Splinter nodded and glanced at his eldest son. "Leonardo. May I speak with you and my daughter-in-law in the Dojo?"

Everybody's jaws dropped to the floor, appalled yet perplexed by Master Splinter calling Jocelyn daughter-in-law. However, Leonardo understood and bowed down. "Yes, Father."

Master Splinter slowly headed towards the Dojo. Once he was gone, Leo turned around to face the girl dangerously shooting daggers at him.

Leo winced at the sight of the girl; her face turning beat red in fury, her honey brown orbs flared in fire while steam blew out of her ears, and her teeth gnashing together. Any minute now, the girl was about to explode.

Obviously she was extremely furious with him.

"'DAUGHTER-IN-LAW'?!"

Leo flinched back but quickly closed her mouth with his hand before she said anything. "Shhh! Not so loud!"

Aunt Darcy crossed her arms also was displeased by the news. "You're marrying to a turtle?!"

"Hell no, Auntie! Why would I?!"

The turtles took that as an offensive remark but immediately brushed it off while Peter pretends to play the trumpet singing the wedding song. Jocelyn shuts his mouth a shot him a glare.

"Not now, Peter."

"Sis has a boyfriend!" said Peter giggling at his grumpy cousin.

Raphael smirked at his brother. "Gee, Leo. You're in big trouble now." He loved watching his older brother feeling frustrated.

Leo sighed and faced Jocelyn wearing a furious expression. "Look. I can explain things later. But before we go in the Dojo, there's a few things you need to follow. First, copy whatever I do in there. Secondly, answer every question Master Splinter asks you. Got it?"

Jocelyn hesitated. She glanced over at Aunt Darcy looked unsure but slowly agreeing with him. Was this really happening to her?

"Do I really?"

"Yes. Just this once. And I promise you I'll explain it all afterwards."

"...fine."

"Thank-"

"I hate you."

Leo's smile instantly disappeared.

"You ruin my life, y'know that right?"

Leo just sweat-dropped.

The Dojo room was pretty huge.

Jocelyn looked around her surroundings of the room in fascination. She has never seen a room like this. Japanese was completely foreign for her. It was done in a Japanese decor with a huge tree in the middle of the room. The Dojo was filled with 13 carpet rugs with a ninja arsenal. This is probably where Master Splinter learns and trains the turtles ninjitsu. It was odd that a room like this existed in the sewers.

Jocelyn spotted the giant rat sitting on the carpet with a mini table in front of him awaiting for his son and his 'daughter-in-law' to come join him. She could almost feel her heart hammering inside her chest. Beads of sweat formed on the back of her neck as she gulped anxiously. Why was she feeling so nervous about?

Leonardo lead the way towards Master Splinter and sat down across from him. Jocelyn followed suit, sitting down beside the turtle.

She glanced down at the food on the plate. Her eyes widened in revulsion that the odd looking food contained with green algae and slimy worms. Did they seriously eat these stuff? She did not questioned them why they have this. It is the sewers after all.

But seriously, are those worms ALIVE?

Jocelyn followed Leonardo as he picked up the chopsticks and bowed while Master Splinter does the same.

**"Itadakimasu," they both said in unison.

((**Translation: Thank you for the food.))

Jocelyn hesitated to pick up her chopsticks while glancing at Leonardo. Reading his facial expression, he told her to follow him.

She also bowed down. "I-Idakmanasudu..."

Jocelyn nervously smiled while Leonardo face palmed at her incorrect pronunciation.

She watched Leo and Master Splinter holding their chopsticks as they ate the algae and worms.

Her face instantly turned blue and almost inwardly barfed inside her mouth. They actually are eating it. Hopefully her small action wasn't noticeable from the giant rat.

Jocelyn struggled to grab hold of the worms with her chopsticks. Splinter noticed and glanced over to his son.

"Leonardo, may you help my daughter-in-law using the chopsticks?"

"Yes, Father," Leonardo scooted over to Jocelyn and gently held her hands holding onto the chopsticks. He taught her the way to hold the Japanese chopsticks. "So, you hold this like a pencil and..."

Jocelyn wasn't paying fully attention to his directions. Instead she focused on feeling and watching his thick fingers tenderly stroking hers. Surprisingly, his skin is smooth. His skin felt similar to a reptiles skin but somehow...it was different.

"Got it?"

Hearing Leo's voice cut off her weird imagination as she simply nodded. "Y-Yeah..." Facing down at the food on the plate, she slowly picked up her chopsticks.

Thankfully, Master Splinter stopped her from eating the horrendous dish. "Jocelyn, is it?"

A bit startled by his deep voice, Jocelyn quickly nodded. "Y-Yes."

"Jocelyn, perhaps you could introduce yourself."

The girl cleared her throat. "Well...I'm almost 16 years old and attending in Roosevelt High School. I'm half Italian half Romanian, birthdate: July 23rd. I lived in my aunt's apartment for 4 years..." she trailed off in thought and told him the rest, leaving off about her past. "I like to kickbox and skateboard. Also, I work part-time job at Antonio's Pizza."

Master Splinter and Leo looked slightly astonished that she works in Antonio's Pizza. "Oh? You could cook for us. My sons love pizza."

Jocelyn smiled. "I'd love to. Extra cheese for you?" she said giving Splinter a playful wink.

Splinter chuckled at the little humor. "Why of course. You cannot have the perfect pizza without cheese."

Leonardo smirked, impressed how Master Splinter and Jocelyn were having a comfortable conversation. Perhaps he shouldn't worry so much about Jocelyn.

"And a zodiac of a Leo," Splinter pointed out. "What a coincidence."

Leonardo nervously grinned while Jocelyn's face flushed in reply.

"Now, why is that you liked about my son?" Splinter questionably asked.

She just smiled. "Well I didn't liked him."

Splinter's ears popped up slightly shocked. "You have not?" Leo wasn't really surprised by her response. He knew how much she hated him right now and he can imagine pulling out a list of reasons why.

Jocelyn told him her honest answer. "I'm...a very emotional person. But meeting someone like Leo changed my life. Even though I acted terrible to him, Leo still saved my life from the Foot. I don't think I'll ever meet another guy who's kind, devoted, and compassionate towards someone like me. That's why...I admired him so much."

Leo stared at her, surprised by her answer. Although he wasn't sure if she really meant it, but her truthful words about him made Leonardo smile.

"So what do you plan doing in your future?"

Jocelyn tapped her chin with her finger in thought. "Uhm...I guess I'd like to be an astronaut."

Splinter lifted his eyebrow. "Oh? Why an astronaut?"

Leo was alarmed by her choice for her future. An astronaut? He expected her to become a professional boxer or something but out of all things, she picked an astronaut?

Jocelyn shrugged. "Sometimes I'd like to fly away from here and explore the outside world. Plus, I love seeing the stars!"

She never mentioned the main reason of going to space is getting away from the disasters and cruel things that are happening around the world. Especially when she was raised by a terrible family. Living in a disoriented family made her choose to fly far away from here. For once, she wanted to soothe her mind and lay back down to watch the shining stars and forget about the world. But she couldn't. Sadly in New York, there weren't many stars to be seen at night so it's a disappointment. Being an astronaut may not be her style but it's what she wanted to become in the future. It's her dream.

Splinter nodded at her response. "I see. Interesting. Because my son, Leonardo has his interest in this television show called Space Heroes."

Leo pouted a little while he watched Jocelyn giggling with his half lidded eyes. He can feel both his cheeks heating up in embarrassment. "Father..."

But honestly, Leo didn't mind the embarrassment. Because seeing Jocelyn's bright smile made him forget all about it. The sight of the laughing girl made him automatically grin. Leo liked it better when she's smiling.

Master Splinter smiled at the two. Jocelyn was in fact an interesting pair with Leonardo. However, he asked to himself why his eldest son picked this girl. Splinter knows Leonardo so well. He imagined Leo's type would be someone who is skilled in martial arts and with elegance or graceful. But that didn't mattered now. As long as his son is happy, Splinter will gladly accept Jocelyn to the family.

Splinter picked up his chopsticks. "Now my son and my daughter-in-law, let's begin eating."

Jocelyn face paled after looking back at the algae and worms. But she let her bravery take over her and grabbed her chopsticks.

Leo caught anxiety written all over her face and whispered to her, "Jocelyn, you don't have to eat it if you don't want to."

Jocelyn shook her head in refusal. "No. I can eat it. I don't want to be rude." Grasping her chopsticks tightly, she took a piece of algae and a live worm and forcefully put it into her mouth.

Jocelyn inwardly gags inside her mouth when she felt the live worm squirming around her gums and the moist and salty algae on her tongue. And munching it down was even worse. Words cannot describe how the food tasted like. Master Splinter and Leo only watched her overexaggerate on the food like it was poison.

"Mmm...S-So good..." her lying words trailed off as she began to eat more of it. However, she didn't noticed that she grabbed a handful of live worms into her mouth. Now the full pile of worms were stuck and clogged her throat. Jocelyn quickly jumped from the table in panic and started choking.

Immediately, Leonardo gave her the cup of tea and watched her gulping it all. Noticing the tea was still hot, Jocelyn spewed it all out directly towards Leo's face.

Jocelyn frantically sticking her burning tongue out while Leo stared at her with half lidded eyes, feeling the hot tea and pieces of algae and live worms dripping down from his head to his plastron.

This did not ended well.

After finishing their meal, Master Splinter bowed to Jocelyn. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Jocelyn."

Jocelyn politely bowed. "I'm...sorry about reacting that way. I don't usually eat algae and worms..."

"No, I should apologize. Perhaps we should have eaten the ramen instead." Splinter mentioned remembering there were a couple of ramen soup in the cabinet.

Wait. Ramen? All this time, they had ramen? And they just let her eat the algae and worms? Jocelyn mentally laughed in agony. She just made a complete embarrassment out of herself. She could see Leonardo holding in his chuckle and shot him a glare.

Jocelyn quickly brushed it off and smiled. "It wasn't that bad..."

Her words trailed off while Splinter gave her a look, that he can see through her white lie.

"Okay, maybe it was," she admitted. "But it was nice meeting you, Master Splinter."

Master Splinter lifted up his finger in disagreement. "No, no. You may call me Father if it makes you comfortable."

Jocelyn smiled. "Trust me. Calling you Master Splinter will make me more comfortable."

Once he nodded, Splinter watched Jocelyn and Leonardo heading out of the Dojo. He called out his son's name before he left the room. "My son, may I speak with you?"

Leonardo looked back at Jocelyn. "I'll be out in a few," he told her. When she nodded, Jocelyn had left the parent and son alone in the Dojo.

Leo bowed before him. "Yes, Master Splinter?"

Splinter stroked his beard in thought of the girl. "She's...interesting."

Leo just blinked. "Does that mean in a good or bad way?"

"Both. But I like her."

"What? Really? I mean...isn't she...weird to you?" Leo questionably said.

"Yes," Splinter simply answered. "That's the bad part. You've...changed your taste in women?"

Leo chuckled a little. Of course he hasn't. He's still most likely interested in Karai. But truthfully, pairing up with Jocelyn after getting to know her wasn't much of a torture to him.

Leo formed a smile. "I guess...she's just special."

Master Splinter nodded. "She is special. She's really special. But, it's what your heart chooses and I shall accept her into the family."

"Thank you, Father." Before Leo bowed down again, he exited out of the Dojo.

Jocelyn's POV

"So, I'm just pretending to be his...'daughter-in-law'?" Jocelyn questionably said, emphasizing the word 'daughter-in-law.' Once she came back after meeting Master Splinter, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo told her the full explanation about Leonardo meeting with a female ninja named Karai.

What a chaotic mess they're in. First, it was the video incident and now their Father thinks Leo has been sneaking out to meet Jocelyn but was actually hanging out with their mortal enemies' daughter, Karai. And Splinter thinks Leo and Jocelyn are dating now? Jocelyn just had a major headache after explaining the whole thing. This is all too crazy! Especially when you're keeping secrets from Master Splinter.

"The correct term for it is 'girlfriend' but unsure why Master Splinter called you that," stated Donatello.

Raphael shrugged. "Maybe Master Splinter thinks you're 'the one' for Leo."

She rolled her eyes at him. She highly doubt it. "So why does he like this...Karai girl?" Jocelyn asked.

"He thinks she's different from the Foot even though she's Shredder's daughter," answered Raph. "I have to admit, she's pretty hot but she's still evil."

"And you still kept it a secret?"

"What else should we do? Tell Splinter the damn truth saying that Leo's fallin' for Shredder's daughter? I don't think so. 'Sides, he's our brother. We can't just abandon the guy."

Raphael did had a point. Jocelyn couldn't argue with that. But this was seriously insane. Falling in love with the mortal enemies' daughter? Talk about Romeo and Juliet.

Mikey whined. "Awww so there's no wedding?" He earned a powerful thump on the head by his aggressive brother. "Ow!"

"There will be no wedding and there will be no dating!" shouted Darcy, furious with her niece.

Jocelyn looked at her aunt with half lidded eyes. "Calm down, Auntie. I'm not the one who started this."

Suddenly, she felt her right ear being pulled by her aunt. Feeling the pressure of her ear being pulled out of her head made Jocelyn yelp in pain. Darcy shot daggers at her niece and yelled, "I will not calm down! Hon'! Look at what you have caused this time!"

Donnie watched Jocelyn cried begging for mercy. He told Darcy, "Please, ma'am. Splinter cannot know the truth yet."

Eventually she let go of her niece's ear. Darcy dangerously clenched her fist. "The truth isn't the only thing that hurts."

Mikey rubbed the back of his neck. "Ehehe. That's what Master Splinter said before..." he trailed off feeling uneasy.

Raph lifted his eye ridge. "You actually remembered that time?"

"What time?" Mikey asked in confusion while watching his brother slapping himself.

Darcy still wore her dissatisfied look. "And you boys choose not to follow what he says to you?"

"It's complicated," Donnie spoke up. "You have to understand the situation we're in right now. Please, don't let him know."

Darcy tapped her nail on the counter impatiently in thought. "...Alright. I won't tell him. But this is your responsibility, not mine." Then, Darcy faced her niece. "And Jocelyn, there will be no kissing."

Jocelyn grunted in annoyance. "Okay, i get it."

"And no-"

"Please don't go any further, Auntie," interrupted Jocelyn.

Once Leonardo came in the room after talking with Splinter, he spotted the girl and smiled. "C'mon, Jocelyn. Let's go."

Jocelyn raised her brow. "Huh? Where are we going?"

"Just follow me. I can give you a mini tour."

Mikey wore a playful smirk and said, "Oooo! So you two can do some kissy-wissy stuff~?" He puckered his lips and burst out laughing while Raph cut him off hitting Mikey's head again. "Ow! Quit it, man!"

Leonardo narrowed his eye lids. "That's not it at all, Mikey. We're just friends," he stated glancing over to Jocelyn. "Come on. I'll show you around."

Once she nodded, she followed the blue masked turtle. Hearing the sounds of snickering from a distance made her roll her eyes.

Leo's POV

The two headed towards the bedrooms. Leo volunteered to give Jocelyn a mini tour in their Secret Lair. Surprisingly, the meeting with Master Splinter went pretty well; not counting the part when she eats the worms. He showed her which doors were his and his brothers bedrooms and where they cleaned themselves. Leo chuckled when she thanked the lord that they do dental hygiene and wash themselves. Well, if they didn't, she wouldn't even be here...nor even talk to him.

"So, what did Master Splinter say?"

"Well, he didn't really say anything," Leo stated. "But he told me he liked you."

Jocelyn whipped her head up in shock. "What? Really?"

"Yup. So there's no problem."

Except the fact that they both have to 'pretend' that they're dating. Sure, it is a bit of a hassle but they both seem to be getting along pretty good which makes the situation much more easier.

Jocelyn sighed in relief. "Thank god! For a sec, I thought he didn't. Did you see me eating those worms?"

Leo laughed, recalling himself that she made a complete fool out of herself. "I probably won't forget that time."

"Pssh. No kidding."

"By the way, an astronaut?" Leo mentioned.

Jocelyn shrugged. "I like to fly away to the stars."

"Why the stars?"

A sad smile formed on her face. "It makes me forget about the world."

It seemed like a nice dream. But Leo caught the hint of sadness on her smile why she wanted to forget about the world. Suddenly, he spotted a couple scars on her wrist. He recalled the time when she was rubbing it a few hours ago. Perhaps the scars was related to her dream.

"Is it still bothering you?" he asked pointing at her left wrist.

Jocelyn immediately covered it with her other hand. "No, I'm fine."

Leo noticed her quick reaction while her face wore a slight anxious expression.

"Alright, but if it hurts, I'll wrap it up for you."

She looked slightly surprised. Leo seemed like he didn't understood why the scars are on her wrist. Well, he did lived in the sewers for his whole entire life. Even though he did go up on the surface every night with his brothers, they do not know what the real world was like out there.

Lucky. Cause she wished she never knew what the real world is like.

"It's fine. I did this to myself anyways."

His wide blue eyes stared at the girl. "What?! When-"

Jocelyn held up her hands in defense. "Hey, it was a long time ago! It's all good, I won't do it again! I'm not like that anymore! I think I'm not...? I don't know. I'm guessing you...never heard of suicide?"

Leo was unaware by that. But he can tell that it wasn't good. "Why did you do it?"

"Let's just say, the world is a cruel place."

Her response didn't really answered his question but he knew she did it for a reason. Leo decided not to answer back and continued the mini tour. He didn't want Jocelyn to feel uncomfortable and remind herself what happened to the past.

Leo slide open the door, showing Jocelyn a large and mysterious dark but clean room. It also looked cheap too. But Jocelyn didn't mind. It was the sewers after all, not a fancy hotel. "And here's the guest room. Sorry that there's only one room available. It's pretty big so you and your family can fit. I'll get the blankets and pillows before you take a nap."

"Thanks, maid. You're the best.~"

Leo frowned at her playful comment. 'I'm not a maid...'

Jocelyn stepped into the large Japanese room and looked around. "It's pretty empty."

Leo rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, we never had the time to put some furniture in here," he said.

"...Mind if I decorate?"

Leo stared at her slightly surprised. "I can't see why not."

Leo watched her quickly running out of the guest room and a few seconds later came back with her suitcase. He had no idea what the girl was doing. He curiously stared at her zipping the suitcase open revealing a couple of colored paint buckets and different types of paintbrushes.

"You paint?"

Jocelyn smirked. "Jah! I do it occasionally whenever I had little free time. But that's not all. I also do a couple of Origami's!" She held up some decorated paper scraps to the turtle. Leo's response was a smile, slightly impressed that she does more hobbies than kickboxing and skateboarding.

Jocelyn looked around the room to see where to paint. She began to stroke her chin.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm stroking my invisible beard."

Leo raised his brow ridge. "Invisible beard?"

"It's my thing whenever I think. Now, SHHHHH!"

She continued her 'thing' while the turtle rolled his eyes. What a strange girl.

Then Jocelyn looked up.

A light bulb popped up from her head, literally. "Do you have a ladder?"

"I can grab one in Donnie's lab. Are you going to paint the whole ceiling?"

She nodded while he continued to stare at her in curiosity. "What are you going to paint?"

"My constellation star."

"The constellation of the Leo?"

She nodded. "Yup!"

"Why the Leo though?"

"It's my constellation star. Duh! But mostly...it's for you, actually."

Leo titled his head in confusion. "Why me?"

"I guess...it's my way of showing my gratitude for rescuing me and my family," she said with a gentle smile.

Leo stared at her in disbelief and Jocelyn blushed at his reaction, her grin instantly faded away. "And your brothers too!"

She rubbed her chin in thought. "Maybe I should add four turtles and a rat too...Or maybe a penguin! A penguin in the sky! Yeah, yeah...that'd be nice too..."

While Jocelyn mumbles her ideas to herself, eventually, Leo smiled back. Suddenly he sighted the scars on her wrist. She really did that to herself? Hurting herself? He frowned at the sight. This girl has a lot of secrets hidden that he did not understood. But he didn't wanted to ask. It wasn't his business to know about her personal life. But that doesn't mean he cannot be concerned about her.

He took a few steps towards the girl. "Don't move."

Once he was facing the girl, he glanced at her left wrist with the permanent scars and gently held it.

Jocelyn flinched by his actions. "What're you do-"

"I told you not to move."

She gulped while Leo smoothly touched the scars on her wrist. Leo stared at Jocelyn attempting to calm herself down. He can feel her heavy breathing gradually slowing down.

"Don't do this to yourself."

Jocelyn didn't make eye contact and stared at the floor.

"Jocelyn."

Hearing her name, she looked up at the turtle staring back at her full of concern and worry on his face.

Leo didn't knew when he started to care for this girl. It just somehow happened. Because he didn't liked the sight of Jocelyn getting hurt. Cutting herself and enemies beating her to death; he couldn't let that happen. Not again.

He let his mind slip off. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Jocelyn hesitantly frowned at him. "I don't get it."

Leo drew his eye ridges together in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"About why you're doing this. Doing and saying all these nice things to me," she confessed. "During the video incident, we were arguing and all of a sudden, you're being kind? That doesn't make any sense. Why are you doing this?"

Leo's honest thoughts slip from his mouth. "Honestly, I don't know. I can't fully explain why. I don't know when this all started. I don't even remember when I begin to be concerned about you," he responded after looking down at her wrist. "But there's something hiding inside you that makes me anxious that you may need help. And I need to protect you. I want to protect you."

Jocelyn was all out of words. Her face flushed in deep redness from his words.

"So...if I told you what I'm hiding, will you stop worrying about me?"

"Even if you did, I'd still protect you," he simply answered.

Jocelyn sighed. "I'm not in danger, y'know?"

"Technically you are now. But I wouldn't know if I knew the answer." Leonardo glanced down her permanent scars again. "Just don't do this to yourself."

She slowly nodded. "I know. I won't do it again. I'm so-"

"It's not your fault. So don't apologize," he said cutting her off.

Leo gave her a tender smile when she nodded again. It was a relief that she understood. But whatever she was hiding, he swore to himself that he would protect her. Once he patted her shoulder, he headed towards the door to exit the room.

Leo glanced back at Jocelyn and smiled again. "I'll get the ladder so you can start painting. Let me know when you're done with it."

Watching her smile back, he slowly slid the door closed behind him.

-End of Chapter 6

~~~Author's Notes:

And there's a Leo and Jocelyn moment! So what do you think? Did you like the story so far? There will be more of where that came from until the next chapter! Happy Holidays and will see you all soon! Here's a sneak peek to the next chapter:

"You may need some improvement."

"Don't think about it too much."

"That's Donnie's girlfriend.~"

"Yes. I have a request for you."

~xpetunia~