A/N: I've been a bad, bad Jynxxi in not updating in a timely manner. And I have no excuse except that I'm lazy. I'm sorry Duckies. But, here's a chapter to hold you over until I get the next one up. It will be a good one, I promise! I'm sooooo sorry. Read and review

"Alright, alright I'm home! What's the big emergency?" In through the entrance Aanika stormed, irritated that she'd been called home so early. Her family was gathered in the living area, her mother wasn't present. That alone was enough to make the young fox nervous enough to jog the few paces over and grasp Leo's hand like she did as a child. He was sitting on the couch with an almost agonized expression, one that she couldn't read. His brothers stood around in random places with their mates, no one said anything which only added fuel to the fear. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. She could feel it in her bones, even Saundra, the normally composed and hot headed gecko looked upset. But why? Surely it couldn't be an old foe like the Shredder, no that bad apple was long gone. It wasn't until Leo squeezed her hand and wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders that Aanika knew that whatever it was, it was serious.

"Daddy, where's Mom?" Leo gulped, that's when the fear multiplied.

"She's in our room, sleeping. Listen, guys we've got a problem," So no one else knew, yet. Witnessing her sisters sit down like a shy animal made Aanika uncomfortable enough to press close against Leo's side. Fiona's pale face looked even paler as Donnie rested his hands on her shoulders, giving them a squeeze to let her know he was there. Saundra was just looking at the ground, feeling nothing less than insecure. Leo cleared his throat and the hybrid sisters gave him their full attention.

"Girls, Micah's alive."

Silence. Every pair of eyes was wide and on Leo, who was doing everything in his power to maintain composure. On the inside, havoc was ensuing. From there, Aanika began to shake which brought Leo out of his haze and tightened his arm to soothe his child. It was a situation that they thought they'd never have to face considering they just barely made it out of the laboratory alive all those years ago before the whole thing went up in flames after the explosion Marcus Silver had set off. It was impossible, there was no way Micah would have been able to survive an explosion like that and even if he had, he would have been crushed under the building. But if Micah was alive, fear doubled itself, because that meant the possibility that the girls' creator had made it out as well. What if they were after them again?

"But Leo, we hardly escaped that place with our lives. How in the world could Micah have survived? It just doesn't make sense!"

"I don't know, Donnie! All I know is Shiho had a full blown panic attack, like she'd seen Micah right in front of her. The girls and Micah are all connected, you know that. They can communicate with each other better than we can for whatever reason, and Micah contacted her. I don't know how but he did," The tension in Leo's body radiated into Aanika's skin. She'd never seen him upset to this degree, she couldn't think of anything to say or do except to squeeze Leo's hand. He responded by kissing the temple of her head and leaning his cheek into her hair.

"So whatta we do? I say we find the little punk and give 'im a warnin'. I swear if he messes with my girl one more time I'm gonna-"

"Zip-it, Raph. We need to figure out where he is and what he wants. He isn't communicating with the other girls, just Shiho and it's fucking, sorry Aanika, fucking with her head," Leo huffed. Aanika knew he was serious, the leader never cursed. Never. Especially in front of his children. Fiona and Saundra exchanged looks that none of the brothers could read, the only one to understand was the youngest hybrid. Leo sighed and rubbed the ridge of his beak between his eyes, he hadn't been this frustrated in years. "I swear I thought this mess was over.."

"Daddy?" Aanika's voice broke the silence, raising the leader's attention from the ground he was staring holes into.

"What, Annie?" The look of exasperation on his face changed her mind and she decided to change the subject for later. There was no reason to weigh down his mind more than it was already. Her problems were suddenly so small compared to this issue, in fact, just about everything else would have been petty.

"Nothing, nevermind. Uhm..can I go see Mom?" Leo nodded and excused himself from the rest of his family. Shiho was unpredictable and having her lash out would have been dangerous, naturally he had to accompany his daughter. Just in case. Up the stairs they went with his long arm over her shoulders keeping her close against his side. His strides were slow but the voices of their family disappeared quickly as they ventured down the hall to Leo and Shiho's bedroom. The fur at the backs of Aanika's ears prickled to stand on end as she could already sense the tension that her mother was feeling. No matter how hard Donatello tried, he simply couldn't understand the link that the hybrids shared. They all seemed in tune with each other, much like his brothers, but on a difference level it seemed.

"Alright, she might be up but let's see," Leo whispered as he cracked open the door to look inside. Shiho was awake to his surprise and even more surprising was her other three children surrounded her on their bed. Allegra and Erasmus were at her sides and Artimis was taking front and center in her embrace. Aanika found this slightly irritating, she just wanted to spend time with her parents alone but she never got the chance anymore. Her shoulders tightened. "Relax will ya?"

"Leo? Annie, come in. We were just looking at old photo albums."

There was a calmness in Shiho's voice that both Leo and Aanika found disturbing and unnerving. However, they weren't willing to disturb the peace and went along with whatever facade Shiho chose to create and joined the fox on the bed with the youngsters. Aanika remained at the foot of the bed as Leo decided to rest at his mate's side with Allegra and Erasmus in his lap. He did catch the way her tail seemed to fluff out in her agitation and gave her a warning glance. The teen responded with a flick of her ears and a twitch of her lips.

"How'd it go with Jeremy?" Shiho asked, looking up from another page in the photo album. Her question seemed to catch Aanika off guard and she hesitated. It was bizarre how Shiho was acting but for all they knew, she was playing up a facade simply for the sake of her children in her presence. Whatever it was, Aanika was on edge.

"Mom, aren't you more worried about Micah than Jeremy?"

"Hm, why should I be worried? He just startled me, it's not like he's coming after me..." Shiho's voice trailed off as she turned a page. "Oh look, Artimis, this is the day you were born. Look how small you were."

Once again, Leo looked at Aanika strangely, all she could do was shrug her shoulders. Whatever was going on inside Shiho, Aanika couldn't sense it. There was a wall built around the fox and thus shielding everything from her sisters and Aanika. She continued to look down at the photos, her face lighting up with every memory. Aanika edged closer and looked at the glossy memories pasted to the pages of the thick album. She remembered vividly how frustrated she'd been as a child when she had to share her parents' attention once again. The photos were worth a thousand words a piece as in every one her face didn't have a single smile. But, things were looking different with her parents now, at least that's what she hoped. Now that she was rewarded with just a little more freedom.

"You never answered me, Aanika. How was your date?" Shiho once again chirped, Leo visibly grimaced at the word 'date' not liking at all how it sounded. He certainly didn't like the way his teen blushed furiously and chewed her lip, almost in a bashful manner. That pretty little fox ran a hand through her hair as she sat on her knees in front of Shiho with quite the smile on her face. "Ohh what happened?"

"It was fun. We just sat on his rooftop with pizza and music...and he danced with me," Shiho arched her brows and shot a sideways glance at a very uncomfortable Leonardo and chuckled. She was impressed. He was irritated. "He's just...I dunno how to describe it. All I know is I feel like there's Pop Rocks and soda in my stomach, it's weird."

Simultaneously, both foxes twitched their ears at each other then laughed as Leo grunted and excused himself from the bed and eventually the room altogether. He knew there was more and he didn't feel like hearing it, or that he could handle more. Just knowing his baby girl was all alone with a boy made his skin crawl with agitation. Sure, he'd been the one to tell Shiho that the kid needed her space and room to grow, he just hoped she wouldn't take advantage of that space so quickly. Shiho watched her disgruntled mate leave and made due to excuse the rest of her children so she could be alone with Aanika. This was an exciting time for the teenager and she needed her mother's attention, they were in this mess of rebellion because Shiho had forgotten just how much she was needed.

"Tell me more, baby. That smile you've got tells me something other than dancing happened," Shiho spoke, once the room had been vacated of younglings and the door was closed. Her mind was spinning and kicking into over drive with the presence of Micah suddenly making itself known, but the chance to bond with Aanika was the distraction she needed from the insanity. And witnessing the way her child squirmed in place before snatching and clutching a pillow close to her chest and falling onto her back told her she made a good choice. Aanika sighed heavily through an ever widening smile.

"He kissed me, Mama. It was so weird, but so...awesome."

Shiho giggled at Aanika's choice of words but placed a palm over her heart as she glanced at the swooning teen. She wondered if she looked like that when she was falling in love with Leo. What a nostalgic feeling that was. She prayed with all of her might that whatever Aanika had with this human lasted, there was no way she'd be able to watch her child go through heart break like losing someone she was in love with. But another part of her became fearful of Aanika falling in love so young. But it might have been the only chance she had at trying.

"Oh baby...you're first kiss. I can imagine how you feel. Bubbly and nervous and on Cloud Nine."

"Yeah! I mean, we've been friends for a while online and eventually I realized I had weird feelings. But now that we've spent time together all I wanna do is see him again. It feels so good. But..." Aanika paused, making Shiho's brow furrow in confusion. Why the sudden hesitation.

"But?"

"I get the feeling that I'll see less of him now...because of Micah." Suddenly Shiho felt guilty. The issues that consumed her life were bleeding into the lives of her children now which she just couldn't allow. Reaching forward with a slender hand, the vixen brushed the bangs of chestnut out of Aanika's cerulean oculars so she'd look at her mother.

"Forget about Micah, Annie. He's my problem, don't let him stop you from doing what you have to do to be happy. You understand me?"

"But Mom-"

"I said do you understand me?" Shiho snapped. She wasn't about to let Aanika's good thing dwindle to an end because of Micah and the possibility of him reappearing. The resentment she would feel would be more than Shiho could bear. Aanika stared at her mother, trying to find any signs of a trap but when she found none she sat up on her elbows and nodded slowly. Continuing to course her fingers through the thick waves of Aanika's hair Shiho smiled admirably. "Good girl. Your dad and I promised we'd make things as normal as we can for you, that includes boys. Even if your dad does hate it. If it's important to you, it's important to us."

"Gosh...that's never really happened before, I don't know what to say," Aanika mumbled, that stung Shiho hard. Had she and Leo really neglected the things going with Aanika so much that she felt this way? She suddenly felt strongly that she'd been failing her daughter as a mother and a wave of guilt washed over her. The faint frown lines appeared on Shiho's face , a sign that she was really taking it hard. Aanika was able to at least sense that in her mother and shifted so that she was on her knees and wrapped her arms around Shiho's shoulders in an embrace. "Mom, thanks.."

Leonardo wandered from the bedroom and down into the dojo where he was doing nothing at all but sitting on the bench with his arms on his knees and his eyes staring at the floor. He was deep in thought when a hand on his shoulder startled him so badly that he fell onto the floor in an embarrassing stumble. When he looked up, his amber eyes landed on a very red Aanika trying her best to contain her laughter that would have been hysterical if she let it out. At least she extended a hand and helped her embarrassed father to his feet, teeth digging into her cheek to keep it in.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up, Chuckles. What are you doing in here? You should be asleep already."

"Oh Daddy, I haven't gone to sleep at a normal hour for months. I could ask you the same thing, why are you in here sulking?" Leo paused his hands from dusting himself off, eyes catching Aanika crossing her arms over her chest with quite the smug look on her little face. Rolling his eyes and jerking his head towards the door, they both made an exit to plop on the couch together. Leo swiped some sodas and tossed a can high for Aanika to leap and catch.

"I wasn't sulking. I was just thinking. You can imagine that I have a lot on my mind. What with Micah making an appearance after we believed him to be dead for 11 years, you and Jeremy..." Leo trailed off as he sat down, slouching into the sofa cushions. Aanika eased herself down close to his side and cracked her drink open. "It's a lot to handle for one day."

"Daddy, you really don't need to worry about Jeremy. Nothing happened.." Aanika mumbled her last sentence which led Leo to believe that she wasn't being entirely truthful and for that he was suspicious. And irritated with the boy. The energy radiated off Leo like a heat and send chills down Aanika's spine.

"Be honest with me, Annie."

"He just kissed me. I swear," A growl rumbled in Leo's chest as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back into the head rest of the sofa. "No really! Daddy I'm not stupid, I wouldn't ever have-"

"Gah stop. Just...don't say that word. I can't even associate you and that...that thing adults do-"

"You mean have sex?" Leo's hand slapped over his eyes in utter mortification. She'd said it anyway. His little 16-year-old baby. It was only a matter of time until she was actually engaging in it and he knew there'd be nothing to stop her. Unless he, of course, killed Jeremy. But, the consequences of killing the kid outweighed the positive outcome of Aanika remaining a precious virgin. He didn't have much room to speak, he was the one to deflower her mother after all. Aanika sat in confused silence, unsure of why he was so upset. Shiho didn't seem to be this bothered, but mothers were always different from fathers.

"Oh come on, don't act like I don't know what it is. You and Mom do it. You do it a lot actually. So do the others-"

"Annie the difference for us is that we're adults. I know you're young and this thing with Jeremy is exciting, I just don't want you to get so carried away and involved that you give him everything. If he hurts you Aanika, you'll regret it forever. He's a human, the chances of something happening are far more likely than they are with the rest of us," Leo didn't have to elaborate for Aanika to understand what he meant. She hadn't quite thought of that. With the way her family was structured, she was always used to the possibility of ever even having a boyfriend was non-existant.

"Just...just do me a favor and wait. Okay? I know how it is being 16. Hell I know how it is being with someone that you're so attracted to that it makes you crazy. Just for me, can you hang on until you're 18, at the very least?" Aanika gawked at the suggestion. Leo's expression suddenly became serious and she snapped her jaw shut.

"Okay..I promise."

"I'm serious, Aanika. You're 17 this year anyway, it's just 1 year to wait. And if by then, you think you love Jeremy then go ahead. I won't have my daughter doing something so intimate if she isn't in love with that person."

The idea of being in love with Jeremy jerked Aanika's gaze to the floor with a fiery hot blush that scorched across her cheeks. She wanted something as pure and everlasting as her parents did and often times found herself wondering if Jeremy would be the one she shared it with. A sigh and an arm coming around her shoulders pulled her away from the reverie of her thoughts and against her father's side. So many things weighed heavily on Leo's already busy mind, Aanika felt guilty for adding to the stress with her teenage drama. Leo noticed when her ears flattened against her head and leaned down to kiss her hair. His moment was interrupted when Aanika's phone buzzed in her pocket with a text message. It was Jeremy.

Hey, everything okay?

"Mmh, I ran out of there so fast, he must be worried. Daddy?" Leo glanced up and found Aanika's blue-eyed gaze, question on his features. "Thanks..for letting me see him. I know it wasn't easy for you to let me out. But..it just meant a lot. To spend time with him, I mean. Not having to babysit or worry about training."

"Ah, I know. Like I said before, I know what it's like. I was in this same spot a long time ago with your mom. And man, she made it really hard to peg her down. Running away and getting kidnapped. Twice. She was so wild sometimes. I guess she rubbed off on you."

"I dont remember much from the lab, but I do always remember her getting into trouble. I always wanted to be like her, not taking anyone else's shit-"

"Language, Aanika."

"Ehehe, sorry. Just, I dunno. Mom was always my hero when I was small, that much I can remember. Saunda, Micah, and Maggie; they just tormented me because I was the weakest. And I remember Mom always came to my defense like a mama lion," Leo chuckled at her choice in comparison. It was spot on in describing Shiho's protective instincts. It made him all the more proud that Aanika aspired to follow in her footsteps as best she could, but hopefully she still managed to stay unique and true to herself. Aanika couldn't be like Shiho to a T. There had to be some room for difference.

"And then you came into my life. It was so strange, even when I was so little, I wasn't afraid."

"Ahh I remember the day you and the others first found us. You were four years old and clung to me while your mother had it out with Saundra in one nasty little fight. She whipped Sandy's butt that day. But that was when I knew that you, all of your sisters were meant to be with us. You were meant to be with me."

"You mean that, Daddy?" Again Aanika's phone buzzed with another two messages from Jeremy. His habit of worrying about her somewhat irritated Leonardo, interfering with the time spent with Aanika rubbed him the wrong way. For now he ignored it and gave a slow nod.

"Mhmm. Annie, don't ever think that I'd treat you any less than a daughter. You'll always be my first. Your mother feels the same way-"

"Daddy..." Aanika interjected, bringing Leo's words to an abrupt halt. He noticed she was suddenly hugging her knees close to her chest and her eyes were intensely studying the floor. Something was wrong. Aanika always curled into herself when something bothered her, it was a pattern of behavior she'd displayed ever since she was a toddler. And he'd had plenty of years to know when to recognize it.

"What is it, Baby?"

"Do you...do you think.." She was struggling to find her words, the way she often did when she was learning to speak. Wracking her brain for any possible way to explain what was going on inside her was infuriating. But eventually the words came to her. "Do you think that I'll ever find out what happened to my mother? My real mother?"

It was in that moment that Leo understand that Aanika wasn't blissfully unaware that she'd been sold in the name of science. She knew exactly what her purpose was in that lab but that never put to rest the nagging curiosity of what happened to the woman who just didn't want her. Who desperately surrendered her child so young in her pregnancy just to receive the payment money for her next drug fix. Leo glanced behind him to the top of the stairs where his mate stood with a look of fear and possibly heart break all over her face. God he hated when she looked like that. She'd been listening the entire time it seemed...he could tell by the endless streams of tears on her beautiful face. Turning his attention back to his child so wouldn't have to look at the face of agony on Shiho he swallowed hard.

"Um.." He stuttered, clearing his throat. "No, Baby. I don't think you will. And I don't think you should go looking for her. You might not like what you find."

"But-"

"Annie...whatever happened to your mother is a mystery. But you can't pursue someone who didn't want you in the first place," Aanika's ears pressed tightly against her head, that stung like a bitch to hear. "Not when you have someone who's been your mother your entire life. Who's loved you and raised you like her own. Aanika promise me, that you will never go looking for that woman. It will destroy your mother."

Rimmed with tears, Aanika's eyes met with Leo's as she slowly nodded her head and sniffled her nose that had grown red. She felt foolish for even toying with the idea in her mind. But when she felt Leo squeeze her close she curled up and disappeared against him in his arms the way she did as a child. Too many things were happening at once and everyone was having a difficult time coming to grips with the changes. But Aanika knew that growing up completely meant accepting everything about who she was. Where she came from. But oh she was struggling. Luckily, she was blessed. Blessed with two parents who understood.

"I promise.."

A/N: Think that will hold you over? Okay so yes, I missed Micah. I'll figure out how I'm going to integrate him into the story. But I thought throwing in Aanika's real mother would be interesting too. Lots of ideas bouncing around in my head. Again, Duckies, I'm sooo sorry for making you wait so long. And even more sorry that this latest chapter was not only short, but lame. Hahaha. I love you though! read and review!