"So this is pizza gyoza?"

Fae scrutinized the dumpling skewered on the end of the fork in Leo's hand.

"It's good," he promised, holding it closer.

"I dunno, it looks funny..."

"Oh c'mon," Leo gave the fork a small twirl, the way someone would to convince a small child that a piece of broccoli was in fact an airplane.

She rolled her eyes, leaning across the window bench and snatching the dumpling up into her mouth, contemplating as her taste buds registered the new taste.

"So," she mumbled between chews, "Aliens in disguise changed you and your brothers into half-human turtles with some ooze, and you call the guy who got mutated into a giant rat your dad. And he's the one who taught you ninjustu, and the one who this... Shredder character wants to kill?"

Leo nodded, a short bob of affirmation, eyes bouncing between Fae and the shag carpet apprehensively. "Technically, because we're his sons, Shredder's blacklist has expanded beyond Splinter to every member and affiliate of the Hamato Clan."

"You'll forgive me if that story seems like something straight out of a science fiction novel to me." She smiled wryly.

He glanced up, amazed that the fact a relentless assassin after him, his friends, and his family hadn't deterred her charming smile. "I seem like I'm straight out of a science fiction novel," he laughed softly.

"No you don't," she argued with a frown, setting a comforting hand on his knee while she leaned over to grab his fork. He held his breath while she slipped the fork from his hand, reminding himself he'd need to get this warm feeling every time she touched him under control.

"Fae, I'm a humanoid turtle armed with katanas that can speak English. How does that not sound like science fiction to you?"

"You're not some kind of myth, Leo. You're a person –"

"Turtle."

"—that can actually feel and think and act like any human would."

"But I'm not human. That's my point."

"You're not some kind of animal either. You're," she paused to swallow the dumpling between her teeth. "Unique."

"That's the nice way of putting it. You like them?"

"They're alright," she replied as she skewed three more pizza gyoza onto the fork.

Leo chuckled, his ocean blues finding the world map pinned to the wall above her bed. He stood without thinking, making his way across the floor to trace his fingertips over the spots of red taking up an expanse of western South America.

"When'd you start that travel plan of yours?" he asked casually, leaning his elbow against her headboard while his hand bumped over the pins.

"Since before I can remember," she answered, observing a dumpling closely before popping it into my mouth, "I used to think I'd get to travel the world with my..."

Fae trailed off, glancing at Leo once she realized she'd almost touched on a sensitive subject of her own. Leo glanced back at her, curious, but upon seeing her troubled eyes averted his gaze. He was more than certain she wouldn't want to talk about anything having to do with her family, or her past – he couldn't count the number of times she'd told him she wanted to leave 'all that crap' behind her.

A small shuffling sound moved him to sneak a peek upwards, and he noticed Fae had abandoned the bowl of gyoza. She searched through a drawer of her armoir, shooting Leo a hesitant side look. He found nothing he could do but throw her a lopsided smile, stopping his map exploration to awkwardly hook his thumb around the strap across his plastron.

Fae continued to rustle through clothes and knick knacks, during which Leo changed his stiff position three times in an attempt to look less like a prisoner awaiting his ruling. The next time she looked up he was in the midst of changing his position from leaning his full weight onto her bedside table and bending his back at an odd angle to ankles crossed and hands folded against the wall. She couldn't help the small chuckle as she walked by him. On her way to take a seat she nudged his side with her elbow, snatching away his breath for a split second while the skin of her arm left little trails of electricity along his ribcage.

Deep breaths, Leo. Deep. Breaths.

She presented her spoils, a small shoe box, tattered and worn at its cardboard edges, with doodles scrawled on its side from years of boredom. She sat back down on the bed, lifting the lid and looking up at Leo before extracting a tiny polaroid.

"This is my mom," she handed him the photo, "Tamara."

Leo glanced down at the picture quizzically, wondering why Fae had just given him a picture of... herself. There were faint differences – her mother's eyes had been a hazel color, and their hair was different by a few shades of blonde, not to mention the difference in age, but the woman smiling in a nonexistent breeze at the edge of the harbor could've been Faline's twin.

"I can see the family resemblance," he mumbled with a small smile.

Fae grinned, watching him carefully while he scrutinized the picture. "People used to say I was a lot like her. I can't remember a time she was angry, or...mildly upset, for that matter." She smiled, sad and broken, but with a sweetness that made one of his own creep onto Leo's face. "She had this kind of...fearlessness," she continued, "when it came to trying new things. My dad never understood why she so badly wanted to leave New York. He was a homebody."

Her face changed, eyes beginning to glimmer with the suggestion of an emotional breakdown. Leo noticed immediately.

"Hey, if you don't wanna talk about—"

"No, I'm alright," she interrupted, "You told me about your past, now it's my turn."

Leo's voice faded back into silence. He looked between the photograph and his friend, making his way over to her side and sitting, the mattress shifting her up a bit with his greater weight, waiting patiently for her to continue. Fae took a deep breath, dabbing at the corners of her eyes subtly as she pressed on.

"Eight years ago, my dad and mom were heading out of the city after Thanksgiving. It was just supposed to be a few days up in Vermont. A nice three-day stay at a winter cabin. I was ten. Never liked the idea of them leaving, for some reason. Connor was put in charge to take care of me. He'd just turned eighteen."

Leo watched as Fae's hand snatched up the pendant on the chain around her neck. She always played with her necklace when she was nervous, or upset, he'd observed.

"They were driving back, late." Her voice dropped like an anvil to the bottom of her emotional ocean. "The people in the car behind them said a deer jumped out into the road." A stray tear slipped down her cheek, which she hastily wiped away. "My dad swerved and hit black ice, and... the car rolled... the doctors said there was nothing they could do..."

Leo reached forward, laying a comforting hand on Fae's shoulder, her mourning emanating in waves off of her while he empathized.

She blew out a shaky sigh. "Connor was never the same after that. He turned to the wrong people, and then he dropped out of college...and then there was the marijuana... and now... well, you can see what's happening now."

"I'm so sorry, Fae," Leo murmured, though he knew his words meant almost nothing compared to the hurt he actually felt for her.

She straightened, trying to regain some sentience of her content mood. "It was a long time ago. Eight years. I'm okay now. I came to terms with what happened."

It was obvious that she wasn't, and that she hadn't.

"Anyway," she continued, easing the photo of her mother out of Leo's hand and replacing it in the shoe box, "That's why I want to travel. My mom never got to live her dream, so I'm gonna make sure I see all the places she dreamed of going."

Leo glanced back at the world map, the little colored pushpins glinting softly in Fae's bedroom light. He turned back to her finally.

"You said that was hers, right?" he asked, pointing at the pendant hanging around her neck.

She tilted her head, confused for a moment, before grabbing at the tiny kanji-engraved trinket.

"Yes. It was my grandmother's before that, when she took a trip to Japan. She gave it to my mom, and my mom gave it to me. One of the last things I have left of her. It means—"

"Leopard," Leo finished, the translation of the symbol instantly appearing in his mind.

She hummed her acknowledgement, craning her neck to gaze at her necklace.

"She told me, when she gave it to me, that leopards represented great strength, and great gentility. She said to remember to stay strong in spirit and gentle at heart."

"Did...did your mom have anything to do with the Foot Clan?"

Her head jerked up, a confused frown shot his way.

"I'm just saying, they were interested in that necklace for a reason. Maybe she—"

"No. My mother would never have had anything to do with evil. It must've been coincidence," she cut him off before he could say more.

"It was honest question..."

Fae turned away, her eyes intently on the contents of her shoebox, her hands reaching for the lid to seal off the capsule of memories when something else caught Leo's eye.

"Where did you get all that?!" His eyes widened at the pile of cash tucked beneath a few other photos.

Fae's eyes lit up. "They're my travel funds. I finally saved enough."

Leo looked up at her inquisitively. "Enough for what?"

"Enough for a plane ticket." She closed the box once more. "Enough to get out of here. Once school's out, I'm taking the first flight out."

It was good news. Great news, in fact. But with her words, it felt like a blow had been landed directly in his gut.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed happily.

"Oh."

Her face fell, watching his internal struggle with his mixed feelings.

She was leaving. And so soon.

Leo, be happy for her. She's gonna get to travel the world! He thought fiercely.

She's leaving me, The other part of his brain cried in panic.

Why did he care about her leaving him? He wanted her to chase her dreams.

He plastered on a false grin.

"That's amazing, Fae." He couldn't help adding, "It'll be lonely around here now, without you."

She smiled softly, bumping his shoulder with hers chastely.

"Don't worry, I'll write all the time."

"How're you gonna get an address for my place? I live in the sewers."

She laughed, an angelic sound that bounced around in his head.

"I'll figure out a way."

She stood to put her shoebox of memories in its place back in the armoir, and Leo's heart broke with each step she took away from him, knowing that soon, there would be miles between them, rather than mere footfalls.