A/N: Hello again everyone! Hope you've all been enjoying the chapters so far. Please do review if you can, it really helps me with understanding what you guys like as well as motivating me to write more for the story heheh.
Also, I'm planning on cross-posting this to AO3. If there's any chance you guys are on there, do send some love!
Thank you 3
Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT!
The Beginning: Part 3
That. was. the worst.
Ella groaned as she shuffled into class, blearily rubbing the sleep out of her eyes but to no avail. She hadn't gotten to sleep at all last night, burning the midnight oil working on her History project and the repertoire for her acapella club's school performance this Saturday. Exhausted and running on less than an hour of sleep, she felt like burying her face into a pillow and never waking up again.
She didn't even get enough time to eat breakfast this morning, instead sleeping in as much as she could without the prospect of arriving at school too late and then promptly stumbling out her house, barely alive.
She let out another exhausted groan as she slammed her forehead onto her desk, moaning faintly at the pain that shot up her head, covering her stomach with her arms.
A hungry, sleep-deprived Ella was an unhappy, irritable Ella.
"Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," someone teased, sliding into the seat of the desk in front of her. Ella growled, lifting her head long enough to glare at a gleeful Casey Jones before slamming it down onto the tabletop again. His cast was gone now, and he was smirking in delight at her, probably happy to be free of it so that he could cause her more misery.
"I hate you," she murmured pathetically, whimpering when her stomach chose that moment to grumble.
The loud, raucous laughter coming from Casey made her want to kick his ass into next Tuesday, but she didn't really have enough strength for that. Heck, at this point of time, she didn't even have enough strength to exist.
"Cut it out, Casey." A feminine voice cut off his laughter, reducing the hockey player into quiet grumbling. Ella felt the tabletop vibrate slightly—someone had placed something on top of it. She lifted her head, eyes brightening when she saw the cup of coffee, still steaming, sitting there as though it was waiting for her to pick it up.
She snatched it off the table, enjoying the warmth that bled into her fingers.
"I love you." She gazed at April lovingly, the redhead laughing as she slid into the seat next to her.
"You're welcome. Sorry I couldn't get you anything else though, I only had enough time to get that." April watched in amusement as Ella downed one gulp, sighing in contentment as heat filled her stomach. "So what's got you all cranky?"
"Didn't get enough sleep," Ella murmured around the rim of the cup, blinking dazedly at the brown liquid sloshing around in it. "Working on project and performance."
April shook her head sympathetically, patting the shorter girl's shoulder. "You've got a lot going on for you this week, huh?"
Tell me about it. That was an understatement, considering that those two on her list weren't the only things that kept her up late last night. It's been nearly two weeks since the turtles had dropped into her balcony, and try as she might, Ella couldn't stop thinking and wondering about them. Just who were they? What were they? Why did they have those weapons? She had so many questions, questions that she knew she didn't really have the right to ask.
She didn't even ask them for their names out of respect, it wasn't her place to know. Ella had a feeling that they'd rather not know hers, either, just in case something bad happened to her. She didn't know why, but it felt as though they were the sort who always got themselves into tons of trouble, not only because of how they looked, but because they wanted to, as though they could... protect whoever they needed to.
Huh. Maybe that's why they had those weapons. Ella pondered, taking another sip of her coffee. April and Casey had turned to each other now, talking about something she wasn't really interested in, leaving her to stew in her thoughts.
Most people would call her crazy for thinking it, but Ella really wanted them to come back, or at least meet them again. They were so interesting, their very existence exhilarating and amazing, a brief respite from the normalcy that was her life.
"I think I read too much," she wondered aloud, catching the attention of her friends. They glanced at her, Casey in confusion and April in fond exasperation.
"Yes, you do," April agreed, laughing softly as Ella nodded absentmindedly.
Just then, their English teacher strolled into the room, and all conversation in the class ceased. Ella tucked away the empty coffee cup, placing it safely on the floor beside her bag, but her thoughts were anywhere but her teacher's current lecture on creative writing.
Please, please, I hope they come back.
She turned the lock, body aching and throat strained from all the singing she'd done during practice. Heaving in a great sigh, she pushed open the door, letting it swing shut on its own.
Damn, was she tired. The whole day had been bad, right up from the start till the end of acapella practice. She'd messed up so much, inwardly cringing at the harsh scolding she'd received from her teachers for not focusing enough during class and practice. Trudging over to the living room, she pulled out her hair tie, letting her black hair spill across her shoulders.
A note was stuck on the television, probably from her mother. Hey, sweetie! Won't be back until late again today, you know how busy it gets when there's a new exhibition. I left you dinner on the kitchen table though, so eat up, alright? That's not permission to eat everything, though! Leave your sister some, you know how she gets if she doesn't eat dinner. Stay safe and sleep well, my little writer. Dream of amazing things to write.
Ella smiled tenderly at the note, falling onto the couch with a relieved sigh. She really was lucky, wasn't she? That although her mother wasn't around at home a lot, she always made an effort to let her daughters know that she still cared deeply for them.
Contented, she left the note onto the coffee table, ready to rest a while before she went to eat dinner.
At least, that had been her intention.
She jumped when a loud thud sounded from her balcony, and then the doors slid aside and two figures rolled in. Quickly, they slid the doors shut again and drew the curtains together, making sure that there was no way anyone could see inside.
Ella blinked, half-stunned and delighted. Is this for real? Obviously she'd been waiting for them to come back, but it had just been wishful thinking. She didn't actually expect any one of them to return, but now, seeing the two of them in her living room again, her heart swelled at the excitement.
Orange and Purple were crouched beside the sliding doors, one on each side. Their weapons clutched in one hand, and they seemed to be focused on something from outside. They noticed her at the same time, Orange grinning and waving whilst Purple gave her a shaky smile, exposing a gap between his teeth (diastema, Ella recalled from a book who's character had exactly that) and then lifted a single finger to his... beak? Mouth? Yes, his mouth, and motioned for her to move aside, away from the balcony doors.
Brows furrowed, she complied, hopping over DVDs of black and white films her sister had left on the floor and approaching the said turtle. He offered her an apologetic smile, before hovering his hand over her shoulder as though asking for permission. Still confused, Ella nodded, and then he put his much larger hand on her right shoulder and gently pressed her back into the wall.
And just in time, too. The moment Ella's back touched the wall, shadows appeared under the curtains, shadows that clearly did not belong to any turtle. Instead they were human, but Ella could see the shadows of weapons protruding on their backs. They hovered on her floor a while before disappearing, as though they'd decided that there was nothing of value on her balcony.
The silence that pressed around them was heavy; there wasn't even the quiet hiss of breathing. Ella realised that she'd been holding her breath this whole time, not daring to exhale just yet lest they came back. Instead, she focused on the warmth of the hand that was on her shoulder. Purple's hand was huge, probably much bigger than hers by at least five times. It encompassed nearly her whole shoulder, the three fingers curled around her clavicle with a touch as light as a feather that she almost couldn't feel anything, had it not been for the warmth that radiated from his touch and onto her skin.
She was torn from her thoughts when Purple moved, looking down at her and letting out a breath. "Are you alright?"
She stared as he drew his hand back, stepping a respectable distance away from her. "Shouldn't I be asking you guys that?"
The sides of his mouth quirked up slightly at her retort as Orange came bouncing over, talking nearly a mile a minute. "Dude, it's so good to see you again! Sorry about the whole sliding into your house without your permission thing, we were kinda running away from these rogue ninjas who would've totally skewered us if we didn't find a place to hide and so I told D here that we could go to your place since you seemed so cool with us being here the last time!"
Ella blinked as she tried to take in his onslaught of words, squinting in her effort to try to understand what he'd said. When the words rogue ninjas finally registered in her brain, she gasped, nearly startling the two turtles.
"Are you two alright?! You aren't hurt?" She asked, eyes running over them to see if they had any possible injuries.
Orange grinned, waving away her concern as he tucked his nunchuks away into his belt. "Nah, we're totally fine! We're ninjas too, after all, and I'm basically one of the best ninjas out there, well maybe not compared to my brother Le—"
Purple jabbed him in the side with the end of his bo staff, fixing him with a warning glare. Orange pouted, rubbing at his side and sticking his tongue out at his older brother when he turned back to Ella.
"We're fine, don't worry about us." He studied her with his brown eyes, and again Ella felt as though he was picking her apart, like she was a piece of technology he couldn't quite understand the mechanics of.
"We're sorry about dropping in unannounced, however. We were quite desperate and needed a good hideout place. Yours seemed the most appealing—especially since you seemed to have no qualms about us being here the last time." His eyes turned a tad shameful, as though he thought she would scold them for the near-danger they put her in.
She smiled, surprising Purple and delighting Orange. "It's fine, no trouble at all. In fact, you can drop by whenever you need to, whether it's to hide from any other rogue ninjas or just to patch yourselves up. You're welcome here," she paused, and then jokingly, "Well, as long as my mother and older sister aren't around. I don't think they'll take kindly to four giant turtles as well I did."
Orange cheered, surging forward and wrapping her in a super tight hug as he rambled on. "You're so nice! I'm so glad we met you—there aren't really too many people that we can befriend and so I'm happy that you're not afraid of us!"
Ella wheezed, unable to reply from how tight he was hugging her. Only after a tap on the shell from his older brother did he realise that he was almost suffocating the tiny girl, letting her go immediately and giving her a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head. "Oops, sorry."
She gave him a smile, or at least she tried to. It must've turned into a wince halfway as she rubbed her waist from how hard his grip had been. But her heart had soared though, Orange liked her. Considered her someone he could be friends with. That alone brought forth a genuine smile from her as she looked up at the both of them.
Now that they seemed to be on more friendly terms, she could see the obvious differences that set two brothers apart. Orange was shorter with a fine dusting of freckles across his mouth and cheeks, and his baby blue eyes held a hint of mischief, as though he'd pull a fast one on you and suddenly drench you with a water balloon. Purple, however, seemed to be the opposite—he was tall and lanky, and had the air of quiet assurance about him.
Said turtle was regarding her again with those intelligent brown eyes before smiling at her genuinely, the first one she'd seen from him. He bowed his head slightly, thanking her profusely for her kindness.
She waved it off, smiling widely at the both of them, when the loud ringtone of a phone rang through the air. Purple muttered something in Japanese, quickly snatching what looked to Ella like a turtle shaped phone from his belt and holding it up to his ear. He spoke into it in the same language, harsh and hurriedly, before tucking it back inside and turning to Orange with a firm look.
Orange deflated immediately, but the look in his eyes said that he understood why. Swiftly, Purple turned to Ella. "I'm sorry, we have to go now. Our brothers are waiting for us, and there's something we need to do."
She nodded. Of course, there's probably something much more important that they needed to settle, who was she to hold them back from it?
Purple bowed again, thanking her for all she'd done and offered, and drew the curtains back. Orange gave her a sad smile, but then perked up again quickly. "Thanks again, new friend! Hope we can see you soon, and I'll tell my brothers what you said!"
She watched as they began to clamber over the railing, and something in her yearned. Yearned to know them more, yearned to be their friend. And so she surprised even herself when she suddenly blurted out, "Isabella!"
They paused halfway, turning to look at her in surprise and confusion.
Ella could feel her heart pound and her cheeks begin to flush at their combined gazes, but she powered on. "My name's Isabella, but you can call me Ella."
She waited, hands twisting in the folds of her shirt as the turtles began to realise what she'd said. Orange grinned, letting go of the railing with one arm as he gave her a thumbs up. "Nice to meet ya, Ella! The name's Mikey, and this is my brother Donnie! Thanks for all your help, see you again soon!"
With that, he leapt over the edge, whooping loudly. His brother followed him after a quick glance back at her, vaulting over the railing in succession.
She grinned. They'd told her their names. Well, Orange—Mikey—had, but still, Purple— Donnie—hadn't stopped him, which meant that he didn't mind her knowing.
"Mikey, Donnie." She half-whispered, excitement growing at the prospect of getting to know them more.