AUTHOR'S NOTE: in response to some reviews, I say I'm sorry that the splinter thing wasn't totally correct... I was

going on memory and mine is not that great. thanks for pointing it out to me. :) in future stories, I shall be sure

to add the correction in. ack..it was hard to type without putting in proper english for these guys..LOL. it's a habit that was

drilled into me by my english teacher..shudders at memories but for accuracy, I shall give it my best!

As for the four mutant turtles, they were all hard at work sparring in the dojo under the command of Splinter.

"You are doing well!", "Again, please!", and other such commands could be heard. Mike swung his chucks lazily

while waiting to spar with Leonardo.

"Man, is it luchtime yet?" Mikey mumbled to himself. His stomach had been growling for about an hour or so now and

it was really starting to bother him. If he didn't eat something soon, he figured he would start chewing on his own

green arm.

'Another one of those great frozen pizza's of Chris's would be nice.' he thought. Memories of the day they had

reunited played through his mind. What had stunned him the most he had to admit was how lovely she was. Not that

she wasn't pretty before, but somehow, she'd gotten even more so. Her hair was longer and her body slimmer.

And of course, other specifically female attributes had made themselves known. He felt his body grow warm, as

if he had been working out much longer than he had. These new feelings scared him a little, but fascinated him

at the same time.

"Michelangelo!" Splinter shouted suddenly, breaking the orange-masked turtle out of his thoughts.

"Yes, sensei?" he answered.

"It is time for you and your brother to spar."

Mike nodded and got into his fighting stance as did Leo. As they met blow for blow, mike made humorous sound

effects, making Donny and Raph grin.

"Always the stinkin' clown, even when we're trainin'" Raph said and shook his head.

Donny shrugged and twirled his bo in his hand. "Just the way he is."

Raph grumbled in his signature manner then stuck both of his sai in his belt.

"I'm beat." the red masked turtle announced. "I'm gonna grab some lunch."

Hearing this, Splinter nodded. "As you wish. Michelangelo and Leonardo shall join you as soon as they are

done this last spar."

The two turtles acknowledged their sensei and left the dojo.

Leonardo watched his brother closely while they fought. It was clear to him that something other than sparring

was on his mind. He couldn't say exactly what, but it was something. Mike rarely stewed over anything really, but if

it was important enough to him he would. That of course brought on a barrage of questions that Leo knew he wouldn't

get the answers to. Sighing, he pushed his thoughts from his mind and concentrated on landing his brother's butt

on the mat.

In the end, much to Leo's satisfaction, he did plant Mikey's butt on the mat. Mikey grumbled and muttered something

about Leo not being fair. The blue-masked turtle just chuckled and re-sheathed his katanas.

While they were eating lunch below, I was struggling with hanging a painting. I cursed as I hit my thumb instead

of the nail.

"No pain, no gain." I muttered and raised the hammer again. This time, I was successful. Smiling, I climbed down

my stepstool and admired my work. It was one of my prized paintings that had taken me months to complete. It was of

a large, black dragon, sitting on top of a hill watching the sunset. I had a thing for painting and drawing

mythological creatures. Although, I also enjoyed doing people and horses and of course, my friends.

I stared at an unfinished painting of Michelangelo sitting against the wall. The basic pencil work was completed

and basic colours applied, but it lacked details. I had started it shortly after I had gotten home from my vacation

to New York, but seeing Mikey on the canvas only made me teary-eyed and miss him terribly. And so, I tossed it into

my closet and forgot about it. Somehow, I had ended up bringing it with me to my move to New York. I wasn't sure how

it had happened, but it did.

I hung a few more paintings before giving my poor thumb, which I hit a few more times, a rest. Again, my gaze rested on the unfinished work. I studied it for a long moment. I came to the conclusion that it would be a grand idea to finish it. Perhaps as a present for Mikey? That thought made me smile. Decision made, I walked into the room that was to be my studio. All I needed to do in retrospect was throw down a tarp, get my paints, and find my easel. All of which I set out to do. Once that was done, I set down to work.

I watched as the details finally came into place. It was amazing how much I could remember from memory. It was as though he had been burned into my mind. Perhaps he had been. I sighed as I painted a casual smile on his face. I grinned, feeling as though I should return it.

"Ah, there we go..all done." I said with a strong sense of satisfaction.

Carefully, I signed it and set it in a safe place to dry. I groaned as I discovered that my butt was sore. Just how long had I been sitting? I checked my watch and nearly fainted when I saw that I had been working for a solid four hours. And it was time for dinner. Feeling my stomach rumble confirmed it. For the fun of it, I put on a mixed music disc to dance and sing to while I cooked. Michael Jackson's "You Rocked my World" blasted through my stereo, as the first song. While I cooked the KD or Kraft Dinner I swung my hips to the beat. I was glad nobody could see me. I probably looked pretty darn funny at that moment.

Just then, I heard a tap at my living room window. I looked to see Mikey grinning at me. I blushed, figuring he must have seen me dancing. Despite that, I let him inside.

"Nice dancing." he said, smirking. Yup. I was right, he had seen me.

"Uh, thanks." I said sheepishly. He just laughed and got comfortable on my couch.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" I asked, getting back to my KD.

"I was kinda thinking it would be cool if you could see the lair. We've done a bunch of stuff to it. It looks better than before."

"I would love to see it! just let me eat my supper here and we'll go."

"Alright! Deal!" he said and whooped for joy. I laughed at his antics. 'Still as goofy as ever.'

While I ate, he told me all about the stuff they had done to the lair. From putting in plumbing(which I remembered from the letter), electricity, and even cable TV. Which, as Mikey informed me, still baffled him as to how Donny, who had been appointed to do it, had accomplished it.

"That's impressive! I don't suppose you guys learned the fine art of cleaning while you were at it?" I joked. Mikey gave me a look like I had grown an extra head. I laughed heartily.

"Okay..." I said between giggles, "We can go now."

Mikey re-donned his trenchcoat and fedora and I threw on my jacket and my sneakers. We were off.

Once we got there, Mikey became my tour guide.

"There's the TV." he pointed to right away. "We got that from April, another human friend of ours, as a Christmas present." At the moment, Raph was sitting in front of it, flipping through the channels.

"Hey, Raph." I greeted.

"Hello! what's happenin?"

"Mikey's showing me around the lair. Well, showing me all the new stuff he says you guys have."

Raph nodded. "Donny's been workin' his shell off makin' the place a little homier. I tell ya, I'm gratefull. Don't know what I would do without evenin' cartoons."

I laughed at that and had to agree. "I love evening cartoons too. Family Guy is my favourite. Stewie rocks."

"Right on!" he said, "The kid's evil but he's so damn funny."

I chuckled and told him I agreed. Soon afterwards, Mikey whisked me away to show me the plumbing, which I had to admit was amazing. I made a note to ask Donny how he did it.

"Donny's working on getting us heat down here so we don't freeze during the winter."

"Cool. I wish him luck with that."

We walked down the long hall from the bathroom to his room. I suddenly felt a bit awkward walking in there. I hadn't before, but something in the air was different. Even while I had been talking to Raph, all I had been really aware of was Mikey. What were all these new feelings? and why were they happening now? I had felt the same things while I was painting him aswell. Good lord, what was going on? I sure would like to know.

Mikey was looking at me as though he knew exactly what I was thinking. Still, I was unwilling to say anything and distracted myself by making a comment on his decor.

"The furniture is gorgeous. Where did you find it?"

"Uh...I made it actually. April got me the wood for it. Her boyfriend, Casey, dabbles in carpentry. He's pretty good."

"Mikey..." I breathed, tracing the intricate patterns on the legs and top of the nightstand he had, "It's amazing...I'd say you're pretty good yourself."

Mikey had the good grace to blush. "Thanks..."

"You could sell this stuff...I have a feeling alot of people would love it."

A sorrowfull expression came across his face. "I wish...but being a mutant turtle doesn't allow that luxury."

I sighed as I realized he was right. It was awful that such talent had to go to waste. Suddenly, I had a brainwave. Maybe it didn't have to after all.

"Hey..when I open up my shop I'll put some of your work in it..you can sell it that way!"

A huge smile lit up his face. "Woohoo! That would rock! Ah, Christine, you're the best!" he grabbed me into a huge bear hug. I grinned and hugged him back. Suddenly, that heat chose that moment to return. well, become more well-known is more like it. I could see the heat in his eyes and knew that he was feeling the same thing. We stared at each other for a long moment, not willing to move from each other's arms.

Just then a knock at the door broke the moment. I jumped back out of his arms. "Hey! it's me! Leo! Time for training Mikey!"

"Alright! I'm coming!" he said and took off for the dojo.

I stood alone in his room, still shell-shocked. pardon the pun, but it was true. A startling fact had just made itself known. I was attracted to him! and from the way he looked at me, he felt he same! Now this was going to make things a hell of alot harder. How could I think of feeling this way? It would ruin everything I was sure...if things didn't work out, where would I be? minus a best friend that's what! And that would never do.

Inevitably, that brought me to the question: what do I do about this situation? Sadly, I was at a loss. I walked slowly out of Mikey's room and sat down on the couch in the living room. Well, I thought, I'll just act civil and like it never happened. Then maybe things would be okay, well at least for a while.

When the boys were finished, they filed out of the dojo and took turns showering. My eyes followed Mikey as he spared a small glance at me before turning the corner to their bathroom. My traitorous heart lept. It was Raph who noticed the brief exchange and raised a questioning eyebrow at me.

"Now what was that look about?"

I tried to play dumb. "What look?"

"Don't be playin' dumb with me, missy." he warned, "Somethin's goin' on. I aint sure what, but somethin'."

Ah crap. Curse the preceptive red masked turtle. And with that, he left the room not without sparing me a warning glance that promised interrogation. Oh lovely, I thought. This was going to be fun. Not! I looked around desparately hoping for a rock I could crawl under and hide.

Thankfully, Splinter saved me.

"Alright my sons, I wish for you to do those dishes you have left for too long. We must have this place looking nice since we have a guest." he said, looking at me and smiling.

They all groaned in unison, muttering things, but nevertheless respectfull enough not to disobey Splinter. I sighed relief. I flipped on the TV to distract myself from my thoughts. I don't know how long I sat there, but the next thing I knew, someone was sitting next to me. I looked up to see Raphael. Dang!

"So," he began, "You jonesin' for Mikey or what?"

"No, he's my best friend and that's all it is..."

Raph narrowed his eyes. "Hey! what did I tell ya about lyin'?"

"Raph.." I said, getting a little annoyed.

"It wouldn't work ya know."

I shivered at the iciness in his voice. "What the hell do you mean by that?" I demanded, not willing to let him intimidate me in any way.

"Simple." Raph said, folding his arms across his chest and fixing me with a glare. "The last girl that Mikey let get close to him left." he said, looking pointedly at me.

My eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah. So you might wanna think about leavin' my bro alone, got it?"

"I wasn't-"

I couldn't finish my sentence because Raph had stormed out of the room. I flinched as his bedroom door slammed shut. I let all the things he said sink in. Did I really hurt mikey that bad by leaving to go back home? It didn't seem like that to me. He was always joyfull when I was around. I began to feel that maybe Raph was either jealous or Mikey was hiding some serious emotions from me. Nevertheless I was furious. It wasn't my fault that I left! I had to! I was only in New York for a bloody vacation!

The the turtle in question entered the room. "I heard Raph's door slam. He in a funk again?"

"Uh yeah." I said, wishing not to lead on that I knew why.

Mikey got a look of sympathy on his face and rubbed my shoulder in reassurance. The contact was so lovely I could have melted but I held myself together.

"He just gets that way sometimes, no worries."

I sighed and unconciously leaned into his arms. I felt his arms hesistant to move at first, but when they did, they went around me. I sucked in a breath and slowly let it out. I had to stay calm. I had to! If I didn't...well, I knew for a fact I wasn't prepared to deal with the rest of that thought. So, why wasn't I moving out of his embrace and therefore away from possible temptation?

Mikey slowly turned me around so that I had to look up into his eyes. I was lost instantly. Okay, there's my reason.

"Thanks." he said softly.

"For what?"

"Coming back. For deciding to open your gallery here. 'cause I'm sure that you coulda opened it at home but ya didn't."

"You're welcome." I was silent for a moment. Now seemed as good a time as any to ask him if Raph's accusations had any merit. "Uh, Mikey, did I hurt you alot when I left to go back home after my trip?"

Mikey frowned at the question but answered me nonetheless. "Awh, babe it sucked when ya left I won't lie about that, but you're back now so it's all good again."

Taking a deep breath, I spilled about Raph's and I's conversation.

"And so I was worried he was right." I said, finishing finally. Tears stung my eyes.

"Ack! what an ass! That totally isn't how I feel. I was sad, yeah, but I knew that you had to go. But I also knew that my charm would make you come back." he gave me a goofy smile in hopes of cheering me up.

I could help but laugh at that. That's when his expression changed. his eyes were suddenly radiating heat and something else. Slowly, he dipped his head towards me until our lips touched ever so slightly. Passion filled me and I wrapped my arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. He may have been a turtle, but damn! he could kiss!

When he finally broke apart, I stared up at him. "I guess this changes things, huh?"

"Yeah, it does." He smiled warmly at me.

"I'm a little scared though."

"Of what, my sweetie-pie?" he said, then proceeded to kiss my nose. Which was incurabley cute I had to admit.

"Of losing our friendship if things don't work out." I snuggled closer to him again.

He gave me a gentle squeeze. "Gotta have faith, darlin'" he said in his best texan drawl. I chuckled, but realized he was right.

"Okay, can do." I said and pulled him down for another kiss.