This chapter is a bit fluffier and the story possibly could have done without it, but I couldn't justify cutting it. Especially with the adorable bonding that goes on. Hope you enjoy it!

Summer, 2006

It took several months after Splinter's declaration to train his children for the weather to warm up. With the warmer weather came the question of, where would April sleep? Turtle piles were fine for keeping warm in the winter, but children need their own spaces. Splinter, April, and the turtles spent time cleaning out the different alcoves within the lair to see what spaces they had to work with. In their inventory, they came up with four small, dead end tunnels on the opposite side of the entrance. Everywhere else was spoken for.

When Splinter broached the subject with his sons, Donnie didn't hesitate to say he would share with someone so that April could have her own room. Mikey was the only one who took him up on his offer. The boy was absolutely giddy to be sharing a space with his older brother.

Now years later, the three preteens were sprawled out in front of the TV watching their favorite movie. While Donnie and April considered The Little Mermaid their "thing", they allowed Mikey to occasionally crash their movie nights. He was the only other turtle who appreciated it anywhere near their level.

Raph and Leo emerged from the Dojo for a break from their sparring match, covered in sweat. Raph stood behind the gaggle of his other three siblings while Leo headed to the kitchen for some water.

"Is there a day when you guys aren't watching that fish movie?" The red-clad turtle scoffed.

"Nope!" They chorused. Raph shook his head, leaving to join Leo. Mikey and Donnie high-fived before returning their attention to the movie. April stretched, trying to find a comfortable position lying between the youngest turtles. Green flashes of the sea-witch's magic flashed across the screen as a sudden thought struck her.

"Guys, I want to paint my wall."

Donnie paused the movie during Poor Unfortunate Souls, stopping Ursula in a rather unflattering pose. "What?"

"What wall?" Mikey used an arm to prop himself up on his side.

"One of the walls in my bedroom, duh." The girl rolled her eyes. "Maybe do something Mermaid themed? I don't know… I think it'd be nice to change things up a little…"

Mikey grinned, snapping his fingers. "Hey! What if Donnie and I paint it for you?" April and the afore mentioned turtle squinted at their brother.

"You will?"

"We will?"

The youngest turtle leapt to his feet, his excitement mounting. "Yeah! Maybe we can get Mai to help! I think she's home from NYU for the summer. Besides, Dee, with your mad illustrating skills and my eye for color, we'll be able to make something really cool!"

Donnie sighed, rolling over onto his shell. "I'm not an illustrator or an artist, Mike. I've just been working on blueprints for some new projects…" Mikey waved him off.

"Whatever. It'll look tight!" The boy struck a pose, pointing a finger at the red head. "Give us one week, April. We'll freshen up that space for you!"

xXx

Mai was excited to help the boys, even offering to buy the paint for them. April was touched by their generosity, but was a bit put off at being kept out of her room for the entire week. They only allowed her time to get a few essentials to survive the week on the newly acquired couch now residing in the common area. Her nose wrinkled each night as the paint fumes wafted their way down the hall.

April had just finished blow drying her hair after her shower when she heard a knock at the door. "Almost done!" She shouted over the noise of the dryer.

"April? Your room's done!" Donnie's muffled came through the door. "Do you want to see it?" Her eyes widened as the girl shut off her machine, running a last brush through her hair.

"YEAH!" April flung open the bathroom door, only to run face first into Donnie's plastron. "Oh! Sorry, Donnie!"

He chuckled. "It's fine. I can imagine you'd be excited to see your room, after a whole week." The gangly turtle reached around April into the bathroom, retrieving a spare towel to use as a blindfold. "Let's go! No peeking…"

Now blindfolded, Donnie lead her to the hallway containing all of their bedrooms. They met Mikey outside of April's door. The orange-clad turtle bounced on his toes, ready to open the door.

"Are you ready, April?"

"Ready to have my own space back?" She chuckled. "Seriously though, thanks guys. I could have helped, but this was sweet." She squeezed both of the turtles' hands.

Smiling, Mikey opened the door. He led April to the ideal viewing position at the center of the room before removing her blindfold with a flourish.

"Ta-da!"

April didn't know what to say. Her hands came up to cover her mouth. The entire room was covered in the wonderous colors of an ocean reef scene. The ceiling was no exception. A wavy image of the sun had been painted as if its rays of light were cutting through the water. April moved slowly towards the more predominant image on the far wall. She couldn't help the smile or the tears which appeared.

They had painted a life-sized red headed mermaid, smiling and playing with various sea creatures. It was an amazing creation, but it didn't look exactly like Ariel from the movie. Instead, she looked more like…

"Me!" April gasped. "She looks just like me!"

Mikey wrapped his arms around his sister from behind. "After Mai and I did the backgrounds, Donnie came in and sketched everything out. The details were all him!" April twisted her head to see the boy sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"And I thought you said you weren't an artist," She teased.

"Well, it is important to be accurate." He smirked. Mikey pointed at the wall, drawing April's attention back to him,

"Did you see the little turtles? They were my idea!" He stated proudly.

Upon further inspection, four of the sea creatures playing with Mer-April were colored sea-turtles. Each of them bore the trademark colors of her brothers. April giggled when she noticed the purple and orange sea-turtles seemed to have bigger smiles and swam closer to the mermaid. She shifted in Mikey's grip to draw Mai and Donnie into the hug.

"This is more than I could have possibly imagined, you guys. It's beautiful. I just didn't think you'd want to paint the entire room…"

Mai waved her hand dismissively. "We thought painting everything brightened up the space. Besides, the boys did the bulk of the work. All I really did was buy the paint."

"You all contributed. And the little turtles- I love them! They're so cute!"

"Yeah we are!" Mikey broke away from the hug to strike a cheeky pose.

Donnie smacked his brother upside the head. "Dork," He chortled.

April giggled in turn, pulling her family closer. This is the best gift ever!

GUYS! I'm SO EXCITED for where we're headed next. This is where things start getting real. If you thought Fathoms Below was detailed... Just you wait for One Step Closer!

And then... we enter 2012 (hopefully) in Chapter 12. HOW PERFECT IS THAT? Something for y'all to look forward to!

See you next week and STAY CREATIVE!