A/N: Don't own Ninja Turtles! Har Har. (: The lyrics I picked to open this one made me giggle. Silly Thriller!

"It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart" –Michael Jackson

--

Shivering, Hazel crept up the stairs, praying it was only nothing. She had found a flashlight and was waving it around frantically.

"H-Hello?" she asked, seeing a shadow on the wall coming closer. Her heart throbbed in her chest as she inched toward the figure.

"Hey, mind not shining that in my eyes?"

"D-Dad? Why're you home so early?" Hazel pointed the flashlight at the floor.

"My boss let me go early, so I got you something. I was going to show you in the morning, but I guess you weren't asleep like I'd thought."

"Dad, it's only nine…" She followed him to her parents' room, where the lights were also off.

"Close your eyes then." Hazel did as told, until she felt something furry in her arms. A tiny kitten stared up at her, mewing. She giggled.

"Wow," she smiled, "About time." She'd wanted a cat for ages and used to joke about it a lot.

"That's not all. Don't tell her, but I got your mother a new car," he grinned.

"Ooooh," Hazel giggled. "I'll be in my room. Gotta name my kitty!" She nearly hopped off to her room, completely forgetting about her worries from earlier.

The kitten was probably just barely old enough to leave its mother. It was white, with patches of black, and had bright blue eyes. As curious as it seemed to be, it only wanted to curl up on Hazel's bed at the moment.

The problem was the name; Hazel wanted it to be perfect. She sighed, sketching the tiny feline. A smile crept over her face as she did so, the perfect name popping into her head.

Hazel felt exhausted, so she ended up going to sleep much earlier than she'd thought. However, she awoke when a few hours later, her mother was screaming in excitement and delight.

"Oh, it's a beautiful car, honey!" giggled her slightly tipsy mother who was sitting on the end of her bed as Hazel lay there, half asleep. "But I'll tell you the rest in the morning!"

"How thoughtful of you," muttered Hazel, wrapping the blankets around herself.

Hazel was fond of Sundays. Usually, they'd be more laid-back and her parents might actually be home. But she was not expecting what she got this Sunday.

"We're going on holidays," announced her dad.

"Really? Where're we going?" Hazel's eyes widened.

"You can't come, silly! You've got school." Her mom smiled.

"Oh…"

Meanwhile, not too far from there, the turtles had their own problems. Raphael was doing everything in his power to anger Leo, including playing the music so loudly through his stereo it rattled the swords on his brother's walls.

"What'd they even fight about?" asked Mikey, mashing the buttons on his controller, knocking out the on-screen Donnie.

"Don't ask me questions in the middle of a game! It breaks my focus," Donnie huffed. Mikey grinned at him.

"I know! It always works, too!" Donnie sighed.

"To answer your question, I don't know why they fought. It must have been while we were still at April's." But Mikey was already playing his game again.

Hazel decided it best to stay home that day and let things calm down a bit before going back. Plus, her parents weren't leaving the house, so it'd be hard to get out.

"So, what'd you name it?" Her mom stood in the doorway, a hand held to her forehead.

"Apple."

"What?"

"Apple, like the painting. Young Man with an Apple."

"You're not a young man."
"It was either that or name it Unicorn." Her mother rolled her eyes and left. Hazel stared out her window, frowning at the buildings surrounding her house; she would never be used to them.

Hazel had grown up in a small town in Ontario- she'd only recently gotten her American citizenship, and she was still not accustomed to living here. In fact, she wanted to go back. Well, she did…

Raphael wanted nothing to do with his older brother. He stayed in his room so he wouldn't see him, and kept his music loud enough so he couldn't hear him. Knowing Leo, he was probably just telling everyone how dumb he was. At least, that's how Raph saw it. He just wanted to smash him sometimes.

As her parents packed, Hazel felt a complete uneasiness. Being alone frightened her- not when it was just for a few hours, but the idea of days made her shiver. Letting Apple curl up in her lap, she began to draw the turtles again. She barely knew them, but… They inspired her.

There was times when she still insisted that she had to be dreaming. Things like this just didn't happen. She sifted her hair through her fingers, sighing. No dream would last this long.

Carefully, she tore the page she'd just drawn on out of her sketchbook and stood up to place it on her desk. She rummaged for her pens so she could ink it before she coloured it. Sitting down, she sighed. She just wanted to make peace with Raphael, for whatever she'd done. Truthfully, she admired him for rescuing her- in the few years she'd lived there, no one had ever done that.

"And now he hates me," she muttered, making long strokes with her pen.

Hours later, she finally finished coloring her little project, smiling and grabbing one of the plastic folders she kept assignments for art class in.

Raphael had gone through all the CDs he owned and was getting bored. Not to mention he was getting an earache. He turned off the stereo and sat in silence. He wondered to himself for a moment.

"Did I scare her away?"

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Woo, sorry this chapter is a little short. .. But I wanted to update for you guys! And due to popular request I gave a bit of background on Hazel. Sorry for not having as much turtle-ness as most of you would have liked.

REVIEW AND I WILL LOVE YOU: D but I've been getting tons, wow! Thanks! 3