A/N: Hey guys! Writer's Block is stupid I swear! Anyways, here's a bit of an AU where Karai finally comes to live with the turtles and Splinter after they take back the city and all that jazz (I'm calling it an AU for now because I'm not sure if that's ever gonna happen in canon)

This is kind of a prolog of a little series of Karai/Turtle brothers drabbles I'm gonna write.

I OWN NOTHING!

(P.S: To all of those who have read my earlier fics (e.g. the movie fics, the Turtle Tot fics, the Totoro fic ect) I'm going to be re-writing a lot of them, just as a heads up. And I'd like to hear you guy's thoughts on the updated versions once their done!)

Hope you enjoy it!

Life

It was early in the morning when Karai woke up to the sounds of laughter and annoyed yelling coming from the room behind her bedroom door. Her eyes cracked open as her head rose from her pillow, and her brows creased in confusion. She recognized the voices, but they shouldn't be there…in fact, where was she? This wasn't her room –

Oh wait…yes it was.

Memory came back to her in stages as she let out a little sigh, falling back into her pillow as her arm came up to cover her eyes. It seemed that after all this time, she was still unused to waking up every morning to the sound of the turtles – her brothers – arguing and laughing in the living room. The place she had come to call home…

Even though Karai tried to convince herself that this was her family, that this was where she truly belonged, it was still so odd being shown true love and affection by those whom she'd always believed to be her worst enemies. It was odd being truly loved…

And it was especially odd from how she'd transitioned from being an only child of a vengeful, crazed leader of an evil ninja clan, to practically an older sister of four mutant turtle brothers with a serene, loving – and quirky at the best of times – ninja rat master as their father.

When Karai had finally found the courage to approach the turtles and agreed to permanently live with the mutant family – her mutant family – there had been a lot of hugging involved (mainly from Splinter, Leo and Mikey), shoulder patting and hand holding (from Donnie – and Mikey again, for Raph was still a little distant at the time) which had been a lot for the half human half snake mutant girl to take in all at once.

But it had been Mikey that had assured her when he'd smiled at her and said, "Don't worry; you'll get used to it eventually…"

After she'd officially moved into the new lair, each of the turtles had adjusted and connected to her in their own different ways. Leonardo had been the quickest, of course, in terms of getting used to her presence and welcoming her into their home. He'd believed since the day they'd met that there was good inside her, even before he'd discovered that they were practically siblings. And after everything she'd put them all through before and after the second Kraang invasion, it really meant a lot to Karai.

Raphael and Donatello, predictably enough, had been tougher cookie's to crack, though she couldn't exactly blame them. Of course they were still very distrustful of her due to her upbringing in the Foot Clan, and that it would take a little more time to really get used to her. Well, Karai managed to break their walls down eventually – the memory of how she'd gained their trust always made her smirk.

And then there was Mikey. Being who he was, he was by far the most accepting of her aside from Leo and Splinter. Heck, after they'd gotten her settled in her own room, he'd dragged her by the hand for a 'grand tour' of the entire lair, chattering to her all the while with a smile that shone brighter than the sun.

In the end, it had been Mikey that made her think that with time, she could really get used to living like this. Even though being half snake mutant wasn't exactly ideal, it was better than being forever trapped within that forsaken cell…the one that the man she used to believe was her loving yet distant father threw her into.

No, she wouldn't think about him anymore. The Shredder was in the past. All that Karai had to look forward to was whatever the future held for her and her new family…her true family.

As she untangled herself from her blankets and emerged from her own bedroom that morning, yawning and stretching as she walked into the main room, she was greeted by the smell of frying bacon coming from the kitchen and the smiling faces of three of her brothers as they moved over on the couch to allow her to sit next to them as they watched their new favorite Saturday Morning cartoon.

Watching the show with peaked interest, Karai leaned her head against Raphael's shoulder. He simply allowed her to as he watched the program. On her right, Leonardo's arm came around her shoulders. On the floor Michelangelo leaned against her legs. And as Donatello came out of his lab, his hand came to rest over the hand Leo had on her left shoulder as he peered over her head at the T.V.

Karai found herself smiling. Yeah, she could really get used to this kind of life.

A/N: Awww, Karai!

Hope you liked this! More fluff and stuff to come!