A/N: Hi again! My holiday was tuns of fun, and i'm back and ready to write some more! I SWEAR after this, (and one more request from someone off Tumblr) I will get RIGHT back onto my other stories! This one i a request from cheyennexshadow1. It started off happy, but then I got mean again... my bad DX. I still have awful feels from the Season 3 Finale...Honestly, this is the first time a T.V show made me full on bawl. The Season 2 finale made me shed tears, yes, but this one, I was sobbing.

Anyways, back the fic. I hope you like it. I OWN NOTHING IN THIS FIC. AT ALL!

Enjoy!

When I Wake…

Karai had never seen or gotten into any of those cheesy musicals that the rest of the world seemed to constantly rave on about, not during her life spent with the Shredder, for he'd deemed it unwise to let her get involved with such trivial business, and for a while, she'd felt the same. Even so, a part of her had felt somewhat left out, for some of the shows that she'd seen advertised around town, both in Japan and in New York, looked like they would be quite entertaining. But back then, she'd had more important things to think about besides petty dramas with over-the-top singers…

However, now that she'd found the peace she'd been seeking her whole life, living beneath the sewers with her strange loving family of mutants, she no longer had to worry about a disapproving gaze hovering over her head. She was free to express her true thoughts, her true feelings…and as a plus, one of her new little brothers just so happened to be a fan of musicals.

And he just so happened to be Raphael.

One night, whilst Splinter was out with Leonardo taking a walk through the sewers, April and Casey leaving with Michelangelo to visit Murakami-san, and Donatello journeying out for a solo junkyard trip, the snake girl and Raphael decided to crash in the main room and watch some old movies together, grabbing snacks and all kinds of goodies from the kitchen that would surely result in the world's worst sugar rush for the both of them.

Since she'd moved into the lair – which was coming up to two months ago, now – she'd been able to catch up on what she'd missed out on during her childhood years, which had been mostly spent with Mikey watching Disney movies, Leo with comedies and over-the-top romances, and Donnie with Sci-Fi and Fantasy. She had yet to sit down and do anything with Raph, not since the 'Titanic' incident which had left them falling asleep on each other towards the very end of the movie.

However, whilst they were picking out which movie to watch first, a conversation on musicals had ensued instead, which had piqued Karai's interest. So far, they'd discussed 'The Sound of Music', 'Moulin Rouge', and 'Little Shop of Horrors', all of which Karai had seen, and only found a little engaging. Raph had shared similar thoughts.

"So, what's your favorite musical then, Raphie?" she asked, reaching out to grab a handful of Doritos from one of the bowls wedged between them on the bench and popping one into her mouth as she quizzically regarded her second youngest brother beside her.

"First of all, stop calling me Raphie," Raphael muttered crossly with a deep scowl, before it morphed into a thoughtful frown. "And as for the musical thing…eh, Westside Story wasn't so bad."

The girl nearly choked on her snack at that. "W-What?" she snickered. "You mean that cheesy rip-off of Romeo and Juliet with gangsters instead of knights?"

Raph shrugged helplessly, a grin stretching across his face. "The songs are catchy, okay?!" he argued.

"Oh sure, they're real catchy," she droned, smirking widely as she sat up and began to click her fingers, swinging her hands from side to side dramatically. "When you're a jet, you're a jet all the way, from your first cigarette, to your last dyin' day!" she sang, putting on her worst stereotypical New York accent before giving in to giggles at the sight of Raph's disgusted face.

The turtle gave his sister a playful shove before shaking his head. "Whatever," he said, rolling his eyes and grabbing a pizza slice from the box at their feet. "So, which musical haven't you seen yet that you'd really want to?" he asked, leaning back against the bench as he munched on the slice. "I mean, you've pretty much seen most of them already, out of the ones we have that is, but which one do you really wanna see?"

Humming in thought as she pinched several marshmallows from a bowl filled to the rim with candy, Karai pursed her lips. "…well, there was that one I saw advertised one time. It was made into a movie not long ago, and it was a pretty big hit all over the world. I think it was a French one called 'Les Miserable' or something –"

"Les Misérables?"

"Yeah, that's it. It looked like it had a good plot, decent songs and a dark atmosphere, unlike the pure over-the-top cheese the rest of the musicals have. I never got the chance to see it, though…"

She was cut off when Raph started chuckling, as if he'd heard some kind of joke that she'd missed. She turned to him and raised a brow. "What's so funny?"

"Nothin'," he shrugged, turning to meet her inquisitive green-eyed gaze and grinning. "It's just that out of all the musicals we have, that one is the favourite in this family. Seriously, ask Splinter. Heck, even I kinda like it. We even have debates on which of the characters had the best voice or the most interesting storyline. It's worse than our cartoon debates most of the time."

Karai made a face, but couldn't restrain an incredulous smile. "Are you serious?" she snickered.

Raph nodded. "Oh yeah. We even used to sing some of the songs together, especially Mikey and Donnie. They're just as catchy as –"

He was interrupted when Karai outright laughed as she threw her head back. "Oh man! That must be some movie if it makes you sing!" she hooted, wiping a fake tear from the corner of her eye even as Raph nudged her hard with his elbow. Once she'd recovered, she let out a sigh, turning to face her red clad brother. "Now I have to see this."

Reaching out to ruffle her hair, which had steadily turned into more of a bob hairstyle the longer she left it to grow, Raph smirked and stood up. "Sure. Just be prepared; this one is a real emotional roller-coaster ride," he said over his shoulder as he headed into Donnie's lab, where most of their DVD's were stored.

"I highly doubt it!" she called back, feeling almost excited to see exactly what made this movie special enough to become the family favourite. However, despite Raph's warning, she was quite confident that she wouldn't cave in. Karai wasn't as soft as her brothers, or April or Casey.

She wouldn't be so easily swayed by whatever 'emotional roller-coaster ride' had to offer.

Karai was confused.

She'd believed that her years living under the iron fist of the Shredder had made her nerves as strong and as hard as steel, her heart as solid and as cold as stone. She'd thought that a mere movie, with singers and actors as loud and as dramatic as any other musical, wouldn't sway her in the least. In fact, she'd assumed that she'd be asleep by this point out of pure boredom.

So why, when the film was not even close to being over, did she find herself wiping streams of tears off her reddened cheeks, covering her mouth with a wavering hand to muffle the sobs that threatened to burst from the pit of her throat? Well, there were two explanations to her current predicament, one of them being that over two months of living with the turtles as her little brothers had made her soft. The other explanation, however…was far more personal.

Unfazed by the fact that Raph, the hardest yet most emotionally driven of her brothers, was sitting right beside her, her tear-filled eyes remained glued to the screen as she bore witness to Fantine's final moments. The poor woman, having succumbed to a fatal illness after letting filthy men have their way with her, all for the sake of providing money to keep her dying child alive and healthy, lay on a hospital bed, with the kind gentleman holding her close as he listened to her dying request, her voice rasped and weak.

"…My Cosette…" she sang.

"Shall live in my protection," Jean Valjean replied.

"…Take her now…"

"Your child will want for nothing."

"…good M'sieur…you come from God in Heaven…and tell Cosette…I love her…and I'll see her when I wake…"

With that, Fantine went still. And despite how hard she'd tried to suppress it, despite knowing that this would result in weeks of teasing by Raphael, Karai lurched forwards, both hands slapping over her mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut and sobbed into her hands. She could feel Raph's eyes on her, but she couldn't bring herself to care anymore as she continued to weep helplessly.

The scene from Titanic, where Rose was ready to throw herself over the edge of a ship to escape her burdens, was almost nothing in comparison to the death of Fantine. The woman was a single mother, her husband leaving her unexpectedly for some cruel reason, and after being unjustly dismissed from her job with only a few coins to her name, she had sold her hair, a tooth and her body to the likes of the scumbags that roamed the streets, until she ultimately fell ill and died…all for the sake of her daughter, the only thing she'd had left to cling to in the whole world.

Splinter had told her what had happened to her mother before she'd died, before Shredder had taken Karai away and raised her in hate and lies. He'd told her how much her mother had loved her, cherished her, and how she had been willing to do anything, even going so far as to plan to move to another country, just to give her baby daughter the chance to live a normal happy life, which Splinter had been all too happy to comply with at the time…only to have everything taken away from her.

All her hopes, her dreams, her very body and soul, going up in smoke as the blades of the man she'd seen as a brother tore into her…

The two woman, though both had been in very different situations and had lived very different lives, couldn't have been more alike. They had been willing and ready to give up everything for the sake of their daughters…and it tore Karai's heart in two.

Life had killed the dream they had dreamed…

As her tears continued to cascade down her cheeks, she hadn't realized that an arm, impossibly strong yet so gentle, had wrapped around her shoulders and brought her close to the owner's side. Her breath hitching in surprise, Karai looked up from her hands to find that the movie had been paused, and that Raphael was staring down at her, his expression unreadable, but his emerald eyes aglow with an understanding that nearly took her breath away.

It was a fact that Raph wasn't all that physically affectionate towards others, unless you count a headlock or a noogie as being affectionate. However, there were moments when his love and devotion towards those closest to him truly shone. She'd been on the receiving end of that affection once before, back when she'd been locked inside that metal box after Rahzar had captured them weeks ago. It had been awkward at first, almost reluctant, until his arms had fully encircled her, keeping her safe and warm in his unyielding embrace. And now…

A smile gracing her lips, Karai drew in a deep, shaking breath as she wiped away her tears and sat up again. With a sigh, she let her hands flop back onto her lap and turned to look at her younger brother, who's unreadable face had morphed into a silent question as he raised a brow at her.

Are you gonna be okay?

Karai smirked, thumping her hand on the back of Raph's shell before folding her arms over her chest. Of course she was going to be okay. Her brother had her back, so there was nothing for her to fear anymore.

"Okay…you win," she said. "This is an 'emotional roller-coaster ride'."

At that, Raph finally smirked back, ruffling her untamed hair as he chuckled. "Told ya," he scoffed. "And that's not even the worst part."

Shaking her head in mock dismay, Karai laughed softly, scooting closer to Raph's side as the turtle picked up the remote and let the movie play on.

As they settled back into place and watched as Javert made his sudden entrance, Karai noted that Raph had yet to remove his arm from around her shoulders. However, she said nothing of it. Instead, she took the rare opportunity to settle into his one-armed embrace, her head resting on his shoulder. And not once did she let the look in her red clad brother's eyes escape her mind, and instead, she stored it deep inside her box of treasured memories that was already filling to the brim with every day that passed.

And even as the movie played on, as more songs were sung and more tears were shed (mostly by herself and Raph when they were sure no one else was around), one line continued to play on repeat inside her head…

"Tell Cosette I love her, and I'll see her when I wake…"

She smiled to herself, feeling Raph's hand tighten on her shoulder as she closed her eyes.

I love you too, mother…

A/N: DARN IT! STUPID FEELS DRIVING ME UP THE WALL! DX

I hope you enjoyed it! Please don't hold back requests! See you next time!