Hello Everyone! This is a bonus chapter. I'll be doing these every once in a while, chapters that don't have an alphabetical designation, just something that I felt like writing.

This idea grabbed me by the face and wouldn't let go until I wrote it. I hope you enjoy this bit of whimsy, with a side of crack comedy. I don't know if you'll find it as entertaining as I did, but I can hope!

It was a lazy Saturday in the middle of January, the lair was quiet, and April lounged in the living room watching the peaceful scene with a contented smile. Donny tinkered in his lab with various gadgets, his thoughtful brown eyes focused on the delicate machinery as he manipulated it. Michelangelo sat playing video games, but he was making an effort to mute his usually boisterous play style, even wearing a wireless headset to cut down on noise. Raphael was busy doing bicep curls with some hand weights, while Splinter meditated in the dojo.

The reason for their quiet? Leo had fallen asleep in the living room, and none had the heart to wake him.

While she didn't know the details, April was aware that after their trip overseas to visit a family friend, the boys had come back completely changed. While they had always been close, now their bond was forged in steel, nigh unbreakable. Raphael was calmer and more understanding with his brothers, while still somewhat hotheaded, he was more mature in many ways. Mikey was more thoughtful, considering his brothers' feelings and not being so selfish. Even Donny had changed, trying to spend more time around his family and not burn as much midnight oil in the lab.

The most startling change was with Leonardo. He was at peace, less stressed, and more open emotionally with his family. He was still the stoic, reliable leader that everyone counted on and respected. That hadn't changed. However, if he was feeling pressure and was starting to get distressed, he would turn to his brothers for help. They would spend an evening piled on the couch, lending their leader their strength, or would have a quiet heart to heart talk. These conversations were always given privacy by Splinter and April followed his lead.

Leo had also started taking every weekend off, giving himself two solid days of rest where he would simply be a teenager and nothing else. Unless there was an emergency, then he would shift back to leader mode without a moment's hesitation. He knew that protecting his family came first. April even heard that he was going to get a small vacation once every quarter, or so Donny said. It sounded like a good idea, considering the pressures that came with training to become the future head of their small clan. April heartily approved.

It was a pleasant change, one that gave the lair an added layer of peace, designating it as a sanctum and a home. A place of rest and safety. Thus why Leonardo was sprawled out on the floor maskless in a nest of blankets and pillows, lying on his stomach, arms crossed under his cheek. He had spent the week helping Donatello update the lair security and endured many late nights prodding weak spots. Between the two of them, they were able to come up with an entire binder of backup plans for various scenarios, each detailing different routes of escape, defense, or outright offense. Leo's sharp mind working their home into something of a Chinese puzzle box that contained both weapons for fighting back, or secret doors allowing for a quick and quiet retreat.

April had looked over the binder herself, and to say that it was impressive was an understatement. Donatello wasn't the only turtle in the family with a dizzying intellect.

Needless to say though, the week had exhausted the young leader. Soft snores drifted up from the floor, evidence to the depth of his fatigue as normally he even slept quiet as a ninja, accompanied by the gentle rise and fall of his shoulders and carapace. A soft plush blanket was strewn across his back, but his hips and legs lay exposed. Leo had grasped the edge of the blanket, placing it under his cheek between his hands as a sort of pillow. He looked so young sleeping on the floor like that, especially without his mask. It was an adorable scene, and April couldn't help the urge to take a picture on her phone.

It was when she was focusing in on his face, angling to show how he was cuddling the blanket, that something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. It wasn't anything major, certainly nothing earth shattering, but somehow she was flabbergasted at the discovery. Looking down, a little turtle tail was untucked from the bottom of the shell.

April knew turtles have tails. She saw them on normal turtles in zoos and pet stores, so it wasn't a new concept. However, she'd never seen one on any of the guys, and she had just assumed that due to their mutation they didn't have one. But lo and behold, before her very eyes, the tiny appendage curled and twitched as its owner slept. It was the cutest thing April had ever seen. Bar none. Even Leo laying on the floor cuddling a blanket like a little kid couldn't compare anymore. The sight of it was something April never knew she needed until that moment. It was comparable to those cute little kitten videos on the internet or TikTok. The feeling swelling in her heart was hard to explain, but April just wanted to squeal at the cuteness of its mere existence.

She must have been sitting frozen on the couch for some time, because suddenly a rough hand shook her shoulder, "April? April, are you ok?"

The young woman blinked, as if rousted from a dream, and glanced up to see the concerned face of Michelangelo. His baby blue eyes were a mix of worry, and curious amusement, "Huh?"

Mikey chuckled, his face brightening as the worry melted away and gave place to humor, "I was worried about you," he stated, gaming headphones dangling around his neck, "you just froze out of nowhere, and I couldn't get you to answer me."

April blushed, embarrassed at the way she had lost her composure to the point that she worried the most laid back turtle of the clan, "I'm sorry, Mikey," she apologized sheepishly, "but I have to admit, I was a bit gobsmacked."

The orange ninja sat down on the couch, his head tilted in an unspoken request for her to elaborate. April suddenly felt self conscious, unsure of how to explain that she was shocked into silence over seeing a turtle tail. Finally, the woman took a breath and plunged into her explanation. "I was taking a picture of Leo sleeping on the floor,"

Mikey nodded, a smirk of understanding twitching the side of his mouth, "He looks cute, right?" The orange ninja giggled. "We try not to tease Leo about it, because he normally feels self conscious about sleeping out in the open, so we enjoy it when he does."

April laughed quietly, then leaned in, her voice lowering to conspiratorial tones, "That's when I noticed something I've never seen before," she whispered.

Mikey raised an eyebrow ridge at their friend, and quickly followed the line of her finger when she pointed down. The youngest gasped, and then covered his mouth with both hands before he laughed out loud and accidentally woke their leader. Snickering into his fist, Michelangelo cast mirthful blue eyes up at April, "Wow," he managed between chuckles, "he must really be out of it for his tail to untuck."

"Un…tuck?"

"Yeah, we keep our tails tucked into our shells," the youngest nodded.

"We?!" April couldn't help but bounce happily "You all have tails? But why haven't I seen them? Do you all keep them tucked away? What does that mean when you say you tuck them away? Why do you? They're so cute!"

Mikey lifted two hands in a gesture for April to wait as he explained, "Ok," he began, "back when we were tots, we would injure our tails a LOT. Like, if I didn't break mine from falling backwards onto the cement floor, then Raph or Leo would fracture theirs practicing katas. It became such a problem, that Dad began to tell us to tuck our tails under our shells."

April's face brightened in understanding, "Oh, ok, so that's what you meant by untucked?"

"Yup," the youngest grinned, "normal turtles don't have to worry about that stuff, but we walk on two legs like humans do, so we tend to fall down more than they do. Nowadays, we pretty much keep our tails tucked at all times. The only time we don't is if we're relaxed enough, or feel safe enough, to let them out."

The human woman suddenly felt flattered. Easily the most defensive of the turtles, the one who never dropped his guard, and kept his ninja training going 24/7 felt safe enough around her to completely relax. "That's…unexpectedly sweet," she spluttered.

Mikey shrugged, "Honestly, Leo had started tucking his tail long before Dad told us to. He broke his really bad once, and had to walk around the lair with a thick bandage and a splint on it for weeks! All the teasing he got from Raph just made him more self conscious about it."

"Aw, poor Leo," April cooed, glancing down at the sleepy leader. Leonardo seemed blissfully unaware of the topic of their conversation.

The turtle in question sighed in his sleep, his tail curling in response to the deep inhale, then relaxed as Leo let the breath out. A small quiver shaking the tip before it settled, mirroring Leonardo's movements as the leader curled up onto his side. April's hand rose to her mouth to muffle the adoring squeal over how unexpectedly cute the eldest could be. "How is it," she whispered, voice thick with glee, "that someone as deadly as your brother, who can terrify some of the scariest people I know with his skills….is currently one of the most adorable things I've ever seen?"

"It's quite the dichotomy isn't it?"

Donatello's voice cut into the conversation, making the two couch sitters jump dramatically at his sudden appearance, thankfully the genius turtle covered their mouths with quick hands, stifling their screams. The trio froze when Leo gave a sleepy mumble, the leader stretching out his muscles, before relaxing into the floor once again. Muscle bound arms reached out, blindly grabbing the edge of the plush blanket, and pulled it close, rubbing his cheek against it. A few more incoherent words and a quick snuggle to the blanket, Leonardo returned to his nap.

"Nice goin', brainiac," Raphael huffed, his bulky form stepping ninja soft to the living room, "ya trying ta freak Leo out? The last thing the guy needs is ta wake up from the first decent sleep he's had all week because of ya screamin'."

Donny gave a sheepish grin at his older brother's scolding, "Sorry, Raphie,"

The hothead rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "Just keep it down," he growled softly, "you may be able ta run off of caffeine and spite, but Fearless needs ta get some sleep."

Mikey snickered, quickly drawing Raphael's ire, "Jeez, Raphie, ever since the caves you're so protective of Leo. I thought he was the team mother hen, not you?"

"Need I remind you of what happened in those caves?" The red ninja asked darkly, tone grim with shared memories, "Leo got ta that point because we weren't doin' a good enough job supportin' him as a team. I learned my lesson, did you, Mikey?"

The orange ninja pouted indignantly, "You know I did," he practically hissed, before deflating in past sorrow, "we all promised to do better by Leo, and we are. Even April has noticed that things have changed for the better."

Raph gave a short affirmative nod, "Yer right, things have changed for the better. I'm just here ta make sure the changes stick. I promised Leo, and I promised myself that I wouldn't be a pain in the shell anymore. I'd still speak up if I think somethin' needs ta be said, but I won't be a jerk. Not anymore. So, if that makes me a mother hen, then fine; but I'm gonna protect my brother ta make sure he never ends up in the same state he was in those caves, ever, again."

"He won't get to that point again," Donatello stated, voice firm with determination, "now that we're aware of the things he struggles with, we won't let him get so bad that he regresses back to before the caves."

April remained silent, not fully understanding what was being said, but hesitant to ask for clarification. Something deeper was being addressed here, something that had effected the brothers in a profound way. Even though they had adopted her as a sister in their odd family, April still felt like an outsider at times. She knew that they didn't mean to shut her out, but it was moments like this that she wished they would talk to her more.

Donatello glanced in her direction, and his eyes widened in realization as he saw the dejected look on her face, "I'm sorry April," he apologized, features sorrowful, "we don't mean to keep things from you. I promise we'll explain one day, but a lot happened on that trip, I don't think we even told Master Splinter all of it."

Mikey shook his head, "It was hard enough to go through it in the first place," he said softly, "and talking about it hurts. I mean, I'm glad we went through it, we needed to know what was happening with Leo, but…."

Raphael placed a consoling hand on Mikey's head, rubbing it gently, "What matters is we got through it," he rumbled, sturdy and strong as always, "Leo is a better leader than ever, and we're a better team because of it. End of story."

"I'll hold you to that promise, though," April said with a, somewhat weak, teasing smile, "I want to know what happened so if you ever need back up, I'll be there."

"Promise," Donny grinned.

Raphael shook his head at the sappy scene with a sigh, then turned back to their human friend, "So?" He asked, changing the subject, "What were ya talking about that was so interestin' before?"

Mikey's eyes widened as he gave a squeak and he whirled around to glance at Leo, and then gave a soft crow of victory, "Leo's tail is out!" He hissed gleefully, a finger pointing at the evidence of his declaration.

Both Raphael and Don looked down and had to swallow their giggles. Sure enough, the unconscious turtle's tail lay in plain sight. The red ninja suddenly turned thoughtful as a wicked grin spread across his face, "Ya want ta tie a tin can or somethin' to it?"

"I vote a pretty blue bow," April volunteered, making Raphael have to cover his mouth so not to cackle too loudly.

Mikey stared aghast at his family, "Seriously, Raphie?!" He demanded, "After your speech about leaving him alone to sleep and protecting Leo, you want to tie something to his tail? That's the quickest way to wake him up! You know how sensitive our tails are!"

"I didn't say I was gonna do it!" Raphael defended.

"Good," Don shot back, "that's just asking for extra training for the next month!"

"Look at 'im, Donny, the guy's so out of it, he won't even feel it!" The red ninja chuckled, gesturing to the eldest, all blissfully unaware of the volume their tones were taking, "Come on, let's try?"

"No."

"Yeah, Raphie," Mikey glared, "leave him alone."

The hotheaded turtle merely shrugged, not even slightly repentant, "It was just an idea," he snickered.

"A bad one," the orange ninja groused.

"What's a bad idea?"

The sleepy mumble made the group freeze, and then cast their eyes down to see the slowly blinking navy gaze of Leo. The turtle yawned, stretching his arms high over his head and then rubbed his face with a fist. Donatello scrambled for an explanation that wouldn't give away their conversation, "Oh, you know," he shrugged innocently, "just Raphie being Raphie."

Leo cocked his head, sitting up from his nest, "Anything I need to worry about?"

"Not anymore," Raphael answered, his grin still full of mischief.

The leader assessed his immediate younger brother, then gave an exasperated sigh, "You make me worry, you know that?"

The hothead chuckled, "Yeah, I know. Did ya have a nice nap?"

"Yeah," Leo's reply was interrupted by another yawn, "but I kept feeling like someone was watching me. I think I'm going to go up to my room, I'm still really tired."

Standing up, the blue turtle dipped down to grab the fluffy blanket he'd been snuggling, then ambled away towards the stairs. After a few moments the subtle click of his door closing echoed from the upstairs, and Mikey let out a disappointed groan, "Now look what you did! You scared him away!"

"Me? I wasn't the one watching him sleep like some creeper," Raph huffed.

April glanced down at her phone, her face a disconsolate pout. She never managed to take a picture. She was so distracted by the tail and then the following conversation, she completely neglected to actually take the photo. Oh well, she supposed there was always next time…maybe.

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