Author Notes: So, as I insinuated I might add, here's some 'bonus content', just some extra non-canon stuff that I wrote for fun more then anything. Unless you like them better then the actual endings/scenes I wrote, then sure, go ahead and consider them the real ending. This is a fanfic, after all, and the word 'canon' is used loosely.

Anyways, there's two alternative endings, where both Mikey and Donnie get a chance to find Leo, and then a little drabble I couldn't help scribbling down to amuse myself when somebody mentioned that Leo could get mutated into a turtle accidentally.

Alternative Ending 1- Leo turns on the light/ Mikey finds Leo

Title is pretty self explanatory. As I was writing the scene where Mikey sneaks in to tuck Leo in, that moment where Leo thought about turning on the light had me envisioning him actually doing so, and looking up to see that ta dah!, there's a giant turtle on his ceiling. So yeah, the story technically could've ended this anticlimatically with a simple flick of a lightswitch. It would've made for a much less dramatic ending to the story, that's for sure.

Sometime during the middle of the night, I was awakened by something. I lay awake in my bed, loathe to sit up and lose what little warmth I had collected in the thin blankets.

And then I went completely rigid as I realized what had drawn me out of slumber.

My normally empty room was filled with a pleasant, distinct orange aura, like warmth itself had become palpable and was trying to breath life into this cold, frozen room once more.

My Orange Shadow. He was in the room with me!

I couldn't see or hear anything, but I definitely could sense his warm aura close by, filling the room around me like tangible sunshine. Was he finally going to let me find him?! Was I actually going to find one of my Shadows?!

Heart pounding, I sat up, ignoring the cold chill that washed over me, and looked around my dark room wildly.

Nothing. I couldn't see anybody in the shadows that filtered through the night air. I couldn't pinpoint his exact location. His aura filled the whole room! I could sense that my Orange Shadow was quite tense up, and as I moved about, it almost felt like he was holding his breath.

I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and slid down to walk across the ice cold floor to my window. It was closed, but the latch used to lock it was flipped unlocked.

I always kept it locked.

Swallowing hard, I scanned my dark room once more, not seeing anything or anybody. "Hello?" I quietly inquired. "Is anybody in here?"

Nothing.

Just the distant sounds of the city outside.

If... if I flipped on the light, would I see him?

Or would the room be empty?

I swallowed hard.

Then, taking a deep breath, I moved over and flipped on the light.

The old lightbulb flickered to life, and suddenly the room was filled with a soft yellow glow, chasing away all the shadows and revealing all that they had once concealed.

I blinked.

So... yeah...

There was an orange masked turtle on my ceiling. That was a thing.

One part of me, the logical part, was rather startled to find a wide-eyed humanoid turtle in an orange mask bunched in one of the corners of my room, clinging to the ceiling. That wasn't really something that you would expect to find.

But deeper down, the other part, my heart, seemed to think that this made total sense, and wasn't surprised at all. Of course my Shadows were turtles. I had just forgotten that fact until now.

My Orange Shadow and I stared at each other for a few seconds, neither of us sure on how to react.

"Uh... please don't panic..." my Orange Shadow gave a nervous, panicked smile that he obviously hoped looked friendly and non-threatening.

"Okay." I blinked up at him, not really sure how I should be responding to this. "Um... are... are you okay up there?"

"Oh! Yeah! I'm... uh..." He was obviously fishing for a plausible explanation for his presence. "Oh! I'm a spirit from Halloween, yeah, I'm late, I know, and I'm here to gift good little children warm blankets to keep them warm when it turns cold! See?!" He stuck his tongue out slightly in concentration as he removed one hand from the wall while somehow remaining skillfully perched up against the ceiling. He pulled off a thick blue comforter off his shell, dropping it to the ground where I could see it. "So... there you go! Happy Belated Halloween, dude!"

"Um... thank you?" I glanced down at the blanket, and then back up at him, confused.

"You are most welcome, bro!" He beamed at me, then, wiggling a bit like a cat to gather up his balance, he released his hold and dropped lightly to the floor, landing easily on his feet. He slowly and carefully started inching towards the window. "Uh... but I should... probably get going, yo. You know, so keep being good and all that?"

"Can I ask you something before you go?" I asked quietly, watching him back away sadly.

He froze, then nodded nervously. "Of course. Ask away, Le...little dude!"

"What do I need to do?" I tried to keep my voice from wavering. I needed to appear strong! But, despite my best effort, I couldn't help the pleading note in my voice.

"Uh..." The question seemed to catch him off guard, and he looked puzzled. "What?"

"What do I need to do so I can finally find you three? How do I make it so you want me?" I clarified, trying to keep my voice from sounding too desperate. "I can get stronger, if that's what you want. I promise! I'm trying really hard!"

For a long moment, my Orange Shadow just stared at me, a strange look on his freckled face.

...

Back in the Lair, Raph, Donnie, Casey, and April were sitting around the kitchen table, discussing strategies quietly among themselves, when suddenly they were startled by Mikey loudly shoving past one of the turnstiles in the entrance, causing it to clickity-clack several times rapidly.

"Okay, first off. Dudes, we should really have a door or something, because man, it would be much cooler if I could just kick it open and make a badass dramatic entry that way!" Mikey turned to glare at the underwhelming turnstiles. Then he turned back to face everyone in the room dramatically. "Secondly, I have an important announcement to make!"

I was pulled into a tight hug against his plastron, his chin resting on my head possessively. "Dis is mah big brudder." he firmly stated, his baby-blue eyes narrowed, daring anybody to contradict him. "He is mine forever, I love him, and nobody is taking him away from me ever again!" That said, he turned and started walking towards his room. "Come, Leo! We're going to get some comfy sleeping bags to snuggle in while we have a Space Heroes movie marathon, and Imma make you a big mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows and ice cream and popcorn and tea and all your favorite things, and then tomorrow we'll read comic books together and play games and other brotherly things all day, because I love you so much!"

The two turtles and two humans sitting at the table stared at him, their mouths agape. Then, as one, they bolted out of their chairs. "MIKEY!"

(Side Note: Even I'm not sure if Mikey meant those food items as separate things, or if he actually meant he was going to make hot chocolate with marshmallows, ice cream, popcorn, and tea in it.)

Deleted Scene/Alternative Ending 2- Donnie Finds Leo

This starts out as a deleted scene, and I just finished it off to become another way the story could've ended. So the scene with Donnie helping Leo with his homework over the phone was actually supposed to take place earlier while in the park, and this little slice of life scene with Leo and Casey playfully fighting over a piece of pizza was supposed to take place in the dojo apartment, where Donnie's scene ended up taking place. But as I wrote this scene out, I began to realize that Leo was letting too much slip. This whole story was a balancing act of one side not figuring out that the other side knew, which is one reason I ended up shortening the timeline up so much. The characters aren't stupid, and it wasn't going to be long until either Leo figured out that April and Casey knew his Shadows, or they realized that Leo might remember more then he lets on. But, since I already had so much of this written, for this section I went ahead and let it play out to its natural conclusion. I could have quite easily had all three turtles in there, but Raph got the main show, and Mikey got his alternative 'What if' scenario, so I thought I'd give Donnie a chance to find Leo as well. Some of Leo's pleas are repetitive from the other alternative scenario, but, to be honest, that is what the conclusion he had jumped to, so that's naturally what he would be requesting.

"Ugh..." Casey groaned, sprawled out between two kitchen chairs and leaning back so far that the one he was sitting on was teetering unsteadily on just two legs. A greasy napkin covered his face.

"... Agreed..." I mumbled, face down on the table amongst all the empty pizza boxes.

I could sense my Purple Shadow shift around downstairs, and a few minutes later, April stepped through the door and stopped at the sight of us. "What in the... Casey! I said no pizza!"

"Technically, you only said Leo needed more veggies." Casey lifted a hand as he stated his defense, not bothering to take the napkin off his face. "There were vegetables of one sort or another on each of these pizzas."

"I... how many pizzas did you guys eat?!" April walked up, staring at the box-covered table in disbelief.

"A lot..." I moaned, still face down.

April sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and obviously trying to summon patience. "Guys, I was only gone for a few hours. Casey, you are supposed to be the responsible adult here!"

"April, let's be honest." Casey finally took the napkin off his face and righted his chair, sitting up to belch a little and wince. "I'm Casey Jones. You know as well as I do that Leo is by far the most responsible one out of the two of us... Blame him."

"In my defense, I'm only ten." I lifted a hand to point out. I winced and pushed myself up off the table, propping myself up by the elbows as I reached over and shifted a few of the empty boxes around to uncover the box with a single slice left. "We did save you some though if you want it, sensei."

"Eh, thanks, but I actually already ate." April looked askance at the single slice of pizza.

Casey and I paused, then looked at each other, eyes narrowed.

Okay. If she didn't want it, that meant that the last slice of pizza was once more up for grabs.

At this point, it was a matter of honor.

"Let's be men about this, Leo. Arm wrestle you for it?" Casey leaned forward with a mischievous grin.

I raised an eyebrow at him and scoffed. "I'm ten. Not stupid. Roshambo?"

"Uh, what?" Casey blinked.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors." I clarified.

"Oh." he considered this, then snorted. "That's never gone well for me in the past against you crazy ninja types. Your 'predicting enemy movements' crap and all that."

Hmph. Was hoping that would work. I had found myself to be rather skilled at relying on gauging my opponent's movements and reacting instinctively to counteract.

Suddenly Casey chuckled to himself, looking like he felt cunning for coming up with a plan, but then tried to play casual. "I have an idea! We'll make it a wager."

"Oh?" I sat back, intrigued, and waved at him to continue.

"There's no need to make things complicated. We'll just do a simple trivia question, something like, oh, I dunno, I'll try to guess what your favorite color is or something." His eyes glittered. "If I guess right, I win. How does that sound?"

I considered this. "Are there any restrictions on color choices?"

"None except no nitpicking on shades. If I guess yellow, you can't say I'm wrong because your favorite color is actually 'Dandelion' or 'Gold' or 'School Bus' or some crap like that."

"Agreed." I already had napkin in front of me, and was using a pen to scribble down a quick note.

April crossed her arms and shot Casey a dirty look. "Casey, that's cheating."

"How?" I asked, secretly pleased with the proposed wager. "I've never told him."

"See, April! Leo's cool with the terms!" Casey looked smug.

"Leo, I don't... But he..." April looked as if she wanted to argue, but then sighed. "You know what? Fine. Honestly, I just don't want Leo to get sick from eating too much pizza, so go ahead."

I folded up the napkin and handing it to April, who took it with a sigh. "Okay, I wrote down what I consider to be my favorite color scheme." I leaned back and crossed my arms, giving Casey a competitive look. "Guess away."

"Blue!" Casey was already reaching for the pizza slice, looking confident.

"Wrong!" I cackled gleefully, diving for the pizza slice. I snatched it up triumphantly from under his hand and quickly shoved the crust into my mouth. I was already extremely full and it tasted cold and soggy by now, but this was the last piece, and it still tasted like victory!

"Wait. What?" Casey froze, and both he and April looked unusually startled by this proclamation. For some reason, my Purple Shadow downstairs seemed perplexed as well, as if he were listening in on us.

Smirking, with the pizza dangling from my mouth, I gestured towards April and the napkin.

April unfolded the napkin, then froze when she saw what I wrote.

"April?" Casey asked curiously.

Her mouth gaped open a few times, then she looked up at him, swallowing hard. "Red, purple, and... and orange." she whispered.

""True, I actually do like the color blue, but it's not my favorite color. I actually have three that I like more." I stuck my tongue out at him as I crossed my legs sagely, going back to eating my prize. "You should have specified that I could only pick one."

Casey and April were quiet for a moment.

"Wh... why? Why those three specifically?" Casey finally asked, sounding like he had lost all interest in the pizza.

I shrugged as if it didn't really matter. "I've always liked those colors."

April and Casey looked at one another, obviously engrossed in one of their silent, visual conversations. I had been growing used to these strange reactions they had once in a while to things I did. They had been doing stuff like this since we first met, after all.

However, Purple Shadow downstairs started pacing as well, and that concerned me a little more, thought I did my best to hid my worry. I began to wonder if he realized I had been indirectly talking about him and my other Shadows. Did I do something wrong by revealing even that little bit?

But then April caught me by surprise when she looked intensely at me and asked in a strangely serious voice, almost as if she were asking me the most important question in my life, "Leo... What... exactly... do you remember?"

I paused mid-bite, tensing up as I tried to figure out what she was asking of me. She obviously couldn't be talking about my dreams and Shadows. Could she?

"Red, purple, and orange." She held up the napkin, watching me closely. She took a deep breath. "Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo?"

And I stiffened and froze as those names reverberated and rippled through my very soul, feeling as if each time she uttered a name, there was a toll of a bell deep inside of me.

Raph.

Donnie.

Mikey.

My three Shadows. Those were the names of my three Shadows.

"Leo?" April swallowed hard, obviously noticing my extreme reaction.

I lowered the now-forgotten pizza slice and turned slowly to her, feeling as if my heart was about to beat out of my chest. I whispered hoarsely as I realized, "You... you know them..."

April and Casey knew my Shadows! Of course! How had I not figured that out already?!

April sank down into a chair, hand over her mouth, and she and Casey looked at each other in awe. I could feel my Purple Shadow freeze downstairs.

If April and Casey knew my Shadows, maybe they could help me find them at last!

"I..." I swallowed hard, desperately trying to keep myself under control, to keep the quiver out of my voice. "Could... could you tell them something for me, then? Please?"

She looked at me, face pale. "Like... like what?" she whispered, as if she didn't completely trust her voice at the moment.

"Tell them that I'll get stronger." I blurted out a little too desperately.

"What?" she blinked, surprised, and Casey looked at one another, obviously bewildered by the request.

I hugged myself tightly, shrinking back a little. "I'll get strong enough to protect them. I promise." I clarified. "That's... that's what they want, right? That's what they're waiting for?"

"Oh, no... Leo..." April swallowed hard, leaning forward. "That's not... You... you don't have to be stronger..."

My Purple Shadow was starting to grow more agitated downstairs. Oh no... was I messing things up?!

"Then what do they want me to do?! I'll do it! Anything they want me to! Please!" I was on the verge of panicking.

"Leo!" April slipped out of her chair to kneel in front of me, clasping my shoulders. "You don't..."

"Then why won't they let me find them?! I can sense them so close by! Always so close! But if I try to go to them, they run away and hide!" My voice was quickly rising, tears threatening to fall. I was breathing heavily as I tried to stop myself from panicking, eyes darting across the floor as I found myself unable to meet her concerned eyes. "I've tried not to push them! I've tried to figure out what they want! But I don't know what to do!" Then, swallowing hard, I clenched the fabric of my shirt sleeves tightly as I looked up at her and whispered in a small voice with tears in my eyes, "Why? Why don't they want me?"

There was a bang downstairs, like a headset being thrown aside, and it was only a short second later that the door leading downstairs was thrown open.

And there He was.

My Purple Shadow.

The giant turtle humanoid with a purple mask stood there, breathing heavily and looking at me with terrified brick red eyes, as if he wasn't quite sure he was doing the right thing, but desperate to do something, anything.

My breath caught in my throat.

He was real.

I wasn't crazy.

After all these years, one of my beloved Shadows was right here in front of me.

I didn't care that he appeared to be a turtle. That wasn't important right now. The only thing that mattered was that he was there, and he was REAL.

I swallowed hard, and then looked up at him pleadingly. Only one word somehow slipped out from my lips, almost unbidden.

"Please?"

A single whispered, tearful word that still somehow managed to hold all my broken prayers in it.

Please let me find you.

Please let me protect you.

Please let me belong to you.

Please don't let me be alone anymore.

Please be my family.

Please take me home.

Please want me...

And then suddenly I was caught up in strong green arms, pulled into a fierce, comforting hug.

"You are wanted, Leo!" he gasped through sobs. "You are wanted more then you'll ever know!"

He wanted me! I was wanted!

Shaking, I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly back.

Please... Please don't ever let me go.

Cue Raph and Mikey rushing in, and Leo getting buried under a pile of turtle hugs and tears.

'What If' Scenario: What if Leo accidentally turns into a turtle again?

So. People have asked whether Leo turns back into a turtle, and, honestly, at this point, I'd say it's up to your own head canon. I don't have anything planned, and really could go either way. On one hand, turtle bros! On the other, the image of Clan Leader adult human Leo dressed neatly in a suit and sitting confidently in a chair with his leg crossed over and his hands clasped together in his lap, with thick, shaggy black hair and blue eyes just daring you to try something while his brothers stand guard behind him is... whew... *fans self* .

One thing I was going to write in the epilogue but never quite made it was that Leo feels like a turtle at heart. He very early on asks Donnie to change him back, but his brother is understandably hesitant about doing such a thing. They finally compromised in that Leo would at least finish out school and maybe college first, and they they'd discuss it again later. If Leo does become a turtle again, it would be as an adult. In the meanwhile, a lot of things could happen to change his mind. Like friends. Or girls. Or maybe, I dunno, unknown paternal grandparents in Japan who only find out about his existence later...

Or maybe, like somebody said, turtle luck could strike, and the decision is taken out of their hands entirely...

(This is just for fun, and shouldn't be taken seriously. If I did write a scene like this, you know it would have been at least 30k words long and probably filled with a ton of unnecessary angst. )

The elderly Baxter Stockman cackled maniacally before them. "And now you pay, turtles! See how it feels to watch one of your own turn into a disgusting insect!"

And then suddenly there was nunchuck to the face, and he crumpled to the ground.

"Leo!" Raph ripped off one of the metal straps holding his so-far-still human brother down.

"Raph, I'm fine!" Leo struggled and managed to free himself the rest of the way from the gurney with his brother's help. "We need to get this mutagen collar off before it bursts though!"

Raph was already on it, grabbing Leo, who gave a little surprised grunt, and rushing over to hand the blue-masked human over to their purple brother. "Donnie!"

"Leo! Hold on, we'll save you!" Donnie grabbed Leo, set him on the ground, and immediately started fiddling with the mutagen collar. He managed to pop out a small clear glass tube that had a small fly in it and tossed it aside. "Well, the good news is that I got the fly DNA out at least."

Mikey looked worriedly at Leo, then grabbed his head in both hands and deliberately licked him across the face, from chin to forehead.

"Ack!" Leo yelped, surprised and disgusted. He sputtered and tried to wipe off some of the saliva. "What the shell, Mikey?!"

"Turtle DNA, dude!" Mikey explained in a slight panic. "Just in case!"

"Leo is not going to get mutated!" Raph smacked Mikey on the head, gritting his teeth. "Donnie's got this! Right Donnie?"

"Uhhh... yeah..." Donnie didn't sound as confident as he frantically fiddled with the wiring in the collar that was obviously designed to foil fiddling with wires.

Then they all froze as the light on the collar started flashing red and beeping.

"Get back!" Leo yelped, shoving his brothers away.

"Leo!"

And then there was the chilling sound of several glass vials exploding.

One excruciatingly painful mutation later, Donnie was doing his best to keep an enraged Raph from stabbing Stockman. "Raph! You can't murder an unconscious man, even if he deserves it!"

Mikey leaned down and patted Leo on his newly reacquired shell. "See? Aren't you glad I licked you now?"

Leo lay face down on the cement floor, and lifted up one shaky, three fingered hand. "Ow."

Guest Works

Reunionby fireworksinthenight on DeviantArt

A glimpse at a future where Leo's biological father came back to reclaim him, with the help of Karai.

So one quick announcement that'll hopefully make people happy. Thanks to the ton of unexpected interest I've been getting, I decided that this won't be the last thing I write for this story after all. While I don't actually have a sequel solidly planned, I have a few ideas for little scenes of brotherly fluffs and love and adventure. So I'll probably post some drabbles, mostly fluffy brother stuff, in a separate collection called 'My Shadows Found'.

And, since the question was asked, I'll just add that if anybody wants, they're more then welcome to use any of my writings or plot ideas, whether to do a spinoff, sequel, or their own AU. I'm not possessive by any means, and this is a fanfiction site, where the whole idea is to take characters you enjoy and imagine them in different situations. Heck, this whole chapter was just me writing fanfiction about my fanfiction! So, if you want to write Leo turning into a turtle, or getting kidnapped by the Foot, or anything that tickles your fancy, go for it! The only request I make is that you have fun writing!