Sarina spends the next day trailing along after Donatello, making good work of her newly discovered "confusion", constantly asking questions about what's going on around her, and while he finds it exhausting, he welcomes the distraction from his everyday boredom. She asks about the Space Heroes pinball machine and the hockey table, to which it's swiftly explained that they're games and that they're made for having fun. She spends three hours playing pinball, breaking the high score and confirming that the next time Casey shows up in the lair, he won't be happy.

She also asks about the behaviours of her fellow teenagers, like the noises that Michelangelo makes when he drinks soda too fast—a burp, she learns—and why Raphael keeps punching that strange sack that looks like a person, but not. She learns about the use of a punching bag, but bruises her knuckles when she tries to hit it and serves to make Raphael's day all the more amusing. While Donatello checks for breaks, she engages him in conversation about what he's discovered about the Kraang and, when she finds his grey areas, she fills in the gaps.

She tries to speak with Destiny, Leonardo, and Master Splinter when she sees them, but they always seem far too busy and she decides against disturbing them. Instead, she observes Splinter's meditation in secret until Donatello requests that she stop, at which point she diverts her attention to watching Leonardo work on a notebook titled "Shredder Takedown". He eventually asks her to give him some space so that he can focus, so she obliges and switches to watching Destiny read. She's quick to realize that Destiny's favourites include Shakespeare. The wolf mutant eventually offers her a book of her own and Sarina spends hours reading about Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and anything else that Destiny has in her collection.

The most shocking thing for everyone in the lair is that for someone who's obviously so intelligent in matters of the extraordinary, Sarina knows very little of the ordinary.

Once the turtles and Destiny return from their nighttime patrol with little news and a black cloud dangling over all of their heads, Splinter decides that it's about time that they have a movie night. It isn't long before the mutants are huddled around the TV, swathed in blankets with their faces stuffed with pizza and chips, the entirety of the lair dark save for the TV light and the lights coming off Sarina's body.

Sarina doesn't eat and she doesn't take a blanket. She sits next to Donatello and lets her attention dart from the colourful characters on screen to the food to the others around her to the darkened surroundings and back to the TV. She stops her wandering eyes on one of the boxes of pizza by Michelangelo, her lips pursed.

"May I try some of that sustenance?" she asks, pointing at the pizza.

"Sure, here!" Michelangelo says, scooping up a slice and tossing it to her. "Pepperoni; nice and simple."

Sarina gazes at the food, her eyes flashing. "Strange: a circular food, cut into triangles, and placed in a square box. It shouldn't work, and yet..." She brings it to her mouth and takes a tiny bite, chewing slowly as the flavours mingle on her palate. Her eyes widen. "Yet, it works! Oh my, does it ever work!" She tears off another ravenous chunk and gulps it down, taking another and another without regard for the possibility of scalding her tongue.

"Pizza is, in my humble opinion, one of the best foods to ever exist," Leonardo admits with a laugh as he nibbles at his own slice.

"Here here!" Destiny crows, toasting his words with a potato chip.

Sarina finishes her piece, crust and all, then leans back and nods once. Donatello glances sideways at her just as her mouth twitches slightly at the right corner. A ghost of a smile passes his lips before he continues watching the movie.

"Raphael, please pass the three-cheese pizza," Splinter requests.

Raphael lifts the box and hands it to his Sensei with a brief look over his shoulder. Splinter removes a slice with his chopsticks and hands the box back. He starts to eat. Sarina observes this with an arched eyebrow.

"Why are you consuming the pizza with the assistance of chopsticks?" she asks, moving closer to the large rat.

He looks at her, still chewing. Once he swallows, he answers, "Now that you mention it, I am not quite sure. I suppose I just enjoy it because it reminds me of my old life." He smirks. "And it is entertaining to those who watch."

Her eyes flash. "I agree. It is entertaining."

"Ssh," Destiny whispers, still trying to watch the movie.

There's a loud crash on screen as a character falls off a roof. The turtles and Destiny startle, then quickly dissolve into laughter. Splinter's face softens with a smile as he lets out a baritone chuckle.

"Is that laughter?" Sarina asks as her forehead wrinkles. "I am confused again. This happens far too often."

Donatello nods, his hand moving to brush her arm as he gestures to the screen. "Yeah, we found that part funny, so we laughed. It's how we express amusement."

Sarina pauses as her eyes dim, then flash rapid blue. "Ha...ha...ha," she attempts, but it still sounds robotic.

"Usually," Destiny adds in, "you also smile a little." She demonstrates one, pointing at her mouth.

Sarina's lips pucker. "Your canines are sharper than mine," she says. "Like fangs." Destiny instantly shuts her mouth, turning away and pressing her mouth against the back of her hand.

"Ha! Dog pun..." Michelangelo snickers. Raphael's face meets his palm, but he can't hide the smile that's worming its way onto his face.

"I did not make a joke," Sarina says. "I stated a fact."

"Well, actually—" Leonardo starts.

"My children, while I am glad that you're enjoying yourselves," Splinter cuts in, "I would like to hear this film and you're making that difficult."

"Sorry, Sensei," comes the quick, obedient response, and everyone falls silent yet again.

----------

The credits roll. Destiny lets out a yawn, smacking her lips together, before she rolls onto her back and resumes sleeping. Raphael yawns only a little while after. This sets off a yawn from Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello. They stretch in place, making small noises in their throats, and Sarina observes their movements with wide, wondering eyes.

"You are tired. Your bodies are letting you know this with the involuntary opening of your mouths followed by a deep inhalation of breath," she comments.

"So...yawning," Raphael mumbles. "You could've said yawning."

"It is indeed time for all of you to sleep," Splinter says. His eyelids, whiskers, and ears are drooped. "Goodnight, my children."

"Goodnight Sensei!" they call, voices slightly slurred with their sleepiness.

He rises to his feet, grasps his emerald staff, and strides towards the dojo. As soon as he's gone, the teens direct their gazes to Sarina.

"I'm guessing that you don't want to sleep on the bench again," Donatello says.

"I can sleep wherever is most convenient," Sarina replies. "If worst comes to worst, I can plug myself in in Donatello's lab, next to Timothy. He seems quite comfortable." More than half of the group visibly cringes, but nobody jumps in to switch the topic or find a solution.

Leonardo steps in to take that role. "Maybe we could set up a bed in the dojo, like how we did when Karai stayed here," he offers.

Michelangelo raises his hand. "I feel kind of bad not giving her a bed. We gave Des a bed..."

"Yeah, but now that's hers," Raphael says.

"If I may say something," Sarina cuts in. "I can just sleep on the bench again."

"No, no, you deserve a real bed," Donatello insists.

"We don't have a real bed to give her, Donnie," Leonardo mutters.

The brothers dissolve into arguing, each one trying to come up with solutions while the others shoot them down in lieu of something else. As their voices get louder, there's a sleepy groan from behind them as a hand is raised.

"Sarina can have my bed," Destiny says, blinking away as she yawns yet again. "I'm gonna have nightmares again, Leo's gonna drag himself out of bed to stay with me, and then there'll be a vacant spot anyways. I'll sleep with Leo tonight. We can spend tomorrow figuring out a permanent solution."

With that, she rolls over, curls into a ball, and falls asleep again. Four pairs of eyes land on Leonardo, who's acting enthralled by the blank TV. He clears his throat, cheeks pink, and shrugs.

"The lady speaks," he mumbles.

"Sounds good to me," Michelangelo says. He stands and stretches his arms towards the ceiling. "Goodnight everyone!"

There's an all around, "Goodnight, Mikey."

Raphael and Michelangelo head off to their rooms. Donatello stands and Sarina is quick to follow. He smiles lightly at her before he climbs out of the living room pit and lets out a long breath.

"Well...I'll see you tomorrow," he says down to the cyborg. "Sleep well."

"I wish the same for you, Donatello," she responds.

Donatello walks off to his bedroom, Sarina staring after him until he's out of sight. Leonardo clears his throat behind her and she turns around. The blue-masked turtle has Destiny in his arms; she's still asleep, her tail wagging back and forth slowly.

"Follow me," Leonardo says. "I'll show you to the room."

Sarina nods and obeys him. She isn't tired, or at least she doesn't think she is. After powering down so suddenly yesterday, she slept for hours on end without interruption and she's never felt better after such a long rest. Still, the others are tired and that leads her to believe that she should perhaps consider sleeping too.

"Leonardo," she says as they walk. He glances at her. "I just want to thank you again for letting me stay here. I wish to continually express my deep gratitude to each and every one of you."

"Really, you don't need to do that," Leonardo says. "Once is enough." Sarina's eyes flash, making him wince at the burst of light. "But, really, it's not a problem. We try to help as many people as we can." He stops next to a door and nudges it with his foot, unable to use his hands due to the wolf mutant cuddled in them. "That's Destiny's room. Go on in, and just a warning, don't go touching everything and moving stuff around. Des hates that."

"I wouldn't dream of it. Goodnight, Leonardo."

"Goodnight, Sarina."

He smiles kindly before they finally part ways. Sarina stands before the door for a moment before reaching for the handle and carefully pushing it open. A square of light falls across a tiny, bare room. What little belongings there are inside are well kept and organized so that instead of feeling sad and cramped, the place feels homey. Sarina wanders inside, her bright eyes casting pools of light onto anything that she looks at, but she still reaches for the lamp with a colourful telephone box making up its shaft. When she turns it on, the entire room is bathed in stars made of light.

Sarina gasps as she looks back at the lamp. The lampshade is decorated with a starry pattern that, when turned on, turns the room into something that looks like a fairytale. Sarina runs her fingers along the lamp, face slack with wonder, and her eyes flash rapidly before she straightens up.

Aside from the lamp, there's very little in the room to look at. There's a figurine or two of characters that Sarina does not recognize on a singular shelf above Destiny's bed; the bed is normal, consisting of an old frame, an equally old mattress, sheets, a blanket, and a pillow. Hanging off the corner of the bed is an oversized sweater with a giant hole in the shoulder. There's nothing on the walls except for an old bulletin board decorated with photographs.

Sarina gravitates to these photographs. There's one picture of Donatello snoozing on his lab table. Michelangelo and Raphael hover behind him, grins on their faces and fingers over their lips as they poise their markers next to their sleeping brother's face. There's another that shows Destiny and Leonardo huddled under blankets, staring wide-eyed at the TV, and one with Splinter, Leonardo, and a very pale human boy with white hair sitting in the kitchen, all holding mugs of tea.

Sarina is quick to notice that most of the pictures are either sneaky or that they're selfies. One that almost shocks Sarina is a photo where Destiny and Leonardo are completely asleep, but Destiny doesn't have a single scar on her face, arms, or anywhere else. She looks younger than she does now, making Sarina wonder how long Destiny's been with the turtles.

Sarina can't stop looking at them. Destiny is in very few of the pictures, but when she is there's a small, hesitant smile on her face and her eyes are bright. The cyborg leans closer to the bulletin board, bracing her hand against the milk crates next to Destiny's bed, and something pokes her hand through the holes in them.

She looks down and removes her hand from the surface to see a small, white corner poking out. Forgetting about Leonardo's warning, Sarina lifts the milk crate and gives it a small shake. Three pictures fall out and land at her feet.

She returns the crate to its spot and stoops to pick the pictures up, turning them over as she arranges them in a neat stack. Her face slackens out of its emotionless state.

The first picture has the pale human boy from before in it. He's sitting on a couch next to a pretty redheaded woman with dark eyes. His entire face is red and he doesn't look at the camera. The woman has her hand resting on his knee, her smile radiant. The next picture is another of the pale boy. He's wearing only a cloak, no shirt underneath, and his eyes are closed as he hovers in midair. Half of Destiny's face is in the frame, one hand covering her mouth and hiding her mischievous grin. The boy has no idea that his picture has been taken.

The last one is a selfie. The pale boy is staring into the camera, blank faced, and yet the corner of his mouth is turned up at the side. Destiny is in front of him with her forearm still in the frame, but her smile is wide. Sarina turns the picture over and scribbled on the back in hardly legible writing is "Diaval's first selfie with me :)". The other two have the sentences "He has no idea ;)" and "Melanie and Diaval".

"Diaval," Sarina repeats. "I wonder who he is and what has become of his whereabouts."

She sets the pictures down on the crate, shuts off the lamp, and climbs into the bed, drawing the blanket up to her chin. She stares up at the ceiling, the images scrolling through her mind. The turtles and their family are happy, and Sarina hopes that with time, she can come to gain that happiness too.

Her lips twitch into a half-smile as she shuts her eyes and allows herself to shut down.