Disclaimer: I don't own Donatello, or the Shredder. Wish I did though.


The Aftermath


1.5 weeks - post-outbreak


"Did you know that I was married, Donatello?"

I didn't know that. I'd never bothered to ask. Whenever I'd been busy getting my butt kicked by the Foot, or vice versa, I'd never bothered to stop and say, 'Hey, how's your Master doing? Does he date much? Found that special someone yet?'

"I met her in Japan, three years ago." The man sitting next to me smiled fondly as we looked out over the dark outline of New York City. "My father would have killed me if he'd been alive to know about her. She was an American. Southern Belle, I believe they're called. She was the sweetest girl I'd ever met. Innocent, naïve, and beautiful. She was on vacation, visiting a friend from college. Does that surprise you?"

"Well, you never struck me as the marrying type."

He laughed bitterly, picking up a loose pebble from the roof and tossing it with expert aim into a tin can that was sitting on the ledge of the building. "No, I suppose I didn't." There was a long pause that I didn't feel the need to interrupt. "I loved her from the moment we met. She hated me… but I won her over eventually."

"I bet the wedding pictures were awkward. How'd you explain the helmet?"

The corner of his mouth raised up in an amused grin. "I kept her away from all that. For all she knew, I was a businessman. We had a house upstate in a nice suburban neighborhood. Mr. and Mrs. Yoshida. Her parents weren't too pleased with the name change." He laughed again, traces of sadness seeping in despite his jovial appearance. "They never liked me."

"Not a lot of people do."

"Mmm… very true. I haven't made many friends over the years, have I?"

"The blades and the armor probably frightened most of them off."

"Well, that was the point."

"It worked." We sat in silence for a while, until my curiosity finally got the better of me. "What was her name?"

"Sara."

"I'm sorry."

He threw another pebble, then turned to look at me, all the malice I'd known over the years gone from his eyes. "I am sorry for your loss as well, Donatello. I can only assume that since you're here alone…"

"No…" I confirmed sadly. "They didn't survive."

I listened to the sounds of the night, trying not to think of my brothers and my father. To be taken so suddenly… their bodies destroyed by a vicious disease… it wasn't fair. They weren't supposed to pass on like that. And it certainly wasn't fair that I'd survived. I'd won the genetic lottery and had to sit by and watch my family grow sick and die, while I remained healthy and alive. But I had mourned already. After I'd buried them and kept watch over their graves for two nights, I'd started roaming the streets. I looked for survivors, but those I found wanted nothing to do with me. Even had I been human, they would have still run in fright. The city was dark, silent; a tomb, littered with rotting diseased corpses.

I don't know where I was going to go, but my plan had been to leave the city tonight. I'd been making one more round, looking for anyone left alive that would want to come with me, and I'd stumbled on the last person I'd expected. Fate has a twisted sense of irony sometimes, and the fact that the Shredder had also been left immune was about as twisted as it got.

But the man I found sitting on a rooftop alone and defenseless, and the man I'd fought against over the past five years were two completely different people.

"I buried Sara five nights ago…"

The silence fell once more, and it wasn't uncomfortable. When the whole world went to hell, it made you realize how insignificant your personal troubles were. A blood feud between two families seemed rather trivial now that the world's population had been reduced by almost 97%.

I don't know how long we sat there, not speaking. Every once a while a gun shot or a hoarse cry could be heard from somewhere in the city, but it was of no consequence to me anymore.

"Look…" I said finally. "I was going to get out of the city. I don't know where I'll go, but I don't want to stay here anymore. If you want to come with me…"

He looked at me in surprise. I was actually quite shocked with myself to tell the truth.

"You'd trust me?"

"What have I got to lose?"

Nodding slowly, Saki stood up. He reached out a hand, his dark eyes glittering in the starlight. " I'd be honored to join you, Donatello."

His handshake was strong and firm, and as we looked at each other, an understanding passed between us. We were ninja. Family and clans gone, our only connection to the lives we once had were each other. As we made our way along the deserted streets together, I prayed I wouldn't come to regret this decision.

But the sun was rising on us as we left the city and our animosity behind. Tragedy has a funny way of turning old enemies into new friends, and I already felt less alone.


Author's Notes: I needed to take a quick break from Misadventures, and I just couldn't get this out of my head. Inspired by one of my all-time favorite Stephen King books, The Stand.

This little one-shot may evolve into a longer story at some point, probably detailing the events leading up to this meeting. …Unless I start writing and it branches off in a completely different direction. Who knows.

Hope y'all enjoyed it. And now, back to Misadventures!

EDITED: Just a note. I do know that Saki's surname is Oroku. The Yoshida thing was a false name that he lived under with his wife.