A Sight to Remember

After New York had been invaded by the Kraang; they had no other choice but to evacuate the city; they're home. They've managed to leave the city in one piece; however, Leonardo had suffered some awful injuries from his battle with the Foot and Shredder. They were all glad that he was alive, but his right leg had been badly injured during his battle. He's been slowly recovering from this. On that fateful day, they had lost their sensei; Hamato Yoshi (Master Splinter).

It was a peaceful afternoon at the farmhouse. Donnie, Mikey, and Rafael were training outside the front yard. Leo had been watching them from the balcony. Then he heard footsteps behind him till the person stopped right next to him. He looked over to see Alice standing next to him.

"They never seem to stop training don't they?" she said, staring off to where the three turtles were.

"Yeah, they do." He looks over at Alice. "Why don't you join them?"

Alice blinked. "What? Me? I don't know Leo." She stared down at the floor. "I don't think I'm good enough. Not like you guys." She mumbled the last part of her sentence, but Leo had heard it clearly.

He placed his hand on her shoulder which made her look up at him. Leo gave her a reassuring smile and she stared at him, confusion written on her face.

"You're underestimating yourself. I've seen you fight before and let me tell you, you fight like a true ninja." He said, patting her shoulder gently and what he did not notice was her cheeks heating up from his compliment.

"T-thanks, Leo."

"Now, go and join them or else I'll drag you over there by the ear." He jokingly said.

She sighed in defeat. "Alright! Alright! I'll go."

Alice made her way down the steps and headed straight towards the three turtles that were currently battling each other. Not wanting to interrupt their training, she stood a good distance away from them and watched them quietly.

"You're not fast enough Mikey!" Raph yelled, charging at the young turtle in the orange bandana.

He threw a couple of punches at Mikey who was struggling to keep up. Rafael may be a hothead but he sure knows how to throw a decent punch. Then he grabbed on to his arm, throwing him on the ground. Mikey let out a painful groan and just laid there.

"I... give up."

"Oh well." He shook his head.

Donatello took this opportunity and charged at Raph from behind, swinging his staff at him. Right when his staff was about to make contact with his head, Rafael swiftly blocked his attack with his blades then forcefully shoved him back. Donnie stumbled but soon regained his stance before attacking once again. Eventually, Rafael was deemed the victor, leaving Donatello on the ground.

"Man. You guys really need to get better," Raph stated, folding his arms over his chest.

Alice took this chance and approached them, greeting them while waving her hand. "Hey, guys."

Donnie sat up on the ground, staring directly at her. "Alice, what brings you here?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could train with you guys." She rubbed her hands together timidly. "Um... you won't mind do you?"

"Not at all," Donnie stood up brushing off the dirt from his shoulders.

Mikey stood up from the ground, pumping his fists in the air with excitement. "Dude, this will be so awesome!"

Raph chuckled, unfolding his arms. "Eh, it's better than fighting these two butt heads." He gestured his finger towards Donnie and Mikey.

"Hey!" both yelled in unison.

"I go first!" Mikey exclaimed. "Second." Raph declared, leaving Donnie in third.

"Hey! I wanted to go first." It was clear that Donnie was upset about this, a frown forming on his face.

Alice walked over to him, gently placing her hand on his arm. Donnie's muscles tensed by the sudden touch, then he looked down at her. She wore an apologetic smile to him and this made him blush.

"It's okay Donnie. Your turn will come soon, just be patient will you?" She said.

"S-sure. No problem." He cursed himself inwardly after stuttering, watching her walk away and getting into position to face Mikey.

"Alright, it's my time to shine!" Mikey said, jumping in excitement.

She exhaled, positioning herself in her fighting stance; her dominant foot was behind her while her non-dominant foot was facing her opponent, both her arms were positioned for defense and her hands were curled into loose fists having them slightly closer to her face. She lowered her head, her eyes staring directly at Michelangelo.

The first one to make a move was Mikey who charged at her, letting out a loud battle cry. Alice waited for him to come closer. Once he was close enough he swung his fist at her, but she had other plans. Alice dodges his attack with ease and then slid below him to avoid his upcoming punches. She took this opportunity to uppercut him then threw a nice hard punch on his abdomen. Mikey wheezed in pain, clutching his stomach with both hands then he hunched over before crumbling to the ground.

"Sorry Mikey, but you got way to cocky." Alice placed both hands on her hips.

"That was pretty impressive," Raph said amusingly.

"Why thank you." She placed her left hand on her chest.

"I'm not holding back you know." Raph pointed out, this made her chuckle. "I knew you would say that."

Both of them faced each other, positioning themselves for battle. The atmosphere around them was deathly quiet, and the sounds of the wind were the ones that greeted them. They stared down at each other as if they were contemplating on who should make the first move.

Donnie watched the two of them quietly, and he was feeling rather impatient. Augh! Just attack already!

Right on cue, both of them charged simultaneously. They punched, blocked, kicked, and even tried flipping one another. Their fight was intense and they weren't backing down. Alice did a backflip to avoid his punch. It's like time had slowed down at that particular moment; Rafael tried to grab hold of her and instead had been grabbed by her legs. With all her might, she lifted Raph and successfully threw him on the ground. Rafael's body twitched while his head had been buried in the dirt.

Alice stood up, brushing off the dirt from her shoulders. "Well, that turned out better than I expected." She turned her gaze to Donnie. "It's just you and me now."

A small grin formed on his lips. "Hope you're ready because I'm going to kick your butt!"

"Oh really? I'd like to see you try Sourdough." She cooed playfully, a smirk appearing on her lips.

Alice had given him a special nickname which he absolutely hates. She doesn't remember how it all started but one thing's for sure she enjoys seeing him complain about it. She couldn't help it and nowadays it comes naturally for her to call him that; much to his displeasure.

Donnie's cheeks flushed pink before glaring at her. "Would you stop calling me THAT? You know how much I hate that nickname!"

"I know that's why I keep doing it." She said an amused smile curled its way on her lips.

His face then became a hot mess. "C-can we get this over with?"

Both of them took their stances, and in doing so Donnie took out his bo staff leaving Alice with no weapons other than her fists. All of a sudden, he made the first move charging directly towards her preparing to swing his staff. As he drew closer she was prepared to block his attack when Mikey called out her name. Looking over to the left, Mikey threw a sword at her and she swiftly caught it just in time to block Donnie's attack.

"Not bad, but you should pay more attention," Donnie said, narrowing his eyes at her.

Alice kicked him off his feet causing him to fall on to his back. She had the tip of the sword hovering near his face. "Actually YOU should be the one who needs more attention, Donnie." A grin crept its way on her lips.

He huffed in annoyance. "You caught me off guard, that's all." However, Alice wasn't buying it.

She removed the blade from his face allowing him to stand up and soon resumed their battle. Donnie would block, counter, and swing his bo staff at her but would immediately end up on the ground. He didn't understand why he kept on losing like this, especially in front of HER! Well, he had to admit she's pretty is strong, perceptive, agile, tactical, and - - wait we're getting off track here! His thoughts were interrupted by Alice who had yanked his bo staff towards her and was now awfully close to his face.

"Earth to Donnie ~" She cooed. "What's going on inside that big brain of yours?"

'So close... maybe a little too close!' He mentally screamed at himself.

Alice was amused to see his entire face becoming a dark red hue. She took his staff from his grasps with ease using it to knock him off his feet, making him fall. She stifled out a giggle.

"You know, I enjoyed our sparring lesson together." She said, turning her back towards him and walked away, taking his staff with her. "Maybe next time you should try and focus more."

Donnie sat on the ground and watched her walk away with his staff. He pushed himself on to his feet and ran towards her. "Hey! W-wait that's my staff - - AHHHH!"

Somehow Donnie had tripped over a measly pebble on the ground dragging Alice down with him. They rolled down a small hill landing with a loud 'thud'. A groan escaped her lips; she felt her head throbbing after that fall but luckily she didn't receive any bruises. She couldn't help but feel something shift underneath her. Alice raised her head only to be staring at a pair of reddish brown eyes. Her eyes widen in realization noticing that their faces were awfully close to each other. You know what's the most embarrassing part? Alice was on top of him.

Donatello smiled sheepishly at her, his cheek beginning to turn into a dark shade of red and he lets out a nervous laugh. "Oops."

Alice could feel her cheeks change into different shades of red; she wasn't used to being this close to Donnie and I mean NEVER. She respected people's personal space and isn't the type to be nosy, unlike a certain mischievous turtle she knew. Alice had been lost in thought before Donnie shook her shoulders to which finally snapped her back into reality.

"Hey, you alright?" Donnie asked, a concerned look written on his face.

"Huh? Y-yeah, I'm fine." She nervously averted her gaze elsewhere.

There was an awkward silence between them. Donnie released his hands from her shoulders and Alice immediately stood up allowing him to stand up as well. None of them dared to speak and Alice didn't find the silence welcoming. She rubbed her hands together in a shy manner; with her head lowered she didn't want to look up at him so she stared at the ground which she found much more interesting. Donnie rubbed the back of his head staring off into the distance that is until he heard Alice's voice.

"Y-you aren't hurt... are you?" she stuttered out, looking up at him through her bangs.

He blinked before smiling down at her. "I'm perfectly fine, Alice. It will take more than a simple fall to hurt me." He said as he pointed at himself.

She let out a small giggle by his statement making her feel relieved. Alice looked down at her feet noticing the bo staff in front of her, she knelt down to pick it up and then approached Donnie. He stared down at her with a look of confusion; she blushed avoiding his gaze before handing it over to him.

"This belongs to you." She said timidly, glancing at him before looking away with a tint of pink on her cheeks.

Donnie couldn't help but smile at the way she was acting; it looked cute and innocent. He held out both his hands to grab hold of his staff not realizing that his hands were engulfing her small ones. "Thank you."

Alice only nodded and was unable to remove her hands from his staff. Donnie noticed this and released her hands before apologizing profusely.

Both of them made their way back inside the house where they were greeted by Raph, Mikey, and Leo who were wondering where they were. She apologized for causing them to worry but reassured them that Donnie and she were sparring. Soon night had fallen over the farmhouse; everyone was downstairs watching Crognard the Barbarian except for Alice who decided to sleep in for the night. Mikey was practically fanboying in front of the TV screen; some of them watched while one turtle seemed to be uninterested with the show in general.

Donatello couldn't understand this show, it's absolutely horrific! Not to mention the poorly written plot, the characters acting irrationally, and there was violence – WAY too much violence. Donnie had enough of watching the show before he stood up from the sofa and walked out the living room where he headed straight upstairs. He couldn't wait to plop on his bed and get some needed sleep. Donnie stopped in front of a door reaching his hand to grasp the handle; there was a soft shuffle on the other side of the door. He stopped and neared the door to listen closely, there was another shuffle and then there was silence.

His ninja instincts kicked in as he cautiously opened the door. Donnie poked his head inside to inspect the room, it was empty but that didn't stop him from searching the place. His room seemed a lot different than last time; the bed wasn't on the left but was instead in the middle of the room, a medium-sized cabinet was on the right and the small nightstand was on the left side of the bed, plus the room had a window on the left. This is diffidently not his room.

Donatello isn't the type of turtle to be snooping around but he had to know who was the person or creature in here. He silently moved around checking every nook and cranny in the room. The last place he went to check was a large closet that was on the right side of the bed. Donnie slid the closet door open only to find a couple of clothing hanging, right when he was about to close the door when something caught his eye. On the bottom of the closet were wide assortments of Kunais, shurikens, and a pair of nekotes; which were sharp, claw-like weapons that fit over the fingertips and could be dipped into poison for lethal results. He looked up and through a couple of clothing, there he saw a Scythe in the very back of the closet. This was Alice's bedroom.

He slid the closet door closed, looking over to his right and noticed the window was wide open. Without hesitation, he went out the window and then climbed up on the roof. When he reaches the top he saw Alice sitting there with her back to him. Donnie approached her to the right.

"Alice?" He spoke, and Alice let out a surprised yelp.

She blinked realizing that it was Donnie who spoke and looked up at him with a small smile. "Oh, it's just you Donnie."

"What are doing up here all alone?" he asked.

"I... couldn't sleep." She mumbled softly but loud enough for him to hear. Alice looked away from him and stared at the skies not noticing him taking a seat next to her.

"So... uh, what are you doing?" Donatello asked.

"Stargazing." She said not taking her eyes off the sky. Donnie raised his gaze at the sky, admiring the stars with her.

The cold onshore breeze blew right under Alice's floral patterned pajamas sending shivers down her skin. She bowed her head staring down at her knees and placing her chin in between them. The air around them was soothing, none wanting to dare disrupt the moment.

Alice couldn't help but glance over to Donnie who was just sitting there, staring up at the sky with a calm look on his face. She felt her cheeks tickle, and a pleasant kind of warmth was washing over her. Should she tell him? 'Well, only one way to find out.'

"Hey Donnie, can I ask you something?" he let out a soft hum letting her know that he was listening. Alice opened her mouth but no words came out, and she quickly changed her mind and asked something else. "Do you still... like April?" Her voice wavered for a bit and she hoped that Donnie didn't notice this.

He snapped his gaze away from the sky and they landed on Alice who was eagerly waiting for his answer. Her question swirled inside his head, repeating itself over and over again. Does he really like April after all this time? Many things had changed since the invasion but even then April never truly acknowledges his feelings towards her. Even after she told him that he was'her mutant', and kissing him in the process. Sadly he didn't feel the spark he once had before and over time it became dull.

For some time now he noticed that his heart was once again lit up but this time it's not focused on April, no, it was on Alice. The one who had been by his side since he first met her at Columbus Park, Manhattan. He remembered that day like it was yesterday: during on one of his solo night patrols he stumbled on a seemingly empty park but he realized that he was not alone; a few ninjas of the foot clan were around the area and Donnie quickly took action to spy on them. Somehow he was seen and had no choice but to fight back. He was outnumbered and yet he continued on fighting until one of the foot soldiers knocked him down a small hill that was filled with bushes. Donnie had gotten up on his feet and to his horror, a young female human stood there staring at him with a look of shock written on her face. He cursed himself for being seen by a human but the odd thing was is that she didn't seem scared of him, not even the slightest look of disgust in her eyes. Her eyes held a look of curiosity and amazement then... she smiled. Let's just say that they kicked some foot clan butt that night.

Donnie was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't even answered Alice's question. He blinked and began to apologize profusely. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to space out like that." He rubbed the back of his neck while he nervously laughs.

He then clears his throat trying to act natural and to hide his embarrassment from her. Donnie opened his mouth only for him to not say anything; in fact, he had forgotten what Alice had asked him. His cheeks began to flush from utter embarrassment and asked her to repeat what she said.

Alice giggled softly this made Donnie's face reddened deeper than before. "I said: do you still like April?"

Donnie thought for a moment, tapping his chin with his finger. "No. Well, At least... not anymore." His words surprised her and she stared at him in disbelief.

"What made you change your mind?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I-um..." Donnie looked away nervously and she could've sworn she saw him blush.

"It's alright if you can't say it." She said with a reassuring smile.

Donatello turned his gaze to Alice who was now staring up at the starry skies. The smile on her lips never faded and he couldn't help but smile at this.

"You know... ever since we left New York things haven't been the same." Alice glanced down to her knees, a frown forming on her face. "I feel lost." Her voice cracked and tears began to swell her eyes.

Donatello was completely caught by surprise by this, and in his alarmed state he looked at her in worry. He placed his hand on her shoulder and felt her tense up by his touch. Alice couldn't help but let her tears fall down her cheeks but at the same time, she tried to wipe them away only to let more of them out. She never liked to cry in front of her friends, especially in front of the turtles. She always told herself that crying is a sign of weakness and those words had stuck to her ever since.

"I-I'm sorry. *sniff* I don't really like to cry. It makes me feel..." Alice stopped herself, taking in a shaky breath. "...weak." She muttered the last part, not realizing that Donnie had heard her loud and clear.

A frown formed on his face. Donnie used his other hand to wipe away the tears from her cheek and this action surprised her yet she said nothing. When he finished, he placed his large fingers under her chin and gently lifted her head to face him. Alice opened her eyes to meet his and saw the worrisome look in them.

"Crying isn't a weakness." He moved his hand to her cheek. "It makes you stronger, plus it tends to help people to remember the positive aspects of crying, and may create a link between other simultaneous positive events, such as resolving feelings of grief and - -" Donnie stopped himself and smiled sheepishly at her. "Heh, heh. Sorry, uh... I got carried away there."

Alice couldn't help but giggle. Donnie smiled down at her, a wave of relief washing over him. He couldn't help but be mesmerized by her eyes, those attractive coffee-colored eyes. His heart was beating hard against his plastron and each passing minute it would beat faster. He didn't want this moment to go to waste, so... he went for it. Donnie leaned his head forward but stopped inches away from her and his nose touched hers. The look of surprise was written all over her face and he expected for her to move away but she didn't.

"Donnie..."

The way she said his name sent shivers down his shell, it was gentle but pleasant at the same time. One of her hands slid its way on his plastron and the other gently touching his cheek. Donatello closed his eyes and nuzzled on her hand, welcoming her warm and soft touch. Who knew she could be so gentle? He opened his eyes and looked at her, their eyes locked on once more.

Donatello leans in, closing the gap between them until their lips connected melting into each other's gentle and innocent kiss. They pull apart and take shaky, shallow breaths. Unable to contain himself anymore, Donatello holds Alice's head in his hands and pulled her into a gentle and passionate kiss. Her hands work their way up 'til they reach onto his shoulders, gripping them gently. Donnie's hand venture over her curved body, exploring. They pull apart and open their eyes. They stare at each other, deep into each other's eyes. Donatello's full of wonder and love, Alice's full of affectionate and yearning. No words were spoken as Donatello pulled her closer in a tight embrace, Alice returned the same gesture.

They pulled away from their hug but didn't release their arms from one another. They stared into each other's eyes, leaning forward until their foreheads rested against them and their noses brushed on to each other. A smile made its way to their lips, enjoying this precious moment together.

"I can't believe how hard I've fallen for you." He said in a low and gentle tone. Then he kissed her forehead.

"More than what you felt for April?" She asked, in a playful tone.

He chuckled. "My calculations are never wrong."

Alice rolled her eyes with a smile. "Never wrong, huh?"

Donnie let out a loud purr which she thought was impossible for a turtle to do. "Come here you!" He pulled her into a tight hug giving her light and playful kisses on her cheek and neck.

This made her squeal with delight. "D-Donnie! ~"