The stars were bright and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Most of New York was asleep or hidden away in brightly lit bars, but a lone figure stood on the rooftops still as a statue. Donatello watched the sky anxiously, hoping that tomorrow would break the recent trend of clear nights. He'd feel better putting their plan into action under a clouded sky. Tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day he was going to get his brothers back.

Karai dropped down silently behind the turtle and allowed herself a slight smile when he instinctively tensed at her presence. She considered for a moment reaching for her sword and drawing the other teenage into a sparring match, but decided against it as she didn't think he'd really appreciate it right now. Instead she moved forward and stood at Donatello's shoulder, staring into the oblivion with him.

"Ready?" she asked quietly. He sighed.

"As I'll ever be." Nobody said anything for a moment and Donnie turned to his companion in slight confusion. "Isn't this generally where you're meant to say something like: it'll work?" She shrugged.

"I don't know that it will."

"Wow. That's helpful." Karai glared at him and he scowled back, both suddenly angry with the other.

"I'm worried!" she told him, "Don't I have a right to be? If you mess up tomorrow then I could lose it all!"

"You're not even doing anything!"

"I'm sabotaging my father's computers, to help his mortal enemy escape. If he finds out he'll never talk to me again! We've talked about this." Donnie deflated slightly. He could see that Karai was actually scared of what was going to happen. He'd forgotten for a moment exactly what she was risking to help him.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Look, he's not going to find out. Even if I do mess up, he never has to know that you helped us in any way. I won't tell him anything." He was trying to be reassuring but Karai looked at him as if he was insane.

"If you mess up, he will know that I've been helping you, because I'll be jumping in to help you out. That would be pretty hard for him to miss!" she exclaimed.

"You don't have to…"

"Of course I do!" she interrupted, "We're friends." A pause. Karai looked suddenly panicked. "We are friends right?"

"Yeah. I'd say so." Donnie was feeling a little shell-shocked to be honest (no pun intended). Karai had just told him that she would give up her family to help him and that was a pretty big deal even if she tried to pass it off as nothing. He was humbled by the realisation that she regarded him so highly and mentally cursed his younger self for not giving the girl a chance earlier. He never would have thought it possible but over the time they had been planning and building to get ready to rescue his family their tentative friendship had strengthen and now he felt nothing but affection and respect for her. He didn't want to cause her any pain if he could help it. There was something he had been thinking of saying for some time but had never been able to find the words. It seemed like now was as good a time as any to say it. He cleared his throat and she turned piercing eyes on him.

"If it does go wrong, which it won't," he assured her quickly, "You could always… come and live with us." Karai snorted.

"I think your family might having something to say about that," she replied, "Raphael would be especially pleased!"

"Raph would come round. He always does, you just have to give him time to calm down first."

"Oh, Donnie, Raphael is not the problem." Donnie started. That was the first time she'd called him Donnie. She skimmed over it as if it wasn't a big deal. "Splinter is the problem."

"Splinter?" Donnie asked, brow scrunching in confusion. She stared at him.

"He killed my mother! Surely you know that?"

"What? No he didn't!"

"Yes, he did!" Karai insisted, spinning away from him. The sudden realisation of who she was talking to and what they were talking about hit her and she couldn't look at Donnie anymore. "He and my father were rivals and they both fell in love with the same woman. But she loved my father and Splinter couldn't deal with that. They fought, and during it… my mother…" Karai choked back tears. She was surprised that the thought of her mother was still able to affect her like this. Recently, the only emotion she'd felt concerning her mother had been anger. Donnie stared at her in indignant confusion.

"That's a lie. There's no way that's true."

"It's not a lie!" she shouted. Ah, there was the anger. "How dare you call my father a liar?!"

"He is a liar. He's the Shredder, remember? He's the bad guy."

"Well your father's a murderer!"

"No he isn't! Splinter would never do anything like that." The two teens faced each other, eyes blazing. Karai's hands itched to retrieve her weapon and settle this with fighting, but she couldn't quite force herself to want to cause Donnie harm even with what he was saying. She tried to remember that they were friends. She didn't have many friends in New York. She didn't want to lose one. She took a step back.

"We shouldn't be fighting about this. Neither of us were there, we can't know what happened." She sounded much calmer than she felt and she was glad for it because Donnie instantly looked calmer and slightly guilty.

"You're right, we should just leave it. Focus on tomorrow. There's no sense getting distracted now." Karai nodded her agreement.

"Come on. Let's head back. You should get some sleep while it's still night-time." He followed her back towards the street level. They both felt subdued and now more worried than ever. A schism had opened in their friendship and it seemed to stretch out unbridgeable between them. Donnie watched Karai and was saddened by the hopelessness he found in her face.

"I was serious, you know," he said quietly after a moment, "You could come and live with us." Karai gave him a sad smile.

"That's not possible, Donatello."