A/N: Hi, everyone. I can't say it enough, thank you all who follow, favorite, read and review. It means a lot. Doing so let's me know who is out there. It's cool to see that there are people interested in the same things I am. Once this story comes to a close… whenever that is… I'll be stopping by to see what you've been writing as well. There are some GREAT stories on this site and GREAT authors as well.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER 25- Monster

…

Lightning Strikes.

Thunder booms.

Leonardo is lost in a fog.

Her breath is hot against his neck. Her dewy skin sticks to his. She trembles, exhausted but not yet satisfied. "Again." She entreats.

The tingle of desire pricks him. In a trance, he kneels behind her and fits her to him, her back flush with his armored chest. He cuddles her bosom with one palm as his other hand trails down to the center of her, delicately fondling. He allows her to rock back and forth, controlling the tempo of her own pleasure.

The hums of delight are long and feminine and Leonardo is transfixed by her sounds. He's surprised by her stamina. He's conditioned himself to be able to spend a full hour alone, coming, resting and restarting many times. He's usually disciplined, but when he needs a release, he takes full advantage of the moment. He doesn't know if it is his youth or his mutation, but it feels good, so it doesn't really matter why.

And now with Toni under and around him for the third time, he's glad he knew his capacity for endurance beforehand. The first time through, there was a lot of stopping and kissing. It was tender and burning and sweet. The second time was more for him, needing to let out a little more aggression. Toni was happy to oblige and to their amazement, came along right with him. They rolled over to rest and Leo had thought Toni was spent. Then she turned to him and kissed him hungrily. And she whispered warmly over the sensitive nerves of his neck, "Again."

"Ah, Leo…" She calls to him. She hunches over, her stomach tightening.

He sees that she's so close, but having trouble. So, he flips her onto her back and lifts her legs over his shoulders.

"AH!" She cries.

He fills her completely. At this angle and depth, it would be hard not to hit the right spot. She soon howls and he follows right after her.

Now they're done. He falls shakily beside her and wraps her in a possessive hug. His breath returns and his mind goes blank. She falls still beside him and she, too loses consciousness.

…

Dull light from the window hits Leonardo's eyes and he awakens in his bed. Strange, he doesn't remember having a window in his bedroom. A small hand runs up and down his arm. Little feet hit the front of his leg. How and when did she get in here?

He sits up and looks over; her face is hidden behind a pillow. He flattens the pillow and sees Toni beside him.

He crashes into his sober state fairly quickly. He's never been drunk or high, but he's sure something took hold of him so many hours ago. What could have made him so irrational and irreverent? It's as if something stripped him of his humanity and had him act out through his devolved turtle persona. Looking over at Toni's slumbering form, he can only remember spots of faded images… and what she said.

I love you.

He finds his discarded hoodie on the floor beside him. He pulls out his T-phone; it shows the time at 5:37pm… and four missed calls… and three missed messages.

The reason for him coming to see Toni suddenly enters his mind. He wipes a rigid hand over his face.

"Leo?"

He looks over at her pleasant smile. It makes him feel like dirt. "Hey, Toni." He forces a grin. "We should get up now."

"Should we? I could stay here the rest of the night." She wrinkles her nose at him.

"We have somewhere to be. If we don't get up now, we'll be really late."

Toni closes her eyes and stretches. "OK, are we going to the Lair?"

"No, April's going away party. Everyone will be at my father's dojo."

"A party?" Toni sits up, letting the sheets fall away from her. "I wish I would have known. What type of gift do you give to someone who is going away?"

"I'm not sure. If it's something material, she more than likely won't travel with it."

"Should I give her money?"

"You don't need to do that."

"I don't want to come empty-handed."

"It'll be enough that you show up." Leo slides out of bed and picks up the rest of his clothes.

Toni looks at him, enjoying what she sees. "We should get ready then. I have to pick out something to wear… and we should take a shower."

He stares at her as she stands and the sheets fall away from her body. He still has time to find some redemption for this day. And he still has to tell her about Karai. But, maybe that doesn't matter anymore. If he and Karai had even the tiniest chance at being together before, they certainly have none now, not after he's laid with Toni. Whether he was in his right mind or not, he made the decision that's gotten him into this tangled web. So, there really isn't anything he can to do make things worse.

And she loves him. Isn't that what he had always wanted?

He drops his clothes and follows her to the bathroom. His cell rings again, but he doesn't hear it.

…

Donatello pushes his cell back into the pouch of his plum-colored hoodie. "What the hell, Leo." He mumbles to himself. He yanks out his cell again, 6:58pm.

The front door of the dojo jingles and Irma and Casey arrive in the nick of time. April and her parents will be here any minute.

Donatello is not a happy camper. He looks around the space, trying to calm his anger. Everything is set up and ready and everyone is here, Except Karai, Leo and Toni. Karai does not surprise him. But even if Toni took the news poorly about what Leo's 'ex' had done, it doesn't excuse Leo OR Toni not answering their phones.

The bell of the front door rings and Karai enters. She runs right into a pacing Donatello and the two look at each other a moment before speaking.

"Hey." She says guarded.

"Hey." He says, equally guarded.

"I'm here." She says.

"I see."

Karai looks over his shoulder and sees the balloons and the food table. It is an actual party and though Donnie has his bo staff strapped to his shell, he doesn't look like he's going to reach for it. Even if he did attack her, she left her daggers in the car. "So…"

"I know you're not going to say it, and I don't expect you to." He interrupts. "I understand why you did it, maybe more than anyone else here. I wished for the same thing for Toni, though not for the same reasons. And you were more equipped to actually do it. There's no need to forgive you, so there's no need for you to apologize. Ok?"

Her golden eyes search his cherry-brown. Donnie is so direct that he couldn't be deceiving. And if he is so sure of her reasons, does this mean Leo is as well? She hopes that when she and Leo finally talk, he'll be just as dismissive. She says. "Ok. Thank you for inviting me."

"I doubt April would leave the country without seeing you." Donnie grins.

"Is she here yet?"

"No. Soon." Donnie turns the leads them to the open area. He goes upstairs to grab more food from the kitchen and she looks around.

The music is slow and everyone is milling about or sitting on big pillows. She doesn't see Leo or Toni, and she's not going to ask about them. From across the room, Mikey points and smiles at her from his sound system. She waves and makes her way towards her father.

"Good evening, Miwa!"

Splinter smiles, affectionately calling her by her birth name. It is clear that he doesn't know what she has done yet. She will tell him soon, but not now. "Hello, father."

The door clinks open and Leonardo and Toni rush in.

"Toni!" Mona jumps up and runs to greet her. "Oh! Look at you looking at me!" She gives her a big hug. Soon, the whole party of people, except Karai, crowd around, hugging and asking questions.

Donatello makes it to the bottom of the steps, holding a tray and sees them. "Ugh, finally!" he puts the tray down on the buffet table and makes a beeline towards them.

Leonardo sees his perturbed brother coming. He tries to break free of the crowd, but Toni grabs his hand.

"Is that..!" Toni drags Leo over towards a young lady sitting on a pillow.

Karai sees them coming. She looks back and forth at them. "Hello."

Toni closes her eyes and runs her hands over Karai's. "It IS you. Karai!" Toni hugs her tightly. "Do you remember me?"

Karai doesn't know what to say. She looks over the dark head of curls and at Leo. Leo is emotionless.

Toni steps back, the skirt of her tailored, blue dress swaying as she smiles. Karai stares into the girl's green eyes, alive and focused. She can really see me. How… wonderful for her. At least this isn't a bad thing. She licks her lips. "Toni."

"I knew it." Toni turns to look at Leo. "I knew your sister was beautiful."

"Sister… yes." Karai glances at Leo curiously.

"Hello, Toni. Hi, sis." Donnie says from right behind Leo.

Leo stiffens and turns to see Donnie, twisting his lips at him. "Glad you made it here in time."

"Oh, sorry I didn't answer my cell. I didn't hear it. It's great to see you, Donnie!" Toni hugs him.

He hugs her back, but raises a brow at Leo.

"TONI!" Mikey cheers. He runs over to them. When he sees the life in Toni's new eyes again, he almost cries. "I just can't believe! It's so good to see you in real life!"

Toni smiles at him. She gasps as he lifts her into a big hug. "You too, Mikey."

"You want to help me pick out some songs for you sing tonight?" Mikey asks.

"Sing?" She asks.

"Yeah. Mona asked for a karaoke rematch."

"Why don't you both go and pick some songs while I help Donnie with something in the garden?" Leo pushes Karai and Toni to go with him.

"Awesome!" Mikey takes the ladies' hands.

"You know I do not sing." Karai protests.

"It's easy!" Mikey says.

Karai and Donnie give Leo a suspicious look, but Leo ignores them and continues to guide Donnie by the shoulder to the back of the dojo.

"What is..!" Donnie scolds.

"Shhh, just wait a sec, Don." Leo opens the door to Splinter's secluded koi garden.

…

Outside, the evening is cool after the rain, and the grass and stepping-stones are still wet. Leonardo walks over to the little arch bridge and waits for Donnie to join him.

"Leo, you're acting very strange. And by the sound of things, you didn't tell Toni about Karai."

"You're right, I didn't. She didn't give me a chance to." Leo says quickly.

"What do you mean? You've been gone all day!"

"I know. I'm sorry."

"What's going on?"

A muffled "Congratulations, April!" can be heard from inside and Donnie groans at his brother. "Great! You made me miss April arriving! This had better be good."

"I…" Leo's words get stuck in his mouth, making his brother lose his patience.

"Leo?!"

"We…" Leo fumbles.

Donnie blinks. "You what?" He asks carefully.

"Toni and I… slept together."

"R-really?" Donnie's eye grow wide.

"It was amazing." He suddenly frowns.

Donatello's jaw drops. "OK? So if it was so good, why do you look sad?"

Leo shakes his head, bends over and hides his face in his hands. "I did it for all the wrong reasons."

"What reasons?"

"You know, probably all the opposite reasons why you and April do it. For one, you two 'make love' not just 'sleep together'."

It's a bit shocking for Leo to assume such things. Do all of his brothers think this? "April and I have never had sex, Leo. We've come close a few times but have never gone all the way."

The blue-marked turtle shuts his eyes and exhales noisily. "Great. Now I feel even worse."

"Why?"

"Donnie, these past few weeks I've been going back and forth in my head. I was struggling to find the answer. What was I supposed to do to make all of this right again? Beyond that I was very lonely and then I get to Toni's apartment and found myself extremely weak… and Toni was so submissive and her touch…"

Donatello balls up his fists. "Leo? You didn't… I can't believe I'm asking this but… did you coerce her to…"

"No, Donnie. I did not force her into bed." Leo knows it is a fair question. He's not felt like himself for a while. "It was so unexpected, at least on my part. As soon as I got there, she didn't even give me a chance to apologize… She was ready for me. She responded out of love. I did not give my heart as much as she did."

"How do you know?"

"She said that she loved me. She said, I love you, Leonardo… That's what set me off. I just went for it. As out of control I felt, I still had to keep looking at her, feel her, run my fingers through her hair… I had to remind myself that it was Toni and not…" Leo beats his fist again the railing of the bridge.

Donnie recoils a bit from the sound. "It's OK."

"Please don't, Donnie. I knew what I was doing." He looks away. "Toni, NOT Karai. That's what was running through my head. And even through all of that, after I told Toni to keep her eyes on me, at the end I just closed mine and…Fuck!" He punches the railing again.

Donnie covers his mouth and regards his brother verbally cursing himself. "You still love Karai." Leo looks at him, expecting to see distain, but Donnie just smiles. "It's OK, Leo."

"No, it's not. I think I had sex with Toni because she made it so easy. I did it to prove to myself that I could move on and be happy with Toni. It. Did. Not. Work. And it's not because of Toni. It's me, it's me." He points at himself accursedly. "I used Toni and I still love the woman who can't love me! I'm a sick monster. I have no right to judge what Karai wanted from me."

The music starts to play inside and light-hearted chatter starts to build.

Donatello leans against the railing of the bridge and thinks. "Toni said that she loved you. Do you love her at all?"

Leo takes a moment. He nods. "I do, but… more than that… I love… that she loves me. The feeling of acceptance overwhelmed me and… I feel that I will end up hurting her."

Donnie smiles slightly. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

"Yeah… I never thought I'd have the potential to break someone's heart."

"Maybe you won't have to. Toni is smart and strong. She didn't just get eyes for you."

"You're right. You're absolutely right… and sorry. I didn't mean to assume about you and April. It's just… you two seemed so close. It was kind of expected."

"We are very close, but we knew the time would come when she would have to go. As much as we love each other, I didn't want to take THAT away from her when I knew she was leaving."

"Donnie, you're worth being tethered to, mutant or not. April isn't looking for anyone else."

"I'm not a fool, Leo. She's only known me. I want her to have the best even if it's not with me."

The two brothers turn to the sound of the back door opening. It's April, dressed in purple jeggings and a yellow print t-shirt. "Here you guys are." She says.

"Hey April!" Donnie goes to her.

"Congratulations, April!" Leo says.

"Thanks, Leo." She hugs Donnie and kisses him smartly on the cheek. "It looks awesome in there. You really are too much."

"Nothing's too much for you." He nuzzles her hair.

"I'm going to go inside now." Leo steps off of the bridge.

"Was I interrupting something?" April asks.

"No, we're done. See you in there. Thanks, Don." Leo goes back inside.

"We should go in too. They're already cutting up the cake." April says.

"Wait, before we do..." Donnie reaches into the pouch of his hoodie and pulls out a neatly wrapped box. "This is for you."

"Donnie, you shouldn't have." She takes the rectangular box in her hands and notices how heavy the little gift is. She reads the tag. "Open in case of emergency… what is this?"

"It's a little something I whipped up for you. If you ever get into any trouble or if things just feel a little overwhelming, open your gift. It may be useful." He smiles.

Her smile crumbles into a wrinkled line. This is really happening. "I'm going to miss you. You know that, right?"

"You'll be alright. You'll be too busy working and learning new things, seeing new sites… making new friends."

"I was never really good at making new friends."

"April, I have no doubts in your success. In six months, you'll think differently."

"What will you be thinking in six months?"

He tilts his head at her question. "I guess it all depends."

She steps back and sighs. "Oh, Donnie-boy… I've been thinking a lot about this… about you and me and…"

Donatello can't will himself to breath. He reaches out a hand to her, mouthing her name.

She lowers her head. "I don't want to be the doubtful girlfriend, but I also don't want to hold you to ridiculous promises so…"

"What?" Donnie squeaks.

"If… before I come back, you happen to be out patrolling and you save a pretty girl's life, and she's open enough to except you and let you in and love our family the way I do… it's OK if, you know… feelings happen and…"

Donnie shakes his head and cups her cheek. "Never." He claims her lips and kisses away her trepidation. To think, Donatello was not the only one afraid of losing the one he loves. "April, I've been feeling the same way. If I can see that you are amazing, I know the rest of the world will. If you happen to meet someone on your travels, someone with whom you could have a full life with, I wouldn't keep that away from you."

Then she says something that he doesn't quite expect. "Thank you, Donnie."

He steps back a bit and nods his head. He is glad that she is being honest.

"But." She continues. "I don't need to travel the world to find that special someone. I know exactly where you live."

At that moment, Donatello could have proposed to her if he had a ring. But he gathers up those strong emotions for another time. They hold each other and kiss once more, affirming their love, and becoming more at peace with her departure than ever before.

April sniffles. "Ok, enough gushy stuff, or I'll start crying."

He takes her hand and leads her back inside. "Let's go, Guest of Honor. Your party awaits."

…

Leonardo walks back into the party. He sees Toni, Splinter, and the O'Neil's in deep conversation. He finds Karai by the buffet with Mikey and Kala. He walks over to them.

"Karai?" Leo says. She turns to him, holding a paper plate with a large wedge of chocolate cake. "Are you... going to eat all of that?"

She looks down at the dessert. "Mikey cut this piece for me, saying that there's always room for cake."

"There's ALWAYS room for cake, bro." Mikey chimes in.

Leo rolls his eyes. "Karai... can I talk with you?"

Karai nods. She turns and hands her cake to Mikey. "Don't eat it."

"Not making any promises." Mikey smirks.

Karai follows Leo down a hallway and into their father's study.

As she walks in and passed him, Leo notices her white dress shirt, tight blue jeans and high heels. Honestly, anything she wears is complimentary to her form. He closes the door and turns to face her.

Splinter's study is a quiet and comfortable space. There is no desk, but a few large pillows for sitting, a long shelf of books. There are candles all around though very few are lit. A stick of incense still burns on a short wooden table.

Leonardo looks at her, sees the calm, unreadable expression on her face and sees the low light dance across her features. He wants to ask her how she has been, how nice she looks tonight, but Karai had never been one for preliminary pleasantries. "Karai, let me first apologize... when I came into your home that day, I said some things that I felt were justifiable at the time, but really didn't mean. I let my anger and confusion get the better of me. I don't hate you, Karai. I never have. I want to put all of this behind us and... Move forward however you and I can."

Karai closes her eyes. She lets his words ring in the air. She silently exhales without showing her relief. It is odd enough that no one else seems to hate her, even Raphael smiled at her. But to hear Leo say it... He doesn't hate me. And when Leo walked in with Toni... it was clear he hadn't told her. But why? "The others know what I did? Not just you and Donnie?"

"Yes, I they know." He says.

"Not Father though." She says.

"No." He pauses a moment more to look at her, give her a chance to comment, but she does not. "I also want to say that I was wrong before as well."

She looks up at him. "Wrong about what?"

Leonardo takes only a few steps towards her. He fights the urge to hide his hands in his hoodie's pouch and keeps them at his sides. "I was wrong... for giving you an ultimatum. I was wrong in trying to force something between us that you weren't ready for... or just didn't want. Because of my selfish desires, I kept you away. I didn't want that. You are just as much a part of this family as I am. I'm sorry. And whatever type of... relationship we can have, even if it's just a peaceful one, I would appreciate that. Please, forgive me for taking so long."

Karai hides her shock very well. How could he? How dare he apologize before her! Not that she was intending on apologizing to anyone. She was not sorry for what she did. Any repercussions would fall upon her anyway. And this 'forgive and forget' mentality is something she did not plan for. Once everyone knew what she did, phone calls and texts and invitations were the last thing she expected from any of them, most of all Leonardo. Yet, here he is asking for her forgiveness. It doesn't make sense. She crosses her arms. "So just like that? You and everyone else is just going to forget everything that I did behind your backs? Never speak of it again as if I'd done nothing wrong? At least your... Toni should have something to say. But you haven't told her."

Leonardo swallows. He wills himself not to look away from her. "No, I haven't told her... yet."

"Why?"

He has no idea why it is getting so stuffy in here. His eyes shift to the left. "I haven't found the right time."

"It's been two weeks."

"I haven't spoken to either of you until today."

She wants to ask him what he was waiting for. He would STILL be waiting another two weeks if he was expecting Karai to call him. And why did he not speak to Toni all of this time? "Why didn't you tell her today?"

"I was hoping to see you here tonight and didn't want Toni to be afraid of..."

"Me... Am I really that scary?" Karai asks and she can see the answer in his eyes. "I see."

"I just..." Leo runs a hand over his mouth and jaw. "You saw her. She SAW you. It's a miracle."

"It's science, Leo. What happened to her was top-of -the-line, custom-made, intelligent engineering, strictly monitored by me and the best physicians I could find."

"And afford." Leo says.

Karai will not retort. Not today. She simply shifts her footing and pulls her lips to the side.

"You have a lot of power, Karai." Leo continues. "She's only been among the seeing for a little over a month. She is supposed to rest her eyes for an hour, every two hours, but she doesn't. She's taking in so much new information, she complains about headaches." He smiles at the thought of Toni, walking side by side down the street, her awing at the birds in the sky, and the clouds, and the sky itself, how big the world really is. "I am blessed to be a part of her discovery. I don't want to have to be the one to tell her that the reason she can see is because it was your plan to get back at me. She is not afraid of what she sees. Everything is new and beautiful. It would pain me for her first image of fear... is of your face." His voice softens. "You would be her visual connection to distrust, malice... because of the power you wield to make impossible things happen."

She can't stand to look at him right now. "You've called me a monster."

"That's not at all what I wanted you to get out of what I said."

"How can you even trust me to be around her?"

Leo's shoulders tense.

At his sharp movement, she looks over at him. "Huh." Karai scoffs. "You don't even like me saying her name. How could I ever earn grace from the one you love?"

Karai looks away from him, totally dejected. His hands itch to come close to her and touch her. "You're wrong, Karai."

"Then, you don't love her?" Karai looks up at him.

The candlelight flickers in her amber eyes, causing his stomach to ache. He licks his lips. "You are not a monster." I am the only monster in this room. He stands in front of her. His hand rises and rests onto her folded arms, grateful and regretful of the clothing separating their skin. "Karai, you need to allow the beauty of your abilities to shine in the light, not tarnish behind your unwillingness to look kind."

She stares at him. Why is she praising him? "You should hate me."

"I don't want to."

"Why?"

Leo frowns. "Because..." He gazes at her and the familiar ache in his being throbs back to life. He shakes his head, disgusted with himself. "I realized that I am not as blameless as I previously thought... I have no right to set a standard that I fail to uphold." He purses his lips and his hands squeeze around her arms. He wishes he could bring her close and hold her so all these words would be unnecessary. "I am not righteous, and I am not at all pious, Karai."

With his hands staving off her retreat and his voice so low, the lead in her stomach only grows. His humble stature, the way his pupils have seemed to double in size in this low light. He is searching her, all the while trying to hide. Then she sees it, the corner of his mouth twitches. She doesn't try to reserve her surprise. "Leo, what did you do?"

He lets her go and steps away. "Uh... I... nothing." He stumbles and his lip twitches again.

"You had sex with Toni."

Leo's heart almost stops. He has to think quickly. He shouldn't deny it, but he can't just come out and say it. So, he tries to pull a 'Karai' and mince his words. He's never been as good at it as she. "What would make you come up with something like that?"

She almost bursts into laughter. "So that's it! That's why you're practically groveling to me? Because you jumped in the sac with her? Is that why you haven't spoken to her since you came yelling at me? Or did this just happen today?"

Leonardo looks a like a fish gasping for water.

"Today?!" Karai laughs and laughs.

Leonardo couldn't be a brighter shade of red. How did she figure it out? And now he's stuck in the mud like a big fool.

"Leo, what have I been telling you all of this time? It's just sex remember? Isn't that what I said? I said it was just fun, an itch to scratch. You had some fun. So what?" Karai rambles between laughter.

"I... I thought you'd be... I don't know." He sighs. Karai turns her back to him, seemingly still laughing. "It's not that funny, Karai."

Karai calms a bit. "Silly, silly, Leonardo." She turns back around to face him. "All because I never said, I love you."

She doesn't mean to say it. Not really. And it isn't a confession. It is so out of context. But the words come out, in perfect order. As she says them, the words burn her throat like lava. It kills her laughter and drops a heavy silence in the room. She stares at Leo and the orange candle light flickering in his eyes seem to be screaming in the silence. "See? Worrying about nothing." Karai says as she delicately wipes tears from the corner of her eyes.

Leonardo feels even lower, being as transfixed as he is by what he is seeing, by what she says. Even with clear eyes reddening, reddening more than someone just laughing, she looks beautiful. A moment later, she says something that, to Leo, she doesn't mean to say, and in that split second, the ground shifts beneath him. She loses her façade and shows the crack in her mask. It was so small and minute, Leo doesn't have time to react to it.

Karai straightens up quickly. "Now, are we done here? I don't think you should spend the whole party in here with me. I'd like to toast with April, and eat that huge piece of cake... and you need to get back to your Toni."

Karai walks passed him. He feels the air around her, her smell, hears the click of her heels. As she reaches for the door, he stops her by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Karai..."

She tilts her head, brushing her chin against his hand covertly before turning back around. His eyes captivate her and the small room seems to be shrinking around them. What is this feeling that puts her on edge? She pats him on the chest, allowing a few fingers to touch his natural armor under his hoodie. "I am glad for you, Leo. I really am."

Leonardo feels as if he's going crazy. He knows he saw something. But, whatever it was is long gone and buried underneath her cooling steel.

"Now please... let me go." Karai slips away from him and opens the door. The lights and jubilant sounds of the party decimate the intimate world they had shared.

Leonardo stands in the doorway. He looks over the smiling faces of his family. He sees Raphael and Casey laughing loudly by the punchbowl. Raphael catches Mona's eye from across the room and she blows a kiss at him. Kirby and May talk to April and Donatello. Donatello is holding onto April's hand so tight. Mikey and Kala and talking to Toni. Kala and Toni marvel at each other. Lastly, Leo's eyes land on Splinter and Irma, speaking with Karai.

"Karai..."

A peace washes over him, a feeling of finality, so faint but present, sits within his soul. After everything that has happened, Leonardo is sure. This feeling will never fade. He tried to get rid of it for months and even now it throbs, ceaseless and alive within him. It doesn't matter to him that he may be alone forever. He is sure of two things; he will make things right and share the truth with Toni and he will never love another as he loves Karai.

A/N: And there you have it. Leo is following his heart, whether he gets what he wants or not… I can now say that I am officially in love with Leonardo. He was never my favorite, too stoic, too constrained. But I know better now. Before, I would constantly go back and forth between Raphael (drool) and Donnie (sigh). But, if Leo ever showed up in my life, holding out his hand to me… I think I'd go with him. Is that wrong?

Leo: It's never wrong to be true to yourself.

Me: L-Leo? Is that really…

Leo: Let's get out of here…

Me: ...Stuffs computer, toothbrush, and Biscoff Spread into a duffle bag

…

Mikey: What about me? pouty face

Me: Awe, Mikey… you're adorable… hops out the window with Leo

…

…for WOLF and their awesome reviews

See you later, everyone!