Donatello pawed at the glass of his prison. He hated being locked up. Sure, it was a pleasant temperature, but he would rather have the freedom to explore the full scope of his territory. Still, he would only have to wait for a little while before the giant turtle with a red mask would come let him out. That was usually the way things worked.
Sure enough, the big sliding doors opened in a few minutes. But to Donatello's disappointment, it wasn't the giant turtle. It was the food lady who always put him in here at night. If she hadn't been so kind otherwise, Donatello might not have liked her one bit.
To his surprise, she opened up the glass prison and lifted him out. Usually, she would leave him in there for hours during the night.
She started making noises at him. "Maybe Raph is right, Donnie. You're not a pet we should keep locked up. I know you're just a turtle, but you're probably smart enough to keep yourself from getting seriously hurt. It's not like you're going to eat a bunch of nails or something."
Donatello started crawling toward the big doors; he wanted to go sit with the giant turtle on the big soft thing again. He wished the food lady would pick him up and carry him; it was going to take forever, otherwise.
The food lady sighed. "Karai's going to talk to the Kraang. You won't have to be this way forever. This might sound crazy, but if this hadn't happened to you, well, none of all of this would have happened. Shredder's gone. Karai's on our side, and I have one of those feelings that she and Leo might get to be pretty close."
The food lady was always so noisy. At least Donatello liked the way her voice sounded.
"All of this—all of these good things—they're because of you, Donnie. Even if—" Her voice became choked.
Donatello turned around, sad to see that she was upset again. He started to crawl back toward her; usually that made his food lady stop being upset.
"Even if we never get you back, your sacrifice will have been worth it."
When he reached her feet, she stooped down and picked him up.
"I'm going to wait for you. I don't care if I die an old maid. I'm going to wait for you, Donnie. Even if that means waiting until we see each other...on the other side."
Drops of water spilled out of her eyes.
"I love Hamato Donatello, and that will never change. Even if I never see him—you—again."
Donatello tilted his head. He felt like somehow, he should have understood what these sounds meant. Maybe somewhere, in the deepest recesses of his being, they made sense. He felt like he was supposed to respond somehow, so he just nibbled on her fingertip. She was a good caretaker, even if she did lock him in the glass prison every now and then.
She set him down on the floor. "Explore all you want, Donnie. I'll leave the door open for you. You're smart enough not to get into tremendous amounts of trouble. You've always been smart. From the beginning." With that, she walked out of the lab, leaving the doors ajar.
As Donatello watched her go, he had a funny feeling that he was asleep and waiting to wake up. He wasn't sure what it meant. Maybe he would figure it out eventually.
But for now, there was a blinking light on the other side of the room that attracted his attention. The things with blinking lights were always the most interesting to sit and look at.
Fin
Author's Note: But wait! There's more! If you liked this story, check out the sequel, Aftershock. Also, if you like my writing style, go to my profile for a link to my blog, where you can learn about my non-fanfiction works, including my published original novel.