Raphael's P.O.V.-

I'd been punching this practice dummy to a pulp, doing everything in my power to elevate my acute and constant attack of boredom. Despite Splinter letting me off the hook, I knew I was walking a thin line. He never brought up the bandage across my chest or single strand of hair found on me, but you can bet he suspected something was up. As such, I did everything to deter his suspicions. But there were other problems.

On top of worrying about my father, I had Leo on my shell all the time now. Seriously, he checked up on me day and night. It was incessant and unrelenting- and it drove me up the wall. Course I couldn't show any irritation outwardly, having to bottle up all my frustrations and desires to myself. I had no clue when Splinter's suspicions would eventually die down, but in Leo's case I had no other option than to stick it out until he finally got off my back. Whenever that may be….

I knew my plan would work, but it obviously meant that I had to keep my distance from Athénaïs for a while- a long while. Not even a quick visit was on the table… It made my heart wrench whenever I thought about it. I knew she wouldn't take it personally, what with my being a mutant turtle and needing to maintain a level of secrecy in my life. But I didn't like leaving her high-and-dry like this either. Knowing her, she'd probably be worried that something happened to me. I'm pretty sure she'd notice my absence and wonder what's going on…

As for me, just like before, the more I tried not to think about her, the more her image would randomly appear in my mind. I remembered everything- every single detail about her. The softness of her skin, the shimmer in her eyes, the smell of her hair, the addictive sound of her voice…. Nothing escaped me, and after a while of fighting with myself, I was forced to admit that I wanted to remember. Forgetting a single aspect of her seemed like too great a loss to bare.

I let out a growl as I gave the dummy a swift side hook. No! Don't think about it! Don't think about it! She's fine; I'm sure she's doing fine. She'll be ok if you don't see her for a while; nothing's going to change… Nothing's going to change, is it? Dammit all! I presented another hard hit to the severely battered dummy. With a few huffs, I took a break resting my hands on my kneecaps; my eyes stared down at the ground. This is so stupid; I can't believe it how entirely stupid this is. My hands balled into tight fists as my jaw clenched. But I can't keep denying it- not to myself at least. I wanna see her, damn it…. I wanna hear the sound of her voice again; I want her to hear her say my name. I want to see you, Athénaïs.

After letting out a enlightened sigh, my back straightened up and I headed back towards my room. Once inside, I made sure to lock the door. Then I sat down on my bed. Like I'd done several times these past couple of days, I pulled out Athénaïs's hairpin from under my pillow. I just liked to hold it in my hands and look at it; who knew why. My thumb ran across its surface repeatedly; my eyes narrowed onto it.

There's gotta be some way to contact her; to let her know that I'm alright and will see her again as soon as I can. I considered leaving a note in her window but dismissed that when I figured that I'd have to return to see her reply; and that's assuming she found it at all. Plus Leo would likely follow me to the shop… There's gotta be another way. Mmmmm, well she has a cell phone. Stupid me; I never thought to ask for her number before. Murakami-san used to have a business phone before the Purple Dragon destroyed it. He hadn't gotten it fixed since then. And it's not like I can ask April for her number either. So that meant I had no way of contacting her phone-wise. Come on, Raphael; think. There's gotta be a way to speak to her without getting caught.

I contemplated this question for the rest of the time I sat in my room, with ultimately zero success.

Athénaïs's P.O.V.-

When my grandfather died, I used to just walk. Just walk. That was how I grieved his passing; I put in my headphones, listened to sad music, and walked aimlessly around the city. I did this for weeks before and after the funeral. On the day after his funeral, Daddy got me a train ticket to Salzburg three hours away. He'd let me go alone for a daytrip, just for some closure.

Salzburg is important to our family. Right outside the city there's this tiny village my grandfather escaped to after World War II. While there, he worked as a butcher's apprentice. He never did become a butcher himself, but that was how and where he spent his late teenage years. Going to Salzburg was a way of getting metaphorically closer to his memory, which I needed at the time.

I listened to the Sound of Music song "Climb Every Mountain" on repeat while wandering through the city. Sometimes I'd catch myself crying and have to sit down for a little while. But as I did this, I began to emotionally heal and come to terms with my grandfather's passing. It still hurt for a long time when I thought about him afterwards, but the whole experience taught me two crucial things. One, that I can say goodbye to someone I love very, very much, and live. And two, I do have a healthy way to cope with the departure of someone from my life, whether through death or separation by distance.

It'd been over a week since Raphael stayed the night at my place. I hadn't seen or heard from him at all after the fact. Millions of theories- and worries- went through my mind during that first week. I worried that perhaps his chest injuries got the better of him, or if he had a bad encounter with an enemy. Maybe he was embarrassed that he stayed the night and decided to keep some distance between us. Or maybe he was just genuinely bored of me. It could have been a myriad of reasons; a number of which I had deeply considered.

After a week though, I began to reside myself to his unexpected and unwanted absence. I wanted to see him again, but I literally had no way to contact Raphael. And who knows? He might not want to hear from me anyway. Maybe this was for the best… Without my conscious comprehension, I started to get that feeling of loss like when my grandfather died. I couldn't shake the mourning and grief that began to surge inside of me. I missed Raphael… I missed him a lot. But I also had to face the fact that just like with my grandfather, I might not see him again. I might never see him again…. There's simply no way of knowing. I'd like to think we would meet up sometime- hopefully soon- but there was no guarantee. And the longer he was gone, the more I had to come to terms with that detestable possibility. I mean, I knew I'd have to say goodbye to Raphael one day, but not like this…. Not this soon.

Uncle remained more positive than me. He'd smile and pat my shoulder reassuringly. "He'll be back. Sometimes the turtles stay away for months at a time." That… didn't reassure me as much as I think he hoped it would. But it did confirm that I might be in the long-haul. That I may not see Raphael again for a really, really long time…. After Uncle told me that, I realized that I'd just have to grieve Raphael's absence in a healthy way and move on with life. It began on Whitsun- a holiday celebrated in Austria and other predominantly Catholic countries. It's the Sunday after Easter Sunday.

I'm not a religious person by any means, but I wanted to take the day off for myself. I'm not Catholic, but most the rest of my family is. My great grandmother would attend a proper Latin mass every day of the week, and three times on Sundays. She always wished I would join the faith, and while I could not honour her wish on moral grounds, I always lit a candle for her and my grandfather on Catholic holidays. But since New York didn't have a cathedral in the European fashion- or at least like I'm used to- I decided to honour their memories by taking a personal day. Odd as that may sound.

Just like when I grieved my grandfather, I put in my headphones and walked all around the city. Uncle gave me tickets to the Met Cloisters as an Easter gift; something to remind me of home. I had wanted to go with Raphael… somehow. Instead, I went on Whitsun, where I spent the afternoon exploring the area and letting myself feel bad. I learned a long time ago not to fight negative emotions like missing someone.

My plan was working, however. By the end of day, I was feeling better- maybe not happy per se, but not so miserable anymore. I came home, told Uncle all about the cloisters, and announced that the perfect way to end Whitsun was to fetch us two slices of Austrian cake and two bottles of Almdudler. He thought that was a marvellous idea.

With a light smile, I grabbed my backpack, jacket, and earphones. I waved goodbye to Uncle- yes, I know he's blind; I can't help waving- and headed to the bakery. Along the way, I listened to Nana Mouskouri's "Serenade de Schubert". It helped; despite everything, it helped. I still missed Raphael very much but was learning to get on with my life- slowly but surely. What other choice did I have? I'll have to find a way to let myself be happy in the meantime….. while I wait for him.