A/N.

Well, looks like I found the time I needed to keep going on this story.

Seriously though, COVID-19 sucks on new levels every day. It's tearing apart everything I love except Fanfiction. And no one seems to be having progress on anything we can do about the situation besides quarantining and washing our hands. I've washed my hands so much that they've gone red and painfully dry!

Besides that though, I'm alright, and grateful that none of my friends or family members are sick. I know all I can do is wait for something to happen, and that can feel rough sometimes, but this won't be forever. As long as we have hope, we can make it.

It feels like a very fitting message for this story as well.

Anyways, that's all I have, besides the actual chapter! Let's get to it! And once you're done, leave a review, favorite, follow, and as always…

Enjoy!

Chapter Eight.
Regaining Balance.
(Karai's POV).
When I was younger, and night fell, the first thing I would do was make sure to look at the huge, silver moon.

The moon. A guiding, welcoming sight. It was a wonderful feeling, to have something so constant, to have a moon to look out at almost every night. A small glimpse of beauty in this world. Among those who have turned on me, the moon was still my friend.

"It was a little tradition of mine." I explained to Donnie, pulling him closer to me. "I never told anyone about it, not even Shredder. There weren't many friends to have in the Foot, so it felt nice."

We sat, staring at the half moon, on the porch steps, wrapped in blankets. The light from above was reflecting off the snow in the yard, lighting our world. It was gorgeous. Donnie was staring all around with wonder. He didn't see snow often, I bet. It was nice to share such a treat with him.

My eyes had mostly been drawn to the scenery as well, but I also glanced at the roads, waiting for someone to pull into the driveway. Any minute now, April and Casey would arrive, and we'd be out of here. On the road. I would lead our group to the mansion, and we'd lie low until the drama in New York City cleared up.

Donnie had definitely been upset when he heard what Shredder had done, but he was even more mad that April had been dragged into the mess as well. He had hissed in annoyance at the news, and pouted quite a bit. Devoted, I tell you. I could tell he was worried about her, and what that meant for all of our safety.

But his mood completely changed when I told him they were coming here. He perked up with excitement immediately at the thought of seeing April again. Of course, he couldn't help with preparing for our departure, but the thought kept him optimistic the whole time as I worked to get our things together, including some supplies from around the house, and then cleaned the entire place. I checked to see how his wounds were healing first, before bringing him outside to wait. Let's just say, it was not easy bringing him down the stairs.

Besides that, I was pretty excited, too. April and I weren't exactly close, and I wasn't sure what she thought of my involvement in the mutation, so that wasn't what was causing it. But Casey, I was cool with. He had been so helpful in my search so far, and to have him actually be there was even better. We needed all the help we could get.

Donnie turned away from me and sneezed, and I subconsciously tightened the blanket. "I know, it's cold. They'll be here any minute."

We waited for about fifteen more minutes before Donnie's head perked up again. I saw his eyes widen, and then he stared right out at the road. I heard the rumbling of wheels pulling up the driveway…

And then I saw the strangest looking van pull up. It was painted buttercup yellow, which had clearly faded over time, had a giant rainbow peace sign attached to the front, and had rainbows in various other spots on the vehicle. I couldn't really help but wonder… "Where the heck did April get this?"

Donnie's jaw dropped. Clearly, this hadn't been what he was expecting either.

As soon as the van rumbled to a stop, the front doors opened, and two bundled up figures jumped out from either side. April, I could spot right away, but Casey had to come around the front.

April stopped short when she saw us sitting on the steps. From behind a thick scarf she was wearing, I saw her blue eyes widen in shock, and before I knew it, tears began to fall. But she made no move forward. She simple stared. Casey peered at us through the darkness for a moment, before he smiled in relief and waved.

I called out to him, "Can you help me get him into the van?"

Casey nodded, then ran over to assist me. "His tail is broken, be very careful." I muttered quietly. Donnie didn't fuss or anything, but he eyed Casey oddly, almost mistrustfully as we picked him up. Casey seemed to notice this though.

"It's alright D, I won't drop you." he said. "You've been through enough already."

Once in the back of the van, I surrendered the blanket entirely to Donnie. He wrapped it protectively around himself, shivering from the lack of warmth.

"He's also got some sort of cold." I mentioned. "We should turn on the heat back there."

"Right away." Casey said, walking to the front. "Red also volunteered to stay back there with him, so he should be fine until we get there."

I smiled. That was fantastic. The two of them would be fine, I was sure of it.

Throughout all this, April hadn't moved. She barely even blinked. But now she slowly edged forward towards the backdoors of the van. Inside, Donnie had caught sight of her, and was watching nervously for her reaction. Casey and I observed quietly in the background as well, hoping this went down well. If not, there was going to be trouble.

April was in the back of the van now. She was kneeling a few feet away from Donnie, taking a good look at him. Searching for any sign of her friend. She knew it was him, but as horrible as I feel for saying this, he was still pretty unrecognizable. Donnie stared back. He wanted so desperately for her to come to him, to reunite with her. I can't imagine how much they've missed each other. As if to prove me right, one of April's hands reached out towards Donnie.

For a moment, they were still. Then, Donnie leaned forward, letting her rest her hand on his head, and they couldn't hold back any longer.

April gathered Donnie into her arms, and both of them wept, trembling ferociously. His own arms wound around her back, and she placed her other hand on his shoulder. April didn't speak. They were both overcome with emotion, the need to be in the other's presence, and the weight of everything that had happened to them over these few, but long, days.

Suddenly, I got the feeling that they should be given some time to themselves. I turned away from the scene, and faced Casey. He was watching them closely too, but when he saw my expression, he walked forward and closed the door, giving them some time to reunite.

"There's a window behind the two front seats looking into the back. We can check up on them any time we want." He explained, opening the passenger door for me. True to his word, when I sat down, I saw that they had not moved. April was muttering under her breath, but I couldn't hear what she was saying.

The van rumbled to life, and we were off. As we drove, I looked back at the farmhouse one more time. In tomorrow's early hours, the rest of our family would arrive to lay low after Shredder's announcement, and they would never know we were there.

"Mikey is the only one who knows the plan, and he doesn't even know all of it." Casey explained as I turned to face the window again. "April told him and the rest of the family that they could use the farmhouse, but none of them know where we're going."

"Wouldn't they notice that the house looks like it's been lived in recently?" I asked.

"Maybe… maybe not. I didn't really think about that." He said.

Well, there was nothing we could do about that now. We just had to hope they wouldn't notice.

I gave Casey the directions, and we drove in silence for some time. He and April must have been on the road all day in order to get away from the city fast enough. His expression and posture speak of exhaustion. He must not have been getting enough sleep. On his face, there are still bruises from his failed attack on the Foot Clan. Those will take some time to heal. But throughout all this, he looks triumphant that we are all safe so far, and he's determined to reach the house that will be our haven until we returned. Until my father and remaining brothers were ready to have me back.

I wished that I didn't have to hide. If I could, I would drive right back with Donnie. But I wasn't wanted by my family at the moment. Their whole world came crashing down with this tragedy, and it had been caused at my own two hands. If I had just stayed put, like I was supposed to, maybe we would still be at the lair, like a normal day that I never knew. Revenge only leads to more pain. That was the way of my clan, and I had spat on it. Now we've all paid the price.

"Casey… do you think there's a way to fix this somehow?"

I give him a moment to think about this question. Then he sighs. "Who knows. I mean, he's still Donnie. And he's made some sort of retro-mutagen before, I've seen it work. Maybe he'll be able to come up with something if we help him."

That was true. There was nothing Donnie couldn't do so far with that huge brain of his. Maybe we could help him somehow.

Then, Casey chuckled. "You know what that means?"

I turned, confused. "What?"

"We'll most likely end up being his lab assistants." Casey said.

As serious as the situation was, the thought did get a few quiet laughs out of me. I knew squat about science, and I could see Casey was in the same boat as me. April might be some help, but Casey and I were more than likely to cause more harm than good.

Once the silence was broken, Casey and I talked throughout most of the drive. Mostly, he told stories of some of his missions with my brothers, but he also told stories of his little sister, who loved tea parties more than anything else in the world, and his mother. His beloved mother, who died of cancer.

He hadn't been there when it happened. All he knew was that while he was at school, her condition deteriorated, and before nightfall, she was gone. His father refused to talk about it anymore, and the last thing he remembered of that day was sitting alone in his room, too numb with shock to say a word, or even become upset.

"It all happened so fast, which is why I don't understand it. No one saw it coming. As far as I knew, she had been fine the day before. I was fourteen, and Chloe was three. She doesn't remember a thing from back then."

I had no idea he didn't have a mother anymore either. He had the privilege of knowing his. I would always have to guess, or be told about my own mother. The wonderful woman that I missed so much.

I think I know why we didn't talk about it anytime before either. It was too painful for us to dwell on.

What a world we lived in.

Since this was near the end of the drive, our conversation tapered off into silence. It was a little past midnight now, and I knew I needed sleep, but I forced myself to stay awake and pointed Casey in the right direction. We parked the van some ways away from the mansion, deep in the woods, so no one would know we were there.

There wouldn't be any need to go out. Shredder had stockpiled everything someone would need, in hopes that it could be some sort of safehouse for him in case something went wrong. I'll bet he didn't see this situation coming. Now we were using his own place against him.

Up in the distance, the mansion loomed under the moon, surrounded by trees. There would be no hesitating, we had to get up there fast. I reached down to grab my bag, which I had placed at my feet, while Casey went around the back to get Donnie and April. Shortly into the drive earlier, we realized that we hadn't heard a word from them in a while, so Casey and I looked back to check on them. They had fallen asleep sitting up against a wall, their heads leaning against one another.

That was how we were expecting to find them.

Well, we still did, because they were asleep in the same position when Casey opened the door, but little did I know, that something was very off…

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

Casey's shout of surprise instantly sparked alarm. What had happened?! Was something wrong with my brother?! Dropping my bag, I raced around to look into the back.

And blinked.

I rubbed my eyes.

I felt my jaw slowly lower in shock.

Both had been startled by Casey, and were slowly waking. April was rubbing sleep out of her bleary eyes, and Donnie's own green eyes were blinking.

Other than the eyes which still defined the snake, he looked entirely like himself again.

A/N.
Yeah… that's gonna cause some confusion next chapter.

Also coming up, the rest of the Hamato's will arrive at the farmhouse, and hopefully, we'll get to see Mikey's POV. I'm not sure, I haven't made too many plans for that yet. I'm also working on a one-shot that I hope to get out within the next two weeks. My birthday is coming up right around then, so that would feel nice.

Anyways, that's all for now. Everyone stay safe and healthy wherever they are, and let's try to stay positive. And once you're done with this chapter, leave a review, favorite, follow, and as always…

Stay tuned! ;)