Chapter 20
Returning Home
"Jake...I have to go back to my dimension with Donatello," Marsha insisted as she took a seat on his bed.
"I know, I just can't stop thinking about you," Jake whispered, sitting down beside her.
"There's other She-Kats out there, Jake. I'm sure you'll find someone better than me. You just have to keep your eyes open."
Jake shook his head, closing his eyes. "No...no one can replace you. I know I've only known you for four days, but it seems like I've known you my whole life, Marsha."
"Jake..." She was trying to think of an easy way to let him down, but geez, he was making this hard on her. True, Jake had saved her life, but so had Donatello. Plus, she had given her heart to Donatello way before she even layed eyes on Jake Clawson.
Marsha jerked her head up when she heard the door creak open and saw Chance poke his head inside the room. "Hey, Marsha? I was wondering if I could talk with Jake alone for a few minutes." Marsha nodded and stood up. As she passed Chance, he whispered to her, "You should sit and talk with Donny. He's in the living room."
Marsha slipped out of Jake's room and hurried downstairs. She stopped at the foot of the stairs, seeing Donatello sitting on the couch, hands clapsed together, his gaze on the floor. "Donny?" her voice came out in a whisper as she neared the couch.
He looked up at her and sighed. "Hey," his gaze returned to the floor. She took a seat and scooted beside him.
"Donny...please, tell me what's wrong," she pleaded, leaning against him.
"Why?" he whispered, keeping his gaze on the floor. "Why did you have to fall in love with him?"
"What? Donny...he's in love with me...but, I love you!"
"Then tell me why you were going to risk your life to save his! I saw your expression when he hugged you..."
"Donny...you know how much I care for you," she whispered.
He stared at her with unblinking eyes. "Really? Then look at me as you looked at him!"
Marsha stared at him, shocked at his actions. She lowered her gaze to the floor. "Donny, you know I want YOU. I don't care how this happened and why it happened, I just want to be with you."
Donatello sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You just want me back because we're leaving this dimension tonight," he muttered.
Marsha shook her head as she wrapped her hands around his arm, resting her head against his shoulder. "No...I want to leave this dimension, too. I don't want to interfere with their lives...I love you, Donatello, please, forgive me."
"Marsha, you know I'll always forgive you, because I still...and will always love you," Don whispered, pulling her into a hug.
"Jake, you HAVE to let your feelings for Marsha go. I know how hard it must be, but you have to..." Chance started, but was interrupted by Jake.
"No, you don't know how hard it is, Chance. You've never experienced love to know how much it hurts when someone doesn't have the same feelings as you have for them," he muttered, then stopped as he saw the change of expression on his friend's face. Chance's ears had drooped and he now wore a frown on his face. "Aw, Chance...I'm sorry, I guess I forgot about you and Miss Briggs."
"No, no, it's okay, buddy. Let's just forget this whole thing ever happened.We never met Donatello or Marsha, deal?" he asked, holding out his paw.
Jake hesitated a few moments. Could he really forget about her? No, but he had to try for his friend. He sighed and took Chance's paw. "Good. Well, it's about that time to say good bye to them. Don's getting that portal ready." Jake nodded and followed Chance downstairs to the living room, where they saw a huge, swirling vortex in front of the television.
Don noticed the two of them and smiled sheepishly. "Hey, sorry about the location for the portal, guys. It'll disappear as soon as we leave."
Chance shook his head, smiling. "Eh, it's okay, Donny. Scaredy Kat doesn't come on for another hour, so you have plenty of time."
Don smiled and looked at Marsha. "You ready to go back?"
Marsha looked back and saw Jake staring at her. She lowered her gaze, before looking back up at Donatello, a smile on her face. "Yes, I'm ready, Donny."
"It was nice meeting you guys!" Don took Marsha in his arms and prepared to jump into the portal. "See ya!" In a second, they were gone...and so was the portal.
"Home sweet home," Donny smiled as they appeared back in his room. He set Marsha down on her feet. "You happy to be back, Marsha?"
She paused at the foot of his bed before looking at him. "Of course I'm glad to be back home, Donny. I missed home so much..." she stopped herself, upon seeing that she was still a She-Kat. "Donny...do I have to stay this way? I mean...you have the antidote, don't you?"
Don shook his head, sadly. "I'm sorry, Marsha, but I don't. While you were in Mega Kat City, I was doing some research and Leo told me that the Purple Dragons broke into the Bio-Genetics lab and totally trashed the place."
Marsha's ears drooped. This body...too many memories of the Swat Kats... She thought. "Aww...Marsha, please, don't be mad. I still love you," Don whispered, pulling her into a hug.
"I still love you too, Donny..." she whispered back. What will my friends say when they see me like this?
"Come on, let's go see the others, okay?" Don asked, leading her towards the main room.
Leo's head jerked up when he felt another presence in the room with them. He looked up to see his brother...and some humanized Kat...what the shell? "Donny, you're back...who's the girl?"
April, Casey, Usagi, Raph, Mikey, Usa and Brittany stared at Donatello, waiting for his answer. "Guys, this is Marsha," he started.
"No, way...that can NOT be our Marsha!" Usa protested.
Usagi looked the She-Kat over, carefully and stepped back, smiling. "It is our Marsha." he turned to face Donatello. "You have just used the Ooze to transform her into their kind so she would fit in their dimension, am I correct?"
"Absolutely correct, Usagi-san," Don replied, a smile on his face.
"Is there an antidote to this, or what?" Brittany spoke up.
"I'm afraid the antidote to the mutation was in the Bio Genetics lab, but I'm pretty sure when the Purple Dragons trashed the place, they destroyed all of the experiments as well," he replied.
"I see..." Brittany's voice trailed off as she stared at her newly transformed friend.
Marsha lowered her gaze to the floor, suddenly feeling a bit out of place. "Well, I personally dig the new look, dudette," Mikey spoke up, hoping to cheer her up a little.
Marsha gave a small smile. "Thanks, Mikey," she whispered.
"So...who's up for some pizza?"
To be continued...
