"Hey, where's Raph?"

Michelangelo kicked his brother's sleeping bag after seeing it empty. "It's a bit early for him to wander, ain't it?" Leonardo looked up from rolling his sleeping bag. "I noticed that as well," he said. "Hey Casey, do you happen to know where Raphael went?"

Before Casey could respond that he didn't, a sleepy voice explained, "He left as soon as day broke." The others turned to see Donatello sitting with his back against a tree, a few yards away from the still-slumbering April. Confused, Leonardo asked, "Raphael? Up since daybreak?" Shrugging it off, Michelangelo commented, "He probably went lookin' for a bench press or something. You know how wired he's been."

"Exactly," Leonardo told him, standing. "That's why I worry." Turning to Donatello, he asked, "What direction did he go in?" Donatello was about to respond when he realized that, being alone and angry, Raphael could very well blurt out what he had seen the night before. When Casey finished packing up his sleeping bag and asked the same question, Donatello knew that he couldn't risk having either of them speak to Raphael before he had a chance to attempt to extract some of his resentment. "I didn't catch it," he lied. "I was half-asleep. Maybe off by the lake?"

"That works out," Michelangelo said. "We got up this early to go fishin', didn't we? We'll just look for 'im on the way there. He'll meet up with us if he comes back and doesn't see us." Still concerned, Leonardo mentioned, "I don't know. Maybe one of us should do a quick search of the opposite end of the woods, just in case. It's not like Raphael to take off so early; he usually runs off at night."

"I'll do it," Donatello offered, perhaps too quickly. He stood up and stretched, trying to make it look convincing. "I haven't slept well, so I could use the exercise." Grabbing the four sleeping bags from the ground and taking them towards the tent, Casey queried, "April did wake up eventually, right? You didn't stay up the whole night waitin' to give her food?"

With a glance at April, Donatello replied, "Yes. Yes, she woke up. I just… had some trouble getting to sleep, that's all." As Casey slipped the sleeping bags into the tent, Donatello walked off in the direction he had actually seen Raphael go off in. "I'll just look around for Raph. I might not join you by the lake, though. I'm feeling a little… off." As Donatello hurried away, Leonardo gazed after him, narrowing his eyes in thought. Michelangelo stepped behind him. "You don't think whatever April's got is contagious, do ya, bro?" Watching Donatello disappear amidst the trees, Leonardo quietly answered, "I don't know, Mikey."

Casey stepped out of the tent, followed by Splinter. His eyes quickly going over the group, the rat asked, "What has happened to Raphael and Donatello?" Stooping to tie a shoelace, Casey responded, "Raph's gone off by himself again, so Donny's just makin' sure he's not out doin' nothin' stupid." Splinter's seemed to consider this, then looked to Leonardo. Feeling his sensei's eyes on him, Leonardo returned the gaze.

"So come on, amigos," Michelangelo exclaimed as he began picking up his fishing gear. "Let's get goin' before I wonder why I bothered getting up so early when I coulda been getting my beauty sleep." Casey nodded and strode over to April. "Right. Lemme just wake up April." Stepping in his way, Splinter told Casey, "I judge that April may still be feeling unwell." Eyes widening, Casey gasped, "What? How can ya tell?"

Leonardo spoke up. "Sensei has ways of knowing these sorts of things. What do you recommend we do, Master?" Splinter replied that he felt that April would be well after a bit more sleep. "Well," Casey said ponderously, looking towards the sleeping girl, "I guess I can just stay behind and make sure she's doin' okay." Splinter told him that that would be unnecessary. "I shall stay with her. You should enjoy this day with your friends. I will send her to you when I have ascertained that she is well enough." Unconvinced, Casey asked, "Well, what's wrong with her?" Splinter remained silent before turning back towards the tent and saying, "Nothing that a little tea cannot cure."

Casey was about to argue, but Leonardo had stepped towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Trust Sensei, Casey," he told him. "Let's just go out and enjoy ourselves. That's what you told us yesterday, isn't it?" Seeming torn, Casey looked from April to the tent. Finally, with a heavy sigh, he picked up his fishing equipment. "Fine," he conceded. "Hope he's wrong, though. I'd hate her to be sick out here."

With a murmur of reassurance from Leonardo, the trio made their way towards the lake.

To say Donatello was worried would be an understatement.

He walked swiftly and quietly through the woods, his weary eyes searching for his brother. An uneasiness settled in his heart as he got further and further away from the camp. It had been about an hour since Raphael had disappeared, and there was nothing much in this direction besides trees and a single clearing. Unless he circled back to the lake without crossing the campsite, he was still out here somewhere.

But where? And why? Raphael was certainly not the meditative type, and Donatello hadn't heard anything breaking. It suddenly dawned on Donatello: did Raphael know that Donatello would come looking for him, and was waiting for him? Jumping down a small incline, he finally decided that no, Raphael wasn't patient enough for something like that. His rage would bubble over before long, and he would snap if he had to sit around, just waiting.

Walking away from the incline, Donatello heard a twig crack behind him. Turning quickly, he managed to see a green blur before he was hit in the stomach just hard enough to be pushed backwards. By the time he realized that Raphael had snuck up behind him and kicked him, Donatello had fallen to the ground. "Raph!"

Raphael stood behind him, his sais in hand. "Get up," he said darkly. Confused and suddenly terrified, Donatello backed away from his brother. "Raph, what's wrong?" With a growl, Raphael almost yelled, "You know damn well what's wrong! Get up! We're gonna do some sparrin'." Donatello backed up against a tree and slowly began to stand. "Easy, Raph. We're on vacation, remember? We've promised each other to ease off on the sparring for a bit."

Donatello ducked his head as he saw one of Raphael's sais shoot towards him. He heard it hit the tree, and was horrified to see that, if he hadn't moved, the weapon would have gone through him like a hot knife through butter. With what sounded like pure loathing, Raphael replied, "Sometimes promises get broken. Especially the unspoken ones that we'd think would be common sense." In a flash, Raphael was directly in front of him and jerked his sai out of the tree. "Now get your stupid stick out and spar!"

Knowing he had no choice, Donatello slowly withdrew his bo.

"The others have left."

April cringed when she heard Splinter's voice behind her. Turning, she saw the sensei emerge from the tent, holding a cup of something hot. She only felt worse when he offered her the cup, saying, "I informed them that you still appeared ill, and thought it best that you rest until what ails you has vanished."

Trying to keep her hand from shaking, April took the offered cup of tea. "I… I'm fine, Splinter. Really. You didn't have to get Casey all worried about me." Looking her directly in the eye, Splinter responded, "I am of the opinion that he would have worried more had he spoken to you before I did."

Stopping in mid-sip, April tried to return Splinter's gaze before turning away from him, unable to look at him after knowing what he had seen. "Splinter… I… I don't know what to say." She closed her eyes and attempted to stop the tears before they fell. "Everything has just… it's been so much, so quickly."

There was a moment of silence before Splinter finally said, "When one claims to not know what to say, that is because one is afraid of revealing what is truly in the heart. April… have I ever given you a reason to hide your heart from me?" His words made her turn to look at him once more. "No, Splinter! You… you're like a father to me! And the turtles… they're… my brothers." Her voice grew quieter as she went on. "We're a family. What I've done, it's… oh… how could I…?"

She trailed off, looking up as Splinter turned away and walked towards where he had been sitting the night before. "Come here, child," he said as he sat cross-legged by the skeletal remains of what had been a fire. "When one is gifted with the powers of speech, it would be best to use this gift, lest our thoughts eat away at our soul. I am not a judge. I am not a jury. I am merely one who cares for you very deeply and who does not wish to see your heart in turmoil. Come, tell me everything."

Not understanding why she hadn't tried to do so before, April approached Splinter.

"Raph, you're taking things too seriously!"

Donatello ducked again as a sai lashed out towards him, only to lose his balance and have to do a flip to get away as Raphael lowered his weapon once more. "Quit runnin' your mouth and fight." He lunged at Donatello, forcing the scared turtle to raise his bo and jab him hard in the stomach, forcing the wind out of him. "Raph, quit this! Can't we have a civil conversation?"

Coughing as he resisted the urge to double over, Raphael glared up at his brother. "Civil? You wanna be civil? You think a guy who messes around with someone else's girl's got it in him to be civil?" The words hurt Donatello more than a frontal attack, and he frowned at Raphael bitterly. "April's a grown woman," he told him. "She can make her own decisions."

"Yeah?" Raphael countered hotly. "Guess what? I thought you could make your own decisions, too! But it looks like the boy genius turned out to be as much of an idiot as us 'uncivil' guys, huh?" He attacked once more, but Donatello managed to block him with his bo. As Raphael pressed down in an attempt to get Donatello to release his block, Donatello asked, "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"How exact you want me to be?" Raphael breathed out as he bore down on Donatello, trying to push him back. "Want me to find the standard deviation or somethin' for ya?" Donatello jumped away, causing Raphael to stumble slightly. Satisfied with having put a little more distance between himself and his brother, Donatello asked his question again. Breathing hard due to his exertions, Raphael gave Donatello another hard look. "Think about it, Don. If none of us have ever touched a chick, what makes you think you can?"

Donatello began to realize what Raphael was saying. "You mean…?" With a sour smirk, Raphael looked away. "What'd you think, the rest of us are some kinda eunuchs or somethin'? We know April's beautiful; at least, I do. And April's not the only beautiful girl in the city…." Just as it seemed his voice was growing softer, he whirled back to Donatello. "But so what? There's nothing we can do about it! We're even less than sewer rats, and you wanna drag April down into our world?"

Getting tired of the antagonism Raphael was exhibiting when it seemed that they had similar thoughts, Donatello harshly replied, "It's a bit late to think about that, isn't it? April's been with us since we first started battling the Shredder, and she's still with us. And if you think that I'm stupid enough to think that anything long-lasting is going to come out of what you saw last night, then you're the idiot here, Raph."

"Alright," Raphael yelled, turning this into a full-blown argument. "Then if you know that nothing else is going to happen, why'd you bother doing it? You coulda just walked away. You coulda just broke it off, gone to bed, and she woulda forgotten everything she said to you. Why'd you kiss her!"

Because I wanted to!" Donatello responded angrily. "Is that so wrong? She's pretty, she's smart, and she actually wanted me to kiss her! When was I going to get a chance like that again, Raph? I know it's going to hurt someone. And I know that this makes me a jerk. But I don't care. Why should I hide in the sewer and pretend that I don't have any kinds of urges or anything? For crying out loud, people look at me and think I'm a beastanyway; why can't I fall back onto my animalistic instincts, huh?"

Despite Raphael's screamed responses, Donatello turned swiftly and ran away from the scene.

Distant sounds began flooding the air as April finished telling Splinter all that had transpired.

They both sat and listened to the muffled sounds coming from the mess of trees, as though they knew what the undecipherable echoes meant. April looked down at her hands, ashamed. Splinter had seen Raphael watching them last night as well, and so it was safe to assume that the vaguely-familiar yelling was stemming from an argument between him and Donatello… an argument that started because of her petty advances.

After a moment, she thinly stated, "I… will never… be able to look any of them in the eye anymore." There was no response from Splinter for a long time. Just as April wondered if this was some form of agreement, he asked her, "Does Casey have any inkling of your feelings?" She almost sobbed again. "I don't know. Sometimes I wonder how he can't. I feel as though I'm being so stupidly obvious… but then, Casey can be a bit stupidly oblivious." She somehow managed a small laugh.

Splinter allowed another short period of silence to elapse before he observed, "The emotions you have for Casey are sincere. However, you also seem to feel this fondness for Donatello equally." Standing, he told her, "I am afraid that only you can decide which path you are meant to take."

Surprised, April looked up at Splinter. "What? Is that the only advice you can give? There's no lecture about why I should accept last night as a mistake and marry Casey?" Without looking at her, Splinter allowed a sad smile to emerge. "I never offered advice. I merely offered a way for you to rationalize what you feel into words." Glancing down at her, he said, "If you feel that your actions were a mistake, then they were a mistake, and should be regarded as such. It is your responsibility to make this decision. Remember that the happiness of two very noble individuals rests upon your choice, so do not take your contemplation lightly."

Finding herself disappointed as Splinter walked away from her, April commented, "Sure. No pressure." A small chuckle came from Splinter, though it was clear he felt no mirth. Stopping at the entrance to the tent, he looked back at her. "I believe my sons all knew that such would be the consequence if they ever found themselves falling in love with a human. If Donatello, who is by far the most commonsensical of them all, is affected by you, then you are a very special young woman, Miss O'Neil. I have every confidence that you will do what is right."

He was about to disappear into the tent when someone emerged from the woods. "Ah! Raphael!" Seeing that he was alone, Splinter asked, "Where is Donatello?" Raphael's eyes were focused on the ground, his mouth set in a firm line. "He split," he answered curtly. "Ran off."

April was devastated. Without looking at him, she asked, "Where did he go?" Raphael snapped at her. "He split, I said. If you care so much, why don't you go lookin' for him and leave me the hell alone?" Splinter sharply reprimanded him. "Raphael!"

Silence hung in the air, enveloping the three of them. Finally April stood up and walked towards where Raphael had emerged from. "April?" Splinter inquired. Without turning, she answered, "I'm going to look for him." As she crossed paths with Raphael, she felt his hand close around her upper arm as he pulled her to a stop. She gave him a look and saw that he had narrowed his eyes at her. "Do me a favor, will ya?" Raphael requested. "Think 'a Casey. Okay? Just do me that favor."

Pulling sharply away from Raphael, April went off to look for Donatello.