Authors note: please note, that from this point on, the story will be from Raphael's point of view.

Thank you for all the kind reviews and comments. You guys are amazing.

Now, enjoy part two of Humanity!

What does it mean to be human? Does it mean you have two legs and two arms? Does it mean you can talk and understand the words of others? Maybe it means that you can think for yourself and that you have free will to do whatever you want.

Does being human mean that you have a soul inside of you? Do all of these things come together in one all encompassing idea of what it means to be human?

Is that what they mean when they say "humanity"?

Can you find your human self even if you weren't born a human?

Some would probably say that being human means that you have the capability to fall in love, to find someone who makes you... feel.

If you were to ask me, I would have no idea what it means to be human, because I'm not one.

I was born a mutant freak and I accepted that fact a long time ago.

Living in sewers wasn't all that bad. My brothers, father, and I made a good life for ourselves. It wasn't anything special, but whatever, it worked just fine. We grew up being taught that we were different, and even though that wasn't a bad thing, it did mean that we had to be careful.

Humans could never see us. That was the most important rule. The only rule, actually.

Well, besides the rule that I couldn't just punch Mikey in the face whenever he was being annoying, even though he might really deserve it.

These rules had worked out just fine for a long time.

Until I met Lily.

Lily changed everything. She really had, even though that sounded pathetic and cheesy. Somehow, the idea of being with a mutant turtle didn't completely disgust her. I thought that she was just crazy, distracted from my flaws by the fact that I had saved her life. I figured the illusion would fade away eventually, but it didn't.

She stuck around. For whatever fucked up reason, she wanted to know me.

And for whatever fucked up reason, I had fallen in love with her. It was a sick, twisted joke. Turtle-freak falls for beautiful girl.

Only it wouldn't end with me being turned back into a human, like at the end in Beauty and the Beast (Donnie's favorite movie growing up, 'cause he had a crush on Belle).

Nah, I'd never be human.

Because I was never human to begin with.

And I'm okay with that.

When Lily didn't call me like she'd said that she would, I began to worry.

I had paced back and forth in my room for three days waiting for her to contact me. I'd tried calling her many times, but it just kept ringing and ringing. I'd tried from Leo's phone, Donnie's phone, Mikey's phone, and even Splinter's. Each time, I'd been greeted by the same ringing, until I finally gave up.

"Dude, chill. She's probably just busy at work!" Mikey had said over and over again.

"Raph, you can't go look for her. Sensei said so." Leo had lectured.

"I'll check to make sure her phone isn't broken when I see her." Donnie had assured me.

It wasn't until the night of the third day that Splinter finally let me leave. He was concerned now too, admitting that it was weird to not hear from her for three whole days.

I'd never moved so fast in my life. It felt like I was flying as I ran across the rooftops towards her apartment building. When I finally lowered myself down next to her bedroom window, what I saw almost made me fall to the ground in shock.

Nothing. Her apartment was empty.

I sat there for a minute, trying to figure out what was going on... Trying to come up with some logical explanation for why all her stuff would be gone.

A light flicked on in an apartment below me, and something on the ground caught my eye. I dropped down and bent over to examine what had flashed in the light.

It was Lily's phone.

Donnie's handiwork was unmistakable, even if it was crushed to pieces. It looked like it had been thrown from her window, which I could only assume to be done as a message to me. I nodded to myself, letting the truth of the situation sink in.

Lily had finally realized what I had been trying to tell her all along: she didn't belong with me.

I gathered up the pieces of the broken phone and stood up.

I didn't feel like going home right away. I needed to think.

I spent hours running around the city. I knew that I'd be in deep shit once I got back home, so I figured that I'd better soak up the freedom while I had it.

When I finally did go back to sewers, my family practically attacked me. They were all talking at once, and I just pushed past them. I didn't hear their voices. I really didn't care about what they were saying.

"Raph?!" Leo demanded, grabbing my shoulder firmly and pulling me around to face them. "What happened? Where is Lily?"

His words cut through my skin. I never wanted to hear her name again.

"Gone." I replied simply.

"What do you mean, son?" Splinter asked sharply.

"She's gone. She left." I repeated, trying hard to not loose my temper. If I freaked out, they'd just make me talk about it more. I didn't want that. I just wanted to be alone.

"Lily finally realized what we are and left. She's gone. Her apartment is packed up. There's nothin' more to say." I continued firmly, giving each member of my family a hard glare. "She threw this out of her window," I added, pulling the broken phone pieces from my pocket and tossing them at Donnie.

"I'm goin' to bed."

I left them all standing behind me, shocked and hurt by the news I had shared.

I didn't care.

Lily was gone and there was nothing I could do about it, except try to forget that I'd ever met her.