This is all her fault. She is the one who lays her true feelings on the line, only for them to be crushed under the deception of a desperate turtle. She was stupid for coming here unannounced. She was stupid not to leaving once she knew about Amber's family. She was stupid for not leaving once she found out what Mikey really was. She was stupid for giving her heart to him. And now she would have to return home and deal with the guilt and live with her mistakes alone. She tightens the belt of her coat, secures her boots and shoulders her bag. She leaves a note for Amber on her door and drops her things in the hallway. She goes upstairs and slides a letter underneath Mikey's door. She could tell him goodbye, but she doesn't want to make another mistake. She heads down and walks through the bookstore. She can't believe she had been here almost three months, time squandered that she could never retrieve. All actions have consequences. And she will learn from her visit here. She was just on holiday , what more could it have been?

She opens the front door and sees the cab ready and waiting.

"Arimi!"

She rests her bags out on the stoop; she signals to the driver to start the clock, and closes the door when she hears Michelangelo calling her from the bottom of the stairs.

He runs over to her. "Arimi! What, what are doing?" He has the letter in his hands. All that is written there in, 'goodbye.'

"I am leaving. I am going home."

"I don't understand! And by this 'letter' you gave me, it looks like you didn't want me to."

"My feelings are my own. I do not wish to trouble you with them any longer."

"Bullshit!" He shouts and startles them both. He rarely cusses and never to her. What she is doing right now astounds him. She's acting like a self-righteous snob and it's tearing his heart to bits. "Tell me why you are trying to leave?"

"Who is Mitsu?" She spits at him.

"She was a girl we knew a long time ago."

"I know all about her."

Mikey looks at her, puzzled. " Then why are you asking?"

"Amber told me the story of you and your brothers, time traveling. This Mitsu could be my ancestor and Amber says I favor her."

"Yes that's true."

"You loved her and had to leave her. Is that why you pursued me so?"

"Well, that's why I wanted to know you. But I started liking you and I thought you liked me too, so my past starting to matter less and less…"

"I do not believe you."

"You can believe four teenage mutant ninja turtles and a New York redhead used an old relic to travel back in time to feudal Japan to help fight a war? But you can't believe what I'm saying now?"

"This is not about believing fantastic things! This is about telling the simple truth that is in your heart!" She turns and places her hand on the doorknob.

"Where's this all coming from? Why are you bringing her up now and are ready to walk out the door because of her?" Mikey's hands are up, trying to coax her to stay and explain.

"You spoke to her to in your dreams a few nights ago. You were thanking her." She turns to face him.

"That's why you were acting strange yesterday, because I thanked her while I was sleeping?" He asked.

"You were thinking of her, dreaming of her while you were holding me!" They had only shared his bed one time. It was after their first time.

"You said I was thanking her, it's not like I was kissing her! And I can't help what I was dreaming about!" He said defensively.

"No, but you can help what or who is in your heart! I gave something to you, very precious… And now I feel it was wasted! You have used me!"

"I would never! I would never use you! I gave you something too!"

"You were giving it to her!" Tears filled her eyes. She quickly wipes them away, denying her hurt, trying to look strong.

He shakes his head. "You think that I would pretend you were her…"

"Is it not obvious?"

"Arimi…" He moves to hold her.

She backs away, pressing against the door. "I will not be made a fool of! I will not give anymore of myself than what I have already given! Tell me the truth Michelangelo! Do you love me because of me or do you love me because I remind you of Mitsu?"

He almost answers too soon. He doesn't just want to say the correct thing. He wants to tell her the truth, no matter how she may react. He steps back from her and looks her in the eyes. "It's you, Arimi. I'm sorry. The first time we kissed, you remember blanking out?" She nodded. "Well, Mitsu came through you. She acknowledged me. She was looking for me for four hundred years and she finally found me. And then she let go. And you came back. It couldn't have been clearer what she was saying. I was never meant to be with Mitsu but I was destined to meet you. I only spent a few days with Mitsu, but I've had months to be with and learn all about you, Arimi. You are fun and smart and laugh at my jokes. You don't treat me like an idiot. And I think you are the cutest, most adorable person in the world. You may look like her but you are not her. You move, dress, and smile differently. You look at me differently. I can't let you go without knowing the truth. My feelings for Mitsu are gone even if I'll never forget her. If I was thanking her, it was only because she had led me to you." He runs his fingers through her hair, if only for the last time. "Whatever you decide to do, know that I love you, Arimi Kirisawa. And I'm thankful that I got to be happy with you, even for a little while. We've found each other once, maybe next time we'll be able to stay together."

Arimi stares into his sad blue eyes. She nods her head, turns and walks out the door. She goes to the driver and hands him a twenty-dollar bill. She gathers her things from the stoop and walks back in. Mikey is still standing there. She drops her things, grabs at his wrists and lowers her head. She is weeping. "Mikey please forgive me for doubting you! I make hasty decisions and do not think before I act. I wanted to believe the worst of you. It was easier than believing you were as perfect as you really are. I love you too, but I am a monster!" She looks up at him, her eyes glossy, pleading. "Could you ever love a monster like me?"

His heart doubles over. He holds her face, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. "You are not a monster."

"I'll stay. Please let me stay. I want to stay in America with you!"

Mikey thinks. There she goes again with her hasty decisions. He doesn't know the first thing about immigration. But he does know that if they were meant to be together nothing would keep them apart. "You are my precious little Mimi, you would make me so happy if you would stay with me, and I'll never stop loving you." He kisses her and doesn't let her go for a good while.

…

Amber awakens two hours later. She ambles over her comatose turtle and stumbles to her feet. She walks to the bathroom and turns on the faucet. It runs a while before she remembers what she's doing and reaches for her toothbrush and toothpaste, nothing worse than morning breath. She rinses and wipes her face with a warm washcloth. She notices that she has once again used Raph's toothbrush and rolls here eyes. She heads back to her bedroom to change and notices a bright, pink post-it on her door. She focuses on the small writing: Will call you when I'm back in Japan. Amber springs to life and opens wide the guest bedroom door. She sees Mikey lying on the bed, breathing softly. Amber creeps over to him and looks over his shell. She sees Arimi's little hand holding his arm. Amber breaths a silent relief and heads back out the door. She mouths a grateful 'Thank you, God!' and gets ready for work. The rest of the day goes by slowly and boringly. Much better, Amber proposes, than how it could have turned out.

…

In the quiet darkness of their bedroom, Amber lies on her side while Raphael wraps himself around her from behind. She had yet to say anything to him since his return from patrolling with his brothers. The turtle team rarely go out anymore but when they do Amber can't sleep until he comes home and climbs in bed with her. Raphael's shower-fresh skin warms against hers. His touch calms her anxiousness but it still doesn't make what she has to say come any easier.

"I have to tell you something." She starts softly.

"Hmm?" Raphael says, already nodding off.

"Raph, are you listening?"

"...MmmHmm." No, he's not.

"Raphael, I'm pregnant."

"Hmm...WHAT!" He snaps up and nearly falls off the bed.

"I'm kidding. Are you awake now?" She says turning over to face him.

"What the hell, Amber? My heart almost popped out my shell!"

"Jeez I hope not. Then who would help me raise our turtle babies?" She falls out laughing.

"Not funny. Don't surprise me like that. Especially when me and Donnie just talked about this."

"Really… about babies? What did he say?" She asks curiously.

"He said somethin' about chromosomes not lining up to, uh...have a catalyst? Something about not enough of the same DNA to procreate."

"And he just told you? What, you talked to Donnie about the possibility of getting me preggers recently?" She teases.

Raphael fumbles the words in his mouth. "It's... just somethin' that's been on my mind... on and off. I don't think about it a lot... do you?"

Amber fumbles just as much. "Uh... no. I mean, sometimes I do. But I'm hardly ready for all that... even if we could." Amber brought this on herself. Neither was sure if they could have children. They would never take the time to talk about it in-depth. One is always too embarrassed to make a serious discussion of it and the other is too afraid to encourage it. They did decide to let it happen if it happens and deal with it as it comes along. After over two years of being intimate it never did happen. Now that Donnie confirms the facts with his brother, all her dreams about one day being a mother are now just dreams. She would deal with those feelings later. Right now, she had to get this conversation back on track. "Raphael, there really is something I need to tell you."

"Okay." He lies back down beside her. "Go ahead."

"After you and your brothers left to go patrolling, Arimi came to my room in tears. She said that she and Mikey have confessed their feelings. She's decided to stay in America with him."

"Yeah. He told me the great news while we were out... so why was she cryin'?"

"Well, think about it. She's torn. Arimi just gave her heart to Mikey. But everything she knows is in Japan.

"Sounds familiar."

"Yeah but unlike me, she's not running away back to Pittsburgh like a coward."

He puts his arm around her. "You came back."

"All because of you, Raph. And Arimi's willing to stay because of Mikey. She knows the risks. She knows what she's giving up and what she's getting. Somehow she thinks I can help her... Raphael, she's asked me a huge, very huge favor. I didn't say yes yet. I told her I needed to talk to you first."

"Ok. What is it?" He tries to hide the stiffness in his voice.

"I... would have to go back to Japan with her and stand beside her as she confronts her parents."

He obviously didn't like this. They had just recovered from their argument about Amber's traveling. It's not the fact that she travels. It's part of her profession now and there is nothing he can do about that. It's the being too far away that he can't protect her. It's also fiery jealousy. He literally hates that she gets to live out the most exciting times of her life without him. He feels like Amber's deformed lover, forced to hide behind closed doors always waiting, waiting, waiting for her to return. Amber's snapshots and stories are sometimes painful to see and hear. His life is on pause until she returns but that is his own fault. He's going to have to jump-start his interests again so he doesn't feel so lonely. Still, the waiting becomes unbearable and her leaving kills him a little inside every time. Now she's being asked to do it again, but this time it's for love. It's for his youngest brother. How can he say no? "When would you leave?"

"Two days. That's when her visa expires."

"If she's plannin' on livin' here permanently don't certain legal requirements have to be met?"

"Yes. She believes her farther may have some power to move things along."

"They ain't just gonna let their only daughter move across the world. What does she plan on saying to them? She obviously ain't gonna tell them it's for love."

"I don't know what she's going to say to convince them. I'll be more than happy to buffer their concerns. She'll live here with us. She can continue helping me in the store. She can continue school if she wants. Between Donnie and myself, we bring in more than enough to support us all. We'll come up with something."

He smoothes her hair back and plays in the soft twists. "Just, don't come back without her… for Mikey's sake."

She cradles his face in her hands and kisses him. "How can you be so wonderful?"

"You're worth it." He kisses her back.

They lie in the comfort of each other's presence. She opens her eyes to see Raphael drifting off again. "I would have loved to give you children someday."

"…Just another reason why I love ya."