A/N: Great to hear that you all like where this is going! You may all hate me for the Grand Finale to the story though! Read on and review!

Chapter 10 – Acceptance

She knew it would come to this. She had him at her mercy. Finally, she would make him pay for the grief she had suffered throughout the past five years. Five years of repressed rage, sadness and pain. All due to one simple act. It hadn't been easy tracking him down. She had to map out the places where he usually patrolled and plan out an attack. It didn't help that the areas he usually patrolled were Monster breeding central and refugee city. She also had to hide her face when she went into the refugee areas. The public knew who she was and word traveled fast.

Her fighting skills had also increased. After the Sensei had lost his heart after the incident, she had sought training from the remaining brothers – each teaching her different ways of moving and fighting. She was now proficient in many different weapons and was as skilled as Karai – although the Heiress wouldn't admit that to her. She had planned out everything so meticulously and was unsurprised when the Night Watchman fell into her trap. She felt a shiver of pleasure go down her spine as she thought of what happened that fateful night.

Flashback

The door to the dojo slammed shut as the last of his brothers left in a fit of anger. It was just her, the Sensei and him. Sometime during the constant berating and screaming matches he had dropped to his knees in something akin to exhaustion or remorse. She looked at the fallen warrior with sorrow and regret. She could honestly say that she hadn't expected this from him…but knowing his temper, it was something that was bound to happen. From his slumped position, he looked up and sighed in resignation.

"You're the last one? Out with it…you got Leo to come back from South America and well, look what happened."

He sounded resigned to whatever was coming. She wanted desperately to be angry at him – but after listening to 50 minutes of argument, she wanted to convey her disappointment and anger in a different way. Her voice was soothing, with a subtle undercurrent of anger.

"Oh Raph, I know you didn't really mean to kill Leo. It just happened, right? These things happen and you shouldn't blame yourself. Your temper…it's not the best at times, so we can't fault that it overpowered your rational mind. Granted, a little restraint would have been welcome, but that's neither here nor there."

She saw his expression change from resigned to confused. She knew he picked up on the anger – but didn't know what it was aimed at. Internally, she smirked. Running circles around people had always been the job of the Scientist, but she could indulge herself just this once.

"What I mean to say is, it's good you're OK. You were in a battle with a skilled opponent. It was either him or you, eh? Good thing you chose to save yourself instead of, oh, I don't know – choosing peace. Oh well, to each their own, right?"

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He had figured out all of the thinly veiled messages and was looking more miserable than ever. She felt a brief pang of pity for him, but suppressed it. She made a big show of looking at her watch and yawning. It was time for the finisher.

"Well, would you look at the time? Visiting hours are almost over! I'll see you next time I swing around here, then? Great! I'll be seeing you then!"

With that, she opened the door of the dojo and walked out – a smug smile on her face.

End Flashback

That simple act had given her the most enjoyment. Even when the Vigilante had proposed to her, it wasn't the same. If she was to be 100 true to herself, it had given her the most enjoyment – and also the most remorse. It had haunted her all the time. She couldn't get away from it and slowly, ever so slowly – she had accepted what he did.

She reasoned that it was part of his nature. He protected the weak, but he never really protected himself. Not to mention he was always under the influence of his rage and mood swings – but that wasn't an excuse either. She knew it wasn't because she had a few of her own almost incidents. She never wanted to relive them again and every time she thought about them, the train of thought always led back to one person…or turtle. She knew he was sweating under the helmet. She had a sharpened katana poised to slash his neck open. If that didn't work, the modified one-handed chainsaw against his plastron probably would. She wondered if it was like this for him all those years ago – to look into the eyes of your victim and literally taste the fear rolling off them. No matter what the bad horror novels said – it didn't taste like a thousand orgasms coated in chocolate.

It tasted bitter.

With a flick of her wrists, she removed both weapons and let the burly turtle stand up. He looked at her warily, but when she sheathed her weapons he visibly relaxed. Cautiously, he opened up the visor of his helmet and eyed her. When he finally spoke, his voice was wary.

"Why? You hold a grudge for what I did…so why not kill me and be done with it?

She smirked at him – but it wasn't in contempt. It was a slow and sad smirk that changed into a full blown remorseful smile. Her voice held the same tinge of resentment from before – but was covered up by a strong note of self-loathing.

"I finally realized what it was like for you. I finally realized what it was like to be you."

He cocked a brow ridge and motioned for her to continue.

"All along, I was harshly judging you for something you had no control over. I guess I finally viewed all of you not as turtles – but as humans. And your act threw the bucket over me and left me seeing you as the monster I thought you was."

She took in a deep shuddering breath and steeled herself for her confession.

"Damnit Raph, can't you see what I just put you through? I tracked you here – the middle of an abandoned refugee camp – and basically tackled you off your bike! I took you unaware and acted exactly as you would've! I was…I was prepared to kill you without a moment's hesitation."

He removed his helmet and let the cool evening air wash over his skin. His voice was curious.

"So what stopped you?"

"I knew that if I did that, the humans would lose one of their brightest saviours. It would also make me no better than the monsters roaming around here. And I…I want to apologise for what I said five years ago."

She ran a hand through her closely cropped hair and exhaled sharply.

"I accept now that you did what your emotions and anger wanted. I accept that and I hope we can…start over as friends?"

The Night Watchman stared at her for a few minutes, apparently thinking something over. Finally, he stepped forward and opened his arms – embracing the petite woman. His voice held great relief and barely suppressed tears.

"Apology accepted, April. Apology accepted"