When Leo's body temperature finally began to rise and Karai was clearly recovered and resting comfortably, Master Splinter took the album Karai had retrieved and silently went to his room. Mikey waited until he saw Leo's eyes finally close for sleep before he squeezed Leo's shoulder and went to bed yawning.

Donnie heated a new bag of saline and hooked it to Leo's IV before trodding off for sleep as well. After their rough night, he wanted April and Casey to stay close and neither of them argued. As much as he'd like to carry them both off to his room, not only would they not all fit on his bed, but he knew it would appear rather odd to his father. So they settled together on the couch in the pit, okay with sleeping upright, as long as they could feel each other's shoulders pressed against their own.

Raphael stayed with Leo as the others gradually left. All except Karai, who wrapped a blanket around herself and moved to sit in a stool next to Raphael.

"Shredder's gone. Still managed to almost kill us."

"Bastard," Raph muttered.

"Leo's ridiculous," Karai murmured, staring at Leo's sleeping face. "A ridiculous, self-sacrificing jerk."

Raph rested his forehead against Leo's blanketed plastron and almost laughed. "Ya have no idea, sister."

"I'm really sorry, Raphael," Karai said, softly. There was a combination of words she never thought would ever come out of her mouth. The way he suddenly looked at her from the corner of his eye pretty much confirmed that was his thought as well. "It's my fault he was in there."

Raphael shook off her apology the way he'd shaken off Leo's earlier. "He wouldn't want ya apologizin."

"Self-sacrificing jerk," Karai said with a small smile. She paused and eyed Raph before saying, "He asked me not to call him Fearless anymore."

Raph lifted his head at that and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Said it was a nickname he only wanted to hear from you."

She watched Raphael's face as he tried to decide how to react to what she said. She left him to squirm for a few more moments before smiling at him, reassuring him that she understood exactly what was happening between the two turtles.

"Although," she said, looking back to Leo's face, "he was pretty upset when he ran into me earlier. But I assured him you likely were just being pissy and didn't mean whatever you had said."

Raph grunted at her word choice while squeezing Leo's fingers tighter.

"Don't make me regret giving him hope," Karai said.

Raph turned and stared at her for another moment. Was Karai trying to help his and Leo's relationship? Wait, was Karai threatening him?

"Of course, I'll say the same thing to him for you," Karai said, rising from her seat before Raph could get pissy and open his mouth. She patted his shell, wrapped her blanket tighter around herself and moved to exit the lab, flicking the lights off as she left.

Raph's eyes returned to Leo's sleeping face. He brushed Karai's threat aside, even feeling slightly warmed by it as it was clear she was accepting of the two of them together. Instead he focused on the fact that he'd told Leo he didn't like Karai calling him Fearless, and Leo had almost immediately asked Karai to not use the nickname. Even after Raph had said what he'd said about not wanting to be with him, Leo had still spilled their secret to Karai.

Now that they were alone, he leaned forward and nuzzled his face against Leo's face. Leo shifted on the cot and breathed out Raphael's name. Raphael smiled and watched as those blue eyes opened and met his.

"How are ya feeling?"

Leo smiled when he saw Raph there smiling at him, before he looked around the dark, quiet lab. "Is everybody okay?" he asked, his voice hoarse from the cold.

"Yeah, Fearless. Everyone else is just peachy compared to ya."

"Want to talk to you," Leo said through a yawn.

"Tomorrow," Raph whispered, letting one of his hands travel up Leo's arm to his shoulder and back down again.

Leo hummed in pleasure. "Warm, Raphie," he murmured as his eyes shut again. "Come keep me warm."

'I'm not fittin on this thing with ya." He watched as Leo's eyes snapped open and he was suddenly staring back at Leo's infamous fierce glare. "That don't work on me," he said dryly. He gruffed out a sigh when Leo didn't let up. "Ya want Master Splinter to find us cuddled up in here?"

Leo answered by forcing his stiff body over a few inches to allow some room for Raphael.

Raph narrowed his eyes at him, but stood, lifted Leo's blanket, causing Leo to shiver, and then shifted himself on the cot. He wrapped his arms around Leo, threw a leg over his legs and then ducked his face to nuzzle Leo's face.

Leo hummed happily again as Raph's solid warmth covered him.

"Should've done this in the first place," Leo murmured as he let himself fall back to sleep.

There was a knock before his door slowly slid open and his daughter stood peering in at him, wrapped up in a blanket. He beckoned her in and she walked silently over to his side before sitting beside him. He lifted the photo album out of his lap and handed it over to her.

Karai opened the album to the first couple pages and looked down at the familiar pictures.

"You've seen this album before?" she asked.

Master Splinter nodded. "Yes. Your mother and I filled it together. Although, there are a few pictures missing."

"Let me guess, pictures that you were in?"

"He must've gone to our house after her death and taken the album," Master Splinter said. "I never noticed it was missing, although I didn't take much with me when I left."

Karai looked down at her favorite photo of her mother. She was smiling directly at the camera, the sun was behind her, and the wind was blowing wisps of hair around her face. She traced her finger around her mother's face. She turned and looked at her father and found him staring at the same photo. She was still learning about Hamato Yoshi, and wasn't sure how open he was to questions.

"I always wanted to know more about this day," she said slowly. "She looks so happy in these pictures."

An actual smiled appeared on her father's face and he nodded. "We wanted to get married," he said, "but her father did not approve of me."

Karai frowned. "But, you were from a prestigious family, weren't you? A famous dojo?"

He nodded again and ran his hand down the length of his beard. "Yes, prestigious if you were a fan of the ninja lifestyle, which he was not. He wanted Shen to marry a podiatrist he had chosen."

Karai made a face and he chuckled lightly.

"He had even begun organizing her wedding. However, I was determined to talk him out of the podiatrist. So I went to his shop one day to talk to him, but I didn't get the chance."

"Why?"

"Because when I got there, the shop next to him was being burglarized. I took care of the thieves, but when the fight was over, Shen's father was already gone."

Karai frowned. She knew how this tale ended, obviously, but never thought her parents' story would have begun with so much frustration. "Did you go back the next day?"

He shook his head. "I didn't need to. Shen called me to their home, where I was welcome for the first time, and her father held a dinner in my honor. Turns out the shop next to him belonged to his brother, and their family was suddenly in favor of ninjitsu," he said with a small smile and an eyebrow raise as he met Karai's eyes. "So I wasted no time in asking for Shen's hand, which he approved."

Karai smiled and looked back down at the photos. "So the photos taken on this day?"

"The two of us had a celebratory picnic the very next day."

She traced her finger around her mother's happy face once more, extremely pleased to finally have a backstory to go with the photos.

"Do you want to keep this album?"

He shook his head. "As long as you don't mind sharing it, I like that you have it."

"Thank you, Father," she said, with a smile that earned her a smile in return. She stood up to move towards the door. "I think I'm okay to leave the lab and go to bed in my own room tonight. Donnie moved a space heater in there. Leo looked pretty good when I left him. He's practically back to his own color again. Raph is still in there with him."

He nodded in return. "Goodnight my daughter."

Karai paused by the door thoughtfully and then said, "Love sounds pretty complicated. I can't imagine having to worry about needing someone else's approval."

Master Splinter hummed in agreement as she said goodnight and shut the door behind her. He let another smile cross his face as he thought about how well Karai was taking to being a sister. He looked to the picture of Tang Shen he kept in his room.

"You'd be quite proud of her and our boys," he murmured.