Just as April was starting to register the seriousness of the situation, she jumped into the water in a panic. She really didn't consider that someone who grew up with a pool didn't know how to swim.

However, April was beaten to the punch when she saw Donatello gliding through the water and scooping up the heiress towards the surface. Once he breached the water, Donatello took a deep breath and was greatly relieved when Aria began hacking and coughing up the water she'd swallowed.

April came up to the surface just as Donatello was lifting himself from the pool with Aria in his arms. "Is she okay?!" April asked frantically. As much as she didn't like Aria, she didn't want to hurt her.

Donatello set Aria on the ground and Leonardo rushed over with a towel to help her dry off. "She's going to be fine," replied the techy turtle with another sigh of relief. Though she wasn't in danger, Donatello could see her body trembling slightly. He took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around the soaked girl and swallowed back his concern. "…it's okay now."

"I-I'm fi-fine…" Aria assured him as she tried to steady her breathing and stop the coughing.

"What happened?" Leonardo asked.

"It-it was an accident," April announced quickly as she left the water. "I grabbed her hand and she fell backward. I'm so sorry. I thought she would just swim back up, but I didn't realize she couldn't swim."

"Why were you grabbing her?" Donatello asked irately.

Aria coughed into the towel that she clung to as she shook her head, "L-love…it was an accident…"

Donatello took a deep breath. He knew it was pointless to be angry at April. She wouldn't harm Aria on purpose. He knew that much. He was just worried. "Right. …well…at least you're not hurt…"

April was a little surprised that Aria had stood up for her. "…um…I—"

"—perhaps it would be best if you took Miss Aria to be examined?" Suggested Lawrence as he made his way to them. "I'm sure this wasn't easy on her heart."

"Oh! Right!" Donatello replied as he quickly stood up, taking Arias hands to help her stand as well. "I'll go and make sure everything is okay, you guys just hang back, okay?"

The others nodded, but April felt a little pushed by the tide here. She wanted Donatello to stay. Watching his back as he led Aria away was somehow more painful than she anticipated.

"It's okay, April, it was an accident. I'm sure Aria will be fine," Mikey offered with a smile. "Besides, she's got Donnie, right?"

"…right…" April replied absently, stung once again by those words. Aria had Donnie.

While everyone settled down back at the pool, Donatello had led Aria back to her bedroom. She sat in her vanity's chair while Donatello listened to her heartbeat.

"I told you…I'm fine. You're worrying over nothing. I wasn't even in the water that long." Aria insisted.

Donatello sighed and took off the stethoscope, "that's not the point. You already have a bad heart and I know dealing with April stresses you out so it's best to—ow!"

Aria had reached over and pinched Donatello's cheek, "stop treating me like a broken doll." She insisted. "My talk with April went just fine and she didn't mean for me to end up the water. …it wasn't a pleasant experience, but I'm not hurt and my heart feels fine."

He rubbed his cheek once she had let go and looked down at his lap with a troubled expression, "I'm not trying to treat you like that. …I'm just worried. I…don't want to run out of time to make your cure. If something happens to your heart before I'm able to help…" he trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought.

Aria leaned over and kissed his forehead. It's not like she didn't understand, but she didn't want him to pile on anything else he could feel responsible for. "It was my choice to speak with April and I'm the one who stayed so close to the water."

Donatello nodded his head, "yeah. …you know maybe we should just stay out of the pool until—"

The heiress laughed lightly and kissed his forehead again, "my love, you can't keep me in a bubble until there is a cure. You'll just have to accept that not everything is safe. Besides, I still want my private lessons."

The turtle knew she was right. Protecting her from everything was impossible and he didn't want to keep her from doing things that made her happy. He sighed once more and glanced up at Aria, "just don't do anything too reckless…"

Aria looked a bit nervous now, "ha…well…you know…things happen…" she answered awkwardly.

"…what did you do?" He asked flatly. Clearly something dangerous was already going on or she planned to do it soon.

It looked for a moment that Aria was struggling whether to say anything or not, but she ultimately lost the battle with herself after looking into his eyes. "Well…you know that… project my company is working on? …it's actually…a community for Mutants." She admitted with a nervous smile.

"…huh?"

"S-sorta like China Town," she began to explain quickly. "I bought tons of commercial property and…sorta bribed a lot of people so that I could get the permits to build homes and such. I know you and your family want to remain in hiding, but there are tons of people who were mutated that lost their entire way of life or had to leave their families in shame. I wanted to give them a place where they could live and maybe be a part of society again."

Donatello stared up at Aria curiously. This sounded like a good thing, so why did she seem nervous, as if he wouldn't like it?

"It's been going pretty well…but…Lawrence is worried that the anti-mutant radicals won't take this sitting down and get violent. So he made me move back here."

"He thinks they're going to hurt you?!" Donatello asked in a panic, getting to his feet.

"It-its just some stupid, bigoted people," Aria added in an attempt to calm him down. "But they do have a lot of guns and make a lot of threats. He's just being cautious because of how reckless they can be."

"Once you announce something like that, those crazy people will be all over you!" Donatello exclaimed. "Mob mentality can turn people into monsters! What if they really try to hurt you?!"

"Lawrence has already gone over all the risks. I know what I'm doing. Someone has to take the first step in getting Mutants the rights they deserve. Even if people don't like it, you guys exist. They can't just keep forcing you all to hide or abduct you like it's nothing." Stated

Aria, standing from her chair. "If I do this, mutants can start to live with humans side by side. I'm doing this for the future generation of mutants too. For—" she stopped as her cheeks turned pink. "…it's just important…"

"This is really going to put a target on your back…" Donatello groaned. He couldn't deny that this was a good thing. If there was something like that before, maybe he and his brothers would be more accepted now. Maybe they could have gone to school like other teenagers. Still, he didn't like the fact that his girlfriend would be the object of hate from simple minded humans.

"I'm aware," Aria nodded. "Lawrence said he has taken care of all the security for when the announcement is made. Believe me, he's just as paranoid as you are about this."

"Were you just gonna let me find out with the public?"

"I wanted to tell you when I had everything ready to go," answered Aria. "…I thought you would be happy about it. I'm going to set up schools and a hospital…and even a supermarket for some mutants with different dietary needs," she explained excitedly, "isn't that awesome?! And eventually, I can try to get some bills passed that allow Mutants to regain their status as citizens so they can get proper jobs, go to public schools, or even get married! I know it won't all happen over night and I also know not everyone will accept this, but this needs to happen for a better future."

Donatello smiled in defeat and stepped forward to wrap his arms around her carefully, "we'll protect you from the shadows. As a little added security."

"Then everything will definitely be fine." Aria added happily, snuggling herself into his embrace.

It was then that Donatello realized she was still wet. "You should get changed before you catch a cold," he reminded her quickly as he pulled back to turn her around towards her closet.

Aria pouted a bit. He was still fussing over her. "Okay," she replied with a smile, "but you have to unzip me first."

Donatello blushed once again and glanced down at the dress that now clung to her curves. "Y-you know…maybe—"

"—would you rather I asked Lawrence? We didn't bring a lot of staff here, remember?"

Donatello flinched and immediately shook his head, "I can do it," he insisted now. He didn't want another guy to do something like this. "You seem intent on tormenting me like this…" he muttered.

Aria giggled, "is it really so awful?"

The turtle gulped as he slowly pulled down the zipper of her wet dress. He could see the small beads of water slipping down the back of her neck and he held his breath. "…it's not awful…" he began quietly, "that's exactly the problem."

Once the zipper had been pulled down completely, Aria put her hand over her chest to keep her dress up and cover her scar before turning around to face the turtle. "…does it have to be a problem?"

Donatello's face turned red, "we—well it can become one…and—and we have company so —"

"I don't think having them wait a few minutes would be so terrible," Aria hummed, "…so… won't you let me thank you for helping me today?"

The rooms temperature rose around Donatello and though he knew this was probably a bad idea, he had already reached forward and placed his hand at the small of her back. "J…just for a minute…" he mumbled bashfully.

While Donatello was supposed to be checking on Aria, the others were occupying themselves in the pool and April thought would be a good time to look around. She left the pool on the pretense of going to a washroom, put her sweater back on, and began roaming the halls. "How am I supposed to find anything in this place…?" April muttered to herself, already finding that she'd gotten lost. She passed by a large painting of Aria and her deceased parents and she stopped to examine the family depicted there. Aria was sitting on her mothers lap, appearing around the age of eight or nine. She wore a light blue dress with frilly lace along the puffy sleeves and the hem. Little Aria was smiling in the portrait, but it seemed forced. Since it was a painting, couldn't they have made the family look happier?

"Lose your way, Miss O'Neil?" Lawrence asked as he came up behind her.

April jumped slightly and quickly turned to see the stoic butler. "You need a bell or something!" She snapped irately. "…and I was looking for a bathroom…"

"I see…and instead you found the family portrait." Lawrence commented simply. "It's a lovely painting, isn't it? This was done just a year or so before Miss Aria ran away from home."

"…and then about ten years later, you had her parents murdered." April chided. "Do you even feel anything when you see their picture?"

"My father was the one driving when they had their accident. It was truly unfortunate that he would have a sudden stroke that night, but that's all their deaths were; an accident." Lawrence replied.

Aprils stomach dropped. So Lawrence killed his own father? Though she doubted he would admit to something like that. "…and your precious Aria inherited everything. It's what you wanted, right?"

"My only purpose in life is to make sure that Miss Aria gets everything she wants." Nodded Lawrence.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound psychotic at all…" commented April as she rolled her eyes. "… doesn't she already have everything she could ever want?"

"Miss O'Neil, I suggest you go back and join your friends. If you'd like, I could direct you to the washroom."

April sighed. He wasn't going to let her wander around, that much was clear. "Are you in love with her or something? Why go so far for her?"

Lawrence actually seemed amused by her question and he smiled, but his expression only served to disturb April. "Love?" He repeated. "Do I seem so simple to you?"

"Love isn't simple…" April replied, stepping back towards the wall.

"Love is just that, Miss O'Neil. What I feel for my mistress will never be quite so simple. Though I would hardly expect you to understand. There aren't many who could."

"If you like her so much…are you really happy seeing her with Donatello? Wouldn't you want her for yourself?"

"Coming from you, that sounds almost funny," shrugged Lawrence. "But this is exactly why I said that you wouldn't understand. Someone like you never could."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you should enroll in a better school, Miss O'Neil. Yours seems to be lacking."

"You—" April started furiously, her cheeks flushing slightly. "—you're such an ass!"

"Be that as it may, I suggest you go back and join your friends. You could easily find yourself stuck somewhere if you wander around on your own."

"Piss off!" April shouted in a huff as she turned her back to him. Despite her anger towards him, April knew it was pointless to keep looking with Lawrence watching her.

As April left Lawrence in the hall, Donatello and Aria were taking a moment for themselves. What started as a simple kiss had intensified despite Donatellos attempts to keep his cool. He didn't even know when they had moved over to the edge of the bed. He was holding Aria close to his chest, enjoying the feel of her bare back at his fingertips.

To the turtles surprise, it was Aria that broke the kiss first, taking a deep breath from some air. He realized now that she was sitting in his lap and honestly couldn't remember how they got in this position. His face burned as he met her eyes, "…y-you okay…?" He breathed out.

Aria nodded, "I…I keep forgetting to breathe through my nose…" she admitted in embarrassment. "…I…keep getting nervous and holding my breath."

Donatello's heart swelled in his chest. She was absolutely charming. Though Aria was usually the one to initiate contact like this, he knew she wasn't immune to feeling nervous just as he was. "Ha…me too…" he replied quietly.

Aria smiled and rested her forehead against his, "I love you…so much…"

The turtle smiled. It felt like his heart would burst from his chest. To love someone and be loved back so freely, it really was a different kind of happiness. "I—"

"—AGH!" Aria gasped out before Donatello could utter another word. Her whole body tensed up and she clutched at her chest.

"A—ARIA?!" Donatello called out in a panic, swiftly lifting her up and laying her down on the bed.

Her eyes were closed tight and she had clenched her teeth to deal with the pain while clutching at her chest. Donatello could see the black and green veins start to spread from beneath the fabric that covered her chest and slowly move up to the side of her neck. The turtle grabbed Arias hands tight, "H—hang on! I need to get your medicine!" He tried to turn for the door, but Aria gripped his hand.

"D…don't go…!" She pleaded with desperate eyes, still trying to catch her breath.

"Please…!"

Donatello was at a loss. He didn't want to leave her alone either, but he needed to help her before anything got worse. Suddenly, he remembered what Aria said about D-3 a while back. He was wired into everything. "D-3! Call Lawrence! Tell him to bring Arias medicine at once!"

D-3 opened its eyes in a flash. The noise coming from the small robot seemed to suggest it was sending a message, but it also shuffled over towards Donatello in a hurry. He was confused until the little robot opened its mouth wide to reveal a syringe. The techy turtle gasped and quickly scooped up the little machine. He placed the needle at the side of Arias neck as he saw Lawrence do once before and D-3 injected Aria with her medicine.

After the medicine was administered, Donatello waited anxiously for any sign that Aria was getting better. At first, her breathing seemed to slow down, but to his dismay, Aria gasped out again and her back arched as if she'd been shocked by something. The veins spread even faster and Aria started to hyperventilate. The blood drained from Donatello's face and his heart sank to the floor. Why wasn't it working?