April was still confused, but Donatello appeared just as confused himself, not to mention a little angry.

"What are you talking about?" April asked again, trying to understand what he was muttering about.

"It was Sensei!" Donatello answered, allowing the memory to become clearer in his mind. Splinter looked a bit distraught as he reached down to cover Donatello's eyes. He could recall feeling angry and desperate, but he wasn't sure what made him feel that way. "Sensei…was the one that made me forget Aria…" he added.

Aprils eyes widened slightly. "Are you sure?"

Donatello grit his teeth and stared at the floor. He couldn't say for certain. The memory was vague, but it was more of a feeling. Somehow he knew, but he didn't have any real evidence. He just knew. That small piece of memory was enough. "…I need to talk to him."

Normally, April wouldn't think anything of Donatello speaking to his father, but she could feel an aura of rage from the turtle. When she saw him turning for the door, April panicked and rushed over to stop him.

"W-wait! Don't you have to stay here?!" She asked, doing her best to deter him somehow. "To wait for the results of the tests?"

"I want to hear it from him," Donatello replied, his voice trembling slightly as he struggled to keep the emotions in check. "…I-I want him to tell me to my face that he forced me to forget Aria!"

"But hold on, are you really sure that's what happened?"

"I've been trying to figure out how I could have forgotten her since the moment my memories started flooding back," he replied, stepping back to face April properly. "She was so important to me, so I couldn't accept that I simply just forgot. …but now it makes sense! I was forced to forget! He made me forget Aria!"

"Splinter wouldn't do something like that for no reason," April tried, "maybe—"

"—What reason could he possibly have in making me forget someone I loved?!" Donatello interrupted angrily. "If it weren't for what he did…I could have found Aria much sooner! Or when we met again, I wouldn't have disappointed her like I did! Aria might've been able to stay with us! Or—"

"—okay, okay!" April insisted, trying to calm him down. "You can go around like this all day with what could have been, but it won't change anything."

Though he was seething, Donatello knew April was right. No matter how much he stomped his feet and complained, the past would stay the same. Still, Splinter owed him an explanation. At least now he understood why his father had the bracelet. He must have taken it after erasing the memories of Aria. Maybe Splinter was worried it would trigger his memory if he kept it?

"…Arias parents tried to make her forget me too…" Donatello muttered finally, "…but they didn't know any mystic arts. They just tried to strong arm Aria into accepting that I didn't exist. So it turns out that both our parents worked to keep us apart…"

"Donnie…when you calm down a little…you can talk with your dad about this, but you shouldn't do it when you're angry…"

"I'm gonna be angry no matter what," snapped Donatello. "Why was everyone so intent on keeping us away from one another?! Cause we're different?! I mean, even I was worried about our differences, but to go this far…it's not fair! Our parents didn't care about our feelings at all. So what if I'm a mutant?! So what if she's human?! All we wanted was to stay together! Aria never wanted me to tell Master Splinter that she was hiding in the sewers because she didn't trust adults and I guess she was right! I falsely thought that Sensei would understand and accept her, but it turns out he was against it just like her parents were."

"It might not be so simple," April reminded him. "Arias parents weren't good people, right? But we know that Sensei is. I'm sure he had his reasons."

"…well of course you don't care. You don't even like her." He replied in a huff, turning back to stomp over to Arias bed and plopping himself irately into the chair at her bedside. "Seems like everyone and everything was against us from the start…and because of Sensei, Aria had to do all the fighting alone."

"But you can't change anything, so what's the point of getting angry about it now? What's the point of blaming yourself for everything? What matters is what's happening right now, right?"

Donatello frowned, keeping his gaze on his sleeping girlfriend. Even now, she was suffering. Maybe it just felt easier to place the blame on Splinter right now. After all, he'd been blaming himself this entire time and it was eating him alive. At the very least, he could say that he wasn't so callous to simply dismiss their meeting. He hadn't forgotten her because he didn't care. It was because he was forced to. As he stared down at her face, a sharp pain shot through his head and Donatello stumbled back.

April panicked and reached forward to try and balance the turtle, but he caught himself before she could. I'm an instant, Donatello was back in the lair, watching a nearly blurred, younger version of himself, rushing through the tunnels quietly. This memory was difficult to see. It must have been buried deep. Young Donatello had a small bag of supplies and a flashlight, though the seemed intent on navigating the tunnels without light.

"Donatello!"

Masters Splinters voiced echoed off the walls and before the little turtle turned around, his father had grabbed his hand.

"M-master, please! Just let me find her!" Young Donatello pleaded.

"Do you truly believe you can sneak past me? I told you, going to the surface is dangerous! I can't allow you to—"

"—but I promised!" Donatello shouted, biting back his tears. "I promised Aria she didn't have to be alone anymore! But I couldn't protect her! I need to make sure she's okay!"

"You have only just recovered from your own wounds! It is too dangerous." Splinter insisted sternly. "You are not even fully trained. What do you think you could do for this girl?"

Donatello but his lip as he watched the memory unfold. Splinters words were frustrating. He was right after all. What could a child do? They were both only children. Powerless to escape the cages they were born into. Their worlds were far apart, but the more Donatello remembered, the more similar they seemed.

"They hurt her, Sensei! I can't just leave her alone! Without me…she doesn't have anyone else! M-maybe I'm not fully trained, but you are! Can't you do something?! You could bring her here! She won't be any trouble! I promise!"

"My son…" splinter started, kneeling down to meet the turtles eyes, "…this is nothing like picking up a stray pet. That girl will have people looking for her. They already hurt you once. …we can't risk them finding us and trying to hurt your brothers as well. You must forget about this friend of yours…to keep your family safe."

"…but…" the young turtles eyes welled with tears, "…but I promised. Aria…is my friend. I can't just forget her. I-I'll get stronger! If I get stronger, I can protect her and the family, even if they send people after her again. I can do it!"

His father looked troubled for a moment, "…I am sure that you will become a fine ninja one day, my son." He placed his large rodent hand over Donatello's eyes and frowned, "…but for now, you can forget all of this. …and perhaps one day, you will get the chance to keep your promise…."

Splinters voice trailed off and the memory went dark. Sure enough, Donatello was back to reality, his gaze fixated on Aria once again. So that was it. It was true. His father did make him forget.

"Donnie?" April began in concern.

"We were just kids…" Donatello mumbled. His hands trembled as he held onto the railing of Arias hospital bed. "…why did we have to meet when we were so powerless? Why didn't we have any say in what happened?!"

April wasn't entirely sure what just happened, but he was still clearly upset. "…I don't know," she replied honestly. "…fate seems to have a twisted sense of humor." Of course, she had her own grievances with fate. After all, why did Aria have to show up before April sorted out her feelings?

"…well I'm not a kid anymore." Donatello choked out, still keeping his back to April. "I'm gonna fix this. …and I'm going to keep my promises this time! No matter what I have to do!"

"Well, of course you're going to help her. We all know that…" his words worried her some. Why did it sound like he was about to do something stupid?

Donatello turned around, his determined gaze unwavering as he glanced at April. "You should go back home. School is on Monday and your dad will be wondering where you are."

"Oh…but I can stay for a little while longer if yo—"

"—no," he insisted quickly. "…sorry, but, since we have your blood samples, you don't need to stay here. …but I do appreciate your help."

April sighed sadly. It was obvious that Donatello blamed the world for keeping him and Aria apart. He wasn't completely wrong, but his anger was misplaced. "Donnie, you two were children…" she tried again, "…nothing goes right for kids who want something outside their means. You both had different reasons why it would have been hard to stay together."

"I know that," he muttered. "I know it's not rational to feel so cheated. …but I don't feel cheated. Aria was the only one that was cheated. She was cheated out of happy memories. She's the only one that really suffered from all this."

"Yeah, but the thing is…she doesn't seem to care about any of it." April replied.

"…she's a positive person." Donatello sighed, slumping himself down into the chair by Arias bed with a glum expression. He sank in his seat, seemingly pouting over the fact that he couldn't do anything about this revelation. "…even when I met her, she brushed aside a lot of things to look on the bright side."

"Yeah, I know, she's prefect…" April mumbled, feeling slightly guilty being annoyed with a woman that was out cold. She didn't like feeling this ugly. "…you'll call us if you need anything, right? Don't shut out your family because of what you remembered."

"I will. …but for now—"

"-I know, I know," April interrupted with slightly raised hands, "you want to be alone. Just… don't overdo it."

Donatello nodded and offered April a small smile. "Thanks for the help…" it was nice to talk with April like this again. She was always someone he could speak his mind with. In fact, he found he could be even more honest now that he wasn't trying to impress her.

"Anytime," April replied before she left the room. A part of her felt slightly hurt when Donatello didn't stop her from leaving, but she shouldn't have expected anything else at the moment.

"Shall I arrange a ride?" Lawrence asked, appearing beside April and causing her to jump in surprise.

"Stop doing that!" She demanded. "…and…no, I wouldn't trust you to drive me anywhere. Who knows if I'd make it to my destination."

"You speak as if I would hurt you at any time."

April still didn't understand this person at all. How could he expect her to feel safe around him when he threatened her and admitted to murdering people already? "…I'll call Casey to come and get me and I'll be waiting in my guest room."

Lawrence didn't insist on arranging a ride and simply nodded his head as he watched April stomp off.

Being left alone like he wanted, Donatello felt tired. He sighed heavily and threw back his head to stare at the ceiling. "You know…" he began quietly, "I had a dream the other night. One where we were kids again. This time, your parents didn't find you and you lived with my family in the sewers. I doubt it would have gone as smoothly as it did in my dream, but it was a nice fantasy until I woke up."

He sat in silence for some time after that. The beep of Arias EKG was all that could be heard in the echo of the room. Staring at the ceiling, he went over the possibilities of what would happen now. Should he confront Splinter about what happened? What if Aria didn't wake up? If she did wake up, where did they go from there? He was sure that the only reason Lawrence tolerated all this was because Donatello was Arias best chance at a cure. If he did cure her, would Lawrence throw out all pretense and go after Aria? Suddenly, Donatello's heart dropped and he quickly straightened his back in the chair.

"…n-no," he nervously chuckled to himself, "that's ridiculous. Like I told April before, Aria would turn him down anyway. I mean….right?"

Anxiety crept up on the turtle once again. He already felt terrible for forgetting Aria and causing her such grief. It didn't help that he felt inferior to the handsome butler that had been by Arias side this entire time. Lawrence knew everything about Aria and he was there for her when Donatello couldn't be. If Lawrence seriously decided to pursue Aria…would she realize that her childhood crush on a mutant was nothing compared to the bond she shared with her butler now? Thinking about it carefully, he felt like a supporting character in a romantic novel. Weren't there plenty about rich young women who fall in love with their butler?

The turtle shook his head frantically and slapped his cheeks simultaneously in an attempt to shake these insecure thoughts from his mind. "Keep it together, Donatello!" He demanded of himself aloud. "Are you seriously in any position to doubt Aria right now?!"

He was a bit embarrassed over his behavior, glancing back down at Aria. Hopefully she couldn't hear this ridiculous display. The turtle blushed lightly as he admired how lovely she looked, even while sleeping. "…I never asked…what you might want to do out on a date…" Donatello began, thinking back to their first date where she catered to his preferences yet again. "…so when you wake up, we should…have another date…"

Though he figured she couldn't fully retain what he was saying, it was embarrassing to say aloud. "…when I was little…I wanted to buy you flowers…" his voice trailed off in a nervous mumble, pressing his fingers together nervously. "…I couldn't find any in the sewers…and you were taken before I could get my hands on any…but I'm older now. I know you have an entire garden and can buy all the flowers you want for yourself…but it's something I always wanted to do for you. So…when you wake up…I'd like to give you those flowers…"

The lab doors opened and Lawrence stepped inside to see Donatello speaking bashfully to a sleeping Aria. "Miss O'Neil has left for home, Master Donatello," he informed the turtle after clearing his throat to announce his presence.

Donatello worried that Lawrence had overheard, but he tried to hide his embarrassment and nodded his head, "right, th-thanks…" he replied quietly. "Um…I'm…gonna take a walk before it's time for the other doctors to come take a look at Aria. Could you—?"

"—I'll be sure the Doctors arrive from the front of the building. Feel free to roam the gardens without concern."

"…thanks, Lawrence." Despite Donatello's concern over the butlers feelings for Aria, he was glad for the help right now. He also had to appreciate how efficiently he did his job without complaint. Still, he wasn't used to being waited on and Lawrence didn't seem interested in being friends at all. The turtle reluctantly left Arias bedside and decided it was best to stretch his legs before trying to get some sleep. Even if he knew sleep wouldn't come easy, he had to try and stay healthy to make sure that Aria did too.

Lawrence stayed behind, waiting until Donatello was out of the room before he moved towards Arias bed. "Things seem to be going well, but we really are running out of time. I'll have to start testing your Turtle…" he commented before placing his hand over Arias heart. A faint, silver glow began to emit from his palm and Arias monitors seemed to glitch out. "If he doesn't pass…no matter how much you hate me, I'll have to do my job…"