TMNT Oneshot: Reflections

It had been a while since April had been able to spend time with the boys, since she had started college to get her degree in journalism and working part time at the Second Time Around. Each one of them had a prospective partner now, but she hadn't put her finger on which one would be the first to settle. Maybe even have a family. It was about time that they all sat together like they once did. Splinter had retired to his room hours ago, leaving the everyone to their own in the living room. There had been a weird game of truth or dare. April had caught the boys up on her home life, and they did the same. They would always fall in line, always be the best of friends. But things had changed now. It wasn't just April and her boys. Her boys, her brothers, had moved on. And it was almost odd to see how life had turned out for them.

Leo was standing, leaning against the chair that Karai was sitting in. After Shredder had nearly mutated her, she had wound up coming to live with them. It was dangerous at the time, and even though it had been years, there was still a tinge of bitterness on April's tongue. Leo was a leader. Karai was a rogue soldier. She wasn't even sure how it was really working for them, since she was Splinter's daughter. Donatello had studied their genetics, and made it very clear that none of them share Splinter's DNA, but that the mutagen had merely copy and pasted the human aspect of it. Sometimes it still made April uneasy, especially that one time she caught them in the kitchen...that was just gross. Karai had little decency, while Leo had all of it. It could have been worse, April thought to herself. They could have actually been going at it. But for all of Leo's seriousness, April doubted that Karai would want to actually settle down. Leonardo was not stubborn enough to make her, at least not at the moment. At least they were better about PDA than Raphael and Lisa though...

Raph was trying to sip on his beer at the moment, but Lisa was in his lap and stealing his drink. April did not know how her cousin and Raph put up with one another, but they made it work. April would giggle whenever he would tease the girl-turned-lizard, calling her 'Mona', which was her first name. The hothead disliked it excessively so, and her little tantrums would throw Raph into a fit of laughter. They were too much like each other though, and April could only hope and pray that they wouldn't break one another's hearts. They already had on countless occasions, but it was never anything permanent. Each was a rebel, and each cared for one another deeply, but they argued constantly. They bickered about little things, and April wasn't too sure that they would be ready for anything like that any time soon. Donatello and Emily on the other hand...

Donnie was sitting on the couch, his arm wrapped around Em. If things had been different, April surmised, she and Donnie may have at one point fallen in love. He had a crush on her for what seemed like forever, but once she thought she could have had feelings for him, she was torn emotionally by someone new. Donatello had been broken when she and Casey had started going out, but now he couldn't seem happier. He doted on Em like she was a china doll, and she clearly only had eyes for him. They were what April would have considered goals when she was a teenager, but she knew not everything was right. Emily was always very sick, and she could remember clearly when the young girl's heart had failed. It was by a miracle alone that Donnie had saved her. Through all of that, April knew they were dedicated to one another. They were like peanut butter and jelly, or tomato sauce and cheese. However, Donatello would probably never want to try for children even if they could. He was always talking about risks too the point it would drive Emily insane. At those points, the blonde would just lock him out of his lab and workshop. It would make him focus on something else. But if there was somebody who needed help focusing, Marie always made sure Mikey was on target. Well, at least to the best of her ability...

April couldn't figure Marie out. She was one of the oddest mutants they had come across, albeit the only turtle one. By their count, she should only be six years old to Mikey's near twenty one, but she had the maturity and body of a full grown woman. The best any of them could calculate, and Mikey knew best in that matter, that was exactly what happened. After the Kraang's initial meeting with the turtles, they had turned their efforts into creating similar mutants to test their serum on. Marie was still a turtle at the time, and after her mutation, she had been an infant like the turtles had. However, because time in Dimension X passes so differently, and Mikey had made this very clear, she was able to age appropriately. Unlike the rest of the girls though, she lacked some very distinguishing features- such as hair and breasts. She was flat chested, but often wore a weave. When she had escaped and crossed over into their dimension, she had been blind. An old woman had taken her in, and that was where Marie was given her name. The woman was from New Orleans, and was apparently the best cook ever. She taught Marie so many secrets, Mikey couldn't help but fall in love with her cooking ability. Donnie and Em had managed to correct her vision as much as possible, but she still spoke with a heavy Southern accent. She even taught Mikey how to curse in French, which was funny to all of them. Still, she hadn't been there long enough for April to really get to know her. Plus, Mikey was still...Mikey, and he would need some serious growing up before he could even think about getting married. But then, so did she and Casey...

Gazing over to her boyfriend, April shook her head. He was a mess, and his ideal job was just being a vigilante. That would not pay the bills. As far as April knew, she would be the own to bring home the bacon. She had finally realized that she was okay with that. She had fallen in love with Casey, and if she tried to change him, then she didn't really love him. And oh God...God knew how much she loved him.

"So..." She grinned, looking at all of them. "Which of you are getting hitched up first?"

Leo blushed while Karai elbowed him, Raph sprayed his beer all over Lisa and she started fussing at him, Donnie and Emily blushed consecutively at the same time, and Mikey burst into giggles while Marie shook her head. Some things would never change.