The next morning, Sarina wakes up much earlier than everyone else. She heads out of the hallway and out into the living room, where she lingers for a moment before she hears rustling in the kitchen. She makes a beeline for it and when she goes inside, she finds Destiny holding a large bowl and a whisk, whipping at some sort of batter inside.

"Hey Sarina," Destiny greets, setting the batter down and turning to check the nearest waffle iron. "How'd you sleep?"

Sarina takes the nearest seat. "Wonderfully. What about you?"

Destiny purses her lips for a split second, then smiles. "Uh, great. The usual," she says.

The conversation dies. Destiny grabs the bowl and spoons a glop of batter onto the waffle iron. She closes it with a satisfying hiss and immediately moves to the cupboard to retrieve teacups, her tail swishing as she hums to herself. Sarina taps her fingertips against the tabletop, watching the wolf girl go about her business.

"Destiny, does Donatello feel love for a girl?" she inquires.

Destiny stiffens and her tail stops wagging. The cyborg waits patiently for an answer. "Is it a specific girl?" Destiny asks slowly.

"A girl with red hair. I recognize her from the Kraang missions. They call her April O'Neil." Sarina tilts her head. "You know what I am talking about, don't you?"

Destiny bites her lip, setting out the teacups on the table before turning and getting the teapot, which already has teabags in it. She fills the pot with boiling water, instantly filling the air with a fragrant aroma that makes Sarina inhale far more deeply than she needs to.

"Yeah," Destiny sighs. "Donnie's in love."

"He didn't seem happy when he mentioned that sort of affliction before," Sarina continues as Destiny turns and flips a waffle from the iron and onto a plate. "Why is that?"

"The girl he's in love with doesn't love him back, not in the way he wants," she answers, spreading some butter on the hot iron before putting more batter on it. "It really hurt him and...well, he's still hurting."

"What? But loves seems so pleasant. I am feeling confused again."

"Love is pleasant, but it's also very powerful and can completely blow up in your face. You have to be careful with it." Destiny's face falls and she sniffs as she checks the tea, giving it a stir before placing the lid back on the pot. "When it comes to Donnie, he's loyal. Once he loves you, he's gonna keep loving you, even when it's not...ideal."

Sarina ponders the wolf mutant's words as she snatches the fresh waffle from the plate on the table and chews it thoughtfully. An unfamiliar feeling washes over her, setting off her eye flashes and making her let out a noise of alarm as she nearly drops her half-eaten waffle and leers back in surprise.

Destiny nearly spills tea everywhere as her tail fur spikes. "What?! What happened?!" she demands.

"A new emotion!" Sarina declares. Destiny crumples, one hand pressing down over her heart as she takes a few deep breaths and mutters to herself. "I feel bad for Donatello and the pain he is experiencing, even though it is by no fault of my own."

"Is it pity?" Destiny suggests. She finishes pouring the tea into the cups, then turns to ready another waffle. "That's all I've got."

"Is pity good?"

"Yes...and no." She smirks lightly, thinking of Master Splinter. "I'm going to take a page from Raph's book. Pity is always a good thing to have, but 'too much makes you spineless and wimpy, and that gets you creamed.'" She chuckles. "So, yes and no."

"Raphael seems like a very angry turtle. Is anger like hatred?"

"They've got some similarities, but they're still different. I'm not sure of how to explain it."

Destiny opens a cupboard and reaches for a container. Sarina puckers her lips, leaning forward a little as she cranes to read the label.

"Destiny?" she asks. The wolf opens the container and begins shaking tiny red flakes into one of the teacups. "What are you doing?"

Destiny looks up. "I'm just making spicy tea for..." She stops, face slackening as she realizes her mistake. Her brief confusion deflates like a punctured bouncy castle and she sighs, pushing the chili flakes aside. "For nobody," she finishes.

Sarina stares at her. "You made three cups of tea. There are only two of us here."

"No, I...I make tea for Splinter and Leo in the morning. I'm usually awake pretty early, so I get it done then. That's, uh...why I make breakfast too." She runs her fingers through her curls. "The third cup is habit. Just forget it."

"Chili flakes...I did not know that was a tea garnish."

Destiny shakes her head. "It's not, it's...erm..." She takes a long breath. "The guy who drinks his tea like that, he's got, like...no tastebuds. He loves tea, but he loves spice and he can't taste anything unless the flavour is—" She makes an explosion motion with her hands. "BOOM! So he mixes tea and chili, but, yeah...force of habit."

Sarina keeps staring. "Is the man you speak of named Diaval?"

Destiny's face goes white. "What?" she asks. "Did someone tell you about him?"

"I saw the photos in your room last night," Sarina continues. "He seems like a very strange fellow, but you seem to like him a lot. The pictures I found hidden beneath your milk crates gave me a great deal of joy."

She folds her hands on the table, her half-smile making another appearance, but it quickly disappears when she sees Destiny's face. The wolf mutant's expression is somewhere in the range of murderous to utterly horrified. She opens and closes her mouth repeatedly, her hands starting to shake.

"You...you snooped in my stuff?" she finally squeaks out, clenching her hands into fists. "I was half-asleep when I heard Leo tell you not to touch my stuff. There isn't much, I know, but those pictures were hidden for a reason!"

Sarina blinks a few times. "I...have alarmed you. Do you not like this Diaval? Is that why he is gone? Did he leave you?"

"Shut up!" Destiny snaps. Her voice breaks at the edge. "Stay out of my room and don't talk about Diaval when you don't know anything about him!" She sniffs, her eyes widening as she becomes aware of something else that's gone awry. "DAMN IT!" she screams as she whirls around, finally noticing the burnt mess of waffle still trapped in the iron. "GOD FUC—PIECE OF SH—GOD—"

"You are very good at curbing your profanity. It's admirable."

"SHUT UP."

Destiny unplugs the machine and stabs helplessly at the blackened hunk of dough as tears dribble down her face, her shoulders quaking as her breaths come out in choked gulps. Sarina keeps staring, eyes flashing.

"Would you quit staring at me?!" Destiny demands, wiping roughly at her tears. "God, just...leave me alone."

She storms out of the kitchen, hugging herself tightly as she stumbles over her own feet all the way to her bedroom, where she slams the door so hard that it makes the entire lair shake. Sarina sits in the suddenly empty kitchen, surrounded by the scent of burnt waffles and overly-steeped tea. She can faintly hear the sound of the other turtles talking, along with gentle knocks on what she can guess is Destiny's door.

Sarina looks at her lap, eyes flashing. "Confusion levels have reached a new high," she murmurs.

When the turtles go into the kitchen, still alarmed, all they find is the far-too-calm cyborg sipping away at a spicy cup of tea. She glances at them, motioning to the tea as she sets it down.

"This is terrible. I don't understand how Diaval can stand it," she states.

There's more than one heavy sigh from the others.

----------

There's a new kind of awkwardness over breakfast. Unfortunately, the turtles' wake up times corresponded with Destiny's emotional fit to the tee, so while the wolf mutant hides behind her closed doors, the turtles, Splinter, and Sarina sit in the kitchen and eat the breakfast that Michelangelo salvaged from Destiny's leftover ingredients.

Sarina can tell that there are questions just begging to be asked all around, and yet nobody says a word. She can't fathom why they would let their opportunity for answers pass them by, seeing as she herself never lets a question go unasked.

Leonardo finishes his breakfast first. He gathers his dishes and sets them next to the sink, hardly sparing a friendly glance at Sarina.

"I'm gonna check on Des," he says. "I'll be back to do dishes in a bit."

"Nah, I'll do the dishes," Raphael offers. He stands, his own empty plate in hand. "You just make sure she's okay."

"I'll dry and put away," Michelangelo adds in as he hands off his own dishes. "Just call me the Towel Boy."

Leonardo forces a weak, but grateful smile. "Thanks guys."

He disappears swiftly. Splinter finishes his tea and sets the cup by the sink, thanking his sons for the meal before heading off to the dojo. Donatello excuses himself, even though he hardly ate a thing, and makes a beeline for his lab. Sarina lingers in the kitchen, waiting to see if Raphael or Michelangelo will start a conversation, but nothing comes from either of them.

She leaves the kitchen and heads to Donatello's lab. When she walks in, she finds the purple-masked turtle staring at the wall with his head in his hands, shoulders trembling. She moves closer.

"Donatello?" she asks.

He jumps, nearly falling out of his seat, and she blinks and steps back. Donatello wipes his eyes and crosses his arms tightly over his chest, trying to force a smile as he turns to face her.

"H-Hey, didn't see you come in," he says, rubbing the back of his neck as he tries to clear the stuffiness from his voice.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I wanted to ask about what has made Destiny so...strange," she says.

He coughs into his elbow, straightening up as he dons a more casual persona. "You'd know better than me. You were the only one in the kitchen with her, so—" He shrugs, cutting himself off in the process. There's a biting edge to his tone that Sarina hasn't noticed before.

She blinks. "I simply asked her about Diaval. I saw the pictures that she hid in her room and I was far too curious to leave it unquestioned. She became angry and burnt the food she was making, then stormed out. I don't know what I did to upset her, but I'd like to know."

His eyes widen and he opens his mouth, then stops and lets out a heavy sigh as he drags his hands down his face. "Well, that explains it."

"She acted very rashly. I did not do anything."

"Actually..." he starts, "you kind of did." She blinks rapidly, mute, and he continues. "Des is a private person, but she feels a lot." He adds, "You can read it all over her face, actually," as an afterthought.

"I don't see your point."

Donatello exhales heavily and motions for her to come closer. When she obeys, he places his hands on her shoulders and lowers her into a chair. He takes another, propping his elbow against the table at his right.

"My point," he continues, "is that Destiny hid away those pictures for a reason and you invaded her privacy by looking at them. That upset her."

"She should have hidden them better if she didn't wish for them to be found," she states.

"Sarina..." he says, warning.

"What? She hid away pictures of someone that she seemed very happy with. I do not understand why I am in the wrong and why all of you are so cross with me! Does she hate Diaval? Did they hurt one another? I just want to know!" Her eyes flash rapidly and she takes a few short breaths. "Oh, I hate this feeling."

"Guilt, perhaps?" he suggests. She frowns, but says nothing. "Look, Sarina, Diaval is Destiny's best friend and she loves him a lot, but he left a few weeks ago to go live in Canada. Destiny hasn't talked about him at all since he left and she's hardly said his name either. She's been bottling up all her feelings about him and when you started pressing for answers, she snapped. Do you get that?"

"Bottling up...?"

"Yes, like she's been stuffing all her sad feelings away and refusing to talk about them," he says. "It's like shaking a bottle of soda and then opening it, or mixing baking soda and vinegar and trying to keep it contained. Eventually, it all comes out in an explosive mess."

"But why?" she insists. "If he is her best friend, as you claim, then why would she do such a thing? Why would she refuse to speak of him and make herself feel like a shaken, carbonated beverage?"

"Because she misses him."

Sarina's eyes flash. "Miss...him? Was she shooting at him?" Her eyes flash rapidly yet again. "I have never been more confused in my entire life."

Donatello almost smiles. "No, to miss someone is..." He ponders, lips pouted. "Okay, rephrase. You never plan to miss someone until they're gone. That's when you realize that you want them to be around and you want to talk to them and be with them, but you can't. You miss people that you love when they're not around."

She finally looks away from him. "That is so strange," she murmurs. "I always thought that love was something simple. You love someone, they love you, it is always romantic, but now..." She sighs. "You are making me question everything that I thought I knew."

"I'm sorry."

"Please," she says, scooting closer to him, "tell me about love. I want to learn."

Donatello cringes, shaking his head. "I'd rather not, Sarina."

"But I want—"

"I don't care," he repeats forcefully. "Here's another lesson; when someone is visibly upset about something, do not persist and back off. That's probably why Destiny got so upset with you in the first place. You don't know when to stop and have no regard for the feelings of others."

Sarina's eyes flash. "I...I am sorry. I had no idea that I was being an annoyance. I meant no ill will." She bows her head. "The guilt has returned. It is making me feel...almost nauseous. Oh, how I hate it."

"It's not great," he agrees softly. When she still doesn't look up, hands knotted in her lap, he purses his lips and lets out a long, soft breath. "I'm sorry too, for snapping at you. You still don't understand a lot of things and I need to be patient. It's not your fault that you don't understand."

"You are being very patient with me, Donatello. I will try harder to be better than I have been, just for you," she promises.

"Well...thanks, that's very thoughtful."

He doesn't say anything more. Sarina brings her chair closer, their knees just brushing as she tilts her body towards him.

"Are you truly upset with me, or are your emotions elevated because April has hurt you?" she asks. Her face has softened with pity, making her more inviting to the eye.

"I don't want to talk about April," he repeats. "I just want to move on."

"Alright," she says. "You do not have to talk, but if you don't mind, I will. I find that speaking my mind helps me arrange my thoughts."

Donatello sighs heavily and swivels his chair around so that he can comfortably bury his head in his arms. There's no point in trying to stop her motormouth once it gets started and he's sure that no amount of begging will reach her.

"Destiny said that April doesn't like you back, or at least, not in the way you want," the cyborg says. "I find that silly. Doesn't she see how wonderful you are?"

He scoffs into his arm-cave. "You hardly know me. You're lying."

"I am not lying. I may not know you well yet, but I know enough to be sure that I find you wonderful, attractive, sweet, and of course, intelligent."

There's a beat before Donatello slowly raises his head. "A-Attractive?" he repeats, his cheeks just a tinge pinker. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a giant, mutant turtle."

"And?"

"And..." he says. "In most books, that's synonymous with 'monster' and 'ugly'. Can you honestly say that you find me attractive?"

She pauses for three solid seconds. "Yes."

"You're just saying that," he mumbles, slumping back onto his arms.

"I am not. I feel pulled to you, like one magnet to another."

He turns his head enough to peek out at her. "Wait...so you aren't actually attracted to me, looks-wise?"

She blinks. "I do not understand."

"Attraction isn't just related to magnetism," he explains. "Attraction also means that something or someone has the power to evoke interest, pleasure, or liking from another. Like...physically, emotionally, mentally."

"Oh, I see," Sarina says. "I do not feel that type of attraction."

"Of course you don't," he mumbles to himself.

"But, no matter, that is just another feeling that I must learn." She knots her fingers together in her lap. "What is it like to be attracted to someone in the way you have described?"

Donatello's mouth forms a tight, hesitant line, but the obvious eagerness in her eyes softens him just enough to humour her. "Um...it's a mess. Your chest gets warm, you get distracted just by being near them, and you just want to be around them because it makes you happy. Their touch can make you feel...really nice."

His gaze becomes misty as his attention fades from the present and into the past. He tries to remember the feeling of her hand brushing his cheek, her sparkling eyes, the feel of the wind gusting in the trees on that day when her lips finally brushed his. If only...

"Interesting," Sarina murmurs, snapping him from his daydream. "I think I am starting to get it. Your love for your father, brothers, and Destiny is purely platonic; it is a familial love. On the other hand, your love for April is romantic, but one-sided. Furthermore, you have told me that Leonardo and Destiny have a requited love but are not together. I still don't understand that."

"Dating," Donatello says. She stares at him and he almost laughs. "When you date someone, you're testing out a relationship together that, if all goes well, ends in marriage and being together forever. Des and Leo aren't dating anymore, though."

"Ah, I see. So one day Leonardo and Destiny will be married," she says, as sure as if stating the fact that the sky is blue. Donatello opens his mouth to correct her, but she isn't done. "Anyways, they have a romantic love, but Destiny also loves Diaval in a platonic way, much like your familial bond with the other mutants in this lair. However, her love for Diaval also makes her miss him so much that she can't talk about it without hurting herself internally."

"That's pretty much spot on."

Sarina's eyes flash. "Love is like science," she says. "One central topic, but with many different branches that all relate to the root of the subject." Her lips twitch into her half-smile. "That is fascinating."

Donatello's mouth falls open. "Woah," he murmurs. "That's a great analogy. I never thought of it like that."

She doesn't answer. Instead, she goes very still as her smile fades. "Oh," she breathes out. "I get it."

"What?" he asks.

Her eyes are knowledgable and show more pity and sorrow than she ever has before when she looks up at him. "You miss April."

Her words smack him across the face, stunning him silent. He nearly hiccups in an attempt to speak, his eyes getting teary all over again as he tries again and again to force words out, but he can't. It's like a giant fist has been stuffed down his throat and it's grabbed hold of his vocal cords.

"Donatello," she nearly whispers. "Do...do you miss her?"

He blinks rapidly, tears slipping down his cheeks. "Every day," he croaks.

In the silence that follows, Sarina rises to her feet. She reaches down and grasps Donatello's hands, tugging him up as gently as she can. He gulps, his mouth trembling as he goes to wipe his face, but she reacts first. She steps forward, bumping into his chest, and wraps her arms around him, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"It is alright," she murmurs, her eyes fluttering shut as she rubs her hand along his shell. "From what I have learned today, missing someone is just a part of loving them." He sniffles and she takes in a long breath. "It makes me thankful for the fact that I have no one to miss," she admits.

He returns the hug, still sniffling occasionally, but she doesn't squirm. In fact, her body is relaxed and fits against him as if they're two puzzle pieces that have finally found right where they belong. He doesn't feel awkward for once in his life.

"Actually," she adds, keeping her voice low as her eyes reopen, flashing once. "I cannot say that I have no one to miss. I would certainly miss you if you were gone."

He lets out a choked laugh. "Y-Yeah?"

"Mmhmm."

"I think I'd miss you too."

They keep holding each other for a little while. Sarina pulls back enough just to look at his face. His tears have stopped, leaving tracks along his green skin.

"Do you want me to detach now?" she asks.

He meets her eyes. "No, just...just a little longer. I'm starting to feel better."

She returns to hugging him as her lip quirks. "Michelangelo was right."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing, just making an observation."

There's a soft laugh, still choked but less so than before. "Alright."