Three years later.

"Anyone seen April?"

"Donnie, I think you should keep better track of your girlfriend."

The genius shot a look of warning at his youngest brother, who shrugged.

"Just sayin', you never know where she is lately."

"Never is a strong word in this situation," Donnie bantered, tapping his ballpoint pen against the rim of his clipboard impatiently, "She's just been a bit more... elusive, lately."

"Whatever," Mikey waved off his older brother, "You might wanna check over at her apartment."

Donatello nodded, grabbing his bo staff from its resting spot against the pillar near the lair's entrance, abandoning his experimental notes in its place.

"Yo, Donnie!"

The purple clad turtle's head rotated slightly to meet his brother's gaze.

"It's your turn to do dished tonight."

Donatello sighed out a breath, ignoring Mikey's irrelevant comment and heading down the subway tunnel in the direction of April's apartment.

Thinking about it, his love had been more distant lately. Perhaps it was just the apprehension over senior finals, or her still-recuperating after returning to Earth and watching the Fugitoid sacrifice himself... he remembered how shaken she'd been when her cyborg professor had driven the Ulysses straight into the Triceraton base. Still, April's behavior these past few days had been more pensive than grieving.

Donatello, with all his observational and scientific habits, hated being left in the dark. It drove him completely crazy, not knowing what April was thinking. After all, he'd been stranded in suspenseful waters  in the years before the beautiful redhead had accepted him into her heart. Being uncertain of female emotions wasn't a novelty for the turtle, but that didn't mean he had welcomed back that uncertainty with open arms.

Donnie's thoughts continued their apprehensive rampage through his brain while he traversed the rooftops to April's place.They still hadn't given him peace as he rapped his knuckles against her bedroom window.

No answer. He knocked again. Still, April didn't appear to let him in. At that point, Donnie's heart began to hammer anxiously against his plastron. Perhaps April's distance wasn't some fluke -- perhaps she was purposely shutting him out. His mind spun a plethora of scenarios within seconds of realizing this possibility. Had she grown tired of him? Come to her senses? Was there the slightest chance that after so much time spent in contentment and bliss (at least from Donnie's perspective), April had decided to end it all? Was this her way of rejecting him -- by avoiding him altogether?

Somehow, through the panicked haze that had rapidly blanketed his brain, Donatello's common sense returned. He flattened his palm against the window pane. The glass, normally resonating with the undertones in the music April always played whenever she was home, was completely unmoving, signaling the lack of any song being played. Donnie realized her simple white curtains weren't backlit with the soft light of her bedside lamp.

She wasn't avoiding him -- she wasn't home.

Donnie's paranoia was placated slightly, though his apprehension didn't disappear completely. He looked over his shoulder at the New York skyline, wondering where April could be . The genius scaled the fire escape, craning his neck up to glimpse what he could of the constellations overhead. Few could say they'd been among those stars, and no human (save for April and Casey) had been beyond the Milky Way. To state that Donnie and the rest of the team had made history was an understatement. If not for their being mutants, the group of teens would have been heralded for going where no other Terran had gone -- to the very edge of the known universe!

Then again, if not for their being mutants, Donatello and his family's lives would have been much, much different.

"Donnie?"

The terrapine was jerked out of his mental tangent at the sound of the angelic voice behind him. He whirled around, a smile gracing his face and the worry he hadn't known was pent up within him dispersing at the sight of his love.

"April," he breathed, rushing to her and carefully cradling her hands in his own, "I checked your room, I didn't know where you were--"

"Donnie, it's alright," April flashed him a grin, "I just came up to clear my head."

"Clear your head...," He repeated slowly, to which she nodded in affirmation and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Sit with me," she requested, "stay awhile."

Donnie smiled, walking with her to the edge of the roof and sitting close, staring at the few stars that managed to shine brighter than the many lights of New York City. The moon cast a soft light across the expanse of skyscrapers and buildings, blanketing the earth in a quilt woven of silvery silk.

"It's beautiful out tonight," April said, her hand finding its way into Donnie's once more, "peaceful, even. Gives you room to think."

"You seem to be doing a lot of that lately," he said before he could filter his thoughts.

"Yeah," she sighed, "I just... feel like things are flying past me. I'm graduating, D. Leaving high school."

"Yeah...," he peeked over at her discreetly with a proud smile, "It seems like we were fifteen only yesterday."

She nodded in agreement. "And now I'm looking at colleges..."

"Mmm hmm..."

"And then... real life starts," April turned to look at her purple clad hero, "No more school."

"Hallelujah," he muttered jokingly, leaning over to press a kiss to her freckled cheek.

"Maybe a job. A career."

"I can see it all now. 'April O'Neil, reporting for Channel Six News'," Donnie grinned. "You're gonna be the prettiest reporter ever to appear on camera."

April blushed, bumping her shoulder with his and resuming her stargazing.

"A whole new life. The two of us."

His heart soared, and he pulled her close, her fiery red locking brushing over his skin as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Do you know how excited I am for you? For us?" Donnie held up their joined hands, "Do you know how happy I am that you chose me?"

"It was never a choice," she insisted, "I was just too scared to admit that I'd loved you all along."

The silence returned, comfortable and long. Donatello's russet eyes stared up at the moon, its craters and crevices the only parts lined with shadows, a gigantic orb of illumination in the night sky.

"Did you know the moon is speculated to be at least a billion years older than the Earth?" He spouted off the top of his head, looking down at the redheaded beauty.

"Really?"

"Yep. It's also the only place where Uranium 236 can be found naturally."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah! And it's got an equatorial radius of one thousand seven hundred thirty..."

He trailed off when he heard April's quiet giggles.

"You're teasing me," Donnie accused lightly.

"No, no! Go on," she coaxed, "I just can't help but laugh."

"But why?"

"I never thought I'd be with someone as intelligent as you. It's funny, really, how unlikely it was for a completely average girl like me to fall in love with an amazing guy like you."

He smiled, kissing the crown of her head. "You're not average. You're extraordinary, April O'Neil."

She hummed with happiness at his words, gazing up at him with mesmerizing, crystalline blue eyes.

"It's a symbol of new beginnings too," he murmured, "the moon, I mean. A symbol of a new future arriving."

"How fitting then," April said, "that we are sitting here, looking at the moon, and wondering about our future."

Donnie chuckled, "Yes, our future."

"There's still a lot we both will probably learn."

"Of course."

"Some new adventures still waiting. A few baddies that still need to be taken down."

"Most definitely."

Her lips lifted in a contented smile, her eyes returning to the skyline as a momentary lapse in the conversation ensued.

"...and then maybe, after all the adventures are through... maybe a family..."

"A... family?" Donnie's grip on her hand tightened, looking down at her in surprise. He hadn't expected that.

"Only if you'd want... I mean if you don't want to...," she stammered, straightening up to look at him, true anxiety now showing through in her expression, "That's okay, I just thought... well, isn't that what people who love each other... I'm sorry. I'll shut up."

Her hand slipped out of his, and April moved away in embarrassment, hiding her face from his sight.

"No, it's okay," he finally assured, "...more than okay, actually."

Her voice was soft and timid as she implored, "Really?"

"Really."

Her blue eyes darted over to him for a moment, flicking back to the horizon ashamedly. Donnie blew out a shaky breath, finding the constellations above his head and trying to organize his thoughts.

After a while, he began, "I don't even know if it's possible--"

"But we could try."

He looked over at April again, who brushed her hair behind her ear and bravely twisted to face him again.

"Yeah. We could."

The silence that followed his words was unbearable for the both of them. The couple stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move, to say something.

Donatello reached forward, cupping April's perfect cheek in his hand and meeting her lips in a gentle kiss. April responded in kind, her hand finding its way into his again.

"I want to share my life with you," he murmured when they parted, "whether that means sharing your experiences... or sharing a family with you... I need you in my life."

She smiled, joyful tears beginning to brim at the corners of her eyes.

"I love you," Donnie continued, his eyes flicking to the night sky momentarily, "to the moon and back."

April laughed, her happiness infusing the turtle with euphoria. She pressed her lips to his, her kiss sending fireworks through both their bodies, just as each embrace always had since they shared their very first.

"I love you too, Donatello."