Here is the epilogue I hope you enjoy! I don't own TMNT!

EPILOGUE

I sat where I did everyday, on the ledge by the large pond. Sure the algae glowing brightly were a beautiful sight but it paled in comparison to her. I closed my eyes as the aching started in my chest. It had been two weeks since I left Harley with Bishop. Two weeks of waiting for her to return. I had imagined every possible way she would show up with a smile on her face as she saw me. The confidence I had in her, that she would come back, was starting to fade.

Soft footsteps crushed the soft grass around me. I heard it but it sounded a million miles away. There was nothing out of the ordinary about one of the others coming to check on me. They did it more than a few times a day, tried to talk to me, get me to eat more than a couple of bites. It was mostly my brothers or Jade. The mystery turtle sat cross-legged on the ground beside me and leaned against me. My eyes widened and labored breathing reached my ears. Turning my head I stared at the top of Kayla's. Her skin was still unhealthily pale but it was starting to turn back to its original colour. Much to Donnie's protest she wore her pads and her fans in her belt. Her mask tied around her eyes, which were pale but like her skin were slowly returning to normal.

"You should be in bed," I mumbled.

"So should you," she replied though deep breaths.

I sighed, Kayla was less forceful than the others but she knew how to get what she wanted. Wrapping an arm under her armpits I stood up, pulling her gently with me. She stood up slowly and almost unwillingly. She leaned more heavily against me and I led us back to the tree house. About halfway she had to stop and catch her breath. I bent down and picked her up, carrying her the rest of the way to the tree line. She glared at me through her deep breaths.

"What?" I asked incredulously.

"You're just like Donnie," she whispered.

"What caring and worried?"

"More like overprotective and has a heart attack if I so much as twitch a finger," I chuckled.

We reached the tree house and the ladder that led up to the treetops. Beside the ladder was a large wooden platform connected to vines braided into a rope. I placed her on the platform on her stomach and stood beside her. Grabbing the loose end of the vine I started to pull, raising the platform slowly upwards.

"It's better than how he was when you were sick," I said.

Kayla didn't reply. We rode the rest of the way up in silence. When we reached the top I tied the platform to one of the branches and reached to pick Kayla up again. She slapped my hands away and used the vines to pull herself into a standing position. I walked forward and she wrapped an arm around my neck. Placing my arm around her waist I helped her across one of the bridges to her room. We quietly entered and I couldn't help but smile.

A small home made crib was placed beside the bed and inside Adira curled up with Donnie's mask curled around her fingers. Donnie was lying on his side in the middle of Kayla's bed. Looking over I noticed Kayla smiling as well, her eyes were shining with adoration. I helped her to her bed and helped her lie down. Her hand gripped mine before I could pull away and I was surprised by the ferocity in her eyes.

"She will come back," she whispered. I closed my eyes as another wave of pain washed over me.

"How do you know?"

"Because she promised you didn't she? She promised you she would come back,"

Her hand fell from mine as her eyelids drooped closed. I stood still, afraid that if I moved I would fall to pieces. Kayla, sinking into a deeper sleep, rolled over. Donnie unconsciously wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. She let out the smallest of content sighs. I took a deep breath and quietly left the happy family. Walking across the network of bridges I finally reached the familiar, honeycomb shaped building. I took another deep breath to calm myself.

"Guess I'm returning the favor," I muttered.

Walking inside I forced myself to not look around and quietly slipped into the bed. I closed my eyes and let Harley's scent surround me and drag me further under.

The sunlight shone through the leafy canopy and brightened my eyelids. I squinted and rolled over, trying to fall back asleep. The movement stirred up the familiar scent and made me open my eyes. I was in Harley's room. Jumping out of bed I ran out of the door, hoping I didn't see anything. The last thing I needed now was to be reminded of her.

I let out a frustrated sigh and stalked towards the kitchen. Inside Jade, Raph, and Master Splinter were seated at the table eating breakfast. When I walked in Jade and Raph turned to me with surprised looks on their faces. Ignoring them I grabbed a glass of orange juice and sat beside Master Splinter.

"Good morning my son," he said without looking up.

"Good morning master," I replied politely. Raph was still staring at me with wide eyes. I looked up and raised an eye ridge. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," He shook his head and glared at me.

"Nice to know you haven't gone over the deep end," he replied.

"That means you get to check the defense system this morning," Jade said.

I shrugged my shoulders indifferently and finished my juice before putting the glass in the sink and leaving. I was glad I had something to keep her off of my mind. I quickly descended on the platform and started to run through the forest. Every few meters there was a type of trap hidden here and there. They were all empty. The work was mind numbing and perfect for me.

I was nearing the next trap when a surprised yelp echoed through the trees. Changing my course I headed for the source of the noise. Reaching the spot I hid in the shadow of a tree and scanned the area. One of the traps, a stolen cargo net, was hanging in the middle of the small clearing. Inside was a squirming mass of green. I took out my katana and prepared to fight whoever was caught.

"I don't remember setting up traps!" a panicked voice shouted. I froze, I knew that voice. A soft wailing filled the air.

"Oh no, no, Shh baby it's gonna be okay," another voice said soothingly.

I slowly stepped into the clearing and looked closer. There were three shapes, all different shades of green. I could see shells and a bright orange mask. Happiness pushed the dull aching away and I smiled for the first time in a while. I walked further into the clearing and the three turtles stopped squirming.

"Leo!" Mikey yelled.

The crying increased in volume and Amber slapped Mikey on the head. I chuckled and used my katana to cut open the net. Mikey slid through first, landing on his shell. I dropped my katana and quickly ran over as Amber fell through, something clutched protectively in her arms. I caught her before she could hit the ground and set her gently on her feet. She smiled and kissed my cheek before turning to Mikey. He scrambled to his feet and threw himself at me. My eyes widened and I fell backwards into the grassy clearing.

"Your back!"

I chuckled and hugged my youngest brother back before he stood up and helped me up. Once I was standing I turned to Amber who was glaring at me. I gave her a confused look until she stalked over and slapped me. I brought up a hand and held my stinging cheek.

"What was that for?"

"For leaving. But," she wrapped me in a gentle one-armed hug. "I'm glad you came back,"

When she stepped back I looked at the small turtle in her arms. It was a pale green, almost as pale as Kayla, with dark grey eyes and dark green spots. It looked up at me and smiled, showing off a small set of teeth.

"Who is this?" Amber looked down and giggled.

"This is Jacob-James our son,"

"Jacob-James?"

"Or JJ," Mikey replied. I smiled.

"Well I bet you I know five mutants who would want to meet JJ," I said. Mikey smiled but Amber gave me a confused look.

"Don't you mean six?" she asked. I looked away from her skeptical gaze.

"I'll explain when we get there,"

We walked silently through the forest and finally reached the tree house. We all stepped onto the platform and Mikey helped me pull it up to the tree house. Looking over I noticed Amber looking around with a relieved happiness, she looked like she was in the right place. We reached the top and stepped off the platform and into the kitchen. It was now full and lively with Adira, Donnie, and Kayla awake. When we walked in the room suddenly grew silent.

Everyone was frozen with shock. Then Jade jumped over the counter and ran into Amber, who maneuvered her baby out of the way. Mikey dutifully took the baby from Amber who then wrapped her arms around her older sister. What shocked everyone further was when Jade's shoulders started to shake. Her sobs filled the air and Amber only clutched her tighter, whispering in her ear.

The others broke out of their shocked poses and swarmed around Mikey and Amber, except for Kayla who sat and continued to feed Adira. Mikey smiled and gave Master Splinter an enthusiastic one-armed hug. When everyone had hugged Mikey and Jade had calmed down we all looked at them expectantly.

"What?" Mikey asked.

"Where the hell have you been?" Raph shouted. JJ whimpered, drawing everyone's attention. "And who is that?" Raph added. Jade gasped and took JJ from Mikey's arms.

"That is JJ our son," Amber replied calmly. "And we haven't been anywhere,"

"Then where did you go when you left? And why come back now?" I asked.

"We just left the city. Actually we stayed at Casey's farm. April promised not to tell you guys," Mikey explained.

"And we've been planning to comeback for a while now, we really missed you guys, but we came back now because Mikey had a bad premonition when he was meditating,"

"Wait what? Mikey? Meditating?" Raph asked incredulously. Mikey rolled his eyes.

"It was how I dealt with you guys being gone. I trained," he shrugged his shoulders.

"And what about you guys?" Amber asked. She peered around Donnie's shoulder and her eyes widened. "Kayla!"

Pushing past everyone she enveloped the oldest girl in a tight hug. Kayla laughed and gently returned the hug. When Amber pulled away she looked her over with wide eyes and then noticed Adira drinking warm milk.

"Okay someone has to tell us what's been going on," Master Splinter stepped forward and indicated the kitchen table.

"You may want to sit,"

For the next hour or so we told them what had happened. They listened intently and by the time we finished Amber was pale and shaking. Mikey held JJ who had fallen asleep and looked worriedly at his girlfriend. She finally looked up at me.

"Well haven't you tried to go get her? Like a rescue mission?" she asked quietly. I looked at my feet.

"We've tried but Bishop just vanished. His hanger is completely empty," Jade replied.

"Well then-"

Just then a loud scream filled the air. Everyone looked around in surprise, too shocked to move. I jumped off the counter and ran outside, I knew that scream like it was my own. It suddenly stopped and a shower of leaves fell from the trees above me. I spun around, listening intently, but it was completely silent.

"HARLEY!"

"Leo!"

The cry was softened by the distance but it was enough for me. I took off running in the direction and realized it was coming from above me. Changing my course I headed for the platform on top of the trees. The vine hung there like an invitation and I jumped on it. It pulled me up through the tree leaves and I finally climbed onto the platform.

My breath caught in my throat. She was standing weakly on the other end of the platform. I stood frozen, but mentally shook myself and ran towards her. She took a step towards me and started to fall forward. I caught her and wrapped my arms around her tightly. Her breath tickled my shoulder and she slowly reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Leo," she whispered.

I pulled away from her, keeping my arms around her. She looked tiredly up at me but there was a bright spark of triumph and love in her eyes. Her mouth spread in a lopsided smile making my breath catch.

"I came back," she whispered. Tears filled my eyes.

"I knew you would,"

With surprising strength she pulled my face down towards hers. I responded quickly and pulled her closer. She forgave me; I could feel it coming off of her in waves. For the first time in my life I had someone to depend on as much as my brothers depended on me; I had someone to go home too at the end of the day; I had someone I loved, and I couldn't be happier.

OMG it's over. I have got to say I loved writing Ninja is spelt T.U.R.T.L.E and Turtle is spelt C.R.I.S.I.S for you! I really hope you have enjoyed reading them and you don't have to stop! I will keep these stories up forever so if you want to you can come back and reread them you can! Okay here is the thing I was going to announce (even if you don't care i'm announcing it anyways): I am giving you all permission to use my OC's (this includes Harley, Jade, Amber, Kayla, Adira, Astrid, and JJ) you can use them in fanfictions of your own or you can draw them or whatever you want but I want to see/read what you've done! Send me links to your pictures or stories because I would love to see what you do! I can't tell you all how lucky I am to have all of your support. So from me to you: THANK YOU! Without you all I wouldn't be the writer I am. Please tell me what you thought of this series or even anything you want! And don't forget to send me your amazing pieces!(writing or art). I love you all and hopefully I'll see you the next time I post a fanfiction!