A/N: This is the last chapter. I've really enjoyed writing this story. Thank you so much for reading.

Donnie waited tensely, feeling sick to his stomach. He tried to keep an eye out for Raph, but his brother had swam out of sight. He couldn't see him or Karai. Donnie had no idea what state his brother was in, and it terrified him. He hated that he could do nothing but sit around. Donnie still didn't know what Raph's plan was, but he trusted him. However, he didn't trust Karai. For all he knew, she could be hurting Raph horribly right now, and all Donnie was doing was sitting and waiting.

Donnie normally didn't mind waiting and being patient, but not when his brother was concerned.

Next to Donnie, Leo also looked anxiously towards the horizon where Raph had disappeared to. Donnie didn't know if Leo was concerned about Raph's safety, like he was, or if Leo was worried that Raph had just made off with the Heart of Miwa.

Mikey was the only one that seemed completely relaxed. He was completely confident that Raph wasn't just safe, but that he was successfully making progress with Karai. Mikey was also the one who encouraged Raph and Leo to focus on sailing to Miwa's island to wait for Raph there.

Donnie sat on the sand, his feet sitting just close enough to the water that the sea kept on washing over his toes. Donnie usually saw the ocean either as a petty, cold force that treated Raph horribly, or a comforting, constant being that looked out for everyone, but at that moment he got no such sense from the sea. It was just water, nothing more. Donnie tried hard to not think too deeply about it, but he couldn't help but wonder if this was a sign of something that had happened to Raph. After all, Raph was the demigod of the sea. The ocean may have been around long before Raph was, but Donnie liked to think that the sea would be affected at least in some way should something happen to his brother.

Donnie waited for a change, even the smallest bit of difference would mean that something had happened, and finally he felt it. The change was subtle, but it was definitely there. The sun brightened, the breeze felt lighter, life returned to the ocean, and the island...the island…

Donnie didn't realize he was holding his breath until Mikey put a hand on his back. "Do you feel that?" Mikey asked quietly.

"Definitely," Donnie stood up. Something had changed. Donnie didn't normally like it when things changed, but he had a good feeling about this one. Once Donnie got past the change in the environment, he realized that he actually recognized it. This was something he hadn't felt for five hundred years, but felt all the time when he and Raph were around the immortals so much. It was a feeling that Donnie had been looking for a short while before. It was the aura of the gods.

"Miwa," Donnie said breathlessly. "She's here,"

"What?" Leo stood up so quickly that he almost fell over. "She's here? Where?"

"Well, not now, but she's on her way." Donnie said. That much was clear by how the aura was getting stronger. Donnie continued to watch the horizon, waiting to see just what the changed aura he felt was. Mikey and Leo didn't say anything, they just stood right next to him, watching along with him.

Finally, after just a few minutes, though it felt like much longer than that, Donnie saw two figures on the water, just sitting on a wave as it brought them towards an island. They were still too far to really tell, but Donnie hoped desperately that his brother was one of them. The wave moved a lot slower than normal waves do, but after just a little bit of time Donnie was able to make out Raph on the ocean. He was there.

"Raph!" Donnie rushed into the water. When the water came up to his legs, Donnie nearly tripped as he continued trying to run in the water, but the sea adjusted his balance for him. "Raph!"

"Hey, Donnie," Raph said when they got closer. Donnie didn't give him the chance to say much more. He jumped on top of him, pulling them both under the water. Raph struggled out of Donnie's grip just enough to pull him towards slightly shallower water so they could both stand. "Donnie, I'm okay,"

"Good," Donnie pulled away from Raph and hit his arm, hard. "I'm going to kill you if you ever do that again."

"Don't worry," Raph said. "Confronting an angry goddess isn't really something I'm eager to do."

Donnie hit Raph's other arm, and suddenly his brother flinched and cried out in pain. Donnie's eyes widened. Raph's injured arm. "Oh, gods, are you okay?" One look at Raph's arm confirmed that he most certainly wasn't okay. The bite mark looked infected, and it was spreading to the rest of his arm.

"Karai's bite is deadly venomous." A young woman's voice said. Donnie blinked. He had nearly forgotten that the sea had brought someone else with Raph. Donnie froze when he took a good look at her.

"Miwa, you…" Donnie's stomach filled with dread. He'd had very little interaction with Miwa, and he really didn't know what she was like. Miwa was supposedly a compassionate goddess of life, but the last time he'd seen her, they had stolen her heart from her, and the gods and goddesses weren't exactly known as forgiving. "I...hi,"

"Hello, Donatello," Miwa gave him a small smile, which was really strained. She clutched tightly at her necklace, drawing Donnie's attention to it. The Heart of Miwa, Raph must have given it to her. Miwa adjusted herself on the water, which was still keeping her afloat. "I would say it's good to see you, but I'm not quite sure it is," There was the unforgiving nature of the immortals that Donnie was familiar with.

"Guys, what's going on?" Leo said from the beach. Mikey was standing next to him, grinning excitedly. He could probably sense just who Miwa was.

Miwa looked towards the beach and grinned. "My island," She stood up, still on top of the water, and walked towards the sand. Raph sighed and pulled Donnie towards the shore too. Miwa stepped onto the sand and sighed in relief.

Donnie cleared his throat. "Miwa, I…"

"Don't," Miwa said. She turned back to look at Donnie coldly. "Don't say anything. I just want to leave all of this behind us. I'm so tired of feeling so angry and hurt all the time." She looked at Raph, or more specifically at his arm. "And lashing out at people because of it." Miwa walked over to Raph and laid her hand on her arm. He flinched, but then Miwa's powers ran through Raph's arm and Donnie watched in awe and relief as it healed right in front of his eyes.

"There," Miwa stepped back. "You returned what you took from me, I healed what I did to you, we're even now."

Donnie didn't think that was quite how it worked, but he had something else more pressing to worry about. "What do you mean, what you did to him?" Donnie looked at Miwa cautiously. "He was hurt by Karai." Donnie remembered what Raph had said to Mikey, about Miwa and fire. His eyes widened. "You...you were Karai," It wasn't a question, but Miwa nodded anyway.

"My heart was the source of my powers," Miwa clutched tightly at her necklace. "When you two took it from me-"

"-You changed," Donnie had heard of a number of stories of the gods shifting form and changing when they were in a particular mood, but he hadn't even considered it as an option. It certainly explained why Karai had attacked them so viciously, and then lingered around Miwa's island. And why Donnie hadn't been able to sense her energy when they'd looked for her.

Donnie looked at Raph. "You knew?"

"I had a guess," Raph said. "Not enough of a guess to risk dragging you guys with me, but enough to give it a try."

"Uh, excuse me, are you really the goddess, Miwa?" Leo asked, his voice shaking slightly. He looked really dubious, while Mikey just looked excitedly and not surprised. "The one we've been looking for this whole time?"

Miwa raised an eyebrow at Leo, making him blush ever so slightly. "You think I'm lying about who I am?" Questioning a god was incredibly dangerous, but Miwa sounded more amused than angry. That was a good sign.

"No, of course I don't think you're lying," Leo said quickly. "I just...have a hard time believing this is all over." He looked at Mikey. "It is, right?"

"I think so," Mikey looked at Miwa. "You're going to stop destroying the world, right?"

"I'm done with destroying things," Miwa said. "I didn't just create life because I was bored." Miwa walked over to the plants at the edge of the beach. She put her hand on the plant and used her powers in the same way that she had to heal Raph's arm. The plant had looked fine before, but under Miwa's influence it thrived and became visibly stronger, brighter, and healthier. "I've always admired the resilience of mortal beings, how strong they can be without any help from the gods."

Miwa turned back to look at Leo and Mikey. "I'm not going to fix all the damage that Karai has caused. It would drain too much of my powers, and I don't want to sleep again so soon after feeling like myself again."

Donnie was sure that Leo and Mikey would protest or try to argue with Miwa, convince her to at least save their island. They'd mentioned having a friend who was sick, which was what had pushed them to find Donnie and Raph in the first place. To his surprise, not only did Leo and Mikey seem content with Miwa's decision, but they seemed to approve of it.

"Nature has always been really good at bouncing back, as long as the environment is right," Mikey said. He looked at his brother. "Like the starfish I showed you."

"Or when we burn the dead fields to make them stronger later," Leo said as he looked at Miwa like he'd never seen her before. Donnie thought he had an idea what was on his mind. Fire and earth, Karai and Miwa. "I bet there are other ways to help encourage the earth like that,"

"Oh yeah, loads of ways," Mikey nodded. He smiled at Donnie and Raph. "I understand why Miwa doesn't want to come help us, but, well, you guys want to come give us a hand?"

Raph's eyes widened and Donnie's breath got caught in his throat. They were too shocked to really say something at first. Raph swallowed thickly and crossed his arms defensively. "You really want us to come to your home with you guys?" Raph's tone was guarded, like he half expected to be rejected.

"Of course we do," Leo gave them a small smile. "You guys gotta integrate back into society eventually. Why not start with people you know first?"

Raph stiffened and glowered slightly at the offer. If there was one consistent thing about Raph, he didn't like to be pitied or to accept help. He was stubborn, but so was Donnie. Before Raph could say anything, Donnie nudged him. "That actually sounds like a great idea," Donnie grinned appreciatively. He gave Raph a meaningful look. "He won't say it, but he thinks so too." Raph huffed and looked away.

"I'm not good around people," Raph said, and as much as Donnie loved his brother, he was prone to agree. Still, being isolated for so long, it just wasn't healthy. Both of them needed to get used to being around other people, be it mortals, yokai, mutants, or the gods.

"This will be good practice for you," Donnie wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulder, pulling him close and making Raph scowl. Though Raph had always been the bigger and stronger one, Donnie was taller than him, and had been for most of their lives. It drove Raph nuts. "Come on, we don't have to stay forever."

"Just think of it as a way you can make it up to us," Leo said in a tone that wasn't quite serious, but not entirely kidding either. "You know, for kinda putting the whole world in danger." Mikey hit his brother scoldingly and Donnie glanced at his. Leo's words could either make Raph lash out, or convince him to go with their plan. Raph might be more willing to join them if he thought of it as him doing a favor for them instead of them doing one for him.

"Alright, fine," Raph smirked slightly. "But only because this dork won't stop bugging me if I don't." Raph gave Donnie a small push. Raph glanced at Miwa. "Thanks, you know, for the arm." Raph rolled his healed shoulder.

"Thank you for my necklace," Miwa said. "May we never have the pleasure of meeting each other again." Miwa turned away from the four of them and made her way down the beach of her island. The air still felt pleasant, but Donnie felt a small shift. They weren't welcome here anymore.

Raph nodded and made his way towards their boat. "Come on, guys, if the wind and sea are feeling generous, we might make it back before tomorrow," Donnie shook his head and followed his brother. He didn't entirely understand why Miwa and Raph would thank each other for something that had been their own fault. Miwa had healed Raph's shoulder, but she'd hurt him in the first place. And Raph had returned the necklace that he'd stolen first.

Donnie didn't think that it was exactly healthy for the two of them to just ignore the pain that the other had done to them, but if pretending it hadn't happened was what they insisted on doing, Donnie wasn't going to try to stop them. He would keep an eye on Raph though, make sure that he didn't take this pretending too far.

"Yeah, alright," Donnie joined his brother. Mikey picked up Mayunk, who had been playing on the beach with Leatherhead. Mikey joined them on the boat with Leo and Leatherhead not far behind. Donnie looked at Leatherhead curiously. "Are you coming too?"

"I'm not sure," Leatherhead hummed thoughtfully. "I have not seen much of the human world. I want to meet other humans."

"They might not be so eager to see you," Raph warned, "Or us, really, so I guess we're in the same boat there."

"Sensei has always taught our people the stories and traditions of our ancestors," Leo said. "If any humans will be accepting of mutants and demigods, it'll be out people,"

"Definitely," Mikey said. "We'll vouch for all three of you. They'll love you, and I think you guys'll really like them too."

"If you say so," Raph said, his voice full of doubt. He sat down on the deck and leaned back against the mast. Raph looked completely exhausted, and Donnie could relate. He felt like everything they had done these past few days had finally caught up to him all at once. All of these changes, and confrontations, all happening so quickly, it was tiring. Donnie felt like he needed a nap, but there wasn't room on the boat for all of them to sleep at once, and someone had to stay awake to get them sailing.

"Get some rest," Donnie told his brother. Leatherhead came onto the boat and curled up close to Raph. Donnie watched as his brother stiffened slightly before he relaxed and leaned back against Leatherhead, closing his eyes. Donnie looked at Mikey and Leo, who had taken hold of the rope sails.

"Are we ready?" Leo asked.

"Let's set sail," Donnie clutched at his staff and gathered up a gentle breeze. He sent it into the sail, not as harshly as he had before, when they'd been escaping from Karai. They weren't in any rush right now. Maybe Leo and Mikey were eager to get home, but Donnie understood the wind. It may not be as finicky as the ocean, but it wasn't safe to use it unnaturally for long periods of time. If they wanted the wind to remain on their side, keeping it gentle and quiet would be their best bet.

As they went, Donnie kept his eyes on the horizon. He felt excitement build up in his chest, as well as hope. They may have left the island behind, but Donnie hadn't actually felt truly free from their banishment since then. Now, Donnie hoped that they were leaving the danger behind them. They had the whole world in front of them, and Donnie looked forward to seeing it all, and seeing it with his brother, and possibly his friends too.

Maybe Leo and Mikey's island didn't work out for them, but Donnie wouldn't get discouraged. The world was large, and that wasn't even including the realms of the gods, mutants, or yokai. Donnie refused to believe that there was not a single place where he and his brother belonged, and he wasn't going to give up until he found it.