Together As Mutants (Book Six)

59. Two Years Later

WARNING: SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR SHADOW MUTATION MAY APPEAR AT ANY MOMENT

The excitement courses through Taylor's veins as she returns to the familiar city. She's fresh out of college, a Bachelor of Music degree at her side, but all she really wants is to get home and see her family.

The nineteen-year-old pulls into the correct alleyway, shutting off the engine. She climbs out, locking the doors. She'll come back for her stuff later. She rushes into the sewers, excited to see Raphael again.

As she goes, she thinks of how the last two years have gone. She got asked out by other guys a few times, but she rejected them whenever it happened. She made new friends, but mostly she liked going off on her own and trying new things.

The FaceTime calls with Raphael were frequent at first, and she enjoyed them each time.

"I miss you babe. It's not the same around here without you," Raph says through the camera.

"I miss you more."

"How are your classes going?"

"Great actually! I'm...I'm actually thinking of becoming a music teacher..."

"Really? That's great!"

Of course, his calls had gone silent after a while save for a few little updates. Casey went through a tough time, there was some new psycho to defeat...

Taylor laughs a little at the thought. Leave it to New York to keep churning out evildoers. Seriously, the only new thing she did was cut her hair into a cute pixie cut and dye it completely red. She did come visit when Casey had his accident, but that's pretty much it.

She practically waltzes into the lair, a wide grin on her face.

"Guess who's back?" she hollers.

There's a loud crash, followed by a shrill scream from Michelangelo, and then the pounding of footsteps as Raphael rounds the corner.

"TAYLOR!" he screams, scooping her into the biggest hug he's ever given to her and lifting her off her feet in the process.

She laughs, pulling him into a passionate kiss as he sets her back down. His hand rests on the back of her head, holding her against him. She breaks away, a little dizzy, but happy.

"You...you look fantastic! Your hair..." He touches it lightly, and she blushes a little.

"I'm letting it grow out again...I'd miss the black after a while." She smiles. "Plus, I needed something to remind me of you."

He grins. "Babe, you have no idea what it was like without you." His face flickers with sadness for a split second. "Really...it was kind of insane..."

"Did you trample Mikey trying to get out here?" she asks.

"He got in the way."

They laugh as the others trickle outside. Mikey and Annalise squeal with joy and hug Taylor, while the other four give her calmer hugs or waves. Splinter embraces her warmly, a smile on his face.

"Welcome back, Taylor," he murmurs as he pulls away.

"You got back in time for my grad," Annalise says happily.

"We've got a lot to catch up on," Destiny adds. She glances at the others with a pointed look. "All of us."

"Agreed," Donatello and Sarina say in sync.

Leonardo sighs, running his hand over his head. Taylor glances at the leader in blue before looking back at Raph.

"Where's Maddalena and Bindo?" she asks.

"They're great!" Raph says. "Come on, they'll be glad to see you!"

He grabs her hand and they race off to their room. The others watch them go, their smiles falling as soon as they're out of sight.

"We should warn her about Casey, right?" Donnie wonders. "She knows about Zilla, but I'm not sure he's kept her up to date on his feelings."

"Yeah, we'll tell her about him," Leo agrees. "Just...uh...later."

"That is certainly a wiser plan than to disrupt her happiness right now," Splinter says. "As for now, training in the dojo. Go!"

"Hai Sensei," the three remaining turtles and Destiny recite, heading off to the room hurriedly.