A/N Well, guys... this is it... Parting is such sweet sorrow... This was a lot of fun to write - I hope you all had just as much fun reading it! Would you like a sequel? I have a lot of new ideas for a fun story following up on Autumn and Raph as well as introducing a new OC and throwing in some adventure and fun stuff like that... Thoughts? Suggestions?

And now, on with the final chapter... Short, sweet, and fluffy. Thanks again for all the faves, follows, and especially the reviews! I appreciate all of the support, it really helped keep me motivated! You all rock! Stay tuned, I'm hoping to get a sequel up within the next month... :D Peace out, friends! And enjoy!

Chapter 15

Opening Up

Autumn inspected herself in April's full-length mirror. She felt amazing, and for the first time in over a year, she felt beautiful. She was how she was supposed to look. Although she had come to accept herself and appreciate herself as a lizard, she knew it wasn't her true form. But having come to find a sense of self-love, even as a mutant lizard, seemed to enhance her confidence in human form, and she could see it emanating on the outside as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her slender, toned arms hung at her sides from her narrow, muscular shoulders, and her sleeveless purple top she wore hung loosely at her hips, while clinging to her in all the right ways, her breasts perky in the bra she had also borrowed from April, her abdomen taut and firm beneath the fabric of the blouse. The black leggings accentuated her sculpted thighs and calves, and her bare feet, while bony-looking and muscular, looked delicate and feminine on the concrete floor. Her deep, dark brown hair hung loosely around her shoulders, soft and wavy, accentuating the bone structure of her cheeks and jaw. She tucked a lock behind her ear – she had ears! – and smiled at the simplicity of something she once took for granted but was now so overjoyed to experience. She saw her smile reach her eyes as they lit up, the flecks of gray sparkling like diamonds. She nodded at herself in the mirror, feeling strong and confident. She'd win Raph's heart back. She just needed to convince him that he had hers all along.

She strode out of April's room and headed straight to his, where she found his door shut tight. She took a deep breath, and let it out, steadying herself as she brought her knuckles up to rap lightly on the wood surface.

"Fuck off," came Raph's aggravated baritone from behind the closed door, and Autumn sighed. Not this time, she thought in reply, and carefully turned the doorknob, pushing it forward and stepping calmly into his room, closing the door behind her with her back as she leaned against it and looked up tentatively at Raphael.

He was lying prone on his bed, staring at a comic book, absorbed in his own world, and an angry scowl crossed his face. "I said fuck off," he growled threateningly as he turned to face the intruder, and his face went cold, his eyes wide.

"Hey, Raph," Autumn said softly, biting her lip, still leaning against the door, her palms flat against it.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "What're you doin' here," he said lowly, it coming out more like a statement than a question.

Autumn stood from the door and wrung her soft, human hands in front of her, looking nervous and hesitant, yet determined. She took a breath, then said firmly, "We need to talk."

He turned to look at his comic book again, feigning disinterest while at the same time trying to distract himself from how fucking gorgeous she was. "'Bout what," he replied, again more like a statement.

Autumn sighed heavily and dropped her hands at her sides, and lifting her outturned palms, she said with exasperation, "About whatever the fuck is going on between us!" She stared at him desperately.

He squeezed his eyes shut and took a breath, closing his book and positioning himself to sit upright on his bed, legs hanging over the side. He met her eyes, his expression unreadable, and said with fallen shoulders, "And what, exactly, do you think the fuck is going on between us."

She hung her head, shaking it, and replied, "I have no fucking clue." She looked back up to meet his eyes. "Which is why we need to talk and figure it out." He stared at her, waiting, remaining silent. When she realized he wasn't going to say anything, she said, her voice almost pleading, "Do you like me?" Her eyes were desperate as she drew in her lower lip.

Raph's brows knit together under his red mask. "What?" he asked, unsure if he knew what she meant.

Autumn looked to the ceiling as though asking a higher power for help. She returned her desperate gaze to meet him and once again asked, "Do you like me?"

Raph swallowed hard, letting on slightly to his increased nervousness. He gathered his courage, then answered softly, stammering, "'Course I like you, I wouldn't'a… done all that… stuff… with you like that if I didn't like you…" He looked down at his knees, feeling heat rising in his cheeks. He was suddenly feeling very vulnerable but, she was right, and he had to admit it: they needed to talk about this. He needed to hear it for himself that it wouldn't work between them, and that she wanted to be with a human. Though, going about it the way she was wasn't making it any easier for him.

"Then why did you stop?" she asked gently, emotion rising in her throat.

Raph looked confused again, narrowing his eyes at her. What was she playing at? "Wha'dya mean, why did I stop?" he asked.

"I thought we were having fun!" she exclaimed, feeling more desperate. "I-I guess I thought we were on the same page, but apparently I jumped to conclusions…"

"Yeah, same here," Raph mumbled. He shrugged. "I guess I shoulda known that's all it was to you. Just having fun."

Autumn's face fell. "What?" she asked, her heart feeling heavy. He looked up at her with sad eyes. She took one step forward, then said softly, "Raph, I wasn't just 'having fun'," she punctuated the air with her fingers. "Did you think that's all it was?"

Raph shrugged. "Well, yeah, I mean you were so desperate to be human again, and you seemed to hate your mutant life so much, I figured I was just a way to make it a little more bearable for you until you got to go back to your human life." He looked up at her sadly then added, "I figured once you were human, you'd leave." He added another shrug. "I just needed to force myself not to get too attached." He lowered his voice to a mumble. "Too late for that…" and he looked off to the side, his head hanging.

The weight in Autumn's heart was almost crushing her. "Oh, Raph…" she whispered, feeling the emotion rising into her voice, stinging in her eyes. "That's not true at all…"

He looked up at her cautiously, seeing the sadness in her eyes. His brows knit together again. "I find that hard to believe. Besides, Casey's a better match for you. Looks like you two hit it off nicely anyway," he added with a sneer, looking back down at the floor.

"Raph, I feel nothing for Casey like I feel for you!" she exclaimed. He looked up at her, hesitant and confused. She softened her voice and added, "I told him that this morning. I should have told him sooner. And he feels terrible that his flirting with me ended up hurting you." She looked down at her feet, her human toes. "He never meant to do that to you. You're his best friend."

Raph felt his chest tighten. His emotions were changing direction in him now, his confusion growing even more difficult to sort out. Where exactly was this going? All he could do was stare at her, unable to find the words to respond.

She took another step forward. "I was confused about my feelings for you, okay? I liked you all along, I felt something for you from the moment you carried me in your arms down to the lair, and stayed by my side while I healed, and took care of me like I was… special. A-and…" She took in the chiseled muscles of his arms and legs, his broad shoulders in his large frame, the intricate patterns of his plastron and carapace, his emerald eyes, deep and consuming behind his red mask, his face so masculine, she almost couldn't see that it wasn't human. He leaned forward slightly, curious what she was about to say next. She swallowed and licked her lips, arousal rising inside of her, and she prayed he couldn't smell it. "I found myself so… attracted to you, and it confused me… and I guess scared me a little…" she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, feeling slightly embarrassed at her confession. "I'm a human, I should be attracted to humans, right?"

Raph just shrugged, and waited silently.

"But I can't get you out of my head…" she said softly. "I want more with you, more than whatever it was we had going on… I want to get to know you, I want you to get to know me, I want to share more of me with you…" His eyes widened ever so slightly and her cheeks burned. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner, I was just scared of all that… Scared of what it would mean for us… How could I have a relationship with someone underground, in complete secrecy, and try to carry on a normal life in the human world?"

Raph shook his head slowly, his face sad and soft. "I can't ask you to do that…" he whispered.

"I'm not asking your permission, Raph," Autumn said softly, her hands at her sides, and he looked up at her with hesitation. He could feel hope rising in him, though his instincts were telling him to stomp it out before he was let down again. "I just needed to realize that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that you're not human, it doesn't matter that we'd have to keep this a secret, if I want to be with you, and… assuming you want the same…" she felt herself blush, "then we should just do it, ya know?" He just stared at her, almost in disbelief. His silence was agonizing. What was he thinking? Say something already! She wrung her hands again nervously in front of her again.

Slowly, he stood up from the bed to meet her face-to-face. He seemed to move in slow motion, and Autumn struggled to remain still and patient while her anxiety of what he would do or say next burned inside of her. He looked confused, staring down at his hands in front of him as he came to a stop in front of her. "This whole time… I tried to bury my feelings for you… I figured wanting more was just some stupid dream that would never come true. That there was no way you'd stay here with us when you could go back to your human life. I had to keep myself from gettin' attached, or it would hurt too much when you left for good." He shrugged, his gaze still lingering on his hands. "It was stupid of me to think maybe I could have something like what Donnie has. But we're not like him and April. April is part of this family. I figured you were only part of it for as long as you needed to wait for the retro-mutagen to be done, then you'd be on your way. Why would you ever want to stay? And why would I even think for once you'd want to stay with me? Why would a human want someone like me?" He looked up, arching a brow at her. "Why would you want me? When you could have someone like Casey? A human?" He shrugged. "And a good one, at that. Casey's an awesome dude. You deserve to be with someone like him. He'd treat you right, and you could go on dates and he could meet your family and I'm sure they'd like him…"

Autumn interrupted him. "I don't want Casey," she urged, stepping closer to him. "I want you. And I'm not going anywhere. You all have become family to me. I've never experienced this kind of love and friendship in all my human life. I'm not leaving that behind, I would never be complete if I didn't have any of you in my life ever again." She touched his shoulder, sending electric sparks between the two of them. "Especially you," she emphasized, looking deeply into his eyes.

He drew his lips in tightly, not believing what he was hearing, his eyes wide with shock as he felt himself getting lost in hers. She sighed, then said quietly, "I'm sorry I basically just led you on…" tears welled in her eyes as she dropped her hand from his shoulder, leaving a cold emptiness where her warm palm just was. She looked down. "I'm sorry I let my stupid confused emotions end up hurting you…" her voice was almost a whisper. She sniffed, then looked back up at him, one corner of her mouth turning up slightly as she said a bit more audibly, "That's, like, the second-to-last thing I'd ever want to do."

He arched his brow at her. "Second-to-last?" he questioned with uncertainty.

Her smile grew bigger, her eyes sparkling behind her unfallen tears. "Yeah," she replied. "The last thing I'd ever want to do is leave you."

His brows raised. Is this for real? Is this really happening? He just stared at her in disbelief. She chuckled nervously, her eyes glistening. "Well, say something!"

He continued to just stand there, until finally he said lamely, "I… I don't know what to say…"

She took his hands in his, sending delicious shudders up through his arms and down his spine. He closed his eyes as he rode the waves of her energy tingling through him. "Do you want to be with me?" she asked softly, and he opened his eyes to meet hers, his expression disbelieving and almost overwhelmed.

"Of course… if you really want to be with me?" he responded quietly, his nervous emeralds meeting her anxious violets.

She smiled at him. "Have I not made that clear enough for you yet?"

He couldn't help but chuckle nervously in response, looking down at their entwined hands, still finding it hard to accept that this was real. She gave his hands a squeeze. "So can we make this work?" she asked.

A smile spread across his face, lighting up his green eyes. He nodded slowly. "Yeah," he whispered, his voice cracking, then spoke up a little louder, "Yeah, we can try," and he nodded more affirmatively, the grin still on his face.

Her smile matched his, and a tear spilled over onto her cheek as they stared at each other, weight lifted from their shoulders, a whole world of possibility opening up around them full of hopes and dreams and the magical unknown.

She chuckled softly. What a beautiful sound, he thought to himself. She lifted his hands in hers and dropped them again, not letting go of her grasp, and said, "So fucking kiss me already!"

And he let go of her hands to grasp her around her back, plunging one large hand into her soft hair, and crashed his lips to hers, both of them sighing against the contact. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, her fingers stroking the sensitive skin under his carapace, sending shudders coursing through him. It was intense; even more so than it was when she was in her reptilian form. Their tongues quickly found each other as they deepened the kiss, and his hands traveled down her back until they found her firm buttocks, where they cupped around her and squeezed, causing her to squeal against him in delight, her soft body pressing against his plastron. She felt him lift her, so she followed suit and wrapped her legs around him as their lips continued to explore and their tongues continued to dance. Yes, she thought. This is what I want.

And for both of them in that moment, everything felt right with the world.