Calla

Donatello was silent but still continued kissing my neck, pulling my hair back to see my outlines. He pushed me away, turning me to face one side of the bath while he rested against the other. Even with no words, we stared into each other's eyes, conversing about eveything and nothing. The spark we shared was electric and I knew it wasn't only me.

Donatello

Staring at Calla was the high of each day. I couldn't believe how fate had connected us together and although I hated Leo, I took relish in his lapse of judgment. He had finally done one thing right: bringing me to her. I thought it a strange request at first to salt with the emperor's sullen wife and was actually against the arrangement, but actually seeing Calla left me intrigued. She was a beautiful woman with a broken spirit. I wanted more than anything to know her...the woman beyond the title.

She lifted a foot so I could kiss it and I eagerly obeyed. "What does love mean to you?" I ask her, curious to know where her heart was. I knew she had not a good understanding of life and it's intricacies. Although she was wise beyond her years, she was still naive about the topic and I did not want to confuse her.

"Love? Hmmm"she pondered, looking into the sky. "Love is when? When you get all giddy inside.
When your heart beats at the sight of your stimulant the moment your eyes meets it.
When your feet carry on for a little bit longer, even when they are tired just to catch a glimpse of the person you fancy.
When you... find yourself thinking of your words before you say them because you are hesitant you might loose all sense once you lay eyes on them."

I smiled as I heard her words. There was so much truth to it.

"Have you ever been in love Donatello?" she asks me.

"Once" I confessed, pushing the memory back into my mind.

"You think about her?"

"No... once your heart breaks, you remember the heartache more than the person who inflicted it." I admitted. She looked into my eyes, taking in my body as we rested in the waters. "Have you been in love? " I ask her curiously.

"Yes and no?" she shrugs.

"Who?" I encourage her to confess.

"Leo" she admitted sheepishly. I chuckled and looked into her eyes.

"Well, I thought I loved him? Only because that is what I was told in stories. All my life, I've read fairytales about getting whisked away to be a princess and falling in love with a handsome prince? They never continue the story after "and they lived happily ever after" Haven't you noticed?" she asks me.

Calla

"I'm not really into fairytales and fables. They seem childish" he admitted. I did not blame him for his bluntness.

"Before meeting Leo, I would have never held the same sentiments. But now, I am aware, seeing the folly in the stories I once swore were true. Those stories were only for entertainment.
They would never come true."

Donatello still cemented his gaze as I told my truth. "Once the paint and blinders came off, I realized I never really loved Leo. I actually despised him"

"I would too after all he's put you through" he cursed. I never told Donatello the things Leo had done to me and even with that, he still knew all that had happened, for my spirit was so damaged.

"Donatello do not be scared after I say this.."

"Nothing will top your confession about the plan to kill the emperor" he brags to the pairing of my laughter. I push a finger to his lips, looking just beyond the crack of the door just in case someone lingered.

"Not to loud! He may have people watching."

He nodded and smiled, gently kissing my finger. We stared at each other in warm regard before I finally mustered the courage to confess my truth. "Donatello... I-"

"—Calla I love you." he blurted, making the room grow silent. I only froze as I heard his confession. It was the very phrase I was going to say to him.

Donatello

Love.

The four letter word that made me sane. Calla watched me with her beautiful almond shaped eyes; her skin glistened against the cloudiness of the water, each wave enveloping against her shiny body. I pulled a slender leg into my palm, gripping her ankle as I trailed my kisses against her skin.

Calla

My heart skipped as I heard his words but my spirit leaped for joy.
Is this what mother meant when things don't turn out your way?
Maybe I must grow through pain to see the end of the rainbow? And even then, Donatello numbed them all. He made me forget my past and the turmoil Leo put me through.

He pulled my hand into his lips, gently running his tongue against each finger. "Calla I love you and I am impatient to hide it any longer.
The way your eyes light up at the sound of the gentle waves.
The way your mind never stops working to find out the intricacies in life. Your intellect is on another realm and I am desperate to venture to it"

He pauses, kissing my finger again. "The way you light up a room when you walk in it" He kisses another and with each profession, he placed his delicate kisses across my skin.

"Your eyes, your lips, your skin. I am so in love with you it's reckless." His warm breath caressed each surface of my palm before his soft lips enveloped my cheek. He lifted his gaze and stared me down, making me unravel.

"I know your heart is broken Calla and he has broken it, but my heart is not. It is selfish
Selfish for you Calla. I am in love with you."

And there he goes again saying my name the only way I loved. I halted my breaths, for my heart was racing to swiftly.

I couldn't deny my feelings for Donatello but I was so entranced by his confession, I couldn't speak.

I thought of all the hours we spent in the library. The days we went in his boat or our quiet mornings watching the sunset and relishing in each other's company.  They were all moments I cherished, showing me what I truly needed... what I truly loved.

"I love you Donatello." I whisper carelessly. "I loved you since the day you pressed your lips onto mine. The first day you held me in your arms and saw me. I see you in the silent rays of the sun and the soft ripples in the sand. You remind me of everything I love. Everything that gives me peace."

He pulled me into his arms and kisses me carelessly, each of us smacking with heat until I broke from his warmth. "Sometimes I wish that I had never come here. That I stayed in Cedonia."

"Do you?"

"I do. But but then I know our reality now would have never transpired if I stayed back. I would still be giggling at the pages of a fairy book."

He pulled me into his arms, wiping the droplets of water from my neck. "I love you Donatello. I will love you forever and always."

"And I you Calla...forever and always." He vows. And what we did that night was indescribable. It was if two bodies combined not out of selfish desire but of pride and respect. As if we were meant to be molded into one.

Donatello was mine and I was his, forever.

——

Author Note:

Calla's big secret was to tell him "I love you"
No pregnancies!!

Hmmm...things are going too well? Would be a shame if I shook things up a bit?