~ Author's Note.

Hello everyone! The time line for this fic is set for sometime after the 15th episode in season four. The first three chapters are the prologue, mostly Karai/Miwa centered. After that the story is predominately about Leo.

There are some old sayings in Japanese used in this chapter. The translations are at the bottom.


Home Again

Chapter One


It was late. Waking from a short, restless sleep, Leonardo sat up in his bed, smelling a faint scent of tea and burning candles. Slowly, he got up and stretched his muscles.

"I guess sensei is still up," he thought, glancing at the alarm clock.

It read 3am in bright red letters. Splinter was usually the last one to go to bed, but it was strange for him to still be up this late. Curious, Leonardo followed his nose to the dojo.

Splinter was sitting at his small tea table, with few lit candles around his old tea set and a picture frame. Even from looking at the backside of it, Leonardo recognized which one it was. It was the family picture taken shortly after Miwa's birth. Splinter was staring at it expressionlessly, tea cup in hand.

"Are you alright, sensei?" Leonardo asked while entering the room.

It was a rare sight to see his father startled. This was the second red flag. Something was definitely wrong.

"Leonardo," he mumbled, recovering from the surprise. "You cannot sleep my son?"

Shaking his head, Leonardo asked, "What about you? Why are you still up sensei?" Splinter was silent at first, turning his eyes back to the picture. Leonardo made his way over and sat down opposite from his father. Pouring a second cup of tea, Splinter explained. "Miwa is heavy on my mind tonight." Leonardo held out his hands and Splinter placed the warm cup in them. The tea was deep steamed and sweet, something Splinter normally didn't make. This alone was cause for concern.

"Next week is her birthday," he sighed, refilling his own cup.

Instantly, Leonardo felt his father's heartache. He looked down at his cup with a frown, remembering how he had failed repeatedly to rescue Karai.

"How old will she be?" he asked, setting his cup aside.

Splinter turned the frame so that they could both see it. "It will be her seventeenth birthday..." A pause pricked his tongue, stalling him from finishing what he was going to say. Leaning in closer, Leonardo encouraged Splinter to go on. "It's okay to talk about her, sensei. I'd love to listen." His father looked up at him with a small smile, nodding.

"Tell me about the day she was born. How did you feel when you looked at her for the first time?"

The smile on his father's face grew large and genuine. "Besides her mother, she was the most beautiful thing that had ever come into my life. She was so small and delicate... When I took her in my arms, I wanted to hold her like that for the rest of my life." Leonardo could see Splinter traveling back in time, blissfully captured by one of his favorite memories. Smiling, Leonardo took a moment to soak in the happy aura filling the room, sipping on the good tea.

"How long did it take to come up with a name?" he asked.

Splinter chuckled. "As soon as we found out that she was a girl, it was decided. We named her after Tang Shen's grandmother. She was a wonderful woman. I'm glad she was able to see us married before her death."

Hearing Splinter talking about his past made Leonardo wish he'd talk about it more. This was one of the rare occasions he shared some of his history. Looking up from his cup, his smile fell. Splinter was sad again, staring off into space. Maybe the word "death" had brought back all those terrible memories. Maybe it was the thought of Tang Shen.

His eyes wandered to the family portrait, specifically to the woman next to his father. She was Splinter's wife. He had never really thought of her as more than that, but, in this tender moment between his father and himself, he began to wonder what it would be like to have a mother.

"I'll bet she was a wonderful mother," Leonardo thought aloud, not realizing he had.

"She was," Splinter replied, making him jump a bit. "Although it was only for a short time..."

Splinter sighed, letting his gaze fall on the candle closest to him. Watching the flame put off gray curling smoke, he said: "We did not have the chance to celebrate our daughter's first birthday. I've never seen her grow a day older since I lost them both." Inside his mind, he was going down a dark trail, leading back to the day Saki destroyed their lives. It was painful to see his father so grieved.

"Kishi kaisei." (1)

Surprised, Splinter raised his eyes to meet his son's. Leonardo put a hand over his saying, "Keizoku wa chikara nari." (2) The smile returned to Splinter's face, although not quite as broad as before. "Thank you, Leonardo." After patting his son's hand, he rose up from his seat and stretched his arms. "It is late and I am still quite awake. Perhaps some meditation would help both of us?" Leonardo accepted the invitation immediately. "Hai, sensei."


The next few days passed in a steady routine. Training, goofing off and patrols. Amazingly, the criminal activity in the city was quiet for the time being. Leaving plenty of room in Leonardo's mind for a few plaguing thoughts, Karai, Tang Shen and Splinter. While reading one of his Space Heroes comics one evening, he kept looking up at the old family portrait on the shelf. Something Splinter said was bothering him.

I've never seen her grow a day older since I lost them both.

When the day had idly passed into night, and everyone else was in bed, Leonardo sat alone in the dojo. Sleep was even harder to come by tonight for some reason. Determined to find rest, he tried perfecting his meditation techniques.

Splinter had taught him how to use the kuji-in to physically heal himself and others, but now he was trying to use it to cure the restlessness in his soul.

Reciting the mantra, he made the hand seals that went with each word. "Rin... Pyō... Tō... Sha... Kai... Jin... Retsu... Zai... Zen..." Slowly, a strange vision began to open up before him. His eyes were closed, so naturally he didn't see anything at first but thick blackness. He had dimmed the lights in the room. There was nothing on bright enough to penetrate his eye lids. His shock knocked him backwards when a ball of light burst into life before him. As he was lying back on his shell, the ball of light drifted closer, its warm yellow glow lighting up his face. Eight others faded in around it slowly.

Leonardo had never had a vision while meditating before. Initially, he was frightened, but now it felt as though these things had come to help. With a strange peace of mind, he got up and looked around, still seeing nothing but darkness around them.

"Well, what do I do now?" he wondered aloud.

He looked back at the floating lights. They seemed to be waiting for him to do something. Not knowing what else to do, he started walking aimless through the dark, the lights drifting in front of him as he went.

There was no sound. Where ever he went there was just an eerie silence. The further he went, the more it bothered him. To fill the air with some noise, he started the mantra up again. "Rin. Pyō. Tō. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen. Kō."

Untamed predacious sensations suddenly overwhelmed his thoughts. He tried to determine where they were coming from. They seemed to be all around him, forming into something like a crimson haze. Then voices began whispering to him from all directions. At first they were hard to ear, as if smothered. Focusing harder, he started to hear them more clearly. Every voice belonged to Karai.

His came to a full stop when the lights revealed a familiar face, a serpant's face.

"Karai!" he shouted.

She hissed in return and slithered further into the darkness. Leonardo did his best to follow.

"I'm not loosing you again! Not this time!"

The balls of light began whirling around him at a breath taking speed, helping him see the concrete path she going down. He called her name repeatedly, reaching out a hand as he ran. Brick walls rose up along the way, so he had to detour around them.

"No! You can't shake me! I'm bringing you home!"

If she had heard him before this point, she didn't show it. This time however, she stopped and turned around. She squinted, as though the light hurt her eyes.

"Leonardo?" she said slowly, confused.

He stopped just short of her, breathing heavily from the long run. The balls of light expanded their orbit of Leonardo to include Karai, slowing the pace of their rotation. The light blinded her for a minute, but soon she got used to it.

"Karai, it's me. I've come to take you home," he said, putting out his hand.

She backed up a little, tilting her head. "H-Home...?" Leonardo withdrew his hand, wondering why she was so befuddled. The balls of light stopped abruptly, the intensity of their glow growing brighter. Karai's head started jerking as a result. Then she began attacking him, like a wild animal.

Leonardo's reflexes didn't fail him, dodging the first round of strikes quickly and with trained fluidity. "Karai! Stop! It's me, Leo!"

As he watched her movements, her thoughts and feelings became almost tangible to him. Everytime she failed to hurt him, he was pierced with a sliver of the suffering inside her. Her thoughts were scrambled. Her memories were a jumbled mess. It had created a whirlpool of emotions that was drowning her soul.

Now he understood. Her behavior was a result of a broken mind. The Shredder had played with it too much, turning her savage. She was living purely off of the viper instincts in her dna. While the realization enraged him, he had to put it aside. Karai needed him.

After an attempt to bite him, she left herself open, so he leapt on her. Their chests collided. He wrapped his arms around her. Holding on with all the strength he had, he tried to concentrate. Meanwhile, she was writhing, struggling to get free.

"Karai, you've got to focus!" Leonardo shouted, trying to steady himself mentally. "Remember who you are! Remember what you've been through! You're strong! I know you can!"

Slowly, she stopped fighting. He held her even tighter, pressing his cheek against hers.

"That's it," he soothed, taking a deep breath. "Remember."

He let his thoughts pour into hers, helping her piece everything back together again. Several minutes passed like this. Finally, he felt her body shift back into human form.

"L-Leo? Is that really you?" she asked, her voice raw.

Releasing the breath he had been holding, he pulled away to look at her face.

Her hair had grown long, full of dirt and who knew what else. Her skin was just as filthy. She had lost some weight and muscle. What was left of her suit and armour was scant, barely enough to keep her decent.

Tears started racing down her cheeks, washing away some of the grime attached to her face. Automatically, Leonardo tried to wipe them away.

In his peripheral vision, the darkness was melting away. He tore his eyes away from her long enough to look around.

They were in a sewer tunnel miles away from the lair. When he returned his gaze to her, he cupped her face in his hands.

For a moment, he wasn't sure he was really there either, but after a minute or two, holding her face in his hands, he knew for sure. Somehow, through his meditation, he had found her.

With a sigh of relief, he finally answered. "Yes, it's me. I'm here to take you home." Hearing him say that opened the flood gates. Painful sobs wracked her body. She leaned into him, putting her arms around his neck. Desperately clinging to him, she said: "Thank you." Tears stinging his own eyes, he pulled her into his arms and lifted her off the ground. Standing there, holding her in his arms, he remembered what his sensei had said.

She was so small and delicate... When I took her in my arms, I wanted to hold her like that for the rest of my life.

A similar feeling swelled in Leonardo's chest. Karai had been through so much. Now she was finally safe from everything attacking her, body and soul, and he wanted to keep it that way.

He carried her all the way back home, whispering comforting words in her ear.


When Splinter woke up that morning, everything was normal. He went through his own personal exercises. Then he squeezed in some meditation before his children woke up. Eventually, their noisy morning routine overlapped with his quiet one, and soon drowned it out. The burning smell of breakfast wafted in. That was his cue to go and check in. He found Raphael fighting with Michelangelo in the kitchen, forgotten pancakes blackening on the stove.

"Boys!" he shouted, freezing them in their tracks. "Every day should start with a balanced breakfast. Not a fist fight!"

"I heard that," Donatello grumbled, walking past his father.

He went over to the stove and tossed the burned mess in the garbage can.

"It was Mikey's fault, sensei!" Raphael defended, twisting his brother's arm.

Michelangelo squirmed, squealing in pain. "Was not!" Raphael twisted his arm harder. "Was so!"

This went on back and forth for a few minutes. All the while, Splinter pinched the space between his eyes, frustrated.

"Morning everyone," Leonardo greeted behind him.

Everyone turned to look, stunned by the sight. Leonardo was standing there, a big smile on his face and Karai in his arms. She was rubbing her eyes, as if waking up from a deep sleep. When she raised her head to meet their surprised stares, she started to cry again. She jumped down to her feet and ran to Splinter.

"Father..." whispered her rough voice, choked with tears.

Numbly, Splinter embraced his long lost daughter, looking to Leonardo for an answer. The boy just kept smiling, glad to see the family whole once more. Finally, it all came rushing in. His daughter was home again at last. He too began to cry.


Wrapped in a fleece blanket, Karai sat a the kitchen table with her family. Splinter had made them all some tea. Even though Karai, Leonardo and himself were the only ones drinking it, everyone was put at ease by the familiar aroma.

Always the first to ask questions, Donatello inquired about where she had been. A shudder came over her as she began to remember.

"I... I was just wandering the city. After Stockman's brain worm was... gone, I became wild. I turned into an animal."

She stopped a moment to look at her father. Splinter's eyes were sympathic. He could relate to his daughter's situation.

"Go on my daughter," he said softly. "We are all here for you."

The boys were in full agreement, putting in a few encouraging words themselves. Karai looked down at the table, feeling all the love and concern in the room. It gave her the strength she needed to continue.

"Right, okay... Well..." she mumbled, clearing her throat. "At first, I didn't remember anything or anyone for days. My mind was just blank. The only thing I thought of was survival. I don't know how long I was like that. It felt like forever. After a while though, memories started popping up, but out of sequence... For every truth I knew, a lie would contradict it. I was caught between the memories of Shredder and you father."

She looked up at him, grabbing the sleeve of his robe.

"It was like you two were at war in my head. Since I wasn't myself, I didn't know which to believe. It only got worse from there... By the time Leo found me, I was a total mess."

"You were under the influence of that brain worm for a long time," Leonardo said, turning from her to Donatello. "We were able to snap Raphael out of it pretty quickly, but-"

"It was only in his system for a few hours," Donatello finished. "I did extensive research on them, but I barely scratched the surface. If it had stayed in your head any longer, I'm not sure we would've been able to help you. In fact..."

He looked at Leonardo, a sudden wave of surprise falling over his face. "I'm not sure I could've done anything about the state she was in when you found her. What happened exactly? And how did you find her in the first place?" Everyone looked at him expectantly, but all Leonardo could offer was a nervous shrug. He was just as clueless as they were.

"I couldn't sleep last night, so I was meditating. Then I started to have this vision. Somehow, it brought me to you," he tried to explain, grinning at Karai. "I don't know exactly what I did when I found you, but I'm glad it brought you back."

She smiled back at him, saying, "I'm glad too."

For a moment, she was the only one in the room to him. He had been lamenting over his failure to rescue her for so long. Now the tremendous weight had been lifted, and they could all move on with their lives. It was just so good to see her sitting across from him in their kitchen. He wanted to soak the scene in for as long as he could, but his pesky little brother interrupted with a sharp pinch.

"Ouch! What gives Mikey?!" Leonardo shouted, jerking his arm away.

"How do we know you're not having a vision right now?" Michelangelo asked skeptically, moving to pinch Leonardo again.

However he didn't get a second chance. Both Leonardo and Raphael smacked the back of his skull.

"Hey!" Michelangelo cried, rubbing his head.

"If this was a vision then that didn't really hurt," Raphael smirked.

Before he had to chance to argue, Splinter changed the subject.

"Leonardo," he said, his tone demanding acknowledgment.

The son addressed immediately stopped glaring at his little brother, turning to Splinter with apologetic eyes "Yes, sensei?" Splinter chuckled at his oldest son's young face. While he had matured a great deal, Leonardo was still quite a child in some ways.

"Leonardo," he began again, his voice softer and full of pride. "You have awakened a strength even I have not begun to understand. Great masters have strived to achieve a feet such as this and have failed... I have been aware of your spiritual potential for some time now..."

He chuckled again, looking at his son with surprise and fascination.

"However, I did not think you would progress so quickly. I'm afraid I cannot offer you much wisdom or teachings, but I am certain you will do fine without it."

Reaching over and putting a hand on Leonardo's shoulder, he said: "After all, you saved Miwa. Thank you my son."

Shy under his father's praises, Leonardo only bowed his head in return. Giving his shoulder a little squeeze before letting go, Splinter rose from his chair. He took a moment to look at his children, all in the same room once again.

"Now, I think it's time for breakfast," Splinter announced. "Raphael, get a hot bath ready for your sister. She can soak while we're cooking. Donatello, go and find something comfortable for her to wear. Michelangelo, go clean your room."

Surprised by the strange order, he asked, "What? Why now? Can't I help cook or something?"

"Because your room is filthy, Michelangelo. We can enjoy your culinary arts some other time," Splinter answered.

He ignored his youngest son's protests as the boys left. Feeling left out, Leonardo asked, "What about me, sensei?"

"You can help me if you wish, but I think you should rest," Splinter replied. "You were up all night my son. I will wake you when it's time to eat."

Yawning, Leonardo suddenly felt how tired he was, but he didn't want to sleep. Not when there was so much excitement going on.

"Go take a nap Leo," Karai said, getting to her feet. "You look tired."

Seeing that she was trembling, a bit unsteady on her legs, Leonardo noticed for the first time how pale and weak she looked.

"You alright?" he asked.

Both he and Splinter watched her closely, even as she told them she was fine. "I'm just tired. I'm okay, really." Splinter nodded and went to gather some ingredients, but Leonardo was a little harder to convince. She rolled her eyes.

"Go get some sleep Leo, jeez," she teased, lips curling in a cat like grin. "I'll still be here when you wake up."

Too drained to argue much more, he got up. "You'd better be."

When he was gone, she turned to see what her father was cooking. He was pouring dashi in a large black pot.

"What are you making?" she asked, leaning to peer inside.

"It's one of your mother's recipes," he replied.

He felt Karai's wide eyes on him as he started cutting up the mushrooms.

"Mother's recipe?" she echoed, gripping the blanket tightly.

Splinter smiled down at her. "Yes, it's her special miso soup. Do you like miso soup, Miwa?" She nodded, her face brightening.

"Good. When you are more rested, I can teach you how to make it if you like."

"I'd love that, father."

She watched him work until Raphael came back to tell her the bath was ready. Not a second later, Donatello came in with one of Splinter's robes.

"I'm sorry, Karai. It's big, but we don't have anything else," he apologized, rubbing the back of his head. "I'll text April later. Maybe she can bring something down after school."

Karai took the robe and hugged it against her chest. It smelled clean. That was all that mattered to her. "Thank's Don. I really appreciate it." Donatello awkwardly replied, "You're welcome." She patted his and Raphael's shoulders as she passed them. For a moment, neither said anything. Then Raphael abruptly said: "It's weird having a girl in the lair."

"Yeah, it's always been just us guys," Donatello agreed. "But I think it'll be nice having a sister."

Raphael scoffed, punching his brother's arm. "Maybe she can teach you how to talk to girls." Blushing intensely, Donatello stuttered a retort which sparked an argument between them.

Meanwhile, Splinter kept himself busy, enjoying the sounds of a full house.


~Translations

1. Kishi kaisei: Wake from death and return to life. Meaning to come out of a desperate situation and make a complete return in one sudden burst.

2. Keizoku wa chikara nari: Continuance (also) is power/strength. Meaning don't give up. Just continuing to hold on will yield/reveal strength and power. Continuing on after a setback is its own kind of strength. Perseverance is power.

~ Thanks for reading!