Hello once again~ and welcome to what I HOPE will be another long-running story. I have a vague sense that I'm biting off more than I can chew with this one, but I hope you will be patient with me and try look past any mistakes I make.

This is once again a a story taking place in both the universes of the TMNT from their 2003 cartoon as well as the Usagi Yojimbo comics created, written and drawn by Stan Sakai. This time, the emphasis will be more on Usagi's side of things, however I am aware that few TMNT fans have read the Usagi comics, and so will try write it so you don't need to have read the comics to understand the story/characters/plot points etc.

Also, in my own chronology, this story takes place after the short story I wrote called "Haven", but it has little to do with the plot.

Basically what happens is this (skip if you actually wanna read the thing):

Usagi travels to the TMNT dimension, running from a battle. He sleeps off his fatigue, then returns to the madness that very same night and Leo is concerned about him and what will happen to him on a battlefield when it had already not been going well.

That's about it.

Anyway, that's about it from me. Any feedback you can give would be very VERY appreciated. Getting comments and responses is what urges me to actually finish these stories as otherwise I'd just put them down and forget about them.

Lastly, I don't own TMNT or UY or any characters from either universes, apart from bit characters.

Xxxxx

Farewell is one of the hardest things to say.

It does not matter where you are from, how you were raised or who your parents were. Saying farewell to some-one is always a hard thing to do.

There are different degrees of farewell. None of them are by nature pleasant, but some of them tend to cut us deeper and therefore leave behind a larger wound than others. The kind of farewell you bid the people you know tends to vary depending on circumstances.

And of course depending on what kind of relationship you have with the person.

Saying farewell when you do not know when you will see them again is a painful business, especially when you are already aware of a sense of danger hovering around the person you are parting with. Not knowing where they are going, how they will fare and when you will be able to see them again weighs heavily on any mind who is forced to say 'Good-bye'.

The knowledge that you will never see them again on the other hand can make the weight unbearable.

Yet we are all forced to say these varying degrees of good-bye in our lifetimes. Such is the curse of being mortal. The only thing we can take comfort in, of what little comfort is offered, is that the ones we bid farewell to feel the same sadness in the parting. It is a symbol of affection and caring. Something we should consider ourselves privileged to receive.

In the period of two weeks, I have had to bid farewell to two friends of mine, not knowing when I would see either of them again. I am use to saying good-bye to my friends, and so far fortune has favoured me so that I have been able to see them all again after doing so. This is a small comfort that makes it easier to step back onto the road and continue forward with my travels. Searching for whatever it is fate has decided I must search for.

The first parting was with a good friend of mine who lives further away than any other person I know. He is young in years, but already he is wiser and more focused than I ever was at his age. It would be slanderous of me to perceive him as anything less but my equal, in both combat and strength of character. And yet his youth shone through when I had to leave him for obligations and duties I could not break. He was afraid for me, not knowing when he'd see me again and if I would be in good health when he does. A childish worry perhaps, but one I felt I should be grateful for.

The second parting was with another good friend of mine, this one much closer to home. A friend who had requested my help in a campaign to root out and eradicate some brigands who sought to invade the lands of her lord surreptitiously. Our first endeavour against them was not successful and we had had to rethink our strategies and approach to the threat. With the element of surprise lost, we needed to move fast and wipe them out before the situation worsened. Luckily, we were able to out-wit them and, after a short time, drove them from the domain of my friend's Lord.

With the threat gone, it had once again been time for me to leave and continue on my way. She had been sad to see me go, as I was sad to leave her and wander alone once more. But that is how it is.

Although every time we part ways it seems to get harder and harder to do so for me.

Nevertheless, our farewells were said and I continued my journey, hoping fate would lead me to her again soon.

This had been some time ago, when the day would still warm up as the sun rose and the fields were still green. They'd started to wither now, and the chill of the mornings lingered throughout the day until the sun set and the night grew cold.

It will snow soon. The heat of summer and the comfortable coolness of autumn are also to be bid farewell. Winter is not far away.

Xxxxx

Actual story to follow. I swear XD;