The woman glanced around, still sticking to the shadows. She was breathing deeply, trying to stay silent as she moved from shadow to shadow. Feeling an intense cramping feeling in her stomach she stopped and leaned against the cool, brick wall; suppressing the urge she scream in pain. She looked down at her large, round belly as she bent over a bit and felt the contractions course through her body. She waited for a few moments, sweat making her smooth, brown hair frizz up and stick to her skin.

When the pain had eased she glanced around. When the coast was clear she cautiously left the safety of the shadows and hurried to the giant, automatic door. When she entered the building she squinted her eyes against the bright lights as she made her way to the front desk.

"Excuse me?" she spoke cautiously to the woman at the front desk. The woman looked up from the computer she was working on.

"Yes?" she asked, a friendly smile on her face.

"I need help, I-I think I'm going into labor." the woman panted before she clutched the side of the desk and gasped as another contraction racked through her body, this one more painful than the last. She was dimly aware of being lifted onto a gurney and rolled down the hallway to a hospital room.

The woman blinked open her eyes, the bright lights making her squint a bit to adjust. She glanced around the room. She was in a hospital room in a light blue hospital gown and a room with white walls, floor, and ceiling. She vividly remembered the agony she'd gone through during the birth. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced in her life. She'd fought enemy ninjas and even nearly been killed in a few battles but never anything that…intense.

She looked to the door as a woman entered the room.

"How are you feeling?" she asked gently.

"Tired." she answered quietly, her head leaning back against the headboard of the bed. She suddenly leaned forward. "Where is it?" she demanded.

"It's okay." the woman calmed her down, "The birth went fine. A beautiful baby girl." right as the nurse spoke another nurse entered the room, carrying a small bundle wrapped in a baby blue blanket. The small bundle was gently placed in the mother's arms. The woman looked down at her new baby. The baby was sound asleep, her skin a light tan color, with a lock of black hair on her head. She was so small. Her head alone could fit in the palm of her mother's hand. The woman gazed down at her daughter, smiling for what felt like the first time in months. The memory of the pain of the birth seemed to be washed from her mind.

"Do you have a name for the baby? We need one for the records." the nurse asked.

The woman's eyes didn't leave her daughter as the baby opened her eyes and gazed up at her mother. The mother stroked the child's soft cheek, "Kayla," she answered with another smile.

The woman walked down the hallway. It had been only twenty-four hours since her daughter's birth. She glanced around nervously as she reached a phone in the hallway, glancing around as if an enemy would jump her from anywhere. She lifted the phone to her ear and dialed a number with shaky hands and waited as it rang.

"Hello?" a voice answered into the phone, sounding a little confused.

"Splinter?" the woman asked in a shaky voice, clutching the phone with both hands.

There was a long silence. "Who is this?" the voice asked after a while.

The woman took a deep breath. "Aimi." she answered quietly.

There was a long silence on the other end. "Aimi?" Splinter's voice said after a while "How did you get this number? How did you know…?"

Aimi looked at the ground. "I heard what happened to Yoshi. And then I found out what happened to you because I kind of…saw you…in the sewers." Aimi breathed in deeply. "Splinter…I need your help." she said in a pleading voice.

There was a long silence. "You did much for my Master Yoshi. I would do anything to help you. What is it you need?" he asked genuinely.

"They're still after me." she started, glancing around to make sure no one was listening, "They're getting closer…I just gave birth yesterday. I was wondering…if you could…" Aimi took a deep breath, "If they find me with her she'll…" Aimi broke off, not wanting to think about it.

Master Splinter sighed into the phone. "I will take care of her as long as you need. You can contact me again when you've found a safe home for you both. Until then you can drop her off below the sewer conduit on South Federal…"

Aimi clutched Kayla to her as she walked out of the hospital. It was about three in the afternoon and she wasn't completely comfortable walking in broad daylight with no shadows to conceal her. She walked brusquely, holding Kayla close to her chest as if trying to hide her from the outside world. She reached an alley and slipped into it. Holding Kayla with one arm she knelt down and moved some old cardboard boxes away to pull a large basket from under them. She'd weaved it herself; and had knitted the small, blue blanket herself also. She sewed the Japanese symbol for love on it as well, to remind her daughter just how much she loved her. She gently placed Kayla in the basket and draped the blanket over the top of the basket to hide her. Lifting it carefully she walked down back alleys behind the many apartments to avoid the crowds.

After about an hour of walking she made it to South Federal and walked into the alley and placed the basket down next to the manhole cover. She lifted the cover off and climbed down into the sewer before carefully lifting the basket down after her. She placed it down on the floor of the sewer just at the foot of the ladder.

She lifted off the blanket and gazed sadly down at her daughter. Kayla had fallen asleep, her thumb in her mouth. Aimi smiled gently as she tucked the blanket around her daughter, careful not to wake her up. She bent down and gently kissed her daughter's forehead before climbing the ladder out of the sewers. She took one last look down at the small baby before putting the manhole cover back in place.

She took a deep breath before leaving the alley and walking among the New York crowds like nothing was wrong. A few hours later she was in an empty parking lot. She didn't like being here with no where to hide. She just wanted to find some shadows and hide.

Aimi froze. She glanced around. She set her feet in a fighting stance and glanced around the seemingly empty parking lot. She spun around. She wasn't alone. She could sense it. A shadow flew at her and she back-flipped into the air to dodge the blow. Suddenly she was surrounded by ninjas; probably about two dozen of them. They attacked from all sides throwing punches and kicks that she barely managed to avoid. She threw a few punches of her own. She sent several ninjas flying back at once with a flying roundhouse kick.

Aimi spun to face the next wave of attacking ninjas when a giant fist flew out of nowhere. Taking the blow to her face Aimi was thrown back several feet landing hard on the cement. She sat up on her elbows slowly before forcing her eyes open. Looking up she saw a large man with a purple dragon tattoo spiraling down his arm standing over her. He had long, blonde hair in a ponytail and another tattoo on his other arm. This one red with three points on the top.

She gritted her teeth up at him. "Hun." she growled out. She flipped herself up into a standing position and spun her leg around to kick him in the face. He caught her leg in his mammoth-sized fist and easily flipped her to the ground. Two ninjas stepped forward and grabbed her arms, holding her up to face him. A third stepped up and held her head back to look at him.

He smirked down at her with his arms crossed. "My Master wishes to see you." Aimi felt a blow to the back of her head and everything went black…

Aimi groaned in pain as she slowly forced her eyes to open. She blinked a few times to adjust to the bright light. She looked around the room. She was curled up lying on the floor. Her wrists and ankles were bound by thick, course rope. She gasped slightly as two sets of hands grabbed under her arms and lifted her so she sat on her knees. She glared back at the two Foot ninjas as they stepped away from her. Hearing a familiar set of footsteps she turned her attention back in front of her.

In front of her stood a tall man in a Japanese blue and white man's kimono. His chin and cheek bones were well-defined with a chiseled look. His eyes were narrow with small, black pupils. She felt hate burn in the pit of her stomach as she met his eyes.

He walked forward until he was only about a foot in front of her and looked down at her. "Where is she?" he asked.

Aimi met his gazed with her head lifted. "I don't know what you're talking about." she felt a stinging pain in her cheek as he struck her with the back of his hand. She felt his hand grip her throat as he lifted her up to his face.

"You are already facing the punishment for betraying the Foot Clan and your Master. Don't worsen your pain by lying to me." he dropped her to the ground and she fell to her side. "My men told me you gave birth to a daughter. I have my rights to her. Where is she?"

Aimi used her shoulder to push herself into a sitting position. She stared up at Oroku Saki with hate burning in her brown eyes. "No matter what you do to me…you will never see my daughter. You will never find her, no matter how hard you look. I won't let my child make the same mistakes I did in joining the Foot Clan. You destroy everything you touch. I will not allow my child to meet the same fate."

Oroku Saki looked down at her showing no emotion. Then he crouched down near her and put his mouth near her ear. She heard his voice whisper, "You seem to forget…She's OUR daughter." she gritted her teeth as he pulled away from her. He turned to one of his ninja, who was kneeling down holding a small, foot-long box up to him. Saki opened it and took out a double-bladed gauntlet, which he slipped over his hand. He stood over her again as he looked down at her.

"It's really too bad," he said quietly, "you were the most skilled ninja in this city, as well as Japan. It's a shame you decided to start fighting for…honor." Saki approached her slowly. "Look where your 'honor' has gotten you now." he said mockingly as he raised the gauntlet over his head. Aimi lifted her chin and didn't flinch as the gauntlet swung towards her. She felt the pain as the sharp blades ripped through her flesh. She fell to the ground, blood pouring out of her as her life slowly ebbed from her body…

Splinter peaked around the corner, using the shadows to conceal himself, even though there probably wasn't anyone in the sewers with him. He'd told his sons not to come to this sewer tunnel today, saying that it was dangerous. It wasn't really dangerous, he just told them that to make them stay away from here so he could bring the baby home.

He knew he couldn't tell his sons the truth about the baby. So he decided that he would tell them that he heard a baby crying from near their den so he went to investigate.

As Splinter turned another corner he stopped in surprise. He and Aimi had agreed that she would leave the baby in a large basket just under the sewer conduit on South Federal. But the basket wasn't there. Splinter searched the whole tunnel from one end of it to the other, but no baby was found. After about an hour of searching Master Splinter decided to go back to the den. Maybe Aimi had gotten the directions wrong. He'd have to wait to see if she tried to contact him again.

When Splinter approached the entrance to the den he heard his sons talking amongst themselves.

"Careful!" he heard Raphael's voice warn.

"Sorry." Michelangelo answered, his voice sounding strained, as if he were holding something heavy. A few moments later Splinter heard Michelangelo say, "Aaawww! She's so cute!"

Splinter opened the door and stepped into the den. "Where have you four been?" he asked gently. His four sons spun around and he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He saw Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello glancing among themselves nervously, but to Splinter's surprise Raphael stepped in front of them.

Raphael bowed his head to his father as he said, "They had nothing to do with this, Sensei. We all wanted to go explore the tunnels, like you said we could, but I wanted to go off on my own. And I found this in one of the tunnels." Raphael stepped aside and gestured to the basket.

"There's a baby in it!" Michelangelo blurted. Splinter saw Raphael glare at his youngest brother while Leonardo smacked him in the head. Splinter looked from Raphael to the basket. Then he walked past Raphael and lifted the baby out of the basket. He knew this was Aimi's daughter, she had the same eyes and smile. He also knew Raphael was lying to him about where he found the baby, but he couldn't really ridicule him without giving away that he knew about the baby. Splinter watched as the baby stretched her hands toward his face and stroked his whiskers, giggling as she touched his fur. Master Splinter couldn't help but smile. He rested the baby in the crook of his arm, gently rocking her.

"Well, if you four want a baby sister you're going to need to help take care of her." he said to his sons. He couldn't help but smile as they all jumped and cheered.

Michelangelo asked, "Can we name her Silver Sentry?" and Master Splinter saw Raphael smack him behind the head.

"Actually, I was thinking of something…a little more common." Splinter sat down on the sofa with the baby still cradled in his arms.

"What?" Raphael asked him as he approached the sofa.

"Kayla." Splinter said softly, thinking of the name Aimi had told him.

He could see Raphael standing on his toes to get a good look at the baby and heard him murmur the name to himself. Splinter smiled. Even if this baby would only be a member of their family for a few days, Splinter had a feeling at least one of his sons would become VERY attached.