It was a dark and stormy night in New York City. Lightning flashed and thunder roared across the darkened sky.

Down a tunnel in the sewers, in a small, safe lair, four 6-year-old turtles soundly slept in their beds. Their father, Sensei Splinter, was searching for supplies not very far away.

As Sensei Splinter picked through the sewers near an open manhole, he heard what he was certain to be a child crying. Climbing up to investigate, Splinter noticed an old rundown warehouse with a wide open door.

Cautiously stepping into the warehouse, Splinter looked around. The place was on the verge of collapsing, with rotten beams and failing superstructure, it was a surprise the old warehouse was still standing.

Certain he had imagined the crying, Splinter turned to leave, when a soft sniffing caught his attention. Peering under the staircase, he saw, to his complete surprise, a small toddler with blond hair and bright blue eyes hugging a black kitten stuffy. Lightning illuminated her tear-streaked face.

The toddler looked up at the large old rat that had suddenly appeared. He didn't seem frightening or threatening, but old, gentle, friendly. She reached her arms up to him. She had been alone under the staircase, hiding from the shadows and the mean creatures for three days, wondering where her mother and father were, wondering if anybody was going to come and protect her.

Sensei picked the little girl and her teddy cat up and brought them with him back to the lair. He didn't have the heart to leave her alone in the warehouse. She would be better off with four older brothers and a rat for a father.

10 years later, 12-year-old Hamato Ming was running late. Again.

She raced down the hall, skidded into the classroom, and slid into her desk, only about a half hour late. Breathing a sigh of relief that the teacher wasn't here yet.

"Miss Hamato. Taking a nice leisurely stroll this morning, are we?" Mr. Grimp stepped into the class and tapped his fingers on the desk.

Ming hung her head, her highly sensitive ears picking up the murmurs from Elina to her boyfriend, Julian. "Aww, the poor Sewer Rat broke her watch."

Spinning around, she glared at Elina, who watched her tauntingly.

After school, instead of going straight home like she was supposed to, Ming tracked Elina to her house. Hiding in the bushes, she waited until dark before moving slowly forward to execute her prank.

Leaping up onto the roof, Ming pulled a smoke bomb out of her pocket, but just as she was about to use it, someone grabbed the collar of her shirt, and threw something over her eyes. Ming tried to struggle, but it was no use. Whoever it was had a rock-iron grip on her, now holding her by her wrists.

Giving up in the fight, Ming allowed herself to be led along a long, slightly confusing path. When the blindfold was finally removed, Ming found herself at home, in the lair, being held by the back of her neck, surrounded by her older brothers, with her father right in front of her.

"Uh, h-hi Daddy." Ming stammered.

"You, young lady, are in a whole lot of trouble." Raphael, her brother, growled from behind her. His grip tightened on the back of her neck.

"Ow, ow! Raph, please let go!" Ming yipped. Raph released the back of her neck. Ming got into trouble a lot, but he never meant to hurt her.

Master Splinter cleared his throat. Ming and her brothers immediately snapped to attention. "Ming, you know the rules. After school, you are to come straight home."

"Hai Sensei." Ming sighed, hanging her head.

"You really scared us." Leonardo piped up.

"You are grounded for a week." Splinter commanded, and left the room.

"Hai Sensei." Ming mumbled, and climbed up to her room. She closed her door and picked up the old black cat stuffy that sat on her bed. She had named the stuffy Curse, ever since she had first discovered her powers. The teddy cat had been with her for as long as she could remember. It had been her comfort when her father was away, or when her brothers were being mean. She had cuddled with it on a stormy and dark night, or when she had been woken up by a Vision Dream that had been particularly scary. Her brothers would dismiss them as nightmares, and lull her back to sleep.

Ming remembered the very first Vision Dream she had ever had. That dream coming true had been the scariest thing in her life.

The Vision Dream had been her, surrounded by her brothers and her father, feeling safe and protected. After a couple of minutes, her father had disappeared. Her brothers seemed afraid and on edge. Not too long after, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello had also disappeared. Raphael had hugged her very close, and walked off down a dark passage. Ming followed. As he walked down the passage, it got smaller and smaller, until it opened into a big white room. A large man in spikes appeared, and as Raphael faced him, he began to fade.

Ming had woken at that moment, only for Mikey to convince her to go back to sleep. The dream had changed into them all falling down a huge snow hill.

When the event happened that the Vision Dream had foretold, it was the scariest thing that had ever happened to her. The Vision Dream had been foretelling her family's first encounter with the Shredder. When Raph had been fighting the Shredder, and Mikey, Leo and Donnie were nearly dead, everything had felt so hopeless, like everything she'd ever known, and everything she'd ever loved was gone.

Everything had turned out, however, and they had managed to save New York in the process.

"Hey, Ming! Are you okay?" Mikey's sudden appearance in her doorway snapped Ming out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ming nodded, wiping a tear from her eyes that she just realized was there.

"Anyway, we're going out for a run. You wanna come?" Mikey asked. Ming shook her head.

"I'm grounded, remember?"

"Sensei's sleeping. What he doesn't know can't hurt him, right?" Mikey grinned.

But what he could find out, can hurt me. Ming thought, following Mike down the stairs. The others were already suited up and ready to go. Ming grinned, pulling her hoodie and sweats off to reveal the black jumpsuit she always wore.

"Okay, let's go!" Raph urged, as they all hurried out to the rooftops. Ming smiled as the cool night breeze ruffled her hair, and the rain gently fell on her upturned face. The gentle drizzle was the best weather. The clouds masked the bright moon, and the falling rain pounded just hard enough that they couldn't be heard as they leaped from roof to roof, making their way to who knew exactly where.