Secrets and Lies: A Truth and Lies Collection

Chapter 1: Secret Sister

A/N: I'm back with yet another story set in the Truth and Lies universe. This is a collection of one shots and drabbles told by all of the characters in the Truth and Lies universe. I'm so excited to get started on this as I've had it in my head since yesterday. I hope you all enjoy it and continue to stick with me as I plot this out.

Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters are property of Nickelodeon. I only own the plot of this story and nothing more.

Summary: Everyone tells lies and everyone keeps secrets, but sometimes one wonders if it's worth it to conceal the truth. A collection of one shots and drabbles set in the Truth and Lies universe.

April O'Neil was good at keeping secrets. She remembered a time when she secretly took one of her mom's tubes of lipstick and wore it during school even though her dad had prohibited her from doing so. She wore it all day and was able to sneak the lipstick back and wipe off the evidence before Kirby found out. Even then, she had the makings of a kunoichi though she didn't know it then. She was also good at keeping secrets about the guys and not telling anyone about them for fear that someone would discover them. That was a secret she was willing to keep all to herself.

But there was one secret she didn't want to keep and that was about her sister, Robyn. Robyn was her twin sister who had been sent to a mental institution after attempting to kill April. At first, April was angry at her and was glad that Robyn was locked up, but over time, all of that changed, and she missed her sister. After her father had been kidnapped, April longed for Robyn to be with her to comfort her, but she wasn't there. Yes, she had the Turtles, but it wasn't the same.

One day, Mikey sat with April in the living area of the Lair with his drawing pad on his lap. It was something he did in his spare time and something he liked to keep to himself so that his brothers wouldn't make fun of him. He fixed his blue eyes on her and asked, "Hey, April, have you ever had a secret you've been dying to tell someone?"

April faltered a bit, thinking of Robyn and how she wished that she could tell her new friends about her. But then her dad's warning came into her head. "You can't tell anyone about her, April. We can't let anyone know who she is until she gets better." April had kept the promise, but it was killing her not to tell Mikey or the others.

"I'm sure we all have secrets like that, but sometimes it's a good idea to just keep them to ourselves," she replied.

"So what's your secret?" Mikey asked her.

"If I told you that, it wouldn't be a secret, would it?" she teased him.

"But we're friends, April. Don't friends share secrets?"

"It depends on the secret, Mikey. I'm sure you have secrets that you don't want to share with me, right?"

"Well, yeah, that's true."

"And you know secrets about your brothers that you won't share because they've asked you not to."

Mikey nodded. "Well, I only do that for Raph because he'll beat the green off me if I do. But I do it for Don and Leo because I know they'd want me to do it."

"Well, I'm the same way. Some secrets are better left where they are. I haven't told anyone about you guys, and I never will because I care about you that much."

"Yeah, but you can tell me what you're hiding," begged Mikey. "I promise I won't tell anyone, and I'll keep it to myself."

The urge to tell Mikey about Robyn was consuming her, but April shook her head. No, she'd made a promise to her dad not to reveal the secret, and it would stay with her until the day she died.

"I'm sorry, Mikey, but I can't," she said gently. "I made a promise to someone, and you can't break a promise."

It looked like Mikey wanted to say more, but he closed his mouth. "Yeah, I understand that," he said softly. "Don't worry about it, April. But if you ever get permission to tell, you know you can always come to me."

April gave him a hug. "Thanks, Mikey," she said. "That means a lot to me."

Over time, April replayed that conversation and really wanted to tell her friends about Robyn. Each time she thought of it, she remembered the promise she'd made her to her dad and to her sister. She would keep the secret until the day she died along with the secret about the Turtles. That was just the way it worked for her, and as it turned out, she kept her promise to the end of her life, though she never knew that it was going to be her sister who would end her life that day. But if she had known what her friends were going to go through after her death, she would have told them then and there about Robyn so all of the heartache her friends went through wouldn't have happened. She blamed herself for all of it, and she also blamed her dad. If he hadn't made her swear not to tell anyone, all of this could have been avoided. Now all she could do was watch her friends suffer and not be able to do anything about it. And it was then that she came to a realization.

Some secrets weren't worth dying for.

A/N: So that's the end of that little chapter. I hope you liked it. I want to try and update this as much as I can, but it's going to be hard with all of the other stories I have to do as well. I'll just do the best I can and leave it at that, okay? Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.