Here's the next installment!

Enjoy!

Bliss's POV -

"Hello?" I blinked, looking around. It was dark, empty, and cold, and I shivered. "Where am I?" My voice echoed the hall.

"Bliss," a familiar voice said, and I turned around, feeling my eyes grow wide. The familiar face of my guardian raised an eye ridge at me, hands shoved deep in his coat pockets.

"Uncle Raph!" I ran forward and hugged him around the middle. He put an arm around my shoulders, and I tucked my head in the curve of his plastron. "I've missed you so much."

The arm tightened around me. "Kid, I don't have much time," Uncle Raph said. I looked up at him, confused. His one eye was narrowed, but not at me. He was squinting in the shadows behind us. "You need to be aware. He's coming."

"Who?" I said, pulling away from him and stepping back. He grabbed my shoulders, pulling my face up close to his. "Who's coming?"

"The Shredder," he said. Spit landed on my cheek, and I grimaced. "The fight's not over yet."

"But... Donny killed him! It is over!" I said, trying and failing to break his grip. "It's over!"

Uncle Raph started laughing, and I froze in his grip, petrified, as his form began to bubble and grow.

"Did you think you could ever truly defeat me?" The Shredder boomed. He sneered in my face, pink tentacles squelching as they waved in my face. I started to squirm, frantically, trying to break the robot's grip. "You're weak, turtle. You will never escape me!"

Cackling, he flung me across the room, and I hit the wall, collapsing into a heap. I lifted my head, limbs sprawled everywhere, and saw the fallen forms of my uncles and April on the ground. Uncle Raph's lifeless eye stared right at me.

"No," I cried, trying to grab my Bo off my back, fumbling for air when I realized it wasn't there. The Shredder cackled again and started running for me, and I clenched my eyes shut and covered my head.

"NO!" I shot upright, chest heaving and wet tears blurring my vision. It took me a moment to realize it was only a dream. A shitty one, but a dream nonetheless. My heart pounded, and I was tangled up in a heap of clean towels and unmade sheets, which I frantically kicked off. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, putting my head between my knees and struggling to take a deep breath.

It took me another moment to calm down enough to remember just where I was — the lair, in Donny's world, where this Raphael hated me and there actually was a Shredder still at large. I shuddered at the thought of The Shredder's sneering alien face from my dream. I looked at the clock at the wall: 9:21PM. Holy shell, I'd been asleep almost 24 hours!

I took another deep breath to try and calm myself more, firmly pushing all thoughts of the dream from my mind. I was safe. I was okay. It was all okay. I stood up, feeling the stiffness in my muscles, and when I stretched, felt something in my back pop. I headed out the door, pausing when I stepped outside.

I heard a scattering of voices coming from the left and headed that way. I approached a small room that I heard Michelangelo screaming in and stuck my head inside.

Everyone but Donny was seated inside, eating breakfast, Michelangelo waving his hands wildly and spilling milk on the table. I guess this must be the kitchen, I thought. I turned to leave and not bother them, but Michelangelo must've seen me.

"Bliss!" he said. At least, I think that's what he said. He had a mouthful of cereal falling out of his mouth. "Are you hungry? I made breakfast!"

Raphael's shoulders tensed, and his knuckles turned white gripping his spoon. Leonar- Leo looked up from his bowl and smiled at me, and Master Splinter did the same with his tea.

"No," I lied, "not really." My stomach betrayed me, however, and growled as if on cue. My cheeks flushed.

"You should eat something," Leo said, sounding almost scolding.

"Come, sit down," Master Splinter said, and I trudged over, sitting in the empty seat next to Raph. He didn't look at me, but he scooted over and gave me some room.

"We have cereal, pancakes, and ooh, we got pizza!" Michelangelo turned his head to grin at me, arms deep in the fridge. "Whatcha want?"

I wrinkled my beak. "I've never had pizza before," I said. Michelangelo gasped, sounding wounded. Even Raph gave me a startled look.

"What do you mean, you've never had pizza before? It's a staple of turtle cuisine!" Michelangelo said, yanking out the box and setting it in front of me. He settled back down in his chair, tucking his chin on his knee and watching me with wide eyes.

"I mean, I've heard of it before," I tried to amend. "Uncle Ra- I mean, I heard stories growing up, but they didn't really sell it anymore."

"Why not?" Leo asked. Raph pointedly didn't look at me.

I shrugged. "In Shredder's work camps, people had a set diet. Nothing special. You couldn't even find chocolate unless you were looking at the black market." Everyone grew quiet, so I lowered my eyes and picked up a slice. Uncle Raph used to say pizza was one of the biggest things he missed from before. He even tried to make it once, but he said it wasn't the same.

I bit into it, tasting nothing but tomatoes and cheese. It was... underwhelming. Michelangelo watched with bated breath at my reaction, until I nodded and gave him a thumbs up, trying to hide my disappointment.

"You didn't give her one of the jellybean ones, did you?" Leo said, raising his eye ridges.

Michelangelo stuck his tongue out at him. "What do you take me for? I ate all of the jellybean up last night."

Leo rolled his eyes. "You'll have to try it hot next time," he said to me. "And you can pick the toppings."

"Can we put chocolate on it?" I turned and asked Michelangelo excitedly, and he beamed. Leo groaned.

"We're gonna be best friends," Michelangelo told me seriously. I giggled. I liked this Michelangelo a lot.

"Raph? Have you seen my brake bleeder?" We all turned to watch Donny walk in, goggles and mask pushed up on his forehead and rubbing his eyes. "I can't find it anywhere."

Raph grunted, splattering milk on the table. "Why would I have seen it?"

"Gee, I don't know," Donny said sarcastically, slapping his thighs with his hands. "Maybe because you're the only other one with a bike?" His gaze fell on me, and he smiled. "Oh, hey, Bliss. If you want any coffee you can have some out of my stash." He leaned over Leo's shoulder and snagged a slice of pizza, taking a bite.

Michelangelo made a noise of interest. "Can I have some of your coffee?"

"No," Leo and Donny said in unison, and Mikey made a face. Raph snorted.

"I'll share with you, Michelangelo," I said, giggling a little at the look of alarm on everyone's face.

"See? Bliss cares about me," Michelangelo said, putting a hand over his heart. "She's the only one. And dudette, call me Mikey. Only Splinter calls me Michelangelo, and it's lame." Splinter raised an eyebrow, and Michelang - Mikey - hastily ducked his head.

Leo cleared his throat. "I hate to break up this little party," he said, "but I think it's time for training."

Mikey and Donny groaned. Donny started to babble an excuse to go back to the lab and skip, and Leo rolled his eyes.

"I assure you, Don, the Battle Shell will still be there when we get done," he said with a touch of weariness. He stood up from the table, and Mikey and Raph followed. I hesitated, not quite sure if I needed to leave or not.

"Oh," Leo said, turning around when the four of them were crowded in the doorway. "Um, Bliss... you can-"

"Leonardo, I would like you to lead training today," Master Splinter said, holding up a hand to interrupt. "I would like to talk to Bliss during this time."

Leo nodded, gave me a smile, and headed out. The others followed, Mikey waving over his shoulder before he disappeared.

"So," I said, turning and looking at Master Splinter sitting across from me. I played with the tips of my bandana tails, feeling a little out of place.

"I have to say, Bliss, you are settling in incredibly well," he said.

I couldn't help it — I snorted. "Really?" I said. "I've only barely talked to everybody, turns out I hate pizza, and Raph still won't even look at me." He just looked at me for a moment, and I could feel my shoulders deflate. "I'm sorry," I said, feeling really guilty that I just yelled at him when he was trying to help. "It's just been a really weird couple of days."

"I understand that there will be a learning curve for all of us," he said, sounding a lot more understanding and less frustrated than I thought he'd be. "But please, do not be so hard on Raphael. He especially will need time to process this. The way you view him intimidates him."

"It does?" I asked, wrinkling up my beak. "But why? I know he's not the same Raphael. None of you are the same."

"I believe he is afraid he will not live up to your viewpoint of him," Splinter said. I saw his tail flick out of the corner of my eye. "You have known him for your entire life, but he does not know you at all."

I nodded, accepting the answer but not liking it at all. "Donny didn't seem to have the same acceptance problem," I mumbled, "even though he is, you know, my father and all."

He chuckled. "Donatello is very different than Raphael. He has also had a little more time to think about the situation and how he needs to treat you than Raphael has."

"I guess you're right," I said, twirling the pizza box around on the table.

"I'm afraid this is not what I wanted to discuss with you," he said, with what looked to be a sheepish smile on his face. "I wanted to talk to you for more... selfish reasons."

I blinked and raised an eye ridge. What was that supposed to mean? "Okay..." I said, trying to hide the sudden tinge of panic that bubbled up.

Splinter watched me, eyes soft. "You remind me so much of Donatello. You share many of the same mannerisms."

I kinda smiled at that, a strange mix of nerves and embarrassment. My mind raced; it kinda made me uncomfortable. What the shell was I supposed to say to that?

Master Splinter twitched his ears and decided to continue before I could say something. "Yesterday, you said that Raphael was the one that raised you." I nodded, feeling a sharp pang in my chest. "I would like for you to tell me a little more about that."

I blinked, a little confused, and then it hit me, like a lightbulb went off over my head. "Ohhh," I said. "You wanna know if Uncle Raph was a good dad or not." Now that I snorted at.

Master Splinter's ears twitched again. "Selfish, it may be. However, I am interested in-"

I cut him off. "Of course I'll tell you," I said, all my nervousness and panic gone. "But you won't tell Raph about this, right? I don't wanna freak him out more than he already is."

"What happens in the kitchen stays in the kitchen," Master Splinter said solemnly, eyes twinkling, and I giggled again.

"Okay. Good." I drummed my fingers on the table, trying to think back. "Well, I really don't know why my father chose to give me to Raph. And I don't think Raph really knew why, either. Uncle Raph always had a big temper, which might have rubbed off on me a little bit," and now it was my turn to grin sheepishly, "and when I was young, I especially don't think he knew how to take care of a kid, especially a girl. Some days he would come home really drunk and just pass out on the kitchen floor. He let me try his beer for the first time at thirteen. He wouldn't let me go topside until I was fifteen, and tried to ground me for life when I almost snuck out. But it wasn't all bad. He trained me, and played with me when I was a kid, and he told me all about you guys. Like I said, I wasn't allowed to leave the apartment, so sometimes it was kinda cramped, but we practically had the whole floor to ourselves and he really tried to make things as best as he could." I could feel my eyes well up with tears from the memories flooding my mind, even though I didn't want them to. "For my fifteenth birthday, he somehow figured out a way to get me chocolate. I don't know what he had to do to get it, because the only way you could find it was on the black market." I sniffled again, the grief over missing him coming back strongly. "He tried really hard."

"He would sneak me textbooks and instruction manuals to read, pieces for my computer and the TV to help me fix them up. He tried to teach me math and history and stuff as a kid, but quickly learned that it would be better for both of us if I had real books to do that. But he still loved teaching me how to fight, but he hated it when I called him 'Sensei.' He would remind me every morning to straighten my mask, because apparently it was super important that even though I never met anyone else it needed to be straight. When I had bad dreams about The Shredder finding us as a kid, he would let me stay with him at night. One time, when I was little, I stayed at the window with a packed bag, waiting for my father to come pick me up again because I'd gotten mad that he wouldn't let me go outside. He got frustrated, but when I started crying when it became apparent that Donatello wasn't going to come back, he gave me a hug and sat with me all night. He would constantly quote you for pieces of advice and wisdom and stuff because he'd say, 'shell, Master Splinter really was right about all of that shit!' Before I went to bed as a kid, he used to tell me stories for hours about you guys and your adventures from when he was young. When we finally did meet the other turtles, he tried to protect me from Michelangelo and the brain guy from being creepy and gross around me. I was really never lonely, because I knew I always had him. He cared, even if he never really said it out loud."

I stopped, crying too hard to continue. Master Splinter rested a hand on mine, looking choked up as well. I tried to finish.

"He wasn't perfect. But he always said he tried to do what you did for him when he was little, and that he would never be able to live up to being as good of a parent as you were. He missed you a lot. He may not have been perfect, but he tried, and he was good."

Master Splinter blinked rapidly, some unspeakable emotion shining brightly in his eyes. "Thank you, Bliss, for sharing this with me. I know that Donatello's battle and finding out about his loss must have been incredibly hard for you."

I sniffed, wiping my cheeks with the back of my hand. "He wouldn't let me fight in the battle, but I was there. I watched it all happen." I said it quietly, and he squeezed the hand he was still holding.

From there we sat in silence at the kitchen table, just thinking. Master Splinter was lost in thought, eyes focused somewhere in the distance to my left. I watched him. It was really nice to be able to talk about Uncle Raph with someone else who would actually listen and kind of understand, even though I didn't expect that person to ever be Master Splinter. Shell, Master Splinter's technically my grandfather! Now he may think that Raph being a parent but weird, but that was even weirder to think about!

I guess I made a face at all this, because Master Splinter's gaze refocused, and he looked at me again. He cleared his throat. "You said Raphael trained you?"

I perked up a bit at this. "With the Bo and his Sai. I don't have mine, though," I said, the excitement fading a little bit. "I didn't have it with me when Donny came, and there wasn't time to go grab it."

"I would also be very interested in seeing your skill," Master Splinter said. "It has been a long time since I have had a new student to teach. I would like for you to join the others in training tomorrow."

"Yes!" I grinned widely, all disappointment at leaving my stuff at home vanishing. "That would be awesome!" I hadn't trained in so long, and hadn't sparred in even longer. "I might be kinda rusty," I said, wrinkling my beak, "cuz it's been a while!"

Master Splinter smiled. "It will still be an honor to watch you fight. I am incredibly curious to see what all Raphael taught you. I will ask Donatello to let you borrow one of his Bo staffs tomorrow. Unless you prefer to spar with the Sai?"

I shook my head. "I liked using the Bo better. I just think Uncle Raph taught me because he liked being able to pass on what he knew, too. In theory, I also know how to drive a motorcycle, too."

That seemed to amuse Master Splinter, and he chucked. "That does not surprise me about your Raphael," he said. "My Raphael is the very same way."

He was going to continue, but there were signs of a tussle outside, and he stood up. I followed him to the door, curious, and stuck my head outside. There was a mad rush to the bathroom, Donny and Mikey racing and bickering, where Leo followed behind at a much slower rate, rolling his eyes. Mikey ducked into the bathroom first, cackling, and Donny banged on the door, frustrated. Raph was nowhere in sight.

"Training must be over," Splinter said. "The only time any of them ever want to take a shower." I snorted at that. Boys.

"Bliss?" I turned my head to the left and looked at a very sweaty, awkwardly standing Raphael rubbing the back of his head. "Uh... can I talk to you for a min?"

I glanced down to look at Splinter, but he had already vanished. I looked back at Raph, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere but standing there.

"Sure," I said hesitantly, grabbing my elbow.

"I know I haven't been the most welcoming or nicest to you or whatever so far," he said, rubbing the back of his head, "but I just need some time with all -" he cut off, frustrated, and waved his hands around in the air to symbolize a mess.

"I know," I said, crossing my arms. Shell, my Raph was bad at apologies, but this one definitely took the cake. "But would it absolutely kill you to even look at me every once in a while? Geez, it's like I came in and killed someone." My tone was a little harsher than I wanted it to be, and I almost cringed at how poorly he would take it.

He surprised me and just snorted. "Yeah, yeah," he said, looking a little embarrassed. "I just need to clear my head. Sorry for being an ass."

Now that I did understand, and I dropped my arms to my sides. "Apology accepted. Are we good?"

He looked at me, finally meeting my gaze. I guess whatever he saw made him relax a little, because his shoulders slackened a little. "Yeah," he grunted. "We're good."

I beamed at him, and he kinda smiled back, walking past me and heading to the bathroom, yelling at Mikey to not use up all the hot water this time.

I fought the urge to squeal and jump up and down. Things weren't perfect between Raph and I, but it was a start, and I also got to spar the next day! I grinned so widely it felt like my face was going to split in two. Things couldn't get any better than this.

Oh no, what do you think Bliss's dream really means? And yay, Raph is coming around!

Be sure to leave a review! I have so many plans for this story I would love to know what you guys think!