I do not own TMNT 2003

Here he was again, in the world of lush green fields with too few trees and where the sky was eternally ebony, too void of stars and other celestial bodies to be a blanket of night. A cool breeze blew, making the grass dance and bringing with it a light rain of carnation pink petals and the scent of cherries.

'Wait, this is not right. Petals…?'

There was faint sobbing behind him so he turned around, gasping at what met his sight. Before him was a full-grown sakura tree, brown of bark and boughs laden with flecks of carnation pink. As the breeze played with the tree's petals, a child wept under the shade of the balding sakura. It was a little girl, ankle-length hair a rich moss green and skin as milky white as her kimono. Petite hands rubbed at big, innocent and watery eyes with irises the shade of ruby.

"Why are you crying, Ojou-chan?"

The voice belonged to a small boy, probably a little older than the girl in age, who had come from behind the sakura. He had short tousled hair as grey as the winter sky and eyes blacker than the void above. His pale complexion complemented the midnight blue gi and indigo hakama he wore.

"I-I don't want to go back…" The girl whimpered as the boy sat beside her.

"Go back where, Ojou-chan?"

The girl looked at the boy for a moment then buried her face in her hands.

"T-To my master…"

"Why? Is your master a cruel one?"

The girl nodded viciously.

"A-And…he's really scary. H-He likes…to harm people. I don't want to…b-but he forces me to do so. And he w-wants…me to go back to him!"

At that, she threw herself into the boy's open arms, bawling at the top of her voice. The boy tried to calm her down, stroking her moss green hair tenderly.

"Don't worry," he cooed soothingly, "I'll make sure that he won't get you. He's gonna have to go through me first. And I'll protect you from him."

The girl gazed up at the boy with her beautiful ruby eyes.

"Y-You promise, Totsuka-kun?"

The boy smiled at her and hugged her close.

"I promise, Kusanagi-chan."

'What? Totsuka and Kusanagi?'

He sat abruptly from his futon. The sudden action made his world swirl and he massaged his temples in an attempt to quell the roaring headache.

'What the SHELL was that?'

Sighing, he got up and fixed his futon. At his impulsive awakening, the thick quilt he had blanketed over himself had been thrown completely off his person and now lay on the tatami-carpeted floor. He then proceeded to dress into regular attire.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Nidaime-sama," greeted the silhouette from behind his sliding door. "Breakfast is ready. Do you want me to call Fukuchou-sama and Waka to join you at the table?"

"Ah, yes, go do that," he replied nonchalantly as he put on his tabi, "I'll be there in a second."

The silhouette nodded and bowed down low to him before disappearing. Again, he stood up and approached the two sheathed katana perched comfily on their stand. One was milky white, handle and all, and its sheath had a design like climbing, moss green vines. The other had an indigo handle and its midnight blue sheath had grey clouds painted on its glossy surface.

'Now why would I dream about you guys being children, of all things?'

His sensitive ears picked up an unnatural whirring-like sound, a hum so soft yet metallic in timbre. With a huge hand, he took both katana and pulled them out of their sheaths at the same time with the other hand. He was surprised to see both blades vibrating so rapidly that to the untrained eye and from afar, they would go unnoticed. These were where the metallic hum was coming from.

'So that wasn't JUST a dream, huh?'

He whispered calming words to his swords and pushed them back into their sheaths. The katana were telling him something, and it was of the danger looming in, so extreme in gravity that the survival of every living being was at stake. His blades' restlessness was all but a warning.

Besides, he didn't really like the way how the reflection of mismatched eyes on metal had stared back at him this morning.