(So just a little reminder. There are some incarnations of TMNT where Splinter was a pet rat of Yoshi's. The 4Kids series had a little bit deeper look at Hamato Yoshi, Tang Shen, and also the Ancient One. Splinter lived with them before going with Yoshi to New York after Shen's death. This story will kind of be AU as Splinter, Shen, Yoshi, the Ancient One and Oroku Saki will have backs stories that were never in any comic or series. And while this story will primarily be about Splinter, his sons will be in it as well. Never fear! )

Splinter moved back away from the woman as if her very touch burned him. The futon that he was currently laying on didn't provide much room, but he pushed himself back against the wall, even as his mind furiously tried to figure out how a woman, many years dead, was sitting in front of him.

"Where am I? How are you here?" Splinter demanded, his voice creeping up into a voice that is slightly less than panicked. He tried to force himself into a calmer state, but his mind was whirling in confusion.

The woman moved back a bit from the bed, setting the washcloth down into a bowl on the beside stand. She looked at him, worry very apparent in her soft brown eyes. "You are in your bed, Kakera," she said quietly, her voice just barely above a whisper. "One of the master's brought you home after the accident."

"My room?" Splinter turned his head scanning the room. The room was familiar but at the same time, he couldn't remember ever having been in it. Wooden walls adorned the entire room and the hardwood floors shone as if they were freshly waxed. The room was sparsely decorated with painted pictures and smaller statuettes. A pair of katana crisscrossed the far wall, with another set leaned up against the corner. Moonlight streamed in through the windows along with a breeze that smelled faintly of cherry blossoms. "What accide…." He broke off from his question and turned to stare at her again. "Shen?!"

"Since when do you refer to me as Shen?" The woman wrung out the washcloth again and tried to set it on the knot on Splinter's head.

Splinter pulled away. His hand coming up to push her hand back, albeit gently.

She pulled her hand back to regard him carefully. "Kakera, are you alright? Perhaps I should call the Healer?"

Splinter shook his head. "Shen…"

"Okaasan," Shen corrected mildly.

Splinter's stomach fell, and his eyes widened in shock. In his mind, he had referred to Shen as his mother hundreds of times. Never had he done so out loud, not even to his sons. His SONS! The rat threw back the blankets that were covering him, belatedly thankful that he was wearing gi pants and a kimono top. He swung his legs over the side of the futon and got quickly to his feet, putting one hand to his head as the injury throbbed.

He turned on the woman who looked as confused as he felt, but her eyes radiated a concern so deeply that it made Splinter's heart pound. It was a concern that parent would feel for a child who was injured or sick. A concern of a mother for her…NO! Shen was dead. This was not real.

"Where are my sons?" Splinter demanded. He looked around the room, looking for an avenue of escape.

Shen got to her feet, stepping cautiously toward him. "Kakera, you are speaking nonsense. You have no children. Please, let me call the Healer. Something is obviously wrong…"

"NO!" Splinter all but yelled, and instantly felt guilty at the way Shen flinched back from his anger, but he wouldn't be deterred. He would not be held against his will by this double of a maternal figure long dead. "Where are they? Where am I? Why have you taken me against my will?"

As he spoke, he circled the bed toward the door. The woman didn't try to stop him, and even kept a distance between the two of them. Her expression was one of worry and perhaps a bit of fear. "What are you speaking of, Kakera? This is your home. Please just sit down and rest. I am sure it will all come back to you. You must have been dreaming…"

Splinter's eyes darkened, and a growl rose up in his chest. "You dare to impersonate a dead woman to gain my sympathies." His hand reached back to handle of the door, but his eyes were on the woman. "Pray I never find out how you did this sorcery…." He opened the door and turned to leave but nearly collided with the body of a man that was a good 6 inches taller than him.

Splinter stumbled back, his eye widening at the Japanese man that he'd nearly run into. The short dark hair (with flecks of grey), the brown eyes, the serene expression was so familiar and so startling that Splinter nearly fainted. While seeing Shen was mind boggling, seeing Hamato Yoshi in the flesh was downright terrifying. The man who he adored as a small pet rat, and whose shoulder he rode on daily as Yoshi went about his life, the man who DIED right in front of his eyes, was now staring at Splinter with an expression that said SPLINTER was acting strange.

"Hamato Kakera." The voice. Gods, the voice! "Why am I hearing shouting from down the temple hallway?" Yoshi's eyes went from Splinter's face to Shen's and then back again.

"Yoshi Love," Shen implored. "Something is not quite right. He does not know where he is. He insists that we have taken him from his children."

Splinter still hadn't recovered from this new shock, and he still had not taken his eyes from Yoshi. The Japanese man's expression softened just slightly as he turned his full attention back to Splinter. "I was told you were struck hard, but not so hard to cause memory issues," Yoshi said. "Kakera, sit down. You look as if you are about to fall down."

Splinter backed into the bed and sat. It never occurred to him, could never occur to him to disobey that voice. Even as a pet, when Yoshi called to him, Splinter immediately complied. The man just commanded that type of obedience. Yoshi walked over to him and examined the wound on his head. Enthralled by what was happening, Splinter never looked away from Yoshi's face. He tried to remember every detail from the last time he'd seen Yoshi alive.

Yoshi was older than he remembered. The flecks of grey in his hair, the fine lines around his eyes and face were not there before. But everything else…everything was the same.

Yoshi stared into Splinter's eyes, frowning a bit. "Perhaps a concussion. We can send for the Healer. Kakera, what is the last thing you remember?"

Splinter blinked rapidly, his mind working furiously to capture his last memory. "A training run. I went to assist someone and then…." He trailed off. The man who looked like Yoshi was standing close to him. Too close.

Focus Splinter! You cannot be so caught up in nostalgia that you forget you are prisoner!

Splinter rocketed to his feet quickly and side stepped left to evade the duplicate Yoshi. "I do not know how you have done this." He took a quick glance to the open door and hurried out before he could be stopped.

As he ran through the hallways trying to find his way out, Splinter just knew that he ha d seen this place somewhere before. He didn't know who had captured him, but he assumed they used Yoshi and Shen body doubles to lure him into a trap. The rat sensei turned left (why did he know this was the way out?) and slipped through a back corridor. He found his way to a door and burst through into an expansive courtyard.

The trees in the courtyard were indeed cherry trees, and Splinter could hear the koi pond in the distance. He also knew that to the right there was another building that housed the dojo. Straight ahead, he would run into the perimeter wall. A wall that he could easily scale, and it was only a short distance from there to the local village. Splinter knew all this because he had been here before. He had lived here before. This was the Hamato temple in Chihaya, Japan. This was where he had lived with Hamato Yoshi, Tang Shen, and the Ancient One before he had been mutated. He knew this place because it was home.

Splinter felt rather than saw Hamato Yoshi and Tang Shen come up behind him. No guards or soldiers came to capture him or to drag him back to a cell. Just the two of them approaching cautiously, not out of concern that he would attack, but out of concern for his current state of mind.

"Kakera," Shen ventured carefully. Splinter turned to them, and he could see that Shen was reaching for him slowly.

"How have you done this," Splinter breathed in awe. Was it possible he was dreaming? But he could feel the pounding of his head, the grass beneath his feet and the wind through the fur. How could a dream feel so real? Another possibility occurred to him and his heart nearly broke. "Have I died? Is this my afterlife?"

Shen looked stricken and she withdrew her hand before turned to look at Yoshi.

Yoshi shook his head. "Kakera. You have not died. You have lived here with your Mother and I since your mutation fourteen year ago. Do you not remember?"

He had mutated fourteen years ago with his sons. He remembered that. But living here with Yoshi and Shen, no. That wasn't how it happened. Was it?

"Apparently the blow you took in training gave you some sort of amnesia," Yoshi continued carefully. "We can explain everything, My Son."

Splinter exhaled slowly, looking around the courtyard. He did remember this place. But his memories were that of his unmutated self. He touched the lump on his head and quickly drew away his hand. Amnesia? Was it possible?

He looked up at Yoshi. Yoshi had called him his son. Shen referred to herself as his mother. This family that he had thought…dreamed was killed so violently was standing right before him imploring for his understanding and concerned for his well-being. Splinter's shoulders fell slightly and he nodded.

"Hai. Otousan."