Disclaimer: I do not own any of the TMNT, April O'Neil, or any other TMNT characters. However, I do own Melody and the other fictional characters of this story.

Mel POV~

They all swarmed me and bombarded me with questions giving me no time to answer a single one of them.

"Please calm down. Let Miss Jackson talk," Master Splinter told them.

"Thank you. Well, where should I start?" I thought about this for a second and began my lengthy explanation, but I gave them the shorter version. "Okay. So, when I was a little girl my mother told me about this ancient art. I think she called it chi-blocking. Anyways, it allows any fighter to paralyze their opponent for a certain amount of time depending on how hard the hit is. She insisted I learn this like she did when she was young, and so I did." I finished and saw five confused faces despite my explanation.

Raph looked at me suspiciously. "If you could do this all along, then why didn't you tell us?"

"Yeah Mel, why?" April spoke up and gave me a very hurt expression. I felt so ashamed for keeping this secret from her for so long. After all, she is my best friend- well my only friend- besides the turtles.

"I only use it for self-defense," I replied lowering my head once again.

"But why? Why waste such talent?" Leonardo asked.

And Mikey added, "Yeah? You got skill girl!"

"Maybe I can be of assistance." I looked up to see Splinter standing next to me and we all listened while he talked.

But before he started, I needed to ask him one crucial question that had been bothering me. "Master Splinter," I said, "I was wondering, how did you know I could fight?"

"Ah Miss Jackson, that is a very good question. Well, your resemblance to your mother is uncannily similar," he answered.

I gasped, not fully believing what he had just said. "You knew my mother?"

Splinter smiled and said, "Yes, Mai was a good friend of mine back in Japan." He continued, "I had no idea she left Japan after me, but when I saw you, well I knew you were her daughter."

"I can't believe it." I slouched back in the chair shaking my head.

Master Splinter gave me a questionable look. "Didn't she tell you anything about her life in Japan?"

"Of course, but she never mentioned you. Really the only thing she told me about was stuff about chi-blocking. She was always kind of paranoid about someone hurting me or something," I told him.

He chuckled a little. "She wouldn't have. You see, once the Shredder... destroyed my family, she was the only person I told I was going to New York." Then, his eyes went wide. The kind wide eyes get when you finally realize something important. "That must have been why she came to New York as well. She was protecting you."

I saw everybody else's eyes grow wide as well, and everyone in the room, including myself, stopped breathing for a moment because the horrifying thought had crossed all of our minds.

"Wait. Sensei, you don't mean," Leo interjected glancing nervously at me and then back at Splinter, "that the Shredder is after Mel too. Do you?"

Master Splinter sighed and responded, "Yes Leonardo, I do. I believe the Shredder, for whatever reason, is after Melody and unfortunately has already gotten her mother."

"No," I objected and rose form my seat, "My mother was killed in a car accident. It was an accident." I mumbled the last part because even I knew, deep down, that just maybe the 'accident' could've been a lie, but I knew that I wanted- I needed to believe it wasn't.

Author's Note: For all you people who watch Avatar out there, I borrowed Mel's fighting style from Ty Lee's. Comment/review and tell me what ya think!