I don't own TMNT or UY.

Xxxxx

"You are all mad." Usagi was still saying, more to himself than to us. He gave his head a light shake, drinking from his cup. He seemed unsure whether to be scowling at us angrily or smiling.

I turned my attention back to the group at the table. I'd been busy giving the other customers in the inn a once over, trying to see if I could figure out their class and social status based on their appearance, dress and mannerisms. For some it was easy to figure out, others not so much. I'd been meaning to pull out my notebook and get down some observations, but when we were out in the cold there was no way I would've been able to hold a pencil with my fingers being frozen, and at the moment we were focusing on catching up with Usagi and figuring out what's been going on with him.

The walk to the second inn turned out to be further than I'd thought, so much so that by the time we actually got to it I was wondering if it wasn't evening already. Although honestly, how would you be able to tell with this weather?

The walk to the inn had been cold and wet, but somehow it made getting there and sitting down in the warmth and get served something hot to drink all the more worth it. Leo had still seemed unsure about Usagi paying for us but the samurai refused to hear anything against it, pointing out that Leo must think he's pretty terrible at his job if he'd get paid so poorly that he couldn't afford 5 cups of tea. This seemed to shut Leo up, even though I was sure Usagi didn't think that was the case at all. To be fair, we decided not to get anything to eat. It seemed silly and we could hold out a little longer. The main focus was on getting warmed up and out of the freezing weather.

Now that we were safe, Usagi was making it clear just how bothered he was by our carelessness, reprimanding us for walking around in the snow without any kind of protection or money. However, for all his grumbling and criticism, he really did seem pleased to see us.

Seeing Usagi alive and well had given Leo a shot of endorphins as he was in the best mood I've seen him in months. Usagi's scolding slid off him like water on a duck's back and he even joked slightly about our stupidness, something Leonardo is not usually inclined to do. It lifted the rest of our spirits and helped push our mood back up so that neither him nor Raph seemed to even remember their argument out in the snow.

"Hey blame this guy!" Mikey said to Usagi, waving a hand at Leo. "He's the one who's gone nuts and decided walking around a frozen tundra was a good idea!"

Leo gave a chuckle. "Don't pretend as if I dragged you here Mikey. You were the one who had to convince Master Splinter that it'd be ok for you to come too. It's not my fault if you were too stubborn to go home."

"Well we weren't gonna leave ya ta go wanderin' around alone out there! Knowin' you you'd just get into trouble." Raph said, giving Leo a smirk.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Oh sure. Go ahead. Gang up on me, it's fine."

I chuckled. "I'll stick up for you Leo. It was our choice to come after all."

He gave me a grateful smile. "Thanks Don."

"Then I merely reiterate what I said." Usagi said. "You are all mad."

"Yeah, but you knew that already!" Mikey said, giving Usagi a cheerful grin.

"Indeed." Usagi said, but he smiled back. His face turned serious for a moment though. "Although I was not joking. It seems relatively calm at the moment but when the snow comes on this side of the country it comes down very hard and very fast. You should count yourselves fortunate that it is mild today and that fate decided to lead you to me so directly, otherwise your little adventure might have been cut tragically short."

Raph waved a hand at him. "Don't get all parental on us Usagi, we got Leo for that. 'Sides, we weren't gonna do somethin' stupid and run around till we keeled over. We were gonna go home if it got too bad out there. We just thought we'd track ya down first since we were told ya just left the previous joint."

"Yes. And this brings me to a question I must ask." Usagi said, putting his tea down. "Why exactly have you come such a long way to find me?" He frowned at us. "Is there something the matter? Are you in trouble?"

"Who us? No we're fine!" I said, rather surprised that he would think of our problems first.

"Yeah." Mikey nodded. "And you're stealing our lines dude. We're suppose to ask you those things."

Usagi made a confused noise at this, tilting his head at us slightly. "I do not understand."

"Alright alright. Let's start at the beginning." Leo said, waving his hand as if to push away all the needless questions in the conversation. "I dunno how our dimension's time matches up with your's but I know it's pretty dang close. For us it's been just a little over 2 months since we last saw you after you dropped in on us to get away from that battle gone wrong."

Usagi blinked as he gave a nod. "2 months sounds about right yes."

Leo seemed taken aback but only for the smallest of moments before he carried on, a little more business-like. "Well, we've been waiting to hear what happened to you after that and how that whole mess turned out for you, but we haven't heard a word." Leo paused, staring Usagi in the eyes meaningfully, as if to make a point. Usagi however merely blinked back, waiting for him to continue. I could see a light frown appear on Leo's face as he went on. "Anyway. We were worried but we figured it would be ok since we were expecting to see you at the Battle Nexus Tournament."

"Oh yes!" Usagi perked, smiling warmly at this. "How did that go?"

"Dude I won!" Mikey instantly chimed in, completely interrupting whatever Leo had been trying to say. "First place all the way! And no lucky shots or disqualifications or anything like that! Just pure skill man! You shoulda seen me! I was made for that contest!"

Usagi laughed at this, raising his cup of tea very slightly. "Omedetou! Congratulations Mikey-kun. It is no small victory, I am aware of that."

Mikey beamed at him.

"Usagi, I'm beggin' ya. Don't encourage him." Raph said, putting a hand over his face. "We've only just stopped havin' ta listen to the whole 'Battle Nexus Champion' bullcrap an' I really don't feel like that bein' made a habit again."

"Awh." Usagi said with a mock hurt expression. "Surely there is nothing wrong with wishing a victor congratulations if they deserve it?"

"Yeah Raph!" Mikey said, turning the full force of his smile on him. "There's no reason to be a big fat sore loser!"

"I ain't no sore loser!" Raph said, banging his fist on the table lightly. "I'm just sick of hearin' it Mikey! And you know it!"

"Word of advice Usagi;" I smiled at him. "Just leave that topic alone unless you want to hear this kind of argument brought up every single time."

Usagi grinned. "I must find my entertainment somewhere Donatello-san."

"The point is!" Leo said rather loudly, trying to regain control of the conversation. The rest of us quietened down and turned back to him. "The point is we didn't see you there. We got worried because we hadn't heard from you in so long. So after we finished the tournament we decided to come looking for you here." Leo's frown deepened ever so slightly. "We were worried you might've gotten into trouble or something and needed help."

"Ah." Usagi said, smiling more warmly at him. "I understand your concerns. But really, you should not have worried so much Leonardo."

"I keep tellin' 'im that but he never listens." Raph said, sneering at Leo almost victoriously. Leo merely glared at him.

"Where were you?" Mikey asked, more focused on Usagi than either Leo or Raph. "How did that whole battle thingy go? Did you win? Did you get all the bad guys?"

Usagi laughed again. "One question at a time! And another drink I think." He turned to try and catch the attention of one of the girls weaving between the tables. There were only 2 of them, not including the innkeeper, but they moved fast. "Are you sure tea is all you want?"

"Yes." Leo said purposefully before the rest of us could say anything else.

"Alright. Suit yourself." Usagi said.

The younger of the two girls came closer and Usagi requested a refill for all of us. Once our cups were full again he turned back to us, folding his hands around it and blowing on it slightly.

"Now, what is it you would like to know?" He said, turning his attention back to us.

"Let's start with what happened when you got back here." I said, my own hands wrapped around my cup. My hands had long ago warmed out of their numbness, but the cold was still lingering in them and I was struggling to get them warmer.

Usagi gave a nod, taking a sip from his tea before putting it down. "Once I returned, I travelled back to the village where we had set up camp. Once there I reunited with Tomoe and I was brought back up to speed on our condition. After that we reworked our plans to drive out the bandits from the Geishu borders."

"Leo said you were worried Tomoe'd be mad at you." Mikey said, staring at him. "Was he?"

"She." Usagi corrected him, peering at him over the rim of his cup. "And not really. Although she was very relieved to see I was unharmed. When I explained my situation and the actions I took to survive she understood and forgave me for frightening her."

"That's good." I smiled. Leo'd told us that Usagi'd really been beating himself up over scaring his friend. I was glad to hear she didn't give him a hard time simply for trying to stay alive. I didn't say it during Leo's retelling and I wasn't gonna say it now, but as far as I figured any friend who'd be angry at you for doing what you had to to stay alive wasn't a friend worth keeping. Maybe the morals and rules were a little different here, and I'm fully aware that that was a debatable opinion to have, but I would've been very angry if I'd heard Tomoe had given Usagi a hard time for not dying.

Usagi nodded, giving me a smile. "I was very relieved. I am sorry that I frightened her, but it turned out al right in the end."

"So then what?" Leo said. I felt this was a little rude but I guess I could understand his impatience.

"Well," Usagi said, putting his tea down again. "After that we decided we had to expand our war-party and attack a second time that same night. Now that the element of surprise had been lost it was important to cut them down while we could. We did not think they would expect us to attack again so soon after a defeat, so we used that to our advantage. There is little to tell after that. We recruited any-one willing to pick up arms against this threat for some payment, gathered what remained of Tomoe's party and attacked again. We were able to find some other ronin in the village who were more than happy to put their swords to use for some payment. We even had some villagers who were eager to join, although their motives seemed more driven by revenge than income. We lost some of our men, but Tomoe's prediction had been true and they had not anticipated a second attack so quickly. Some of their men had left their camp to warn their lord of their exposure. Those who remained were either slain or captured. As for the messengers, alerts were put out along the borders and they were soon apprehended also. We have been unable to determine which Lord it is who wished to infiltrate the Geishu province, but this was a heavy blow to their plans and Lord Noriyuki seems confident that there will not be another attempted invasion until this mysterious enemy's confidence has healed."

"And that's it?" Raph asked. "All nice and neat just like that?"

Usagi blinked at him but gave a smile and a nod. "I am sorry it is not a more exciting tale, but that is the story."

"I hope they gave you a nice reward for all of that!" Mikey grinned at him.

"Mikey." I hissed under my breath, trying to aim a kick at him from under the table.

"What?" He said back. "I know I woulda liked something for all that hard work!"

"Yeah, but not every-body thinks like you!" I grumbled at him irritably.

Usagi didn't seem to take offence though, smiling at Mike. "I helped Tomoe with no plans of profiteering from it, and that is how it remained."

"Sounds like a bit of a rip-off to me." Mikey sulked.

This time my foot made contact and Mike gave a yelp, jumping in his seat slightly and catching the attention of one or two other customers in the inn. However when they saw it was just us goofing around they soon lost interest again.

"So what about afterwards?" Leo asked with a frown. His arms were crossed over the top of the table and he was leaning forward on his elbows.

"Hmm." Usagi thought for a moment. "Afterwards I decided to travel back East since I knew winter was coming and the Eastern coast's weather tends to be milder and the snow not as thick. I was able to visit some friends I had not seen in a few months and other than that, my travel so far has been uneventful. At least nothing that would make for a good story." He gave a small shrug at Leo. "I am sorry that I do not have anything more exciting to tell you, but that is all. The snow has come early this year which has delayed me slightly. I am wondering if perhaps it would be foolish to travel East for milder weather if it will simply be the start of spring once I got there. So lately I have been trying to decide what I plan to do and how flexible my budget is."

"Sounds excitin'" Raph said with a flat tone. He stretched himself slightly. "Then again I guess boring is good too. It's better than bandits shootin' at ya right?"

Usagi smiled and gave a nod. "To be sure. A dull life is a life of happiness."

"Yeah, we should be so lucky." I sighed, propping my face in a hand.

"Ok." Leo said. His tone of voice seemed to suggest he wasn't satisfied with letting this go yet. "So this past month or so you've just been making your way back East?" Leo straightened in his seat, pushing off his elbows. "Why didn't you come to us? Why didn't you let us know you were ok?"

"I did not think you would be so concerned." Usagi said, turning to Leo. "If I had known you were so anxious for news I would have gotten word to you sooner. My main focus at the time had been on increasing my funds. As I said, I was aware that winter was coming and it is harder to fend for oneself when it becomes cold. Not to mention I will have to rely primarily on the inns for shelter. At least more than I did in the previous months. I have been looking for work, preparing myself for the cold."

"Smart plan." Raph said, draining his cup. "Although you coulda just come stayed with us."

Usagi laughed at this. "Not at all. 'It is better you rely on your own resources when you are able to.' That is what my Sensei taught me. I have survived many a winter on my own Raphael-san. I fail to see how this one would be any different."

"Fair enough." I said. Master Splinter and the rest of us always disliked hand-outs from April and Casey so I understood his opinion. If you want to call it pride then sure, go ahead. But Master Splinter had taught us that we should rely on each other, but we should never expect other people to carry us. The lesson had been 'Trust each other, because there will never be any-one else to trust' for many many years. It's only recently where the lesson had changed to 'Trust each other, and ask for help where you can. But only when you need it.' I liked this lesson much more. The first one had been far too lonely for my liking.

"So what're you gonna do now?" Mikey asked again. "You're not going East any more?"

Usagi gave a slight shrug. "I am not sure. I suppose I will still head in that direction, only at a more leisurely pace as I now no longer need to try and outrun the weather."

"Doesn't sound like that solid of a plan to me." I commented, but I smiled.

He smiled back warmly. "The best plans are those which are flexible."

"Yeah. Or non-existent." Mikey grinned.

Raph gave him a meaningful jab with his elbow.

"But what of you?" Usagi said, looking back and forth between us. "You have set out to find me and here I am. Now what do you intend to do?"

We looked at each other. The truth was we had no idea. We were kinda under the impression that we were embarking on this giant quest to find him which might take days if not a week or two. We'd never dreamed we'd practically trip over him the second we took a step into his dimension. None of us seemed to know how to answer the question so we all turned to Leo automatically.

Leo had his arms crossed over his plastron. He was frowning lightly to himself, as if he was thinking something over. I felt a soft frown form on my own face. He still seemed bothered by something. Whatever it was though he pushed it aside.

"To tell you the truth I have no idea." He said to Usagi. "I don't think any of us thought we'd find you this easily." He turned to the rest of us. "What about it guys? What're you thinking?"

I instantly spoke up, afraid of some-one else getting the first word. "I want to take a look around before we go home. I've always wanted to see what Usagi's world is like and now that we've gotten this far it seems a waste just to go home again and leave it for another time. There's an endless list of things I want to check out and do and see and kinds of people I want to meet and landscapes I want to check out. Not to mention some of the more historical things I want to see which I'm never gonna find anywhere else! At least not as fresh and current as they are here."

"Geez Donny, calm down." Mikey leaned away from me slightly. "You're givin' me whiplash from the force of your geek-out!"

I pulled a face at him. "Hey! Leo asked and I'll be damned if I let this slip by me! I've been wanting to check this place out for ages and here's my chance!"

"Ok ok." Leo raised a hand as if to calm me down. "Alright. I get it Don. But what about you guys?" He turned to Raph and Mikey.

"Well," Mike said, crossing his arms behind his head as he turned his eyes to the ceiling thoughtfully. "I think it'd be fun to stick around for a little while. I mean I don't have some super big agenda like some people." He gave me a sideways glance. "But it could be cool. But I'm good with whatever you guys wanna do."

"I dunno." Raph spoke up and I instantly felt my heart sink. "I mean, I get that hanging around here could be fun, but it ain't exactly the time for it." He waved a hand at the door behind Usagi and Leo. "It's like Nome Alaska out there and we ain't got nothin' ta keep ourselves warm with. Not ta mention we ain't got money to feed ourselves or pay for a place ta sleep or anythin'. And we can't ask you ta pay for us." he pointed at Usagi. "Ya just said you were still tryin' ta scrape together some dough before the weather hit. As far as I can tell that's double talk for 'My budget's pretty tight'."

He leaned back in his seat again. "Sorry Don, but it seems like a dumb idea ta hang around when the weather's like this. If it was any other time a' year sure. But it just seems stupid to run around and get ourselves killed."

I bit down on my bottom lip, glaring at him. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't think of a single counter-argument. Raph was completely right. The bare facts were, it was freezing and snowing, we had no winter clothes, or clothes at all, we had no money and there was no way we'd ever dream of having Usagi support us when he had to look after himself.

I gave a short but hefty sigh, crossing my arms ontop of the table and putting my chin ontop of them irritably. "I guess you're right."

Mikey gave me a reassuring smile and I felt him pat my shell. "Cheer up Don. We can come back when it's warmer right?" He lifted his gaze to Usagi and Leo.

Usagi smiled brightly and gave a nod.

Leo nodded too, but more solemnly. "I agree. Staying here just doesn't make sense right now." He turned to me, his expression lightening slightly. "We'll come back when it's Spring or summer ok Don? I promise."

"Sure." I muttered disappointedly, sitting up again.

"You should come in Spring." Usagi said, turning and smiling at Leo. "I guarantee you will not regret it."

Leo smiled back at him, but only for a second or so. I frowned to myself lightly at this. Leo still seemed annoyed with something but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what. His good mood at finding Usagi had completely disappeared and he'd dropped back into the moody attitude he'd had for the past 2 months. I couldn't figure it out. I wanted to ask him about it but I wasn't going to do so while we were still a large group. I logged it away, planning to bring it up once I could talk to him in private.

"We're not going right away though right?" Mikey said hopefully. "We can hang out for a little while longer right?"

"Well that depends on what time we wanna go." I said, turning to look at Leo thoughtfully.

"It seems you will not be going anywhere until morning." Usagi commented, having twisted around in his seat to look behind him.

Leo turned to him with an almost irritable frown. "What d'you mean?"

Usagi nodded in the direction of the door. "Yuki-Onna has passed by this way."

We frowned, turning to see what he was talking about. The door to the inn was open by a small crack as a traveller from outside came in, removing his coned hat and shaking the snow from it. Behind him the outside looked dimmer than it had when we first got here and even from across the room we could see the flurry of snowflakes pouring down, some of them having followed the traveller inside as he slid the door closed, the innkeeper calling out a welcome to him.

"Great." Raph grumbled darkly. "Ain't that how it goes?"

Usagi turned back to him, giving a friendly smile. "I see it as good fortune. Come, I will pay for a room and we will spend the night. You can tell me of the Nexus Tournament in detail and whatever other news you might have. I will tell you of our victory in greater detail if you would like."

"Are you sure?" I asked. I felt kinda bad for spending Usagi's cash.

He gave a nod. "It is the least I could do to make up for worrying you as much as I have. And it would be a nice change to have roommates for once, if only for the night."

"I dunno." Leo said.

"Don't matter." Raph grinned at him. "We ain't got a choice."

"Sleep-Over!" Mikey said excitedly.

"Ya call it that again and I'm throwin' ya out the window." Raph said, instantly going from smug to disgust.

I shook my head at them. "I hope you're prepared for this Usagi. This is the kinda junk you're gonna have to put up with all night."

"I am sure I will survive." He chuckled.

Leo said nothing, brooding to himself quietly.

Xxxxx

Yuki-Onna – Lit. "Snow-Woman". A kami or yokai generally considered to be the spirit of the snow itself.

I've been having difficulty writing lately, but I'm hoping if I keep going and just think it over carefully and relax it'll be ok. I hope no-one will be able to tell XD