…Hmm? Oh, it is you people again. Shh, be quiet for a minute, will ya? I'm concentrating here.

Bending my knees, I slowly circled Splinter, who did the same with me. We were locked in combat at the moment, deep into our training.

I had learned the hard way that when you fight Splinter, you must never make the first move. So I waited, letting him strike first. Striking out, I ducked under his hand, jumping back.

We narrowed our eyes at each other. In the silence of the moment, a question was shot between us. Something I had wanted to know for a long time.

This question was one of thee most important questions I would ever ask Splinter… ever!

I opened my mouth, "Splinter-"

"…No." Splinter answered.

"Aww, what?" I stood straight, throwing my arms down. "You don't even know what I was going to ask!"

"You were going to ask the same thing you have been asking for weeks now." Splinter stated simply.

"Oh yeah, and what is that?" I challenged, folding my arms.

"If you could introduce the boys to your friend from the surface."

Psychic?

With a pout, I folded my arms.

I'm assuming you are all questioning what in the world we are talking about.

Well, you see, I've had this friend for over… hmm, well actually, I've known her since I was just a baby. We've grown up together.

Her name is Nicole. Nicole Cater.

When I was younger she would always steal my graham crackers. The jerk.

Not the point though.

You see, Nicole moved away a few years ago to work on her carrier as an engineer. She's gone all across the country working on all sorts of different projects. I got an e-mail from her recently though saying that she just moved back to New York city for the next two years!

I'm so excited! I've missed Nicole so much, and I really want the boys to met her but… Splinter says No.

Now, I can clearly see why her would not want me to introduce the boys to here. Which is something I have wanted to do since I first found them 15 years ago, long before she even moved away.

I mean, to Splinter Nicole is a stranger, he has never got to meet her, and she might freak out. All of these are completely understandable. Really, it is.

Splinter doesn't know Nicole like I do though. It takes a lot to freak her out, she is the most loyal person you could meet, and she has been my friend for forever. She is my best friend.

And when a friend has four children, like I do, the other friend is bound to want to meet them, which Nicole does.

Seriously think about it. Say your best friend tells you that they have four children out of the blue. You would want to meet them, right?!

What if they told you no though because 'the Father say no'?

Wouldn't you feel terrible?! Yeah! I know! Which is why Splinter is being such a jerk about this!

"Oh come on Splinter." I rushed forward, kicking out. He grabbed my leg mid air and threw me towards the other side of the room. Catching my self, I shot and arrow towards him. He ducked to the left, and leapt up when I slide towards him to take out his legs.

"She is the best kind of person you could met."

"Did you not say you often fight with her?" Splinter questioned.

"We do…. did." I corrected, jumping to my feet. "But we were just kids and we were just goofing around. We never really meant any of it."

I often got into petty arguments with Nicole 24/7 when we were younger. We were sort of like rivals, competing to be the best over the other.

"That is still considered fighting."

"Leo and Raph fight each other all the time." I pointed out.

"True."

"So them meeting her shouldn't be a problem."

"It is and you are well aware of that." Splinter striked at me. I grabbed his arm and hit it to the side to get a strike and his chest. He caught my fist with his other hand and flipped my over his shoulder. I used my legs to catch myself and wrapped my hands around his wrists. Tilting my head back, I glared at him.

"I trust her."

We stared at each other for a long time.

"…No." he dropped me to the floor. Landing on my back, I yelled at him.

"Jerk face!"

"My answer will still remain, regardless of what you call me." He turned to return to his room.

"Splinter." I whined crawling after him, holding my hands up in a pleading motion. "Please? Pleasepleasepleaseplease?"
"No Arinna." He sighed, closing his door. "My answer will not change."

Sitting outside his door, I pouted, crossing my arms with a huff.

I wasn't going to give this up. I had to plan out my next couple steps.

Buttering someone up usually got them in a good enough mood to agree with you.

With that thought in mind I began my Convince Splinter to say Yes Plan.

I cleaned the whole lair, even Mikey's room. That was a battlefield.

Then I made Splinter some dinner. I spent a whole two hours making him a meal. I'm not even sure of half of the spices I used, but I knew he liked them all.

Making his favorite herbal tea I placed it all on the table and called him to dinner.

As soon as he approached the kitchen, he frowned suspiciously. "What is all this?" he inquired.

"Oh, nothing." I shrugged. "Just thought I would cook you something special."

"…For what reason?" he rubbed his chin.
"Do I need a reason to make my dear friend a delicious meal?" I gawked at him.
"For most cases, yes. Yes you do." He moved towards the table, looking over his meal.

"Cheeky." I countered. "You are very cheeky."

Smirking slightly, he sat down on the table, watching me carefully as I got my own meal ready.

"The boys are still out on patrol?" he inquired after a sip of his tea.

"Yes." I nodded. "They should be back soon."

A comfortable silence fell over us before I looked towards him. For a second I thought if I stared at him long enough, I could manipulate his mind into letting me introduce the boys to Nicole.

"No." he answered.
"Wha-?" I gawked at him. He had to be psychic! There is no other way to explain this! "I didn't even say anything." I pouted.

"The look in your eyes spoke clearly."

I frowned again, folding my arms with a huff. "She is a good person." I insisted, looking at the ground. Pausing from his meal, he stared at me.

Tapping his fingers against the table, as if contemplating something, he opened his mouth to speak, but was cut of when the boys suddenly came barreling into the kitchen.

"Master Splinter!" Mikey wailed. "You'll never believe what just happened!"

Rising to my feet, I was shocked when the boys slowly trudged into the kitchen, looking as if they had just been beaten.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We were attacked by… by ninjas!" Mikey gasped, grabbing my arm.

"Ninja's?" my eyes widened.

"They were everywhere." Donnie nodded.
"Everywhere!" Mikey squeaked.

"Calm yourself my son." Splinter said softly to Michelangelo. "All of you, go clean up. Your mother has made you all a meal."

Michelangelo looked to the pot of stew I made and licked his lips hungrily. "Food!" he chirped, rushing to go clean his hands and face.

His brothers moved to follow, but paused when Splinter called to Leonardo.

"Leonardo, please, stay." He motioned for him to re-enter the room. Surprised, Leo frowned slightly when Raphael snickered at him, thinking that Leo was in trouble. Slowly moving back into the room, my oldest looked up at Splinter nervously.

"Now, tell me, what happened." Splinter placed a hand on his sons shoulder. Relieved that he wasn't in trouble Leo began to explain.

I listened carefully, sitting my self onto of the counter, which I usually did when I was having a conversation within the kitchen.

I'm not sure why I did this. I mean, I could sit in a chair, but I just didn't want to.

Anyway, Leonardo began to explain about how some ninja's attacked them while they were out on the surface. They surprised attacked them, and were stronger then they first expected.

"Their leader was crazy good. By which I mean he was good, and… seemed a little crazy." Leonardo explained, his eyes widened at the thought.

"Oh, fun." I blinked.

Crazy Ninja's in New York… besides my sons? This wasn't going to end well.

"Besides he had all these guys with him, it wasn't a fair fight." Leo frowned.

I lifted my head at this, looing at Splinter to see him pause from running his hang over his beard.

"What do you mean, Fair fight?" he inquired.

"Uh…" Leo looked confused at the question. "A fair fight. You know, where either side could win."

"So, a fair fight is a fight you could lose?' Splinter inquired, moving towards his son.

"Well, y-yes but, well I- what-what I mean is-" Leo stammered, avoiding his father's gaze.

"You don't want to assure your victory?"

"No." Leo answered incredulously. "I do but-" before he could say another word, Splinter swiped at his legs, hitting Leonardo to the floor.

I watched from on top of the counter, staring down at the two.

"Ow!" Leo hit the floor, and yelled at his Sensei when he brought his staff to his throat. "Hey!"

"Was that fair?" Splinter inquired.

"…No!" Leo squeaked at his Sensei.

"Did I win?"

Opening his mouth to speak, Leo took in a tiny breath, thinking over his Sensei's words. "I see your point."

"Seek victory, not fairness." Splinter commanded.

"…Hai Sensei." Leonardo said softly, sounding hesitant. Helping his son to his feet, the older rat nodded.

Aww Leonardo. I know. You were raised to believe to be fair, to follow the rules. Yet, the world doesn't work that way. It's a sad lesson everyone has to learn.
"Yeah. Splinter always cheats." I nodded, hopping to some how bring up the mood. Splinter glanced at me, raising his eyebrow.

"You know it is true." I pointed a finger at him. He didn't answer and moved to leave the room. Just as he was passing me though, he used his tail to reach out and trip me.

Hitting the ground, I could hear him chuckling to himself as he left the room.

"Cheater!" I screeched at him. Looking over my shoulder at him, I narrowed my eyes. "Don't think I've lost!" I called, still thinking of my friend Nicole.

He paused for a moment, sighed, and kept walking, knowing very well that I wouldn't give up on this whole topic.

You bet your tail I wont give up on this Splinter!