A/N: Thank you for the reviews. Ch 21 coming at ya. Enjoy and as always see ch 1 for disclaimer.

Ch 21 Explanations

The group reached Mondo and Mona's lair and were met by a concerned looking Mona Lisa. "Guys what happened?" the mutant lizard asked, her blue eyes wide with concern. "And where's Mikey?"

"Long story sis," Mondo said with a sigh. "But I'll fill ya in later."

"How is Raphael?" Splinter asked.

"Well that's something good," Mona said with a smile. "C'mon I'll show ya." With that the group headed into the back room to see Raph. When they got in there they were pleasantly surprised to see the red masked turtle was awake.

"Raph!" Leo and Donnie cried out running over to their brother's bed. "Raph how do you feel?" Donatello asked, after giving his second oldest brother a hug.

"Not to bad Donnie," Raphael said, his voice coming our hoarse. Then he winced from a stab of pain in his plastron. "Not to good either," the red masked turtle said with a groan.

"We are just glad to see you awake Raphael," Splinter said with a smile as he stroked Raph's cheek with the back of his hand.

"Guess I missed the big fight huh?" Raphael said, the disappointment clear in his voice.

"Yeah you did," Leonardo said. "But the good news is that Shredder can never hurt us again thanks to Shinigami."

"What exactly did I miss?" Raph asked. Then he noticed Mikey wasn't there. "And where's Mikey?" he asked.

"Yeah I was wondering that too," Mona said. "What did happen?"

"Ok here goes," Leo said, taking in a deep breath. With that the blue masked turtle proceeded to inform Mona and Raphael what had happened. When he got done Leonardo looked at the two shocked faces that were staring back at him.

"So Mikey's gone?" Raph asked after a minute. "Like really gone?"

"Yeah," Donnie said, taking in a shaky breath. "He's really gone Raph."

"I can't believe this," Raphael said, shaking his head. "And that Shini chick just took off with 'im? And you let her!" By now Raph's voice was rising and it was clear he was becoming agitated.

"Raph just calm down ok?" Leonardo said gently.

"Calm down?!" Raph shouted. "Calm down?! How the Hell do you expect me to calm down Leo?! Mikey is gone and some psycho chick took off with 'im!"

"For one thing Shini isn't psycho!" Karai cried out. "If she took him then there's a good reason for it! She'll return him to us. Trust me on that."

"Oh yeah trust you you say," Raphael snapped, glaring at Karai. "That's a good one."

"Raph please just stop," Leo pleaded, trying his best not to yell. "This isn't helping."

"Yeah besides it ain't like Mikey can get more hurt," Casey said. "I mean you can't get any more hurt if you're already dead." As soon as he said those words the dark headed teen regretted it. Casey looked at the devastated faces of his friends. "Guys I'm sorry," Casey said softly.

"No Casey you just said the truth," Raph said with a sigh. "Mikey's gone and even if he's brought back he'll still be gone. And I'll never get to make things right with him. Never." By now Raphael had tears going down his face and he quickly looked away from everyone. Mona and his brothers held Raph tight as they all grieved for Michelangelo.

"Why the long faces?" a voice said. The group turned and to their shock they saw Shinigami standing there a sort of smile on her face.

"Shini where have you been?!" Karai cried out, running over to her friend.

"And where's Mikey?!" Mondo chimed in. "What did you do with him?!"

"Relax gecko," Shinigami said with a slight laugh. "Mikey's in a safe place. Trust me on that."

"Where is he?!" Raphael snarled, throwing back the covers and getting out of bed. Ignoring the pain in he chest the red masked turtle stormed up to Shinigami and got in her face. "You better start talkin' bitch!" he snarled.

"Raph dude you really don't wanna piss her off," Casey said, trying to reign his friend in. "Remember what we told you she did."

"Yeah well right now I don't give a damn," Raph declared. "All I care 'bout is gettin' Mikey back. And she's gonna give him back!" With that the green eyed turtle shoved Shinigami. But in his weakened state he wasn't able to put much force into it.

"And I will," Shinigami declared, pushing Raphael back. Raph swayed on his feet and Casey and Leonardo caught him before he fell to the ground.

"Raph dude just calm down," Casey said carefully as he and Leo helped the red masked turtle back into bed. Raphael opened his mouth to protest but Casey held up his hand. "Raph she's been helpin' us," the dark headed teen informed his friend. "Both her and Karai. When y'all were gone they helped me deal with all the creepos and scum 'round here. So I trust her. And there's gotta be a good reason she took Mikey. Right?" Casey shot Shinigami a sharp look when he said this part.

"Right," Shinigami declared. "Look I know I should've told you I was taking him but honestly there wasn't enough time to. If I didn't act right away I wouldn't be able to fix things."

"What do you mean 'fix things'?" Donatello asked, giving the dark headed girl a look.

"I mean I wouldn't have been able to take it back," Shinigami said.

"Take what back?" April asked, clearly confused.

"Take back the damage that had been done," Shinigami said. The group gave her looks that were both confused and surprised at the same time. So Shinigami continued, "Look I'm going to be straight with you all. I have special powers that allow me to communicate with the spiritual world."

"So you're what a witch or somethin'?" Raph said, rolling his green eyes. "Yeah right. Witches aren't real."

"Raph you shouldn't be so quick to judge," Donnie said, surprising his directly older brother. "You know I'm not one to believe in the spiritual world and witches and stuff like that. I'm strictly scientific. But I've seen what she can do. So trust me she's defiantly got some kind of spacial powers."

"Anyway," Shinigami said, slightly annoyed at being interrupted. "The spiritual world allows me to make wrong things right again and to take back things that should not have happened."

"Like Mikey getting killed," Casey said, his black eyes lighting up.

"Exactly," Shinigami said with a smile. "But don't get to excited yet. These things take time. And sometimes they don't work at all."

"So why bother tellin' us if it might not work?" Raphael asked, crossing his arms.

"Because you guys deserved an explanation to why I took Mikey," Shinigami said, crossing her arms as well.

"Why would you go through all this trouble for Mikey?" Mona asked, eyeing Shinigami suspiciously. "I mean you barely know him."

"I know enough," Shinigami declared. "During the time I spent with Mikey I felt this connection with him. He's really sweet and funny. And his soul is one of the purest I've ever come across. I just feel like we were meant to cross paths."

"You mean like a soul mate?" Karai asked with a slight smile.

"Could be," Shinigami said with a shrug. "All I know is I've never felt such a strong connection with anyone before. Mikey is really special."

"Yes he is indeed," Splinter said with a sigh. "I can only hope that you will be able to bring him back to us."

"I will do my best Master Splinter," Shinigami said with a respectful bow. "But I really gotta go. But I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Wait!" Leonardo cried out. "Can we go with you? I'd really like to see Mikey."

"I wish I could let you all come," Shinigami said, her voice full of regret. "But I can't. Only those with the gift can go where I'm going. But I promise you I will keep you all informed." With that Shinigami was gone.

"I hope whatever she's doing will work," Donatello said with a sigh.

"Same here little brother," Raph said with a sigh of his own.

"Sensei what do you think about this?" Leo asked, looking at Splinter.

"I think," Splinter said. "That everything will be as it should be. I can sense the spirits at work as we speak. But I suggest we all get some rest. It has been a tiring day." With that the group settled down and tried to get some rest.

A/N well there you have it folks ch 21 complete. Hope you all enjoyed it. Let me know in a review please.