[A/N: So this is going to be about 4 months after the last chapter. It's a bit confusing, I know. This chapter is going to be centered about Harmony mostly. We'll get back to the boys in the next chapter, don't worry! I hope you enjoy it!]

The season is autumn. It's been a few months since Harmony has came to Japan to start her new life. Training with the Ancient One has been strenuous but progressive work. She's learned many lessons and new techniques in her new training, which all come in handy. She's gotten to know some of the people in town and has started hanging with an old friend she had when she used to live in another part of Japan with Shredder. But one thing has been bugging her since the first day she started to live her new life.

"Did you always speak like that or is my hearing acting up?"

"Like what?"

"With a lisp."

Those three words have stuck to her mind. She had become a bit paranoid since then. Donatello had given her retromutagen. She wasn't a mutant snake anymore. She hadn't been for a while, so why was she so worried about it? She couldn't talk about it openly either, since she hadn't yet told the Ancient One about her mutation. She hadn't planned to; she had hoped that she could put it in the past. That was her ultimate goal: to keep the past in the past where it belonged.

"Something troubling you?"

Her mind snapped back to now. "No, I was just thinking." Ever since he had pointed out the lisp, she has tried her best to stop it. Most times she would succeed, but sometimes it would slip. "Are you going out?"

"Just going to get more food. You're the reason I have to walk more, you know." The Ancient One smiled at her.

Harmony smiled back. "Yeah, well, you need it." When she was starting to feel more comfortable, she had accidentally retorted at one of his jokes. Instead of being offended, he laughed and shot another tease at her. Since then, they've mutually thrown friendly insults at each other. She looked at the Ancient One as a sort of estranged uncle, despite his old age. "When will you be back?"

"I may be old, but I can take care of myself," he replied. "It's a nice day. Why don't you get out of the house already? Go play with that new friend of yours?"

"I'm not a baby; I don't 'play.' I'll call up my 'new friend' right now if you want me out so badly."

"Finally," The Ancient One replied long and drolly. "Will they feed you or do you want me to make something when you get back?"

"Hmm, your cooking is the best, so..."

"Oh, flattery! That's a new one. Fine, fine, I'll make you something. But don't come back late. I have a lot of training for you tomorrow."

"Okay, see ya, old man," Harmony said as he went out the door. He rolled his eyes at her as he left, smiling as she stuck her tongue out at him. When he closed the door, she stuck her tongue out again, her heart beating a bit fast. She wasn't sure if it was her paranoia or not, but she could have sworn that her tongue was a bit longer than normal. She shook the thought out of her mind before she could think about it more and reached for her phone. "Hey, you busy?"

"Not right now. Miss me already?"

"I was just about to ask you the ssame thing."

"Come over here already! Teasing won't help matters at all."

"Fine, since you begged," Harmony replied, smiling as she heard a sigh on the other line. "I'll be there in a bit."

It didn't take long to meet up with her friend. They always hung out around empty areas, which was hard to find. They always managed to somehow. Harmony smiled as she approached the figure. "You didn't wait too long, did you?"

The figure turned around, a smile on their face. They waved Harmony off. "Well, what matters is that you're here."

"I know; you looked bored out of your mind," Harmony replied. "I know I keep saying this, but I really missed you, Shini."

"Oh, I know," Shinigami replied, tossing her hair to the side. "Still can't believe what happened to you, though."

Harmony shrugged it off. "Where are you taking me today?"

"There's an abandoned complex on the other side of town. Figured you'd want to go practice over there."

"Why?"

"If we break something, nobody will miss it," Shini replied. "Besides. I like breaking things anyways, and you need to do it with me, if only once. Please? For old times."

"Fine, jeesh," Harmony replied, smiling. "Just lead the way. You don't have to practice with me, you know."

"It's fun, though, seeing what you know and what you don't know. It makes me feel superior when you don't know something I do."

"Shut it, Shini," Harmony replied, elbowing her playfully. "Let's go already. And don't feed me; AO's going to."

"All right, but don't expect me to give you a bite of anything when you get hungry."

They walked to the other side of town, not phased when they got looks from passersby. Harmony had changed up her style of black attire to black and red. She had on a red shirt and red leggings with a black belt on her waist. She had some black sneakers to compliment the outfit. She contemplated whether to ditch her ear piercings or not but she stuck with it. There was some things of her past she couldn't let go. Her style of makeup hadn't changed much, except leaving out the red liquid eyeliner she used to wear back in New York. Instead she stuck with the black eyeliner and wings at the sides. Shinigami had given her some red lipstick to put on. Harmony had also decided to grow her hair out. It was a bit past her shoulders by now, and she liked the feeling of her hair flowing down.

Shinigami had on a black hooded corset with some black leggings to go with it. She stuck with the color of black for that day. Black knee high boots, black lipstick and eyeliner. She rustled the lower part of her hair a bit to give it a look of volume. She occasionally brushed her hand through her hair and had parted it on the left. She grabbed Harmony's hand and led her towards an empty looking lot.

"You're going to love it," Shinigami had said before two men appeared before them. She quickly stepped in front of Harmony. "Well, we could still have fun digging these fine men into their graves."

"Where you two ladies heading?" One of the men asked. "Come with us instead. We'll all have some fun."

Harmony curled her lip in disgust. "You wish."

"She's snappy. I like her," the second one replied. "Dibs on her."

Shinigami narrowed her eyes. "It'd be best if you got out of our way, boys."

"What are you two gonna do about it?" The first one asked, sounding amused. "Scratch us with your nails?"

The second one came up from behind Harmony, grabbing her wrists. Harmony writhed, trying to get out of his grip. "Get your hands off of me!"

"Harmony!" Shinigami yelled, now growing angry. "Fine. You asked for it." She lunged for the first man, taking him by surprise.

"Shini!" Harmony yelled as she felt the second man starting to pull her away. She hated being helpless. She felt something inside of her twist, and she felt a pain in her legs that soon spread throughout her body. "I ssaid get your handss off of me, you asshat!"

"Don't do anything you'll regret, girlie," the man replied, gripping onto her tighter.

Harmony growled, feeling an urge to bite the man. Before she could think against it, she turned her body around and sunk her teeth into the man's right arm. He hissed, his arm retreating in pain. He pushed her to the ground harshly, his fists gripped. "You're dead."

Harmony writhed on the ground, managing to get on her hands and knees. Her fingers dug into the ground as she felt the pain fade into something else. Her eyes widened in fear and surprise. 'No, she thought, I got past this! This can't be happening!' She already knew what was happening before it happened. Her legs combined into one, her arms grew longer, her body shape-shifted into a slim stature, and her face grew long. She thanked the heavens that where they were provided very little light. The men wouldn't remember their faces and couldn't see what she was. She couldn't hold back the hiss.

"There's a snake?" The first one asked, giving Shini a chance to punch him in the gut. He fell to the ground. Shini got up, searching the ground.

"Harmony? Are you okay?" After not hearing anything, she grew worried. "MiMi, answer me!" Shini heard the second man yell in pain and collapse to the ground. Before she could handle the first man, he screamed and cursed under his breath. His breathing sounded ragged, and Shini became defensive. "Whoever you are, show yourself, you coward!" Shini felt something wrap around her waist and grab her. Then she and whoever was holding her bolted away from the men and towards the abandoned complex. When they got inside, the figure set her down. "All right, you've got me. Now what are you going to try to do with me? Who are you?"

"Jusst... don't attack me."

Shinigami straightened her posture. "Harmony? I won't attack you; you could have just told me it was you. You really scared me for a minute."

"Yeah, well."

"What's wrong? Did that guy hurt you?" Shini asked, her voice sounding edged and harsh. "If I ever see him again, I'll- -"

"No, I took care of him."

"Then what's wrong? Why are you hiding in the shadows? Just come out. I won't bite."

Harmony shut her eyes tightly. "But I might." She hadn't told Shinigami about her mutation. No one knew.

"You're not making any sense, MiMi."

Harmony sighed as she slithered out. She didn't dare to look directly at her friend as she showed her snake mutation form. Shinigami's eyes widened a bit, and she looked her up and down. The surprise out of her system, she took a step towards her friend and propped her arm on Harmony's shoulder. "Well, this is a whole other side of you I've never seen, MiMi."

Harmony was a bit surprised. She expected Shinigami to maybe request time to process it or simply leave her. She felt guilty for thinking that way, but she couldn't help it. Shinigami had probably never seen a mutant until now. "I thought thisss was over," Harmony said, finally looking at Shinigami. "I thought I wouldn't have to deal with thisss ever again."

Shini gave her a sad look, but smiled. "Your past is a part of you. Does AO know?"

"No. Only you know."

"What if it randomly happens again? I hate to be that person, but you have to tell him. What if this happens when he's just walking in and he tries to attack you? It won't be too pretty." She took a step back from Harmony. "Can you... change back? Or do you not know how?"

"I don't know," Harmony replied. "I'll try, I guess." She slithered away from Shinigami, focusing on changing back to her normal form. It took a few minutes, but she managed to turn back. It took a few more minutes to get her snake arms, fangs and pale white skin to go away. She turned to Shini when it was over and sighed. "Well, I guess I'll have to explain."

"No doubt," Shini replied. "You know I love to hear the juicy details. Indulge me."

So Harmony told her. She didn't bother to look at Shini's face; she knew the looks Shini would have: horrified, pitiful, angry, disgusted, surprised. She didn't leave anything out. From when she dropped into the vat to when she stayed with April, she told her everything. She make Shini swear to keep it to herself and not to tell The Ancient One before she could. Shini agreed. Harmony was so afraid of her past ruining her chances of living a new life. If this part of the past could catch her out of the blue, she knew anything could. All it took was a matter of time.

After Harmony was done, Shini stood up. "Well, you can use that to your advantage, MiMi."

"How's that? Having people want to kill me because I'm a giant snake?"

"So dark of you, Harmony. Not that. If AO is cool with it, he'll help you train in your human form and with your mutant form. He'll help you learn to live with it and how to control it. He's a laid back old man."

"People have their limits, though."

"Just see what happens. If he won't take you in after telling him, you've always got me."

Harmony stepped in the house, looking around. Last time she checked the time, it was about 8:30 at night. She saw that the light to the kitchen was on, so she walked in there. On the kotatsu was a bowl of dumplings that looked warm enough to eat without having to heat it up again. Instead of eating it, she searched for the Ancient One. Before she could go back to the kitchen, he appeared in front of her, startling her.

"Gah- - don't do that," Harmony mumbled, catching her breath. "Where were you? I looked around the house."

"I was in the bathroom- - don't go in there for a few minutes."

Harmony turned her head in disgust, then laughing a bit. She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Listen, I need to tell you something."

"Tell me after you eat- - and no offense, but you look awful."

"How's that?"

"Well, you're dirty and look exhausted. Did someone try to hurt you?"

Harmony hesitated for a moment. "I'll tell you after I eat."

The Ancient One narrowed his eyes for a moment, then made an approving sound. "Fine. You better clean yourself up after you tell me, though." So they sat in silence as Harmony ate. When she finished, she pushed her plate aside and sighed, using the warmth to help her prepare to tell him. She looked him in the eyes. "Look, I get it if you don't want me around after I tell you what I want to tell you. I won't hate you or anything."

The Ancient One scowled. "Never a good start."

Harmony smiled weakly. "It's just, um, weird. You've probably never encountered something like it before. And I know you're old, but this is fairly new."

"Is it a trend?"

"God, no. If it was I'd question humanity."

"What is it then?"

"It's... better if I show you, maybe." Harmony stood up, waving her hand. "Follow me." They went outside in the back. Harmony looked around to ensure that no one was around to see what was about to transpire. She sat herself on the grass, hoping she could be able to transform. She felt the pain surge throughout her body and bit back the hiss as she transformed, at first hesitating to show herself. She stood tall and slithered her way into the light a bit. She caught a glimpse of the Ancient One's face. "If it'ss too much, I'll go. Don't worry."

"Who did this to you?"

"...Shredder. It was meant for ssomeone else, but he ussed me as bait, and bait I wass. I fell into the trap he made for the otherss, and he thought it was their fault when it wass his."

The Ancient One nodded. "Saki always was one to blame someone for his mistakes."

"...you're not horrified?"

"Well," The Ancient One shrugged. "I can deal with it. As long as you don't go around like that and try to have yourself killed."

"Really?"

"Are snakes hard of hearing or do you want me to repeat myself?"

Harmony smiled, then focused on transforming into her human form. "You're actually going to let me stay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm the best old man in the world, yada yada yada. Let's go inside. I'm tired from all that walking you make me do." As they walked inside, he turned to her before they parted to go to their rooms. "You reminded me of Shen."

Harmony froze. "What?"

"Whenever she didn't expect something, she'd always need confirmation more than once. She'd have this happy and confused look on her face- - you have the same look." The Ancient One smiled. "She'd be so proud of you, you know."

Harmony looked away. "Even as a mutant?"

"Even as a mutant, yes," The Ancient One replied. "Tomorrow's training is going to be so long- - what other surprises do you have? You just doubled the training time; might as well tell me more so I can know how long training will be for now on."

Harmony rolled her eyes. "I'm fresh out of surprises right now."

"Ah, you'll have some more for me, I'm sure. Now go wash up." Now he rolled his eyes. "Teenagers. Always so random."

"If you didn't have me around, you'd have no one to complain to," Harmony replied, smiling.

"Yes, well, same goes to you. Oh, and you'll have to tell me who tried to hurt you so I can make sure they know who they're up against."

"What am I, your kid?"

"That's up to you. Either way, I'm the cool old man."

Harmony showered and put on a comfortable change of clothes. She crawled into bed, looking out the window before she turned to face the wall. Before, all it took to snap her out of her mind when she was out of control was hear or see Leonardo. Now that he wasn't around, she didn't know what would snap her out of it if she started losing her mind again. The retromutagen Donatello had made must have worked only partly. She was still a mutant, but her mind hadn't lost control. She was hoping it would stay that way. She didn't want to rely on the past when there was no way to go back to it on a good note.

She couldn't rely on family. She couldn't.

All she could rely on was tomorrow.