"Why do we have to be outside?"

"We don't have to, but nature tends to make you focus more."

"I'm not sure if I can do this."

"Sure you can! I know you can."

"Mr. Optimistic here," Harmony mumbled. "I'm not sure if I can do this on the first try, Leo. I mean, the spiritual plane? That sounds a bit difficult to reach, and I haven't had much experience with spirituality."

"The Ancient One has been teaching us about spirituality for the past couple of days, though- -"

"Doesn't mean I completely understand how to make contact or even get into the spiritual plane."

Leo sighed, sitting down on the grass, then motioning for her to do the same. "Do you want me to try to bring you in there?"

Harmony gave him a puzzled look as she sat down. "You mean, you get in the spiritual plane first, then you drag me in there?"

"Yeah," Leo replied slowly. "Or do you not want to do that?"

"I mean, I should at least try to learn how to get in the spiritual plane by myself," she replied, sighing. "If I can't crack it, we'll do what you suggested. But I want to try."

Leo nodded. "Okay. Close your eyes; relax. Focus on your breathing. Focus on feeling the air filling your lungs and releasing it, and repeat. Try not to let any other thoughts in your mind, just focus on breathing."

"How will I know when I'm in?"

"You'll know."

Harmony scowled at Leo, but relaxed her face right after. She took in a deep breath, focusing on her breathing. She tried to clear of other thoughts as best as she could. It felt like forever, just waiting for the 'feeling.' She was about to give up and open her eyes when she felt a strange and sudden pressure on her shoulders and chest. She wasn't sure if it was because of how she was breathing or something else, but the more she focused on the feeling, the stronger it got. Part of her wanted to see if it was an outside force, but the other part of her kept herself in place. The pressure was suddenly gone, and it was a few seconds before she dared to open her eyes.

Leo smiled at her. "You did it," he said. "Just, be wary of your movement. Everything here feels a little slower than real time, so you could get dizzy." He offered his hand to help her up. She took it, slowly standing up and focusing on her breathing as she understood what Leo warned her about.

She let her hand fall. "Thanks. So, how do I tell him?"

"Well, he'd have to be in the plane, too, but I don't know a way to know when he's in here or not. We just have to wait; we are in different time zones, after all."

"Oh, alright," Harmony replied.

"I know, I'm sorry," Leo said right after. "But it should be morning time over there, and he's usually up before any of us. He meditates until we get up, so hopefully he's meditating right now."

Harmony smiled a bit. "Okay, nice." They fell into a comfortable silence. After a couple of minutes, she sighed. "You miss him a lot, don't you?"

Leo looked straight ahead. "Of course I do. I miss everyone."

"I just feel bad because, we were getting to know each other so much, and I just suddenly left. I just want to tell him how much it means to me that he still accepted me, even after being raised by Shredder."

"I will always accept you, my daughter."

Both Leo and Harmony turned around sharply at his voice, big smiles on their faces. "Father," they said in unison.

Leo opened his mouth, but closed it, turning to look at Harmony. He gave her a small smile, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll give you two your time alone."

Harmony turned to face Leo, a worried look on her face. "Don't you...?"

Leo chuckled a bit. "This is your time. Don't worry. Just talk to him." Leo looked at Splinter, smiling warmly. "I'll talk to you soon, Sensei."

Leo faded away before their eyes, and now it was just them. Harmony had so many thoughts in her head of what to say, but it wouldn't come out. She looked at her father, a warm and welcoming smile on his face as he looked at her. She wondered what was going through his mind. She took a few steps toward him, tucking her hair behind her ear. She looked down shyly, then swiftly wrapped her arms around him. She hugged him tightly. Splinter smiled and hugged her back, letting her choose when to break the hug. It was a while before she finally let go, smiling warmly at him as she backed up a bit.

Harmony's smile fell a bit, and she looked serious. "Father... I'm sorry for just suddenly disappearing without telling you. I just... I wanted to protect you. I wanted to protect you all from Shredder. I thought me being away would make Shredder back down from attacking you all. I guess I was wrong, though. If you had any thoughts like if it was because of you, it really wasn't. I really wanted to stay behind because I loved getting to know you. I... I'm sorry, father."

"I understand, Miwa. I was worried about your well being and how you were adjusting, but I see you've been well. You look very different."

"Good different?"

Splinter laughed warmly. "Of course. You look like your mother."

Harmony looked up sharply. "I do?"

Splinter nodded, sliding out a picture from behind him. He stepped towards her, holding the picture out to her. It was a picture of Tang Shen. Harmony took it in her hands, looking at it. "You and your mother are a lot alike. She would be proud to see how you've grown."

Harmony smiled down at the picture, imagining how her mother would be if she saw her now. "I'm sorry for what happened to her. She didn't deserve it."

"Your mother would be immensely happy to know that you are alive and well. She wanted you to have the best of what life could offer you."

Harmony handed the picture back to Splinter. "How would you feel if I told you that I'm not sure if I'll return to New York or not?"

Splinter's smile fell a bit, but it came back. "With the Ancient One, I am assured you are in good hands. No matter where you go, Miwa, I will be okay so long as I know you are well. I, nor anyone else, can tell you how to live your life. Only you can. Whatever you choose, I will respect it. As long as it makes you happy, that is all that matters to me."

Harmony smiled, nodding. "I renamed myself."

"Oh? What name?"

"Harmony."

"Harmony." Splinter smiled once again. "It sounds beautiful. Would you like me to call you Harmony for now on?"

"I'm fine with you calling me Miwa. I just don't want to be called Karai anymore. I want to leave any parts relating to Shredder behind me. I know he'll always be a part of my past, but I want to make a new life for myself." Splinter nodded in understanding. "Father, can you do something for me?"

"What is it?"

"Can you tell the others that I miss them, and that I just wanted to protect them? That I love and thank them? I hope one day I can tell them myself, but could you pass along the message?"

"I will, my daughter. Speaking of, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo seem to be awake now. I must go."

"Okay. I love you, Father. Thank you for accepting me."

Splinter laid a hand on her shoulder, then cupped her cheek. "I will always love and accept you." His hands fell as he faded away, and they waved goodbye to each other. Harmony took a minute to collect herself as she sat back down and waited to exit the spiritual plane. She waited for the pressure to subside before she opened her eyes again. She took in a deep breath, slowly looking up. She looked at her sides, a bit surprised to not see Leo on either side. She slowly stood up, readjusting to the real time, and started to go towards the house. She tried to keep as quiet as she could as she searched the rooms, trying to find Leo. She was a bit confused when she didn't see him anywhere, especially in his room. She looked out the window, peering out to see if he was out there. Sure enough, he was, slightly hiding behind a tree. She wasn't sure how she didn't see him, but she wasn't worried anymore now that she knew where he was.

She went into her room and took off the layers of clothes she didn't need to sleep in, climbing into her bed. She was sure that they were both going to be very tired by the time it was time to train, so she wanted to get as much sleep as she could. It was a bit difficult to sleep with all the thoughts going through her head, though. She tossed and turned, getting a bit frustrated that she, one, couldn't sleep, and two, didn't hear Leo sneaking back in by now. She waited a bit longer, and finally sat up in her bed when she didn't hear any sneaking steps by that time. She slowly sneaked out of her room into Leo's, peering out his window again. She saw him sitting in the middle of the grass, his hands behind him and supporting his upper half of his body as he leaned back. He seemed to be looking at the night sky. She grabbed the blanket off his bed and cloaked it around herself, slowly going through the house and going out to meet Leo outside. She looked down at him, seeing that his gaze from the sky didn't tear away, even though she was right next to him.

"Earth to Leo," she said softly. It was a couple of seconds before his gaze finally flickered to her. "You okay?" He simply nodded, looking back at the sky again. She sighed and sat down next to him. "Are you sure? You seem to be spacing out."

Leo took a couple of seconds again, sighing and tilting his head down. "Just thinking is all."

"You wanna share your thoughts with the class?"

Leo smiled a bit at that, then his smile fell. "It's a lot. I'm not sure you'd believe it. I sometimes think it was all just one big dream. Or nightmare. Maybe both."

Harmony looked at him with a bit of a concerned look. "Maybe you should share. It sounds heavy, and I don't even know what it is."

Leo seemed to be pondering about whether to tell her or not. After a while, he smiled politely and shook his head. "Another time." He turned to face her. "So, how was the talk with Sensei?"

Harmony took a moment to decide whether she should press him to tell her, but instead she replied "it was really nice."

Leo sat up, rotating his wrists to get feeling back in them as he smiled at her warmly. "That's great! Did you say everything you wanted?"

"I hope so. It was just so nice to talk and see him again. I really miss him a lot. It felt like I was really with him."

"Well, in a sense, you were."

Harmony playfully nudged Leo with her elbow. "Yeah, yeah, o-wise-one. My point is, it was just good to talk to him again. I hope we can talk again soon."

"He meditates a lot, so you could probably talk to him anytime."

"True. I just kind of wish I could talk to the others, too. Like you did with Raph."

Leo smiled, nodding. "So do I. I want to talk to and see all of them one-on-one. I hope they're holding up okay."

Harmony nodded, agreeing. "To family," she said, looking up at the sky.

Leo chuckled a bit, looking at the sky. "To family."