Chapter 38: Sacrifice
Splinter's POV
As the brightness clears and my vision is restored, I find myself standing in the sunlight on a lawn of soft, trimmed grass. The smell of cherry blossoms fills my senses and I notice several trees, gracefully adorned in pink, dotted here and there about the grass. Soft petals fall to the ground as the breeze ruffles the branches. A winding stone path makes its way through the trees and, looking up, I see a familiar city skyline forming the backdrop of this picturesque scene.
I know immediately where I am. This park was a favorite haunt of mine and Shen's, a place we would often come to be alone.
I am not alone, however, for Saki is still beside me. In that one moment of surprise at being thus transported, I unintentionally loosen my grip on the Time Scepter, and Saki, taking advantage of my distraction, wrenches it from my hand.
I turn to face him, my senses instantly on full alert.
"Saki, why have you brought us here?"
"Have you not guessed?" There is a small note of triumph in his voice, as though he sees his victory over me at last within his sights. "There is only one thing I have wanted all these years, Yoshi. The one thing you stole from me."
"I stole nothing, Saki! Shen was never yours."
"She would have been, if you had not been in the way!" There is a manic gleam in his eyes now as this age old argument once again stirs up his hatred toward me. "And now, she will be!"
"What are you going to do, Saki?"
Discharging his blades from his gauntlet, he says dramatically, "I'm going to kill you."
But he isn't looking at me. With a sweep of his bladed arm, he indicates a distant spot, further along the path. Looking in that direction, I notice two people sitting on a park bench at the side of the path, beneath a cherry tree. Their backs are to us and they are far enough away not to have noticed our arrival or heard our conversation. Yet, even from this distance, I recognize them instantly. Tang Shen and myself.
My heart leaps into my throat at the sight of my beloved wife, lost to me so long ago. She is leaning her head against the shoulder of my younger, human self, and I have one arm wrapped around her, her sleek black hair cascading over my sleeve.
Saki wishes to murder my younger self, eliminating his competition.
Turning back to my enemy, I feel the anger rising inside me. Always he has evoked these rash and negative emotions in me, but I have become better at concealing them, and it is with a calm voice that I reply, "Surely you do not believe that murdering her husband will endear Shen to you?"
Saki does not have such self-control, and he growls angrily at me. Pointing to the couple on the bench, he snarls, "You are not her husband yet! She has not yet made that decision. And she will never know that it was I who killed you. My face is concealed. She will not recognize me, and when you are dead, who will be there to comfort her? Your brother, her dearest friend – me!"
"You know I will not let that happen," I say, moving in front of him confidently, as though he were not protected by armor and sporting blades on one hand and a large, heavy Scepter in the other.
He sneers at me. "Will you stop me, Yoshi? Think! If I kill you, and Shen marries me, she will live a long and happy life. But if you stop me, history will continue on its normal path and you know what happens to her then! Will you allow her to die in order to save your own wretched life, as a sewer rat? Is that the honor of the Hamato clan?"
His appeal to my honor through his skewed logic draws out my anger and I snarl at him, "I was not the one who killed her, Saki! Always you forget this!"
"If you stop me now, you will be choosing to condemn her to death, and it will be your fault!"
The manic triumph in his eyes is stronger than ever as Saki lunges toward me, intent on shoving me aside on his path to his victim. I am too quick for him, though, and blocking his attack, I immediately retaliate, distracting him in combat. In the broad daylight, there are no concealing shadows for me to use to my advantage, and I must rely on my superior speed and agility to make up for his physical strength and the deadly arms he wields.
Darting about him, avoiding his blows, I try once more to speak reason into his crazed mind. "Saki, if you kill me, then Miwa will never be born. Karai will never exist!"
"It doesn't matter!" Saki cries, coldly. "Shen and I will have children of our own, and I won't need your little brat!"
My anger flares up again at this slight to my daughter, the daughter whom Saki had professed to love. Blinded by his own desire, he refuses to see all the things that will be lost.
Tired of our pointless battle, Saki puts his superior size and strength to use and pushes past me, toward the couple sitting innocently on the bench not far away. I hesitate for a second, still somewhat in shock, before following him. I must stop him!
It only takes a few seconds for my younger self to notice the sounds of the Shredder's approach, and I see him leap to his feet, bringing Shen with him, and turn to face the unknown attacker. I see a look of surprise cross his – my – face as he sees a man in full armor, wielding a bladed gauntlet, bearing down on him, pursued by a giant rat. Instinctively, he shoves Shen behind him and assumes a defensive battle stance.
I know however, that he stands little chance. Although, even then, I was a highly skilled ninja, Saki now has many more years of experience. And I know that I never came to this park armed. I had no enemies. Why should I fear an attack while spending the day with my beloved in the park? I have no doubt that my younger self will die if I do not intervene.
I reach them just as the Shredder raises his blades to strike. Using all the speed I possess, I knock into him from the side, deterring his attack. He wheels around, shouting angrily.
"You! I told you to stay out of this!"
Once more I am forced to defend myself as his weapons are turned against me. I have succeeded, at least for the moment, in hindering his purpose. As I dodge each successive blow, I can hear the young couple speaking nearby.
"Yoshi, who are they?" Shen's beautiful voice penetrates through years of memories into my guarded heart, reopening old wounds. Always a brave woman, she sounds more curious than afraid.
"I do not know," I hear my own voice reply, just as one of my shuriken succeeds in scraping the flesh from Shredder's exposed bicep. He growls in anger and strikes more fiercely. I feel a slash of pain as his blade at last finds a mark and slices a long gash in my arm. I refuse to allow this wound to hamper my fighting, however. Too much is at stake here, and I close my mind to the pain.
"Yoshi, you have to help him!" comes Shen's voice again.
"Which one?"
"The rat, of course!"
"The rat? Shen, he is some kind of monster."
"No! He's trying to save you! It was the other who attacked you."
For a few moments, my younger self hesitates, during which time the Shredder presses his advantage, succeeding in landing a few more minor blows. Then all at once, Saki is forced to turn away to meet his new assailant, for he is now being attacked on both sides by, well, me. Shen watches anxiously from a safe distance.
As my younger self lands a powerful kick to the Shredder's abdomen, which succeeds in knocking his breath away despite his armored protection, I swoop in and snatch the Time Scepter from Saki's momentarily slackened grip.
Saki's eyes flash with anger and for a moment I consider using the Scepter to bring us back to our present time, but I cannot risk bringing my younger self along by accident. Instead, I twirl the Scepter like a bo. With a manic growl, Saki lunges at me, momentarily disregarding my younger self in his blind anger. As I dart skillfully out of reach of Shredder's attacks, the human Yoshi behind him takes advantage of his distraction and lands a few blows, aiming for the places left unprotected by armor. As a painful kick to Saki's side doubles him up, I twirl my weapon and strike. A strong blow to the head with the heavily weighted end of the Scepter leaves him lying unconscious on the ground between us.
Shen quickly runs to stand beside my younger self and grasps his arm, looking down curiously at the form of the Shredder lying in the grass. Then she looks up at me, and my heart swells as her handsome, dark eyes meet mine after so many years. She always had a remarkable way of looking directly into one's soul, and as she holds my gaze steadily for a few moments, I see a flash of something cross her face, something akin to recognition. She does not, of course, know that I am her Yoshi, but an understanding seems to pass between us.
"Who are you?" she asks, and her tone betrays more wonder than curiosity.
"It doesn't matter," I reply quietly. I should go. But I remain frozen in place, unwilling to leave Tang Shen's presence.
I glance up into my own human face and find wariness there. Always, in my younger days, was I skeptical of the strange and unexplained, even when it was staring me in the face. That was before my entire life became strange and unexplained.
So it is no surprise to me that when Shen asks, "Are you yokai?" that my younger self scoffs at her.
"Shen, don't be ridiculous!"
But Tang Shen's mind was more open to the supernatural, to new possibilities, and ignoring him, she turns her gaze intently on me once more. "Do you have a message for us?"
Time seems to grind to a halt as I look into her imploring face. I long, more than anything, to reach out and hold her, draw her close and never let her go. But I see my own human arm wrapped around her slender shoulders, encircling her protectively, and I realize I am already holding her. I already had this moment.
But as I take in the familiar curve of her jaw, the sweep of her eyelashes, the contour of her lips, I am struck suddenly with the image of flames surrounding her, of the red blood soaking her shirt, of her deep, intelligent eyes growing dim as her body falls limp in my arms.
I stopped Saki's plot. History is back on course. It will all happen again.
No! I must warn them. I could tell my younger self not to let the fight with Saki get out of hand. I could tell Shen not to go into the burning dojo after us. I could change history right now, and have the life I was robbed of. A life with Shen, and Miwa, and perhaps other children.
I open my mouth to give the words of warning, but at the thought of other children, the faces of my sons suddenly flash through my mind. Leonardo, ambitious and determined. Raphael, aggressive and loyal. Donatello, intelligent and resourceful. Michelangelo, energetic and joyful. If I save Shen now, they will never exist.
Perhaps that would be better, says a small voice in the back of my mind, as I ponder all the terrible things they have recently endured. I see Raphael, bound forever in his chair, and Donatello, groping in the dark. Would it not be better for them to have never experienced these things?
As soon as the thought enters my mind I am instantly ashamed of it. They are my sons! From the very beginning their lives have been difficult. Mutated and cast out of society, forced to live in isolation in the sewers – wouldn't many people say that nonexistence would be preferable to such a life? And yet they have known joy, and purpose, and love. For sixteen years my home has been filled with love, and that has not changed. Circumstances may be hard, harder than ever, but who am I to say whether someone else's life is not worth living? Does not every child deserve a chance?
As I look again at the happy couple standing before me, I think about the life I could have had, the life I always thought I wanted, with Shen and Miwa. It occurs to me that that life would be hollow, empty, without my sons in it. I realize that I cannot bear to live out my years never knowing Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo.
At last, I open my mouth again to answer Shen's question. "I have no message for you except this: Your union will bring much happiness. Cherish your time together."
Looking away from their surprised and pleased faces, I notice the Shredder beginning to stir on the ground in front of me. Quickly, I raise the Time Scepter and, with one last longing look at my beloved, I grab hold of Saki, and slam the Scepter into the earth as I saw him do, thinking of our present time. A flash of white light, and the face of Shen is lost to me forever.