Things Change

Leonardo's POV

"My name is Leonardo. And right now, my brothers and I are in a mess of trouble. Our backs are up against the wall in some trash-strewn alley. Cornered by the toughest street gang on the east side."

Unsheathing our weapons, my brothers and I got ready to fight as we watched the gang hold up chains, pipes, and wooden poles in their hands.

"Look at the freaks!" said the leader.

"What's with the dweeby costumes?"

"This ain't Halloween!"

The leader spun his wooden pole, trying to be intimidating, and pointed at us, "You're going down freaks! Nobody messes with the Purple Dragons! Especially wearing stupid turtle costumes!"

Unsheathing my second katana, I narrowed my eyes at their threat.

"He's wrong. We're not wearing costumes."

The evening has just come around New York City. A city that is known never to sleep. And down within the sewers, lives a family of five, a family that learned to live within the shadows.

"Remember, to be a true ninja; you must become one with the shadows. Darkness gives the ninja power, while light reveals the ninjas' presence," said a wise voice.

Holding a lit candle on his staff, the flickering light revealed a rat, the size of a human who wore a red robe, named Splinter. He was sitting on the ground while he held his staff, with the candle, in front of him. Darkness surrounded him as he quietly sat until a loud and clear noise of pattering feet destroyed the silence.

Flipping the candle up, Splinter held it in his hand, the flame not seizing to exist, and moved it when a figure leaped past him. The figure wasn't able to stop his momentum in time as he skidded across the floor, slamming at a wall. They grunted at the impact.

"Too noisy, Donatello," said Splinter, amused.

His ears flickered when he heard the silence being disturbed by something spinning in the air. Knowing right away on who it was, Splinter stood from where he sat and took a step back as another figure missed the candle, slamming themselves into the first one.

"Hey!"

"Ow!"

The elder rat inwardly sighed, "Too clumsy, Michelangelo."

As he was distracted, another figure decided to take that chance and charged at him from behind. However, they were too slow as the elder sensed and dodged them. Opening his eyes, Splinter knew how this next opponent fought and took a couple of steps away from them as they stopped in their tracks and turned to face him. Seeing them charge straight at him again, Splinter inwardly sighed in disappointment and knelt back down as he stuck his staff out, tripping the figure straight onto the first two. They all grunt and groaned from the impact.

"Poor choice, Raphael."

As Splinter looked at them, a fourth figure chose that chance to take action as they dropped from above their Master. Unsheathing their swords from the sheaths on their backs, they sliced the candle in half from the elder's hand and caught it by the blade of his sword, revealing themselves to be a humanoid turtle wearing a blue mask. With no hesitation, the mutant terrapin blew the fire out.

The darkness consumed them until Splinter went over to the light switch, turning the power on to light the lair. He turned to look at his eldest son.

"Well done, Leonardo."

Leonardo smiled triumphantly at his father's praise as he threw the piece of the candle, that he had cut off, up and down in his hand. He turned to look at his brothers, who were all also humanoid turtles like him, getting up from the floor.

Raphael, who wore a red mask compared to Leonardo, narrowed his eyes at him, "Teacher's pet."

Leo threw the candle to him, Raph catching the still hot candle, "Ninja drop-out."

The two youngest brothers, who wore a purple and orange mask, 'oohed' at the hot-head.

Growling, Raph squashed the cut candle in his hand and stomped towards the older.

Before a fight could start between the two, Splinter quickly interfered, "My sons." The two look at him, and he sighed in exhaustion, "My sons. If you are to become true ninja, you must work harder."

Taking that cue, they all quickly ran to sit respectfully in front of him as he continued on his lecture.

"Your path in life will not be an easy one. The outside world will not be a friendly place for you. You four are different in ways the surface dwellers would never understand. To survive, you must master these skills I teach you, ninjutsu powers of stealth and secrecy. You must become Kage, shadow warriors, and you must never be discovered by the outside world."

When Splinter finished talking, Mikey, who was preoccupied with a fly buzzing around him, caught the annoying pest in his hand. He smiled in success until he noticed his sensei standing in front of him, looking sternly until the earth started to rumble around them.

Surprised, Mikey let the fly, that was still in his hand, go while Splinter looked around them, "Huh? What is that noise?"

The terrapin brothers stood and gasped when they saw part of their ceiling fall behind them. Mikey was the first to speak, "Whoa! Earthquake!"

"In New York? Possible, but not likely," said Donatello, too busy calculating what was happening that he didn't see his brothers had moved to a more secluded area. He quickly dodged when part of the pillar structure of their home fell in front of him.

They got their answer when the wall, a couple of feet away from them, burst open. They couldn't see what had made the hole thanks to the smoke debris until a loud mechanical roar echoed throughout the lair, revealing some kind of small robotic animals.

They all quickly unsheathed their weapons.

"What are those things?" asked Leo, narrowing his eyes at the things.

"New York City cockroaches?" Mikey answered him unsurely.

Holding his sais, Raph tightens his hold on them, "Whatever they are, they picked the wrong party to crash!"

He rushed forward and kicked one of them when it came rushing towards them. Taking his lead, the brothers ran towards the little mechanical animal and started bashing, piercing, and slicing them to pieces.

Grabbing one with his nunchucks, Mikey threw one to his eldest brother, "Hey, Leo, think fast!"

Slicing at the one his baby brother threw at him, Leo leaped forward to slice two more robots, exploding to pieces in the end.

Although the four took care of the ones before them, they did not note that more had gone for Splinter, who was ways behind them. Hearing him grunting as he fought, Leo turned to see that the robots had surrounded him.

He gasped, "We have to help Master Splinter! Come on!"

Doing as he says, they all started to fight their way to their Master and Father. But as they fought, Leo noticed that the robots were chewing up the support pillars' sides to their home. He looked over and saw that Raphael was halfway to Splinter. However, the red masked terrapin didn't notice the breaking of the ceiling, which was right on top. Seeing the limit was about to fall squarely on top of him, Leo grabbed Raph from behind, pulling him back, "Look out!"

They watched as the ceiling collapsed, separating them from their Sensei, who was still fighting against the robots. They all gasped when they saw that Splinter wasn't getting away from the falling debris and started running towards the rubble through the wreckage of smoke.

"Oh, no!"

"Master Splinter!"

Once the smoke cleared, their eyes widened at the cave-in, and knew that they could not dig or move it away. Hearing a whirring roar near them, Raph narrowed his eyes at it. He walked away from his brother and towards the thing, growling as he smashed the thing under his feet, before putting his sais back onto his belt.

"What the shell are those things?" asked Mikey, taking a closer look at them now that it had finally quieted down.

Walking up to him, Raph replied as he kicked the thing away, "Whatever they were, they're junk now."

"Guys, Splinter," said Leo, wanting his brothers to focus. "We've got to find Splinter."

Still not seeing him anywhere, he called out, "Master Splinter, can you hear me?"

When there was no answer, he asked his brainiac brother, "Donatello, any way to-"

Before he could finish asking, a beeping came from Donnie's direction.

"What are you doing?"

"Shell cell," Donnie replied. "I'm calling Master Splinter, I hope."

They all gathered around him and waited, hoping that their Father would answer. For if he didn't- well, they just hope for the positive outcome rather than the negative.

On the other side of the rubble, Splinter was quickly woken up by a ringing sound. He groaned as he rubbed his head from slight pain before grabbing the ringing contraption in his robe. The device that he took out looked exactly like the shell cell that Donnie was using to call him. It was a cell phone designed to look like a turtle shell, just like the shells of his sons.

Holding the device in his hand, Splinter didn't know that he had already picked up the call as he hummed, "Which button do you press to answer this thing?"

Relieved at hearing his voice, the boys all smiled, knowing that he was alright.

"Hello?" said Splinter.

Grabbing the shell cell from his brother, Leo spoke to their Sensei, "Master Splinter, are you all right?"

Instead of answering him, Splinter still spoke into it, confused at how the tech cell works.

"Hello?"

"Master Splinter…"

"Stupid device," Splinter grumbled, pushing buttons to see if anything would happen.

"You don't have to press any buttons. You already answered it."

Finally, hearing his eldest son's voice, Splinter inwardly sighed in relief that he didn't have to figure out how to use the small device any longer and spoke, "Ah. Leonardo, whatever those mechanical menaces are, they have managed to eat through the support structure of our home. We must leave right away. Meet me at the old drainage junction near South Point."

Taking out a folded paper from his duffle bag, Donnie blew the dust off before opening it. The article revealed to be a map of the sewage tunnels that he had mapped out.

Looking at it, he pointed at the route, "If we take the south conduit, it'll intersect with the old drainage tunnel."

Figuring out the route that they are going to take, Leo spoke to their Master, "We'll meet you there, Sensei."

Once his sons hung up, the shell cell closed back up. Putting the device away, Splinter looked around him and saw the exit that would take him to his destination.

As he took his time and walked there, he didn't know that his sons had to take another route to get to their destination. A path that led them above ground to where humans roam and live, a way that will forever seal their fate through hardships, enemies, and friends.

It had taken him a while, but Splinter had finally made it to the destination.

"Ah, the old drainage junction. Now, where are my sons?" he wondered, looking around to see that the four were not there yet.

Before he could wonder some more on what was taking his sons so long, his ears flickered at the scraping noise that sounded from below him. Looking down, he narrowed his eyes until they widened when he saw the ground beneath his feet get cracked. He took a couple of steps back away from it until he saw another huge crack being created not too far on his left.

Just then, the ground gave way as two of the same mechanical animals, that had destroyed his home, came popping up from the cracked earth. Standing firm and tall on level ground, the two looked at him and roared. Splinter's ears flickered when he heard more scraping noises. Knowing exactly what was going to show up, he looked over and saw three more popping out from the ground, not too far from the first two that had shown up.

Backing away, Splinter had tried to put some distance between him and the little menaces until he felt his back hit the huge pipes behind him. Looking over his shoulder, his eyes widened at the dead-end that he had put himself in. He quickly looked back in front of him and watched as all five of them had surrounded him, roaring.

While keeping a watch on the four in front of him, Splinter hadn't noticed the fifth one had come closer to him until he felt it bite the bottom of his robe. Narrowing his eyes, Splinter flicked his tail, smacking it away from him as it flew across the room and right into the wall. He looked down at his robe to see that it had ripped when he smacked the thing away.

He focuses his attention back on the mechanical creatures when the one that he had hit stood back up. Shaking its head from the hit, it roared at him as it started walking back towards him, standing itself next to its brethren.

Seeing no way out, Splinter narrowed his eyes and raised his staff, swinging it when two of them jumped straight for him. He did quick work on dismembering them until a third one tried its chance to jump at him. Of course, Splinter destroyed that one just as quickly as the first two.

Looking at the last two, he waited for them to come at him just like the previous three. The two roared as one ran and jumped towards him. Swinging his staff, Splinter had made quick work of it. But thanks to this one's distraction, he hadn't noticed that the last one had run up to him until he felt a sharp pain on his leg.

Splinter yelped when he felt its sharp mechanical teeth sinking into his flesh. Blood trickling down his leg.

Before he could raise his staff to rid himself of this one, a sharp whizzing sound passed through the air. It had happened so fast that Splinter barely registered any of it. The mechanical animal, which had its jaw shut tightly around his limb, let go when its body got severed from its head.

Watching its head hit the ground, Splinter hit it away from him with a flick of his tail before turning his head towards where the attack had come. Standing within the shadows of one of the tunnels, stood a dark silhouette. He didn't know if this being was a friend or a foe. However, he was not going to judge them yet, for they had saved his life.

He bowed to them, "Thank you."

Standing back up straight, he watched as the shadowed being walked into the light. His eyes widen at their figure. The person who had saved him was not what he had expected. There, stepping into the light, was a salamander. A light blue salamander with beautiful amethyst eyes, wearing a white kimono with the bottom fading to black; water lilies decorated around it. Her obi that tied around her waist was black with light silver designs. Her tail dragged behind her.

Once she stood in front of him, Splinter could now fully see that this salamander mutant was female. And she did not look that much older than his sons.

He snapped out of his staring when she bowed to him, "You are welcome."

Standing straight up, the female mutant looked down at the damaged robots, "It would seem I'm not the only one they've attacked."

Her words caught his attention, "So, you too have been a victim to these mechanical menaces."

She nodded, "Yes. I was taking a stroll until these things came out of nowhere and started attacking me."

Splinter sighed, "How misfortunate are we. These things attacked my sons and I in our home."

The female's eyes widened, "You got attacked in your home? Are you all alright? And…sons?"

She frowned in worry that he and his family got targeted by the mechanical machines. However, she didn't see the wise rat's sons that he had just mentioned.

Splinter shook his head, "No, I am alright. Although…"

He stopped and looked around, "My sons should have been here by now."

Looking back at her, he clears his throat, "My dear, I did not mean to be rude. My name is Splinter."

The female gasped and quickly bowed to him, "No, no. It is my fault for not introducing myself first."

The elder rat smiled at the girl's honesty and knew right away that she was trustworthy. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he reassured her with a chuckle, "It is alright. It would seem that both of us did not think about it until now."

Hearing his easy chuckle, the female smiled at him, "Yes. You're right. Well, my name is Irina."

Splinter bowed his head to her, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Irina."

The female mutant, whom he now knows her name as Irina, bows her head back, "As am I, Splinter."

After the introduction, a loud rumble started to sound around them—the two gasp.

"What?"

"Huh?"

Before they knew it, the ground below them started to crumble and give way. They yelled as they fell through a tunnel. It was quite long until they finally reached the bottom of it, which turned into a slide in the end.

Splinter slid out of the tunnel first, rolling himself onto his knees. He took a breather at the little excitement before sighing. Once he collected himself, he looked around when he remembered that Irina had also fallen with him.

"Irina?"

Looking behind him, he saw just in time to see her skidding down the tunnel exit on her feet. She jumped when she saw that she had finally reached the bottom and elegantly softly floated herself down onto her feet. Seeing this intrigued Splinter's curiosity, though he put that thought into the back of his mind, for now, was not the time.

Walking up to him, Irina started to inspect him for injuries, "Are you all right, Splinter? You are not too hurt, are you?"

Splinter replied, "I am fine, my dear."

Trying to reassure her, he got back up on his feet but groaned in pain when he felt a shocking pain shoot up his spine from his leg. He fell back onto his knees and put a hand onto his injured leg. Looking down at it, he frowned at the worsened injury. He had dismissed it when he had met Irina because the wound was just a minor bite.

However, it would seem that he was wrong. The bite wound that he had received from the little robotic animal had become much worse. Inspecting his leg, he could see that it had opened a bit wider, which let the blood flow out more than earlier.

His ears perked up when he heard a gasp. Looking up at the young salamander, he saw her run up to him and knelt by his side as she inspected his injury. He watched her hands lightly touch it.

"This bite wound looks like it came from those things. When exactly did you get hurt, Splinter?" asked Irina, looking at him as she waited for his answer.

Splinter sighed, "When you had destroyed that thing when it had me by the leg."

Her eyes widened, "And you did not think that this would be a big deal?"

He chuckled, shaking his head, "I did not think that it would worsen for my sons, and I heal at a much faster rate."

"Well, it would seem it has gotten worse," Irina replied, her lips pursing.

The older master could only nod at her words.

Sighing, Irina brought a water pouch, that Splinter did not notice, tied on her obi. She brought it up in front of them.

"Not to be rude, Splinter. But whether your wound can heal at an accelerated rate or not, it is always better to treat it than let it be."

Splinter chuckled by her scolding, "I am sorry, my dear. It would seem that losing my home and being separated from my sons seemed to have made me think irrationally."

"Yes. So it would seem," smiled Irina. "But, it is understandable."

Unscrewing the cap of the pouch, she looked at him, "I wish to trust you, Splinter. For what I am going to do is sacred. A secret that no one else is to know."

Looking deep into her eyes, Splinter could see her soul as bright as day. It was pure, and yet there is something there that he could not decipher. Something that told him that she had seen much darkness that those her age should not. Not even his sons bear this burden as she does. Then again, they have not experienced the cruel reality of this world that this young salamander had gone through. Her amethyst eyes, though bright, hid darkness deep within. Seeing this hidden darkness made him curious about her story of how she came to be.

However, just like his curiosity about her elegant action and how she had gotten rid of the little mechanicals, he had decided to put that in the back of his mind to ask her later.

Turning his focus back to the situation at hand, he finally nodded when he saw that she held no malice and only good intention.

"You may trust me, Irina. I promise never to reveal your secret to anyone else. "

Smiling in relief at his spoken promise to her, Irina started to maneuver her hand in front of the open-capped pouch. Moving her hand in an elegant wave-like motion, Splinter watched in fascination and awe when he saw the water start to flow out from the little bag. His eyes followed the floating pool and saw it encased around Irina's hand.

Still, in awe, he asked, "How is this possible?"

Bringing the water encased hand, Irina brought it close to his wound, "It is a sacred art that runs through my family. One that I cannot tell anyone for it is forbidden unless I truly trust them."

Understanding entirely by what she meant, Splinter nodded, "I understand."

She smiled at his much trust and understanding of her. Not many would take her answer kindly and would refuse her action until she explained.

Looking down at the wound, Irina started to put her water-encased hand on it. Splinter watched and waited, wondering what would happen next. A few seconds had passed until the water began glowing a bright blue.

The glow did not last too long until Irina pulled her hand away. The water wet the elder rat's fur as it flowed down, washing away the excess blood. Splinter's eyes widened in awe when he saw that the bite wound was thoroughly healed. There were no scars or marks that proved that he was ever injured. He slowly put a hand on it, running his paw over his now wet fur.

"How is this possible?" asked Splinter, still running a hand on his healed-up leg.

Irina smiled sadly at him before bowing her head a bit, "I'm sorry, Splinter. I can not answer that question."

Splinter smiled softly at her, looking away from his leg, "It is alright, Irina. I understand."

She smiled gratefully at him before standing up. She brought a hand out to him, "Come, Splinter. We should try and get you back up at the drainage junction to wait for when your sons come."

Splinter nodded and accepted her hand to pull him back upon his feet, "Yes. Let us do just that. But…"

Irina tilts her head in confusion, wondering what else that he had in mind.

Seeing her confusion, Splinter explained, "I wish to explore this area. To know where I am before going back up to wait."

Understanding, Irina nodded, "Then, I shall accompany you."

Splinter nodded, accepting her company.

The two looked around the sewer, not recognizing the area. Looking right and then left, Splinter decided to start walking to his right. Irina, following not far behind.

The walk was quiet and comfortable between the two as they looked around at their surroundings. However, it was quite short when they came to the exit of the tunnel. Upon reaching it, their eyes widen at what they saw in front of them.

Destroying the barred gate that led to the drainage junction, Donatello parked the car once he and his brothers all saw their Sensei. Splinter, who had been waiting for his sons while meditating, got up from the floor when he saw that they had finally arrived.

The boys all hopped out of the truck, that they hijacked, and ran over to him.

"Hey!"

"Sensei, you're all right!"

"Splinter!"

"Yeah!"

Happy to see them as well, Splinter smiled, "Yes, well, I'm glad to see you, too, my sons."

Relieved and happy that their Father was alright, Leo excitedly spoke, "Master Splinter, so much has happened."

Splinter chuckled, "Yes, yes. There will be time to tell me all about it later, Leonardo. But first, I wish to take you all home."

They all frowned at his words.

"Home?" asked Mikey, confused by their sensei's words.

Raph replied in disappointment, "We got no home. Those robots trashed our pad. Remember, Sensei?"

Splinter smiled reassuringly at them, "Do not worry. I think I have found a solution to our current housing problem. Follow me, my sons."

With that, he jumped down the hole that he had fallen into earlier with Irina.

The boys all looked at each other in confusion. Though it didn't last long before Leo mentally shrugged and decided to follow their Father down the hole with a front flip. Donnie followed not too far with a dive.

Walking up to the hole, Mikey started, "Cowabun-"

He didn't get to finish as he shouted in surprise when Raph pushed him down the hole.

"Not funny, Raph!"

Raph chuckled, "Oh, yes, it is."

He then jumped into the hole after them.

Not expecting the hole to be so long, they all shouted until they finally made it to the bottom of the exit. Leo came sliding out first since he was the first out of his brother's who had gone after their Sensei. Before he could get up, he was quickly piled under by his brothers who came sliding in not too long after him. They all groaned and started pushing each other away so they could stand back up onto their feet.

"Wicked slide!" shouted Mikey.

Looking around at their surroundings, all of the brothers realized they didn't know this sewer portion. And it wasn't all that impressive either. They all looked over at their Sensei when they saw him start to walk away. Still confused, they all quickly jogged to catch up to him.

Mikey walked beside him, "No offense, Master Splinter. But this place doesn't seem so great."

Splinter merely smiled, "Look with your heart, Michelangelo. And not your eyes."

"Um, okay," was Mikey's only reply as he scratched his head, confused by what he meant.

"And walk this way," Splinter finished, leaving his sons behind.

When he has walked a ways ahead of them, Mikey mocked him by walking like him until Donnie whacked him on the head with his bo-staff for imitating their Father.

"Ow!"

Leo shook his head at his baby brother's action and kept following after their Sensei. His brother's following right behind him. It didn't take them long until they got to the end of the tunnel. Walking through the exit, their eyes widen at the scenery.

They all looked in awe.

"This is beyond awesome!" Mikey exclaimed, smiling excitedly.

Looking around at the vast area, millions of ideas started to run through Donnie's mind, "I could really tune this space up."

Standing a bit further in, Splinter nodded at his sons' excitement as they all ran and started to check the place. Mikey climbed himself up to the second floor and started looking into the rooms.

"This room here, mine," shouted Mikey, pointing to a room. Jumping down from the second floor, he ran over to the place where Donnie is standing, "And where you're standing, also mine."

The brothers all went to stand around their Father when he started speaking, "You see, my sons, change is good."

Leo smiled, "We couldn't agree more, Master Splinter."

"Good. So let's see you boys clean up for a change. This chamber is filthy."

The boys all groan, not looking forward to cleaning up the place.

Splinter chuckled at them until he felt another's presence. Sniffing the air, he instantly recognized the scent on whom it belonged to. Smiling, he looked to his sons, who were about to scatter around the room to clean.

"But first, I wish to introduce you to someone," he announced loudly.

Confused, the brothers all looked at each other, wondering who Splinter could've known besides their tight-knit family. They were all watching as he turned towards the door from where they all came in.

"You may come out from the shadows, my dear. I wish to introduce you to my sons."

Curious, they all turned their eyes to the direction their Father was looking at and were surprised to see a dark silhouette at the entrance of their new home. They wondered at who it was since they had never met any others down in the sewers until the being stepped themselves out into the light.

The boy's jaw dropped when they all saw the beautiful female salamander mutant.

Splinter chuckled at his son's reaction, "Irina, my dear. These are my son's." He then gestured to them, "Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and-"

Before he could finish, Mikey interrupted him when he ran from his spot to stand right in front of the female. Irina blinked in surprise when she saw the terrapin boy's orange masked face close to hers.

Mikey smiled, "Hi there. The name's Michelangelo. You can call me Mikey or the Mikester!"

Splinter cleared his throat, "Michelangelo, that is no way to act around our guest."

Heeding his Master's scolding, Mikey chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head before standing back next to his brothers. The goofy smile, not once leaving his face.

Blinking the surprise away, Irina looks at the other three, who stood up straight when they saw her looking at them.

Smiling, she bowed, "My name is Irina; it's a pleasure to meet you all."

The three quickly bowed back to her.

"Uh, no. The pleasures ours," Leo replied, for both he and his brothers.

Standing back up straight, Irina turned to the elder rat, "I see you have decided to make this place your home."

Splinter nodded, "Yes. Since those machines destroyed our home, this place is deemed to be the next best thing."

She nodded with a smile, "Then I welcome you and your sons to your new home."

Splinter smiled, "Thank you, Irina."

Can't take his excitement anymore, Mikey bounded back up to her, "So, do you live here too?"

Raph walked up and pushed his excited baby brother by his face, "Give the girl some space, Mikey!"

Giggles that sound like bell chimes erupted from Irina's lips, catching the brothers' attention. They all blushed at how beautiful her laughter sounded.

Once her giggles died down, Irina smiled, "It's all right, Raphael. And to answer your question, Michelangelo. I assume you mean the sewers and not exactly here, that is your new home. Then yes, I do live in the sewers since humans on the surface do not take kindly to others… species."

The brothers all nodded at that. They understood what she meant since they had been on topside just earlier today. Especially their encounter with the Purple Dragons and the weird ninjas whom they had the pleasure of meeting tonight.

Thinking, Donnie spoke up, "Wait, so does that mean that you have a home here? Or do you mostly roam the sewers and just rest wherever you can?"

Irina looked at him and answered, "I do not have a permanent home as your family does. I have been mostly roaming the sewers, never staying in one place for too long."

"Why?" asked Leo, frowning at her living situation.

She shrugs, "I saw no point if it was just me living alone. So, I became a wanderer instead."

"So, what you're saying is that you've been living down here all alone while wandering around?" Raph slowly summarised.

She smiled, "Yes."

The brothers all frowned upon her living situation. They can never imagine what would happen if they had lived alone. Without knowing each other. Without living with each other. They could never imagine how lonely that must've been since they had always had each other. They all also had Splinter to thank for too because if it weren't for him taking them in, they wouldn't be who and where they are at right now.

Irina then bowed, "Anyways, it seems it is time for me to leave."

Mikey's eyes widen, "What? You're leaving? Why?"

Standing back up straight, she looked at every one of them, "I had only come by to welcome you all to your new home." She then bows again, "Well, then, if you'll excuse me."

Turning to the exit of the home, Irina was about to leave until the brother's shouts stopped her.

"Wait!"

"Don't leave!"

"Don't go!"

"Hold on!"

Surprised by their shouts, Irina stopped and turned around to look at them. Her eyes wide, blinking. She doesn't understand why they had stopped her. If it was because of her life story that she had told them of her wandering the sewers and living alone for many years, she did not want them to concern themselves. Since it has become a daily routine for her, she found no fault in it.

When the terrapin brothers stopped her advance from leaving, they all looked at each other. Surprise that they too didn't want the female mutant to go. Looking at one another, they all held an unspoken agreement and nodded to one another before turning to their Father.

"Sensei, can she stay?" asked Leo, taking the initiative to ask for him and his brothers.

Humming, Splinter looked closely at his sons. All four of them held a desperate expression when they had stopped her. And now, they had pointed that look to him. Wondering how far his sons will go for this one female mutant, whom they had only met, he stared deeply into their eyes. The eyes hold every truth of emotions. The window to the soul. And what he sees there, surprises him.

Their eyes held desperation. Yet, there was also determination. A determination he knew that his sons would go to great lengths to achieve what they truly want.

Smiling at his sons' generous hearts, he nodded, "Irina may stay and live with us."

The boys all grinned and shouted in happiness. However, before they could celebrate, Splinter stopped their cheering with a raised hand, "However, it is Irina's choice. We will respect her choice if she wishes to stay or not. We will not try to force her. Do you understand, my sons?"

A bit deflated that Irina might choose not to stay with them; they didn't let that deter them, for there could be a chance that she might decide to stay instead.

Turning their attention back to her, Splinter asked, "Irina, though we have just met. My sons and I would very much like it if you lived with us."

Her eyes widen at their generous offer, "No, I can not take you up on the offer. I… wish not to be a burden. And I am quite used to being by myself wandering around down in the sewers. So it is quite all right."

Before she could ramble some more excuses, Mikey put his hands together in a begging position, "Come on, Irina! Stay with us. Please?"

Donnie stepped up to her next, "And you won't be a burden at all."

"Yeah. Besides, the more, the merrier," said Raph, sticking his thumbs through his belt.

Leo smiled at her, "It would be an honor to have you with us, Irina."

Looking at each one of them, Irina smiled softly, "Okay. If you all strongly believed that I would not be a burden to you, then I will stay with you all."

Hearing her acceptance to stay, the boys all hollered in excitement and cheers.

Chuckling, Splinter looked at them, "Alright, my sons. Now that Irina will be living with us let us finally clean."

Remembering that they had to clean, the boys all groaned again but started to clean with renewed vitality.