Author's Note:

To the Guest: So happy you're happy! Thanks a lot for reviewing.

Ghosts of the Past

Five minutes ago

Spike couldn't believe he had made it. All his life, he had thought himself a coward; he had been unable to defend himself against bullies, unable to explain to his childhood friend why he had ditched her, unable to stand proud of who he was. And now, he was part of a secret party intending to fight their most powerful enemy ever.

Learning about his origins had changed everything.

Spike glanced at Angel, who was walking right in front of him. He itched to show her the new Spike. He hoped she would like him, like she had liked the boy who lived a few streets from her, all these years ago.

Right now, Angel wasn't paying him any attention. She was walking next to Karai and whispering to her.

"These tunnels seem endless."

"It's hard to believe we never knew about them," Karai replied in kind.

It wasn't that hard to believe for Spike. He was well-placed to know that secrets were everywhere.

Even when you had trusted people your whole life, they could still surprise you. They could still betray you.

Spike remembered the day his father had died. The man had been on his deathbed for weeks now, with Spike and his mother keeping watch over him. But that day, his father had seemed different; calmer maybe. At some point, Spike had left to fetch towels, only to remember that he didn't know anymore where his mother kept them. She changed the location of everything in the house several times a week since his father had fallen ill.

He had turned back to ask her, and frozen at the entrance of the room because his mother was bent over his father, and his father was whispering something in her ear. He had known without the shadow of a doubt that his parents didn't want him to hear whatever was being said, but he had been equally unable to turn back, and thus he had heard his father's words.

"Promise me that you'll never tell Spike he's not from me."

And Spike's mother had promised.

And Spike's world had shattered.

And Spike had stepped backwards, slowly, silently, and he had run away to his room, and by the time his mother had come to tell him that the man who had raised him had died, he had no more tears.

He hadn't dared to confront her that day, nor the days that had followed. He had loved his father, and he didn't want to insult his memory.

But year after year, the desire to know had weighted more heavily on him, until he had finally managed to ask her that simple question: Who?

And when his mother had refused to answer, had refused to tell him who he was, then Spike could only think it was because she was ashamed.

That he was her shame.

In front of him, the others suddenly slowed down, bringing him back to reality. He barely avoided bumping against Angel's back and tried to look ahead to understand what had happened.

They were at an intersection again. Spike could see it clearly, even though the tunnels looked darker than they had just a moment before. It took Spike several seconds to understand why: the fireball that had been floating above Leonardo's head had disappeared. He glanced backwards, only to notice that Raphael and Slash weren't in sight anymore.

"Let's wait for the others," Leonardo said. He turned to Spike. "Where do you think we should go next?"

Spike took the time to study the three tunnels opening in front of them. According to the map that had been forming in his mind as they were progressing in the underground network, they should head left in order to reach the desert.

If the tunnels really led there, of course. Spike couldn't be sure of that, but Leonardo and Karai seemed convinced of it.

"This way," he said, pointing at the tunnel he had chosen.

As he did so, he also passed Angel, Karai and Leonardo to take a better look at the tunnel. It also had the benefit of making sure he wouldn't end up next to Slash when Slash and Raphael would catch up with them.

Slash.

One day, Spike would tell him who he was - that he was his brother. He would take great pleasure in witnessing his reaction.

All these years, Spike had thought that he was the son of a random traveler, the result of one single night of pleasure, when he was in fact the son of a powerful firebender, who had pursued a long-term - if hidden - relationship with his mother before she became pregnant, and decided to keep the baby in spite of Bradford's refusal to have a child with her, leading to their break-up.

Spike didn't know why his mother had finally yielded and told him the truth. Maybe it was because Spike had been more and more insistent, or maybe it was because if Slash never came back, then he, Spike, would be Bradford's only heir.

But Slash had come back. Spike hated the part of himself that was disappointed about it, but there was no denying it existed.

He was wondering what Raphael and Slash were talking about. It wasn't like they had gotten along before their shared journey.

A journey where they had found Raphael's missing brother, too. Spike glanced at Leonardo. He didn't know him very well. In fact, the only things he knew was that Leonardo was courageous enough to challenge Slash when he didn't stand a chance in the fight, and the fact that he was a waterbender.

Another secret that had recently come to light.

It made Karai the only one in their group who wasn't a bender. Spike wasn't sure that it was a good idea to bring her along, but it was her father that had been abducted by the Shredder, so he understood she would want to come.

Karai turned her head to watch him, as if she had felt his gaze upon her. Spike immediately pretended that he was still studying the tunnel, and he sent a fireball inside to support that.

He expected it to disappear in the shadows after a while, like it had been the case in the other tunnels. It did, but not before it reflected on something uneven.

Spike swallowed hard. "Uh, guys? Did you see that?"

"Yes," Leonardo said. His voice was tense. "Can you do it again?"

"I'll help," Angel offered.

Spike tried not to feel offended. He wasn't as gifted with firebending as she and Raphael were, or even as Slash was, but he was still decent. He was perfectly able to form a bigger fireball, one that would light the tunnel better.

Angel was already shaping her own fireball, and Spike hurried to do the same. When they threw them, the tunnel was brightly lit for a few seconds, and they couldn't miss that it was indeed very different from all those they had crossed before.

It was decorated.

With statues.

Karai would have thought she was dreaming, if not for the baffled expressions on the others' faces.

They had been walking in these tunnels for so long without seeing anything different from the bare walls and ceiling, she had begun to consider that these tunnels might have been meant for traveling and nothing more.

But the statues she had just seen were proof that their ancestors had another purpose for that network. What was it?

She couldn't wait to get a closer look at it. It was all she could do to walk and not run inside the tunnel.

"Karai, wait!" Leonardo exclaimed.

"I won't go far. I want to see this," she said, without looking at him because she didn't need to see his exasperated expression to know she wasn't exactly being careful.

But she would stay in the others' line of sight. And besides, Angel was already following her, as was Spike. Leonardo breathed a deep sigh.

"Raph, hurry up," he yelled in the tunnel they had come from. "We found something."

Then he hurried to join them.

Now Karai could see that there were two rows of statues carved directly in the stone, one on each side of the tunnel. She held her breath, admiring their elegant curves and the level of detail in their clothing and hairstyle. Such fashion was at least two hundred years old.

"Who do you think they are?" Spike whispered.

From his tone, he was as awed as she was.

"I don't know. If I had to guess, I'd say they're our ancestors."

Angel's fireball rose higher in the tunnel, and Karai could see that there were symbols written above the statues' heads. That language wasn't in use anymore, but she hadn't spent all these hours deciphering ancient scrolls for nothing.

"These are names," she said.

"You can read that?" Leonardo asked.

Karai savored the admiration in his voice.

"Yes."

"I wonder why they sculpted them here," Angel said. "Why not in the open, where everyone could admire them?"

Karai didn't have an answer for that. She stroked one of the statues, wishing she could decipher its mysteries.

The solemnity of that moment was broken by the arrival of Raphael and Slash, who came running to them like they were expecting trouble.

"Guys!" Raphael searched the tunnel, looking for an enemy that wasn't here. "What happened? Are you alright?" He paused. "And what are these statues?"

"We don't know," Leonardo answered. "And yes, we're alright."

Raphael dropped his arms. "Not that I'm not rejoicing about that, but maybe don't yell next time. I really thought you were in danger."

Leonardo winced. "Sorry about that. I didn't want us to split up, and Karai was really eager to move forwards."

"This is a discovery of primary importance," Karai replied with dignity. "I knew these tunnels held the key to our past." She glared at Leonardo. "And to think we could have explored them months ago."

Leonardo had the good grace to look sheepish.

Raphael crossed his arms. "And we really don't have the time to do it now."

For one brief moment, Karai had forgotten the reason of their presence here. Her anxiety and her grief had been forced into the background by her overwhelming excitement.

And now they were taking front stage again.

She bit her lip. "Yes, I know."

Then she moved forward before the others had a chance to see the treacherous tears trying to escape her eyes.

What kind of a daughter was she, to enjoy that moment while her father might be dying somewhere?

Leonardo's shoulders sagged as Karai moved on at a brisk pace. He knew Raphael was right, but he still wished he would have let Karai enjoy their finding a little longer.

It had felt good to see her so excited, happy even.

He followed her, watching the statues as he passed by them. Something was nagging at him. It wasn't as much the subtle difference in their clothes as the way their moves were suggested. A minority of these statues had different stances, exactly as if…

"What is it?" Raphael asked, as if he had read Leonardo's unrest on his face.

Well, he probably had.

"I think these are firebenders," he said, pointing at several statues. "And these," he pointed at other statues, "would be waterbenders."

"Really?" Angel said, surprised.

"It would make sense." Karai's voice was steady, but she didn't turn to watch him. "We already know that these tunnels sheltered waterbenders, from the way only you can open them. But they couldn't have built them without the complicity of firebenders."

"I wonder if they had earthbenders too," Raphael mused. "It would have made digging these tunnels that much easier."

"No objection here," Angel said.

The row of statues seemed endless. Leonardo wondered how long it had taken to carve them, and what their purpose was. They would likely never know.

"Guys, there is a gate," Karai said suddenly. "And… wow."

From her tone, Leonardo couldn't say if she was appalled or amazed, and he hurried to see what had prompted her reaction.

There was indeed a stone gate, with two heavily decorated door panels. Two statues flanked it. The left one was a man, that didn't look any different from so many of the other statues as far as Leonardo could tell.

As for the right one…

Leonardo took a sharp breath.

The right one was a woman, and it looked eerily like his mother.

"What the…" Raphael said.

Leonardo could tell his twin was as shocked as he was.

"Okay, so that's unexpected," Angel added. "Anybody has an explanation for this?"

Leonardo forced himself to stop looking at the statue of the person who couldn't be his mother and to come closer to the gate. The right part displayed these stylized waves that he had learned were some sort of lock. The left part, however, displayed two zigzagged lines that almost touched at their top. A stylized flame. Could it be that…

Karai's sharp intake of breath cut through his train of thinking.

"What's the matter?" he asked his cousin.

She seemed shaken as she pointed at the writing above the right statue. "Karai," she whispered. "It's written Karai."

"It's probably a coincidence," Raphael said, trying to sound more convinced than he felt. "Karai isn't a very common name, but it's not that rare either."

Karai ignored him and went to the left statue. "And here, it's written Chaplin."

"I know a Chaplin," Spike said. "An old neighbor of us."

"See?" Raphael told Karai. "Just a coincidence."

"We have to open that gate." Karai's features were set in a stubborn expression. "Leo?"

Leonardo stroked the panels. "I think I won't be able to open that one," he said. "At least not on my own. Look."

The others gathered around him.

"Do you think…" Angel said as she studied the stylized flame.

"Only one way to know," Raphael answered. "Leo?"

Leonardo nodded. "Step back, everyone," he said. "We don't know what's behind that door."

Then he raised his arms, filling one stylized wave after the other until the whole right panel was glowing blue. Next to him, Raphael was filling the stylized flame with sparkles of fire.

As soon as they were done, the fire and water suddenly vanished and the outline of the door glowed white.

Then the two panels opened.

The room was huge, especially considering how underground they were, and Karai felt awed by the sight in front of her.

The walls disappeared behind shelves bursting with scrolls. Everywhere else in the room, rectangular-shaped blocks of stone above half their height formed a way that circled to a bigger block standing in the center of the room.

It was deserted as far as she could tell.

"And to think that this was in our home all along," Angel whispered.

Karai shared her fascination. She itched to read these scrolls, but she didn't dare to take one. What if she destroyed it? They had remained undisturbed for centuries. She knew there were ointments that could give old scrolls their flexibility back, but she hadn't brought them along. Why would she? This was a rescue party for her father, not an archaeological expedition.

And still, she would have given a lot to learn who that Karai woman was, and why she had her statue in the depths of the mountain.

Leonardo had made his way to one of the rectangular-shaped blocks. "They look like graves," he said.

Spike shivered.

"Maybe they're the graves of all the people we've seen outside," Angel whispered. "It's their resting place."

"As much as a library." Karai crossed her arms so her fingers wouldn't err so close to the precious scrolls. She wasn't sure she trusted them right now. "Don't let your fireballs anywhere near the scrolls."

If one idiot destroyed this precious testimony of their people's past, she might very well strangle them herself.

"These people took a lot of trouble to create this place," Raphael said. "You would think they would have passed on its memory."

"Waterbenders weren't welcome anymore after what happened with the Shredder," Leonardo said slowly. "Maybe they had to hide it. Maybe they intended to tell a selected few and something happened."

"Maybe the answer is somewhere in these scrolls." Raphael was walking amongst the maybe-graves. "If all those people died in the fight against the Shredder, the oasis was way more populated than it is now."

"You need both firebending and waterbending to open these gates. They were allies. They fought together." Leonardo bowed his head.

Karai could see how seeing proof that some of the oasis firebenders and waterbenders had once worked hand in hand could move him.

Slash started talking for the first time since they had entered the statues' tunnel. "I don't want to break up your fun, but where are we supposed to go now? This place has only one entrance."

Karai realized that he was right. She had been so amazed by all the scrolls against the walls that she had failed to notice the obvious: the shelves encircled the whole room, except for the gate they had used to come in.

"I guess we'll have to go back to the intersection and choose another tunnel," Raphael said.

Karai winced. She wasn't happy having to leave that place so soon, but they couldn't afford to lose any more time.

Later. She would come back later, and she would unlock the mystery of that other Karai.

Leonardo hesitated for one brief second. "Let's check more thoroughly first. There could be a hidden passage somewhere."

She glanced at him, trying to read his face. Was it his sole motivation, or was he as eager to learn more as she was? With such a resemblance to their mother, that Karai must have been an ancestor of his. And a waterbender no less.

She shook that thought off. Leonardo wouldn't do anything that threatened their mission, she trusted him on that. Besides, having a secondary exit was always a smart move, and their ancestors had been smart.

Their little group scattered across the room. Karai followed Leonardo towards the biggest rectangular stone in the center. It was higher than both of them. Was it a bigger grave or something else entirely?

"When this will be over, I'll spend my time in here," she told his cousin, in an attempt to start a more light-hearted conversation and distract them both from their gloomy thoughts.

"You won't be the only one," Leonardo said. He frowned as they reached the biggest stone block. "Look, something is carved into the stone. Can you read it?"

Karai squinted to discern the words. Raphael had once again lent Leonardo a fireball, so she didn't have to create her own, but the light was still dim.

She wasn't sure why she hadn't firebent yet. Was it because once she did, there would be no turning back? If Slash and Spike knew, soon the whole oasis would too.

Including her father.

She was furious against herself. Wasn't it ridiculous to think about her father's reaction in such a moment? Her apprehension to disappoint him paled in comparison of the worry she felt. Unless it only fueled it?

"It's written Stand guard forever, but it doesn't look like a full sentence. It's not properly capitalized." She began circling the block. "Here. It says Here our most valiant fighters stand guard forever. If you think yourself worthy of their secrets, come forward and learn." She was now on the opposite side of the block and could see steps climbing up.

"What does it mean, being worthy?" Leonardo whispered, more to himself than to her.

She climbed the steps, wondering what waited for her on the top. Was it a hidden passage? Or just a viewpoint on the whole room?

She quickly realized that it was neither one nor the other. The top of the rectangular stone was hollow. Not by much, one or two feet maybe, but that artificial basin was filled with water.

"Leo! Come over here, it's a pool!"

Her cousin quickly joined her.

"Do you see…do you feel anything?" she asked, not exactly knowing what to look for.

She didn't know much about waterbending. She just thought it wasn't a coincidence if there was a pool here.

"Hmm," Leonardo merely said, leaning forwards as if he was trying to read in the water.

Leonardo's heart beat faster as he watched the still water surface. He had never felt this close to his ancestors before. Here, in this place, he could believe that he belonged to the oasis after all - that he was a part of its history.

And that Karai woman, the one that looked like his mother. She had been a waterbender. Had she fought against the Shredder, although she was obviously related to him? The resemblance was so strong… Had she been his daughter?

His head was dizzy from all the secrets that place held. All these scrolls…

But they didn't have the time to read them all, and they were most certainly too fragile anyways - or Karai would already have seized them.

Water, however, wasn't fragile.

Leonardo calmed his mind and focused, like he had done on the island, not so long ago.

He needed information. They knew way too little about the Shredder. If Leonardo had been a survivor of the first fight, he would have made sure to tell his descendants exactly what had happened so they could replicate it, if need be. But Raphael had been adamant: he hadn't been told anything, and from Bradford, Saki and Yoshi's reactions to the Shredder's awakening, they didn't know either.

Somewhere along the way, the knowledge had been lost. Had their ancestors foreseen it? Had they built this place as a way, not only to remember the fallen, but also to pass on their memory?

He watched the pool like it held the answer to every question he had, but no picture formed under him.

Leonardo tried to hide his disappointment. April had said that water-reading was rare; maybe he had just been lucky that first time.

He straightened up. From here, he could see how the rectangular stones - the graves - formed a spiral, with the pool at its center.

Leonardo suddenly felt the urge to be in contact with his element. Maybe it would help him think. At the very least, it would appease him, and he would need a clear head if they were to succeed in their quest.

Leonardo removed his sandals, pulled up his trousers and entered the water.

To his surprise, it was warm.

"What the…"

"What is it?" Karai immediately asked.

"It's warm," he explained.

While the rational part of his brain deduced that there must be a source of heat below the pool, his soul whispered to him that once more, fire and water were entangled - and that this was how it was supposed to be.

He moved around, letting the water stroke his legs. His feet felt irregularities in the ground, which was strange considering how smooth everything else was.

Leonardo closed his eyes and tried to discern a pattern.

A spiral, like the one the graves formed. He walked to its center.

The water surface shivered. Leonardo could almost picture it calling to him - like it itched to rise around him.

It was stupid. The water wasn't sentient, was it?

But the urge to answer its call was still here.

Leonardo shifted his body to begin a sequence that would coil tentacles of water around his body.

The water rose alright, but instead of the tentacles he expected, it shifted into a figure.

Raphael was investigating the shelves on one of the walls when he felt the skin of his neck prickle.

He abruptly turned around to watch what was happening - and he gaped.

In the center of the room, only lighted by the new fireball he had given Leonardo, a water statue of his mother was rising in the air.

No, not a statue. It was moving - walking. And now another water figure was joining it - a man, who looked like the Chaplin from the gate. Alright. Then it wasn't Tang Shen, it was this other Karai, and…

What the heck was Leonardo doing?

Raphael ran to the epicenter of this waterbending display. As more and more water rose from the biggest block, the one Karai and Leonardo had been investigating - he should have come with them, even if they would have covered less ground that way, he shouldn't have trusted that his twin would stay out of trouble for five entire minutes - it shifted into more and more shapes until it filled the whole ceiling, and suddenly Raphael was looking at a battle, fireballs were being thrown at a man in the middle, and that man had his mother's face - the Shredder - and it was so disturbing, no wonder Leonardo had been upset, and the Shredder was falling, and then he was under attack again, but this time by waterbenders, and then he was in front of the woman - Karai - and he paused, and she stroke first, and he retaliated, and that Chaplin was here again, and…

And he was climbing the steps, passing by an awestruck Karai, just in time to jump into the water and catch Leonardo as he fell.

"Leo!"

"I'm… alright," his idiot of a brother answered. "Did you see that?"

"Everybody saw that," Raphael said. "What were you thinking?"

"I…" Leonardo paused to catch his breath. He was leaning heavily on Raphael. "It just happened. But now we know how they did it!"

"We do?" Raphael replayed in his head the scene he had just witnessed. He certainly couldn't see how it was going to help them, from a tactical point a view.

"Yes! That woman… That Karai. She took something from the Shredder. It weakened him, enough that he had to retreat." Leonardo straightened up. "I didn't see the end, I was too tired to keep the water up. Once I try again…"

Raphael grabbed his twin by the shoulders and stifled the urge to shake him. "No way, you're already exhausted. What use will it be if you're too tired to fight?"

Leonardo looked like he wanted to argue, but Slash's outraged voice prevented him from doing that.

"You're related to him!" he yelled. "Don't try to deny it. That man, it was the Shredder! And he looked just like your mother!"

"That Karai must have been his daughter," Karai said, thinking fast. "And she fought him, with Chaplin and the others. From the way Chaplin was looking at her, I'd say he's your ancestor too."

Raphael watched her in disbelief. "You deduced that from water figures?"

But Slash wasn't done.

"You knew," he accused them. "How can we trust you now?"

Raphael wondered if he and Leonardo should try to deny. It was probably too late for that; their lack of reaction to what should had been shocking news had already betrayed them.

He caught Angel's look. She seemed hurt for some reason, and that pained him more than Slash's anger did.

"Yeah, we have a terrible ancestor," he said. "And that Karai had a terrible father. I guess it happens to the best of us."

Slash clenched his fists, looking furious, but he didn't reply.

"I only learned about it recently," Leonardo said calmly. "If anything, it makes me more willing to defeat the Shredder."

The silence that followed was broken by Angel.

"We need to keep going. I didn't find anything, so if no one else did, I suggest we turn back and let Spike chose another tunnel…" She paused, turning around. "Wait. Where is Spike?"

Raphael's heart sank as he realized that the teenager was nowhere in sight.

"Maybe he just hid, because he's a coward," Slash said.

But his voice didn't hold half as much venom as Raphael would have expected it.

Spike was yelling all he was worth as he slid faster and faster in the hidden passage he had just found behind the shelves.

At first, he had been immensely relieved that it existed. After all, he had been the one to suggest taking the tunnel that had led them to this room. He didn't want it to be a dead-end.

Spike had been about to tell the others about his discovery when Raphael had started running. As he turned around to see what had caused that reaction, his foot had landed inside the passage and immediately slid forwards.

Spike had lost his balance…

And the rack had closed behind him.

He should have been more cautious, he knew that much. But he had been careful not to let his source of light too close to the scrolls, like Karai had said, and how was he supposed to know that the ground of this hidden passage would be icy?