*Disclaimer: I do not own the characters Donatello, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Splinter, April O'Neil, or Casey Jones.  They all belong to Mirage Studios and I am only borrowing them for the entertainment of the few who read this.  The rest of the characters are mine; please don't borrow them without permission.  Thanks!

This is it for this story…hope you've enjoyed!  Sequel to follow…just not sure when!

Chapter 16

Raphael:

I just sat there.  I didn't know what else to do or say.  No one moved.  It all happened so fast, I think I was in shock.  He was gone.  He disappeared right in front of me and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

"Athena?"

I looked up at Panaceia's voice.  She was kneeling in front of her sister, trying to get her attention.  Athena just sat there like she had been, head hung and eyes closed.  She put her hand on her shoulder and gave her a little shake.  Athena just flopped backward like a rag doll.

I moved to catch her, but Leo was faster than I was, and he grabbed her right before her head hit the floor.

"Athena!"  Panaceia put her hand to her neck, checking for a pulse.

"She's barely…"  She looked up at me in a panic, but as usual there wasn't anything I could do but sit back and watch.

"How did this…?  How do I…?  Oh my god…"

Thankfully, Donatello snapped out of it and stood up, taking over for the obviously incapacitated Panaceia.  As soon as he started to take charge, she followed suit.  They both ran around trying to figure out what to do, what would work.  Meanwhile Leonardo just sat there, holding her, an odd far-off look on his face as he stared at her hand.  I saw blood start to trickle from her nose.

Leonardo:

My body felt…far away.  I tried not to be alarmed; it felt sort of like meditation, but I wasn't meditating.  I was just concentrating on Athena; I couldn't lose two people today.

I sensed everything in the room around me, but it was almost like watching a movie.  My focus was on the person in front of me, and I'm not sure that I could have shifted it even if I had wanted to.  It felt like my very soul was reaching out for her, trying to hold onto her.  I didn't try to fight it, but instead gave myself up to the feeling.  The room disappeared and there was nothing.  I had never been this far in meditation.

Leonardo…

I heard her voice in my head, but it was so faint…

Athena, where are you?

Here.  The word seemed to echo all around me.

Where is here?

I don't know.

You're dying on me, Athena.

I know.

Why?

I can't stop it.  Help me.

Tell me how.

I don't know how.

What happened?

I connected my soul with your sensei's to give him the strength to say goodbye; I tried to save him, but I couldn't.  He's gone now, and I can't get back…you're the only one that can help me Leo.

Why me?

I saved your life once and because of that our souls are connected.  I need you to use that connection to save my life now.

How do I do that?

I can't explain it, Leo.

You have to!

I can't.  Just do it, Leo.  Bring me back.

I don't know how!

Please, Leo…

Athena! 

I could feel her presence fade, and I started to panic.  Oddly, through my panic, I figured it out…

Donatello:

Just as I was about to administer the injection, she bolted upright and gasped for air, clutching her chest.

"Athena!"

Panaceia was at her side within seconds, hugging her tightly.  I looked at my brother, still kneeling behind her and looking surprised and yet oddly happy at the same time.  Athena broke away from Panaceia and turned to him.

"Thank you."

"Don't ever do that to me again."

"I don't plan on it."

Panaceia handed her a cloth to wipe the blood from her face.  I had no idea what the hell had happened.

"Did I miss something?"  Apparently I wasn't the only one…

Athena just smiled up at Leo.

"No, let's just say Leo and I are even, and leave it at that."

"We're really the ones that should thank you anyway.  You gave us a great gift today.  Without you he wouldn't have been able to tell us goodbye."  At Leonardo's words, the mood of the room immediately shifted from relief back to sadness.

"Thank you, Athena."

"Please don't thank me.  It was the least I could do, and I still feel like I failed you."

"There was nothing any of us could have done."

Michaelangelo:

I blinked back tears; I wasn't ready to let my feelings out yet.  I couldn't look at him lying there on the floor beside me.  I looked at Athena instead.

"What are we going to do?"

Athena scooted herself over closer to me and put her hands on either side of my face.

"I promise you, Michaelangelo, that no matter what we do, everything will be okay.  The four of you are my responsibility now."

"We can take care of ourselves."  Leonardo's voice sounded unusually flat.  Athena responded to him, but never took her eyes off me.  There was something really reassuring about her.

"You're not in any shape to take care of yourselves right now, and besides, it was the last request of a dying man, and I have no intention of not honoring it."

"Splinter asked you to look after us?"  I shouldn't have been surprised; it was exactly the kind of thing he would have wanted.

"Yes, Michaelangelo."

"Do we have to go back with you?"

"We can do whatever the four of you want.  We can stay here, or we can go back to my house, or we can go to India for all I care.  It's whatever you want."

"I don't know what I want."

I looked into those eyes of hers, and I lost it.  I saw the tears start to pool in her own eyes as she pulled me to her.

"Shhhh…it's okay…I promise, it will all be okay…"

Author's note:

The title for this story came from an old poem written by Mountain Dreamer.  It's really beautiful, but the ending is my favorite:

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.  I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.  I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

This was the inspiration for this story.  What would sustain them when all else falls away?  I couldn't just take away Splinter, but I had to challenge them physically and mentally as well.  So the sequel will be how each one of them handles having their entire lives as they knew them stripped away.  Thanks for reading, and until next time…