REALIZATIONS

December 25, 1995

SHREDDER:

It was two o'clock in the morning. I didn't expect to see anyone awake. Much less did I expect them to be on the roof. Somehow, I was only slightly surprised to see that it was one of the four freaks guarding the building. I didn't think much of it until I noticed that he was not alone. He stood at the ledge of the roof, overlooking the street. There was nearly a foot of snow around them, but they had cleared a path.

I watched for a moment, hesitant to initiate a confrontation in the deep snow. He placed an arm around her shoulders and I strained to see her more clearly. I would have to get closer. I climbed down onto the fire escape and jumped to the one on the adjoining building. I paused for a moment, to make sure I had not been heard, then climbed the ladder slowly to the roof. I peeked over the ledge just as the woman laughed. She turned toward me and I saw her face.

For a moment, I was surprised. This was the same "Miss Anna" that had been the topic of newspaper columns for weeks after the bombing. If I'd had a TV available, I was sure she'd have been the topic of discussion there, as well. She had become the unofficial spokesperson for the orphanage, due to her rescue efforts. I felt my blood boil, and pushed the thought out of my mind.

The creature laughed quietly. I clung to the shadows and strained to hear their conversation.

"I don't know, Anna."

"You must have some idea," she laughed in reply.

He did not answer her for a long time. "I guess when you walked into the lair and surprised the hell out of all of us," he finally offered. "The look on your face..."

My interest in this woman was suddenly peaked. She knew where their lair was? They trusted her. Perhaps as much as their reporter friend. "Well, I was pretty surprised myself," Miss Anna laughed. "I didn't expect to find you there!"

I watched closely, straining to hear every word. I could not afford to miss the contents of this conversation.

ANNA:

"You never told me," he mumbled. "How did you find the lair?"

I breathed deep and snuggled closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder. "I had a map," I finally answered. "Although I had no idea it would lead me to you guys."

"What kind of map?" he asked, sounding confused. "Where did you find it?"

I smiled, though he couldn't see it. "Fate, I guess. It was in a pair of jeans I had from when I was a little girl. I didn't remember how it got there. But now I think I got it out of this box my mother gave me a long time ago."

He was quiet for a moment. "You said your mother was killed," he whispered. "And they never found who did it."

I sighed deeply. "No, they didn't."

"Tell me about it."

His fingers intertwined with mine and I smiled as his thumb rubbed gently back and forth over my pulse. "I don't really remember it, Leo. I just remember waking up in the hospital, hurt and confused, and finding out she was dead."

"How was she killed?"

"She was cut across her throat and down the center of her chest. She... bled to death. They didn't actually cut through her trachea."

"Was it all one cut?"

I sighed. "I don't know, Leo. What does it matter?"

He shrugged. "Well, it's the difference between an assassination and an amateur butchery attempt."

I sighed. "I don't know, Leo; I can't answer that. Why would they tell me that, anyways? I was six."

"Point taken," he mumbled.

I glanced at him. "You think you could find him?" I realized, surprised.

"I don't know," he admitted. "A fourteen year old cold case file? It wouldn't be easy."

I considered that for a minute. "Yeah, that's kind of what the police say too."

"She have any enemies you remember?"

"No," I sighed. "But like I said before, I don't really remember anything clearly."

"Any chance she left... documents? A journal? Something like that?"

"I have her diary," I offered. "But half of it's in Japanese, and I can't read that."

"I could," he informed me.

My eyes widened and I pulled away from him. "Really?"

He nodded. "Splinter taught us Japanese. He insists we speak it during any kind of formal practice session, when he's there. We speak it about half the time, with each other."

I smiled. "I never knew you were bilingual!"

He grinned back. "You never asked."

I studied him for a moment. "She say anything in her diary about enemies she might have?"

I shook my head. "Not in what I could read. Not unless you could count the man who brought her over from Japan."

"What do you mean?"

I sighed and leaned against him again. "He was really mean to her. He beat her and then he threw her out on the street when he didn't want her around anymore. And she had nothing."

Leonardo remained still. "She ever run into him again?"

"Not that I know of."

"What'd she do? I trust she didn't go back to Japan. Were you born here?"

"Yes."

"So this guy was your father?"

I hesitated. "No I... don't think so. I mean, I guess he could've been but... I think my father was someone else."

"Why?"

"Because of her diary. She met this other guy after she was thrown out on the streets." I smiled as I considered the story. I remembered bits and pieces of it from when I was young and my mother used to recite it to me at bedtime. "She accidently went into this building and I guess she was trespassing on some kind of gang territory. She didn't really understand it when she tried to explain it so I'm not sure exactly what happened. But this Japanese man came and stopped them from killing her. And they both got hurt. Her ankle was twisted and he was shot."

He smiled faintly. "How sweet," he mumbled. I couldn't tell if that was sarcasm or not, but judging from his usual manners, I doubted it was. It sounded more like amusement, so I continued.

"Yeah. He took her to where he was staying, in the sewers."

Suddenly, he tensed. I opened my eyes and saw him staring at me with a suspicious look on his face. "What?" I laughed.

He watched me for a moment. "Nothing," he lied. "Go on."

His eyes burned into me as he waited for more of an explanation. "Well, they... fell in love," I continued. "And I was conceived."

He said nothing. I looked away from him. "His name was Hamato Yoshi."

Leonardo suddenly jumped back. I nearly fell over, and gripped the ledge hard to regain my balance. Leo was staring at me with wide eyes. "You're telling me that your father was Hamato Yoshi?" he stammered.

I nodded, missing the element of shock that he had obviously identified. "Yes."

His jaw dropped. He said nothing. "What's the matter?" I asked, my thoughts suddenly racing. "Does that mean something to you? Did you know him?"

"Uh," he struggled. "Well, uh... not... exactly."

"What do you mean, not exactly?" I demanded. The possibility that they knew Yoshi had never occurred to me, though I wasn't sure why. According to the map that had led me to them, they were staying where he and my mother had, years before.

"What else did she say?" he choked, ignoring my question.

"About what? Yoshi?" It was obvious that that's where his interest lie.

"Yes."

"Well, she said a lot of things," I struggled. "She loved him a lot, even though he was quite a bit older than she was. He was just this quiet, gentle man who lived in the sewer with his rats and four..."

The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. My eyes went wide, and I jerked away from Leonardo, bolting upright. We stared at each other in wide-eyed shock. I felt unable to breathe. "You're Hamato Yoshi's turtles!"

"Splinter," he whispered, sounding as awestruck as I felt.

The second realization was more powerful than the first. I reeled from the aftershock as he studied me, the surprise still evident. "You're Splinter's... daughter."

Dun dun dun...!

Confused yet? Imagine, TN, you were right all along... *evil laugh*