EPILOGUE

October, 1985

He lay silent on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. In another room, four children, mutated like himself, were sleeping. No, they were not asleep. He could hear them talking quietly, though he had no will to try and make out their words. It had been a long day. He was tired.

It seemed strange to him. He had never thought that at nearly sixty years of age, he would be a surrogate father of four. He was in remarkable shape for his age, but they were so full of energy that he found it nearly impossible to keep up with them. Their youth reminded him of his age, and he was alarmed by what he saw.

He was eternally grateful for the electricity that he'd managed to supply the lair with. Without it, there would be no television and there would be no telling what kind of mischief his four sons might get into. It often seemed that the television schooled them more than he did. But that was okay. It had taught them English, and American culture, which he was sure would be invaluable to them later in life. For years, he'd spoken only Japanese to them, and it resulted in their bilingual abilities. Then he, too, had studied that television, once he realized that amongst themselves they had a language that he did not understand. When fights broke out in that language, there was no way for him to mediate.

Fights were constant. Well, not fights, really. But they quarreled frequently, as brothers do. And locked in these rooms, with no escape and no outlet for their pent-up energy, tensions ran high. It had been seven years since their transformation, and they had seen very little outside of the lair.

His recent encounter with Oroku Saki rested heavy on his mind. Saki had vowed to not let him rest. Not him, nor his students, nor his children's children. Students. A part of him knew his destiny, and the destiny of the four mutated children in the nearby room. But a part of him hated it. He was tired, and older than he cared to admit. He had no desire to begin training the four of them. How much could he possibly teach them in the few years he had left? It was true that he may live for another two or three decades. But his energy would certainly not improve during that time.

He could feel indignant anger burn as he considered his enemy. Though he was just as well-trained as he had been at his peak, his strength and energy was no match for Saki's, who was a full twenty years younger. He would not likely defeat him now. And unless he decided to teach his young wards what he knew, his legacy would die with him. And Saki would win. The thought infuriated him.

He listened hard, and heard nothing. They had fallen asleep. He stood and left his room. Moving silently, he walked to the open door and looked in at where the four of them slept on twin bunk beds. This was their lives he was talking about, and he knew it. Ninjutsu was not something that one could decide not to pursue later in life. It would become a part of them, whether they liked it or not. He wasn't entirely sure he could make that decision for them.

"Sensei?"

His eyes darted to one of the mattresses, where a young turtle sat up. He had not been fully asleep. Lost in his thoughts, Splinter had not noticed. "Hai, Leonardo?"

"Is something wrong? You look sad."

Splinter smiled in spite of himself and stepped into the room. He sat down on the edge of the bed and Leonardo tucked his legs underneath him. "I am not sad, my son," Splinter whispered. "I am thinking. Very hard."

"About what?"

"About you," he answered quietly. "And your brothers. And what may become of you."

"What do you mean, Sensei?"

The older man smiled faintly. "When I was young," he began quietly, "my father sent me to a special school. It took every penny he had to send me there."

"What did you learn?" Leonardo asked. "Was it things like you teach us?"

Splinter hesitated. "Things that... I may teach you. Things that I studied my entire life, that I could never stop studying."

"Why not?"

He tried to think of a simple explanation. "Because they became a part of me. As they would become a part of you, if I were to teach you."

Leonardo thought about that for a moment, and smiled. "I like learning from you, Master Splinter. I want you to teach me things."

Splinter smiled faintly. "We will see, Leonardo," he whispered. "We will see."

Okay, people, listen up. My next book will NOT be under my name because it was co-written and since much of it was my co-writer's idea, it's going under her name. So look for "Where are You" posted under the name Danger Incarnate. It should be up very soon because it's already done. Hope you all enjoyed this book! -sss979