DISCLAIMER – Again - and I repeat - I do not own The Warrior Creed, by Robert L. Humphrey. The same goes for the TMNT's. I do own Anna, Dale, and their parents, as well as this story.

EPILOGUE – IT'S A BETTER LIFE -

Anna waited. She knew him like clockwork, knew he would be there; she only had to be patient. He always followed her every night that they would meet, making sure she would arrive in one piece. Anna never felt so safe. Yet he had the aggravating habit of making her wait, even though she knew he trailed her.

As she waited, she thought back. Home life had improved considerably. Considering all that had happened, her parents seemed happier, as did she. Anna was amazed with how something like what she had gone through could change the course of a person's existence the way it had. She was focused now and not as emotional as she had once been. It was as if her eyes were opened to new possibilities and she had to thank the one she was meeting now for that fact.

Over the past month or so, she had been busy with school, yet never was she so distracted that her time was too precious for him. She did her homework quickly, too, just so she could make her thrice-weekly appointments. Over the past couple of months, they had formed a friendship. It was challenging at best due to his being so private and yet exciting considering what he was teaching her. Actually, she had asked him to. It was about two weeks after her incident with the Foot when he had made a point to meet with her after church one Wednesday night. Leaving his invitation on her upstairs bedroom window, it was all it took for her to be there. They met around behind the building where it was dark and private. She brought him up to speed on things, thanking him once again for all that had he tried to do. It was then that she wanted to learn what he knew. It wasn't that she ever thought she would need it, but one never could predict such things. Considering how her own brother strayed and how it had nearly cost Anna her life because of it, the girl never wanted a similar situation to happen to her. Then again, she wasn't one to seek out adventure the way Dale had.

As silent as the night and as dark as the shadow he appeared in, her trainer arrived. She could feel him smile as he faced her, concealed within the cloak of blackness.

"Took you long enough!" she chided him.

"I'm right on time and you know it." He teased back.

"Yeah, but it always seems like forever waiting for you to show up." Anna commented, her own smile broadening. She flipped back her hair as a breeze began.

"Well, are you ready?" he asked, stepping into the light as he approached her.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Anna admitted.

"Good, you're learning." Leo chuckled. "One has to be ready, even if they're not. It's the only way to learn the arts."

"You know, you're sounding like a broken record; you say that every time." Anna shook her head, grinning.

"Do I, now?" Leo commented as he cocked his head at her, "Well, it's a good thing to say, so get used to it!" He shook his head, amused by her banter.

Sighing, Anna slipped an arm around Leo's and pulled him back into the shadows, "So, what are you going to teach me this time?"

Leo turned his head towards her, "Some more about jump kicks and maybe show you how to leap more properly."

"Hey, I'm doing all right! Better than I ever could, in fact." She said defensively. She pulled him along, the two of them walking towards the alley behind the library.

"Right and maybe you can explain why I had to rescue you again?" Leo mocked her. The wind began to blow gently, moving through the girl's hair as it teased it around her face. Leo sighed quietly as he watched. He was beginning to like her, if only as a student.

"I misjudged the distance is all. Good grief, can't you give a girl a break?" his friend huffed. She grimaced inwardly, though, as she thought about how Leo had, in the last moment, grabbed onto her hand the other night just before she would have fallen forty feet to the pavement below. She had made up her mind right then and there to never again misjudge the distance between two buildings!

He only grinned at her, amused by her indignation. Then, he asked, "By the way, how's your brother doing?"

"Oh, Dale loves the Marines! Really eating it up and can't wait for boot camp to be over. He so wants to get deployed!" Anna exclaimed as she shook her head in amusement.

"With all that he learned about the Foot, he still wants action?" her friend asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yeah, well, it's in his nature I guess – sort of like you!" she nudged her friend a little, teasing him. They stopped as they reached their training area just behind the library. It was a dimly lit bit of alley, a cul-de-sac situated behind the athenaeum and the tall windowless warehouses that boarded it, perfectly safe from prying eyes. It was a great place to workout.

"Hey, Raph's the one who likes action. I just like rescuing damsels in distress!" Leo said defensively. "So, how're your parents adjusting to you being out at night like this?"

As they walked along, Anna looked down at the ground, pondering what to say. Finally, she looked up at him and answered, "I've told them I have this friend I made from the hostel that is very private and needs someone to talk to."

"The hostel?" Leo exclaimed in surprise.

"Well, what would you have me say? 'Oh, Mom, Dad…I have this new friend, he's green, kind of has a shell on his back, and can kick butt like Bruce Lee…and he's ninja!'"

Chuckling out loud, Leo shook his head and said, "Point taken."

Anna, her eyes sparkling, then asked the turtle, "So, what kind of an excuse do you give your family?" She stood back and waited.

"The truth." Leo said smugly.

"You tell them you're training a girl in the ninja arts?" Anna was dumbfounded. She knew from subsequent conversations with him that Leo's family did not condone having any human friends. Considering their perilous existence and the threat to their freedom if the general population found out about them, having any friend from her species would be taking a chance.

"No." Leo admitted.

"But, you just said you tell them the truth!" she remarked.

"I do." he said. He had that familiar confident expression on his face that often irritated her to pieces. She knew he had something up his 'sleeve'.

With her hands on her hips and shaking her head, Anna asked, "Then what exactly do you tell them."

"I tell them…" Leo began, smiling as he did so, "That I go to the library!"