Chapter 3

Leonardo's encounter

"Are you sure you didn't overdo it? Shouldn't he be waking up by now?"

The voices were hard and raspy Leonardo was floating in a half sleep trying to hold on to the remnants of a delightful happy dream. One of the two voices belonged to the dream, though it wasn't part of his dream now. The other voice was harsh and grating, and was waking him up, despite he desire to remain dreaming.

"He is getting there, you don't like to wake up when I sing either."

"Point made, but he's going to be okay when he does right?"

"Aside of your own instincts, yes he will be fine. Though we might have given your brother a bit of a scare. It is not easy to loose oneself even for a little while."

"I know I know, but we aren't going to get him to leave us alone any other way."

Huh? Suddenly Leonardo remembered the dream. A dream in which he wasn't Leonardo, and he wasn't a ninja. He was something else entirely. He simply was. He was still a mutant turtle, but his whole being was simply taken up with a childlike delight in swimming with....

WHAT

It was the last mental image that forced Leonardo into full wakefulness. He sat up quickly wishing he hadn't a second later. The world spun around him. He lay back down and turned to where he had heard the voices. Very slowly he opened his eyes.

There was Michelangelo sitting on a nearby stone looking quite pleased with himself. On another stone near by....

"I don't believe it," he said sitting up slowly this time.

She was still beautiful, the flame red hair, the blue eyes, but instead of a skirt she had a salmon colored tail starting under her belly button, all the way down to the fins on the bottom.

"You.....you're a mermaid!" Leonardo said incredulously.

The mermaid was brushing out her hair with her fingers. She looked back at Leonardo, and again he felt this tug at his heart. Instantly he felt as if he should forgive her. She said nothing but nodded slightly.

Leonardo still didn't understand. "But my master....Splinter always told us -"

"That mermaids weren't real, right bro?" Michelangelo said with a mischievous chuckle. "I think he wanted to forget she was real, but like he always tells us, wishing for something doesn't make it true."

"Mikey?" Leonardo turned and faced his brother. Once the mermaid was out of his sight he could think a little clearer. "You mean this is what you've been hiding from us for all these years."

"Uh huh," Michelangelo said nodding. Then with a glance over to the mermaid. "Okay girlfriend, time to hit the water. Leo and I need to have a turtle to turtle talk."

"Do not be to long, my friend," she said. Again Leonardo was almost mesmerized by her voice alone. "You and I have much to discuss before you return home." Before Leonardo could take another breath, the mermaid slipped off her rock back into the water and was gone."

Leonardo shook his head again, trying to clear it. Did what he dream really happen? "Mikey? What the shell is going on? Who is she?"

"Her name is Lillian," Michelangelo said evenly. "And before you ask me, Leo, no you didn't dream it. For ten full minutes you knew what it was like to just give in totally to your instincts, and not have a thought in your head at all."

"What?" Leonardo asked. He wasn't sure what Michelangelo was saying, but unbidden the memory surfaced. For ten minutes he had not been Leonardo the ninja turtle. He had simply been a mutant turtle who was as innocent as a child. He had been without any memory of who he was, or anything Splinter had taught them.

"What....what did she do to me?" Leonardo asked suddenly frightened. How could he possibly fight something like that when he didn't even understand it? The worst was some tiny part of him had enjoyed that feeling. The weight and responsibility he bore always had been gone, he had been free dependent rather the one that was depended on.

"All she did, was kinda wake up your instincts all the way for a few minutes. It's kinda overwhelming, and you wouldn't have had any room in your head for anything else at all," Michelangelo said. He rose to his feet, and eyed his brother speculatively .

Leonardo was still trying to shake off this feeling that he had been at the mermaid's mercy, and had enjoyed it. "I....I couldn't remember anything. Nothing! Mikey, why-"

"Relax, Leo," Michelangelo hasten to reassure him. "It's just cuz you haven't heard her sing in over eight years. You were so caught up with her, and what she wanted, that you forgot everything else. Don't worry it won't catch you like that again."

Leonardo forced himself to quell his fears. Michelangelo was being so calm about this, he didn't want to seem any less in control. "Mikey, I still don't understand. Why are you here? Why did you keep disappearing? Why didn't you ever tell us about her?"

Michelangelo smiled, and pitched a pebble into the water. "If you want those questions answered, you're going to have to talk to Master Splinter. It's his fault I kept her a secret. As for why I'm here, it's cuz I remember what she did for us, and I know we owe her, more than even Master Splinter knows about." Michelangelo knelt down, and pointed to a storm drain nearby. "Here's your ticket back to the lair. Now go home! I'm perfectly fine with Lilly, we've been doing this for years, and you know I'll be back tomorrow." He tugged at the single pink pearl around his neck. "With this I can breath underwater, they've got more underwater gadgets than Donny does." He got to his feet, and moved to the water. "Don't think about following me either, bro. If your not out of here in five minutes the next head you see popping up will be Lillian's, and when she tells you to go home, you won't have much choice in the matter." With that Michelangelo jumped into the waters at his feet, and in seconds was gone.

Only then did Leonardo have the strength to move. "Mikey no!" He raced to the water's edge, and looked into it. He saw nothing other than the green murkiness of the water below, and the only sounds he heard were the waves lapping at his feet. "Mikey! Mikey! Michelangelo!"

There was no answer aside of the cry of seagulls across the water. Dejected, and still horribly confused Leonardo sat down on the rocks.

"It is all right, Leonardo," a soft voice came from behind him. Turning around he saw the mermaid again. This time though, she had legs, and was wearing the pink pastel skirt she had been wearing before. "Michelangelo will return to you. He will always come back. I wouldn't take any of you from your sensei ever. I wish he understood that."

Leonardo felt the pull again to simply listen to her, and let her take the lead. With a supreme force of will he pulled his eyes away from her, and turned away. "Stop playing with my head," he said. He tried to make it an order, but it came out more like he was begging instead.

The mermaid sighed sadly. "I cannot help what I am, nor can you help what you are, despite your changes. You are a creature of water, and my people are your guardians and sovereigns. I would never harm you, and within the very depth of your being, you know this to be true."

Leonardo tried to keep control of the conversation. "How...how can you have legs like that? Before you...you had a tail."

Lillian smiled gently. "My kind need to be about both land and sea to perform our duties. It is because your brother says he knows this new enemy that he chose to come to me now. I need to speak with him about these Foot warriors." Even though he wasn't facing her she drew closer and again wrapped her arms about his waist, and whispered into his ear. "Leonardo, go home. You do no one good by fretting, and because of Michelangelo's mischievous nature the others are quite worried. I will bring him home on the morrow, and I promise he will give you better answers then."

The others were worried he had to reassure them. She pressed something into his hand, but he didn't pay that much attention. He entered the storm drain, and began his journey home.

"Grrrrrrr" Raphael was getting more and more ancy by the minute. "I don't get it. Why can't we just go out there, and go after Leo? Even Splinter said he was in danger!"

Donatello sighed, and swung around in his chair to face his hot headed brother. "He also said that we can't help him. Don't you remember anything. If that girl is out there with him, she's probably doing to him what she did to you!"

"And what did she do?" Raphael shot back, "She fixed it so I wouldn't lose my temper for a couple of days. I still don't know why the two of you think that was such a bad thing."

Donatello turned back to his computer, and typed as he talked. "Because it was like you weren't yourself. It wasn't normal, and it freaked us all out, even Mikey. He's been going out of his way to drive you crazy the last few days, and you haven't even been noticing."

Raphael sighed. He knew Donatello was right, but still something deep inside of him liked that strange high he got off of being near that girl. Part of him actually wanted to see her again.

No! He shook his head out trying to clear it. Donatello turned in his chair to face him again. "Raph?"

"I'm okay," he said, not sounding very convincing. "I'm just thinking crazy again."

Donatello sighed. "I hope that wears off like the rest does. I can almost tell when your thinking about her. It's like you completely zone out on us for a few seconds, and then you're yourself again."

Suddenly a beeping sound turned both turtles attention to Donatello's computer screen. "Something's in the outer tunnels," Donatello said worriedly.

Raphael leaned forward to get a better look. "What could–Hey! It's Leo!"

Now Donatello really sounded worried. "Leo tripped an alarm? No way! He knows where they all are!" Donatello turned on the security cameras.

Sure enough it was Leonardo, but he seemed very distracted or dazed. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going.

"Something's wrong," Raphael said, watching the screen. "He's not even watching where he's going."

"Let's go," Donatello said. He did a flip out of his chair. Raphael followed close behind. They left the lair, and found Leonardo sitting just outside the entrance looking completely and totally defeated. His shell cell was back in his hands and he was staring at it without really seeing it.

"Leo?" Raphael called to Leonardo softly. He knelt down next to his brother, but Leonardo didn't even notice them."

Donatello knelt at Leonardo's other side, and snapped his fingers in front of his brother's face. "Come on, Leo, snap out of it."

Only then did Leonardo blinked, and woke from his daze. "Huh? Don?" Leonardo turned ,and looked at his surroundings. "I'm home."

"Yeah, your home, Leo," Raphael said. It was unsettling to see Leonardo this distracted. "You're okay now."

"No," Leonardo put his head on his knees sounding completely dejected. "No, I'm not all right. She made me come home." He sighed unhappily. "I...I couldn't fight her."

Donatello didn't like how Leonardo was sounding. "Come on," he said helping Leonardo to his feet. "Lets get you inside then you can tell us all about it."

Leonardo allowed his brothers to lead him into the lair. Donatello sat Leonardo down in his own lab chair, and took up a position behind him. Raphael sat on the floor. "Okay, now, Leo," Donatello said evenly. "Tell us what happened after you went after Mikey in the water."

"I...I couldn't see it was too dark to see more than a few feet in front of me," Leonardo said uneasily.

"You must have found Mikey," Donatello said. "When I tried to call you back on the shell cell, he answered it. He said something about teaching you a lesson for following him."

"Yeah," Leonardo said sourly. "I kinda got the impression from him, that he didn't want me around."

"So come on, Leo. Tell us what happened," Raphael said impatiently.

Leonardo closed his eyes. "I...I can't remember."

"What? What do you mean you can't remember?" Raphael asked.

Leonardo shivered. "I just can't!"

Donatello was getting worried. This wasn't like Leo at all. Nothing, absolutely nothing got to Leonardo, except one thing. "Let's get Splinter," Donatello said. "If anything he can get past what blocking your memory."

"I guess I'll give it a try," Leonardo said uneasily. He moved to the training area while Donatello and Raphael moved to Splinter's privet chamber.

"You really think Splinter can help Leo remember, Don? What if she told him to forget?" Raphael asked his brother

Donatello shook his head. "I don't think she did. I think Leo just can't face what she did do to him, and we need to know why." Gently Donatello knocked on the door. "Sensei? Leo is back, but we've got a little problem."

Splinter came instantly to the training area and spoke gently to Leonardo. "Donatello tells me you cannot remember what happened once you encountered Michelangelo."

"No," Leonardo said sadly. "I remember following him into the water, and then showing up here. Trying to think about what happened in between is starting to make my head hurt, and my stomach turn into knots."

Splinter eyed Leonardo up and down. "The encounter left you with great pain and doubts. Together we shall do our best to remove your pain, and retrieve your memories."

Leonardo didn't looked very convinced, but obediently he nodded. "Yes sensei" he said, and at Splinter's gesturing he took his seat on the floor facing the aged rat.

"Close your eyes, Leonardo," Splinter said. "Breath slowly, evenly. This pain and this tension in your body, release it, let it flow into the air. Hear the beating of your heart and slow it to where it should be."

Leonardo closed his eyes, and began to obey his master. Slowly Donatello and Raphael began to relax as well. Surely Splinter could help Leonardo remember what had happened.

Leonardo grew calmer and calmer under his sensei's soothing voice. The knot in his stomach finally relaxed, and the headache had faded away, as he began to reestablish control over himself. It was almost like meditating, except that his sensei's voice was there guiding him along the paths of his own mind.

"Now tell us Leonardo," Splinter said, "Tell us what happened when you followed Michelangelo into the river."

Automatically, without thinking or feeling, Leonardo heard his own voice answer. "I didn't find Mikey, not at first. He was waiting for me to wake up."

"Why did you need to wake up?" Splinter asked.

Leonardo sighed dreamily. "Mikey's friend...she...she sang for me. It...it was wonderful"

"She sang for you?" Splinter echoed.

"Yes," Leonardo answered. "She...they wanted me to understand. She could have taken us at any time, and it wouldn't have mattered. She...she never wanted to take us from you. She never wanted to frighten or upset you. They...they said you wouldn't have believed Michelangelo. "

For a long time Splinter was quiet then slowly as if repressing his own emotions he asked, "What happened when Michelangelo's friend sang for you."

For a moment the pure unaltered joy of the experience filled him. "It...it was perfect. I didn't have to think anymore, didn't have to worry. She was there, she'd take care of everything. It was was....NO!!!" Suddenly Leonardo snapped himself out of the trance and grabbed his head forcing his will to the surface. "I'm Leonardo! I belong here with my brothers and sensei! No!"

He rose to his feet only to have Raphael and Donatello grab hold of him. "Leo, snap out of it!"

Raphael said.

Simultaneously Donatello said, "It's all right Leo, your home, safe with us."

"Oh man," Leonardo sank back to the floor still shivering from the memory. "What she did...It was like she flipped a switch in my brain and I wasn't me anymore. I couldn't remember anything."

"Remember what?" Raphael asked.

Leonardo shuddered, but he did not turn away from the memory. "You, Don, Splinter, our training, my own name. I couldn't remember anything. It...it was like starting my life over again. I was a blank slate, all I was conscious of was this thrill of being with her. We had the whole ocean to ourselves and all I wanted to do was swim with her, and I enjoyed it." He opened his eyes and looked at his brothers, who were staring at him with compassion, and worry.

"But she did not leave you in such a state," Splinter said as he came closer to put his hand on Leonardo's shoulder.

Leonardo shook his head no...."It...it was only for ten minutes I..I think. Mikey said it was. I don't know how long I was really like that. I came to by the rocks under Battery Park City. Mikey was waiting for me. He told me to go on home, but I didn't, not until she told me to. She said Mikey did something that got you all worried about me."

"Well she didn't lie," Donatello said. Mikey picked up your shell cell once and told us you were caught in a trap of your own making."

"It was that indeed." Splinter said. I should not have allowed you to follow."

Splinter sounded guilty, but a shred of memory made Leonardo turn and face his sensei. "Master Splinter, you knew what was going to happen to me, didn't you?"

"Huh?" Both Donatello and Raphael looked up confused.

Splinter looked slightly wounded at the statement but Leonardo wasn't finished. "Mikey's friend is a mermaid, and you knew about her. You knew she was real but you didn't want her to be, so you told us she was just a myth!"

Now Splinter winced. "Forgive me, my sons, but I feared what would happen if you encountered this creature again. Had she but told me the messages she gave to you now, perhaps I would not have feared her. I did not know the extent of her power over the four of you, but yes. I knew you would not be able to resist her influence if you faced her again."

"A mermaid?" Raphael echoed puzzled. "But I saw her. She had legs just like a human!"

Leonardo nodded understanding Raphael's confusion. "I know so did I, but I also saw her with a tail. It looks like the old legends are true. She was able to entrance me just by singing."

"She didn't sing to me," Raphael said. thoughtfully. "I got zapped by her just by listening to her talk."

"But how can mermaids be real?" Donatello asked.

Leonardo still felt calm and still felt very much himself, but there was a confusion and a longing inside of him that he had to understand. "Master Splinter, you have to tell me. Please, make me understand why you lied to us."

Sounding very tired, their sensei nodded. "I..I will try my son." It was over ten years ago. You were all still quite small, and very able to get yourselves into mischief. Donatello and Michelangelo had gone missing for two hours, and I left you and Raphael in the lair to go hunting them."

Coming soon Chapter 4 Splinter's Encounter

"Something inside of you is telling you we belong with her," Leonardo said sadly. "or at least that we should obey her. I can feel it too. Ever since I laid eyes on her all I've wanted to do is what she wanted."

"It is said that Mermaids hold sway over all males and the creatures of the sea. Even though your original forms were that of fresh water turtles, perhaps some of her power can affect you as well." Splinter said. "That is what I feared the most when I sealed the tunnel."

"Now it all makes sense," Leonardo said sadly. "It's not just a legend. Mikey said something about her opening my instincts up all the way. And she....she said that we couldn't help being what we were, and that her people were our guardians and sovereigns. We're forced by our very natures to obey them."