A/N: Hi y'all! Back again with yet another chappie! Surprise surprise! I warn you: This does not specifically take place at any time in relation to the episodes. None of the Akasha fics do.So don't try to fitthem in somewhere. You'll get a headache. Believe me, I've tried it. ;-)

This is a peek atwhat Donnie-boy's up to! I cut him out for the majority in this, I'm afraid, but never fear! I have plans for a partially Donnie-Centric Akasha ficcie. He's my fave character, I don't enjoy leaving him out, it just fits the part.

HUGE thanks to all who reviewed, and to my beta-reader, Canadian Pirate Queen! Thanx, chica!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ninja Turtles.

Hidden Truth

Chapter 6: Unexpected Assistance


Donatello sipped his mug of tea, cradling the hot beverage in his hands. Jordan was nibbling cookies, eyes downcast. Her bare muddy feet scuffed the cabin's wooden floor in a guilty sort of way. Bailey's head was on her lap, and he whined faintly, feeling the tension in the air.

Don and Jordan had gone straight to the Den. The family had taken Don extraordinarily well, although, he reflected, they must be used to unusual things happening. He explained briefly that he was friends with Akasha then told a desperate Mark about the attack on Jordan. Mark had scolded Jordan for leaving, but it was plain he wasn't angry. Jordan had looked quite relieved, although she seemed to be genuinely sorry for betraying his trust.

Don sighed and set his mug on the coffee table in front of him. Nicolas and Mark had disappeared, presumably to look for Akasha. He suspected that they felt partly responsible for Akasha leaving, although Don told them that his brothers were with her. Don and Sarah had been left to look after Emily and Jordan. He hated being deadweight, and he thought he could be of more use helping to search. But he had not been invited along therefore he thought he had better stay.

I don't think Mark liked me much anyway, Don thought gloomily, staring at the scratched wood of the table. I'd just be in the way.

"Can I get you anything?" Sarah asked, eyeing Don. She was sitting on the chair, Emily on her lap.

"Uh… no, I'm okay." Don answered. He looked up at her. "Look, don't you feel a little insecure around me? I mean, I'm a – a – freak," he spat the last word with the venom Raph always used. "For all you know I could be a murderer or something."

"If you were you would have killed us ages ago," Sarah replied, unfazed. "Besides… you're Akasha's friend, right?" Don nodded.

"Yeah."

Sarah scruntinized him momentarily, pale eyebrows drawn together.

"You're not her boyfriend, are you?" she asked, looking curious. Don balked.

"Urgh, no!" he grimaced. "That's Raph's department. I'm her friend, nothing more. 'Sides… I'm with… uh… someone else, sorta…" he trailed off. Sarah was grinning.

"So that's why she isn't with anybody," she said, nodding. "I did wonder. I mean, she isn't unattractive, or anything. It seemed odd."

"Mmm." Don was becoming extremely uncomfortable. "Look, I'm no judge on that sort of thing. I mean, being a – turtle, and all, sort of ruined my perspective, I guess."

"It could be worse," Sarah said frankly. "You could be a mutated cockroach." Don snorted loudly, imagining Raph waking up to find him self one of the things he loathed most.

"True."

"How did you get here?" Sarah asked, looking genuinely curious. "I know you didn't get in the car."

"No, we followed her," Don responded. "She told us where she was going. I guess Raph can get a bit… overprotective, at times."

"Ah." Sarah stroked Emily's hair, deep in thought. "Did she mention the Y'Lyntians to you?" she asked abruptly. Don nodded.

"She told us everything you told her, I believe," he replied. "We have had run-in's with the Y'Lyntians and their servants ourselves. We've fought them." Sarah did not reply, so he told her a brief account of their fights with the Y'Lyntians and their servants.

"That's interesting," said Sarah when he had finished. "So they know you?"

"Well, yes," Don answered. "But the fishpeople in particular are under the impression that they're the last of their kind. They must not know about the ones in Canada."

"We didn't either," Sarah said, mouth curling in distaste. Don looked at her questioningly.

"You see, my family used to live in the US too," she explained. "But when the creatures attacked my dad, we moved to BC. My mom thought it would do us good to start fresh, you know? Well, it was fine, until your father got taken. Then we moved here. We haven't been bothered until yesterday." She sighed heavily and massaged her temples. Emily lay curled up on her mother's lap, thumb in her mouth, eyes shut.

"Hey," Don said suddenly. "If Akasha has the Y'Lyntian powers, then why does she have healing powers? That isn't normal for Y'Lyntians, is it?"

"Healing powers?" Sarah frowned.

Don explained about Akasha's healing powers, and how they had become a lot weaker since her near-death experience.

"She never mentioned that to me," Sarah murmured. "I wonder why she has different powers…?" she paused. "Oh! Maybe it happened when she came into contact with that mutagen at her mother's lab! Lilly told me about it briefly."

"I hadn't thought of that," Don said. "Maybe that's what happened."

An awkward silence followed.

"What will you do now?" Don heard himself ask. The question burst out of him before he could stop it. "After we get Naomi back?" he clarified when he received a querrying look from Sarah.

"I have no idea." Sarah offered a half-smile. "I'm sure we'll think of something. We always do."

Don stared out of the window, eyes on the lake. It was so calm and peaceful, as if oblivious to the turmoil its inhabitance had caused. Don found himself wondering if the others were okay.


Naomi sat hunched over in her cave, miserable. She had longed for the sight of her family, but now she was wishing that they had never shown up. She had cried herself into a fitful sleep after the fish woman's visit. She was roughly woken some hours later by a bear-creature, and led through a catacomb of twisting passages to a tiny tunnel dug into the back of a cave. A group of male fish-people had carried in the limp forms of Raph, Mikey, Leo and Akasha, putting them in the tunnel. Naomi had screamed and fought, trying to reach her friends, but the bear-creature had held her fast.

A fish-man had swiftly told her to close the opening, his telepathic voice cold and unforgiving. At first Naomi had refused point blank, but he had informed her stonily that it was either inprisonment or death for her friends. She had reluctantly forced a heap of dirt and stones to close the opening, sealing her friends from sight. She managed to leave a few tiny cracks as breathing holes, and the fish-man did not object. He told her briefly that she was not to reopen the tunnel if she valued her friend's lives, before breaking contact sharply and watching as the bear-creature dragged her back to her cavern once more.

Naomi felt tears running once more down her cheeks but did not even try to wipe them. Her wrists were sore from the chafing cord, and her hair fell in unruly tangles about her face. She shivered, her still-damp clothes clinging to her body. Her teeth ached from her grinding them together. She hated being helpless.

Suddenly a noise from the cave entrance was heard. Naomi barely even moved, not caring whome it was. Only when the soft tapping of flippered feet alerted her that the person was approaching her did she look up. It was the fish-woman that she had seen earilier.

I have thought about what you said, she stated, her lovely voice ringing in Naomi's head. You speak the truth for one so young. I have decided to help you escape. Naomi could scarcely believe it.

"You… you're serious?" she asked, throat bone dry. The fish-woman nodded.

I do not jest about something so important, the mer-woman answered. She untied Naomi's bonds. My name is Kleye.

"Naomi," Naomi replied, wincing as her cramped muscles unfolded. She stood up shakily. "Thank you."

Do not thank me yet, Kleye replied, shaking her head. We must get you out of here first. Come. The merwoman turned and padded out of the cave. Naomi broke into a painful trot to keep up.

"What about my friends?" she asked as the fish-woman led her along a dizzying catacomb of tunnels. "We can't leave them!"

I have some acquaintances that will bring them, said Kleye. Can you break down the barrier sealing the tunnel shut? I have already taken care of the guards.

Naomi gritted her teeth and felt with her mind for the earthen barrier. Years of rejecting her powers made it very difficult, but she managed it. In her mind's eye she could see the wall crumbling.

"I've done it," she panted, swiping the beaded perspiration from her forehead. Kleye did not stop her brisk pace.

Good. I have sent a small group of my kind to retrieve them. They will meet us at the exit shaft.

"Won't you get in trouble?" Naomi asked. "For letting us go?"

I do not care for those who lead us, Kleye answered, her voice full of contempt. I shall leave with you. Perhaps join another colony, far away. My life is far from over, with luck I can undo some of the wrong I have comitted.

They had reached a dead end. The natural caves stopped abruptly, and the end was sealed by a large, smooth, brick-like surface. It was a yellowish colour with intricate blue signs and symbols all over it. The merwoman traced a symbol with a flipper and the bricks slid apart smoothly, making no noise at all. Kleye led a startled Naomi through the door before it sealed itself silently behind them.

The room they had entered was large, with curved walls. The walls were decorated with the same designs that graffitied the door. A large stone table stood in the center of the room. A series of labelled stone tablets the size of Naomi's hand running along its edges, and a large, filmy screen covered the whole of the room's far side. It showed the lake, a few stray sunfish swimming idly to and fro, and waving strands of lakeweed swaying with the currents. Naomi's jaw dropped.

"Wha… what…?" she began, wide eyes watching a cluster of whirligig beetles swirl amongst a clump of lakeweed.

This is the Viewing Pod, explained Kleye, a hint of pride in her soulful voice. We observe the local wildlife from here, and make sure that nobody is sneaking up on us. The fishwoman pressed one of the many stone tablets on the table; the picture vibrated and rippled outward, colours blending and mixing, until it finally stilled, leaving a seemingly perfect wall in its place.

This is why your friends never found us, Kleye told an astonished Naomi. The Pod has a built-in camouflage device. The window can take on the colour and texture of any surface it comes across. From outside it looks like the lakebed.

"What now?" Naomi asked, eyes still on the spot where the window had disappeared.

Now we wait, Kleye said solemnly. She sat cross-legged on the floor, her large orb-like eyes observing Naomi silently. The girl nodded and sat down opposite her new friend, back to the wall.


Akasha lay slumped against Raph's arm, snoring lightly. Raph was watching the steady stream of water dripping sluggishly from an out-jutting part of the ceiling. Nothing but the sounds of their breathing could be heard, aside from the scratching coming from Michelangelo. Mikey had taken to scratching his name over and over on the wall with a shard of rock.

"I want to be remembered when they dig up a dried-out shell and bandanna next millenia," he explained to Akasha.

"We'll get out of here!" she had insisted, refusing to believe they were trapped for good. Mikey now lay curled in a corner, his rock fragment clutched in his hand, its tip scratching feebly. Leo was watching his brothers and Akasha silently from the end of the cave.

She looks so peaceful, Leo thought, watching Akasha stir slightly in her slumber. He felt warmth flood through him as he looked at her and turned, instead observing Raphael. His teeth clenched involuntarily at the sight of his red-banded brother.

He doesn't deserve to have her! He thought angrily, forcing himself to remain outwardly calm. His temper will ruin their relationship. They both have a temper! It'll never work!

It's worked so far, an unbidden voice pointed out snidely from the very edges of his thoughts. And she's much happier with him than she will ever be with you.

No! Raphael does not deserve to have somebody so… Leo trailed off mid-thought, eyes lingering once more on Akasha. As if sensing his gaze the girl shifted, eyelids fluttering. She sank back onto Raph's shoulder and continued to sleep. Leo's heart plummeted like a stone dropped into a lake.

Stop being so selfish, his good-boy side remarked. She chose him. Not you, not Mikey, not Don. Raphael. Your hot-head-of-a-brother, that never gets it right.

"Then why did he get her?" Leo muttered to himself outloud. Raph's head jerked toward him, as if he had heard, but he simply threw Leo an uncaring glance and settled against the wall again. Akasha stirred and yawned, waking up.

"Wh-what time is it?" she asked, stretching as much as the close proximity of the cave would allow.

"No idea," Raph murmured. "I'd guess ya slept for about an hour or so."

"Ah, I needed that," Akasha mumbled, rubbing her eyes. Raph grinned and tossed an arm around her shoulders.

"May as well rest up," he shrugged. "We're most likely gonna be in here for a while."

Akasha grinned and kissed his nose, delighting at his surprised expression. Mikey groaned, eyeing them.

"Urgh, the two lovebirds," he grumbled, scratching his head. "You're making me sick… and I'm hungry!" He clutched at his shrunked stomach, letting out another huge, fake groan of agony.

"Huh! All we got to eat is dirt," Akasha grumbled, scraping idly at the floor with her fingernail. "I wonder how long it'd be till we starve?"

"Not for a couple of weeks," Leo stated calmly from his vigil on top of a rock. "But we'll die of thirst within a few days. Of course, if we manage to get enough from this stuff – " he gestured to the ceiling where rivulets of water flowed lazily down the compressed dirt and rock " – I'd say a little longer."

"Well, that's really boosted our confidence, Mr. Sunshine," Raph said sarcastically. "Thanks for being so optimistic."

A period of stony silence descended over the trapped inhabitance of the cave, save Mikey's steady scritch-scratch as he scored his name for the seventy-eighth time on the rock behind him. Leo steadied his breathing and began to meditate, trying to block all thought from his mind.

Suddenly a muted boom was heard from the other end of the cave. A tiny, diagonal crack wormed its way across the expanse of packed dirt, splitting it in two. The whole end of the tunnel collapsed, dust clouds billowing back into their faces, momentarily blinding them. Mikey coughed.

"What the shell's happening?"

As the dust clouds cleared, his question was answered. Three dark forms could be seen standing at the mouth of the cave, watching them.

Are you Akasha?


A/N: GAH! Cliffie! Bad cliffie! (swats cliffie with broom) I truly hate putting cliffies up because I know how annoying they are. But it was getting too long. And now I guess you'll just have to read the next chappie, right? And review, right? (wink wink) Oh, and flames will be used to cook food for thepoor people in India.