Chapter 2

"... Kayla's … Father?" April said weakly.

Anna had, until now, always flat out refused to tell any of them the identity of the Father of her little girl. Knowing some of what her cousin lived through, April in particular had never pressured her. It was her fear that her cousin had been assaulted, and just might not know the man's name. Or, maybe she did know, and this was why she suddenly came to them, running from the city when the family had been begging her to come for years?

Splinter is Kayla's Father? No, not Splinter, Hamato Yoshi … who is Splinter now … but was he Splinter when Anna …

April's mind was whirling. At least that removed the fear of Anna's possible assault. Still, her head began to ache dully as she tried to wrap her mind around this unexpected news.

"What's the matter, April?" Anna demanded. "You've wanted to know who her Father was for years now. I thought you'd be thrilled to finally have a name?"

Before April could even try and come up with an answer, Anna rushed ahead, sparing her the effort.

"Hamato Yoshi is a good man, April O'Neil," Anna declared. "Better than good, great even! He is still the kindest gentlest man I ever met. He raises baby turtles, and names them after his favorite artists for God's sake! He can also kick some serious butt when he had too, but that's a whole other story. So, let's just get this all out in the open … Yes, he's way way older than me! Yes, he's Japanese, and that had better not be an issue, April because if it is—"

Anna had removed her hands from her face and jumped to her feet and was glaring defiantly at April. The move might have been more impressive if her cousin had been a little bit taller than her four feet 10 inches. In spite of that, April did her best to try and remember that her tiny cousin was totally blind, but still she would swear she felt the heat of those blind blue eyes piercing right through her.

"Hey, woah there girl! Time out!"

Tentatively, April reached out and took her cousin's arm. She could feel the girl's body taught and trembling beneath her fingers.

"Hey! I'm on your side, remember. Sure, the folks might consider the age thing to be a concern, and of course the Japanese thing isn't even on the table."

April's cousin was half-Asian herself, her middle name, Hoshiko, meaning Starchild.

"But I'm not gonna give you a hard time about any of that, honest," April went on, trying to be as soothing as possible. "C'mon, you know me better than that … don't you?"

April really had not meant to sound so hurt. Anna was right to be worried. April could pinpoint exactly which members of their family would give Anna the most hell if they knew about Yoshi. And that's just Yoshi, not Master Splinter, April fretted. And if they'd get bent out of shape 'cause of the age thing, what would they think if they knew what he is now? April wondered.

And forget the family! What will Anna do when she finds out about Yoshi? Anna's scared to death of rats!

April was relieved to see the girl visibly calming down, though.

"Yeah, I—I'm sorry, April," Anna apologized meekly.

Without any urging, the girl flopped back down on the couch, looking defeated.

"April, please, just tell me. What's happened? Is he dead?"

April put an arm around her cousin and spoke gently. "No, Anna, I can honestly tell you that he … he isn't dead … well, not quite."


Leo stopped so fast his brothers nearly ran over him.

"Oh, man! Where's Michelangelo?" Leo demanded.

Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello all groaned as they looked around to see their brother was gone.

"You know where he went," Raphael declared. "He went to follow that blind girl."

"Well, she was being followed by the Foot after all," Donatello put in, defending Michelangelo's behavior. "Maybe we all should have gone."

"He didn't seem like much of a foot to me. Just one of their messenger boys. Besides, we took care of that guy," Raph said. "He's not gonna bother her again."

"Not tonight, anyway," Leo agreed. "Still, why was he following the girl in the first place? Oh, come on, let's go and try to find Michelangelo. Maybe he and that girl are both in trouble."

"Yeah, you're right," Raphael agreed. "With Mikey helping her, how could she not be in trouble,"

They set off in the general direction the blind girl had been heading. It did not take long before the route began to look familiar to all of them.

'Um, guys," Donatello spoke up after a few moments. "Does this way look familiar to any of you?"

"April's apartment," Leo and Raph said simultaneously.

"Maybe the blind girl was the company April said she was expecting," Donatello mused.

"And, maybe that's why the foot was following her," Leo added. "Didn't April say it was her cousin coming? If she is April's family and the foot know it, then,"

He left it hanging ominously.

"Oh, great! How does Michelangelo always get himself and us into this stuff," Raph growled as the three turtles quickened their pace.


Anna sat in April's spare bedroom, her bulging duffle bag on her lap. She was supposed to be unpacking, but she just could not keep her mind on the task at hand.

Her cousin, April, was acting so strange. She obviously knew the name Hamato Yoshi.

If he's dead, why won't she just tell me? Anna thought with some frustration. What the hell does not quite dead mean, anyway? Is the city having a zombie problem now? And where has she gone, anyway?

She's gone to talk with Yoshi, a part of Anna insisted. Maybe to warn him you're back in town.

Anna winced in spite of herself. She knew coming back to the city was going to be hard. She knew trying to find Yoshi again was going to be even harder. So, why did she have the nagging feeling that finding him was only the beginning of some kind of nightmare?

"Not quite dead, oh really, April," she muttered to herself, getting up and haphazardly throwing her clothes in to drawers. "Great, maybe she'll break out a Ouija board later and we can have a séance to contact not quite dead Yoshi!"

Just then, a knock sounded at April's door and a cheery voice called out, "Yo, April? Anyone home? I got food, Dudette?"

Anna grinned in spite of herself. Was this April's new boyfriend? And why did he sound like a stereotypical California surfer beach bum? Then she remembered the new friends, four brothers that April had been telling her about. Leo, the calm leader type, Donnie, the nerdy scientist type, Quick-tempered but very good-hearted Raph, and Mikey.

Wait a minute… Leo, Leonardo? Donnie, Donatello, Raph, Raphael, and Mikey, Michelangelo? Those just happen to be all the names of… of Yoshi's pet turtles? Just a coincidence…

But Anna was not quite so sure.

Feeling as if she were now living in the twilight zone, the weary young woman got up and left the spare bedroom and went cautiously to the door.

"Who's there?" she called. The woman knew enough not to deliberately open the door for strangers.

"Hi, it's just Michelangelo. Are you April's cousin, Anna? Please to meet ya … well, sort of."

"Sort of," she retorted, but she was smiling in spite of herself. There was just something about this voice that made her want to grin.

"Yeah, sort of. Like, it's kinda hard to meet someone through a door, you know?"

Keeping the chain on, Anna cracked the door open an inch or two.

"Well, that's a little bit better," the voice who called himself Mikey said happily. "And I come bearing gifts. Thought you and April might be hungry, so I got—"

"Anna sniffed, and her stomach growled. It sounded embarrassingly loud in her own ears. "Pizza, you brought pizza?" she asked.

"Yep," Mikey answered. "And I can't like slip this thing under the door, you know. Mind if I come in and put it down. It's kinda hot."

Well, if I'm gonna die, least I'll get a decent last meal, Anna thought as she slowly opened the door wide and let Michelangelo and his pizza into the apartment.


"Hello, April, with your company coming, I did not expect to see you this afternoon," came Splinter's surprised voice as he entered the main living area of their lair. "Why Child, is something wrong? Your cousin, did she make it into town? Is she alright?"

As she had walked to the turtle's lair, April had about ten million things she wanted to say to Splinter, AKA Hamato Yoshi. Now that he stood in front of her, she did not know where to begin.

Still, she steeled herself, and fixed Splinter with a penetrating gaze.

"My cousin's just fine," she said slowly. "My cousin, Anna, is just fine… Anna Hoshiko O'Neil … And she's asking about you, Hamato Yoshi? She's asking that I help her find you again."

Splinter froze, his breath caught in his throat. Anna. My sweet Anna … is April's cousin!

"My Anna," the old rat said almost to himself. Then, as if remembering he was not alone, he went on, "I-I did not know she was your cousin, April," Splinter said lamely. "You look nothing alike."

"Sure, I know, and next you're gonna tell me that O'Neil is a pretty common name," April shot back, her voice rising, her cheeks flushing. Splinter watched as the anger seemed to drain out of her face and voice, leaving her bewildered. "So, Oh Master Splinter. What am I supposed to tell her now?"

"Tell her I am dead," the rat said without hesitation, though his voice trembled, and nearly broke on the last syllable.

"No!" April objected. "First, I can't do that. I already told her you weren't dead, and second, it's only been a few months since Kayla's death. I'm not gonna put her through another one, especially since it's a lie."

"Kayla?" Splinter questioned and watched as April smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand.

"You … You didn't know Anna had a child?" April asked gently.

The old rat swayed alarmingly, and April sprang forward to help him. She eased him back into the nearest chair.

"I'm sorry, Splinter," April said weakly. "I-I guess I assumed you knew."

"So that's why she ran away," Splinter murmured sadly. "Because she was pregnant. I have always feared that her leaving was my fault. April, what happened to the child?"

"It was cancer," April told him, her voice rough with unshed tears. "Four months ago, a cancer the doctors claimed they'd never seen before. They didn't even have a name for it. And every treatment they tried, well, it only made it spread faster, and …"

Tears were openly flowing down Splinter's and April's faces by now. Splinter watched as April dug through her purse. She handed him a well-worn photo of a dark-haired dark-eyed little girl grinning for the camera. "This was taken last yer just before she got seriously ill," April sniffed and held out the picture.

Splinter took the photo almost reverently and gazed sorrowfully at it for a long moment while they both tried to collect themselves. But when he attempted to give it back to April, she shook her head.

"No, you keep it," she sniffed. "I have more. But you see now why I won't tell her you're dead."

"But April," Splinter began. "Anna is—"

"Terrified of rats," April finished his sentence for him. "Yes, I know. Oh, why couldn't you have turned in to a guinea pig. She loves those!"

Splinter gaped at her for a moment.

"I know, not helpful," April groaned.

Just then, the turtle comm bleeped, and Splinter answered it.

"Master Splinter, uh, we may have a problem," came Donatello's worried voice. "We think Michelangelo has gone to April's apartment. See, we caught this little foot messenger boy following this blind girl, and we scared him off, Michelangelo took after the girl."

"Why would the foot be following Anna?" both Splinter and April exclaimed.

"Oh hi, April. So that was your cousin. We took care of things, but it looked like he was just there to watch. But what do we do about Michelangelo? He's probably at April's apartment by now. I hope your cousin isn't afraid of turtles?""

Splinter and April glanced at one another. A slow smile slipped across April's face.

"She's not," they both answered at the same time. "We will meet you at April's. We are on our way, Splinter out."

April gave Splinter a questioning look.

"She always did get along especially well with Michelangelo. Coming, April," he offered her his arm and they headed top side to her apartment.