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This chapter is a little choppy, please hang in there!

Kit was still trying to act like there was nothing wrong. Unfortunately it was painfully clear that she was not all right. Shortly before supper Master Splinter decided it was time for that talk he had been planning, whether Kit liked the idea or not.

He climbed the stairs to her door and looked inside. To his surprise she was sitting on her bed with the worn newspaper article in front of her. She didn't seem to notice him standing in the doorway, "Kitrian."

She looked up, startled. "Master Splinter, hi." She started to slide off the bed but he held up a hand and moved to sit beside her. As he did he picked up the article.

"Tell me Kitrian, does this article give you comfort?" The old rat asked.

Kit stared at her tail as where it lay beside her leg. "No, not really." She admitted.

"Then, why do you continue to gaze at it?" Master Splinter's voice was naturally gentle, but now Kit could hear concern in his voice too.

"I, if… I…" Kit stopped and took a breath before trying again, "I don't know." A minute of uncomfortable silence. She didn't look up but felt the mattress shift as her teacher stood. Wood scraping on wood made Kit jerk her head up; Master Splinter had opened the top drawer of her nightstand and was lifting her bible out of it. Kit bit back a wave of inner pain and quickly looked back at her tail. The view blurred and she blinked rapidly to prevent tears.

Master Splinter didn't miss Kitrian's reaction to his actions. This confirmed his suspicion that she probably hadn't looked at the book since Kitrian found out about her mother. Although he hadn't read directly from the Bible himself Master Splinter had noted that Kitrian would often go to her room angry or upset and read from the worn tome until she felt better. For her this book was similar to Leonardo's meditation and Raphael's training, or to Donatello's various inventions: they helped the young ones to find their center and calm themselves.

Moreover, Kitrian had once taken a rope and 'hog-tied' Michelangelo for even suggesting that her bible was 'open game' for a prank. The turtle had been left bound hand and foot until he had promised never to use her bible for evil or mischievous purposes. This specific bible was important to Kit, but now she refused to even look at it.

Sitting back down on the bed Master Splinter looked the book over. It was old, the paper was crisp and beginning to yellow with age, and the leather cover had stiffened. The pages were dog-eared and a strip of clear tape ran along the spine, holding it together. Master Splinter opened the front cover and a paper fell onto his lap. Hi picked it up.

The sound of paper falling made Kit look out of habit to make sure none of the pages had fallen out, but her heart nearly jumped to her throat when she recognized the letter on Master Splinter's hand. Master Splinter looked at her curiously but she quickly returned to examining her tail, her lap, anything. She sincerely hoped Master Splinter would not read that letter aloud.

Normally Splinter wasn't one to invade a person's personal property, but the feeling that he should look at what the paper read went past curiosity. One thing he had learned in all his years as a rat, a father and a ninja was to follow your gut instincts. His gut told him to read the paper.

He unfolded the paper and started to read;

"Dear Kit,

I was planning to wait until you were ten to give this to you, but after the year we've had I figured it wouldn't hurt.

I'm very proud of you. Not only of how hard you worked at getting better after the accident, but of how hard you've been working at everything else too

I know I shouldn't commend your getting into fist fights, but I'm proud that you always stand up for what you know is right. I hope that this Bible will help you to always know what is right. Read it, and pray often, and you will know when to fight as well as why.

I love you,

Mom"

Underneath the signature was some lettering that Master Splinter didn't understand.

Kitrian remembered though. "Ecclesiastes three, one through eight." She choked. It still didn't make much sense to Master Splinter, but clearly mattered to Kitrian, her shoulders started to shake.

Kit felt the pain growing. Instead of giving into it she bit down on her fist and tried to make it go away. It didn't. Her eyes burned and her throat felt tight. A gentle hand pulled her hand away from her teeth and another arm wrapped around her shoulders. After resisting for a moment Kit let herself lean against Master Splinter.

Crying hurt, but it eased the hurt too.

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