"…She did WHAT!?!"
Mikey tried to calm down his hot-headed brother as Don comforted Lilly, and Andy stood up.
"Leo…how do we get her back…?"
"…We've gotta get into her head…"
"…Meditation, then…"
Mikey sat down, saying, "I'm going. She'd do it for me…"
"I'm going, too!" Don agreed.
"I'm going! She did this for me…" Lilly added.
"I may not like her choice…but I'm not leaving her trapped in there…I'm going, too." Andy stated.
"Me, too…" Leo added in.
"…I'm definitely going…" Raph said determinedly, looking at Angel's peaceful face.
"…Let's take her back to the lair…she'll be fine…" Leo assured, and Raph lifted up her body as Leonidas got Aradion.
Once back at the lair, Splinter had looked troubled at his daughter.
"Call Ms. O'Neil and Mr. Jones. They'll need to know what's going on."
Don nodded, taking out his Shell Cell.
Splinter put Angel in the middle of the dojo, filling it with candles.
Once April and Casey made it, everyone sat around Angel in a circle, sitting in the lotus position.
Raph couldn't help that he patted Aradion's fur as he lay limply on Angel's chest.
"Let's go, guys…"
Everyone sunk into the meditative state most of them knew very well, and found Angel's mind.
It was dark, a large, massive metal door looming above them.
"…We have ta get through THIS?"
Raph sighed, touching the cold metal, ready to push, when it opened under his palm.
"…Whoa…" Mikey commented.
They all walked in, Leonidas staying by Andy's side as Anexa stayed on Lilly's shoulder.
They were standing in a massive green field, the grass tickling their shins, the sky bright and cloudless.
"This doesn't seem bad…I expected some cool ninja stuff though…or some bunnies…"
Mikey chuckled at his own joke, and Raph hit him upside the head.
"OW!!!"
The sky was starting to darken, like ink mixing with water, no stars or moon showing in the darkness.
The grass and trees under that darkness started dying, and they got a sinking feeling in their guts.
"Angel…"
Raph ran ahead of them, though the others struggled to keep up. Crying reached their ears, and they stopped.
"Angel!! Angel, is that you?!" Raph called, the others silently calling out to her themselves.
"R-Raphie…" They heard a child-like voice call, but it had that undeniable sister note the brothers knew all too well…
"ANGEL!!!"
They forged through the trees, and saw a boulder, a little girl sitting on it, hugging her knees to her chest, with teary dark sapphire eyes and long silver hair…
"Angel…"
The girl looked up, tears starting to fall.
"I-I'm sorry…I'm the worst sister ever…"
"No your not…" Mikey assured, taking the small girl in his arms.
'…This is Angel on the inside…a little girl, crying…but she's strong…hard…on the outside…'
Mikey tried to soothe the crying girl, and she cuddled against him.
"Angel, yer a great sister…" Raph assured, putting a hand on her forehead.
"R-Raphie…I'm sorry…"
"There's nothin' to apologize fer…"
"I-I gambled with the last thing I should have…I'm sorry…"
"No one blames you…" Don assured, smiling comfortingly.
"Donnie…"
They weren't used to seeing her as younger than themselves, and it made Mikey tighten his grip.
"Where's Aradion? I-I can't find him…"
They all shared a glance, and Leo stepped closer, putting a comforting hand over her own.
"We're not sure…but I'm sure he's nearby…"
"…I have a hole in my chest…it burns…"
She winced, looking at them desperately, wanting the pain to go away.
"…It's okay…we'll get him and the pain will go away…" Andy said softly, Leonidas whimpering and licking Angel's hand.
"Yeah…we'll help you…"
Lilly joined in, smiling softly as Anexa fluttered around Angel in reassurance.
"…Why?"
Her large sapphire eyes looked innocent, and Mikey looked up at his brothers a moment.
"Because we love ya, Angel…" Raph answered, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
"…Really?" She stuttered out, holding his hand.
"Of course!" Mikey stated, holding her tighter.
"You're our sister! We love you so much!" Don added, and she nodded only slightly.
"We wouldn't abandon you…we're family, Angel…" Leo assured, tightening his hold on her hand.
"We're your friends…it's gonna take more than a crazy scientist to make us give up on you…" Lilly said softly, Anexa landing on Angel's chest in a flutter of wings.
"…Do ya think Aradion misses me?" Angel whispered.
"Of course he does! He's probably lookin' for ya right now!"
"…Really?" She asked hopefully, looking up at Raph.
"Yeah…"
"He loves you just as much as you love him." Mikey added.
"It'll take more than a guillotine to separate you two." Don stated, trying to be reassuring.
"…I know he's close…" Leo said.
"…I know…I feel him…it's like he's with me…yet…he's not…"
She looked up at the darkening sky.
"…The sky's been darkening…ever since I did that…"
"…Angel…"
Dark sapphire eyes locked with emerald green.
"Remember what you told me and Lilly? After our house was burned down?"
She nodded.
"You said there's a light in us…that leads us through the dark…you called it hope…"
Andy sighed, looking at the sky.
"You said hope is hard to kill…that no matter how much darkness surrounds us, we'll still have a flicker of light inside…"
She looked comfortingly at the small child.
"You still have that light…deep inside of you somewhere…but it's still there…"
"…Y-Yeah…I hoped ya guys would come…"
"We hoped we'd find you." Leo added.
The sky stopped darkening abruptly, like it had met an impenetrable force.
"Don't you believe we'll find Aradion?" Anexa questioned.
"…Of course I do…"
The darkening sky started retreating.
"Didn't ya believe we'd come and get ya?" Raph questioned, and her hand tightened around his own.
"Yeah…I didn't think for a second ya wouldn't come…"
The darkness seemed to push back even further.
"Come on, Angel…we're gonna get outta here…" Mikey said, softly nuzzling her neck.
She giggled, smiling, and the darkness vanished, and all the death and decay following it bloomed with life once again.
"Okay…let's go…"
There was a bright light, and they found themselves back in the dojo, and Angel was stirring in the middle.
"Angel!!!"
Raph was at her side in a moment, and her eyes fluttered open.
"R-Raph…" She muttered, and Aradion stirred lightly.
"Aradion!"
Said daemon opened his eyes warily, and purred softly, licking her nose.
"…DON'T do that again…I had a heart attack…" Aradion muttered weakly, smiling.
"I promise, buddy…" Angel whispered, hugging him tight.
She sat up, Aradion still in her arms, and smiled softly.
"Thanks, guys…"
"No prob, sis!!" Mikey assured, hugging her. Aradion jumped to the ground as Don hugged her as well.
"We were just worried we'd really lost you…"
"Yeah…we can't really imagine life without you…" Leo added, getting into the group hug.
Andy and Lilly were too surprised to get into the great family moment, and, eventually, everyone turned to see what was wrong.
"…How far away is Aradion from Angel?" Andy questioned through her shock.
"…A good few meters by now…" Lilly answered.
"It must've been because of sealing herself and the guillotine." Don surmised as Aradion jumped into Angel's arms.
"Yeah…there are two links…a more physical link and a spiritual one…she preserved the spiritual link, which can stretch…but the physical one was cut, allowing Aradion to move farther away from Angel…"
"How much farther?" Leo questioned Lilly.
"As far as possible…"
"…COOL…" Mikey commented, scratching Aradion's ocelot head.
"…Weird…but cool…" Angel agreed.
Andy smiled, shaking her head slightly, and grabbed Leo's hand.
Anexa landed on Don's shoulder, chirping, and Angel smiled.
'It looks like our weird family just keeps growing…and we're closer than ever…'