The Journal

Matt noticed that Rachel's hands were moving in her lap. Gentle fingerings that were playing. Matt noticed immediately that she was imitating the song. 'Has she heard it before?' Matt blinked. 'Or has she started playing since we last seen her? I doubt it. Her fingerings are off time.' The song was more haunting than the last two. Yet, for some reason, Matt felt like it was peaceful.

Andrew saw her playing and smiled sadly. She must have quit and not realize how much she was going to miss playing. Maybe, tomorrow, he'd take her somewhere with an open piano and ask her to play. The song that Nao was playing defiantly could have many instruments accompany the flute. It was one of those songs that any would work for. He closed his eyes, letting the song fill him. Peaceful yet haunting… Almost like how the turtles and the four humans were.

Are.

Rachel and Bria both were in a battle and a war where they shouldn't belong in. Yet Andrew knew that if they had volunteered, there was reason. Raphael and the turtles can't live in peace with the Foot for Andrew knew that they were going to keep going against each other until either all are dead, or defeated for the last time. Andrew sighed. What a tragic way of life.

Mikey didn't like this song very much. Peaceful as it was, there was a haunting underline to it. Even the happy-go-lucky kid couldn't sense anything happy about the song. Just peace and sadness… A weird…very weird combination, yet very nice at the same time…

Nao let the song fade out and opened her eyes slowly. She knew their thoughts…she could see it on their faces. Standing, she watched as the others shifted and stirred from their deep meditation. Silently, she started packing up her things, listening with her keen hearing for anything related to either the songs or herself.

Matt let out a low whistle and Rachel blinked at him. "That……was cool," She muttered. Andrew heard her and nodded. Cool though, was a big understatement. "Hey…Starlight," Matt jumped off the couch and crawled over to her friend. She hadn't gotten up and now would prove difficult since Matt was lying in her lap, "What did you think?"

"There are no words. True music when it speaks for itself. Lyrics…or emotions," Rachel shrugged, "I think that's the only lesson I ever kept," She paused, "Get off of me please."

"Yeah…" Matt whistled again, "Wow, just wow," She raised an eyebrow, "No. I'm comfortable."

Rachel could only sigh.

"Wow is one heck of an understatement," Andrew said. He turned to Nao, "Who taught you how to play like that?"

"No one," Nao smiled as she rolled her mat and blew out her candle. She picked both up, "One day I was in the woods and I just heard the song in my mind…" she handed the wooden flute to Andrew, "Look at it closely, my friend." She told him, "Tell me what you see."

Andrew took the flute and gasped at what he saw. Pure wood and the kanji was polished and carved. Chi, fire, water, metal, wood, wind, earth… Matt had taught him a bit since when he had to talk to Kimi, she used different things to describe and often used Kanji to demonstrate, even though it killed him every time.

"The five elements of the body and seven of the world," Matt whispered, "Sweet!" He looked up at Nao, "So you made up the songs? Just for fun or for something else?"

"Remember how I said that music is better than any doctor but the worst weapon to go up against?" Rachel asked looking at them, "Music can do a lot. Heal wounds that will never heal by other means."

"So……can you use it for healing?" Matt asked, excited.

Nao laughed, "Hai, hai," she smiled, "In answer to your first question is; iie, I did not make up the songs. Mother Nature was gracious enough to let me listen to her music while I was exploring or even out and about on the town. Answer to number two is; hai, I did some of these for fun…the others depended on what kind of mood I was in and where I was when I composed them."

Chuckling again Nao smiled softly, "Answer to number three is; hai, you can, Matt," she nodded toward Brianna's direction, "Just look at Bria…do you see her faulting in her movements? Even the slightest limp in her step or a look a pain in her eyes? Look at everyone…Tell me what you see…all of you," She nodded to the three.

"Everyone looks peaceful," Matt commented as she looked at the turtles. "Firefly looks calm…" She frowned as she looked at Andrew and Rachel. How did the music affect them? Andrew looked a little more confident, and Rachel looked a little less scared. However, she also noticed the sadness in their eyes. What..? Shaking that off, she looked over at the Rat. "Thoughtful…" She muttered. She paused and then glanced over at Andrew and Rachel. "Mikey and Don just look completely shocked and calm, and Leo…Leo hasn't changed," Matt grinned.

"Thanks," Leo teasingly rolled his eyes at the girl.

Andrew knew what Rachel was sad about, and he knew what he was sad about too. Both of them had forgotten what it was like to listen and what it was like to play. They both looked at each other and Rachel gave Andrew a smile, "…Going to play when you get home?"

"…I'm a little rusty."

"So am I," Rachel said. They both stayed silent for the longest time.

"…Rae?"

"Hm?"

"…So."

Rachel knew immediately what he was talking about and then looked at the two of them before looking at the ground. She…she knew that tonight she was going to read the journal, but…she looked at the turtles and her sister. They stuck with her through thick and thin…if something happened…… "Bria-chan?" She asked timidly, "Can I have the journal back?"

Brianna blinked a bit and then smiled, "Of course," she took the journal from the holster she had tied around her pants since she had put on a pair of dark blue jeans and a green sweater before meditation. She walked over after quickly putting her mat and candle away and handed it to Rachel, "Here, Esu," she nodded, "take care to put it somewhere secret…somewhere safe when you're through."

"How's your back feeling?" Nao asked. Anyone would have thought that random, but it had meaning behind it.

Blinking, Bria tilted her head, "It doesn't hurt at all," she told the Hybrid before thinking and then she shrugged. She hurried after Leonardo.

"There, point made," Nao beamed and took her flute back from Matt. She played one fluid note that swirled around the trio peacefully before she let it fade. Smirking, she nodded to them and went to put her things away as well and join Michelangelo.

"Whatcha goin' to do?" Matt asked as Rachel started put her things away as well.

"I'm going to read the journal, get my Sight back, and change my limits," Rachel stated.

Matt blinked and then looked at Andrew who didn't look shocked at all. "Okay, what's your goal?" Andrew asked.

"Seven to ten minutes. In fact, if I can read the future for eight or nine I'll be satisfied," Rachel said. She stood up after Matt had gotten off of her, "I'm also going to strengthen my mental barriers."

"Burn to the ego," Matt placed a hand at her cheek before looking over at where the guys were. She gently stood by Rachel and faced the other way so she could whisper, "If you do that, you'll lose him. Just as you lost me."

"We didn't," Rachel replied back, "I was just there, you were just there, Andrew's too old for either of us…well for me, and you are catching up to his age," She gently pinched Matt's arm, "We never had each other…" She gently stepped back before going up to the room to read the journal.

Andrew and Matt both looked at each other. "What do you think, Andy?"

"…I think she's making a mistake. The mental barriers could come useful, but…there is something called over-doing it. We'll see." He gently smiled at Matt, "Try not to worry."

"…That's so easy for you to say. You used to hate her."

"I used to want her dead," Andrew muttered darkly, "She's an okay kid. I still can't believe I'm still bowing down that chick."

"Hot girls always get the men," Matt skipped toward the door.

"Hot girls aren't usually hot unless they have makeup on," Andrew muttered before following Matt out the door.

---Rachel's Room---

Rachel sighed as she sat down in the middle of the floor. She had a feeling that it wasn't going to be good. She knew it wasn't going to be good. To See… there's a lot of things that could go wrong and what could go right. To lose the Sight… she frowned… was a bit of a problem. Everyone… Every single one of the turtles, Raph, Andy and Matt…and her sisters all relied on it…relied on her. She wasn't a fighter, and she tried to stay out of them when she could. Make petty threats, or use a distraction to run away……nothing but a coward. Yet, everyone relied on that one skill. Her Sight…

To let them down now would be insulting! Rachel grabbed the journal and the photos that she had glanced at before had fell in her lap. She frowned as she saw the wedding one. The only picture she had of her father, and one of the few of her mother. She felt something crack and she realized that her heart was breaking.

Her mother, dressed in white, proudly leaning against her husband, brown sweet eyes staring at the camera, her long brownish black hair tied up in a bun, her partly white skin almost melted with the slightly white dress. Rachel felt something wet fall down her cheeks, and she realized that she was crying. She quickly brushed the tear a way before just glancing at the man she dared to call her father. Tan skin, vibrant red hair, the only thing she had inherited from him was that and the music.

The love and understanding of the music… She supposed that if she ever saw him again, she'd thank him for that, and leave. She didn't love her father. Her father never really cared that she was there. He once had the nerve to ask who she was once she was thirteen.

The crack her heart was mended and she tossed the photo away before turning to the journal. She fingered the pages and looked through them until she saw one that caught her eye.

I lost my Sight. For the first time in my life did I dare look through my father's notebook… He had written that he had lost the Sight five times, and to get it back, each time was different yet one thing stayed the same. He had to fight himself. Not in the way everyone thinks or hopes. Basically it's just the light vs. dark sort of deal.

To even fight yourself you must have a glass of water and comfort. The water is to swirl, to let everyone know that you are in deep concentration. That it's dangerous. The comfort is because the fights are long and hard. Some are even exhausting after a few minutes.

Yet, I remained victorious. My dark side had kept time, just as my father's did. The fight we had was with words and with emotions, while my father told me that he had to fight using mazes and puzzles. Each one is different. The dark side grows weaker the more times you lose the Sight. Soon, my father wrote that it bows down to you automatically, knowing that you'd keep finding away to beat it.

My time was fifty minutes. My father was twenty. Each time is different for each Seer. I just pray that my only daughter does not lose something like this. Her dark side……I fear…

'Anger…' Rachel thought as she placed the journal down and gently moved the photos. Comfort and water… That was easy. She bounded out the room to the kitchen to get the required stuff. She paid no heed to anyone's voice. She knew that some were asking what she was doing, but she ignored them. To explain now and not later would just be a waste of time.

She needed her Sight back. Everyone relied on her for that skill. That was one thing that kept her going. She paused at the door. She should she ask Raph if he wanted her Sight back? To go…and to do something rash like destroying her dark side…would that worry or scare him? She gently laid her hand down and thought for a while.

It shouldn't. He was a strong ninja. One that had anger management issues yet she still came back to him… She shook her head before entering the room and placed the glass down in front of her. Folding her legs she concentrated.

Need to find the other one. The other her…

She did……and it wasn't what she was expecting. Instead of black room or a ring, it was a calm forest with a river. A young girl was standing in it. Her dress was black and sleeveless and there was a long split that went down her legs. She had to be the older version of herself right? The girl turned around and Rachel discovered how terribly wrong she was.

That was her old self… The girl with the shoulder length hair and the cold, lifeless brown eyes… She was the one that blocked everyone away from her. The one that provoked Andrew and the one that tried to fall in love with Matt, and Matt who tried to fall in love with her. The one person that made the Informers and murdered a lot of people and stole even the government's top secret files…

Lynx…