Don scampers out of the way as the old man lugs a flapping, hooting Litto by its tangled ebony locks up the cliff. He dumps it in front of the Turtles' party and pops it on the head to shush it. The Litto cowers in fear shielding its head from another attack. "I found this here water worm sniffing tacos on the beach. I pulled me some details out of its nasty mouth that you might wanna know."

Everybody waits for the Litto to speak, but it remains silent. He gives it another clout and it whimpers. Leo is reminded of Nipal with the Litto hunkering and hiding from everyone. "Speak, ya ugly thang!" the old man barks, slapping it across the shoulder.

"Me, me," it crows, coiling its large fin and keeping its head low. "Me..."

"Say yer name!"

"Me Piko!" it shrills, ducking on the ground and quivering. It mumbles into the ground, and the old man yanks it by the hair again.

"Piko, spit it out!" he roars and whiplashes the Litto to sit up and talk. Its huge orange eyes captivate its audience, but strikes a little fear in Zera, who, only moments earlier, had been chased by the same evil eyes. She looks closer and sees only one eye is darker than the other, and Piko the Litto only has half its teeth, smaller than the other Littos, and a large lump on its right cheek. Is this a young or injured Litto?

"What is it, Piko?" Leo speaks, stepping to the creature; Piko's orange eye follows his every move until he's towering over it. He calmly says, "Tell us everything."

Piko shuffles back and looks over its right shoulder. "M-mate left. Reef house took away. Me alone."

"What the-?" Raph whispers with a cocked grin, looking at Don and Mikey. "This doesn't make any sense."

"You call for me," Piko whimpers and runs its steely claw in the dirt along a jagged trail. "I be a little late." It mumbles something else but nobody can hear it.

"Pardon?" Leo arches his head to hear the creature better. Instead, it grabs a handful of dirt and smears itself with it. "Piko, please speak up!"

The old man kicks more dirt on the Litto and slaps the back of its head into submission, sending it crying. The Turtles are bedazzled by the show of aggression, but Zera is strangely content after being chased by the varmins. "What Piko is saying," the old man grunts, "is that one of you fellers wished to see her, and she ran a little late."

In a series of shrugs and mumbles, none of the Turtle brothers have any idea and can't remember such a thing. Leo bends down to Piko's level and removes a touch of hair draped over its wet face. Piko's bright orange eye looks wildly at Leo while the darker one peers at the ground. "One of us wished for you? Are you sure it was us?"

Piko nods briskly, and the hair falls back over its face as Leo stares down at Piko's holes in the dirt. His brothers converse with each other and the old man over the matter. Their voices die into a hum, floating with this thoughts, and he goes as far as he can into his memory. Did he ever wish to see a mermaid? What child didn't want to see a magical creature? The gears churn more, and through the many years of battle, meditation, and learning, he hits a junction between childhood and adolescence, at a point when he wasn't fully aware of his potential or which road he should take. It had been a difficult time, though his family never knew. In that, he wished for..

"A place I could be a hero," he breathes, returning to Anavrin and his family, and touching Piko's hair again. "It was me, Piko, but I called you so many years ago. Why were you late?"

"Mate go away, and house go." Piko flinches suddenly from the old man's shift from one leg to another. "Me chase you, sorry."

Don leans over Leo and taps him on the shoulder. "I think what Piko might be saying is that her mate left and her house was taken away."

"Dude, you figured that out?" Mikey chimes, steadily keeping Zera on her feet. She realizes another aspect to the story.

"Piko was the creature who attacked you, and we rescued you from it."

"No mean too," quips Piko, twirling its hair and silver fin nervously. "Bad day."

"Bad day?" Raph jerks Nipal in his arms and quickly stops before he drops the little guy. He hisses, "You almost killed him over something like that?"

Piko scampers away, and the old man scoots it back to its warm spot. He stretches his bony finger out and growls in his accent, "Piko's done enough damage. It's going back to the sea. Here, here!" He dangles a taco over its head, and Piko claws for it, making scratchy noises with its throat and following the human down the hill, leaving the party clamoring for an explanation to what just happened. Nobody can come up with anything and look at each other in silence.

"Here you go, Leo," Mikey whistles, carefully switching Zera to Leo as soon as he stands. Mikey motions the other brothers to walk with him.

"I have to take the rabbit too?" Raph's big voice breaks the tender moment. Mikey pats his shell and walks in the other direction, down the hill.

Leo helps Zera hobble to a small clearing and take a seat next to a yellow boulder. She winces a little, careful not to show any discomfort. "How did you come back?" she asks, looking up at him.

"Our father can work magic almost," he laughs, "but really it was pure luck. I hope we can make it home."

"You risked it?"

"I did. We did."

She watches a black feather flitter on the ground. "I'm glad you came back."

"Me too." He notices his brothers down the hill talking with the old man. Zera's grunt brings him back to her. "We should get you to a doctor, or whoever you go to here."

"I missed you," she blurts out and immediately wishes she didn't say it. "I wanted to say goodbye, I mean."

He kneels down and smiles at her. "I missed you, too, and I wish you could go with me."

She nods towards the edge of the cliff. "You came from the water; you leave in the water."

"You can't come with us at all?"

"I have a duty to my Reformer, Nipal, to see he is well, and I can't simply cross over like you did. I would probably die or be transported somewhere else."

Leo caresses her damp cheek and flattens her tuff of fur on her head. "You keep sharp and out of trouble."

She tiredly grins and scoffs. She turns back to his brothers for a moment and, noticing all of their backs facing them, she returns to Leo, wishing to sneak a kiss, but his lips already meets hers in a sloppy embrace. They stay in the private moment until a random brother hollers in the distance. Zera breaks the kiss, embarrassed by his brothers running up the hill and cat-calling. Leo shakes his head and plants a smooch on her forehead. He holds her hand tight.

"The water's been fussy lately," the old man croaks, "More so than usual. Must be because of you fellers."

"Hey, I think something's glowing beneath the hill," Don says, running to the edge. Raph gives Nipal to the old man and happily tags after Mikey and Don.

"It's a portal, I think." Mikey kneels and leans over the edge. Vibrant hues of gold and white crinkle over their bodies; the portal stretches over the shore, well into the vast sea, humming and glowing with intensity. From her seat, Zera recognizes the magical sound.

"Sinai," she says to Leo standing in front of her. "Sinai will guide you home." His grip eases on her hand, and she smiles at his frown. "Some day. I promise."

The connection between the two is severed, and Leo joins his brothers near the edge. He looks one final time, his relief seeing Zera smile and wave, and the Turtles link hands and leap into the portal far below the cliff. As the eerie hole disappears, it leaves the imprint of a dreamcatcher in the sky, and diminishes into the sun's rays.

Next chapter: In the hazy aftermath, Zera and Nipal scramble to heal and put their lives back together again.