Disclaimer: I do not own this franchise, for it is older than I am.
Oh, I've been traveling on this road too long (Too long)
Just trying to find my way back home (Back home)
The old me is dead and gone!
Dead and gone.
"Dead and Gone" by T.I
Michaelangelo blinked and found himself in a bright plane surrounded by light, fog and stars; he looked at himself and found his scars were gone, surprised he touched one side of his face and realized his other eye was back. "I'm... I'm..." He couldn't finish.
"Hello my son." A voice said; a short, dark shape approached and in front of him stood his father in a white kimono, looking younger than Michaelangelo had ever seen him and not even using a cane. Master Splinter smiled at his adopted son.
"Father?" Michaelangelo whispered "Have I died?"
"Yes my son." Master Splinter said, "Behind your legacy is your faithful student and daughter, who will pass on all you have taught her. Michaelangelo, I am here to escort you to Heaven... And Leonardo as well."
Michaelangelo turned around and his eyes widened to see his brother Leonardo was there as well... But he was different; he wasn't middle aged like he was supposed to be, he was a young adult again, a teenager almost, like before he joined the Foot.
Leonardo looked at him with eyes Michaelangelo had not seen on him in a long time "Mikey... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for all of this to happen... Please punish me father, don't let me enter Heaven." His tone was remorseful.
"What is he doing here?" Michaelangelo asked Master Splinter.
"A believe I can explain." An Asian man with dark raven hair said as he emerged from the mist in a white robe.
"Are you Hamato Yoshi?" Michaelangelo asked. The man smiled but shook his head.
"No terrapin, I am Oroku Saki, former bearer of the curse." Saki said, his eyes rested on Leonardo "There is a part of the curse that no one knows no longer, for it has been lost to time." Saki said "In order for the Shredder to stay in existence, the demon decided to make his curse not just pass onto the first-born son or daughter in the case of no male heirs, the curse would also pass onto a male if he killed the curse-bearer with no son. I had no sons; when Leonardo slayed me, the curse did not pass onto my daughter but Leonardo. The curse has finally died because of you, you killed Leonardo but you also died, the nightmare has ended and for that I thank you. Do not worry, since Moth is not your biological daughter, the curse will not pass onto her, the demon does not understand sentimental family members."
"So all of these years..." Michaelangelo whispered and he realized why his brother in spiritual form was still a young adult; it hadn't been his brother at all, it was a demon "I hated my own brother, I hated him and wanted him dead..." Master Splinter rested his hand on his son's shoulder.
"It is alright my son, it is now time to let go of mortal hatred, it does not belong in the afterlife." He turned to his eldest son, warmth and love is his eyes "You as well Leonardo, you have been sleeping a very long time, and even if your life has ended you can spend your afterlife mending your feelings. Even if your actions were those of a demons, it will go with a punishment; in the living realm; you will be remembered as a villain, and only those who pass on can know the truth about you."
Leonardo shook his head "It is a punishment too good for me." He said sadly in a small voice. Not able to take this anymore, Michaelangelo approached his brother and offered him a hand "Come on Leo; buck up, it may take me a few years to feel comfortable around you, but we're brothers and I want us to be like that again in the afterlife." There was only love in Michaelangelo's eyes, he forgave Leonardo almost instantly. Before Leo grabbed his hand, Michaelangelo punched him square in the face "But that's for what you put me through while we were alive." He said with a warning and a smile.
Leo smiled back and accepted his now-older brothers hand to help him onto his feet. "Know that violence like that is not appropriate where we are going." Oroku Saki said.
The group began to move towards an even brighter light. Michaelangleo lagged behind while his father, brother and Oroku Saki disappeared into the light, he reluctantly stared at the light in front of him.
"Mikey!" A voice called, Michaelangelo's eyes bugged as a brunette girl with the most beautiful green eyes ran out of the mist and wrapped her arms around him.
"Angel!" He exclaimed happily and wrapped his own arms around his beloved, he rested his face in her hair and wept. He looked ahead to see another girl standing ahead in the path; she was a bit vague and obscure in the mist, but he could make out that the girl was only about eleven years old(1) was very pale and skinny, her eyes were bright green and her hair was dark and wild and she looked right at him with a proud look in her eyes Michaelangelo only ever in Moth when she looked at him. "L...Le... Leonadi." He called softly.
"Yes daddy?" She said with a smile and tears, but not moving.
"You... You've grown..." Michaelangelo said awkwardly, unsure of what else to say.
"Yes... Yes I have, because of a connection to my sister I grew up while she did...Though not as far" Leonadi explained.
With Angels hand in his own, Mikey approached his daughter and hugged her, as if for dear afterlife. Kissing the top of her head, Michaelangelo wrapped his remaining arm around her shoulders and they continued down the path until they were completely swallowed in the light and transcended to a higher state of being.
"What happened after the battle?" Hamato Takeo excitedly asked, jumping in his seat while his sister Saya sat calmly next to him. 30-year-old Patrick smiled at his young children from the couch across from them.
"You've heard this story dozens of time 'Keo." Patrick reminded.
"I know, but the end is my favorite part." Takeo insisted.
"Mine too!" Saya said.
"Well..." Patrick felt nostalgia as he said "Moth decided to mourn by moving back to the mountains and become a hermit moonshiner, but because of the feelings I had for her that I didn't want ignored, I stupidly decided to follow her even though she threatened to gut me if I did, but I didn't take no for an answer. It was very quiet for the first month or so, but Moth started to open up again and taught me many things, like how to survive in the mountains. Did I ever tell you how cold the mountains are?"
"A lot." Saya and Takeo said in unison.
"Well we decided to live there together happily, and got married. And then these two little monsters entered our lives without warning." The two giggled. "But then Moth decided to become The Ronin of the Snow."
"What does she do now daddy?" Saya asked.
"I'm glad you asked sweetie, as the Ronin of the Snow, Moth roams the world and arrives in a flurry of snow when its time to beat up bad guys who do bad things."
"When will mommy come back to us?" Takeo asked with pride to be the son of such a powerful ninja.
"Your mother is always with us, you just can't see her because she is a ninja after all, you just have to look." Patrick said, "Now come on you two you need to go to bed." Picking up both of his six-year-old children Patrick Hamato carried them to the room on the other side of the cabin and tucked them into bed. He kissed them both good night and retreated to his den.
For the most part, his story was true. Takeo and Saya really were his and Moth's children, he took his former wife's family name as his own and they got married in Vegas due to Moth lacking a legal document of ever actually existing. They lived in the mountains together for a short time before their twins were born when Moth was twenty-five and he was twenty-four.
Moth had named Takeo;it meant 'warrior'. Takeo was almost a spitting image of Patrick, with brown hair and brown eyes, his hair was noticeably darker though not the same dusky shade of Moths, Takeo had been a hyperactive child right from the beginning, always happy and smiling. Saya had Moth's sharp, Asain facial features and yellow eyes but she strangely enough had a crop of thick, dark red hair and a sprinkle of freckles, they came to the conclusion that it must have come from Moth's biological father Lyle Chaplin, Saya was named by Patrick, her name meant 'swift arrow' in honor of the ninja heritage, Saya was a rather shy and quiet child and often shielded by her more confident brother.
The children were being trained as ninjas and have been trained since last year; Patrick was a rather incompetent ninja so it was the duty of their great-uncles and great-aunt Raphael, Donatello and Venus DiMilo to train them. All six of them lived in a remote farmhouse that belonged to the Jones family who gave it to Patrick after the unfortunate event happened.
Patrick never had the heart to tell his children while they were still so young, but their mother and the love of his life was dead. It was winter and the children were only a few months old Moth had gone to hunt a moose, when she didn't come back that night Patrick became worried and searched for her with his babies in a cradleboard on his back. About three miles away he was horrified to find his wife face-down in a bank of snow; she always had a weak immune system, and during the night she must have been hit with a bout of sickness that caused her to pass out and subsequently freeze to death. Overcome with grief, Patrick buried her in the mountains, knowing she would prefer it that way since it was her true home. He then returned to New York where he begged his turtle family for help since they had stayed in contact over the years, the turtles had rekindled their relationship with the Jones family and turned to them for help. Generously, Casey Jones decided to give them a farmhouse on a fair stretch of land that used to belong to his late grandmother. Patrick got his life back together, he went into college and is still acquiring a higher degree in nursing while he works currently as an RNA, he saved money for his childrens education, because most of their food was either being hunted or grown (Donatello took up agriculture as a hobby, Patrick taught hunting to Raphael.), and the only things he paid for were bills, clothes and other necessities. Takeo and Saya were being homeschool by April O'Niel and Venus DiMilo in order to fit into their busy training schedule.
Patrick walked outside and stood on the porch; it was winter, christmas was only two weeks away, and it was snowing hard right now, blankets of white covered everything. he could almost see the wind with the snow swirling.
Wow the snow was swirling quite oddly, and Patrick could swear it was taking shape, but he shook it off and went back inside of his warm home.
He was greeted by Raphael, who like his sister and brother, always seemed to materialize seemingly out of nowhere. "Hey kid." the old mutant greeted; his voice was thick and croaky, the years taking an obvious effect on him as told by the age lines on his face, but he was still a powerful ninja even though he was in his mid-fifties. Patrick became surprisingly close to the feisty turtle after Moth's death. After all, Raphael had lost his father and two of his brothers.
"Hey Uncle." Patrick said, his voice more flat than he intended.
"You still...?" Raphael inquired, Patrick nodded sadly.
"Yes I still miss Moth... It was such a shock to me... We had two little babies and yet she died, they'll never know their own mother..." Patrick explained "The life we could have had..."
"I know it's hard Patrick," Donatello said as he came into the room "but Moth would not want you to grieve forever; as your first love and mother of your children, it is hard to let go, but know that she will always be in a special place in your heart, and it's alright to move on."
"But who else would take me?" Patrick asked "An incompetent ninja, male nurse, widower and subsequent single father of two."
"Another girl right for you might come into your life," Raphael said "it could happen anytime."
"I hope you're right." Patrick sighed and fiddled with the coyote fangs hanging from his necklace; when he had proposed to Moth, there wasn't any jewelry in the mountains so instead he managed to track down a coyote, and without killing it extracted two of it's fangs, polished them and used those instead. When Moth died, he took hers and added it to his necklace as a reminder.
"I should go to bed now." Patrick said, spirits a little higher at the words of his uncles, and retreated into his own room.
Once he was out of the room, Raphael said "When do you think he'll realize Joyce has been mooning over him for the past year?"
"Soon maybe." Donatello chuckled; even though they had lost many members of their past family, it was very nice to have been blessed with a new one. They had raised Joyce, the two of them with the help of the justice force, and now they had their sister back, the Jones-O'Neil family, Patrick, Takeo and Saya. They couldn't ask for a more beautiful family. Honestly, they knew neither of them or Venus would have children of their own, but they didn't really mind this.
Takeo couldn't sleep, and neither could Saya, the two small children couldn't explain it, but they felt as though something was outside. Shaking his head, Takeo shook Saya and pointed to the window. In understanding, Saya nodded and the two approached the window and with combined efforts opened it as they stood on their toy chest. Snow and wind from the storm outside came rushing into the room, but neither of the children felt cold, they watched in amazement as the snow swirled and took shape.
The shape became more solid and before they knew it there was a woman standing in their room. She had long dusky brown hair pulled into a fishtail braid, she was wearing white pelts of animals fashioned into a hooded cape, she wore a strange golden yin-yang pendant and there was a white mask around her yellow eyes. She had two swords... and a tomahawk, both of these were wrapped in white leather. Her face... it was beautiful.
"Hello children," the woman greeted warmly, and she knelt down in front of them "do you know who I am?"
"The Ronin of the snow!" Takeo said excitedly.
"You're our mommy!" Saya whispered.
"Yes." Moth said, and held her arms out, the two children jumped into them and snuggled their faces into the sides of her pale neck.
"But where were you?" Takeo asked "Didn't you want us? Why didn't you want to see us?"
"Every day I wanted to see you," Moth said "but I couldn't. I love the both of you more than you'll ever know, I missed you both very much."
"Do you help people like daddy says?" Saya asked, voice a little louder.
Moth just smiled and held them tighter. "Saya, Takeo; it is time for you two to go to bed."
"But we want you to stay..." Takeo whined.
"It is alright; I am always here, just look closely like your father says." Moth said, she carried the two suddenly drowsy children to their beds, once asleep, she closed the window and transparently passed through the wall to go back outside.
"It is time to go, acolyte." Kon-Shisho said to his student. Moth sighed and gazed longingly back to the cabin the housed her family, before responding.
"I know, I wish it were not so." Moth sadly told her sensei, before they faded back into the snow.
(1) When Leonadi a.k.a 'Jade' cut off her spiritual link with Moth, her age, which was at that point equal to Moth's, was cut to half of Moth's age; making her eleven since moth was twenty-two at the time.
You know, the whole "Jade" thing was a bit confusing for me, originally, Shadow Jones was going to be the "Jade" ghost, and Leonadi was going to be Joyce Hamato/Quinn, but this did not fit in with the curse thing so I swapped them.
Indeed, Moth is actually a ghost now, sadly dying not very long after Michaelangelo. She did not join the afterlife though, she became a Ninja Tribunal acolyte, student to Kon-Shisho the master of spirit. There will be more back story to this next chapter which is the Epilogue, along with a conclusion and the link between this Moth and the Moth from the story "If it's the Last thing I do" the first TMNT story I wrote where I created Moth.
Please read and review, and I will get onto writing the last chapter.