"How come we keep bumping into her?" asked Donatello.

"No, you keep bumping into her," said Leonardo.

"Does she always wear hats like that?" asked Raphael.

The next morning, the Turtles were sitting at the kotatsu Donatello made 4 years ago. A kotatsu is a lower table, heated by an infra-red heating element. It's covered by a thicker kind of table cloth, in order to keep the air underneath it warm. These are very popular in Japan during winter months. Donatello made this after Splinter had told him about the winters back in Japan when he was little. He used to spend hours sitting at the kotatsu, spending time with his family.

"Maybe it's like, fate or something," said Michelangelo.

"Aaaand now you're talking like an artist," sighed Raphael. "Who believes in vague stuff like fate? Donatello, don't tell me…"

"No," said Donatello. "That's just vague, illogical nonsense. It was probably just stupid coincidence."

"So you call mutants, trained in ninjutsu, who saved the world from an evil ninja clan and travelled from dimension to dimension… logical?" asked Michelangelo rhetorically.

"Maybe she's following you," said Raphael.

"Don't be so paranoid, Raphael," said Donatello.

"Well we've gotta stop meeting her like that," said Leonardo. "It's bad enough that she saw Donatello, but when she finds out there's really four of us… You saw how she reacted, right?"

"It is not surprising that Naomi is confused right now," said Splinter. "She has almost no memories of the month before her 10th birthday."

Donatello looked down.

I should tell them…

"Everyone," he started, "there's something… I haven't told you."

Everyone looked at him. Finally, Donatello looked back up.

"That night I brought Naomi back to the orphanage…" He paused. He buried his face in one hand and shook his head. He sighed and looked at his brothers and former master.

"She woke up while I was still in the room," he said.

"She woke up?" repeated Raphael.

"And then? Did she see you?" asked Leonardo, half standing up. Splinter gestured for him to sit back down, and he did.

"Yes," said Donatello. "I… got stuck when I was trying to hide from her." A slight blush appeared on his cheeks. He felt embarrassed.

"She found me and… helped me out," he finished.

"How did she react to you?" asked Splinter.

"That's the weird thing, master," said Donatello. "She wasn't surprised, shocked or anything. Well… maybe a little startled and… very curious… but she was not scared."

"You mean, like yesterday?" asked Michelangelo.

A short silence.

"Yeah… somewhat like yesterday," answered Donatello. "And you know… That's why I think that the bond between us and her is the only thing that hasn't been erased."

A longer silence.

"Perhaps you're right," said Leonardo. "I mean, any normal human would be scared to death if they saw us."

"From what I've seen and heard, she's not a normal human," said Raphael. "She thought she was speaking to a dead artist, for cryin' out loud."

"I think even someone like her would find this weird, Raphael," said Leonardo.

"Maybe… we should give her a chance, you guys," said Michelangelo. Everyone looked at him. "I mean… April and Irma are humans too, right?" he explained. "So like, why can't Naomi know about us?"

"She's a kid," said Raphael.

"Uh… no offense, Raphael, but she's about as old as we were when we started fighting crime," said Leonardo. "That… doesn't mean I agree with Michelangelo," he added quickly when everyone looked at him in surprise.

"What if I were to go visit her from time to time?" asked Donatello. "That won't hurt, right?"

"Why?" asked Leonardo.

"Because, Leonardo…" started Donatello with a raised voice, but then he forced himself to be calm. "Because… she's still family."

Another long silence.

"Remember what we once said?" asked Donatello. "She lost her parents and her brother…"

"… but she gained four brothers and a… what did she call you, Sensei?" asked Michelangelo.

"Uncle," answered Splinter with a smile. "Yes, I remember."

"So what do you say, Sempai?" asked Leonardo.

"I still think that it is best for Naomi not to know about us," said Splinter. "However, she already knows of Donatello's existence. If your plan worked, Leonardo, Donatello must be the only one whom she is sure of he exists. Donatello, if you are sure that you can keep our secret safe… then you can go visit her from time to time. Just make sure no one sees you."

"I will," said Donatello. "Thank you, master."

"Hey, what about us?" asked Michelangelo. "I wanna see her again, too. She's our sister, too."

"Don't worry, Michelangelo," said Donatello. "I'll figure something out."

Maybe I'll wait before I go out there again. Just to make sure she doesn't think she's become crazy. After all that therapy back then, the odds of that could be big. I'll wait. I'll wait for another… two weeks or so. Maybe then she'll be able to handle it.

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Yes, this is really just a "filler" chapter until I come up with some new inspiration.

Anyways, if you're wondering why this is T-rated, well... that's because things are going to get violent when a plot twist takes place in about another 2 or 3 chapters, so...

Thanks for reading, please do let me know what you think of this story (and its "prequel" "Big Bro Donatello"), and I'll see you next chapter ^^