The Girl With A Story (TMNT, fem! reader) 2012 ver.

thirty seven

-SAME NIGHT, DAY BEFORE LEAVING-

Yin, Karai, Leo, and Raph all packed up heavy duty. They got everything they needed and they headed straight to bed since it was late when they finished anyway.

They fell asleep, and woke up 4:45am. Going outside and stretching Leo puts them into drilling. He participated as well!

"Okay, guys", Leo said, looking at the rising sun. "Take a break."

Karai sat down, breathing heavily. "I was afraid you'd kill us, Leo."

"It's good to see you up in action", Splinter said, now standing on the porch.

"Splinter", they said in unison, bowing.

"I'd like to speak with Yin for moment. Yin? Follow me please", he nodded, twitching his whiskers.

Why do I get the feeling he's gonna tell me something he doesn't want the others to know...? "I'll be back, Leo", Yin said as she got up and walked over to follow Splinter.

Leo nodded. "Don't worry! When you come back we'll start again."

"And don't take forever", Raph teased.

"Oh, Leo-!" Yin said, turning around for a moment. "We still have our research to do!"

***

"What's she talking about?", Karai asked with curiosity.

"So remember the spirit deer story?" Leo said, then continued when Karai nodded. "Well...she experienced the same exact one. But she got a sense about it and I didn't. So, we were both curious and wanted to have some fun."

Raph looked at his brother. "We all experienced the deer, but the others including myself didn't really experience it until later. And the spirit realm."

"Yeah", Karai nodded. "Her and I were talking about that a couple of days ago. When she had her vision quest she experienced an entity but it wasn't the spirit deer. It was this." Karai showed the two turtles a picture of the entity that Yin drew from what she remembered.

A/N: remember that moon person quite a few chapters back? That's the one!

"Wow", they said in unison.

"She's got a good memory for detail", Raph comments.

Leo nodded. "Yeah. When she comes back we'll practice spinning kick moves. Yin needs to build up her confidence in that. And tolerance."

***

"What is it, Splinter?" Yin asked as they walked into the privacy of the living room. "What's wrong?"

Splinter had a sad gleam in his eyes. "Yin, what I'm about to say you must not speak to anyone else. Got it?"

Yin's face fell. "A-Are you okay?"

"I had a dream, or...some type of...of vision", Splinter began. "I feel like my time is drawing near. I don't know how it will go... But-."

"You can't!" Yin outburst, her hands turning to fists. "You...you can't go, Sensei..." Her voice grew weak. "...You're like that father figure I've missed all these years! I...I love you...Dad."

Splinter lowered his ears, making this talk not much easier. "My dear child, you know how much I love you as if you were my own. I'm telling you this to prepare you when that time comes..."

Yin's voice shook. "I don't want you to die, Splinter. You can't. I won't let you!"

Splinter shook his head, a sad smile in his eyes. "Death is a natural part of life, Yin. It's a common thing. But just know that I will be with you and everyone else..." He placed a hand over his heart. "...in here."