#shardsoftangshen

“...so I guess that’s it.” Donna looked down at her list for a final check before returning her gaze to her doppelganger on the screen. “Looks like everything matches up.”

“Pretty much,” Donnie replied, looking up from his own list. “Quantum symmetry strikes again.” His gaze softened, and he placed a hand against the screen. “I’m glad you’re okay sis. Thanks for checking in. I was worried.” He blinked, clearing his throat. “I mean, we all were.”

Smiling, Donna returned the gesture. “You too. Give my love to Leo and everybody.” 

“I will,” Donnie said, and even though the communicator only opened an infinitesimal breach in reality to let the signal through, she could feel his affection reverberating through it. It was an affection she returned in kind, and he grinned at her. “G’night, Donna.” 

Blowing him a kiss, Donna closed the connection and ticked off another box on her checklist with a sigh of relief. One of the problems with gathering so many extra-dimensional siblings was the stress of having to check up on them after every crisis to make sure they were all still okay. But so far, so good, and there was only one reality left to check. She’d left it for last, for it was the only one that she couldn’t reach by communicator. 

With a quiet groan, she pushed away from her desk and walked to the centre of her lab. “This is so unscientific,” she whispered as she closed her eyes. Clearing her mind of her annoyance, she let out a slow breath, and wanted.

When she opened them again, the desk chair wasn’t empty any more. Donnie sat in it, slumped across the desk as he snored quietly, surrounded by a dozen unfinished sketches. With a fond smile, Donna fetched a blanket from the store cupboard and draped it over his shoulders. She couldn’t blame him. She’d done the same when she’s arrived home, trying to record every bit of technology she could remember in case she needed it later, lest she forget any of the details. That was one question answered, at least. But she had a bigger one, and when she was certain Donnie wasn’t waking up any time soon, she left the room seeking the answer for herself.

This is a story that’s been in the works since season one, but after recent episodes, I finally figured out how it all shook down. It’s Shard!canon, but a very, very similar conversation also takes place with Splinter in Falling.

It’ll be really nice to see Splinter.

And it was. But throughout the reunion with their mother, Angie remained silent - a true rarity in itself, but it felt nice to be home. The past few days were a blur in her head from their time traveling adventure in Japan, but only a few details remain clear.

Sora’s laugh at her dance. Shen’s face. Shen’s voice, and the way he carried himself as a proud father. 

...Saki’s unscathed face.

Shen’s body in the fire.

Angie shook her head and dug at her temples at the last memory. Of all things, why did it have to be that? Erratic breathing caused her to feel immense stress. 

Her whole life, she knew Shen perished in the fire by Saki’s hand. She knew the tale, and now lived it. But she never wanted to know what he looked like when he died. 

A gruesome image, indeed. But it was to see if his body could have been saved for proper burial. Donna shaking her head with sadness in the reflection of her eyes flashed in Angie’s mind; it would make it worse for Splinter to wake up with her deceased husband’s maimed body, with no explanation as to how he got there.

Angie squeezed her eyes shut, releasing tears she was trying to fight. She couldn’t change history. It was already in the past, for a good sixteen years. 

But God, she wished she could have gotten to actually embrace her father. Get to actually call him “Dad” or “Otousan”. Hear him call each of the girls by their names. That day would never come, thanks to Shredder’s jealousy. 

Silent sobs shook Angie’s shoulders as the tears now poured; the deed had already been done, and there was no chance to change it, whether Kennet would allow it or not, and the thought broke the turtle’s heart to the core. 

She sat on her bed and cried, hugging her knees to her plastron and tucking her head slightly into her shell. She cried for the missed opportunities. Cried for Splinter’s sorrow that night. Cried for Sora, and what he didn’t know he lost until years later. Cried for her and her sisters for seeing what they saw. 

Cried for Shen. And how many lives he’d impacted without his presence. Oh, how she wished she could’ve seen him again, the way they were able to, without the loss.

Of course it wasn't anywhere near the space that was the Lair, but as she and her family worked, the more Antonia's looked like a home. A few items were thankfully able to be salvaged, but there was still that lingering ache that made them homesick for underground.

Angie made it her personal duty to do kitchen upkeep. Especially since Donna made a comment that if a health inspector still existed in New York, Antonia's would have been shut down years ago for how she kept the kitchen. Angie didn't think it was that bad, but Donna's expectations were high. And if the family of seven was going to be doing some home cooked meals again, might as well make due with what you have and clean it.

Scraping burnt cheese from the oven, Angie found herself reminiscing about the last several months. How they all had to flee and leave Splinter behind, thinking the worst...How they bonded at the farmhouse, how they all still kept up their training.

How she lost contact with brothers. She didn't even get the chance to make sure the others were okay, including her own twin she was closest to.

I hope they found Shard...Are they okay? The Kraang...should I risk it?

Setting down the scraper, Angie looked around the pizzeria to see if she was truly alone. Not even Splinter was in sight; perhaps that meant this was the okay to go. Of course, family was important here, but if it was only for a little while...

Besides, family was important, no matter where they were from. No more putting it off.

But where would they even be? She could have done a slap to herself the same way Ella did when she asked obvious questions. She and Mikey were the same. Where else would they have gone?

That wave of falling between worlds washed over her with a feeling of nostalgia. It'd been so long, she'd almost forgotten about it. But she knew she was elsewhere. Just for a while.

Lea sidestepped the arrows, her eyes white as she charged at the Footbots, cutting them down without a second thought. They retreated, falling back behind a fence of wood; a construction site that had been there for some time. She spotted a way in, and began to run towards it.

But she stopped. Hesitated.

Think, Lea! She's just baiting you. This is bound to be a trap. She wants you to come! It isn't worth it! You're needed somewhere else right now!

Slowly, as if she was shifting a heavy weight around, Lea changed directions, moving away from the construction site. Her belt chirped again, and she pulled out her tPhone to read the texts that were coming in from Angie.

More Footbots were following her. Lea glanced over her shoulder, then ran faster, typing out a text to her sister.

"I have no honor…" Katsumi lifted his eyes, and his solemn expression split into a cynical smirk. "But that’s about to change." Drawing his shikomizue, he flowed around Tigress Claw and struck out at Lea. His blade met resistance against hers with a steel clash, and he accepted the betrayed shock that broke across her face as long overdue payback for the docks. "Now you know what it’s like," he spat, his eyes snapping like cool fire.

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