Splinter was brought out of his meditation when he heard yelling coming from the main room. He proceeded with caution as moved out of the dojo, where he saw his sons yelling and cheering and laughing together. He rapped his stick against the floor and all four of them straightened. Wait...all four! Raphael, his second oldest son was standing there with his brothers. 

Splinter wasted no time and walked swiftly over to his son and pulled him into a hug that Raphael was eager to reciprocate. Mona watched with a smile on her face as Splinter hugged his son. "Raphael. You are alive. We were very distraught, my son. I felt the pain of losing a child. To think that I had lost another..." Splinter hugged Raphael even tighter at the thought. Then he pulled away and took a good look at him. Raphael was covered in dust and soot, maybe even a little bit of ash. He some mild burns on his right arm and his left looked sprained. His head had two big bruises on it that worried the old rat. "Leonardo, get a warm washcloth."

"Hai sensei." And Leo was gone. Donnie went to the lab to get his medical supplies while Mikey helped Mona over to the couch.

"Naw sensei not now." Raphael spoke for the first time since Splinter had joined them. "She needs it more than I do."

She? Master Splinter looked in the direction that Raphael had gestured and his eyes focused on the form of a young woman, probably about his son's age with long brown hair, green skin and a tail? She's a mutant as well, interesting. "No need to be afraid, young one, what is your name?

"Mona Lisa." She answered meekly. 

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mona Lisa." Splinter was not usually one to welcome strangers into his home, but he sensed that there was more to her than met the eye.

"She saved the world, Sensei." Raph stated softly, his eyes filled with emotions as he stared directly into Mona Lisa's eyes. 

Splinter looked over to Raphael with a questioning glance, obviously asking his son to elaborate but Mona Lisa spoke first.

"We saved the world Raph. We both took out that computer together." Then in a whispered tone that was barely audible she added, "I couldn't have done it without you."

Leo returned and handed the washcloth to Raph, who immediately began wiping the dirt and dried blood off himself. Donatello returned with his medical kit and had Mona lay face down on the couch so that he could easily examine the wound on her leg. When Donnie began patching them up, Master Splinter decided that the two of them could fill him in later.

"I am going to make some tea while Donatello tends to your injuries. I will make a cup for you as well, Mona Lisa. The herbs will help you relax."

"Thank you."

"You are very welcome." He stood and headed towards the kitchen. Muttering to his sons, "Sugu modori masu." The teenage mutant ninja turtles nodded in understanding, as did their guest. Splinter raised an eyebrow and addressed her. "Anata wa nihongo wo hanashimasu ka?"

"Hai, sukoshi dake." Master Splinter and Leonardo were impressed. Mikey and Donnie were surprised and Raph was flabbergasted. She speaks Japanese?!

Donatello finished patching up the wound on the back of her leg and wrapped it with a bandage. He then turned to his older brother and began inspecting his injuries.

Splinter handed the cup of hot tea to Mona Lisa and decided that it was time for an explanation. "Raphael, tell me what happened."

The green eyed turtle stared at his sensei for a moment in quiet contemplation. "Hai sensei, I will. But I think that we should call April and Casey over first. They should hear this."

The old rat nodded and turned to his eldest son. "Leonardo, call them and ask them to come right away, my son."

"But Sensei, it's almost twelve o'clock." Leo said, not particularly looking forward to having angry, sleep-deprived human teenagers in the lair. 

"The sooner the better then. Raphael would not have asked for them to be here unless it was important, my son."

"Hai Sensei." Leo nodded and pulled out his T-Phone. I should probably call Casey first...

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Casey Jones awoke to a horrible ringing noise coming from his bedside table. He grimaced and grabbed the offending object, intent on chucking it into the nearest wall, when his eyes came into focus and he saw the caller ID. The screen read: Ichiban turtle...Leo? At twelve o'clock at night? Must be an emergency. The fog of sleep cleared a little as he sat up in bed, still holding the ringing phone in his right hand. Maybe they've got some news about Raph! He realized and answered the phone immediately. "Leo, what's up? You got any news on Raph?"

"Yeah Casey, we found out where he was in Dimension X and got him back."

"Is he okay?"

"A little bit worse for wear, but he'll be fine."

"Good. I'll be right over."

"Wait, but I haven't even told you why—"

"No need, dude. Raph's back and he wants to see his best bud. Duh. I'll be right there." The teenage hockey player hit the end button and started putting on his gear.

Leo just stood there for a moment after Casey hung up. Hothead behavior never ceases to amaze me. He thought, dryly. Then he mentally recognized the sound of Raphael's snicker. Deep blue eyes narrowed at his little brother.

"He hung up on ya, didn't he?" Raph said with a knowing smirk.

"Yeah." Leo admitted. 

"But he's on his way?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah, said he needed to see his best bud."

"Heh." Raph smirked.

"Now April. Oh man, she's gonna be so mad that we woke her up." Leonardo looked terrified by the thought of April screaming at him for waking her up at this time of morning.

"You know there's a simpler solution right?"

Leo raised an eye-ridge and gave his brother a look. "Like what?"

"Like, you let me talk to her." Raph answered, holding his hand out in a gimme sort of way. 

Leo handed the T-phone to his brother, "Better you than me."

Mona Lisa smiled at the brotherly exchange as she watched from her seat on the couch.

Raph scrolled through the contacts and called April's number.

---------------------------------------------------------------

April hadn't been getting much sleep since the Krang took Raphael. She felt guilty; after all, she had been the one that told the guys about her dream. The dream that had prompted the investigation of the Krang Location and led to the loss of one of the turtles. She now knew how the guys had felt when they spilled the mutagen from the Krang ship and mutated her father. Even though they hadn't treated her any differently, April still felt like this whole thing was her fault. Then she heard a familiar ringtone, and turned over to grab the T-phone off her bedside table. She checked the caller: ichiban turtle Leo. "Hello, Leo. Is there something wrong?"

A short silence on the other end of the line made her even more worried, until finally she heard a sigh of annoyance. "Okay. First of all, I'm not Leo. And second-"

"RAPH! You're alive!"

Raph winced when she yelled through into the phone. "Yeah, yeah, yay I'm alive, Whoop-dee-doo." He said, the sarcasm practically dripping from his voice.

"Raphael, how-"

"Look just come on down to the lair, okay? I'll explain it all there."

"I'll be right down." April hung up and started getting dressed.

"So, how'd it go?" Leo asked his little brother as he returned from the kitchen and jumped on the couch.

"Great, she'll be here in a few minutes."

Leo stared at him in shock. "And she didn't even yell at you for waking her up in the middle of the night?"

"Of course not, Leo, I've been MIA for who-knows-how-long, she needed to know I was alive."

Leo gave the hot-headed turtle a sideways glance. "That was actually pretty smart Raph."

Raphael rolled his eyes. "What? I got a brain too ya know."

"Yeah, it's just that you hardly ever use it." Leo said under his breath, making Raph growl and tackle him, throwing them both onto the floor into a wrestling match.

Master Splinter rolled his eyes, "Kids." Mona Lisa laughed as the two eldest turtles rolled about on the ground. The other two turtles watched their brothers, Donatello rolling his eyes with a soft smile on his face. Michelangelo paused for a moment with his hand on his chin in a thinking position before he himself jumped into the fray, helping the eldest take down their red-clad brother.

"I will pound you Mikey!" echoed through the lair as the rest of the turtle-clan, Mona Lisa included, laughed.