TMNT - Miwa

Splinter’s eyes shot open and he sat up from his bed. He had been unable to sleep soundly since he learned that his only daughter, Miwa, was alive and living as the heir of his most hated rival, Oroku Saki. In his dreams, he is forced to choose between his turtle sons, who are loyal to him and love him very much, and his daughter, who does not know she is his daughter and wants him dead. And though she hates him, Splinter still loves her, she is his daughter. The last remaining connection between the now and the before. She resembled his beloved Tang Shen and he recalled the times when she was an infant and he would play with her. She would laugh and pull on his hair. His eyes swelled with tears at the memory.

Splinter knew which decision was the right one: the turtles. They would never betray him. They depended on his, he taught them everything they knew and raised them practically since the egg. His duty was not to his daughter, but to his adopted sons. However, he had to admit he would be depressed if the turtles had the opportunity to terminate Karai and succeeded. She is still his flesh and blood. She is still his only remaining connection to his life back in Japan. Before Shredder destroyed his family and his life.  

He stood up and looked around his dark room. Empty, as usual. He was alone with his thoughts. He opened the sliding door to his room to hear the faint sound of his sons talking and laughing in the kitchen. He knew it was time to tell them the truth. He had been putting it off for weeks. It was only a matter of time when his fantasies become a reality and it is too late. He made his way over to the kitchen.

The turtles sat around the table, enjoying a ramen dinner. For once, they seemed to be getting along. Mikey was making jokes, and everybody was laughing. Surely this was a short moment what would turn into an argument between two of the brothers, most likely Raph and Leo. Splinter stepped into the room and found an empty chair. Leo was quick to serve some ramen to their father. They could all tell that Splinter was distantly removed from the setting.

“Sensei, is everything alright?” Leo asked setting a bowl and a set of chopsticks in front of their father.

Splinter shook his head, “No, Leonardo, everything is not alright. I am haunted by a bit of information, and I must now share it with all of you.” He pushed the food away from himself. He was not in the mood to eat.

The four turtles looked at each other curiously, and then turned their total attention to their father.

“Do you all recall the night I returned home after my first visit to the above world for the first time in years, the night I fought the Shredder.” Splinter panned the opposing side of the table where his sons sat.  

The boys nodded and Splinter continued, “Leonardo, do you remember when I told you that I learned something from the Shredder, but would not tell you what.”

“I remember, sensei.” Leo reassured him.

“That night, I learned that your enemy, Karai, is not Shredder’s daughter, but my own daughter, Miwa. The night that Shredder killed my wife and almost killed me, he took Miwa and raised her as his own. He changed her name to Karai and taught her to despise me.” Splinter explained in detail about what happened to his daughter.

Leo pushed the chair out of the table and stood up without saying anything. He left the kitchen and soon after, the lair. The rat and three turtles watched silently as Leo left and listened for the clicking of the turnstile.

After Leo’s footsteps could no longer be heard, Mikey looked back at Splinter, “No way.” He looked at two brothers than back at Splinter.

Splinter nodded, “Yes way, Michelangelo.” He reassured Mikey, “And lately I have been bothered by that fact. I have been dreaming about a time when the four of you are able to dispatch the Foot Clan and you kill Miwa.”

“Then we won’t kill her, sensei.” Donnie suggested, not liking the way his father was talking.

“We have to kill her; she’s loyal to the Shredder and the foot clan. She’s the enemy, and if we keep her around, she could become the new shredder.” Raph argued with Donnie. He had never trusted the girl, not even when he had first seen her. He knew it was their responsibility to put an end to the Shredder and the Foot Clan entirely, and that included the daughter of their leader for certain.

Donatello thought for a minute, “Maybe we could show her who she really is. She’s Splinters daughter, I’m sure we could get her to believe us.”

“Are you kidding, Donnie?” Raph looked at Donnie, “She’s a kunoichi, she knows how to lie, and she knows when others lie, she would never believe us. And even if she would, she’d just turn on us. We can’t trust her. We have to take her down with the rest of the Foot.” Raph knew that he was right. He looked at Splinter and realized that he talking about killing his daughter. “Sensei, I’m sorry. I know she’s your daughter; but we can’t trust her.”

Splinter sighed and rubbed his whiskers, “You are right, Raphael. Because Oroku Saki has brainwashed her, she can’t be trusted. It is a shame though; you all would have liked her very much.” He smiled slightly thinking about what would happen if they all had the chance to be the family they were meant to be.

While Donnie and Raph were arguing, Mikey had slipped away from the table and out to find Leo. Mikey walked around the empty sewer and found Leo later sitting outside an empty sewer tunnel. “You okay, bro?” Mikey asked sitting beside Leo.

“I just found out the girl that I liked, the daughter of the Shredder, is actually the daughter of my sensei. How would you feel?” Leo looked down into the sewer water.

Mikey wrapped his arm around Leo, “It’s okay. You never had a chance anyway.”  Mikey joked and laughed a little, “But really, just let it go. All it means is that Miwa is alive.”

Leo looked at Mikey, “She’s like our sister, and we can’t trust her. You know how that feels?” he asked.

“Maybe, someday, we will be able to convince her to join our side,” Mikey stood up and extended his hand out to Leo, “You can’t give up on her yet.” He smiled.

Leo accepted Mikey’s hand and pulled himself up, “I guess you’re right.” He smiled and put his hand on Mikey’s shell, “Now let’s get back home, there’s algae and worms for dessert.”

Mikey licked his lips, “My favorite.” He smiled and the two walked back to the lair.