Leo glanced down at Miwa as she pulled his bandana tails. Even now, he loved her. Even more, in fact. Babies were always cute, if television was to be believed. Leo had never really held a baby before. But it stirred in him feelings of protection, not unlike when he saw one of his brothers get hurt or about to, but more tender. His mind was half on Miwa and half on the conversation. As he ended the conversation quietly to his brothers, the message that they must take out shredder, an idea occurred to Leo as he returned his attention to his baby sister. What if their plan failed? Well, Tang Shen would die all over again, and Miwa….. Miwa would be taken under the shredder's wing. And eventually mutated. And mind-controlled. It was a small idea, but big, huge, enormous in its implications and repercussions. Leo quietly formed a plan B, and stored it in the back of his mind for later.

Fire painted the night red and gold. "Tang Shen!" Raph and Mikey cried as they just glimpsed the woman rushing into the burning dojo. Donnie followed shortly after, full of concern for Tang Shen, the mother they had never known, and Splinter, who might be horribly burned. Leo was about to follow, when he heard a cry. Leo turned to find Miwa safely tucked under a stool, crying for the comfort of her mother. And in a flash, Leo saw it all. He started as a cry came from the Dojo, and Leo knew that Tang Shen had just died. He turned back to the helpless baby, still wailing for her mother. Leo felt as though the sounds behind him were muted, that he had fallen underwater. But in that water, he saw it all. He saw that Miwa would become Karai, then a snake, then a mind-controlled slave. Nothing would change. Tang Shen had died, defending Splinter, just as he had told them so long ago in the future. The building was coming down around him, and with it, all he had ever known. All that Splinter had was being lost, right in this moment. Leo felt his heart ache with the tragedy of it all. And from the ache came the plan he had tucked away. And with the plan came a decision, and an action.

Shredder would return any minute and steal away the child. Leo was not prone to rash decisions, but today he made an exception. In one move Leo scooped up the babe and fled into the trees, shushing her quietly. At the familiar voice Miwa calmed and intertwined her hands into his bandana, somehow settling into Leonardo's quiet calm. Leo glanced down below, as unfeeling and as silent as stone, as he observed what happened next.

He'd been not a moment too soon, for there was Oroku Saki, his face burned, crying out for Tang Shen. After looking back at the burned building, he fled, in the direction of Tang Shen's home. "So," Leo thought to himself, "He planned to steal Miwa all along." His resolution only grew from this knowledge. Leo looked down at the baby, who was watching him with interest. Deep in his chest, he knew he'd done the right thing.

Soon after Shredder fled, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey pulled Splinter out of the wreckage and melted into the shadows, likely heading for their makeshift camp in the woods to wait for their leader to return. None of his brothers saw Leonardo hidden in the shadows with his precious burden and choice.

Leo alone watched as Splinter cried out for the two souls he had believed he had lost in the fire. The despair was agonizing, and nearly set Miwa crying again, but Leo, seeing that she was near wailing, fled into the night, carefully holding the baby in the crook of his arm as he followed his brothers.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" Donnie asked, half-crazy with fury. "How could you do something so INSANE!?"

"INSANE?!" Leo shouted back, as he clutched Miwa to his plastron protectively. "Shredder raises her to be a kunoichi, a liar! Then, she gets mutated into a snake, THEN he MIND CONTROLS HER! How could I NOT save her from that?!"

"And what, exactly, were you planning on DOING with her?!" Raph hollered, arms crossed as he joined Donnie's side. Miwa began to cry, and Mikey, aware that the tension in the air was the cause, quickly took the baby from Leo and rocked her gently a small distance away.

"I. . ." Leo started, as he watched Mikey cradle her. "I don't know. We have to give her back to Splinter, we just HAVE to! You guys didn't see his face…." Leo paused, trying to contain the tears that threatened to dampen his bandana. "You didn't see his face when he cried out for Tang Shen and Miwa during the fire. You didn't see Splinter's face when he told me that Shredder had raised his own daughter to hate and loathe him!" Leo's voice shook. Donnie hesitated in his anger, aware of the emotion pouring from his brother. However, Donnatello dwelt only briefly on emotion and settled on facts. "But Leo, don't you see? If Yoshi has his daughter, that might be enough for him to stay in Japan! We will never be mutated!" Donnie took out his T-phone and showed it to Leo. "The picture of Casey and April and all of us! April and Casey are still vanishing!" As Leo watched Mikey cradle and coo at the baby, trying to coax a smile from her, Leo had an idea. Another one that might prove more difficult than simply taking a child. "We could watch her."

"What?!" Raph and Donnie both said together.

"We could watch her. Raise her. At least, for a little bit. Then, when Yoshi leaves for Japan, we follow, wait until he gets mutated, then present him with his baby girl . . . our new sister."

Donnie's mouth dropped open. He was speechless. The thousands of things that could go wrong with that small plan rushed into his head so fast that for a moment he didn't react. Raph had no such reservations.

"Are you nuts? We don't know the first thing about babies, and I'm pretty sure we can't raise one! And you want us to babysit for an entire year? I don't think so." Leo glared at Raph. "Well, what was I supposed to do?! Leave her there?! Raph, she's Splinter's daughter! How could I leave her, knowing the life she grows up with, knowing what happens to her! Right now, in our time, she's a snake, one that's poisoned all of us. She knows no love from her father, hates all of us and wants us dead! I can't abandon her, I just . . ." Leo slumped to the ground, tired from the tragedy they had witnessed during the day. "Splinter deserves a little light in his life. Miwa deserves more than what she got."

The three turtles were silent for a moment. "He's right." Mikey said quietly as he looked down at Miwa, snuggling in his arms. "I don't think I could give her to Shredder now, no matter how good he might seem." Donnie sighed. Leo was reasonable in many things, but when it came to Karai. . . Miwa . . . he saw no reason. Looking at Leo, however, Donnie realized that he had a point. The time stream would be altered, but wouldn't it be for the better? A thought occurred to him and he pulled out his T-phone. There was the picture of all of them and Casey and April. Everything back to normal. Except for one thing. "Guys, look!" he showed the picture of all of their happy faces, Casey and April smiling next to them. But there was a slight change. A girl, obviously Japanese, with dark hair back in a ponytail. She wore a black kunoichi outfit, but was smiling. The turtles were silent, in awe of the change they knew now existed in the future.

Donnie was the first to speak. "Look, I don't know about this, but since it looks like we are still mutated, I'm ok with it." Leo turned to Raph. He frowned for a moment more, looking at the baby. Raph didn't want to admit it, but his heart ached to see the daughter of Tang Shen and Yoshi live a life with the Shredder. "Oh, all right! But how are we gonna live, bro? We can't even take care of ourselves! We're sixteen years in the past, no food, no shelter, and absolutely no idea how to take care of a baby." Leo smiled "We're ninjas. I'm sure we can get all that and more. After all, Japan still has sewers. And food. We just need to lie low until Splinter has gone to America. Then, we can follow him and give Miwa to him, just after we're mutated." Raph rolled his eyes. "I don't know how you think we'll do it all, but I guess since you haven't gotten us killed yet, I can trust you for now, fearless leader." Leo smiled and clapped his brother on the shoulder.