April Showers

Chapter 1: Pandora's Box

A/N: I know I probably shouldn't do another story, but this bunny isn't leaving me alone, so I'm going to just put it out there. I thought it would be cool to do a story about April's journal and her thoughts about the secrets she kept concerning her sister and the secrets she knew about the Turtles that even their brothers don't know about yet. After thinking about it, this story was born, so I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters are property of Nickelodeon Studios. I only own the plot of the story.

Summary: When Kirby gives the Turtles April's journal, they finally uncover the truth about her relationship with Robyn, but they also uncover secrets about each other that they've never shared before. Will these secrets tear them apart or draw them closer together? Truth and Lies prequel

The Lair was subdued as the Turtles did their own things. Leo was watching an episode of Space Heroes, Raph was reading one of his comic books, Don was in his lab, and Mikey was on the floor doodling in his sketchbook. Splinter was sitting in his favorite chair as a way to be close to his sons. Their sister, Miwa, was in her room and didn't want to come out just yet. Two days ago, their world had almost shattered when April's twin sister, Robyn O'Neil, had set fire to the antique shop her aunt owned and nearly killed the Turtles after revealing that she killed her sister and was the text messenger known as A who had been sending texts to the Turtles. At first they had thought the texts were from their missing friend, but after April's body was discovered, they realized that someone else was sending them these messages.

After Kirby had revealed that April had a twin sister, the Turtles were shocked but still eager to befriend Robyn. She had taken to them as well and had acted so nice to each of them. After inviting them to her apartment above the antique shop, Robyn made her true motives known as she revealed what she had done and tried to kill the Turtles so they'd never reveal what she'd done. Now the mystery was whether Robyn had escaped the fire or whether she'd been killed inside the shop. The police were investigating both possibilities, but so far they had no leads as to what had happened to her.

Her betrayal had rocked the Turtles and had hurt them deeply. Though there was closure for their friend, it still hurt that it had been her sister who had committed the deed and who had wanted to kill them, too. They were still reeling from this news, and Leo was continuing to experience nightmares about the fire.

Suddenly, Donnie came hurrying out of his lab. "Guys, Mr. O'Neil's coming down to the Lair," he reported. "He says he has something for us."

The Turtles stopped what they were doing and focused their attention on their purple-clad brother.

"Did he say what it was?" Leo asked him.

"No, he said he'd tell us when he got here," Don replied.

"Do you think maybe it's something April left for us in her will?" Mikey guessed. When Kirby had asked them to meet at his apartment after April's body was discovered, the Turtles had assumed that April had left them items in her will after her death, but it had turned out that Kirby wanted to reveal Robyn instead.

"It better not be another secret relative," Raph grumbled, rolling his green eyes. He was still furious about Robyn's betrayal and how she'd almost killed them.

"Maybe it's a letter from April explaining all of this," Leo guessed.

"We will find out soon enough, my sons," Splinter told them. "You must be patient."

It seemed to take forever for Kirby to arrive, but it wasn't really that long at all. He smiled as he made his way through the turnstiles, carrying something in his arms. The Turtles wanted to crowd around him and see what it was, but they knew it wasn't polite to do something like that no matter how curious they were.

"Hello, everyone," Kirby greeted them. "I know this seems very sudden, but I had to come here as soon as I could."

"Is everything okay, Mr. O'Neil?" Leo asked him.

"Everything's as good as it can be," Kirby answered. "The police are still searching for Robyn, and no leads have been found yet. The reason I came here is because I wanted to give you this." He held out a green spiral bound notebook to them.

The Turtles were a bit confused. What would they be able to do with a notebook?

Seeing the confused looks on the Turtles' faces, Kirby said, "This is the journal that April wrote in all of the time. It's the journal Robyn used to send you those messages."

"But why would you give it to us?" Donnie asked him.

"Yeah, shouldn't you keep it in memory of April?" Mikey added.

"I wanted to, but I figured it would be better for you boys to keep it," Kirby replied. "April was your friend, and I wanted you to have something of hers."

"But, Mr. O'Neil, this journal is private," Leo insisted. "Don't you think it would be rude for us to look in there?"

Kirby shook his head. "No, you have my permission to look in there," he answered. "I'm sure April would want you to have it. It'll tell you everything you need to know. It even has entries about the four of you, which is why I've decided to give it to you. I don't want the police to find it and expose you to the public. I figured that by giving this to you it would be safe in your hands. As April's closest friends, I know I can trust you to keep it safe."

The Turtles were silent as they processed his words. They were honored that Kirby wanted them to have the journal, but at the same time, they felt that it wasn't their business to look at what was inside. Still they knew that what he wanted was important, and with one look, the Turtles agreed to keep the journal.

"Okay, Mr. O'Neil, we'll keep the journal," Leo said. "We promise we won't let it out of our sight and that it won't fall into enemy hands." His gaze shifted to the room where Miwa was probably lying on her bed. Although the other Turtles trusted her, Leo still had doubts about whether she was trustworthy or not. Miwa used to be Karai, Shredder's daughter and sworn enemy to the Hamato clan. In reality she was Splinter's daughter but had refused to join the Hamato clan despite Leo's pleas for her to do so. After being exiled from the Foot, Raph had saved her and brought her to the Lair. Splinter had been happy to have his daughter back, but Leo had been furious and deemed that she wasn't to be trusted after she had attacked him on Robyn's orders. Miwa later revealed that she'd had no choice but to attack Leo or Robyn would pin April's death on her. Miwa had apologized to Leo, but the blue-clad Turtle had refused to forgive her and still held a grudge against her. Because of this, Miwa stayed in her room as much as possible, refusing to come out except for practice, meals, and to use the restroom.

Splinter glared sternly at his oldest son. "Miwa will not betray us," he said firmly. "She has given her word that she will stay loyal to us."

Leo said nothing, but he had his doubts about that.

"Well, anyway, that's really all I wanted to come down for," Kirby said, trying to dispel the tension. "I'd better get back home so I can get some work done."

"Please, Kirby, you may stay for some tea if you wish," Splinter offered.

"Thank you, Master Splinter, but I really need to get home," Kirby told him. "I'll be in touch as soon as I get caught up on work. This whole investigation has been preventing me from concentrating, and I really need to get caught up so I don't get fired."

"Will you be staying in New York?" Don asked him.

"I'll stay until we get answers about Robyn," Kirby replied. "After that, I'm not sure what I'll do."

The Turtles nodded though they didn't want Kirby to leave them. He was their last link to their dead best friend and a great ally to the family.

"We will see you soon then, Kirby," Splinter said. "Have a good night."

"Thank you," Kirby said, bowing to them. "I know you don't want to read the journal, but it might help bring closure to you guys. All I ask is that you give it a chance." He smiled at them and gave the journal to Leo before leaving the Lair.

The Turtles crowded around Leo and looked at the green notebook. It was pretty thick, and the Turtles were definitely curious. It was sort of like that story about Pandora's Box and how it was dangerous to be so curious. But would it really hurt if they just looked at it?

"Do you think we should look at it?" Mikey asked.

"It can't hurt," Donnie said. "Maybe this will help us determine Robyn's motive and why she really wanted to kill April. She also wrote stuff about us in here, too, and I know we all want to know what she said about us."

"Then I guess we'd better look and see what she has to say," Leo said. With that, he opened the notebook. On the inside cover was written, "This journal is the property of April O'Neil." Then their eyes turned to the first page filled with April's handwriting. With one final look at each other, the Turtles began to read their friend's journal, hoping that it would provide answers to the questions they had.

A/N: And I'm going to end the chapter there. I put in the summary that this is a prequel only because it's basically April's story up until before the day she died as recorded in her journal. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are curious to find out what happens next. Feel free to leave a review, and have a shelltastic day.