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Talia did not know what to expect for this dream around. First things first, instead of finding herself in a vacuum, she was quite surprised that her fingertips were touching something tangible. It felt like something soft was tickling her bare skin. She sat up from wherever she was laying on top of and observed as much as she could of her surroundings. The scenery was a great change than the last two settings— blue skies, slivers of sunlight stabbing through the fluffy white clouds, a gentle breeze playing with her hair, and lastly, the lush, green grass she had the courtesy of using as her mattress. Hills and hills of lively flowers rolled on for what seemed like forever.

How strange. . .

Talia even looked down at herself, noticing that she was wearing an outfit that definitely would've came out of her wardrobe: flowy skirt, a top with floral appliqué, and cardigan— all three pieces were color coordinated, as it was standard procedure in Talia's fashion world. The exact choice of clothing brought a vague feeling over Talia, but she could not say for certain what it was. At least she was not caught in a hospital gown.

She arose from the ground, staring down at all the flowers that waved to her and danced with one blow of the wind. When she was younger, she had the crazy thought that the flowers were actually fairies in disguise, using their powers to obey nature's call. Back when she still lived in Israel, Talia always used to search for fairies when her parents took her camping in the forest; she was convinced that they were real and if she looked hard enough, they would show themselves.

After Talia took the first step, Talia could not seem to stop. She could've been walking for an eternity; the path she was on had no ending. One thing she took detail of was that the flowers below were not a heterogenous blend— every single one looked the same to her in terms of appearance. She definitely did not recognize what kind of flower it was.

When she stopped in the middle of nowhere, the atmosphere shifted on a dime. The temperature dropped and the wind pattern no longer suggested friendliness, but rather animosity; aggressiveness. Within one blink of an eye, darkness took over the skies. Before Talia could even begin to process the horrifying transition, the unknown flowers at her feet  suddenly had a mind of their own. Their stems grew thicker and taller, wrapping themselves around Talia's ankles and wrists, successfully restraining her.

I should have known this dream was not going to be any different. The more Talia struggled, the tighter the stems constricted. She somehow needed to get herself free, but she started to feel woozy. Her eyes were slowly falling into the temptation of closing and possibly never waking up again, while her brain was on the verge of shutting down. All of this felt familiar somehow, but as of this moment, she could not think of anything. She did not even know why such a feeling was coming to her.

Talia then felt something clog up her throat, completely blocking her airway. Pretty quickly, she was making gagging sounds and panic, confusion, and shock crashed onto her all at once. She kept retching, hoping that she would cough up whatever was lodged in her throat, but it wouldn't budge; it was torture.

Moments later, she felt it— something slithering up her throat like a snake. In seconds, she was forced to open her mouth and puke out the same blooming flower that was keeping her captive- her own blood dripping from its delicate indigo petals.

Then everything went black.

***

"Damn. So that's it, then? Just when your dream started to 'feel' all sunshine and rainbows."

Talia regrouped with April and Mikey (minus Raph, who stayed after school for soccer tryouts) after school, where she briefly explained her latest dream. Thanks to the 'wonderful' ending, she could not dare to eat a single thing off of her plate at lunch, lest should the disturbing image of a flower sprouting out of her mouth pop into her head. A nightmare was capable of doing that.

"It was a bit of a drastic change than my last two nightmares," Talia admitted, tugging at strands of her curly hair. It was official: she had gone from dreaming about doppelgängers and her in a hospital gown to being a planting spot for deadly flowers. Things were now starting to get bizarre.

"Flowers mean lots of things," Mikey shrugged. "It could just be symbolism."

"That flower was no flower I'd ever seen." Talia's lips flipped upside down. "Either way, it scared me."

"I just find it so strange," April said. "Why dream about flowers if your previous nightmares were circled around hospitals and your mother?"

Talia wished someone had the answer to that. She thought that her nightmares were trying to tell her something, but the nightmare she had last night sort of broke that pattern. Nothing was certain anymore.

"Your brain must be so messed up," Mikey remarked to Talia, digging into his bag of potato chips. "What you need is some meditation. My dad can help you with a session."

Talia glanced at Mikey. "Really? He would do that?"

"Why wouldn't he? He also knows a lot about dreams. Maybe he can help with that as well."

"After everything that has happened, my mind could use some clearing up."

"Great! I can also give you a tour of the house if you're interested. . ."

Talia smiled. "A tour, you say?"

"Since we're now friends, I feel like you should get to know our home." Mikey grinned. "It's the best."

"It's a deal. I'll stop around five pm, how does that sound?"

"Sweet! See you, then!"

Mikey waved goodbye to the girls and sped away. When he was out of earshot, April said, "Eventually, we are going to have to resort to snooping to see what's really on that flash drive."

Talia sighed. "I know."

***

"And this is my room. Which, technically wasn't my room at first, but Leo gave it up for me and Donnie to share."

True to Talia's word, when evening came around, Talia got on the subway and arrived at the Hamato household in under fifteen minutes. When she arrived, Mikey immediately jumped right into the tour. He had already shown her the first floor, so they moved upstairs to where the bedrooms were located.

Peeking inside Mikey's room, she observed his room had a recurring theme— everything from the posters plastered on the walls, to the framed glass display that hung above the headboard, featuring rows and rows of cards, and even the stuffed animals sprawled across the bedspread. One looked like a yellow rabbit with red cheeks; the second one appeared to be an orange lizard; the last one was definitely a turtle, except that it was blue. She assumed they all belonged to a fandom that Mikey was a part of. Besides that, there was also an aquarium, a mini fridge, and a desk setup for gaming.

"I like your room," Talia said.

"Thanks," Mikey smiled. "It took a lot of work— and by that I mean Donnie. He built that desk from scratch."

"Wow, that is pretty amazing," Talia said in awe. "He likes building things?"

"Pretty much. You should see some of the stuff he builds— they're pretty cool. Anytime he uses that brain of his to solve or create something, I just think: 'Man, is there anything that guy can't do?'"

Talia could hear the deep admiration in Mikey's voice. Talia also felt that same pride when her mother first opened her company all those years ago. She was proud to say that she was the daughter of someone who made a difference in someone else's life. No matter what people said nowadays, and no matter what her mother did, Talia would always remember her for the way she was before her death: an honest and noble woman.

"I do want to ask, Mikey," Talia said and pointed to the plushies on the bed, "what are those on your bed? They look like animals, but. . ."

"Oh, you mean Pikachu, Charmander, and Squirtle? Yeah, they're Pokémon."

"What's a Pokémon?"

Mikey gasped like someone had told him that all the pizza places in Manhattan had gone out of business. "You've never heard of Pokémon?"

Talia shook her head. "Pokémon was not really heard of in Israel. Plus, my parents never let me spend too much time with a television."

"Seriously? That's it, I'm teaching you all about Pokémon and we're binge-watching the show. No buts!"

"So those cards that are on display. . . they're Pokémon cards. . .?"

Mikey happily nodded. "You bet! Do you know how long it took me to collect all the GX and EX cards? Some were gifted to me as birthday presents, but the rest I had to use my whole allowance!"

"Your dedication is on a new level."

"Anything for Pokémon! Moving on!"

Mikey grabbed her hand and led her down the long hallway, where she saw framed portraits of oil-paintings hanging proudly on the walls, each one beautiful and unique in its own right. The one that stood out to her the most was the one depicting the full moon over a traditional Japanese pagoda, with a mountainside, river, and cherry blossom tree; pink specks of paint were sprinkled over the river, meant to represent cherry blossom petals that had fallen into the water. Something about how all the cool colors were able to blend and move together to create a beautiful landscape underneath the moon at its peak made Talia feel somewhat at peace.

Mikey saw how Talia's gaze stayed glued on the painting for a little more time, in which he felt the need to add: "Leo painted that one."

Hearing that, Talia glanced at Mikey in surprise and then back at the oil painting. "Leonardo did this?"

"It's more like a hobby, but yeah, he did." Mikey confirmed, also admiring the piece of artwork.

Talia went back to staring at it; she could not help it. Leo's oil-painting had already hypnotized her with its twilight sky and the moon's reflection in the water.

Once Mikey was done showing her upstairs, he showed Talia one last room before he took her to the dojo. This room did not have a door, so it would allow anyone easy access, but Mikey stood outside.

"What is this room for?" Talia asked.

Mikey clasped his hands together. "This room is really sacred to my dad." He merely peered inside before pulling his head back out. "It's purely a shrine dedicated to his late wife, Tang Shen— Nee-Chan, Leo, and Raph's mom."

Talia almost gasped. "Oh my gosh. When?"

"All I know is that they were really young when she died," Mikey said. "Me and Donnie sometimes come here to pay our respects, but Dad doesn't really talk about her much. I think it's because he misses her a lot."

Where Talia was standing, she could see that an ancestral tablet and Tang Shen's picture made up Shen's altar, along with a few of her personal belongings and offerings. As far as she could observe, the room was well-maintained and cared for, as there was not even a dust bunny in sight.

Mikey and Talia finally went to the dojo. Talia could only wonder how her first meditation session was going to go, and whether Yoshi could help her interpret her nightmares; they were only getting more and more freaky and she feared the worst. When Talia and Mikey made it to the dojo, Yoshi and Leo were already in the butterfly position on the tatami mat. Yoshi became aware of another presence in the room and looked up.

"You are just in time, Talia," Yoshi nodded slightly, extending a hand for her to come join him and his son. "Please sit."

Talia thought it was only going to be just her and Yoshi, but she did not mind extra company. Mikey waved her off and left. She could have sat down anywhere, but she chose the spot next to Leo. She did not know why, but perhaps it was to make herself feel less awkward. Leo, who was dressed in a black hakama uniform with his clan's emblem printed on the sleeve, had the pleasure to give her a small smile; Talia returned it.

"Have you ever meditated before, Talia?" Yoshi asked.

"This is my first time," Talia admitted. "But I have always wanted to try it."

"Meditation is a good way to increase concentration and reduce stress. Michelangelo has explained to me that you have been getting these. . . nightmares."

"Let's just say I have not been sleeping well. For every nightmare I get, I never know what to expect."

"Your nightmares can be a manifestation of your own emotions. It is your body's way of dealing with the stress and grief of what happened. You firsthand watched your mother brutally die; that is not something to easily recover from."

Talia's mind went back to what Raph said over a week later: "Or maybe these dreams aren't telling you anything at all. In each of these dreams, you see your mother; the first one you had, you relived her death. What if it's just your brain's way of processing your trauma?"

Yoshi's words did speak truth, but Talia knew that a 'what if' existed. Maybe. Just maybe. . . "I just want some relief," she whispered.

"It's a hard thing to go through," Leo said, his eyes growing murky like cloudy, muddy water. "Sometimes, it may seem like your nightmares are trying to tell you something, but most often than not, you're trying to sort out your anxiety from the traumatic event like a puzzle."

"What if they never go away?" Talia poked at her necklace.

"It's different for everybody, but eventually it does get better. You just have to be patient."

Hearing that, Talia smiled. Yoshi decided it was time to start the session.

"In order to meditate, you must let your mind know that your full intention is to meditate," Yoshi instructed, closing his eyes. "Once that intention is in motion, the rest of the steps fall into place. Concentrate on your breathing. Relax. Try to focus on one idea, emotion, or sensation."

Him and Leonardo were able to drift into a deep trance in minutes, but at the beginning of meditation for Talia, she felt as if she was in a battle with her variety of thoughts. Some were about her mother; some were Oroku Saki and his clan; and some were about her dreams. Those thoughts felt heavy as rocks and stuck to her like glue, so she had trouble shaking them off. As the minutes passed, however, she noticed her thoughts were becoming less and less invasive. She focused on her posture and the movement of her body with each inhalation and exhalation. Little by little, she could feel herself separating from her thoughts. It was like nobody could get to her here; no one could burst her bubble of peacefulness.

She could get used to this.