Disclaimer: I wish I may, I wish I might…wish upon this star tonight… I wish I owned TMNT!

Path to Enlightenment

A serene silence filled his surroundings as he took a deep, penetrating breath that extended to his core. Emotions and feelings of emptiness and tranquility swelled within him. Time faded, as did thought, qualms, and aches…

Inhale. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8… and

Exhale. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8… and

Inhale. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8… and

Exhale. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8… and…

Drip.

He slightly cringed at the minute interruption of his focused breathing sequence. Pushing troubled thoughts away for the moment, he mused upon his task and began anew.

Inhale. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8… and

Exhale. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8… and

Inhale. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8… and

Exhale. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8… and

Inhale. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8… and…

Drip. Drip.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, he quelled his rising irritation. Deciding that perhaps his breathing exercise had been long enough, he turned his inner focus upon his goal. Peace was somewhere within…all he had to do was relax and delve for it deep down.

Inhale. Exhale.

AUM…

SHRING HRING KLEENG…

MAHALAKSHMI NAMAH…

AUM…

Inhale. Exhale.

AUM…

SHRING HRING KLEENG…

Drip.

Ignore it…ignore it…ignore it…

MAHALAKSHMI NAMAH…

Drip. Drop.

Drip. Drop. Drip.

AUM…

Block it out. Block it out. Block it out.

AUM…

SHRING HRING—

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

KLEENG…

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drip.

MAHALAKSHMI NA—

As his eye began to twitch beneath his closed eyelids, he repeated a separate mantra from the one he was already reciting.

Focus. Pay attention. Focus. Pay attention. Focus…

—MAH…

AUM…

Inhale. Exhale.

Drip.

Cringe.

Drip.

Twitch.

AUM…

SHRING HRING KLEENG…

MAHALAKSHMI NAMAH…

AUM…

Finally…

Drip.

That's it.

"GAH! I can't take it anymore!" Leo exclaimed throwing his head back, unable to repress his blatant exasperation.

Leonardo rose from his meditation mat on the floor and strode over to his brainy brother who was lying on the floor underneath the kitchen sink. He stood stiffly with his arms crossed accompanied by the rapid, sharp tapping of his foot.

"Ahem…" muttered Leo as he cleared his throat to gain Donatello's attention.

Donnie rolled his eyes underneath the sink at the impatient sounds of his irked brother and sat himself up on the ground.

"Yes, Leo?" Don asked nonchalantly.

His hands flew to rest on his hips and forced out through clenched teeth, "Haven't you fixed that leaky pipe yet?"

"Why no, I haven't. Is there a problem?" questioned Donatello as he reached for a wrench of the toolbox sitting beside him.

"Problem? Problem! I'll tell you what the problem is," the blue clad turtle shouted. "That stupid dripping is driving me insane! Can't you fix it any faster?"

Don merely shook his head at the naivety of elder brother and replied, "Nope. You can't rush these things, you know."

"You can't be serious! How am I supposed to reach the path of enlightenment and achieve blessings in the form of peace, prosperity, and harmony with that pipe constantly making such a racket?" Leo demanded.

After a moment of thought, Donnie leaned back underneath the sink to repair the pesky pipe and answered, "Dunno, but it's not my problem."

Leonardo's face turned a frightening scarlet hue as his annoyance reached boiling point. He let out a huff and turned to leave his brother to his plumbing.

As he left the kitchen, Leo heard Donatello suggest, "Hey, Leo…you're kind of tense. You should try yoga…I heard it can help you find inner peace or something."

The only response he received was a brief frustrated growl and the utterance of, "Yeah right…no one could ever find enlightenment in this household."


A/N: Now what was this about…? Not entirely sure myself. Just a completely random one-shot I felt inspired to write. Thought it would be funny if Leo tried yoga to find some inner peace, but was interrupted in the process. Yoga is neat, but I prefer sleeping to repeating mantras over and over again. The mantra Leo was reciting is a real one that is supposed to bring all of those wonderful blessings he listed. That's all. Ja ne:)