Author's Notes: Yes! I live! Well, anyway, this is a story that is based off my chapter story of 'Divided'. The picture that you see with this story is a picture of Ileen – so now you know what see looks like! Yay! Awesome!

This story was supposed to be a Mother's Day tribute, but as you can see I wasn't able to post this story up until now. Life has been crazy for me. So you get the extremely late posting of this 'supposed' Mother's Day tribute. Horary! I will admit that this story will have slight spoilers to my actual story 'Divided'. So if you can spot them then awesome! So you have been warned about possible spoilers for the story 'Divided'.

Some of you may be wondering why I haven't update my actual story (which this story is based off of) 'Divided'. To be honest I've been really busy with my life. Those reasons you can check out on my profile if you're really that curious. But do not worry! I plan to have the next chapter up by sometime by the middle of next week to next weekend – as I still have to finish up my chapter to 'Lost' (Please forgive me Jess-chan!). I would have the next chapter to 'Divided' up by this weekend yet I am planning on going to New York City this weekend, and then early next week I am planning on camping at Assateague Island with my son. It's close to the beach and we get to look at wild horses! Yeah! XD

Alright, enough about me! On with the story!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own created character Ileen along with this odd story plot! All canon characters belong to Nickelodeon now. Although I can dream, right? Right?

Divided: A Mother's Tribute

By: Giai Kame


Ileen awoke with a sudden jolt, a frown instantly upon her face as she lay within her bed. Slightly confused she glanced at her bedside clock and frowned even more as she noticed the time – 5AM. She had only gotten an hour of sleep. Why had she woken up? With a quiet sigh she closed her eyes as she tried to figure it out.

Suddenly the smell of something burning hit Ileen's nose and she instantly shot up into a sitting position within her bed with a start.' Something's burning!'

It was only then that she noticed the sound of four children's voices arguing amongst themselves with a tone of panic from within the kitchen. Instantly the twenty-four year olds' eyes narrowed as she yanked the blankets off her form as she thought bitterly, 'What the hell is Delatore-kun doing? For that matter why isn't he training the boys? It's his turn! I bet he's still sleeping. Great – the rat gets enlightenment and I get less sleep. Must be some sort of sick humor from above.' (Mr. Squeaker)

Her feet hit the floor hard as she was instantly upon her feet then with narrowed blue eyes. Her disheveled light silver hair falling into her face yet she swiftly brushed it back with a hand. Stomping her feet towards the bedroom door loud enough to allow the four boys in question to be well aware she was not only awake but onto them and ready to inflict punishment. They knew that they weren't allowed to use the stove! They were only seven for crying out loud and she didn't want them to burn themselves let alone the house, which was why the rule was that they weren't allowed to use the stove without adult supervision. Darkly she thought to herself, 'When I get them they'll be doing twenty back flips when I'm through with them!'

Yanking the door open her eyes instantly fell upon a nervously grinning Michelangelo as his big blue eyes stared up at her through his orange mask in an innocent manner. His hands clasped behind his shell as he blocked her path from leaving her room and heading straight to the kitchen. Her eyes narrowed on the boy as she sharply yet calmly asked, "What are you boys doing?"

His nervous grin grew larger as he tried to fringe innocence as he simply replied, "Nothin' Mamma! Nothin' at all! What are you doing up? Shouldn't you still be sleeping?"

Eyes narrowing at Michelangelo Ileen instantly knew something was up. For starters the boy was way too nervous for 'nothing' and second he was trying much too hard to look too innocent for someone who was doing 'nothing'. Ileen instantly knew he was lying and she darkly thought to herself, 'The moment I see firsthand what they're up to and prove Mikey is lying he's getting an extra ten flips added to his punishment for lying to me.' Yet instead of voicing her thoughts she calmly replied, "I was sleeping until I smelled something burning. So what's going on Michelangelo?"

The moment she said his full first name Michelangelo slightly flinched, yet kept the innocent smile on his face. She only used his full first name if he was in trouble, and Ileen could see the spark of panic entering his eyes once she said it. Even so he grinned up at her with teeth flashing showing her several gaps from several baby teeth upon the bottom having already fallen out. The grin was adorable, yet Ileen was immune to his adorable antics. So instead Michelangelo started to give her a puppy dog like look in hopes it would work to his favor as he replied, "Nothing's burning Mamma! Well, besides for Sensei Splinter burning some weird smelly incense while meditating before starting our morning training! So why don't you go back to bed and try to sleep a little longer?"

Giving Michelangelo a suspicious look Ileen replied firmly yet motherly, "I am no longer tired. So why don't I go to the kitchen so I can make us all some breakfast?"

That's when pure panic flashed through Michelangelo's eyes before he cried out loudly, "NO!" Then realizing he was losing his cool he replied in an indoor voice as he held his hands up to block her, "I mean – No, Mamma. Sensei Splinter said we should eat after training! So come on! Let's get you back in bed, for I'm sure you still must be really tired!" With that Michelangelo tried to gently push Ileen further back into the bedroom, yet Ileen stood firm and wouldn't budge from her spot. Instead her eyes slightly darkened at the boy's words and she replied with a 'no buts' tone, "He did, did he? Then I think I should have a word with him regarding your four's nutrition."

Suddenly Raphael came dashing to her room with a look of panic upon his face as he must have heard her insistence upon leaving her room and heading towards the kitchen. Planting himself firmly next to his baby brother Raphael also gave a large nervous smile as he stated with forced innocence, "Good mornin' Mom! Whatcha doin'?"

Eyes darting to the red clad boy Ileen's eyes narrowed into a motherly glare as she realized something was definitely up. If Michelangelo was telling the truth or even pulling a prank Raphael would not jump in to interfere like this. So something was definitely up. They were putting way too much effort into keeping her within her bedroom. What were they really up to? With a firm tone Ileen replied in a motherly tone, "Buongiorno Raphael. I just got up. Since I woke up early I decided to make you boys breakfast before you four started your morning training. So let's go to the kitchen my bambini and start with breakfast." (Good morning. Babies)

Raphael frowned at the statement and replied curiously then, "But Mom – shouldn't you still be sleeping? Dad said that you went to bed an hour ago. It's your day so you should still be in bed."

Ileen gave Raphael an odd look then due to his words and the young boy only grinned up at her in a nervous manner of his own, showing her his teeth which also was missing some baby teeth – his left front tooth and eye tooth. The grin was cute yet Ileen wasn't affected by it. Before she could even say anything and reply did Michelangelo give Raphael a dark pointed look and punch his arm as if reprimanding him for something. Instantly Raphael shot a hot angry glare at Michelangelo and hit the orange clad boy back on his own arm. Both boys suddenly glared hotly at the other then for a tense silent moment before they suddenly started swinging at each other with full force with shouts of rage.

Eyes going wide Ileen stood there for a second in slight shock while watching the two warm colored boys now tumbling around on the floor fighting with each other as both were swinging at the other and trying to get the other in a head lock at the same time. Quickly she shook off the shock and her eyes started going dark before giving out a firm shout, "Enough! Break it up both of you!"

It was times like this Ileen wished she had girls instead of boys.

The boys continued to tussle around on the floor as if they didn't hear her, and as a result Ileen gave a look at the two that froze them in their place as she hissed through her teeth in motherly rage. She hated to see her boys fighting amongst each other, for it was always something that just got under her skin. Just like her father used to say, - "When you become part of this family you're automatically considered blood. Blood is thicker than water. No matter what." – it was something Ileen truly believed in and as a result Ileen believed that blood should never fight. Seeing it put Ileen in a whole new kind of motherly rage that would result in her just going silent while giving the one that invoked the look such a stern angry intense stare that the one in question couldn't help but instantly freeze in whatever they were doing and instantly give their best behavior and respect knowing that they were in serious trouble. Instantly both Michelangelo and Raphael were on their feet in a matter of seconds from her motherly glare and once again they grinned up at her nervously and sheepishly. Before she could even say anything to conclude their punishment due to their fighting did the smoke alarm in the kitchen go off along with a shout; reminding Ileen once again about something burning in the kitchen.

Her head snapping up to stare down the hall towards the kitchen, Ileen's blue eyes went to a dark cobalt blue as her motherly rage flared. Without even saying a word to Michelangelo and Raphael she started moving with tense haste towards the kitchen in hopes that the kitchen wasn't burning down nor any of her other children were possibly burnt from whatever was possibly on fire. She didn't once notice the panic look on Raphael's and Michelangelo's faces, yet before she could even walk past them did Raphael shout out in determination, "Raph attack!" With that cry did the red clad seven year old boy lunge himself onto Ileen's left foot and cling to her ankle causing her to stop in her walking and thus preventing Ileen from continuing her walk towards the kitchen. Before she could even snap at the boy from preventing her from continuing towards the kitchen, as she took a step forward with her free foot, did Michelangelo suddenly cry out while attaching himself to Ileen's other foot and clinging to her ankle, "Turtle attack!"

Ileen slightly wobbled as she felt her balance being thrown off by both boys lunging at her feet and clinging to her ankles. With a glare she was about ready to snap on both boys when she heard another shout from the kitchen causing her head to snap back up in panic from the sound. With a determined glare she began walking down the hall towards the kitchen, walking almost like Frankenstein due to dragging both boys behind her as she walked. Both were only able to helplessly cling on to their mother's ankles as they each gave a shout of surprise due to Ileen's strength and ability to drag them across the floor, down the hall, and right into the kitchen.

When she entered the smoke filled kitchen Ileen instantly froze at the sight before her as shock consumed her. There standing before the kitchen table was a sheepish Splinter, Leonardo, and Donatello. Her eyes quickly scanned over the two boys checking for any injuries before becoming satisfied at seeing a lack of injuries before scanning Splinter and seeing that he too was fine. Then glancing at the stovetop she slightly winced at the sight of something black, charcoal, and burnt to a point of being stuck onto the frying pan that was used for cooking while whatever was in there was still slightly smoking. With a sigh at the mess Ileen thought bitterly, 'That's going to be a pain to clean.'

Glancing at the still nervously sheepish three that stood before the kitchen table Ileen raised an eyebrow before tiredly stating, "What is going on in here?"

Leonardo and Donatello laughed nervously and Ileen's eyes narrowed at the two before Raphael and Michelangelo also let out their own nervous laughs causing Ileen to glance down at the two boys still clinging to her ankles while raising her eyebrows in question. Both warm clad boys still lay on the floor while their arms were wrapped around her ankles and looked up at her with large nervous smiles of their own. The situation suddenly seemed slightly humorous to Ileen now that she knew that at least Splinter had been in the kitchen with them - thus meaning that they did have adult supervision. Although seeing the result of Splinter aiding in cooking Ileen was now making the new rule that Splinter was never allowed in her kitchen to cook. Suddenly the sound of Splinter clearing his throat in a nervous manner caused Ileen to glance up in question at the mutant rat as he spoke.

"Ah, Ileen-sama. Ohayou gozaimasu! I hope that you've slept well – yes?" Splinter grinned nervously at Ileen as he lifted a clawed finger to his chin to scratch nervously there. The gesture caused a warm feeling to enter her heart, yet she pushed the feeling aside as she quirked her eyebrow higher at Splinter in question. Her silent stare caused a slight blush to appear on Splinter's face resulting in Ileen wondering if it was out of embarrassment or something else, yet before she could ponder on this further Leonardo suddenly chirped up eagerly, "Ohayou okaasan!" (Good morning. Good morning mom.)

Startled by Leonardo's eager greeting Ileen smiled softly at the boy as she replied gently, "Buongiorno Leo-kun."

Suddenly Donatello chimed in nervous shyness after Ileen greeted Leonardo, "Buongiorno Mamma!"

Smiling softly at the purple clad boy did Ileen reply warmly, "Buongiorno Don-kun." Standing there after her morning greetings as she inspected all five males within the room with curiosity did Ileen finally ask then, "What's going on?"

Raphael and Michelangelo stood up and walked over towards the other three males that stood before the kitchen table resulting in blocking the table from Ileen's sight even further, and she frowned when all five glanced as each other with nervous knowing smiles. Before she could even comment did the five suddenly divide to show her the table while crying out happily, "Happy Mother's Day!"

Instantly Ileen's jaw slacked at the sight in surprise as a tender warmth filled her entire heart; for placed neatly on the center of the table was a small vase of freshly picked flowers from her garden of light purple sweet peas, red roses, blue forget-me-nots, star 2000 orange roses, and baby's breath. Placed before a slightly pulled out chair was a plate of what looked to be burnt scrambled eggs, burnt bacon, and burnt toast with a mug of black coffee set next to the plate. With sudden amusement Ileen thought playfully to herself as she stared with joyful eyes at the setup on the table, 'Well, this explains why Michelangelo and Raphael was so determined to keep me out of the kitchen along with the burning smell.'

Ileen must have been quiet due to her happy shock for longer then she realized as Raphael asked in a unsure soft voice then, "Do ya like it mom?"

Her startled eyes landed on the nervous red clad boy before swiftly glancing at the four other nervous males and tears filled her eyes at the joy of such a tender motion they all did on her behalf. To be honest she had completely forgotten that today was Mother's Day, yet it seems that her boys did not and had made sure to start the day out right for her. With a large smile Ileen stated with loving pride, "This is all wonderful! Thank you!" With that she took the few steps required to reach her boys and swept the four children in a tight loving hug before placing loving kisses on their cheeks and foreheads resulting in laughter and bright smiles. Once finished she released her children and swiftly stood up and hugged Splinter in thanks – not noticing the blush that once again rose to Splinter's cheeks when she wrapped him within her arms and hugged him tightly. Even though she didn't notice Splinter's blush Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo did and they all grinned widely in excitement at each other to see both their parents in an embrace.

Releasing Splinter from her hug Ileen then turned around to sit at the table before her breakfast; and Splinter coughed as he tried to quickly shake off his blush before Ileen noticed once again. Not paying attention to Splinter Ileen stared at the plate of food and smiled softly, for although the food was probably going to be hard to eat due to it all being extremely burnt Ileen was more than willing to swallow through it. Picking up a fork Ileen was prepared to dig in when she felt five pair of eyes intently staring at her resulting in Ileen stopping with her fork poised in midair to stare up at the five that stared at her intently. Quirking an eyebrow at the five she quickly noticed that they all seemed to be waiting on baited breath to see her reaction and thoughts on their breakfast they made for her. With a large grin Ileen glanced back down at the food and stabbed her fork through a burnt scrambled egg with slight effort before lifting the fork to her mouth and placing the food within her mouth.

Resisting the urge to flinch at the over whelming taste of charcoal Ileen slowly chewed before her teeth ground against something that obviously wasn't burnt egg at all, and Ileen had to resist the urge to choke due to laughter as she realized what that foreign substance was. It was egg shells! It was like they just threw the whole egg in a bowl and just smashed it up – egg shell and all. The thought was hilarious to Ileen and she couldn't help the grin that spread across her face.

Staring at Ileen hopefully Michelangelo was the first to break the silence as he asked his mother eagerly, "So – do you like it?"

Swallowing thickly Ileen resisted the urge once again to flinch as the feeling of burnt egg and egg shells slid down her throat. Clearing her throat the moment the food was down Ileen smiled brightly and replied a happy chipperly tone, "It's shell-a-licious!"

The statement suddenly brought huge smiles onto each one of her son's faces as they thought the commentary was both positive and hilarious. Laughing at her statement they cheered happily at doing a 'job well done' on cooking their mother breakfast for the first time; although Splinter blushed in embarrassment at catching on to the hidden meaning behind her words and once again lifted a claw finger to scratch at his chin.

Laughing at the reaction her boys made Ileen grinned brightly at the five as she didn't mind the result of the food at all, for it was the thought and effort from their love that count. So when she finished with her spout of laughter did she quickly finish the eggs on her plate before grabbing the mug of coffee and taking a swig. The moment the coffee touched the tip of her tongue Ileen resisted the urge to spit it out as she felt coffee grounds within the black overly strong substance. Dear god they over filled the coffee filter! Yet even so, to prevent hurt feelings, Ileen just shut her eyes and chugged half of the contents within the mug while ignoring the burning of the hot coffee before loudly placing the mug upon the table with a loud satisfied sigh. Once she did this Donatello smiled sheepishly at her and stated softly, "Do you like the coffee mamma? I made it myself! I know how you like to drink coffee with your breakfast."

Pausing for a second to clear her throat from the burn of the coffee Ileen thought in good humor, 'That explains it. I never did show him how to make coffee. I think I'll show him how to next time I make a pot.' With a large smile at Donatello Ileen replied in endearment, "Donnie you did a wonderful job." Then adding the last part just to hear her children laugh again she stated with a large smile, "For it's shell-tastic!"

With that stated her four sons went into another fit of loud laughter finding her statement hilarious. Even Splinter chuckled at her statement and Ileen couldn't help but join in the laughter once again. She wasn't exactly sure why her sons found the shell statements hilarious, yet she assumed maybe it was because they had shells of their own so it held more meaning in hilarity to them. Whatever the case on why they found it funny, Ileen couldn't help but feel warm all throughout her body due to the joy of her family.

Today was going to be an amusing Mother's Day indeed.

With that Ileen quickly finished off her breakfast – pleased with her family and their kind hearts. Yet there was one issue that she needed to settle with Raphael and Michelangelo before they hauled off to their morning training. "By the way - Raphael, Michelangelo. Before I forget – both of you have backflips to do."

Instantly both boys groaned as they instantly realized that their mother had not forgotten their misdeeds from earlier. So with a whine Michelangelo stated in a means to get out of his punishment, "But Ma!"

Raphael nodded in agreement with his youngest brother as he stated quickly in hopes that Ileen would change her mind, "Come on! We were jus'-"

Eyes narrowing, as she leaned back in her chair, at Michelangelo and Raphael Ileen cut Raphael off and stated firmly, "Not 'buts'! You both know the rules, and if you don't follow those rules you face the consequences. No fighting amongst each other is one of those rules. Ten back flips for the both of you! Michelangelo, you get another five for lying to me about Delatore-kun burning incense. You know better than to lie to me. I would have given you ten, yet considering the reasons as to why you lied I'm only giving you five. Now off with you two!"

With a groan at the finality to their punishment both boys trudged off towards the training room with Donatello and Leonardo following behind them with snickers of amusement. With her lips tugging in an upward motion Ileen glanced at an amused Splinter as she stated calmly yet firmly, "Delatore-kun, make sure those two do their flips before their morning training."

With a slight bow of respect Splinter grinned as he replied in an amused tone, "It shall be done Ileen-sama." When he saw Ileen give a slight bow of her head in return Splinter then straightened with a chuckle before heading off to do just that then train all four boys.

With a quirk of her lips in an upward motion Ileen chuckled to herself softly. Yes, today was definitely going to be an amusing day.

'Now – to clean this disaster of a kitchen, since I can't make my boys breakfast until I do.'

And with that in mind, Ileen did just that. Chuckling silently to herself every time she heard Raphael and Michelangelo cry out while doing a back flip.

End


Author's Note: So there you have it guys! If you have any questions or concerns about this story, or if I possibly missed anything in grammar and a words meaning please let me know! I hope you guys really liked this story as it was meant to be a cute one shot off my series 'Divided'. Since I know that some of the meaning might have been confusion when I placed them next to the paragraphs they were stated in I have placed all words and their meanings below. I hope this helps you guys and clears up any possible confusion. So until next time, Ja Ne!


Words and Meanings

Delatore: Italian for 'Squeaker'.

Mamma: Italian for 'Mom' or 'Mother'. 'Ma' being a short version.

Buongiorno: Italian for 'Good Morning'.

Bambini: Italian for 'babies'.

Ohayou gozaimasu: Japanese formal way of saying 'Good Morning'. Ohayou is the more personal and informal way of saying 'Good Morning'.

Sensei: Japanese for 'teacher'.

-kun: Japanese informal generic prefix, almost affectionate equivalents to –san. –san is a generic prefix, like saying Mr. or Ms. –kun is use with someone you were close to, like a close friend, brother, or child. –kun being used with boys.

Note: When Ileen refers to Splinter as Delatore-kun she is affectionately calling him 'Mr. Squeaker'.

-sama: Japanese for an honorific prefix, suitable for someone you respect (or should respect) like an elder, customer, teacher, or superior.

Ja Ne: Japanese phrase that is the shortened form of "ja matane", which means 'See You Later'. Ja Ne is considered more of a slang with young people for 'Ja matane'. Ja is also used in informal situations or between close friends.