A/N Ok Folks some added bonuses. This story is going to be a series of one shots on the brothers' and Miwa's POV during the two months after Splinter's death at the end of my story. It starts right after the final battle with Shredder. Enjoy. And sadly I still don't own TMNT.
Forgotten Past 2 One Shots
Ch 1 Leo's POV
It just all seamed so unreal. I just couldn't wrap my head around it. We had won. Shredder was dead and gone. But not at a cost. Splinter had paid the ultimate price. I still couldn't believe he was gone. It just seamed like some horrible nightmare. Even we we got home and I bid my siblings and friends goodnight it didn't seam real. The only thing that made it real was the constant stab of pain I felt in my plastron reminding me that there had been a battle. I tried to sleep but after tossing and turning for hours I soon gave up on sleep. Sitting up I hissed in pain as the movement tugged at my injured plastron. Ignoring the pain I threw back the covers and walked out of my room. Looking around I saw the lair was pitch black and eeirly silent. Not to surprising considering it was 2:30 am. Heading towards the kitchen I decided to get a drink. Turning on the light I let out a cry of surprise when I saw Casey sitting at the table, sound asleep. I guess I startled him too because he let out a shout and toppled backwards out of his chair and onto the ground. "Leo!" he cried out his black eyes wide. "You scared the Hell outta me."
"I scared you?!" I cried holding my plastron, which was burning in pain from the sudden movement. "What the Hell are you doing sitting here in the dark at this hour? Shouldn't you be home?"
"Yeah I probably should be," Casey said sitting back down in the chair he had just fixed. "But I just wanted to make sure everything was cool here. You know considering what happened."
"Yeah," I said, letting out a heavy sigh. "I just can't believe this is happening."
"I can't believe Donnie killed someone," Casey exclaimed. "I mean who knew that Donnie had it in him to be a killer?"
"I guess when it comes down to it we all do," I said. But the more I thought about the more I worried about it. Donnie, my little brother who was the least violent of any of us, had killed someone. I knew how sensitive he was and that concerned me even more. I kept thinking about how he had burned Shredder's body and how strange he had acted when we were leaving. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped, startled by the touch.
"Dude take it easy," Casey said jerking back his hand.
"Sorry," I muttered. Then suddenly I felt a sharp stab of pain go through my plastron and I let out a groan in spite of myself.
"You ok Leo?" Casey asked, looking at me with concern.
"Yeah I'm fine Casey," I said, trying not to let out another groan.
"Dude you should really be resting," Casey said. "You don't look so good."
"Well thanks a lot," I said, rolling my blue eyes at him. "But I think you're right. I should go to bed. Goodnight." With that I headed to bed, although I knew it would be pointless to try to sleep.
TMNTTMNTTMNT
The next morning I woke up to a pair of hands pushing lightly on my plastron. "Wha.." I muttered opening my eyes. I expected to see Donnie standing there but instead I saw Mikey.
"Sorry Leo didn't mean to wake you up," Mikey said, with a guilty look.
"What are you doing?" I asked sitting up.
"Just making sure you were ok," Mikey said. "I knocked on Donnie's door but he didn't answer so I figured I'd let him sleep and check on you myself. How ya feeling?"
"I'm ok I guess," I said rubbing my face. Then I looked at my little brother and I could tell he wanted to say something. "You ok Mikey?" I asked.
"Yeah," Mikey said, after a minute. "I'm fine Leo."
"You know you can tell me if something bothering you," I said.
"I'm good bro," Mikey said with a small smile. I could tell he was lying but I decided not to push it. I knew how much Mikey hated that. So instead I slowly got out of bed. Mikey reached out to help me but I held my hand up. "I got it Mikey." Then together we walked to the kitchen. To my surprise I saw Raph cooking.
"Leo you should be in bed," Raph said, looking angry.
"Well good morning to you to Raph," I muttered, rolling my eyes as I sat down. I felt a tug on my plastron and I winced. Unfortunately for me Raph noticed and let out a groan. "Raph..." I began. But to my shock Raph didn't say anything. Instead he walked over to me and picked me up and carried me out of the room. "Raph what are you doing?" I demanded. We passed Miwa on the way to my room and she gave us a confused look. Once we go into my room Raph put me in bed and covered me over.
"We can do this two ways Leo," he said. "Either you stay in bed willingly or I tie ya to the bed. Your choice. Either way you ain't gettin' out of this bed 'til your healed. Got it?"
"Raph.." I began. But I was cut off by my brother's angry shout.
"I ain't gonna argue with ya Leo!" he growled. His green eyes were filled with emotion. But it wasn't anger. It was an emotion I rarely saw in Raph. It was fear. Fear of losing someone else close to him.
"Leo Raph is just concerned about you," Miwa said gently sitting on the edge of my bed. "We all are."
"I know," I said with a sigh. "And I know I should be resting. And I'll do better about that. I promise."
"Damn right you are," Mikey said suddenly. I looked at him with surprise and he said. "I won't lose you too Leo. I'll make damn sure of that. I won't lose you like we lost Father." Then without another word he turned and left the room. Miwa let out a sigh as she watched our youngest brother leave.
"He's taking this all so hard," she whispered. "I tried talking to him but he just says he's fine and gets angry when I push. And now Donnie..." Miwa trailed off.
"Donnie'll be ok," I said. "And so will Mikey. We all will. We just need some time to process all of this."
"Yeah," Raph said after a minute. "Maybe Mikey and Donnie should talk to Sp..." My red masked brother stopped mid-sentence as he realized his error. Letting out a grunt he turned and left the room as well, Miwa following close behind him. This left me alone. Letting out a sigh I decided to try to get some sleep. But my mind kept going to the events of yesterday. That's when it hit me. And I mean really hit me. Splinter was gone. Forever. I was never going to see him again. I was now in charge of my family. I had promised Splinter long ago if anything ever happened to him I'd take care of my family. It was my job as the oldest son to do so. Its funny how at just sixteen years old I'm already having the responsibilities of an grown adult. But I knew I had to do it. If Mikey, who is younger than me, can handle being the leader of the Foot then I can handle this. I would not fail my family. No matter what it took I would make sure my brothers and my sister were taken care of. But first that meant getting myself fully healed so I could continue my training. But I couldn't even begin to imagine how I could train without Splinter being there. I couldn't imagine doing anything without him being there. All of a sudden I really missed him. I felt my eyes fill with tears and I closed my eyes and allowed them to come out. I don't know how long I layed there just mourning for my father but after a while I wiped my eyed and I turned on my side and tired to get some sleep. But I knew this would be an almost impossible feat to achieve.
TMNTTMNTTMNT
Two weeks past and I was feeling much better. Raph and Miwa had been checking on me almost 24/7. Mikey came whenever he could but he was busy with his new position. April and Casey had been dropping in on me everyday after school. The only one I hadn't seen was Donnie and that worried me. Miwa told me that she'd been checking on him but he barley acknowledged she was there. On this particular day I was talking to Miwa about how she'd been helping Mikey decided how to handle a situation in Japan. They had decided to let Kito's 2nd in command, Keno, handle things and he had returned to Japan. I was about to ask about Donnie when suddenly we heard a loud crash. Exchanging looks of concern Miwa and I got up and went into the living room. When we got there to our shock we saw Casey on the ground rubbing his head with Donnie looming over him. "Donnie?" I said walking towards my purple masked brother. "You ok?"
"What happened?" Miwa asked, helping Casey to his feet.
"He got in my way," Donnie said his voice monotoned. "He should know what happens when you get in my way."
"Hey man all I did was ask if you were ok," Casey said angrily. "But clearly you're not since you just shoved me for no reason."
"Donnie what's going on with you?" I asked, standing in front of my brother. Donnie said nothing. He only stared at me. Just stared. It honestly creeped me out a little because there was no expression on his face. And his brown eyes, which were normally sparkling were dull. "C'mon bro," I said gently. "Talk to me. What's going on with you?"
"Nothing is going on with me," Donnie said without emotion. "Nothing at all. Because that's all my life is now. Nothing." Then without another word Donnie turned and left the room.
"He's been like that ever since he killed Shredder," Raph said, suddenly appearing.
"I know," Miwa said with a sigh. "I'm really worried about him." I opened my mouth to say something when suddenly Mikey came into the lair looking like he'd been put through the ringer. "Mikey!" Miwa exclaimed running over towards our brother.
"What the Hell happened to you?" Raph chimed in, his green eyes wide. Mikey was covered in bruises and cuts and had bloody knuckles.
"I'm fine," was all Mikey said. "I'm going to bed." With that he turned and tried to leave the room.
"Hold it right there Mikey," Miwa said stepping in front of our youngest brother. "You're not going anywhere until you tell us what's going on with you."
"Look Miwa the last time I checked you don't get to tell me what to do," Mikey snapped, his blue eyes flashing with anger. "I've got enough problems without you pestering me. The damn Purple Dragons are back and Hun's being a little bitch and trying to steal from me. Well he learned that you don't mess with the Foot and get away with it. He won't be back anytime soon."
"Hold it Mikey," I said putting my hands on his shoulder. "I think you should take it easy. You're stressing yourself out too much. It isn't good for you."
"Oh for God's sake Leo give it a rest," Mikey snapped, clenching his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.
"Mikey I..." I began. But I was cut off by Mikey's furious shout.
"Stop!" he shouted. "Just stop! You're not Father Leo! So stop acting like you could ever be him!"
"Mikey I wasn't..." I began. But once again I was cut off by my little brother.
"Yes you were Leo!" he shouted. "You've been trying to be Father ever since he died! Well guess what big brother? You'll never be him! No matter what you do or how hard you try you'll never be him! All you'll ever be is a failure! So don't even bother trying!" With that Mikey turned and stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him. I just stood there in stunned silence. I felt the tears form in my eyes as Mikey's words sank in. He was right. I was a failure. I had failed Splinter. And I was failing my family. Donnie may as well be a zombie with the way he was acting. And Mikey. Mikey was so full of anger that he was impossible to talk to. Splinter would be so ashamed of me if he were here. I lowered my head in shame as the tears threatened to come out. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking up I saw Miwa standing there.
"He didn't mean what he said Leo," she said softly. "He's just angry at the world right now."
"I know," I said with a heavy sigh. "But that doesn't make what he said any less true."
"Well he ain't gonna get away with it," Raph growled.
"Raph don't.." I began.
"No Leo Mikey doesn't get to talk to you like that," Raph declared. "He's not the only one whose dealin' with stuff here. We all lost Splinter. But that doesn't give him a free pass." Before I could respond Raph stormed out of the room. A few minutes later we heard angry shouting followed by some cursing. Walking out of the room Miwa and I went to make sure everything was ok. We saw Mikey's room door was shut but we still heard the heated fight that was happening in there. But my sister and I knew better than to try to stop it. Neither one of us wanted to end up with a black eye. So we decided to head to bed hoping that things would get better.
TMNTTMNTTMNT
Another two weeks passed and all was not well with my family. Raph and Mikey had stopped speaking to each other, after their huge fight which had resulted in both of them receiving black eyes and broken fingers. Donnie still hadn't gotten out of his funk and was still speaking in a monotoned voice. But this was only when he talked to anyone, which was a rare occasion. We knew this change was due to the fact he had taken a life and was having a hard time dealing with it. Me and Raph and Miwa tried to talk to him about it but he refused to discuss it. Mikey was struggling with his new role as leader of the Foot. We all knew it was because he was still feeling guilty about what had happened with Splinter. Finally one day Miwa had had enough and took her brothers to the side. "We need to talk," she declared. Me and Raph were also in the room at this point.
"Miwa I don't have the time for this," Mikey declared.
"Yes you do Mikey," Miwa said. "And you're gonna listen."
"Look we know you both are having difficulties dealing with all of this," I said. "But what happened wasn't your fault. Either one of you. Donnie you had to do what you did. Shredder wouldn't have stopped. He had to be taken care of. You've gotta stop blaming yourself. The same goes with you Mikey. There was nothing you could have done to save Splinter. Please. Both of you snap out of this. We need to stay together. Now more than ever." I was struggling to keep it together it this point, the tears threatening to come.
"Easy for you to say Leo," Donnie said softly, causing everyone to look at him. This was the first time we had heard his normal voice in weeks. "I know Shredder had to be stopped," he continued. "But its still not easy living with that fact that I killed someone."
"We know Donnie," Miwa said, kneeling in front of her brother. "And we want to help you."
"We wanna help both of you two knuckelheads," Raph said. "So talk to us."
"They do have a point Donnie," Mikey said.
"Yeah I know," Donnie said. "And I'll try."
"Yeah same here," Mikey said.
"That's better," Miwa said giving both of her brothers hugs.
"Leo," Mikey began, looking at me. "I..I'm so sorry bro. About what I said about you being a failure. I didn't mean it. I.."
"Its ok Mikey," I said wrapping my little brother up in a hug. "I know you didn't mean it."
"I love you Leo," Mikey whispered. "I love you all so much." I could feel Mikey's tears going into my plastron, but I didn't care. I knew my own tears were there as well. "I love you too little brother," I whispered.
"Raph I'm sorry," Mikey said. But Raph merely held up his hand and said, "Don't." Without another word Raph pulled Mikey close.
"Donnie anything you'd like to say?" Miwa asked looking at our purple masked brother.
"Just that I'm sorry I've been such a pain lately," Donnie said, lowering his brown eyes in shame. "Its just been so hard lately. I..I didn't know how to talk to you guys about how I was feeling. I just felt so...lost. Like with Splinter gone there was no one I could talk to. It..It just seamed like he was the only one who really understood me and knew just what to say. You know what I mean?" We all nodded in agreement. Splinter always made things better. It was who he was. Suddenly I really missed him and before I could stop myself I let out a sob. Everyone looked at me and I could feel my face turn bright red. I opened my mouth to say something but before I could Donnie said, "It's ok Leo. It's ok to miss him." I tried to respond but no words came. The only thing that came was a chocked sob. Donnie pulled me close and I cried into his shoulder for a few minutes. Then I pulled away and looked at my family with a small smile. "Feel better bro?" Donnie asked, with a small gap toothed smile.
"A little," I said, with a small smile of my own.
"C'mon you guys," Raph said with a wave of his hand. "Lets go call April and Casey and see about getting some grub."
"Sounds good to me," Mikey said. With that we went out to the living room to call our friends.
TMNTTMNTTMNT
A couple of weeks past and I was sitting with April watching TV. Donnie was in his lab while Raph and Miwa were in the dojo practicing. Mikey was meeting with Keno about some business in Japan. Suddenly Donnie came bursting out of his lab his brown eyes wide.
"Donnie what's wrong?" April asked, he blue eyes wide with concern.
"Casey just called" Donnie said. "He and Mikey need our help. Something about the Purple Dragons giving them trouble."
"Then lets go!" I shouted. I was actually kind of excited about going. This would be the first real fight we've had since Shredder's been gone. With that we gathered Raph and Miwa and headed off to help our brother and friend.
TMNTTMNTTMNT
When we got to the docks we saw that Mikey and Casey did indeed have their work cut out for them. Hun and his Purple Dragons were getting the better of them despite having Keno and the Foot Bots helping them. After fighting off some of the guards suddenly the fighting stopped all together. Donnie had gotten to the middle of the dock, fully prepared to fight. However when the Purple Dragon saw him their faces went white and they dropped their weapons.
"What are you doing?!" Hun shouted. "Get them!"
"Uh ah," the Dragons said. "No way. We ain't messin' with the guy who killed the Shredder." With that the Purple Dragons turned a hightailed out of there with a furious Hun chasing after them. I just watched all of this with disbelief.
"What just happened?" I wondered out loud.
"I think they're afraid of me," Donnie said with a laugh.
"Yeah well they should be," Casey said putting his arm around Donnie. "You're pretty badass there killer." Donnie flinched a little when Casey called him "killer". Casey opened his mouth to say something but Donnie said, "Its ok Casey. I'm just glad its done."
"Yeah thanks for the help guys," Mikey said.
"'Bout time you asked for it Mikey," Raph muttered.
"Lets go home," I said. With that my family and I started to head home very satisfied by the day's events.
TMNTTMNTTMNT
Over the next couple of week things really improved for my family. Mikey had been asking for help more from us and just yesterday he had come to me just to talk. I was thrilled that my little brother was getting back to his old self. In fact both of my little brothers were back to their old selves. Donnie had even gained some self confidence out of all of this. I was so happy he was doing so well. I was doing a lot better myself too. I had learned that I need to let my family help me. Miwa and I had agreed that we would both look out for our brothers. And for each other. I also learned that I had to stop trying so hard to be Splinter. I could never be him. I could only be me. And I knew that was what he would want. For us just to be ourselves and be happy. And I knew he was watching over all of us with a smile. As I entered Splinter's room that night I could feel his presence there. "I love you Father," I whispered as the tears came out. "I miss you. But I know I would make you proud." As I was leaving I swear I could hear Splinter's voice saying, "I love you too my son."
A/N alrighty then folks there's the first one shot. Whose one shot would you like to see next? I'm going to do Mikey's, Donnie's, Raph's, and Miwa's. Maybe April and Casey too. We'll see. Let me know your thoughts in a review please.