Nobody wanted it to happen.
Nobody realized how hard it would be to let it go.
He was gone and there's not a thing they could do to bring him back.
He was gone.
That's it.
It was a normal afternoon. Master Splinter had called his sons back to their old lair where he sits in the old dusty dojo and meditates. He waits patiently in silence. He inhales and exhales the brisk calming air. He started looking back at all the small moments and memories from his life. He smiles when the faded images of his sons' faces appear around. He could just picture them sitting in front of him playing with their toys or mostly chasing his tail. He still remembers their first words, first steps and first bath after all these long hard years.
Leonardo.
Donatello.
Raphael.
Michelangelo.
They always make his day brighter. They always call, send letters and bring him presents back from somewhere they traveled. His brain pushes those new memories aside and goes back to the old ones. Leonardo at just three years old trying to learn a kata by mocking Splinter's every move. Raphael helping Leonardo overcome his fear of heights. Donatello teaching his brothers' to read and write. Michelangelo hiding in his father's kimono during Hide and Seek with his stealthy oldest brother. Those were some of the most cherished memories. He's just incredibly proud of them. Leonardo is working with Usagi and Ancient One in Japan teaching poor kids to defend themselves in times of trouble.
Donatello works in Chicago with April and Casey to develop their new company, O'Neil Tech. It's a small company now but soon it will be so large it'll have to be in New York City. Splinter always knew that Donatello would build and create great things once he was accepted in the world. His intelligent mind can build anything with limited materials and he can fix anything from computers to an A/C unit in apartment buildings. He's also the most trusted doctor for mutants of all kinds. Splinter couldn't be more proud of his son who finally stopped being shy and decided to come out his shell.
Raphael lives in Boston working on cars and motorcycles for a living. He often visits Splinter during Winter and brings him to Boston. Raphael is also a part-time police officer since he loves taking baddies down. Splinter is very proud of his anger management improvement since his teenage years. As a child, he was also playful and happy like Michelangelo but then right around their fifteenth birthday, he became quite violent. Splinter knew some of it had to do with Leonardo being their clan's new leader.
Michelangelo spends his time going back and forth from California to Florida. He sells his paintings for a living that he creates in Florida. He's also a photographer in California and sends his father tons of pictures. Even though he's matured from his child like behavior, you can still catch him doing something very immature from time to time. His voice is much deeper due to late puberty. Splinter almost didn't recognize him on the phone a couple of days after the change. He reminds Splinter of Raphael in a child like way.
Oh how he misses his sons.
At the lair door, Raphael types in the pass code and walks in. He takes a deep breath and sighs happily. He could see faded images of his teenage self wrestling on the floor with Mikey or arguing with Leo. Ten years had went by so fast and he could hardly believe it's been that long since he's seen his brothers. Sometimes he would catch himself missing Leo's lectures, Mikey's pranks and even Don's science talk when he was sitting on a roof under the Boston night sky. Heck, he even misses that bonehead Casey and mother hen April.
He walks up to his old room and sees his old hammock covered in dust. His Nightwatcher uniform was hanging behind his door. He smiles at the picture on his nightstand of his family. He ran his dark green fingers over the holes engraved in the wall from his sai. His punching bag was leaning in a corner. Some of his limited edition motorcycle magazines were covered in plastic next to his hammock. He remembers being sent in there after having a massive fight with Leo a billion times. He misses his brothers so much. The fights they had, the battle scars they received from watching out for each other, the laughs, the cries and even the times they hung out together had somehow taken ten long years to bring him back. Ten years since the split. Ten years since they spent their last Christmas together. 'Too long. It's time for a change' Raph thought while heading downstairs to wait on his brothers. He decided to take a small nap on the familiar lumpy brown couch. He uses his brown jacket as a blanket and drifts off to sleep.
An hour later…
"Hello! Anybody here?" Leo calls. No answer so he walks in the living room and hears snoring. He looks over the couch and smiles at his lawnmower of a brother sleeping. He gently taps him on the shoulder. Raph yawns and sits up. He rubs his eyes and smirks before giving his oldest brother a friendly handshake. "Fearless leader" he says as Leo hugs him. "One and only" Leo chuckles before letting him go. They grab water bottles out the fridge and sit down in the kitchen to talk for a bit. Donatello walks in on the phone with his client's husband.
"Casey, she's just having contractions. Give her what she wants and she will not carve your liver into a shot glass" Don chuckles. He finishes the call and put his phone away. He was wearing a gray t-shirt and dress pants. He heard laughing and talking from the kitchen so he peeks in with a smile. Leo and Raph automatically tackle him into a super tight hug. "Hey guys I need to breathe" he grunts. They let him go and smile. "Sorry Don" they chuckle in unison.
After talking for a bit, they decided to hang out in the living room for a bit. All three had just discussed plans about hanging out more instead of working on holidays. Raph looks at them and frowns. "What's wrong?" Leo asks as Raph paces back and forth in front of his older brothers. "Something's missin "he grumbles. "More like a certain someone we know" Don says with a grin. "I wonder who" Leo snickers. "Mikey" they all say with a shake of their heads. "You guys think he's still the same?" Don mumbles. "Mikey will always be the same old knucklehead we know and love" Raph says. Leo nods and pats Don on his shoulder with a friendly smile.
They suddenly hears wheels rolling around the tile floor. They all stand up and whip around to see their lovable baby brother coming in the room with that typical smile. He stops in front of Don and hugs him. Leo groans when Mikey hugs him playfully and Raph rubs his knuckles across his head playfully. "So what's up?" Mikey asks with a sparkle in his blue eyes. He wore an orange t-shirt , denim shorts and gray sneakers. "When did your voice get deeper?" Leo asks as Don tries to snap Raph out of his shocked expression. " A year ago or so" he chirps.
Raph couldn't believe his ears. His baby brother's voice is almost as deep as his. Mikey smiles and pokes Raph repeatedly. "You ok, Raphie-boy?" he asks. "Yep, just don't expect to treat you different cuz you hit puberty" Raph snorts making Leo and Don chuckle. Mikey sticks his tongue out at him and dashes off as Raph chases him around the couch. "Some things never change" Don says as Leo shakes his head and sighs. Master Splinter walks in with a smile and clears his throat to gain his sons attention. Mikey looks at his father and immediately puts on his brakes. Raph crashes into him sending them sprawling towards the floor.
Master Splinter walks over to them with his signature cane and smiles. "Sorry sensei" the rambunctious two say with innocent yet apologetic smiles. "My sons, please head to the dojo. We must discuss something important" he says before walking into the dojo . Mikey jumps up and begins to walk away until Raph trips him then smirks on his way to the dojo with Leo. "You two seriously havent changed a bit" Donnie whispers on the way in the dojo with Mikey.
Their sensei was sitting in the middle of the room with four candles surrounding him. He watched them sit around him and smile at him. They each sit in indian style. "Is there something wrong, Master?" Leonardo asks with a slight worried tone. "My sons, I have something very important to discuss with you" Sensei says.
'Maybe he wants us to move back in with him. I wouldn't mind' Leo thinks.
'He probably wants us to spend more time with him' Raph thought.
'I bet he misses my famous pizza that I made him for Christmas' Mikey thinks with a small smile
"I hope he isn't getting sick being down here without us' Donnie worries.
"My sons, I am afraid my journey with you ... is coming to an end" Master Splinter says with a sad sigh.
He could hear his sons hearts stop. He just picture the look on their faces. He remembers seeing big fat tears roll down Michelangelo's face after getting hurt, Leonardo's eyes well up with tears after failing down complete a kata , Raphael's angry tears and Donatello's frustrated tears. He always hated seeing them work hard on something then give up after a couple bad tries.
He watches each one of them sniff tears back.
Michelangelo runs out the room in tears. Leonardo wipes the small tears away. He wants to be strong for his little brothers. Donatello could feel Raphael's rage starting to appear.
"WHAT?!"
He could sense the hurt and pain in his brother's tone. He knows his baby brother is having a panic attack so he gets up to go comfort him. Splinter could sense the sadness in his baby's spirit. "M-master I'm sorry I let you down" Leonardo says quietly as he helps his father stand up. "My son, it is not your fault nor your brothers. My body is slowly breaking down. It is simply a trait of growing old" Master Splinter says as he wipes his oldest son's tears away. "Come my sons. We must comfort your younger brother at his time of grief" Master Splinter says as Leonardo hugs him along with Raphael.
Michelangelo was sitting on the bridge over the large pool. He was hugging his knees and rocking himself. His older brothers sat next to him and rub soothing circles on his shell. "Mikey , you wanna talk about it?" Donatello whispers. Michelangelo shook his head and hugged his oldest brother. He was just too overwhelmed with all the new grief he's feeling. He hasnt been this sad since Klunk's death after Valentine's Day. Master Splinter just let his own tears roll down his furry face. His sons ran over and hugged him like when they were scared children during a loud thunderstorm.
He remembered watching Donatello read to Leonardo. He remembered watching Michelangelo and Raphael splash each other in the bath tub. He even remembered the day he gave them their names,weapons and masks. He watched it all flash through his eyes as he fainted in their arms.
His children's arms.
They put him in his bed soon after. Leonardo called Professor Honeycutt and Leatherhead. Raphael immediately dialed Casey's number while Michelangelo contacted The Daimyo and Usagi. The next morning, Leonardo watched Donatello check their father's pulse. Nothing. Donatello sighs and pulls away from their father with a sad sigh.
"Leo"
"Don is he...?"
"H-he's gone Leo... He's gone"
Leonardo couldn't fight the sadness. He immediately fell to his knees in tears. Donatello hugged him and mourned silently along with his big brother. Mikey peeked into the dark room with Raph behind him. He sniffs and watches Don cover their father's lifeless body. He looked at Raph and busted into tears. Raph hugs him and whispers soothing words to him. April and Casey walked in. April hugged Leonardo as tight as she could without hurting her unborn let Don cry on his shoulder.
Later on that day, they took the body to a small park near a pond with little ducks swimming in it happily as it rained down on them from the heavens. Casey cautiously placed the body in the tomb. Each of the turtles took a shovel and covered it back up with soil. Leonardo held a blue flower and placed it into the soil first then whispers " Good bye Master".
Raphael decided to go next with his red flower and placed it next to Leonardo's. He whispers "See ya later Master Splinter".
Don placed a purple next to the red one delicately. "Good bye father" he says before sobbing into Leonardo's plastron.
Raph helped Mikey place his orange flower down. "Bye Dad" he whispers before hugging Raph tight. They each took a last look at the tombstone .
It read in beautiful cursive:
Here lies a powerful yet gentle man with a courageous spirit and a giant heart.
Master Splinter lives on forever in the hearts of his loved ones.
Master Splinter
Father.
Master.
Leader.
Guardian.
Protector.
Rest In Peace.
END