"Not So Bad After All"

"Raphie! Raphie, where are you?!" wailed a distressed Mikey. "Raphie!" He continued walking around, looking everywhere for his brother. "I don't like this game!" Mikey pouted, crossing his arms.

Raph suppressed a snicker as he heard his younger brother's wails. He didn't like Mikey much. He was too energetic, and he always followed Raph everywhere. He was always getting into Raph's stuff too. Just last week, Raph had gone into his room to see that Mikey had broken his toy car. His favorite toy car, to be exact. So today, he had suggested they play 'Hide-and-go-seek', hoping to finally get away from Mikey. Mikey had happily agreed, thinking that Raph finally seemed to like him.

"Daddy!" Cried Mikey. "I can't find Raphie!" He stopped walking and sat down on the floor, crying.

Any light-heartedness inside of Raph quickly vanished once his brother had uttered those five words. Splinter had always tried to get Raph to like his younger brother, and when he found out what Raph had done... He shuddered, not wanting to think of what his punishment might be.

"Yes, Michelangelo?" Asked Splinter as he approached his youngest son, who was sitting on the floor, wiping tears from his eyes.

"I can't find Raphie!" Mikey sniffled. "I'm scared, Daddy! Where is he?" Mikey buried his head in his father's kimono.

Splinter frowned. "Did he say he was going anywhere?" he asked, patting Mikey's head reassuringly.

Mikey whimpered. "N-no! He asked me if I wanted to play 'Hide-and-go-seek' earlier, and I've been looking for him all day!"

Splinter's frown deepened; Raph was not playing a game with Mikey. He was deliberately hiding from him. "Raphael! Get out here now!" He commanded.

Raph cautiously approached from his hiding place. "Y-yes, Daddy?" He asked, not looking at Splinter or Mikey.

Splinter gave Raph a stern look. "Look at me, son." Raph lifted his head to look at his father. Splinter put his other arm around Raph's shoulders. "Raphael, you need to learn to get along with your brother. Michelangelo loves you a lot, so why don't you love him back?"

Raph glared at Mikey. "He's annoying, and he always follows me everywhere! And he keeps breaking my toys!"

Mikey lifted his head to look at Raph. "I said I was sorry!"

Raph stuck his tongue out at Mikey. "Well, you still broke it!"

Splinter sighed. "Raphael, if your brother is sorry, then you should accept his apology and move on. And speaking of your toys, if you don't want him to break them, then maybe I should take them for the rest of the day."

Raph's eyes widened in horror. "No, Daddy! Please don't take them away!" He pleaded.

Splinter shook his head. "If you had been nicer to your brother, then maybe you wouldn't be getting punished." He gave both of them a hug, then went into his room to meditate.

As Splinter left the room, Raph leaned closer to Mikey. "I still don't like you." He hissed before leaving the room.

(3 weeks later...)

"Raph! Where are you going?" Asked Leo as Raph slowly walked over to the exit of the lair. He had wanted to explore beyond their home, and now that Splinter was doing a quick run to his former home, he had decided to go.

"Exploring. Got a problem?" He snapped.

Leo shook his head. "Raph, Splinter said to stay here while he went to the surface!"

Raph pushed past his older brother. "Tough," he snarled. "I'm going, and you aren't going to stop me."

Leo opened his mouth to protest, then shrugged. "Suit yourself," he mumbled.

Raph looked around him as he went, not impressed by what he saw. Pfft. He continued walking, oblivious to the figure following him. He went around a bend, following a large tunnel until the sound of roaring water filled his ears. He stopped, slightly nervous. What was that? He wondered.

He followed the noise until he came to a part of the sewer where the water seemed to be flowing very fast. He needed to watch his step, otherwise he could fall in.

"Whoa! Look at that water!" Cried a voice. "It's going by so fast!"

Raph growled. "Mikey?! You were following me?!" His hands clenched into fists, he took a step towards Mikey, only to scream as he slipped and fell into the raging waters of the sewer. "Help!" He wailed. "Help me, Mikey!" Water rushed into his mouth; he spat it out, despising the bitter taste of sewer water.

"Mikey! Help me!" He cried again, reaching out desperately with his hand. A sudden wave of water washed over him, and the next thing he knew, he was underwater, the strong current buffeting him around. He flailed his arms around desperately, hoping someone would help him.

Mikey was running as fast as his little legs could carry him. He was out of breath by the time he arrived at the Lair. Master Splinter had just returned as well, it seemed. He noticed Mikey's condition and ran over, alarmed. "What is it, my son?"

Mikey gasped for breath. "Raphie... He fell into the water... He needs help!"

Splinter grabbed his son and hoisted him onto his shoulders, hurrying off. He hoped that Leo and Donnie would be smart enough to stay at the Lair while they were gone.

Water filled Raph's mouth and nose; he coughed, unsure how much longer he could last. By now, he had noticed Mikey's absence, and was filled with anger. But most of his anger was directed at himself, not at Mikey. If only I was nicer to him! Oh gosh, why, why, why wasn't I nicer to him?! That's why he's not helping me!

"There he is!" Cried a familiar voice. "Daddy, look!"

Raph flailed his arms again, only to be knocked under the water again. He tried to resurface, but by now, the water had completely reversed his sense of direction; he couldn't tell which way was up and which way was down.

A strong paw suddenly wrapped around him and pulled him to the surface, where he was hoisted onto dry ground. He coughed and spluttered up the smelly water, while his father clambered out of the water and crawled up next to him.

"Raphie! You're okay!" Squeaked Mikey, giving his older brother a hug. Raph started to push him away, then stopped as his father spoke.

"Raphael," said Splinter. Raph turned to look at his father. "What you did was very wrong! You disobeyed me, and almost got yourself killed! If Mikey hadn't followed you here, he wouldn't have been able to tell us what was going on!"

Raph looked at his brother and grinned. "Y-You told them?" He asked. Suddenly, he was starting to like his little brother. "You told them... That I was in trouble?"

Mikey smiled. "Well, of course! We're brothers, aren't we?"

Raph gave his brother a hug. "Thanks, little bro. I love you, you know that?"

Mikey hugged him again. "I know. I love you too, Raphie."

Splinter watched his two sons with happiness bubbling up inside of him. He smiled, then placed a paw on each son's shoulder. "Come. " He said. "It's time we returned home."

As the three of them walked back to the Lair, Raph couldn't help but grin at Mikey. Maybe he's not so bad after all... He thought.