4 ONCE, 4 ALWAYS

*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Hey, guys! I hope you enjoyed my other story, Wish You Were Here. Anywayz, here's another TMNT fic. All characters belong to Mirage Studios, as you probably already know. I hope you like this fic, too. Please review!!

*+*+*+*+*+*+*

"God, why in the hell am I here?" Raphael asked himself. He was walking through the sewers under New York City, a place where he hadn't been in 11 years. He stopped for a moment to look at the wall. There, engraved in big letters, were the words, '4 onse, 4 allways.' Raph remembered that day in the sewers like it was yesterday.

~*~FLASHBACK~*~

"Hey! No! WAIT A SECOND! Mikey!" 8-year-old Raphael yelled at his brother. "That's cheating!"

"No, it's not," Michaelangelo defended himself. "You just don't wanna admit that I beat you."

"That's not true! The only reason you beat me was cuz you cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"STOP IT!" Leonardo shouted. "Raph, face it. He beat you. I was watching the whole time."

"Yeah, but I..."

"No buts about it! We're supposed to be a team remember? And there is no 'I' in team!" Leo crossed his arms, just like Splinter did when he was disappointed with one of the turtles.

Raphael grinned. "No, but there's an 'm' and an 'e'! And besides, I don't have to listen to you. We don't have to be a team. It's not written in stone or anything."

"Yes, it is!" Michaelangelo piped up. "It is too written down on stone!"

Raph rolled his eyes. "Really? Where?"

Mikey scrambled over to one of the sewer's stone walls, picked up a sharp rock, and started to engrave something in the wall. When he was finished, he dropped the rock and moved so the others could see. There, engraved in big, bold letters, was '4 onse, 4 allways.' He stood up, pointed to the words, and grinned.

"Right there."

*+*+*+*+*+*

Raphael felt tears in his eyes as he continued to walk through the sewers.He was coming closer to the place they had once called home. He was almost scared at what he might find. He had no idea what had become of his brothers after they separated when Splinter died.

He started to walk faster until he came to his old home. He stopped at the door, not daring to look inside. Raph closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and walked in. When he opened his eyes, he found 3 tall, bulky creatures, each in their own doorway, hiding in the shadows. Raphael gasped as he realized who they were. His brothers. They stepped forward, looking at him, surprised to see him there. Then, they looked at each other, also surprised to find each other.

After he had fully realized the situation, Michaelangelo picked up a sharp rock, went over to the wall, and, like he did so many years ago, started engraving something into it. When he was done, he moved back, and faced the others with tears in his eyes. Engraved in the wall were those words ...plus a few more:

"4 once, 4 always. AND NOTHING CAN CHANGE THAT."