Author's Note:

This was initially a prompt on Deviant Art, where we were challenged to write a story focusing on a festival. I've always felt the appeal of Diwali, here in the Caribbean it's an important holiday for Guyanese. It's amazing and fun, full of family bonding moment. And so I thought, what if I gave the turtles that opportunity? Starting with some good-cute Caseynardo development, then bonding between the brothers. It ought to be a family fic, not too long, but full of fluff. Don't know where it's heading, but I'd be honored to have you guys in for the ride.

Disclaimer: Some Caribbean culture is extremely different from Original Indians, and I do not wish offense upon anyone. This is a fanfiction and I do not own anything.

With that said, please, have a light time:

Living like a ninja ingrains instinct into you that even near-death experience can't shake off. Yearning for rest when every slight sound makes you near-bolt to the nearest cover. Where every leaf blown against the window forces your heart into double beats, and every owl hooting makes your mind jump to conclusions that some enemy or the other lurks just outside waiting to ambush your unsuspecting family and force you to make another self-sacrificing decision that would bring you this closer to the brink of death- as if you weren't courting your own demise every day.

Or... Leo could just summarize it as a cruel case of insomnia.

The turtle lay in his too-soft bed, staring up at ceilings that could use a good dusting to get rid of the cobwebs threatening to trickle more dust into his eyes. He didn't wear his mask that night- Donnie wouldn't let him. And although the eldest turtle had unwavering appreciation in his brother's concern, he couldn't deny that being on the receiving end of all this smothering was enough to choke him into boredom.

The turtle narrowed his eyes, hands behind his head and rejecting the fluffy pillow that he didn't know what to do with it. There had to be at least four pillows on the bed already- and another four on the floor, complements of one annoyed turtle kicking them off. The sheet was there too, and Leo was well on his way to ripping off the blanket bundled around his feet and throwing it out the closed window.

He was tired. He was alert. He was tired of sleeping. For shell's sake- Leonardo was a ninja, a thriving one if he did say so himself- one that needed constant action because it was ingrained into his life for such a long time, that it was pure torture to be forced to lay in bed. So what if he nearly died three days ago? He had near-death experiences before! And every single time, Donatello would give him a lecture and force him to take medicine- disgusting thing really that Leo would rather live without; Raphael would put him in bed and make sure he stays in bed- touching really, but too stifling; and then there was Mikey- if Mikey tried feeding Leo one more darn thing, the turtle was going to purposely play dead just to emphasize on Raph's point that Mikey was going to make him burst. Then April- April was the worst. She was the one who literally forced the entire family to journey to the farmhouse in the first place- why Master Splinter agreed, was something Leo would never want to understand. But his brothers were enjoying their vacation. And that's one advantage to this horrid 'rest' of his.

The coddling was always nice at first- but Leo liked to be independent. There's only so much a leader can take before he starts to dread Raph popping up every ten minutes to make sure he hadn't left the bed. And Leo could already predict just what times in the night Donnie would 'sneak' in and try to administer some antibiotic for Leo's wounds. Leo could heal himself- Master Splinter could heal him too, but the cruel master had decided to let his eldest recover the long, painful and boring way. Almost as if he expected Leonardo to learn that getting injured on almost every adventure was something he could stop.

Leonardo rolled his eyes, drifting his attention to the tree outside his bedroom window. Master Splinter meant well- but even he should understand that if it meant his family surviving relatively unscathed, Leo would take near-death every single time. That, he wouldn't mind doing. Even if Leo wasn't their leader, his role as the big brother wouldn't let him see his brothers hurt. He'd rather be the one drinking that horrid medicine than having Don whining about under-dosage. He'd rather be the one under constant scrutiny than having Raph grumble about being fine. He'd rather be the one getting force-fed without a stable appetite than having Mikey complaining about the quality of 'sick food' delivered. Leo'd rather himself get hurt, and he'd do it again and again if he had to. And he knew he will.

But being that noble came with a price- horrible, cruel, painful, terrible, agonizing... The turtle let lose something akin to a whine, "Boredom..."

And almost as if somebody heard him, a sharp tap against the window caught Leonardo's attention. Not bothering with the fact that Leo knew it was merely the tree branch against his window, the turtle leaped from his bed. Feet landing on the pillows and relying on his center of balance to trek across the room without falling- or making a sound. Because he knew a trio of turtles slept lightly just around him. Mikey in the room above, Donnie in the room to his left, Raph to his right and April- April with super hearing- below him. All to ensure he wouldn't escape his room- just like what he was doing now.

But Leo wasn't a ninja for nothing, nimble feet unhindered by armor whisked him to the bedroom window, the hinges recently oiled to smoothly slide open. The cool night air greeted the turtle like an old friend caressing his face, beckoning him to take that last leap into the tree to finally do something with his abused attention-span.

Heightened sense with animal instinct combined with training forced the turtle to catch the flicker of light to the left. Like a candle, leading from the barn-house and calling to Leo like a Willow-O'-The-Whisp to the naive wanderer.

There was no hesitation, the turtle spared no glance to the prison bed, had no qualms against jumping through the window, met no obstacle when he jumped from the tree. And he ran like his life depended on it. Towards the light. Towards the mystery. Towards the excitement. And most importantly, away from the boredom.

It probably wasn't the wisest decision that the leader could have made, but at that moment, minutes after nine on that near-starless night, Leonardo felt as though any decision he could ever make now wouldn't be as punishing as bed-rest. If rest was even the fitting word. Leo couldn't emphasize enough how oversleeping was a horrible decision. He preferred to be doing this- running. Action. Excitement. Even if it was most likely a lantern left on by Don. Or maybe... just maybe, Don was still up doing some technical work.

That thought alone caused the leader to make such a sudden stop that he nearly pitched forward again. Heart racing and breaths unusually loud from that short run, the belief that Donatello would send him right back into that horrible bed- or worse, shove another pill down his throat was enough to have him contemplating walking into the woods.

Leonardo turned to his left, the dark trees blending into the shadows like a badly-lit stage, the lack of stars making it difficult to see just where the forest met the skies. And if it weren't for the lone light in the distance, he would have believed he were dreaming. But his dreams weren't the most pleasant ones, and if this were a dream, some monster- most likely with a metal helmet or pink tentacles- would have already dragged a still Raph away.

The leader snapped his attention back to the farmhouse- pushing those uncannily detailed images down into the depths of his mind. It was too late in the night to think of such- or in his case, too early. They were near-nocturnal. Being ninjas, and turtles at that. Night were when they were alive, and once again Leonardo reminded himself of the utter cruelty his brothers had subjected him to when they locked the bedroom window so he wouldn't escape.

"Leo?"

When did Casey get so sneaky?!

I'd love to hear your thoughts!