You Should Be Here
Disclaimer - I do not own TMNT or any of the characters therein. Some VERY rich dude does.
Rating - General audiences
Story Warnings - Emotional distress (Don't like these topics? Do not read.)
Pairings - None (Don't like? Do not read.)
Universe - 2003
Ages - Adults
Chapter credits - Inspired by : Song - "You Should Be Here" by Cole Swindell
Summary - Donnie mourns a loss.
You Should Be Here
The day was picture perfect.
The sun was shining. Birds were singing. Flowers were blooming. Big white fluffy clouds floated in a sky so blue it was hard to tell where it ended along the horizon, and the river began.
It was the kind of day he had rarely seen during his lifetime.
He turned his face into the breeze and inhaled deeply. A smile slowly spread across his face.
There was no car exhaust. There was no factory stench. There wasn't the stink of rotting fish from the river. All there was, was clean.
It still shocked him to breath and not smell pollution.
He carefully sat down in the grass. He leaned back against the stone, closing his eyes, and enjoying the tickle of the blades against his skin.
He had only dreamed of days like this as a child.
"I wish you could see this," he said softly. "You would like it."
His laugh was as soft as his words.
"I don't think you'd believe it though. I have trouble believing it, and I lived through it."
He sighed, basking in the warmth of the sun as it soaked into his skin.
"Things are different now. Raph has a chain of fitness centers. Mike owns three comic lines. And I... I do my thing." He paused. "If you'd listened to me, you'd be here doing your thing too."
He felt a flash of guilt at the subtle underlay of anger in his voice.
He inhaled a shaky breath. "Why?" His voice cracked with emotion. "Why didn't you listen to me?"
He struggled to get his feelings back under control.
"This world would benefit from your calm, your wisdom. Even Bishop said so." His laugh was slightly louder this time. "Yeah, Bishop really did become a good guy."
He sat in silence.
"You really should be here, Leo."
Sorrow bubbled up inside him. Tears streamed down his cheeks.
"Damn you for dying on us," he hissed with every ounce of anger he had felt over the years.
He sat, not caring about the tears, not caring about the waning sun, not caring about anything.
As the first stars of the night brightened the sky he heard the quiet scuff of two sets of footsteps coming his way. He didn't move, or say anything as two warm bodies sat next to him one on either side. Two hands reached out, each taking one of his.
"He should be here," he said to neither yet both.
"He is, Don," his brother answered.
A warm breeze blew across the three turtles leaning against the stone.
"He is."
Thanks for reading.