Inspired from this Zelda fanfic I had read way back about all Links enjoying the afterlife and had random shenanigans. Also, inspired from this SAINW fanfic called "Mist and Shadows". It's here in FF.

"I'm… Sorry…"

"Donnie! Donnie!"

"MIKEY! NO!"

"Ack!"

"Leo! No!"

"Leo! Hah… Ungh..."

He groaned and opened his eyes. There is only vast blue sky. It's been years since the last time he saw the sky that beautiful. It was during their youthful days so many years ago.

Wait.

He can see...

He can see again!

He looked around. He just noticed two sleeping bodies beside him. "Mikey! Raph!" He shook them, causing the two to groan. He felt lighter, he stared at his own chest and arms, and there are no scars anymore. He felt young again. Deep inside, he's been longing to see his family to his own sight again and not by presence.

"Unnghh… Can I have some s'more?" Mike murmured, seemed he is dreaming about food again. Leo shook the two again and they roused.

"... Leo?" Mikey asked while rubbing his eyes. "Why… Why are you here? Where are we?" He looked around. They seemed to be in a field full of flowers and a forest behind them. There is a big white gate in front of them and it's open.

"Mike… Your arm…" Raph pointed out.

Mike stared widely eyed at his left hand. It's there. He can move it like before! He doesn't feel the incompleteness in his body anymore. Raph grinned that he can finally see them using his both eyes.

The stood up and looked at each other before going inside the gate.

"Since we're all here together… Seemed we died in battle then." Raph said.

"Did we win?" Mikey asked.

"I supposed we did…" Leo answered. "I had a feeling we did…"

They walked along the single trail in the forest. The forest is bountiful in fruits and wildlife. It's like paradise.

"I'm glad that I'm able to see you guys before I died…" Mikey said while looking above. "I thought I was going to die alone in my old age. I thought I'm going to die and my brothers still angry at each other… That my family will remain broken." Leo and Raph looked at each other. Mikey never spoke such sentence like that ever since they separated ways. He always remained silent most of the time.

They didn't realize they made their Mikey very broken.

"Well… We are here now." Leo said. "You see us now. We are now together… Here in afterlife, I think."

"Yeah, like Leo said." Raph spoke after.

"This is the part we say our sorry, I guess." Leo said. "I… I know I failed…" He winced. "I know I'm a dishonor… I let the family down… I'm… I'm sorry. I really wish I didn't let Sensei perish that time. I wish I could switch with him, I'm-" Leo's tears are falling from his dark blue eyes. All those bottled up thoughts he wanted to say for so many years had finally been free.

"Ya did the best ya could." Raph leaned on the tree with his arms crossed. "I only thought that… We all be alive after dat because ya know, we always escape danger because of our turtle luck. It ain't right… Sensei bein' dead just like dat. I know I ain't his favorite… I… I always know dat… I'm starting to feel sorry that in the end, I didn't try to be a good son… And a brother... 'Sor-" He stopped speaking when Leo embraced his hot tempered brother. Raph was stunned but isn't able to conceal his tough facade when he heard Leo sobbing.

"Father loved you, Raph… He always did. B-Before he… He said that whatever happens, I must look after you... He doesn't want you to go astray. S-Sometimes, he goes to my dreams to remind me of what I s-should do."

Raph only bowed his head and is shaking. He always felt that Leo is keeping an eye on him for some reason. He always took it as a challenge which leads to more explosive arguments.

Michelangelo smiled.

"So, still brothers?" He said, looking at Leo and Raph, who calmed down after their embrace. The two elder brothers looked at each other and did a fist bump.

"Always."

The little brother squealed and tackled them. Leo gasped while Raph grunted Mikey's name as they tumbled on the grass. The brothers are glad that slowly, their Mikey is going back to his usual goofy form. Mikey only stopped when he just noticed there is a house in the far end of the forest trail. "Look!"

The trio stood up and dusted their kneepads and all. "I wonder who the owner of that is." Leo asked as they walked along towards the house. "Guess we better check it out." Raph continued.

A simple two storey house with a brown roof and fresh lilac flowers around it. They stopped once they saw someone standing at the door. He seems to be expecting them.

"Huh?" Mikey squinted his eyes. The person seemed… Very familiar.

"No way!" Raph shouted. They ran faster and faster.

"Welcome home, guys. I'm… I'm sorry I-... I was gone… B-But I never left you guys… I'm s-sorry-"

"DON!" They tackled the sole turtle. This is their Don, not the Don they had encountered before they died. They savored his scent and form, it's been so many years since the last time they saw him. They thought he died. They missed him… So much. Their Don has many scars like them. He had similarities to the Don they met before. All of them are crying and remained like that for a few minutes.

"Why… Why did you leave us like that?" Mikey hiccupped. "I'm… I'm angry at you!" He sniffed. "You ditched us!"

"Mike… Let me explain…" He held Mikey's arm. Don knew what happened to that left arm before. "Please give me a chance to explain everything." He said as they all stood up.

"You just don't know what happened to us, Don!" Mikey spat out.

"I know… I know what happened… Everything and I will explain how. Just… Please come inside… I expected your arrival." He said. The three just nodded and proceeded inside.

The inside of their house reminded them of their sweet sewer home but this is a lot cozier. Don proceeded to the kitchen to bring some soup to his guests.

"I… I've been waiting for you for so long… I know I had a lot of lacking to your lives… I'm really sorry…" Don looked down.

"What happened, Don?" Leo asked who is less livid than Michelangelo.

Don's breathing hitched. All the past life memories are flashing in his mind. They had the right to now. They became miserable because of him.

Donatello breathed. "I was captured." They gasped but never said a word after.

"I was captured by this military scientist named Bishop…" His breathing hitched again. "He took me to his facility… I…" He hugged himself, wanting warmth. "I was being tortured… So many times… He wanted information about my kind… And… I tried..." His tears are forming. "I didn't say a word… I wanted to protect my family… I remained like that for weeks, all wounded, little food and water… I felt so unsanitary." He sniffed. Raph went beside him and cradled his head to his shoulder to calm him down. "These… S-scars… Came from him… It's too great… T-That I still carry it till my afterlife… It didn't h-heal like yours for so many years… I… I can't detect S-Sensei for guidance… I feel so lost… I tried to escape many times… But they caught me a-again… They punished me once more..." Leo went beside him to rub his shell.

"He asked me… One last time where my family is..." Don breathed out. He can remember bit by bit of endless pain he endured. "I… I told him… That he should kill me because… I will not say anything… He..." Mikey's eyes widened and starting to cry, he barely imagined the things his purple banded brother had to get through. "I barely b-breathe… Anymore… I can't detect my family… I tried m-meditating… I tried… I tried to fight… Then I just realized… T-That I lost all hope."

Mikey went and wiped Don's tears with his thumbs. Raph looked away as little tears are threatened to fall. Leo just let his emotions fall. Mikey is being a big mess as he now understood what happened. This is not the time to hide anything anymore. "He… He stabbed me… Many times… I saw my b-blood… All over the floor… I felt dizzy after… I felt agonizing pain… I kept my word… Till the end." He wailed but he felt his brothers' arms around him. "Then… Slowly… I slowly… Died. But my family is safe… That's all that matters."

"P-Please forgive me… I'm not strong enough… To come back… I tried… I tried." Don continued to cry, vivid memories are stuck in his head. He felt the every stab the scientist did to him. He winced and wailed. The three took hold of him tight. Don's breathing returns to normal after a few minutes. He heard whispers of "its okay… It's okay." Leo, Raph and Mikey looked at each other and nodded. Raph and Leo lifted the emotional Donatello upstairs. Don panicked and looked at them. Then he realized was being laid on the bed and they didn't leave. He learned that they went up for a larger space to lie down. Mikey returned with a glass of tea to calm Don, as this is always Sensei's remedy for their depressive days.

"T-Thank you…" He muttered. Mikey aided him to lift the cup as his hands are too shaky to hold it firmly.

"Now, calm down. We learned your story now… And we thank you." Leo said and continued rubbing his shell. "It's not easy to all of us… But learning that, he is going to pay in what he did."

"And it's bullshit ya are weak." Raph said. "Ya are stronger than ya think. Heck, ya got one hell of a spirit, Don."

"We are here now." Mikey said, iterating what Leo had said before in the forest. "You see us now. We are now together… Here in afterlife, I think…" He smiled as Leo smiled at the exact sentence he had said before. "I'm sorry for what I had said…"

"It's… It's okay… You had the right… I left you, guys."

"But not in purpose… You are being captured… We are sorry, that we throw all the anger and frustration to your name…" Leo said.

"I… I know that… I saw everything that happened." Don reassured.

"By how?" Mikey asked. Don stared at him tiredly.

"I think Don needs to rest for a while… I'm pretty beat as well..." Raph yawned.

All of them stayed beside Donatello. They all remembered they slept like this when they were tots, or when someone is ailing or sad. Don sniffed and smiled. He closed his eyes. His heart is now at ease. He synchronized his breathing by theirs.

He had the best sleep after almost thirty years of waiting.