Hello Fanfiction users! Here is another story from me and this time I'm writing for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! I will point out that this story was inspired by another story and drawing that goes with it, so if you want to take a look please check out the links at the bottom of the page :)

Enjoy the story :D

Disclaimer - I don't own TMNT, they are owned by Nickelodeon since this takes place in the 2012 series :)

"First thing tomorrow, we're gonna start training again, you and me, I'll have you on your feet in no time bro,"

Leo smiled gratefully at Raphael's promise to help him start training first thing. It hadn't been long since he'd woken up from what apparently was a three month coma and Leo couldn't wait to start moving around again. When he'd woken up all his muscles felt tight and tired, he could tell he'd been in a constant position for a long period of time, though he didn't put much thought into it until his brothers had helped him downstairs and told him the actual time span.

"You should probably get a good night's sleep then if you're going to start training first thing tomorrow morning," Donnie suggested, putting away his equipment in his bag and looking his eldest brother over a final time, wanting to catch any little hint that he was experiencing discomfort or pain. Hopefully the mutagenic medicine would help and start to work while he slept.

"I've been sleeping for the past three months, I need to stretch my legs a bit first," Leo countered, though everyone could see the worn look still on his face even if he didn't want to see it himself.

"Alright, but we're not leaving you on your own," Leo smiled good-naturedly at his second youngest brother. Whether the request was made because it was medically required or the fact that the three of them seemed particularly clingy tonight, Leo wasn't going to protest to anyone's company. He nodded in agreement and started to bring himself up, only to nearly fall back down on the sofa again, had Raph and Mikey not caught him under the arms and lowered him slowly.

"Take it easy bro," Raph warned, "You've only just woken up, your muscles are gonna be a little stiff," The eldest brother nodded again, face grimacing with the pain that shot up his leg and through his body. He'd be prepared this time.

Two pairs of hands on his shoulders kept him from getting up this time and though he tried to glare at Raph and Mikey, he knew they were only trying to look out for him. Even though that was supposed to be his job.

"I'm okay, I know what to expect this time," He reasoned. Mikey removed his hand from Leo's shoulder, but kept close by, his hands a little way in front of him so he'd be ready to catch his bro should he fall again. Raphael however, did not remove his hand, determined that his only older brother not even contemplate falling again.

Sighing tiredly, Leo resigned to the fact that he wasn't going to be able to get up anytime soon, not with three over-protective younger brothers all standing around. He slumped into the sofa, relishing in its softness compared to the bathtub, deep blue eyes closing as he shifted further into Raph's one handed embrace. The red-banded turtle saw what Leo was doing and move his hand to the opposite shoulder, giving a proper one armed hug to the eldest.

"What have you guys been doing while I was asleep then?" Leo asked, not even opening his eyes and he focused on his breathing to try and placate the dull pain still coursing through his leg. He didn't like the word 'coma' and so chose to think of it as a long sleep, his brother's seemingly happy to do the same.

"All sorts really," Mikey began, sky blue eyes brightening slightly as he got to talk about how good they had been since coming to the countryside, "We've still been training," At that Leo smiled again, glad that they'd been responsible enough to keep up training,

"And Donnie's set up a new lab in the barn," the eldest couldn't help but chuckle softly at that, Don couldn't go anywhere without having some sort of place to tinker,

"And we've been doing a few chores around the house, though probably not as much as we should have done," they all blushed slightly as though caught red-handed doing something they shouldn't by a parent, but Leo didn't notice,

"I've been feeding the chickens every day," the youngest started going through all the names he'd given the chickens based on their personalities, checking off each one on his hands.

April had excused herself and Casey during Mikey's recount and both went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate for them all. They came back in as Mikey named the last chicken and handed out four mugs of hot chocolate. Leo sat up to accept his mug, thanking April for the drink. He blew on it a few times before consuming some, the warmth of the drink settling happily in his stomach and a welcomed taste after the disgusting medicine Don had given him.

Still half-listening to Mikey talk, Leo swirled the contents of the mug around, the warmth now in his hand making him realised that the rest of his body was actually a bit cold. Despite being cold-blooded he still shivered minutely. It was enough to catch the attention of their resident doctor however, and Donnie immediately pounced on the eldest's discomfort.

"You cold Leo?" Donnie knew he was, but was polite enough to ask first. He would get Leo a blanket either way. He was surprised when Leo actually confessed to being cold, apparently he wasn't in the mood to argue with Donnie's doctor side and was allowing him to care for him without a fuss.

"Alright, I'll go get a few blankets for you,"

"One would be fine Donnie," But the purple banded turtle was already walking out the room. Raph was just as concerned, he shifted closer to Leo and tried to pull him back to his side to give him warmth from his own body, but Leo refused.

"I'm okay, I'm not that cold, it was just a little shiver,"

"Little or not, we're not taking any chances," Raph spoke with firm determination, green eyes steely with resolve. Leo shook his head, but again smiled good-naturedly. His brother's didn't mean any harm.

Donnie came back with about three or four blankets and tried to force them all on the blue banded brother, but Leo wouldn't take them all. Brown eyes glared down at Leo, but with a sigh Donnie pulled one of the blankets from the pile and gave it to Raph, who proceeded to put it around Leo's shoulders, pulling it firmly but gently so the ends rested in the middle of his plastron.

Leo looked intently at the blanket he was given noting that the design was very familiar, "Is this a Space Heroes blanket?" He'd placed the forgotten mug on the table and was now fingering the blanket around him.

"Yeah, found it under the seat of the party wagon," Raph confirmed, smiling as he knew how long it had been since Leo had even thought about Space Heroes, let alone watched it.

"Thanks," the eldest mumbled, smiling to himself as he allowed fond memories of the show and watching it with his brothers to fill his mind.

Mikey watched Donnie and Raph help Leo with the blanket when a thought crossed his mind. He beamed when an idea formed and clumsily bounded over to the window to peer out. He had apparently seen what he wanted, for he then excitedly bounded back over to his brothers.

"What?" Leo asked, having not seen Mikey so excited in a while.

"I wanna show you something outside!" He replied eagerly.

April frowned, "I don't think you should take Leo outside right now, not at night,"

Mikey pouted, "Why?" he whined, sky blue eyes full of hurt. No one ever seemed to like his plans.

"Because it gets really cold at night and Leo's only just woken up, he needs a chance to recover before you expose him to the cold, I mean he's cold in here and we have a fire going, a blanket covering him,"

Mikey interrupted however, "So we'll give him some more blankets, and and all three of us will be right next to him to keep him warm,"

April opened her mouth to protest, but Leo cut her off, "It's alright April, I'd like to see what Mikey wants to show me," he said kindly, thanking her for her concern. April took one look at the tiredness in the deep blue eyes and thought it best not to argue, it was the last thing Leo needed right now.

While Leo was occupied with talking to April, Mikey had quickly told Donnie and Raph what he had planned and they smiled knowingly. Nodding, Donnie told Mikey to help Raph bring Leo out while he carried out the blankets.

Before Raph could even put an arm around Leo to help him up however, Mikey spoke up again, "Wait, put a blindfold on," He was still smiling broadly, it clearly being hard for him to contain his excitement and delay the surprise any longer, but forcing himself to.

"A blindfold?" Leo quizzed, brow furrowed in a mixture of confusion and curiosity. Mikey nodded eagerly, and rushed off to get something. The youngest returned with Leo's blue bandana in his hand, tying it around Leo's head so that the eye holes and knot were at the side.

Trusting his brothers implicitly, Leo felt Raph sling his own arm over the younger's shoulder and put his other arm around his waist, Mikey doing the same on his other side. They helped him stand up, but the moment he tried to put the slightest pressure on his right leg he couldn't help but gasp as pain once again shot up his leg. Leaning only on his good leg, Leo was prepared to hop along to see what the youngest wanted to show him, but his brother's wouldn't let him.

"I'll carry ya," Raph said gently in his ear, and before Leo could protest the younger had lifted him off the ground, arms under his carapace and legs, and was carrying him. Sighing in defeat, Leo put his arms around Raph's neck and rested his head on his shoulder.

He felt Don lay a hand on his forehead as though double checking that he hadn't missed anything when he'd checked Leo over the first time, but soon removed it in favour of carrying the other blankets.

Mikey skipped over to the front door and pulled it open for Raph and Donnie to step through. Leo shuddered visibly when the coldness of the night hit his already cold and weakened body, unconsciously snuggling into Raph's hold. He felt Raph walk down the stairs of the porch and across the grass before stopping.

His sharp hearing told him that Donnie was unfolding a blanket to put on the ground before Raph gently began to lower Leo onto it. He could hear the crickets chirping not too far off and the owls hooting in the trees as night had truly settled in.

Leo was instantly wrapped in what he recognised as the Space Hero's blanket, the soft material warming his battered body slightly. Another blanket was draped over his legs and another particularly large blanket covered his entire body in another layer of warmth.

What made him feel better though was when his brothers all joined him on the ground. Raph sat directly behind him, even going so far as to pull him onto his lap so he could wrap his arms around his older brother as though frightened he would freeze to death without it. Donnie and Mikey sat to his sides, Donnie sitting close by and Mikey lying down with his head in Leo's own lap. The eldest smiled genuinely as he thought back to when they were younger and Father had planned family nights for them. He often ended up with more than one brother snuggled to his side, especially when they had just watched a scary film.

"You ready Leo?" Mikey asked from his lap.

Leo chuckled quietly, "You bet,"

Donnie reached over to untie to knot in the blue mask and removed it slowly. Leo blinked his eyes open and looked around. He saw the forest in front of them, the tree branches swaying slowly in the wind. He saw his brothers around him and the blankets covering him. He did not however, see the so called surprise. Looking down at Mikey, the youngest could only smile and point up. That was when Leo saw for the first time what his brothers had planned.

Deep blue eyes widening, Leo gaped and audibly drew breath at the spectacular sight before him. The night was clear and without the smog from the city, Leo could see for the first time the bright lights of nature that shone brightly. The stars twinkled in the dark sky, seemingly even brighter than usual, as though they knew that this was a special occasion and should show themselves off.

"Whoa," Leo exclaimed quietly, eyes trying to take in every single star that shone, memorising their places even though he knew there were too many to do so.

"They're beautiful,"

"And they're real," Raph said, "Not in a cartoon,"

Leo nodded distractedly, still in awe at the astonishing sight before him.

Donnie smiled at his older brother, "Didn't you say you'd studied star constellations?"

Leo turned to his second youngest brother, "Yeah," he said thoughtfully, his gaze returning to the night sky as he sought out the symbols he'd learnt about.

"There," he said finally, pointing to a cluster of start to their right, "See the four little stars in a line," His brothers looked and nodded, "And the two stars either side of the second star in the line,"

"Yeah, what's is called?" Don asked,

Mikey shot up from his place in Leo's lap exclaiming, "Hey, I'm in charge of naming stuff!"

Leo laughed, "I know Mikey, but they already have names," Mikey pouted for a moment, but soon looked back at his eldest brother expectantly.

"It's called Cygnus,"

"Doesn't that mean swan?" Donnie asked

"Yeah, 'cause if you look, it kinda looks like a swan,"

The brothers nodded, vocally affirming that it did. "Know any more constellations?" Mikey asked.

"I know one," Raph commented, his brother's looking at him in confusion.

"Master Splinter showed it me a little while ago, its," The red banded turtle started scanning the sky for the particular constellation he was looking for, "There," he finally said, pointing towards the skyline in front of them.

"There's seven stars that make up the head and four that make up the body, two or three stars for each leg and two for the tail," Leo looked closely at what Raph was describing and when he realised which constellation his brother was referring to he couldn't help but smile as a tear came to his eye.

"What's is called Raph?" Mikey asked

Raph grinned at his brothers, arms tightening around his older brother, "It's called Leo, and it's supposed to look like a lion,"

Both younger brothers laughed. Of all the stars that shined brightly tonight, the stars in Leo seemed to shine the brightest. Leo snuggled into his brother's embrace, fighting to stop the tears that had formed in eyes from falling.

"Well it suits," Mikey said, "Master Splinter always said that Leo was as strong as a lion,"

"Not much anymore," the eldest mumbled softly, his eyes downcast as he stared at his lame leg.

"Hey don't you even start!" Raph almost yelled, shaking the turtle in his arms fiercely, though mindful of his injuries.

"You might not be at the top of your game right now, but your strong in other ways bro," Raph forced Leo to look up at him, Don and Mikey, "And it's that strength thats kept us going for so long,"

Leo smiled a small smile, tears finally falling down his cheek as his brothers moved in closer for a group hug. Mikey wiped the tears from Leo's cheek and grinned reassuringly.

"Don't worry bro, you'll get better" he said quietly.

"Thanks," was the happy rely and Leo felt hope for the first time since he'd woken up. His fears seemed to disappear when surrounded by his brothers like this.

All the stars seemed to shine brighter as brothers embraced, Mikey pointing up one last time to the sky above them.

"Look, the North star," He pointed directly above them, "It's shining a lot brighter than it was when we first got here," and it truly seemed that way. Leo looked up and took comfort in the lights in the sky.

He knew that they all had a long way to go, but there was hope. Indeed there was lots of hope concealed in the many stars in the sky. Smiling once more as his eyes started to droop, Leo was more than happy to fall asleep right where he was. The last thing he saw before he gave into a blissfully peaceful slumber was his brother's faces illuminated by the brightness of the stars, reminding him that even in the darkest of times, there was always a bright light to give you hope.

Well I hope you guys liked it! :)

This was my first time writing for TMNT and I tried really hard to capture the personalities of the brothers, hopefully I succeeded somewhat!

Here are the links to the story and drawing that Inspired me to write this, you should really check them out :)
art/Only-in-the-Darkness-484982927

art/Only-in-the-Darkness-485003600

That's it for me, if you've got time to review please feel free, I'm always looking for feedback :D