Authors notes- I don't own the TMNT or Splinter, but I do own Karma (my own character, a female mutant ninja turtle).
Yeah yeah, you must be sick of these one shots by now, but I was writing my dad's father's day card and had an idea. What would Splinter's 5 children give to him? Well, read on and you'll see. Various viewpoints.
Life of a sensei.
Splinter
Father's day. Another year where my children compete against other to truly answer the question of who loves me most. And this year, there is another contender, my daughter Karma, who has never before entered such a competition, but is just as eager. Though I know they each love me equally, it does nothing to hinder them in their competition.
I have noticed Michelangelo's confidence at his gift that he has done nothing but boasted about, but never named. I have noticed Karma smiling each time our paths cross and Raphael's awkward acknowledgements. Donatello has shut himself away for hours upon end, but Leonardo is the one who intrigues me. His behaviour has not changed at all, neither has his routine.
All I know that is as much as my children try to show their love towards me, it can never be as much as I love them.
The one thing they always seem to provide more of, is amusement. I never have, and never will tire, of their antics.
Mikey
This year. This is the year. I am going to win. I am going to give sensei the best present ever and by doing something only I can do well. I'm gunna cook for him. I'm gunna cook his very own pizza, with all his favourite toppings, from scratch. So, for now, I get to sit back and relax as my brothers rush around the Lair preparing every last thing. I smirk.
'All I gotta do is get up a little earlier, and make it. And when everybody's giving their presents, I'll put it in the oven and when sensei turns to me, disappointed with everybody else's presents, he'll look at me and say "Michelangelo, please, say that you have given me something more than Raph's crummy gift and Don's hi-tech gadget I cannot even muster the strength to try to understand" and I'll run in the kitchen and pluck the pizza from the oven and say "ta-da!"… no, not ta-da, too cheesy. Umm. Ah, "feast your eyes upon the magnificent Michelangelo's m-… uh, magnificent pizza!". Naw. "Voila" should do.'
Raph rushes past, his face set in his usual grumpy frown.
"Busy bro?" I grin.
"Yeah, need a pen… pen… why the hell can I never find a damned pen when I need one?!" He stops, and looks at me a little puzzled. "Why the hell are you sittin' on yer ass? Ya didn't forget father's day again did you?"
"Nuh-uh Raphy-boy. I'm all planned, all set, yanno… voila!"
Raising an eye ridge at me, Raph wanders off, muttering "pen, pen, pen, damn pens, can't find one when ya need it…"
I chuckle.
'Oh yeaaah, this year, I have it. IN. THE. BAG.'
Raph
'Damn smug Mikey,damn pens, always disappearin'. I bet Brainiac has one.'
I wander off to Don's lab and give his door a knock.
"What?! Who is it?! Don't come in!!"
Clatter, clatter, clank, click.
The door's thrown open quickly, Don standing in it, breathing heavily.
"Uh… hey." I blink a few times. "Got a pen?"
"…A pen? You came to bother me, for a pen?!"
"Uh. Yeah." I rub the back of my neck.
"Ha ha." Don laughs stiffly. "A pen. Ha ha ha. You came to ask me for a pen? Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Stepping back slightly, I get a little edgy at his nervous laugh.
"Don, how long have you been up for?"
"Not long. Not at all. Here, have a pen! In fact, have FIVE!" He disappears quickly, coming back with a bunch of pens just as quick. Thrusting them into my hand, he slams the door once free of them. Raising an eye ridge, I look back at Mikey, completely oblivious to our brother's behaviour.
"Him and his smug grin, sittin' on his ass watchin' TV…" I slump back into the room I share with Karm, cursing the day, other than Master Splinter's birthday, when the whole household goes stir crazy.
Don
Nobody must come in.
'Might steal my ideas. Yes. They're all after me. They're plotting right now I bet. Yes, plotting. Raph will rip the hinges off the door, Mike and Leo will come charging in. They'll hold me down. Pick up my genius device and destroy it bit by bit. It'll be Mikey, no, wait, Leo. He'll slice and dice it. Mustn't give them time to do that. No. Must finish it. Anymore coffee? No, the cup is dry. Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Can't stop. Must finish it.'
I repeat, nobody must come in.
"Donny?"
"DAMNIT!" Once again I throw down my tools, pull myself from the chair I thought had turned into my lower half, and quickly dash towards the door on said unsteady legs. "Y-yes?" My eye twitches as I open the door.
"Coffee." My sister holds out a cup in her hands, smiling.
"Thank- WAIT! YOU'VE DRUGGED IT!"
She blinks back at me.
"Raph moment approaching… Uh, say what?"
"You drugged it. You want to destroy what I've made sensei, I KNEW IT, YOUR EYES TELL IT ALL."
"Don, you haven't been out of there in days, I just thought you could do with some-"
"Sleeping tablets? Poison? Horse tranquillisers?! Hmm?!"
"No Don. Just coffee. C-O-F-F-E-E."
"Well well well…! No thank you!" I shut the door then realise my mistake. I take the cup from Karma's hands. "Thank you." I shut the door once again.
"Coffee, my precious, you would never hurt me."
Nobody must come in.
Karma
I clench my empty hands. I blink. I sigh.
"Is father's day always this crazy for you guys?"
I get no answer from the turtle on the sofa, and hear the mutterings of Don from inside his lab.
'Did he just call coffee "my precious"? That's it. No more Lord Of The Rings marathons for him.'
I shake my head and proceed upstairs where I bump into Leo coming out of his room.
"Hey imouto."
"Hey big bro." I return his smile.
"Everything sorted for tomorrow?"
"Yup. Sorted months ago, I am an organised girl after all. How about you?"
"Yeah, everything's done." He says confidently.
"C'mon, whatcha got?"
"Not telling." Leo begins to descend the stairs.
"C'monnn! I can go Mikey on you."
"He's tried."
"Raph?"
"Raph doesn't care."
"Bullshit." I grin, leaning over the rail. "He's itching to know what you've got."
"I know. I meant Raph doesn't care on the surface." Leo's tone is full of amusement. "You'll have to wait little sister."
"Hmm. Alright. Oh, word of warning, don't even go within a bo staff's reach of Don's lab."
Leo stops on the stairs, and leans over the rail to look up at me.
"Oh?"
"Lack of coffee and sleep makes Don something something."
"Go crazy?"
"Don't mind if he does, just as long as it's not at me again."
Leo smiles and shakes his head.
"See you later Karm."
"Later!" I call out chirpily. Heading into mine and Raph's room, I find the red banded turtle carefully writing in a card. "Hey Raphy."
"Writin'." He simply says.
"…Okay then." I take off my mask and tie up my hair, then sit on my bed. Casually I shift over next to Raph, and try to peek over his shoulder. He moves his larger frame so it blocks the view of what's in the card. "I showed you mine."
"Tough."
"Am I only gunna get one word out of you tonight?"
"Yep."
I ponder.
"Am I the best?"
"No."
"Do you love me?"
"Yup."
"How much?"
"Lots."
I smirk at his responses.
"Hey, I think you spelt 'daddy' wrong."
I bolt out of the door, Raph's roar reaching me at the bottom of the stairs. Giggling to myself, I take a place next to a smug looking Mikey.
'Obviously, I've got the best present.'
Leo
I sit in the dojo on the straw mats reserved for meditating, doing exactly that. The noise ahead of my excited family waking brings me from my relaxed state and I smile slightly. I get up, stretch, and make my way into the Lair. Mikey, already up, comes from the kitchen, looking smug.
"Sensei up yet?" He asks for the fifth time.
"Yes I am, my son." Our sensei, and very devoted father steps from his room, aided by his walking stick, and smiling brightly.
"Would you like some tea sensei?" I ask.
"Thank you Leonardo." He bows slightly.
"I'll do it!!" Mikey rushes off into the kitchen before we can protest.
"Sorry sensei, he's guarded the kitchen with his life all morning."
"Hmm." My father's tail flicks in thought.
"Morning sensei!" Karma says descending the stairs, already in her ninja attire. A rather grumpy looking Raphael follows.
"Mornin'." He greets everybody rather roughly. Both hold brightly coloured squares, and a small package in their hands.
"Good morning my son, my daughter." Another flick of his tail. "And where is Donatello? It is unlike him to be the last up."
I exchange glances with Raph and Karm.
"I'm here!" Don springs from his lab, clutching a brightly coloured square. "Sorry sensei." He bows stiffly, his back cracking as he straightens.
"Good morning Donatello." He says, taking his regular seat in the armchair, us, his children, gathering on and around the sofa. Don slumps into a seat, Raph next to him, whilst Karm and I take an arm. A few moments later, Mikey comes rushing in, carrying a cup of tea.
"Here you go sensei!" Mikey gladly presents the cup, and Master Splinter gratefully takes it.
"Thank you Michelangelo."
"Happy father's day!" He grins, before taking the remaining seat on the sofa, next to me.
"Happy father's day!" The rest of us chime.
"Thank you my children. I am grateful to be your father." Taking a small sip at the tea, he hastily puts it down.
"Sensei, I wish to give you mine first." Karma stands. "I know you haven't been my father for as long, but it doesn't mean I love you any less than the boys."
"Thank you my daughter." He says, taking the small gift and card. Karm bows, then takes her seat again.
Sensei opens her card, carefully made by Karm herself, then the gift, a small homemade candle.
"Sorry it's not much, and April helped me a little."
"Karma, thank you, but I fear this is too beautiful to be used!" He holds the layered candle in his paws, each layer a different colour of green. "I shall display it proudly in my room."
Karm smiles sweetly.
"Domo arigato."
Master Splinter then opens Raph's present, a small book on Japan's history.
"I know ya wanted more books in English ta read, I thought ya'd like it."
"Thank you Raphael, I do. This is very thoughtful of you." Sensei smiles, and proudly props up the red card on the coffee table, next to Karm's green one.
"Uh, sorry sensei, I never got time to wrap your present, I was working too hard on it."
"My son, I am grateful that you have made a gift, and spent so many long hours on it."
"Okay, lemme just go get it." Don bounds off, running back to hand our father his card, then sprints off into his lab. We patiently wait, whilst Don comes back, clutching a silver box.
"What is this?"
"It's a VCR, kind of, except you don't have to put tapes in. You can record all your favourite stories, and watch them at any time you like. I made it all really easy to work."
"You made this all on your own?" Splinter gazes in wonder.
"I just modified a VCR, it wasn't too hard."
"My, Donatello, thank you! I am thoroughly impressed. I appreciate your hard work."
"Thanks." Blushing slightly, Don sits back down. Sensei opens Don's card and smiles, propping it next to Karm's and Raph's.
"Me! My turn! Yay!" Mikey jumps up and bounds off into the kitchen. "Ladies and gentlemen, oh, and you Raphy."
Raph growls.
"Easy boy, you can smack him upside the head later." Karm smirks.
"Master Splinter, I give you the magnificent Michelangelo's marvellous… pizza!" Mikey jumps from the kitchen, and rushes over to his father, presenting proudly a very appetising smelling pizza. "Ta-da!"
"Michelangelo, what a delight! My very favourite pizza, ham and pineapple." Sensei sniffs at the pizza. "And a perfect sized proportion."
"A you sized portion sensei. It's all yours." Mikey grins.
"Thank you my son. I am very grateful. I will have a slice as soon as we are finished here."
"Okay sensei, I can put it back in the oven for a few minutes anyway." He rushes back into the kitchen, and as he returns, eager eyes fall on me.
"So…?" Raph breaks the silence.
"What?" I ask.
"What have you got Master Splinter?"
"Nothing." I shrug.
"Nothing?!" My siblings echo.
"His favourite child doesn't need to get him anything." I crack a grin and they all roll their eyes at me. "It's in the dojo sensei, hang on."
I wander off, collecting the present, then return. With a 'happy father's day sensei', I hand him the present and sit back down. Clutching the long, white cylinder, Master Splinter delicately unties the blue ribbon keeping it in it's shape. He carefully unravels the present, soon becoming apparent that it's a scroll. My three brothers and sister sit on the edge of their seats, eagerly waiting, watching.
"Leonardo." My father lowers the scroll. "This… this is breathtaking."
"What is?!" Mikey pipes up.
"C'mon, spill it sensei, what did he get ya?"
"Tell us!" Karm says excitedly, Don nodding in agreement with her statement.
"This my sons, my daughter, is the story of Yoshi and Tang Shen's love, written completely in Japanese." He turns it around to face his children. Karm sighs contently, Mikey's jaw drops, Raph's frown reappears and Don hangs his head. "Thank you, my son."
"Thanks a lot Leo." Raph gets up and huffs off into the dojo.
"And I thought I'd won it." Mikey mutters, wandering into the kitchen.
"If anybody wants me, then I'll be in my room, sleeping." Don mumbles and proceeds to slump upstairs.
"How beautiful." Karm smiles. "Until next year big bro, happy father's day, father." She gets up, pats me on the shell then shares a hug with her father, finally retiring to her room.
"What did I do?" I frown, broken by the chuckle escaping my father.
"Domo arigato, Leonardo."
"Happy father's day, father."