After a long silence, Don nervously spoke up. "Mikey?" he said softly, hoping he would get a response.
Mikey sniffled and looked at Don with red, puffy eyes. "Donnie? I…" he gave a confused frown and turned around, noticing his two other brothers. Slowly, Raph and Leo released Mikey's arms from their strong hold.
"Mikey…" Don continued, "…I'm so sorry."
Mikey looked down to Klunk and gave a shaky sigh. He rubbed his eyes and sat back into Raph and Leo, exhausted. "He was my best friend," he whispered. "I didn't wanna lose him."
"Yeah, we know," Leo said. He wrapped his arms around Mikey and pulled him into a hug. Raph and Don nudged closer and did the same.
MIkey whimpered and hugged back tightly. "Why did he have to…" he trailed off with a pained grimace and rested his head on Raph's plastron.
"He was an adult when you found him," Don reasoned gently. "So he probably…passed on from old age." Don knew that Mikey was going to need a lot of support to get him back to his cheerful self, and that it would take time. Raph and Leo understood this as well.
"It's not fair," Mikey said in a gruff voice.
Leo, Raph, and Don couldn't really argue with thier brother on that point, so they stayed silent for a moment longer, still wrapped tightly around the youngest. The three turtle brothers could finally feel Mikey start to relax, and they felt a bit more relieved.
"Why don't we get you some tea and we can discuss a few things, okay?" Leo encouraged. Mikey nodded silently.
"C'mon, buddy," Raph said as he lifted Mikey up. He could still feel Mikey shaking slightly, so he kept a protective arm around him as he and Leo lead their brother to the kitchen.
Don stayed behind to take Klunk into his lab then joined his brothers a few minutes later. He entered the kitchen to see Leo hand Mikey a steaming cup of tea. He sat himself down next to Mikey, with Raph on the other side. Under the kitchen light, Don could finally see the extent of the stress that Klunk's death had on Mikey. His little brother was pale, and the bloodshot eyes stood out from the lighter skin tone. The turtle wore a solemn frown that Don and his brothers did not like at all—they couldn't even remember a time when Mikey looked so miserable; he used to cry a lot as a kid, but this was on an entirely different level.
The room stayed quiet, save for the sound Mikey made when he sipped his hot tea. The three older brothers looked at each other, lost. They had no idea what to say.
It was Mikey who broke the unnerving silence. "Umm…sorry I kinda freaked out," he said. "And thanks for the tea."
"It's okay, Mikey, you don't have to apologize," Don answered, comfortingly squeezing Mikey's shoulder. "We understand."
"And you're welcome," Leo added.
"So…ya wanna talk about Klunk now?" Raph asked awkwardly.
Mikey cast his eyes down to his cup. "Yeah," he replied quietly. "I was thinking that we should find a good place to bury him."
"Okay, do you have anywhere in mind?" Don prodded.
"Well maybe…" Mikey pondered seriously. "You know the park—or not really a park I guess, more like a garden or something—that's near the junkyard?"
Don and Leo looked a bit confused, but Raph had the idea. "Ya mean the one with that big 'ol tree 'n the center of it?" Mikey nodded earnestly.
"Oh yeah, I remember now," Don said.
"Didn't you used to take Klunk there once in a while?" Leo asked.
Mikey nodded again. "Yeah, and every time we went there he always climbed up that tree and…" he started to chuckle a bit, "…and he never was able to come down without my help." Mikey stopped for a moment as fresh tears made their way down his still smiling face. Raph put an arm around Mikey comfortingly, while Don and Leo patted his shell. "I-It was like he knew that I'd always be there for him." Mikey stopped to rub his eyes.
"Well I guess he was a pretty smart cat, then," Leo soothed.
Mikey gave a wide smile at the comment and said, "Of course he was! I could like, always tell he knew exactly what I was saying, and he was an awesome listener. And remember when he coughed up a huge hair ball on Raph's shell-cycle? Totally on purpose, that little rascal."
"Hey, ya said it was an accident that time!" Raph exclaimed, and gave a playful shove.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. Oops," Mikey said with a mischievous grin. And just like that, the tense atmosphere was cleared. Raph, Leo and Don were relieved; they had their Mikey back.
"So, do you want to bury Klunk there?" Don questioned guiltily. He really didn't want to get back to the serious issue, but knew that it had to be dealt with immediately.
Mikey's smile faltered and he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Umm, yeah. I think…I think he'd like that."
"Okay, let's get ready then," Leo said. After giving a reassuring pat on Mikey's head, he motioned to Don and the two made their way out of the kitchen and into the lab where Klunk was.
Raph let Mikey sit in the kitchen for a couple minutes longer before practically dragging his brother out to put on thier street clothes. Finally, the four siblings met at the entrance to the lair in their large coats and hats. Don presented a black, wooden box to Mikey while Leo gave one of the two shovels he was holding to Raph.
Solemnly, the turtles made their way to the garden-like area Mikey had described and finally stopped in front of the large tree. Raph and Leo used their shovels to dig a reasonably sized hole and looked back to Mikey when they were done. They watched as the youngest slowly walked forward and placed the black box into the freshly dug earth. He started to cry a bit, frozen in his crouched position over Klunk's grave. An exasperated sigh sounded from behind him, and without warning Mikey was pulled up into a one-armed hug from none other than his hotheaded brother. Mikey tensed for a second, surprised by Raph's kindness, but held on fiercely as the tears began to flow. Don and Leo smiled fondly at the scene.
"Ya know, Klunk won't like it if ya cry too much," Raph said in an unusually soft voice. "Ain't he the one who wanted ta make ya happy in the firs' place?"
Mikey nodded his head against Raph's shoulder and turned to look back at the grave. He watched as Don placed a couple flowers onto the box he had picked from the garden around them. When Don was done, Leo looked to Mikey with a meaningful stare, and Mikey gave the silent approval. Leo started to transfer the soil back into the hole where Klunk now rested. When Leo was finally done, Mikey slipped out from Raph's arm to place a large stone on the top of the grave. He stood up with his back to his brothers, and said to the small mound, "Klunk, you're my best friend. We did a lot of fun stuff together, and although I got blamed for most of the pranks we did…" Mikey paused to sniffle, feeling his voice waiver, "…I a-always…always loved you m-more than…anything…" he cut himself off so he wouldn't have to cry again, but he felt he had so much more to say. He could probably write an entire book with all the awesome things he knew Klunk was. "I'll never forget you, Klunk. Never ever." Mikey walked back to his brothers and gave a tired smile. "Let's go home," he said.
Mikey lead the way back to the lair as Raph and Don trailed behind. Leo was about to follow his brothers when he hesitated for a moment and took one last look at the grave. He gave a sad smile and whispered, "Thank you for loving our little brother just as much as he loved you. Rest in peace, Klunk." He turned away and quickly caught up with his brothers. "Alright," he said in a loud voice, catching the surprised attention of the three turtles that walked ahead of him, "Why don't we break into that tub of cookies Master Splinter has been hiding in his secret stash?"
Don, Mikey, and Raph looked at their older brother incredulously. "Dude, you…" Mikey said, at a loss for words.
"You know where it is? How?" Don asked suspiciously.
"I have my ways…" Leo replied ambiguously.
"Riiiight," Raph gave a sarcastic frown.
Leo hung his arm around Mikey. "Besides, I think we need a little something to cheer ourselves up a bit."
"I'm not seriously depressed or anything, bro. I'll be okay," Mikey said, a bit self-conscious.
"What if I said Sensei has those snickerdoodles you like so much?" Leo pressed.
Mikey stopped short. "Well why didn'tcha say that before? Let's go!"
Mikey pulled Leo and raced off to the lair, with Raph not far behind, shouting "Ya better not eat 'em all, ya shellhead!"
Don chuckled as he continued his leisurely walk to the lair. He heaved a sigh and said, "I hope Mikey will remember that we're still here, and that we'll always love him too."
FIN