I was inspired again. Actually... more like I just lacked inspiration everywhere else. XD
Peace
Leo examined the rippling reflection of the moon from the end of the pier, legs dangling. He could hear music. Celebrations at the farmhouse hadn't ended yet, the wedding arch over him forgotten. Slipping out had been easy. He doubted anyone noticed.
Didn't matter. Wasn't his night.
He exhaled as a hand fell onto his shoulder. Leo nodded. His father sat next to him. Silence settled, their eyes on the lake's creases.
Leo finally spoke. "It feels like we've passed an important milestone. Like we've reached an end... and a beginning. What happens now, Sensei?"
Splinter bowed his head. "Peace."
Death
Casey always showed up unannounced. Interrupting training. Meditation. Inducing sleepovers. Splinter, although polite and welcoming, was initially wary. First April, now this. At least April didn't break everything fragile (or not) she came across.
Splinter was meditating in his room when Casey knocked. Punched a hole in the door. Invited himself in. Splinter turned.
"Master Splinter, where are-?" Casey stopped. Saw the photograph encircled by candles. "That's your master." Raph must have told him. "He sounded like a real good guy."
"He was," Splinter agreed.
"Good people shouldn't die young." Casey joined him. Squirmed a lot. A nice gesture regardless.
Rebirth
Sometimes it's hard to distinguish what's real, what's not and what was.
He still has flashes. Visions of friends. Family. Of a young boy laughing. Of a beautiful woman in a flowing white dress.
He swims to the shore. Stands in the wedding hut. Everyone seems more real if he does. Like he's getting married again. But when he reaches for her hands, they crumble. Everything crumbles. When he turns, seeking an answer, his best man just smirks. Like he did in the lab a few years later.
The water accepts him. Once a naval officer, now lost at sea.
Patience
When Splinter steps on the metal mess and hears Donatello sniffling, he assumes one of the others are to blame. But when he goes into Don's room and asks, his son cries out, "I did it!"
"Why?"
"Because I'm too stupid to make it work! I failed!"
Splinter sits on Don's bed and draws him into a hug. "You were too impatient, my son. You are not stupid. You are very clever and I am proud of you."
Don rubs his eyes dry, hiccuping. "Do you really think that?"
"Yes," says Splinter. "There is no point lying to a genius."
Children
April falling pregnant presents a challenge no member of the Hamato family was prepared for.
It's like waiting for the birth of a new sibling. Mikey listens to her bump first, a smile spreading across his face.
"I can hear kicking!" he announces.
Casey punches the air. "Aw yeah, he's goin' to be a fighter just like his pa!"
"Or she," April pipes up. "It might be a girl."
"Let's hope it gets your brains," says Raph and everyone but Casey laughs.
He just grins. "Let's hope your kid doesn't get your looks."
Casey realises too late.
No one speaks.