Chapter 3

Of Talks and Interruptions

Leo P.O.V

It had to be around five in the morning, but ever since his return to New York, his body clock had been thrown out of sync – be it the change in environment, or the new experience of being a father – and it meant Leo had grudgingly taken change of Miwa first thing in the morning, allowing Karai to get some rest. And that was the reason he was now in the dojo.

After the first night home, the eldest turtle had awoken at the early hour and taken the dozing Miwa out to the pit so not to disturb his family – however, once the child had decided it was time to awaken, her constant babbling and sliding about the floor had caught Splinter's attention so he told his son that two mutants could spend the morning in the dojo, where the carpeted area would minimise the noise of the child.

Since helping Karai regain her sanity, Leo barely had time for excessive training sessions, so these free hours allowed him time to return to his old way of life, however, with every couple of steps, two small arms wrapped around one of his legs and occasionally, a couple of teeth found their way into his skin, making him wince.

The third time this happened, Leo had to abandon his kata and knelt down next to Miwa, her blue eyes narrowed slightly.

"Play." She demanded, opening her mouth slightly, revealing her teeth. Leo smiled. At only a year old, his little girl already understood how to try and get what she wanted. Unfortunately her father was a ninja – and a stubborn one at that, so was not so willing to give in so easily.

"What do you want, little one?" He teased. Miwa crossed her arms and raised her tail, her fangs growing slightly – all clear signs of annoyance.

"I wanna try." She hissed, "Me wanna be a ninja!" Leo chuckled and put his hand upon her head, allowing her to nuzzle into it.

"One day, Miwa. You'll be a great ninja." In an instant the fangs vanished and a smile returned, "I promise you, I will make sure you are the best ninja the Hamato clan has ever seen." Leo felt his heart melt a little as his daughter – his own flesh and blood – grinned, her tiny face splitting into a wide smile as her eyes sparkled in pure happiness at the promise.

"Train!" Miwa's smile straightened, and before Leo could react, his daughter had thrown her entire weight into his plastron, causing him to topple backwards and land ungracefully on his shell with Miwa's form sitting happily on top of him. Before he could help himself, Leo found himself laughing – which, admittedly, wasn't the best response from the attack for the year old took it as an encouragement to continue playing rough – beginning to punch her father in the chest plates with small giggles of her own.

"You little –" The leader grunted as the fists bounced off his front harmlessly, and returned a couple of taps of his own to his daughter, joining her in her laughter.

"Now that's something I've missed." A voice from the side of the dojo caused Leo to spin his head round quickly – worried that he'd woken someone, yet the grin on his brother's face told him there was no grudge for the noise. Sitting up, clutching Miwa close to his chest so not to knock her to the floor, Leo sat up and as soon as he released her, the half snake, half turtle returned to punching her father.

"Missed what?" Leo replied with a grin, "The laughing or the fact I'm getting beaten up by someone smaller than me?" He teased, nodding to Raph's height. Thankfully, said turtle took the joke the right way and moved over to Leo's side. The eldest corrected his daughter's stance as she continued her game and Raph laughed.

"Both." He looked down at Miwa, who paused long enough to get a look at her uncle before returning to attacking her father. "I'm sorry I haven't come to talk yet, but I'm still…" Raph shrugged, "I mean… Shell, Leo – one of my brothers is now a father?" The eldest looked up and was relieved to see that his brother's eyes were light and accepting rather than disproving.

"And you're an uncle." He pointed out, taking Miwa's hands in his own so the little fighter wouldn't hurt herself.

"Man, now I really feel old." Raph sat down beside his brother, "but seriously, bro –" yet before Raph could become serious, Miwa hissed and pulled away from Leo, who quickly gestured Raph to move back.

"Be quiet and stay still!" He hissed, as his daughter's eyes narrowed and her arms began to stretch, becoming gradually thinner and a lighter shade of green while her hands morphed into angry looking snake heads.

"Hush, Miwa." Leo cooed, placing a hand out, "Calm your mind. Come to me…" For a moment, Leo worried he would have to wake Karai, yet thankfully, the child blinked – he narrow eyes widening as she noticed her transformed hands, then her face gradually crumpled and she began to cry. "Oh, sweetie…" Leo breathed, pulling Miwa towards him and began rubbing circles into her shell with one hand as the other held her tight, rocking her gently. "Hush now. You're safe. Dada's here." As he spoke, he was relieved to see the snake head merging back into fingers as her arms became narrow once again and as he leant back to get a look at her face, he was pleased to see Miwa's eyes were no longer slits. All signs were positive. The attack was over.

Still holding his child close, Leo turned back to the flabbergasted Raphael and hurriedly explained in a low voice – so not to disturb Miwa.

"It's Karai's unusual mutation that causes these shifts," he rambled, "she's bound to grow out of it once she learns control – but like Karai, she can partly shift forms…"

"And the issue about venom?" Raph muttered, noticing the puncture marks covering his brother's limbs. Leo shrugged.

"It can be stopped by the healing hands techniques, but I've built up a tolerance for it… Once again she'll learn." He looked down once more as Miwa began to snore softly. After her attacks, she always became exhausted and fell asleep. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to see that, but if she's tired –" Raph held a hand up.

"I don't care. She's family." The serenity in his voice made Leo blink. "It's just… Great to have you back, bro, and seeing you like this…" he shrugged, "happy, enjoying life, not stressed – with Miwa… It's good to see."

Leo nodded, almost at a loss for words.

"Raph…" He struggled for the right words, "About before… About the things I said…" His eyes grew apologetic. "It was out of hand. There was just so much going on –"

"It doesn't matter." Raph butted in. Leo felt his eyes widen, making his brother grin, "Yeah, you heard me right. We were both out of hand, and I'm sorry as well. But something was gonna give. The amount of times I've spoken to Splinter about it all." Raph's eyes revealed the shadow of guilt that had been held onto for so long, "He told me that we were all trapped in our own lives and it was only a matter of time until we went for each other's throats…"

Leo took this in. For the past year he had dreamed about this moment, facing his brother after such a bad disagreement – yet this was more than could ever ask for. There was so much he wanted to say – what he could say – yet he pushed all the comments aside that the old Leo who went into the jungle would have said, and offered something only the new Leo could do.

"You want to hold her? She won't bite." He added with a grin. His directly younger brother's eyes clearly read yes. Deep down, Raph was a big softie – and having a child around, was bound to cause him to want to interact, so without waking the young mutant, Leo lowered his daughter into his brother's arms, and as soon as she touched his skin – Miwa curled up to Raph, her tail twisting around his arm and her face turning up into a smile.

"She trusts you." Leo smiled warmly, confirming Raph's silent hopes. "She understands you're family." At the confirmation, the shorter of the turtles smiled widely, his emerald eyes softening even more.

"She's something else." He whispered as he began to rock Miwa like he had seen Leo do earlier. Yet as the little mutant moved slightly in her uncle's arms, the edges of her shell became more prominent, causing Raph to frown. "How'd she…?" But Leo shook his head, his maskless cheeks turning crimson as a wave of guilt washed over him as the memories of the troublesome little baby came back to mind.

"When she began to move around by herself – she felt limited by the cave we were camping in and went to climb down the rocks." Raph raised an eye ridge, causing Leo put up his hands defensively, "Hey, I don't know why, but she's like a three year old and she's only one. She was independent from a young age…" But his gaze moved to Raph's own shoulder where the thick crack was a constant reminder of how slowly shells healed – sometimes never fully repairing. "But she slipped and bounced down the rocks –" seeing the worry in his brother's face, Leo quickly added, "she can react her arms and head into her shell like we can, and her tail is much thicker skin than normal, so she wraps it around her shell as an extra layer of protection. She wasn't actually hurt, just..." The turtle gestured at the cracks. "But she thought it was great fun." His laugh was hollow, "So she kept doing it. Bouncing down those rocks before me and Karai could do anything…"

"And I thought Mike was weird." Raph muttered.

"True. But when she realised what had happened to her shell, it was too late. The damage was done. She threw a tantrum…" Leo shrugged. "But kid's sometimes have to learn the hard way…" Absent mindedly, he ran a finger up his daughter's cheek, then rested his palm on top of her head, causing her to smile in Raph's arms. Said turtle's face broke into another grin, causing Leo to flush. He still felt weird returning to his brothers as a parent – even more so acting like one around them. As if reading his thoughts, Raph offered a question.

"So what's it like?" The eldest thought about it for a long moment then answered with one word.

"Stressful."

For a moment, Raph just stared, but slowly he broke into silent laughter – his eyes watering with the effort of trying not to burst into full blown laughter which would disturb the half turtle, half snake mutant in his arms. Eventually he managed to control himself and wipe his eyes with one hand while supporting Miwa with the other.

"Gonna be honest," he choked out, "I was not expecting that!" Leo cocked his head and raised an eye ridge.

"Then Raphael – I believe it was about time you understood." With a cheeky wink, Leo stood and moved towards the entrance of the dojo, leaving Raph seeming like a deer trapped in the headlights.

"You can't – what if – how do I –" He stammered, yet the elder brother waved an arm over his head.

"Just keep her happy. She'll probably want a fight when she wakes up."

"Wait!" Raph pleaded, the stress of being in charge of a troublesome child suddenly settling in, "Where are you going?" Leo looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"I, dear brother, am going to take a shower and enjoy a little bit of me time." Without another word, the leader walked out, a grin plastered over his face. He needed to just take a short break without the constant worry of what his daughter was up to, and once cleaned up, he could even grab a cup of tea and take one to his partner. Besides, Miwa would be in capable hands until he returned.

In all fairness, he way more concerned for Raph's wellbeing, Leo thought rubbing his plastron, that kid could punch…

Here you go, have another segment of Miwa's antics while her father and uncle are trying to be serious!

Please tell me your thoughts as if you want to see something, I can try and accommodate it.

NEXT CHAPTER NAME: Announcement.

OVERVIEW: Could there soon be a another sound of little feet around the lair?!

LL99 out.