AN: Sairey13: I like to read your thoughts on the matter! Thanks for reviewing!
Nutella Swirl: Yes… Poor Leo. And poor Splinter, too.
Techno Dawn: So far he does, yes. Partly because he's still in a state of shock, and partly because growing up with Karai gave him some experience…
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Daddy Issues
Murakami was beginning to get worried. He and his son had agreed upon a you-must-imperatively-be-home deadline, and it was well passed by now.
Should he call him? But what if he was in the middle of something more dangerous than Murakami would have liked, or simply too close to humans to answer?
The blind cook clasped his hands together. He hoped that nothing bad had happened to his son. It wasn't as if he could call the police or bring him to a hospital…
Certainly there was no reason to think about a hospital. But somehow, none of the scenarios going through his parental mind was reassuring.
The sound of keys being turned in the door's lock almost made him jump. Murakami hurried to the kitchen, sat on one of the stools and crossed his arms, ready to properly welcome his son.
Leonardo quickly entered and closed the door. Murakami heard him sigh heavily before he turned around and began heading for his bedroom.
In the total darkness, he hadn't noticed his father. Perfect.
"Leonardo," Murakami said as his son passed next to him, startling the poor turtle.
"Father! You're awake? I'm sorry, I…"
Murakami could hear the sudden panic in his voice. He put it down to the fact that his son had just been caught green-handed.
"I thought we agreed," the blind cook told Leonardo severely, hiding his relief at having his son back home in one piece. No, he hadn't been captured, nor killed and left to rot in the streets, nor… Murakami shook his head, chasing the horrible thoughts away. "Under no circumstances are you allowed to come home late."
"I know, but tonight was…"
Leonardo abruptly shut up.
"Under no circumstances, Leonardo," Murakami insisted.
"Yes, Father," the turtle whispered. "Can I… can I go to my room now?"
Murakami hesitated. Something in Leonardo's defeated tone set off his sensitive parental alarm. He reached for his son and found his face, which he delicately cupped into his hands. To his surprise and immediate dismay, Leonardo's cheeks were damp.
"Leonardo, are you alright?"
"Yes," Leonardo said. "No. I don't know…"
He choked.
"Dad, I don't know…"
Murakami gathered him in his thick arms. Leonardo immediately buried himself in his father's embrace.
"Tell me what happened," Murakami ordered him as softly as he could, and Leonardo did.
Murakami listened silently to his son's incredible tale, hugging him tighter as the events unfolded in his head.
"Oh, my son," he whispered when Leonardo was done. "Don't worry. I'll always be there for you."
%%%%%
Splinter listened to the sounds of his sons entering the lair.
Donatello's quiet steps, Raphael's stealthy walk turning into stomping as soon as he jumped the turnstiles, Michelangelo's dancing gait.
His three sons were home.
The ninja master sighed in deep relief. Now he just had to wait until one of them – probably Donatello – came in and told him what had happened tonight, if anything out of the ordinary had happened at all.
But nobody came, and Splinter frowned. The lair was silent now, as if his sons had just frozen on the spot.
Splinter stood up and came closer to the dojo entrance.
One glance and he immediately knew that something huge had happened.
His three sons were hugging each other silently, tears in their eyes – even Raphael wasn't trying to fight his emotions for once, and that unsettled his father more than anything else.
"My sons?" he asked tentatively. "What happened? Has someone been hurt?"
Who could it be? His sons seemed uninjured. April, maybe? Or Casey? Perhaps Leatherhead?
Donatello turned towards his father and wiped his tears away.
"Father," he told him very, very gently. "We have to talk."
Splinter's pulse raced. Donatello's serious tone, his gentleness and his upset state combined to increase his father's concern to a rarely reached level when none of his sons were hurt or in danger.
"Of course, my son," he told him ever-so-calmly, leading the three of them to the dojo where the whole family knelt – his sons a lot closer to each other than they usually did, with Michelangelo between Raphael and Donatello and hugging both of them without regard for dojo etiquette.
Splinter waited for them to talk to him. It took all his ninja training not to pry whatever revelation they had to make out of them, but he managed it.
"I…" Donatello began. "I don't know how to tell you this, I don't think there is a good way to do it, but you have to know that… that…"
Donatello's hands were clasping his knees so fiercely that his knuckles were entirely white.
"… against all odds, and as unbelievable as it seems…"
Splinter was hanging onto his every word, wishing he would go straight to the point.
"…it took me entire minutes to accept it…"
Raphael must have been wishing the same thing as his father, because he brutally interjected.
"Leonardo is back."
Splinter looked at him, his lack of understanding making him frown.
"Is he? I thought he had come back to his home world for good. Did something happen to him or his family?"
"Not that Leonardo," Michelangelo said, speaking for the first time and interrupting his father. Which did nothing to appease Splinter's fears – he was very strict about courtesy, especially in the dojo, and his sons almost never cut him short. "Our Leonardo."
"What do you mean?" Splinter's fists clenched despite his best efforts to keep them on check.
"He's not dead… Father… Your fourth son is alive," Donatello finally managed to say, his voice shaking unashamedly.
Splinter gazed at him, then at the shrine they had built. What his sons were saying made no sense.
His Leonardo. His baby turtle. Alive?
"We met him tonight, Sensei," Raphael continued. "He's… somehow in touch with the kunoichi we told you about… except he's not a ninja himself…"
"Although he has excellent stealth abilities," Donatello amended.
"We talked to him," Michelangelo whispered. "We told him…"
"…that we were his brothers and…" Donatello went on.
"…at first he refused to believe it, but in the end he did, he really did…" Raphael completed, more tears going down his proud cheeks.
"I have his phone number," Michelangelo murmured, before burying his face in Raphael's plastron and letting out a strangled sob.
Because it sounded so absurd, even for Splinter's most nonsense-loving son.
"Leonardo," Splinter whispered, understanding finally dawning in him. "My son, alive. How?"
"We don't know yet," Donatello answered, closing his eyes. "But he promised to tell us."
Splinter's feelings were raging inside him. His grief, his anger, his guilt. His love for the son he had lost.
"Where is he now?" The ninja master demanded. He wouldn't truly, completely believe it until he saw Leonardo with his very own eyes, until he held him close in his very own arms. My baby. "Why didn't you bring him here?"
His three sons exchanged an upset glance.
"He… he doesn't want to see you," Donatello confessed, wringing his hands. "I'm sorry, Father, we tried to tell him what happened, but he refused to listen. He said he needed to be alone, and I'm sorry, we really tried, but it was just so… so confusing, and…"
Splinter couldn't bear to hear the pain in his son's voice, and he bent over, reaching out for the three of them and pulling them into a tight hug.
"It's not your fault, my beautiful, beloved sons," he whispered to them. "You did nothing wrong. Nothing, do you hear me?"
Splinter closed his eyes and began rocking them. Trying to prevent his thoughts from shredding his heart.
But I did. I did when I gave up on you and left you all alone… Oh, Leonardo… Will you ever forgive me?
%%%%%
Karai entered the Foot headquarters with a heavy heart.
She was hurt.
Maybe it was because Leonardo had wanted to be alone, and therefore had rejected her silent offer for support.
Of course, it wasn't really surprising that Leonardo would be angry with her. To be fair, she had expected him to be far harsher.
He's still shell-shocked.
Karai had no doubt that her friend would forgive her eventually. The two of them were too close to each other for him to reject her completely. She knew she had his loyalty, no matter what.
Or maybe Karai was hurt because Leonardo had found his long-lost family.
Three brothers, and a father – whom he didn't want to see right now, but Karai knew that this would pass.
Leonardo had always wanted to learn about his past.
It might take some time, but eventually his curiosity would overcome his anger. And he would get to know his first father – the one who had given him his name.
But she, Karai, would never get to know her mother.
Because Tang Shen had been murdered by the treacherous Hamato Yoshi when Karai was only a baby.
As always, she felt her blood boil at the thought that someone had cold-bloodedly killed her young mother.
What was worse, that man – if he could be called that – was still alive. Her father, Oroku Saki, had thought at first that he was dead in the fire of his home, but the body had never been found.
One day, Karai would find him and avenge herself.
"Karai."
Karai raised her head towards her father, the Shredder, who had obviously been waiting for her.
"Bradford told me that you weren't with him tonight. Where have you been?"
Karai closed her eyes. She had completely forgotten about that. After she had parted with Leonardo, she had wandered aimlessly on the rooftops in the hope of calming her agitated mind. Instead of taking care of Foot business like she should have been.
She bowed as low as she could.
"I stayed at the mutant hideout longer than I had intended. But it was worth it. The mutants are beginning to trust me now. Next time, I believe they will tell me everything we need to know."
"Was the turtle mutant useful to you?"
"Yes," Karai said, still bowing.
"Very well. But you still neglected your duties. Therefore, you will go to Bradford tomorrow and take whatever punishment he sees fit. And you will patrol under his orders every night for the following week."
Karai suddenly straightened up.
"But Father!"
Shredder glared at her, and she quickly bowed again.
"Do not discuss my orders, child."
Karai grimaced. Bradford would be all-too-happy to give her a hard time. He hated her because she was the only person in the world that the Shredder truly loved.
"I'll obey, Father."
"You better would."
Karai waited to be dismissed, but her father was still looking at her with a threatening expression.
"I hope you told me everything about your whereabouts tonight, Karai," he slowly said.
Karai looked at him as innocently as she could. She had perfected her expression over the years, and she believed that even a ninja master couldn't tell if she was lying or not.
Leo always can, but he's a lot closer to me than anyone else. At least he was until tonight.
"Yes, Father. I did."
