Leonardo walked into Don's lab, smiling and waving two envelopes in the air.

"Guess what, guys!" he announced. "Letters from Japan!"

Raph and Don were standing beside one another in the center of the room, each with his arms folded across his chest. They were quiet, contemplative... Leo wondered if they had even heard him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, lowering the letters and his voice.

Don sighed and shrugged. "Nothing... really."

"Oh. Well, then..." he paused, remembering what Don and Raph had planned to do while he was out checking April's mail. "How's Mikey doing?"

"Fine, as far as I can tell."

He crossed his arms the same as the others and faced Raphael. "And how about the... uh..."

"Nada," Raph said. "There wasn't anything in his room."

A relieved expression crossed Leo's face. "That's good." He looked at the others' considerably less than relieved faces. "Right?"

"Could be," Don said. "Or not... we don't know yet."

"What do you mean?"

"He means," Raphael interjected, "that if it isn't drugs doing this shit to Mike it has to be something else - like brain damage or something like that."

Don nodded at Raphael's correct, though less than accurate observation. "There really isn't much that we can do at this point in time except watch and wait."

Leonardo unfolded his arms and looked at the letters. "Maybe this'll help," he said, holding out one of them.

"From Oyuki?" Raph took the letter and stared at the front - it was postmarked two weeks prior. "Took a long time getting here, didn't it?"

"It had a long way to go. This other one's for all of us, from Splinter."

"Open it," Raph said.

"Let's get Mikey first."

The other turtles shared a look.

"I'm not sure if he's gonna' wanna' hear it," Raph said.

Leonardo straightened his already impeccable posture and tightened his jaw, he didn't like what he was hearing. "Listen to yourselves," he said. "This is Mike we're talking about, not some stranger."

"In case you haven't noticed, Mike has been a stranger lately," Raph said. "He isn't himself..."

"All the more reason to include him."

Leo was right; Mike was still a part of the family, a brother... they didn't have the right to shut him out just because of his attitude. Besides, it might just serve to lighten his mood...

Leo knocked on Michaelangelo's door and waited for a response. He could hear soft snoring coming from within and pushed it open, glancing in on his sleeping brother. He stepped up quietly and nudged him.

"Mike..." he whispered. "Hey, Mike... wake up."

Michaelangelo grunted and rolled, looking at Leo for a few seconds before closing his eyes again. Leonardo sighed and shook him a little harder.

"Hey, we got letters from Japan," he said. "One from Splinter and one from Oyuki... well, that one's just for you."

"Hmm?" Mike was still mostly asleep. Oyuki..? Is she back..?

"You want to come out and read the letter from Splinter?"

"...No..."

"You sure?"

"Mmm -hmmm..."

Leonardo stood and took a deep breath. He had at least tried to rouse Mike - more than the others had wanted to do. He started walking towards the door. "Okay, get some rest."

"...Leo? Hey..."

Leonardo turned back around. "Yeah?"

"..Oyuki..?"

He held out his hand and Leonardo looked in his own, noticing that the letter was still there.

"Oh. Hey, sorry about that," he said, pressing the letter into Mike's palm.

Mikey laid the envelope on his chest and closed his eyes again, smiling. Leo smiled, too... maybe it would help, after all.

-

"Is Mikey coming out?" Don asked as Leo walked into the kitchen.

"No, he's sleeping."

Raphael was sitting on the counter with Splinter's opened letter in his hands. "Well, you want me to read it?"

Leo nodded as he sat down beside Don. "Go ahead."

Raph cleared his throat and began to read -

"My sons,

I hope this letter finds you all well. April, Oyuki and I have gotten some good footage, although the weather has not been as accommodating as we had hoped it would be. It rained for most of the time we spent in Hiroshima, so we did not get as much filming time in that city as we had planned. We hope to make up for it in the other cities we are going to travel to.

I expect this letter will reach you in two weeks time, at that point we should be in the vicinity of Fuji. I will take some photographs, though I will probably not get the film developed until our return to the United States.

I will end this letter now, as I am scheduled to perform narration during our first filming in Kobe this afternoon. As always, my heart is with you, my sons.

Splinter"

The turtles sat back in silence when Raphael had finished reading. Splinter tended to write short letters, but they were always to the point. He only ever said that which truly needed saying. It was enough. They all wished they could tell him, too, what was going on in their lives - maybe somehow he would be able to help... if they only had some way of letting him know.