Splinter woke up to the sound of sniffing and hiccuping. He glanced down at his watch. 2:30 am. Much too earlier for his sons to be up. He looked around the room, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. Three figures lay sleeping on two pillows.
'Where is the fourth?' Splinter thought to himself, stroking his chin beard. He turned around, and there he was. The fourth figure, curled up in a ball, crying.
Splinter frowned and began walking up to the small turtle, unaware of which one it was.
"What troubles you, my son?" The rat asked, sitting next to the turtle. He could tell now that this was Donatello. The intelligent child sat up, right next to his father, with his legs crossed.
"N-nothing..." He whimpered, rubbing his nose.
"So you are crying... over nothing?" Splinter asked, rubbing small circles on Donatello's she'll with his hand.
"Well, not exactly nothing," Donnie replied, bringing his knees up to touch his chin.
"Tell me." His father demanded quietly.
"I - I just... I'm so different to my brothers..." He sighed, rubbing his nose again.
"In what way, Donatello?" He questioned, tilting his head.
"I'm... so smart."
"And that is a bad thing?" Splinter wondered.
"It's not exactly a good thing... Raph, Mikey and Leo can have good conversations with each other. But when I try and start up a conversation, I think they find me... boring," Tears streamed down the young turtle's face.
"Donatello, look at me." Splinter told him. Donatello kept looking down at floor. "Look at me." He repeated. Donnie looked up at his master, and Splinter wiped the tears from his cheeks. "You're intelligence is a gift, my son. I have not met anyone quite like you in all of my years."
"But Sensei, how can I share my intelligence when my brothers are of average intelligence? Well, apart from Mikey..." They both glanced over to the sleeping turtles. Donatello sighed. "They don't understand anything."
"Don't speak about your brothers that way, Donatello." Splinter shook his head. "And you do realise that you can always talk to me if you have a problem, don't you?"
Donatello nodded.
"Good. I think you should get some sleep. How long have you been awake for?"
"About an hour..." Donnie yawned.
"You definitely need your sleep, then. Go, join your brothers." He gestured towards the three turtles who were still snoring softly, unaware of their brother and Master's chat.
"Okay." Donnie stood up, and began walking up to his brothers. "And Sensei?"
"Yes?" Splinter asked.
"Thank you." He said with a smile before laying next to one of his brothers.
"You're welcome..." Splinter murmured, and drifted off to sleep himself.
So, hey again guys! I've been wanting to write something like this for a while, so here it is :)
Thanks for the reviewers, followers and favouriters! You guys mean a lot to me :3
Until the next chapter mighty mutants