"The biggest lesson I will teach you is how to ground and center yourself," Raphael began, sitting in a Lotus position. His pupil and brothers copied him.
"So, I want you to Look for my mind," Raphael ordered. "I'll extend a thought, called a "line", and you'll catch it. Got it?"
"Ready." Leo breathed in and rocked his head back a little in a nod. He frowned slightly and Raphael smirked.
"Good. Gently, gently," he scolded, with a slight wince. "Don't try to "reel in" my mind. Just grasp the line and I'll pull you in. There you go. Now, I'm going to ease open my shields and take yours down. You'll See my mind, and I'll See yours. Okay?"
"Okay." Leo looked like he was concentrating, and Raphael sucked his air in slightly.
"Gently, Leo, gently. Don't drop your shields quickly, either. And you'll See my mind without stabbing it; don't attack. Just think about observing."
"Sorry." Raphael sighed carefully and opened his eyes, looking at Leo with a smile. Leo opened his eyes, too, and cocked his head to the side. "What?"
"Your mind still amazes me. Well, come along. I'll pull you into my mind, and you must Watch as I put up shields. Then you will try it."
Leo nodded and closed his eyes again, quickly followed by Raphael. They were both motionless for a while, other than a couple winces from the teacher and his scolding to Leo to be, "gentle with my old mind", to which Leo retorted that his mind was anything but old. Raphael just chuckled and concentrated on the task again.
Don and Raph watched carefully, Feeling the energy move around the room, being expertly controlled by Raphael. Leo's own energy moved irregularly, with jolts that must have been from abrupt attention loss. Donatello was ready to clamp down on Leo if necessary, but the largest turtle was looking like he was quite unwilling to have another fit.
Mikey shifted slightly, watching his Kavara train. He could Feel the energies, and was diverting half of Leo's to the ground still. He could feel the awesome power in that Well that did as they both asked, Leo taking "buckets" and dipping in to get enough for a shield time and again, and Mikey draining it into the ground. He'd built a reservoir it was collecting in, that would be accessible to them all if necessary. None of Leo's power actually channeled through him anymore; Michelangelo had showed him how to divert it directly into the magma pools. Therefore, he wasn't straining to hold the "creek" traveling through him, but only had to make sure the "hole" didn't plug or widen.
Raphael winced again, calling Mikey's attention back to the pair in the middle of the room.
"Gently, young one," Raphael scolded, sounding a little harsher. "It's not something like katana work. You can't stab and pull; you have to grab gently. And stop channeling the power like that! Use your channels, not air. It's unstable and hard to control if you don't use it internally but externally. There you go." Raphael paused and seemed like he was looking around Leo. "Pull those shields in tighter; form them to you. And stop wincing away from the power."
Leo frowned again and took a deep breath. Mikey Felt the energies suck into Leo and plaster to him, forming a hard shield.
"There you go," Raphael applauded. "Now hold them against me." Raphael threw a shruiken from his pocket at Leo's plastron, where it could hit and bounce off without an injury. It stopped short, though, and hovered in mid-air.
"Good. Now try manipulating it. Attack me." Leo raised a hand to grab it but Raphael smacked his hand's shields. "No. With your mind."
Leo scowled and concentrated. Mikey Felt the shruiken glow with power before Leo launched it. It zoomed quickly towards Raphael, who threw up shields in the blink of an eye and caught the weapon.
"Very good. You are good at offensives, Leo, but your defense needs work." Raphael pocketed the shruiken and the shields disappeared. Leo's followed suit, but Raphael suddenly launched a Sai at Leo. Caught without shields, the winged turtle's eyes snapped open and the Sai burst into flames.
"That was my Sai," Raphael growled mockingly. "You don't need to use that much power, Leo. You could have caught it."
"I panicked," Leo admitted, dropping his head. He frowned and suddenly held out his hand. "May I see your other Sai?"
"Only if you promise to return this one in good condition," Raphael grumped. He handed over his last weapon.
Leo frowned and looked at it for a minute. Mikey gasped as he Felt the energy from Leo's Well swell up and surge out; it connected with the Sai. Donatello brought his hands up to cast a shield around Leo, but Leo turned his power off just as abruptly as it has risen. Instead of one Sai in his hand, he now held two.
"Impressive," Michelangelo admitted. "Not out-right Creation, but a good talent with Copying."
"Well, I'd say this lesson was over for now." Raphael accepted his Sai back and inspected both. "Very nice work, Leo. Put up your shields and then you are free to wander around. But one of us has to be with you at all times."
"Okay." Leo's shields sprang into place jarringly; Raphael snorted slightly and stood up, popping his knees.
"I'm getting too old to sit on the floor like that," he grumbled.
"Thirty-four is not old," Mikey protested. "Well, not in human years."
"It sure feels like it." Raphael walked out, though, keeping his head erect with the pride that seemed inherent with the red bandana. Donatello sniggered and was helped to his feet by Michelangelo. Leo stood up, offering his wing tip to Mikey. Mikey grinned and grabbed it.
Leo pulled him to his feet, but Mikey was too smart for that; he sat down again, and Leo's wing caught him. The youngest looked up at his Kavara with tired eyes, and the large turtle just grinned and closed his wings around his Kalian.
"Fine, then. You're my prisoner." A muffled yell sounded from inside his wing, and the membrane bulged a little as Mikey tried to get out. "Ah, ah, ah," Leo clucked, adjusting his grip and smiling at his other brothers, who were laughing and watching them with knowing smirks. "You wanna join him?" They promptly booked, leaving Donatello with Leo and Mikey.
"Alright, you two, what now?"
"Am I allowed to train?" Leo asked, stroking his chin in thought.
"Sure," Donatello allowed. "But not too hard or long. I'll keep an eye on you."
"Thanks," Leo muttered rebelliously. "Where's Sky?"
"She is in her room with Beth and Ralph, I think." Leo nodded and headed for his room, intent on checking on his wife. She smiled at him when he opened the door and came in, ducking his shoulders to keep from hitting the frame. Beth stood up and left with a smile for Leo, handing Ralph to Donatello and closing the door so the two lovebirds could be alone.
"I missed you," Leo whispered, coming forward and hugging Beth. Mikey made a groan from inside his wing and Leo opened it, letting his Kalian out for some fresh air. Mikey disappeared out of the room to give them some privacy.
"I love you," Sky smiled, giggling as Leo picked her up to kiss her gently. He put her down on the bed softly and rested a light hand on her swollen stomach. His kid kicked him viciously. "Settle down," Sky scolded, glaring at her stomach. "Your kid kept me up all night."
"I resent that," Leo snorted. "As I've told you a million times, it's your kid, too."
"He's more of you," Sky argued compassionately. She frowned again as the infant kicked again. "That was lower. Hm. I wonder how long until I start cramping."
"Hopefully, when you're both ready," Leo said, sitting on the floor. His head was still above her, and he smiled as she rubbed his shoulders. "Mmm. That feels good."
"Your scales are coming back in," Sky exclaimed, feeling the sharp edges just poking from the skin. "Itchy?"
"You know it." Leo leaned back into her caress as she massaged his shoulders and scratched at the tingling skin.
Outside the room…
Mikey sighed as he took a drink of soda and set the can down again. He and Donatello were watching TV, but Donatello had half of his focus on Leo, monitoring for signs of a fit. Mikey had dammed up the "hole" in Leo's Well on Raphael's order, and was now watching the TV mindlessly. Raph and Don were working on something in the lab, Raphael was resting, and Michelangelo was helping Don and Raph.
Mikey grinned as he heard the muted voices in Leo's room cease. Kavara certainly deserves Beth- I mean, Sky, Mikey thought to himself with a soft chuckle that Donatello didn't notice. He's managing his time well. He spends the mornings with her, and the afternoon with me. Evenings he spends with all of us. And nights, of course, he sleeps with her.
I wonder when Sky'll give birth. April and Casey will make awesome godparents. I hope it's female. Maybe, if the rest of us marry, we can have kids, too. Don seems to think we can, but maybe only Leo is compatible? I'd love a little herd to call my own. We could name them Mickala for a girl and Michel for a guy. Too bad Leo won't tell us the names they picked. I wanna know if they picked "Leonardo, Junior" as a male name. Or maybe just Leo. Or maybe Lion Cub, whatever that is.
Donatello rose and stretched lazily, pacing behind the couch. Mikey leaned further back and concentrated again on his thoughts.