A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews and support for NVN. *flikaroo bows at the waist to show thanks* This part 3 exists, because of your reviews. And speaking of reviews, thanks to miceaholic for recommending that Leo not even be allowed to handle a spoon at first and thanks to Sairey13 for suggesting Splinter tell Leo a story during their chat. My plot bunny took your input and ran with it. I hope you enjoy the result. And a special shoutout to natalie1668, who has reviewed EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER of the NVN trilogy (that's over 57 chapters)!

Please note: Character thoughts are in italics.

Disclaimer: I still don't own the turtles, can you believe it? Yeah, me neither.

Chapter 25-Fun With Casey

Wanting to give the broken family time and space to reconnect, April and Casey had stayed away for a few days. Receiving the all clear, April entered the lair with a reluctant Casey trailing behind her. According to Mikey's latest report, Leonardo has been making good progress with his recovery. And the family was slowly healing.

April greeted Master Splinter and Michelangelo, then immediately set her sights on Leonardo. She found the leader on the couch, propped up with pillows. A smile spread across her face as she greeted him.

"Hey Leo."

Brought out of his thoughts, Leonardo turned and smiled at the red head. It was good to see April again.

"Hello April."

April placed a gentle hand on Leo's arm. His side was still wrapped in bandages. The eldest turtle looked tired, but at least he was awake and moving around the lair. And most important of all, he was home.

April asked. "How are you feeling?"

Leo had to keep from rolling his eyes. He was certain that April meant well, but he was tired having everyone concerned about his health. His friends and family needed to pick a new hobby.

"Donnie said I should be able to start practicing again in a couple more days."

April nodded. Her thoughts turned back to the past six months. Leo leaving had started all of this. Her eyes narrowed at the blue banded turtle.

Leo felt the heat from April's gaze and raised an eye ridge in alarm. He recalled Raph's story on April's swatting session, after Raph dropped in on her date with Casey.

Uh oh! She looks mad.

April leaned closer, her voice dropped low. "If you ever do anything as stupid as leaving this family again, I will personally hunt you down, and drag you back to the lair myself."

Amused by the threat, Leo stared at the angry red head. Living within the Foot Clan, Leo was used to intimidation tactics. Heck he used them himself all the time. But this was April. She was Mikey's best friend. The one who finally managed to pulled Mikey out of his depression. Plus she helped Donatello with the plan. And she routinely brought them valuable supplies. Over time, April has proven herself to be a respected and welcomed addition to their clan.

Leo almost smiled. April wasn't trained as a ninja, he doubted she could really drag him home. Then Leo almost frowned. Yet April was almost as smart as Donatello. She was equally as resourceful as Michelangelo. And she was certainly as stubborn as Leonardo himself. It might be best to stay in April's good graces, just in case.

His decision made, Leo nodded slowly.

In the blink of an eye, April's anger vanished. She stood up and gently squeezed Leo's arm, her smile beaming. "It's good to have you home Leo."

Leo watched April walk away as he shook his head.

Women could be so confusing sometimes.

April interrupted the conversation between Raph and Casey. Grabbing Casey's hand she began to drag him towards the living room. "Come introduce yourself to Leo."

Casey was not looking forward to meeting the leader turtle. After getting his butt kicked by Donatello and his bo, Casey realized that there was a lot more than meets the eye with Raph's brothers. Out of the four siblings, Casey knew the least about Leonardo. But he did know that the blue banded turtle was crazy enough to blow up the building of his own clan. And anyone who had the balls to stab themselves with their own sword, was not someone Casey wanted to mess with, ever.

Looking forward to this Raph grinned behind Casey's back. He silently followed his stumbling friend.

Emerging from his laboratory, Donatello and Michelangelo caught Raph's evil grin. Intrigued, they began walking towards the living room.

Leo watched April pull a stumbling Casey towards the living area. After having spent many years underneath the Shredder's leadership, Leo was all too familiar with the signs of someone who was afraid.

Casey was Raphael's best friend. Leo's eyes met Raph's. The question passed unspoken. Should I?

Raph's nod caused Leo to bit his inner lip to keep from breaking out in a grin.

This was going to be fun.

Casey sized up the recovering turtle seated on the couch. As with Raph's other brothers, Leonardo had the build of a fighter. He wasn't as built as Raphael, nor as lean as Donatello. And he didn't have Mikey's excessive energy, in fact, the eldest turtle was almost eerily calm. Leo sort of fell somewhere in between his three siblings.

Leo watched Casey take a seat next to April. Keeping his face blank, he waited for the vigilante to speak first.

Casey shifted on the couch. "Umm, so ah, we never formally met. I'm Casey Jones."

Leo remained as still as a statue, waiting and watching.

Casey rubbed the back of his neck. "So, yeah, your brother Raph and I. We were roommates for a while."

Leo remained silent and motionless. His eyes remained fixated on Raph's friend.

Casey felt like Leonardo's eyes were gazing into his very soul. Why wouldn't the turtle just say something! Or maybe nod? Heck Casey would even take a frown at this point. Leo's continued silence was freaking him out. It was like Leo was judge, jury and executioner, rolled all into one.

Leonardo tried his best to keep his face neutral as his gaze shifted downwards, falling upon the katanas nearby. At first, his brothers wouldn't even let Leonardo handle a spoon without tensing up, least he do something foolish to himself again. Convincing his overprotective brothers to return his beloved blades to him had taken a lot of promising, pleading and, Leo was not ashamed to admit, even begging on his part. Ultimately Leo had to resort to borrowing Mikey's trademark puppy dog eyes, while simultaneously promising for the hundredth time that he would never stab himself again. With his own strategy used against him, Mikey had been the one to crack first, followed shortly after by Donatello. Receiving pressure by his two siblings, Raphael eventually caved as well and the blades were returned to the triumphant sword wielder.

Leo shifted. Having recently oiled his katanas, the blades were still sitting on the coffee table. Leo reached over and gripped one of the handles. He rose slowly. Raising the katana high, Leo tried not to wince as the move tugged on his still healing side.

Donnie frowned at the movement. Due to their weight, Leo wasn't supposed to handle the katanas one handed for a couple more days. But he could scold Leo about that later. Right now, this was too good to miss.

Leo snuck a glance at his amused audience out of the corner of his eye. He deliberately kept his pace slow. His expression unreadable as he approached. Leo adjusted the blade in his hand. He admired the steel as it shined in the light. It felt good to handle his sword again.

Casey tried to shrink back in his seat as the intimidating turtle walked towards him. That was one really sharp looking knife.

Leo swung the katana, slicing the air. He caught Donatello's disapproving glare. He was going to hear about this later, but right now, he was having fun.

After what felt like hours of waiting to Casey, Leonardo finally stopped his approach. With a steady hand, Leo pointed the sharp blade at Casey.

Casey swallowed hard.

The tension in the room increased.

Finally Leo spoke, his voice low. "So tell me Mr. Jones."

Casey held his breath. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest. His eyes remained fixated on the blade directly in front of him.

Leo's eyes suddenly shined with mischief. His voice lost its earlier growl.

"How did you meet my brother?"

Swiftly removing the sharp weapon, Leo placed the sword back on the coffee table.

Relieved, Casey let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. All of that build up, and Leo was just curious how he and Raph met?

Chuckles of laughter rang throughout the room as Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo joined the group.

Mikey looked at Leo, admiration on his face. "That was awesome bro!"

Raph smirked. "Yeah, I thought Casey was going to soil his pants."

Casey shot a dagger filled look to Raph.

Donatello tsked. Having shifted into Dr. Don mode, he eyed Leo. "No more sword handling for a couple more days Leo."

Leo shot his brother a sheepish grin. The look on Casey's face had been worth it though.

April placed a hand on Casey's arm. "So how did you and Raph meet anyway?"

Raph cleared his throat. "It was Mrs. Morrison."

Curious, Mikey asked. "Mrs. Who?"

Raph said. "Mrs. Morrison. She's a blind lady that lives alone with her cat."

Leaning back in his seat, Raph continued. "One night, I had just finished beating up some Purple Dragons. I was walking down a dark alleyway when this old lady stepped outside her doorway. She mistook me for someone else. Thought I was sent to help her move some boxes. When she didn't freak out at the sight of me I realized that she was blind, so, I offered to help. Afterwards she offered me some tea. I asked her why she was moving. Mrs. Morrison was being evicted from her home. She asked if I could stop by the next day and help her finish. I didn't see a reason not to, so I said yes."

Raph looked to Casey to continue their tale.

Casey cleared his throat. "I've known Mrs. Morrison since I was a kid. She's a nice lady. Her husband died a few years ago. She lost her vision when she got older. Some degenerative eye vision thingy."

Donnie corrected. "Macular degeneration."

Casey nodded. "I stopped by for a visit. Ya know to see if she needed any help. She was moving across town, to the rent controlled apartments for seniors. When I walked in, all her stuff was already packed and ready to go. She kept talking about her new friend Raphael, who helped her. I'd never heard of the guy. I wanted to meet him. To, ya know, thank him for helping out."

Raphael chuckled. "I never suspected a thing. I walked into Mrs. Morrison's apartment. And Casey was standing right there. You should have seen the look on his face."

April squeezed Casey's arm. "What did you guys do?"

Casey rubbed the back of his neck. "At first, I was too stunned to do anything. But then I saw how kind he was to Mrs. Morrison. There was no way he was a threat to her, even if the dude did look well, weird."

Raphael said. "Mrs. Morrison asked us to keep her company for a while. She offered us some tea. We played some cards. The three of us hit it off. After she moved, the three of us kept hanging out. Casey and I found out we had a lot in common. Busting heads, and taking care of Mrs. Morrison."

Casey finished the tale. "Raph started crashing at my place. Eventually he told me about his family. And what happened. Well, you dudes know the rest."

April's eyes glistened as she looked at Casey. The vigilante may be a bit rough at times, but inside he had a heart of gold. It was no wonder why Raph and he got along so well.

With their tale finished Mikey jumped up from his seat and raced to the kitchen. "So who wants pizza?"

Michelangelo and Raphael followed Casey and April as they walked to the door of the lair, saying their good-byes. Donatello slipped back into his laboratory.

Leonardo surveyed the empty room for a moment. It felt good to be home.

Master Splinter's gentle voice broke the silence. "Leonardo, come. I wish to speak with you."

Leo kept his eyes on the floor as he followed Master Splinter. Each step Leo took, felt like he was walking down the plank of a pirate ship, moments before plunging to his doom. This was going to be the first time Leo found himself alone with his father since returning home. And the terrified teen already knew what was coming. First, he had abandoned his family for the Foot Clan. Then, he almost left them again when he stabbed himself to get away from the younger Foot Elite.

His brothers might call him Fearless, but right now Leonardo felt anything but fearless. The blue masked turtle was filled with shame and dishonor for what he had done. Leo feared the consequences his dishonorable actions might have caused. And what terrified Leonardo most of all, the disgust and disapproval he was sure to receive from Master Splinter.

Splinter lit a few candles, then seated himself on a pillow.

Leonardo knelt, then performed the traditional bow as best he could with his wounded side. "Master."

Master and student sat in silence for a moment. Splinter let his eyes roam over his eldest son. It was good to have him home again. But there was the matter of Leo leaving for the Foot Clan that still needed to be addressed. And Leo's dramatic solution to escape from the Foot Elites.

Splinter reflected upon the last few days. The hushed, yet emotional, discussions among his children. The turtles were slowly beginning to heal. And each of his sons have already confessed their hurt feelings and then forgiven Leonardo.

Splinter looked at the young teen kneeling before him. Leonardo has proven time and again he would do anything to protect his family. Sometimes his decisions were rash, but his heart was pure. Splinter may not have agreed with how his sons have conducted themselves these past few months, but in the end, they had banded together. Leonardo left first, but then his brothers followed suit. And when they found a way to reconnect with Leonardo, once again they rejoined with their leader. His sons love for each other, their trust in one another, their actions to follow Leonardo's lead time and again, demonstrated their fierce devotion to each another.

How could Splinter berate any of his sons for following their heart?

Leonardo kept his gaze on the floor, waiting for his sensei to speak. His stomach churned. Sweat began to pool on his brow. The silence was a torture Leonardo tried to welcome. He would accept any punishment without complaint. Leo barely breathed, too afraid to do anything that would further disappoint his father.

Splinter began. "Rejoining with the Foot Clan. Attempting Seppuku. You have been rash and foolish with your decisions Leonardo. I do not agree with many of the actions you and your brothers have done these past six months."

Leo's eyes remained fixated on the floor. He felt ashamed at having left his family. And his actions have brought dishonor to both himself and his clan. Leo began to tremble. His brothers have forgiven him, but his luck may have just run out. Splinter's words cut deeper than any knife or sword could have ever done. He had crossed the line this time. And Splinter's disappointment hurt worse than any physical wound ever could.

Splinter said. "There is an old tale about a young leader, Takeda Iwata. As the eldest son, he was burdened with the responsibility to guide and care for his clan after the fall of his father. The Iwata family were the owners of vast expanses of land, making them constant targets for thieves and bandits. The attacks were relentless. Hoping to protect his family, Takeda reached an alliance with the local warlord. The agreement was simple, Takeda would serve in the warlord's army, in return for the protection of his family's land."

Splinter paused for a moment, then continued. "But something happened that Takeda did not foresee. When the warlord called upon Takeda's help, the young leader arrived at the warlord's camp to find that he was not alone. His brothers had followed him. They also wished to serve in the warlord's army, to repay the protection provided to their clan."

Splinter reached out, placing a paw on his son's shaking arm. "Good leaders earn the respect, trust, and loyalty of their followers. My son, you may have started out acting alone, but your brothers followed you. Together, the four of you have taken down the Foot Clan, and brought freedom to the streets of New York City. I am proud of you my son."

Leo's head jerked up in surprise at the unexpected praise. "Master?"

Splinter said. "I am happy that the four of you eventually trusted one another. That you worked together to help each other. The actions of you, and of your brothers, demonstrated the love and loyalty each of you have for this family."

Splinter's paw moved to cup Leo's chin, forcing the teen to look at him. "Loyalty to your family, trusting in your brothers, these are the signs of an honorable warrior Leonardo."

Leo's eyes glistened beneath his mask. He swallowed hard a few times, struggling to keep the tears at bay. His resolve was crumbling as the love and forgiveness flowing from Master Splinter washed over the young leader.

Splinter's next words, broke what little self-control Leo had left. "You are a fine leader Leonardo. But more importantly, you are a caring brother. And a well-loved son. Welcome home, my son."

The blue masked turtle lunged forward, greedily basking in the comfort offered by his father's embrace. Splinter was mindful of Leo's wounded side as he soothed the young leader. Splinter rubbed comforting circles on Leo's shell as he glanced at the doorway. Three shadows silently shifted.

Splinter smiled as his eavesdropping children moved away from the entryway.

The happy father felt his eyes swell with unshed tears. His four sons had returned to him. The lair felt like a home again.

A/N: Only the epilogue is left. That will be up in a day or two. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Virtual Peanut Butter Oreo Cupcakes to those who review.