Mikey found Alastha waiting for him in her workroom. She started to speak but he shook his head and said, "It's my fault, Alastha. I should apologize. I got angry. I'm sorry."
She nodded and grinned. "Well, Mikey, you were doing very well. Not many of my students would have held on that long. I can be – insistent."
"Or a downright ass," Raphael muttered as he entered. Alastha blew a raspberry at him, at which he chuckled. "I came because we got a message for you, Alastha. Here you are." He handed her a clipboard with a letter on it. She took the letter and opened it, scanning the contents.
"Excellent. Tell Professor Jakus that I will attend to this as soon as possible. For now, I'd like for him to work with it as long as he can, but carefully." Raphael nodded, took the letter and clipboard, and walked back out. She turned back to Mikey and he sat down. "Now, let's do this again. Keep your concentration on making the illusion, and keeping your shields strong. Concentrating on two things with one hundred percent of yourself is hard, but do-able. Ignore the forces outside; just concentrate on the illusion and your shields."
Mikey nodded in understanding and raised his shields. Alastha raised her own and began the attacks.
This time, Mikey kept himself working at the illusion and diverting some of his energy to holding his shields. He ignored the attacks, not even bothering to register that he was ignoring them.
Alastha called his name suddenly. He opened his eyes to find Leo looking down at him and sucked in his breath. Trembling, he raised a hand. With the snap of his concentration losing itself, Leo disappeared.
Alastha nodded in congratulations. "Well done, Mikey. That is one of the best illusions I've ever seen. And you did wonderfully. Would you like to try again?"
Blinking from the disappearance of his Kavara, Mikey shook his head. "I'm worn out, Alastha. Can I go get something to eat?"
She smiled and nodded. "Sure, Mikey. Great job."
"Thanks." He stood and walked stiffly out, his knees hurting a little from sitting in one position for so long. Directing himself to the dining room, he was surprised to see Lea and a few of the older kids eating.
He sat down next to them with a tray of good food and dug in greedily. He ate with his fork and knife, knowing that eating with his hands was not good manners. Lea hugged him in welcome, and he put his arm around her shoulders briefly.
She used to make him nervous, for some reason he couldn't understand. She looked so much like the old Leo that it was kinda scary. If they didn't know better, Mikey would have been willing to bet that Lea was Leo's kid.
That brought Mikey to a screeching halt. Lea was Leonardo's child. Could Leonardo have looked a lot like Leo? He called up memories of Leo's old body, and then looked at Lea hard.
He drew back slightly. They looked like exact copies, except that her chest was a little smaller and she was shorter and thinner than Leo used to be. Her legs were less muscular, as were her arms. But the eyes were the same; a deep, focused blue that were easy to lose oneself in.
She smiled. Even their smiles are the same, Mikey mused, grinning back. The smile on Lea traveled all over her face. Her eyes lit up with sparkles and her nose twitched cutely. He tweaked it, and she giggled.
Okay, that's not the same, Mikey chuckled to himself. Leo would never giggle. He'd chuckle, chortle, laugh, snigger, and snicker, but a giggle wasn't in his vocabulary. Carefully, Mikey stood up again, putting his tray in the dirty dishes window, and then went back and sat down by Lea.
"Mikey, why do you always carry your weapons?" one of the older kids asked curiously. "Raph didn't answer when we asked him."
Grinning, Mikey answered. "When you grow up with a houseful of brothers, fighting ugly Foot ninjas every day, you learn to carry a weapon wherever you go. I shower with at least Chuckie and Chuckles."
"Chuckie and Chuckles?" the children giggled.
Mikey laughed. "I had to name them something. Their real names are Elvish. This one-" Mikey pulled his left one, "Chuckles"- "is Aeril, or "Law Giver". And this one-" Mikey indicated the right one, "Chuckie"- "is Maernatear, which means "Defender of the Way"."
"Cool," Lea chirped. The others nodded. "What's my name in Elvish?"
"Hm… Let me think a moment. Amanae, I think."
"Oooh, I like that. What's it mean?"
"Amanae means "Beautiful Whisper"," Mikey whispered, bending close to her ear.
"What's my name?" Zathar demanded, choosing that point to make him known as he stalked in through the doors, where he had been lurking and listening.
"Hm…" Mikey thought for a moment. "Firali. "Dark Shadow"."
Zathar looked flattered. "I like that. Zathar is so stupid. From now on, I'm Firali."
"What's my name, Mikey?" Donatello's eldest, Teddy, asked.
Teddy was outgoing and fun to be around, but incredibly smart. He was always reading, telling stories, or explaining things to adults and children alike. Mikey bit his lip in concentration. "You could be Tho'aer. That means, "Truth Singer"."
"I like that!" Teddy smiled. "Tho'aer. Can I make that my new name?"
"Your parents aren't going to like me for renaming you," Mikey scolded teasingly. Teddy smirked.
"Hey, it's better than the names Raph gave us. He says there's too many of us to remember, so he calls us Dork, Dork Alpha, Dork Beta, and so on. Zathar's name is Dork Omega-Alpha. Raph said that means he's the biggest dork here."
Zathar growled and stomped out, cursing under his breath. Teddy giggled at his brother's indignation, along with the others.
Irine, the outgoing one of the pair of eleven-year-old twins that Sebraka and Michelangelo were proud of, asked for her name next.
"Irine. Hm." Mikey wondered what he could possible name the enthusiastic child of his counterpart's. "Gaeldre. "Charming Pegasus"."
"Oooh, I like that!" she squealed. She loved pegasi and all other mythical creatures, though the winged horses were her favorite. "What's Mary's name?" The shier of the twins blushed when Irine asked exuberantly and then deeper when Mikey regarded her.
"Hm. That one's a little tougher. Let me think a moment." Mikey tapped his chin. "Got it! Veraera. "Peace Singer"." Mary was often the one to break fights up between the younger and even older children. She could talk anyone out of a rage, and she always knew exactly how to handle a situation involving hurt feelings.
Mary blushed and squirmed when Irine gasped and cooed about how it fit so well.
Amanda sat on Mikey's other side from Lea and finally spoke up. "Mikey, can I have an Elvish name?" she asked quietly. The eldest of all the children was shy until she believed someone was gong to be hurt; then she was more stubborn that Leo and deadlier than Raph in a rage.
Mikey gazed at her for a minute before deciding on one. "Your name will be Baelala, "Guardian of Harmony". I think it fits you well."
Amanda nodded happily and hugged him. "Thanks, Mikey. I love it."
"There you go: you're all named now," Mikey laughed. "Let's see if I remember. Zathar was Firali, right?" Everyone nodded. "And Lea is Amanae." More nods. "Mary is Veraera. Irine, you're Gaeldre. Amanda, I named you Baelala. And Teddy, you are Tho'aer. Did I get those all right?"
Everyone nodded happily.
"So, can we use these as our names?" Teddy asked enthusiastically.
"Sure," Mikey laughed. "But don't blame me when the adults don't call you that. My brothers wouldn't call me "Turtle Titan" no matter how many times I insisted."
Lea giggled since she had heard the story. The others laughed loudly, having heard it from Lea and bits from Mikey's brothers. Mikey grinned.
Don suddenly walked in to find the entire table laughing. He sat down near Mikey, on Lea's left side.
"Dare I ask?" he asked Lea, who chortled.
"Mikey gave us Elvish names," Lea explained. "We're laughing because he was saying that we probably won't get the adults to call us by those names because you guys didn't call him "Turtle Titan" when he asked."
Don glanced at his brother and snickered. "So, what'd he name you?"
"Amanae. It means, "Beautiful Whisper"," she giggled gaily.
Don smiled and nodded. "It fits you. Do you want to be called that?" She nodded eagerly. "Very well, then. Amanae it is."
A couple other had heard and Teddy immediately pounced on Don. "He named me Tho'aer. It means, "Truth Singer". I wanna be called Tho'aer!"
Don chuckled and nodded. "Okay, then, Tho'aer. I will do my best."
Amanda and Irine also insisted on being known as Baelala and Gaeldre. Don offered Mary the honor, which she blushed proudly at and nodded when he asked if it was okay to call her Veraera.
"Alright, little Elves," Mikey laughed. "Run along now."
With a series of giggles, the children put their empty trays in the kitchen and skipped out of the dining room. Don scooted next to Mikey and grabbed the orange-banded turtle's hand.
"Come on, Mikey. It's time for you to go to bed. You worked hard today."
Yawning, Mikey pretended to fall asleep against Don. Donnie chucked and picked him up, carrying his teasing brother out to Leo's tent and setting him down gently on Leo's wing.
"Sleep well, fellow Kalian," he whispered, walking back out. Mikey wrapped himself in Leo's wing and grabbed his Kavara's hand.
It might have been his imagination, but he imagined that Kavara squeezed his hand when Mikey was just drifting off to sleep.
