Heya guys! I'm sorry this fic is coming along slowly but I am still writing it, I'm still a busy girl, but I do try and find as much time as I can to write! :) Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The Family Pining

Yoshi and Leonardo stood in the middle of the lair and looked around.

"I have brought you here, because you need to see how much your family miss you" said Yoshi "Things have been really bad since you departed"

"Really?" asked Leonardo "I thought they would be pleased to see the back of my shell! After what I did!"

Yoshi shook his head.

"Think again Leonardo" he said.

He then pointed to the TV area where Leonardo saw the top of Michelangelo's head.

"Mikey?" Leonardo said as he walked over, he then walked around the sofa so he could see clearly and saw Mikey sitting on the sofa slumped down and looking really sad whilst stroking Klunk with one hand.

Leonardo then noticed that the TV was off and next to him was a large meaty pizza untouched.

"I've seen Michelangelo look sad before" said Leonardo "But never like this! He hasn't touched his pizza...Nothing puts him off his food!"

"Why do you think that is Leonardo?" asked Yoshi, Leonardo looked at him in shock. Yoshi nodded.

"It's because he misses you" said Yoshi "Only something really bad would upset the happy go-lucky turtle"

Leonardo felt his heart sink and how upset Michelangelo looked.

"I've seen Michelangelo upset, but never like this" he said.

"It's like the brightness that he had within has disappeared" said Yoshi "Your baby brother could light up the room with his laughter, and his smile would make you forgive him for anything"

Leonardo nodded.

"He always had that sparkling personality" he said "Even when times were tough or dark, he always tried to lighten the mood"

"And I suppose you can see" said Yoshi "That without you, he doesn't have it anymore, he doesn't seem to find any reason to cheer anyone up"

Leonardo looked shocked.

"Indeed" said Yoshi "Michelangelo had that light in his soul when you were around, he looked up to you and you gave him the reason to be what he is"

Leonardo said nothing because he didn't know what to say.

"Follow me" said Yoshi "We still have more to see" he then led Leonardo away and to a room.

Leonardo looked confused as they walked into the dark room, "Where are we?" he asked, he then saw someone hunched on the floor with his legs crossed. "Who's that?" he asked.

Yoshi clicked his fingers and a light came on showing the hunched figure on the floor to be Raphael.

"Raph!" cried Leonardo, his eyes going wide, he ran over to his younger brother and saw that he was resting his forehead on his hand in stress and was crying as well as holding a picture of himself and Leonardo in his other hand.

Leonardo looked at the photo and saw that it was one that April 'O'Neil had taken at the Farmhouse when they had decided to retreat there for a couple of weeks in the summer, about a year before Mona came into their lives.

The photo showed Leonardo and Raphael with their arms around their shoulders and pulling faces at the camera as well as swinging a bottle of beer each.

"Do you see here Leonardo?" asked Yoshi "Even though you hurt your brother, he still misses you, despite what he has said about you, no matter what, you are still his brother and he loves you very much"

Leonardo felt tears in his eyes and he tried to touch Raphael, but as he tried, his hand went right through him!

"What the...?" cried Leonardo, he then remembered that where he was, no-one could see him, touch him or hear him.

Yoshi then lead him to the next room where he saw Mona curled up on her bed and crying her eyes out.

"Mona!" cried Leonardo running over to Mona and dropping at her bedside. He wanted to hold her and comfort her, but he knew that she couldn't see him, nor hear him.

"Do you know why she's heartbroken?" asked Yoshi. Leonardo nodded as tears fell from his eyes.

"I do..." he said "It's because of me! It's my fault she's like this..."

"It's my fault!" Mona sobbed into her pillow. Leonardo instantly shut up and looked at Mona as she cursed herself.

"It's my fault this happened...I'm so sorry Leo...I wish I had known before, maybe we could have worked through it together...if only you could come home...if only you could see how much we miss you, everyone's so devastated, and despite what Raphael said, he misses you so much"

Leonardo felt a lump form in his throat as he watched Mona weep and blame herself for his departure.

"Mona blames herself for everything Leonardo" said Yoshi "She believes that if she didn't come into your lives, then none of this would have happened"

Leonardo stood up and bowed his head sadly, just seeing Mona crying made him feel worse, and again he didn't know what to say.

"We're still not done here yet" said Yoshi "Follow me"

Leonardo looked back at Mona and hesitated.

"Come Leonardo" said Yoshi. Leonardo sighed and followed the sensei out of the room.

As they left, Leonardo was shocked to see they were in a dimly lit room, he recognized it as Splinter's quarters!

"What? What's happening here?" he asked. Yoshi then pointed over to the end of the room where he saw April and Casey holding each other whilst looking at Donatello who was knelt at the side of a bed.

Leonardo quickly walked over and looked over Donatello's shoulder and saw Master Splinter laying there in a deep sleep.

"No! Master Splinter?" cried Leonardo, he knelt beside Donatello and looked at the old rat. He could see that he was so still and breathing so slowly.

"Master Splinter!" cried Leonardo "NO! NO!" he clenched his fists and punched the floor not wanting to take in this horrific scene.

"Please Splinter!" he sobbed "Please don't be dead!" Yoshi bowed his head sadly.

"He's broken Leonardo" said Yoshi "After you left, Splinter's heart broke, he lost his eldest son, the pillar to hold the family up, he just started to fade away, he tried to stay strong, but his sadness...it got too much"

Leonardo turned to Yoshi then turned back to Splinter.

"No!" he cried "Master Splinter! Don't do this! Please! Please no!" he tried to touch Splinter again but his hands went though him.

Leonardo began crying again in frustration as he remembered how he couldn't touch them and his family couldn't see him.

"Leonardo..." said Yoshi

"Oh God no!" sobbed Leonardo "I didn't want this to happen! I didn't think this would happen!"

Yoshi walked over and placed his hand on Leonardo's Shell.

"Do you see now?" he asked "Do you see that your family love you despite what you have done and how they cannot hold themselves up without you?"

Leonardo looked across to Yoshi and said nothing, but he understood what the sensei meant.

"You are the one that holds them together" said Yoshi "Splinter did a wonderful job raising you four when he found you down in the sewers, he cared for you and trained you, and he made the right choice when he chose you as leader, he believed you had the strength and the hounor to protect the family and when his time finally comes and he joins me and Tang Shen, he will sleep peacefully knowing that you can look after the family as the new Sensei"

Leonardo swallowed the huge lump in his throat.

"Without you, the family will not know where to turn, who to look up to, you are the pillar that holds them up, you are the light in the darkness, the guide when they are lost...without you, the future is bleak..."

"The Future?" asked Leonardo in fear. Yoshi nodded solemnly then waved his hand causing the scene in Splinter's room to vanish into the darkness.

"Let me show you..." whispered Yoshi.

So Yoshi has shown Leonardo what's happening at home and how everyone misses him despite what he's done, but what will he show in the vision of the future?

Tune in to find out!