A/N: Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Jaaaaaaaa-ckie! Happy birthday to you!
Heheh Yes, Polaris'05 is another year older and another day closer to being as old as me. ;) If you pass her in the hall, be sure to give her a big ol' birthday hug!
Happy birthday, sweetie.
The Search for Drabbles: Splinter
Chapter 2 ~Parent: Raphael~
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Ya know, I always kinda took Master Splinter fer granted. I mean, I love 'im an' all, 'cause he's our father, but I never t'ought much about 'im, ya know? Except when I did somethin' ta tick him off, which, ya might t'ink happens pretty often, but actually it's mostly Leo dat gets annoyed wit' me. Splinter don't get mad dat often. O' course, when he does, you'd better sit up an' listen, or you're likely ta lose yer shell. It never pays to tick off a ninja master. Even if he is yer dad.
Master Splinter was always there fer us, growin' up. He was there when Leo started gettin' under my shell an' when Mikey pushed Donny jus' a little too far an' he was threatenin' ta turn 'im inta an experiment. He was there when I couldn't figure out why I overbalanced when I landed from my spin-kick, an' he put in hours in the dojo, teachin' me ta compensate fer da extra weight I put on when I grew two inches in a month. Come ta t'ink of it, he did dat fer all of us, working wit' Leo on his katas, an' Donny perfectin' his punches. He was there to teach us, to send us out into battle, and then when it came time ta take down da Shredder, ta lead us inta da fray, an' we knew, wit' him leadin' us, we could take on da world.
Splinter was always there… and then one day… he wasn't.
Leo saved 'im after he fell out dat window, but when we went back fer 'im, he wasn't there. We didn't know, fer a while, if we'd evah see our dad again. We didn't know if he was alive. An' I was scared. In fact, I nevah been so scared in my life. Who was gonna be there fer us? We were big enough by then ta take care o' ourselves, an' each other, but it was a cinch Leo an' I'd be at each other's throats in under a week. Mike an' Donny… they were jus' lost wit'out Splinter. They were lookin' ta Leo ta tell 'em what ta do, an' Leo didn't have a clue. He was tryin' ta play da Fearless leader, but he didn't have me fooled, not fer a minute. Leo was scared an' didn't know what ta do any more than da rest o' us did. Wit'out Splinter, we were lost, an' we all knew it.
Up until we lost Splinter, I t'ought I had t'ings pretty well figured out. I thought I could pretty much do whatever I wanted, 'cause Leo'd always be there ta look out fer Mikey an' Don, ya know? I figured Fearless had t'ings under control, leavin' me free to be myself. Then our father was missin', an' all of a sudden, my goin' off on my own affected dem da way Master Splinter always tol' me it would. Funny, I never took his words seriously, until he wasn't there.
These days I listen ta Master Splinter a little more. I notice little stuff. Like da way he gets dat proud little smile when one o' us does really well in training. Little stuff like dat. 'Cause my dad ain't always gonna be there, an' I gotta be ready, so whether he's there or not, I can always take care o' my bros.
Splinter's a good dad. I hope I make 'im proud.
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