Chapter Twenty – The Letter

Aerglo was sitting on the couch in the living room, and he was watching as his wife was pacing around the couch. "What are you thinking of, Rona?" he asked gently. Rona sighed and stopped in front of him, then sat next to him.

"I was thinking about them," she didn't need to be more specific, Aerglo knew who she meant by 'them'. "We need to keep a good relationship with them. For our son's sake,' Aerglo nodded in agreement. "We should invite them for dinner to get to know them. Don't you think?"

"I agree. However, I think, Oberon isn't too happy with this situation, and I don't know how Leo's talk went with them. I'm afraid, the atmosphere, during the dinner, would be...uneasy."

"So should we wait and let them go without a proper introduction?"

"No, of course not. But we should talk to Leo first... and Oberon. After them, we invite them," Rona nodded. "By the way, where are the boys?"


Oberon decided to go for a run. He had to get away from the palace and most importantly from his brother. He knew he shouldn't have yelled at him. Although he could understand him. It just hurt. He thought Leo trusted him enough to share these things with him. But the stealing! He was just happy that Leo didn't do that. He was furious that his enemies tried to get his brother involved in their mess. He had to speak with Leo.

He stopped on the road and turned around.

Yes, he will talk to him and everything will be alright again.

Hopefully...

As he entered the palace, he immediately went to his bedroom. He foresaw that Leo might leave the room, but he hoped he didn't. Never mind. He couldn't be far! He was about the leave when he noticed something on his desk. He walked to it and grabbed the paper. It was Leo's handwriting. And it wasn't English. He wrote on TurtleLand's national language. He taught him this language, sort of. Though, his little brother was a quick learner. He read the text.

Kedves Oberon!

Úgy hiszem, nem lennék képes most a szemedbe nézni, ezért írtam ezt a levelet.

Nagyon sajnálom, hogy megbántottalak. Kérlek, ne hidd azt, hogy nem bízom benned, mert bízok. Csak ez az egész szituáció új volt nekem. Derült égből villámcsapásként ért a hír. Aztán Mordou és a Triceratonok is képbe jöttek.

Félre ne értsd, kérlek. Nem kifogásokat keresek.

Azt hiszem, ez egy kicsit sok volt nekem. Be szerettem volna illeszkedni közétek, de közben otthon is rendben akartam tartani mindent. Talán azért húztam idáig a dolgot, mert féltem, hogy mi lesz. Nem csak attól, hogy ki lennék tagadva tőletek vagy tőlük, esetleg mindkettőtöktől, hanem úgy mindentől. Nem tudtam, és még mindig nem tudom, hogy egyeztessem össze a két életemet, a két családom. Eggyé nem alakíthatom őket, mindig két hely között kell ingáznom. Most még új vagyok a családnak, de később, ha már megszoktok, lehet unnátok, hogy mindig vinni-hozni kell engem. De ha ez nem is történne meg, akkor is a távolléteim alatt itt is és ott is történni fognak dolgok, és én mindig kimaradok. Félek, hogy ez a kapcsolataimra hatással lesz. Nem akarok a kimaradt tag lenni, de mégis az leszek, mert egyikőtöket sem tudlak elhagyni. Próbálok pozitív maradni, de mindig valami rossz történik. Most például Mordou fenyegetései. Nem akarom, hogy miattam szenvedjetek.

A lényeg, hogy attól féltem, amitől mindig is. A bukástól. Az élet most egy elég nagy kihívás elé állított, és eddig nem teljesítettem túl jól.

Csak hogy tudd, semmi sem a te hibád. Nem miattad tartottam titokban. Én voltam a gyáva. Sajnálom. Remélem egyszer meg tudsz bocsátani.

(Remélem jól írtam mindent, nem vagyok benne biztos, de remélem azért megérted, ha nem, akkor az elég kínos lenne... már ez az utóirat is kínos...)

Leo

[Translation is at the bottom]

Oberon couldn't hold back his tears. This is what he wanted to know, but then, when he read it, it wasn't satisfying. Tears rolled down his cheek and blurred his vision.

He had to speak with his brother. As soon as possible.

He rushed to Leo's bedroom, but it was empty. He ran to the living room. Venus was sitting on the couch.

"Have you seen Leo?" he asked.

"No, wh-" but Oberon already vanished. "-y?"

Oberon hurried to the kitchen, where he found his parents. They were talking, but Oberon didn't listen to it, he just asked:

"Have you seen Leo?"

"No," they answered. Oberon turned around to leave, but his father's strict voice stopped him.

"Oberon!"

"Yes?"

"Do you know how Leo's talk went? I mean, with his earthly family."

"Uh, well, I'm not sure," he replied. So they don't know about Mordou. "But I will ask him when I find him."

"I hope it went well," Rona added. "We would like to invite them to dinner."

"Oh, okay."

"Are you alright with it? We wouldn't like it if you would be rude. We know you're not so happy about the situation, but you must unde-"

"Okay," Oberon interrupted his father. "I won't be rude, I'm okay with this. Invite them."

"Are you sure?" Aerglo asked. This sudden change of heart was strange from his eldest son.

"Totally," he nodded. "But now, I go to find Leo," and with that, he left. He rushed out of the palace and when to the park. After a minute, he noticed Leo, sitting under a tree, meditating. He approached him slowly, and when he reached him, he cleared his throat. He didn't get a reply. He leaned down and tapped his shoulder.

"Leonardo? Are you awake?" he tried to joke, but his smile vanished soon when his brother didn't chuckle.

"What is it?" Leo asked with closed eyes.

Oberon straightened and looked down at him. "Well, um, I would like to talk to you. . . if you got time," he added a little bit nervously. His little brother just sighed. "I've read your letter..." Leo jerked his head up, looked into his eyes, then looked away with a frown. He didn't want to talk about it this soon. Oberon sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around him. "I'm sorry."

"Why do you sorry?" Leo asked surprisingly.

"Because I wasn't a good brother to you, and-"

"Oberon, I-"

"Let me finish, please," Leo nodded, and his brother continued. "I'm sorry for not noticing what you went through. I'm sorry for playing the drama queen and not focusing on your problem. I'm sorry for not trying enough to see it through your eyes. I focused only on my hurt. I thought you loved us less, than your earthly family, and I thought I wasn't on the same level as your other brothers. I know I was wrong," he spread his legs and pulled Leo to his chest. Leo placed his head on Oberon's upper plastron. As Oberon tightened his embrace, Leonardo returned the hug. "But now, I promise you that I will be on your side in every situation, and I will help you through this mess."

To Leo, it felt good. He never got this from his other brothers. He always had to act like a big brother, so it was him, who did something like that to the others. It was great to be in switched roles. Being a little brother wasn't bad. Not at all.

"Thank you," he whispered. It was a huge relief that Oberon understood him. He became so happy that he didn't felt the tears in his eyes. "Thank you."

However, Oberon noticed the tears which were desiring to escape. He pressed Leo closer to him, and with one hand he was stroking soothing circle on his shell, and with the other one, he held the back of his head. "It's okay, hm? Everything will be okay," he reassured him and placed his chin on top of Leo's head.


"What the shell was that?" asked Raph, bewildered.

"Well, what I have taken from it is that these turtles and those rats have a really bad relationship. And I guess that Mordou is an important member of those rats. And he really looks like you, Sensei," Donnie said with amazement. Master Splinter just frowned. "That explains some things. For example, why Leo didn't tell us sooner. It must have been a mess. He found out that he's an alien and he had to deal with this, without help. Because who is able to help him? This is something that he needs to solve alone. And you know him. He always thinks of the worst. He thought we would disown him. But as I saw, he didn't tell them about us, or not everything. I'm sure that they didn't know about you, Sensei. No wonder. What could he say? 'Hey, imagine guys, my adoptive father is a rat, and he looks like our greatest enemy. Isn't it fantastic?' Just think about it guys..."

"I agree," April continued. "And I understand Leo, though I'm a little bit sad that he didn't tell us. But now, we have to help him to accept and get used to this."

"Dudes, did you hear how Leo ordered them? He was so shy, but then suddenly, his 'I'm-the-leader-listen-to-me' voice returned, and they actually listened to him," Mikey explained cheerfully.

"I think he didn't want us to see how bad that relationship is," Donnie reasoned.

"But what was that thing what Leo should have done?" Karai wondered, all of sudden.

"It must have been something is against Leonardo's honor," Leatherhead said.

"I agree," Dr. Rockwell added. "I think Mordou threatened Leonardo to do a crime, in exchange, he wouldn't tell anybody about Leonardo's secrets."

"What do you think, Master Splinter?" April asked when she noticed the rat's odd silence.

"Perhaps, you are right," he replied finally. "I am just glad that Leonardo did not do it.

"Are ya okay, Sensei?" Raph spoke too finally. "Did that Oberon turtle hurt ya back there?"

"I am unharmed. I am just worried about Leonardo's soul," he sighed.

"Why?"

"I am afraid there will be too much pressure which will weigh on him."

Abruptly, footsteps were approaching the cell. The prisoners stood up and waited for the newcomer. A moment later, a tall turtle stopped in front of them. He was dressed in elegant clothes, it was clear, that he was important. It was strange to see his five fingers on his hands and his more human limbs. After their quick astonishment, they recognized him. He was that turtle, who ordered the soldiers to imprison them.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he started. "My name is Aerglo and I am the king of this planet."

"Wait, then that means that you are Leo's...father?" it felt weird to say that out loud to Donnie.

"Yes," Aerglo answered. "And I would like to apologize for my earlier behavior. I am sorry for having you imprison, but I could not let rumors to be born and go around."

Everybody kept silent, so Slash decided to answer. "Understandable."

"To placate you, I would like to invite you for dinner. We would like to get to know you better."

"First, y'all wanted to kill us and now, y'all want to chit-chat and eat with us?" Raph snorted.

"I am sorry about that. Let me explain. There is a rat who is organizing a team from our citizens. Our soldiers and my son, Oberon thought you were enemies."

"Well, yer son is a jerk," Raph growled.

"Raphael," his father warned him.

"I apologize for his behavior too. Sometimes he acts without thinking."

"Isn't it familiar, Raphael?" Karai smirked, and Raph glared at her.

"Thank you for inviting us," Master Splinter spoke. "We gladly accept it."

"Great," Aerglo smiled. "Then, Yugar will come for you, and he will show you the way."

"All right."


"I'm happy that it went well," Rona was smiling. "I was afraid we couldn't invite them."

"I hope it will go well too," Leo spoke, while he was sitting at the kitchen table.

"It will. This is in their interest too," Oberon said.

"Yes. And I'm sure they don't want any trouble," Venus added.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm just wondering what will happen after that..." Leo sighed. Finally, he solved a problem, he told them everything, and they reacted quite well, but then, a new problem appeared. His routine will officially change, and who knows how. He just wished it would change in a good way.

A/N: HeyHo guys~

Before the translation, a few words: I was lazy to find a fitting language or write backwards or something like that, so I just used my native language. So, this is Hungarian. Translation:

Dear Oberon!

I think I couldn't look into your eyes now, so I wrote this letter.

I'm so sorry for hurting you. Please, don't think that I don't trust you, because I do. Just this whole situation was new to me. The news were bolt from the blue for me. Then, Mordou and the Triceratons came.

Please, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to make excuses.

I think, it was a little too much to me. I had wish to be one of you and at the same time keep things right at home. Perhaps I delayed it so long, because I was afraid of what would happen. Not just of being disown by you or them, maybe both of you, but of everything. I didn't know and I still don't know how to reconcile my two lives, my two families. I can't make them one, I have to commute between two places. Now, I'm still new to this family, but later, when you will get used to me, maybe you will be get tired of bringing and fetching me. But if it wouldn't happen, I'd still miss thing out here and there, while I'd be away. I'm afraid that it will affect my relationships. I don't want to be the left-out-guy, but I will be one, because I can't leave neither of you. I'm trying to stay positive but something bad always happens. Now, for example, Mordou's threats. I don't want you to suffer because of me.

The point is that I was afraid of what I was always afraid of. The failure. The life created a big challenge to me, and I wasn't carrying it out very well.

Just so you know, nothing is your fault. I didn't kept it as a secret because of you. I was the coward. I'm sorry. I hope you will be able to forgive me.

(I hope I wrote everything well, I'm not sure, but I hope you understand, if you don't, then it'd be quite awkward… this postscript is already awkward…)

Leo