Chapter One: A Year Later…

The sound of his swords slashing through the air was the only thing Leonardo could hear as he trained under the night sky. Wanting some time alone, the young turtle had made his way outside and was now standing on a rooftop of a building close to his home. The sewers were huge, and he could have easily found a spot within to train by himself, but Leo preferred the fresh air, especially now that he was free to roam New York city as he pleased. Defeating Krang has basically made the turtles into the city's VIPs. Yet, they still chose to stay in the shadows, deciding that having a "normal" life would not be as fun as the lives they were living now.

Speaking of their lives, the turtles have been getting restless due to the lack of crime for the past year. This was more apparent with their fearless leader Leonardo, who has not let up on his training since Krang's attack. In fact, he has been so focused on getting stronger that his brothers, and at times Master Splinter himself, have had to force Leo to take a break every once in a while. It has become a normal routine for them to get their eldest brother to eat or sit down and watch television for a moment just so he would not overwork himself to death. All bodies needed some time to rest or they would shut down, and from the way Leonardo has been pushing himself, his family knew it was only a matter of time before that happened to him.

But Leo did not care. Something deep within him was pushing him to keep moving and he would allow his body to fail him before he stopped. He continued to swing his katanas and moved across the roof as though he was combating an invisible opponent. The way he gracefully shifted his movements and controlled his weapons made it seem like he was dancing rather than fighting. It was truly a sight to behold, and it felt like second nature to Leonardo.

The turtle carried on like that for some time before he came to an abrupt stop, his right arm outstretched with his sword aimed in front of him. And at the end of his katana, one of his brothers stood with his arms folded across his chest and he did not even flinch at the close proximity of the sword's point to his throat.

"Better be careful, bro. You might actually kill someone with that toothpick."

Leonardo rolled his eyes.

"Trust me, Raph. If I wanted you dead, you would be."

Raphael chuckled as his older brother went back to his training.

"Ooooh, scary. I'm shaking in my shell."

Leo ignored Raph and the younger turtle stood back to watch him. For a minute, the two brothers did not speak a word, but as time went by, Leonardo began to get a bit uneasy by Raphael's nonchalant manner.

"So?"

Raph shrugged, seeming to not know the meaning behind Leo's question.

"So?"

"So… are you here to drag me back home?"

"Now why would I do that? You're a big boy. You do what you want."

"Oh, really?"

Finally coming to a stop, Leonardo walked towards his brother while replacing his katanas back in their scabbards on his back.

"Because it seems like all you guys have been doing nowadays is get on my case."

"Bro, we're just looking after you. Maybe if you took better care of yourself, we wouldn't be on you so much, but hey…"

Raising his hands, Raphael stopped Leonardo before he could say anything. Last thing he wanted right now was for this conversation to lead to a fight like usual.

"Like I said, you're a big boy. I'm not here to tell you how to live your life, okay?"

Leo sighed. He really did not want to fight with his brother either. He just did not have the energy to do so right now. Raphael walked up beside the elder turtle and placed his hands on his hips as he looked over the city. He had to admit, Leonardo did pick a nice spot to train, and the view of New York was simply amazing this time at night.

"Then why did you come?"

Smirking, Raph did not turn to look at his brother, but he did answer the question.

"Would you believe me if I said I came to get away from Donnie?"

Leo shook his head.

"He's on one of his nerd rants again?"

"You know it. I love 'im, but… sometimes I'd rather hear Mikey go on about cats with chopsticks than Donnie talking about black holes or whatever. I understand cats. Not science."

Raphael was surprised to hear a chuckle from his brother, and he finally turned to Leonardo, who had a small smile on his face.

"And here I thought you forgot how to laugh."

"…Yeah."

And just as quickly as it came, Leo smile faded. An awkward silence passed between the turtles and they both just stared out into the night. After a moment, Raphael took a deep breath and spoke up.

"Nice weather we're having, huh?"

Leonardo frowned and slowly turned his head to face his brother.

"You know, you are really bad at this…"

"Oh, shut up, will ya!?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

"But… seriously, Leo… what's going on with you?"

"Raph, how many times do I have to…"

"Lie before we give up on you?"

Leo shook his head and tried to turn away, but Raph grabbed his shoulder and held him still.

"You're not fine, Leo. You know you can talk to us if something's up. You can…you can talk to me."

Leonardo opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly shut it. He believed Raphael's words, but he just could not bring himself to tell his younger brother what was bothering him.

"Come on, Leo."

"Raph, I…"

"What's going on, bros!?"

Their youngest brother's cheerful voice broke through the tension that had developed between Leo and Raph. They both turned around and saw Michelangelo on his trusty skateboard hovering a few inches from the ground.

"Master Splinter sent me to come get you guys for dinner. I can't wait to get my hands on a pizza!"

"Sure Mikey. Me and Leo will be right with ya."

"Sweet, Raph. Better hurry up though. I wouldn't want you to come home to empty pizza boxes."

"Mikey, if you…!"

"Gotta go, dudes!"

Laughing, Mikey zoomed into the air just as Raph attempted to grab him and he headed back the way he came. Once he had calmed down, Raphael looked back at Leo and shrugged.

"Guess it's time to head back. You coming?"

Looking back at the city once more, Leonardo thought for a moment about what he should do. He wanted to continue training for a little while longer, but the turtle knew if Raphael was not going to force him to come back, then someone else would. And by someone else, Leo knew it would probably be Splinter and there was no way he was going to say no to his father.

"…Yeah, I'm…I'm coming."

"Good. You don't want to miss me kicking Mikey's butt once I get my hands on him."

Raph leapt onto the ledge of the rooftop and prepared to jump off.

"But don't think this conversation's over, bro. Not by a longshot."

Pushing himself forward, Raphael let himself fall down, grabbing onto a railing of a nearby apartment balcony to catch himself before landing on the ground. Leo watched as his brother disappeared into an alley and he soon took a step onto the ledge to follow after Raph.

"If only it were that easy."

"Cowabunga!"

Michelangelo skated across the tunnel walls and performed a few tricks on his board as he moved along. He would never get tired of riding through the sewers, and it was the perfect environment for skateboarding, especially for a teenage mutant ninja turtle. Mikey had been so caught up in the excitement that he had not noticed that he was being followed.

"Mikeeey!"

At least not until he heard his name being called by the last person he wanted to be around right now. Why did he have to get his brother all worked up?

"Why don't you come and give your big brother a HUG!?"

Mikey gulped and glanced over his shoulder to see Raphael behind him while using his shell as a board to slide through the tunnel. Screaming, the younger turtle stomped on his board to command the rockets to give off more power, but for some reason, they were not responding. Instead, it seemed as though they were losing power and now Michelangelo was slowing down, which was not a good. Distracted, the turtle began to lose his balance and with a yelp, he was thrown off his skateboard. Fortunately, the momentum from the toss propelled Mikey forward and he instinctively fell onto his back like his older brother, but he lost his board in the process. He made a mental note to come back for it later once Raph had calmed down.

And speaking of the elder turtle, Michelangelo looked back again and noticed how much closer Raphael had gotten to him. Now he was really panicking and out of desperation, Mikey tried to build up more speed by pushing against the ground with his hands. The action helped him gain a little speed, but not much and the way the turtle scooted across the tunnel amused Raphael. The older brother smirked.

"Having some trouble, bro? Why don't I give you a hand!?"

Using all his strength, Raph shoved his body forward and rammed straight into Mikey's side. The two brothers tumbled throughout the rest of the sewer tunnel until they reached the end, where a circular, white door stood in front of them. Raphael and Michelangelo had no time to stop before they crashed through the door and landed in a heap on cold floor of their lair. Unfortunately for Mikey, he landed first and his brother fell right on top of him.

"Got you now, lil' bro!"

Raph pulled his little brother into a headlock and began to furiously noogie Mikey on his skull. Mikey clawed at his older sibling's hands, but Raphael refused to let him go.

"Come on, Raph! I'm sorry okay!? I'm SORRY!"

"Ha, ha! You should know by now, Mikey. Raph shows no mercy!"

Michelangelo's screaming drowned out the noises in the lair, so the brothers did not hear the set of footsteps approaching them. They were not aware of the presence behind them until Raphael felt something hard hit the top of his head. The impact forced him to let go of his little brother and Mikey scrambled behind his savior before Raph could come after him again. But his older brother was more concerned about his head at the moment, and he was rubbing the top of it with one hand to try and sooth the pain.

"Ow. Master Splinter?"

Indeed, Splinter was standing beside Raphael with Michelangelo crouched behind him. The rat shook his head while waving his cane in the air.

"What have I told you boys about your fighting? You are brothers, not enemies."

"But Mikey…"

"I do not want to hear it. No more fighting, my sons."

Splinter turned around and as he walked away, Mikey stuck his tongue out at Raph. This did not go unnoticed by their father, who raised his cane again and gave his youngest son a good hit on his noggin.

"Ouch!"

"That includes you, Michelangelo. Now come, you two. Donatello is waiting for us with our dinner."

Both Raphael and Michelangelo stood up from the floor and quickly walked after their master, but the older brother could not help but glare at the other turtle. Mikey shuffled a little to his right to make some distance between him and brother, in case Raph decided to come after him just for being too close.

"Will Leonardo be joining us tonight?"

Raph and Mikey's attention was instantly drawn back to Master Splinter when he mentioned their eldest brother. The oldest of the two nodded his head in response to the rat's question.

"Yeah, he'll be here. I thought he was right behind me, but…"

Then as if out of nowhere, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Splinter heard the front door swing open, even though there was a wide enough hole for anyone to slip through due to the two turtles' tussle earlier. Everyone could easily see that it was Leonardo who had arrived, and he immediately approached his siblings and father. Splinter smiled at his eldest son.

"Greetings, my son. I am glad you came."

Leo bowed to the rat.

"Greetings, Sensei."

As he rose from his position, Leonardo looked back at the damaged door with a frown on his face.

"What… happened?"

His father shook his head and behind Splinter, Leo could see Raph nervously rubbing the back of his head and Mikey fiddling with his fingers.

"I don't think calculations are necessary to figure that out."

Everyone turned around to see Donatello walking to them while adjusting his glasses. He smirked at Leonardo.

"But don't worry about it, Leo. The door's an easy fix."

"Thanks, Don. I don't know what we'd do without you."

"I aim to please. Now let's go eat before Mikey gets a hold of… wait, where is Mikey?"

The three brothers and their father all turned to the couch, where they could hear loud chewing noises coming from that direction. Leo, Raph, and Donnie all groaned while Splinter calmly walked behind the couch and raised his cane.

"Ow!"

The rat brought down his staff and again hit Michelangelo on his head. By the time they all retired for the night, Mikey was going to have brain damage if Splinter kept hitting him. The turtle looked back at his family with a slice of pizza hanging from his mouth and held up a pizza box for everyone to see.

"Mm Mm Mmmm Mmmm!"

Donatello facepalmed himself.

"Mikey, don't talk with your mouth full."

"Mmm Mmm."

Michelangelo quickly took a bite out of his pizza slice and held the rest of it in his hand. After he swallowed the piece, the youngest turtle smiled innocently at his family.

"I said I was gonna share it. Turtle's honor."

"Sure you were."

While he was distracted, Raphael took the pizza box out of Mikey's hand and sat beside him on the couch.

"So, anyone know a good movie to watch? Oh, and Leo, no more Space Heroes."

"How old do you think I am, Raph?"

"I know you still watch it in secret. You can't fool me, bro."

"I do not."

Leo playfully punched Raph on his arm, but that did not stop his younger brother from laughing at him as he took a seat on one of the small chairs on the right side of the couch. Donnie soon followed and sat in the chair on the left of the couch, but Master Splinter stayed behind. He just stood there and watched his sons interact with each other, smiling as the scene reminded him of when the turtles were children. Those were simpler time when the brothers were so close and did everything together, but now as the years have gone by, Splinter has noticed how his sons seemed to be growing apart. Maybe it was a part of them becoming men and they all wanted a life of their own, a life that may not involve them being a team anymore.

The rat shook his head. Whatever life his turtles decided to live, he would support them. And besides, just because they may not be a team in the future does not mean that they will not look after each other. Master Splinter was sure that wherever they go, his sons would keep in contact. But right now, he needed to focus on the present, not the future. He wanted to savor this moment and relish in the fact that they were all together right here and right now. And right now, that was all that mattered to Splinter.

"So, uh, Leo."

Splinter was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Donatello address Leonardo. He slowly walked up to stand beside his genius son and pretended to be watching the television, which was playing a show called Kondescending Kitchen. The rat had heard about the show before and knew that it was one of Michelangelo's favorite shows. Maybe this was why his youngest son was so interested in cooking. Before his thoughts went off track, Master Splinter listened as Leo responded to Donnie.

"Yeah, Donnie?"

"I was just wondering where exactly you, uh…disappeared to earlier. You know, like Raph did…"

Hearing his name, Raphael sighed and leaned his head back so he was looking up at the ceiling.

"When I was having a serious conversation with him and Mikey. At least Mikey stayed…even if he could not fully comprehend the scientific matters I was ranting about."

Donatello said the last part to himself, but it was still loud enough for Michelangelo to hear him.

"Hey! I don't know exactly what you just said, but I feel like I should be offended. Besides, I understood…some things you were saying."

"It's okay, Mikey. The point I was trying to make is that you're a good brother for listening and NOT running away."

"Oh…okay."

Mikey gave Don a thumbs-up and the older turtle chuckled as he patted his little brother on the head.

"Anyways, Leo, we were worried when you just up and left like that. But Dad said you just went out to train."

Master Splinter nodded, now becoming a part of the conversation.

"Yes, I did. New York is a beautiful sight once night falls. I supposed you wanted the change in scenery."

Leonardo smiled.

"Yeah, I…I guess. I Just wanted some place quiet, you know. Someplace to think."

"To think about what?"

Pulling himself away from the tv show, Mikey was now curious about what was on Leo's mind. But the older brother shook his head.

"Just stuff, Mikey. Nothing serious."

"" Nothing serious," huh?"

Now Raphael was looking towards Leonardo along with Splinter and his two other brothers. The attention was beginning to make Leo uncomfortable.

"Leo, are you sure about that?"

"Very sure, Raph."

"For something that isn't so serious, you sure have been bothered by it a lot lately."

"Bothered? Okay, why do I feel like I'm being interrogated here?"

Splinter could hear the irritation in his son's voice and he quickly went to Leo's side to try and defuse the tension that had suddenly spread throughout the room.

"Leonardo, your brothers do not wish to upset you. And they are right."

The rat placed his hand on his oldest son's shoulder.

"Something is troubling you, my son. Something that you do not have to deal with on your own. You have us."

Seeing that his family was not about to drop the subject, Leo put on a fake smile and tried his best to look as though everything was fine.

"I'm fine, Dad. Really. I don't know why you guys are so sure that I have a problem."

The oldest turtle gently pried his father's hand off of his shoulder and stood up from his chair. He looked over to Splinter and then his brothers.

"I'm, uh…I'm gonna turn in for the night. I think I lost my appetite."

"Leonardo, please…"

Splinter called after his son, but Leo pretended not to hear him and kept walking until he reached his room. The rat sighed and turned back to his other sons.

"He will come around eventually, my sons. We just need to be patient."

"I'm sorry."

Master Splinter turned to Donatello, who had his head in his hands.

"I shouldn't have brought it up. It's just…no amount of data could help me solve Leonardo's dilemma, as well as figure out what exactly that dilemma is. So, I just decided to go to the source."

The third-oldest turtle was surprised to hear his master chuckle and he it made him look up. Splinter smiled at him as he did so.

"Donatello, your brother is not a computer. And you should not blame yourself for what happened. You are concerned about Leonardo, as are we. That is nothing to be sorry for."

"I know, but…"

"No "buts," Donatello. For now, let us all finish our dinner and then head off to bed. Tomorrow is a new day, and we should get our full-night's rest."

Donnie, Raph, and Mikey all bowed their heads to Splinter in agreement.

"Yes, sensei."