Mikey grinned excitedly as Donnie and Raph came back to the ship. They'd been so upset after they left the Hidden City, and even before that they'd both seemed so tense. This was the first time since they had met the demigods that Mikey had seen them both look actually relaxed. They were happy, and Mikey was happy for them.

"At least Raph can still transform," Leo looked extremely relieved. Mikey frowned slightly at his brother.

"Raph is worth more than his powers," Mikey reminded his brother. Leo nodded.

"Oh, I know," Leo agreed immediately, which Mikey hadn't expected. Leo wasn't exactly Raph's biggest fan, and he'd made that much perfectly clear, but he was still happy for him. "Raph was really doubting himself though, and his brother. Nobody should have to feel like that." Mikey was pretty sure that whatever issues Raph had, they wouldn't go away just because he had his powers. But Raph seemed so happy, and both Leo and Donnie were happy for him. Who was Mikey to rain on their parade?

"Hey, guys," Raph said as he rested his elbows on the wood, staying in the ocean. He was actually grinning. It was strange to see, but also really nice. "Me and Donnie have come to a decision,"

"You have?" Mikey frowned slightly. He hadn't even known that there was a choice to be made.

Donnie didn't look nearly as excited as Raph was, but he didn't seem reluctant either. "We're going to help you guys return the Heart of Miwa,"

Mikey and Leo stared at the demigods in shock. Neither of them knew what to say for a long moment. Leo was the one to break the silence. "...Uh, are you sure?"

"We're sure," Raph said, and he was not the one that Mikey had expected to say so confidently. "We don't want the world to die any more than the next guy,"

"But we have to be smart about this," Donnie looked at them all critically. He pulled himself onto the boat "Raph wants to be more familiar with his powers, and I want to be sure that at least one of you is somewhat competent as a sailor," Mikey and Leo both knew that they could barely be considered sailors at all, but Leo still seemed insulted. Leo had always felt drawn to the ocean. Mikey knew his brother well enough to know that it really hurt him to know that he really couldn't sail.

"How 'bout you teach Leo?" Mikey suggested to Donnie. "Me and Leatherhead can help Raph train," Mikey didn't exactly dedicate hours to training and improving his senses the way that Leo did, but he wasn't completely helpless. At the very least, Mikey thought he had at least a couple of insights that might help Raph. Mikey didn't know for sure exactly how Raph and Donnie's powers worked, but he had an idea that was at least worth a try.

"Sounds okay to me," Donnie looked at Raph, who nodded in agreement. Donnie took his staff and handed it to Raph, who gripped it in one hand and held his sais in the other.

Leo gave Mikey an appreciative grin. This meant a lot to him. Mikey nodded at his brother in acknowledgement and jumped off the boat, right into the water just in front of Raph, splashing him. Raph scowled in slight irritation and pushed some water towards Mikey in retaliation. It wasn't an extremely large splash, but it hit Mikey with a lot more force than he had thought possible. If Mikey hadn't already seen Raph transform into a pelican, he would still know he still had his powers, because there was too much power in that splash for the ocean to not be assisting.

Before Mikey could recover from Raph's little revenge, the demigod grabbed his arm and pulled him to the shore. "Stop messing around. We've got stuff to do," Raph's voice was stern, but he was smirking. He was having fun, even if he was trying to act like he wasn't.

"How do we start?" Mikey asked. He could hear Leatherhead growling slightly behind him. Mikey pet Leatherhead to sooth him. His new friend was really protective, but Mikey didn't want him to attack Raph, not even in a way that wouldn't hurt him, like what he'd done with Donnie earlier. Raph didn't strike Mikey as the type of person who would be okay with a stranger getting all in his face.

"I guess I can try to control the water again," Raph shrugged and twirled his sais. Leatherhead stopped growling and stared at the weapons in surprise.

"Slash's sais," Leatherhead frowned slightly. "Is that why he was mad at you?"

Raph scowled. "They're my sais. I didn't steal them from Slash, I took them back after he took them from me."

"Donnie told you that the sais Slash found belonged to his brother," Mikey reminded Leatherhead. "Raph is that brother,"

Leatherhead continued to stare at Raph like he was trying to study him. "Slash has always been angry, but I've never seen him so mad that he wants to harm a human and a changeling,"

Raph crossed his arms defensively. "Demigod shapeshifter. Not a changeling," At Mikey's questioning glance Raph clarified. "Changelings are a type of yokai that can change their appearance." Mikey didn't understand why Raph was being so defensive about what kind of shapeshifter he was. Raph had already made it clear that he didn't really see anything wrong with being a yokai, so why did the details suddenly matter to him?

"I've never met a godling before," Leatherhead stepped closer to Raph and sniffed him slightly. "You smell like a mortal,"

"I'm not a godling," Raph growled and clenched his fists around his sais. "And I'm not a mortal either,"

"Leatherhead never said you were," Mikey stepped between them before anything could happen. "You just look a lot like normal humans, and you used to be one too, right?" Raph didn't look any happier, but he nodded.

"Yeah, whatever," Raph turned away from Slash, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He put one of his sais at his belt and put his other one at the top of Donnie's staff. Mikey grinned in excitement when he saw the trident. Growing up he'd loved hearing about the powerful demigods. He'd known that Raph and Donnie were those demigods, but seeing their legendary trident and feeling the power coming through it, it really hit him that he was looking at one of the mischievous demigods that he'd loved hearing about as a kid.

Mikey could feel the power that Raph was building up, but nothing happened. The ocean was still, and Raph's appearance didn't change. Raph kept trying for a minute, longer than Mikey had expected, but finally his impatience got the best of him. Raph shouted in frustration and dropped his arms, though he still kept a grip on his weapons.

"I don't get it," Raph scowled in frustration. "I just barely did this. Why can't I get this?"

"What's different now?" Mikey asked. He wanted to help, even if he didn't know how to do it.

"I did it with Donnie earlier," Raph frowned. "But I don't want to have to rely on him all the time."

"Yeah, I'd get tired of that too," Mikey nodded. "Could you feel a difference though?"

Raph's frown became more thoughtful. "I guess...I felt really connected to my brother, and to the ocean,"

Connection...Mikey thought he knew what he could do with that. "Maybe it's that connection that you need to focus on. I mean, I know it's what I would do if I could turn into an animal."

"What do you mean?" Raph asked.

"I mean, everything and everyone in this world is connected," Mikey leaned his head back and spread his arms wide. All the animals, they're all part of a big ecosystem. You know, the whole circle of life thing?"

"Uh, you're going to have to remind me," Raph said. Mikey was more than happy to.

"Well, some animals get their energy from eating plants," Mikey started. Raph nodded, indicating that he was following so far. "Predators get their energy by eating the prey, but when animals die, their bodies end up fertilizing the ground, feeding into the plants that the prey get their energy from. It's a cycle, you know? Everybody takes from the Earth, but everybody also gives back to it. That's how nature works."

"...That's cool," Raph nodded. "I mean, I kinda knew that stuff, but I never really thought about it,"

"It's pretty awesome, isn't it?" Mikey grinned. "There's lots of connections like that in nature, even with things that you didn't think would work together. Like, everyone knows that fire can burn plants, but did you know that a fire can actually help plants grow stronger than ever?"

Raph scowled. "How does that even work?"

"It's similar to how plants can get energy from dead animals." Mikey said. "The plant ashes seep into the earth, giving the dirt lots of nutrients. When things start to grow again, all that extra energy goes into the plants, and they grow back bigger and stronger than before."

"Wow...but how does that help me?" Raph asked. He wasn't being critical of Mikey's advice, he just genuinely wanted to know how he could use it to help himself.

"I might be wrong about this, but I think that as demigods you and Donnie are connected to all of nature, not just the sea and the air." Mikey said. "Like, yeah, you can only control the water, but the ocean isn't just the ocean, it influences and is influenced by so many other things in the world. Same with the air."

Raph hummed slightly. "You mean, like how the air gets moisture from the sea, and then brings rain and storms to the land, making plants grow."

"And those plants can make oxygen, which is air," Mikey said. "And air is the thing that brushes against the ocean surface, causing waves and currents in the water." Mikey grinned broadly. "Everything's connected."

Raph considered Mikey's words for a long moment. "...So me and Donnie were just deluding ourselves when we thought that we only needed each other,"

"You do need each other," Mikey said. "I'm not saying you have to be any less important to each other, but you two could be so much more if you let others be part of your little cycle too."

"Yeah, I'm starting to realize that," Raph sounded exhausted. He was getting to the point where he could accept that the world wasn't out to get him, but only because he'd been torn down so much that Raph couldn't see any other choice.

"This doesn't have to be a bad thing," Mikey assured him. There was nothing wrong with trusting others. "You trust me, right?"

Raph chuckled, "Yeah, I guess I do,"

"If it's a connection we need to work on, I think I know how we can start," Mikey grabbed Raph's hand and pulled him a few feet down the beach to a place where there were some plants and greenery near the water. "Whenever I want to feel closer to nature, I find a place where I can feel the warmth of the sun, feel the ocean breeze, and be close to the plants. I just sit and feel, take it all in."

Raph didn't look completely confident, but when Mikey sat down on the sand, Raph sat down across from him. Mikey closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt Leatherhead come up from behind and curl up around him. Mikey heard Raph sigh and shift slightly. Neither of them knew for sure if this would work for Raph, but it was at least worth a try. If it didn't work, they would find something else. For right now though, they would just sit there. Even if Mikey's plan didn't work, they could at least sit here and relax, enjoy themselves for a little bit, even if it was just for a few minutes.

A/N: This is a shorter chapter, but believe it or not it's actually a really important one. At first I was wondering why it was so much shorter than all the other chapters, but then I remembered that when I was originally planning this chapter out I was planning on including Donnie and Leo doing sailing and talking about some things, except everything that they would have talked about (Donnie and Raph's parents, Donnie's feelings about their tense relationship) were things that have already been talked about in previous chapters. I mean, I know that Mikey has already talked about the whole plants becoming stronger from fire thing, but for what I have planned it's really important that I had him say it to Raph.