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Yay! Finally, I get around to it. The epilogue!

Epilogue

Raph walked into the kitchen, a skip in his step and a tune on his breath. Although it was early (Mike and Don were still asleep) he felt completely well rested. Whistling happily, he opened the fridge and peered inside.

'Hn. There's nothing to eat! Mikey probably cleaned us out yesterday makin' those damn sandwiches.' With a slight frown he settled for orange juice. Not his favorite breakfast, but it would do… for now. His whistling continued. It would take more than some orange juice to spoil his good mood. Grinning, he side stepped past the turtle in the apron to retrieve a now sparkling clean glass for his oj. Leo moaned from his spot next to Raph, screwing his eyes closed. His hands were still under the running water. Raph drank quickly before placing his glass in the almost empty sink. He grinned in response to Leo's glare.

"Gooood morning, Leo." Leo grunted in response. Raph grinned. "I take it you've had a wonderful time." He sat at the table, watching the turtle clad in pink in amusement.

Leo blinked. "Twelve hours and sixteen minutes…" Leo did not look up from his task as he spoke, a dish still in his hand.

"What?"

Leo turned around, looking his annoyance of a brother in the eye for the first time that day. "I have been washing dishes…for twelve hours…sixteen minutes…and thirty two seconds." Raph whistled, long and low.

'Man, Leo's got it down to the tee…' Out loud, his face was blank. "Bummer…"….His whistling continued, not missing a beat. Leo seethed. That was it. Before Leo could even realized what was happening, Raph was hit with a face full of water. Leo looked up, absolutely stunned by his actions. Raph frowned, water dripped from his face onto the stone floor.

"Oh My God, Raph. I'm So sorry!" He rushed to get a towel, which Raph accepted. He wiped his face, Leo's chatter filling the room. "I didn't mean to! I'm so sorry! It just happened so quickly. Raph I-" A sound from behind the towel cut him off. Raph was laughing. Leo gave him a look, which earned him another guffaw from Raph before he fell into a seat. Not knowing what else to do, Leo got mad. "What exactly do you find so hilarious, Raphael?!" Raphael looked up, a laugh thickening his voice.

"I'm laughing at you, Leo." Leo furrowed his brow.

"Why?"

Raph smiled. There Leo was, his hands dripping water, the pink apron hugging his shell snugly, and to top it all off, a hand on his hip. It was quite amusing, but that wasn't what he was laughing about.

"Because, Leo, your so damn uptight. I mean, come on. You do one thing that is not by the book, one thing on instinct and you completely freak out." Leo was offended.

"I did not freak out!" The other hand join the first on his hip. Raph smiled, a finger pointed at the accused turtle.

"You SO freaked out, Leo." Leo was about to argue, but a thought stopped him.

"Wait! Wait a second. Wait. A. Second." Raph waited. Leo gave him a look. "You mean to tell me, you're NOT mad?!" Raph shook his head. That was ludicrous. Leo had thrown water into the turtle's face for crying out loud, and there he sat, grinning up at him. Leo had to sit down. Grabbing a chair he sat, his head in his hands. He was too tired for this. Raph recognized his look and explained himself.

"Leo, I'm not pissed. Why? Because, I deserved it. You did what you felt like, and you liked it." Leo's head shot up to protest but Raph interrupted before Leo could open his mouth. "You know you liked it,. I saw it in your eyes before you freaked." Leo put his head down in defeat, it was a lost cause. Raph continued. "Your always so freaking uptight. Geez, Leo, it's like you walk around with a permanent rod up yer ass. Always doin' everything by the damn book. Well I have news for ya. Life isn't always all straight and narrow. Maybe if you relaxed every once in a while…" Raph trailed off. Leo blinked at him. Since when was Raph all philosophical?

'Why Raph. I didn't know you had it in ya' Leo looked up at his bastardly, jackass excuse for a brother, in wonder. Raph allowed a smile to grace his lips. It was not every day that he actually spoke his thoughts. Leaning back into his chain, he responded.

"Yeah, Donny's not the only one that thinks ya' know." Raph brought his hands to the back of his head as he leaned further back into his chair. Before Leo could react, the inevitable happened. Raph was on the floor, the wooden chair in shambles underneath him. His face, the ultimate surprised. Typical Raph.

"See Raph, that's what's wrong with you! You never think about what you're doing, and you act completely at random. I don't even know what you're thinking most of the time." It was Leo's turn to scold. Raph looked offended, then angry.

"At least I'M not going to die of an aneurysm!" He had heard Donny say that word before, and he put it to good use now. Leo snorted.

"At least I'M not going to die from….from…..from…." He had nothing. "From, being indolent!" Raph gave him a look. Ok, Leo had to admit, that was weak. Raph began to walk away.

"Raph, come back. I'm sorry. Your right." Raph stiffened; his foot inches from the ground. Did he hear what he thought he heard? Raph turned around slowly to look Leo in the eye, but Leo broke his gaze as soon as he caught it, settling his eyes on the wooden table. Despondently, he made his way over to the sink. Raph was on his heals in microseconds.

"What did you say?" He couldn't believe it! Did Leo admit that he was…*gasp* wrong?! Leo avoided Raph's stern eyes, and instead, concentrated on the dishes, running the water once again.

"Nothin' Raph."

Raphael was persistent.

"No. What did you say?!" Raph moved so that Leo was forced to make eye contact with him. Leo looked at him before turning off the water in defeat.

"Raph, I-I know that sometimes I can seem a bit…" He paused, searching for the right words. "obsessive…" Raph snorted. Anal would be more like it. But he allowed Leo the benefit of the doubt. Leo sighed, completely drained, his hands going under the standing water once again. He continued. "Sometimes, I just want the best for us, ya know? Not just for me, but for you guys." He allowed eye contact with Raph, who was still too stunned to even speak. "I see you guys play and things and I remember when we were little, I wanted to join you. But growing up, I realized, there are a lot of dangers out there, waiting to tear us apart, literally. I remember thinking that if I got good enough at ninjitsu and such, then I could defend you guys from such dangers…"

Raph continued to stare at his brother. He didn't know. "But, Leo. We're all big now, we don't need your prote-"

"I know." Leo interrupted him, holding up a wet hand to silence the turtle. "I know Raph. But I guess… it's a hard habit to fall back out of." Raph narrowed his eyes in contemplation before finally understanding what Leo was getting at.

"So yesterday,--"

"Yesterday, I might have over did it a little. At first I was excited…but then, it all just turned into another method of practice."

"You also made it aggravating as hell!" Raph couldn't help but add his two cent. Leo smiled a little before lowing his head again. Turning off the water, he backed away. The dishes stood tall, sparkling and shining with a new vigor. Raphael barely noticed. Slowly, Leo began to make his tracks towards his room, only to be stopped by the turtle in red via method of door way blockage. Leo inwardly moaned. Not again.

"What is it Raph?" He was too drained to argue. Raph's gaze was stern and serious as he talked ."You say that I have a problem with being too spontaneous, and I think that you have a problem with being too….rod-up-the-ass-ish. So maybe, we can strike a deal…" Raph smirked. Leo looked up, his interest perking.

"I'm listening…"

Raph broke into a grin. "How about, for this week, YOU try to stop being so damn obsessive, and…I guess… I'll start being more…like you." It wasn't something that was too desirable, but anything to get his brother to relax. Leo smiled, this was beginning to sounding familiar.

"OH, and what will be the consequences if one of us breaks the deal?" Leo satirized him. Raph was surprised, Leo was actually considering it. With a smirk, he responded.

"How about, who ever breaks the deal will have to wear that apron for an entire week?!" Leo smirked also, mirroring his brother's smug expression. A little loss in dignity was ok, he had gained his brother's understanding. Reaching out, he took his brother's hand in his, and gave it a strong shake.

"Deal."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you think that they killed each other?" Mike listened from the den, a worried ear open for any further commotion from the kitchen.

"Maybe." Donatello answered truthfully as he flopped onto the couch, remote in hand. Maybe he would be able to catch the last few hours of the marathon. Hopefully it was still on. He smiled as the Power Puff Girl theme music filled the den. At the sound Mike automatically took his spot on the floor, but his mind was elsewhere. His plan did not work, he was almost certain. The big crash in the kitchen earlier had made that clear, along with the yelling that followed there after. Mike mused from his spot on the floor, rare anger building.

'Well, I tried. They're both just so damn stubborn. Whatever. If they want to kill each other, then that's fine with me--' His thoughts were cut short with the entrance of the turtles in question. Raph took the spot next to the couch, his eyes instantly glued to the tube. However, it was Leo that surprised him. Leo took Splinter's chair, his eyes on the television also.

'Leo…watching TV?' Leo never watched TV. Even when they were kids, Leo never bothered himself with such things. Not even when Splinter joined the rest of them in front of the tube, on those rare occasions. Instead, Leo usual busied himself in the Dojo or used his extra time to meditate. But now…He looked over at the turtle, of whom seemed to be confused.

"Um, what exactly…IS this?" He pointed at the screen where Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles were currently fighting Mojo Jojo. Mike and Raph were silent, leaving Don to answer.

"The Power Puff Girls." Don stated simply, his eyes never leaving the screen. Leo did an "Oh" before turning back to the screen. The silence only lasted for a few moments. He turned back to Donny.

"What is it about?…" Mike inwardly moaned. He knew what was coming. Don sat up, happy to explain the concepts of the show in full detail.

"Well, you see Leo. There was this scientist named Professor, who's goal was to make perfect little girls. He began with the combination of Sugar and Spice, and then continued from there, adding everything nic-" Mike groaned. Once you got Don started, he would never stop. "-Then something went wrong. The compound Chemical X was added, creating The Power Puff Girls. It's a questionable processes, though. I tried experimenting in my own lab with such a theory. But I soon found that-" Don droned on and on. With a huff Raph stood.

"I have had enough of this. I think I'll head to…the Dojo." A smile hinted his lips as he left. Leo also began to smile, but was chided by Donatello, of whom had not stopped talking the entire time.

"Are you listening, Leo? This information is essential to the entire show!" Leo quickly apologized, and Don continued right where he left off. Mike smiled. There was no way Leo was getting out of this one. But he couldn't help but wonder what happened in that kitchen. They sounded so angry before, but when they came out, they seemed sooo….not…angry. It was a mystery, but he was glad.

Maybe his plan did work after all…

***

OK, completely finished. It's kind of open ended, but that's the way I like it : ), R and R