Promises

by Streetwyse

PGfor some bad language FINALLY UPDATED! When Raphael goes missing one night, Casey goes looking for him. As help, he talks an uncertain Magnolia into coming along. Now the question is, where's Raph and will they find him in time?

9. Heart to heart

Disclaimer: Don't own TMNT, just own Maggie.

Chapter 9: Heart to heart

A/N: Wow, more than two years have gone by since I last updated this story. I'm very sorry for the long delay, but I have a very good reason. As much as I hate to admit it, I've spent some time fighting personal problems and there really wasn't room for me to do any writing during this time. I needed time to get my head on straight before I could do anything else and for the moment, things are going okay. So here is the next chapter that everyone has been waiting for. Enjoy.

It took Raph a little longer than he would have liked to reach the old train car that now served as Splinter's study and personal quarters. He was still greatly disoriented, so it was hard for him to walk. Like he had done in his room, before he could really get anywhere, he had to stop every few steps so that he could rest and get his bearings.

And just like before, it wasn't very easy to accomplish this since he kept getting dizzy so often. More than once he was tempted to just stop where he was and forget the whole thing. It would have been so much easier for his body to deal with than trying to get across the vast distance of his family's home.

But doing that meant that he would have to give up on his goal and he couldn't do that now. He had made a decision that he had to see through to the end. Sure it might not have been the most important thing in the world, but it mattered to Raphael. And when something mattered to him, the Turtle would stop at nothing to see it through to the end.

So he forced himself to forget about going back to bed and getting to his Sensei's study. Some steps were slower than others, with a few forcing him to halt even though he didn't even want to. But eventually, the efforts he was making were to pay off when Raphael finally made it outside Splinter's railcar.

Leaning against the side of the railcar, Raph took a moment to catch his breath and to gathered his still mixed up thoughts. It wasn't that easy to do, thanks to the headache his hangover was continuing to provide, but some things managed to get through in the end. Part of the Turtle still couldn't believe what he had heard from his brother concerning Maggie while another thought that the girl must have been out of her own mind to come after him.

She should have known that he would have been able to take care of himself. It wasn't like Raphael was some helpless little kid or a clueless human. He knew how to fight and could handle himself in many situations. That much had been proven from all the fights he had landed himself in with his brothers, the Foot, and the punks that he met during his forays to the surface.

Then again, he realized that just like him, Maggie didn't always take everything into consideration. She might have one of the milder mannered youngsters in their family, but she was known to be almost as rash as her older brother at times. At times she would dive right into a situation without considering the consequences. And more than once, that had gotten the girl into serious trouble.

He could remember times from their childhood when Maggie had practically driven Splinter up the wall with her antics. The times when she would disappear from the Lair without a trace and end up somewhere in the surrounding sewers. Then there was the fact that she was able to squeeze into places that should have been impossible for anyone to reach, especially a small child. Regardless of this fact, Maggie somehow managed to accomplish this and always kept Splinter on his toes as a result.

Something that, as the years went by, Splinter returned in full. As all of his children grew older and were in need of lessons to help prepare them for life, he found ways to surprise them. Splinter would often drop the lessons on them without warning and only leaving them with time react once everything had long since passed. It was all enough to make even Raphael wary as he finally made his way into Splinter's train car.

Splinter looked to be in deep meditation when Raph made it to the door. He wasn't too surprised by that. The Turtle knew that his Master often spent much of his free time mediating about something. What that something was usually varied from day to day, though it was mostly near the same subjects. Such as what trouble his children might be getting into, how they were going to prepare for that day's practices, and who's turn it would be to prepare dinner that night.

Though he knew that it was taking a huge risk by interrupting his Sensei's meditation, Raph cleared his throat and knocked on the side of the door. When he opened his eyes at the sound, Splinter didn't seem too surprised to find Raphael waiting for him. In fact, the expression on his face told the Turtle that he had been expecting his son's arrival. The only thing that he hadn't been prepared for it to be so soon. Like the remaining Turtles, Splinter had assumed that Raph would not be regaining consciousness for some time.

"What is it, my son?" Splinter asked calmly.

"I…I just wanted to talk to you about Maggie, Sensei," Raphael stuttered.

"So you know of what happened then," Splinter commented.

"Yeah, I do, Master," Raphael admitted," Mikey told me."

Splinter only nodded at this comment. At least he had been saved the trouble of informing his son about Maggie's recent escapade. Now he would just have the task of figuring out what had been going through Raph's head last night and just what to do with him. It just wasn't like his son, no matter how brash Raphael might be at times, to act in such a manner.

In the past, the most that he had done was to cause some sort of property damage or tear apart an army of practice dummies in his fury. Something like that, though destructive and a huge mess for anyone to clean up afterwards, Splinter could handle without a problem. But now he had done something that had involved not only himself, but several other people as well. With people, it wasn't as easy to clean up the mess like it was when the damage was physical.

When it came to people, the only ways to repair the damage that had been done was through time and a great deal of work to regain any lost trust or to mend hurt feelings. And to begin that process, he would have to start with Raphael's feelings. This would not be a very easy thing to accomplish given how hard it was for the Turtle to express his innermost feelings. The best that he was able to express were anger, annoyance, and the occasional laugh from when he felt something was funny. He was not one to tell when he was happy or sad.

That just didn't fit in with the tough guy image that he had spent practically his whole life building. Still, it had to be done. Splinter steeled himself for that process and cleared his head to put out what he wanted to say. The first part of which was expressing his disappointment with Raphael's actions. It might make things worse for a little while but it had to be done nonetheless.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Raphael," Splinter began," You were raised to know better than to allow yourself to fall for such temptations."

Raphael flinched slightly at that tone, already starting to prove Splinter's inner theory that he was going to end up feeling hurt in some regards himself. To him, it sounded as if Splinter were accusing him of doing something dirty. True, he had gone and gotten himself drunk, which was a pretty dumb thing to do. But that didn't mean that it was something evil.

As far as he could see, it was just an unfortunate mistake of his life. From what everything his Master had taught him, mistakes were expected to happen during the course of one's life. It was unavoidable and should sooner or later be accepted. Too bad the later part was often the case when it came to Raphael's mistakes. He seemed to be more prone to making them than any of his other siblings at times, especially when those mistakes involved violence and anger.

Emotions and actions that Splinter had tried for years to curb by channeling Raphael's energy in other ways. Sometimes he managed to do that whenever he kept Raphael training for several hours and to the point of exhaustion. When that happened, the only thing that his son desired was to find a comfortable spot to lie in so that he wouldn't feel the ache of his sore body. There was no chance of doing anything even remotely destructive until he had at least 10 hours worth of sleep and was able to get rid of the aches in his muscles.

Now though, Raphael knew that that wouldn't be the solution that Splinter would think up for him. Not while he thought that Raphael had gone completely insane because of last night's drinking bout. If anything, Raphael thought that his Master was going to keep him under lock and key until he was satisfied that Raphael would never do such a thing again. that had happened with many of Raph's countless other mistakes that had been made through the years and that was probably the one thing that wouldn't change with this situation.

Another thing that wouldn't change was the interrogation that he knew Splinter was about to put him through. After years of this treatment, Raphael knew the routine pretty well. Once the problem and crime had been stated, Splinter would then launch into his quest to discover the root of the problem. That was actually the harder part since it always required a person to be honest about what they had been doing and what caused them to act that way.

"Why would you even do such a thing, my son?" Splinter asked, as if on cue.

Silence was the only response that he received at first. For a moment, Splinter wasn't sure if Raphael was refusing to answer him or if he was just taking the time to consider his reply. From the thoughtful and unusually solemn expression that spread over his son's face, Splinter decided that it was probably the latter.

So he decided that if Raphael needed time to formulate an answer, then he would allow it. As curious as he might be, there was no reason to rush this. There was a delicacy to this situation that called for some patience on the part of the Master. So he settled back and waited for whatever his son might have to wait.

As for Raphael, he was no longer aware of his Master for the moment. At the moment, he was deep within his own mind as memories flooded his psyche. He thought back over the last few weeks. He remembered how things had been going with everyone around him. Some things were okay, but most were depressing to him. Fights with his siblings or one of them teasing him about something. Him getting upset and then getting in trouble for it when Splinter suddenly appeared.

Then there were the times that he had messed up in practice because he was distracted by something and had to remain behind for an extra lesson. It wasn't so bad, since it did kind of give him a chance to spend a bit more private time with his Sensei. But at the same time, it was embarrassing. He was making mistakes in things that he should have known how to do, not having to be reversed in the procedure.

And that reversal had just continued to spin him downwards until everything just hit him at once. Then he had cracked under the pressure and sought any way that he could to escape from the strain that was weighing down on him. At the time, Raphael hadn't exactly been certain about just how he should do that. He already knew that what he has used to help relieve his stress in the past just couldn't cut it anymore. There was just too much pent up inside of him for him to let it loose like he had in the past. All that he knew was that he needed to find some way to do it soon or else he felt that he was going to loose his mind from the stress and pain.

"I…guess it was just everything, Master. I couldn't take it anymore," Raphael managed to finally get out," I had to do something to make it go away, even for awhile."

He felt a light hand place itself on his shoulder. There was no need to guess who it was or why they had put that hand there. His Sensei might not know the exact causes for Raph's sudden late night drinking binge, but he knew that it was something very troubling for the teen.

This made the paternal side of him want to find a solution even more than usual. He hated to see any of his children in such turmoil, especially when they chose to face such things on their own. Sometimes such thoughts were good because they helped to build character and to strengthen the spirit. But in times like this where events led a person to act as Raphael had done, that was when something had to be done. It was the only way that the wounds could be eased of their poison and allowed to heal properly. Otherwise, it would just fester into something far worse.

"If you felt this way, then you should have come to me, Raphael. We could have found a better solution to deal with this situation than you going off on your own like you did," Splinter said.

"I guess," Raph shrugged neutrally.

He said no more after that. Deep inside, Raph felt that if he did, then he would never be able to stop. And right now, that was the last thing that he wanted to happen. He needed to be able to deal with one thing at a time, not everything that was bothering him all at once. That would just end with him telling more than he wanted to be let known.

Splinter sensed something of this dilemma and decided not to push the matter any more for the moment. His son might not admit it but he was obviously distressed about this whole matter. It would do neither of them any good if he just start spouting off nonsense because he was feeling distracted by all the emotions that were most likely spinning around in his head at the moment.

"Perhaps, when you are ready, we will discuss this further," Splinter conceded.

Raph just nodded slightly, not really wanting to say anything else on the matter for now. He just wanted to forget about those things for now and focus on something else. Anything else really.

That was a distraction that Splinter was more than willing to provide. He might have been sympathetic for his son's depression, but only to a point. He could not allow Raphael to blame all of his problems on mere depression. There were other causes that led to the tribulations in the teen's life, including those of his own making. Things that he was going to have to confront head-on if he ever hoped to recover from what was plaguing him.

For now though, they would deal with the one matter that they had not gone into detail about yet. Namely, the impact that Raph's little escapade had had on his family the evening before. And how that impact was going to be effecting Raph's life in the times to come. Times that were most likely going to prove to be unpleasant once Splinter had finished with him.

"There are other matters that we need to discuss in the meantime," Splinter said sternly.

From what he had learned from his brothers, Raph already had a good idea as to what Splinter was referring to. But he was prepared for this and he knew that he deserved whatever came, so he wasn't going to make a big deal about it. He was just going to take it like a Turtle and let Splinter say or do whatever he chose to do.

"You are well aware of what occurred last night," Splinter began.

"Yes Master," Raphael nodded.

"Then you must also be aware of the impact that your actions will have on your sister. She has had an experience that I rather she have not know about," Splinter said.

Raph was taken slightly aback at hearing this. He honestly didn't understand everything that his Master meant when he said those things. Sure he knew that Maggie could sometimes take what she heard and saw a bit too literally, like when they were little and she thought that TV monsters were real. But that only happened if she was continually exposed to a subject. If she only saw something once or twice, she was more than bound to forget about it within a week at the most. That was how she had been in the past and how he supposed she would be now.

"That doesn't make much sense to me, Master. Maggie can't be changed just 'cause she saw a few things in one night. One night can't make too much of a difference to her," Raph replied.

A good, solid whack resounded through the railcar as Splinter's walking stick suddenly struck the side of Raph's head from nowhere. Almost immediately after, a loud yelp of pain and outrage sounded from the Turtle. He looked at his Master with hurt and surprise as the pain started to run through his head anew.

"What was that for?" Raph grumbled, rubbing his sore temple.

"For believing that you know everything when it comes to raising your sister to be a responsible and well-meaning adult," Splinter snapped.

"Huh?" Raph said in confusion.

"You are not a parent yet, my son. As such, you do not know what one must worry about when trying to teach a child what path to follow in this world. So do not presume that you are ready to make the judgement of what may affect your sister or not," Splinter said harshly.

That certainly made Raph take a step back in his mind and reconsider his opinions. In more than one way, his Sensei was right. When it came to raising kids, Raphael knew next to nothing other than you had to keep them out of trouble and set rules for them. That was what Splinter basically did all the time with him and his siblings. And so far, for the most part, it had managed to work out all right. There were certainly times like now that proved to be bumps in the road that kept things from going as smoothly when the rules were being followed.

Upon fully realizing this, Raphael decided to a moment to consider his answer before he said anything else. The last thing he wanted to do was say something that would earn him another whack from the 'stick of doom' that Splinter had at his side. One hit from that, and while he was still suffering from a hungover headache at that, had been more than enough for him. Finally though, Raph felt that he had come up with something that seemed plausible enough and would hopefully keep the feared stick away from his head.

"I mean, Maggie's thirteen. She's not a little kid anymore, Master. It's not like she's gonna do anything bad from bein' out for one night," Raph said uneasily.

"Magnolia may be thirteen, Raphael, but she is still a child in many ways. There are many things in this world that can easily influence her mind and turn her down the wrong path. What she saw and heard last night may well have been such an event, but we will not know until more time has passed. I hope that eventually she will forget this and move on with her life. Though somehow I doubt that that will be the case," Splinter corrected sternly.

Raph knew better than to offer any further protests to his Master's logic. In some ways, he could see why Splinter would feel that way. It was kinda true in a way, since a kid Maggie's age could be influenced by what she saw. That much he already knew and accepted. But he still couldn't see how one night out in the city was going to make Maggie into whatever Splinter was worried about.

Great, that's something that I really didn't wanna hear. Now if Maggie starts acting like a punk, everyone around here is gonna want to skin me all over again, Raph groaned.

Just another problem to add the already growing pile that was his daily life. It wasn't a totally unexpected scenario, but it wasn't something that he was looking forward to dealing with. After all, Maggie was enough of a handful to take care of already. If she started acting like a street hood, then it would be impossible to deal with her and the anger of everyone else.

"For good or for worse however, Magnolia had learned a lesson from this. One that she will have plenty of time to meditate over during her punishment. As you will, Raphael," Splinter finished.

Well, now it was about to come. The one thing that Raphael had really been waiting for. After the lecture, he knew that there was one thing that Splinter always did with his routine. And that was to tell the offender what their punishment was, how long it would be, and what restrictions would be placed upon them during that time period.

"For breaking your curfew and getting drunk, you will be confined to the lair until I feel otherwise," his Master said.

Which translates to hello two months of pure boredom, Raphael thought to himself.

But he didn't voice any objections to this treatment. Raph knew that he deserved every minute of his punishment to come. He'd done something stupid and gotten himself into a mess that might have turned out all right but could have easily become a disaster. It was only fair that he took what was given to him without complaint after all the trouble that he had caused.

Still, that didn't mean that Raphael couldn't feel a little worried about what was going to be happening to him. For whenever Splinter said something like that, it meant that the recipient of the punishment could count on things not going their way for a long time. It was an experience that each of his children had known more than once in their lives. Each of them dealt with it in their own way, but it usually resulted in them learning to be more wary of certain situations.

And when it came to situations, there was one last thing still bothered him enough that couldn't be let go. Even if it landed him in more trouble with his Master, Raph just had to make certain that there was something he could do to change things from what they were if he could. It was the only way that he would ever be able to look his sister in the eye again without feeling like a total traitor.

"What about Maggie? What's gonna happen to her?" Raph couldn't help but ask.

His Master gave him a cool glance that was neither scolding nor outraged that he had asked that question. Instead, it was completely neutral of emotion. Which was really a bit strange, considering the anger and concern that Splinter had shown only a few moments before.

It wasn't something that the teen was about to question though, not when he should have known that it would come sooner or later. After all these years, Raph was used to Splinter's sudden change of attitude during these talks. He may not have understood them all the time, but he was used to them.

"For the next two weeks, Magnolia is confined to the lair and is to remain in her quarters when she is not in practice or at meals," Splinter said.

I guess that ain't so bad, Raph thought, At least she'll get out of here before I do. But still, she shouldn't get punished like this. I know she ran off without other telling anyone and that was wrong, but it was because I was acting stupid. She never would have gone if it weren't for me.

Raph honestly felt sorry for what he had gotten his sister into. When he had ditched Casey to go on his drinking bout, he hadn't been planning to get anyone into trouble. He just wanted to forget his problems for awhile. Even though he had managed to pull that desired goal off for at least a little while, he had also managed to create more problems than before.

He had gotten his sister into trouble and everyone else in the family mad at him for both getting drunk and being the cause of Maggie running off. Then of course, there was how Casey was going to react the next time the two met up. He hadn't exactly given the human a decent reason for just ditching him, which would easily make Casey upset with Raph for a bit. And to be honest, Raph wouldn't really blame Casey for that.

Casey, even if he was a human, was supposed to be Raphael's best friend. He was the one person outside his family that he was supposed to be able to relate to and be able to share things that weren't possible with his father or siblings. And in the recent past, that had been the case. Raph had been able to relate his problems to Casey and somewhat allow the human to help him work through them.

Lately though, that just hadn't been working anymore. Instead, Raph found himself drifting from his best friend like he had been doing with his family. Nothing the human said seemed to feel right anymore. The only thing that Raph ever felt when he was around Casey was that he understood absolutely nothing about what the Turtle was going through. Finally it just came to a point where Raph would only pretend to be listening to his friend and really just ignore him like he had been doing with his family.

It was something that he continued to do despite the fact that Casey constantly lent an ear to hear out his problems. Not that he would say that outright of course, due to the need to keep his macho image intact, but the offer was there nonetheless. That was just something that friends did for one another, regardless of what was happening. When he had ditched Casey like he had, and right after being told to wait for him, Raph really hadn't been much of a friend himself. In fact, he had been just like the cowardly punks that he spent so much time pounding on. He had turned tail and bolted the first chance that he found instead of trying to make things clear enough for another to understand what was bothering him.

Bolting meant taking along the bottles of beer he found in one of the back rooms. These were in open crates and seemed to just be begging for someone to come and empty them of their contents. Which is what he had done. With the usual ninja stealth, he had gone into the back when no one was paying attention, loaded up on what he could carry, and left the bar.

He hadn't stolen the bottles of course, no matter how it might seem. Raph had had some money with him and had left this as payment for what he had taken. It may not have been enough to cover everything, but at the time, Raphael didn't care. All that had mattered to him was getting his hands on the liquor that would help him forget his problems.

And forgotten his problems he had after he had consumed at least a third of the alcohol he had taken. He might have tried to drink more, but his body was unused to the alien substance and refused to accept anymore without threat of sickness. So there was still plenty of his original stash left over by the time he had fallen into a stupor in the old sewer den. Most of which was probably still just lying around somewhere in the old lair untouched and scattered about.

Somehow, Raph doubted that he would ever have either the chance or the desire to ever retrieve those bottles. They might have brought him some relief for a short time in the world created by hard liquor but that reprieve had faded far too soon. In its place, all he had found was a splitting headache, mistrust and anger from his family, and one huge mess that would continue to haunt him for months at least.

The main effect of that mess would be that no one would trust him to go out on his own. They would all be watching him like hawks to make sure that he didn't do anything else foolish. That was where the possibility that Raph would never have a chance to go back for the liquor came in. Whether they knew if it was still there or not, the entire family would keep him from that place simply to make sure that he didn't start drinking again. All in all, the exact opposite of what Raph had been trying to accomplish in the first place.

The story of my life. I try to do things so no one else has to worry and I end up making a mess out of everything, Raph grumbled privately.

Then again, maybe that wasn't entirely true now that Raph thought about it and allowed a solution to start forming in his mind. Maybe, just maybe, there was a way to set this right. It was a long shot at best, but the more he thought about it, the more Raph was willing to chance it. He couldn't believe that he was about to do this though, but he saw no other way. He just couldn't let someone else take the fall for what he had done. At least not Maggie. She was one of the few people who actually didn't judge him just for being himself or for him doing something stupid. She was someone that he honestly wanted to protect from the dangers of the world, including his ever-present and often rampant stupidity.

I haven't done a really good job of that lately, Raph thought grumpily, But I know I can change that. I have to.

Of course, the easy part of this little matter was thinking of what he needed to do. The hard part was actually managing to get up enough courage to ask and then convince Splinter that it was the right thing to do. That was a task that seemed more daunting than anything else that Raphael had ever done before. But it was still something that he had to do if this was ever going to work out again.

"Master, I-I know I don't have any right to ask you for anything after what I've done, but I need to do this. I…I won't feel right with myself if I don't," Raph said uneasily.

"What is it, Raphael?" Splinter questioned neutrally.

To say that Raphael was surprised that Splinter was at least willing to hear what he had to say was an understatement. It was a complete shock that would have caused the Turtle to faint or at least fall back to the ground if he wasn't already sitting down. Even though this had been his hope, he hadn't really been expecting Splinter to hear him out. Well, no sense in wasting the opportunity.

"Master, please, don't punish Maggie for this. It's my fault that this happened and she was just trying to help out. She wouldn't have been out there if it wasn't for me," Raph pleaded once he had gotten his head straight again," I'll take her punishment with mine and I swear that you won't hear a peep out of me about it. Please."

Out of habit, he bowed his head when he finished speaking. It was both a sign of respect that one gives to their Master and the submission that came from being a student. But it was also this act that prevented him from seeing the expression on his Sensei's face after he spoke.

Though it was well hidden except for a small glint in his eyes, Splinter was actually surprised that Raphael had offered to take his sister's punishment upon himself. He knew that his son, like his brothers, held a protective spot for his younger sister and that there were times when he tried to shield her from unpleasant things. But he had never thought that the Turtle would go to lengths such as this.

Usually, protecting her meant making sure someone was with her when she wanted to go out exploring beyond their normal haunts or avoid telling her the unpleasant details of fighting with the Foot. The latter involved things that no one felt someone Maggie's age should really know or worry about while the former was just to keep an eye on her in a strange place.

After hearing the Turtle speak this way, Splinter realized that he really never knew that his son might feel this level of protectiveness towards Magnolia. That sort of thing usually fell to either Leonardo or Michaelangelo. The former because he was the eldest son and felt that it was his duty to protect his younger siblings when no one else could. While the latter did it because he had always been close to his sister and constantly felt for her wellbeing.

The level of protection from Don and Raph was slightly lower than the other two, though it was still there. In Donatello's case, his level of protectiveness was more centered on the machines he worked with. Maggie spent a great deal of her free time watching him and he knew how dangerous they could be. So he was constantly warning her to keep clear while he was working.

When it came to Raphael, now that was something of uncertainty. How protective he was of his sister usually varied with the situation. If it was around their home and she was playing around too much, then he might warn her or tell her off enough that she would leave whatever she was doing for the moment. But if it were on the surface among the humans, then he would force her to keep close to either himself or one of the others until they were safely home again.

For Raph to be acting like this signaled that he felt a deeper bond with his sister than Splinter had originally guessed. Before, judging from what he had seen and sensed, Raphael had cared for his sister but seemed to prefer it when she kept out of his way when he was in a bad mood or when he was going out to look for a fight. That was something that Maggie was more than willing to oblige with, since when those things happened, she was nowhere in the vicinity of her brother.

That was not to say that Raph and Maggie spent all of their time avoiding one another. They certainly had their moments of quiet agreement and mutual need for company, just as they did with their other siblings. That usually happened when they were alone in the dojo or living room. During those times, they might just sit in silence, enjoying each other's company, or they might talk about different subjects.

There may be hope for you yet, my son, Splinter thought proudly.

Despite the pride that he felt for his son's actions, Splinter knew that he couldn't grant this request. Even though she had acted out of concern for a sibling, Magnolia had still disobeyed many of the rules when she went off to help Casey. She was always instructed to let someone know where she was going and to tell the nearest adult if there was trouble. When she hadn't done that and instead gone off into the night without telling anyone, Maggie had placed herself in unnecessary danger. A lesson that she had to learn from if it was to be prevented in the future.

"I am sorry, Raphael, but Magnolia still must be punished," Splinter sighed," She may have only been trying to help you, but she still disobeyed and left the Lair without telling me. Behavior such as that cannot simply be let go. Her punishment stands and that is final."

"Hai Sensei," Raphael conceded.

Well, at least no one could say that he didn't try. But that didn't make Raph feel better afterward. He really wanted to do something that would start to begin paying the debt that he felt he owed to his sister. After all, as far as he was concerned, she had done more for him in a single night than he had done for her in the passed three weeks. That had to mean something.

"I am curious about one other thing, my son," his Sensei suddenly commented.

To be honest, Splinter was only going to cover this matter as an afterthought. He really didn't mean to pry any further into his son's private thoughts or to question his actions. That had been done enough for one day so far, but this time, his curiosity had truly gotten the better of him. Splinter truly wanted to hear the words from his son's own mouth.

Looking up in surprise, Raph asked," Um, what's that?"

"Why would you take her punishment upon yourself, Raphael? You are aware that even if I would consider such a thing, that life would not be easy for you with an extra punishment," Splinter said.

"I guess I just owe Maggie something for getting her into trouble, Sensei," Raphael shrugged.

That was true enough. Raph honestly felt like he owed his sister a compensation for what she had done for him. Not only had she risked their father's wrath by taking off in the middle of the night, but she had also gone off with a human that Raph knew for certain that she didn't like or trust very well. Those were things that she wouldn't do for just anyone but close family or friends and even then it took a great deal to sway her to getting into trouble.

Splinter knew that as well but he knew something else too. That was an attitude that Maggie shared with Raphael, though it wasn't normal for the other to show it as much as she did. Normally, Raphael showed his concern for his family in his own subtle way. Usually by making another offending party apologize or offering to take the one who was upset to do something for just the two of them. It was often that he said something outright like he was doing now.

"You have truly surprised me, my son," Splinter said.

"Huh? What do you mean, Master?" Raphael asked.

"It isn't like you to choose to take something like this upon yourself, Raphael. Normally you would let someone take what you feel that they deserve. What has caused this?" Splinter asked.

"Maggie didn't have to do anythin' for me, but she did. Now I gotta do somethin' for her. It's fair," Raph answered without hesitation.

"I can understand that my son and I am proud that you are willing to make that sacrifice for your sister, but this is how things must be. Magnolia has her own lessons to learn and that will never happen if you take her punishment for her. Do you understand?" Splinter said.

"Yes Sensei, I do," Raphael nodded.

Outwardly, he was agreeing with what his Master was saying. To himself though, Raph was already making a silent promise. He might not have been able to convince Splinter to relinquish the punishment on Maggie, but he would continue to find a way to make this up to the girl. No matter how long or what it took, he was most certainly going to make this up to his sister.

"Can I go talk to her?" Raph asked after a moment.

"You may go and speak with your sister," Splinter said simply," After we have finished in the dojo."

His son instantly froze when he heard those words. He knew that he was in for more trouble when Splinter started talking like that. Just what, he couldn't be sure. Going to the dojo could mean anything from practicing, to sparring with someone, doing flips, or just listening to Splinter lecture about something.

"What do we need ta do in the dojo?" Raphael asked almost uncertainly.

"You missed this morning's practice because you were not coherent enough to attend. Now that you are, we are going to make up for lost time," Splinter answered.

A/N: Oy. This is by far the longest chapter that I have ever written in my life. I considered breaking it down but after making everyone wait for this update for so long, I decided against it. Just consider this my little apology gift to all the readers out there who have been waiting for this story to continue. So I hope that everyone has enjoyed this and I promise that I will have this story finished before the summer.