Chapter Six: -The End-
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It had been a month, since Raphael passed away.
Casey and April were devastated, they openly mourned his loss.
I remember that day clearly. Don and Mike worked on making a coffin that would fit his size and not jam the shell, while Sensei and I repaired a few other items, like incense and various flowers, Sensei said that would be most appropriate to place for our brother.
When we buried him, there were no tears, besides April's, there was just silence.
I knew Casey and Raph had shared a lot of things together, especially character-wise being so in common and the like; Casey was very and visibly upset, if not madly furious, but only under April's coaxing and soothing, did he calm down a few notches, even if that didn't spare the late night thugs much of a chance, to escape his brutal wrath.
He wanted to avenge Raph's death, I understood that much of his character, and no matter how my brothers and I tried to reason, that Raph's death was painless, Casey didn't accept the loss, he only got worse.
April, on the other hand, spent more time with Mike and Don, mothering them, talking and hugging, and sharing the tiny tidbits, that she and Raph shared in secret, along with Casey, of course. Sensei was put to ease, seeing that April had not been driven mad at our brother's sudden loss, unlike Casey, who had popped a vain and went into a bloody, thug-bashing rampage.
The funeral, that we made for him a month ago, was small and humble, more a family gathering, really.
We buried Raph in the far, secret area of the pumping station's field, it was almost like a park, but had obviously been neglected and abandoned for a very long time, having weeds and shrubs growing all over the place, we trimmed them and cleared out an area, the spot Sensei choice to bury Raph in. We decided that it will be our family's cemetery, as to keep it privet and away from preying eyes.
Mike had placed a huge, blue-green marble stone he had salvaged from the Elentian lair, he and Don had carved expertly, engraving Raph's name and birth-death date; or more like Mike chiseled the stone with one of Don's dear screwdrivers, and Donny was not impressed.
We buried him in a small, yet open area, surrounded by giant, branch-tangled trees, leaving patches of light and shadow on the richly grassy field, Sensei even composed a small, yet elegant stone garden, and Don and Mike placed the engraved slab of stone where we had buried him. April cried again, burying her face in Don's neck, seeing Casey was off beating punks into a bloody heap at the time.
When Casey arrived, an hour late on the funeral, he was all bloody, but collapse and sobbed at Raph's grave. When I went the next early morning, a day after we buried him, wanting to talk to Raph's headstone, I found Casey there, sleeping with tears fresh in his eyes. They were soul twins indeed, and I appreciated Casey's friendship even more, at that moment.
It meant so much to me, yet it pained me, to see the vigilant so broken.
April and Sensei talked to Casey, for the next few days, and slowly, I saw that he was coming around to his loving, clumsy and compassionate self, much to April's pleasure, and mine.
An angry Casey is a rash Casey, and I'd hate to lose my brother's soul twin to his anger like this.
Every few days, one or two, or even all of us would gather at Raph's grave, and we'd talk, a sense of belonging would set upon me when I talk to his headstone, I don't know why, it's almost as if his ghost perches on the headstone and smile gently, looking at me, listening. I'd even come alone sometimes, I'd talk to him, about my fears, the things I dare not say, the things I wanted to say!
It was a real load off my chest, and I found comfort in it.
To me, it meant that Raph wasn't gone, it's just that he's invisible, I just can't see him anymore, but still, all the while he's still here; watching over us, protecting us and being our beloved, compassionate brother, from far, far away.
But- you know something?
About two weeks later, a month and two weeks after Raph's death, I was out alone on patrol, jumping rooftops, separated from Don and Mike, seeing they were patrolling elsewhere, and I came across a couple who were being bullied by thugs.
Of course, disgusted and annoyed at the amateur thug-wannabes, I jumped in, as silent as my shadows, and beat the crap out of them, firstly because they were picking on a pair that had no mean of protecting themselves, not to mention a child in the mothers arms, and secondly, they were Purple Dragon rejects, and thirdly, the last but not least, and more offensively, one of them called me a freak.
Raph hated that, being called a freak, it ignited a spark, reviving a dying flame in my chest.
Once the thugs were taken care of, I turned to the couple.
They were Mexican, and oddly, hey didn't seem too scared of my appearance.
The child, a girl with a tuft of short, curly red hair and beautiful hazel eyes squealed, giggling, barley more than four months old, cradled in a nice, warm cradle in her mothers arms, she reached her chubby, short, baby arms to me, her fingers curling and uncurling, trying to grasp me, or reach for a touch, an innocent, happy twinkle shined in her eyes, almost as if she knew me, or if she were familiar with my-
I froze with the sudden sense of realization.
Swallowing a moist, slippery knot in my dry throat, I looked at the pair, with their rough, messy yet nice hair, their black and brown eyes, tanned skin, and comparing them with the child-
It was her, the little orphan child, Grace.
For a moment, I felt a touch in the back of my neck, like the cool tip of a wet finger, it teasingly slid down a little, then back up my neck, and somewhat-cupped my cheek, before flowing past me and disappearing, and I faintly shivered, it wasn't uncomfortable, it was- quite pleasant.
I smiled, a renewed sense of relief washed over me, and the couple just looked at me, startled, but not scared. They spoke to me, but I didn't understand their language, I just smiled, gave Grace a pat on the head and then smiled at the mother, and oddly, she weren't scared, she replied with a faint, wry smile, as if she were almost familiar with me, so I just bowed my head and disappeared.
Watching them slowly scramble out of the alleyway and to someplace safe, I recognized they were muttering something, about a guardian angle and giant turtles, and that they were being protected, and I smiled.
I felt him there, the touch, lingering over me, like hands resting gently on my shoulders, squeezing faintly like the softest breeze, a touch so faint, I don't even notice it's there until it's gone.
"I love you, Raph." I whispered to the late night wind, eyes closed, tears gathering, but not enough to slip out, "And I miss you."
'Me too…'
When the teardrop thickened enough and slid down my face, I felt no remorse, I smiled.
My brother might have left us, his brothers and father, but now, he was someone else's guardian angle.
Such a fitting, understandable, happy ending.
I liked it, and I couldn't have wished him a better end, to have been any happier.
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-END-
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A/N: it's super short, I know, sorry, but I figured this part would be better if it were in a separate chapter. Anyway, if that ending crashed the sap scale, feel free to shoot me! It's funny though, a 'happy ending' for a 'death fic'? man I'm weird…
