Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, only my OC's
What I Never Told You
The importance of family
"Just stick it in a sling and give me some pain killers."
"No, I need to take you to the hospital to get it x-rayed. It could be more serious than you think and the longer you leave it, the more serious it could get."
"I'm fine."
"Your arms broken; you are clearly not fine."
Hamato Yoshi could hear the hushed argument from his bedroom where he was meditating. He recognised his sons concerned voice, but the other voice sounded… feminine? The father knew Leo had befriended their neighbour Michelangelo and Donatello, the son of a famous businessman. He had met both and even Michelangelo's high-pitched voice did not sound anything like this.
"You worry too much!"
"You don't worry enough!"
Sighing, Yoshi left the peaceful sanctuary of his room to go find out what trouble his only son had gotten into this time. When he open his door, he did not expect to become face to face with a younger version of his late wife.
"Miwa…" Yoshi's knees weakened as he tried to comprehend how is supposedly dead daughter was standing right in front of him.
"Father…" Karai whispered, unsure whether to hug the man she had not seen in 9 years.
Father and daughter stood there staring at each other for several minutes as they comprehended who they were seeing. Leo, feeling slightly awkward, thought he'd intervein and get this meeting moving. He gently shoved his older sister who took the hint and sauntered into the open arms of her father. Hamato Yoshi, still in shock, wrapped his arms around Karai's slim body and held her close. Without opening his eyes, Yoshi reached out and grabbed his sons arm to pull him into the family hug.
On the rooftop of the apartment building, Raphael was stomping around in circles, letting his frustrations out on anything that he could. Punching a wall with the side of his fist, Raph mumbled, "Shoulda just let 'er rot in dat cell. Ungrateful lady, ungrateful boy, ungrateful family."
"The Hamato's aren't bad." A small voice spoke. When Raphael turned around, he saw a platinum blond haired boy stood there. Mikey fiddled with his hands as he continued to speak, "Leo never told me he had… has a sister and he does like talking about his mother. There are no family pictures in their apartments." Mikey gave the gang member a small smile, "But I do know Leo loves his family."
Raphael raised an eyebrow, "And let me guess, you think his sister is the same. Well she is not! She is stubborn and manipulative and-"
"Feisty." Mikey finished, "Leo can get that way sometimes, especially when it comes to his friends and family."
"Oh really?" Raphael scoffed as he stared out over the city of New York. The sky was a beautiful shade of orange, though Raph didn't care about that, he just enjoyed the feeling of being the one on top, "It must run in de family."
Mikey defended his currently absent friend once he was perched on the edge of the roof near Raphael, "It's just what a family does. If one member is down, the rest of the family is there it pick them up and get them back on their feet. Granny Jo has always been there for me. When Dad died, Granny helped Mum to take care of me until she was emotionaly stable and even after that, she was constantly babysitting me or doing the shopping when Mum was too busy."
"After Mum… After Mum's death, Granny took me in and… and…" The young blond took a deep breath before he continued explaining, "She was just as miserable as I was, but she still put my needs first. That's what family does."
Looking away when Mikey wiped his teary baby blue eyes, Raph's emerald green eyes softened. He felt sorry for the boy he'd recently met.
"I know Leo would protect me with his life- he's proven that already- and I would do the same to little Sarah Jane." Mikey added, a small smile being directed at Raph, "We're not related by blood, but they are still my family."
Raph groaned, "Family is stupid."
"Woah, where did that come from?"
"Just saying." Raph replied, "Not everyone has a family like yours. Mine wanted nothing to do with 'e."
Losing his smile, Mikey said, "That can't be tr-"
"My parents left and never returned!" Raphael snapped, an inner fire burning in his eyes, "Dey said dey would but dey didn't!"
Mikey tried to reason with the angered gang leader, "Maybe they were-"
"Delayed, stuck, lost, trapped! I waited a month for dem idiots to return before de Purple Dragons found me!" Loudly clarified Raph, "I don't need a family! Family just makes ya weak!"
Finishing his angry outburst, Raphael stomped across the roof and leapt across to the next, and then the next until he could no longer see the apartment building. He muttered, "Not all of us are as lucky as ya…"
Back on the rooftop, Mikey watched the speck of black and red disappear with sadness. He turned and left once the gang leader had fully vanished from sight, just missing sight of a muscular man stealthily sneaking across the rooftops.
Leo sat up from where he had dozed off on the couch. His older sister and father were still peacefully sleeping, snuggled together at the other end of the couch. Using the stealth he had been taught since he first learned to walk, Leo made his way to the bathroom to prepare for the day.
When Leo re-entered the main room, he was hit with the strong smell of bacon and eggs, "Something smells nice." He commented as he took a seat at the island, "I guess Miwa's not cooking then."
"Very funny Leo." Karai sarcastically joked, placing two plates on the island, "And for the record, I am now a decent cook, thank you."
"Says the girl who forgot to remove the shiny wrapper on the butter before she put it in the microwave." Reminded Leo while he ate his delicious breakfast.
Karai smirked, "Anata to anata no koto o wasuremashita ka?"
As Yoshi sat on one of the empty stools around the island, he chuckled at his children's conversation and pointed out, "Neither of you inherited your mothers' culinary skills."
"That's obvious." The two siblings said in unison, sending each other annoyed glares afterwards, "We need to stop doing this."
For a few minutes, the Hamato apartment was silent except for the sounds of the occupants eating. Yoshi disappeared into his room to meditate once they had finished while Karai showered and Leo washed the dishes.
Leo felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket as he placed the last plate on the draining board. He dried his hands on a nearby towel before answering the video call.
"Ohayōgozaimasu." Greeted Leo.
"Ohayōgozaimasu." Repeated Daiki, smiling at his childhood friend.
Sticking his head on the screen, a white-haired teenager greeted Leo, "It is good to see you again Leonardo-San."
"It's good to see you to Usagi-San. How have you been? The last time I got to speak to you was when you came to say goodbye." The Japanese teenager in America plopped down on the couch and got comfortable.
"Not much has happened since your departure. I-" Usagi was cut off by Daiki nudging him out the frame.
"Leo! Leo! Guess what?" Leo's best friend excitedly asked. He didn't leave anytime for Leo to actually answer before he spoke again, "I got my braces off! Look!" Daiki moved his lips out the way to show his now straight and braces free teeth.
Leo let out a quite giggle at Usagi scolding the younger teen, "Daiki Murakami, stop showing Leonardo your teeth and let us talk."
Through the phone, Leo watched as Usagi stole the phone and was walking away while he spoke, "Like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I have almost completed my samurai training."
"Omedetō!" Leo happily replied as Miwa perched next to him on the couch, still drying her wet hair, "As much as I enjoy talking to you two, I need to go."
"Call us back soon Raion." Demanded Daiki,
"Wait a second," Usagi said just before Leo or Daiki could hang up, "Who is that woman next to you?"
"Yer, who is she Raion?" Question Daiki, "Did you finally find yourself a girlfriend?"
Karai leaned into the videos frame and smugly said, "Nope, I'm the ghost of his dead sister. Sayōnara."
Anything the teenagers in Japan were going to say was prevented by Karai ending the video chat.
"Was that necessary?" Leo inquired while he pocketed his smartphone.
"Yes." Was all Karai replied with.
The only son of the famous businessman Mr Carpenter sat at his desk in his quiet bedroom. Donatello scribbled down another annotation on his sketch. He had been coming up with ways to build fully functional smoke bombs or pellets that could be activated in seconds and last long enough for the user to escape but not long enough to draw too much unwanted attention.
Feeling the feminine arms of his twin wrap around his shoulders, Don placed his pen down and leaned back into his comfy desk chair, "You finished you piano lesson already or are you as ready to get out of here as I am?"
Reni childishly chuckled, "You do remember that you are grounded until further notice, right? If Father sees that you have snuck out again, he will bar up your windows, lock your door and remove all the furniture to make you pay."
"I wish you were exaggerating." Mumbled Don, slotting his newest designs and formulas into one of his folders. He pushed the folder back onto the lowest shelf above his desk, "Knowing father, that is under exaggerated."
Don grabbed his high-tech smartphone that he had modified and smiled at the selfie Mikey had sent him. The blond was helping his Granny babysit Sarah Jane York again and had taken the selfie with her as they pulled funny faces.
"You were right about her being adorable, Donnie." Reni commented as she peered at the photo from over her twin brother's shoulder, "Good thing I was the twin that inherited the good looks unlike my dorky little brother."
Don protested while he stood up to be face to face with the girl, "Hey! We both inherited fathers' appearance and smartness."
"But I'm still the one going to med school before I even turn 16. I'd say that's a family record." Reni reminded.
"Seeing that its our 15th birthday next month and mother was already attending med school by her 15th birthday, I have to disagree with you on that dear sister." Smugly smiled Don. He send a text to Mikey informing him why he couldn't hang with them no matter how many messages Mikey sent him asking Don to.
Reni giggled and hugged her twin brother, "We're a small family of over achievers."
Sarah Jane York held Mikey and Joan's hands as she skipped down the street happily babbling with the blond boy and his grandma, "That was when mummy told him off and threw a pillow at him."
"Your mummy still mad at your daddy?" Asked Joan as they rounded the corner to where the teens hangout was.
"Daddy said sorry." Sarah innocently smiled, releasing her babysitters' hands to run ahead. She climbed on one of the swing seats and loudly giggled as Mikey gently pushed her. Mikey made sure to not go too high as Sarah was only little and he didn't want her to fall off and hurt herself again.
The first time the Davis' had brought Sarah (just turned 2 at the time) to the Hangout, Mikey insisted on taking the girl on the swing but because there were no baby seats, Sarah had to hold on tight. Mikey didn't push too hard, but it was enough for little Sarah to lose her grip and fell off backwards. Thankfully, Sarah wasn't harmed badly, though Mikey has been much more carefully since them.
"Higher Mikey! Higher!" Encouraged Sarah, still giggling as Mikey pushed the swing just a tiny bit higher, "I'm flying! Look at me JoJo, I'm flying!"
Joan sat smiling on the bench as the two children played on the swings, waving as the girl called out to her. Sarah had always called Joan, JoJo even after she had corrected her many times. Every time the elderly woman heard that nickname, a wave of sadness washed through her as she remembered the only other person who had call her that- her late daughter.
"Hold on tight sweetie." Joan reminded.
"I am! I am! I am!" Squealed the 4-year-old girl, her short legs swinging wildly as she was pushed into the air by Mikey, "Wwwwweeeeeeeeeee!"
Laughing, Mikey snatched the girl off the swing as it came back down. He held her in his arms and spun in circles which caused Sarah to laugh louder and Joan to chuckle behind her wrinkly hand, "You're super strong Nugget!"
Leo lead the way down the street towards the Hangout. He and Mikey had gone there several times and by now and Leo had learned the route off by heart. He wanted his recently returned sister to have a chance to get out of the house. Miwa hadn't even been with them 24 hours yet and she was already complaining about being cooped up in the small apartment. According to their father, Leo had unknowingly complained about the same thing several times since they moved to the Big Apple.
Yoshi had to smile as he watched his son and daughter half-heartily bicker over something he couldn't quite figure out. The father hadn't- as Michelangelo called it- hung out with son, and most certainly not his daughter, in several years so when Leo invited Miwa to go the Hang out, Yoshi wanted to tag along.
"Hanging up on my friends for me was sort of mean." Explained Leo, "Daiki won't stop texting me now. He's completely obsessed on trying to find out who my non-existent girlfriend is."
Smirking, Karai replied, "Well it's not my fault that your friends are all idiots."
"Donatello's IQ is through the roof." Leo pointed out as they strolled around the corner.
"That doesn't mean… he… What on earth happened?"
Leo stopped mid step when he saw what his sister had. Lying near the swing set was an unconscious Michelangelo. On the other side of the park was Joan who was just as unresponsive as her grandson.
The yellow bow clutched in her wrinkly hand was the only sign of the little girl that had been with them only minutes ago.
Translations (from Google Translate):
Anata to anata no koto o wasuremashita ka? - Did you forget about you and toasters?
Ohayōgozaimasu – Good morning
Omedetō – Congratulations
Raion – Lion
Sayōnara - Goodbye
