I'M BACK. And not dead. Guess who's starting college in August? That's right. Me. I'll still try to post stories, of course, it just might be spread thin (Like how long it's taken me to update this summer. Yeesh. almost 4 months. i apologize.)

In other, wonderful news, this won 2nd place in the Funniest Comedy section for the TMNT Readers Choice Awards! :D

It made me feel all happy and fuzzy inside :D so i wrote a story about Leo being in a coma :D (but why, you ask? Its because i dont know myself or why i do these things :D yay)

But in all seriousness, i just want to say thank you for everything. Every time you guys send a review i just get so HAPPY and i love you all

Tsukimine12: Thank youuu! A lot of my stories are sad, aren't they lol I was pretty surprised when I got nominated for 'funniest comedy' and you'd think i would just stick to that... lol

Cinnamon: i was so sleep deprived when i wrote the part for Raph's paper that i just mashed keys in the general area of where the letters were and it just got worse as time went on lol. Thank you!

lizzybudd: lizzybudd. my budd. I always enjoy your reviews and seeing all that positivity from you because it really keeps me motivated (even though it doesnt seem like it when i dont post anything for months) (Im working on a bigger story i promise) (Its about my fav) (Raph is my fav) Thanks for reading!

roxan1930: im not gonna lie i forgot what chapter 3 was about bc its been a couple years loll but its really nice to go back and see how much has changed since then :') Thank you for the trip down memory lane

0.3- coma- "Please, wake up Leo. Please." Leo turned around. No one was there. (Human AU kinda)

...

Birds chirped outside. The sun streamed through a half-closed window, revealing nearly invisible specks of dust floating around. The trees and grass waved softly in the breeze.

Leo curled into his blanket, determined to sleep in this time.

His dreams were shattered to pieces when his door was thrust open with enough force to shake the window and scare the birds away.

"Leo!"

Leo groaned into his pillow.

"What do you want, Raphael?" He all but grunted. Raph leaned against the wall just inside his door, arms crossed. Leo blinked at him with bleary eyes, head still on his pillow.

"Nothin'. Dad wants you downstairs, though."

Leo sat up and yawned. He pulled his blue pajama pants back down to his ankles lazily when he saw they had bunched around his knees again.

"Okay." He stifled another yawn and stretched his arms above his head. "Be down in a sec."

"'Kay." Raph pushed off the wall, not bothering to close the door on his way out.

Leo sighed. He glanced around his room. The numbers 7:34 stared back at him from his alarm clock. School was out for the summer, but that didn't mean he could sleep in.

He was dressed and out the door in five minutes.

Leo smiled to himself on the way downstairs. He could hear his family eating breakfast together at the counter.

He pulled a stool over next to Donnie on the end and grabbed the bowl that was obviously meant for him.

Donnie nodded at him politely. Leo smiled back, understanding that his brother's coffee hadn't kicked in yet.

"Morning, sleepyhead!" Mikey called from the other side of Don. "It's about time you got up. Sheesh, I thought I was gonna have to get out the ice water."

Raph snorted from his spot beside Mikey. "As much fun as that sounded, I didn't wanna do a million flips as punishment for soaking you."

Leo rolled his eyes and started on his cereal. He blew a strand of black hair out of his face.

Donnie sighed happily beside him. Leo deduced the coffee had finally taken hold.

"Don, I swear, you're like, 90% caffeine." Leo said through bites of cereal.

His brother responded by inhaling the rest of his drink. "Yep. Gotta keep that percentage consistent." He reached across Mikey to put his mug in the sink.

Leo snorted. "Wouldn't have you any other way."

Mikey protested Don's arm in his way, elbowing Raph in the chin during his exaggerated movements. Raph blinked and then grabbed Mikey's head in a noogie. Mikey grabbed Don's arm for help, but only succeeded in nearly knocking his brother off his stool. Leo reached over and caught Donnie from falling, all four of them now locked in as one big commotion.

"Ahem."

Four pairs of eyes widened, and a second later everything was back to normal. Mikey blew a piece of his curly blonde hair out of his face a few times unsuccessfully.

Their father nodded to himself and walked to the other side of the counter for his own breakfast.

"Perhaps it's time you had a haircut, Michael?"

Mikey's eyes went wide. "What! No way! Not until Don cuts off that tail he has!"

Donnie's hands flew to his ponytail protectively. "Hey, don't bring me into this! If anyone needs a haircut, it's Leo; he can barely see through his!"

Leo almost choked on his cereal. "Low blow, Don," He whispered. "You could donate it to Raph, he barely has any hair on that head of his."

"Why, you..."

Mikey chimed back in, "It's true, Raphie, just what were you thinking when you got that done?"

With a growl to start it, a small squabble broke out among them, though everything was back to normal again when their father cleared his throat.

"Are you boys done with your breakfast?"

He was met with a chorus of 'yes.'

"Then you are free to go."

Leo could've sworn he heard their father chuckle to himself as they left the kitchen.

The day went by relatively fast. Leo couldn't remember some things, like there were gaps in his memory. He waved it off as getting kicked too hard by Mikey while practicing.

Now, Leo was helping his father tend to their garden. The beetles were chewing away at the leaves again, and Leo wasn't having it.

Once the bugs were taken care of, they had small talk about how well the flowers were doing for this time of year.

Leo was just telling Splinter how he hoped Michael would use the basil soon when he heard a voice behind him.

"Wake up soon."

Leo turned to the voice of his brother, only to realize Don wasn't even there.

"Did you hear that?" He asked his father.

"Hear what, Leo? Come, it is time for me to prepare dinner."

Leo glanced back at where he'd heard the voice and shook his head, following Splinter inside.

Weeks passed without much incident. Leo had fallen into a certain rhythm every day.

Wake up, breakfast, free time, practice in the dojo, lunchtime, gardening, dinner, TV, bedtime.

He liked the routine.

However, on some days, Raph complained how they always do the same thing everyday.

Mikey commented on the always-sunny weather.

Don would ask if the carrots were ready in the garden yet, considering how long they had been growing. Splinter always answered before Leo could, saying 'patience, my son.'

Leo didn't start to question his reality until many months later, when he was sure it was supposed to be winter. He waved it off once again, thinking that they lived in a warmer climate that didn't get cold.

Raph was always one to question the obvious, though.

"Hey Leo?" They were watching a movie, one of Michael's favorites.

"Yeah, Raph?"

"Where do we live?"

"That's a dumb question, we've lived here all our lives."

"Have we?"

"Yeah."

"Leo?"

Leo didn't even glance over at Raph at this point. He was too interested in the movie.

"What?"

"Please wake up."

Leo's attention immediately shifted to his brother. "What did you say?"

Raph rolled his eyes. "Will you be quiet? I'm trying to enjoy the movie."

Leo nodded, more to himself than in response. This was the fourth time this had happened.

These things were getting harder for him to wave off.

Donnie was always able to point out flaws in the world around them.

"Y'know," He started, chewing on a sandwich, "It's pretty hard to believe we haven't gotten any rain yet."

Mikey nodded, mouth full.

Leo cocked his head. "How do you mean?"

"Well," He swallowed a bite. "It's the first time it hasn't snowed this winter."

Leo nodded thoughtfully. "It's always so nice outside, like it's the perfect temperature."

Donnie pushed his empty plate away and made to get up. "You need to wake up."

"What?" Leo's reaction was instantaneous.

"I said it feels nice outside today, do you need to get your ears checked?"

Mikey nodded in agreement.

Raph pushed his plate away as well. "Yeah, you've been havin' us repeat things back to you an awful lot lately."

Leo blinked. "Since when do you have a Brooklyn accent?"

Raph snorted. "I always have, seriously, what's wrong with you?"

Splinter walked in, keeping Leo from answering.

Splinter glanced at Mikey's plate, everything gone but the crusts.

"Eat your crusts, Michelangelo. They're good for you."

Leo blanched. "His name is Michael."

Splinter nodded patiently. "That is what I said. You need to wake up, my son."

Leo only nodded. "I'm going outside."

Leo sighed. It was getting harder to tell what was real. He wasn't sure if anything around him was real at all. He just wanted to go to bed at this point.

Suddenly, as if a switch were flipped, everything turned dark as the sun went down and the stars came out.

Mikey opened the screen door and poked his head out. "You've been standing there for hours, dad wants you asleep in ten, bro."

Leo nodded his response and Mikey ducked back inside. Leo sighed. This was getting old.

He made his way through the house, into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, grateful for the fluorescent light that illuminated the room. He grabbed a soda and closed the fridge, when he was suddenly face-to-face with Don.

He jumped and held his chest as if he'd suffered a heart attack. "Don! Don't scare me like that. What are you doing up?"

Donnie didn't speak. He only stared.

Leo chuckled nervously. "Okay, buddy, say something. You're starting to freak me out."

Don reached out with the speed of lightning and grasped Leo's shoulders, causing him to wince.

Leo didn't have time to voice his concerns when Don opened his mouth to speak.

"You're trapped. Your mind has come up with a comfortable way to keep you in this limbo state, while time passes you by in the real world. It's coming apart, bleeding through the cracks. You have to get up, wake up. This isn't normal."

Leo's eyes were open wide. "Donnie-"

The grip on his shoulders tightened. "Wake. Up."

Donnie jumped awake in his chair. He rushed over to where Leo lay in the bed, fully awake. His hands fiddled with the machine next to his motionless brother, checking to see if anything was out of place. Everything was in order.

He hadn't imagined it, then. Leo's heartbeat had spiked, if only for a moment.

"Please, wake up. Wake up Leo." He lay a hand on Leo's shoulder. "We need you."

Leo's eyes flew open. He was greeted by his family.

His father held his hair back and helped him sit up.

Leo looked around, confused. "What's going on?" He croaked.

Raph spoke up first. "Dunno, you just passed out at the dinner table."

Splinter nodded. "Are you feeling alright, my son?"

Leo nodded back, slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." He made to get up.

"It was like you were in a different place, bro. You mumbled." Mikey whispered.

"What?"

"I didn't say anything, bro. You sure you're okay?" Mikey tilted his head.

Leo swallowed dryly. "I'm going outside."

"Shall I join you?" His father asked, helping him steady himself.

"No." Leo winced. That sounded too sharp. "I mean, no, thank you. I'd like to be alone."

Splinter bowed his head. "As you wish."

Leo opened the sliding doors and stepped out into the cool air.

Donnie moved frantically from one side of the bed to the other, checking the beeping machines as fast as his hands could move.

He wiped sweat trailing down his head.

Something was wrong.

He yelled for Splinter.

Leo was met with complete darkness. He turned back to the sliding door, but it had disappeared as well.

It was just him and the ground.

The grass, flowers, herbs, fence, door, and even the moon had all gone away. There was no light.

"Hello?"

No answer.

Leo swallowed.

"Is anyone there?"

Not even an echo bounced back to him.

He blinked, and the darkness swallowed him up.

Leo fell, and didn't land.

Don and Splinter sat back, exhausted. Mikey and Raph were told to wait in the living room, but they couldn't stay away. They sat outside the door.

It had taken hours, but Leo was once again stable, and breathing on his own without the help of a ventilator.

Donnie would never admit it, but he wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.

Leo fell. The darkness did not give way.

He didn't feel scared like he thought he should.

But there was a thought in the back of his mind, screaming something important.

He pushed it away.

First he had to land. Then he could try to remember what exactly is was that he had forgotten.

Another week passed without incident.

Donnie was asleep for now, too tired to lift the coffee to his lips without falling over.

Mikey took his place at the foot of Leo's bed.

"We miss you. I'd like a sign you're still in there, somewhere. Maybe it's been too long..." He always rambled when it was his turn to keep watch.

"Raph still won't go out. I thought he was going crazy, but then again I guess he feels some kind of responsibility..." His voice broke.

"Please come back. We need you."

Leo wasn't sure how long he had been falling.

Five minutes?

Five years?

There was no way to tell.

He looked down, or at least the direction he thought was down.

He sighed. More darkness.

Leo looked around him, tried to see his hand in front of his face.

It was no use.

He glanced back down.

Darkness, darkness... a light?

He focused on the blip below him. It was the first bit of anything he'd seen in... How long?

It flew towards him, and he had the sudden panicked thought of how was he going to land?

He didn't just land in the light, he slammed into it full-force.

He gasped in pain, and his eyes flew open.

Mikey was on full alert the moment Leo gasped.

"Donnie! Raph! Somebody!"

The door burst open, filling the room with the rest of his family members.

Leo blinked at them.

They froze.

Leo screamed.