Warnings:
Mentions of bloodEventual Tsest (kinda) Don't like. Don't read.Slow burn Raph/Leo pairingLight swearingDyslexic writerPossible OOCTotal lack of medical knowledge
Please read author's note at the end.
Disclaimer: Only thing I own is a few TMNT action figures from the 80s and 90s.
Chapter 4
Leo POV
"I've been on bed rest for several days. One of my brothers is always with me. But it's usually Raph. He is sticking pretty close to me. It seems like he's always there when I need something. I haven't seen father at all though. I guess he's too ashamed of me to come visit me."
Raph POV
"Leo is really quiet. It's hard tuh get him tuh say anythin'. He doesn't have a big appetite either, but Mikey has been able to convince him tuh eat a little. He has been followin' Donny's orders wit' no fuss. He's not puttin' up a fight at all.
"We've been keeping Splinter away from him. Donny says the stress would be bad for him."
Mikey POV
"Leo won't hardly talk at all. She wouldn't hardly eat at first, but I got her with my little brother puppy dog eyes and told her how worried I was about her. She finally started eating more, but she's still not eating much. Raph has been helping me to convince Leo to eat more. He's really sticking close to Leo.
"All three of us have been keeping Master Splinter away from her. Master Splinter doesn't like it, but Donny says it's best for Leo. I still can't believe Master Splinter said that to Leo. I mean come on man! Leo is a great leader! Being a girl doesn't change that!"
Don POV
"I'm worried about Leo. She's hardly talking at all. When she does talk it's one to two word answers. She rarely tells us if she needs or wants something.
"Raph has pretty much taken over the role of caretaker for her. He's the one with her most of the time. He must be really worried because he's showing more patience than he usually does. He and Mikey have been working with her to get her to eat more. She doesn't have much of an appetite. I am worried she may be depressed.
"I've told the guys to not let her see Splinter at all. I don't know that Leo can take the stress. And I don't know what else Master Splinter may say. I can't believe what he said to Leo. All of us are very shocked by what he said. We didn't know he had these outdated views about women. I don't know if we can continue being his students. He is still our father and we love him but we have lost a lot of respect for him because what he said to Leo."
Normal POV
After a week and a half of bed rest Donny decided Leo was allowed to walk around but no training, running, lifting heavy things, and no katas. Raph notices Leo wincing going downstairs and says Leo is not allowed to go up and down stairs either. Raph insists on carrying him up and down the stairs. Leo is grateful as the stairs do hurt. Normally he would have argued just to argue with Raph and to prove that he was strong enough, but now he doesn't feel up to arguing.
Leo is sitting on the couch watching TV alone for the first time in a week and a half. Splinter sees his opportunity to speak with Leo. No one is around to keep him away from Leo so he walks up and says, "Leonardo may I speak with you?"
Leo stands up and looks up at Splinter and meekly says, "Yes Master Splinter." He quickly looks back down unable to maintain eye contact due to fear of seeing shame in his Sensei eyes.
Splinter's ears go down and he says "I am sorry Leonardo. I was wrong. The customs in Japan are different and outdated. I meditated on this since we last spoke. I was wrong to question your abilities as leader." Leo looked up shocked.
"You have been leading your brothers for several years and you were a female all this time. I thought you had matured as a young adult when I decided you would be the leader. And all this time you were actually still a child. You handled leadership so well even though you were still a child." said the old rat ears down in shame.
"I thought you were ashamed of me because I'm a g..." said Leo still unable to say that he is a girl.
"No Leonardo. The only one I'm ashamed of is myself. I am very proud of the person you grew up to be and I'm very proud of the leader to your brother's you have become."
"I am sorry Leonardo. I was wrong. I am not ashamed of you. I am very proud of you. Please forgive this old fool?" said Splinter looking Leonardo in the eyes unable to believe what an old fool he was.
Leo looks down tears running down his face. Raph walks by and sees Splinter has made Leo cry again. "Hey! What did yuh say tuh Leo dis time?!" he says, charging over to get Leo away from Splinter.
"Raph. It's not what you think." said Leo unable to stop the tears because he's too relieved that Splinter is not ashamed of him for being a girl.
"Den tell me what tuh tink. Because all I see is yuh crying aftuh he talked tuh yuh." said Raph not believing Leo.
"He said he's not ashamed of me." said Leo still unable to stop crying. Trying to wipe his eyes but the tears wouldn't stop.
"Why would he be ashamed of yuh?" Raph asked not understanding.
"Because I'm a g..." said Leo still unable to say he's a girl.
"Because you're a girl?" asked Raph. Leo nodded.
"All dis time yuh thought Splinter was ashamed of yuh because you're actually a girl?" asked Raph.
Leo nodded and looked down tears dripping down his beak.
"Master, yuh do realize how badly yuh screwed up, right?" Raph asked Splinter.
Splinters ears went down and he said, "Yes my son. I do. I was just..."
Raph interrupted and said, "Yuh do realize Leo has been hatin' himself for bein' born female for over a week and yuh put dat idea in his head." said Raph angrily.
"I know I hurt your sister. I was trying to..." said Splinter until Raph interrupted again.
"Can't yuh see how Leo flinches every time a female pronoun is used on him? How can yuh not see dat?!" Raph asked.
Leo started crying harder unable to stop the sobs now. Raph sighed and drew Leo into a hug and Leo said voice breaking, "Thanks, Raph." into Raph's neck. Raph hugs Leo tighter.
"Master, I know yuh realize yuh were wrong and you're sorry. But yuh caused a lot of damage. And not just mentally. De egg gettin' stuck did more damage than we thought. De egg and all de crampin' damaged de muscles in Leo's pelvis and when he ran it damaged de muscles much worse. Donny said he's lucky he doesn't have nerve damage." Raph said not letting Splinter off the hook.
"Um, Raph?" asked Leo from his spot hugged against Raph, finally able to stop crying.
Raph looked down at Leo in his arms and said, "Yeah?"
"Is that why I can't feel my tail?" he asked looking up at Raph.
"Yuh just decided to mention dat now? Donny might need tuh know dat'." asked Raph with an eye ridge raised.
"It didn't hurt like everything else so I didn't notice." Leo said with a shrug and a wince as the shrug made his stomach hurt.
"Your stomach hurting bad again?" asked Raph seeing the wence.
"Worse than it was a few minutes ago. I didn't know crying would make it hurt." said Leo with another wence.
"Dat's it." said Raph as he picked up Leo Bridal style. "Back to bed with you and I'll get Donny."
"But Raph. He just let me up." whined Leo laying his head on Raph's shoulder as he was worn out by that little time he was on his feet.
Splinter smiled and said, "Raphael take care of your brother."
Raph said, "Hai, Sensei." and turned to head to Leo's room. Leo smiled. Splinter didn't say sister.
Splinter headed to talk to his other two sons about using only male pronouns for Leonardo.
Author's note:
Two chapters in one day! I was happy with this chapter, but I wasn't happy with chapter 3 so I couldn't post it yet. I have 2 more chapters already finished that just need some tweaking. Trying to stay ahead by one or two chapters just in case I want to change something. Since I'm dyslexic there are times that I just cannot write. But I'm not going to give up on the story. I mean I started writing this story several years ago. And I'm still interested in it.
The reason Leo is so emotional is because his hormones are all over the place. And he thought splinter was ashamed of him because he found out he's a girl. Leo is most definitely OOC.