Inspired by montage from "Tales of Leo." Obviously, then, I do not own. Please enjoy anyway and do not sue. There's no price for reading and I earn nothing from writing and posting this.

Leo had thought for sure his father would scold him or at least "talk" to him after he slipped, lost the bag of everything he had gathered for their family, and needed to be carried up the ladder. He hadn't.

They had gathered things from the upper levels, and his father had carried him up and down the ladders, and they had brought what they'd gathered home, and he hadn't said a word about his cowardice. It had almost been worse than being scolded. How embarrassing … His father must feel sorry for him, but he also must be ashamed …

When they'd gotten home, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey had surrounded them and filled their ears with questions. He'd tried extra hard to gather a "lot" of stuff from the upper levels. Mikey and Donnie had both been really interested in opening up and going through the heavy bags. Raph though, Raph had squinted at him and father. "He" probably suspected something. He couldn't drag it out of him, though. He feared even then, Sensei would say something about it in front of his brothers, but he didn't.

He instead talked about how it would be Raph's turn next. He pointed out what they'd gathered and talked about what he planned to do with it all. He didn't even look at him very often. Leo looked away from him.

Then his father said it. "I will be teaching Leonardo alone after your group lessons for a while to work on his balance with him."

Leo had felt his eyes widen. So that was it. His father thought he was so bad at climbing ladders, he needed extra lessons. Leo's heart sank even lower than his first bag of items he'd gathered himself had fallen after he'd dropped it.

His father did as he said he would the next day. He and his brothers first had all learned their lessons in ninja-ing together, and then he took him alone down a tunnel to a room with a "really" high ceiling. But that didn't matter much. The bamboo canes stuck in the floor only came up to his ankles.

His outer layer of scales had always been thick, particularly on his feet, but the edges of the canes seemed to jab into them. And it was harder keeping his balance on one foot with a cane under it than a whole flat floor. Still, he got the hang of it in a little over a week by Donatello's count. His smart brother liked to keep track of time with watches and now a calendar he'd found while he was out scavenging with their father. They had all begun taking turns after Raph had had his first scavenging trip with Sensei.

Raph hadn't talked much of his finds when he'd come back with Master Splinter. Leo and his other two brothers had heard an awful lot about how heavy the bag Raph had carried home had been, though, or heavy it would have felt to them if "they'd" been the ones carrying it. Leo had rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, after he and his brothers' usual lessons, his father had been taking him to practice on these bamboo poles. The protective layers on his feet had gotten thicker and his balance had gotten better. He was feeling pretty proud of himself. Then, his father held out a long rag in his soft, grey-furred hands. With an even softer smile, he said, "And now, you will do it blindfolded, my son."

Leonardo had stared and blinked at his father. What?! "But sensei, why?"

His father simply reached out, turned him around on the bamboo poles, and began to tie the cloth around his eyes. "All will be revealed in time."

Right. For now, everything was dark. And, everything was harder than before.

Leo hated the new twist to his private training with his sensei. Before, he had been so confident. He had learned so much. Now, all of that improvement was lost.

He moved. He put his foot down. He stumbled. He lost his balance.

Then he gained a hold, but it hurt, because he'd put his foot down wrong on it. Leo clenched his teeth. He tried another kata. He would show his father that he was not weak! He "could" do it!

It took weeks more, but he did. He knew where those poles were even blindfolded. He had even thicker skin at the bottom of his feet. He took his blindfold off after practicing his katas perfectly again, and grinned. He saw the soft smile on his father's face. The old rat's eyes shone softly. His smile was wide. He had made him proud.

Leo's heart swelled. Then his own smile fell away, and his heart deflated at his father's next words. "Good. Now, I will change the poles up a bit for next time."

Leonardo "finally" began to understand what his father was doing when he saw how the poles had been changed. They were higher. They now rose above his knees. His father set him up on them and then grinned.

Leo was glad his legs and knees weren't shaking yet. He looked back down into his father's face trying to make his body as stiff as a stone. His father nodded and spoke. "Good. Now, practice your katas here again."

He did. It was awkward, not just because he was higher up, and it caused some flutters in his stomach, but because he noticed a few differences in the gaps between the poles even if they'd been put back in the same holes left by the first ones. The lesson went longer than it usually did.

He kept being afraid his father would stop him so one of them could sleep or eat or even go see what his brothers were up to. He hoped his father already knew. Their sensei had excellent hearing.

Between his fears his sensei would stop him before he got it right, or he wouldn't, and something bad would happen to them or his brothers, Leo's stomach stopped fluttering over how high up it was. Leonardo smiled to himself. He, finally, did all his katas perfect atop the bamboo poles. He smiled down at his sensei. "Father, look!"

His father smiled back up. "Very good my son! Now, come down!"

Leo jumped off the row of bamboo posts. As he and his father left the room with the high ceiling and poles stuck in the floor, Leo glanced back over his shoulder. He smirked at his training tools. Take that Fear-of-heights!

During his next private training session with Sensei, Leo was blindfolded again. He didn't like it. He'd just gotten himself able to do his katas perfectly on top of the poles before. Now he had to learn to do them so all over again!

However, it seemed to take less time to do so than before days instead of over a week. Then his father started leading him into the room blindfolded. He changed up the poles again, but still led Leo to, and put him up on them, blindfolded. He thought his father was making them higher again.

Then he could tell by the way they turned down tunnels and by the changing smells and way his brother's voices drifted to them as they left, they weren't entering their private training room the same way anymore. His father always lifted him onto the top of the poles. His balance was so good now even if he didn't put his feet down the right way, right away, he didn't nearly fall, stumble, or even shake too badly. He did feel more confident at the start of each lesson.

Being high up or at least, somewhat high up, wasn't so bad. His father was right. Now he'd be like his brothers and sensei and not need to be carried up ladders with his eyes hidden in the fur covering the back of father's neck … soon.

He was eager to do as his father said about six weeks after he'd had to be carried up that ladder the first time by Donnie's count. "Now, my son, remove your blindfold!"

He stood tall, undid the knot, and let the cloth fall away. He looked down. Way, way, way down … This, this was almost as high up as the ladders between levels went!

This … he could almost reach up and brush the high ceiling with his fingertips! This … was almost like being near the tops of those tents in stories about, and those pictures of, circuses. What did they call them? Big tops? This … Wow … His father was pretty small down there … all the way … down … there …

His stomach didn't flutter. It dropped out of his body. He didn't freeze up, though. He leaned over, way over. Too far, he leaned back the other way! He fell.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

He fell right into the net, patched tarp really, his father had set up for him beneath the poles. Leo opened his eyes and looked up. His father was looking down at him. His eyes were sad. Leo's stomach dropped again even though the rest of his body had stopped shaking now. He felt angry at the calm that washed through him due to how close the nice, sturdy, wide floor was to him again. His eyes pricked with hot tears. When was he ever going to get this right?

God Bless

ScribeofHeroes