7


"The more you know yourself, the more clarity there is. Self-knowledge has no end – you don't come to an achievement, you don't come to a conclusion. It is an endless river."

- Jiddu Krishnamurti -


A week later

The two turtles spoke more during this week, though they didn't talk about their pasts. Leo still didn't understand the reason, but he didn't bring it up again.

Leo was lying on the couch, in the dark, thinking about his family. Will he ever see them again? Can Tequila's friends help him? A month passed, and still nothing. Should he just give up?

No!

He can't give up. No, no, never. He won't lose his hope. He has to keep it. But with every day, it became harder and harder.


Leo woke up to gagging. He rubbed his eyes as he got off the couch. As soon as he collected some energy, he started to follow the strange sound. He walked towards the lab, then he turned to left, where the bathroom door was open. Leo went to the bathroom and switched the light on. The light let Leo see what was happening. He saw Tequila vomiting into the toilet. Leo cowered next to him and looked at him worriedly.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm fine," he breathed. "Go back to sleep."

"You don't look fine to me."

"It's just a little indigestion."

"Was it the sushi?"

As a reply, Tequila threw up into the toilet again.

"I knew it," Leo frowned. "I told you it was too old."

"You were right, be happy then," Tequila answered edgily.

"I'm not happy," Leo said a little bit hurt. "How can I help you?"

"Nohow."

Leo stood up and went back to the lab. He walked to the cabinet and opened it. He was looking for some medicine.

"Nothing useful," He whispered. He walked back to the puking turtle and said. "I found nothing in the cabinet. Do you have medicine somewhere else?"

"No," he gasped.

"Then, I will go up."

"Forget it," Tequila managed to say. "No need to... to risk your life... for an upset stomach."

"It's not that late. We have time before the Foot's rush hour. I can do it."

"No."

"Yes, I'm going out. Sorry for disobeying you, but I won't just sit around and watch your suffering."

"Listen, kid..." he breathed heavily. He was exhausted. "It's not the first time. I'm going to be okay. So... just go back to sleep."

"I'm going out," Leo said firmly. "Can I get a weapon?"

"No, you stay home!"

"Then I'm going without a weapon," Leo was determined. There was no way to order him around when he decided to help someone. And Tequila could see it too.

"You won't... you won't listen to me...right?"

"I'm sorry, but yes."

"I'm... coming too."

"No. You're sick, you stay here. But then, can I take your swords?"

Tequila nodded slowly.

"Take care of-," and he threw up.

"Don't worry. I will take care of them."

Of yourself... Tequila thought.


Leo was running between the building towards the place, where they got medicine last time. After some minutes, he noticed the small warehouse. He looked around, then he stepped out of the alley and sprinted towards it. But he didn't reach it.


2 weeks earlier

"You've become better during the years," Karai said as he avoided her enemy's attack.

"Yer not bad either," said a deep voice. "But I saw better."

Karai swung her blade but a sai blocked it.

"I met somebody," she started.

"Who cares?"

"Your brother."

"I don't have brothers."

"Leonardo."

"I don't know any Leonardo,"

"Oh, Raphael, you are so childish," Karai said, as she lunged at him.

Raphael dodged it again. "Why are ya telling me this?"

"I just want to know something."

"I don't know anything about him."

Karai smirked as she thought about Raphael's future reaction.

"Do you know that you are an uncle?"

The turtle suddenly froze.

"A... a what?"

"An uncle. You have a nephew, Raphael."

"Impossible."

"Is it? I saw him with my own eyes. A little Leonardo."

"We can't have children," he stated.

"Well, he managed somehow. That boy is his. He even admitted to me."

"Leonardo?"

"Yes. He had to protect him from me. Poor child, he was a little off that day."

"Yer lying! That's absurd!" Raphael still didn't want to believe it.

"You think? Then go and see him yourself."

Now

Raphael was standing on a rooftop, waiting for some trouble. He still didn't believe Karai.

"Yeah, Leo surely made a child...tsk, my ass. That was lame from Karai," he said to the air.

He turned his head left and noticed a black figure on another roof. Raphael was watching it carefully, and saw a gun. He followed where the gun was pointing and saw somebody crossing the road.

"Heh?" Raphael managed to say, as he recognized that somebody's species. "A turtle? Moreover, a kid turtle? Can he...no, I'm sure it's not him," He looked back at the figure and sighed. "Gotta help, I guess..."

He jumped down with the help of the fire escape and ran towards the kid.

As the gun went off, Raphael grabbed the kid's arm and pulled him to the alley.

"Ya okay?" he asked, not turning around.

A reply was a faint moan and a thud. Raphael turned around and saw the kid on his knees, his right hand was pressed against his left upper arm.

"It hit ya?!" he cowered in front of the kid and gently took his injured arm. The boy let him look at his wound. "Don't worry, kiddo, it just grazed ya."

The kid looked up, straight to his savior's face, and his eyes widened as he recognized the familiar mask.

"R-Raph?"

Raph looked at him surprised. "Ya know me?"

"You..." Leo felt that something wasn't right with himself. "You're my... my..." before he could finish, his eyes rolled back and went limb in Raphael's arms.


When Leo opened his eyes, he found himself in a foreign place. Suddenly, he panicked and wanted to sit up, but two strong hands pushed him back.

"Stay still. Don't worry, yer in a safe place. Ya fainted probably from the shock."

Leo turned his head towards the voice and noticed Raphael. And he saw his eye...

"Raph? Your...your..."

"Yeah. I can't believe that Karai was right!"

"What do you mean?"

"That I'm an uncle. It's so unbelievable, that I have a nephew. Man, ya really look like yer father. Not exactly, but I see him in ya. At least, his old self. He looks totally different nowadays. I don't really see him nowadays, though. If I came from the past, I wouldn't recognize him. But I wouldn't recognize myself or the others either without the mask and stuff. We look really scary, ain't we?"

"Umm..." Leo didn't know how to reply. He didn't really understand what Raphael was talking about. Uncle? And nephew? Who?

"Okay, don't answer."

"What did you mean by nephew?"

"What do ya mean? I meant that yer my nephew. This is what ya wanted to say, right? That I'm your uncle."

"Umm..."

"I can't believe that he managed to make a child! And he didn't tell us! Okay, we aren't best friends now, but still! I have the right to know if I have a nephew!"

What the hell is going on?

"Did you get a son or what?"

"What if I did?"

Yeah, he remembered that. Was this the reason why Raphael was talking nonsense to him? Did Karai tell him? But wait... if Raphael thinks that Leo is his nephew, then that means that he's... Tequila's brother. And if this Raphael is his Raph's counterpart, then Tequila is... Donnie or Mikey... or himself. No, he can't be his counterpart. He would have recognized himself, wouldn't he?

"If I came from the past, I wouldn't recognize him."

Can it be that he changed this much? He always thought that Tequila was somehow familiar to him. But he didn't know why.

Perhaps in this dimension, Raphael has a fourth brother, or his brothers are totally different from him... Tequila can't be him, nor Donnie or Mikey. Tequila was so... not them. Too dark. Too sad. The thought scared him.

"So..." Leo cleared his throat. "So... Karai told you, right?"

"Yes. And of course, I didn't believe her."

"No wonder," he said under his breath.

"What's yer name?" Raphael asked.

"Leo."

"Hah, can't believe he named you after himself!" Raphael huffed.

A-after himself? Then that means that Tequila is...him?


.-I don't own the character-.

Please review! :)