Mistakes

Age: Five Years

"Hyah!"

Sloppy.

"Hyah!"

Too loose

Leo snickered to himself as he sat on the sidelines of the dojo.

In the center of the room Raph was demonstrating sword kata number one through three in front of Splinter. They had been training for a couple months now, and Splinter had decided that they had done well enough on the unarmed kata to be able to start some of the simple armed kata. They could only use the wooden, child-sized weapons, like the bokken Raph was using, but they were suuuuper excited about it none the less.

"Hyah!"

Leo snickered again as Raph did another swing. So far Splinter had only taught them up to sword kata number three. But Leo had a secret.

One day when he was playing in Splinter's room while his daddy was out getting groceries he had found a small book with a picture of a sword on the front. He decided to open it to see if there were any cool pictures of samurai or ninjas, but instead he found it was a book filled with kata! Not that he could read it, but there were pictures with all the steps that showed him how the kata could be done!

Leo decided right then and there that he was gonna learn the most advanced kata he could: Kata number seven! He would have gone for something even more awesome, but sadly he could only count to seven.

He had practiced for like forever in Splinter's room with the bokken. Technically, he wasn't supposed to touch the bokken OR be in Splinter's room without his permission, but the thought of impressing his daddy and showing up all his brothers was too good to pass up.

"Hyah!"

Leo grinned as Raph finished the final swing of his kata. Raph being finished meant it was Leo's turn next.

Raph turned to Splinter and bowed.

"Well done, my son." said Splinter. "Though perhaps you could try it next time with less yelling."

Raph grinned, clearly unashamed of his ferocious yells.

He turned and took his seat beside Leo on the sidelines.

"It was good." whispered Leo. "But my kata is waaaay better."

"Is not!" yelled Raph in a hushed voice.

"You've been talking about this kata forever." groaned Donnie.

Leo turned away in a huff.

"You're just jealous."

"I think it's gonna be awesome!" said Mikey.

Leo grinned at Mikey. His other brothers might be grumpy grump faces, but Mikey was always there to cheer him on.

"Trust me." said Leo. "It's gonna be the awesomest kata ever!"

Donnie groaned again while Raph stuck his tongue out at Leo.

"Leonardo." called Splinter. "It's your turn."

Leo smiled at Mikey once more before standing and walking proudly over to where Splinter sat.

When Leo got there, Splinter handed him the bokken.

"Please demonstrate kata—"

Leo's hand shot up in the air.

Splinter looked at him quizzically.

"Yeees?"

"I wanna do kata number seven."

Splinter raised an eyebrow.

"We have not gone over—"

"I learned it myself." said Leo, his chin jutting out in confidence.

Splinter questioned for a moment how his son had learned a kata he hadn't been taught, but decided to play along for the moment.

"Very well."

Leo bowed, the broad grin plain on his face.

He quickly walked to the center of the dojo, making sure to use his best ninja master walk.

As he took his position he glanced over at his brothers on the sidelines. Raph and Donnie were both glaring, but Mikey sat in obvious anticipation of the event to come.

"You can do it, Leo!" cheered Mikey.

Leo did his best to maintain his noble warrior façade despite the grin threatening to break through his mask.

He grabbed the handle of the sword.

"Three steps forward, then make the first swing." He repeated to himself.

He took a step.

One.

Two.

On the third step he prepared to swing the bokken and blow away his brothers with his awesome swordsmanship.

And failed miserably.

The moment he went to take his third step he accidentally tripped over his own feet.

He tipped forward just as he started to swing the sword.

"Woah!"

As Leo fell, the bokken flew forward right out of his hands!

It SHOT across the dojo and straight through the paper doors of Splinter's room.

CRASH! BAM! BOOM!

Splinter winced at the sound of his possessions shattering again the unseen sword.

"There goes my new vase." thought Splinter.

"Baaaaaaaahahahahahahaaaa!"

Splinter turned back towards his children to see Raph and Donnie laughing their heads off as Leo lay in the center of the dojo, his butt poked up in the air as his face, chin against the floor, burned with embarrassment.

"Yame!"

Raph and Donnie suppressed their snickers as Leo slowly pushed himself off the floor.

Splinter walked over to Leo and checked him over.

"Are you hurt?"

"No, sensei." said Leo, his eyes looking anywhere but at Splinter.

Splinter smiled at him.

"Perhaps that kata was a bit too advanced."

Leo looked down, the red in his cheeks burning brighter than ever.

"Hai."

As soon as lessons were done, Leo hurried from the dojo, his face downcast and covered in shame.

Before he could get more than two steps out the door Raph and Donnie were on either side of him, broad grins upon their faces.

"You shoulda seen the look on your face!" laughed Raph.

Leo looked away.

"Dr. Caterpillar says, 'They who like to brag and boast, of humble pie will eat the most.'" intoned Donnie with a smile.

"Then Leo should eat a gazillion humble pies!"

Donnie and Raph laughed as they ran off leaving Leo behind.

As Leo stood staring at the ground Mikey walked up beside him, a big smile across his face.

"Don't listen to them. I thought your kata was awesome!"

"No, it wasn't!"

Mikey stepped back as Leo turned to face him, his face filled with anger.

"It was the worst mistake in the history of forever! I'm never doing sword kata again!"

Leo turned and ran away leaving Mikey to stare after him.

Splinter sat in front of Raph and Donnie watching them as they played a game of checkers. The board itself was in pretty rough shape since it had been salvaged from the dump, but they had most of the checker pieces and what they didn't have Splinter had replaced with painted rocks.

Donnie moved his piece forward.

"King me!" shouted Donnie.

Raph growled.

On the other side of the room sat Leo, hugging his knees to his chest in the corner.

Mikey walked over to him holding a kendama. It was a wooden, Japanese toy similar to a type of paddle ball that Splinter had played with when he was a child. The device had three cups of different sizes and a spike on it, and the object of the game was to get the ball to either land in one of the cups or on top of the spike. So far, none of the boys were very good at it, but they all gave it their best regardless.

"What cha doing?" asked Mikey.

"Sitting." replied Leo, clearly not in the mood to talk.

"That's boring! Come play kendama!"

"I don't wanna."

"Pleeeaaase?" begged Mikey. "You're the only one who can get the ball in the middle cup."

Leo smiled, though just a little.

He stood up and grabbed the kendama from Mikey.

"Yaaaaay!" shouted Mikey as he sat down to watch his brother play.

Leo swung the paddle causing the ball to arc up in the air. It fell and bounced off the edge of the medium sized cup.

Miss.

Leo frowned.

He swung the paddle again.

Miss.

Leo's eyes grew more frustrated.

He tried again and again and again, but no matter what he did the ball wouldn't go in! Not even when he tried it on the big cup!

"Uuuuugh!"

Leo threw down the kendama.

Everyone in the room stared as Leo turned and ran off.

Splinter stood up as he looked after Leo.

He turned to his other children.

"Continue your games. I'll be right back."

He walked off after his son while the three boys stared.

Donnie turned back to the checker board.

He moved a piece.

"King me!"

Raph glared at him as he flipped the board, scattering the pieces.

Splinter walked into Leo's room. It was a simple space with a layout much the same as the rooms of his other sons. An old, salvaged mattress in the corner. A few broken toys scattered across the floor. And a tattered, blue blanket underneath which his eldest son was currently hiding.

Splinter looked at the lump of cloth that housed his son with sad eyes.

He walked over and sat down on the mattress beside the lump.

"Leonardo?"

"Leo's not here."

Splinter smiled.

"Then who exactly is here?"

A sniff sounded from beneath the covers.

"A big screw-up."

Splinter's smile wavered, but he managed to hold it none the less.

With gentle hands he reached over and lifted the covers revealing Leo, hugging his knees as a trail of moisture glistened across his cheeks.

"It seems I have been lied to." said Splinter. "All I see is my strong, kind hearted son."

Leo looked away, avoiding Splinter's eyes.

"I messed up." said Leo. "Again! I'm the biggest screw up ever."

Splinter sighed. He knew how hard failure was for his eldest, though this was definitely the first time he had seen him take it this hard.

"Michelangelo doesn't seem to think you're a screw up." reminded Splinter.

"That's the worst part!" screamed Leo, turning to full on face his shocked father. "I'm supposed to be his awesome big brother, but I can't even do that right!"

Leo sniffed.

"He should just go find a new big brother."

Splinter stared at him, struggling to find the right words.

"This is dumb!"

Both heads snapped towards the doorway where Mikey stood, his fists balled and anger plain across his face.

He pointed at Leo.

"You're dumb! Stop being dumb!"

The little turtled turned and ran off leaving Splinter and Leo to look after him.

Slowly, Leo's face scrunched up as fresh tears streamed from his eyes.

Before Splinter could so much as say a word, the eldest turtle pulled the blankets back over his head, retreating once again into his self-made fortress of solitude.

Splinter sighed as he pulled the blanket covered Leo into a soft hug. This was going to be a loooong day.

"Kata number one through three."

Leo bowed to Splinter, a jo staff in his hands.

Splinter attempted to focus on Leo's movements as he demonstrated jo staff kata number one. He had spent a good portion of the previous day attempting to console his son, but no matter what he said Leo refused to be comforted. Eventually Leo had fallen asleep in his arms leaving Splinter with his next problem.

The rat sensei turned his eyes away from Leo towards his youngest son. Mikey was currently sitting on the other side of the room, his face a tiny storm cloud of anger. Every attempt to find the source of his son's raging emotions had ended the exact same.

"Because Leo's dumb! That's why!"

The repeated comment had helped nothing. Leo was mad at himself, Mikey was mad at Leo, and Splinter was being driven mad because neither of his sons were cooperating! He briefly wondered if his daughter would have been so emotionally exhausting at this age, though he was quick to answer himself "Yes."

Leo turned to him and bowed as he finished the last of the jo kata.

"Very well done, Leo." said Splinter.

Leo didn't reply. He simply bowed again before handing off the jo staff and taking his seat.

"Michelangelo, please step forward."

Mikey looked angrily at Leo for a moment before getting up and walking to the center of the room.

"Please demonstrate—"

Mikey's hand shot up in the air.

Splinter raised an eyebrow.

"I wanna do sword kata number seven." proclaimed the youngest turtle.

All eyes in the room went wide, especially Leo's.

Splinter hesitated. How were his children learning all these kata without him?

"I'm not certain that's the best…"

Splinter drifted off as he stared into his son's determined eyes. He could tell just by looking at him that there wasn't a single thing he could say outside of flat out denial that would change his son's mind.

Hoping this would somehow ease his son's anger, Splinter sighed in defeat.

"Very well."

Mikey smiled. He ran over to the side of the room and grabbed a bokken off the side of the wrack.

"No running." called Splinter as the little turtle sprinted back towards the middle of the room.

Mikey slowed down just a little before taking his place in the middle of the room.

All eyes were on him as he put his hands into position along the hilt.

He stepped forward.

Reeled back his arms.

"Hyah!"

And FLUNG the child-sized sword across the room with all his might!

The bokken went whirling straight across the dojo and RIPPED right through the paper doors to Splinter's room just inches above where Leo's bokken had flown the day before.

CRASH! BAM! BOOM!

For the second time in two days Splinter winced, the unmistakable sound of his new new vase meeting a fatal end echoing through the air.

He turned an angry glare on his youngest son who stood unashamed in the center of the dojo.

"Michelangelo! What is the meaning of this?!"

"Did I make a mistake?" asked Mikey flat out.

"Of course you made a mistake!"

"Do you still love me?"

Splinter reeled back in shock. Clearly, this was not the response he had expected.

As Splinter's brain tried to process the question, his eye drifted to where his eldest son sat on the side of the room, his eyes wide as he awaited the sensei's response.

Slowly, a smile spread across Splinter's face as all his anger vanished into smoke.

With gliding steps he crossed the room to his youngest son.

Wrapped him in his arms.

And gave him a biiiiig kiss right on top of his little green head.

Splinter looked down into his youngest sons eyes as he ran a finger across his cheek.

"More than you will ever know."

Mikey grinned.

He quickly wiggled his way out of Splinter's arms and dashed over to where Leo sat with big, watchful eyes.

Mikey held out one finger and pressed it on Leo's nose.

"Now, stop being dumb."

Leo looked up at Mikey as the slightest hint of moisture formed in the eldest turtle's eyes. He quickly wiped his eyes dry before looking back up at his grinning brother.

The two clasped hands.

Age: Sixteen

BOOM!

An explosion ROCKED the lab causing a giant cloud of purple smoke to rush past the iron doors.

"Mikey!"

A panicked Mikey BURST out of the cloud of smoke, fleeing for his life as a soot covered Raph and Donnie followed close behind.

"Get back here!" shouted Donnie.

"I'm sorry, bros! It was an accident! Aaaaah!"

As the three turtles sprinted across the lair, Leo watched from the side of the room, shaking his head as his twin katana hung dutifully from his back.

Master Splinter walked up beside him.

"Just once I wish he'd think before he messes stuff up." said Leo.

Splinter stroked his beard.

"It's true that your brother has quite a talent for getting into trouble."

Splinter smiled slyly at Leo.

"But you still love him, right?"

Leo turned to Splinter in shock!

And then turned back with a smile as he watched Mikey dash across the lair.

"More than he will ever know."

Author's Note: Hurray! Chapter six is here at last! I have to say this was another chapter that took a LOT of research. Not for most of the content, but because when I was writing the scene in Leo's room I realized that I didn't know if the lair was structured in such a way that the turtles could have had their own rooms at age five! Like, were these rooms already there or did they have to be built later on? Would the turtles have had to share one big room until they started doing construction? And where are the bathrooms?!

After HOURS of research I eventually I found several maps and photos that helped me realize how everything was laid out, and that the turtles would, indeed, have had their own rooms at around age five. At least I assume since the four rooms they sleep in were already built into the abandoned subway relay station that eventually became the lair. Fun fact! They were probably storage spaces given their size and relation to everything else around them.

If you personally would like more information about how the lair is laid out I've posted links on my profile page that (if you can see them) lead to all my current resources including a hand drawn map and reference photos to confirm that the map is accurate! And if you can't see them just message me, and I shall do my best to help you with all your layout needs. YAY RESEARCH!

And finally (WOW, this is a long Author's note) my Momma's birthday is coming up soon so I'm planning a very SPECIAL surprise for the next chapter to celebrate the bestest Momma ever! She doesn't read this, but I enjoy celebrating her nonetheless!

Anyway, I would love to hear what you guys think of this latest chapter! Thank you guys so much for reading, and, as always, have a hyper happy day! LOVE YOU GUYS~!