Ch 2 Memories of the Past

"Ughhh." Leonardo cried out as he attempted once again to light the pilot light of the stove. "I'm telling you Mikey, your appliances hate me!" He stood up and wiped dirt off his face.

Mikey and Donnie held back a giggle. "You're just doing it wrong bro." Mikey took the lighter from Leo and bent down to light the stove.

"What I don't get is how you not only manage to blow the pilot light out, but how you managed to get dirty doing it?" Donnie questioned. "After all, the stove is pretty clean underneath?" Donnie leaned against the wall and shook his head, doing his best not too laugh. "What are you trying to do anyway?"

"Raph is studying really hard for this test coming up tomorrow." Leo explained. "I want to make him some dinner."

"What are you trying to make him?" Mikey asked, sounding nervous. "Maybe I can help."

Leo held up a can of soup and a loaf of bread. "Just some soup and sandwiches." He answered.

Mikey stared at him in disbelief. "Well, at least their easy to make and you won't be sending him to the hospital to get his stomach pumped like you did last time you made him supper." He muttered. He walked over to the refrigerator and rummaged around.

"That was an accident." Leo protested. "And how was I suppose to know that wasn't salad dressing?"

Again, Donnie had to stifle his laughter. "Because I have all my ingredients in the left side of the pantry and the container said turpentine." Mikey answered as he grabbed the can of soup and bread from Leo and put them to the side. "Dude, if you want Raph to have a decent meal, then let me make it."

"The label fell off the container Mikey." Leo told him. He huffed and sat down at the table. "I guess it's safe to say Raph isn't marrying me because I'm a good cook."

Upon hearing that, Donnie suddenly grabbed his stomach and doubled over. He turned his shell to the others and laughed hard against the wall. "Leo bro." He said wiping his eyes and taking deep breaths. "You can't cook at all!"

"Yeah Leo." Mikey said, between laughter. "Your better off staying out of the kitchen after you and Raph get married. Especially if you want Raph to live long enough to see your first anniversary."

"One time and I'm dealing with it for the rest of my life." Leo glared at the two of them before giving a light chuckle."Yeah, I guess your right." He admitted. "Does Raph cook? I don't think I've ever seen him in the kitchen other then to eat."

Mikey and Donnie exchanged looks and smiled. "He can cook but prefers not to." Donnie answered. "Says it's too much work."

"Besides." Mikey smiled at Leo as he sprinkled seasonings into a pot filled with water. "Why bother cooking when you got me."

Leo looked at him and smiled. "That's nice of you Mike but we're not going to be here after we're married." Leo told them. "I would like to look for an apartment or a house sometime after we get back from our honeymoon."

Mikey's face fell."Gee Leo." He said softly. "I never thought about that." He looked at him with sad eyes. "I always thought you two would stay here."

Donnie and Leo looked at Mikey tenderly. "Mikey," Donnie walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "If you ever propose to Renet, would you expect to still live here?"

Mikey thought for a moment. "No." He answered slowly as reality set in. "I guess I wouldn't." He finished making the meal in silence and thirty minutes later, handed Leo two plates with shrimp scampi on a tray. He finished it off by putting a small flower in a vase and looked at Leo with sad eyes.

Leo took the tray and gave him a soft smile "Hey, cheer up Mike." He told him. "It's not gonna happen right away." He assured him. "Besides, we'll stay close and I'll still be working here at the dojo."

Mikey nodded. "True." He said. Suddenly his eyes brightened. "Hey, how bout I start recording my cooking show for you?" He offered. "That way you can cook for Raphie and I'll even write down all of Raph's favorite food."

"That would be great Mike." Leo said laughing. "Make that a wedding present." He thanked Mikey and, with a nod to Donnie, turned to walk up the stairs and into the guest room where he and Raph had currently taken up residence. The room had a queen size bed and was more like a studio apartment minus the kitchenette, so with Splinter's permission, they were allowed to move in and make it their own. Leo had even requested Splinter deduct money from his paycheck to help pay for rent and other expenses, but Splinter had refused.

"Think of it as a wedding present." He had told him with a chuckle. Leo let it go and he and Raph continued with making wedding plans.

Leo walked in and placed the tray of food on the table. He looked over at Raph, who was currently reading a book, muttering to himself and making notes on a sketch pad. Leo came up behind him and purred in his ear.

"Ready for a break?"

"Not yet." Raph told him. "I just want to go over this last page."

Leo looked down at the sketch pad. Raph had drawn a picture of the insides of a cat and made notes regarding the various organs and bones.

"Wow Raph." Leo said as he looked at the picture. "Did you draw this?"

"Yeah." Raph said, not bothering to look up.

"It's good." Leo complimented. Raph muttered something that sounded like a thank you. Deciding Raph wanted to be left alone, Leo walked back over to the table and looked out the window. It was the beginning of May and the late afternoon sun still shone brightly over the sky. Leo looked down at the street and watched as people hurriedly walked by either on their way home from work or maybe on some errand. His eyes glanced around and landed on a person across the street, his back against a brick wall of the small market. He wore dark sunglasses and a ball cap was pulled down low over his eyes making it difficult to get a good look at him. The figure was staring at the house rather intently.

Leo narrowed his eyes as he peered harder through the window. To him, there was something about the person that seemed strangely familiar, but he couldn't quite figure out why. He was about to call Raph over when the sound of Raph putting his pencil down on the desk and pushing back his chair behind him had him turning around. Raph had stood up and was now yawning and stretching. He walked over to the table and smiled.

"Looks good." He took a seat across from Leo. "Mikey made it, right?" He chuckled.

Leo nodded absentmindedly and looked back out the window. Raph watched as he peered intently through the window. "What's so interesting out there?"

"There was a person across the street watching the house." He told him. "There was something familiar about him."

Raph looked out."Where?"

"At the market across the street." Leo said, stretching his neck longer to try and look around the area. "He's gone."

"He's probably someone whose just interested in joining the dojo and debating weather to do it or not." Raph suggested with a shrug. "He may have visited at one time which is why he seems familiar to you."

Leo turned back to him and nodded. "You're probably right." He told him. He sat down and they enjoyed their dinner and caught up on the days events. For Raph, school had gone well and he was looking forward to his test at school the following morning. "I'm sure I'm going to ace it." He bragged. Leo had taken over the classes for Splinter while he stood back and watched. This was going on more often now and Leo wondered if Splinter was thinking of retiring.

"My dad retire?" Raph laughed. "I can't see that happening for a long time to come."

"Maybe." Leo said. "Or maybe he just wants to do this part time now."

"Possible." Raph agreed. They finished eating and Leo picked up their now empty plates and was just about to walk out the room when he looked back at the sketch pad.

"I didn't know you could draw." He told Raph.

Raph got up and walked behind him. He put his arms around Leo's waist and nuzzled his neck and purred in his ear. "There's a lot about me you don't know." He told him. Leo could hear a hint of seductiveness in his voice.

But Leo ignored Raph's advances and put the tray down on the desk. He picked up the sketch pad and began to flip through the pages. "You don't need to look at the pictures Leo." Raph said, trying to get the book back.

"But they're good pictures." Leo complimented as he looked from one page to the next. He turned away from Raph and kept the book out of his reach. The pictures were all done in pencil and shaded dark. "I can even tell what these pictures are." He went to the very front of the book and was surprised to see pictures of Raph's family when they were much younger. The dates showed Raph as being eight years old.

"You've been drawing in this for almost ten years?" Leo asked him, his eyes raising in surprise.

Raph sat down at the desk and nodded. Leo looked at the second picture. It was that of a young woman with long dark hair and soft dark eyes. Her lips had a bright thin smile and her face was young and beautiful. "Whose this woman?" He asked.

Raph looked at the picture. "My mom." He replied. He held his hand out and Leo finally gave him the book. "She gave me the book a few weeks before she died. Told me she saw potential in me and when I felt angry, I should sit and try to draw. Said that was a way to direct my anger into doing something constructive." Raph let out a sad sigh. "I almost threw it away after she died but instead I began to draw and eventually I drew a picture of her." Raph turned back to his desk and flipped the sketch pad back to his last drawing.

"You almost never talk about her." Leo said. "Why not?"

"I was only seven when she died." Raph told him. "I don't have a lot of memories of her."

Leo opened his mouth to say something but closed it when Raph opened his school book to continue studying, his way of telling Leo he no longer wanted to talk about it. Leo picked up the tray of empty dishes and walked out the room.

"Do you guys remember much about your mom?" Leo asked Raph's brothers when he entered the kitchen to put the dishes away.

"I remember a little bit about her." Don replied. "Why?"

"Raph won't tell me anything about her." Leo said. "I've told him about my mom dozen of times but when it comes to your mom, he barely says a word about her."

"Well, we were only seven when she passed away." Don reminded him.

"I know." Leo said. "But I feel like he's keeping things hidden from me again." He sat down at the kitchen table and watched while Mikey took freshly baked chocolate chip cookies out of the oven and Donnie worked on his laptop.

"I doubt he's keeping things from you Leo." Don said. "For Raph it's always been hard for him to open up about stuff."

"And he and mom were really close." Mikey said, turning to Leo. "She was the only one who could calm him down when he threw his tantrums." He put a cookie in his mouth. "You just have to give him some time."

"Raphael has always had a hard time speaking of his mother." Splinter said, walking into the kitchen. "When she passed away, he stayed in his room for days not wanting to even come out and eat." Splinter sighed as the memories came back to him. "When he finally did come out, I made arrangements for us to see a councilor, but it did not do any good…for him anyway."

"Yeah." Donnie got a far away look in his eyes. "I remember some things about her." He suddenly smiled. "I remember her laugh. It was so infectious." He looked at Leo, laughing. "When she laughed, everyone would join in, no one could stay upset or angry when she would laugh."

"I remember her food." Mikey said. "She was a great cook." He put a plate of freshly made cookies on the table. "Always had yummies for us to eat." He laughed "Remember Donnie."

"I remember the cakes she made for our birthdays and the parties she would throw." He said. "Always went all out with the decorations."

"Is that why you guys love to throw parties and decorate so much?" Leo asked.

"Ah yes." Splinter smiled at him. "Shen was always into large parties. She would plan everything." He got up to make some tea. "When I first started the dojo, she would host parties for people to come and get to know us." He gave a sly smile. "I think most came for her food but I got many of my students because of her." Splinter gave a light chuckle, then his face sadden slightly. "Many of them miss her very much."

"Yeah." Mikey said, looking down sadly. "Me too."

"And me." Donnie chimed in.

"I'm sorry if I brought up some sad memories." Leo told them. "I was just wanting to know why Raph won't talk about her." He smiled at them. "But thank you for sharing your memories of her with me."

"Maybe next time I'll join in." Raph's voice sounded from behind them.

"That would be a good idea my son." Splinter got up and walked over to him. He placed his paw on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It is always nice to speak about your mother. I miss hearing us talk about her."

Raph gave him a smile and sat next to Leo. "She was a good artist." He told him. "I remember some of the pictures she would draw for us." The rest of the family gathered around the table and shared stories about Shen Hamato while encouraging Leo to talk about his mother.

For the rest of the evening, the five mutants talked and laughed while enjoying tea and cookies, and shared their favorite memories of Shen and Venus. Leo watched Raph as he laughed long and hard. For him, it was a wonderful sound to hear.

The following Sunday was Mother's day so Raph escorted Leo to his mother's grave where he laid a fresh bouquet of flowers for both her and his aunt. He turned to look at Raph.

"Ready to visit your mom now?" Raph nodded. They got on his motorcycle and drove to the spot where the rest of the Hamato clan was waiting.

This time, Leo escorted Raph to his mom's grave. "Mom." Raph put a bouquet of flowers next to the Don and Mike's. "I'm sorry it's been so long since we've been here." Raph said as he took a deep breath and stood up. "I want you to know, I'm happy, and I found someone who I know you would love." He took Leo's hand and gave it a light squeeze. "This is Leonardo Tartaruga." He said. "And after I'm done with school, (I'm going to be a veterinarian's assistant), we're going to get married." He and Leo smiled at each other lovingly. "Your always in my heart mom." Raph swallowed hard. "I love you, and I miss you so much."

As Leo stood next to Raph, he looked over to the side of the gravestone and noticed a smaller stone with the name Miwa on it. He realized it was very close to where Shen's stone was and wondered if the fresh flowers were placed by one of the Hamatos, but he decided not to say anything.

Raph looked at him and they made their way to the rest of the family. The five walked together back to their vehicles and Splinter suggested going out to dinner to celebrate their mothers' memories. As they walked, Raph gave Leo's hand a squeeze. "You know babe." He said with a hint of mischief. "I think I like to take up sketching again."

"Oh yeah." Leo smiled at him. "Did you have something specific in mind?"

"Yeah." Raph said leering at him. "How bout you pose for me 'au natural'?" Raph wiggled his eyes at him.

"How bout I at least wear a hat?"

"Just a hat?"

Leo giggled. "How bout a hat with a cigar?"

"Now why would you want a hat and a cigar?" Raph asked curiously.

"Well, I don't want to be completely naked." Leo laughed as they walked up to the bike.

Before getting onto Raph's bike, Raph brought Leo into a hug. "Thank you." He whispered in his ear.

Leo nuzzled his head into his neck. "I love you."