The next morning, Leo woke up first. His first impression was that he was strung out like a piece of laundry to dry. However, he felt and heard his brothers under his wings, keeping warm in the chilly air.
Smiling, he looked down at Mikey, who was sleeping peacefully, his face serene. Leo felt something stir, and realized that it was his new dragon instincts to protect them, especially the youngest. Unwrapping his tail and pulling in his wings, letting the cool air wake him up more and start rousing his brothers, Leonardo sat up and then climbed to his feet. He was very, very hungry, but as he looked around, the beauty of this clearing left his hunger in second place in his thoughts.
Straight trees surrounded them, both aspens and needle-leaf trees here. The grass beneath his feet was soft and a healthy, lush, bright green. There was a stream nearby, just at the edge of the small meadow, and overhead the sky was bright, unsullied blue with a few pure white clouds. The sun was just rising to the east, shining brightly on the horizon.
Leo turned a full circle and breathed in deeply. The wet, "soft" smell of morning dew made him inhale deeply again just to taste it and imprint it in his memory. It was a refreshing change from city air, which was polluted, or sewer air, which was rank, stinky, and damp in a bad way, not like this kind of damp.
"Murf," his youngest brother "said". Smiling, Leonardo beat his wings to drive cool air over his three drowsing brothers, waking them up efficiently.
"Wake up!" he said calmly, waving away Raph's dagger-throwing stare. "It's time for breakfast and then we start our day meditating."
Mike jumped to his feet and started preparing some food while Leo stretched his wings. They were sore from lying open all night, but he soon worked it out and was sitting down comfortably with his brothers in a silence that engulfed them nicely. It was oatmeal again, but Leo wasn't complaining. Anything would taste good now!
Donnie noticed and smiled. Leo now stood almost ten inches taller than Michelangelo; you could basically watch him grow right before your eyes!
"So, what're we doin' after breakfast?" Raph growled. He was a "morning bear", and deserved the name. NO ONE woke Raph before he was ready to get up and lived, except Leonardo. He seemed to be the exception to every rule in Raph's book, except for a few that were just his personality shining through.
"Meditating. We can hopefully reach Him here easier than in the lair. If you can't, just do something quiet and far away until I come back, with a soul, perhaps."
Mike winced and cuddled closer to Leo, wrapping himself further in his elder brother's wing, scared of what Leo might be like with a soul. Would he blue eyes look different? Would he act differently? What if his soul was like Raph's; closed and personal? What if it was like him? Would he be pushed from his place as family jokester and prankster? Or could his soul be as curious as Donatello?
In all, would he be the same, loving, doting brother? Or would he be completely different? Would it be for better or worse? Would his body reject his soul? Would he die?
Mike felt a warm hand on his shoulder and looked up into Leo's eyes. He had never noticed before, but you could tell they were not lit from an inner fire, but from the force that kept Leo from sharing this bit of information with his family before this.
"I'll be fine," Leonardo promised, nudging his wings out to grab Don and Raph and pull them into a hug. "We'll get through this together."
"Together," Mikey repeated, hugging his older brother tightly. Don's eyes shone as he reached over Mikey to clench Leo's hand in his own, letting his brother know he was there for him as he always was. Even grouchy Raphael slapped Leo's shoulder, communicating through that simple touch that he loved and believed in Leo, too.
Overwhelmed, Leo wrapped his wings tighter around his brothers, then loosened them and moved his knees and legs into the Lotus Position. Mike sat next to him, their knees brushing, and did the same. Across the fire, Don and Raph's knees touched and they closed their eyes at the same time.
Leo's mind was the first to wander. He waited on the broad astral plane for his brothers' minds. Once they were all gathered, Leo "nodded" and led them to the next step, dipping deeper into his meditating state. From there on out, he could not stop. He had to reach the Ninja God, and if he stopped, he wouldn't be able to do it.
Finally, he reached the soul-filled plane that marked the Ninja God's home. He felt a presence seek him out and was not surprised when his mind was pulled to the center of the plane, where the Ninja God waited for him.
Ah, Leonardo, a voice said to his mind. Your Sensei has made a deal with me. I will give you back your soul, but you must promise to come to me the minute you violate our deal. Are we agreed?
We are, Leo answered, bowing deeply.
Very well. Open your mind to me and I will do the rest.
Thank you. Leo bowed deeply again and released the barriers that kept him safe from the wandering souls in this forsaken plane.
"Leo!"
Leonardo woke up to see his brothers leaning over him, looking at him happily and apprehensively. His memory came back and Leo smiled, shaking his wings out from their cramped place on his back.
"I'm back," he said softly, feeling like he was actually alive again, like when he was young. "Did anyone make it?"
"No," Mike answered unhappily.
"That's okay," Leo insisted, hugging his littlest brother. "I am fine and in one whole piece again."
"Okay." Mikey threw his arms around Leo, squeezing him tightly. "Now, let's head home. I'm starving!"
"Me, too," Leo said, smiling. "Master Splinter will want to hear news of our success."
Mikey nodded enthusiastically and gathered up their supplies. It was a downhill run, and Leo was sure they could make it in two days even though they were leaving almost at noon.
Raph was silent, watching for any character change in his brother. However, he saw none all that afternoon, and it only became apparent that night, when Leonardo was settling down to sleep again. Mike and Don were under his wings again, and Leo was wincing from the pain in his bones because of his rapid growth.
Raph watched amazed as Leo slept half on his side and half on his plastron, bending around Mikey protectively, even more so than he had last night. His tail was also wrapped around their jokester's ankles, keeping him still and unable to escape.
Raphael shrugged; if Leo wanted to act like a mother dragon, he was free to do so. Mike had told them all he knew about dragons when Leo was asleep during the ride over here; he was now their expert on the care and keeping of magical creatures. Mikey dubbed himself "Leo's Handler", though their eldest had yet to find out, so it seemed.
The bond was growing between those two; Mikey often glanced at their flying brother above them happily during their hike in the day's warm sun. Raph even caught Leo watching Mike from time to time.
If he could, and was big enough, Leo'd curl around Mike that that mother dragon does in that book of Mikey's, Raph mused, thinking how funny that would be to photograph.
Eventually, he, too fell asleep, waiting for early morning when they would rise before the sun and head for home.
Master Splinter was waiting for them when Don, Raph, and Mikey came out of the woods. Leonardo had flown ahead, their packs in his makeshift carrier, and talked to Master Splinter, explained their success.
Indeed, Raph fancied that he saw tears on the rat's cheeks, but decided not to comment. Leo was crouching on the porch roof, thinking hard by the look of it.
"Sensei," Don said respectfully, bowing slightly to their father and mentor. Master Splinter inclined his head and looked at all three.
"Your brother is back," he said simply, glancing up at Leo's outline against the bright blue sky. Leonardo looked down and caught his glance and smiled gently, then looked back up at the horizon.
"See anything?" Don called out of worry.
"I don't think so," Leo answered. "I think it's just a jet. But it's flying pretty low. Here, come on up and take a look. I can't really see it that well with this blacked-out mask on."
"Okay," Donnie agreed, grabbing the wing tip offered him from above. He was pulled effortlessly onto the shingles with his brother, who was staring intently to the west.
"Over there. Twelve and fifteen minutes, probably. It's something like a jet…" Leo looked at Don as the purple-banded turtle pulled out his binoculars and sighted on the metal contraption headed their way.
"Commercial air plane," he called to those below. "It is flying low, though. And it seems as though there is smoke trailing from one engine. Here, Leo, take a look."
Leo looked through the magnifying glasses and gasped. The plane, to his eyes, was on fire! Or at least, one wing was. It was smoking and fire was leaping on its length.
"We've got to help them!" he said determinedly, giving the binoculars back to their owned and grabbing him around the waist. Carefully, he dropped them both to the ground, his wings only half open.
"What's it look like we're gettin' ready to do, O Winged One?" Raph asked crossly, strapping a harness on, though where he'd gotten three of them, Leo was not sure. "Can you fly all three of us in close and then drop us on it to put out the flames?"
"Yes," Leo answered. "But I can't take off with all three of you on my back."
"Got that solved," Donnie answered, bringing out a sled-like thing that had a harness attached to it. "I made this in case you had to lift any of us."
"Great!" Leo said, stepping over and helping Donnie strap him into the harness that distributed the weight of his brothers over his entire body.
"Wow!" Mike said, putting a few fire-extinguishers on the "sled". "We look like we're ready for anything."
"I hate it when you say that," Raph growled, attaching safety ropes directly to Leo's harness so that, if they did fall off, Leo would be able to catch them with the ropes latched onto his harness.
"Let's go! We're prepared for anything!"
"You're just trying to jinx this," Raph grouched. "I know it." But Mikey just smiled happily.