Ch.7: Cherished Bonds

The first thing Raph demanded once he got up from his bed, is why the shell were brothers and Sensei in his room. Leo explianed that he heard Raph screaming in his sleep and had tried to wake him up, but when that failed, he explianed how he and the others went into Raphael's mind.

Raph was shocked instantly that all of his bros and Sensei went into his head. The red-masked turtle was silent for a long time before he spoke again.

"What did you see in there?" he asked, softly.

Now it was his brothers turns to be silent. Leo, Don, and Mikey looked at each other quietly, wondering whether they should tell Raph the truth or not. Neither of them wanted to remind Raphael about the pain they had saw, but they knew the red-masked turtle would be infuriated if he didn't hear the truth.

So no matter how much it hurt, the turtles and their Sensei started telling Raphael about their journey through his mind. Raphael was stunned to hear that they saw and battled some of his darkest fears. His Realm of Pain, kept hidden from the world, was not so secret anymore.

When the others got to the part of him riding in to fight a gaint spider on the back of a fire-breathing dragon, a grin spread on Raphael's face. At least one good thing came out of venturing through that nightmare.

"Uh Raph, can I ask a question?" asked Mikey, after he and his brothers had finished their story.

"What is it?" asked Raph, looking towards his younger brother.

"Why was that spider thing your greatest fear?" asked Mikey " I know you hate bugs, but I didn't think you hated them that much,"

"A bug almost cost me my life Michaelanglo," said Raphael.

Mikey was stunned, Raph rarely used his full name.

"What are you talking about?" asked Don, suddenly curious.

"Remember when we were younger and I got bitten by that spider?" said Raph " I tried to pass it off as a simple bug bite, but the fact was that it was posionous and I almost died because of it,"

"When I woke up afterwards, I could see all the tears pouring down your faces at having almost lost me. I never wanted see that kind of pain on any of you ever again, so I swore an oath that day,"

"I would do everything in my power to protect my family and prevent them from feeling pain, even if meant that I had to suffer through it myself,"

Everyone was stunned at Raphael's confession, as a drowsy look came over the turtle's eyes. Splinter immediately pushed the others out of the room and told them to let Raphael get some sleep.

Splinter stood a second longer in the doorway, watching Raphael have his first peaceful sleep in what seemed like a long time. A smiled played on the rat's lips, as he silently walked out of the room.

"Sleep well Protector" thought Splinter " and may the weight on your shoulders burden you no more,"

Leo sat meditating in room, reflecting back on all the events that had occured during the last several days. Raphael twisting and turning in his sleep, going into his mind and confronting his greatest fears. And the most stunning of all, Raphael's confession about how he would inject pain on himself, just to spare his brother's feelings.

Shredder Raphael had been right, they didn't know their brother as well as they thought they did. For years they had seen Raphael as a hot-headed jerk who jumped blindly into dangerous situations, not even thinking about the consequences. But a it was all just a mask.

A very clever mask constructed by Raphael, in order to hide his true feelings. He was passionate, loyal, brave, and strong during battle, yet underneath the surface, he had shown that be thoughful, kind, and fun-loving too.

"Heck" thought Leo " we would have never made friends with Casey if it hadn't been for Raphael,"

All these thoughts, all these memories, flowed through Leonardo's mind as he continued to meditate. When he finally woke up from his trance, the blue-masked turtle had come to a decision.

A decision that would change all of the ninja turtles lives, especially Raph's, forever.