A/N Sorry it took so long to post this today. This have been crazy busy for me today, and it's taken me this long to get back to my computer. That said, hope y'all enjoy.
As he watched his younger double walking away, Raphael felt a flicker of anger awake. How dare this young interloper come into their home, speak to them like that, and proceed to tell them what they would and would not be allowed to do in regard to their brother. With a growl of pure anger, Raphael launched himself at the retreating Raph.
"Raphael," Splinter snapped, but it was too late; Raphael had already hit the unsuspecting turtle in the back. Except, Raph turned out not to be quite to unsuspecting. Turning at the last moment, Raph was able to grab Raphael's arm just as he hit and, using the other's turtle's momentum against him, threw Raphael over his shoulder. Then, much like he had that first night, Raph followed his older double to the floor and smoothly pinned him in place. Splinter regarded the younger turtle with surprised appreciation. The maneuver had been smoothly accomplished, but something about the execution thereof very much had Leo's signature all over it. This made Splinter pause for moment. He was accustomed to dealing with Leo as his oldest son and student. However, it seemed he would have to balance their former relationship with treating Leo like a fellow teacher, for he doubted Leo's new brothers would see him as their sensei. Leo was their leader, their teacher, the head of their family, at that was that.
Back where Raph had Raphael pined to the floor, the older turtle was struggling fruitlessly to escape. Raph let him fight until he realized it was doing him no good and stopped.
"Are you done," Raph asked his roughly. When Raphael glared at him, but no move to try to escape, Raph growled, "Good. Now, get your butt over to that couch with your brothers. We have a few things to settle."
Hauling the older Raphael to his feet, Raph roughly pushed him toward the couch. Glowering at Donatello and Michelangelo, Raph added, "You two get over here, too." Once all three turtles were settled, albeit grudgingly, Raph stood facing them, hands on his hips. "All right, let's get a few things straight," he growled. "First off, I'm going to tell you this once. Donny, Mikey, and Me? We're all here for good. We're taking up permanent residence in this dimension, in this Lair to be precise, and there will be no getting rid of us. So my suggestion is that you three get used to the idea.
Now, the second item on our agenda for this little meeting: Leo. Yes, he is awake. No, you may not see him yet. Reason number one, Leo needs all the rest he can get, and he won't get it if you three are traipsing in and out. Reason number two, Leo is not ready to face you three, not just yet. Yes, we understand that he is going to have to get used to being around you again, but now is not the time. Lastly, you will stay away from Leo until we, meaning Donny and myself, have given you clearance to come in. That means you will stay out of our rooms unless otherwise invited in. You follow these guidelines, and I promise, as soon as Leo is ready, you will be allowed to see him. However, you buck me on any of these, and first I will personally kick your butts for a second time, and then my brothers and I including Leo, will be out of here and in a new home so fast your shells will turn inside out. Now, are there any questions?"
At first the three older turtles didn't say a word. Then, gingerly, Michelangelo raised his hand. Rolling his eyes, Raph growled, though a great deal less ire than before, "Yes, what do what?"
"Will you at least tell Leo we're glad he's okay," Michelangelo asked meekly. Raph had to fight off a grin had just how much this Michelangelo sounded like his Mikey.
"Yes, Michelangelo, I will tell him," Raph promised. Then he added, "And I promise, as soon as he is up to it, you will get the chance to see him. Just…give us a few days to help him heal a little bit more. Trust me; we'll all be better off for it."
TMNTTMTN
By the time Raph was able to return to his family's new residence, Leo was once again awake and sitting up, although he was tucked close to Mikey's side, his youngest brother's arm wrapped around his shoulders.
"I hear you were giving my old family hell," he told Raph with a small smile. Raph returned it full force, marveling once more at the miracle facing him.
"They were becoming a little… unruly," Raph told him. "I was just helping to rein them in."
"Yeah, Raph gave them the verbal bitch-slap," Mikey crowed. "They never knew what hit 'em."
Donny smacked his younger brother over the head.
"What," Mikey whined, and Donny just shook his head in disgust.
"What Raph did was simply lay down the law about what will and will not be allowed for a while," Donny explained to Leo. "Of course, Raph being Raph, you can imagine how that scene played out."
"Come on, I wasn't that bad," Raph griped, but he met his brother's gaze with a smile. "At least I didn't actually hurt any of them."
This made Leo chuckle. "Ah, Raph, don't ever change," he said, laughing.
The brothers' merriment was suddenly interrupted by a soft knock. The laughter stopped dead. Without opening the door, Leo knew who it was.
"It's Master Splinter," he told the others.
"What do you want us to do," Donny asked after a moment of silence.
"Let him in," Leo finally said. "Then give us a few minutes. I think it's time my father and I had a little talk."
TMNTTMNT
When he was admitted into the new family's living quarters, Splinter was a bit astounded. He would not have been the least bit surprised had they chosen to ignore his knock. Instead, Donny pushed back the door just enough to admit him.
Upon entering the new addition to the Lair, the elderly rat's attention was immediately drawn to the pale, drawn looking turtle resting in the middle of the pile of cushions and pillows. Splinter had to force back tears at seeing his oldest son alive and awake for the first time in over a year.
Noticing the emotional look on his father's face, Leo said quietly to his brothers, "Can you guys leave us alone for a few minutes. My father and I need to talk. Maybe," he added, "you could get me something to eat? Right now, one of Mikey's smoothies sounds really good."
Accepting the gentle dismissal, Raph, Donny, and Mikey silently left the room. For a long moment, teacher and student, father and son, considered each other. At last, unable to hold them back any longer, Splinter allowed the tears to come.
"Ah, my son," he whispered as he cautiously took a seat next to Leo on the mound of cushions. "I am so, so sorry."
"But—" Leo started to protest, but Splinter cut him off with a soft shushing sound.
"No, my son, I owe you an apology," Splinter said. "I have owed you an apology for a long time. You see, a large part of this false sense of failure you suffer from is my fault. I recognized early on your drive to protect to your brothers, and I pushed to, too hard perhaps, to follow through on that need. It wasn't until the past several years that I have come to recognize the burden that I had placed upon you by encouraging this behavior. It was beginning to destroy you, even if you and your brothers couldn't see it. So, in an effort to relieve some of the burden weighing you down, I allowed your brother to take over as leader of the team, hoping this would allow you to regroup and catch your breath. My fault lies in not explaining my reasoning to you, however. Instead, I left you to feel like a failure once more.
And then, when your brothers commenced with their inappropriate behavior, I did nothing over to stop it. Yes, I disciplined them in private, but not once did I let you know that I did not approve of their actions, leaving you with the understandable belief that I did. Worst of all, I let you leave the room that night believing I, too, felt you were a disgrace to everything I know you hold dear. And my son, nothing could be further from the truth.
Leonardo, I can't tell you how proud I am of you. There just aren't the words available in any language to express my feelings. Time and again you have sacrificed yourself, body, mind, and soul, to look after and protect this family. You have given everything you have, and then you've given more. You are amazing, my son."
"Father," Leo said, his voice cracking as tears rolled down his face. He reached out to his sensei. In immediate response, Splinter wrapped his arms around his son, at long last able to offer the comfort and reassurance he long desired to give.
"I ask you to forgive a foolish old rat," Splinter said as his son cried on his shoulder. "But more than that, I want you to know how much I love you, my son. Your honor, your bravery, your strength are beyond question or doubt. Just look at the family you have created for yourself. It took a lot of courage to reach out and try again, but you did it. Your new brothers love and adore you. If I knew nothing else of you, that would be enough to prove to me just who you are. I just ask, please, let me have another chance. Let me by the father and the teacher I should have been before. And maybe, if you can find it in your heart to forgive us, we, your first family, will be able to prove that we, too, love you like you deserve to be loved."
Splinter felt a small part of his heart break when Leo didn't say anything in response. He feared his apology had, perhaps, come too late, and that too much time and too many hard feelings were in the way. His disappointment turned to tender understanding, however, when he realized his son, this lost and prodigal child he had feared was gone for good, had fallen asleep on his shoulder, much like he had when he was just a youngling. With a small sigh of contentment, Splinter readjusted himself, content just to hold his boy until he once again awakened.
TMNTTMNT
Half an hour later, when Raph and the other returned, the pair was still in the same positions. Master Splinter, pillows supporting his back, was sound asleep, as was Leo, who had his had resting on his father's chest, arms wrapped around his sensei like he was never going to let him go again. With shared smiles of understanding, the three younger turtles headed to their own rooms for some much needed rest. For the moment, Leo didn't need them. After all, he was in very good hands.