Okay, from this point on most of the story is heavily based off the 2007 TMNT movie, however there will obviously be some differences to accommodate my OC.
The bright light from the TV shone across half the abandoned subway station. Two forms lay sleeping; one sprawled out on the sofa, covered in candy wrappers, while the other was leaned back in the recliner, a magazine positioned over his face.
A third form watched with a smile on his face as one of his brothers twitched his arms and legs as if he were swimming. Turning to look across the lair he saw a sliding door open with light flooding from the room. He silently crossed the room and stopped in the doorway. He could see a golden-brown colored rat in a red, Japanese kimono knelt in meditation in front of a small table.
The rat must've heard him because he spoke with his eyes still closed. "Enter. Kneel, my son."
Leonardo did as he was told, kneeling down with his head bowed before his sensei.
"I've returned from my training, Master. I was so caught up in my own world, I forgot about everyone else. I'm sorry I failed." Splinter shushed him before he could continue.
"On the contrary, My son, now you are much stronger." he said as he took a Japanese pendant out of a box, stood, and walked around the small table to stand before his son, who stood up to meet him. Neither of them yet aware of the figure watching from the doorway.
"Your strength is needed here now." he announced as he handed Leonardo the pendant, "You owe me no apology, but perhaps you should talk to your siblings. Your absence has been particularly difficult for both Kayla and Raphael, though neither will admit it."
"I'm certain things will be back to normal in no time, Master." Leo promised.
"Good. Because until you can act as one, you are forbidden to fight." Splinter commanded.
Leo bowed his head. "Yes, Sensei."
Splinter smiled warmly as he hugged his son for the first time in a year and a half. "I have missed you, Leonardo."
"I've missed you, too, Father." Leo murmured before they pulled back.
"Raphael," Splinter greeted, turning to the open doorway, "Your brother is home." Leo followed his father's gaze as Raph stepped into the doorway, pushing the door open slightly.
"Hey." Leo greeted happily, thrilled to see his brother.
"Hey." Raph returned the greeting dully, unsure how to greet his brother. "Uh, welcome home." he added.
"Yeah, thanks." Leo answered uncertainly. This wasn't exactly how he expected his homecoming.
"Well," Raph yawned, stretching his arms over his head, "I'm going ta bed." he announced before he looked his brother over once and turned away.
As he passed the TV area he knocked the magazine off Donny's face. "Hey, Leo's back. Betta go say 'hello' before he leaves again."
"Huh?" Don woke up and looked around. Looking up he saw Leo approaching, having followed Raph out of Splinter's room. "Leo." Don stood up.
"Hey." Leo greeted as he pulled Don into a side hug and gave him a noogie.
"Hey," Donny protested lightly.
"Huh? Leo?" Mikey was startled awake and fell off the couch. "Is that really you?" he asked as he jumped to his feet. He rushed up to hug his brother as he added, "I'm like, dreamin' aren't I?"
"No, Mikey, you're not dreaming." Leo told him, having a hard time breathing in Mikey's tight hug.
"Good, I have nightmares about birthday parties." Mikey answered as he hugged his brother tighter.
Leo and Don both laughed in response as Mikey finally let go. Leo glanced around the room. "Where's Kayla?" he asked curiously.
Don thought for a moment. "I think she's still in her room."
"Yeah, she, like, locked herself in her room since she got home from school. She didn't even come out to eat." Mikey added.
Leo furrowed his eye ridges in confusion. "Really? Why?"
Don sighed in exasperation. "Well, she hasn't been doing too well in school this year, so her teachers gave her the chance to do all her homework over spring break and still get credit for it. So I made a deal with her that she has to finish five assignments a day if she wants to leave the lair. She, uh…wasn't too happy about that."
Leo chuckled. "I can imagine."
"Dude, and seriously, since you left she's been, like, a total Raphael Jr. It's scary. She nearly broke my arm the other day." Mikey added, lifting up his arm to point at it.
Don rolled his eyes. "Exaggerate much?"
Leo couldn't help but chuckle at his little brothers. "Why don't you two get some sleep. I'm gonna go check on Kayla before I go to bed." his brothers murmured in agreement before heading to their own rooms.
Leo silently approached Kayla's room and turned the doorknob. Just like Mikey had said, it was locked, but Leo easily picked the lock with his katana. He silently opened the door and peaked inside the dark room.
Her bed was empty. Leo looked around the room and saw her asleep at her desk, her cheek resting on an open textbook. He smiled to himself as he walked up to her desk. Don wasn't kidding, she had A LOT of homework sprawled out across her desktop. Leo carefully lifted her off her chair and carried her across the room to place her in her bed, pulling her covers up to her shoulders. He sat on the edge of her bed for a moment, watching as she slept. He brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. She had grown her hair out at least a couple inches since he left, but she kept her bangs fairly short.
Leo quietly got off the bed and headed for the door so he wouldn't wake her up. As his hand touched the doorknob something caught his eye and he stopped. Right next to the trashcan, a crumpled up ball of paper sat on the floor. Leo picked it up. His first instinct was to throw it away, but then he saw bits of Kayla's handwriting. So he un-crumpled the ball of paper to read it. It was a poem. Leo looked over at Kayla in surprise. He didn't know she wrote poetry! And this poem was really good. He thought it sounded like the last time they'd all gone camping together, when she had fallen asleep and he had to tuck her in.
Leo smiled as he laid it on the desk and left the room.
Kayla groaned as she rolled onto her back, stretching her arms over her head. She blinked her eyes open and looked around her room. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. 'I do not remember going to bed,' she thought to herself. The last thing she remembered was doing her homework, so logically, shouldn't she be asleep at her desk?
'One of my brothers must've put me in my bed,' she thought as she sat up and slowly climbed out of her bed. She stopped and stared at her door. It was closed, like it should be…but she LOCKED it. Raph would've been the only one who could pick the lock, unless Don used a lock pick or something, and Mikey's not smart enough. But why would Raph care about putting her to bed? He never really did before.
Kayla sighed and rubbed her forehead. It was too early in the morning to be thinking this much, and she was starving from skipping dinner. So she changed out of the clothes she fell asleep in and changed into an old T-shirt and short running shorts. As she was about to leave the room she saw a crinkled sheet of paper on her desk. It was her poem about camping with Leo that she tried to throw away! Now she was ticked off. She left her room, rubbing her eyes slightly to get the dreariness to go away.
As she neared the kitchen she sensed more than saw three figures in the kitchen. "Alright, which one of you broke into my room, moved me to my bed, and dug through my trash?" she demanded as she stopped at the edge of the kitchen.
The turtle with his back to her turned around. He was wearing a blue mask and had twin katanas strapped to his shell. "That would be me." he answered with a smile.
Kayla froze. Her eyes instinctively widened and her mouth dropped open slightly. Her mind just went blank. The only thing she managed to think was, 'This is fake. This is fake. This is fake.'
"Uh, Kayla?" Don waved his hand in front of her face as he passed in front of her to get more coffee.
Kayla blinked a few times before turning to look at Don. "Um, Don? Is this going to be one of those nightmares where I think I'm awake and then I end up getting murdered by someone I least expect to murder me? For example, my older brother who is currently living in a different country?"
Don looked back at her in confusion and amusement. "No. Leo came home last night. He went to check on you before he went to bed and I guess you fell asleep doing your homework."
Kayla dragged her gaze away from Don and back to Leo. He smiled warmly at her and waved his hand once.
"Oh." was all she managed to say before walking around the table to the cupboard to get a couple slices of bread and put them in the toaster.
Mikey laughed from where he was sitting next to Leo. "I don't think it's hit her yet." he joked.
Kayla grabbed a cereal bowl from the sink and turned to glare at Mikey. "Do you want this bowl to hit you?" she asked threateningly. Mikey scooted his chair closer to Leo so he could hide behind his older brother.
When Kayla turned back to the toaster she thought she heard Mikey mumbled, "Told you she's a Raph Jr."
"So, how's school going, Kayla?" Leo asked curiously.
Kayla glared at the counter, not wanting to look at him. "I'm sure Don's told you all about that. Did he also tell you how I'm now a prisoner here?" she asked as she glared over at Don. He just rolled his eyes and sighed as he went to sit back down.
"Um, well I wasn't necessarily talking about grades. I meant more like your friends and such." Leo corrected himself uncertainly.
Kayla thought for a moment, unsure what she should say. "It's going fine." she finally answered quietly. She had a feeling he meant about the bullying, but she wasn't sure, and anyways it wasn't any of his business.
At that moment the toaster dinged and one of her pieces of toast was shot out of the toaster, sending it over a foot into the air. Kayla caught it and dropped it on the plate since it was hot. She looked inside the toaster before turning to look at Don.
"Don, Mikey broke the toaster again." she told him.
"I did not!" Mikey protested. "I'm innocent until proven guilty!" he declared, raising his finger to the sky. Kayla rolled her eyes as Don checked the toaster out. As he approached it Kayla's other piece of toast shot into the air. Kayla caught that one, too, and placed it on her plate.
As she began buttering her toast Don asked, "So, how many assignments did you get done last night?"
Kayla thought. "I think…three."
"Three? Considering you were in there all afternoon and evening I figured you'd have more than that done."
Kayla glared at him. "Not everyone's a brainiac, Don." she snapped before leaving the kitchen to eat in her room.
She sat on her bed, her plate in front of her on her lap, as she began nibbling on her toast. She suddenly wasn't as hungry as before. After a few minutes someone knocked on her door.
"Go away!" she yelled. However, the door opened and Raph slipped inside. He crossed his arms and leaned his back casually against the wall by her door.
After a few moments Kayla broke the silence. "So…he's back."
Raph gave a weak chuckle. "Yeah."
Suddenly a thought occurred to Kayla. "Hey! You didn't wake me up last night!" she whispered loudly, not wanting her other brothers to hear.
Raph raised one eye ridge and smirked sarcastically. "I'm sorry, but when did I become your babysitter? Oh, an' that reminds me. Casey's helpin' us now."
Kayla's jaw dropped. "You dragged Casey into this? He can't keep his mouth shut for nothin'!"
Raph chuckled. "First off, I didn't tell him. He figured it out. I guess I look like a big, metal turtle; plus-the Shadow Archer? C'mon, that's not exactly a stretch from what you were before. Second off, he's been keeping his mouth shut about the vigilante thing for months, April thinks he's done with it."
Kayla rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. Just cause he's that dumb doesn't mean April is."
Raph laughed again. "Yeah, well that's Case for ya. Anyway, Fearless Leader wanted me ta tell ya we're goin' topside tonight for some trainin'."
"Joy." Kayla remarked sarcastically. "And why did he have to send you in after me?"
"Maybe cuz no one else is brave enough to enter a war zone?" Raph guessed teasingly. Kayla glared up at him, but couldn't stop herself from smirking.
Meanwhile, in the lair Leo was crossing through the TV area when his leg accidentally bumped a stack of DVDs, causing them to fall over. He knelt down to pick them up. When he picked up one the cover said Choir Concert with Kayla's Solo.
"Hey, Don? What's this?" he asked, holding it up so his brother could see it.
Don came in and looked at it. "Oh, well last April, about a month after you were supposed to come home, Kayla was part of a choir concert and was offered the chance to sing a solo. We went and I recorded it cause I figured you'd wanna watch it when you did come home."
Leo dropped his gaze. "So, if I came home when I was supposed to I would've been there to see it?" Don nodded sadly.
"You can watch it now, if you want." Don offered. "I actually wouldn't mind watching it again myself, she did a really good job."
Leo smiled. "Okay." so he put the DVD in the player and hit play. They watched the first couple songs before they saw a figure in a black, ruffled dress step out of the chorus and stand front and center on the stage, a single spotlight on her while the rest of the choir was darkened slightly. Leo smiled as he recognized his little sister.
(Bridge of Light By: P!nk)
"Just when you think hope is lost
And giving up is all you got
Blue turns black
Your confidence is cracked
There seems no turning back from here
Sometimes there isn't an obvious explanation
Why the holiest hearts can feel the strongest palpitations
That's when you can build a bridge of light
That's what turns the wrongs all right
That's when you can't give up the fight
That's when love turns nighttime into day
That's when loneliness goes away
That's why you gotta be strong tonight
Only love can build us a bridge of light
When your feet are made of stone
And you're convinced that you're all alone"
Leo became dimly aware of the rest of the chorus quietly singing back up at this point.
"Look at the stars instead of the dark
You'll find your heart shines like the sun
Let's not let our anger get us lost
And the need to be right comes with way too high a cost
That's when love can build a bridge of light
That's what turns the wrongs all right
That's when you know it's worth the fight
That's when love turns nighttime into day
That's when loneliness goes away
That's why you gotta be strong tonight
Cause only love can build us a bridge of light"
The chorus fell silent again as Kayla sang.
"Deep breath
Take it on the chin
But don't forget…"
The chorus burst into song again on the next verse.
"To let love back in!
That's when love can build a bridge of light
That's what turns the wrongs all right
That's when you can't give up the fight
And that's when love turns nighttime into day
That's when loneliness goes away
That's why you gotta be strong tonight
Cause only love can build us a bridge of light
Only love can build us a bridge of light
Of light
Of light"
When the song ended Leo stopped it and took the disc out of the DVD player. "Wow, she did really good."
"Yeah, she did," a rough voice agreed from behind him. Leo looked back and saw that Raph had come out of Kayla's room. "She's been gettin' betta, but you wouldn't know nothin' bout that, would ya?" he added coldly.
"Raph, cut it out." Don stepped in, but Raph just turned away and went upstairs to his room. Don turned back to Leo. "Don't worry Leo. I'm sure they'll come around."
Leo nodded, but deep down he wasn't so sure.