The votes are IN! And the results-
All turtles 16!
This one won overwhelmingly, BUT whether this is the bittersweet, sad or happy ending I won't tell. ^_^ For all you know I'll turn them all 16 again and then BAM! They all burn up in a humongous explosion! Oh, that would be so ironic. Don't you just love ironic endings? Maybe I should end it that way.
Ok, all that future planning aside, about the chapter, it's almost all flashbacks, the first flashbacks are bolded while the second flashbacks are italicized. You'll understand the difference in them. Make sure you pay attention to the years above each one. Sorry if anyone gets confused but this was the way I wanted to map out this time skip.
Oh, and I don't care if I get yelled at for saying this:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Year: 5
"No! Boys! Stay away from that electrical wire!" Splinter called out, rushing forward and grabbing up his four mutant turtle children.
"Sorry father," the all mumbled, their blue, red, purple and orange heads bowed in shame.
The elderly gray rat shook his head and smiled ruefully, "Come my sons, let us return home and enjoy the holiday. Perhaps Santa will come early tonight."
"Yeah, if Mikey stops eating the cookies," Don said as he and his family made their way back to their home.
"I was hungry," Mikey protested, turning his begging, baby-like wide eyes on all of the faces that were staring back at him.
He secretly smiled at the slumped shoulders and fallen frowns. He loved that power he possessed!
"It's ok Mikey," Leo said, laying an arm over the youngest turtle's shoulders, "We'll make more cookies."
A smirk suddenly spread across Donny's face, "And Raph can wear that pretty pink apron we found."
"NO!" Raph said loudly and stepped behind Leo and Mikey to keep away from Don.
The others laughed before a call from their father sent the tots scrambling after their father and into their warm home.
Year: 5
"What happened?" Raph said as he fell to his knees down beside a whimpering Mikey.
"He slipped on the ice and hurt his leg,, "Don explained, "We need to get him back home."
Mikey sniffed and then gasped as he started to rise in the air. He opened his eyes just to see that his older, red banded brother was holding him in his arms.
"Raphie?"
"Don't worry Mikey," Raph said with a smile, "We'll get you home, Aniki will fix it, and make us all hot chocolate."
The youngest turtles' blue eyes widened and he smiled at the thought of a night of hot cocoa as they all sat around the Christmas tree in the living room.
It had been about six months since they had found and fixed up their newest home. And the three toddlers were proud to say that they had done it all for their older brother.
When they entered the lair they found themselves rushed into the room, by a very frantic older brother.
"Where have you three been? How did Mikey get hurt? Never mind, sit him on the couch. Donny, go get the first aid kit. Do you guys know how cold it has gotten since this morning? There's six inches of snow up there!…"
And this continued on until the blue banded, older turtle became completely focused on the rusty brown red cut on Michelangelo's leg.
When the eldest was finished wrapping it up he breathed a calming sigh, stared back at his other little brothers and then smiled a smile half way to relief and half way to insanity before he spoke, "How does some hot cocoa sound?"
"YAY!" the tots cheered.
Year: 8
There was something to be said as the children stared at one another, their eyes flashing with anger and determination. This anger was not pinpointed at one another, only their eyes. They would do better than one another.
As Leo and Raph breathed heavily from their sparring match Splinter smiled in amusement. It appeared that they had found rivals in one another. Although, hate is never a good thing to breed, determination is. With one out shining the other, that other would press harder to overcome him. This would push the two into new areas, their determination would flare and burn brightly. Despite conflict and anger, Splinter knew that having a rival was important, and that because of that the red and blue masked turtle would strive to overcome not only each other, but themselves as well. A permanent rival meant a permanent challenge and an advancement in growth.
It was clear, Splinter decided as he looked from the sparring Raphael and Leonardo and then to the quietly chattering Donatello and Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael had become the eldest, they would grow more rapidly than the innocent orange and purple masked turtle tots.
Year: 8
"I had the Kusari Gama first," Don yelled as he yanked on the chained weapon.
"No, I did!" Mikey yelled back, tugging the weapon towards him as well.
A few feet from them Leo looked up from where he had previously been meditating and shook his head, thankfully he had taken the Kama, the sickle-like blade end, off before letting the young ones choose which weapon they wanted to practice with.. Glancing at the recently cleaned dojo he allowed his thoughts to drift to the past. It had been a long time, three years…
He glanced down at his hands, the skin so much rougher than he remembered, a slight pain in neck further reminded him that he had probably been sitting still too long.
He sighed at the inevitable and continued his thoughts into the past. Over the years, Rennet, via Lord Simultaneous' powers, kept them up to date on Stockman's whereabouts, for a genius that always messed up somehow, he had kept himself away for a long time, but then again…
He DID have the time scepter so he could map a millennia in a second, whatever he chose. Truthfully, it did all seem beyond someone like Stockman to control and initiate the timeline with such success. (A/N: This is a clue, keep it in mind)
"An- I mean, Sensei?" a calm, confident voice asked.
Leo turned to find his red clad brother staring up at him. Behind him, Leo noticed that Donatello had overcome Mikey and claimed the Kusari Gama, but he also noticed that the sais Raph usually trained with were still sitting among the other weapons on the rack on the fall wall of the dojo.
"Is something wrong Raphael?" Leo asked, "Why aren't you practicing with your sais?"
For a minute the tot seemed somewhat shy, which was overall strange, the shyness and innocence of them all had slowly began melting away as they grew, leaving way for growth and intelligence.
It seemed that Raph took a minute to gather his courage before standing strait and saying stoutly, "I want to practice with a different weapon Sensei."
The eldest was now confused, there were numerous weapons on the far wall, why had Raphael come over to him?
"What weapon do you wish to practice with?" Leo asked, since he had already discovered that the direct approach often received a direct answer from the younger turtles.
Here, the red banded turtle glanced at the floor, his shy edge returning. This was stranger still as he twisting his foot against the stones but then his eyes widened and he forced his foot to remain still. Remembering what his older brother had said when he had did that before. He never forgot the tone of voice Leo had used when he reprimanded him.
"Raphael?"
Raph shook his head and stood up strait, "I want to learn how to use the twin katana. Like you."
Year: 12
"What are you looking at sensei?" Leo asked as he walked to the edge of the rooftop and stared down at the empty street below them like his father had been doing for the past few minutes.
The elderly rat breathed deeply and smiled, "It is nothing Leonardo. Where are your brothers?"
The blue banded turtle opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a cry of, "GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE TWERP!"
With that the two turned to see an orange and green blur and then a red and green blur speed past them.
Leo sighed, "Excuse me sensei, looks like I have to separate them…again."
With that, the blue banded turtle sped off after his younger brothers.
Back at the quiet, lone rooftop, Splinter glanced down at the street again. For some strange reason, he felt…something. He really couldn't explain it to himself, just a strange, strange feeling. He stopped his thoughts and shook them away. He had sons to look after.
Year: 12
"Please Aniki?" Mikey begged.
"Mikey, you're much too old for this," Leo said, kneeling down and allowing his little brother to climb onto his shell.
"Let's go!" Mikey cheered.
"Wait up guys!" Don yelled, running up behind them, holding some kind of circuit board in his hands, "You'll never believe it, I found a CV-398 tri-by passer!
"Fascinating brainiac," Raph said, walking up behind his intelligent brother where they stood on the rooftop.
"Come along my students," Leo said, turning to the alleyway a few buildings over, "We need to get home before the Foot send out their patrol this way."
"Right sensei," Don and Raph chorused as they followed their teacher and older brother across the rooftops.
Leo opened his eyes from his dream, or well…dreams, he hypothesized and sat up on his futon. He got to his feet and stretched to loosen his tight muscles before yawning. A quick glance across the room at the clock on the wall told him that he was probably the first one up, once again. He shook his head s he glanced around his room. He remembered that his little turtle toddler brothers had practically shoved him into largest bedroom and said it was his. Looking around at the wide space, the eldest was now certain, he didn't know how to fill so much space. He shook his head and slipped outside his room before walking towards the kitchen.
When he stepped into the kitchen, he glanced up to see three, 16-year-old, teenage mutant ninja turtles staring back at him.
"Morning Sensei!"
Now if you didn't understand the flashbacks I'll explain, the bolded flashbacks were from when all the turtles were younger and Splinter was caring for them while the italicized flashbacks were from when Leo was taking care of them as they grew up. I probably didn't need to explain that but I thought I would for good measure.
Now, the unfortunate question will be answered…
Yes, sadly, we now say goodbye to the turtle tots. I decree a snuggling party!
*Picks up turtle tot Raph*
You are so adorable! *Snuggles*
"ANIKI HELP! THE WEIRD AUTHOR GIRL HAS ME!"
I decree everyone must cuddle a turtle tot before moving on to the next chapter.
Please review! And snuggle with a turtle tot or two!
~Moonsetta