Security Blanket

Age 2

"Fadur, wud dat?" asked a tiny two year old Leonardo as his father carried him through the sewers.

"What's what, Leonardo?" Splinter replied.

"Dat," Leo said, pointing to a piece of blue cloth in a bit of garbage. Wondering himself, Splinter carried Leo over to the pile and pulled out the cloth. It was a dirty, blue colored blanket. Aside from the grime, it was still in very good shape. A child had most likely dropped it down into the sewers by accident a few days ago.

"It's a blanket, Leonardo," his father told him.

"Who blankie?" asked the toddler, mispronouncing the word.

"No one's," said Master Splinter. "It is lost and too far down to be returned to any human."

"Can have it?" Leo asked, pointing to himself. "Pweade?"

"Alright," said the rat, "But you must let me wash it first." The child nodded.

Once the two were home, Master Splinter took out the laundry bucket and got some water from a leaky pipe that sent water to an apartment building. The blue masked tot watched as his father scrub all the dirt from the blanket until it the blanket was as bright as it was when it was purchased. Leo smiled brightly as Master Splinter handed it to him.

"Dank oo!" he exclaimed as he took it and ran off to go show his brothers.

Age 4

Leonardo had his blanket wrapped around him tight. It was so cold tonight. The blanket wasn't very warm itself, but it was better than nothing. Leo couldn't imagine life without it. The feeling of his blanket made him feel warm just because it was the blanket. He practically had it all his life.

The young turtle rolled over and saw Mikey shiver, his orange pacifier shaking around his neck. Leo hugged the blanket tighter. Poor Mikey. Leo bit his lip, knowing the right thing to do; he moved the blanket over Mikey for them both to share. The orange clad turtle tot stopped shivering a bit. Leo smiled contently and fell asleep.

Age 6

Leonardo has lost it. He had lost his precious blanket. And he couldn't find it anywhere. The blue cloth, which had become slightly ragged at the edges from when he first got it, had been placed down for training and Leo forgot where he left it. Now he couldn't find it. And he had been so sure he had put it in the laundry like Splinter told him to.

He'd never get to sleep again. He'd be cold all night! Okay, it was summer, but he would be cold by September! Plus, what if one of the monsters from Raph's stories came to life and tried to get him because his head wasn't covered? What if Mikey got cold? As the older brother, Leo often shared his blanket if he saw one of them shivering. Raph was easily woke up by any sudden gesture and refused the blanket, but the younger two brothers often smiled when they found the blanket on top of them. So where could Leo's special blanket be?

"OOF!" he heard Donnie yell. Leo turned his head to see his purple clad brother on the ground holding his hurt knee while sucking his thumb. He had tripped over…

"My blanket!" Leo exclaimed picking it up. "Are you okay, Donnie?" The turtle shook his head. Luckily, Master Splinter was nearby and picked up the little turtle.

"We will treat your cut," said the rat, who then turned to Leonardo, "I thought I told you to put that with the laundry?"

"I was sure I did," said Leo, bringing it over to the pile. "I guess I was wrong."

"Be more thoughtful next time," instructed Master Splinter. "Come, Donatello, we must put some iodine on your knee."

Age 8

Leo didn't use his blanket very much by this point. He used it every night of course, but he didn't carry it around like he used to (not that he didn't on occasion when he was sad or scared). And he had a feeling he would only start using it if he had to now. Raph had made a big spectacle about Donnie's thumb, and Mikey's pacifier and Leo's blanket earlier today and had even done something so surprising that even Leo couldn't believe he had done it.

From now on, his blanket would stay folded in the sleeping area until bedtime on a cold night. He was far beyond a fear of Raph's silly monsters and was growing into a mature young leader already. And mature young leaders did not need security blankets.

He did feel a little remorse though. He loved that blanket like it was family and didn't really want to let it go. He patted it gently and said, "I'm sorry," and then walked off to go play with his brothers. That was the first night Leo didn't use his blanket from when he was two.

Age 15

Leo was meditating in the living room when April had walked in. Finishing a few more calming breaths, he got up and went to greet her. She was smiling and had a trash bag with her which she left to the side. The red haired woman gave her young friend a hug.

"What's up, April?" asked Leo.

"I'm having a sidewalk sale later today and I wanted to see if you guys had anything you wanted me to sell," she replied.

"I'm going to help her!" exclaimed Mikey in an orange hoodie and baggy ankle length shorts proudly as Leo saw him discreetly give his orange pacifier a rub and put it in his pocket.

"Make sure that hood stays up," instructed Leo. "And wear long pants, its cold today."

"Yes, Mother dear," said Mikey mockingly, going back to his room to get a pair of jeans. April giggled at the brothers.

"I'll go check my room for anything," said Leo, walking towards his room.

"Okay, I'm going to go ask Donnie. He's probably in his lab," said April, going to the purple clad turtle's cave of technology.

On his way to his room, Leo passed by Raph's. The red clad turtle was blaring his obnoxious heavy metal death rock screaming music (if you could even call it music, in Leo's opinion) so he hadn't even heard April come in. Annoyed, Leo banged loudly on Raph's door. The volume went down quite greatly.

"What?" Raph asked gruffly.

"April's here," said Leo. "She's having a sidewalk sale today. Try to find something to sell in your clutter."

"Okay, fearless leader," said Raph, clearly annoyed.

Leo rolled his eyes and walked into his room. He scanned it. First thing he saw was a ball, they had gone to a secluded beach with April and Casey for a few during the summer and he had brought home the beach ball. It was autumn now so he didn't need it, plus he had a few seashells and pictures for sentimental value. Next thing was he own special collection of tea. He moved that to the side for safekeeping. Next he moved onto the bookcase, looking for the books he never read or didn't like that he couldn't give to others as gifts. And so it continued, Leo analyzed everything in his room about the usefulness and value of each until he had the ball, a nice stack of books, a Chutes and Ladders board game, several Statue of Liberty replicas, a Yankees baseball cap (one of his extras), an old catching mitt he didn't use anymore, and a Nerf gun (it was actually Mikey's but Leo had confiscated it and sooner he got rid of the awful thing the better).

The blue clad turtle turned around and it was about that time that his eyes landed on the end of his bed. And there it was his old security blanket. After all these years, Leo had kept it safe at the foot of his bed only used on the coldest winter months. Leo sat down and picked it up.

He wasn't as attached to it as he used to be. He did, however, feel a need to go and get it out of the rubble of their old home that had been destroyed by mousers once they were safely relocated. Raph had been there too, remising on the old times and Leo didn't care that he had pulled out the blue cloth and said, "Here it is!" He was just glad he found it at the time.

Now, he felt however, it was time to move on. No matter how much he loved this blanket, he was fifteen, it was rarely used and he had a nice fluffy blue striped comforter and warm bed. Leo had a habit of keeping sentimental things, but this was different. The edges were slightly frayed, but the blanket was still good and of no use in the house. So, Leo patted it and said, "I'm sorry," and placed it underneath everything.

Notably, Mikey noticed exactly what it was when he and April were laying out the stuff. He couldn't believe that Leo wanted them to sell it. However, Mikey was very pleased with who bought it. He was a father who had been carrying his blonde haired, blue eyed two year old son. As soon as the boy saw the blue cloth sticking out from amongst the clutter other shoppers had caused, he had said to his father, "Fadur, wud dat?"

End of Chapter…

Kai: Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I was considering deleting the story and reposting it later after I finished writing the stories I'm really going to focus on, but since this is only going to be four chapters, I figured I'd finish it now. The next chapter will probably be up really soon so, keep your eyes peeled. TMNT is owned by Nickelodeon and I only own the plot. I really hope you are all still reading this!