Ch 17 Moving On

"Why don't we go after him?" Raph demanded of Splinter, dumbfounded that they were just letting Shredder leave.

They were walking away from Shredder's lair toward the manhole cover that would eventually lead them home, Splinter carried the bag with Leonardo's things, his heart weighed heavily and he barely heard what Raph had said.

"He has Leo and we're just letting him walk away?!" Raph's voice rose in anger as his Sensei continued to ignore him and make his way into the sewer. "You don't really believe that Leo's dead, do you Sensei?!" Raph was now almost screaming. "We need to go after Shredder and kill that damn bast..."

"I ordered you to stay in the lair and you defied me. Why?!" Splinter angrily turned and faced his three sons who stared at him with uncertainty. "Why did you ignore what I said and follow me?"

"Actually Sensei." Mikey began hesitantly. "We didn't follow you."

"Yeah, uh, we figured Shredder's lair was where you were headed so we, uh, took a hunch and just came here." Donnie added.

"I told you to stay in the lair." Splinter repeated. "Why did you not listen?"

"We were scared for you." Raph said softly. "We figured you were walking into a trap and wanted to make sure you would be okay." He looked away from Splinter. "Besides, if Shredder had Leo, we wanted to be there to make sure he came home."

"You are to do as I say." Splinter continued to admonish them as he turned and continued to walk toward their lair. "You are not to defy me, no matter what the reason, when I tell you to do something, you are to follow my orders!" He turned on them again, his eyes flashing with anger.

"When it comes to one of us, we'll do what we think we have to!" Raph yelled back. "After all, Leo IS our brother!"

"AND HE IS MY SON!" Splinter shouted, whirling around to face Raphael, panting hard and his fist clenched in anger. The turtles stared at him with wide and frightened eyes. Splinter lowered his eyes and relaxed his body. "And I will not take a chance and lose another child." His voice calmed and was now a whisper. "I do not know if Leonardo is alive, I can no longer sense him and I...I knew Shredder had set a trap for me." He turned and began walking back to the lair. "I did not want any of you in harm's way in case I could somehow get him to take me to your brother."

The turtles exchanged looks. They now realized Splinter had been planning on somehow getting Shredder to take him to his new hideout and hopefully finding a way to get to Leo and bring him home. They lowered their eyes in disbelief, realizing they had messed with Splinter's plans.

"We don't regret what we did Sensei." Raph told Splinter look back at him. "If they were setting a trap for you, then they may have been planning on killing you right away and never have taken you to Leo." He looked at his brothers before looking back at Splinter. "And we don't want to lose another member of this family."

The four mutants hugged each other, then Splinter turned and continued to walk toward their lair. "We need to lay your brother to rest." He told them solemnly. "We need to let him find peace." The four mutants continued their long lonely trek back home.

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Shredder sat in the back seat of his limo as it drove through downtown New York and on to the outskirts where his current hideout laid. He faced Tiger Claw with a far away look. "Is the ship ready to depart?"

"Yes master, all the items are now on board, we can leave for Japan when you are ready."

"And what of the turtle?"

"Stockman has prepared him and he is being transported now."

"Very good." Shredder looked out the window and watched the buildings go by. "I have enjoyed my stay here, but it will be good to return home."

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Splinter and his sons walked into the lair, the three turtles followed their Sensei into the dojo and watched as he removed Leo's broken Katanas from the bag and placed them on the small mantle next to his family portrait. He then knelt with his knees on the floor, sitting on his ankles, he bowed his head, put his hands together and with his eyes closed and began to whisper a prayer in Japanese. They turtles looked at each other and followed his example saying their own prayer for their brother.

When the small ceremony was over, Splinter turned to his sons. "I have made a decision." He told them. They looked up at him in wonder. "We leave for Japan tomorrow."

"But Sensei." Mikey protested. "We still need to find Leo!"

"And I'm not leaving here till we've exhausted all our resources." Raph told him. "Shredder was hiding somewhere and I'm going to find out where!"

"Please Sensei." Donnie begged. "If I could check out Leo's things, I may be able to find some sort of clue as to where they've been hiding out all this time."

Splinter lowered his eyes. He was so tired. He was so very tired, frustrated and angry over everything. Every time he thought his life would finally get back to some normalcy, something would happen to make everything spiral out of control. He looked at his three sons, they were so determined to look for their brother and who was he to tell them no. They should at least have the chance to do what they could to check every avenue, every lead, every clue to the whereabouts of their brother. He finally sighed and nodded at them.

"You may have til the end of the week then." He turned away and began to walk to his room. After everything Shredder told him, his heart was too heavy with sorrow and he didn't want to think anymore about what Shredder had done to Leo, or to the rest of this family. "Do what you must, but I want to tell Miwa about Leonardo in person." He looked back at them. "And I do not wish wait too long."

After watching him walk out, the three boys turned back to each other. Donnie held up the bag with Leo's left over things. "Okay guys." He told him. "Here's what we need to do.