Author's note: Hi! I know, late update. Sorry! Exams… :P Anyway, I promised I would give you the winner of my little 'contest', so I will.
Ducky Mikey, congratulations! :D And now, on with the story! :)
The next day, the lair was surprisingly calm. The guys were just sitting on the couch, watching tv and talking.
When their father walked in, they turned the tv off and looked up so they could face him.
Splinter looked to each one of his sons separately. When his gaze had reached Raph, he looked at his knee which still had a small scar on it.
"You never told me, Raphael", he said "how you got that scar."
"I didn't?", Raph asked "Hmm, remind me to tell you sometime. Maybe in a couple of minutes… or years…"
Splinter chuckled: "It's not my reaction you should be afraid of, Raphael. I know what has really happened that night. And most of your brothers know as well. But there is one person who you owe an explanation…" After saying this, he looked at Leo.
Leo looked confused, but once he saw the faces of his brothers he knew.
"What is it, Raph?", he sighed "It weren't purple dragons, right?"
Raph shook his head: "nope."
"Then what was it that caused you that scar?", Leo stood in front of Raph by now.
Raph kept his eyes on the floor and didn't dare to look Leo in the eyes.
"Mikey, I need your help in my lab with the… thing", Donnie said as he walked over to his lab. He would do anything to save his only little brother a lecture… or worse.
"Sure thing, dude!", Mikey jumped over the couch and ran up to Donnie. Together, they stood right behind the door of the lab, so they could still hear what was going on in there.
In the meantime, Raph had started doubting. Tell another lie?, he thought No, Sensei will see straight through that. And he says he knows what happened…
Finally, Raph dared to look Leo in the eyes: "You'll want to kill me when I tell you."
Leo shrugged: "If that's your only concern, why only tell me now? You're not afraid of anything!"
"But I AM afraid, Leo.", Raph replied.
Splinter walked back to his room with a smile on his face. Now, it's up to him.
Donnie and Mikey looked at each other. "What's Raph's fear?", Mikey asked. Donnie pulled his shoulders up and motioned Mikey to stay silent.
"So, what are you afraid of? Except for bugs, of course", Leo said with a grin.
Raph ignored the last part and continued: "When I went to search for Mikey, I was afraid that I wouldn't be in time. That something terrible had happened to him. That I would've been too late. I would do anything to protect our younger brothers, Leo. Anything."
Leo nodded every few seconds to show he still understood.
"So, when we were on our way back home, I fell while running in the sewers. It was just a scratch. But then I thought of this plan to keep Mikey out of trouble and to make you believe I had done something stupid. So Mikey would get out without any trouble…"
Leo smiled: "That's really sweet, man. But why tell Donnie?"
"He just saw it when he was cleaning my knee. He's the genius for a reason."
Leo nodded: "Don't worry. I'm not mad. But I would have preferred if you had told me before. But anyway… We're cool." Raph smiled: "Cool."
After a knuckle-box, there was a small silence.
Then, Leo whispered: "we both know Don and Mike are eaves-dropping right behind the door, right?"
Raph nodded: "let them believe we didn't notice. That way, the tv is all ours!"
And so the day continued. Leo and Raph watching sport while Donnie and Mikey were working on some experiments in Donnie's lab.
Splinter was meditating in his room. When he was done, he went to have a look at his sons.
When he saw them getting along perfectly, he smiled: "It's nice to see things are finally back to normal.".
Author's note: Thanks for all the support! One more chapter to go, a sort of epilogue. And then, a series of one-shots. My idea is to continue where the episodes left off. More explanation on my profile page :)
Any ideas are welcome! :D