Hmmm....not sure what I really hoped to accomplish with this chapter. Must be why I added another one. What I was trying to get across was how things were at home and since I haven't had much of Don in this story (runs and hides from Donatello fans who chase me with rotten tomatoes) Um...I know it might not make perfect sense but that was the fun of writing it! Happy Reading!

Before I forget...once again a huge thank you to TheIncredibleDancingBetty for her magnificent help! You rock!


As Mikey awoke the next morning, an unusual feeling struck him- a good feeling. With a yawn, he hopped out of bed. Slipping on his equipment, he rushed out his room. Grabbing the banister that led downstairs with both hands, his slid down it with a whoop on his plastron. When he neared the end, he flipped off it, landing perfectly on both feet.

"As horse owners would say, "somebody's feeling their oats today." Don commented to Mikey. He had emerged from his lab to see the ending of Mike's performance.

Mikey gave his older brother a grin. "I guess I'm just pumped. For some reason, I feel real good about today."

He did feel good. Something inside told him that they were going to make a huge jump on progress in bringing Raph back home. He desperately wished it was that they were bringing him home, but Leo banished that hope.

Leo had told them that Raph might not come home for awhile- something about finding a missing piece of himself- and not to worry. They were getting their brother back. No matter how long it took them.

Leo promised and when Leo made a promise, he always made good on them.

"Why is that my son?" Splinter entered the room, the familiar tap of his cane by his side.

Mikey bowed before replying. "I don't know sensei; maybe it's just a lucky feeling."

"There is no such thing as luck Michelangelo." Splinter scolded. "Whatever feeling you acknowledged, you received for a reason. Not because luck permitted it, but because fate did."

"Yes sensei." Mikey bowed again. As he rose, he spotted Leo walking towards them. His light green body glistened in a light sweat, verification from his early morning exercise.

Leo gave Mikey a not believing glare. "Why would you get this feeling and none of us would?" he asked. "What makes you so special?"

Mike's heart sank at his brother's words. He thought Leo would be really excited and pleased at the news; he seemed to be disappointed that Mikey received the news.

"Leonardo, is there a cause for the displeasure in your voice?" Splinter question with a raised eyebrow. He too, seemed to have caught the irritation in the eldest turtle's voice.

"No sensei, my apologies." Leo bowed. He turned to Mikey.

He wasn't mad at the news; he was really glad for it. Heck, if no one else was around, he'd be jumping for joy. But he'd made the mess they were in; he'd started the fight with Raph that led the turtle to leave and he felt that he was responsible for fixing it. So why shouldn't he have gotten the feeling?

Since he started it, it was up to him to fix it. He was just irritated that Mikey had gotten it.

"Sorry Mikey, I didn't mean for it to sound like I was mad or anything." Leo sincerely told his brother. "I'm doing this all the time. I'm wondering why fate has the path laid down in life for us like it is. Like, why did we become mutant turtles?" he spread his arms. "Why not mutant lizards or some other kind of mutants?"

"Leonardo," Splinter had hints of amusement in his aged voice. "You bring up questions that all ponder in their life. I find it, as you would say, funny, that there are millions of unanswered questions and they all start with the same word 'why?'"

Don, being the tech-head that he was, was pleased that he family was going this depth into discussions. However, as a scientist, it was up to him to find answers to those questions, not sit around and think.

"Sensei" Don asked. "Aren't there questions in life being discovered everyday. I mean, people believed the earth was flat until Columbus sailed it and didn't drop off its face. So isn't it wrong to say that there are millions of unanswered questions, when everyday those questions are being answered?"

"Ah Donatello," Splinter shook his head at his son. "Is it not true that, yes, questions are being answered everyday, but how many of those answers are being proven wrong? People believe that the dinosaurs were killed by the Ice Age or by a giant meteor, no?" he pricked an ear.

Don nodded his head. "Yes."

"But is it also true that scientists are now discovering that they may have become wiped out because of humans and of a flood that happened many, many years ago?"

"There's no real proof yet though," Don protested. "Those ancient drawings we have found could have been nothing more than large, extinct lizards."

"If they are nothing more than large lizards, how is that we are only finding dinosaur bones and not some other type of reptile?" Splinter asked. "Then that leads to another question of where did those large, extinct lizards go?"

Don shook his head. He was not loosing a scientific debate to his sensei.

"You see Donatello," Splinter chuckled as his son's surprised look. "There are some questions better left unanswered in life."

"Yes, but if we thought that same way thousands of years ago, then where would we be now?" Don challenged.

"Some, not all." Splinter repeated.

Even though his son believed he did this just because he was sensei and had to be right, he was wrong. He did enjoy his own little victories here and there; specially if he was against Donatello or Leonardo. Raphael and Michelangelo were easy to prove wrong. Very easy indeed.

"But how do we know which questions to ask?" Don asked. His normally sure and confident pride had a dent in it after this talk.

"If a question can be answered in one or two life times with proof, then it was meant to be." Splinter chuckled. "But if people spend many years trying to figure it out, then perhaps it was never meant to be answered or it was meant for another time."

"Man." Don rubbed a hand across his face.

Leo and Mikey were both silently placing bids on the sidelines- Leo for Splinter and Mikey for Donny.

"You owe my ten bucks." Leo whispered to Mikey with a triumphant grin.

Mikey groaned. He'd never thought he'd see the day when his brother Don out-smarted. "I call for a rematch." He whispered back. "Don's still got some tricks up his shell."

Leo watched as Don stormed towards the dojo, seething. "Yeah, I can see that Mikey. I think he used them up, though."

Mikey groaned as he ran towards his brother. "Hey Don, can I borrow ten bucks?" at his brother's glare, he backed up with his hands in the air. "Don't feel bad bro, you would've for sure stumped me."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better how exactly?" Don shot back as he entered the room.

"Uh…?" Mikey stopped and scratched his head. "Um…"

"I've made my point." Don told him, finishing the conversation. He got out his Bo, twirling it with expertise on his fingers.

Leo shook his head as he walked behind his brothers. Part of him was glad that even in Raph's absence, they could still find a reason to laugh. But the other part of him missed Raph the most at times like these.

Raph would always be the one there with a rude comment that would either ease the tension or make it worse. It tended to make it worse at times, but Leo, as much as he hated to say it, enjoyed the times Raph made trouble.

He would sometimes feel jealous of all the attention Raph grabbed from Splinter. If he got in trouble, they would spend hours at a time arguing behind a closed door and Leo was envious of that time they got to spend alone. He didn't care what they were arguing about but Raph always made it seem to take longer. Whenever he got in trouble, Splinter would simply tell him how disappointed he was and to think about his mistakes.

But when Raph got in trouble that was also one way for Splinter to notice Leo more.

As the leader he was expected to correct his brothers and at times, yes, he did make it more than it needed to be. But it grabbed Splinter's attention and that what Leo really wanted.

He hung his head as he thought those words.

It was wrong of him to think of that as a leader and as a brother, who deeply cared for his family. He had realized his intentions many years ago and he couldn't help but wonder- if he hadn't been like that, would Raph be as stubborn and as unruly as he is now?

He missed his brother like shell.

He missed those arguments, not because of the attention he got, but because he was with Raph.

It was at times like these he began to miss the stupid things he did and said.

And he would do anything to have him back.

Anything.


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