Turns out Donnie finished with his task before Jazz did. He looked baffled when we met up with him shortly after lunch. "I can't pinpoint anything on it." He told us. "I can't tell you how old it is, who drew it, where it even came from. And I have no idea why in the hell it was floating around on it's own. By all accounts it's just an ordinary painting in that aspect."

Leo rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Everything we do just seems to bring more questions than answers."

"I don't know what to tell you Leo."

"It's fine." Leo told him. "It's not your fault things are so cryptic right now."

"There ya are." Jazz said as he came walking up. "Got tha' list ya asked for Leo." He knelt down and handed over a datapad.

Leo took it and Donnie looked over his shoulder as he began to browse through it. "Thee more locations." Leo muttered.

"And spread out all over the country too by the way it looks." Donnie added.

I walked around and Leo tilted it so I could see the screen. "Ok...any idea what is there? I mean...where are we going? More museums?"

Jazz reached out and tapped something that brought up another screen. "Foun' museums at two of 'em. But tha third, don' 'ave 'ne."

"It does have a Japanese garden though." Donnie noted. "Still Asian related."

"So what do we do?" I asked. "Do we split up and go hunt them down?"

"It would be quicker to do it that way."

"I'm not so sure if we should do it that way." Leo said doubtfully. "Yes, it allows us to get to them faster, but it also divides us up and weakens our defenses if we get ambushed."

"So, what's more important right now? Speed or safety?"

Suddenly I felt a rush of anger from him and I backed up a bit in shock. "I don't know!" Leo flared suddenly. "I don't know what to do with any of this! I don't know why we got stuck with this! I don't know why papers are flying around! I don't know why we are all having visions! I don't know or understand any of it and I don't know what to do! Or what is expected of me!" He slammed the datapad into Donnie's chest and pushed his way out of our huddle, his anger and frustration trailing behind him.

"That escalated quickly." Donnie muttered.

I just watched as he walked away. And I was beginning to wonder if his own personal doubts were starting cloud his judgement. I didn't know what we would do if that was the case.

.

.

Leo sat on the rooftop, where he been all afternoon and well into the evening. He sat and he meditated. Trying to clear everything that was swirling in his mind. Wanting to bring some sense to the confusion and doubts. Searching for the path in a forest of uncertainty. It wasn't working.

He finally just gave up but still sat there, looking up into the sky as the last rays of sunlight stained the sky a fiery orange. It was a beautiful sunset and he looked at the different colors coming together to create such a natural wonder. One that a lot of them seemed to take for granted. Even him.

"Father?"

Leo turned his head and noticed the twins were now up here, walking towards him. Both of them with slightly concerned looks in their eyes. "We waited for you for training." Lavi told him. "Thought that maybe you had been too busy, but then you missed supper. You hardly ever miss eating with Mother."

"The combination of the two had us thinking that maybe we should go looking for you."

Leo looked at his children, his eyes still wanting to see the little faces that had smiled up at him. Wanting to see the little hands that excitedly handed him drawings and finger paintings. He missed the hugs, the snuggles and sloppy wet kisses. He missed the time when he could still keep the promise to always protect them.

More and more they seemed to not need him anymore. He had noticed both of them were starting to form attachments to others here, along with the other teens. They were learning how to interact with humans besides his family. Were finding acceptance here, and that was one more thing they didn't need from him anymore. They were learning to trust outside of their small circle. They were outgrowing him, had already outgrown him in some ways.

All of that ran in his mind as he looked into their now adult faces. "I've decided to not train you anymore."

Both of them looked incredulous at that. He had spent almost every day teaching them, sparring with them. Helping them learn the lessons that would keep them alive in this harsh world. Over and over he had stressed how important regular training was, and now he seemed to just give up on it? "Why?" Lavi asked.

"Because I have nothing left to teach you." He turned his head away again. "You've both mastered all of your lessons, all you need to do now is keep them sharp. It's time you took over your own sparring sessions and it's time I stepped back."

"But, Dad..." Ty started.

"I have nothing left to say on the matter." Leo firmly told him. A firmness he really wasn't feeling. His heart was aching on how far they have come. As much as he was tying to convince them they were than capable on their own, he still wanted to spend those moments with them. Just because it had been some of the few times he could get them all to himself as they grew and pursued other interests and their own missions. He wanted to hold onto that, but also felt that it would hold them back.

It was quiet for a few minutes before Leo realised that they had left, and that hit him hard that he had essentially driven them away. Driven them even farther from him.

The sounds of laughter reached him and he stood up and walked over to the corner of the rooftop. Below him were the twins, and they weren't alone. He watched as they interacted with Kyle and Cindy, not sure what to think about these humans. These humans who were rapidly growing close to his children. A pair that reminded Leo again of just how much his twins had grown, and probably faced a certain loneliness he himself had felt at one time.

Quietly he knelt up there, his eyes locked on the laughing and smiling faces below him. A part of him wanted to go down there and yank his children back and fold them under his wing to hide them from the world, another wanted them to enjoy this experience and yet a third was hesitant of letting them get close to strangers but didn't want to stand in the way either. They were old enough to make their own choices. So Leo did nothing besides watch as they laughed and flirted.

"I'm a bit surprised you are letting that go on." Raph said from behind him. Leo turned to look to see him standing there, arms crossed. "Considering how protective you've been over all of them over the years."

"It's not my place anymore Raph." Leo replied as he looked after his daughter as she shared a smile with Kyle.

He snorted. "Bullshit." He uncrossed his arms and walked closer. "It will always be your place, nothing will ever change that."

"Something already has."

"No, it hasn't. You are just too confused to see it." Raph stopped next to him and looked out at the twins himself, his eyes following Ty and Cindy. "She's actually kinda pretty." He noted, then winced. "Don't tell Cris I said that."

"Raph, you don't actually expect me to sit here and tell them how to live their life."

"Did I say that? Did those words come out of my mouth you blockhead?" He rolled his eyes. "No, they didn't. But running off and hiding from their life isn't going to do shit but make you gloomy." Raph gave him a level look then. "Look, I know what's running through your mind. Your son whooped the tar out of you. Big fucking deal. It's what we've been spending their lifetime teaching them and it was bound to happen sooner or later. That doesn't mean you run from it and go hide in a damn hole from them."

"It's not just that Raph." Leo sighed.

"Then enlighten me, oh mighty worrisome wonderer."

"Will you stop that!" Leo snapped.

"Not until you give me a good reason too. You've been moody and gloomy for days now, and until you tell me why, I'm going to assume it's because you feel like a washup because your son mopped the floor with you."

Leo looked at him. "Maybe I am a washup." He muttered.

"Oh come on." Came a new voice, Donnie's. "Leo, just because Ty finally reached a level that we have all been training him to reach, doesn't mean you are a washup. It means you did a good job as a trainer."

"Yeah, bro." Mikey added. "Why are you so upset just because something happened that we all knew was coming sooner or later? He's supposed to figure out how to beat you, just like we all know how to beat each other. You should be proud that he finally got you."

Raph had narrowed his eyes in thought as he watched Leo struggle with this. "Or is it the fact that you can't separate the trainer from the father?"

Donnie also looked thoughtful as he heard Raph. "That does seem to be the most likely explanation."

"The trainer pushed Ty to that point, but the father can't accept it." Mikey spoke up.

Leo looked at his brothers, swallowing hard before turning away from them, once again looking at the twins. "No, the father can't accept it." Leo finally admitted to them. "I can't accept the fact that they are growing up to the point where they don't need me."

The troubled turtle felt one of his brothers move closer, stopping next to him. It was Mikey. "Leo, they will always need you. But as a father, not as a trainer. It's time you started separating the two." His little brother wrapped an arm around Leo's shoulders. "Just think of all the opportunities you are missing here! Lavi's first crush... I could have soooo much fun with that... But you are missing out on it because you are up here moping."

"Oh lord..." Raph mumbled from behind them.

"And I'm thinking once that confusion is cleared, a few other things might become clearer to you too." Donnie moved in on his other side. "You are so afraid of what's going on around you, because you feel it mirrors they way you are looking at them now. You feel so helpless and confused about everything else, because you feel like you are failing them in some way."

"I made them a promise Donnie." Leo told him. "I made them a promise to always be there for them if they need me. How can I keep that promise when they don't..."

"By changing the definition of the word 'need'." Came the calm reply. "When you made that promise, it was when your skills still outmatched theirs. But there are other life's lessons that need to be learned Leo. That is one of them." The purple masked turtle waved his hands towards the couples below.

"They are both in uncharted waters here." Raph looked himself down at the twins. "Neither one of them have the experience in this. If you shut them out, the way you did earlier, who is going to help them? You are the parent that can relate the most to this Leo, not Vicky. She never had to wonder if humans would go running way screaming at the sight of her. She never had to face the worries of finding someone who would accept you for what you look like. She isn't a turtle. Vicky had the chance to date, and learn from her experiences. None of us ever did any of that really."

"They are going to have doubts, worries and concerns of their own." Donnie looked from the twins back to Leo. "That is where they are going to need you brother."

"Retire the trainer, but let the Father fully shine through." Mikey nudged his arm. "And nothing says you still can't engage in a friendly sparring match with them every once in awhile. Hell, to be honest, it's what we do with each other isn't it? When was the last time we actually 'trained'. Every time we get together it's more of a 'let's see who can outwit who' thing."

"I...never looked at it that way..." Leo admitted quietly.

"We noticed." Mikey grinned at him.

"So?" Donnie smiled. "You going to sit up here and stare at them all night? Or are you going to enjoy your right as a Father to make a certain young man uncomfortable?"

Raph chuckled quietly. "And embarrass a young turtle in front of his girl."

This time Leo did smile a little. "You guys are so wrong."

"Never denied it." Mikey winked at him.

"Should at least make the effort to get to know those two better." Donnie said. "Just incase it does go somewhere."

Leo sighed a little as he watched the group below him. "I suppose I should. And apologize to them for being so abrupt earlier."

"Everything changes Leo." Raph told him. "You just have to flow with it as it does. You've done that well with everything else, this isn't so much different."

"Just go with the flow dude." Mikey gave him a push toward the edge of the building. "Go say hi."

Leo smiled another small smile, feeling better about the whole ordeal, and flipped off of the building. It would take some time to adjust his thinking, but he would at least take the first steps. It was a start. A start to helping him find his lost way out of this confusing forest.