A/N: Hello! back by demand, here is part 4! it took forever, but here you go! i hope you enjoy!
I OWN NOTHING!
Part 4: Growing Trees
"Raph! On your right!" Leonardo shouted over his shoulder as he dropkicked a Foot Bot on the head, whacking him into the trash cans in the alley way and watching as it sparked and smoked as the robot shut down, only to be immediately replaced by another robot as it charged Leonardo from his left side, but he was quickly able to deflect its oncoming attack and instead hurtled it into Donatello's spinning staff with a hard back kick.
"I'm on it!" Raphael shouted back to his older brother, thrusting the tip of his Sai into the forehead of the Foot Bot on his right, before quickly taking down another from behind before it could impale him with its dagger-like mechanical arms.
"These guys are really starting to get on my nerves!" Donatello grunted. Using his Bo staff, he launched himself over five Foot Bot, before spinning it and swiping it under them, sweeping them clean off their feet. "How'd that pavement taste, Foot scum?!" he taunted complacently.
Michelangelo danced and bounded across the alleyway, using his nunchaku to swiftly take out any Foot that dared to come within a few feet of him, grinning all the while. "BOOYAKASHA!" he cried ecstatically, taking out the last of the Foot with his kusarigama blade before doing a small victory dance on the spot, "We stomped these Foot, huh dudes?" he laughed.
"Technically, Mikey," Donnie began, "they'd be called 'Foots' –"
"Can it, dorks," Raph interrupted sarcastically.
Donnie pouted, and Leo shook his head smiling softly. It had been a whole week since their little 'experience' with the spirit creatures in the rain, and Leo had since 'recovered' from his little episode and regained his calm, leader-like demeanour, as well as that blasted cold he and Mikey had suffered from. Though he had said after they had fixed the Shell Raiser that he had just been through something completely mind blowing (even though Donnie and Raph obviously didn't believe either of them) and was suffering from a little hysteria, he couldn't deny that he enjoyed acting like a real teen again. It felt…refreshing, just to let it all out.
And he couldn't have shared that precious moment with anyone but his fun loving, wild brother, Michelangelo.
Speaking of which:
"Oh, I just remembered!" Mikey cried jubilantly, leaping over to Donnie and grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him roughly, "can we go and check on them now? Please? Pleeease?!" he implored, looking up at his purple clad brother with his baby blue eyes wide and pleading.
Donnie rolled his eyes and looked over to his eldest brother. "It's your call, Leo," he said.
Sighing, Leo looked over to Raph, who closed his eyes and held up his hands as if in surrender, as if to say 'don't look at me, I don't give a damn'.
So it was after much debating with himself (and practically giving in to Mikey's big blue sad eyes) Leo sighed again and nodded. "Five minutes," he said finally.
Mikey beamed in response, and ran over to the eldest turtle and squeezed him tightly, knocking the wind out of him. "Thanks bro!" he said before releasing Leo and climbed his way quickly to the top of the building.
As Leo stood gasping for air from his brothers' crushing bear hug, he looked up at his two remaining brothers.
"This is gonna take longer than five minutes, isn't it?" Raph asked, his expression telling Leo that he already knew what was coming, and clearly wasn't happy about it.
"Yep," Leo replied simply with a nod.
Raph and Donnie groaned miserably as they all followed their little brother back up the building, where he waited impatiently. "C'mon bros! Let's move!" he called with a smile on his face before running in the direction of Central Park, his older brother reluctantly following behind him.
When the 'Heroes-in-a-Half-Shell' had returned to the lair that night after the Shell Raiser had been fixed, Leo and Mikey had shown Raph and Donnie their small present after Donnie had gave them their horrible flavoured medications. They ran straight to the kitchen and unwrapped the present, which revealed to be filled with…acorns.
At first they were all baffled, until Mikey piped up enthusiastically saying that they could grow another tree in the lair. Knowing that 1) Splinter would unquestionably object to that; they didn't need another tree in the dojo, one was enough, and 2) that it was a miracle that the tree they already had grew down there in the first place, so they decided against that plan. But before Mikey could get upset about it, Leo had kindly recommended that the next night, if they had felt at all better from their cold, they could go and plant the acorns in the field in Central Park, to which Mikey, and even Raph and Donnie, eagerly agreed to.
It would be nice to grow a tree, right?
However, as Leo, Raph and Don now sat in the bushes with their bodies slumped and expressions showing how they were nearly bored to tears, they wished they hadn't been so eager. After they planted them, Mikey insisted that he could go to the spot daily to see if they grew at. He would always sit directly in front of the spot, legs crossed and his body leaning slightly forward and his eyes staring intently at the patch.
And he would stay like that.
All night.
Every night.
That is until he either fell asleep in that position from boredom, or the others would urge him to go back home before Sensei punished them again for being out so late; so far, they had been through five 'Randori's' for their lateness.
The thought of any more punishments like that made them shudder.
Raph gave a long suffering sigh as he lay himself down on the soft grass behind the bushes. "Gyah! This bites!" he groaned, "We've been doing this every single night for the better half of a week! Why does he have to do this?"
"Because Mikey," Leo replied solely with a shrug, not once taking his eyes off Mikey. He was out in the open, and completely vulnerable to any attacks. Not only that, but all his attention was focused on that little patch of dirt; despite how well trained he was, he probably would never see the enemy coming until it was too late. So it was up to Leo to jump in and protect him from whatever happened.
At Leo's simple answer, Donnie and Raph shared a glance and shrugged. "Okay," they said in unison, as if were the most evident answer in the history of Mikey, and went back to whatever activity they were doing previously to amuse themselves; for Donnie, it was texting April for advice for her newest science class assignment, and for Raph it was spinning and examining his Sais, clearly unentertained.
After several minutes of bored silence, Donnie looked at the time on his T-phone; it read 11:58pm. He stood up from where he sat on the grass and tapped Leo on the shoulder, indicating the time on his T-phone. Leo nodded in silent understanding, and motioned his head towards Mikey as a sign for him to go forward. Donnie cautiously emerged from his hiding place in the bushes, and walked over to Mikey, who was still staring at the patch, only this time instead of eagerness, a disappointed look was spread across his freckled features. After so many days, the planted acorns still showed no signs of growing. Donnie looked down sadly at this younger brother. He hated seeing him like this. They all did.
He kneeled down beside Mikey and put a hand softly on his shoulder. "Mikey," he said gently, "time to go buddy."
Mikey looked over to Donnie, then back to the patch as he sighed. "…okay" he said sadly.
Donnie patted his shoulder reassuringly and helped Mikey up. "Don't worry Mikey. They'll grow when they're ready."
Mikey only responded with a small nod.
They made their way to the bushes where the two remaining brothers awaited them. As they prepared to leave, they saw the look on Mikey's face and sighed.
"Don't worry Mikey," Donnie said again, trying to reassure his little brother as he looked back onto the field, "it won't take too long now. They just need a bit of rain and sunshine and the process of germination which would...WHAT THE HELL?!"
The three other turtles looked sharply at Donatello at his sudden outburst. Raph prepared to draw his Sais as he took a step next to Donnie. "What is it? Is it the Foot?" he asked, almost eagerly. He longed for some action after what seemed like endless hours of sitting on his shell doing nothing.
"Is it The Purple Dragons?" Leo inquired, preparing to draw out his katanas, "Or the Kraang?"
"…How about 'Big Rabbit Thing with Umbrella…" Donnie responded distantly, never peeling his large brown eyes away from the field.
The other boys looked at each other in puzzlement, and walked to stand next to their tallest brother.
All jaws dropped to the floor at what they saw.
The turtles were staring wide eyed at none other than Totoro himself, still holding Donnie's umbrella over his head, followed by the two smaller versions of himself that Mikey had claimed he had been chasing. They were steadily circling the patch where the turtles had planted the acorns.
A silence passed between the brothers, until Raph murmured slowly, "What. The. Hell. Is. That?"
"It can't be…" Donnie breathed. "It's…"
"Totoro…" Leo said, a small smile on his face, whilst Mikey wore a grin that threatened to split his face.
"YOU SEE?!" he crowed, repeatedly poking Donnie on the shoulder, "We TOLD you he was real! But YOU didn't believe us! Now who's the dummy, huh?"
Donnie and Raph could only look at each other, completely speechless. When Mikey had told them the first time, they thought he was delirious. When Leo had told them, they thought he was high. But as they stood there, watching as this so called 'kodama' walk around in the middle of Central Park in New York City like nobody's business, right before their very eyes…
"Well," Donnie began nonchalantly, still staring at the kodama in the field, "so far this year I've had to deal with giant Weed Monsters, alien brains in robot bodies, Robot Ninjas in New York, meeting the girl of my dreams, and now a spirit creature that looks like a damn rabbit holding my umbrella over his head…well, I'm out," and then he proceeded to put two fingers to the side of his head as if they were a gun, and pretended to shoot himself.
"I thought you guys where nuts when you told us but…dudes, I've gotta be dreaming this…" Raph said, shaking his head in disbelief.
Leo and Mikey folded their arms over their chests smugly. "Told you so," they said in unison, and shared a high three.
"But, what the heck are they doing out in the open like that? Why are they just walking around the patch?" Donnie asked, planting a hand on his forehead and shaking it as Raph had done.
Leo shrugged, "Beats me. From what I've heard from Mikey, these things can grow plants and stuff, but – hey, where are you going?!"
During their little debate, Mikey had flown over their heads and was now running towards the creatures, joining them in their little "dance" with a childlike grin on his face.
"What is he doing?" Raph asked in bewilderment.
Donnie was about to respond with a sarcastic remark, but Leo beat him to it. "He's having fun," he said, a smile growing across his face. Raph and Donnie watched wordlessly as Leo hopped over the bush and ran to join Mikey and the Kodamas, before looking to each other.
"I guess…having a little fun…wouldn't hurt…right?" said Donnie, with a small smile.
"…guess not," replied Raph with a shrug and a smirk of his own. When have they ever gotten the chance to do something stupid together? Hardly ever, it seemed.
With a nod and a shared grin, the two turtles joined their brothers in the field. By this time, the large spirit Totoro, the smaller kodamas, Leo and Mikey were stood in a straight line in front of the patch, their hands put together as if in prayer. Mikey looked over to the two brothers who had joined them and smiled smugly once again. "Decided to join us, dudes?" he laughed.
They simply rolled their eyes in unison, both having a slight blush on their cheeks from embarrassment. Leo only chuckled at the two of them.
Totoro looked down at the turtle brothers lined up beside and smiled widely. These strange creatures acted like those human children that he had seen running around this strange place called a city. And every time he saw them, there were always more of them. How adorable!
Well, now that they had arrived, it was time that he started to work his magic.
He then proceeded to put his hands in front of him and leaned forwards, then uncurled again, raising his arms to the sky as he did so. The turtles, after looking awkwardly at each other, followed suit. They repeated this strange movement for a while, smiles slowly forming on their faces.
"This is really stupid!" Raph laughed.
"Then why are you doing it and laughing, Meathead?" chuckled Donnie.
Raph shrugged, "I don't know! It's…actually kinda fun…in a weird, weird kinda way…"
"I don't know about you guys, but this feels like the stretches we do in the morning before training," Leo commented, "and my arms are getting tired!" he snorted.
"I'm not getting tired! This is cool!" giggled Mikey.
Totoro suddenly had a focused look on his face, his large furry arms slowing down and straining, almost as if he were struggling to pull something up from the ground. With a final tug of effort, Totoro raised his arms in the air with a strained growl, and as he did, a small plant popped out from the soil.
The turtle brothers stood in shock as their jaws dropped and their eyes went wide.
No freaking way...
"H-how is that possible?!" Donnie cried, "Y-you can't just stretch and expect plants to produce like that! I-it's physically impossible - !"
"For spirit creature thingies," Mikey piped up, following Totoro's lead and pulling his arms upwards, "ANYTHING is possible!"
As he said this, another plant sprang from the ground with a pop.
Leo did the same, followed by a dumbstruck Raph and a stupefied Donnie. Tiny plants popped up all around the patch as they continued this strange process. All four brothers were grinning in disbelief. They were growing plants by stretching! This was by far the most foolish, most bizarre thing they had ever done, and yet they loved it!
"You think this is how Sensei grew that tree in the dojo?" Raph snorted, tugging his arms upwards as more plants sprouted from the earth.
Next to him, he heard Leo laugh, "Now that I think about it, it could be!"
"Dudes, if we'd known this sooner, we could have our very own garden down there!" Mikey cheered.
"I'm still having a very difficult time in believing in all of this," Donnie said, "it goes against all logic, and is notoriously impossible…but to heck with it, it's fun!"
They continued this strange plant growing process, realizing as they did, the plants kept on growing, taller and taller, rising higher and higher into the night sky, causing Mikey to nearly fall over as they brushed over him. The turtles gazed up in awe as they watched the small leaves begin to grow and thicken, some plants intertwining their stems with others to turn into a thick, impenetrable trunk. The small petals that sprouted from the stems expanded to fully grown, beautiful lush green leaves as the plants continued to grow in size, until they were no longer an array of plants, but a solid, towering full grown tree, large enough that it made nearby sky scrapers seem small and inferior in comparison.
Any passer-by still walking about the streets that late at night would have stopped and stared in awe at the sudden appearance of this great tree, oblivious of how it grew to that size, or of whom or what had grown it in such a short time.
It truly was an incredible scene to behold to all who gazed upon it. And to the four teenaged mutant turtles, it was an amazing accomplishment that they could have only dreamed of, and it was standing right before their wide, amazed eyes.
"OH YEAH, DUDES!" Mikey cried out, hoping onto Leo's back and wrapping his arms around his neck, the sudden action making Leo stumble forwards, "We grew a tree! We're AWESOME! We're SUPER TURTLES! HIGH THREE!"
They all laughed in triumph and shared a high three at their amazing and 'physically impossible' achievement. And somehow, somewhere deep inside him, Donatello felt a strange feeling wash over him…something he hadn't felt in a long time…though he couldn't quite describe it yet, but one thing was for sure…he loved it. And he was sure Raph, Leo and Mikey felt the same way. Especially Mikey from the looks of it.
He smiled as he watched his older and younger brothers laugh and jump around in excitement, and looked up at the Kodama that had helped them achieve all of this. Totoro caught his gaze, and grinned back down at him.
He didn't know how, but this creature had managed to bring out something within Donnie in those few amazing moments, something he had not used since he was a small child…
During their laughter, they had noticed Totoro had taken out some kind of strange metal object seemingly from out of nowhere, and whipped it out onto the grass as they watched it spin. It appeared to be a silver spinning top, but it didn't stop spinning; in fact, it never even touched the grass. It simply floated just above the ground and stayed there, hovering there like a humming dragonfly. Confusion clouded the turtle's minds, until their confusion was soon replaced with surprise when Totoro jumped upon the spinning top, his small feet resting comfortably on the small object.
Totoro looked happily toward the dumbstruck turtles, as if inviting them to join him on the small floating contraption. They all looked at each other, knowing fully well that they couldn't fit on the device, before Mikey had an idea. He leaped off Leo's back and ran over to Totoro, jumping on to his furry stomach and clinging on tightly to his fur.
"Hahaha! C'mon guys, climb on!" Mikey called down to his older siblings, who still stood dumbfounded at the sight.
Before long however, Leo shrugged shoulders with a grin on his face, and ran towards the floating beast. "Yahoo!" he cried as he leapt onto Totoro's left shoulder and clung on tight. "Hey! It's not so bad! Hey guys, climb on!" he called down.
Raph smirked and shrugged before following his brothers' lead and leaping onto the kodama's right shoulder. He nearly slipped clean off, but found his bearings again and laughed. "Hey! This is kinda fun!" he cheered.
Despite all this extra weight, Totoro seemed to be able fit the three turtles on his furry body just fine, and seemed quite pleased that the young turtles were trying to hitch a ride on him as he smiled.
"Come on Donnie! Jump on, dude!" Mikey called down with a wave.
"Yeah, there's still room for one more next to Mikey!" Leo laughed.
"Yeah, c'mon 'Dorkatello'! What, you too smart for this kinda stuff?" Raph mocked.
Donatello pouted at Raphael's comment, but now that he thought about it, why wasn't he already up there? Was it because his scientific mind still refused to believe that all of this was really happening? That there really were such things as forest spirits running around New York? That they had grown a giant tree in the middle of Central Park by simply stretching their arms up and down?
A part of his brain told him that if he pinched himself, he would wake up drooling on his desk in his lab after working too long on a retro mutagen, whilst holding a picture of his beloved April in his hand. Well, he wouldn't actually mind that kind of scenario of course, but still…
Couldn't he just let go of all the statistics, the science and probability for once and just go for it? Couldn't he have, just for once, some mindless fun?
He remembered something he had once told himself during a fight against one of their enemies, months and months ago…
Don't think…just do.
Grinning a gapped tooth grin, he took all of his logic and sense of reality and let it go, purging it from his mind. Just this once.
"Heads up guys! Yee-hee!" he cried before taking a running jump and latching onto Totoro like an oversized teddy bear, holding on for dear life.
With the final turtle on board, as well as the Kodamas' smaller companions, the floating spinning top proceeded to levitate from the ground, flying higher and higher as the turtles held on tighter, all of them whooping with laughter, until they passed the leaves of the gargantuan tree, reaching the darkening skies as they began to fly towards the city. Totoro and the turtles were soon soaring over the skyscrapers, gazing down in awe at the beauty of the urban lights that glistened and shone in the night. They laughed and cheered as they flew through the night.
"This is AWESOOOME!" Mikey screamed with a smile wide enough to split his face, "Turtles were born to fly!"
"Wooo-hoo!" Raph cheered, before a thought suddenly occurred to him. "I don't get it though, why aren't people screaming in terror at a giant flying rabbit flying through the streets with mutant turtles riding on it?!"
"I dunno!" Leo replied, unable to hold back his own childish grin; he was flying on a giant rabbit spirit for crying out loud! "I guess it's because were invisible to them! Remember what I told you about how they only show themselves to those they want to?"
"So, we're invisible?!" Donnie cried, "that's…AWESOME! We're the wind! Yahoo!"
At Donatello's response, the other three brothers were, to say the least, a bit surprised. Normally he would have gone on a rant on how impossible it would be for a creature to truly be invisible to the naked eye, but instead, he simply accepted it. Just like that. Leo smiled at his younger brother.
As they continued to soar above the city, over the heads of millions of oblivious humans, Totoro released a mighty roar that echoed and boomed throughout the city like thunder after lightning.
Giving in to their childish pleasure, the turtles mimicked him. "GRRRAAAAAAGH!" they cried in unison before falling into another fit of laughter at the sheer stupidity of what they had done. They felt like children again, playing pretend without a single care in the world. And they loved every second of it.
Mikey looked to Donnie with a grin plastered on his face. "You believe me now Don?" he asked smugly.
Donnie pouted for a moment, before rolling his eyes and smiling at his younger brother. "Yeah, Mikey" he said kindly, "I'm sorry I ever doubted you little bro."
Mikey smiled back.
"Hey, guys!" Leo called to his brothers, "you know what this calls for?"
The boys all nodded in unison with ecstatic grins on their faces. They took in a deep breath and bellowed at the top of their lungs a single, spectacular word as they flew into the night skies:
"BOOYAKASHAAAAAAA!"
Back in the sewers, Master Splinter sat crossed legged under the tree in the centre of the dojo, his eyes closed and his expression calm. However, what could be seen on the outside was not entirely the same as what was on the inside.
'Where are those boys?' Splinter thought worriedly, 'they should have been home two hours ago…'
Hamoto 'Splinter' Yoshi may have been a highly skilled (and when the situation calls for it, highly dangerous) Ninja master and teacher, but he was also a father. A loving, slightly over-protective father with four mutant, teenage boys whom he had trained and raised on his own in the sewers for fifteen years, in fear of the human world above fearing them, rejecting them, abusing them or even experimenting on them for what they were, focusing on the outside rather than what was inside.
Ever since he had let them venture from the safety of the sewers almost a year ago, he had worried time and time again for their wellbeing, no matter how many times they told him 'Don't worry Sensei, we'll be careful' or 'we'll be home before midnight! We promise!'
Because since when do you trust a fifteen year old to keep his promise to be home on time anyhow?
For the past few nights this week, they have been staying out late, past their curfew, and even though he punished them for it, at least they had all come back safely. Now however, it was almost three in the morning, and they had still not yet returned from their evening patrol. No message, no phone call, nothing. He was beginning to become slightly nervous, but then again, he was always like this. He had said so to Leonardo himself. He was always afraid for them, every time the four of them left the lair.
It was something that, as a single father, he just could not hold back.
His mind was nearly set on going to the surface to find them himself, until a voice tainted with a mixture of relief and panic caught his attention from the doorway to the dojo.
"Master Splinter! Sensei!"
Splinter's eyes shot open at the sound of April O'Neil running into the dojo, her eyes wide and afraid as she tried to catch her breath. She had offered to stay with him in the lair until the turtles had returned, which had proven to be a while; she was not the only one who worried for their safety. To her, the four mutant turtles were like the brothers she never had.
"April? What is it? Calm yourself and tell me what has happened, my child," he said calmly, as he stood up to full height and placed a compassionate paw on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.
It seemed to work as she took a deep breath, and finally told Splinter the news. "It's the turtles!" she cried, "I found them near the entrance of the Lair, but…they were lying on the floor, unconscious! I-I just panicked s-so I came to get you!"
Splinter's eyes widened in fear as he quickly exited the dojo, with April close behind him. They made it to the turnstiles at the entrance of the Lair, but both gasped in shock at what he saw.
His four boys were lying on the floor, completely unconscious next to one another.
He rushed up to them and keeled down, scanning their bodies for any injuries and checking their pulses. They seemed fine, no bruises or broken bones anywhere. That at least, put his fears at ease for a bit. But why were they unconscious? What had happened to his boys?
"Sensei," April said, fear tinting her voice, "Will they be okay?"
Before Splinter could answer, he heard a groan from below him.
It was Leonardo. He was waking up! Thank goodness.
Both Splinter and April sighed heavily in relief as he held Leonardo's upper half in his arm and placed a gentle hand on his head. "Leonardo, it is me. Wake up, my son," he called to him softly.
Leo groaned again before his eyes finally blinked open, dragging himself to the world of the waking. He turned his head to his right, and his eyes flew wide open at the sight of his Sensei towering over him.
Oh shoot…
"Ah!" Leo exclaimed, sitting upright in one sharp movement, "S-sensei! H-how did you get out here – what the - ?" Splinter and April watched as Leo looked around him in pure confusion, and then gasp as he looked down at his still unconscious brothers. He went to them one by one and shook them awake, "Guys! Guys, wake up!"
"Mmmmm…muh?" Raph mumbled as he rubbed his eyes drowsily before bolting upwards in shock. "W-what the? How did we – wha?" he stuttered in bafflement.
Mikey woke up next with a long yawn and a stretch. "...mm…ah, that was a good – what the? Hey, how'd we get here?! Ah! Sensei!" he cried, noticing said rat sat across the platform watching their sons try and put together where they were and how they got there, with a not so pleasant look on his rat features.
Finally, Donnie woke himself up, but his awakening was not as slow as his brothers; he instantly knew something was wrong. In fact, as soon as his eyes flickered open, he was instantly on his feet and looking around him, his eyes wide and mouth agape in wordless shock. He spun around and caught sight of Splinter and April staring at him, and immediately turned as scarlet as a mutant turtle could get. "A-April! Sensei! Hi! Um…h-how long have you been sitting there?" he stuttered.
"Long enough" Splinter replied as he stood up, his sharp tone clearly telling the turtles he was NOT amused. "Did I not clearly tell you four to be home before midnight?! It is now three in the morning! Where have you been?!" he snapped, folding his arms over his chest in disapproval.
The boys in green looked to one another, fearful of what punishment could befall them tonight. There is no possible way that Sensei would believe their little tale. In fact, judging by the fact that they had woken up in that spot, it could have all been a dream.
But they didn't remember falling asleep, or even returning to the lair…
"Dudes!" Mikey piped up suddenly, "this is exactly what happened to me the first time! I was with Totoro in the forest, and then the next minute, I was in that tunnel place you found me at!" He shivered, "That's freaky!"
"I guess…that would make sense…" Donnie said, stroking his chin in thought "or logically speaking, it could be that we never experienced any of that at all, and that we were exhausted from the days' events and just passed out on the floor, and were simply dreaming all of it. After all, growing plants by stretching your arms up and down? Heh, it's just not physically possible – "
"Yo, Dorkatello," Raph interrupted, "before you go on one of your 'geek rants', what's that in your belt pocket?"
Blinking once, Donnie looked down to his belt and saw a small pouch tucked into it. "Huh? What's this?" he mumbled to himself as he took out the pouch and emptied its contents into his large green hand. His eyes flew open as he stared at his prize.
"…they're...acorns..."
For a moment, a stunned silence passed over them as they all gathered around and stared at Donnie's acorn-filled palm.
Donnie smirked once, a smile itching across his face.
Leo fought a smile, but was starting to fail as a chuckle escaped his lips.
Raph slapped his hands over his mouth to stop himself from laughing.
Mikey couldn't help but giggle a little bit.
Suddenly, the platform was filled with uncontrollable bursts of laughter from the turtles, all of them clutching their stomachs or doubling over in pain from their laughter. Splinter and April could only stare at them in disorientation. What just happened? What did they miss?
"Hahaha! Oh screw logic, it was real! It was all real! It wasn't a dream!" Donnie cried out in between his fits of laughter.
"Like shell it was!" Raph laughed, grabbing Donnie and pulling him down to give him a noogie, to which he protested to but laughed all the same.
"It's like you said, Mikey! Turtles were born to fly!" Leo laughed, thrusting his fist in the air triumphantly.
"Aw yeah, bros!" Mikey screamed joyfully, "We grew a giant TREE! HIGH THREE!"
As the brothers shared another high three and continued to laugh together, Splinter allowed himself to smile at the scene before him. He had not seen his boys act like this since they were very young, and had not yet held the burden of the world on their shoulders. It was a welcoming sight to behold to the eyes of a father. He looked down to April, who had also watched the scene with a smile on her face, happy to see that her four turtle brothers were well and happy, even if the reason for their happiness made no sense to her at all.
Maybe he could let their lateness slide, just this once. He was too tired to dish out any 'Randori' for now anyways.
It would have to wait until morning.
Later on that night, as the turtles departed to their rooms to gain some much needed rest, Donnie lay down in his bed, staring up at the ceiling with a smile on his face. He couldn't help but fondly remember their little adventure from that glorious night. It was truly breath-taking to watch that plant grow to an unimaginable size within seconds, and then be taken to fly high above the restless city of New York, to see the lights, to feel the wing rushing against is face, to feel truly at peace and carefree…and all because of a being, a creature, that only ever existed in stories and fairy tales had given them that chance.
Donatello realized as he drifted off to sleep, that this mighty yet gentle spirit had brought something back to him. Even in this cruel, uncaring, dangerous reality that they lived in, Donatello Hamato, in the space of one night, had been given back a precious gift…
…the ability to believe in the unbelievable.
And he was able to share those unforgettable moments with the people he loved more than anything in the world.
His brothers.