The Roads We Walk

by XIIIth Hazard

(Part: 2) – Still together, finally free and with Yoshi to protect them. You would think that the pain was over. But as it turns out, their nightmare was only just beginning. Turtle-Verse/Alternate Dimension. (Sequel: to 'The Walls We Build.')

11. Chapter 10

Chapter: 10

(Donnie's POV)

'Pickles?' I rolled the word around in my head as the voice made its' way toward us and the owner turned out to be more of a mountain than a man. The guy looked like he had been pulled straight off the cover of body builders weekly and with no shirt to speak of it was clear that he was actually a mutant.

He was bald and his skin was dark but it featured a strange design of what appeared to be scales yet at the same time he still generally resembled a human. All he would have needed was a sweater and he could have blended in with any group of people he chose.

"Okay enough standing around." The man bellowed after a second making everyone jump. "Follow my people here and they'll get you situated and no complaining about your rooms, you might hurt my feelings." He stated placing a hand to his heart in a hurt gesture as several ship workers gathered around and started leading the other mutants away as the man turned to speak with Casey.

"How many times am I gonna have to save your life?" He questioned folding his arms in an irritated gesture.

"You, all you did was sit here on your nice cozy ship." Casey argued.

"Someone's gotta do it, Case." The man stated as though he were speaking to a small child and the look on Casey's face made it near impossible to stop the laugh that bubbled up into my throat which in turn caused the guy to zero in on me and quickly kneel down to my level.

"You think I'm funny little kame?" He asked with a critical look, one that I could clearly see was fake and couldn't help smiling again.

'I like this guy.'

After a second he smiled back and rubbed my head. "You are Kale?" Splinter suddenly asked not at all concerned for our safety despite what some people might have considered aggression in the man's body language.

"That I am." Kale answered standing back up to address our father face-to-face. I had thought that; that might have been the case myself but his voice sounded somewhat different on the CB compared to real life so it was hard to be sure.

Splinter quickly placed his hands together and bowed deeply to the man. "Thank you for helping my family." He said with a great level of respect and Kale smiled again before bowing back just as deeply.

"It was my pleasure, Splinter-san." He stated but when they returned to their full height Splinter caught Casey glaring at him with his arms folded over his chest and Splinter presented him with a questioning look to inquire what the young man was so upset about.

"You make it very hard to stay mad at people." He declared simply with annoyance causing the other adults to laugh.

…

Kale personally showed us to our quarters where we would be staying for the duration of the trip which were uncomfortably small considering that my brothers and I all suffered from some form of claustrophobia.

But we couldn't have been happier to discover that there would be plenty of room for us and Splinter which even made us look past the fact that there was only one bed.

Later on Kale took it upon himself to show us the mess-hall as well which we discovered was the name for the cafeteria. He had just begun our introduction to the galley/kitchen (which by the way didn't only feature pickles but bread and water too) when a loud beep proclaimed itself through a small back box on the wall.

Kale proceeded to look at the box in question when it didn't do anything further and promptly stated. "Yes?" Toward the device and as if on Q it beeped again and a voice asked for someone by the name of; "Captain?"

Kale put on a big goofy grin and pointed excitedly at himself mouthing the words 'that's me' then straightened an invisible tie as he re-conducted himself in a respectful manner and declared. "Yes Lieutenant?"

The man on the other end of the line seemed somewhat surprised at being called by his rank but quickly got over it and stated his message. "We're coming up on Liberty."

"Ooo goody." Kale proclaimed quickly dropping his authority act in favor of one that resembled a kid in a candy store and began herding us back toward the door with a few urgent words like 'topside!' and 'march!'

In a matter of minutes we were back on the main deck where it seemed everyone and their brother had been informed of the same object of interest and proceeded to hoot like a five year old and ran to one side of the ship where he was quickly followed by Mikey; who turned around and told us excitedly that – "It's a lady."

Curious my brothers and I joined him and realized that it was in fact a lady; the 'Liberty Lady' to be precise. It was at that moment that Kale loudly cleared his throat and started reciting a great deal of information about the statue of liberty as if he were some kind of suit-less, shirt less, slightly weird tourist guide.

As we listened it became obvious that he had said much if not all of his speech many, many times before but yet still proclaimed the information in such a way that showed he loved every minute of it and held a great deal of respect for the intelligence of his audience as well as the land mark of which he preached.

It was at this point that I realized Kale was actually an incredible intelligent man which was admittedly not something I had expected upon first meeting him. His rough extorter had reminded me much more of Raph while his happy-go-lucky attitude made me think of Mikey; who both tended to shun information of all kind.

Though I knew my brothers were smart, in their own ways, this was my first experience of witnessing someone's personalities completely contradicting my first impression of them.

It made me realize that people were something I had a hard time understanding for I couldn't predict their actions like the toaster or the TV and nor could I learn about them in books. Apparently there were some things that could only be realized through life-experience and I had a long way to go.

…

(Donnie's POV)

Day 1: {Waters of Florida}

I was woken up rather rudely to a loud boom that echoed off the walls of the ship and was on my feet so quickly I didn't even remember standing up. It took me only a second to discover Leo and Raph in a similar position, looking around wildly for the source of the noise.

After a second I found that even Michelangelo; the lord of heavy sleeping himself was wide awake, though he hadn't yet made it to his feet instead he just clung to my legs like an coiled spring unwilling to let go.

Leo was quick to point out that Splinter was not in his bed and though we had expected this as Kale had made it clear that everyone was welcome on his ship but he did expect the capable to work and earn their stay, which included Splinter.

Though we knew to expect our new father to disappear we hadn't realized that it would start so soon or that the ship would start sounding like it was collapsing around us when it happened.

Of course it was at that moment that another boom rattled the floor causing Mikey to whine and clung tighter to me in fear which was the point that Raph got angry again as no one scared his baby brother and lived to brag about it.

Determined he loudly stomped toward the door and flung it open where he quickly became quite miffed that his opponent had not been on the other side for him to punch his lights out. But that was not about to stop any of us from hunting down the source of our brother's distress and putting a stop to it in anyway we could.

As we made our way out into the hall we took notice of the fact that it was completely deserted which made me wonder just how long we had been asleep, but we had been awake for well over 24 hours since the adrenalin pumping experience at the farmhouse so it wasn't all that surprising.

It didn't take Leo long to assume command and appoint me as temporary leader since I had memorized the route to the upper deck which left Mikey under Raph's protective watch which he obviously had little issue with at the moment.

As we got closer and closer to the outside we started hearing another sound, like someone was throwing rice at the ship in a continues rhythm. It wasn't nearly as jarring as the continuous booms but it was still entirely unfamiliar to us yet at the same time it seemed to encourage a level of calm that we hadn't had before.

When I finally located the airlock that would lead us to the deck I realized that a particular smell had joined the concoction as well and Leo quickly pushed me behind him to protectively put himself between whatever waited outside and us.

However before he could open the door the steel barricade suddenly flung open from the outside and we all quickly flattened ourselves against the wall as a bright yellow creature meandered inside dripping water all over the floor as Raph prepared to nail the thing to a wall but I held him back as I realized that it was actually Casey.

The teenage pulled the hood of his strange plastic coat down and started shaking water out of his hair. "Good hell–AH!" He proclaimed with a start when he finally realized we were standing there. "What are you doing up here?" He requested.

"What's that sound?" Leo ordered back not willing to answer any of his questions until ours' were solved.

Casey seemed taken aback but quickly got over it and stuttered a reply. "It's-" He started but suddenly seemed to reconsider. "Maybe it would be better if ya saw it." He declared and walked back outside.

More curious than nervous now we all made our way over to the doorway confident that Casey would never have been so casual had there been any real danger, but just in case Leo and Raph went first.

The first thing we noticed was the water and for a second I was afraid that the ship might be sinking but then I noticed that it was actually coming from – the sky.

"Cool!" Mikey declared squeezing out from under Raph's arm to get a better look which was when a strange flash of light lit the clouds and a second later a deafening crack rumbled through the air like God himself had decided to answer him.

We immediately retreated back into the doorway recognizing the boom as the ones we'd been hearing and Mikey clung to me again nearly cutting off the circulation in my arm as he tried to block out the loud sound.

It took a minute but the echo finally lost its momentum and died away at which point we noticed that it had been replaced with another noise this one the unmistakable chorus of cheering.

We looked back outside when Casey started to laugh and pulled the hood of his coat back over his head as the water started falling from the sky in a much more vigorous session.

Realizing that the ping of the droplets hitting the ship had been the other sound we had heard we started to wonder just how founded our fear of the booming was. If it brought water with it how bad could it truly be?

"These guys are crazier than I am." Casey laughed before looking around and realized that we were no longer with him and turned in a circle before finally locating us again. "Hey come on, it's just rain." He informed us.

'Rain?' I turned the name over in my head until I found a meaning for it. Condensed atmospheric water vapor and weather fronts came to mind as well as something that was often associated with the words thunder and lightning.

"It is alright my sons." Another voice suddenly encouraged from the direction of another yellow clad creature which turned out to be Splinter. He walked up to us and lowered his hood so we could see his face which was all it took for us to believe his words without question.

Almost instantly Mikey jumped back through the doorway and started hopping up and down in the nearest rain-puddle with his fear all but forgotten and the rest of us followed shortly after.

But of course our fun was short lived when another loud boom crashed through the sky and Mikey quickly fled to the safety of Splinter's arms. "It is only sound my son, it can not harm you." He proclaimed calmly.

"What is it?" Leo asked looking at the sky as the crowd cheered and hooted it up once again.

"Thunder." Splinter stated wisely and the name quickly brought to mind its meaning as the aftermath of lightning which was electricity that moved so fast and so forcefully that it literally split the air causing a sonic boom.

I quickly informed my brothers of this via turtle-speak but chose to leave out the little fact that, despite what Splinter said lightning had been known to hurt quite a bit. Instead I opted to let the phenomenon that was happening around us amaze and inspire as it should.

Besides Splinter would never have let us out were we in any danger and I was sure there was something else at play here that I didn't know about. Lightning rods and a few other ideas came to mind so I was sure we were fine.

We must have played in the rain for almost an hour but of course this was only after April had insisted that we dawn some of those stupid looking yellow coats. It bothered us that we couldn't feel the water on our skin but she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer and started spouting off things about Phenomena, Influenza and several other illnesses that I would rather not know about.

However I did know that Influenza could only be caused from exposure to other people with it and that it technically only affected birds and mammals but I doubted putting her mother-hen mode to the test would have gone over well so I let it go.

Though his fear quickly began to subside the more he heard it Mikey would still jump to Splinter's side whenever the thunder struck and I had to wonder if maybe it was just too loud for him as his senses always had been more sensitive than the rest of ours'.

"Why are they doing that?" Raph requested several minutes later when the crowd on deck had once again taken a small intermission in the act of tying tarps over things to cheer-on the thunder.

"Show no fear." Came the reply and we all looked around to find Kale walking up to us. "Always show the sea respect and the weather valor." He declared earning four identically confused looks and he let out one of his booming laughs before continuing.

"My father taught me to respect the sea for she is a fickle mistress, but the weather also deserves reverence for he too can bring disaster." He explained. "However respect is not measured in fear so we celebrate when they are in our presence so that they may enjoy ours and show us mercy."

"Does it work?" Raphael asked curiously.

Kale simply smiled. "Let me put it this way; neither I nor my father has ever lost a man or ship to either." He stated. "So we must be doing something right."

"Cool!" Mikey and Raph said as one before looking up at the sky excitedly when lighting flashed again. My brothers then made a point of cheering as loudly as they could when the thunder followed.

It took a few hours but the storm eventually rolled by and just as Kale had promised no harm ever befell anyone on board. Even the few people that had slipped in the puddles had laughed it off and continued on their way without injury, which made me wonder if there really was something to his words.

My brothers and I were quickly selected to help clean the water from the deck as we were just the right size to get into some hard-to-reach places but unfortunately for us it took Mikey all of a second to learn that work on a ship was still work regardless of what they called the mops and proceeded to make are lives as miserable as physically possible for the rest of the day.

Needless to say, there were a few times we might have found ourselves short a brother had Leo and I not stopped our local hothead from killing him.

…

(Leo's POV)

Day 2: {Cuba's Waters}

Thankfully we didn't receive another rude awaking on our second morning but Splinter was once again gone when we awoke which appeared would have to be something we just got use to.

We sat around the room doing random things for several minutes like we expected something to happen. Donnie attempted to teach Raph to play chess while Mikey tried to steal the pieces and use them as action figures so needless to say we got board pretty fast.

So we decided to wander around a little which had Donnie once again taking point and we never ventured anywhere he didn't have knowledge of no matter how much Mikey whined or Raph complained.

While we were checking out a door that was appropriately titled the 'folding chair storeroom' a familiar sound echoed through the halls and Mikey instantly begged us to follow its call which was how we found ourselves standing in a ridiculously long line outside the mess-hall.

It wasn't long before Splinter showed up as well but he just smiled and allowed us to stay in our spot while he ventured to the back of the line. I had to admit not having Splinter or April around all the time was weird but having the opportunity to fend for ourselves when knowing that we didn't have to was exhilarating in a way.

It wasn't anything like before when we had barely endured with the scraps we could find in the sewers and had cordoned ourselves off from others in the act of survival. No; this was different as we found that just about everyone we meet was willing to help us in some way and our number one rule; to stay alive had been replaced with the simple act of living.

After getting our food which consisted of a couple random sandwiches and – pickles we located a table and waited for Splinter. Mikey complained that he was hungry the whole time but our father had taught us that is was bad manners to eat before everyone in your family was seated.

When he finally arrived he bowed and proclaimed that he was pleased with our patience then allowed us to eat. Mikey ended up stealing at least one pickle from everyone's plate but he particularly seemed to have it out for Raph.

After everyone on the ship had eaten and many of the sailors had returned to their duties Casey initiated an arm wrestling competition which Leatherhead, Kale, Raph and Splinter ended up playing along with, as well as several other large mutants and even April got in on the action.

Of course I think she might have been cheating as it seemed like one minute everything was going smoothly and the next her opponent couldn't lift his arm, but after watching her a few more times I was barely able to make out a quick movement of her fingers connecting with a point on the other guy's hand before the arm went limp.

I'd have to remember that move for the next time Raph wanted to pick a fight which looked like it might be real soon for he was currently dancing around like an idiot proclaiming himself the world champion for defeating Leatherhead in fair combat; that was until Mikey decided it would be fun to sneak up behind him and dump a plate of pickles down the back of his shell.

'Great, now he would smell like dill for the rest of the day.'

Raph was quick to retaliate and chased our little brother around the room for several minutes before said sibling hid behind Donnie for shelter. Donatello was given only a few seconds to attempt a peace offering before Raph accidentally punched him in the face while trying to hit Mikey.

Both of them were so surprised by this that all they could do was stare at each other for a minute then Donnie got – that look – and Raph soon found himself flat on the floor with his slightly younger brother laid out over his plastron holding him down in just such a way that Raphael couldn't push him off no matter what he tried.

But what really made it funny was that Donnie was obviously using very little energy and could have easily kept him there all day if he so desired.

…

"Damn it!" We heard the curse just as soon as we walked onto the deck and started toward the noise of metal pounding on metal and after a minute we finally located the source. Casey, August and Leatherhead were all gathered around the armored truck holding various tools and looking quite disgruntled about something.

Before any of us could ask what they were doing Casey attempted to start the truck and the poor thing gave a cough and seemed to really give a whole hearted attempt to start but in the end just refused to turn over.

"Come on baby come on!" Casey cooed from the driver's seat as he pumped the brakes trying once again to start the vehicle but ended with the same result.

"I think you might have thrown a rod." August declared from within the confines of the truck's engine.

"Oh goody." The teen proclaimed un-amused as he walked around to look in at the innards himself.

"And how are you this morning?" We heard a voice suddenly address us and turned to find Leatherhead, we all smiled at him before I answered.

"Good."

"What happened to the truck?" Raph asked somewhat concerned, admittedly I didn't like seeing the object that had single handedly saved us from Shedder, slavery and the Purple Dragons in such bad shape either.

"There's no need to worry I'm sure we can fix it." Leatherhead stated choosing not to answer my brother's question. "Just don't get too close okay?" He requested somewhat distracted as the other two grown ups struggled with something.

We all nodded at him and he quickly made his way back over to the truck and considering the colorful words Casey started splitting out seconds later the alligator had no doubt saved the teen from some form of unspeakable circumstance.

When the adults were no longer focused on us I turned back to my brothers to find that Donnie was crouched down lower in an attempt to examine the truck from 20 feet away as he exchanged a few ideas with Raphael. I knew that my slightly younger brother had read a few of Casey's car and motorcycle magazines while we had been at the farmhouse so he may not have been a pro but he knew more about vehicles than he let on to his general audience.

"Well?" I asked in our old language a second later when Donnie started to tap his chin; a clear sign that he had an idea and he nodded before saying that he could probably make it work but would need a distraction.

I smiled and looked toward my youngest brother who gave me a smirk that would have struck fear into the heart of any other creature on the planet.

"You got it." I answered giving Donnie the go ahead to put his plan into action and instructed Raph to help as well as watch his back and they both nodded once before moving off to get into position while I followed Mikey around to the rear of the truck and into the back.

It took Mikey less than a minute to get what he needed and suggest the best place to set up position. I may have been the leader but Mikey was the prank king so I couldn't deny that this was his area of expertise and after another couple minutes of sorting out his supplies he gave me the nod and we set our distraction into motion.

Heads no doubt turned all over the ship when billows of green, pink and yellow smoke billowed from random areas of the shipping crate maze like some crazy drunken jamboree.

My little brother and I quickly climbed to the top of one to watch as sailors attempted to sort out what had happened and looked back at the truck to find that Casey recognized the smolder as the result of his smoke bombs and was booking it to the crime scene at top speed with Leatherhead and August in hot pursuit.

When they were out of sight I gave Joe's semi the thumbs up and the two forms of my other brothers darted out and under the smaller truck beside it before looking back around and smiled as Mikey enjoyed his victory and I gave him a nod to show that I approved.

He wasn't considered the prank king for nothing, he knew what funny was and he knew that setting off a real smoke bomb would not have been as we had learned quickly that smoke was downright feared on a ship. Not because it meant fire but because there was nowhere to run from it.

We needed to get a point across but that didn't mean we wanted to scare anyone, so the colored smoke had been a given and my little brother had understood that and I admit I was quite proud of him for it.

As the smoke started to die down laughter could be heard below as it would seem that a few individuals had been unfortunate enough to get too close and now made quite the statement as they walked from the mess covered from head to toe in green, pink or yellow dye.

Unfortunately I had to call the party short and pulled Mikey back as we made our way back down to the deck and met up with Raph and Donnie who were both covered with spots of grease and oil but looked quite smug about something.

Donnie gave me the thumbs up as we rallied together again and I quickly called for a retreat as Leatherhead, August and Casey came back around the corner and watched the three as Casey himself was revealed to have received a face full of bright pink smoke.

The teen grumbled obviously not as amused about the whole thing as everyone else but the laughter quickly died away when they noticed something different about the scene before them.

The truck that had been dead on its tires not five minutes before now purred like a kitten and also seemed to have no other issues to speak of.

I called it when the three started trying to figure out what had happened and my brothers and I turned to get out of there before we were caught, but as fate would have it; it seemed we were already too late.

We gave our father four identical guilty smiles as he considered the chaos around us, from the plums of colorful smoke to the miracle of engineering technology that we had been forbidden from touching not ten minutes before.

While I watched Splinter study the area I knew he had seen the whole thing but for some reason he didn't seem that angry, in fact he looked down right proud.

It seemed like forever before he finally looked back at us but when he did the first thing we saw was his smile of approval. And my brothers and I all smiled back before Splinter nodded and walked away with out a word.

It was then that Raph quickly clicked off something in our old language and I couldn't help but agree.

'Maybe there was something to the ninja stuff after all.'

…

(Raph's POV)

Day 3: {Caribbean Sea}

Curiosity coupled with Mikey's annoying habit to play hide-and-seek without telling anyone to seek, we knew this was going to happen eventually.

Mikey had disappeared.

I opened a random door in the hall and glared at the empty room which didn't contain the person of my search causing the wall to submit with fearful silence and I smirked before moving on.

Donnie walked ahead of me trying to focus on our brother's position through our link but was having only slightly more luck than I was which didn't add up to much considering we were still coming up short.

Several minutes later I was so frustrated I kicked a garbage bin but unfortunately the thing was bolted to the floor which earned me a sore foot in exchange when it didn't give way under my attack.

Donnie jumped as the sound reverberated down the hall and I quickly leaned up against the wall to hide the fact that I couldn't walk at the moment. He looked around a second later and I could tell that he knew of my little secret but decided not to say anything.

He just quietly walked over and sat on the floor next to me, opting to take a break instead. However from that angle I could clearly see the discoloration on the right side of his jaw and I winched knowing I had been the cause.

I really hadn't meant to hit him and he knew that which was why he had retaliated like he did; he was just speaking my language which translated to 'if you could still get up and fight that meant you were alright,' but that didn't make me feel any better.

My brothers and I didn't bruise easily so that meant I had hit him even harder than I originally thought and on top of that he had been complaining about a headache since we woke up which I couldn't help but feel responsible for too.

I had apologized three times already once for Splinter, once for myself and a third to get Leo off my back. Donnie had said he was fine each time and that he forgave me but it still brought up all kinds of unpleasant memories.

I fought with Leo on a daily basis as it was kind of our thing and Mikey annoyed me to no end just about as often so how could I not smack the little pest around. But despite my anger I knew to hold back, it was my job to protect my brothers I never wanted to hurt them.

And Donnie was different; I could count on one hand how many times we've fought but I had only ever hit him once, which was that night we had escaped from the White Coats. He had stayed behind; willing to risk his own life, his own chance at freedom to get me out of that cage and how had I repaid him? A punch, yeah I was a real winner.

I would never forget what my brother did for me that night and I would probably never forgive myself for what I did either. I had left a bruise that time too; a horrible disfiguring thing that had bothered him for days but he had never showed it instead he acted like it was nothing; just like he was now.

Why couldn't he just hate me? Some part of me thought that might have made it better yet another part feared that he actually would.

"8 stop it!"

I looked up from my sulking when I heard the clicks and chirps of my brother's old language as I was getting use to the fact that he didn't talk. But he had used my number, which to us was the equivalent of a full-name; used only when we were really serious.

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and I slid down the wall to sit next to him. He always knew when we were upset and always knew why too, it made keeping secrets from him kind of hard but that was okay, Donnie kept good secrets.

"I didn't mean to." I said in a small voice, why I spoke out-loud I wasn't really sure I guess in a way it meant more cause we were still learning the language.

He sighed dejectedly but didn't answer and I knew it was because he was getting annoyed with my guilt trip. He had more patience than Splinter, Leo and the freaking Buda combined but he hated repeating himself. That's why I always listened the first time which was a pull even Leo couldn't claim he had on me.

But Leo was different; we'd follow him regardless of what he said and even I couldn't deny that I did it, but when Donnie talked you stopped whatever it was you were doing 'cause you knew it was important and frankly he could be downright mean when people ignored him.

It took a few minutes but he finally answered me and of course it wasn't quite the response I was expecting so when I found myself on the receiving end of his fist I was understandably surprised.

After scraping my face off the floor I couldn't help but wince as I massaged a place on my jaw that would likely bruise by morning, but of course I think that had been his point.

Looking back at my brother I found him rubbing his hand experimentally. He didn't like to use brute force in fact he hated so if he had felt that this was the only way to get through to me than it probably was.

And I think he was right as before I even knew what I was doing I had a smile on my face and was on my feet ready to take him on again. "What did you do that for?" I yelled grumpily knowing that he wouldn't take it personally and quoted something about equivalent exchange as he stood and folded his hands behind his back in a confident pose.

He explained the meaning to me when I gave him a confused look and realized it was probably something he'd read in a book but it was simple and too the point; just what I needed.

I gave him a look as he studied me as if trying to see if he had finally gotten through and after a minute he nodded and walked off obviously pleased with what he had found. It took me a second to realize that I had just been totally manipulated and was now more determined than ever to set him straight so promptly charged my brother's retreating form from behind.

The force took us both back to the ground and we laughed hysterically for several minutes before deciding that we had wasted enough time and continued our search for our missing brother.

…

This was getting old; normally we could find each other fairly easily but every time we thought Mikey would be around the next corner it turned out to be just another corner.

"Where is he?" I growled when another hallway didn't yield the annoying sibling of our search. I swear it felt like he was right there but still we couldn't find him.

I was starting to wonder if he was playing a game with us but Donnie explained that it might be the ship as we weren't accustomed to being on a multi-level playing field and we knew the ship had lots of them, both below and above the water line.

It was really throwing us off as not only could we sense water on all sides but we could feel its pull stronger than ever and on top of that the consent swaying convinced our bodies that we were in the ocean.

It might not have been sea-sickness but this wasn't much better.

"There you are." A voice suddenly proclaimed and we reversed coarse back to the hallway we had just passed to find Kale walking toward us. "I found them." He said into a walky-talky as he meandered up to us.

'Uh oh, did that mean we were in trouble?'

He just smiled at us warmly before handing the little talk-box to me but I just looked at the thing in confusion before Donnie finally pushed the talk button for me. "Hello?" I asked it.

"My son, are you alright?" Splinter's voice asked.

"Yeah." I stated. "But we didn't find Mikey."

"It's okay Raphael, we found him." Splinter assured me and I glared at the box as if I could set my brother on fire through the speaker for making us wander aimlessly around the ship.

"Is your brother alright?" Splinter asked and Donnie gave me a thumbs-up which I translated to a 'yes.' Kale then reached down and took the device back and spoke to our father. "I'll bring them up, let's meet in the mess-hall." He stated which Splinter agreed to and the line was cut.

"Are we in trouble?" I had to ask.

Kale looked at me slightly surprised as he clipped the CB to his belt again but quickly smiled again and shook his head. "No, your father understands." He stated as he lead the way back down the hall. "Being on a ship can be quite disorienting for mutants who rely on the magnetic field. Trust me I know all too well." He explained.

"Maga-what?" I asked looking at Donnie for an explanation.

"Magnetic field." Kale corrected me. "Its how you navigate or find your way around. However the poles are always moving when you're on a ship so it's easy to get confused."

'Yeah I'm definitely confused now.' I thought as I wrinkled my beak at the floor in annoyance.

Kale laughed softly at my expense but I didn't take it personally as Donnie quietly spent the next several minutes trying to explain the north and south poles, the pull of the magnetic field around the earth and a lot of other stuff that I quickly decided I really didn't care about.

But as we ascended a staircase Kale decided to voice a concern of his own. "So, why don't you talk?" He asked my brother and Donnie quickly hid behind my shell causing the man to quickly make amends. "I'm sorry, did I touch a nerve?"

Looking over my shoulder at my slightly younger brother I could tell that he had. Donnie had already been asked by a few people why he remained silent but the ship's doctor was one of the worst.

The man was just doing his job and we knew that, but he had pushed Donnie to talk so hard that my brother now hid from him whenever he was around. True the knife had left a slight scar one that would probably never go away but as far as anyone could tell his throat was completely healed. He just didn't want to talk.

But I could understand my brother's fear probably better than anyone after all he had gotten that scar trying to defend me and admittedly I was starting to worry myself. Was he hiding something from us, something we should know?

When Kale retreated again wisely deciding that it wasn't his place I asked Donnie about it which caused him to appear slightly surprised as neither I nor our brothers had brought it up yet, manly because we had respected his decision. But if there was something truly wrong I wanted to know about it before it was too late.

He rubbed his arm nervously for a second I suddenly became concerned that whatever he was leading up to tell me was really serious until finally he admitted in our old language the he was scared.

Of course I already knew that and he knew that I already knew that but somehow this felt different. "Scared of what?"I asked trying to keep my voice calm and kind.

He rubbed his arm again which was a habit we all had when we were nervous before asking a question of his own in our old language

'What if I can't?'

I couldn't help blinking at him in surprise as that word hit me like a train.

'Can't?'

Hearing that simple phase come out of Donnie's mouth just felt wrong on so many levels, "There's nothing you can't do." I ordered obsessively causing him to pull back a little in shock but hey it was true, out of all of us Donnie could do anything, there was no doubt; not now not ever.

He looked at the floor obviously a little embarrassed as apparently he didn't think I had that kind of confidence in his ability which made me a little angry, he always did have uncertainties about his choice not to fight but that was understandable.

Unlike the rest of us Donnie had actually lost a brother and he blamed himself for causing it whether it was for not being strong enough or for being too strong I could never really tell but he didn't want to fight and we weren't going to make him.

"Stop doing that!" I ordered gently causing him to look up at me again. "So what if you're not a good fighter, you more than make up for it and you'll get better as we get older. We'll work it out, we'll find a way."

'Good grief listen to me, I sound like Leo.' The thought scared me a little but looking at Donnie I realized that all the mushy stuff was well worth it as just with those few little sentences alone had my brother's confidence rising. He looked taller than he had in a long time and I suddenly realized how much I missed it.

I found myself smiling and threw my arm around his shoulders where I trapped him in a headlock so I could give him a noogie. "We'll work it out little brother."I told him seriously. Even if I had to re-teach him to speak myself I would find a way.

"I promise!"

…

(Mikey's POV)

Day 4: {Panama Canal}

On our fourth day we reached Panama and I don't think I've ever seen anything so green. Trees the size of buildings dominated the shores while vines, flowers and other plants had encroached from every other angle and apparently there was a city too, if you could find it.

My guess was that it had to be somewhere around the bridges, but of course I only knew they were bridges once we had floated under them and I looked up to see pavement poles and cables barely distinguishable through the foliage.

Leo quickly pulled my head down when one of Kale's sailors meandered by with a long stick slung over the side, using it to push stuff away from the ship so it wouldn't get stuck in the rudders.

He smiled at us before continuing on his way and we got back up to watch another ship traveling in the other direction which was when I saw her. A mutant on the other ship was about our age and she was watching us.

We all waved at her enthusiastically and she waved back just as much.

"My name's Mikey." I called to her as we got closer. "What's yours?"

"Mary." She called back and giggled embarrassedly.

"Do you want to be friends?" I yelled running down the deck trying to keep up with the ship as it floated out of the channel.

"Sure." She yelled back reaching the end of her own ship and having to scream at the top of her lungs so she could be heard.

"Cool." I screamed again unintentionally hurting my throat but I didn't care; I could tell that she had tried to say something else but I couldn't quite make out what it was so I just waved at her again earning one in return.

"Awesome our first friend." I declared excitedly whipping around to face my brothers again as they ran up to me.

"We've made tons of friends." Raph corrected smacking me upside the head gently.

"Yeah well – she's different." I defended folding my arms in determination to prove that I was right.

Excluding each other of course she had been about as close as Leo and I had ever been to another mutant our own age, let alone a girl. Donnie and Raph had been kept with others at the lab but it was hard to say if that counted.

"What are you doing my sons?" We all whipped around in a panic at the sudden arrival of our father and quickly realized that he did not look pleased. "I thought I told you to stay where I could see you." He declared folding his arms in disapproval.

Ever since I had disappeared before Splinter had made it a rule that we always stay in sight and if we wanted to leave we asked permission first which wasn't that much to ask for and I knew that, but I'd – forgotten.

"We made a friend, her name is Mary." I informed him jumping up and down with excitement as if that would get us off the hook. Confused Splinter turned to my brother's for an explanation.

"There was a girl on the ship that just passed." Leo stated. "We didn't realize we'd moved so far."

"We're sorry." Raph backed him up.

Splinter turned to watch the departing ship for a second then looked back at us and after another minute he seemed to understand that this had meant a lot to me and his eyes softened. "Very well." He stated. "I will let it pass just this once, but next time you will be punished. Do you understand?" and we all nodded in confirmation.

…

A few hours later we finally docked and we all meandered off the ship where it took us a while to get used to the fact that the ground was no longer moving, but Splinter was patient with us.

We said goodbye to the mutants from the slave trade as most of which we had managed to befriend and my brothers and I hated to see go, but we knew they would be safe now.

August had explained that when the world had collapsed Panama became its leading international trade-port. Food, supplies, weapons equipment, anything that made survival possible in this new dark-age was shipped through this channel which of course made it a prime target for gangs and pirates looking for a way to rule the world but thankfully the United States military had safety secured the canal and run-out the gangs.

Though it still wasn't the safest place in the world people who needed to disappear found theycould easily get lost in the chaos of the port.

Of course it was at this time that we were reminded that Angel and Casey would be going with them but what we hadn't been expecting was that April was leaving too.

"No!" I whined quickly running up to encircle April's legs with one of my steel-like hugs refusing to let her go.

"I feel loved." I heard Casey joke as he leaned against August's shoulder basking in all the attention he wasn't getting.

"Mikey." April cooed trying to dislodge me which only made me cling tighter until she finally just sat on the ground and brought me into her arms. "It'll be okay." She stated obviously trying not to cry herself but I just shock my head in denial.

I didn't care what she said it would not be okay.

"Come on pal, we'll visit." Casey declared but Raph quickly gave him a look that could melt steel which caused the teen to fold his arms and stat forcefully. "But if that's how yu're gonna act maybe we won't."

"NO!" I screamed hanging onto April as if my life depended on it.

"Casey!" She yelled at him, I swear only April could make someone's name sound like a charge for a crime.

"Oops my bad." He stated and quickly tried to amend his wrong. "Come on Mikey, I was just kiddin'." He said softly and I felt his hand rubbing small circles on my shell. "Of course we'll visit and I'll even bring a whole stack a pizza's."

This was probably the only time in my life that I chose not to react to the promise of Pizza but if he truly believed that I thought April was less important that a pie he was sorely mistaken.

"Wow." Casey stated rubbing his hand over his head now at a total loss. "Not even a flinch." He announced.

It wasn't that I didn't understand for I knew April had responsibilities in New York with people to care for, she couldn't stay with us forever and we had known that but I didn't want her to go.

True Angel and Casey had been close friends; some of the best we'd ever had and we would always value them for what they did for us but April had been there from day one.

She had cared for us feed us, brought us out of our shells, without her we might never have met Splinter or even tried to trust him. We could have been hauled back to the lab by now or lying dead in a gutter somewhere if she hadn't worked so hard to earn our trust and show us that not all humans were bad.

She tried to assure me that everything would be okay that we would see her again but she was needed elsewhere and she refused to put us in danger by bringing us back to New York and I knew she was right, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

…

(Splinter:)

Day 5: {North Pacific Ocean}

They had returned to the ship after spending the day seeing their friends off and making a point of finding some real food. However as the day wore on and the ship cast off again Splinter became increasingly concerned for his sons.

He began to wonder if maybe he should have warned them about April but she had requested that he not tell them as she didn't want them to be depressed and miserable, she wanted them to enjoy their first time on a ship without having to be burdened by the knowledge of her departure and he had respected her choice, but now he worried that the shock may have been too much.

They were taking her absence much harder than was viably healthy and in fact he couldn't help comparing it to the reaction of a child might have to being separated from his mother.

Raphael was distant and hardly ever talked and when he did it was usually only to yell at one or more of his siblings even if they had done nothing wrong. However he usually realized the injustice of his actions within seconds and quickly retreated again.

Mikey stayed close to Splinter's side and seeing his youngest sulk instead of play and cry instead of laugh made the rat master feel like the world had just lost its last light; it was heart breaking.

Donatello worried him as well; already silent he feared the child might never speak again after this and what was worse Splinter knew that he was associating this experience with whatever brutal loss he had suffered in the lab. The turtle learned by comparison and though he undoubtedly knew the difference there was just nothing else he could relate this kind of pain with.

However of all his sons Leonardo was truly beginning to scare him, not because of his method of suffering as it was quite the opposite for he didn't appear to be phased at all, instead he just went about his day as though nothing was wrong.

He couldn't allow his son to do this it to skip the grieving process would only cause him more harm in the end as it would soon prove harder and harder to cope until he would finally break under the pressure.

During this crucial time when all four needed each other for comfort and guidance Leo would prove to be the stick that broke the camel's back as he could not provide it in this state.

Raphael already seemed quite miffed about his calm composure and it wouldn't be too much longer before the turtle's passionate soul demanded he take action. Michelangelo too was beginning to drift away from his oldest brother like he was afraid something would rub off on him.

Donatello was the only one who had yet to alienate himself from Leonardo but Splinter feared the little turtle's spirit was too weak at this time; he couldn't cope with more lose and if his patience ran out Leo would be left alone to crumble and fall apart.

Something had to be done and it had to done soon.

…

Day 7: {Off the coast of Hawaii}

Splinter watched his sons as they sat off to the side out-of-the-way of everyone on deck when normally they were constantly underfoot.

"I'm concerned Splinter." Leatherhead declared as he carefully placed a heavy piece of equipment where a sailor had indicated.

"As am I." He admitted.

"I miss the laughter." Scott stated absent mindedly to which Splinter was somewhat surprised. The man had barely spoken or interacted with anyone over the course of the trip.

Leatherhead was about to speak again but suddenly focused on something over Splinter's shoulder and the ninja master turned to see what it was only to find Kale standing there looking deeply disturbed.

"Master Splinter may I speak with you?" He asked.

"Of course my friend." He answered making sure that Scott and Leatherhead had everything under control before followed before re-locating him again a minute later leaning against a shipping create watching his sons with concern.

"I see we are not the only ones to notice a distinct lack of happiness." Splinter observed.

Kale just sighed before answering. "We value children on this ship Master Splinter." He started simply. "They're the reason we do what we do we have helped many find freedom from the slave trade some of whom are now members of my crew." Kale explained still watching the turtles with a level of sadness.

"Many, many children have walked these decks and too many of them were broken long before they arrived." Kale stated. "We do what we can but most often it is not enough." It was at this point that the captain finally turned to look at the older mutant again. "We fight for them Splinter-san we fight for the day that children live free and prosper as they should, regardless of their race or species. They are our future, without them there is no hope."

"I agree." Splinter said turning to watch his sons again. "I never imagined that this would affect them so strongly. I admit I – I do not know what to do."

"Would you allow me to try something?" Kale asked kindly and Splinter casually turned to look at him knowing that at this point he was ready to try anything.

"What did you have in mind?"

…

(Donnie's POV)

I was beginning to feel more like a pillow than a turtle as Mikey was currently curled up in my lap hugging my arm to the point that I could no longer feel my fingers while Raph was leaning up against my back looking at the sky in a bored fashion as he attempted to bask.

Leo was nearby but he didn't seem as interested in being with the group. I don't think he slept at all the last few nights and he wasn't even letting himself bask now, instead he just stood around and watched us like he was afraid that if he didn't constantly have us in his sights we would disappear.

I knew he had a nasty habit of carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders which made it hard for him to accept and adapt tochange a habit that had actually stemmed from long before we became a family.

I had actually been the first living creature he had ever encountered other than a White Coat and he had watched me day and night obsessed over keeping me safe until finally he collapsed from exhaustion.

April had become a part of his life, his environment he had learned to trust her and see her as a member for his family, someone he was obligated to protect and now that she was gone he couldn't handle the loss. It made him feel alone again like somehow he had failed.

Normally my brothers and I could pull him out of it but this time was different as he literally wouldn't allow us too. Instead he was determined to wallow in his misery like he was preparing himself to be alone again. It was really starting to worry me.

I was accustomed to my brothers coming to me for comfort; it was like my very presence brought them peace, my current position as a living throw cushion proved that and I could usually pin-point after a while how best to help a particular sibling.

Mikey could usually be satisfied with love and Raph responded best to physical force but this new side of Leo was something I had never seen before and I didn't know how to help him and he wouldn't let me get close enough to try.

I looked at the black band on my arm when it declared with a tiny beep that it had finished charging however I hadn't heard Raph's or Mikey's yet so I stayed as I was letting them remain comfortable as I we waited.

But apparently someone somewhere had other plans as the ship suddenly started slowing down which was such a quick, unexpected change that we fell off our little designated basking spot.

Leo and Raph were up again within seconds and looked around for the source of the interruption while I stood up a little slower and helped Mikey to his feet again before looking around as well. I could see land off in the distance but it wasn't close enough that we should be stopping however the ship continued to slow and before long had stopped all together.

I was beginning to think there might be a problem but that thought was dashed when people started running across the deck and jumping off the ship; hooting and screaming in excitement.

Now really confused but also really curious we moved to the side to see what was going on only to find them swimming in the water with several creatures I quickly recognized as Dolphins.

"Cool." Raph stated leaning as far over the edge as he could trying to see them but it was at that point that something in the distance jumped and created a splash worthy of being a wave all on its own.

"What was that?" Mikey asked trying to see the thing again but with it being underwater it was kind of hard.

"Why don't you go ask it?" Kale suddenly stated from right behind us but my brothers and I had barely a second to prepare before he, Splinter and Leatherhead picked us up and threw us right over the side of the ship.

I couldn't help closing my eyes as I fell but when I hit the water everything just felt right again.

I let the sacred liquid calm my nerves as I prepared to stay under for the rest of forever if I had to but the end of forever came sooner than I thought when Raph tapped my shell to get my attention.

Opening my eyes again I turned to look in the direction he was pointing and almost swallowed a mouthful of salt-water when the mystery animal swimming not three feet away turned out to be a freaking whale.

It was obvious that the thing was just as curious about us as we were of it and Mikey swam right up to its eye to wave at it to which it just continued to give him a lazy look but I guess it was the thought that counted.

It stuck around for several minutes letting us touch its back and listen to its somewhat mournful singing before finally swimming away at which point we thought it might be a good idea to breathe in some air and let everyone know we were still alive.

When we broke the surface Mikey was laughing uncontrollably and the rest of us couldn't stop smiling however when I looked back up at the ship it was obvious that Splinter was the only thing keeping many of the sailors from trying to save us.

"Are you alright my sons?" He asked with a smile as he watched us from the deck.

We barely had a chance to answer him before Mikey said. "Look!" Immediately we all turned and found that the Dolphins had returned and swam closer in an attempt to check us out.

One in particular swam right up to us and turned on its side so we could rub its belly while the others started laughing and doing tricks in an attempt to bid for our attention. Mikey immediately started laughing with them as his new friend turned completely on its back in an effort to be scratched in the just the right place.

"Can we keep him?" He asked of Splinter who suddenly looked like he just swallowed a bug.

"No!" He stated firmly and without question.

Mikey looked slightly depressed by this but it didn't last very long before the other Dolphins started begging for his attention and I even caught Leo laughing as two more singled him out as a stick-in-the-mud and started bumping him with their noses before swimming away at top speed and Raph of course managed to find the only Dolphin on the planet that enjoyed staring contests as much as him.

I grabbed a hold of the dorsal fin of one as it passed by and dove with it as it swam gracefully through the water until it started to drift a little too far from my brothers and I let go to start back toward the ship, but not before I came face to face with the strangest looking fish I had ever seen.

The thing had huge eyes and a big gapping mouth with its head framed by two big frilly fins. I smiled at it and it gave me a look before swimming off as if it didn't care either way.

…

We played with the Dolphins and fish for hours before they eventually moved on and Kale was about to call us in when something else happened that seemed to change his mind; the arrival of another animal this one a little closer to our hearts.

A group of sea turtles.

They stopped migrating when they reached us and we were able to touch their shells and rubbed circles on their backs finding that they liked it just as much as we did. We stayed down with them watching how they swam and tried to copy their moves finding that we actually moved much faster that way.

After a minute I spotted one that had floated into the middle of a colony of brightly colored fish that seemed to be cleaning the turtle's skin and shell. Curious Leo and I located our own school and floated up to the fish like we had seen the older turtle do and tried not to laugh as the little creatures nibbled at our skin as well.

The turtles stuck around for maybe an hour before informing us that they had to get to the 'nesting grounds' which was when we realized that they were all females. Somehow just knowing that such an occasion was important we moved aside and watched them leave without argument.

By the time we resurfaced we were so exhausted we were forced to float on our backs to stay up and ended up getting piggybacks from some of the sailors as they climbed the ladder back to the deck, but it was worth it.

Once we were all wrapped up in towels and blankets Splinter and Leatherhead escorted us back to our room. Mikey was nearly asleep when we arrived and use only the minimal amount of energy it took to curl up like a leach against Raph's side where they both dropped out like a light a second later.

I myself didn't even remember falling asleep so I had no idea what time it was when I was awakened by the slightest of movement from one of my pillows. It was almost completely dark so I had to feel around to discover which brother was missing which was when I heard Splinter speak ever so softly to him and I listened as Leo cried into our father's arms finally letting himself feel the pain.

…

(Raph's POV)

Day 10: {Border of Washington and Vancouver}

Now I liked water as much as the next turtle but when I found myself as well as the spot I had just mopped drenched in it for the 6th time in as many minutes the novelty was wearing thin.

"Mikey!" I yelled turning to find my youngest brother conveniently several feet away.

"What?" He asked as though he was as innocent as the day he was hatched.

"Come on Mikey." Leo stated digging deep into his well of leaderly patience. "We should have had this done an hour ago."

"How is that my fault?" He requested earning himself a glare from all corners of the deck. "Fine." He whined plopping his mop down on the floor. "Grouches?" Hoping that this meant the end of the constant set backs and distractions I returned to my chore.

I should have known it wouldn't last.

Not but three minutes later Mikey had swung his swab (or whatever they called it) in too wide an arch and had managed to knock my bucket over again.

"Hey!" I yelled again this time opting to just throw my mop at him like some kind of ridiculous looking javelin that happened to dawn a sponge for a tip but unfortunately he dodged at the last second, which resulted in the thing sliding happily under the guard rail and into the ocean. "Oops." I proclaimed apologetically.

Running over to watch as the mop floated away on the current never to be seen again I quickly turned my glare back on my smallest sibling.

"I didn't do it." He defended but I was about to make it pretty obvious that I didn't agree and was slightly tempted to just throw him overboard and see how long it took for his little green ass to disappear from sight.

But before anything was done that we might regret Donnie jumped in as peace keeper and relinquished his own mop and offered to go find another before heading for the lower decks, confident that Leo could keep us in check.

'Great.' I roiled my eyes as Leo gave me one of his leader-looks and I started 'swabbing the deck' again determined to ignore him. Leo always seemed that much more annoying when Donnie wasn't around.

…

(Donnie's POV)

There were very few places on the ship that I hadn't visited and memorized by now, though I wasn't allowed to go into most of them mostly because the equipment was dangerous but all I needed was a 'swab closet' most of which I had already mentally-mapped out, so how hard could it be?

(40 minutes later)

It was times like this that I wished the ship had more wood to knock on. Already I had located eight different cabinets all of which were completely empty with the exception for a couple soggy roils of paper towels and a single moldy half chewed sponge.

In the end I checked everyone of the rooms that I knew about and as fate would have it not one contained the object of my search, which probably meant that they were either already in use or throwing them off the ship was more common than I first thought.

Sighing dejectedly I closed the last door before starting back empty handed that was until I saw a staircase, having mapped out the lower floors this was the closest I had ever been to the top level of the ship.

If it was modeled even remotely similar to the lower decks I could probably find my way around perhaps even find a few more supply closets. How often would they use mops up there any way? And if I was wrong I could just turn around and go back outside.

Making up my mind I stood back up and started cautiously up the stairs but it didn't take long to realize that this level was very different from the others.

As I walked a few paces down the hall curiously trying make out what the plaques near the doors read I realized none of them said the words I was looking for and turned around again ready to follow my mental map back to the staircase.

However when I happened to look through an open doorway I immediately forgot what I was doing.

The most notable feature of the room had to be the large wooden wheel that was set into the center of the floor which I knew from a book I had read at the farmhouse was called the helm, which meant I had just found the bridge.

Curiosity winning out over my precautions and I walked further into the space as I remained mesmerized by the compasses, ranging from simple to complex and the levers, buttons, switches and things I would kill to know the purposes of.

Then I noticed the large window looking over the bow of the ship and I stood on my tip-toes to see the deck below where people maneuvered about coiling rope and dumping buckets of water over the sides however it was the ocean itself that captured the most of my attention as I realized that whoever worked up here had a view of the world as I could see everything for miles.

A CB suddenly squealed somewhere behind me and quickly turned to see if I could find it but it made no other sound and I found my attention drawn to the helm again and noticed a few accessories that I hadn't seen before.

Two amazingly crafted crystal balls had been fitted onto pedestals in front of the wheel; one being red and the other green which I knew likely indicated the port (left) and starboard (right) sides of the ship.

I carefully touched the green one just to satisfy the selfish little need deep in my stomach that demanded I learn what things felt like which was when I noticed movement and turned to the back wall where I found a table covered with layers and layers of paper all of which were weighted down with gadgets and equipment leaving their edges to flutter slightly in the breeze.

Curious I moved a little closer and discovered that they were maps.

Well technically they were carts as they depicted water where maps were made to show land, but ether way the excitement almost made me giddy as I dashed to the chair and pulled myself up to the geographic diagrams and quickly became immersed in oceans of all names and sizes.

They were far more complex and interesting than the ones I had studied in the road atlas and I couldn't help but be at aw of what they showed me; proving just how little I really knew and also just how big the world truly was.

New names and new places, most of which I couldn't even pronounce made me realize that I hadn't even scratched the surface. There was so much out there that I realized I might never learn it all, but that wasn't going to stop me from trying. I wanted to see the world everything it had to offer and more.

I don't know how long I sat there absorbed in the charts but I was eventually brought back to reality by a rather loud cough coming from the direction of the doorway.

I looked around and discovered Kale leaning against the frame giving me a rather amused look and I suddenly wondered just how long he had been trying to get my attention.

Embarrassed I quietly jumped off the chair and rubbed my arm sheepishly realizing that I probably wasn't allowed here, but he quickly reassured me that all was well with a one of his truly genuine smiles.

He then pushed himself from the wall and moved toward the helm. "Come here." He requested and I immediately followed him as he walked into the protective railing around the wheel and moved to the side so I could venture in as well. He then knelt down and pointed toward the center of the wheel where a rather worn but polished golden plaque proclaimed the word Anagnorisis.

"Do you know what that means?" He asked and I looked at him for a second then back at the word where I realized that it was in another language and that my mind wasn't putting the pieces together like it should.

He was patient as I tried to figure it out but I still came up with nothing. Apparently my brain wasn't yet knowledgeable enough to decipher other languages on the spot so I just turned back to him and shook my head.

He smiled before saying the word out loud sounding out every syllable separately so I would understand.

"An~ag no~ri~ses."

'Yeah it was definitely another language.' I thought to myself.

"It's Greek." Kale concluded and I looked at him curiously. "It means discovery." He added and I smiled as I realized where he was going with this. "No one on this ship has ever nor will they ever be condemned for seeking out knowledge. It is a basic right of all creatures to discover." He explained wisely and I laughed a little before turning back to read the plaque again, realizing that; that one little word would likely come to define my whole existence.

…

(Splinter)

He was becoming concerned; Splinter had made sure to keep a close eye on his sons while they were on the deck but the one second his attention had been called away he turned back only to be met with three turtles instead of four.

Part of him couldn't help but be proud as out of all his sons Donatello was proving to be the stealthiest; as he was often quiet to a fault and always seemed to choose just the right moment to move.

In fact a part of him wondered if the little turtle was even aware that he did this, for most often than not Splinter would re-locate his son only to discover that the child was genuinely shocked that he hadn't been aware of his presence. Splinter had allowed this to continue not only because it was good practice and would assist him when he was older but because the turtle was usually quite easy to find again.

However it would appear there was an exception to every rule.

At first Splinter had feared that the child had fallen overboard but his brothers had quickly informed him that; that wasn't the case. A rather rushed explanation pertaining to a mop had followed before he was informed that the turtle had gone below deck to locate another.

Apparently one of them had been trusted to inform their father of his absence but had forgotten in the heat of another argument. It would seem that he would have to work on channeling Leo and Raph's competitive nature into something more useful. But he would sort out who was to blame later after he found his missing son.

All kinds of unpleasant scenarios played through his mind at the thought of Donatello alone on the ship so he quickly collected the remaining turtles and started looking.

He kept his ears perked for any sound but was undeniably relying more on Mikey, Leo and Raph than anything else.

The four had always had an uncanny ability to locate their other brother's even when they had no idea where to look, which had prompted some thoughts that there might never be a time that they felt separated. But as he was quickly learning there was an exception to every rule.

The turtles seemed rather confused when within the confines of the ship and would sometimes just stop in the middle of a hall and look behind them as if they expected their sibling to have miraculously appeared.

Splinter wondered if maybe the multiple layers of the ship were somehow confusing their internal compass; like Donatello was indeed in that area but was on another level and he was sure the ship's constant movement didn't help either.

"Leonardo?" Splinter asked said turtle kindly when the child opened a random door to look inside as it was obvious that he was quickly becoming frustrated with this rat-maze of a ship.

"He should be here." Raphael proclaimed angrily for his brother clearly over this whole hide-&-seek thing.

Splinter sighed and knelt down to their level. "Is he hurt, can you tell?" Not one of them seemed even slightly surprised by the transparency of that question and just shook their heads clearly thinking that sensing your sibling's location and physical status was as normal as breathing.

Relieved Splinter's nerves returned to a slightly less than paranoid state. "Is he scared or sad?" He continued calmly which took a little longer for an answer as it seemed the turtles had a slightly harder time picking up on their brother's mental state, but after a minute they eventually answered with a 'no' to this question as well.

He was about to make another request when he noticed that he was only speaking to two of his sons. It would appear that Michelangelo was just as good at disappearing as his brother but Splinter had just never noticed due to the child's habit of clinging to him.

But he could be proud later he was not in the mood to loose another son right now and Splinter quickly stood at his full height again to look around for the youngest turtle.

But as fate would have it he was nowhere to be seen.

…

(Mikey's POV)

I didn't realize that I had wandered away from the group until Splinter and my brothers came rushing around a corner like the hounds of hell were on their heels. I could tell that both Splinter and Leo were already in lecture-mode but I was too exited to care as I just wanted to show them what I found.

When Raph and Leo arrived I quickly pointed them toward the ground where a few drops of water had gathered randomly on the floor however it only took a second of watching their confused reactions to realize that they weren't seeing what I was.

Leo studied the floor like it was a puzzle he was determined to figure out while Raph just folded his arms and told me to stop playing around. But I wasn't playing around.

I quickly informed them that Donnie had been there and that he'd left the mess when he sat down to consider his next move. It was so obvious, why couldn't they see that?

It took me almost ten whole minutes to convince them that I was being totally serious but unfortunately whether they believed me or not didn't make them see it any more.

That was so not fair.

Leo was the first to pick up on my bad mood and made to remedy it as he asked me to describe what I saw which was nearly impossible. How do you describe that; that candy wrapper on the second-to-the-top stair had been dropped accidentally by the guy with the gum or that the small speck of blood on the wall down the hall had been from that idiot on deck who had almost stepped on me 'cause he'd been fussing over the cut on his finger.

I don't know why or how I was suddenly able to put the pieces together but I just knew that those droplets of water had been left by my brother 'cause he had a habit of crouching or sitting when he was thinking about something. A position that would have dislodged any trapped water from the bridge of his shell.

Come to think of it why was I suddenly able to do this? I couldn't a minute ago and why could I do it but my brothers couldn't? Was I just strange? I didn't feel strange, but than again maybe I only thought I was strange because I was thinking I was strange, so maybe I should think about something else.

I had gotten a little off topic so it might be best if I focused on the task at hand and mulled this over later. I would ask Donnie about it he knows everything, I'm sure he would help.

So I went back to letting my mind naturally wander and absorb anything about my environment that it deemed worthy of my attention, which now that I thought about it was just about everything. Even the endless designs in the grains of the floorboards fascinated me to some extent and it accrued to me that perhaps that was how I activated this new sight.

Donnie once told me that he had a kind of second sight that worked by focusing on something, maybe mine was the opposite, maybe I just had to let my mind roam unlimited.

It hurt my brain to keep thinking about it too much so I just put it into practice instead and it seemed that I was right as within seconds I was once again spotting things in my surroundings that I could use to locate my missing sibling.

For instance there was a small smudge on the banister that was ever-so slightly lower than all the other smudges and just about Donnie's height too (if he stretched,) on top of that I knew my brother touched things a lot as it was habit of his when he was categorizing objects.

He just liked to learn everything about the things he found an interest in including what they felt like and this particular smudge was almost at the top of the staircase so - what was it that people said about that?

'If the only way to go was up, then go up.'

…

(Splinter:)

Curious Splinter watched as his youngest speed-talked to his brothers in their old language, pointed at random places on the floor and seemed generally excited about something.

Splinter couldn't see any real reason for this level of happiness, even for the infinite well of entertainment that was Michelangelo, but he also couldn't help being drawn in by the little turtle's enthusiasm.

Deciding that he would spare his lecture about 'not leaving the group' until after he had worked out this newest phenomenon he just calmly put his hands in his sleeves and waited patiently for an explanation.

Unfortunately he didn't receive one as instead the three turtles suddenly pulled up roots and shot toward the stairs so quickly he was scrambling to keep up.

These kids were going to give him a heart-attack.

He held his tongue even though he wanted desperately to tell them to slow down for they had no idea where they were going and he was afraid they might get hurt but at the same time he wasn't willing to break the spell that had Mikey navigating the halls like he had lived on the ship his whole life.

He had never seen his youngest act in such a way and it made him wonder just what the little one was capable of when he put his mind to something. The child had enough raw talent to eclipse all of his brothers combined but this was the first time Splinter had ever seen him hone it.

A few minutes later Mikey stopped in the middle of a hall where he looked at the floor curiously for another second. It was obvious by the way his brothers responded that they didn't see what he did but Michelangelo seemed to be taking that in strides as he ended his searching of the ground and turned to address a door.

Splinter immediately pulled his attention back to his charges when Mikey moved again but it was only to walk up to the doorway and peek inside where he then smiled and ran in like he owned the place.

His brothers followed excitedly while Splinter just stopped at the door and watched as they bombarded their missing brother, literally wrestling him to the floor in their excitement.

The rat master smiled and let his worry wash away as he surveyed the room which was clearly the bridge. It was just such a place that could account for many reasons and things that had grabbed Donatello's attention for so long, in fact Donnie himself seemed to have no idea he had been missing for any length of time a fact that Splinter had no trouble believing.

It was then that the other occupant of the room made himself known. "I'm sorry for the trouble, Kale-san." Splinter declared with a small bow.

"No trouble." Kale corrected. "And no harm done, I was about to bring him back but we got a little distracted." He explained before turning to address Donnie. "Isn't that right Anag?" The turtle turned at the mention of the word as it obviously brought up something in his recent memory but still appeared totally confused which earned him another booming laugh from Kale.

"Anag?" Splinter asked.

"He'll figure it out." Kale declared without pause and Splinter nodded in understanding as he realized that this was something between Donnie and Kale and should be shared only when they deemed it necessary.

…

(Mikey's POV)

Day 11: {Gulf of Alaska}

"Hey check that out."

That was probably one of the best things anyone could say to get my attention; right after 'pizza' and 'duck!' So it took me all of a second to locate the source of the commotion and quickly moved to the side of the ship to see what everyone was looking at.

"What's so interesting?" I asked a sailor whom I quickly recognized as Long; the first lieutenant. The man just laughed before reaching down to pick me up and sat me on his shoulders to point out at the sea.

But even looking as hard as I could I still couldn't make out what everyone was so excited about.

It was then that I heard Donnie exclaim his own excitement in our old language down below.

"What?" I asked him out loud as even Raph could see what it was now, which was so not fair.

"It's called 'Where Two Oceans Meet.'" Long explained pointing out at the water again. "You see that line?" I squinted as I finally hunted down what they were talking about. In the middle of the ocean the color of the water had suddenly changed from light murky blue to a deep royal blue.

As we got closer I could also make out a white line that separated the two but for the life of me I couldn't see why that was so interesting.

Donnie explained that it had something to do with the Pacific Ocean, Alaska's glaciers and something about a salt percentage not allowing their densities mix and even though he said this in our old language which should have made it more understandable, to me he might as well have been speaking Greek.

"What?" I finally asked after a minute and he sighed deeply before re-explaining it as a wall of water separating two oceans.

Okay I admit it when he put it that way it did sound cool.

"That is peripeteia." Kale said behind me and Long slowly turned around to look at him.

"Pera-what ?" I asked simply.

"Per~i~pe~tei~a." He corrected and laughed again when I gave him a totally confused look. "You know that time in your life when you stand back and watch where everyone else is going then you turn around and walk the other way?" He asked wisely.

"No." I answered causing him to laugh again.

"Well little kame; that is peripeteia." He explained before pointing toward the bridge where the name of the ship was printed over the big window looking out over us. "When you don't follow the crowd and forge your own path." He continued to explain before looking back at me in consideration and added as an after thought.

"Much like you." I blinked in surprise and he laughed again before addressing my brother. "Isn't that right, Anag?" He asked Donnie playfully rubbing his head which caused him to laugh.

"Per-e-peteia?" I asked sounding out the foreign word as best I could.

"Per ~ I" Long corrected me. "'I' as in 'it.'" He explained before putting me back on the ground so I could watch the two oceans clashing under the waves relentlessly standing their own ground as they refused to surrender.

…

(Leo's POV)

Day 12: {Anchorage Port}

I blew warm air onto my hands again before putting them back into my gloves and shivered miserably.

'I do not like cold.'

My brothers and I had bundled up as much as we could without restricting our movement to that of a slug's but still felt the chill deep in our bones and this wasn't even as cold as it got as Kale told us that it was only spring, winter was apparently much worse.

Needless to say after hearing that I decided that if I never visited Alaska again it would be too soon.

"My sons." Splinter's voice woke me and I looked around somewhat surprised that he had walked up without us noticing. "Are you alright?" He asked slightly concerned.

"Kind a – tired." I explained realizing that I wasn't speaking properly for some reason.

Splinter nodded in understanding before taking Mikey into his arms and waking Donnie who had nearly fallen asleep himself. "Come let's return to the room." He said and we followed without question.

Raph kept a hand on my shell as if he couldn't walk straight without the support and Donnie could barely walk at all. After we got back to the room Splinter bundled us up in all the blankets we had and started the little space heater in the corner.

"Are we sick?" Mikey asked from his lap.

"No my son you are merely cold." He explained. "Your bodies are different from mine you must stay warm." He ordered and bused himself as he made a fuss over my youngest sibling's blankets.

Though he made it sound like it was no big deal I could still make out the nervousness in his voice. I remembered Donnie explaining that the cold would affect us more because we're cold-blooded and as such our bodies would try to hibernate to keep warm.

Of course we couldn't let that happened for if we fell asleep it might take us weeks to wake up again which hadn't sounded like a lot of fun at the time however now I wanted nothing more then to sleep for a month or two to suddenly didn't sound like such a bad idea.

"Leonardo!" Splinter commanded and I jerked awake.

"Yeah?" I asked drowsily not realizing that he had just been trying to keep me awake. He quickly made his way to the floor and pulled us all into his arms where he let us relish in the warmth of his fur.

"Master Splinter." A voice said and we all opened our eyes to see Kale and Leatherhead in the doorway. "We've set up a room for you." Kale explained as he moved to bring Donnie into his arms.

Splinter nodded as Leatherhead picked Raph and me up as well which was when realized that I could barely move. Had it been for any other reason I might have started to panic but somehow I just knew that I was alright, that this was a natural part of being a turtle.

I don't know how long it took them as it only seemed like a few minutes but we soon found ourselves in a much warmer place where I was quickly laid down on a warm surface with my brothers.

"Thank you." I heard Splinter say.

"Not at all." Kale answered. "I too am cold-blooded; the sudden shifts do take some getting use to." He explained.

"We should get them out of their clothes." Leatherhead suggested. "The light will help more if it hits their skin."

"I agree." Kale stated and soon someone started to take off my coat and though I think I tried to assist them I probably hindered more than helped.

"This should help them wake up." Leatherhead explained when my brothers and I could finally feel the soft warm stuff under us.

I heard a sigh and then the sound of shifting before Kale spoke again. "It's alright Splinter-san it won't hurt them; it's a natural part of who and what they are."

"I know." Splinter admitted. "But I am still so new to this I can not help but be concerned."

…

I don't know when I fell asleep but I woke up to Raph kicking me and I instinctively retaliated.

"Hey!" He yelled back trying to punch me but fell a little short and ended up hitting Donnie instead. However our younger brothers were use to this by now and he just curled in on himself slightly in an attempt to get back the comfort he had before.

"My sons." Splinter said and we looked around to find him standing guard over us as we slept "How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Okay." I stated moving to push myself up but my arms collapsed unexpectedly and I fell on my face.

"When did we get here?" Mikey asked absent mindedly and I turned my head around to watch him analyze the room with a level of curiosity.

"It is Kale's privet room." Splinter explained. "He set it up so he could bask in the winter months."

I rolled my head around so I could take in the room myself. It was warm and featured wood paneled walls to match the floor which was mostly hidden under a large box full of – sand.

I moved my hand through the grains and marveled at its softness and multiple colors which seemed to feature a level of almost unnatural warmth which somehow seeped up from underneath as well as rained down from above, but looking over my shoulder I found this was actually caused by several large UV lights set into the ceiling.

I looked back toward Splinter when the door opened behind him and in entered Kale himself. "Well look who's up." He stated sitting down as well and nearly turned his head upside down to look at us. Mikey smiled and laughed at him as he tried to get up but being on his back and still really groggy he wasn't having much luck.

A few minutes later Kale and Splinter had maneuvered us all into sitting positions as we were still too dazed to do it ourselves.

"We'll be moving back into warmer waters soon so you won't have to stay here much longer." Kale explained as we dusted the sand off our skin and shells.

"Kale." Splinter stated causing the man to look at him. "I was hoping you might teach them to become accustomed to the cold the way you have?"

Kale considered that as he looked back at us thoughtfully. "I could try." He promised. "But it isn't an exact science and I don't know if we'll have enough time. It took me years to figure it out." He admitted.

"I assure you my friend they are fast learners." Splinter declared.

"Well alright." Kale shrugged before looking back at us. "You up for it?"

"Yeah." Raph and I answered as one causing us to look at each other suspiciously while our little brother's laughed at our expense.

…

After about an hour of laying under the lights we were finally able stand and move around normally again. Leatherhead came and went a few times having grown rather fond of the room as well and I admit it was nice having an older reptile around; it was like having a huge uncle we never knew existed and he knew a lot more about this hibernation thing than we did.

After hours of constantly monitoring us; insuring that we were okay Splinter was finally convinced that we would survive without him for an hour or two while he took some time to himself and got some sleep, but not before we promised to do our very best to learn all that we could from Kale in the mean time.

As it turned out the technique Kale intended to teach us was just more of that mind-over-matter stuff and learning how to use our bodies' natural abilities to argument our resistance to the cold.

One of the first things he showed us was how to bask – the right way to which we quickly learned that the UV lights had an interesting affect on him.

"You need to breathe slowly but deeply." He explained standing under the light and taking in a breath to show us. "Drawing in the warmth with every inhale and storing it in your body." He continued as we watched the scale-like markings on his skin react to his breathing and become more distinguished in color. "And on the release force out the cold." He stated and performed his exhale which caused the marks to actually protrude slightly almost like real scales.

It was like he was breathing through his skin which I had to admit was cool but it also provided us with quite a bit of insight to see just how we were similar to him and how we were different.

We spent a few hours just following his instructions from learning to breathe and actually separate the oxygen from the air to trapping heat in our bodies and using the scales on our skin rather than our shells like we always have.

It was a rather bizarre experience but an interesting one none-the-less.

…

After several hours Kale decided we had earned a break and flopped down in the sand allowing us do what we wanted.

"So how did you become a mutant?" Mikey asked as he sat cross-legged in front of the older man causing Kale to look up at him from his position on his stomach.

"I didn't." He answered, intrigued; Donnie, Raph and I moved over to listen as well. "I was born one." He corrected.

That was something new as all the other mutants we had ever met had started out as either animals or humans before coming into contact with mutagen. We had no idea there was another way but now that we thought about it did make sense.

"I'm living proof that mutants and humans can love one another and live in harmony." He continued with a small smile obviously remembering something from his past. "My father was human but my mother was a mutant."

"A water snake; that's how she started life and spent most of her days." He continued after a minute as he remained lost in his memories. "She died when I was eight but she taught me to respect and value things that humans often take for granted."

"What about your dad?" Mikey asked lying on his stomach to kick his legs excitedly as he listened.

"He's in India." Kale declared. "The land of my birth and my true home, I inherited my mother's love for the sea and my father's desire for justice. I would not be who I am today without them both."

"Wow." Raph stated impressed and I couldn't have agreed more. This man was truly inspiring; despite what people might think or say about him he couldn't have come from a better combination.

He laughed slightly at our reaction. "Now don't go thinking I'm some super hero or something, I have faults too." He declared thinking it over for a minute. "Not that I can think of any right now." We laughed at his over-the-top remark but he retaliated by trapping Mikey in a headlock and tickled him into submission.

After that we found ourselves in an all out war as we used everything at our disposal to defeat the man-mountain in front of us until finally Mikey managed to confine his legs while Donnie and I got his arms allowing Raph to bulldoze him to the ground with a big *oomph.*

My brothers cheered for our victory while I stayed seated on the ground beside him and watched as the poor guy made a poor attempt at breathing through his laughter and a moment later I actually saw tears in his eyes from the strain.

It was at this point that I noticed a marking on his right arm that didn't match the others on his skin. "What's that?" I asked pointing at the word.

He took a deep breath before looking to see what I was talking about. "A tattoo." He explained. "Every good sailor needs a tat, it's in the code." He added which I seriously doubted the truthfulness of but could tell that he was actually very proud of the mark so I had to ask.

"Fear?" I read and he turned to look at me again, but it was true; the tattoo literally read 'F.E.A.R.' I couldn't understand why anyone would want that on their body let alone someone like Kale.

He smiled at me before moving to lean on his elbow. "Tell me the meaning of fear, Leo?" He asked.

"To be afraid." I answered simply.

"So forget everything and run?" He asked. "F.E.A.R. – that's your definition?"

"Yeah." I said confused. 'What other definition was there?' I thought to myself in confusion.

Seeing my struggle he smiled again and asked. "Would you like to know mine?" I looked at him curiously and nodded."Face everything and rise." He quoted and I couldn't help but blink at him in shock.

"Fear can be an enemy Leo, if you let it but it can also be a friend." He explained sagely. "However you –" He said firmly pointing a finger at my plastron. "– are the only one who can decided which."

…

"F.E.A.R. Forget Everything and Run or Face Everything and Rise" – Zig Ziglar

…

(Raph's POV)

Day 15: {Near the Sea of Okhotsk}

Leo was ticking me off again.

I know he always ticks me off but this time he was really ticking me off and it wasn't just the fact that he could learn this stuff so much faster than me though that irked me to no end as well but now he was just rubbing it in.

Kale had been called to the bridge to attend to some captain things thus leaving us alone to practice at which point Leo had shown us that he had all but mastered the breathing thing and he was even managing to absorb some heat too.

He pretended to be all humble and crud but I could tell it was just an act.

"Try to focus more on releasing the cold." He informed me and I opened my eyes with a snap before quickly getting to my feet. "Raph?" He said as I started toward the door. "Where are you going?"

"Out!" I yelled flinging the obstruction open so hard that it damaged the bumper but I couldn't find it in me to care at the moment. Leo could be a smarmy know-it-all if he wanted but I wasn't going to sit here and listen to it and I definitely did not need his help.

"We're supposed to be training." He ordered.

"I don't care." I yelled back turning to glare at him accusingly but as always he didn't back down. He started to say something else when Donnie grabbed his shoulder which was his bizarrely silent way of defusing the situation and convinced our brother to just let me go for now.

If I was the sentimental type I could have kissed him.

I didn't wait around to hear if Leo had anything else to say and slammed the door in his face before starting down the hall, kicking and punching anything that got in my way.

Unfortunately for me ships don't have too many lose things just lying around to be hit though that didn't stop me from taking out my anger on a wall or two and promptly winced as my anger began to subside and I started to actually feel the hits.

After another couple minutes of therapy I sat down in a huff and absent-mindedly rubbed the knuckles of my hand. Ever since our first escape from New York my hands would hurt if I used them too much though I didn't know why but something told me I didn't want to know either.

I looked up slightly as a group of sailors walked down a hallway adjacent to mine and at first I thought none of them had noticed me so I went back to glaring at the ground but a minute later someone sat down on my right and I looked up to find it was August.

He didn't say anything at first; like he was waiting to see if I wanted to start the conversation but when I continued to silently stare the floor into submission he spoke up.

"So how's it goin' little man?" He asked not looking at me and I just shrugged as I curled a little farther into my ball. "That good huh?" He commented and waited another few minutes for me to collect myself.

"Leo's pissing me off." I growled finally.

If August was surprised by my choice of language he didn't show it but instead he just laughed and leaned a little farther back. "Big brothers have that affect." He stated and I turned to look at him again in shock and he laughed again a little more deeply. "What?" He asked. "You didn't think you were the only one with brother problems did you?"

I blinked in surprise and without even thinking it over I said. "You have a big brother?"

I saw the pain in his expression for only a second before he hid it again. "Yeah." He finally answered. "And he could be a royal pain-in-the-ass sometimes too."

I didn't miss the way he changed the volume of his voice when he said 'could.' "So all older brothers are jerks?" I asked curiously. To think there was actually someone out there who was just as annoying as Leo was unfathomable to me.

"Of course." He answered without question. "It's in their job description they're given this special handbook before we're born. It tells them everything they need to know to get under our skin." He stated with a sigh. "We never had a chance little man."

I smiled not believing that for a second. "Then how come I've never seen it?" I asked after all technically I was a big brother too.

August seemed to get my point and smiled again. "Mysterious isn't it?" He asked with a fake motion of jealousy and I held in a laugh as I turned to look at the wall in front of me again.

"But there is a reason." August continued in all seriousness. "They push us so hard because they believe in us Raph." He explained and I turned to look at him again in shock. "They want us to be the best we can be; so they get on our nerves and push our buttons 'cause they know it will eventually bring out our potential." He stated wisely before adding. "But it's our job to take the time to understand that."

I looked back at the floor as I considered his words. Now that I think about it Leo had always been the toughest on me but I had always thought it was because I was so hard on him. We pushed and fought one another to realize our own abilities but maybe we did it to strengthen each other as well.

I had to wonder, without Leo would I have ever taken the time, would I even be where I am now? My pride insisted that I could have done it on my own but another part of me said that I never would have made it alone.

After a few minutes I looked back at August and realized that he had been watching me the whole time. "Okay." I insinuated. "So maybe he isn't so bad." I admitted sourly. "But he's still annoying." I added before the comment made me look like a big push-over.

But the man just smiled in agreement and pulled me into a head lock. "And that, little man, is something that will never change, but one day you'll learn that you never want it to."

…

I stared at the door to Kale's basking room for a minute as I re-collected myself then barged in like I owned the place. It turned out Donnie had his hands full trying to keep our big brother from coming after me and it made me wonder just how long I had been gone.

I could see a lecture in my future when I looked into Leo's eyes but something else was much more prominent, relief.

He was genuinely happy that I was back and I realized just how hard it must be to have a little brother like me to worry and fuss over. So I decided that just this once I would give him a break.

Without a word I walked back over to my spot in the sand and sat down again before giving my only big brother a look that clearly said 'well?' Surprised he could do nothing but sit too and I took a breath as I fumbled over my words for a minute before finally forcing out my request.

"Will – will you help me, Leo?" I asked quietly not daring to look at him.

He continued to stare at me for a minute like I had grown a second head or something then seemed to finally understand what was going on and smiled. "Of course Raph." He answered. "You don't have to ask."

I smiled a little to myself before closing my eyes and started to focus on my breathing again as a thought passed through my mind; one that had no reason to be spoken aloud.

'I know.'

…

(Splinter:)

Day 17:

Splinter sighed as a comforting shape appeared through the early morning fog; one that he felt like he hadn't seen for years.

"It has been an honor, Splinter-San." Kale stated turning to give the ninja master a slight bow before walking off to see to the docking protocol. Splinter watched his friend go before placing a hand on Leatherhead's shoulder silently promising his return and then headed below deck.

His sons were just beginning to wake when he opened the door and they all looked up rather surprised to see him again so soon.

"My sons." He said getting their attention. "I would like to show you something." They didn't ask any questions like they somehow just sensed that this was important and he quietly led the way back to the main deck and over to the starboard side.

"What's going on?" Mikey asked curiously when they stopped and Splinter smiled before kneeling down to their level and turned to point toward the familiar mountain that towered over the island of his birth.

"What is it?" Leo asked curiously.

"It is Japan my son." Splinter answered. "Our home."

---

The End

Well that's it for part 2 so look for part 3;

'The Lives We Lead.'