Donnie's POV

The next morning, I woke up at 5:30 am. Early, even for me! But still, I was wide awake. So I had some coffee and walked back to the lair. Everybody would probably still be asleep, but I could wait for them to wake up. On my way over there, I saw the robots I had taken out to protect Mikey.
Once again, I thought about what could have happened if I hadn't found Mikey… It just gave me the chills.

When I could see the lair ahead, I checked the time. 6 am.
Even at a slow pace, I reached it fairly easy. I still wondered how nobody ever had found my 'secret spot'. Anyway, that was something for another time.
Now, I needed to get back home.
To my brothers.
To my family.

I entered our lair as quiet as I could, careful not to wake anybody. I looked around and let a small smile creep onto my face.
The dummy was completely wrecked, Raph clearly had been in need to let off some steam.
Mikey's skateboard was lying carelessly close to the entrance. He had been too excited or stressed after I walked him back.
There was a book lying on the ground next to the sofa, Leo had been reading to keep his mind from worrying. But why would he leave it on the floor? When I got closer, I got my answer. Leo was sleeping on the sofa with his had fallen to the back. I smiled lovingly and picked up the book. It was his favorite, so he wouldn't want it to get all wrinkly.

After I had put the book back in Leo's room, I put my bo staff back in my own room and went back to the living room. Leo was still asleep, so I sat down next to him and waited for him to wake up by himself.
Just five minutes after I had taken my place, he started mumbling in his sleep: 'Don't go, Don. Please… I need you… I'm sorry…' Suddenly, he shot up and looked around. Clearly, he hadn't noticed me yet, because he let his head drop in his hands and sighed.

"What were you thinking, Leo?", he said to himself "That he would just be sitting next to you and you could just continue your life? Like nothing ever happened "
"Well… yes", I couldn't keep myself from answering.
Leo hadn't expected that, because he jumped up in a fighting pose and faced me with a startled look.
And all I could do was start laughing. Come on, it was hilarious! Well, at least to me it was.

When Leo had finally gotten over his shock, Leo took a deep breath: "Donnie? Is it really you?"
I sighed: "No, can't you see? I'm a Martian who has come here to kidnap you!"
Now, he finally showed a small smile.
In response, I stood up as well and walked over to him to apologize for my childish behavior. But before I could say anything, he had run up to me and pulled me into a hug: "I'm sorry, Donnie. For everything. I didn't mean a word I said! Can you forgive please forgive me?"
I smiled and hugged back: "Only if you can forgive me for slapping you in the face and running away."
He pulled back and nodded: "Deal!"

At that moment, we heard a sort of squeal coming from behind me. But before I even had a chance to turn around, I was tackled to the ground by a green-orange blur. Mikey was on top of me screaming things like 'yes!' and 'I knew it!'. Leo pulled him back to his feet and then he helped me back up.
When we were all standing back on our own two feet, Mikey started jumping: "I knew you would come back! I told them! But they wouldn't believe me! But I kept telling them and telling them!"
I looked to Leo to see if he really had been telling them as often as he claimed he had. One look at Leo's face told me that Mikey wasn't exaggerating.

"What's up with all that noise?!", Raph yelled from his bedroom. He didn't like anyone waking him up before 8:30. And anybody who did… Let's just say: you don't want to be that person!
"Come here Raph!", Mikey yelled, still jumping around me. "Yeah, you wouldn't want to miss this!", Leo joined in while winking at me. I turned around and faced the bedrooms. After some grunting and very creative cursing (that I won't repeat), Raph came out of his room with the sleep still written on his face and a big yawn escaping his mouth.
It didn't take him more than three seconds to notice me. Then, faster than I've ever seen him move this early, he ran up to us and trapped me in a headlock. "Would you look at that!", he said with a big grin on his face "My little brother has joined us once again!" I sighed, but smiled as well: "I'm also happy to see you, Raph". He let me go and I stood up again.

Mikey threw his arm around my shoulder: "Oh man, I missed you!". I smiled, noticing how much I meant to my only younger brother. But what about the others? Leo seemed to be able to read my thoughts: "We all did!". Raph nodded, still with a small grin on his face. "I missed you guys to, believe me!", I answered.

"Group hug!", Mikey yelled as he just pulled me and Raph together. And once again, Mikey surprised us with his strength (you wouldn't expect such a small guy to hold so muchpower!).
Leo joined in and soon enough, we were all part of a half forced, but completely loving group hug.
When we let go, we looked at each other.
It felt like years had passed, when in reality it had only been about a day. But we all knew we would never forget this.

We all jumped up when a deep voice startled us: "Hello, my sons. I am glad to see you all awake so early." We stood straight and welcomed master Splinter back.
He looked at each of us separately with a questionable look.
"Have I missed anything?", he asked.

We looked at each other and winked.
Then, I answered: "Missed anything? Nah!"
"What could you possibly have missed?", Leo added "Nothing ever happens down here anyway!"
Sensei believed us and walked to his room.

Behind his back, the four of us shared a last grin and the silent promise that these two days were our little secret. The fight, the talk and the lessons we all learned from it.
Because, where's the fun in life if you can't even have some small secrets from your parents...

Author's note: First, I'm extremely sorry for the extremely late update! Some problems and I was busy. Second, this is the end of this fanfic. I really hope you all liked it! It turned out to be much longer than I first intended it to be, but that how I work. And third, suggestions for a new story are always welcome! I still have one waiting in line. Don't think that I have forgotten about that! It's still in my list and it will probably be the next one. But it can take a while with school starting all over again… But it will be there soon!

X
Sweetheart91597 :)