If there was one thing he could count on, it was that wherever there was a Leonardo, there was also a Raphael. Until that time where there wasn't.

Leonardo stood and looked around the large outdoor marketplace. The sign had said it was a Farmer's Market but he wondered how accurate that was considering most of the people seemed to be selling pottery or quilts. He didn't see anyone selling farm equipment. And this would be an odd way to sell an actual farm.

He wasn't currently shopping, though as his eyes continued to scan the crowd. He was growing uneasy since the sheer size of the place and the number of shoppers made it impossible for him to keep track of his entire clan all at once. He kept seeing glimpses of them, but everyone was spread out. Too spread out for his liking, especially in this dimension, in Usag - no, he chided himself, - he had told himself to stop calling it Usagi's dimension and start referring to it as Akito and Machi's home dimension, a statement that was also true and should be easy to say. Plus, it was where Akito currently lived, which is what had brought the clan here this weekend for a visit.

It had been Raph's idea for the entire clan to come with them this time. And it had been Raph's idea to head to the farmer's market after he'd seen it advertised in the lobby of Akito's dorm. But Raphael hadn't said anything about the entire group scattering the second they arrived in order to explore. Leo watched as Akito, Violet, and Machi, who he did manage to keep in his sights at all times, laughed together at a table full of – Leo focused on the strangely shaped items on the table – soaps?

His kids were having a good time laughing at soaps. He reminded himself to relax. And reminded himself that the resistance group had been demolished here. And that Usagi was in jail. And that this was a safe place for them. Even out in the open.

He was distracted in the next moment, however, as his mouth was covered by familiar lips. His eyes slid shut as Raphael's scent filled his nose.

And since he was currently occupying Raphael's mouth, he was confused by the sound of growling curses in Raphael's voice. And even more confused a moment later as he was yanked backwards and away from Raphael. His fierce gaze was already in place as his head spun towards the intruder. But he was shocked when he found that it was Raph who had pulled him away from kissing Raphael. And it was Raph who was currently glaring daggers at –

"Raphael," Leo said, turning his head back to the other Raphael turtle who had initiated the kiss with him, "what are you doing here?"

"And why the fuck are ya kissin him?" Raph growled, tightening his fingers around his Leo's upper arm.

The other, younger Raphael stared back at them, clearly stunned with wide eyes and a mouth dropped open in surprise.

"I, uh, I thought he was mine," the other Raphael stuttered and offered a shrug. "I snuck up on him so he didn't have a chance to talk," he offered, since the other Raphael was not only glaring at him, but glaring at Leo as well.

Leo could practically feel Raph's glower burn the side of his face and he turned to meet Raph's angry expression with a sheepish shrug of his own as he pulled his arm out of Raph's tight grip. "I thought he was you," he offered, although he also thought that should be blatantly obvious. But Raphael continued to glare, even as the other Leo finally joined their group, along with their father.

Master Splinter eyed the three other turtles as they approached. There was clear tension in the air, which was unusual as he knew they'd all met it the past.

"I forgot to mention I invited these two for a lunch visit here today," Master Splinter said. He watched as his Leonardo offered a nod and small smile while his Raphael only moved his glare to the ground. "I'm going to take them down the street to a restaurant I spotted earlier," he continued. "I'll meet you all back at the hotel later."

Leonardo nodded again and offered a quick hello to the other Leo before the three of them turned to walk down the sidewalk away from them. He watched as the other Raph looped his fingers in with the other Leo's fingers as they walked away before he turned back to his very own Raph. He reached forward to pull Raph's hand into his own but his eyes widened as Raphael took a step away from him.

"Raph?"

"You just kissed someone else," Raph growled, moving his eyes away from the ground in order to glare at Leo's face again.

"Someone I thought was you," Leo insisted.

"It makes it worse that you didn't know it wasn't me."

"Worse?" Leo said, suddenly shocked that they were even having his conversation. "I didn't hear his voice. And I'm sorry, Raphie, but he smells just like you!"

Raphael could only growl again as the image of Leo being kissed by someone else refused to leave his head, no matter who that someone else happened to be.

"Where did you go anyway?" Leo asked. "What happened to not leaving my side?"

"I have to be by yer side at all times to keep ya from kissin someone else?"

Leo growled now himself. "Raphael."

"I was getta ya somethin," Raph said, shaking the white paper bag he had in his hand. He watched Leo's eyes light up, but he was still too pissed to let the subject be changed. He growled again as he turned and stomped away from Leo, tossing the white bag into a nearby trashcan as he went.

He didn't stop his stomping until he reached the hotel where they were all staying. He reached for the door, but was surprised when it suddenly swung out towards him and slammed into his face. The impact knocked him back a step and he groaned while his hands flew to his face.

"Raphael?"

Raph froze and opened his eyes in order to peer through the fingers covering his face. He lowered his hands completely as his eyes moved around the room. He was no longer on the noisy sidewalk outside his hotel, but inside a quiet apartment he'd never seen before. Leo sat in front of him in an overstuffed chair. Although, judging by the strange tone of this turtle's voice, this was not his Leo.

Raphael's eyes only widened as he watched Leo set down the book he'd been reading and slowly rise from his seat with a bewildered look on his face. And he wasn't shocked solely because this was clearly an alternate dimension Leo, but because this Leo was scary skinny and had one arm bandaged and held close to his plastron in a sling.

"What's wrong, Raph? Is it Donnie or Mikey? Are they okay?"

Raphael stared incredulously back at this Leo as a bone-cold chill ran through him. He took a step back and bumped into another chair before swinging around to get his bearings. He snatched up a framed photo from a nearby shelf and gaped at the picture of a healthier Leo smiling back at the camera, with his arm wrapped around Usagi, who was smiling not at the camera, but fondly back at Leo. He thrust the photo in Leo's direction.

"What the fuck is this?"

Leo's eyes narrowed at him. "Are you okay, Raph?" he asked. "You sound kind of funny."

Raphael tossed the photo back towards the shelf and watched the glass crack down the middle before he began to pace. His fingers moved to his belt where his own interdimensional transporter was located, but something stopped him from pushing the buttons. There was something wrong here.

"Plus," Leo continued, growing more and more confused as he watched Raphael stalk around the room, "you've never visited me here before."

"That's because I'm not your Raphael," Raph finally said. He stopped pacing when he saw Leo subtly move into a more offensive position. "Look – I am Raphael, okay? I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm a Raph from another dimension."

"Oh," Leo said, plainly as he straightened where he stood once again.

"Oh?" Raph said, slightly surprised. "Ya believe me just like that? Have you met other Raphaels before?"

"No," Leo said. "But I've traveled to other dimensions with Usagi for missions. I'm aware of the existence of interdimensional travel."

"With Usagi?" Raph asked, practically spitting the rabbit's name out of his mouth. "Why would ya do that?"

Leo crossed his arms. "You may not be my brother, but this is already beginning to sound like a familiar argument."

"What does that mean?"

"Raphael has never forgiven me for leaving New York City to live here with Usagi, but this is where Usagi prefers to live."

Raphael sank down into a chair as he felt the air leave his lungs. He sat frozen for an unknown amount of time until a glass of ice water was pushed into his hand.

"Drink," Leo said, eyeing him closely, "before you actually faint."

"Who cares where the rabbit wants to live?" Raph huffed out in an exhale, already terrified of the answer. He could feel a painful knot develop in his stomach.

"I've been over this with Raphael," Leo said with a sigh. "But, you'd live where your mate wanted to live, right?"

Raphael hardly noticed that he'd dropped the full glass of water to the carpeted floor as he let his head fall into his hands. "Oh, fuck," he whispered. He forced air in through his nose and out through his mouth repeatedly. Leo came back into his vision a moment later as the other turtle hunched down and tried to soak up the spilled water with a towel using his uninjured arm.

"Mate?" Raphael croaked out as he slid off the chair to the ground and snatched the towel away from him to finish cleaning the mess.

Leo let Raph take over with the towel, the spill was his fault after all, and did his best not to roll his eyes at this other Raphael.

"So all Raphaels hate the fact that I mated with Usagi, huh?" he asked dryly.

"Please don't ever say that sentence to me again," Raph growled as the knot in his stomach began to throb.

"Fine," Leo said. "It doesn't matter anyway. I kicked Usagi out a few days ago."

Raphael's head snapped up to meet Leo's gaze. "Yer not with him anymore?"

"That's what I just said."

Raphael's entire body sank in relief, but he eyed Leo again. "What the fuck happened to you? You look like ya ain't been eatin. And what the hell happened to yer arm? And why are ya still here if yer not with the rabbit anymore? Why didn't ya go home?"

Leo smiled fondly at Raphael as he suddenly realized how much he had missed protective Raphael over the years.

"I guess I haven't been eating that well lately," Leo finally said after thinking it over. "I'm just not that hungry when I'm stressed."

"Stressed from what?"

Leo fidgeted for a moment, and finally decided to tell this Raph the truth. It wasn't his Raphael after all, so he decided to get his troubles off his plastron, and hoped to avoid the I told you so that he would likely receive from his own brother.

"I thought I was in love with Usagi," he said slowly, and watched as Raphael visibly flinched. "So, it took me a while to realize how – controlling he was. One day I realized he dictated every aspect of my life. From my training to how I trained my own students to forbidding me from visiting my brothers."

The knot in Raphael's stomach threatened to literally twist his stomach into a pretzel as he listened. The images running through his mind of the rabbit controlling everything Leo did was going to haunt him.

"He'd never really used force on me for anything, but when I asked him to leave," Leo's voice trailed off as he raised his injured arm a little ways away from his plastron.

"He did that to yer arm?" Raphael growled.

"He just caught me off guard," Leo said as shame colored his face for allowing the injury to happen.

Raphael's breathing increased again until he was practically panting. He was beginning to see red. "Why the fuck are ya still here? What if he comes back now while yer injured?"

Leo shook his head slowly. "It was a pretty loud fight. The neighbors called the police and Usagi was taken to jail. He's not coming back here any time soon."

Relief, anger, and continued confusion warred within the knot in his stomach. "Why haven't ya gone home yet?" he finally asked again.

"This has been my home for several years, Raph," Leo said. He saw a look of outrage grow on Raph's face and quickly continued. "I've thought about it, okay? But I have a dojo here and I'm not ready to leave my students." He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. "Plus, Raphael wasn't the only brother upset with me when I left. And it's not like they need me there. I mean, they're all grown up turtles, and - ,"

"They need ya," Raphael growled at him. "Ya can't tell me that Raphael is doing well without ya."

"Raph?" Leo asked, dubiously. "You heard me say he's never visited right? Raphael hates me. Out of the three of them, he's the least likely to want me to come ba -,"

His words were cut off as this other Raphael leaned forward suddenly and connected their mouths for a kiss. Leo's thoughts halted as he found himself immediately kissing back, as if this was his mouth's true purpose. Immediately leaning forward on his knees to get closer. Immediately lifting a hand to rest it on Raph's upper arm.

The additional contact on his bicep had Raphael pull back from the kiss as he remembered that this was not his Leo. There was a twinge of guilt in his chest, but he couldn't let this Leo go on thinking that Raphael hated him. He couldn't leave this Leo, and as a result, this Raphael, in distress like this. Leonardos and Raphaels belonged together.

Although he'd stopped the kiss, he still remained within inches of this other Leo's face and watched as those blue eyes reopened.

"Oh," Leo whispered out, although his brain and his heart were simultaneously screaming passion heat love protection Raphael.

"He needs ya," Raph growled at him as he watched honest realization cross Leo's face as a result of the kiss. "Ya never shoulda been here. Ya shoulda always been with him."

Leo leaned back to rest his weight on his ankles again. "Oh," he whispered out once more. He watched as this Raphael shifted backwards as well and leaned his shell against the chair. "He's mad at me, though," he said, slowly. "I can't just show up and kiss him."

Raphael let a smirk cross his face. "That's exactly what yer gonna do." He rose quickly to his feet, intent on getting this Leo moving and back to his own Raphael as soon as possible. But he felt a rush of dizziness as he stood and quickly covered his face with his hands.

When he lowered his hands a moment later, he was standing in the farmer's market again. He stared at the stands of farm fresh vegetables and looked incredulously down at the small white paper bag in his hand. Feeling a sense of déjà vu, he quickly spun his head to the left and watched as the other Raphael snuck up on his unsuspecting Leonardo before he began to kiss him. Instead of charging over this time, however, Raph paused and watched. There hadn't been any words spoken between those two, and Leo's eyes had immediately closed as he sank into the kiss.

Raph still didn't enjoy the sight, but damn did it look better than Leo kissing the rabbit would ever look.

His feet finally began moving forward and he grabbed hold of the other Raphael and yanked him off his Leo.

"Go kiss yer own Leo," he said, gruffly as he wrapped his arm around his Leo's shoulders and pulled him into his side.

"I, uh, I thought he was mine," the other Raphael stuttered and offered a shocked shrug. "Guess that's what I get for sneaking up on him."

Raphael could see the shock on his own Leo's face as Leo's arm moved to wrap back around his shell in return right before the other Leo arrived with Master Splinter, who announced they were going to lunch. And although he continued to frown at his counterpart's retreating shell, it was a half-hearted glare. He watched as green hands found each other as they walked and realized he was mostly just feeling a strong sense of relief in seeing a Leonardo and a Raphael together. Where they belonged.

Leo tilted his head and watched the strange combination of emotions cross his emerald turtle's face as he watched those three walk away. He ran a hand down the side of Raph's face to get his attention and offered a sheepish shrug when Raph's eyes moved back his way.

"Sorry, Raphie."

Raphael shook his head and pulled Leo even closer to him. "Not yer fault," he murmured against the side of Leo's face before he felt Leo relax against him. "And at least now I know what we look like when we're kissin."

Leo huffed out a laugh before asking, "Where did you go anyway? What happened to not leaving my side?"

"I'll never leave yer side," Raph growled, and then watched as Leo raised an eye ridge in surprise. "And, uh, I was getta ya somethin," Raph said, ignoring the unspoken question. He'd tell Leo about his own adventure later, after he sorted through what happened and didn't feel so raw.

For now, Leo's eyes lit up as Raph handed him the white paper bag he'd been holding. Leo glanced quickly at the contents and then back up to Raphael, who only stared at him expectedly. Leo shrugged internally, pulled out the baked good, and took a bite. His eyes lit up once again as the taste of the muffin filled his mouth.

"Is this -?"

"It's a ginger green tea muffin," Raph said with a grin as he watched Leo take another large bite. "Ya like it?"

"Like it?" Leo asked incredulously around a mouthful of muffin, "this is almost the best thing I've ever put in my mouth."

Raphael managed to bark out a laugh before Leo's crumb-covered mouth met his for a kiss. He slid his hand around Leo's shell and pulled him in close, not caring that they were standing in a public place as he threw himself into the kiss with Leo. His thoughts drifted to the other Leo and what a sad and unhappy life he'd had up to that point. But his thoughts were brought back to the present as he heard a low churr roll up Leo's throat.

"Well, if that's how ya feel about one muffin, wait till I tell ya that I convinced the guy to give me the recipe for em."

Leo's grin grew wide. "Love you, Raphie. You're the best," he said before shoving the last bit of muffin in his mouth.

Raphael pulled him in close once move and let his eyes roam over his happy, healthy Leo's face.

"Aishiteru, Leonardo."

A/N: Did he dimension hop? Time travel? I had these thoughts while writing this. I'm not sure its either scenario. More like a "Christmas Carol-like" glimpse into what could have been in order to reinforce the fact that Leos belong with Raphs and they should do what they gotta do to make sure that happens.

I'd also like to thank Stitcherbell for providing the initial idea for this chapter in one of our recent conversations. I'm pretty much convinced that every writer needs a Stitcherbell.

And since I can't respond to you directly, Wolfie, I'm going to take a moment right here and just say thank you for saying Akito is your absolute favorite OC. I think part of what kept me from publishing that last chapter for so long was that, important as those two are in this family, they are both OCs. So, it means a great deal to me that you enjoy Akito, that so many of you request stories centered around just "the kids", and that you also enjoy chapters that don't have a single turtle to be seen (not that I'm going to make a habit out of them).