A/N: I'll admit, I had a bit of trouble writing this chapter. It's going to be helpful later in the story, but it was a little hard to describe how everything should be without making it come off like a Mary Sue moment. I want the characters to be believable, if odd. Don't hate.

Phoenix Call

Chapter 7: A Mother's Love

"Geez, it really DOES look like a war was fought here." Amber shook her head at the chaos that littered her living room. Eric had already replaced the window, but the contents of her bookcase was still strewn around the living room. Leo put an arm around his mom.

"Don't worry, leave the mess to us. Consider it 15 years worth of missed Mother's Day presents. Go ahead and show Raph what you needed to show him."

Amber smiled at her eldest son, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek and making him blush. Donnie had already begun looking through her book collection, clearly fascinated, and Mikey was poking around in her kitchen. Shaking her head in amusement at her sons, she gently took Raph's hand and led him upstairs and down the hall to a set of beautifully carved double doors. Here, her favorite phoenix motif was repeated in it's fully glory. She allowed him a moment to study the intricately carved emblem before quietly opening the door. Inside was her personal paradise. Taking a deep breath of the familiar cotton and honeysuckle scent, Amber motioned for Raph to have a seat on her bed. She then went to her closet and emerged a moment later with a glossy, medium-sized wooden box. Smiling to herself, she let her hand trail over the clasp before opening the lid and sifting through the contents.

"Here, Raphael. These were mine when I was learning to control my 'ability'." Amber placed a dark gray set of beads in Raph's hands. They were surprisingly heavy for their size, making him look up from his seated position on Amber's bed questioningly. His mother smiled. "They're made of a special mineral called hematite. Hematite is a good medium for training, but you can use other things as you grow more comfortable." Cautiously, Raph lifted the strand of beads over his head and placed them around his neck. The fell into place, gently brushing his plastron in an almost comforting way. A sensation of calm came over the normally hot-headed turtle, the unusual feeling making him glance questioningly at Amber again. She laughed. "I've had them so long that they've been practically infused with my energy. If you use them enough, they'll become as much a part of you as your sai."

Amber took a seat facing her son and took his hands into hers. "Now, I know Splinter said all of you boys are required to meditate as part of your ninja training, but have since you're coming into a new ability I want to be here to guide you through it. Close your eyes and clear your mind, but open your heart also." Raph did as asked, and a few moments later Amber squeezed his hands lightly. "Ok, now, do you feel anything different?" Raph furrowed his eyebrows.

"It feels like something different is running through me, but I can't tell what."

Smiling, Amber pressed his hands together between her own and concentrated. Raph's eyes snapped open as he felt another sensation within in, poking and prodding, gentle but curious. Seeing that Amber still had her eyes closed, he quickly closed his again and concentrated on where the prodding was. It felt warm, and flowed in and out of the contact points where his hands met Ambers. Cautiously, he tried to send a curious poke at the strange energy, making his mother laugh.

"There you are. Keep going, Raphael."

OoO

"Leo, they've been doing this thing for hours! I'm soooo bored, man!"

Leo frowned at his youngest brother. "Mikey, it's important for Raph to get a handle on this whatever it is so he doesn't wake the rest of us in the middle of the night with his screaming. Why don't you go do a perimeter check with Donnie? The sun set a little while ago, and we need to be vigilant."

"What about you, bro?"

"I'm going to stay here just in case something happens."

Leo watched Mikey and Donnie make their way into the night before resuming his watch. The clean up had gone somewhat smoothly, after dragging Donnie away from the books and making Mikey quit snooping around. The blood in the basement had been the most difficult part, mainly because they still couldn't be sure how much oth it was from Foot Ninja and how much was actually their mothers. It drove home to the three boys just how close they had been to losing Amber, and never knowing a mother's love. Leo sighed. He felt slightly jealous that Raph was getting most of Amber's attention at the moment, but her knew his younger brother needed her help badly. He was sure their mother loved all of them. That's what moms were about, right? Leo sighed again, these thoughts weren't going to get him anywhere.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs made Leo turn. Raph looks a lot calmer than usual, Leo thought before smirking inwardly. A confident smile glowed on his brothers face, letting him know in no uncertain terms that Amber had praised his progress before ending the lesson. Amber herself looked tired, but pleased, and she smiled when she saw Leo. "Thank you, my son, for being patient during your brothers lessons. And thank you for doing such a wonderful job cleaning the house. I appreciate it. Where are Donnie and Mikey?"

"They're making a quick patrol. It's the least we could do for our mom. You're trying to do so much for us, after all."

Amber lightly tugged Leo's bandana. "You're my family, of course I'm going to do everything in my power to help. Eric's even agreed to keep an eye on my store for a couple weeks while I'm helping train you guys." Leo blinked.

"Wait, you mean you want to train all of us?"

Amber laughed gently. "Yes. Although Raphael has the most potential to use the extra sense," Raph puffed out slightly in pride, making Leo roll his eyes, "ALL of you should be able to use it to some extent. It's useful to ninja. Now, will you boys help me load up a few things in the Shellraiser?"

Mikey and Donnie entered as Amber was about to descend the stairs to her basement dojo. She smiled at Leo's enthusiasm as he brought his brothers up to speed on what they had been talking about. Raph simply followed behind Amber quietly, prayer beads clinking softly. The sound made his mother chuckle. "You won't be able to sneak around with those on. We'll need to find an alternative for when you need to be silent." Opening a storage case, Amber shuffled the contents around until she smiled and pulled out a simple pair of dark gray sai. Handing them to Raph, she explained, "These are made of hematite. They should be just as strong as your other sai, but better at helping your control. What do you think?"

Raph had no words, the sai had him spellbound. True, they were simple in design but after the hours of spiritual 'practice' he had just ran through, he could feel this pair of sai calling him. Amber gave him a knowing look, but said nothing. She turned instead to sift through the other weapons she had in storage, thinking of her other sons. In quick succession, she passed out a Bo staff, a pair of nunchucks, and a pair of katana, all inlaid with several pieces of hematite and beautifully made. Digging a little deeper and shoving other weapons aside, she found a spare pair of tonfa for herself and turned to face her sons. They were all looking over the new weapons with great curiosity and enthusiasm, Mikey most of all.

"Aw, yeah bros! We're going to be shiny metal shadow ninjas, fool!" Mikey had started swinging his new nunchucks around, but didn't account for the extra weight of the mineral which threw his balance off. He ended up smacking Raph in the face. Baby blues went wide.

"Sorry, Raph!"