Ch. 34-For the love of Family

It was almost two o'clock in the morning. Leonardo couldn't sleep. His sleep was plagued by memories of Sensei setting Raphael's left arm. Images of his immediate younger brother in pain…it was no wonder he had insomnia.

The blue masked turtle moved lethargically about the lair. First the kitchen where he raided the fridge of the leftover pizza. At this point, he was too tired and far too distracted to care that the slices were cold. Raph and Mikey were notorious for eating pizza in practically any way, shape, or form, where Leonardo and Donatello were, usually a little more reserved.

Right now, as far as Leo was concerned, pizza was serving its purpose: being a comfort food. With the world crashing down around him, pizza was now his lifeline. Even Leonardo knew that he was being extremely melodramatic. After all, Raphael was alive and, according to Donatello, was going to be alright. But Leo wouldn't feel any better until after he saw that Raphael was recovering for himself.

The eldest just couldn't get past the feeling that he'd failed his younger brother somehow. Not only that, but he'd failed his entire family. He'd let them down. He'd failed to protect Raphael. And as a leader, failure to protect was unacceptable. Leonardo was well aware of the fact that Master Splinter expected him to lead the Clan after the old rat was gone. But how could he lead the clan if he'd couldn't even protect Raphael from getting hurt how the shell could he protect all three of his brothers?

Leonardo shook his head, hiding his eyes with his hand. Hopeless. How will I ever be ready for this? Tears began to roll down his face. His shoulders shook.

The eldest turtle stood and stumbled his way into the lab, where Raphael lay pale and still on the table. Leo plopped unceremoniously down onto the stool by his brother's side and softly gripped Raphael's right hand. Tear trails glistened on his cheeks and darkened his mask. "Oh Raph…how am I ever going to be strong enough to deal with things like this?"

There was no response. Leonardo hadn't expected one. "Sensei's always there for all of us…but what about when he's gone? You won't come to me…you'll go off on your own and end up like this and I won't be able to protect you…" His grip tightened. "Raph please…I'm begging you. We have to sort this thing out between us. I'm going to need your support as much as I need Sensei's. If we're lucky that won't be any time even remotely soon, but that's not the point. One more close call like this and I feel like I'll completely lose it. And trust me, little brother, I'm not prepared to lose any of you yet. Shell, I will never be prepared to lose anybody. I mean, who is?" Tears clouded the corners of his eyes. Finally Leonardo got to the root of his problem. "I can't help but feel like I've let you down, little brother. I love you guys so much. Seeing you like this…" The leader's voice lowered and he let go of his mask. He sounded deeply hurt and almost completely broken. "It feels like a repeat of when we were seven. I've failed you again. I'm so sorry." By this point he was crying openly.

Without any warning, emerald green fingers tightened around Leonardo's, reassuringly. Leo's eyes were the size of dinner plates. He glanced expectantly at Raphael's face, but the younger turtle showed no further sign of movement. It was as if Raph had used every ounce of his strength just to let his older brother know he was listening. Leo couldn't help but smile. That was just like Raph.

He could practically hear the hothead's voice in his head: Hey, quit talkin' like that. That's not the Leo I know. C'mon, we're gonna make it through this, bro. Stop lookin' down and start looking up for once. You're my big brother, I'll always be here for you, bro. No matter what. I'm gonna keep fighting till the end for you guys. You oughtta know that by now.

Tears filled his eyes yet again, but this time with a smile on his face. "Oh Raph, if you only knew how much I depend on your support."

Raph's fingers tightened once more, and Leo's smile grew even wider. He didn't need an interpreter to translate the meaning of that gesture. Raph was saying: I do.

Leonardo woke up almost a full nine hours later in much the same position, only he didn't remember laying his head down. A quick glance at the clock confirmed that it was the middle of the day. The eldest turtle gave Raph's hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it and pushing himself up. "I'll be back, Raph. But I need to go check on our brothers first."

Leo emerged from the lab cautiously. To his very great surprise, he found April and Casey on the couch, apparently waiting. When he entered their attention snapped over to him and they both stood.

April, who seemed to be the most concerned, began rattling on a mile a minute. "Leowherehaveyoubeenareyouguysokaywhathappenedyouhaven'tbeenansweringyourtphoneandIcouldntreachyouwewereworried."

Leo just stared blankly. He hadn't been able to catch more than a word here or there. Dark blue eyes slowly looked to Casey as thought begging for a translation.

"Ape says you guys haven't been answering her phone calls and she was getting worried. We got here at ten and there was nobody here. We just decided to wait for you to come back. Where is everybody?"

The eldest turtle was quite taken aback. "I-I don't know. They were here last night. And I didn't wake up until just now. I guess I fell asleep."

April had calmed down a little since her outburst. Seeing that Leonardo was well had reassured her. But something about Leo's words struck her as odd… "Wait, you fell asleep in Donnie's Lab?"

Dark blue eyes narrowed. "I wanted to be by his side."

Both the humans looked a little alarmed. Casey held April's hand reassuringly and asked, "Who? Was someone injured?"

It was Leo's turn to be surprised. "Nobody told you?"

"Told us what?"

"Four days ago Raphael left to face Dragon…alone. He succeeded, but by the time we got to him he had lost a lot of blood and was starting to go into shock. It was a very trying time for all of us." Leo stated, his voice breaking.

Casey Jones was terrified and apprehensive as he asked, "Is he…?"

"He's alive. Donnie says he'll be okay." The eldest answered.

The hockey playing human let out a sigh of ultimate relief. April still looked worried. "Leo, you look horrible. Have you eaten anything?"

"Not since last night, at Donatello's insistence. He's been dictating what I should and should not eat. And I'm sick of it. Oh, and I guess I also had some pizza at a about two in the morning…"

"Pizza at two in the morning?" Casey echoed.

Leo shrugged his shoulders. "I was stressed."

April smiled endearingly and pulled the blue-masked turtle into a hug. "He'll be okay."

Leo nodded his affirmative and returned the hug. "I know. But it looks a lot worse than it is. It's not easy seeing him like that. "

There was a brief bout of silence before the conversation took a different turn.

"So where is everyone?"

Leo looked extremely perturbed. "I have no idea. Like I said, I've been asleep. They didn't leave a note or anything?"

"We didn't bother. We figured you'd sleep long enough that you wouldn't need to know terribly soon. And if you did wake up, we thought you'd just call." Midori stated evenly as she swept into the room. Michelangelo, Donatello and Splinter were right on her heels.

Leo gave them a curious look. "Where were you?" He asked.

"Tying up loose ends." Midori stated.

There was a short silence before she went on. "We disposed of my uncle's body. He won't be found. For all Shredder will know he simply ran off with his spoils. I'll have to stay under the radar for quite a while. My uncle's disappearance so soon after my mother's death will throw me in the spotlight. I'm gonna have to disappear as well."

The blue-masked turtle nodded. "That's a good idea. I hadn't even thought about that. You'll stay here with us, of course?"

She smiled. "As long as I'm still welcome."

Leonardo reached out and put an arm over her shoulders. Midori glanced up at him curiously. Leonardo was not usually one for physical contact.

Meanwhile, Leo wasn't really certain what had come over him, but something in Midori's words had sparked him into action. Finally, it was time. Time that Midori was told exactly where she belonged.

Ocean blue met honey gold as their gazes locked. Finally Leo spoke. "You will always be welcome here, Midori. Raphael loves you. And as far as we're concerned, I think I can speak for my brothers when I say that we all love you, cousin. But…if you would allow it…I would be proud to call you my sister."

The blue-masked turtle suddenly found himself wrapped in a tight embrace, warm lips pressing fervently against his cheek. His cheeks flared bright red, before he smiled and returned the hug openly.

"Thank you." Midori said.

Leo smiled and leaned into her embrace. Her arms were wrapped so tightly around his middle he could barely breathe, but that was okay. He couldn't bring himself to care. After all, this was a momentous occasion.

Everyone in the family knew that this was probably the greatest gift Leonardo could ever bestow on anyone.

Even April and Casey were aware that this was a very important moment for the turtles. Yes, they were close friends of the turtles, and they were considered part of the clan, but even they had not been deemed siblings to the turtles. Midori was special. That was for sure.

"I love you too, Onii-san."

Leo's smile grew even wider. "Welcome to the family, little sister."

Donatello and Michelangelo exchanged glances before breaking out into matching smiles as they joined the hug. Mikey whooped as he wrapped his arms around her. "Dude! I've always wanted a sister!"

Suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat and the rough tap of a stick made the three turtles pull abruptly away and allow their rat father to approach. "Midori. My sons are proud to call you their sister, and I am proud to call you my niece. Your father was a great man. I will always appreciate what he did for me, and I know that the results of his actions will bind our clans together for many years to come. I would not attempt to overshadow or disrespect Kenji, by calling you my daughter, but I shall forever consider you one of my own children."

There were tears in Midori's eyes as she threw her arms around Master Splinter. "I-I don't know what to say…"

"Then say nothing, my child." Master Splinter answered as he returned her hug.

Yes, Midori had lost the last living member of her family, but she had gained a new family. A mutant one, but that didn't matter to her. As far as she was concerned, she had never belonged up in the city. This family had taken her in when no one else would.

Not to mention that she was 'madly' in love with the dangerously attractive second son of a man whom her mother had always said was one of the greatest, most honorable men she'd ever known. And Raphael…Where did she even begin. She'd never had a better friend, she'd never had anyone for whom she'd cared so deeply. He was everything she'd always wanted and more.

She couldn't be happier. It seemed incredible how lucky she'd been to have the Hamato clan by her side through this whole thing.

Now all she needed was Raphael to wake up. She couldn't wait to tell him the news.