Chapter four:
Splinter heads over to Raph as the oldest just stares at nothing.
"I want to be alone." Raph tells Splinter not even looking at him.
"This is hard on all of us." Splinter tells Raph. "We all want him back. You can reach out to us. We're here for you."
"I should have talked him out of it." Raph hangs his head. "I'm the oldest. I'm supposed to protect them. Only for me to not be able to save him."
Splinter hugs the other despite that he can't get his arms around the large turtle. "You tried. That's all we could ever ask. You know how he can be."
"How he used to be." Raph mutters to which Splinter sighs. He speaks again before Splinter can. "I miss him so much." His voice cracks at the small admittance.
"We all do." Splinter assures Raph. "My son. How about we go get some new flowers for the shrine? I'm sure Leo's spirit will see and be grateful for it."
Raph nods softly and Splinter thinks that it's the best he's going to get.
"We're all here for you. Let me know when you're ready to go." Slinger gets up after another nod from the snapper. He leaves and pauses in the main living space, to where he turns to the shrine they built.
It's like a shelving unit with decorations such as flowers in vases, and all the pictures. One big picture of Leo and the rest being each of their favourites with Leo.
Like the first picture ever of the family when they first got a camera.
The shelving unit itself is painted Leo's favourite shade of blue. It felt the most fitting for a shrine dedicated to him and his memory.
Splinters eyes scan the memories of child Leo all the way up to teen Leo. He closes his eyes before sitting to prepare to pray at the shrine. "We love you my son. And we miss you dearly." He finds a tear rolling down his cheek. "I wish you were still here with us." He folds his hands together bowing his head as he enters a silent prayer.
In the other world...
"Okay be careful." Donatello tells Leon after helping him up from the wheelchair. "Keep a good grip on those bars." He had constructed the bars to act like railings for Leon to hold onto. He researched as much as possible to prepare for this. So he knows that it has to be made so Leon would go in a straight line. "I'll hold you up for right now. Lets see if we can get you standing at all."
Everyone is in the room except Raphael as he still seems to be avoiding Leon. Though they don't notice Raphael stop to peek in from the doorway.
Leon leans forward slightly to try to do this. He finds his legs unstable as Donatello practically holds him up. He glares at the end of the line with determination. He wants to push himself to get there.
"Please slow down a little." Donatello slightly pleads with Leon. "This is the first session. You're not going to reach the end for another while."
"I have to get better." Leon points out and this time Leonardo speaks up.
"And you will. Just don't hurt yourself further trying to do so."
Leon's gaze softens a little. He lets Donatello guide him for right now. He'll get to going further soon enough. He will make it to that other end at some point. He'll make sure of it.
"Well it's about what I expected of the first try." Donatello shifts to help Leon back to the wheelchair.
"Wait." Leon turns to Donatello making him pause. He is a bit too focused on the other to notice Raphael in the doorway. "We can't end it yet. I can keep going."
"We shouldn't push you too hard."
"What? Scared I'll break? I may be slim but I promise you I'm not a twig." Leon insists then turns to look down at his body. "Just don't let it end so quickly."
Donatello is silent for a moment before letting out a breath. "In some ways you remind me of our Raph in stubbornness. Then again I guess our Leo can be stubborn too."
"Is it alright if it is continued?" Leonardo interrupts anything Donatello was going to say.
"Yeah. If he really thinks he can do it we can do a little more." Donatello still keeps Leon mostly supported. "Okay. I'm going to let you down just a tiny bit. It'll be a very small amount. We'll see how your legs respond. Carefully."
Leon nods and feels Donatello let his weight rest more on his legs. His legs buckle and he would have collapsed if not for Donatello, and the grip on the bars. He uses his arms, slightly shaking from the work after all that rest, to pull himself up along with Donatellos help. He doesn't hide the determination from his face as he intends to get good progress. He feels Donatello shift around so he glances to him. He realizes his feet aren't sitting in the right position. He'd be on his ankles if he tried to stand again. He tries to shift his legs into position only getting a slight twitch from them. Making him want to groan a little about it.
Raphael turns and heads away and it doesn't matter as no one noticed.
"Mikey!" Donatello looks to the orange clad turtle who bounces over. "Adjust his feet to the right spot. We'll try one more time before I will call it enough." His eyes locking with the others as soon as he comes over.
Michelangelo nods and crouches helping fix Leon's feet position. He pulls back and can see Donatellos attention on Leon. "All good." He informs Donatello who nods softly.
"Okay Leon. One more time for this session." Donatello instructs making sure Leon is ready.
Leon nods and takes a breath just before Donatello slowly lets him down. He attempts to stand again... Only for his legs to tremble then fall to the side from under him. He is caught by Donatello who was once again ready.
"Okay. That's enough for now." Donatello moves Leon back to which Leonardo comes to help.
Michelangelo holds the wheelchair steady.
Leon gets placed back in the chair where he finds his arms are a little sore. He also feels kind of sweaty. He hadn't even realized he is panting a little. "Do we have another session today or is it tomorrow?"
"We have to take it easy at first. So tomorrow." Donatello informs Leon. "You will be taking it extra easy since with these sessions you'll be tired and sore a lot."
"Okay." Leon is at least glad to start the work on this.
"You did great though!" Michelangelo comes over giving Leon a big smile.
"It wasn't bad." Leonardo agrees giving a slight nod.
"Heh. Thanks. I try to strive for the best." Leon mentions smiling to himself.
"Well make sure to not try to sneak a try in." Donatello warns to which Leon gives him a smile. His eyes show that he knows how determined Leon is to get better.
"I won't." Leon assures Donatello and wheels out of the room. He heads along towards the kitchen to get some water. He is stopped in the living room when a voice comes from behind him.
"Really pushing yourself into it."
Leon turns to look over his shoulder. He spots who he knew was there.
Raphael is standing tall with his arms crossed actually looking a little less grumpy. His stance tries to remain tough looking yet he does seem to have slightly soften up.
Leon has a feeling that this is as close as he'll get to seeing the softer side of Raph. Then again he could get lucky with how things go. "Of course. I'm not going to get better if I don't try."
"You're also not going to get better if you push yourself too hard." Raphael points out with a slight snort. "You can be a bit idiotic." He rolls his eyes.
"Good to hear you do care." Leon teases and Raphael growls a little.
"I never said that." Raphael narrows his eyes at Leon. "I just know that if you don't get better we're stuck with you here longer."
"Sure." Leon makes sure his tone is sarcastic as though he knows the truth. He even slightly drags the single word out for added effect. He smirks as Raphael growls lowly.
"Fuck you." Raphael starts to turn to leave only to pause.
"Something you wanna bring up big guy?" Leon questions still teasing as he's having a bit of fun with it. He wonders what he can get out of the other if he keeps nudging him. He thinks he can get the other to blurt something out in anger.
Maybe then Raphael can feel better about speaking more freely to him. "You know you should be grateful! If we hadn't pulled you out of that place you'd be dead by now!"
Leon slightly flinches at the memory and he finds his mind putting him back to facing Krang. He starts to wonder if perhaps he had died and this is just a dream that manifested itself; that the dream thought that if his brothers couldn't save him maybe another group could then he could return. He turns away to stare at the ground in front of him. He closes his eyes trying to will this dream to let him go so he can move on. He tries to block out whatever Raphael's words are not even paying attention. He opens his eyes when he feels someone grab his shoulder. He turns only to find Raphael standing there. He is still in the same place he was.
"You zoned out there." Raphael points out to which Leon sighs softly and glances away.
"It's fine. Don't need to worry yourself over it. I'm okay." Leon tries to push it away now doubting his thoughts of this being a dream. He just isn't sure what to think anymore since perhaps this could actually be real. He blinks as Raphael suddenly runs over to stand in front of him.
"No you're fucking not!" Raphael growls looking angry that Leon would try to push it away. "I know you're not. Don't try to fucking cover it up. I know from watching my Leo how to tell a lie about such a thing."
Leon can tell that the other won't let this go. So he decides that maybe he'll spill a little. He might be able to get the other off his case about it if he does so. "What if I had actually just died in that place? It'd probably have been better off that way after all I've caused." He stops himself thinking that it may have gone a little too far. He mentally kicks himself for not thinking his words through first.
Raphael is silent for a moment before glancing down so his eyes fall under shadows. "Don't say that."
Leon blinks in slight surprise at Raphael for this. He stays quiet as the other continues.
"If this had happened to any of your other brothers you wouldn't feel that way." Raphael points out narrowing his eyes. "Damn it. You're so selfish thinking like that! You're not even considering how they'd feel! They just want you back alive! I know we would if our Leo did what you did. What the fuck happened to all that determination to get better?! I fucking saw it in there when you tried to stand again."
Leon is quiet for a few moments before smiling softly. He can tell even through lashing out that Raph means well, and that he only wants to help. "Yeah. You're right." He doesn't miss the surprise at just agreeing with the other. "I should be focusing on getting back to them. So they don't have to live on without me."
"Yeah. Just don't hurt yourself further trying to achieve that." Raphael turns away as Leon says that he will try. He doesn't walk away yet as though there's still something he wants to bring up.
Leon turns to him giving him a curious blink. He sees, from the corner of his eyes, the others moving around now though none have approached them yet. "What's on your mind big guy?"
"Don't go giving my Leo any ideas of doing the same thing you did. Or I'll make sure that you'll regret it." Raphael tells him before walking away.
Leon blinks before smiling to himself. "Heh. How cute. I knew he was worried about his family and something like that happening here." He turns away and wheels himself into the dojo. He glances around letting him remember the training, games and even competitions that they've had in his world. He pauses as he spots some extra katanas among the weapons. He doesn't doubt that these were used in the training of those of this world. He feels his heart start to race as he looks at the katanas. His mind flashing to fighting the Krang with his weapons before being stuck in the void. He shuts his eyes shaking his head to try to chase those memories away. He opens his eyes and quickly wheels himself out of that room. He can't keep looking at them. He decides to instead head to the kitchen for some water. He slightly takes his time to try to calm his racing heart.
Maybe this might be something to bring up with either Splinter or Michelangelo... If this worlds version is as good at feelings like the Mikey in Leon's world.
Leon decides he'll think about that later. He for now wants some water. He is glad that no one is in the kitchen when he enters. He finds that their cups are in the same spot as in his world. He can barely reach the bottom of the cupboard. He does manage to knock down a plastic cup which he catches. He closes the cupboard and fills the cup with water. He drinks about half of it before taking a small break. He'll drink the rest though he finds his body is glad for the hydration. He opens his eyes wishing that he could be healed sooner, so his brothers wouldn't have to keep on thinking he's dead.