Gone But Never Forgotten

Empty

He was gone.

Their Master, their protector, their motivator

Their father was gone.

It had happened before. In the sewers with Shredder. They all thought he was gone then. But then they found him. True he wasn't exactly in his right mind but he was alive. They got him back. They were a family again.

But that wasn't the case this time. Last time they weren't sure. Sensei was a good swimmer so they held hope that he'd survived the fight and being thrown down a drain pipe. Of course they'd been more focused on Leo's recovery and the retaking of New York city. But this was different.

Sensei was dead. He wasn't coming back. No more smelling fresh green tea when they woke up in the morning. No more starting off training with the words "Haijime!" and ending with "Yame!" No more comforting father to hug them in the night or reassure them when they were having doubts.

They just didn't know how to feel.

Raph was angry. Angry at the Shredder who took their Master away . Angry at the Triceratons who had almost certainly destroyed their world. Angry at himself. He should have done something. He should seen it coming.

Mikey had shut down. Not on the outside. On the outside he was still joking around and wise cracking and being a nuisance at some points but on the inside...on the inside he was broken. He was the youngest. Only 15 and his father was gone. His protector was gone. He sometimes sat by one of the windows and just stared out at the stars. His brothers gave him comfort but they weren't Master Splinter. No one could replace him.

Donnie had been spending his time trying to understand what had happened. Why did Splinter...why had they trusted Shredder?! No trusted was the wrong word. They'd all been horrified when Splinter had revealed the plan to talk to Shredder. I mean Shredder? He'd been trying to kill them from the first time they'd met him on the rooftop. That felt like years ago now. Professor Honeycutt had offered Donnie full use of his lab which Donnie had gratefully accepted. He needed something to take off his mind of what had happened.

Leo was suffering the most. He had the biggest responsibility now. He somehow had to become the leader of the whole family. With no father to give him advice or to take over when it grew too much. He knew Splinter had been preparing him but he hadn't expected it like this. He had always imagined himself older and more experienced leading his family with his father to still help him in the background. But that wasn't gonna happen now.

He never even got to say goodbye. His father had died and he never got to tell him everything he wanted to say. How much he needed him and..

He never got to see Karai...Miwa again. His last memory of his daughter was her falling into the water after trying to kill them. Now it was likely that she was gone along with the rest of the world.

They had failed. Now he was gone.

Leo looked up from his meditation as Raph walked into his small room which Honeycutt had kindly provided them all. Raph nodded at him with dead eyes.

"It's time."

Leo nodded and slowly got to his feet following Raph out of the room.

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A small tribute had been built to honour Splinter in a small  private room on the lower levels of Honeycutt's ship. Leo had brought some candles with him before they had left the lair. Now they were lit and surrounded a picture of Splinter and the boys. 

The -now reduced- family was gathered with their heads bowed. Casey was comforting April who had silent tears now running down her face. Donnie had his arm around Mikey. Raph and Leo were standing next to each other with neutral expressions. Professor Honeycutt quietly exited to give them some privacy. Leo cleared his throat and began speaking the words that took forever to compose

"Master Splinter...was one of the wisest men on Earth. He was strong...charismatic...and a wonderful father. He trained us....raised us. He made us into the people we are today. True he was tough on us from time to time. But only when he needed to be. He went through so much hardship and suffering in his life...yet he always managed to..to stay upbeat. He never gave up on us no matter how the odds were stacked against us even...even if we didn't believe we do it ourselves. He saved us time and again...and...we were so lucky...to have him for a Master....and a father."

Mikey lost it. The tears started rolling down his face and he collapsed sobbing into Donnie's arms. Donnie  hugged him close to his plastron comforting him as best he could as he let a few stray tears roll down his face. Raph looked away from his brothers so they didn't see him hastily wiping tears from his eyes. Leo swallowed the lump that was stuck in his throat and gently knelt next to the memorial. He pulled out a small letter from his belt that the four boys had written together and gently laid it next to the picture. He stood and looked back at his family "Master Splinter didn't give up on us. He died believing that we would save the world. That's what we're going to do. The Triceratons made the biggest mistake of their lives invading Earth. They took our world...but we're going to get it back."

The group nodded and after a moment of silent reflection they quietly left. Leo looked back at the memorial one last time. He smiled weakly "Wherever you are Dad...I hope you're at peace. Give my best to Tang Shen."

With that he turned and left leaving the letter behind him.

親愛なる父

あなたが私たちのためにしたすべてのものをありがとうございました。私たちの世話をしていただきありがとうございます、すべてを通して私たちと一緒にいるしていただきありがとうございます。あなたは平和で休むことがあります

Dear father

Thank you for everything you did for us. Thank you for caring for us and thank you for being with us through everything. May you rest in peace

There would be dark days. Days when it seemed like nothing was going right or days when they felt like they lost everything. But they would recover. They would get their world back. They would save their friends. And they would make Shredder pay for what he did. They could do it.

After all...Sensei believed in them