NOTES: THE FOLLOWING IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT TO THEIR ORIGINAL OWNERS
Chapter 20: Brothers Forever
Mikey soon had the helmet removed when all of the sudden, he felt a joint pain coursing through his head as his memories started coming back, the good, the bad, the best, and the worst.
"Mikey?" Leo spoke in concern.
"M-My memories" Mikey grunted.
"It worked, the orb has helped him regain his memories" Donnie gasped in delight.
"Michelangelo, do you remember everything?" Splinter quizzed.
Michelangelo just nodded in silence before he looks down depressingly and sighed out: "I remember everything and...I'm so sorry"
"What are you talking about?" Raphael asked.
"I understand now how you feel with me in the past; you were right, I was annoying, stupid and even worthless as I still am" Mikey apologised in shame for how immature he acted in the past.
"Mikey, no" Leo shook his head.
"You don't have to lie, I see clearly how much of a nuisance I am" Mikey sadly said.
"You are not a nuisance; I will be honest you were a little annoying sometimes but hey, so were we at times. That's just brothers for you, Mikey. A lot of siblings are like that" Leonardo explained.
"And you're not stupid or worthless. You may not be the smartest but you are unique" Donnie comforted Mikey.
"And you are a tough guy like me, you know that? You kicked Virus's butt and showed him who's boss" Raphael happily chuckled, gently ruffling the young one's head.
Splinter smiles and stood up: "I'll leave you guys to talk this out"
"Wait, papa, don't go" Mikey begged as he tugged on a part of Splinter's robe.
"What is it, Mikey?" Leo asked.
"I...I..." Mikey started to which Splinter kneels next to Mikey: "What is it, Musuko?"
"I don't want to mess up again and make my brothers mad" Mikey quietly whimpered to his dad.
The turtles heard it regardless as their hearts ache at that. Is Mikey really afraid of messing up again and unintentionally getting his brothers mad at him again?
"Mike" Raphael gasped out in pity.
"My little sunshine, you will be alright. Your brothers wanted to say something to you about a few things" Splinter comforted Michelangelo.
He turns to the other turtles and gives them a look that they understand immediately as they don't intend to do what Mikey fears they would do.
When the humanoid rat left the dojo, the three older brothers scoot closer to Mikey who cuddled close to his blanket, anxious and afraid of what to do next.
"Hey, it's alright little bro; we're not gonna hurt you" Raphael cooed.
"But you had...you had hurt me" Mikey whimpered.
"We know...and we deeply regret everything we did that hurt you" Leonardo assured his baby brother.
"I'm sorry though...most of it was my fault that you guys hurt me" Mikey apologised.
"But you were also right about one thing, we always take the insults and everything one step too far with you; you were never like that with us" Donnie shamefully replied.
"He's right, Mikey; we really regret what we said and did to you, especially that night" Raphael added.
"But it's my fault that it happened, I ran away after I trashed the place and everything" Mikey sadly points out.
"You only messed the living room up and you cleaned it up; Besides, you did the right thing and you did your best to make up for us...but we were just too hard on you and we treated you like garbage that night" Donatello replied, looking down in guilt.
"We don't blame you for running away because what we said about you was a really shitty thing we did and one we will never forget to not do again" Raphael responded.
"Can you ever forgive us for all that we said and did to you, little brother?" Leonardo pleaded for forgiveness.
Mikey looks at his guilt depressed brothers; for a moment, he almost want to forgive them and move on with them from the darkness that holds him but fear and shame held him back as he starts to shiver a little and shudders out: "I don't know"
"What do you mean, Otōto?" Leo asked in concern.
"I don't know if I could forgive you...I know you're sorry and you feel bad but...I'm scared things will just be the way it was before everything happened. Me being the screw up and you guys wishing that I'm not your brother" Mikey whimpered.
"No! That will not happen again, not anymore! We're gonna be better than what we were altogether" Raphael vowed.
"That's right; we'll work together this time, all of us," Donnie nodded.
"You'll never feel alone or useless ever again" Leo comforted Mikey.
"I...I just don't know if I can do this anymore" Mikey sniffed, trying his hardest not to cry.
"You can trust us, Mikey," Donnie cooed.
"What is really going on in your mind, little brother?" Raphael gently asked.
"C'mon Otōto; talk to us" Leo kindly pressed on.
Mikey begins to panic again and shudders out: "No, I can't do this! I can't say! You'll just find me boring or you'll get mad at me again if I open my mouth, just please! Just forget this ever happen and just go back to living your lives without me"
As soon as Mikey begins to get up and make a dash for his room, the three brothers grab Mikey and pull him down into a comforting embrace. They held Mikey one by one close to them and spoke to him with comfort and reassurance.
"Mikey, it's alright" Raphael assured.
"We want to help you," Donnie pleaded.
"Speak to us, Mikey; tell us how you really feel," Leo encouraged.
"I...I don't know if I can," Mikey whimpered.
"Yes you can, you can do this" Raphael cooed.
"Take all the time you need, we're not going anywhere" Leo whispered.
"We won't find you boring and we won't get mad at you, we promise" Donnie vowed.
Mikey looks at his brothers as he was unsure at first but something in his heart tells him to let everything go and tell them what he really wanted to say; He eventually starts to open about how he feels and everything that made him feel lonely, depressed and unappreciated by his family.
"I know I can be annoying, I know I'm not smart like Donnie or strong like Raph or even a good leader like Leo but...I try to be the very best I can because you're my family and I love you so much...I would give my life to make sure you guys are happy and alive"
The others said nothing and let Mikey speak on, listening to what he had to say and give him all the space and time he needed, they weren't not going to leave their baby brother like this.
"Yet sometimes I feel like it would be better if I was never your brother at all; you guys had little to no faith in me and while yeah, some of the things I say can be stupid, I do try to make sense of what I do and what I say but you all treat me like a joke"
The young turtle felt his brother's rubbing or nuzzling him for comfort and love,
"I did everything I could to be the ninja you want me to be but you all think I'm just hopeless...You tossed me aside with each other that night at the TCRI and you didn't want to be with me because I'm that hopeless to you"
The brothers flinched at that awful memory, they just pushed aside Mikey onto one another to avoid being with him and even Raphael felt the guilt of them all especially after snapping harshly at Mikey that no one wanted to be with him when the young turtle made a mistake.
"And that time I saved you guys from that Kraang wasp that got you three infected...I made the antidote and saved you all...Yet you just brushed it aside like it was all for nothing and Leo..."
Leo looked at Mikey who firmly looked at the eldest, tears nearly coming out of his eyes before he snapped:
"You never gave me a chance to explain that what I said about your comic book was just a ruse to snap you out of your infected trance, I would never use your favourite comic book as toilet paper, I'm not THAT stupid"
"I know," Leo sadly sighed.
"And yet you beat me up and just left me there without letting me tell you even after I told you, you just brushed it aside like it was nothing" Mikey lashed out.
"I know! I deeply regret how I treated you that day, you mean more to me than a comic and I should've realised that, I'm so sorry" Leo deeply apologised.
"It doesn't matter...Nothing matters anymore" Mikey sniffed and shook his head.
"Otōto" Leo started.
"Why is it you never believe in me when I try to warn you about things? You rather believe in everything else than me like the Kraang brain I told you or the Mom thing I warned you about or even when I suggested where Baxter was taken to the old lab...But you don't listen, you never listen" Mikey angrily whimpered.
The older brothers shamefully nodded as Donnie said: "You're right. We should've listen to you at least but we didn't and you were right about most things"
"And yet you never apologise or even acknowledge me about this, it's like I'm just nothing to you" Mikey sniffed.
"We know and we should've done so. We're very sorry for doubting you too much" Donnie apologised.
"It doesn't matter now...nothing matters now. I know you guys are sorry but I just can't do this anymore because if I open myself to you guys again, it'll just be like before and nothing will change and I just cannot take it anymore, I just can't live like this anymore!" Mikey suddenly cries out.
It was at that moment that the young turtle suddenly breaks down crying as he cannot hold his emotions nor holding back his feelings and depression anymore and wept out in front of his concerned brothers.
They each wrapped their arms around Mikey, whispering and cooing out words to calm him down as their faces were ridden with sadness and guilt on how they treated Mikey in the past.
This was their baby brother, their little sunshine, the heart of the family and to look back on how awful they treated him compared to the pranks and jokes Mikey did in the past made the older brothers sick to the stomach.
They vowed to protect him and love him but all they did lately was hurt and ignore him like a fly on the other side of a window.
This was not how they should be, Mikey should be part of the team, part of the family and they fear on how they treated him along with Virus using him as Midnight, they fear they may be too late on helping their baby brother but they were far from giving up too soon as they will do whatever it takes to earn back Mikey's trust and love.
"Otōto...We want you to listen to us, alright?" Leo started before he kissed Mikey on the forehead then nuzzles him:
"We really do love you so very much; you are our only baby brother and yes, you were right, we should've been with you most of the time and yes, we did things we're not very proud of now"
"We really regret how awful we've treated you Mikey, all of us, you may have done some mistakes and silly things but never anything compared to what we've all done unfairly to you...that's NOT how brothers should be" Donnie added.
"Sure we get on each other's nerves at times but that's brothers for you. Yet you were right, little bro; we never appreciated you, we treated you like shit and left you all alone" Raphael sadly sighed.
Mikey said nothing but wept in his brothers arms before Leo lifted his chin up: "That be said, we're so very sorry for all the bad things we did to you and I know you're scared of opening up to us again...we don't blame you"
"But we promise we'll do better for all of us because we're a family and we cannot live without you as you saw through our lonely depression since you were kidnapped," Donatello added, rubbing Mikey's arm and holding his hand.
"All we ask of you is that you give us another chance, we can change for the better, we can be family. We'll do whatever it takes to earn your trust, respect, and love again because you're our baby brother; You mean the whole world to us" Raphael assured the little turtle he was holding close in his arms.
Mikey tearfully looked at the brothers that were showing him nothing but love and happiness before he sobbed: "I don't know if I can..."
"You can, Mikey; you can trust us. Please, we can't do this without you. If we're going to a better, stronger family then we need you to help us" Donatello replied.
"You won't be alone or unappreciated anymore, little brother" Raphael promised.
"You don't have to forgive us now but all we ask of you is that you give us one more chance and if we break that chance, you're more than welcome to give us all a hard punch in the face to remind us" Leo replied, stroking the shell of his little brother.
For the first time in a long time, the young turtle saw a light in his soul and the warmth he felt from the love and honest apologies from his older brothers was breaking the chains of his worries and pain inside him.
He begins to sob again and nodded: "OK, OK I'll do my very best to be a better little brother for you guys"
"You already are a great little brother" Raphael sniffed.
"Does this mean...?" Leo hopefully asked.
"Yes, I'll let you guys back in my life" Mikey sobbed.
The three brothers smile gleefully and each of them tearfully snuggled the weeping brother, calming him down and reassuring him that he is alright and loved.
"Hear us now, Otōto, you are loved, you are needed and you are so wanted here" Leo comforted.
"Leo's right. We're brothers and a team; we'll always have each other's back no matter what" Donnie agreed.
"We're a family, now and forever, little brother" Raphael happily chuckled.
Mikey soon smiles for the first time with tears still leaving his eyes and gleefully sobbed: "I love you, big bros"
"And we love you too, Mikey," Raphael comforted.
"Now and forevermore, bro," Donnie added.
"Always, Otōto" Leonardo happily nodded.
Mikey continues weeping out of sheer relief while the other brothers cuddle Mikey close and comfort him more and more.
For the first time in their lives, all four brothers felt a weight lifted from their shoulders and a light had broken the darkness in their hearts, for after tonight there was no more pain, no more sorrow and no more guilt or doubt. There was only love, happiness, strength, trust, and peace for the four brothers as they are back together stronger and better than before.
And as for Mikey, for the first time in a long time, he feels like he was back home with people who love him for who he is and feels like things will never be the same again in the most amazing way.