Mikey knew that things had changed while he was gone. He was not so dull that he couldn't anticipate some sort of effect from his disappearance. But nothing brought his attention to the change as painfully as the morning routine.
His eyes still closed, Mikey breathed in the smell of the crisp air - the brick walls, combined with the room being underground, made it have a slight chill, which was only enhanced by the fall air leaking in through the grates. It also smelled a little musty from disuse. He rolled over and pulled the blanket back over his shoulders, trying to huddle into himself. For a moment he could almost pretend like it was any other morning and Leo would be here to yell at him that training was starting and he overslept. For a few minutes he just laid in bed and silently wondered if anyone would come to wake him up. Finally he dared to peek open his eyes and glance at the clock. It was already eight, so if Leo was going to drag him out of his room he would have done it an hour ago.
Something in him felt disappointed. Well, they were probably letting him sleep in since he had come home late last night. With a huge sigh, Mikey rolled out of bed, in the process disturbing Klunk, who had been curled up by his feet during the night. The orange tabby blinked open her eyes, looking around for the source of her unpleasant awakening.
"Good morning sweetie," Mikey cooed, scratching her under the chin. "Today's the big day! I've got so much to start catching up on." Klunk meowed in agreement and purred to express her pleasure with the attention. Mikey gave Klunk one more smooch on the head before he bounded out of his room.
"Good morning!" Mikey said cheerfully as he stepped into the kitchen. A quick glance around and Mikey could see that there were only two turtles present in the kitchen. Raphael sat at the counter, fiddling on his T-phone while he absentmindedly ate a bowl of cereal. Donatello was picking at a waffle that had long since gotten cold. Mikey's smile faltered a bit.
"Oh, hey," Raph said, looking up at Mikey. "Didn't think you'd be up for another hour or two. You usually sleep in till noon if we let you." He shut off his T-phone and set it down on the counter.
"Where's everyone else?" Mikey asked, leaning back to peer around out in the main area. The lair was eerily quiet and solemn - but he supposed it was still somewhat early.
"Sensei's still asleep. Leo's where he always is," Raph shrugged, taking in another mouthful of the cereal. "The dojo."
"Oh," Mikey said, the disappointment clear in his eyes. "So, uh, how are you Don?" Donnie just shrugged halfheartedly, poking at his waffle with a fork.
"Working on anything big?" Mikey tempted him. Donnie always liked to talk about his projects. Mikey was sure he wouldn't resist the opportunity to brag about his latest invention. Instead however, Donatello once again shrugged, leaving Mikey in utter shock. Donnie didn't want to talk about his projects?
Still feeling uneasy, Mikey went over the the freezer and popped it open in search of some frozen waffles. In lieu of that, he found a somewhat displeased blob of a cat, who reached up her paws to block out the light suddenly streaming in. Mikey's face split open into a huge grin and he threw open his arms.
"Ice Cream Kitty!" he cried out. The cat appeared to be in shock for a moment, before she suddenly leapt out of the freezer and landed right on Mikey's chest with a splat. Her frantic meows filled the air as she climbed across his shoulders and on top of his head and groomed him incessantly. All the while Mikey was laughing and stroking her. Mikey finally pulled her off his head and held her in front of him, then leaned forward and nuzzled her.
"Mmmhm!" he said, squeezing her tightly. "Oh man, I missed you so much my precious baby!"
"Oh, she won't be happy when she finds out about her new competition," Raphael commented with a slight smirk. "I can't wait to see your two cats duking it out." Even Donnie couldn't help but smirk a little at the thought.
"No way! They'll get along perfectly," Mikey assured him, peeling the dairy cat off of him and placing her back in the freezer. "Sorry, but you're melting all over my shell." Ice Cream Kitty let out a mournful meow that tugged at Mikey's heartstrings.
"I'll turn down the heat tonight and we'll watch a movie," Mikey promised as he shut the freezer door. The cat didn't appear to understand his words as she gave a quiet farewell meow to Mikey. Mikey turned to Raph questioningly. "Why isn't there any food in the freezer?"
"Oh, it's over there in that mini-fridge," Raphael gestured to the appliance. "Donnie modified it to be colder. We had to because after you..." Raphael trailed off for a moment, averting his eyes. "...yeah. After that, she wouldn't let us touch anything in the freezer. Practically clawed our eyes out every time we opened it."
"Aw," Mikey looked back over at the freezer. "She missed me."
"Well what did you think?" Raphael said a bit stiffly, turning back to his cereal. "She's your cat. Of course she did."
As Mikey pulled down a box of cereal, he couldn't help feeling Raph was talking about more than the cat.
. . . . .
Mikey poked his head into the dojo, being as silent as his ninja training would allow him. Standing next to the tree, Leo was performing katas back and forth across the room. His movements were sharp and each point he hit with a slight snap. Sweat rolled down his neck as he swung his leg around, and he panted through his open mouth. Mikey observed with a keen eye. There was a certain glint in Leo's eyes that clued Mikey in to the bubbling anger he was trying to desperately to hide.
Anger. Mikey contemplated for a moment on what the source of Leo's anger could be. Whatever the reason, temperamental was so not Leo's style. Mikey lingered at the door, unsure if he would be welcomed into the dojo. Six months ago, he wouldn't have hesitated to intrude on Leo's training, but now he felt out of place.
Leo turned to face the opposite wall, performing an impressive mid-air kick, followed quickly by two punches at his imaginary opponent's face. He stopped, every muscle in his body tense, before he unsheathed his katana and performed a complicated set of whirls and swings with them. Mikey couldn't stop the quiet intake of air at the impressive move.
"You can come in if you want," Leo said, just loud enough for Mikey to hear. Mikey jumped a little, sheepish at being discovered.
"Hey Leo," Mikey said, trying to brush away his embarrassment. "Has my stealth mode gotten a little rusty?" The orange-banded turtle tried to come in as casually as he could.
"Maybe," Leo said, not looking at Mikey. "Or maybe I've gotten a little better. Who can say for sure?" Mikey just shrugged, then sat down next to the tree and played his his hands. Leo's eyes narrowed and he performed a kata - one of the more complicated ones that Mikey knew - with fast, practiced movements. Mikey shifted and cupped his cheek in one hand.
"Did you practice at all?" Leo asked, snapping Mikey out of his thoughts. "After you left, I mean."
"Um...I had to hide sometimes...and I fought this one guy..." Mikey scrambled for an answer that wouldn't disappoint Leo. "I did some katas this one time. And I did a lot of rooftop parkour."
"Ah. I see," Leo replied, obviously trying to mask his disappointment. Mikey squirmed uncomfortably. He didn't want to talk about when he had run off. He wanted to forget that and move on. Mikey watched Leo perform another set of swings with his katana, and then quietly cleared his throat.
"Um...is there something going on between you guys?" Mikey asked, his voice squeaking a little. "I mean, you and Raph are kinda avoiding each other and Don's hardly been talking at all-"
"There is nothing wrong Mikey," Leo cut in, his eyes snapping over to his brother and glaring. Mikey swallowed nervously and quickly dropped his gaze.
"I just...do you guys think..." Mikey trailed off, seeing that Leo had stopped listening and was entirely focused on his katas.
"Raph has always been temperamental. You know that we get into fights sometimes. There's nothing unusual about that," Leo snapped tensely, his next move a little sloppier. "And Donnie's just busy. He has a lot of work on his plate right now." Mikey saw right through Leo's excuses and read the meaning behind them. There were a lot of things wrong. Without much forethought, Mikey decided to just dive in headfirst in and confront the issue.
"I heard you and Raph arguing last night about me," Mikey said. Leo tensed.
"We weren't arguing!" Leo protested, his voice raised. "And it's none of your business anyways! We're all glad you're back and last night we just-" Leo paused for a moment, struggling for words. "-Raph just lost his cool for a bit. Things are fine!"
"Leo, you and Raph shouldn't fight, because this whole mess was my own fault," Mikey's voice shook a little. "And I just want things back to normal."
"Would you just stop?" Leo exclaimed angrily. "You can't fix anything by saying it was your fault!"
"So you admit that something's wrong?" Mikey quickly quipped back. Leo grunted in frustration and clenched his fists.
"You ran away Mikey, so obviously things have always been wrong!" Leo snapped. Mikey flinched a bit at his harsh words. "And I'm sorry that we aren't good enough for you!"
"Wait, what?" Mikey's voice was genuinely hurt and the shock in his eyes was clear.
"That's not what I..." Leo paused, the frustration clear in every line on his face. "What I mean it that I should have kept looking that night. I wasn't good enough." Mikey's faced melted into an expression of compassion.
"Leo, Raph didn't mean that-" Mikey began, but Leo suddenly whipped around and with a snarl he launched his weapon straight into the paper divider separating the dojo from the living space. There was a rip as the weapon went straight through the paper and in the other room clattered onto the ground. Mikey flinched and his eyes widened.
"Even an idiot like Raph could see that I screwed up!" Leo spat. "So stop pretending it's your fault! Everyone knows it's mine!"
Mikey had never seen Leo like this. Leo was the cool and confident leader. How had so much changed in six months? How had his family become so...broken? Mikey was lost for words.
"Leo..." Anything Mikey was intending to say was quickly forgotten when he spotted the tears streaking his brother's cheeks.
"I let this happen Mikey," Leo choked out. "I let the team down. I let you down."
Mikey stared at him a moment longer, then raced forwards and threw his arms around Leo's waist. Leo tensed up in apprehension, but within moments had given in and let himself fall into the embrace. Mikey said nothing when Leo started to shake with the force of his own sobs. It seemed backwards that the youngest was comforting the oldest, but everything in their lives had become a little backwards.
When Mikey had left he had thought his family didn't want him. Now he saw the way that his departure had torn them apart. Like Raphael had implied earlier, they had missed him because he was family, and family should stay together. Mikey wished that he had seen that sooner. There were a lot of things that all of them wished had been different.
"Raph and I just...we argued so much after you left," Leo confessed, pulling away from Mikey a bit. "And then Don didn't want anything to do with it, so he started hiding in his lab all day, and me and Raph were constantly blaming each other...but I think we were really blaming ourselves."
"I'm sorry," Mikey said in a cracked tone. "I promise I'll help you and Raph make up. I don't know how, but I will."
"Well, you could start by noticing I'm standing right here."
Mikey and Leo both whipped their heads up in surprise to see Raphael leaning casually in the doorframe, Donatello poking his head around from behind him. Raphael smirked a little at their shocked expressions.
"What? When did you-?" Leo sputtered out, and Raph held up a hand to stop him.
"You really think I'm gonna ignore a sword flying through the living room?" Raphael pointed out. "That's a little weird, even in this house."
"Raph..." Leo stared at him for a moment. "Did you hear...?"
"Enough," Raphael said, crossing his arms. "I also saw you bawl like a baby and I have to say that it's nice to see your aren't an emotionless brick wall like you've been trying so hard to imitate these past months." Leo's jaw clenched and his face flushed in embarrassment.
"Hey Leo...we haven't talked in a while," Donnie said in a small voice, giving Leo a little wave. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten me." There was a slight hint of bitterness in his tone, and Leo's expression turned guilty. That was another wound he'd have to mend besides the one that ripped him and Raphael apart.
"Good morning boys."
Everyone's head turned at once to see Splinter coming out of his room. The older rat's eyes flitted between the four of them with a bit of twinkle to them. "I see that everyone is becoming...reacquainted." The four brothers shared glances at his words. Splinter's mouth curved upwards in the very slightest smile. He turned to Mikey.
"I believe now would be a good time for the discussion we postponed, would you agree?" he asked. Mikey gave his father a small bow.
"Yes Sensei," Mikey said, sending encouraging smiles at all of his brothers. "I think that now would be a good time for us all to have a discussion."
~The End~
A/N Oh MY GOSH!! I loved writing this story. Go check out my other stories too! ^_^