#leaveau

Four wakes up in an unfamiliar place. Usually when his eyes open in the morning he’s staring up at shadowy rafters and feeling the aches and nausea from their blood drawing of the previous day.

So far he’s completely fine and looking up at a ceiling of pale yellow next to a wall adorned with soft, twinkling lights.

He’s mesmerized.

Lights aren’t usually this…..nice. They always tended to be somewhat blinding or cold when they’re the ones inside.

He’s pulled away from staring and bolts straight up when he smells something delicious wafting his way.

His new view however confuses him a lot more.

All around him is as soft as the lights.

Blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, various items probably belonging to people scattered around as if they would not be punished for it.

A mrrbt sound causes him to look down.

His jaw drops.

A fuzzy creature is laying across his legs and looking up at him so adorably.

Th creature stretches out its arms while curling its back before pressing a paw to his plastron.

Four very carefully picks up the creature, taking in the way its fur feels against his hand and the sudden and audible vibration coming from it.

He holds it close and presses his face against the creature’s. There’s no way to describe the joy he feels as it nuzzles back and tickles his face with its whiskers.

Eventually, it wriggles out of his hold and hops onto the floor.

He pouts slightly before swinging his legs over and standing up.

Something feels off right away.

He’s taller.

How could he have changed height? An experiment Draxum didn’t tell them about? Does that mean everyone would be bigger?

Is that why they were taken to wherever this is?

Another sniff of the delicious smell fills his mind with more need to eat rather than figuring anything out.

It’s odd he’s smelling something like this when they only eat on extraction days.

It’s even more odd when he sees where the smell is coming from.

A woman, a human of all things, is cooking!

A real live human! Right in front of him!

And standing next to…..Draxum?

Where is his helmet?

Why is he wearing different clothing?

Why isn’t he getting rid of the human?

“I told you I am not adding mystic items to this soup.” The woman says firmly.

Four is completely shocked that she’s speaking to him that way and not immediately getting punished.

“Don’t you want them to have all the necessary items to grow strong and healthy?” Draxum insists.

“You already mutated them to survive anything, and meat and vegetables are more than enough to help with that.”

Four’s mouth waters.

Meat and vegetables? Together? That pot looks so large!

What is happening?

Draxum notices Four standing there, making him slightly nervous that he isn’t supposed to be interrupting.

“Did you sleep well?”

Four blinks in surprise.

“U-Um…..yes, sir….”

Draxum looks at him like he’s said the wrong thing.

Four panics.

“I mean yes, lord Baron Draxum sir!” He quickly salutes.

The woman laughs.

Draxum grumbles.

“I was just asking a question. There’s no need to be sarcastic like your brothers.”

He’s not mad? And the woman can laugh at it too!? Who is she!?

“I’m….I’m sorry….”

The woman nudges Draxum.

“You made him upset! You know what you should do.”

Draxum sighs and opens up his arms.

“Fine. Come here for your hug.”

Four’s mind immediately goes to thinking this is some sort of test but quickly disregards that in favor of getting a hug from his creator.

He leaps into his arms and hugs him tightly, nuzzling him like he did the creature earlier, savoring every last second of this interaction.

Draxum hugs him back close and pats his head.

“Yes yes, there there, other comforting phrases.”

Four smiles widely.

Never in his wildest dreams would he imagine Draxum acting this way.

“Here, taste the soup and see if it needs anything added to it.” The woman says as she holds a spoon up to his mouth.

Four doesn’t even blow on it as he quickly takes it into his mouth. The warm taste dribbles into his mouth and down his throat. He takes great care in chewing the meat and vegetables.

“Honey, be careful! That was still hot! Are you okay? Is your tongue burnt?”

Four shakes his head, still with his wide smile. It’s so silly to him that she’s worried about something like that. He’s probably healed already and the pain is nothing compared to the training and experiments he goes through anyways.

He finally swallows the food.

“It tastes great! Can I have more?”

The woman still looks concerned, but answers anyways.

“Once Luke and your brothers get back we can all eat.”

Four squeals loudly in happiness.

He gets to see all them outside of training!? And they get to enjoy the food together!? They don’t even need to give blood!?

Is this a dream?

If it is, he hopes his brothers are having the same one, along with the warm feeling of soup in their stomachs.

Who’s Luke?

Do they get to meet someone new!?

He hears a door open.

“Oh, there they are.” The woman continues.

Four hops off Draxum and rushes back into the other room.

He trips over his own feet, still not used to this height, and his hands scramble to try to stay standing.

Arms catch him, but not before he accidentally pulls something off whoever caught him.

He looks up and sees a giant yokai standing right in front of him.

Four is star struck.

The yokai, Luke he’s guessing from what the woman said, is large in both height in size. There’s scales covering his body, claws on his hand, and a large tail behind him.

“A-Are you okay? What did you trip on?”

“I’m okay! And my own feet! You are so cool!!” Mikey pulls himself over Luke’s shoulder so he can sit on top.

Luke places a hand on his calf to keep Mikey steady and shyly looks to the side.

“Th-Thank you. Can I have my necklace back please?”

Mikey drops the item in his hand back to Luke.

“Graceful one second and falling over the next. That’s our little brother.” A familiar but slightly deeper voice comments.

Four quickly looks at the source of the voice.

It sounds like Three, but it’s slightly deeper than how he usually sounds.

He seems like a brother, but not…..his brother.

Not exactly.

He’s older, a couple of years at most.

He’s so…..happy, relaxed.

In a real way.

Not for pretend.

He also has a very different outfit but one that still matches with Two and One who also seem different in the same ways.

“Three…? Is that really you?”

Leo looks at him in confusion.

“Three? What, are you ranking us now? Why am I Three!? Who’s One!?”

Four points to Raph who almost starts tearing up.

“Raph’s number one?”

Four’s eyes widen.

He has a name.

A real name.

How?

“So Donnie is two!? Why!? I saved you from a fake ghost and I’m only three!? Brotherly betrayal!” Leo says, his words dripping with dramatics.

Four isn’t sure what’s going on.

“Because….Two is older.”

Leo gasps loudly and puts a hand to his plastron.

“You’re taking his side!?”

Donnie has the smuggest expression imaginable plastered on his face.

“Well, that solves this fight forever! I always knew I’d reign supreme as the victor.”

They both stare at each other before Leo starts off a slap fight. Four is worried at first that they’re going to fight like they do in training, but this seems way more….silly?

Raph walks over to Four with a smile.

“Why’d ya want to make nicknames like that, Mikey?“

Mikey?

Mikey.

He has a name too.

This really must be a dream.

It’s so weird, but this kind of world is everything he ever dreamed of.

“Um…..I thought of them when I was sleeping.”

“I wonder what number that would make pops.”

Four is confused once again and looks around.

Does he mean Draxum?

While he did create them, he was very clear that he was not their father and they were not his spawn. They were created with the DNA of a famous warrior-

…….Wait.

It can’t be….

“Boys! No slap fighting or you won’t get any bread!”

Donnie and Leo begrudgingly end their match with Leo sticking his tongue out at Donnie.

Four looks over at the new human and something in his heart suddenly floods with an ache he can’t describe. He knows so little about this person and yet it’s like he was supposed to.

Maybe he has met him, before he could remember.

He climbs down and carefully approaches him.

The human looks at him expectingly, but his eyes are warm. Everything about him makes Four yearn for something he’s never felt.

Four slowly reaches his arms out to him.

The human hands Raph the bread and pulls Four into a close hug.

“I missed you too Orange, did you have a good rest? Is your headache gone? I brought you some medicine in the flavor you like.”

Four hugs him back tightly as hot, large droplets of tears roll down his cheeks.

Splinter panics.

“What’s wrong!? It does still hurt!? Do you have a fever?” He presses the back of his hand to his forehead.

Raph, Donnie, Leo, and Luke start all talking at once, trying to think of different things to offer Four to help him feel better.

The woman and Draxum even come in to see what’s going on.

Four wipes his eyes.

“I’m okay. Can I just get a hug from everyone else too?”

“You heard him, turtle pile!” Leo shouts before hugging them both.

All the others join in after, wrapping Four and Splinter in a giant basket of warmth.

Afterwards, and once Four has assured them that he feels fine, they go to the table in the kitchen and take their seats. The woman puts the bread that was brought in the oven. Once it’s done, she serves it with butter and the soup.

As everyone eats, they talk about their days while Four listens intently.

It’s everything he ever dreamed of his family doing.

Walking out on the surface and having as much fun as possible. Being able to do what they want without even thinking about what they’re supposed to be doing.

Three and One are even in love! Unbelievable!

Not to mention that Two is absolutely thriving. He can talk almost aimlessly about all the inventions he’s been working on with Luke.

Draxum, Splinter, and the woman who Four learns is named Julia, are so so proud of him.

Of all of them.

Not over just how useful they are. Just things that make them happy.

Four is allowed to eat as much as he wants which he does. Instead of Draxum reprimanding him, he doesn’t even bat an eye at it. Julia had pat his head and seemed glad he enjoyed it so much.

Draxum and Julia take care of the dishes no matter how many times Four and Raph ask about helping.

Julia insists that they both go play a video game or watch a movie together.

So, they do.

Four continues to be mystified about everything in front of them. He’s seeing his brothers like they’ve never acted before. They don’t have a care in the world.

He mostly snuggles up to Raph or Splinter while watching the others play or just during the movies they put on.

Four isn’t sure why, but Raph seems to really appreciate how much he’s holding onto him.

When everyone starts dozing off in various parts of the room, Four pulls Raph with him to lay next to them.

Raph smiles and curls around him.

“Love ya, big man.”

“I love you too. You’re a really good brother.”

Raph tears up happily and smiles more before slowly falling asleep.

Four holds onto Leo and Donnie’s hands, receiving a squeeze in return despite them being asleep.

He closes his eyes as well.

Maybe this isn’t a dream. Maybe it’s a nice future where they forget all about their numbers and have names and have a dad, a new brother, just more family.

Mikey’s smile is wide as he twirls around in his costume. He can’t stop looking in the mirror. Julia made the costumes for him and his brothers herself. It encouraged them to think of exactly what they wanted instead of looking at prices or the simplest ideas.

Leo had found a love for pirates after seeing both Jupiter Jim and Lou Jitsu movies about them. Julia may or may not have let slip that a certain skeleton restaurant owner had a past relating to the topic. Now Leo looks just like the single photo Hueso agreed to share about it.

Raph was a little anxious when he came to Julia about his costume. At first, he said he couldn’t think of anything and wanted Julia to choose. She told him he had plenty of time to think. Eventually, he shyly admitted that he wanted to be a bear like her. She knew there was still more, but still made it for him. When she saw the excited, but still somewhat sad look on his face, she encouraged him to tell her what he really wanted.

That’s how he got to be a bear fairy princess.

Donnie was a lot more fickle about the costume. Julia asked about his favorite characters, but each one garnered more frustration from the softshell. She tried to tell him that he didn’t have to dress up at all if that’s what he preferred, that only succeeded in causing him to storm off into his room and slam the door.

It took several hours for him to calm down. He approached Julia while she was in her chair in the living room with tears in his eyes and guilt written all over his face. Donnie apologized and told her he was angry at himself, not at her. He saw a mad scientist in a musical and wanted that to be his costume so badly.

But he couldn’t bring himself to say so.

Those two things were basically ruined for them all. They cause so much trauma, even now. He had felt incredibly bad that he wanted it at all. That he must be a terrible person, just like Draxum.

Julia held him and insisted that liking something that someone bad in your life did does not mean you’re similar to them. It sometimes can be a good sign that they don’t have control over you anymore.

Donnie was still terrified that his brothers would hate him, or worse, be scared of him. Julia promised that with his permission she could talk to them and see how to make it work. He very hesitantly agreed.

Julia went to the others and made a plan. They each helped make different pieces of the costume so they could get used to looking at it and know there was nothing to be scared of.

They all surprised him with it one day and he nearly started crying again. He wore it for hours afterwards.

Mikey chose to be what he’s always wanted to be.

A hero.

His suit mainly has orange and white, but his cape has orange, blue, red, and purple. Now that Draxum…isn’t around anymore….the most important thing in the world is his family and keeping them happy, safe.

Exactly what heroes do!

Julia makes the job a lot easier, but heroes never work alone anyways.

The doorbell rings.

“Boys, our special guest is here!” Julia announces.

The four of them rush to the door with excitement. She had told them that she knew someone who was visiting the human world for the first time and that she had a nephew around their age. They decided to have a join trick or treating excursion.

It would be the first top side Halloween for all of them.

Julia manages to get the door open despite how they crowd around it. The turtles see two rabbit yokai in front of them, an older woman and a boy their age. The boy and Leo look each other up and down immediately before smiling widely and shouting in unison.

“You’re a pirate too!”

Julia and Usagi’s aunt share a chuckle. This wasn’t planned in the slightest but it seemed to make the two boys very happy.

“Your bandana is so cool! And your eyepatch!” Usagi compliments.

“I got them both from a real pirate!” Leo brags.

“Wow, amazing! And you guys look awesome too! My name’s Usagi Yuichi! Oh, but um, I’m from Japan so Yuichi is my first name. You’d still call me Usagi because you only say the first name if we’re friends BUT I think we are friends so….call me either!” He smiles.

Donnie immediately thinks about the fact that he’d never survive anything they’ve been through, especially not a day with Draxum. He also thinks that it’s nice that someone wants to be friends this soon and that his brother is happy.

“Yuichi, I am Donnie. I welcome you to the group. Stay on my designated candy route and I promise our bags will weigh pounds.”

“Aye aye, captain!” He salutes.

Donnie feels a little proud.

“I’m Mikey and this is Raph. It’s nice to meet you!” Mikey beams.

“It’s nice to meet you two too! Your cape’s colors are so nice and Raph, I really like your wings!”

Raph smiles.

“Thank you. Anything that happens out there, you can count on me to protect you.”

“I can do it too! I’ve been practicing with my sword.” Usagi takes out his foam sword and whirls it around.

Leo gets even more excited and takes his out too. They fight together while giggling until one of them gets stabbed and pretends to die a dramatic death. It still is a little uncomfortable to think about death, but the fun washes the feeling away a bit.

Julia and Usagi’s aunt finally get everyone out the door and out to where the other trick or treaters are.

Usagi’s ears twitch excitedly, his foot thumping on the ground as well. The boys are in awe at seeing all the costumes and other kids. They’re not very scared of anything since they’ve seen much worse, but the decorations are still cool.

Donnie leads the way to the specific houses that will get them maximum amounts of candy.

The first house is a bit of a trial run in terms of what to do and say.

“Trick or treat!” Is the phrase they get correct.

“Oh! What wonderful costumes! A turtle, bear, and a fairy princess all in one? So special! Why don’t you all take a full sized bar?” The man offers.

Mikey, Donnie, Leo, and Usagi each take one and say thank you.

“I love you.” Is what Raph says.

Julia covers her mouth to stifle laughter and reminds Raph what the correct phrase is. Raph apologizes but also gets his group another, smaller piece of candy.

From there the fun continues.

Their costumes are a big hit with the rest of the houses on the route. The people compliment the mixing of animal and regular “costumes” made the boys feel better about themselves. Maybe if they saw them like this on a normal day they wouldn’t yell in fear.

Not that they’d want to find out yet.

One yard they visit even has a photo booth. They spend a long time taking some in different, silly poses. There’s two copies of the photos that they split, one for the turtles to share and one for Usagi to take back with him.

The trick or treating continues until everyone begins feeling tired. At that point, Julia invites Usagi’s aunt to come over for her and Usagi to eat. She was going to feed the boys anyways so they wouldn’t be too inclined to fill themselves up in just candy.

Usagi’s aunt accepts and they all go back to Julia’s house.

The turtles show off their rooms to Usagi while Julia and Usagi’s aunt cook together.

Donnie had taken over Luke’s old room with his permission to use whatever was leftover in there. This led to weaponry at first before Julia encouraged him to build more fun things. It took a while to be able to understand that he now actually had a choice in what he invented, but eventually each of his brothers had a toy robot they kept in their rooms. Donnie also has a lot of posters and some games for a slightly older game system that he made upgrades to.

Raph’s room is nearly filled to the brim with comfort items and delicate colors. He and Julia went yard sale shopping for a lot of the stuffed animals, but others were made by them together. Raph wanted second hand plushies because he felt like they deserved another chance like he got. He’s very protective of all of them, especially the ones that remind him of his brothers. He also has wrestling posters, big, fluffy comforters on his bed, and fairy lights.

Leo’s room is cluttered with different sport and hobby items. He was given a lot of room to figure out what he likes doing and if he wanted to do it just for fun or on a team. So far he’s playing basketball, being a mascot for football, and trying out playing the guitar. He was terrified to try anything at first. Julia worked with him at recipes she wasn’t good at to help him see that if she isn’t perfect, she doesn’t expect him to be either.

Mikey’s room has drawings and paintings covering nearly every surface. It was one of the hobbies that Leo tried but didn’t like. Mikey picked it up and never put it back down. It’s something Draxum would have never let him do. There’s no use for it in a war. For a soldier. Always a soldier, never a poet, never the fan blade, always-no. Not anymore. It’s different now. It’s been different. They’re truly living their lives now without the threat of them being taken away.

Usagi had a blast looking around in each of them. They played with some items in Leo’s room, listened to Raph name all his beats in his, colored in Mikey’s, and Donnie showed off the marshmallow shooter he assembled.

Finally, they were all called to wash up and eat.

“Whoever washes their hands first wins!” Usagi shouts before scrambling to run.

Everyone else chases after him and the group burst into giggles when they don’t all fit in at once.

Mikey manages to squirm his way inside, freeing everyone else but also allowing him a head start. He washes his hands and triumphantly raises them as the victor. Leo pats his head with a smile before the rest of them also get their hands clean.

After that, they all sit down at the table. Julia and Usagi’s aunt had made fettuccine Alfredo, salad, and garlic bread. The group excitedly talks about everything they saw and did in between eating.

Once everyone is done, Julia and Usagi’s aunt take care of the dishes after telling the boys to go ahead and take a look at their candy.

They all sit around and begin trading with each other.

Donnie stares pretty hard at a pineapple scented pencil Usagi has in his pile. He’s very aware that it should be less valuable than something edible but he really likes the scent and he can smell it while designing if only he had it!

Sadly, he’s out of candy that Usagi said he likes.

Usagi see this and picks up the pencil, holding it out to him.

“I….don’t have anything you’d want for it.”

“That’s okay, you looked like you really wanted it.”

Donnie is flabbergasted at the fact that Usagi wouldn’t rather use that as some kind of leverage again him.

What kind of strategy is that?

It’s not one.

Usagi doesn’t think like a soldier.

He’s just nice.

And….that itself…..is nice too.

Donnie shakes one hand in excitement while using his other hand to take the pencil. He feels a little self conscious when Usagi looks at it, but is surprised when Usagi does it too.

It’s not in a mean way, it looks genuine.

“I do that when I’m happy too!” Usagi smiles.

Donnie smiles back and shakes both hands while they laugh.

At the end of the dishes, Usagi’s aunt and Julia are met with five extremely sleepy boys.

Usagi’s aunt moves his candy into his basket and picks both it and his hand up. She waves as she leads him to the front door. Usagi’s sleepily waves as well and says he had a lot of fun.

The turtles tiredly wave back and insist he needs to visit again.

Julia smiles and says goodbye to Usagi’s aunt before closing the door behind the two rabbits. She then scoops the leftover boys into her arms and takes them to Raph’s room. That’s where they usually go when they want to sleep all together since his bed is the biggest.

She tucks them all in and kisses their foreheads. They fall asleep within seconds. Julia makes sure Raph’s stuffed animals won’t be kicked off in anyone’s sleep so he won’t feel guilty in the morning and then makes her way to the door.

Julia takes one last look at her boys and quietly shuts it.

Four is surprised but overjoyed when he doesn’t wake up from his dream in the morning. Raph is gently placing him in a seat back at the table.

He yawns and smiles. Sleeping late feels so good! Getting more than just the minimum requirement refreshes his whole body.

There’s a comfortable drowsiness still in his body. It’s in between falling asleep again and still being conscious.

A sweet smell hits his nose and causes his mouth to water.

He blinks to try to keep his eyes open and see what’s being served. Unfortunately, he’s still too sleepy. His hand feels around for a fork.

“I got ya, big guy.”

Four smiles more.

Raph lifts the fork to his mouth. Four opens it up and takes a big bite. Something fluffy and syrupy hits his tastebuds and it’s almost overwhelming how much he likes it.

He hums happily before chewing and swallowing.

“Why does Mikey get to be treated like a baby when he’s not feeling well but when I am you guys tell me to suck it up?” Leo grumbles.

“Because you fake being sick for attention and don’t tell us when you actually are sick?” Donnie answers.

Four cracks an eye open.

He sees Leo open and close his hand, making mocking noises.

Four giggles.

Leo smiles proudly at making him laugh.

“Raphael, let me feed Mikey. You should get to your food before it gets cold.” Julia urges.

“Ah ma, it’s fine. I like ‘em no matter the temperature.”

Four’s eyes open entirely.

Ma?

He means…..mother?

They don’t have a mother. Splinter being their father makes sense, it’s his DNA. Having a mother would be something they just decided, chose.

It causes excitement to spring through him and full wake him up.

“It’s okay, Raph, mom! I’ll feed myself.” Four takes the fork back.

Raph’s body droops slightly as he gets back to eating his own good. Four is confused, but doesn’t want his brother to be sad.

“Thanks for the help, Raphie!”

Raph’s tail wags.

“No problem, little bro.”

Four digs into his food with excitement. The strawberries topping it are so sweet and fresh. Juice runs down his face which he wipes away with his hand.

Draxum grumbles and Four fears he’s made a mistake for a moment. That is, until he grabs a napkin and softly rubs his mouth with it.

Four beams at the gentle attention.

After everyone’s eaten, Luke and Draxum head out, saying they’ll meet them where they’re all planning to go after taking care of something.

Four excitedly wonders what that place they’re going will be like.

He’s finally going out on the surface!

Julia, Splinter and his brothers have him help pack a lot of things. Drinks, food, boards that are soft for some reason, blankets, umbrellas, plastic little toys, and sunscreen.

Raph, Donnie, and Leo change into colorful shorts and tank tops. Four nearly squeals happily when he’s given his own clothes with just as many, if not more, designs.

When the front door opens, he runs out first and soaks in the warm sun on his skin. It feels better than any artificial light he’s ever been given.

It, however, is also bright.

He still smiles as he shields his eyes from the rays. He feels his arm get moved down and something placed over his eyes. Four tilts his head back to see it was Leo who also has something over his eyes.

“Sunglasses, courtesy of the real Two. Now we match.” Leo smiles.

Four smiles back widely and hugs him tightly. He’s always known how much Three loves him, but here he’s able to show it so much more.

That goes for all of them, really.

He knows now that they’d show it constantly if they could. More people could love him, too. They just needed the chance.

Leo hugs back before lifting him up and into the seat of a car. He hops into the seat next to him as well. Four wonders why this doesn’t have a roof to it.

Everyone else piles in as well, Julia commenting about Donnie upgrading a convertible to hold more seats.

Donnie smiles proudly, Four is so happy for him.

After a seatbelt check, Julia begins driving them. Four knows why there isn’t a roof anymore and he wishes there never was on a vehicle again.

The wind blasts onto his face in the most fun way. The sun continues shining on all of them. Music plays, something cheerful and loud to hear it over the wind.

There’s so much excitement here.

After a while, the vehicle stops. Everyone begins leaving it and grabbing things from the trunk.

Four would also help, but seeing everything in front of him makes him jump out and run towards it.

A portal opens in front of him, bringing him back to the group.

“Ah ah mi hermano. You know there’s something you need before you go out there! I’m not listening to you whining about aloe vera all night.” Leo sprays Four all over.

After everyone else is sprayed as well, Four runs out again, followed this time. A human sitting on a blanket under a large umbrella waves them over.

“Hey you guys! Took you long enough! We had to almost fight people away from the spot.”

“Almost!? I did!” A second human corrects.

“Casey did. Karai just chilled over here.” The original human states.

“I was keeping watch for the seagulls. They are truly the tougher battle.” Karai adds.

No way!

Even more humans!? And they’re friends!?

“Gasp, fabo nail colors April, you two!” Donnie comments.

Four looks at their nails.

Casey has slightly sharp, medium sized, black nails with white skulls painted on them.

April has short, sparkling green and yellow nails.

Karai has short, white, cherry blossom themed nails.

Their toes are painted to match.

“We thought we’d show Karai the updated way to get them done! She almost broke the foot bath because she didn’t know there’d be bubble but it was still fun.” April responds.

Four notices the way Karai stares at him. He stares back, cocking his head curiously with a smile. She looks confused.

“Are you okay?” Four asks.

“Yes, I am fine, are you? There is…..something different with you today.”

“I’m great! Thank you for asking!”

“….I see. What do you all want to do today?”

April, Casey, Raph, and Julia decide to play volleyball.

Splinter chooses to sun bathe.

Leo and Donnie want to play in the water.

Four has a hard time picking what to do but ultimately goes with the water as well. Karai joins them too.

The four of them go to the water.

Four squeaks and jumps slightly at how cold it is which earns some laughter from Leo.

Donnie kicks water at him.

This turns into a very large splash fight. Four joins in after he’s more used to the water. Karai winds up using moves that keep her dry and everyone else soaked.

Leo soon picks up seaweed and starts chasing Donnie and Mikey with it. Karai doesn’t seem too put off by it.

They finally take a break when Luke, Draxum, Pomona, and Usagi show up.

Four feels his heart nearly burst with joy as he sees just how happy Raph and Leo are to see their partners.

Their eyes are brighter, their laughs lighter, their body language even more relaxed.

The joy slowly dissipates into something else. Seeing how everyone thrives when able to be free and love as they want, it makes him wonder why Draxum sees it as such a bad thing.

Probably because war has no room for either.

This isn’t a dream, is it?

It’s not the future either.

He’s going to have to go back eventually.

He….doesn’t want to….

No! He can’t think like that! No matter how fun and nice this place is, he would never abandon his brothers!

There has to be a way to make this happen for them too!

Right?

He takes a step away from the group, starting not to feel well.

What has he been doing?

Having fun, eating yummy food, enjoying a world that isn’t his while One, Two, and Three are probably being experimented on.

Thoughts are beginning to overwhelm him.

He feels light headed.

A strong hand is firmly placed on his shell and something cold presses against his face.

“Michelangelo. You’ve been getting too much sun. Come, sit with me.” Karai suggests.

Four softly nods his head and goes with her to sit under one of the other umbrellas they bought.

Karai opens up the cold item and hands it to him.

He sucks on the straw and digs his feet into the sand. Yet another wonderful taste hits his tongue.

Apple.

Karai sits with her legs crossed.

“What is your name?”

“…..Four.”

“Just as I thought. You’re not from here.” Karai hums.

“Are you…..angry at me? I’m sorry, I thought this was a dream or something at first….” Four digs his feet in more.

Karai shakes her head.

“No, of course not. You have done nothing wrong and I know you’re telling the truth. I just worry for Mikey.”

Four takes an extra long sip of his drink.

“If….we switched places…..it’s not….a nice place to be.”

Karai is silent for a moment.

“While I worry, I know that I don’t truly need to. He is strong in many ways. You two are very similar.”

Four glances up at her.

“I don’t think so. I can’t make everyone happy like they are here. It’s so different.”

“It took a lot of work and hardship for it to be this way. It would not be fair to ask you to change anything on your own. That being said…..I’m sure you make the people in your life happy. Maybe the circumstances make it difficult for that to be at a certain level, but without you their lives would be…..darker. Without as much light.”

Four sniffles.

“I-I’m going to keep doing my best!”

Karai rubs his head.

“You always do. I am going to look into how to send you back, for now, I believe someone wants to build some sand castles with you.”

Four leans over to look.

Donnie, Draxum, and Luke are calling him over to be their assistant with forming the structure.

Four smiles, hugging Karai tightly before rushing off for more fun.

He hopes his Mikey appreciates everything he has.