Chapter 4- Brotherly Love
Rain's father never did come looking
for her, so she stayed with us. I gave her my room and moved into
Raphael's. I'm still in shock with that. Raph and I never have
gotten along and he's always kicking me out of his
room. So him offering me a place to stay was more than I could
ever begin to understand. Or want to for that
matter. It had been almost 4 months since Rain had come into
our lives, and during this whole time she is still
upset with me. She's cold towards me and I believe it's the
worst wound ever inflicted upon me. I feel too
ashamed to go to Master Splinter for help, and I won't talk
to my brother's about it. But I have no idea how to go
about making amends with her. I hadn't meant to say those things
to her, but I just couldn't understand why she
put up with her father and the abuse he inflicted upon her.
It just didn't seem right. Now things were unbalanced
between us and I hate it. I glanced over at the clock and groaned.
I was never going to get any sleep. That was
another thing, I haven't been getting enough rest and in turn
I was doing poorly during morning practice. I got up
as quietly as possible and slipped out the door. I needed to
get out and think.
Two in the morning and New York is at
its quietest. I climbed up the ladder soundlessly and crept over the
ledge of the building. The perfect place to be when watching
the sunrise or set. And no one knew I was here. Or
at least I thought no one did.
"Raph, why did you follow me?"
He walked over to me and sat down.
"Dunno, thought I'd keep ya company."
"Since when have you ever wanted to
do that freely?"
"Oh since right about now. Why you askin'
me so many stupid questions Leo? Can't a guy spend a little quality
time with his brother?"
Now I was suspicious. Since when did
Raph ever want to spend quality time with me, unless it was when he
was kicking my ass?
"Ok, ya got me, I'm curious. What do
you want?"
"Nothin' Leo, I'm just..."
"Just what?"
"Worried about you."
"Oh."
An uncomfortable silence fell between
us. This was all very new to me, and I'm sure for him as well.
"So what's eaten ya Leo?"
"Isn't it kind of obvious?"
"Well...yea, but I figured I'd give
ya the opportunity to deny it a little bit more to save face."
He gave me a smudge smirk, which made
me laugh. Good ol' Raphael. Some things will never change.
"Thanks, you're a, er, never mind."
"S'what I thought. So, tell me what's
on your mind Leo. Ya gotta talk to someone about it. Look at ya you're
a
mess! Not gettin' 'nuff sleep, doing bad at practice. You won't
talk to Splinter or any of us. I can only sit back and
watch ya fall apart for so long ya know."
"I just don't know what to do. I don't
know how to make things right between us. She won't talk to me, she's cold
around me and... it's killing me."
"You really care about her a lot don't
you?"
"Yea, you could say that."
"Then tell her that."
"What?"
"Tell her how much you care about her.
Give her your honor and your trust. Give her some devotion Leo,
because I can tell ya right now. That girl cares about you more
than she lets on. Mikey's been talkin' to her. Don't
let her slip through your fingers Leo. You'll regret it for
the rest of your life."
This is the most Raph has ever told me.
But every word is true. I needed to tell her. She needed to know that I
would give my life up if it meant for her to live a decent life
and to have happiness in it.
"What all has she said to Mikey?"
"That's not for me to say. You'll have
to talk to Mike yourself."
"Fair enough."
"C'mon, lets get back, try and get some
sleep. If we don't we're both going to have a bad practice, and that's
not
going to make Splinter too happy."
He stood up and held his hand down.
I took it gratefully and pulled myself up. In turn he pulled me into a
quick,
tight embrace, clapping me on the shoulder. I returned the brotherly
gesture, and then we both headed towards
home. I have a feeling that I will be getting some well-deserved
sleep.
<Rain>
I watched him go through the movements
with a steady confidence. It was something I truly grew to love about
him. I was still hurt by what he had said to me those few months
ago, but I was still growing fonder of him. Dam
it; men can be so confusing and hurtful. But I guess he hadn't
meant it and that makes him stand apart from the
rest. It makes him the most incredible person I've ever met.
Now don't get me wrong. Don, Raph, and Mikey are
all swell guys. I love them all to death. But it's always been
different with Leonardo. Mikey thinks I'm in love with
him. I don't think its possible. Plus, I don't think he'd ever
ant me. I mean, for one, I'm human, and two…he's
just too…fuck who am I kidding. I don't
know what he's capable of feeling. Mikey told me the other day that Leo
cares about me more than he lets on. What the hell is that supposed
to mean exactly? And there's this feeling
that's in the pit of my stomach. It's like this burning sensation,
and whenever I think of him, or see him, or catch
him watching me, it burns deeply. Not as in physical pain, but
emotionally, and its not necessarily bad. I really
don't know what it is. Maybe it's all my imagination. He seemed
to be a little more focused today in practice.
Which made me feel a little better. Maybe I should start being
a little kinder to him. It's not really right for me to
continue being mad at him for something that was completely
justifiable. He was just thinking of my well being,
and that means a lot to me. Maybe tonight I'll apologize to
him. I owe him that.
<Michelangelo>
"So did you do it?"
"Yea, I did it. It had better work though,
or your ass will become my personal wall ornament."
"It'll work, trust me Raph, I know what
I'm doing."
"Well that makes me feel so much better."
"Dude, listen, they're in denial. They
don't want to think that it's possible for them to hook up. I mean look
at Leo
for instance. He's probably convincing himself that it's too
dangerous for him to get involved with Rain. Ya
know? He doesn't want the foot to get a hold of her or something."
"Yea, you're right about that, we'll
just see what happens I guess."
"It'll work Raph. Trust me."
He gave me a grunt in response and sauntered
off towards Don's lab. Poor guy, he's really worried about Leo.
It was really hard for him to admit it too, but at least he
talks to me. I just hope my plan does work, for everyone's
sake. Ooh! Almost forgot, I need to talk to Sensei!
"Master Splinter?"
I looked into his room and found him
sitting on his giant pillow. I had made it during my phase where I was
knitting and sewing just about anything I could for a period
of 2 and half months. The guys still give me crap
about that. He looked up at me with his wise eyes and gave me
a small smile.
"Yes son?"
"Umm...Leo hasn't talked to you about
anything has he?"
"No, but I do know that he is troubled."
"Yea, he is. Very troubled."
"And you know why this is?"
I looked down at the floor guilty of
knowing something he didn't.
"Its about Rain."
"I know."
"You do?"
I was shocked! Damn what doesn't Sensei
know?
"There are still many things you must
learn Michelangelo."
"Yea I guess so."
"Leo love's this girl. He has loved
her since his dreams started many years ago."
"Wait, exactly how many years are we
talking about here?"
"Since he was young. He has been having
them longer than you and your brothers. And he kept them secret till
recently. He had felt dishonorable to you all. But I assured
him that he had done no wrong."
"Wow...and uh...you're ok with this?"
"It is Leonardo's decision whether it
is right or not. I can only guide him and hope he chooses the right way."
"I see. So basically what you're saying
is that if Leo and Rain hook up you would be cool with it?"
I looked at him, hoping upon hope that
he would be.
"Michelangelo, if being with Rain would
make your brother happy, then I see nothing wrong with it."
I restrained myself from giving a loud
whoop of joy and in instead bowed to him.
"Thank you Master Splinter."
He gave me a wise smile and returned
the bow. I hightailed it out of there and gave a loud whoop in our living
room. Scared poor Klunk to death, but he'd get over it. Now
that all lights were green, I hoped that everything
would start falling in place. The sooner Rain and Leo find each
other, the sooner our family would be pulled
back together, and closer than before.
<Donatello>
I smiled, watching Mikey let out a loud
holler of victory. I too was rejoicing in the fact that Splinter would
be ok
with Leonardo being romantically involved with Rain. I just
felt kind of guilty knowing about Raphael and Mikey's
plan that was being kept secret. I felt that it was my duty
to let Leonardo know, but something restrained me.
Maybe it was because I knew I did say anything to him about
this, it would jeopardize everything. And that is
something I did not want to do. I cared about him too much.
I hoped the gods were smiling down upon us. We'll
need all the divine help we can get.