Leonardo sensed the uneasy air lifting by the middle of the day. By that evening, he, Michelangelo, and Donatello were all sitting on the couch, talking and laughing as if there had never been any strain. While he hadn't seen Raphael sort anything out with their younger siblings, he mused the red-clad turtle must have. Everything was so much lighter.

Donatello and Michelangelo were currently bouncing ideas back and forth about what Donnie could work on next now that his schedule was so much freer. Most of Michelangelo's ideas were impractical or even unattainable, but Donatello was able to sift through his thoughts and pick out the bits of creative genius he could use. With the two of them working together, Donatello had half a notebook full of new, useful plans in no time, and was scribbling wildly at the next pages, trying to capture his thoughts before they escaped.

"I think that's enough for now," Donnie said, a little reluctantly, jotting down a few last notes. "This is enough to keep me busy for a few weeks." He shut the notebook with a hum. "I guess my hook sword training will have to wait a while longer."

"Your training?"

Donatello jumped and whipped around. "Oh. Hi, Sensei." He stood and walked up to Splinter. "I was wondering if you'd train me to use the hook swords. You know, as a side project." He tapped the spine of the notebook. "I think it would be good for efficiency and safety, especially with how often my bo staff breaks, but I think I'd only want to work on it when I didn't have anything to do in the lab, seeing my work is of use to the team." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I know that might not work out, depending on how much time I can spend on it, but…"

"I would be glad to train you," Splinter said. "I'm proud of you, for learning not to be dependent on only one weapon." He put a hand on Donatello's shoulder. "And even more proud, for deciding to put your safety in high regard. I will start you on a wooden version of the weapon, whenever that may be. I will be glad to help expand your arsenal, however consistent or inconsistent your training may be. It is good you understand your usefulness in your scientific pursuits, as well."

"Thank you, Sensei."

The two bowed to each other, then Splinter returned to the dojo.

Donatello produced his bo and examined it thoughtfully.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" Michelangelo asked, peering up at him from his position upside-down on the couch.

"It will be a while until I'll be able to take the swords out again seeing all my upcoming projects, and even then, my bo staff will be my primary weapon. I wonder if I could keep it from breaking as much." He gave it a twirl. "Coat it in something protective that won't make it inflexible or heavy. I did just go through researching every material on Earth, after all. If I go back through my notes, there should be something that can help me."

Leonardo nodded. "Sounds like a good idea." He gave Donatello a meaningful look. "But like Master Splinter said, we're all glad you're taking your training at a reasonable pace."

Leo turned when he heard footsteps approach.

Raphael stopped by the couch and cleared his throat. "Why don't you take a break from your lab and stuff for a while, though? Something that doesn't take much thinking. Mikey suggested a movie earlier."

Leonardo hummed. "Movie night sounds good."

Donatello sat down, set his notebook aside, and stretched. "I'm in."

"What should we watch?" Leo asked.

Raphael shifted. "Well, you said something a while ago about wanting to rewatch the third Space Heroes movie."

Leo started. He almost told Raph that they should watch something he would enjoy, too, but caught himself. This was Raph's way of making amends. Even if Raphael thought the movie was cheesy, he would be happier if Leo accepted, so he asked Mikey and Donnie if they were up for it.

"Yeah, sure," Donnie said, raising a brow at Raph.

Michelangelo jumped up. "We need snacks! Lots of them!"

"I think we have a watermelon in the fridge," Donnie said.

"I'll come, too. Make popcorn," Leo offered, standing up. His cheeks grew warm at his three brothers' collective stares. "What? I'm not that bad! I can microwave popcorn!"

He frowned when Michelangelo sighed and shook his head.

"Okay, come on," the youngest said, gesturing for Leo for follow him into the kitchen.

Donatello and Raphael chose to tag along.

Leo picked a few bags of popcorn out of the cupboard as Mikey got the watermelon and a cutting board and placed them on the counter.

He tossed the bags into the microwave and watched Mikey cut the melon, hoping to pick up some details of how his baby brother worked. Maybe he could learn to cook a little better by watching?

Michelangelo spun the watermelon as he cut down its middle. As he was making another cut, the watermelon rocked forward, sliding the board out of place and nearly causing him to bring the knife down on his hand.

He steadied it with a mutter of "Well, that wasn't good, let's not do that."

"You're supposed to put a damp cloth under it," Donatello said.

Michelangelo looked up. "What?"

"A cloth under the cutting board can give it extra traction."

Mikey stared at him, blinked. Then he picked a kitchen towel out from their supply, ran it under some water, wrung it out, put the cutting board over it, and continued cutting.

The four returned to the living room with slices of watermelon and burnt popcorn. Donatello and Leonardo sat on the couch, and Michelangelo and Raphael settled in front of them in the TV pit.

The movie started with the gripping action sequence Leo knew started every Space Heroes episode and movie. He grinned like the dork he was when Captain Ryan made his first appearance onscreen, heroic as always.

Even Raph seemed to be paying attention to the movie for the first while.

Mikey looked like he enjoyed the character scenes, even pointing out details about the characters and making plausible theories based on their personalities Leo hadn't considered. He seemed very intrigued about who the people were emotionally, and when he spoke on it, Leo thought the tone of his rant sounded familiar, but couldn't quite place why. Then he realized; Mikey sounded a lot like Donnie when he got passionate about his science.

Towards the end of the movie, his brothers' attention started drifting, but Leo didn't mind. When he pulled his gazed away from the screen, he noticed Michelangelo snuggled up against Raphael's plastron. Whether Raph hadn't pushed him away was because Mikey had been gradual enough for him not to notice or because he'd called this a special occasion and dropped his tough demeanor, Leo couldn't tell.

Either way, he deemed it safe, and lowered himself to sit beside Raphael in the pit.

Raphael made a show of protesting, but they both knew he didn't mean it.

Leo looked back to find Donnie considering the three of them, and waved him over.

After casting a cautious glance at Raphael, Donatello left the couch to lay against Leo's plastron.

Leo curled an arm around his shoulder and continued watching the movie.

Unsurprisingly, Donatello was the first to fall asleep, finally giving his genius brain a break and letting his exhaustion overcome him.

Leo reached for the remote slowly as not to disturb him and turned the sound down.

Michelangelo put his arm around Donnie just below Leo's, looked around at his older brothers, and nodded against Raphael's chest. His soft, peaceful snores soon joined Donatello's.

Leonardo pried his eyes away from the screen again to find Raphael looking down at their slumbering little brothers, a smile in his eyes.

When he caught Leo looking, he quickly redirected his attention to the screen.

"Softie," Leo mouthed.

Raphael, having his arms trapped, twisted to headbutt Leonardo's uninjured shoulder.

Leonardo chose not to point out that Raph's refusal to free his arm for fear of waking his brothers only proved his point.

Once the action of the movie came to a halt, leaving only the calmer (less interesting, in Raph's opinion) resolution, Raph's chin dipped to rest on Michelangelo's head, and he slumped against Leo's side.

Leonardo turned the TV off and glanced around at his brothers. He could already feel himself drifting, soothed by their snores, a constant reminder they were all alive and well.

But before he could drift off, he took a moment to look at each of them in turn.

To Michelangelo, who he vowed would be better listened to.

To Donatello, who he vowed would be better appreciated.

To Raphael, who he vowed would be better understood.

With that, he hugged them tighter, and let himself, along with the whole ordeal, go to rest.

Exactly one year later, and here we are. I can't believe it's already done. :(

Thank you to everyone who supported me to this point. The comments really kept me writing; really let me know someone cared about my work. So thank all of you.

That being said, I'd like to hear what you thought about the story overall, constructive criticism welcome.

I had a few ideas for some other fics while writing this one, so expect them... sometime? Maybe? Heh, don't count on it. I'll get around to them eventually.

So... yeah. Take care of yourselves. Go get some water if you haven't in a while. Brighten someone's day, give them a compliment. Remember, people care about you. Don't be hard on yourself for not being like everyone else, everyone comes with their individual strengths and weaknesses. While you might be looking down on yourself for being inadequate in one area, someone is looking up to you for your strength in another. Be yourself. Don't worry if you don't exactly know who "yourself" is- it's not something to find, it's something you create with each new experience, a picture you keep on painting, you never stop adding details. You are important, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Even if you can't see your own strengths sometimes, there are people who do. They are there. No one else is exactly like you. Embrace that. Take care of yourself. For what it counts, I care about you.

So, um... yeah. I think that's it. Until next time. Have a wonderful day, y'all.