I do not own the TMNT and have not written this for anything beside pure creative pleasure.

Please review. I am trying to improve my writing skills and would love any

feedback you could possibly offer.

Thank you!

Lesson

Michelangelo sat in half-lotus position in a deep meditation. He was attempting to gain inner peace to prepare for the battle ahead. This battle he knew was going to be one of the toughest he had ever faced. The war would be straining and the outcome could possibly be cataclysmic, but he chose to face it on his own. Michelangelo was a ninja and would fear no task or adversary. Opening his eyes, Michelangelo stood ready to do battle and started towards the battle zone.

Two of his brothers stood to the side of him. Leonardo, the eldest of his three brothers and his leader, stopped Michelangelo.

"Stay focused and never give up," he said placing his hand on one of his younger brother's shoulders.

Nodding his head, Michelangelo continued on his way until he was stopped again, but this time by his other brother Raphael.

"Stay tough kid." Raph said lightly punching him on the arm, "Ya can do this."

Michelangelo squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and walked out of the room. The two brothers left behind looked at one another and shook their heads sadly. This was one battle their little brother may never recover from. In unvoiced agreement they sat down waiting tensely for the end of the battle to see who would be victorious.

Michelangelo flexed his hands and arms all the while staring down his adversary. He again sought for inner peace. He had to be victorious. His brothers and Sensei could not survive another round of the vile weapons this adversary placed before them. He just had to teach Donatello how to properly cook.

"Hi Mikey!" Donatello chirped at Michelangelo, "I'm ready whenever you are. What are we going to cook today?"

"We are going to be preparing spaghetti dude." Mikey said with a sigh, "While in the kitchen there are a few rules you are to follow."

"Okay." Donatello said.

"First, you are not to touch anything without my permission. Second, you will follow my directions to the letter and do not try to change my recipe. That would be a major bummer dude. Finally, if you have any question, be sure to ask me. Questions will help you learn better. You got that amigo?"

"Okay Mikey!" Donatello said, "I'm ready."

"Not so fast Donnie." Michelangelo said, "First put this apron on."

Michelangelo handed Donatello the apron and then turned to gather up his own. Placing the orange "kiss the cook" apron over his head and tying it smartly behind his back he turned to his brother and gaped openly. Somehow Donatello had gotten himself all tangled in the apron with one arm trapped in the mess.

"Uh, oops?" Donatello offered while blushing slightly.

Michelangelo shook his head in disbelief before going over to right his brother.

"How could someone so brilliant turn into one of the three Stooges when he enters the kitchen?" he thought as he tied the apron around his older brother.

"Okay dude, the first thing you do when you go to begin a meal is to wash your hands." Michelangelo said.

"Check." Donatello said moving to the sink.

As Donatello washed his hands, Michelangelo pulled out all the non-perishable items they would need to prepare spaghetti and placed them on the counter. He then pulled out all the pots, pans, and utensils they would need and went to the sink to wash his own hands.

"Now what?" Donatello said glancing over the various items set out on the counter.

"First we prepare the sauce dude." Michelangelo said picking up a large pot, "Now this is a soup or stew pot."

"I know what a pot is Mikey." Donatello said testily, "I may not be able to cook, but I still know a few things."

"Bro you came to me for cooking lessons and we are going to do them my way. Each pot has a different function in preparing a meal. You wouldn't try to cook like a load of sauce in a skillet because there wouldn't be enough room. You got that dude?" Michelangelo said.

"Fine. Fine. This is a pot. I got it." Donatello huffed out.

"Dude chill. Now open this jar of tomato sauce and place it in the pot. This is a 32-oz jar of sauce, which should be enough for the size of our family. Pour slowly." Michelangelo instructed.

Donatello carefully opened the jar and poured the contents into the pot before placing the jar on the counter. Grinning triumphantly, he turned to his cooking instructor expectantly.

"Good job. Now take these five tomatoes and wash them completely and dice them up into small cubes. I will add 12 oz of tomato paste to the sauce which helps to keep the sauce from being too runny bro." Michelangelo said.

Donatello began his task as Michelangelo added the tomato paste and stirred the mixture up completely. Finished with his task, Michelangelo turned towards his brother and froze to gape once again. Donatello was carefully cutting on one of the tomatoes and measuring the cubes with a small ruler.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Michelangelo said.

"I am making sure that the parameters of each cube is in equivalent to the other so as to have a completely perpendicular and unilateral figure." Donatello said.

"Huh?" Michelangelo said with confusion on his face.

"I am cutting the tomatoes into perfect squares." Donatello said.

"Bro, the cubes do not have to be perfect just bite sized. Here you cut the two onions into small pieces and I will finish the tomatoes." Michelangelo instructed.

Michelangelo quickly finished cutting the tomatoes and added the cubes to the sauce mixture. He paused when he heard Donatello sniffing. Turning towards his brother, Michelangelo saw a tear run down Donatello's face. Feeling immediately bad for having chastised his brother and making him cry, he quickly went to Donatello's side.

"Donnie your doing a great job! Don't cry. I just need to explain myself to you better." Michelangelo said.

"I'm not crying about the tomatoes," Donatello said with more tears in his eyes, "I'm done with the onions but my eyes are stinging like fire."

"Donnie did you rub your eyes while your were cutting the onions?" Michelangelo questioned.

"Yes." Donatello said.

"You are not supposed to touch your eyes when handling onions dude. Go wash your eyes out in the sink Donnie!" Michelangelo said.

Donatello hurried to the sink to wash out the onion juice. After he was done, Michelangelo handed him a clean towel to wipe his face with.

"Sorry dude. Forgot to tell you about that." Michelangelo said relieved, "Now add the onions to the sauce and stir slowly and don't touch your eyes again."

Donatello added the onions to the sauce and stirred slowly as he was instructed. Michelangelo placed several spices and herbs in front of Donatello.

"Okay bro, now we are going to stir in the spices that will set your mouth a tingling." Michelangelo said, "First we cover the top of the sauce with a generous sprinkle of onion powder, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic sauce."

After Donatello had added the seasonings, Michelangelo stirred the pot thoroughly to mix all the ingredients in. He noticed the sauce was a bit too thick.

"If your sauce is too thick like this…," Michelangelo said, "then you can add a little water to the sauce. We are only going to add one cup of water."

After Donatello added the water and stirred. Michelangelo tested the sauce consistency and nodded his head in approval. He then picked up two garlic cloves and showed them to Donatello.

"Now this is a garlic clove." Michelangelo instructed.

"Mikey I know what a garlic clove is." Donatello said.

"I know you do Donnie." Michelangelo said picking up a knife, "Watch how I clean, shell, and mince the clove. Then I will add it to the sauce. Now you do the second clove."

Donatello was able to clean and shell the clove, but could not seem to keep the clove from slipping out from under his knife.

"No dude," Michelangelo said, "Hold the clove like this."

"Like this?" Donatello said attempting to replicate his brother's hold while cutting dangerously close to his own fingers.

"No. Like this." Michelangelo said demonstrating again, but his brother couldn't get the grip right, "Here. I'll hold the clove you cut."

Not realizing his mistake until too late, Michelangelo was not ready for the stinging pain from one of his fingers.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!! OWWWW!" he howled cradling his hand.

"Oh God! I am so sorry Mikey, I didn't mean to cut you! Are you okay?" Donatello said rushing to look at his little brother's finger.

Michelangelo washed his finger out and saw that the cut was not very deep or big, but just very painful.

"That's okay dude." Michelangelo said sighing softly, "It was an accident. I'll just go get Sensei to look at this. First add the minced garlic and stir. Good. Now add one pinch of sugar."

"Sugar?" Donatello asked.

"Yes. One pinch will keep the sauce from being too salty." Michelangelo said.

"Okay." Donatello said grabbing a handful.

"No dude." Michelangelo said picking up a pinch of sugar with his uninjured hand, "A pinch. Like this and stir. Then we will place the top on it and place the pot on the large stove eye and on simmer for the next two hours."

"Two hours?!" Donatello said.

"Yes. You can't rush perfection." Michelangelo said, "Stir the sauce every 15 minutes while I go get Sensei to look at my finger. We will do the meat and pasta when the sauce is almost done. Remember to stir."

After Michelangelo left the kitchen, Donatello sat down to wait for fifteen minutes to go by.

"Cooking isn't very fun." he thought.

To be continued.