Leo sat in the dojo, lotus style, meditating her was supposed to meet Hope later that night, and to be truthful, her was extremely nervous. How could he look into the face of someone who looked so much like one of those he failed? If it wasn't for her having her father's eye's he would swear he was looking at a young version of April.

He had not guilt over her death. That solely lay at the feet of the Shredder, Karai, and Sachs, all three who were currently dead. He did, however, have regrets. So many regrets. Starting with leaving April in the first place, ending with letting his guard down around Sachs for even the briefest second. Decisions that cause his younger brothers so much grief, that caused them to lose their father.

Leo took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind. It would do him no good to dwell on the past, he was better off focusing on Hope.

It seemed like he had just gotten settled when Raph knocked on the doorframe to get his attention, but the clock said it had been two hours.

"Ready?" His younger brother asked, heading to the door, a plate of Mikey's Chocolate chip-walnut cookies in hand. The youngest had tried sending his latest obsession, Maple Bacon flavored cookies, but the red turtle had put a kibosh on that. He thought the things where horrible, and had no clue why the youngest was so obsessed with them. Leo left the dojo, pausing at the door to his room.

"Just give me one second," He replied, and stepped in to grab an item wrapped in yellow cloth. Raph raised an eye ridge at the object, but didn't say anything about it. They went topside when they got as close to the house as possible, and all too soon, they stood at the second-story window.

"Ready?" Asked Raph, hand out ready to knock on the window, but it opened before anything else could be said.

"Hi Dad!" Hope yelled cheerfully through the small opening she had made. "You an' Uncle Leo can come in. Mommy and Daddy are finishing getting ready. Mommy ordered pizza for dinner, it should be here soon" She moved back so Raph, grinning, could open the window enough to climb in the window. Leo hesitated for a bit before following him, standing in front of the little girl who looked up at him expectantly.

"Hi, my name is Hope, you're Uncle Leo. Daddy's told me a lot about you." She said, smiling her mother's bright, 'I'm so happy to see you' smile. Leo had to smile back at the girl's enthusiasm.

It was just then Gabriel walked into the room. Clearing his throat, he knelt down, holding the yellow cloth out.

"If it is okay with your mother, I made this for you. Perhaps you would be interested in learning how to wield it." Hope unwrapped it slowly, to reveal a hand-carved bokken, just the right size for her.

Hopes eyes went huge as she turned to her mother, hugging the wooden blade tight to her chest.

"Can I keep it Mommy? I promise I won't hit other kids with it." She squeaked, voice brimming with glee. The woman sighed, she had been thinking about putting the somewhat wild girl into a martial art anyway, might as well let her have some time with her uncle.

"Okay, okay, but if you hit someone with it when you're not training, I'm taking it away, you hear?" She told her. Looking a clock above the kitchen door she yelled to her husband who was still in the room. "Come on Casey, we'll be late to the party!"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'" The man grumbled, not looking too happy as he left the bedroom, adjusting a tie. He looked over at Raph, who was watching the interaction between Leo and his daughter. "You remember to DVR the fight for me, okay?" Just then the doorbell rang. Hope drug the father and uncle to her room the show off her recent adventure while Casey paid the delivery boy. When he left, the three went back into the living room, Hope carrying the movie choice for the night.

"Want to bring on the waterworks tonight kid, huh?" Casey asked looking at the case for Land Before Time. Leo looked at his brother, who just shrugged. Neither had seen the movie before. Casey, however pushed a box of tissues at the two before he left, promising them they would need it.

It wasn't long into the movie when they found out what he meant. The epic battle of Littlefoot's mother versus the Sharptooth, and they watched in mild horror as she went over the cliff. When Littlefoot found his mortally wounded mother, they listened to her gasping final words and were soon back to only a few months before, their beloved Hogosha dying in Raphael's arms as she tearfully begged them to find Hope and remind them that family, whether by blood or bond, was above all else.

"Dad?" Leo was shaken from his own thoughts to look over at his younger brother. Silent tears fell down his face as he pulled the girl onto his lap, burying his face into her hair. Leo felt his heart twist at the pain in Raph's face, and he moved over to them, wrapping an arm around them both.

"Your mother would have loved you so much." Raph whispered softly, nuzzling her. "I'm so happy I found you, my beautiful Hope." Leo just hugged them both closer, tears falling down his own face, as his niece wrapped her arms around her father's neck, and they just sat there, until the tears subsided.

"Can you tell me about what happened to Mom one day?" Hope asked finally, her voice soft. Raphael nodded into her hair, holding her tighter. Raph looked up at Leo, a conflicted look on his face.

Should we? The look on his face said. Leo could understand why he was hesitant. Was Hope ready to hear what happened? Would she reject Him if she found out it was Leo's decision to leave and cause the entire horrible event?

But if she was asking, she was old enough to know- and she had a right to. Sighing, Leo nodded to Raph, who hugged Hope closer, kissing the top of her head. Leonardo shut his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath before pushing on.

"I'll start." Leo spoke up. The two looked at him, Hope looking expectant, Raph unsure. Leo took a deep breath, and started. "Before you were born, when your mother and father got serious, I was afraid that something would happen that would leave one -or both- of them hurt and unable to recover. I decided to move your dad, grandfather and uncles in hope that it would make your mother safer." He looked down, throat tightening as he pushed forward. "It didn't turn out that way, unfortunately."

The rest of the night was telling the story of how they lost, found, and lost again. They were all in tears by the end.

"I'm sorry." The eldest turtle whispered. "I made a decision that destroyed your family." He leaned forward to hug her. "I'm so sorry." Raph placed a hand on Leo's shoulder, leaning forward to press his forehead against his older brothers.

"It's not your fault, Leo. The Foot are the ones who took her, that did all that stuff to her." He pulled Leo close. "It's not your fault." Then he felt Hope's tiny arms wrap around his neck.

"It's okay Uncle Leo, you didn't mean it." She whispered softly. "You thought what you were doing was a good thing, you didn't mean them to get hurt." Leo gathered his niece into his arms.

"Thank you." He whispered, the little girl's assurances that it wasn't his fault seeming to lift a weight off his chest. They settled in for the rest of the movie, and when it was over, Raph stood up, stretching.

"It's about time for me to record the fight, and it's past your bedtime, kiddo." He said, standing up and turning off the movie. Leo pressed a kiss to the top of Hope's head before Raph gathered her in his arms, taking her to her room.

Casey and Gabriel came home sometime after midnight, after Leo and Raph had cleaned up everything and were watching a Big Bang Theory re-run.

"I was going to ask you if you could take Hope next Friday." Gabriel asked as she looked into Hope's room. "They asked to take a night shift and Casey has a bouncer job he promised to do for a friend weeks ago."

"Sure, that would be great." Leo said, moving to the window, Raph behind him.

"I'll be here about 6 that okay?" Raph asked. Gabriel nodded, and the two were off, heading home.

Mikey was still up when they came in.

"How'd it go?" The youngest asked, looking eager.

"Good. She's coming over next Friday for the night." Leo said, sitting next to him. The youngest's face lit up.

"Great! Now I got and excuse to dig out my-" He paused and corrected himself. "The Disney Princess movies that I collected for her. Yes, her, not myself at all."