Believe

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Sitting on the flat stone, I fingered my shell cell, wondering.

Sometimes, to believe in something is harder than it looks.

People believe in one, or many things for various reasons; they believe for love, for strength, for each other, they believe in each other, they believe in things that might not even be real, yet they often treasure them and, or believe in them strongly, they fight for what they believe in, they do all they can to prove to others that whatever it is they believe in, is a good thing, and other should join them, if only to grasp the meaning of it.

To believe, to symbolize a certain aspect of life, to hold it close to ones soul, to treasure it, to confirm it over and over, at any occurring obstacle, to believe that whatever it is you believe in, will give one strength, courage, wisdom, or even love.

'What do you believe in?' I asked him once, and he smiled, 'I believe that it had not been the last strike that had split the rock, my son, but the thousand strikes that had come before.' he explained.

Only now did I understand what he meant to say.

Sometimes, it doesn't matter how long you've been working on something, what matters is how much time you've spent working on a certain matter. The longer it is, the more you understand, the more you value the time you spent.

I believe in myself more than before now, I believe that the more I work, the harder I try, one day, things will get better! We will be accepted, and we will walk on this earth unafraid of anything or anyone! I believe in my brothers, I believe we'll be together, that we'll prosper and grow, and that we'll have a future, just like those people out there, up there, on the surface, the topside world.

Yes, I know that what I believe in could be nothing but a lie, something beyond my grasp, something beyond any hope, dream or lust, nothing I could say or do would change that, and I know I could be nothing more than a dreamer, a lost, desperate, emotional dreamer.

But I look at my family now, my very own family, and I just can't help but keep dreaming, and I find myself smiling.

I know things aren't always what they seem, and I know my dreams are not only vivid, lingering brightly in the back of my imagination, waiting, wanting to be born, to be achieved, to be brought out to this world; yet I also know that if I believe in myself, in my skill, in what I thrive to achieve, to bring forth what the world had never seen before, to bring birth to a new era!

I know that someday, one day, I will pull through! I will walk this earth unafraid, I'll walk with pride, with my head up high, with honor, and with the one thing I treasure the most, with my family!

"Dad? You there?" my son tugs at the tails of my mask, peeking up at me, "Dad, are you daydreaming again?" he pouts.

I chuckle, embarrassed to have been caught dazing out by my own son, so sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck, I looked down at him, now ruffling his raven black hair, "Ah, sorry, Kev, I got distracted."

Kevin pouts still, but then he looks at me a little longer, "Hey, dad?"

"Yes?" I smiled.

"Uncle Mikey wanted me to ask you something, he said: 'Do you still believe?'" he furrowed, confused.

I smiled, recognizing the question, and then chuckled, "Yes, I believe." I nodded.

Kevin eyed me quizzically, "Believe in what dad?"

With a grin, I picked him up and sat him on my leg, I hugged him, "I believe in my family, in love, in myself, my skills, my brothers, and I believe in you, son."

Though obviously still confused, he smiles and hugs back, "Um, I love you too, dad."

I chuckled, happy with his simple answer, now cuddling him.

"You know something, dad?" he spoke softly, "I believe that you're the greatest dad in the whole wide world."

I smiled, pride welling in my chest so quickly, my lungs feel tight, and tears formed in the corner of my eyes, I bit back a laugh. He had no idea, did he? Kevin had no idea I said the exact same thing to Sensei when I was about his age, did he? All I could do was chuckle and cuddle him some more, and he hugged back, truly not apprehending how I felt.

"You know what else I believe in?" I grinned, "I believe it's time for us to go home."

"Yeah!" Kavin grinned, happily slipping out of my hold, running towards the tunnel entrance, "Race ya!" he laughed.

"No fair! You got a head start, shorty!" I complained, rose from the flat stone I was sitting on, and casually walked after him, there was no need to run, I'll give him a head start.

"Don't call me shorty!" he cried back, though laughing, his voice echoing in the sewer tunnel.

With a small chuckle, I entered the mouth of the tunnel, and then gave the ocean one last look, eyeing the beautiful sunset, the orange circle sinking into the sea, a soft sea breeze blew into the tunnel, and I smiled. Although Sensei might be gone, I can still feel him here, with me, with us; he's not really gone, we just can't see him anymore, that's all; I still believe in him!

He's here with us, just like he promised, I believe we're all gong to be just fine!

Abruptly, my shell cell starts ringing, and Kevin stopped running, now impatiently waiting for me at the inner sewer junction, the path we usually take when we wish to get back home. I picked up my ringing device and eyed the code, it was Raph's, and though confused, I flicked it open and answered.

"Yes?" I asked quietly.

"Donny!" he shrieked, voice loud and panicky, "Where the f0cking hell are you? Get yer ass back here on the double!"

Startled, and ignoring the ringing pain in my ears, I asked, panicky evident in my voice, "What? Why? What's wrong?"

"Your wife's in labor, dumbbell! That's what!" he cried, "Now get yer ass over here before your kid pops out!" and with that, he hung up.

"Dad, what's wrong?" my son asks, confused.

"I believe we need to hightail out of here quick, son, you're mom's having the baby!" I try to say cheerfully, but the renewed, panicky feeling of being a father again washes over me.

Surprisingly, a cool, salty summer breeze blows into the tunnel, harmlessly slamming my shell, causing my mask's tails to flutter, to come into my line of vision, dancing with the wind; the wind gently pushing me forewords, the wind blowing against my skin, like invisible fingers, I sense them, cool and soothing, and a bit stronger than usual, and in realization, I smiled, acknowledging the silent comfort.

'Yeah, I love you too, Sensei.' I smiled to myself, 'I still believe in myself, I'm a good father.' I nodded, and though I knew I can't see him, I knew he was there, watching over us.

No other words were spoken, I just grabbed my son and dashed off.

I found out that now, I'm a fathering a beautiful baby girl.

And I couldn't have been any happier.

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-END-

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A/N: A OneShot that attacked me unaware, I swear!