Well, everyone, we have finally come to the last chapter. It has been awesome writing this story for all of you and I'm really glad so many people enjoyed it. I'm kinda sad to see it end.
Thanks again everyone for all of your support and reviews. They were all much appreciated. And now, on with the last chapter!
"Come on, Leo, one more step, you can do it!" Don encouraged excitedly.
Leo grunted and leaned heavily into Raph's thick supporting body, but dug for one last burst of energy and managed to hobble one more step. Raph squeezed Leo's shoulder tightly in encouragement.
"Good job, bro!" Raph said happily, giving Leo a playful punch on the shoulder.
Leo smiled slightly as he collapsed heavily into the large, hideous orange chair, panting lightly. He was frustrated at his weakness, but at least he was up and moving. It had taken a lot of convincing to get Don and Sarah to let him begin some physical therapy, but he had won in the end. It had been hard so far, weeks of bed rest weakening his body physically, but Leo refused to give in.
"Dude, you did awesome!" Mikey yelled, coming over to where Leo sat and sitting lightly on the arm of the chair. "You'll be back to your old self in no time."
"I hope so." Leo answered.
"You will be." Raph said confidently. "You're too stubborn to stay down for very long."
"Thanks, Raph," Leo said with a good natured smirk.
The heavy bandages that had once graced Leo's shoulder, shell, and head had been removed, leaving only the casts that were still tightly adhered to his arm and leg. Sarah had told him the casts would have to stay on longer to be sure the bones healed fully, much to Leo's dismay. He couldn't wait to get those damn casts off his arm and leg so he could get back to using them again. They certainly weren't making physical therapy very easy.
Raph grinned at his older brother, giving Leo a pat on the back. It was great to see Leo smiling, and even joking again. It had been a week since the family had finally gotten Leo to open up to them, and since then he had been making significant progress. They continued to urge him to talk about Central America, about Isabel, about his insecurities. It had been hard at first to keep him on the right track as Leo hated being vulnerable and kept trying to resist, but the family never backed down and kept prodding, eager to see him heal. As the time went by it seemed to all be coming easier and easier, like a dam had been cracked and the water was slowly leaking out relieving the pressure from behind. There were still times when a subject was broached that deeply pained him, but with the support of his family, they were slowly working him through it.
Raph was even proud of himself. In showing support to his brother, he was finding it easier to talk about things with his family as well. He was amazed at how much better he felt, and how much closer to his family that he was. But most of all, he felt closer to Leo than he ever had before. They were getting along...truly getting along for the first time in a long time. The deep resentment and anger Raph had felt toward his oldest brother were finally starting to dissipate and Raph finally felt the old remnants of their old relationship beginning to reestablish itself within them, and it felt great. There would still be arguments, Raph knew, but that was only natural between two stubborn and opinionated turtles. But where there was once true anger and frustration, there was nothing but mutual respect and understanding between the two brothers.
A loud growl drew Raph's attention and he looked over to see Mikey grabbing his stomach, a slight blush hitting his cheeks. Raph rolled his eyes.
"What?" Mikey said, grinning. "I haven't eaten all day!"
"Do you ever think about anything but food?" Raph joked, shoving Mikey lightly.
"Sure I do!" Mikey returned, looking incredulous. "I think about all the worlds major problems! Like how to get to the next level in the new Zelda game, or which is better, Pepsi or Coke?"
"Nice, Mikey" Don said. "I'm glad someone is covering those important issues."
"Hey, someone has to!" Mikey defended.
It wasn't long before April, Casey, and Sarah came down to join them once the clinic closed upstairs, bearing pizza and goodies. Mikey jumped up from the chair at hearing their footsteps on the stairs and ran over to meet them, quickly removing their pizza burden.
"Hey, food hound, leave some for the rest of us!" Raph yelled as he watched Mikey huddled on the floor with the pizza.
"Yeah, whatever, I make no promises." Mikey said, already digging into a slice. Raph rolled his eyes and looked over at Casey and shrugged.
"Leo, you're doing great!" Sarah said, noticing Leo sitting across the room in the old armchair. "We aren't going to have to keep you here much longer. You should be ready to go home soon, maybe tomorrow."
"Really?" Don and Leo both asked together, each looking at each other and grinning.
"You've made huge progress." Sarah said. "Don is more than capable to continue your care at home. I'm not really seeing a reason to keep you here anymore, except that I'm going to be really sad to see all of you go." She smiled sadly as she thought about the turtles that had changed her life leaving the basement and moving on with their lives.
"Don't worry, dudette!" Mikey sputtered through a full mouth. "You'll be seeing plenty of us! We don't disappear that easily, just ask April!"
April looked at Sarah and rolled her eyes. "You got that right. They kinda grow on you, don't they?" She said, smirking at Mikey.
"Yeah, kinda like a fungus that just won't go away no matter what you do." Casey shot back, quickly dodging a friendly swipe from Raph.
"Yeah, whatever Casey. Your fungus that won't go away is the reason your bike is as sweet as it is, so I wouldn't be complaining."
Leo smiled warily from his chair across the room. The thought of going home was a huge relief. He couldn't wait to be able to sleep in his own bed, meditate in their dojo, be able to watch their T.V. on their comfy old leather couch. He knew his brothers were homesick too. Leo started slightly when he suddenly felt a pressure on his legs and looked down to see 'Hope' sitting in his lap, looking at him, her tail twitching lightly as if she knew that something was up.
He looked down at her guiltily, realizing how much he had grown attached to the small cat over the weeks he had been down here. She was the reason that he had been pulled back from the darkness that had consumed him after his accident, and she had been nothing but a constant comfort to him before he had been able to reconnect with his family. He stroked her hair lightly and watched as she rubbed her face across his fingers lovingly. Leo frowned, a strong sadness beginning to melt over him as he thought about leaving her behind.
"I'm going to have to leave, darling." Leo said softly to the small tabby. "You've been amazing. I'm going to miss you a lot."
The cat meowed softly, standing on her hind legs and putting her front legs up on Leo's plastron, putting her face up to his. He closed his eyes and smiled sadly as her rough tongue licked his face a few times as if in understanding. He scratched the cat behind her ears, feeling his heart breaking at the thought of leaving her.
Splinter watched as Leonardo stroke the cat softly, seeing the sadness cross his face. His son and that cat had developed a tight bond over the weeks, and Splinter felt that his family owed the cat everything for helping bring Leonardo back to them. He had been thinking on it for a long while.
"Dr. Smith," Splinter asked, looking over at the young doctor across the room. "What is going to happen to the cat once we are gone."
"She will probably go to a shelter." Sarah said honestly. "Hopefully she will be able to find a good family."
Splinter nodded knowingly. "I think that she already has." he said, looking over at his son who was stroking the purring cat on his lap. "If it is not any trouble, I think we would like to keep her."
Leo's face shot up quickly, looking at his father with shock written across his features. "Master Splinter…"
"She has been very important to this family over the past couple of weeks, I think all of us would be sad to see her go." Splinter continued, smiling brightly at Leo's large grin.
"Really sensei?" Mikey asked, jumping up from his pizza to walk over to the cat in Leo's lap. "We can really keep her?"
"Yes, Michelangelo." Splinter said, grinning widely. "We can really keep her."
"Master Splinter…I…thank you." Leo stammered, unable to wipe the smile off his face.
Splinter walked over to his son and put his arm around Leo's strong shoulders. "It would be a pity to sever such a strong, loving relationship. She would never find a more loving home than she would with us."
"Didja here that, 'Hope'?" Mikey cooed, patting the cat on the head. "You get to live with us. I bet you'll just love the lair." The cat rubbed her face on Mikey in response. She had taken a strong liking to Mikey over the weeks as well and purred happily at his attention.
Leo picked her up off of his lap and hugged her close. The small cat began purring with more vigor as she was held in his arms.
"Alright, enough of this mushy stuff." Raph said, rolling his eyes at his two brothers fawning over the cat. "Are we going to eat or what?"
The next night, the three younger turtle brothers, with the help of April and Casey loaded up the back of April's van with all of their belongings. Leaving brought a bit of sadness to all of them. This basement had meant a lot to the family over the past weeks. It was here that their family had grown closer and stronger, and to leave the now familiar area was bittersweet.
After getting the van loaded, the brothers returned to the basement to help their injured one up the stairs and out into the night. Leo took a few long deep breaths of the cool night air, his first breaths of fresh air for weeks. He closed his eyes and happily sighed as he felt the cool breeze on his face.
Goodbyes and endless thanks were said to Sarah who had come to see them off. She was reassured that she would see them again, after all, 'Hope' would need a good vet.
It didn't take them long to reach the closest manhole to the lair. The walk through the dark and damp sewers was hard on Leo's body, even with the strength of his brothers supporting him, and he let out a loud, relieved sigh as they finally reached the entrance to home.
Don and Raph helped Leo to the couch where he could rest, then helped unpack the rest of the belongings that had accumulated in the basement over the weeks. It didn't take long for Don, after making sure Leo was comfortable and feeling alright, to retreat to his very missed lab. Mikey had quickly hooked up his video games and plopped into his favorite chair, picking up right where he had left off. 'Hope' was let out of the carrier that Sarah had let them borrow and immediately went off to explore her new home.
Leo smiled happily as he watched his family settle right back into their lives. It all seemed the same as it had been before, and yet, it was different. Though Leo still missed Isabel every day and still felt a deep loss, he could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. The small things that had once become so dull and meaningless to him were finally beginning to fall back into place, thanks to the help and support of his family.
He felt a pressure next to him on the couch and looked over to see Raph had taken a seat next to him, gracing him with a supportive smile.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, eyeing his oldest brother.
"Exhausted." Leo answered.
"That's not what I meant." Raph said. "I saw that far off look in your eye. Is somethin bugging ya?"
"No." Leo said honestly. "No. For the first time I actually feel like things are beginning to make sense again."
"Well, that's a relief." Raph said, patting Leo hard on the back.
"Yeah." Leo said, looking around him at his familiar home. He closed his eyes and relaxed into the old cushions of his favorite couch. Yeah, life was finally beginning to make sense again.
Splinter exited his room later that night to grab a warm cup of tea before bed. He walked slowly into the living room, and what he saw brought wet tears to his eyes.
Raphael was curled up on the couch, leaning his body and head against the back for support, his mouth open, snoring softly. Leonardo was leaning up against him, his head resting on Raph's shoulder, his eyes shut tightly in sleep. Raphael had his arm draped protectively over Leonardo's shoulders, hugging his older brother closer to his body. Michelangelo had squeezed into the remaining space on the couch, curled up next to Leo, also with his arm wrapped protectively around him, his head resting gently on Leo's shoulder. Donatello had pulled a chair up to the couch and now lay with his legs draped over the side and his head resting on the arm of the couch. Raphael had his other arm laying over Donatello's plastron. To complete the picture, a small orange cat was curled up in the middle of it all, squeezed between Leonardo and Raphael's bodies for warmth.
Splinter wiped the tears that had formed from his eyes and smiled happily. His family was once again becoming whole. It had seemed for awhile that his beloved family would fall apart, but because of their love of each other, they had pulled through, each being a pillar of strength for the others.
Splinter sighed softly. For the first time in a long time he felt that everything was going to be O.K. He glanced at his sons one last time before turning around and quietly making his way back to his room. As he walked by he flipped off the light switch, blanketing the room into loving darkness.
THE END