So, this chapter ended up a lot heavier than I intended. I guess the older turtles felt left out of the hurt/comfort and wanted their fair share. Hopefully everything makes sense.

The combined birthday party was one of the biggest events in the family's history, not just in terms of size and attendance, but in emotional expenditure as well. For Leo, the two days before it arrived, following his heart-to-heart with Raph were spent making sure his younger brother had truly regained his emotional equilibrium; when he wasn't chasing the twins, both of whom had figured out this walking business. Gabby, in particular, was nearly fearless, and Remy just toddled along like he was his sister's shadow. While Leo was chasing them down, the Geeks spent most of their time attempting to toddler-proof the Lair, while the Brats were busy with food and decoration preparation. The Menaces filled in where needed, usually either giving Leo a break, or helping the Brats.

The morning of the party started, as usual, with practice. The family had finally gotten the timing down so that, four mornings out of six, they were able to time things so that they were done, or at least cooling down, by the time the twins were awake. That morning, everything was going according to schedule, and Raph had just fetched Gabby and Remy from their cribs, when a familiar dimensional tear appeared in the middle of the family room. Raph could barely hold on to his excited niece and nephew as they bounced in his arms, waiting for their four older uncles to step through the portal. As soon as they did, he put the two rugrats down and stepped back. The twosome tore across the room as fast as their little legs could carry them. Thanks to Leo's neat little trick of using the bond to provide direct mental instruction, the littlest turtles were as familiar with their oldest uncles as they were with the ones they lived with, as evidenced by their enthusiastic greeting.

"Hey there, beautiful," Leonardo, Sr. said as he swung Gabby up into his arms for a kiss and a tickle. "Missed you little bit."

"And look at this tadpole," Don said as he gave Remy the same treatment. "I can't believe how big they've both gotten."

"You wouldn't be so surprised if you saw how much those two eat at one sitting," Leo said from the doorway to the dojo. "They give the Brats and the Menaces a run for their money." His tone had been light and teasing, so he was unprepared for the emotional, profoundly relieved, looks he received from the older turtles. Perplexed, Leo opened the bond and found himself inundated with a riot of jumbled, almost molten, emotions. It would seem his time "away" hadn't just affected his own brothers; these alternate versions of his brothers and him had been deeply affected as well. A mental request had Raph collecting the twins to take them for breakfast, at which point Leo herded the four older turtles into the now empty dojo. He sat down, cross-legged on the floor and waited for the others to join him.

"Okay," Leo said. "What's going on, guys? Today was supposed to be a happy day to celebrate with family."

Rather than answer immediately, Raphael and Leonardo both moved to sit on either side of Leo, close enough to touch, while Michelangelo and Don moved in closer as well.

"Let me tell you a little story," Raphael finally said. "It will be familiar, but just bear with me. There once was a family of brothers. They had faced a lot of things together, but slowly their words started to unravel, and the brothers' bonds with each other began to disintegrate. The family began to fall apart, and the brothers were nearly to the point of self-destruction, when a miracle happened; a miracle in the shape of a young hotshot, with a heart bigger than any three alternate dimensions, who showed up one day with his know-it-all brother, and taught the family how to heal, and how to be brothers again."

At this point, Leonardo took over the narration. "That's the part you're familiar with. What none of the turtle realized as that in the process of saving the broken family, a connection was forged; a psychic bond so delicate and gossamer fine, no one knew it existed, until it began pulling at the reunited family. The pull wasn't painful or strong at first, no more than a wistful desire to see their young soul-brother and his family. As time passed, though, the more intense the draw became, until the brothers couldn't ignore it anymore, so they came. They told their soul-brother's family it was because they had been promised aid in recovering from the wound gained during their dark time apart, but the true reason was because they couldn't disregard that mental summons any longer."

By this point, Leo didn't know what to say. When he'd backed the Geniuses in their promise to assist the older turtles, he'd only meant to help them regain what they had lost, not intertwine them in the strangeness that was his life as an Avatar. Before he could get his mouth and brain to communicate, however, Donatello had started speaking.

"Now, I'm certain you know what the brothers discovered when they arrived at the home of their soul-brother. And yet, despite the seemingly dire circumstances that had drawn them to their brother's world, the older ones couldn't regret it, for they were given a gift beyond any measurable value. These were hardened, emotionally and physically wounded and maimed warrior, yet they were granted the unconditional love and trust of their infant soul-brother. And in being so gifted, gained the greater gift of self-forgiveness and healing."

"I don't understand," Leo murmured in confusion. "Instead of living the quiet, peaceful life we promised, you got sucked into this whole Avatar thing, and that doesn't bother you? You didn't seem so thrilled about it when you first experienced it."

"Ah, but 'little brother,' what you're not seeing," Michelangelo explained gently, "is that we didn't get 'sucked in'; we consciously chose to accept those ties, fully aware of what we could be getting ourselves into. A dragon and miraculous healing are rather difficult to forget. We could have shattered the connection pretty much any time we wanted to; the ties were fragile enough it wouldn't have taken much effort. Instead, we've protected and nurtured them, and in return we were graced with something none of us thought we'd ever achieve: the ability to finally forgive ourselves."

"I thought we'd worked that all out before," Leo said. "You apologized to each other for the mistakes that were made and the feelings that were hurt. What brought this on?"

"Oh, we were all quite willing to forgive each other," Raphael said. "But forgiving ourselves was an entirely different story; one I think you're quite familiar with. While more than willing to forgive our brothers' transgressions, none of us felt we were worthy of being forgiven. That is, until we met the infant version of you." The emotion in his voice made it impossible for further speech.

The older Leonardo stepped in to say what his brother couldn't. "Despite what doubts your brothers may have had, we never doubted it was you in that tiny body. And given that it was you, it was impossible to hide all of our weaknesses, and faults, and stupid mistakes, because you already knew them. If there were any four turtles that little, bitty baby shouldn't have trusted, it was the four of us. Yet, notwithstanding our less than stellar history, you trusted us. We could sense you knew who we were, but you didn't care about any of that. Through our bond, underdeveloped though it was, we could sense the love you had for us, even though we were undeserving of it. I mean, there you were, an innocent in all the ways that count, but you considered us worthy of loving. And if you could love us, then maybe there was something worthwhile about us deserving of the forgiveness we'd been denying ourselves."

Listening to these older versions of his family, Leo finally found himself back on familiar ground. Battered self-esteem and self-worth, along with self-flagellation, were traits Leo knew who to offset; apparently he'd known it as an infant as well. Reaching down deep into the bond, Leo found and opened the delicate ties between him and the four older turtles as wide as he could, flooding the quartet with all the respect, admiration, and, yes, love he felt for them. Then, in his most sincere big brother voice, he said, "Never doubt just how much you are loved, by me and by your brothers. And you are all worthy of that love. You all faced and overcame overwhelming odds. You faced your worst fears and came out on top. Most important of all, don't forget you are family. Families don't keep score, but help you learn to live with your scars. We all have them, just like we all have things we wish we could go back and do over. As members of a family we just make each other stronger as we overcome those things. As Raph once told me, we don't have to be afraid of falling, because our brothers will be there to catch us; we just have to trust them enough to let go."

By this time, all five turtles had tears running down their faces, but they were tears of freedom and renewal. Finally, the healing that had started in a dark, destroyed world was coming to completion. Without a word, Leo opened his arms to this odd set of older brothers, drawing them close both physically and mentally as the powerful bond of love and family cleansed the last clinging vestiges of darkness from their war-damaged souls.

TMNT

Splinter watched with quiet delight as his large extended family played and teased each other all afternoon long. Although the celebration was ostensibly meant as a birthday party for the littlest members of the family, it was no surprise to the elderly rat to see how much of the activity centered on his eldest son. Leo had gone through so much over the past several years, only to emerge as pure-hearted and loving as the children he was chasing around the room. His son couldn't see it, and he certainly would believe it if it was pointed out to him, but he had taken his rightful place, at last, as the center of this large, quite unusual, blended family. There would still be trials to face; no family could escape them. Unbidden, the dream images of an oddly tattooed turtle flitted through his mind, hinting at challenges yet to come; but Splinter had no fear. His family, the whole odd amalgamation of young and old, scarred and untouched, with Leo at their heart, would overcome. They were a family, and that's what family did.

So, that's the end. I have really enjoyed writing this series, and have really appreciated everyone's kind words and encouragement. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Hopefully you caught the hint of a future story tied into this universe. I have a storyline germinating in the back of my mind, but I need to finish Hunter first. And don't worry; if any plot bunnies come bouncing along that will fit in my blended family world, I would love to come back and play some more. So, rather than goodbye, let's just say "Until then..."