Life-Breathing

Chapter 0

"Hey bro," Raph said solemnly as he slowly sunk down to the grassy floor, folding his legs underneath him in a fashion that he and his other brother's were familiar with. The blades of glass and soil beneath his denim encased legs were still wet from the short lived rain showers that had recently ended; the hot-blooded ninja didn't seem to care for his dampened surroundings though. Getting the smell of wet, musky earth stuck to his clothing was something that didn't really matter to him at the moment. All that matter to him now, in this space of time, was this meeting...

Raphael was silent for several minutes, contemplating the jumble of words that were piling up in his head, desperately trying to stitch them together to make a sentence. One of his large green hands reached back to scratch the back of his neck- a nervous gesture, "So...uh-" He cleared his throat deeply "-Mona's pregnant again. It's gonna be a while til we can find out what da genda is but we're pullin' for a boy this time..."

There was no reply; he didn't expect there to be one anyway but it would be nice to hear his brother's voice again after so long. Hell, if he had to give up one of his own limbs just to hear his brother call him a 'ninja school drop out' or a 'hot-head' again, he would do it in a heartbeat- no questions asked. As much as he had fought with his older brother when they were growing up in the old sewer home and as annoying as his brother got when it came to his 'Splinter Jr.' acts and long winded lectures, he would be more than willing to deal with it all over again if it mean to see the blue-clad ninja again.

Raph swallowed thickly, feeling his throat begin to clench up with emotions that could only be invoked by the mention or thought of his brother. He quickly looked down at his tightly clenched fists, resting idly upon his lap as if they were getting ready to hit something. He took a deep, searching breath and exhaled, slowly and smoothly, before he looked ahead again, "U-uh... everyone's doin' okay, doin' their own thing and all. Micky's a drummer in this gig-hoppin' band now and Donnie's... well...Donnie's doin' what he does best. I would describe it ta yah betta but... I wouldn't be able ta even if I tried. It's all a bunch of science mumbo-jumbo anywayz. And Masta Splinta... well..." Raph sighed, looking back down at his lap, his eye ridges pulled in together before furrowing, "Me and Masta Splinta opened up a dojo... you know, ta teach people ninjutsu."

He paused as his eyes began to feel the burn of sadness; he let out a humorless laugh before continuing, "It's funny; I always thought you and dad would open up a school togetha and that I would... I don't know, become a police officer or somethin' like that, once we were about to walk outside with the humans and all."

No response. Raph went on, barely able to keep his emotions in check as he did, "I... I, uh... I finally told Dorothy about ya. Y-ya know, my little girl? She saw a picta of ya and wanted ta know who ya were. I told her that you were her Uncle Leo and that..." He paused, his light amber eyes began to fog over as his emotions finally broke the surface, "...And that... ya saved my life."

There was another pause as Raph swiftly rose one of his fist to wipe at his eyes. He didn't like to cry but whenever he came to this place, it always seemed to force him to do just that, "Ya shouldn't have done it, bro. I-I wasn't worth it. I would've made it out alright. We would've both made it out alive instead of just...one of us."

"Raphael..." The sai-user looked up and to the side to see that his aged rat of a father, as old as he was, had stealthily placed himself beside the turtle. The grey furred senior, with an expression of vivid sorrow, glanced down at his second oldest son as he simultaneously rested a gentle hand upon the turtle's head as a comforting gesture, "Leonardo did what he believed in his heart was right. He did what any good older brother would've done- he protected his younger brother at all cost."

Raphael couldn't help the tears that began to fall down his face at his father's words before he roughly turned away from the older man and back to the truth that rested before him, "Well it was stupid of him, sensei! If... I-If he wasn't such a goody-goody, he would still... we would all be..."

Splinter swiftly sat down beside his hot-blooded son- a seemingly odd thing to do for a man his age, especially with such fluidity- and provided him with a sad, pitiful smile, "Even if you tried to stop him, he would have done everything in his power to protect you and the others from harm. We remember him, now, as an honorable and noble hero- a warrior- as well as a man with a heart of gold. You would have done the same if your places were switched, as would all of us."

Raphael couldn't argue with that, even if he tried. He knew that his father was right; Leo would have done everything in his power to ensure that his family was safe, no matter what anyone said or did to try and stop him. '...Stupid Splinta Jr...'

Raph glared at the tombstone before him as if it had does some sort of harm to him. He read the words displayed upon the marble stone, like he had so many time before:

'Leonardo Hamato

June 8th 1988 - August 28th 2010

A True Hero, A Good Friend, and A Loving Brother'

No matter how many times he read it, no matter how many years had past since his brother's passing, he still couldn't believe that Leo, his confidant and consciousness, his older brother, was gone from this world for good. He still expected to wake up one morning to find that it was all nothing but a dream and that Leo was still alive and well, rising with the sun and training until everyone else woke up... but Raph knew that that hope was for not. His brother was gone and there was nothing he could do to change that.

Raph bit his lower lip hard enough so as to not draw blood, holding back another round of tears that started to boil over the rim of his eyes. He felt his father lightly lay one of his long, boney hands upon one of his fisted ones as another comforting gesture before the youngest of the two spoke again, "I... I miss him sensei..."

The grey rat sighed sadly; he was grieving as strongly as Raphael was but he was far less emotional than the other. The only time he had cried for his lost son was when the boys returned home after their fight, carrying their fallen brother through the door. His soul had moved on and the senior had hoped that his eyes had been deceiving him; there was no such luck. He had cried that whole night- like everyone else did-grieving and praying that his eldest son and student had found peace after many years of training and fighting; he deserved it after all.

"I miss him as well, Raphael. After all, it is always a sad thing when a parent outlives one of their children; it is something that shouldn't have to be," Raphael didn't reply but he agreed; he felt the same way about his little girl and hoped that she would live a full and happy life.

They both sat in peaceful silence as they quietly grieved and paid their respects to their fallen family member; ignoring the overcast rain clouds and the wet, humid scent of an oncoming storm. It wasn't until the two heard and felt the soft pitter patter of rain droplets did they decide to leave for home, back to their present lives and away from the memories that had stopped four year ago, on August 28th, 2010.