And soon the day finally came for Leo to begin his training again. The patch was still on his belly, but it held on. Splinter and Don would watch carefully, that he didn't re-injure himself. But one thing was for sure, Leo was the most happy he had been for several weeks.

He got right down to business.

The patch was on good and tight, held fast to his plastron. The glue had hardened it from being exposed to the air. It would continue to protect the injuries on the plastron awhile longer.

Don and Splinter didn't mind him training now, but they didn't want him to overdue it. There were still some small chances that the cracks in his plastron could still be reopened. They were pretty severe after all.

"I will be careful of what I do, I promise." Leo promised. "I don't need to be watched like a little kid."

Leo continued to do his katas on his own in the dojo. He mainly just performed some swinging his swords around, as if he was striking at an enemy. But he also had to put the strength of his middle body to the test. He had to try jumping around and dodging movements too. The patch held strong.

…

After 2 more days of practicing on his own, Leo was doing a kata, when he suddenly heard a cracking sound. It made him stop fast. His 'bad feeling' thinking was on. But he didn't sense anything.

He went on with it, but he heard it again. He stopped. Leo had to make sure his belly wasn't hurt again too. He looked down, and what he saw surprised him a little bit. A corner of the patch was coming off. He wondered if that was good or not. He ran to Don's lab.

"Don!" He called.

Don turned around quickly. "What is it, Leo?" He asked. His brother sounded like he had panic in his voice.

Leo stopped, panting. When he got enough breath, he spoke. "I was just doing my kata over there, then I heard this cracking sound. And I saw it was the patch coming off. Is this a good thing?"

"Come here so I can get a better look at it." Don said.

Leo came over real close to his brainy bro. Don looked carefully, and put a hand on the patch, and pulled it back gently. Leo held still.

"Does it hurt?" Don asked.

"No. It feels fine." Leo replied.

Don tried to get a good look at the injuries underneath it. They looked good. "As much as I want to pull it, it might do more harm than good. So Leo, just let the patch come off on its own. Doing some more katas could help detach the old glue. But overall, your plastron looks healed, with some scarring."

"Yeah, just what I needed, more scars." Leo remarked. But in his head, if more practice of defense and such would get it off faster, then he was all for it. He went back and did it some more.

The patch had only started to come off. Leo didn't tug at it. Some of the glue still held on. A little more cracking happened that night, but not much more, though Leo was more than ready to have the patch off. At least he wasn't wearing bandages anymore.

A few more days of training finally brought the patch off his plastron completely, almost as if he had been shedding some old skin. Leo examined his belly in the bathroom mirror. But he was more than happy the patch was off now.

Don had done a good job patching him up, but the scars were there to stay. At least he didn't have to worry about Hotaru coming after him a third time.

Even after nearly 3 months of recovery, Leo still felt sad and guilty that she had even got the drop on him. The feeling probably still wouldn't go away for a long time, but he still had his family to back him up that it wasn't his fault. Though Leo should have felt that she was around.

She had been 'good' about disguising herself, however she had done it. Even Splinter should have been able to pick up her scent. But he had also had a small cold at the time too. So maybe that was why he couldn't pick up on her.

Leo would really try to get over what had happened to him and try to have fun with his family, do his training and meditating, be a big brother, a good son, and friend. He couldn't let Hotaru's horrible memory destroy his life.

But if there was any justice that the turtles did for her, they sent her to be with her brother again. That gave Leo a small peace of mind. Now he could go on with his life.

The End.

I hope my readers have enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. This one, at least to me, was kind of better than its prequel. And it may have had 9 chapters, but it had more pages to it than the first one too. So this one was actually longer in words. Love to see more reviews.