Raph was supervising Rainie, who was still sleeping. He had left his friends and family to talk. It wasn't that he didn't care- he loved his sister. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to listen about Rainie's supposed 'curse'.
Raph scowled. Bloomin' visions, he thought darkly. Splinter's imagination.
Although he wouldn't admit it, deep down, Raph did believe in Master Splinter's visions. But he couldn't believe that his little sister- his ray of sunshine- was cursed. That's what annoyed and confused him.
He was pulled out of his deep thoughts when Rainie started muttering and grimacing in her sleep. Raph shouted out, not really caring who came as long as they knew what the shell was going on.
It was Leo to the rescue. Of course- Splinter Junior would know what's goin' on.
Leo caught a glimpse of his brother's pained and bitter look, but he had to figure out what was going on with Rainie.
He had just sat down next to Rainie and taken her hand when she woke with a start, her innocent eyes wide with fright. Her gaze darted around the room frantically until they fell on Raph. Rainie jumped up and suddenly hugged him.
"Err… hi, Rainie."
"You're alive."
"Course I am."
"Rainie, what'd you mean he's alive?" Rainie was still clinging to Raph, but her eyes were glued on Leo's.
She didn't answer.
Thankfully, Master Splinter walked in. He held Rainie's terrified gaze for a few seconds and understanding dawned on him. "Sensei, what's going on?"
"I will explain later. We need to calm Rainie down." Rainie only clung to her brother tighter, chewing her bottom lip.
Ten minutes later
To calm Rainie down/cheer her up, they had down the obvious thing- let Mikey look after her. He could make her smile as quickly as snapping his fingers.
Master Splinter had his other three sons seated on the sofa, April and Casey perched on either end. They were waiting patiently for him to speak, although it was clear Raph was growing restless.
The wise old rat sighed.
"I am not too sure what Rainie saw in her dreams, although I have a strong feeling those four giants were involved. And her exclamation of Raphael being alive…" Master Splinter pulled himself together, noticing the unease strong in Raph's eyes. "I will not name Rainie as a prophet or a diviner just yet. I haven't seen any of the qualities. But her mysterious drawings, the puzzle, these nightmares that haunt her… it may very well be true."
"So, wut? Rainie's curse is takin' over?" Raph growled, spitting the word 'curse' out as if it tasted horrible. Leo nudged him for being rude towards their master, but Raphael didn't care. He wasn't in the mood to care about anything other than his sister's wellbeing.
"Raphael, whether you believe any of what I am telling you or not, that is your decision. I cannot influence your thoughts directly, no matter how hard I try." Master Splinter sighed again. He had done that a lot lately and every time he did, his mood deflated.
Mikey was reading comics to his sister, letting her study the pictures closely. She loved the colours and the heroes' action poses.
"Mikey, it's you!" Rainie pointed at the Turtle Titan, who was fighting alongside Silver Sentry. Mikey laughed. "How long have you been the Turtle Titan?"
"A while, sis."
"Don't you get scared?" Mikey hesitated before answering. "Be honest, Mike, or I'll get Raph to tell me."
"Alright, sometimes I do."
"Like when?"
"Like when I don't know what the shell to do."
"So… you panic?" Mikey thought about it before nodding admittedly. "Everyone panics, Mikey! Even Raph!"
"Oh, yeah. He didn't like those bugs, did he?" Rainie shook her head, smiling cheekily. Mikey let her settle back before reading again. She rested her head on his arm sleepily. "Stay awake, sis." Mikey told her, elbowing her. She groaned.
"I'm awake." She mumbled with her eyes shut.
"Yeah, sure." Mikey put his comic down and twisted so he could grab his sister by the shoulders and shake her. She squealed, trying to get his hands over her shoulders. Mikey started tickling her.
"Mikey, no! Get off!" She was overcome by giggles, desperately trying to fight her older brother off.
"Mike, are ya pickin' on ma sis?" Mikey looked round, no longer tickling Rainie. She squirmed and laughed weakly. Raph was leaning in the doorway, arms folded and wearing a smug expression. "Good job though, bro." Mikey grinned gratefully as Rainie jumped up to greet Raph. He absent mindedly tugged gently on the tails of her bandana. It was nice to see Rainie back to normal, but this curse was weighing down on his mind. He didn't see his sister the same way anymore and he didn't like it.