A/N: First of all, don't hate me. Another character is introduced, but I sorta changed their gender, and along with the gender change they will probably be way OOC, so please don't get angry!
Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT.
Chapter 7
When Destiny Calls
About 3 years and 2 months later
Raphael was rudely awaken one December morning by the surface of a pillow landing on his face. He instantly shot up, gasping for breath as the disembodied voice that filled his dreams continued to echo in his head. Raph calmed himself as he realized he had only been dreaming, but was awake now and his mistakes, blue orbs, and bubbly laughter of his past couldn't haunt him subconsciously any longer.
He turned his head side to side to take in the room around him. The small room normally contained two beds, two matching desks, a small refrigerator, and a few storage cabinets, as well as multiple other small touches added by the pair who occupied the dorm. The place never did have much inside it, however, Raph was still slightly surprised to find it now completely empty, save for the beds and desks.
"Let's go, Raph. Don't wanna be late."
Raph looked to Leonardo who was standing in the door way, holding a single cardboard box."What happened to our stuff?"
"Well everything was already packed so I decided I'd let you sleep a little longer and put everything in the car myself, except for your bedding and the suitcase with your clothes. I warned you not to stay up half the night, you knew we were leaving for Splinter's early today."
Raph removed himself from his bed and began rolling up his blankets and pillow into a large, unorganized pile. He tilted his head over his shoulder to direct a question at his brother, "What time is it anyways? Feels like it's still the middle of the night."
"It's just after six, but if we want to get to Splinter's by noon and pick up Usagi first then we need to get going." Leo said before leaving to put the last box inside the waiting car outside.
Alone in the collage dorm room he shared with Leo, Raph grabbed his suitcase that contained the few clean clothes he had left and opened it. Raph grabbed his usual, basic attire, jeans, a t-shirt, and since it was a cold, December morning, his coat. After visiting the bathroom to take a quick shower and get himself ready, he returned to his room to find Leo gathering his bed materials to pack into the car as well. Raph shoved his clothes he had been wearing into his suitcase before shutting it and accompanying his brother down the stairs and to their car.
Stuffing the remainders of their possessions into the trunk of their car, Leo shut the car door before announcing, "Well, that's everything." The brothers got into the car and began driving in the direction of Usagi's dorm. Upon arrival to the building, the brothers saw a young woman, waiting outside the door with few suitcases and bags. She had long, brown hair, pulled back into a neat ponytail that blowed lightly in the winter wind. Her pale skin was covered underneath bundles of coats, scarves, and gloves. Seeing the familiar car, she smiled and waved to the brothers.
Leo parked the car and got out to greet the girl. Raphael followed not far behind and was greeted warmly by the hazel-eyed girl. The three of them managed to carry all the girl's belonging's in a single trip to place into the vehicle before they were on their way again.
"I can't wait to meet the rest of your family, Leo." Usagi said excitedly from the backseat.
"I think the feeling's mutual. Donnie is already at Splinter's, he got there earlier this week, and I talked to bother him and my father and they seem really eager to finally meet you too." Leo responded, eyes focused on the next turn they needed to make.
"I already feel like I know Donatello so well after all the phone calls and all, but I can't wait to finally meet the great Hamato Yoshi who taught you guys all that amazing stuff," She said before directing her attention to Raphael. "So Raph, How did you do on your finals? I remember taking them for the first time as a freshman last year, despised it."
As the three of them carried on their conversation Raph fought off the drowsiness of being awake so early in the morning and thought about finally getting to see the rest of his family again. So many things had changed since Michelangelo had left just over three years ago.
After graduating high school, the three remaining brothers continued on to college. Around the same time as their graduation, Splinter had gone into retirement from -whatever his job had been- and had moved out of the city into a rather large house for someone who planned to live on their own. The man also insisted on paying for the three brothers to get the college education he believed they deserved. Donatello, of course, hadn't needed if for he had gotten a full academic scholarship to an Ivy League school, which they were all proud of him for. However, Raphael and Leonardo didn't have the brains their genius brother did, and although they weren't 'dumb' by any standards, they just didn't have the wits to get themselves a full scholarship to any school let alone an Ivy League one no mater how hard they would try. So, the remaining two accepted their sensei's persistent offers, but vowed to pay back every cent.
Leo and Raph had ended up going to the same college and even sharing the same dorm together. Their school wasn't too far from Donnie's, so the three of them still saw each other several times a month when they weren't busy with school or their part time jobs.
Also, Leo had been lucky enough to come across a new friend. He'd met a sophomore by the name of Usagi while searching the library for martial arts based books. As it turns out, she was a highly skilled samurai, and after an afternoon of discussing skills and techniques and debating which type of warrior would win in a battle, the two actually became good friends. From then on, Leo spent much of his free time with Usagi, which was find by Raph since he always got into an argument if he spent too much time with that particular brother. Eventually, the pairs' friendship blossomed into a relationship when Usagi got tired of waiting for Leo to gather up the courage to ask her on a date and did it herself, and since then the two have been what could only be described as a picture perfect couple.
Raphael was happy for Leo, he was probably around the two as a couple the most so he knew more than anyone how perfectly matched they were, but what really relieved him was that now he knew Leo wasn't still chasing after Donnie. Raph and Leo never again spoke of the feelings Leo had for his brother after the night Leo had confessed them to him, and Raph noticed that, over time, Leo's special and overly affectionate actions towards Donatello had slowly diminished until his treatment towards Don could only be described as brotherly. Now, Raph was slightly curious as to if Leo had just been confused at the time, with everything that had been going on in their lives and Raph's own relationship with Mikey being contribution to the confusion, or if he had just gotten over it like any other crush, or maybe even he still had those feelings, but finally realized they'd never be returned and so made himself move on and try his best to forget.
As for Mikey's current life status, that was still a mystery and the biggest change for the brothers. The couple months that Michelangelo had been expecting to spend in England before returning turned into a year, which turned into two, and before they knew it, Mikey's parents stayed there until he finished high school altogether.
Raphael and his brothers hadn't heard from Mikey in months. When the teen had first moved, he had still managed to call several times every month or so. During one of his first calls Raph had tried his hardest to apologize and explain everything, and Mikey had accepted his apology just like Raph knew he would, but he also knew Mikey didn't truly understand. His brother probably just thought Raph had maybe felt guilty, or was trying to be nice to him because his other siblings forced him to be, he didn't believe that Raph meant every word he had said over the phone in his apology to try to make things right, and that he had never meant any word he had yelled at him that night years ago.
As time went on, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael received less and less call from their brother until later, just over a year since he had left, the calls stopped altogether. Now, it wasn't as though they never heard from him again, they still got the occasional postcard, two if they were lucky, in the mail each summer from some amazing place that Mikey's adopted parents had taken him on a vacation to. Each card carried a few sentences with it on its back, telling the brothers the basics about their little brother's life; all was well, school was going great, he missed them, the usual.
Over the last summer, between high school and college, they received yet another letter. The were hoping that their brother would finally be returning home, now that he was eighteen and had graduated from high school, but instead they discovered that he was going to attend a collage over in England. So to Raph, Mikey's life was almost a complete mystery now. All he knew was that his little brother was thousands of miles away at some British college, and that there was a possibility he'd be seeing him within the next six weeks while the brothers spent at least part, if not all, of their winter break at Hamoto Yoshi's, practically their father's, new and fairly large house.
Raphael stared through his window across the snowy landscape. He was extremely tired from lack of sleep and an early wake up, and he figured they still had a good couple hours or so until they reached Splinter's so he decided he had enough time for a good nap and let he eyes droop shut.
Raph woke just in time to see the view as Leo pulled into the driveway of their former sensei's new home. It was a rather simple house, although bigger than he had anticipated, but not a mansion or anything. It was two stories tall, but also had a basement, the siding was a bit of an off-white color, the roof's shingles appeared black from the patches he could see of it through the melting snow, there was a chimney on the right side, and a garage attached to the left. The patches of slowly melting snow from a recent shower covered the yard which contained no festive decorations, which is to be expected from a retired man living on his own, but there was a reef handing upon the front door.
Leonardo parked the car in font of the garage and the three of them grabbed the bags and suitcases that contained their basic necessities and continued to the door. Raph approached the door and grabbed the door handle to let them inside when Leo stopped him. "Raph, don't just let yourself in. Knock first."
Raph rolled his eyes, "It's Splinter's; we always let ourselves in when he lived at that old apartment. Besides, it's not like he ain't expecting us or nothing, and Don's already here. And this shit is getting heavy so I just wanna get inside and get rid of it already."
Raph turned back to the door and reached for the handle, but the door opened before he could lay his palm on it. "Hey you guy," Donatello greeted, opening the door wide for his brothers and friend.
Raph and Leo called out their greetings to their brother as they passed him to continue down the hallway and relieve their arms of their luggage. Raph set down his belongings to take in the sight of the first floor. The hallway, which lead straight from the front door, opened up into what appeared to be two large rooms combined, only separated at the center by a staircase instead of walls. On his right he could see what must serve as the living room; the area contained one large couch as well as a another smaller one and a few reclining chairs that all faced a fireplace on the right wall. A couple feet above opening of the chimney was a large flat screen television, and a couple feet away on both sides were windows over looking the forest in the distant.
On Raphael's left was what he assumed to be the kitchen for there was a refrigerator, counters, stove, microwave, as well as many cabinets and appliances scattered throughout the room. He turned around to see Usagi giving Don a quick, friendly hug in greeting before he helped her with her suitcases. As the pair walked through the hall, Raph noticed that on each side was a single archway. Taking a few steps back towards the front door to examine where they lead, he discovered on the right there was dinning room with a rather large table for meals, and the left room seemed to be their sensei's own personal library for the room's walls were filled with selves of books, except for one space where a window with a computer and a desk directly below it.
Turning his attention back to his genius brother, who was still chatting with Usagi and now Leo as well, he approached his bags and asked, "Hey Donnie, what am I supposed to do with all this?" He gestured to the items in his hands.
"Here, I'll show you to your room," Donatello said, beckoning to his brother as he started up the staircase.
The second floor was a bit smaller than the first, Raph noticed when the stairs lead them to a single hall was that ran left to right. Donnie gestured to the left side of the hall -which was significantly shorter than the right- to explain briefly that the door at the end of the hall lead to Master Splinter's room while the other two on the walls across from one another were a bedroom on the left, where Donnie himself was staying, and a bathroom on the right. Raph was then lead down the longer, right side of the hallway. He noticed at the end on this side was only a window over looking basically the same view as the windows on the floor below, but there was still two doors across from one another.
Donnie opened the door on the left and let Raph inside what must be considered as his room, for now anyways. "This is going to be your room, Raph. At least until April and Casey get here later this week, then you'll probably have to room with me."
That's right, Raph reminded himself, he had almost forgotten that the couple was visiting for a couple weeks as well. He glanced over to Don, he was pretty sure that his brother still had feelings for April, and it was too bad she never returned his feelings. It was because of them, mostly Raph, that April and Casey had met soon after Mikey's leaving. There had been and instant connection between the two, and the pair had almost felt guilty that they were so happy during a time when their friends were down about their brother's departure. However, over the years the couple grew closer and had ever recently gotten engaged. Although April is only nineteen and in her second year of college, so they plan on waiting until she graduates to get married.
Anyway, as far as the room went, there wasn't much to it, but Raphael didn't mine. There was a double bed against the far wall, he noted the the bed spread was his favorite shade of red, figures Splinter would color code each of their rooms with their favorite colors. Beside the bed was a small night stand, and further down the wall was a window which gave him a view as to exactly how large the back yard was. Along the right wall were another two windows, and in between them sat a dresser with more than enough draws to fit all his clothing, as well as a mirror on top. There was a few more small touches to the room to make it seem more homey, such as a chair, closet, lamp, and a painting or two hanging from the walls.
Raphael set his things down on the carpeted floor, which he also noticed must only be in the bed rooms for the rest of the house was either hardwood flooring like the hallways, stairs, and living room, or tiled like the kitchen and how he assumed the bathrooms would be. He then followed his brother back out of his room, and his earlier theory was confirmed when he caught a glimpse of Leo and Usagi's bedding through their open door and discovered it was also Leo's favorite color: blue.
"Lunch will be ready soon, if you guys are hungry." Donnie called from the top of the stairs in the direction of Leo's room so their brother could hear, before Raph followed him down the staircase.
Raphael was lounging on the smaller of the two couches in Splinter's living room. He let out a sigh of boredom, his sensei was watching his programs, a hobby he had apparently picked up since his retirement. Raph had been waiting the better part of the morning for Casey to finally wake up so they could find something that was actually fun to do. He and April had arrived about a week ago, and now it was already December twentieth, only five days until Christmas. It was already past ten and neither he nor April had woken up yet. They didn't sleep in this late everyday, but when they did, Raph knew better than to go knocking on the door of his old room for fear of what he would find was keeping them "busy" either late the night before or that morning.
Raph was stuck, he didn't know what else to do. Leonardo and Usagi were in the library doing intense training exercises without weapons, which he considered joining but knew they'd be too focus and serious to have any fun. Donatello was in the dinning room, using the huge table there to work on his latest science project. Raph sighed again and got up from the couch, maybe he'd be able to convince Don to do something fun.
As Raph entered the room, he saw his brainiac brother tinkering with some new device of his. "Whatcha up to, Don?" he asked as he rounded the table to stand beside his brother.
"I'm not even going to try to explain cause we both know you won't understand -no offense-, but it's something my professor said a few weeks ago during his lecture in class and it gave me an idea. I haven't really had much time to work on it before now, what with being here at Splinter's and then you and Leo arriving and April and Casey's arrival too just a few days ago. I've hardly had any time to make any progress with it," Donnie said to Raph, but not taking his eyes off his work.
"So, I'm gessin' the answer would be 'no' it I asked you to something fun, like target practice or sparrin' out back." Raph said to his brother.
"You would be correct," Don answered and heard his brother sigh. "Raph, have you ever even been down to the basement yet?"
Raph looked at his brother in confusion. "There's a basement? I didn't even know this house had one. Thought these two floors had more than enough space."
"Didn't you ever wounder where that door beside the staircase over there lead? That's where sensei always goes to mediate. There's also weights, a punching bag, and other workout and training equipment down there."
"What? How come nobody told me about this earlier?" Raph asked, excited to finally have something to do. He started off in the direction of his new discovery, but didn't make it three steps when her heard a knock at the door.
Raphael turned back around and watched as Donnie ran to look out the window. He saw his brother's face light up as he ran out of the room, through the archway, and down the hall announcing loudly to the entire first floor, "It's Mikey! Mikey's here!"
Raph felt his heartbeat quicken in anticipation as he made it to the arch and stood in the shadows as Leo eagerly went to join Don in finally seeing their brother for the first time in over three years. Raph only watch as Donatello flung the door open and pulled his brother into a hug, Leo joining in seconds later. He was glad to see that Mikey hadn't changed too much, as far as appearances went anyways. The teen had definitely grown several inches since he last saw him, although he was still the shortest of all the brothers. His hair style also seemed shorter, while living at the orphanage his hair had hung down past his ears. Now it was exactly short, but it was at least an inch or two less then how it used to be, but Raph thought the haircut fit him, possibly better than his old one. Also, Michelangelo seemed to have gained muscle too, he was always pretty lean, but all the sports and activities that Mr. Parker must have enrolled him in throughout the rest of high school must of helped with that.
However, Mikey's face was still almost exactly the same. He still had those freckles sprinkled across his nose and cheeks. There was still that same adorable little smile of his, although it didn't belong to the Mike he knew. Even though Mikey was no doubt ecstatic to see his brothers again, to the trained eye it could be told that the smile was somewhat forced. Same held true for his eyes, still that same hypnotic blue, but they were guarded and lifeless, showing no emotion. Raph felt a familiar pang, knowing that this change hadn't taken place after he had left. No, it was because of him and his stupid ideas that he actually thought would help his brother.
Deciding he had waited long enough, Raph took a hesitant step through the archway to greet his brother, but froze when he saw Mikey step back to reveal a girl who had been standing behind him. She looked about their age, slim, with hair as black as midnight and eyes of a vibrant green that rivaled Raph's own.
Still partially hidden in the shadows, Raph's eyes widen only a fraction when Mikey placed his arm around the girl's waist and gestured from her to his brothers and back again in an introduction. Raph heard the exchange of words going on between the four, but didn't register them as he glared the girl down, jealousy ripping at his insides. Raph's eyes narrowed further when the girl wrapped both her arms around one of Mikey's and hugged it as they made their was through the door and into the house.
Raphael felt himself make an almost growling noise deep in his throat, although no one else was able to hear. All hesitation gone, Raph strode out of the shadows and confidently towards Mikey. His shorter brother didn't see him coming until he was ripped from his apparent girlfriend's grasp and into a tight embrace by his older brother. Raph held Mikey tight, and after a moment finally felt the hug returned, hesitantly at first, but soon the arms held with just as much force as Raph's own. Raph turned his head to look over Mikey shoulder and down as the girl who had accompanied him here. He felt his hold on his brother tighten as he glared at her. Her eyes widened for a brief second, in either shock or fear, but she soon gave him a shy smile and a wave.
Raph heard a nervous cough and clearing of the throat come from Leo and Don, making him aware of just how long he had been embracing his brother. He released his brother after a few more moments, but kept his hands clasped on his shoulders. He gave Mikey a rare smile, mostly due to the fact that the blond was fiercely blushing and seemed a bit shocked, he was glad to know that at least he could still elicit emotion from the teen. Raph eyed Mikey for another moment before finally saying, "It's good to have you back, bro," and clapping his hand on his shoulder.
- So after three years they finally see Mikey again. I purposely didn't give Mikey's girlfriend a name because I had no idea what to call her and she's not that important anyways. It'll probably be a little while until chapter eight is posted, about a week maybe? Also, that might be the last chapter too, just a heads up. One more thing, I hate having Donnie all alone, so if anyone has any idea who he should be with let me know what you think! And review please!