The Turtle Charm

Tears

As Papa finished fading away, my phone's alarm went off, indicating the start of a new day. I silenced it before collapsing next to Leo again. I felt myself shake as I tried to hold in the tears. I told myself to keep it together and that there were more important things right that second when I felt a blanket being tossed over me, obscuring the world.

A pair of arms wound around my body from behind as Leo said, "If Dr. Feelings was in the room right now, he'd say that it's okay to let it out...Anata wa hitori ja nai."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"'You are not alone.' Your dad will always be with you and no matter how far you are from your mom and brother, they are with you too. And well...my family, I am here for you, too."

I felt the tears stream from my eyes as I said, "Papa always said something similar: No eres solo." I shifted, allowing the blanket to slip down a bit as I hugged Leo back, pressing my head against the turtle's armor-like chest through which I could hear his heartbeat quicken a bit as his arms tightened around me and he planted a kiss on my head.

We must have been sitting like that for a while. A knock from Leo's door was followed by it opening as Donnie said, "Nardo? Are you awake? Mikey's almost done with breakfast. He's making Halloween candy pancakes...Huh, the side door?"

The moment Donnie walked into the room and saw us together his face became like that Pikachu meme and I could almost hear the term "Nani?" in that look.

"Donnie-Don," said Leo, "Uh...how are you doing, hermano? Was that 'Human Centipede' movie good last night?"

"Oh dear god...You guys also have that movie in this world?" I shuddered, as I straitened up.

After a moment of awkward silence, Donnie said, "You guys actually got together? What happened to your avoiding 'Chads' thing, Tina? Did this dumb-dumb actually wear you down?"

"Hey! The dumb-dumb is sitting right here!" said Leo before asking, "What's a Chad?"

"It's a call back to a previous chapter...Anyway! How long have you guys been an item."

"That's right! You're a self-aware cartoon character!" I said.

"Self-aware cartoon character? Does that mean...By science! Are you from one of those universes where we're cartoons?" There was no way around confirming that. "Wow! I've only caught glimpses of the other realities, but to actually have someone that could possibly tell me about them under the same roof?" Donnie pulled out a notepad and a pen while an arm from his battle shell popped out with a recorder. "Tell me, on a scale of one to ten, one being smart and ten being genius, how do other Donnies compare to me? Come on, I'm expecting big things..."

"Wow," I said turning to Leo, "You guys are defiantly related. To be honest, you're probably the most impressive Donatello. The others are smart, but you're basically a turtle version of Iron Man in this world."

"Ha, ha! I knew it. I am the ultimate Don!"

"Well, I am the ultimate Leo," said the turtle in blue, "Her words.

"I said you were the least bland," I corrected, "I mean, for being typical, 2003 Leo could turn into a dragon...Anyway, there's something more important, Don. Do you still have the key shard? You were analyzing it, right?"

"Yes, though I haven't found anything special..." said Donnie.

"The key could be repaired. It's a bit complicated, but we need to tell everyone else..."

"But not about this," said Leo hugging me even tighter, "You know how dad gets..."

"Oh, the entire 'Finally, I can marry this son of mine off,' thing. I know, it happened when April and I became best friends before she came out as a lesbian...I still think it's weird, but my lips are sealed..."