Universes Apart || Rise Leonardo x Reader

⚅Fourteen⚅

Trying to resume my life was difficult, to put it bluntly. Since I was gone for about 2 weeks, I was behind on both my education and income, so I had to stay late in class and work overtime to get it back on track. It didn't allow much time for thinking, which was nice, but it left me exhausted and craving the sanctuary of the lair even more.

I had tried to use Leo's katanas multiple times, but their power remained at zero, so they became a nice decoration on my dresser. I also tried to use the phone Donnie gave me, but it was like being out of the universe it was designated for made it nothing more than a paperweight. So it got placed next to the katanas. The shell was put against the dresser, and I hadn't worn it since I'd gotten back. As for my hand, I only have one now. I didn't want to deal with the questions or the reminder of what I was missing out on, so instead I put the metal hand and brace inside my shell and went to the hospital to get it professionally fixed.

So now I had a stump to explain, and I went with a very vague answer of 'just an accident'. With a missing hand, work was more difficult and it made working on schoolwork more tedious, but I got by. I didn't think I could be more depressed by my life, but after leaving the turtles' universe, I was utterly miserable. I kept reminding myself it had to be done, but it didn't make me feel any better.

A month later, I was baking alone in my kitchen. It was kind of out of control how much I'd been baking lately, but I had a lot of stress that needed to be relieved. This time I was making my lasagna—while wearing a baby blue unicorn onesie that said I'm not a useful member of society today—a dish I hadn't made since I gave a piece to Mikey. The memory made me sad but I wanted to celebrate my month of normalcy regardless. Sure now that I knew what I was missing it hurt that much more, but I was still happy to have gotten a taste of what it would be like to hang out with my favorite fictional turtles.

While the lasagna was in the oven, I watched the ROTTMNT show. I tried to separate my negative emotions from the show in the hope that it would help me heal and move on from what happened, not that I had much hope of moving on anymore.

The end of spring was coming around so it was that perfect mix of warm and cool outside, so I had my windows open to enjoy the lovely day. When the timer went off for my lasagna, I kept the oven door open to allow it to cool down. The smell wasn't trapped in my apartment with the windows open, but it still drifted throughout the house. I struggled to pull the lasagna out of the oven without another functioning hand, and after glaring at it with frustration, I headed into my room to grab the brace and hand attachment. As I walked back to the kitchen, I missed the katanas faintly glowing blue.

With the hand attachment on, I didn't bother putting an oven mitt over it when I pulled the lasagna out. I avoided touching it to my skin while I waited for the metal hand to cool, and in the meantime I grabbed a plate and fork. I should've been more patient but the smell was making me hungry and it would cool faster if it was on my plate. After cutting messily with the fork and struggling to get it onto the plate, I headed into the living room to continue watching my turtles.

I got comfortable on the couch for a long night of therapeutic healing and ignoring my still raw emotions when I heard a noise from my room. I ignored it at first, assuming it was just the apartment making odd sounds, when I heard it again. I paused the show and craned my neck to hear better. A low voice. Someone was in my apartment.

I carefully got off of the couch and peeked into the lone hallway, but nobody was there. I crept into the kitchen to grab my only kitchen knife out of its wooden block, then headed over to my bedroom door. A wave of deja vu swept over me and I hoped that it was my favorite turtle again because this was not the outfit I wanted to die in.

I turned the knob slowly then inched the door outward, peeking through the slit. Light was coming in through the window but I couldn't see what could've made that noise. That's when I noticed the katanas were missing, and I felt fear climb up my back. I checked to make sure my brace was firmly attached to my arm, then changed my grip on the knife so it was pointed downward and readied myself to sprint across the room to my battle shell. It wouldn't keep me alive but it was more protection than I currently had, and I wanted to personally fight whoever thought they could take such sacred property of mine.