Worries of a father and son

Chapter 1 - Worries of a father

He's been the big brother. From the moment he was chosen to be the leader he understood the responsibility and his obligations. He was no fool. He was smart. And he loved his brothers and his father. He loved them to no end and that was one of the things that Splinter appreciated about his eldest. No matter what they've been through, the love was ever present.

His wayward son on the other hand was a little intolerrant to those events and people in their lives. He never saw the good in people, just the bad. He was taught by life first hand. The goofy son took everything as a joke, even life, but he was hit from the events too. The smartest of all, well let's just sat that he was too caught up in his science (fiction) projects to realize that life was far more complicated than a mollecule of an athom... and Splinter forgot the rest of the rant his son provided to him when he explained the toughness of the bolt on the door to their new home and the elements that the bolt had in it. For Splinter the bolt and the door and everything else that had silver on his, and was hard, was metal.

To him it all seemed strange. The place wasn't their home yet. He was still missing their old lair. The scent in it told him it was a strange place, a different place. But, they were forced to change homes on multiple occassions. Just like in foster homes, as his eldest put it once and didn't realize how it hurt him, those few words he heard. He never told him anything about that. But, the problem with that turtle was that he was too honest and sincere. And he always put his thoughts into words. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes not. Recently it was more no, than yes.

Splinter worried for all of them, but one son in particular had him worried beyond borders. He'd become quiet in the last couple of months. He came back changed, almost back to his old self, but he was different. He almost didn't speak to him, and that was alarming. The son that always asked for advice from his father with a cup of green or herbal tea, now was silent. And the silence was overwhelming. Screaming even.

He understood the need of his eldest to protect (and serve in a twisted way, thought Splinter) to him and his other sons, but he had a life too. He wasn't just the stubborn eldest turtle, the fearless leader, the teacher's pet or Splinter Junior. He was having a life of his own, that he abandoned long ago, to be the adult he wasn't. To be the grown up turtle he wasn't. He was a teenager that had to grow up earlier because of their life and their destiny. He was Leonardo. And once again Splinter's theory was right. His fatherly instinct and knowing Leonardo all too well plus the silent signs he gave away with his talk and body language told Splinter all he needed to know. Leonardo wasn't himself for months and after he sent him away Splinter thought that Leonardo was back. He thought that his son was back. The old Leonardo. The warrior he raised and owed his sanity at moments.

But when Leonardo came back from his trip to Japan he found the lair destroyed, his brothers and father missing, worse, he was told they were dead and he went back to 'the silent treatment keeping it to himself mode'. He was alienating himself from his family and Splinter had to do something to prevent the loss of his son. He lost his master, Hamato Yoshi to the Shredder. He won't lose a son because of him. Leonardo's spirit was breaking, and he couldn't let this to happen to the one turtle that could pull them together. Not this time, not ever.

He was having one of those sessions where he meditated upon a matter when he heard Raphael yell at Leonardo. And the turtle in question didn't fight back. Not a word, not a yell. He thought of the old technique he taught his sons called 'river over a stone' which basically meant that when someone said bad words to you, or insulted you, you should let them wash like a river over a stone, but this wasn't the case. This was completely shut down mode. Leonardo was shutting down to himself, literally in his own shell. And then the ticking bomb was going to explode. He ddidn't fight back, until he heard Leonardo scream back at his brother. The fight went on and on, until he decided that he should intervene. Splinter took a deep breath.

It was now or never.

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