A Brother's Intuition

Shattered

Leonardo stared at the book in his hands. The image was one he knew well, or at least, one that he recognized.

This was years ago!

Several years ago, Leo had given Raph a toy car on their birthday. It was the nicest toy car that any of them had ever found, and since it was their birthdays, Leo gave it to Raphael because the little hothead was an avid car fanatic.

Raphael had been so thrilled that he'd hugged Leo without even realizing that he had done so. Leo smiled at the memory, before he turned his attention back to the image. The detailing was absolutely fabulous. Everything was perfect and true to form, right down to the little pin-striping on the car doors.

Leo's awed gasps made the others gather around him. All three of them made little noises of shock as they, too, beheld the artwork on the page.

Mikey tried to pull the book away, but Leo tightened his grip and growled. Mikey backed off. Leonardo flipped through the book slowly.

Each page contained a memory. Things that had completely slipped his mind, memories from years ago that had long since faded were being revived by the images before him. Numerous moments came flooding back to him. He paused and smiled at a picture of him giving Raph a turtle-back ride. That seemed like ages ago. It was on their tenth birthday, back when Raph had been significantly lighter.

Leonardo was about to run his fingers across the drawing, when a tight hand attached itself to his wrist, holding him back. The eldest tore his eyes from the paper and sent Raphael an inquiring stare.

Raphael evaded his brother's gaze and muttered, "It smears."

Leo nodded absently. His eyes ran over the drawing one last time before he once again turned the page. Drawing his attention away from the book for a moment, Leo looked up at Raphael wonderingly. "I can't believe you drew these."

"Little piece of charcoal can go a long way." Raph replied timidly.

Leo spared Raphael any further embarrassment and turned back to the book. His curiosity peaked, he flipped toward the end where a page was dog-eared.

Leo's hand stilled as he found himself staring at an almost mirror image of himself. He was astounded. If the image had been in color and not black and white, Leo might have thought he was staring in a mirror. Leo could see, via his peripherals, that his family members were also actively comparing the drawing with the real thing.

Michelangelo, in particular, was astounded. He repeatedly looked back and forth between Leonardo and the drawing as though mentally confirming which of them was the real.

Dark, blue eyes slowly rose, landing their intense gaze on Raphael. "Raph how—when?"

Raph's eyes dropped to the floor. He shifted nervously. "Um, I just drew them." He answered tentatively, not entirely sure what was being asked.

Leonardo stared down at the drawing once more, completely astonished. It really was incredible. And to think that Raphael had been hiding his talent from them all these years...It was implausible.

Master Splinter, who was standing on Leonardo's right, glanced down at the picture and over at his oldest son, then he turned to Raphael, "You have a gift, my child. Why is it that you have never...?"

Raph shrugged nonchalantly. "It wasn't important. You didn't really need to know."

"And you have been drawing these since we turned ten?" Leo asked with interest.

Raph smiled a little. "Before that, actually. But that was near the beginning. You can tell the difference by how primitive those drawings are compared to these."