You're Needed Here Now, Donnie

Chapter 13 - Home Not-So-Sweet Home

*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Special Note: The amazing cover art for this chapter was created by my dear friend, pilyarquitect. I can't possible thank them enough for drawing this wonderful picture. I love it very, very much.

*Author's Notes: Chapter 13 of 'You're Needed Here Now, Donnie' is here and the boys are finally heading back to the lair, but it's not a very happy homecoming.

Thanks so much to everyone who has followed me and taken the time to read and comment on this story. I  truly appreciate it. ;) CJ

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Chapter 13 - Home Not-So-Sweet Home

Despite the rather delicate hour and his being utterly exhausted, sleep had been an impossibility for Hamato Yoshi ever since Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo had gone off to search for Donatello.

It had been well over an hour since his sons had ventured up to the surface and Master Splinter had been deeply troubled from the moment that his boys had left the lair. That was because he could not shake the sense that his sons had been heading into grave danger.

Master Splinter was currently sitting cross-legged on the floor of his bedroom, silently meditating. Well . . . at least he was trying to meditate, just as he had been for the last hour or so, but his fear for his children and his sudden inclination to check the clock every so often were interfering with his relaxation process.

Closing his eyes, he focused on steadying his mind and his breathing so that he might find the spiritual realm that he sought once again. He had been attempting to contact all five of his children by means of the astral plane, but what he had found – or rather not found – had been most disturbing.

When Master Splinter had first managed to achieve a true meditative state, he had quickly discovered that his sons' spirits had been harder to locate than normal, for they had been clouded by intense feelings of anxiety and distress that had kept them from the inner peace needed for him to reach them. What had been most unsettling was that he had not been able to find Donatello's spirit at all.

While Master Splinter had anticipated that it would be difficult find his beloved Miwa's spirit after what had happened, he had not expected that he would be incapable of establishing a connection with his second youngest son. Granted, Donatello's spirit was typically the most challenging of his sons to isolate. The boy was constantly distracted by his thoughts, hindered by his inability to ever truly relax, and closed off by his skepticism and reservations about the spiritual world, all of which were not conducive to establishing a spiritual link, but this time had been all-together different. Even with Donatello's spiritual limitations, Master Splinter had always been able to at least sense his most intelligent son's presence, but right now, his second youngest child was nowhere to be found and this was of great concern to him.

What was also of great concern to him was the amount of time that had elapsed since his four sons had departed the lair.

Master Splinter had been informed that Donatello had gone out to locate one of his self-created vehicles that had been left behind when he had been captured earlier in the evening. However, that particular scenario did not explain why his sons had been gone for over an hour now with no word, nor did it explain Donatello's absence in the astral world. Thus, the reason he was so concerned . . .

It seemed that the longer Master Splinter tried to meditate, the more complicated it became to keep his thoughts focused in order to maintain the sense of clarity and serenity necessary for proper meditation. The apprehension he felt for his second youngest son's well-being was burrowing its way underneath his skin, working to break his concentration. Forcing himself to remain calm in order to uphold his connection, Master Splinter continued to search for his missing son until the sound of distressed voices calling out his name pulled him out of his trance-like state.