「ABSENCE」 TMNT 2012

12; Lighten Up

Raphael grunted as Leo's katanas pressed too near his face for comfort. Closer and closer they inched. His muscles ached. Sweat glazed his forehead and dripped down his back. He eyed the sharp blades challengingly as he pushed back at them with his sais.

Teeth gritted, he looked up into the fiery blue eyes of his brother. Leonardo held his gaze for a moment as they both struggled for dominance. In that second of intensity, Raph realized he didn't even stand a chance.

    There was a muffled thud as Leo's knee made contact with Raph's abdomen. As Raph slouched, trying to suck in a breath, Leo took the opportunity to fling both sais out of his hands. They hit opposite walls and clattered to the ground.

    Raph heaved air into his lungs and straightened his shoulders. Leo's katana sliced through the sticky air between them. Raph sidestepped the attack, shoving Leo's arm aside.

    Block. Duck. Lean. Repetitive movements that happened quickly. Swiftly. Like a dance. Lean left, lean right. Blades up, blades down. Now turn.

    Raph was dizzy from all the movement, and Leo saw it. The older turtle slipped his twin swords into their sheaths on his shell and jumped up, wrapping his legs around Raphael's neck. As gravity willed him backwards, he brought Raph down with him. His shell hit the ground and he jerked his waist, twisting Raph over and onto his back. A leg lock.

Raph landed roughly on the ground as Leo effortlessly slid his legs away and hopped to his feet. He wiped his hands together and turned to look down upon the groaning Raphael, whose chin rested on the hard pavement. "Here." He extended his hand.

    Raph's eyes traveled upwards to the outstretched arm. He swung his own up and grasped it tightly. Leo tugged and Raph stumbled to his feet, mumbling a, "thanks," under his breath. His heavy breathing mixed with Leo's was the most prominent sound in his ears.

Leo turned his back and went to grab a towel from the neatly folded stack in the corner. Raph watched him as he rubbed it all over his face and neck, soaking up the sweat that had accumulated during their training session. "That wasn't Ninjutsu," he commented, trying to draw a reaction out of his older brother.

"No, it wasn't," agreed Leo. He tossed the now dirty towel into the wash basket and began to unwrap the white cloth from around his hands.

    Annoyed, Raph strode up behind Leo and crossed his arms over his chest. "Where did you learn that move?" He demanded. "Where did you learn Jiu Jitsu?"

    Leo continued to undo his hand wraps without so much as a glance to his brother. "The Internet. I studied a couple different videos until I got it down. Practiced with Sensei."

    "Why didn't you tell me you decided to branch out?"

    This time, Leo did look over his shoulder. He shot Raphael his threateningly piercing gaze, which he used to establish his authority. "It's none of your business whether or not I choose to learn a new skill set." He turned back to his hands, letting the old cloth slip out of his palm and into the trash can. As an afterthought, he added, "why? Are you jealous? Jealous that you didn't think to educate yourself in different forms of martial arts before I did?"

    "No! I ain't jealous!" Raph argued defensively, glaring two, perfect holes straight through Leo's green head.

    "Whatever you say."

Raph waited until both hands were completed and Leo had turned around before pressing the matter further. "I'm not jealous," he repeated, enunciating the words slowly and in a much calmer voice. "I'm just a little disappointed you didn't ask us if we wanted to join you."

    Leo shook his head slowly. "If I thought you were interested in learning, I would've mentioned it. But all of you have other things you'd rather do. And besides, if you want to pick it up you can learn on your own."

    "That's not what I meant to say."

    Leo raised an eye ridge.

    "What I meant to say is . . . we're all tired of you skipping out on us all the time." He didn't understand why he felt so reluctant to admit it. Raph had never been one to hold back from voicing his opinions. But for some reason, this time he did.

    "What?" Leo laughed humorlessly. "I'm not–"

    "Yeah. You are. And you have been for a long time now." Raph's courage was slowly coming back to him, and he squared his shoulders determinedly. It had been a long time since he'd had a good disagreement with Leo. "Every time we ask you to do something, you can't because you're "working"." He made quotations with two of the three fingers on each of his hands. "Don't think we haven't noticed. None of us can even remember the last time you did something fun, like watch Space Heroes, or play pinball. All you've done for the past . . . probably ten years is eat, sleep, and breath training. For Sensei's sake, lighten up already!"

    "Do not misuse my title!" Master Splinter called from his room, sounding rather annoyed. But his rebuke was drowned out by the ongoing argument taking place in the dojo.

"Well I'm doing better than the three of you," Leo retorted, then snorted, with a roll of his eyes. "You guys drag yourselves out of bed every morning, whining and complaining, then go through your training half-heartedly. No, wait. Scratch that. It's more like one-third-heartedly."

    Raph lifted his shoulders. "Okay, so we could be a little more enthusiastic. But at least we spend time with each other."

    Leo pointed a finger. "Don't try to guilt trip me, Raphael. I'm doing what's best for all of us."

    "Ha!" He shuffled up to Leo, got right in his face, and again shouted, "ha!" Leo stood stone still, stubbornly refusing to show any sign of disgust for Raph's atrocious mid-afternoon breath. "That's your excuse for everything you do." He dropped his voice to a husky, monotone imitation of his brother's. "'I'm doing what's best for our family. I'm doing this for our team.'"

    "That's because it's true!"

    "Since when was isolating yourself and cutting us out of your daily life doing any of us any good?"

    "I'm done talking about this, Raph. I'm doing what's best for our . . . family . . ." He frowned while Raph smirked. "Just leave me alone, okay?"

    Sadly, Raph watched Leo leave the dojo, and air of pride about him. Wounded pride. But knowing Leo, he would heal soon enough.