Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Leo’s head was pounding. What the heck just hit him?

He blinked up at a dark purple sky, the mass of ominously swirling clouds seemingly centered directly above him. Strange. Wasn’t the Hidden City underground? How did they have weather phenomena like this down here? Maybe it was just a Witch Town thing.

Whatever. He sat up, rubbing his aching head. What happened to him? The last thing he remembered was…

A witch. That’s right, some random witch had approached him, threatening him for showing his face in this place again. But, he’d never been to Witch Town before? As far as he knew, only April and Donnie had been to Witch Town, and although he didn’t know the fine details, he knew the trip landed the pair in a jail cell with himself, their big bro Raph and one Baron Draxum.

Oh. So this had been a case of mistaken identity, huh? He’d have to go rip into Donnie about this as soon as they met up again. Speaking of...

He checked the time on his phone. Shoot, it was already five minutes past their decided meeting time. He quickly stood and reached behind him for one of his swords. He swiped it through the air, creating a blue portal leading to the meetup spot at the Turtle Tank.

“Heeeey, fam! Sorry I’m la—” he paused mid sentence. The tank wasn’t here. It wasn’t even anywhere in sight. No one was.

This was the meetup location, right? He took a moment to study his surroundings, recognizing not only the welcome center before him, the Crying Titan in the distance, and the very specific, very large tire tracks of what was obviously the turtle tank. Did they just… leave him? Did they actually ditch him? Sure, he could just portal back home and probably even beat them there. But! What if he was in trouble? They’d be miles away when he needed them. He’s the leader, for crying out loud! They can’t be making executive decisions like this without him. What if they hit a spot of trouble on the way home and he—again, the leader—wasn’t there to lead them? Talk about rude.

Originally, Donnie was going to be the one to get an earful when he got home, but now? Oho, now they were all in for it. Splinter and April included.

He sliced another portal into existence and stepped through, emerging into his bedroom. He dropped his weapons on his bed, then began unwrapping the tape around his hands and arms. He’d bet the others weren’t home yet, if the silence of the lair was anything to go by.

He fell back on his bed, grabbing the manga he’d been reading off a shelf beside him. He’d found a whole series in a dumpster topside, could you believe it! Who would throw out a perfectly good manga set like this? Absurd! He’d managed to sneak it back to the lair without his brothers noticing. Yes, there was some action in them, but they were more specifically a shoujo manga, and his brothers did not need to hold that blackmail over his head.

It wasn’t much longer after he'd settled in before the sound of chatter entered the lair, signaling his family’s arrival home. He bookmarked his manga before tossing it aside, quickly hopping up to greet (read: scold) his family. Oh boy, were they about to get an earful.

The door to his room slid open, and he stepped out, only for the eyes of everyone to instantly turn on him. It was almost unsettling the way every head turned to him simultaneously, reminiscent of a horror film. Nonetheless, ignoring their weirdness (not too out of the ordinary for the Hamatos, truly), he opted to roll with it.

“Yeah, you jerks forget something?” he snarked, folding his arms as he leaned up against his train car with a smirk.

In an instant, a massive hand grabbed him by the face and had him pressed hard against the wall of the train car in a vice grip. Leo’s hands flew up to pry it off, but there was no give. Raph had always been the strongest of the brothers, but he’d been the gentlest as well.

“Who are you, and how did you get in here?! And why do ya look like us?” Raph demanded, voice low and gravelly. His grip on Leo’s face didn’t lessen even a little.

“R-Raph, what?” he stuttered pathetically, mind still trying to catch up.

“How do you know Raph’s name?” Raph continued, growling out each word.

“This isn’t funny!”

Leo managed to move one of the big guy’s fingers enough to peek between them. Donnie moved forward, looking his twin up and down as if studying him. He had his bo in hand, ready to use it in a moment’s notice. “It’s like us,” Don spoke quietly, as though talking to himself. “A turtle, and a red-eared slider by the looks of it. Another creation of Baron Draxum like us? Or another plot to infiltrate us by Big Mama? It could be wearing a cloaking brooch. Mike, help me find one."

“Donnie, please, what kind of joke is this?” Leo practically begged. “First you guys ditch me in the Hidden City, now this?”

Donnie opts to ignore him, carrying forward in his observations. He dropped his goggles onto his beak and began to study Leo more closely. “A telepathic yokai ability, reading our minds? Or has it been observing us to gain intel?”

“Intel?” Leo scoffed. “Donnie—guys, seriously, just—stop! This is a very elaborate joke, ha-ha or whatever, but I’m over it. I’ve had a really long day, so can you please put me down? And stop calling me an 'it'! I'm your brother.”

“No more talk.” Raph’s steely grip tightened, covering his beak so he couldn’t speak. Leo felt himself beginning to panic as his mind conjured up memories of only a few months ago. His chest heaved just like it did back then, when Raph was being controlled by the Kraang parasite and nearly killed Leo. His breath was caught like it had been as Raph’s slimy Kraang arm wrapped around his neck, lifting him off his feet, and cut off his oxygen.

Leo let his arms fall to his sides like he had back then. Maybe Raph would see he was serious, this prank wasn’t funny and they were taking it way too far. He could feel himself shaking uncontrollably as the panic attack started to set in.

“Wait, guys…” Mikey spoke up uncertainly from somewhere Leo couldn’t see. “Doesn’t this seem weird to you? He’s dressed just like us.”

“Mikey, how can we trust it? Because it’s dressed like us? We can’t just let a stranger—an intruder—into our home,” Donnie said.

S-stranger?

“Raphael, put him down,” came the voice of Splinter, their father. He said the words sternly, and Raph didn’t hesitate to drop the slider.

Leo gasped as the hand released him, finally able to suck in a big breath. He barely felt himself hit the ground, landing hard on his tail. He pulled his shaking hands close to him, rubbing up and down his arms like he always did when he was alone and on the verge of a panic attack. Usually he had one of his brothers around to do this for him, to help coo him out of his anxiety, but he didn’t get the feeling they were going to be much help right now.

It was his dad who approached him next, kneeling down beside his son. “You’re okay,” Splinter spoke softly to him, but not daring to touch him. “No one is going to hurt you, blue one. Just breathe. In—one, two, three, four… And out—one, two, three, four.”

Leo followed along with his counting for the next couple of minutes, although it could have been longer with how foggy and addled his brain currently felt. He was still shaky, but less so, and he could breathe properly again. He no longer felt on the verge of passing out. He wanted more than anything to hug his father right now, but something in the back of his mind told him it wasn’t a good idea in front of his disbelieving brothers.

“I’m okay,” Leo said breathily once he was comfortable enough to continue. “I-I, uh, don’t understand what's happening.”

“Yeah, seems to be the theme,” Donnie said bitterly. “You want to tell us how you got in here now?”

“Hush, Purple,” Splinter commanded, to which Donnie rolled his eyes. The rat looked into Leo’s eyes, unnerving him, and spoke in as calm a voice as the turtle had ever heard from him. “Tell me, Blue. Do I have a fourth son I don’t remember?”

And that was it, wasn’t it? None of them remembered him. For whatever reason, not one of the people he’d grown up with, spent his entire life with, sacrificed himself for… remembered him.

Leo could only blink up at his father. His throat bobbed as he tried to form words, but none would come. He finally nodded.

“Mm, so it seems. We will figure this out, my son.” Splinter patted him on the knee, the first real form of affectionate touch since this all started.

“Dad,” Raph said, voice low in warning. “You sure we can just… trust him?”

Splinter grunted as he rose to his feet. “No. But, even if this turns out to be a mistake, mistakes are a part of life, they are how we learn. And this is a mistake I am willing to make.”

Leo’s eyes glistened as he looked up at his father. Sometimes he forgot how wise Splinter was, deep down. Like, way deep down. So deep that if you threw a rock in it, it would echo.

“Papá, have you perhaps considered that we, your sons, are not comfortable with this?” Donnie questioned, arms crossed and one of his penciled-on eyebrows raised.

“Do you boys not trust me?”

That made the three straighten up. “No, dad, of course we do,” Raph said, twiddling his thumbs nervously. “It’s just, how could we forget our own brother?”

“Scientifically speaking,” Donnie butted in, rapidly tapping away at his wrist tech, “there is a zero-point-zero-zero-zero-zero-five percent chance we could all four forget our own sibling at the same exact time.”

“I don’t know, guys,” Mikey spoke up, unable to look them in the eyes. He was toeing at a scuff on the cement floor. “I think it might be kind of cool to have a fourth brother.”

Raph sighed. “We can’t just adopt him into the family 'cause he's a turtle like us. Again, this could be a trick by Big Mama or one 'a the many other villains who equally dislike us.”

“You’re not ‘adopting’ me because I’m already your brother,” Leo finally joined in on the conversation, pulling himself up on wobbly legs while using an arm to lean against the train car. He didn’t like being looked down on. “I’ve been a part of this family since we were kids—since we were mutated together by Baron Draxum! I’ve been there with you guys through everything. I helped to defeat the Shredder, and I’m always there to fight Big Mama, and I was there when we fought the Kraang!”

Everyone’s eyes were on him as he panted, still not totally back to one-hundred percent after his panic attack. Leo huffed, hobbling his way past the group towards the kitchen. “‘m making a sandwich.”

“Not so fast, little guy,” Raph said, catching Leo by the arm.

The slider jerked his arm away. “Little guy?” he scoffed. “I’m literally the leader.”

At this, Raph chuckled darkly. “Pipsqueak like you? Leader? Sure.”

Leo finally felt the tears building up that he’d been fighting for so long now. He swallowed down the lump in his throat, then hissed, “What will it take for you to believe me? Is it really that hard to believe? After all the impossible stuff we’ve been through, this is the thing out of the realm of possibility?”

“If this is true," Donnie interjected, "you really are our brother and we’ve all somehow magically forgotten your existence, something must have triggered this phenomenon. Has anything happened recently that could have caused it?”

His mind jumped back to the witch from earlier. He didn’t remember her performing any spells, but he also didn’t remember what happened between her threatening him for showing his face around there and him waking up on the ground with a throbbing headache. If anyone had amnesia, it should have been him, not his family.

He shook his head. “I think I hit my head earlier. I don’t remember what happened, but I vaguely remember a witch yelling at me for something Donnie did in Witch Town." Voice low, he added, "I think I might have a concussion.”

Splinter pursed his lips. “This is a good lead. You boys should look into it.”

“First, Raph wants to ask a few questions and call a family meeting,” Raph interrupted. “There’s no way everyone could have forgotten him, if he really is our brother.”

Leo clenched his fists. Why was it so hard for his brothers to accept? It was starting to feel like they didn’t want to accept it. At least Mikey wasn’t totally against the idea. “Fine. I’ve got a headache, so I’ll just be in my room. Call me when everyone gets here, I guess.”

"His... room?" he heard Donnie mutter in question behind him as the slider turned his back to them.

“Wait!” Mikey called out to him, causing Leo to stop to hear him out. “Um, could we know your name?”

Leo blinked, facing away from them as the waterworks threatened to spill once more. He didn’t know why that hit him so hard. They really couldn’t remember him at all, huh?

“Hamato Leonardo," he answered. And with that, he pulled back the blue curtain to his personal train car and disappeared into his room.

Chapter Text

Leo climbed into his bed, curling on his side facing the wall and pulling the covers over his head to hide away from the world while he processed everything. He frantically scrubbed at his eyes to avoid being caught crying if one of his brothers came looking for him.

He didn’t understand why Raph and Donnie were so against him! Was having a fourth brother really that bad? Would his family have been happier if he’d never existed? 

It was sometime while his mind raced through the various dark thoughts that a soft knock came to the threshold of his door and the curtain pulled back with a soft ruffle. Leo sat up quickly, folding his legs to sit criss-cross, and wiped one last time at his eyes before facing his younger brother.

Mikey stood in the doorway with a sheepish expression. He was holding a plate with what appeared to be a grilled cheese sandwich. “Hey,” he said shyly.

“Hi,” was Leo’s short reply. He looked down at his lap, lacking his usual confidence. He always made extra effort to stay strong in front of Mikey of all of their brothers, wanting to set a strong example for the youngest, but he just couldn’t muster the will to do so right now. It’s not like Mikey even remembered any of that now. Leo was nothing but an "intruder" in their home, as Donnie had so helpfully stated earlier.

“You said you were going to make a sandwich before you disappeared into your room, so I thought I’d bring you one instead,” the box turtle admitted, slowly approaching and taking a seat at the end of the bed a short ways from Leo. “Figured you were hungry.”

He held the plate out to Leo, who accepted it graciously. He gave his brother a genuine smile. “Thank you, Miguel. I was starving!”

Mikey smiled back just as genuinely. “It’s no problem, Leo. Uh, can I call you that?”

Leo looked over at him with a mouthful of sandwich. He gave his brother a nod, and after swallowing the big bite, he answered, “‘s what you called me before.”

“Oh... Right.”

There was a brief silence that lasted only a minute before Mikey continued. “I like your room. The Jupiter Jim posters and graffiti feel familiar. It’s really weird to not remember it, being right here in the lair and all. Hey, is this a—"

Leo quickly swatted the shoujo manga under his blanket. "Nope, nothing to see here. Ahem. Anyways." He hummed. “I like it too, but I miss my old room. I miss the lair before Shredder destroyed it.”

Mikey looked at him with an unreadable expression, glancing between Leo’s eyes. “Me too… I’m sorry I can’t remember you. And I’m sorry Raph and Don were being so mean.”

Leo shrugged. “Not your fault, Mikester. They’ve always been a bit, er, bullheaded. I understand it being a lot for Donnie’s big science brain, but Raph has always been the family man, so I don’t know why he’s so unwilling to give me a chance. There’s literal proof all around us. I mean, we’re sitting in my bedroom right now, Mike. Have dad pull out some baby pictures. Family photos, old home videos—I’ll be there.”

Mikey hummed in thought. “Maybe he’s afraid of this being a trick by Big Mama, afraid to get hurt after getting to know you. He doesn’t talk about it much, even with Dr. Feelings, but I think he’s been really stressed ever since the Kraang invasion. We almost lost our… uh, someone we’re close to? I–I can’t remember right now—”

“Mikey!” Leo exclaimed suddenly, turning to fully face his little brother. “That was me, Mike! You guys almost lost me during the Kraang invasion! You created a portal to save me from the prison dimension!”

Mikey stared at him with doe eyes. “Wha—huh?”

“What do you remember from the invasion? Do you remember making the portal or is that memory missing too?”

“No, I do remember opening the portal,” Mikey recalled. “Raph and Donnie were with me, while Splinter, April and Casey were somewhere else in the city. Casey had just closed the sky portal, and I remember being super scared because someone got trapped in there with the Kraang in the prison dimension. But, it’s weird. I don’t remember who got trapped. That—it was you?”

“Yes!” Leo grabbed his brother by the shoulders. “Miguel, this is great! Do you know what this means?!”

Mikey was practically vibrating with excitement. “Nope!”

Leo rolled his eyes. “It means you guys must still have the memories we shared, but for whatever reason I’m cut out of them.”

Mikey stared off at a Jupiter Jim poster as he considered this. After a moment, he smiled big. “Okay! Wow. Uh, name another memory!”

“Sure, sure, yeah. Uh, how about the time we fought Big Mama’s goons when she turned all of New York into her Battle Nexus? I was paired up with one of those weird crab men—either Ben or Carl, I get them mixed up—and we had to fight this little sprite lady thing who possessed the Statue of Liberty, but in the end all we had to do was make her laugh! Which, obviously I aced with my devilishly comedic charm.”

“Omigosh, I do remember that! It’s kinda fuzzy, but I do remember Lady Liberty being there! I was kinda distracted though, since I was pretty busy cooking with Meat Sweats.”

“Right, right. Um, what about when you, Donnie, and Raph ended up in Tahiti? I’m the one who sent you guys there! By accident, of course, but nonetheless.”

Mikey cocked his head. “You sent us there?”

“Yep! With my super rad Hamato ninpō power.” Leo grabbed one of his katanas and swiped it through the air in front of them, and a small blue portal sparked to life. He sent Mikey a wink before reaching inside and feeling around for only a moment before his fingers brushed across just the thing he was looking for.

“Whoooaaa! That’s so cool!” Mikey was looking at the ketchup bottle like it was made out of magic. “So you can make anything out of thin air? Can you make me a new game console?! Raph’s face broke the last one, and I want to play Hot Soup: The Game again!”

Leo gave his brother a look, then he popped the lid off the ketchup and poured a glob onto his plate. “Uh, first of all, you want to play that boring old two-bit game again? I was under the impression we all agreed that it stunk. And secondly, no, I cannot make anything out of thin air. I create portals. I just grabbed this ketchup from the fridge.”

Mikey’s mouth gaped, looking at Leo with stars in his eyes like he’d just perfectly performed the fourteen-forty that even Sydney Allen couldn’t. “That’s amazing! It’s so different from the rest of our ninpō.”

“Correct, little brother! Mine is the only power that doesn’t directly translate into battle, but I’ve found a pretty good way to use it in fights. Maybe we can go kick Meat Sweat’s butt later and I can show you.”

“Omigosh, yes!” Mikey pumped his fist in the air, eyes shining. "And it's so weird. Like, I can feel your ninpō. I mean, I've always been able to feel our family's ninpō since we discovered it, but yours is different from mine and Raph's and Donnie's. Yours is electric. It feels like... well, like when the air gets all crispy before lightening strikes nearby is probably the best way I can describe it. Leo, that is so cool!"

Leo blinked. "I've never heard you describe my ninpō before. I've definitely felt everyone's ninpō, like the first time we unlocked it or a couple times when we fought Shredder or Kraang, but I don't think I'm as in tune with the family ninpō as you are. What are the others' like?"

"Oh, Raph's is, uh, definitely sturdy I think would be the right word. It kind of feels like a weighted blanket, like it's meant to be warm and protective. And Donnie's is sorta glitchy, like super-concentrated TV static. ‘Warm’ is how Dad once described mine to me. He said he felt like he was sitting on a beach under the sun just being close to me while I was practicing my ninpō. All of our ninpō is extremely unique, Gram-Gram once said to me too. She even said that out of all the generations, none of the other Hamato spirits have ninpō quite as distinctive as ours.”

“That’s amazing, Mikey. Wow, I never realized how… special we are. Which, yeah, maybe should be more obvious seeing as we’re super-powered mutant turtles living in the sewers of New York City who fight crime lords with our rad ninja skills on a daily basis.”

Mikey laughed out loud at that. “It does sound like a bad comic book when you say it like that, doesn’t it?”

"Hm, I don’t know, Mike. I think it could do well! Maybe between me and my super amazing literature writing skills and your extremely talented artistic expertise, we could actually pull it off, eh?”

The young box turtle practically had stars in his eyes. "Ohmigosh, Leo, we totally could. When we have more time, after we figure out why we can't remember you, would you wanna work on that together?"

"Of course, Mikester," Leo said truthfully, leaning forward to give his brother a pat on the shell. "Wouldn't miss out on that for the world."

Without being prompted, Mikey jumped forward, tackling the slider in a hug, which Leo quickly returned. He melted into the touch, clinging on as long as his younger brother would allow him to.

"Sorry," Mikey said sheepishly as he eventually pulled away from the embrace. "I can't remember if you're a hugger or not, but I had a feeling you might've needed that."

Leo chuckled at how cute his brother was. "Don't worry, Mikey. I definitely did. I appreciate it, so thanks."

“And Leo? I believe you, one-hundred percent. I’m pretty sure both Raph and Donnie believe you too, they just haven’t admitted it yet.”

Leo sighed, moving his empty plate from his lap to his nightstand and leaning back against the wall, simultaneously thunking his head against it and wincing when he hit the bruise that had formed back there earlier. “Thanks, little bro. Raph’s just being stubborn and overprotective of you guys, and Donnie’s just… being Donnie. Science boy needs some solid proof, and I’ve got plenty.”

“You should talk to them about it,” Mikey suggested, hopping off the bed and heading for the door, stopping to look back at his big brother. “For the record? Raph and Dee were both pretty curious to see your bedroom too. They were pretty miffed when you said you had one.”

Leo smiled, imaging their faces when they realized. “Love that. Yeah, I’ll be out in a few. I’m just going to close my eyes for a minute.”

Mikey’s face fell, only a little. “You probably shouldn’t fall asleep. You said you might have a concussion, right? We should probably have Donnie check you out.”

“Mm,” he hummed. “I’m not actually going to sleep. Just shutting my eyes. But I’ll let DonTon look me over when I come out.”

Mikey gave him a nod before leaving. Gosh, was Leo ever grateful for that kid. Although their chat was brief, he felt so much lighter after the conversation. And between the grilled cheese warming his belly and the much needed hug from his most innocent brother, Leo was feeling a thousand times better. It reminded him that even if his family didn't remember that they loved him, even if they never remembered him again, he could always create new memories with them and they would eventually come to love him as a brother and son once more.

Leo laid down, eyes slipping shut the moment his head touched the pillow. He could hear voices outside, but they faded quickly.

The next thing Leo knew, a hand on his shoulder was shaking him awake. “‘M up, I’m up,” he slurred as he struggled to push himself up.

“Figured ya fell asleep,” Raph said. The bed dipped as he sat down by Leo’s feet. “Been a half hour since Mikey left you alone. Said you shouldn’t sleep since ya might have a concussion.”

“Right, yeah. Di’n’t mean to," the slider slurred as he rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands.

Raph looked down, wringing his own hands as silence fell over the room. “I—uh,” the snapper started, only to retreat. “Maybe we—um. Well, I think I—”

“Raph, it’s alright,” Leo tried, only to be cut off.

“No, it’s not.” He sighed and slid a hand down the side of his face his bad eye was on. “Leonardo, I really started off on the wrong foot. You didn’t deserve that, and I’m sorry. Mikey 'n Splinter have complete faith in you, and Raph should too. I believe ya. That you’re our brother.”

Leo sat up all the way to reach forward and knock a fist against Raph’s shoulder. “Aww. Thanks, big bro. I’m sure we’ll get this figured out in no time, easy-peasy lemon-squeezy.”

That put a smile on Raph’s face. “Right! Anyway, c’mon, out of bed with you. The others just got here. April’s pretty excited to meet you.”

Leo sagged out of bed behind his brother and followed after him. He was stupid dizzy, likely due to the concussion, and Raph seemed to notice Leo wasn’t feeling too good. He intertwined their arms at the elbow, helping to stabilize the slider without making it look like he was struggling, which Leo was thankful for. He didn’t need to look weak for his first impression with his own family. He was the Face Man, and it was time to put that certain skillset to work.

He straightened as soon as they rounded the corner into the living room, putting an easy smile on his face.

April and her girlfriend Sunita sat on the floor beside each other, with the Caseys shoulder to shoulder on the beanbag behind them, both trying to shove the other off to win the prized seat. (Leo’s money was on Casey Sr.) Draxum and Splinter stood together, discussing something in hushed tones in the far corner of the room. Donnie was in their dad’s coveted recliner, thumbs rapidly texting away on his phone. And lastly, Mikey was laid out on the floor in the center of the room, staring down at the notebook in front of him and chewing on the eraser end of the pencil in his mouth.

“Hola, family,” he greeted as he entered, watching as all eyes drifted to him. He bowed as if on a stage, ready to give the performance of a lifetime.

April stood up, hand on her hip and giving him a bit of a stink eye, but all in good fun. “Well, well. So you’re my long lost brother I've been hearing about.”

Ah. So she didn’t remember him either, which likely meant no one else remembered him. He’d been quietly hoping whatever this was had only affected his immediate family, but he shouldn’t be so surprised. Luck wasn’t exactly a common attribute of his.

“Neon Leon at your service, big sis,” he winked, standing on the balls of his feet.

“Blue,” Splinter said, stepping forward. (Probably already forgot Leo’s name. That’s why the turtles were color coded since childhood in the first place.) “Why don’t you reintroduce yourself, let us get to know who you are again, hm?”

“‘Course, pops!” He cleared his throat. “Name’s Hamato Leonardo, though you can call me Leo, Leon, Neon Leon, coolest brother, handsomest brother, Lee—”

“We get it,” Draxum grumped, his usual unimpressed frown ever-present. “Move on.”

“Sorry, Draxxy, my bad. So, anyway, I’m sixteen, like Don. We’re twins, but he’s older, barely. I—”

“That’s impossible,” Donnie spoke up, expression guarded. “How could we be twins? We’re not even the same species of turtle.”

Leo cocked his head. “Do you remember having a twin?”

“No, I—no, I do not have a twin. I…” Donnie knit his brows.

“I vaguely remember Donnie having a twin,” April stated.

“Me too,” Casey Sr added, her son sitting on the floor beside her. She must have won king of the hill for the beanbag chair. Leo never doubted her. “But I can confirm I don’t remember this Leonardo at all.”

“I do not have a twin I don’t remember,” Donnie repeated matter-of-factly. “I wouldn’t just forget my own twin!”

“Don, it’s not like you just forgot him,” April stepped in, keeping her voice neutral and soft. “There’s obviously some kind of crazy circumstances causing us to forget him.”

“What could possibly make all of us forget him?” Donnie pressed. “Nothing. It’s scientifically impossible.”

“Not scientifically, no,” Draxum interjected, taking a step forward. “However, I am aware of such a spell that could cause this. Truthfully, it’s less of a spell, more of a curse. Its use is forbidden, punishable by law.”

“A spell?” Raph questioned, then his expression lit up like he’d remembered something important. “Wait, that’s right! Leonardo, you said ya woke up in Witch Town earlier. You think someone hit you with this curse-thing?”

“I don’t really remember what happened, but I can’t forget the witch’s face,” Leo explained, remembering the very face that screamed at him to never return. “If we find her, we can make her reverse the curse, right, Drax?”

“I imagine that’s our best lead,” the sheep-man answered, rubbing his chin in thought. “I’m unfamiliar with how the reversal works, but I’d say we start with the witch that caused this.”

Draxum’s face suddenly fell as realization dawned on him. “We should hurry.”

“What?” Mikey asked, picking at his nails nervously. “Why? Is something wrong?”

Draxum straightened up, taking a deep breath before delivering the blow. “It’s not a curse that makes others forget Leonardo. That’s a part of it, but the curse is truly meant to erase him from this world. If we do not hurry, he will cease to exist.”

Chapter Text

Leo awoke in the med bay. Which was weird. He didn’t remember falling asleep there. His bedroom was the next train car over, so why would he decide to conk out here?

After taking a moment to let his eyes adjust to the disgustingly bright lights, he took a look around. Everything was as he’d remembered it, just how he’d left it. The medicine cabinet was alphabetically organized, the three unoccupied medbay beds were made up neatly, and the few medical machines Leo had once asked Donnie to make were sitting in the corner, untouched since the Kraang invasion several months back.

Mikey and Draxum were the only two in the room with him. They were speaking in tones meant to be quiet, but neither had very good inside-voices. Leo sat up, drawing their attention.

“Leoooo!” Mikey cried, jumping on top of the blue ninja to squish him in a hug. “Glad you’re okay. We were going to wake you up if you slept any longer!”

“How long was I out?” he inquired, hugging his baby brother back just as enthusiastically.

“Around an hour. Donnie just left, but he’d been here waiting for you to wake up too. And Raph keeps poking his head in to check on you. They were both pretty worried. Even if they didn’t actually say it.”

Raph wasn’t a surprise, but for Donnie, his emotionally-unavailable bad-boy twin, to be worried? Must’ve been bad. “What happened?”

“You fainted,” Draxum supplied. “Hit your head on the way down too. Again.”

Leo cringed. “That’s embarrassing. Double concussion isn’t good either. It explains a lot though. And I had the weirdest dream too.” He rubbed his head as it all came back to him in one big headache. “Everyone forgot me. Like, straight up forgot I existed. It was awful.”

Mikey and Draxum shared a look. “Uh, that part wasn’t exactly a dream, Lee.”

“No kidding, it was more like a nightmare. And Draxum, you were there too. Said if we didn’t figure out how to fix it I would cease to exist completely! Makes me wonder what Hueso put in that pizza last night,” he chuckled.

“No, Leo,” Mikey said, shoulders hunching. “That… wasn’t a dream. You fainted right after Draxum said that.”

“And don’t you dare do it again,” the yokai demanded. “We have things to discuss to move forward with the investigation. We need you awake and cognizant.”

Leo blinked. This was a lot to process after only just waking up. “Investigation?”

“Of course!” Mikey grabbed hold of Leo’s hands and intertwined their fingers. “Leo, we’re not going to let you disappear. We’re going to figure this out and get our memories of you back, no matter what.”

Leo was still trying to catch up, but he managed a smile, hoping to help Mikey relax. “Thanks, little brother.”

“Yes, yes, this is all very touching,” Draxum interrupted with an eye roll, “but we should really get a move on this before you disappear forever.”

Mikey punched Draxum in the arm, hard enough to make the warrior alchemist cringe. “You can’t just say it like that! This is why he fainted the first time!”

“How about we stop talking about my fainting spell,” Leo complained as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. “So embarrassing. Eugh.”

He stood on wobbly legs, taking a second to orient himself. He cracked a few joints and stretched his spine before taking the lead, heading back to the others while waving a hand behind him. “Vámonos, niños.”

As Leo approached the kitchen, he could hear the voices of Raph and Donnie arguing inside. What could those two possibly be fighting about? Before he could reach them, Draxum stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “Perhaps you four should talk alone. I will rejoin the others in the projector room.”

Draxum left the brothers on their own, and Mikey instantly latched onto Leo’s arm. “Come on, bro!”

They stepped into the kitchen to find Raph leaning against the counter with folded arms and the famous Raph-casm on full display. Across from him, Donnie was gripping the edges of the island hard enough to turn his knuckles white, and his eyes were locked on a half-empty mug of tea sitting in front of him. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the pair enter.

Leo whistled, catching the attention of both his older brothers. “Dang. This party sucks. Everyone’s just standing around moping!”

Raph rolled his eyes with a small laugh. “Funny guy, eh? C’mon, let’s all sit at the table. We should probably talk about some things.”

Mikey jumped into his usual seat at the head of the table. Raph sat on the long side across from Leo and Donnie’s seats beside each other. Splinter’s seat opposite Mikey's sat empty. Beside Leo, Donnie hunched in on himself, scratching at his arms under the table. Leo was well aware this was one of his brother’s more prominent nervous tics, so he reached over to set a hand gently on the one that was scratching.

It caused Donnie to jump and pull away, finally turning fully to Leo. He opened his mouth to speak, only to clamp his beak shut again and look away from his twin.

“S-sorry, Don-Ton,” Leo apologized, placing his hands in his lap and sitting up straight.

Donnie turned forward, opened his mouth again, hesitated, then clicked once. “It’s fine,” he finally managed under his breath.

Leo wanted to ask what was wrong, he hadn’t been acting this way before, but he also didn’t want to overstep. Leo was a stranger to Donnie now—to his whole family. The thought made his chest tighten.

Raph cleared his throat. “Alright,” he said, eyeing the twins before continuing. “Leonardo, I’m glad you’re okay. You freaked us out pretty bad when you fainted.”

Leo cringed, tired of the reminder. “Yeah, it was a lot to process. And you guys can call me Leo. No one but,” he stopped to gag, “our dads call me by my full name.”

Mikey tilted his head curiously. “You don’t like Draxum?”

“I’m working on it.”

The box turtle simply shrugged at this. Raph moved on, saying, “Okay, well, we need to first apologize too, Leo. Me ‘n Don are both sorry for not believing ya before. Right, Donnie?”

Donnie let out a huff, slumping further. “Exasperated sigh. I do not like to admit when I am wrong, but… yes. Although scientifically impossible, you have proven enough to be our brother.”

Leo pressed his mouth in a hard line. That was the most Donnie apology ever, the word ‘sorry’ never having been a part of his vocabulary. But, nonetheless, it was acceptable.

Raph cleared his throat. “Ooookay. You can do better, Don, but we don’t have time for it right now, so we’ll pick this up later. We need a plan. Leo, ya said you remember what the witch that cursed you looked like, yeah?”

He nodded. “Yes! Er, well, I'm pretty sure, anyway. I don't remember her cursing me, but I can't say I know any other witches, so proooobably her. Had to be. So, she was—”

“WAIT,” Mikey hollered, slamming his palms on the table. “I’m gonna grab my sketchbook!”

He raced out of the kitchen in the direction of his bedroom, returning hardly thirty seconds later with a big sketchbook and a mixed handful of graphite and charcoal pencils. He plopped down in his chair again, setting up his workstation quickly before giving Leo a nod to continue, pencil in hand and ready.

Leo chuckled. Mikey was such a character. “Alright, well. The witch was kinda short and stubby. She had a round face with big cheeks, aaaand… black eyes? Maybe? That or they were just really, really dark brown. Pink skin with some freckles on her arms. Also, she had very long, wavy hair, bright blond in color. She had to be at least in her forties, maybe fifties, too. She was honestly kind of adorable if not for her whole putting-a-curse-on-me thing. Looks like the type of grandma who knows how to make a beast of a cookie. Oh, and draw her in a witch hat!”

Mikey was scribbling away at his sketchbook while Donnie and Raph looked at Leo to continue. “That it?” Raph eventually questioned when the silence dragged on too long. “That’s not nearly enough for Mikey to go off of. Leo, don’t you have anythi—"

“Done!” Mikey called before the eldest brother could finish.

Raph’s head snapped over to Mikey. “What? That fast?”

“Yep!”

He held up a drawing nearly identical to the witch he recalled from his memory. Mikey’s iteration was a little too cartoonish, but he captured her looks down to a T. Leo whistled. “Miguel, it’s perfect!”

“What?” Raph repeated. “But he barely spent two minutes on it!”

“Mystic hands, baby!” Mikey chanted, jazz hands waving in the air.

Raph shook his head, exasperated, but he had a small smile. “You never cease to amaze me, Mikey. Here, let Donnie and I have a look. We gotta know who we’re looking for.”

Mikey passed it along to Raph, who took a minute to study it. Then he passed it to Donnie.

Donnie instantly sat up. Leo watched the way his eyes widened in alarm. “You recognize her, ‘Tello?”

Donnie barely glanced at Leo before his eyes traveled back to the drawing. “Nope!” he answered way too quickly. “I mean, uh, I thought I did, but I definitely do not. I have never, never seen this woman in my life. That's two never's.”

“Donnie,” Leo said, giving his twin a pointed look. “You can’t lie to save your life.”

“If you know somethin',” Raph interjected, “please speak up. This is for Leo’s sake. If ya know anything at all, now’s the time to put it on the table.”

Donnie grumbled something under his breath that Leo didn’t catch. “She’s the mayor of Witch Town. Her name is Mira. She’s the one who banished me and April. I kind of offended her when I said science was superior to magic, destroyed the town’s ancient statue of their founder, ruined their annual Peace Offering Day, and messed up a potion that sent a giant monster yokai into a rampage that destroyed half the town. So… I don’t think she likes me very much.”

Leo couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing, nearly toppling out of his chair as he doubled over, clutching his stomach. “Did her sending you to Hidden City Prison give you that idea or is it just a hunch?”

Mikey smiled big. “That’s pretty impressive, Dee.”

“How did you manage all of that? Within a few hours?” Raph asked, incredulous.

Donnie sunk down in his seat. “Leave me alone. I told you who she was, and it’s a good lead. Mayor Mira can be found in the town square. You can’t miss her, she’s quite the spectacle. Have fun.”

“Oh no, I don’t think so, buddy,” Raph said as he rose from his chair. “You’re coming with us.”

Donnie shook his head. “Raphael, must I remind you that she hates me? My being there would only put the mission at risk, and we would all end up in prison until Leo ran out of time. Taking me with you is a terrible idea.”

Raph hesitated, thinking it over. “Okay, I guess that’s a pretty good point. How 'bout ya just hang back in the tank? We can call you that way if things go sideways.”

“Which they will,” Leo pointed out, feet kicked up on the table. He scoffed at the looks his brothers sent him. “Oh, come on! You know us; everything always goes sideways, but we always find a way out anyway. It’ll all work out in the end.”

Mikey cleared his throat, sitting up straighter and folding his hands over the table. Dr. Feelings had entered the chat. “Lee, is that your way of coping? Blowing off your worries and letting it just work itself out?"

“Not to mention, that thing you just described?” Raph joined in. “That’s called ‘getting lucky’ and we won’t always be so lucky.”

“What?” Leo questioned. “No, guys, seriously. Of course I’m worried, my existence is on the line here. But I have complete faith that we’ll figure this out. You guys have saved me countless times before. I mean, you pulled me out of the Prison Dimension where I was trapped with the Kraang. That should have been impossible, but, Mikey, you opened that portal anyway, even knowing that you shouldn’t have been able to. We’re the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We always find a way.”

Chapter Text

Donnie grew more and more irritable the nearer they got to Witch Town. Raph had to basically put him in time out when he and Mikey got into an argument that Leo couldn’t hear over the blaring of his music from his headphones.

Everyone had been acting weird since their discussion at the dinner table before heading out. Leo knew he’d said something wrong, but he didn’t know what.

Whatever. When they were ready to talk about it, they could come to him.

He bopped his head along to the beat of the music, glancing around at his family. Mikey was sitting in the corner, facing away from Leo and staring out the window. Donnie was in the back of the tank, sitting criss-cross on the floor sulking while tapping away at his phone. Raph was in his seat, Raph-casm on full display as he scowled out the window, watching but not really paying attention as the tank raced down the busy streets of New York.

Leo was thankful for his music now. The silence in the tank surely would have killed him.

He leaned back in his seat, legs dangling over one armrest and head hanging off the other. He closed his eyes and started humming along. Maybe breaking the silence for the others would help them. If they didn’t like it, they could stop him, and he can pretend he didn’t notice.

It didn’t take long. Raph shook Leo by the shoulder to get his attention. Pulling the headphones down to rest around his neck, he looked up at his big brother. “What’s up, hermano?”

“We’re here,” he answered politely, shuffling from foot to foot. Leo was about to ask what was up, there was obviously something Raph was dealing with in his head, but the big guy turned and fled before Leo had the chance to open his mouth.

When Raph’s bulky form moved, he revealed Donnie, still sitting alone in the far corner of the tank. His back was facing Leo now, and the slider could just see the glow of the phone illuminating the softshell’s shoulders.

“Well, uh… see you later, Dee,” Leo said awkwardly. If he disappeared while they were out, he didn’t want to leave Donnie on a bad note. Sure, his twin wouldn’t remember it, but it made Leo feel better knowing the brothers were on good terms.

“Wait,” Donnie stopped him. He moved slowly, almost timidly, as he stood. He turned his body but didn’t completely face Leo. “I wanted… to say I’m sorry. This is my fault, I’m the one who messed things up with the mayor. It’s my fault you’re cursed…”

Donnie sank into his chair, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and head in his hands. “It’s my fault you’ll die and never be remembered.”

Okay, ouch. What a way to put it. Being slapped in the face with that information made his chest go tight, but he didn’t have time to faint over it again. If he wanted to live to see another day, he needed to go help his brothers figure out how to reverse it.

“Don, don’t say that. It’s not your fault.”

“Yes, Leo, it is!” Donnie raised his voice. “I—I killed my own brother!”

Leo’s throat constricted. He felt like he might choke. “N-no. I’m not dead, Don. There’s still a chance we can fix things. A good chance. I’m still here, so there’s still time.”

He wanted more than anything to wrap his twin up in a hug, but as he watched Donnie rake his fingernails up and down his arms, he thought better of it. Donnie wouldn’t appreciate it right now. But that didn’t stop Leo from kneeling down in front of his brother, who was clearly on the verge of a meltdown, and no way was Leo going to let it get to that if he could help it.

“Bro, I don’t blame you for this, and I’m not about to clock out knowing you blame yourself. Why don’t you come with us? I’m sure we could use that big brain out there.”

Donnie quickly shook his head. “I can’t, Leo. I’ll just screw everything up.”

“What? I don’t believe that for a second. We all screw up sometimes, and trust me, I would know that better than anyone. I almost caused the apocalypse. Can’t really screw up any worse than that.”

Donnie finally looked up at Leo, brows knitted. “What do you mean you almost caused it? It was the Foot who released the Kraang.”

“True, but I practically gave them the key,” Leo admitted. “If I hadn’t messed up the mission to stop them from stealing the key in the first place, none of that would have happened. If I had been more responsible, Raph wouldn’t have been turned into that crazy Kraang monster, you wouldn’t have had to expose your softshell to the Technodrome, and Mikey wouldn’t have messed up his hands opening the portal to save me.”

Donnie blinked owlishly at him. “You—wait, I—you were…”

Leo gave him a minute to figure out what it was he was trying to say. He watched as Donnie rubbed at his temples. Then Donnie muttered something under his breath that caught Leo’s attention.

“What? Donnie, say that again.”

Donnie sat back in his seat, face scrunched up as he thought hard about something. “You were—er, I remember something. I think. When we retrieved the key, Raph had it but something… no. No, it was you. You portal-chopped him.”

Leo’s heart skyrocketed. Donnie remembered something. Something about Leo! Was this a glitch in the spell, or were they somehow breaking it? What did this mean?

“Donnie, that’s right! I was being overconfident and cut off Raph’s ninpo-arm by accident, and you said I portal-chopped him, and then the Foot got the key! So you remembered me? Even just one little memory?”

The purple ninja shook his head. “Not—well, not you specifically. Just, uh, an interaction with you. You’re not there, in my memory. I still don’t remember you. Unfortunately.”

Leo deflated, but this was still good news so he was going to hold his head high. “That’s alright, my dearest twin. It’s still something. Something is better than nothing.”

Donnie seemed to settle down a bit at that. He rested his hands on his thighs, leaned back in the chair and let his head loll forward. With a sigh, he said, “I apologize. I’m…admittedly not dealing with this well.”

“It’s alright, bro. Emotions kinda suck, I get it. But, Don, seriously. This is not your fault. I promise you, if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I should have been more careful wandering into Witch Town so carelessly. So don’t worry a pretty little nonexistent hair on your head. We’ll figure this out in no time.”

It was at that moment that Raph popped his head into the tank again. “Uh, not to rush you guys, but. Leo, are ya comin’?”

“Right behind you, Raphala,” he answered with a wink. Raph disappeared again, leaving the twins in silence. Leo looked at Donnie. “You gonna be okay here? Or do you want to come with us?”

Donnie heaved himself out of the chair to stand beside Leo. “I think I’d better come. I can at least attempt to keep you out of trouble.”

Leo laughed, jabbing an elbow into Donnie’s ribs jokingly. “Sure, coming from the guy wanted by every witch in Witch Town.”

Donnie shoved him away. “Tsk.”

Leo held up a fist to his twin, a carefree smile gracing his lips. “We’ll have each other's backs, yeah?”

The softshell rolled his eyes but knocked fists with his brother nonetheless. “Of course, dum dum.”

Chapter Text

Leo could feel the eyes of every witch in the town square on them as they approached the newly rebuilt statue of their founder. Each time he met the eyes of anyone outside of their group, the witch would snarl or glare, making it clear they weren’t welcome here.

Before they could reach the statue, a siren suddenly blared, echoing across the square. In the blink of an eye, the four brothers were surrounded by Hidden City police, the very Mayor Witch they were looking for soaring over the crowd in a glittery show of magic. She looked identical to the sketch Mikey had drawn up earlier, from the freckles on her nose to the little wrinkles at the corners of her eyes.

She landed before them, wand at the ready and aimed right for Leo. “You dare show your face around here, accursed kappa! And you bring more of your kind to make another mockery of our beloved town!”

“Wait, no!” Leo instantly raised his hands in surrender. “We come in peace!”

Raph spoke up, stepping forward to stand in front of their small group, “We need your help, ma’am. We—we need you to remove the curse you put on our brother. Please.”

She turned her wand on Raph, eyes tightening as she looked him up and down. “You accuse me of a curse?” she spat. “I do not recall putting any curse on a kappa.”

“That’s because it’s a curse that makes everyone forget him,” Donnie interrupted, moving around Leo to reveal himself. “He’s not the one who destroyed your statue and ruined your holiday. I did. He’s going to cease to exist if we don’t stop the curse, and he’s not the one who deserves it.”

The witch’s eyes suddenly bulged and she put her wand away, stuffing it into a compartment within her robes. “I will not forget what you have done, but no one deserves a fate such as that. Come with me, all of you.” She waved off the police who still stood with weapons at the ready. “Dismissed.”

They followed her up the stairs to the town’s City Hall, a small wooden building covered in vines and small purple flowers that danced in the light breeze. As they passed through the crowds to reach the front doors, the witches all around them either glared at them or stared in awe as they followed their mayor, the witch who probably hated them more than anyone in Witch Town.

The double doors opened to a room much too large for what the small building appeared to be on the outside. It was expansive; it could probably fit every resident of Witch Town if the opportunity showed itself—and Leo got the feeling it wouldn’t be the first time it had. There were rows upon rows of wooden benches facing an onstage podium at the very front and center of the room. Balconies wrapped around the walls high up, draped with vines and intricate carvings. Leo had to shut his mouth when he realized he was gaping.

“We’ll talk in my office,” said the witch, leading them to a hidden door behind one of the many bookshelves lining the walls. It opened up to a big room full of mystic-looking plants and trees surrounding a wooden desk stacked with old books and scrolls. Butterflies and hummingbirds flitted around, and a plump bumble bee buzzed right past Leo’s head.

“Here, have a seat,” the Mayor said with a flick of her wand. Four wooden chairs sprouted out of the ground in a flurry of leaves and flower petals. “We have much to discuss, young kappas.”

The boys took their seats as Mira took her own behind the desk. “So,” she said, nodding toward a quill pen and parchment paper. The pen moved on its own, dipping itself into the small phial of ink before hovering over the paper, waiting to begin. “Please thoroughly explain to me how this happened. Do not leave out any details.”

The brothers looked to Leo. He straightened and explained everything he remembered as best he could. He started from his visit to Witch Town and meeting Mira only earlier that day, waking up outside of town with a killer headache, and getting home to find his family had no idea who he was. He explained that she was their best lead; what with his brief encounter with her being the last thing he remembered before waking up, he’d assumed she was the one who cursed him.

She tapped her chin in thought, the only sound in the room being the flutter of little wings and the quill pen as it continued to scribble down all the new information. “Hm,” she finally breathed out, leaning back in her chair. “This is quite the predicament indeed. The curse you are plagued with is forbidden. It is highly illegal and comes with a life sentence… though it is unfortunately rare that the perpetrator is ever caught. The curse is not taught in any schools or spellbooks, though you can find remnants of it in a few obscure history books. Whoever did this to you, they certainly put in the work.”

“So if you didn’t do this to him, who did?” Raph asked nervously.

“A very evil, cruel witch,” Mira answered with distaste. “I shall have my people look into the Hidden City libraries and inquire who has rented out any potential spellbooks they could have learned the curse from. For now, perhaps you boys should sit still before making even more of a mess.”

“Sit still?” Donnie shot up from his chair. “Our brother’s life is on the line, and you expect us to just sit still?! He doesn’t have that much time! We should be out there helping any way we can!”

“What Donnie means to say is,” Raph interrupted, standing up to wedge himself between his brother and the witch, “we greatly appreciate all the help you’re willin' to provide. But, we can’t sit around waiting. Our family is everything to us, and… though we may not remember 'em right now, we owe everything to Leo. We have to do anythin' we can to help. He—”

Raph turned to him, and Leo let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Raph had tears in his eyes. He looked scared. “Leo…” the snapper continued in a whisper, visibly trying not to choke. “You saved the world, man. During the invasion. You stayed behind, sacrificed yourself to keep the Kraang in the Prison Dimension, right?”

Leo’s eyes welled with the threat of tears, but he willed them not to fall. He couldn’t seem to form words, much less meet his brother’s eyes. He looked down at the ground, eyes shadowed as he gave a brief nod.

“We can’t—” Raph started, but stopped when he almost choked. “We can’t give up now.”

The witch seemed to be considering this, leaning forward to prop her elbows up on the desk and fold her hands under her dainty nose. After a brief minute, she sighed. “The love in your family is not lost. Fine, perhaps it would be more beneficial to have you lot wandering about.” Her eyes cut over to Leo. “Maybe you could identify the true culprit, in passing.”

Leo still didn’t trust himself to speak yet, so he gave her a determined nod. He didn’t believe he could recognize the witch who’d cursed him, he’d been so completely sure it was this Mayor Witch before him, but he had to try.

Raph thanked the witch for her help and hospitality, then the brothers were on their way. They left the town hall in silence, Leo staring at his feet as he made his way down the front steps. That was when he heard his youngest brother whisper to Donnie.

“Dee, who is that?”

Leo’s heart dropped.

Next to him, Raph turned sharply to face Mikey. He and Donnie locked eyes, both asking the same silent question. It was Donnie who spoke first. “You don’t know who that is?” he asked, pointing at Leo.

Mikey shook his head, a sheepish look on his face. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no, it’s okay, Mikey!” Raph quickly tried to reassure, fretting over the box turtle. He turned to the slider, overbearing big brother worry eating away at his chest. “Leo, don’t worry, it—”

Leo was completely frozen, like a statue. He couldn’t move his hands, the tips of his fingers feeling numb. His vision was tunneling, turning gray and twisting unnaturally.

“Leo?” Raph repeated, his voice sounding like it was on the other side of a waterfall. The blood in Leo’s ears was roaring. Was he shaking? When had his knees given out?

The first thing Leo recognized was the terrible taste on his tongue. He blinked owlishly, finding his eyes were already open. Everything was fuzzy around the edges and much too dim.

“Hhnng,” he moaned, unable to form words on his lips, his tongue feeling much too big for his mouth.

“—eo?” a voice asked, muffled through the ringing in his ears. “You— …us, bud?”

Red. That was definitely Red. Leo’s mind moved sluggishly, so slow that it took him a strained moment to figure out Red’s name was not in fact Red (maybe according to Splinter, but that’s not important right now) but Raph. Raphael. Leo’s eldest sibling.

The snapper swirled into existence in his vision, a blur of green and red. As Leo struggled to focus, he noticed his brother’s mask was damp. He tried to reach up to wipe the tears away, only to fumble and drop his arm again when it twinged with little pinpricks, like it had just been asleep.

“You’re okay, little buddy. Don’t worry,” he said in the softest tone Leo had ever heard from him. It took Leo a moment to realize he was lying in Raph’s arms, the snapper rubbing pleasant circles along his shell. This was… strangely familiar. “I’ve got you, Leo. You’re safe.”

“How’s he doing?” a second voice—Purple, Leo recognized—asked from somewhere outside of his line of sight.

“Comin’ around,” Raph answered. “I know this sort of thing can take a while. Give ‘em a few more minutes.”

Leo attempted to speak again, his words slurring together into a jumbled mess. Even so, he must’ve gotten his message across, because Raph quickly shushed him again and began explaining softly, “Shhh, Leo, you’re okay. Take it slow. You were dissociating. Come on back to us, bud. You’re safe.”

Oh. That’s right. This isn’t the first time this has happened.

After the Kraang, Leo dissociated pretty frequently, at least at first. It was apparently his brain’s attempt at a coping mechanism to protect himself. He’d never see it coming; he’d just find himself waking up slowly, usually in one of his brothers’ arms. Fighting through the thick fog in his brain, his brothers would soothe him as he broke the surface of his dissociation. He could recognize a few of his triggers now, like the sound of train horns or the feeling of anything slimy on his skin or even the slightest touch to his neck, but some were still a mystery. Although the seemingly random bouts of dissociation were far less frequent than before, it wasn’t weird to find Leo staring off into the middle distance, expressionless and unhearing, completely void of any of the jubilant personality that made him Leo.

It took a few minutes, but eventually Leo was able to sit up on his own, stretching out his arms and legs to help dispel the prickly feeling in them. He’d found that the four brothers were back in the tank, Donnie and Mikey in their specifically designed seats while Raph sat on his own, Leo perched in his lap. The memories of the events of the past day were quickly coming back to him, giving him a whirlwind of a headache.

“How ya feeling, Leo?” Raph asked after the slider let out a big sigh.

“‘M fine,” he mumbled back. He wasn’t quite ready to stand up on his own yet, let alone lose the touch of his overprotective big brother, so he leaned back into Raph’s plastron, who chuckled. “Where’re we?”

“Still in the Hidden City, just outside of Witch Town,” Raph explained. “While you were—erm, well. While you were, uh, a bit out of it, we decided to get you out of there. You were dissociating pretty bad, Leo. Is that… normal for you?”

Leo took a moment to breathe and ground himself before answering. “Kind of. It started after the Kraang, but it hasn’t been so bad lately. It’s fine. We need to get moving. I’ve wasted enough of our time. Mikey doesn’t remember me again, so the curse is obviously progressing. We need to—”

“No, Leo, stop,” Raph interrupted. “Let’s talk about this.”

Leo ignored him to pull himself up from his big brother’s lap, standing on two shaky legs as he rediscovered his center of gravity. He hobbled a single step forward, headed for the tank’s door, before it was his twin who caught him by the elbow, bringing him to a halt.

“Leonardo, just slow down for a second. We need to discuss—”

“I can’t slow down, Donnie!” Leo snapped, surprising himself but not quite bringing himself to bite his tongue. “I’m—I’m terrified. Dying is one thing, but to be wiped from existence? I don’t want to be forgotten, but I especially don't want to stop existing altogether! And I’ve wasted so much time already, between fainting earlier and now this?! I don’t know what to do, but I can’t—guys, I can’t just sit around and do nothing!”

The tank was silent aside from Leo’s panting, broken only by a muffled whimper from Mikey. Donnie’s eyes were downcast, staring at his hand as if Leo had burned him when they touched. Raph was staring at Leo, an expression of unadulterated horror etched across his features.

The eldest stood slowly, bringing a palm to his mouth, and for a moment Leo thought he might be about to throw up. Then Raph spoke, “Leo… we’re not askin’ ya to do nothing. We’re not gonna just let you disappear. But… But we need to formulate some kind’a plan.”

Before Leo could argue further—seeing as there were no leads and therefore nothing to plan—Mikey’s cell rang. Without so much as glancing at the caller ID, the youngest turtle held the device out to Donnie, who seemed to only just then snap out of the funk he’d been in. Accepting the phone, Donnie greeted whoever was on the other line.

The purple-clad turtle listened as another voice spoke through the receiver, and Donnie’s shoulders seemed to slowly creep up to his ears. “No,” he spoke softly, hardly breathing the word. “I… no, please, Draxum. How much time do we have?”

The person on the other line, presumably Draxum, continued speaking. Donnie's shoulders shot up suddenly, his head falling forward to hang low.

“Please don’t tell me that,” the softshell whispered back, and Leo’s heart shattered.

Raph hurried forward to take the phone, stealing it right out of Donnie’s grip. “Hello? Draxum? Hello?”

Raph cursed before stuffing the phone in his pocket. “Signal dropped.” He turned on his brother, who was still standing frozen, facing away from them. “What did he say, Donnie?”

Donnie flinched. His fists clenched and unclenched. Then he sniffled, and Raph reared back like he’d been hit. “Donnie? Don, what did Draxum tell you?”

“He…” Donnie started, pausing to swallow down the lump in his throat. “He said that Dad and April a-and the Caseys… they can’t remember Leo anymore. And… and the curse is progressing. Pictures and images of Leo are disappearing… and all the stuff in his room is vanishing. Every trace of our brother is disappearing, and…” His voice fell to almost a whisper as he spoke the worst of the news. “And we don’t have much time left to stop it.”

“How much time, Don? Please, did he say how long we had?” Raph begged.

Donnie sniffled again, wiping at his beak.

“Maybe… maybe an hour.”

Chapter Text

Leo couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe. It would be less painful if the universe just swallowed him up right now.

He needed to get out. The tank was too small, too crowded, he needed space, he needed oxygen—

He stumbled to the door, blindly pressing every button, bells and whistles all around him going off as he continued spamming buttons, Donnie crying out for him to stop, until he finally hit the right one.

He tripped over his steps as he launched himself from the tank, falling forward on his plastron. He landed wrong on his wrists and they twisted painfully, but that was nothing to the agony he felt tearing at his chest like a monster clawing itself out from within him.

And he cried. He cried for all it was worth; cried for the loss of his family and friends and every last person he cared for. He thought of April, his beautiful big sis and her amazing girlfriend, Sunita, and he imagined their wedding that he would never be a part of. He thought of the Caseys and all the fun times they had together: playing basketball at the park not far from the Hamatos’ lair, bringing over some takeout from Casey Jr’s favorite Korean restaurant, watching movies and binging on popcorn and soda until the sun came up… Those were the best times. He thought of his tio Hueso and the many misadventures they got to share, all the times the skeleton called Leo when Run of the Mill was short-staffed, and all the pizzas Leo still owed him for. He thought of his dads, Splinter and Draxum, and although he was still trying to mend the relationship between himself and the former villain, he would miss him. He would miss them both so much , so long as he had the capability of feeling remorse in his soon-to-be nonexistence. Gods, and he’d never get to melt into another one of Splinter’s amazing hugs.

And he somehow found the will to cry harder at that realization. He’d never be held by his dad again.

Lastly, he thought of his brothers, the good times and the bad, everything they had been through together as the four of them—now to be three. What would happen to them without him? Would they be better off? Or would there come a time when they needed him; one of his portals for a quick escape or a medic for a terrible wound they didn’t have the skills or means to treat?

He thought back to only just last week when Hypno-Potamus threw his Razor Rings at Mikey, disarming the box turtle of his nunchaku and knocking him back on his shell. Their older brothers were both elsewhere, caught up in a fight of their own against that weird little worm guy in a mech suit. If Leo hadn’t been there to deflect the rings in the nick of time, Mikey would have been seriously injured.

There would come a day when Leo wasn’t there to save one of his brothers, and it could cost them their life.

“—eo!” came Raph’s voice, cutting through his thoughts. “Leo, breathe, please. It’s not over yet. There’s still time. We can still fix this!” Raph tried, shaking Leo by the shoulders, doing his best to snap him out of it.

On the bright side, the only positive Leo could come up with in this dire situation, at least his brothers wouldn’t have to remember him and the pain he caused in death. They could go on with their lives without him, as if he’d never existed. He wouldn’t have existed. He was living out his last few moments, whining and crying like a big baby, instead of doing something about it.

What a shame.

“Leo. L-Leo, please,” Raph begged, holding Leo close to his chest, cradling him. “You’re not alone here, man. Let’s get up a-and try to solve this! We can still find the witch and stop the curse, I promise! P-please, Leo.”

Leo breathed in the distressed scent of his eldest brother, the brother who practically raised him on the days when Splinter grew too depressed and couldn’t be there for his sons. Hamato Raphael, who never had to be asked to step up as the oldest sibling but accepted the role without complaint and took the duty in stride.

“I’m sorry I don’t remember you, b-but I want to. I want to so bad, Leo. Please, help us save you…”

Raph’s voice diminished and choked off at the end. It made something in Leo’s chest wreathe. He was hurting his brothers.

Leo gasped on his next intake, the air clogging his throat and making him choke and sputter for a moment. It took a while for Leo’s breathing to eventually even out, and even then it was shaky. He wiped his nose with his wrist, feeling sticky and gross but chuckling at himself nonetheless.

“You’re right, Raphie,” he spoke, voice thick with emotion. “We’re on a time-crunch. It’s just, well, one hour is… daunting. But if we’re gonna find this witch, we have to get up and try. Sitting here is pointless. And suicide.

“Thanks, big guy,” Leo finished, giving his brother a wet smile. 

Raph gave Leo a sturdy pat on the shell before letting Leo up, who then held out a hand to pull the snapper up off the ground as well. “No problem, little buddy. Now, uh…” Raph cleared his throat, and Leo gave him a weird look with a raised brow-ridge. “Who are you, exactly?”

Leo’s heart thudded to a halt. He should’ve expected this, just, maybe not while Raph was literally consoling him? Could the universe have not picked a worse time?

Leo cleared his throat. “Y-yeah, sorry. I-I’m sorry, I just need a second to think.”

“It’s okay!” Raph quickly reassured, his hands out in front of him in a calming gesture as if trying not to startle a frightened animal. “You seemed pretty distressed there. Are you alright?”

“Um,” Leo mumbled, thinking about how to answer that loaded question. Might as well just give him the truth. “Honestly, no, Raph, I’m not. My name is Leo, and I have less than an hour to live. You’re my older brother, and I’ve been cursed by a witch to be erased from existence, and it starts with everyone forgetting me. You and Donnie and Mikey are helping me track down the yokai who did it, but we haven’t had any luck at all so far. So basically, I’m screwed. Caught up?”

Raph blinked owlishly at Leo. After a moment of digesting this new information, Raph’s eyes welled up with tears, and he whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

Leo pursed his lips. “What are you sorry for? It’s not your fault, big guy. It’s not anyone’s fault.”

Raph rubbed at his eyes. “I’m just—I’m upset. You’re telling me you’re my brother, and I’m only going to have you for an hour?”

Leo shrugged, defeated. “Probably less. You’ll probably forget me again before I’m wiped out.”

Raph sniffed. “Will you promise me something then?”

“Anything, Raphie.”

“Will you keep reminding me? For as long as you can? I—I’m not going to give up on you. You’re my brother, and I love all my little brothers. I don’t want to lose you. So please remind me.”

Leo swallowed down the tears threatening to choke him. Quickly nodding, he spoke quietly, “I promise.”

As it turned out, Donnie had forgotten Leo in that time as well. Raph updated him and Mikey again on the situation briefly as they exited the tank and made their way back towards the town. Leo had the feeling he’d be reminding them more frequently on the situation within this last hour.

He could only assume the mayor witch and Draxum had also forgotten Leo by now, so he could no longer rely on their help. It was up to him and his brothers.

He was doomed.

Doctor Delicate Touch would probably smack him upside the head for thinking like that. But he couldn’t help it! The positives to negatives ratio in this situation was not equaling out. Donnie would probably say he had a zero-point-zero-one-eight-nine-six to the infinite extent chance of surviving or something else too smart for Leo and his attention deficit brain to understand.

The brothers followed the gravel path back toward Witch Town; not Leo’s first choice for his final resting place, but tomato tomahto. They passed by some creepy huts that looked like they might house the fatten-you-up-and-eat-you type of witches, a very spooky graveyard that Leo did not want to ever set food in, and a section of forest with all it’s trees cut down and ground tilled.

“Stop,” Donnie said suddenly, the first word he spoke since the tank. Leo looked back to see his twin had completely stopped in his tracks, eyes trained on something behind the treeline. “There’s someone following us.”

Shivers ran up Leo’s spine. He didn’t like the sound of that, but maybe this mysterious someone had something to do with his curse. What else did he have to lose?

He took off in the direction Donnie had seen them, leaping over downed trees and ignoring his brothers’ calls as he raced along. He spotted the figure easily after they noticed the blue-clad sword-wielding turtle sprinting in their direction: only that of a small frame hidden beneath a dark cloak, tripping over their mud-clodden combat boots.

“I don’t think so!” he shouted, gaining on the mysterious yokai.

He yanked one of his katanas free of its sheath, raising the weapons to swipe through the air to create a portal to close the distance between him and the yokai, when the yokai spun on their heels and chanted something he couldn’t hope to understand. Suddenly, the ground exploded at Leo’s feet. Vines covered in sharp thorns wrapped around his legs, cutting through his skin as they snaked up his calves to his thighs, quickly reaching his waist and still climbing. He was completely stopped dead in his tracks, the yokai gaining too much distance for Leo’s liking. He slashed through the vines like butter, but twice as many grew back with each swing. He was quickly becoming overwhelmed.

In a last ditch effort, he threw his katana with all the strength he had, aiming not for the yokai but a little to their right. As the vines made their way up his arms, rapidly reaching past his elbows to his wrists, circling around his neck and attempting to cut off his airflow, he attempted to reach behind himself to grab hold of his second katana.

He watched as his first sword sliced the air beside the yokai, landing in a patch of dirt a short distance away. They grabbed it by the hilt and bid him adieu with a wave and a smirk, their eyes shadowed so he couldn’t make out who they were.

The vines wrapped around his head, swallowing him up and blocking his vision. He struggled against the vines, the hundreds of new cuts screaming against the thorns tearing through his entire body like little knives.

Then his index finger grazed his katana, and it was enough.

He felt his ninpo spark to life, and in a flash as fast as a lightning strike he found himself landing atop the yokai, easily fumbling for the sword and winning.

She hissed as she attempted to shove him off, but he held firm, using his legs to lock her down at the knees and using the flat end of his sword to hold her down by the wrists. If she continued to fight, she would only draw her own blood. Leo didn’t count on her trying.

She stopped struggling as soon as she realized she’d lost. Glaring up at Leo, he could finally get a good look at this mysterious, evil, conniving, stalking… teenager?

“Who the heck are you?” he asked, dumbfounded. She definitely wasn’t what he was expecting. She was just a dainty witch, with purple skin and short blue hair. She had freckles dotting her nose and long, droopy ears. She bared her teeth at the slider, revealing a snaggletooth similar to Raph’s.

“Get off me!” she snapped but ceased struggling.

“No can do. I’m gonna need some answers first. Like, why were you stalking me and my brothers?”

She spat at him, hitting him in the eye with a fat loogie.

Leo reared back with a cry. “Oh, ew, yuck!”

She took the opportunity to shove him away, throwing him off in his moment of distraction. His arms pinwheeled as he flopped backwards onto his shell, right into a soft patch of moss thankfully. He scrambled to sit up for hardly a second, not wanting to give her enough of a gap to escape him again, but found Raph had captured the witch on his own in Leo’s moment of struggle.

Donnie and Mikey caught up not a moment later. “You’re covered in cuts!” Mikey gasped, kneeling beside Leo to get a closer inspection. “Are you okay? Does it hurt?”

“I’m fine, Miguel, don’t worry about me,” he answered, but Mikey wasn’t finished.

“I can run back to the tank for the first aid kit! It’ll only take a few minutes, I’ll be so fast—”

“Mikey,” Leo said, a finality to his tone. “I’m fine. It barely stings. We don’t have time to be wasting on a few shallow cuts when in an hour it won’t even matter unless we stop the curse.”

It was probably too harsh of a thing to say at that moment, judging by Mikey’s flinch. But Leo truly didn’t have the time to dwell on it. He pushed himself to his feet and approached the witch in Raph’s steely grip, held tight within his thick arms.

“We don’t have time to waste,” Leo stated, a hand on his hip impatiently. “Either you tell us what you want with us, or we make you regret following us. Your choice.”

Raph shot him a funny look, which he opted to ignore. Leo was all bark. There was no way he was actually planning to harm the witch to get her to talk. It was a scare tactic was all.

All she gave the slider was a rebellious smirk. Great, so that meant getting her to talk wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d like. This was going to take more prying than he’d hoped for.

He opened his mouth to continue, but it was Donnie who spoke up then.

“I know you,” he said, approaching the witch to stand parallel to Leo. “You’re the witch April and I met. I helped you collect those worms for your potion!”

“Gentry, yeah, nice of you to remember my name,” she said with venom. “And, ‘helped’? Really? More like ruined our potion. You’re the reason half of Witch Town was destroyed!”

Donnie pouted at that, folding his arms. Just loud enough for everyone to hear, he muttered, “I thought that was water under the bridge.”

Leo almost wanted to laugh, if it wasn’t for the outburst that exploded from the young witch next. “You ruined my life! You embarrassed me so badly at the ceremony, I can hardly show my face anymore! I’m basically an exile in my own community now. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be an outcast?”

Leo chuckled darkly at that. “You have no idea, lady.”

She growled. “No. You still have no clue, because you losers have always been outcasts. You don’t know what it’s like to be popular, let alone shunned by your community.”

Raph clicked his tongue. “Okay. You’re just full-on crazy. But that still doesn’t explain why you were followin’ us.”

In lieu of an answer, the witch attempted to bite Raph, chomping down on his forearm with her wicked sharp teeth.

Leo took a step closer, fixing her with a hard look. “Yeah, you’re not breaking skin anytime soon with that. Dude’s a rock. I’d honestly stop before you break a tooth.”

She growled, meeting him with a glare.

“Listen, Gentry. It is Gentry, right? Just talk and we’ll let you go. Why were you following us?”

She said nothing, glare still locked in place.

“Okay, choosing to play it the hard way,” Leo sighed, scratching at a cut on his elbow that stung particularly badly. “You after Donnie? Is that it? Trying to get some kind of revenge?”

Still, she remained silent. Her eyebrow twitched in irritation.

He balled his fists, quickly becoming fed up with the silent treatment. “We don’t have time for this!” he suddenly shouted, startling all three of his brothers. “This is a waste of our time, and I don’t have much left. I’m going to be dead within the hour, so either you just speak up or get lost.”

Leo heaved a breath, matching the witch’s glare with an intense one of his own. He could feel his brothers’ eyes on him. They’d probably forgotten him again and were trying to figure out who he was and what the situation was.

Then the witch smirked.

Leo’s rage quickly grew, vision tunneling. “What do you know?!” he demanded, getting right into her face. “Tell me what you know!”

“Whoa, uh, turtle-guy,” Mikey spoke up timidly, placing a hand on his forearm. “I think you might need to take a breath. Let’s calm down and figure out what—”

He swatted the hand away, ignoring the guilt that tore in his chest at the face his youngest brother made. “No, Mikey! I—”

His voice faltered as he stared at his hand, still raised between himself and the box turtle. Mikey quickly caught what he was staring at, gasping at the sight. The other two noticed simultaneously, both with gasps of their own.

“W-what’s wrong with your fingers?” Mikey asked in a high pitch, voice quivering. “Why do they look like that?”

The tips of Hamato Leonardo’s fingers were gone. Disappearing. He watched as it continued slowly, until his fingers had almost completely vanished down to the knuckle.

“Time’s up,” the witch sneered, lips twisted into a viscous grin, yet she trembled in Raph’s arms.

Leo’s eyes snapped to her, rage encroaching his vision in a hazy shade of red. “Why?” he demanded, spitting through his clenched teeth. He got right into her face as he pressed, “Why me? Why do this? What—”

His voice caught in his throat as he noticed a light glow from the witch’s coat pocket. She kicked out at him as he reached for the item, but he easily dodged, what with how securely she was held by Raph. There was no hope for her breaking out of that.

When he tried to dig his hand into her pocket to snatch up the glowing object inside, his hand slipped off the solid shape, half his palm having disappeared by now. “D-Donnie,” he stammered, turning back to his purple-clad brother who was watching the whole ordeal with wide eyes.

“Don!” he barked, snapping the softshell out of his stupor. “Please, c-can you grab the glowy-thing in her pocket? I… I can’t.” He held up his missing hands for emphasis.

Donnie blinked, then moved quickly to the witch, stealing the object from her pocket. He dropped his goggles onto his beak, studying the strange object in his hand. It was a blue stone, and it seemed to glow brighter with every passing moment. “I’m not familiar with this mineral. That shouldn’t be possible. What is it?” he asked, turning to the witch for an explanation.

When Leo looked back at the teen witch, he noticed her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be chanting something under breath. Before he could demand what she was doing, Donnie spoke.

“What the—? Ah!” He dropped the glowing stone as if it had burned him. It glowed brighter yet and began to grow. And Leo had a horrible feeling that this stone was connected to his own predicament.

He held up his arms, missing down to the elbow and rapidly continuing. His breathing began picking up, coming in short, rapid breaths. It felt like he wasn’t getting any air at all. He was growing lightheaded, and he thought he might pass out.

“Hey, hey, hey,” came Mikey’s voice, the box turtle sliding into his vision with a reassuring smile and tears in his eyes. He brought Leo to the ground, kneeling before him and holding him by the shoulders, stealing all of his focus. The poor kid probably had no idea what was actually going on. “Breathe. Like this, follow me.”

Mikey helped Leo to straighten his breathing until he could make sense of things again. Raph and Donnie were questioning the yokai, frantically trying to get any sort of answers from her as she blatantly ignored them, smirking at Donnie standing before her as she continued to chant.

The stone at their feet had grown to the size of a sports ball, and Leo could feel the heat radiating off of it even from a few feet away. His arms were nearly completely lost, barely anything beyond his shoulders left, and he hadn’t even realized his feet were gone now too. Everything below his shins had vanished.

Mikey wiped away Leo’s tears with his thumbs. “It’s okay,” he lied, trying and failing to alleviate some of Leo’s distress in his final moments. “It’s okay, bro. I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry this is happening to you. I’m so sorry!”

Mikey choked on a sob. Mikey, always the most caring, compassionate of the brothers. Leo dropped his head on his baby brother’s shoulder, not bothering to stifle his own cries. It’s not like Mikey would remember this. Leo might as well let himself indulge in the comfort of his brothers—his dying wish.

“R-Raph, ‘n Don—nie,” he hiccupped. Mikey understood, calling the two brothers. The two stopped what they were doing and looked up at the pair. Raph had been using his ninpo to pound the glowing stone into the ground, maybe trying in vain to break it and see if that could reverse the curse. Meanwhile, Donnie had the witch tied up on the ground, and he still seemed to be questioning her—er, threatening her, more accurately, with a ninpo-constructed laser gun in her face.

Both brothers seemed to understand why Mikey had called them, and their shoulders slumped. Their faces scrunched up into dismay as they quickly joined their younger brothers on the ground. The three brothers wrapped their arms around a quickly-fading Leo, shedding tears of their own.

They didn’t even remember him, he was nothing but a stranger to them, yet still they cried for him. They must have sensed the relation somehow, or why else would they willingly themselves in this situation, cradling the red-eared slider they surely had no recognition of? He let himself sob under their embrace, more grateful than ever for the beautiful family he had been given by fate or destiny or whatever other higher power existed out there.

He just wished the rest of family could have been here too. He wished he’d had the chance to say goodbye to them. He wished he didn’t have to say goodbye to any of them.

“I love y-you guys,” he managed to choke out. His legs were completely gone now, and the rest of him was rapidly fading. He had no more than seconds left. He had to get it through to them, now or never.

“I love you guys so much!” he cried, tears cascading down his cheeks as he forced his lips into the biggest smile he could muster. “And you’re gonna forget me, and it’s okay! I will always be your brother, and I’ll always be here with you, no matter what.” He looked to his youngest brother, then his twin, meeting their eyes full of tears of their own. They would be okay. They were strong, and smart, and they would always be there for each other. They would manage just fine. He was sure of it.

He finally turned to his eldest brother, the turtle who practically raised him. “Raphie, you’ll have to be the leader again. I believe in you, I know you’ll do great.”

Raph blinked at him, heartbreak clear across his face. “Leo?” his brother voiced, some kind of clarity overcoming him. His expression quickly shifted to horror. “No, Leo. Please don’t go. I don’t want to forget you! I can’t lose you again!”

But Leo didn’t have a choice, none of them did. And his time was up.

With his last breath, he spoke one final time.

“Anatawa hitorijanai.”

You are not alone.

And the last remnants of Hamato Leonardo drifted away with the wind, his brothers’ arms grasping onto nothing but air. The three brothers cried, not quite understanding why, but sure something of significance had just occurred.

What else could possibly make them feel such vast sorrow? Such eternal anguish? Such endless pain that filled their hearts and souls to the brim?

It was agony, to be filled with such affliction and not understand why. Rain started to pour, but the brothers paid it no mind. The pain they felt was all-consuming.

And as they grieved, a witch began to laugh, the sound sadistic and cruel. It filled Raph with an anger he didn’t know he had, something more vicious than anything he’d ever felt before. This was bloodthirsty, inhuman, downright murderous.

“What did you do?!” he demanded, bringing himself to his feet. He swayed, lightheaded from the crying but quickly righting himself, clenching his fists at either side as his rage only grew. “What the hell did you do?!”

The witch sat up, a wicked grin stretched across her face, revealing a set of razor sharp teeth. With a spark of magic, her bonds broke, freeing her entrapped arms. “I made things right. I made things how they’re supposed to be. For a price you so graciously paid for me.”

And Raph got the feeling it had cost them everything.

And then, the ground began to rumble.

Chapter Text

Beneath the three brothers’ feet, the earth shook with tremors strong enough to bring them to the ground. Mikey fell back on his shell while Donnie was brought to his hands and knees. Raph toppled over, quickly finding himself flat on his plastron.

“What’s happening?” Mikey yelped, trying and failing to get back on his feet.

“An earthquake?” Donnie guessed, raising his voice to be heard over the thundering noise around them. He splayed his hands out in front of him to better attempt to keep himself upright. “If so, it should pass fairly quickly.”

“Does the Hidden City get earthquakes?” Raph questioned, remaining prone to the ground.

Mikey let out a sob, catching both brothers off guard. Was he really so scared of an earthquake? That didn’t seem like Mikey, but who was Raph to say.

“No,” Mikey choked out, rivulets of tears cascading down his cheeks and dripping off his chin. “No, I don’t mean the earthquake. I mean, why do I feel this way? What’s happening? I feel… I feel like I just lost a part of me. Like—like something colossal just happened. My chest h-hurts. Big brother, what’s going on?”

Raph didn’t know how to answer. He couldn’t answer, not with the way Mikey was looking at him with those doe eyes, terrified and longing for something they didn’t know was missing. Raph had no clue what was going on, but he understood where Mikey was coming from. This feeling in his chest, like something was just gone, as though he had this gaping wound where his heart should be, a wound begging to be filled.

It felt like he was a night sky void of all its stars.

“I-I don’t know, little brother,” he finally managed. “But I have a feeling it has to do with that witch.”

He spat the word through his teeth, bringing his eyes up to glare at the young witch hovering high above them, standing atop her broom and waving her arms around as she chanted some kind of spell Raph couldn’t hear. Her eyes were glowing the same shade of blue as the stone they’d pulled from her pocket. The same stone that had grown by multitudes in the last few moments Raph hadn’t had his eyes on it. It was glowing so brightly, he had to squint to make out its shape.

The witch—Gentry, he quickly recalled—raised her arms high as she breathed the last of her ritual, and suddenly everything was still. Raph could hear his racing heartbeat in his ears. It felt as though the whole world had just… stopped.

“Rise, O’ Great Morgan, son of the goddess Morrigan, Bringer of Death! Live again and wreak the havoc you were born for!”

The stone vanished in an instant, sucked into the earth so quickly that a crater was left in its wake. A giant, blue-scaled arm burst from the ground in the center of the clearing, followed by a piercing roar thundering over the land. Yokai across the Hidden City could probably have heard it. The sheer volume of it made Raph go lightheaded.

The beast continued to claw its way out of the earth, and the three brothers had to scramble back to avoid a massive hand as it slammed down where they had been only moments ago. Raph grabbed hold of Mikey and threw him over his shoulder as Donnie jumped into the air with the help of his battle-shell’s jetpack feature.

Raph watched from a distance as his purple-clad brother summoned a bazooka with his ninpo and used it to blast the beast in the face. The creature roared, swatting the following shot out of the air, exploding upon contact with the earth. Donnie shot a barrage of missiles, all zipping around in different directions, each striking the creature when and where it least expected it.

Through the smoke of each detonated missile, Raph caught a glimpse of the stone—the same glowing blue stone they’d watched disappear into the Earth only moments ago—now embedded in the center of the beast’s chest.

Donnie flew over to his brothers, hovering a few feet away from them. “I know this monster. April and I fought it when we visited Witch Town. It’s called the Great Morgan. Call the others and have them meet us here. He wasn’t too difficult to beat the last time we fought him, but he looks like he’s jacked up on some myriad of steroids this time. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”

“Mikey, get on it,” Raph ordered, and the young turtle jumped off his shoulders to fumble in his pocket for his phone. “Donnie, you go after the witch. I’ll go toe to toe with this bozo.”

The purple-clad ninja saluted his older brother before taking off, firing off a few missiles at the witch as he soared overhead. She smirked, easily dodging them before throwing her own magic at him. He avoided the shots without much difficulty, then went in to swing his bo at her to knock her off that broom, and the fight was on.

Meanwhile, Raph pounded his fists together, summoning his own ninpo. He felt the power wash over him, swallowing him up as his own image grew into a giant, glowing red apparition of himself. His ninpo form was nearly the same size as the Great Morgan, giving them equal footing in this battle.

The monster snarled, charging at Raph as the turtle took on a defensive position. The Great Morgan’s claws sparked against Raph’s twin sai, the weapons glancing off the beast’s claws as though they were made of the same steel as his blades. Raph pushed the claws away with his left sai, then swung a mean right hook that caught the monster on the jaw with the butt of his blade.

The creature roared, eyes glowing red as he leapt at the snapper. The two fell to the ground, causing a colossal quake all around them as dust flew up amidst their tussle. They wrestled around, all elbows and punches and kicks.

The Great Morgan managed to pin Raph down by the arms, legs hooked beneath him, and lunged forward, sinking its teeth into the neck of Raph’s ninpo self. It tore a massive chunk of mystic flesh from the apparition, which popped like a balloon. Raph crashed to the ground in a heap.

Mystic chains wrapped around Raph’s torso, yanking him back hard just as a massive hand slammed the ground where he’d been only a split second earlier. He would’ve been a turtle pancake had it not been for Mikey’s quick reflexes.

“Thanks, big guy!” Raph called to his younger brother, climbing to his feet again. Mikey sent him a peace sign before jumping into the fight himself.

Raph stretched his spine and cracked his neck, then shook out his limbs while bouncing in place. This horrible monster wasn’t going down easy. It was going to take more than just brute strength to defeat him, and Donnie only looked like he was just keeping up with the witch high above the battleground.

But they defeated the Shredder! And the Kraang! If they could do that, then together they could beat anything.

Except they weren’t all together, were they?

Raph blinked. Where did that line of thinking come from? He could see both of his brothers right in front of him, fighting off these two villains with everything they had.

Something was missing. Some one. It gave Raph a headache just thinking about it.

But that made no sense. It’d always only ever been the three of them, plus April, Splinter, the Caseys and Draxum.

No. No, that wasn’t right. Who is he forgetting? Sunita? Señor Hueso? Franken-Foot?

He built up a sweat thinking so hard about it. Something was seriously wrong. What was the matter with him? Why was he getting so worked up over someone who didn’t exist?

Someone who… didn’t exist?

Why did that leave such a bitter taste in his mouth? Why was his heart racing? Why did it feel like he couldn’t breathe?

“—ed? Red. Raphael!”

The snapper blinked. He had to crane his neck to look down at his dad, standing before him and swatting Raph’s cheek to get his attention. “H-huh? Pops?”

“My son, are you alright?” the rat man questioned, concern creasing his brow. “You seem to be in distress.”

“Dad! I—uh, I don’t know.” Raph realized he’d only come off as a crazy person if he voiced his thoughts. But this was his dad, who would believe him no matter what. But was now really the time? “I just got distracted. I should really help the others.”

He looked over the battlefield, finding Donnie, April and Sunita tag teaming against Gentry, while Mikey, both Caseys and Draxum were in battle against the Great Morgan, both teams and opponents blurs of motion and sparks as they collided. Raph needed to get out there and help.

“They have it under control. Speak, my son,” Splinter encouraged him. “You have something on your mind. No better time to get it off your chest.”

Raph pursed his lips. “Well, um. Alright. Dad, did you… have a fourth son?”

Splinter looked like he was short-circuiting. “What an… odd question. I don’t believe so, Raphael. Although I must admit, I—I’m… well, strangely, it seems I’m not quite sure at this moment.”

Raph and Splinter stared at each other, both asking the same silent question.

Who were they forgetting?

“I think it has something to do with the witch,” Raph admitted. “I don’t know how or why or who, but… somehow, she took something from us. Some one.”

“Hm,” Splinter hummed, eyes tightening in thought. “Then let us do our best to get them back.”

Raph smiled at that, sharing a determined nod with his father.

They raced into battle together, Splinter splitting off to fight the witch while Raph summoned his ninpō into two giant fists, quickly sweeping under the Great Morgan right between his legs before grasping onto his ankles. He took the beast right off its feet in one swift movement, while Mikey shot chains up that wrapped around its neck. The chains pulled, and the Great Morgan fell with a colossal crash that shook the ground, and likely all of the Hidden City felt it.

“Get up, you big, blue idiot!” Gentry called out to the monster, zipping by overhead on her broomstick. “Forget these losers! Get to Witch Town!”

This seemed to only make the monster angrier, and much more desperate. Faster than Raph would’ve imagined something of its size could move, the behemoth was back on its feet and racing for town. Every stomp of its gigantic feet sent a ripple through the earth, nearly knocking the others off their feet.

The people of Witch Town could be hurt if they let the Great Morgan reach town. The team didn’t have time to warn them without a portal to—

A portal?

The fog in his brain thickened, and he found himself shaking his head to clear it. He didn’t have time to get distracted, not when lives were on the line. He had only a moment to make a hard choice, but he knew what he needed to do. To save Witch Town, he had to give up what was possibly his only lead in recovering his family’s lost memories.

“Forget the witch, stop that monster!” Raph yelled at the top of his lungs to be heard by everyone across the battlefield.

The others surged forward, and only Donnie stopped to glare at Gentry as she shot into the sky and out of sight. The wicked woman was a coward and a traitor to her own people. She would pay, and they would make sure of it, but right now they had other things to worry about.

Raph summoned his ninpō into a giant version of himself, reaching the same height as the beast he chased. Donnie zipped around the monster’s head with his jetpack, succeeding in distracting it. The Great Morgan swatted at Donnie just as it had before to no avail, which gave Mikey the opportunity to shoot his chains at the beast and wrap it up tight. It roared with anger, steam practically coming out of its ears.

Raph tackled the monster, knocking them both to the ground and tumbling in the mud and dirt. Draxum’s vines shot out from the ground, wrapping around each of the monster’s limbs and holding it down as it fought to free itself. Raph threw all of his ninpō form onto the beast, assuring it stayed down with his added weight. April and the Caseys as well as Splinter went straight to beating on the giant with whatever they had handy, that being April’s bat, Casey Jr’s chainsaw hockey stick, Casey Sr’s taser—and who in their right mind let her have that?—and Splinter’s “fists of fury” as he rained down punches on the creature’s nose, shouting his signature catchphrase as he did so.

The Great Morgan roared, and the stone glowed brighter yet and burned Raph through his ninpō. He cried out in shock and threw himself off before he even realized what he was doing. It was just what the beast needed to break free of the chains and vines that held him and swat the rest of the family away while they were momentarily caught off guard.

In a moment so incredibly brief that Raph’s brain hardly had the time to process it, the monster was back on its feet and rushing with renewed vigor for the town. They weren’t all that far as it was, and with the creature’s wide steps, it wouldn’t be more than twenty seconds before he reached town.

“Everyone, with me!” Raph cried out for his family, desperate at this point. “We need to work together—like we defeated the Shredder!”

And in the next instant, the family sprang into motion as one, just as they had before.

Donnie zipped past overhead, launching a barrage of missiles to slow the Great Morgan’s charge. Mikey’s chains snaked forward, latching onto the monster’s leg and yanking hard, throwing it off balance. Draxum called vines from the earth, wrapping the beast’s arms and dragging them toward the ground. April and the Caseys flanked from both sides as Raph, nearly vibrating with urgency, summoned the full force of his ninpō once more and tackled the Great Morgan at full sprint.

The impact sent out a shockwave, toppling trees and surely rattling the not-so-far-off Witch Town—but more importantly, it brought the monster to its knees.

In a final coordinated burst of effort and fury, the Hamatos pressed the attack. With the monster subdued, Raph reached for the glowing stone embedded in its chest. The second his fingers brushed the surface, a pulse of blue light erupted, and the Great Morgan let out a final, deafening cry as the stone was finally dislodged from its body. The monster near-instantly dissolved into mist and steam, dissipating with the wind.

The stone fell to the earth, an audible crack! sounding as the rock was fractured upon impact, and the bright light it had been giving off dimmed to an ambient glow. A bluish steam poured out of the chink in the rough surface, wafting away in the wind.

And with the defeat of the Great Morgan and breach of the magic stone that had moments ago fueled his power, an influx of memories surfaced in each member of the group’s mind.

The memories of their friend, brother and son, Hamato Leonardo, had returned.

And with it—grief.

It felt like Raph’s chest had ruptured, same as the stone. A flood of emotions he never knew he harbored within him poured from the gaping wound in his chest, right out into the open for his family to witness.

He cried for all it was worth. The weight of emotions was too great for him to contain. He cried harder than he ever had.

His family was no better. Mikey sobbed, arms wrapped around himself, looking so much like the child he was. Donnie was in some state of shock, mouth agape, tears coating his cheeks, a wiry keening escaping his throat without his consent. Their father wailed like they’d never heard, his small frame shaking uncontrollably. Casey Sr had Casey Jr wrapped up in a bear hug as he cried into her shoulder, although she was obviously fighting back the tears threatening to spill. Draxum had taken a knee, a look of dismay on his otherwise stoic face. And April—strong, resilient April—had never looked so helpless, like the weight of the world had finally become too much.

Leo was gone. Wiped clean from existence other than the memories his family had left of him.

It was too much. It was all too much. They couldn’t lose Leo again. Not like this! Not without saying goodbye for a second time.

Raph tripped over his own feet as he stumbled forward toward the broken stone. It still glowed that soft, beautiful blue they would always associate with their leader, as though there might have still been a little life in there, a speck of their brother left within.

The snapper reached out a hand to place against the cool surface of the stone, only to be met with a shock of warmth that shot up his arm like static. With a shout of surprise, Raph jerked his hand away like he’d been burned.

“R-Raph?” April asked, his name getting caught in her throat.

Raph stared at his hand, half expecting to find a mark, but there was none. Even the strange feeling had already dissipated, as if it had never been there.

In a momentary lack of impulse control, he threw both hands against the stone, the electric feeling returning the moment his skin made contact. He didn’t cry out this time, instead savoring the feeling. It was empowering—it felt like pure energy. It felt—it felt like Leo.

“Raph!” both Mikey and Casey Jr called out, leaping forward to grab hold of Raph’s arms and pull him away from the source of his pain, April quickly joining to help.

“No, let go! It doesn’t hurt!” he tried, but they continued to pull until they were successful. Casey Jr first managed to rip one of Raph’s arms away, only continuing to tug as Mikey and April yanked at the other. Raph fought against the three, holding his ground until finally his fingers slipped away.

“No!” he cried, tears springing to his eyes.

Then, against all odds, a ghostly blue hand reached out through the thin crack in the stone’s surface and grabbed hold of Raph’s before the snapper could get too far.

“Leo!” Raph smiled, desperately grasping at the spectral arm and refusing to let go. It was visibly only an apparition, see-through and glowing a soft blue but obviously his, from the shape of his three-fingered hand to the stripes that could only belong to one slider. “It’s Leo, guys! He’s trapped in this rock thingy. It’s his ninpō, he—he’s reaching out to me. Look!”

The three stopped fighting him, turning to see what in the world he was talking about. There were a couple of gasps, but Raph wasn’t sure from whom. He didn’t care. He couldn’t take his eyes off his lost brother, who wasn’t so lost after all.

This was their chance to get him back!

“I’ve got you, buddy!” Raph called to his little brother, one of his very reasons for living. “Big brother Raph’s got you, Leo.”

He pulled with all his might, not willing to let this chance to get his brother back go now. This seemed to snap the others back to reality, and everyone leapt forward to help get Leo back. Donnie and Mikey quickly joined Raph on either side of him, each grabbing hold of Leo’s ninpō arm and pulling with all their strength. Draxum’s vines wrapped around Raph’s waist, and Draxum himself latched onto Raph’s left bicep to help, while Splinter took Raph’s other side and assisted in pulling at Raph’s right leg. Casey Jr had his hands on Mikey’s waist and Casey Sr behind him with her own hands on her future son’s waist, both using every ounce of strength they had in them to save Leo. And last, but certainly not least, April was behind Donnie, arms wrapped around his chest and pulling as hard as she could to save her own little brother.

Leo’s ghostly arm seemed to glow brighter as everyone worked together to save him, and the hand in Raph’s grew warm. Sparks danced off the stone and Leo’s ninpō arm.

“Come on!” Raph called out to the universe, praying for whatever greater power might be listening to help them save his little brother. “Come on!”

Through the sound of blood rushing in Raph’s ears, he heard the distinct sound of stone cracking. He looked down at the glowing blue stone that held Leo captive, finding the fracture in its surface had grown by a few inches. Another crack echoed through Raph's head, and he watched at the same time as the stone continued to split. The fracture grew so large, Leo’s other arm appeared and grappled to find purchase in the dirt at their feet. He was attempting to climb out of the stone, doing his best to save himself as everyone else helped to free him.

“We’re almost there, Leo! We’ve almost got you!”

A thunderous BOOM! echoed over the battlefield as the stone finally split in two with a blinding flash of lightning. The rain stopped instantaneously, and the dark clouds overhead swirled menacingly.

The family fell backwards, tumbling over one another. It was so sudden, Raph wasn’t even sure what happened as he blinked away the stars in his vision. His ears rang, and his hands stung. Had he been struck by that lightning when it shot from the stone?

The snapper shook his head to clear it as best he could. The world spun and he nearly tipped over again as he managed to sit up, dizziness making his stomach twist terribly. As his vision swam, he squinted to better make out the shapes around him.

His family was slowly stirring, caught in the same predicament he was. He counted heads: April, Donnie, Splinter, Draxum, the Caseys, Mikey…

“Leo?” he asked, voice hardly above a whisper as realization dawned on him. Leo wasn’t here. “Leo?!”

He leaped to his feet, counting heads again before whirling around on the broken stone, now fractured in two. Its glow was completely gone, and the air around it glimmered in the steam that rose from within the break like the last breath of life.

Raph dropped to his knees before the stone, hands reaching but not touching anything. Leo’s ninpō was gone, no longer able to reach back to him, forever lost now with Raph’s final hope of saving him.

The dams burst, tears pouring so fast he couldn’t see through them. He hung his head, and droplets crashed heavily on his fisted hands held in his lap. What had they done wrong? What could they have done better? Had there ever really been a chance to save him, or was there only ever the mercy of breaching his soul from that stone prison?

He felt April’s soft, delicate hand land on his shoulder in commiseration. She gave him a gentle squeeze, a little I’m here for you, although he knew she was hurting just as ferociously.

“We lost him,” he heard Donnie mutter in disbelief, his voice barely audible over the wails that came from both Mikey and Splinter at this point. Raph wasn’t much better than the pair, a snivelling, grieving mess.

He mourned his little brother, their wise-cracking, irresponsible, completely brilliant, quick-witted, loyal as can be, absolute goofball at the best of times, incredibly talented and so, so, so loved leader. He mourned their future without him, a future without the brilliance of Hamato Leonardo lighting up every space he entered with his infamous humor and infectious smile. He mourned their team, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles who were now down from four members to three, a wide gap that can never be filled now swallowing up their sturdy dynamic.

Raph would be the leader again. How could he stand in Leo’s place now, after everything his brother had accomplished in his leadership? Leo’s reputation was insurmountable, and Raph couldn’t hold a candle to him. Even after all the grief he had given Leo when he first became leader, his younger brother had proven him incredibly wrong and became the leader Raph could only ever wish to be. Raph was the bronze of the team and a fixed piece of the foundation that made up their dynamic, and he understood that now. Leo had always been meant to be leader, with his tactical, on-the-spot thinking and the flashy Face Man act he put on.

What would they do without him? How would they move on?

“What is that?”

Raph wiped away his tears to see what Casey Jr was referring to. He looked up at the boy, who stood just behind Mikey. He had Casey Sr wrapped up in one arm, the other pointing past Raph.

Raph whipped his head around to spot the stone, still broken and dull and lifeless, but now, sitting on the ground between the fractured pieces, was a very small, round, brown bean.

“I-I think it’s a seed?” Raph spoke with a voice raspier than usual from crying. “D-Don, do you know what kind of plant…?”

Donnie had to go in for a closer look. He plucked the seed from the ground with surprisingly gentle fingers, and he dropped his goggles over his eyes for better inspecting. It didn’t take him more than a few seconds to announce his findings, though he had to stop to clear his voice after it cracked on the first attempt. “Wisteria floribunda—Japanese wisteria. It’s a perennial vine that produces a scent similar to grapes. However, they do not typically—or, well, ever—spawn from stones.”

“That’s… interesting,” April said, stepping toward Donnie to get a look at the strange seed as well. “Some kind of, I don’t know, magic mumbo-jumbo, ya think?”

Donnie let out a world-weary sigh. “I lean toward yes, unfortunately.”

“No! No, Don, this is great!” Mikey beamed, hopeful tears brimming in his eyes. “Maybe this is another chance!”

No one said a word. Mikey’s head whirled around on everyone, his smile slowly sinking in dismay. “Guys? We aren’t just giving up, are we?”

“No, Mikey, of course not,” April supplied, followed by a sniffle. “But… well—”

“We can’t get our hopes up too high, bud,” Raph finished for her. “It’s not that we don’t want L-Leo back. But how is this tiny little seed going to help us do that?”

Mikey opened his mouth to retort, only to come up short of an answer. Raph could easily recognize the distress in his eyes.

“My son,” Splinter spoke up, taking the few steps to reach the box turtle before entwining their fingers. “We will continue our efforts to save Leonardo. But we must understand, while he may be beyond our reach, he is not lost to us. We will speak to the ancestors, perhaps he has already joined them.”

Mikey’s face crumpled. His frame shook with the force of his sobs, and Splinter pulled him into a hug. April joined, followed by Donnie and the Casey’s, then finally Raph and Draxum. The family stayed like that for a while, so long that Raph lost track of time. It was the rain restarting that finally got the family to break apart. The witch had long since escaped during their fight with the Great Morgan, so Raph would have to remember to inform Mayor Mira of the events that transpired on this day. Looking back at his remaining brothers, he watched as Donnie dropped the seed into Mikey’s tender hold, who kept it close to his chest as if it was the most precious thing on Earth.

And at this very moment, it was. Because, while Raph was too scared to get his hopes up, there was still the chance, however small, that it could somehow magically bring their beloved brother back.

And the Hamatos would take any chance they got.

Chapter Text

The first week passed with anxious hope.

The Hamatos planted the seed on a quiet New York City rooftop where it would be able to get enough sunlight to properly nourish it. As much as the family would rather watch it grow from the safety of their own home, they knew the sewers couldn’t provide the necessary environment. Donnie had managed to scrounge up a pot that was miraculously large enough for the tiny bean to eventually grow into the enormous tree it would someday become. The soil had still been warm from the rays of the midday sun when Donnie placed the small, smooth seed into a carefully dug hole in the center. Splinter insisted they all take turns covering it with dirt and saying a few words for their brother, whether they be that of a cherished memory or words of encouragement to find his way back to them soon. They even made a small sign—"Hamato Memorial Garden"—that Mikey painted, the words written in Leo’s favorite blue and decorated with images of sunflowers and wisteria vines.

Each day, the group would head to the surface and up the fire escape to the special rooftop where they would water the soft soil.

By the third day, a small sprout had emerged. That night, the family celebrated with pizza.

By the end of the week, it had grown knee-high, its stem sturdy and twisting like it had a will of its own. Donnie was amazed, the softshell having downloaded a garden app that follows along with your tree’s growing progress and finding their sapling was well passed where it should be. Each day, they could see it had sprouted up another few inches, growing at an incredible rate.

After three weeks, the sapling was nearly as tall as Raph.

Mikey waved a hand over his face. “Raaaph, your impatience stink is showing.”

Raph rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry, big man, I can’t help it. Just… really hoping for a miracle here and this is taking too long. I don’t want to wait any longer.”

“None of us do, big bro,” Mikey soothed his older brother, bumping his shoulder into him. They watched as Donnie sprinkled some water with their watering can around the base of the tree. “We all miss him. And we know he’s not with the ancestors, so I’d say that’s a green light that we’ll definitely get him back. We just gotta have faith.”

A wave of fear washed through Raph, seizing his chest. Leo wasn’t with the Hamato ancestors, and they couldn’t sense his ninpo. While the memory of him had returned, he hadn’t. Was he really wiped from existence like the witch had promised? Was there no bringing him back?

Mikey must have caught his fear stink, because he bumped shoulders with Raph to catch his attention, harder this time. “Faith, Raphael. And if this doesn’t work, we’ll figure something else out. As long as we keep the memory of him alive, there’s a chance.”

Mikey really was the most emotionally mature of them all.

Each day, the brothers would end their patrol with a visit to the wisteria tree. The first rays of sunlight peeked through the early morning air, taking with it the chill of night. A slight breeze would bristle through the limbs and leaves of the tree, and Raph could almost imagine it was Leo waving hello.

The rest of the family had been unable to visit as often as they once did. They still came as often as they could, but after a month, life had to move on. April, Casey Sr and Casey Jr all had college courses to catch up on and jobs to get to. Draxum had a school to feed, and Splinter… well, he was clearly falling back into the pits of depression, as hard as he was clearly trying not to. They all still visited, but the visits were few and far between. It wasn’t any of their faults, and Raph didn’t blame them. He just missed them.

The three brothers visited the tree daily. Mikey would bring offerings: incense, candies, origami, etcetera. Donnie monitored the tree’s continual growth with an expert eye, placing cameras from various angles around the rooftop, refusing to miss anything even from home. Raph had brought some of his workout gear up to the rooftop, and he liked to spend a few hours a day exercising before his brothers trekked up topside for their own visitations. Splinter came by on some of his good days with tea, old stories and prayers. Once in a while, Draxum would still come by to see how the growth was progressing. He’d scrawled some runes around the rooftop with muttered incantations under his breath, claiming it was for protection, but sometimes Raph wondered if maybe he was the reason the tree was growing at such a speedy rate. Not that Raph was complaining. He couldn’t help thinking this must have been Draxum’s contribution to get their brother back all the sooner. Maybe Draxum missed Leo as much as the rest.

At the two month mark, the wisteria tree had reached adulthood. It was stunning, the cascading blue blossoms poured like waterfalls from twisting branches, the petals soft as silk and carrying the faint scent that could only be described as sweet honey and springtime. Its bark shimmered faintly in the waning moonlight. It was absolutely beautiful.

Yet still no sign of their beloved brother.

The tree stood tall and elegant, its presence oddly comforting but increasingly painful. It bloomed perpetually, never shedding, never fading, like a frozen moment in time that refused to move forward. Like Leo, trapped in memory—all they had left of him.

They never said it aloud, but they all considered it: maybe the seed had never been magical after all.

The lair grew quiet.

Raph didn’t feel like himself anymore, like he was sleepwalking and his body was on autopilot. Every day, he went through the motions. He still barked orders on patrol, still protected the people of the city, both above and below. But it wasn’t the same.

Donnie still tinkered, building new gear and checking on the Wisteria tree every couple of hours. He rarely spoke during meals. Mikey tried his best to keep spirits up; made pancakes shaped like smiling turtles, played soft music around the lair, even brought home some surprise pizza from Hueso’s from time to time—but the laughter didn’t echo the way it used to.

Weeks passed, and Splinter hadn’t emerged from the projector room other than for the occasional burrito or to use the bathroom. He’d stopped visiting the tree altogether. He spent most of his time curled up in his recliner, the back permanently reclined, a blanket tucked around his legs. Soap operas played on loop.

Sometimes Mikey sat beside him, watching silently.

Sometimes, he caught Splinter crying.

April stopped by when she could. She always brought food and updates from the surface: how school was going, any encounters with villains or tips for their patrols she might read online. She mentioned the Foot Clan had been quiet lately, having been keeping an eye on them from her new job at a wig store that she was positive was just a front for a Foot operation that she was still trying to figure out the reason behind. She didn’t talk about Leo unless someone else brought him up. Whenever she left, her hugs lasted longer than they used to.

The Caseys visited every other weekend, bringing energy drinks and too much sarcasm, trying to lift the mood. Casey Jr helped Donnie with some of his tech, and meanwhile Casey Sr sparred with Raph until they both collapsed. But even those two couldn’t hide the glances at the train car they once called Leo’s room.

Draxum came rarely, but when he did, he brought scrolls and would speak to Mikey about mystical alignments and moon phases. They always visited the tree alone, and never returned with news.

There was one day Draxum arrived without his usual forewarning. He seemed... melancholy. Odd for him. Mikey bounded up to him with his usual greeting, and Draxum gave him a hug in return. This was very much out of character, and it was as if a jolt of electricity had shot through the air. Raph found himself standing before he even realized it, and Donnie seemed to materialize at his side. Mikey gasped, stepping away from Draxum after he noticed what was behind the Yokai's back.

With a heavy exhale, Draxum reached behind himself to unsheathe the odachi strapped to his back. "It was at my old lab in the Hidden City. Right where it would have been, had Leonardo not taken it when we were first reunited."

Had Leo never existed, went unsaid.

Raph regarded the weapon with tears clouding his eyes. This was the first piece of real evidence that Leo had ever existed.

"Do you think he’s really gone?" Mikey asked one night. The brothers were gathered in the kitchen, making a midnight snack of bologna sandwiches. They’d been watching a Jupiter Jim movie together, taking a night off of patrol. Raph had thought a brotherly bonding night was in order, but it only seemed to make the missing piece that was their leader feel more oppressing.

Donnie didn’t respond, going so far as to act like he didn’t hear the question. In the silence of the kitchen, that was an impossibility.

Raph rubbed his face and leaned over his mess of a sub. The mayonnaise had exploded when he accidentally squeezed a little too hard, caught off guard by the box turtle’s question. Pursing his lips as he thought of the best possible answer, he could only seem to come up with… "I don’t know, Mike."

Mikey hugged his arms. "I feel like I’d know if he was. Like, I’d feel it in here." He touched his plastron, tapping it rhythmically. "But maybe I just… maybe I’m in denial, and I’m pushing everyone into pretending he’s ever coming back."

"It’s okay to hope," Raph said quietly, finally turning to his youngest brother to rub a hand up and down the back of his shell. "We need hope."

Donnie looked up, eyes shadowed and voice monotone. "Hope doesn’t bring people back."

Mikey sniffled. "Maybe not. But love does. Right? At least sometimes. In the stories. In Splinter’s soaps."

Raph managed a faint smile. "Yeah, and we all know how dramatic Leo is. If anyone's gonna make a grand entrance out of a flower tree, it's him."

The three of them stood in silence after that. They finished their sandwiches and brought them back to the projector room, one of the few nights Splinter had actually gone to bed in his own room. Without a word, the brothers situated themselves into their chosen seats within the blanket fort they’d thrown up in a hurry. They munched on their sandwiches, though Raph couldn’t help but think he couldn’t really taste his, not quite so hungry anymore. He glanced at the turtles on either side of him, finding his brothers’ eyes were trained on the screen, though he imagined they weren’t really paying attention either, lost in their own heads. Their sandwiches sat on their plates mostly uneaten.

Even if the tree isn’t the answer, they would find another way. And if that didn’t work, they’d try something else. Raph swore it. It didn’t matter how much time passed. He would spend the rest of his life trying to bring Leo back. And in the meantime, they would remember him for the amazing, talented, fearless leader he was, and the best brother any turtle could ask for.

And outside, on the rooftop, the Wisteria swayed gently in the wind.

And though none of them noticed, a single blossom, just one, fell from the tree and drifted to the ground.