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His breaths were coming out fast.
It felt like he couldn’t breath due to it.
His hands were against the bleeding ribcage of the Yokai lying in front of him. He was trying to stop the bleeding the best he could.
It wouldn’t stop.
There was so much of it.
It was coating his hands in red.
Red.
RED…
RED……
“Please…” he begged, voice wobbly as he tried to keep his tears at bay. “You can’t leave me…”
A soft smile spread across the Yokai’s face as she lifted her clawed hand up to face to cup his cheek. He nuzzled the hand, letting out a soft whine as he stared at her tired eyes sunset eyes.
“It’s alright…” she gave him another smile, blood smeared against the side of her mouth. “I’m not leaving you.” Her glazed eyes stared up at his teary blue orbs. Her hand lowered to rest against his plastron causing a shiver to roll through his body.
There were words that left her mouth, but he couldn’t hear them.
Her voice was too far away.
He could only watch as her faraway gaze finally went still.
Her hand dropped from his chest causing him to freeze and stop putting pressure on her wound.
His eyes widened.
“N…Nora?”
He received no response.
He couldn’t stop himself from letting out a wail; letting out all his grief in that one scream. The tears he had been holding back were finally let out; trickling down his cheeks, tracing his red stripes.
He clutched the clothes on her body, shaking, sobbing.
He didn’t care that he was in enemy territory.
He just wanted her back.
He wanted his azul back.
His Nora….
“Leo? Leo, wake up!”
What?
Wake up?
He wasn’t asleep…
He eyed his comm which wasn’t on.
A frown crossed his features as his tears continued to fall.
Hang on … why did that sound like his twin?
He was…
………
……
…
August 6th, 2020 - Turtle’s Lair - 2:00am
Leo woke up to find his younger twin standing above him with a concerned frown on his maskless face. The slider blinked a couple of times to fully comprehend where he was before realizing he had indeed been asleep.
“Are you okay, Nardo?” Donnie asked his twin with concern etched into his voice. “I was grabbing a cup when I heard a peculiar noise coming from your room, so I came over to investigate. It seems you must’ve been having a nightmare.”
Leo sat up, head turned away from the softshell and towards the wall. “You could say that…”
A soft sigh left the softshell as he sat down on the end of the slider’s bed. “Well … do you want to talk … about it?” Donnie asked, cringing at how awkward he was with asking.
Leo chuckled, but shook his head causing Donnie to frown.
“No, I just need some time to think … about some things is all…”
Donnie looked over his brother, trying to find any inconsistencies in his wording before letting out a sigh. “Fine, but if you need anything…”
“I know the drill, D,” Leo stated waving his hand. “I have to tell Mikey or Raph or even Dad.”
Donnie raised a brow at Leo’s attitude before letting out a final sigh, shaking his head. “Yea, exactly that. Make sure you do that. You may not realise it, but we will help you, Leo, if you just tell us.”
“Yea, I know. Now shoo! Go back to bed!”
Donnie let out a hiss at Leo as he backed out of the train car and towards the kitchen. Leo’s smile faltered as soon as his twin left his line of sight.
A long shaky sigh left Leo’s beak as he wrapped his arms around himself, pulling his knees up to his plastron.
That was a bad one.
Ever since he’s started having these Groundhog Day experiences he’s been having nightmares thanks to what he experienced in the other timelines.
That previous loop was the only time he actually tried to be happy.
Where he actually found love.
And then it was snuffed out.
Just like everyone else in his life.
So, what did that mean?
Should he even bother with meeting Nora in this timeline?
What’s the point if she’s just going to die.
Sure, he couldn’t prevent her death … but he already has to deal with continuously seeing his family die anyways.
Over and over and over and over again…
He could never deal with seeing her die multiple times.
He might at some point when he’s feeling confident again, but right now … he can’t stand to see her die again.
The deaths of his family is already enough…