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April froze, the world around her freezing as she saw her brothers crowded around Leo. Mikey was sobbing hysterically, Donnie was hunched over the dying body screaming to the universe and Raph was holding the slider’s head comfortably, a river flowing from his eyes but still offering chirps to his little brother. And then there was Leo. The one who saved the world at the highest cost.
She shoved her way through the devastated turtles to kneel down next to the ninja in blue, desperately scanning his mangled body to assess the injuries. His shell was shattered, his right arm was twisted up, and the left side of his head was so bruised and swollen that he was unrecognizable. That handsome, quirky face that he was always so proud of.
Her brother’s face.
April’s stomach wrenched with grief. There was absolutely no way he would survive this. It was impossible.
Leo offered a small smile, only half of his face able to attempt the feat. He winced in pain, then chuckled sadly. “Hey Apes. Turns out…” He coughed a bit, expression contorting with pain. He tried again. “Turns out no one can live forever, huh?”
”No no no no Leo don’t do this to me!” She screeched, cupping his face in her hands and not caring about his flinch. “Leo you promised! You promised you would never leave me… you’re… you’re too young… so young…”
”Guess I grew up early.” His body convulsed with pain, and she hugged him tightly until he got through it, a memory flashing through her head…
”I believe!” Young April cried, sitting up in bed while her mom chuckled.
”I know you do, dear.” Mrs. O’Neil chuckled. “Now where were we? Oh yes…”
”Do you believe?” He cried.
Tink sat up in bed almost briskly to listen to her fate.
She fancied she heard answers in the affirmative, and then again she wasn’t sure.
”What do you think?” She asked Peter.
”If you believe,” he shouted to them, “clap your hands; don’t let Tink die.”
April started clapping her hands together furiously, getting a twinkling laugh from her mom.
Many clapped.
Some didn’t.
A few little beasts hissed.
The clapping stopped suddenly, as if countless mothers had rushed to their nurseries to see what on earth was happening; but already Tink was saved.
”Yay!” April leaped up to stand on her bed. “Take that, Captain Hook!”
”Yes yes, good girl.” Mrs. O’Neil helped her back down and set the book aside. “I think that’s enough for tonight.”
”What? Noooooooo!” April whined. “One more chapter?”
Mrs. O’Neil chuckled. “No, it’s time for my little heroine to get some rest. It must’ve been exhausting to save Tinker Bell like you did.”
”Mmmmm… no it wasn’t…” April muttered, getting a bit sleepy again.
”We’ll read more tomorrow, darling. I promise.” Mrs. O’Neil kissed her daughter on the forehead before tucking her in and walking to the door. “Goodnight, April.”
”’Night, Momma.” April rolled over on her side and nuzzled into her pillow. Her mom smiled gently and walked out, closing the door behind her.
April yawned and peeked open her eyes to look at the moon outside of the window. Why did Wendy get to have all the fun? No magic boy ever visited her. Ugh, she wanted to fly a pirate ship so badly!
Sighing, she rolled back towards the door and closed her eyes.
Tap.
Tap tap.
April froze. Someone was at her window. It couldn’t be, could it? Was she dreaming?
Taptaptaptaptaptaptap.
April sat straight up in bed, rubbing her tired eyes and seeing a figure crouched on her windowsill. A very tiny figure, just the perfect size to be him. Heart pounding, she all but flew out of bed and to the window.
But it wasn’t Peter Pan.
Wrong shade of green.
”Ex…es… ‘scuse me, may I come in?” Said a little voice. “‘S cold out here.”
April hesitated. Her mother warned her about strangers, but this stranger was little like her and needed help. She opened the window, and the toddler leapt in gratefully, bounding straight to her bed and yanking off the covers. He wrapped them around himself and plopped on the floor, giggling. “Thanks!”
April blinked. Now that she got a better look she realized that this was no ordinary boy. His skin was green and he had pretty red crescents over his eyes. She also realized that one eye was crimson and the other sapphire.
”I like your red bananas.” She said bluntly, and he laughed.
”I like your hair.” He grinned. “It’s fluffy.”
April got up in his face, staring with intensity. “Is your name Peter?” She finally asked in all seriousness. The kid blinked.
”N-no. It’s Leo.” He said, and she huffed.
”That doesn’t sound fancy at all.” She pouted, and he hesitated.
”But my full name is Leon… Leona..” He struggled to get his tongue around the name. “Leonardo.”
”Leonardo.” She nodded in satisfaction. “Much better. I’m April.”
He tilted his head. “Apples?”
”NO! April.” She crossed her arms at the younger Leo.
”A-A-A…” He frowned in concentration. “Apes?”
”Closer, but no. Ape-rill. April.”
”A… April!” The little tot chirped proudly as he finally got the name. “April!”
”Finally, yes. April.” April nodded. “What were you doing out there in the cold?”
Leo frowned, looking down. “Dee Dee was being a jerk-head.”
”Dee Dee…” April tilted her head. “Who’s he?”
”He’s my brother.” Leo grumbled. “He’s got this stupid forehead and thinks he’s all smarter than the rest of us.”
”It’s not nice to judge other people’s looks.” April quoted her mother, a sense of pride filling her chest at being the one to actually say it this time. With a holier-than-thou expression she patted Leo on the head. “I’m sure he doesn’t actually think he’s smarter than the rest of you.”
”But he is and it bugs me!” Leo complained. “He just finished this cool rocket that actually flies and was rubbing it in my face that I couldn’t figure out how to make one of my own.”
April blinked. “Um… did you just say he built a rocket?!”
Leo grumbled. “Yeah. He makes all kinds of cool stuff.”
April didn’t know how to respond to that. How old was his brother? “Was that why you ran away?”
”Yeah. I’m sick and tired of being useless to them. Dee Dee is smart, Jelly gets ‘pecial treatment since he’s the baby and Raphie is strong. He can hold all of us on his shell!” Leo frowned. “I just wanna be more than just the annoying one.”
April hesitated. “Well… I’m sure you have great qualities, too! I mean, you were brave enough to come here all by yourself.”
”Raphie’s prolly mad at me.” Leo whined. He looked up teary-eyed. “I wish I was that boy from what that lady was reading.”
”You mean Peter Pan?” April asked, and he nodded.
”Yeah. He can fly through the air an’ fight mean old pirates an’ have all the fun he wants without boring brothers telling him not to.” Leo’s eyes lit up. “He also has lots and lots of friends and is the leader of all of them! Raphie’s the leader of me an’ my brothers, but I wish it was me. He already gets to be the strong one, why can’t I be the leader?”
April’s brow furrowed in compassion. “Yeah, and Wendy was able to do all sorts of cool things with Peter. That’s why I like books. You can be whoever you wanna be.” She brightened with an idea and stood up, running over to grab a cool stick she had found on the side of the road. She brought it over and handed it to Leo. “Here, take this.”
Leo’s face scrunched. “It’s a stick.”
April tilted her head before adjusting his grip so that he was gripping the bottom with both hands. “There. Now it’s a sword.”
Leo blinked before realization hit him. He looked at the stick excitedly and held it out dramatically. “Get outta here, ya old codfish!”
April grinned and stepped behind him. “Save me, Peter! Tink is trying to pull my hair out!”
”We can’t have that. Your hair is too pretty to hurt.” Leo pointed furiously at the air in front of his face. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Tink! Trying to hurt a lady. Wendy’s been nothing but nice and you’re just being mean.”
April smoothed out her hair in mock offense. Then she gasped dramatically and pointed towards the door. “Look out, Peter! The pirates!”
Leo looked up and defensively stepped in front of April, stick slashing in front of him in warning. “Stay back, Wendy! I’ll protect you!”
”You have to stop them, Peter!” April cried, and Leo nodded. He spread out his arms and ran around the room, making whooshing sounds with his mouth.
”Hook’s no match for me and my flying powers!” Leo boasted, hopping up to stand on April’s bed. “He’s going down! C’mon, Tink!”
April giggled as she saw the young turtle leap of the bed and slash at the air. Her amusement quickly turned to awe, however, as she saw him twirl the sword in a practiced manner and leap up for a cool spin kick.
”How did you…” She began, but he did one last jab and mimicked a rooster’s crow.
”I got ‘im, Wendy! I stopped the mean old codfish!” He preened. “Aren’t you proud?”
April’s face softened as she saw Leo side-eye her. Clearly his request for validation was a bit more than just in the game. “Yes, Peter, I’m very proud. You saved me.” She bounded over to him happily as a grin spread across his face, but then he frowned. “What is it?”
”I… I guess my brothers are worried. I should probably get back home to them.” Leo kicked the ground dejectedly.
”Don’t worry, we can do this again sometimes!” April assured him, and he looked up hopefully.
”You promise?” he asked, and she held out a pinky.
”Pinky promise.” Leo shook her pinky finger with his own, and she nodded in satisfaction. “You can keep the stick if you want. As a promise to be bestest friends forever.”
Leo’s eyes widened. “Really?”
”Really.” April said in determination. “We’re not ever gonna grow up and be as boring as all the adults and older brothers. We’re gonna stay young forever and ever and have lots of adventures together. I promise.”
But now as April stared at the now-dying Peter Pan of her childhood she realized that she was going to have to break that promise. Leo was nearing the end of his life, and only at sixteen too.
”No… no no Leo you can’t do this to me!” Tears clouded her vision as she realized that this was real, and he was going to die.
Hamato Leonardo was going to die.
Peter Pan had finally grown up.
”Hey, hey don’t look so sad, Apes.” Leo broke into another fit of coughing before offering a weak smile. “Don’t cry for little ol’ me. I’m glad I grew up.”
”How can you even say that?!” She wailed. “You’re dying!”
Leo grunted and looked down at the blood gushing on the ground from his shell. “Heh. Guess I am.”
”This isn’t a joke, Leo!” She almost screamed. “You promised me! You promised me that we would be best friends forever!” She sobbed as she desperately grabbed his hand, wrapping her pinky tightly around his. “Forever doesn’t end now. It can’t!”
”Apes, it’s okay. I’m happy that it happened this way.”
”What are you even talking about?!” She sniffed. “You were the one who wanted to stay young and free in the first place! We… we still have so many adventures to go on…”
”Apples, I would grow up a thousand times if it meant I could keep you guys safe.” He coughed again, and April was horrified to see the specks of crimson that spewed from his mouth. “It isn’t about me. It never was.”
”Then make it about you, Lee!” She choked on her emotions. “You matter to all of us! You matter to me!”
”You know it had to be one of us. Prime…” Leo wheezed as his body spasmed painfully. “Prime would never have stayed in the Prison Dimension if I hadn’t kept him there. I’m just… I’m just happy you all are safe…”
April panicked as she saw Leo’s eyes start to fog over. She shook his shoulders, ignoring his wince of pain. “No, Leo! Don’t do this to me!”
”Love you, Apes.” Leo’s eyelids drooped. “Thanks for being… the best sister… I love you so much…”
”Leo please!” her voice broke, but Leo only gave her one last, bittersweet look.
”Goodbye, Wendy.” He managed to rasp before he finally gave his last breath.
April felt grief wrack her body as she leaned down to his tympana, whispering her final goodbye: “I’ll always believe in you, Peter Pan.”