Chapter Text
The forest, to some, brought solace and peace. To some it brought a natural home. This is what Leo had grown accustomed to. The trees, a hand built shelter, a dull wooden sword. Peace. It had been a year and a day (in counting) since splinter had sent him away.
A more naive, less trained him would have forever resented splinter for it. But after hours of hard introspect, it didn't bother him much anymore. Well, of course it did, he never really did get accustomed to the silence, the absence, like three holes in his heart. But no longer did he harbor any anger as his dad. Mostly. But the trees, the breeze slowly fluttering them on their branches, it helped a bit. To have another living being, (other than himself and the random forest-dwelling non-mutant animals, or the occasional forest-dwelling yokai, which mostly avoided him) is what he used to dream about. Companionship of any form, that is what he wanted. Not to be alone (he wasn't raph, but come on could you blame him for being a bit lonely?) But nothing could really fill the loss he felt.
In the beginning, it felt like they would never meet again, like they were gone to the wind, and if they did ever meet, after his term in the forest, they wouldn't even remember him. But as time passed, he realized-no, hoped- that they would one day reunite, after Leo disciplined himself. For their sake and his own. And today would be that day.
A giddy excitement filled Leo, which he suppressed to the pits of his being. The higher you fly, the harder you fall. This is exactly what he was training against, he couldn't-wouldn't- let his emotions get to be too much and end up hurting him. He had gone through enough emotional turmoil.
It felt weird as Leo walked through the forest, clutching his only bag of things and his scratched up ‘sword’. He wasn't allowed his own normal, beautiful, magnificent sword, in case he used it to teleport away. This trip was for him to train and to become a better leader, not just laze around and teleport anywhere he wanted. And to his credit, he did. He trained harder than he probably ever has. After all, it was a distraction. He trained till his arms were sore and until his eyelids forced themselves shut and he had to hobble, sore and sleepy back to his camp for the night. It paid off, really, and now he would be able to go back to the city once and for all and know he would be able to really protect his brothers. He would be able to go back and fix any mistakes he made before. He would be able to go back and see them again.
He held out his hands, letting him run his green fingers along the tree bark he had grown to know so well. The scratch marks on the exterior that cut deep, courtesy of his blade. An ant crawled meekly onto his hand, perhaps thinking his green hand was green grass instead. Leo stopped for a moment to examine the creature, before flicking it off. Watching ants used to be one of his favorite pastimes (as sad as that sounds), but he had more important business to attend to.
After a few more miles of walking, he heard the familiar toot of a train. Instantly he felt himself perk up. He was close. Suddenly he broke out into a run, making sure to catch the night train before it left. Feeling the wind rush against him as he sprinted through the thinning trees, finally he could see the train start to move slowly. It only took one jump for him to grab onto a metal rod and hoist himself onto the back of the train. He sighed with relief as he sat down, plopping his only backpack onto the ground next to him. He was lucky it was night or he surely would've been spotted by lingering humans. In the night he could camouflage, at least good enough to fool anyone who doesn't look too close.
The sky looked stunning tonight. It wasn't as clear as the complete darkness in the forest, but with only limited light leaking from the interior, it was still pretty clear out.
He couldn't help but close his eyes and imagine. Images of his brothers flashed across his eyelids. Mikey cooking his famous pizza tots in the kitchen, humming some pop song he heard on the radio while Leo sang along. Donnie laughing menacingly through the staticy speaker of the turtle tank, fiddling with wiring under the console. Raph sitting on the bathroom floor while Leo puked his guts out after a particularly bad case of food poisoning.
A smile drifted onto his face as if it flew in with the wind. He was really going home. For the first time in a long time he wouldn't need the theater of his mind to see his brothers. It was so close, he could practically feel the loving embrace of his family already. His usually stiff posture relaxed and his mind drifted off as he finally felt at peace. It was hard to not fall asleep, but somehow Leo pulled it off. Well, he had a bit of help when someone's baby started screaming in the interior. Still, no matter how, he made it the entire way without falling asleep or being bothered.
Quickly he threw on his favorite blue sweatshirt and flipped up the hood, his only disguise. Luckily no one in New York City would pay too much attention to him as he rushed through the crowds, giving anyone who dared to look too long a particularly sour look. He maneuvered the familiar streets until he found the place he was looking for. An alley, almost completely vacant save a middle aged woman smoking next to a closed food stand and a homeless man passed out under a trashbag. Quietly the blue clad turtle snuck over to the manhole on the sidewalk, giving the woman one cursory glance before opening the lid and hoping in with ease.
He walked through the sewers with ease, a path he had practiced in his head over and over during the past year. The way home. Jesus, it was so real now. He really was going home now. Soon enough, he was there, in the doorway. Standing in the main room for the first time in what felt like forever. No one was home. Well, perhaps they were, just all asleep. It was late, usually they would all be asleep by now unless it was a movie marathon or some similar late night activity.
Leo stepped forward, letting himself further into his home. Silently he made his way around the room, then to the kitchen. A shadow stood above the sink, covered by the harsh darkness of the rest of the lair. The lean figure turned on the faucet, filling a kettle with water. Leo silently examined the counters, spotting a box of what he could only assume to be tea. He knew he should say something, Jesus he wanted to say something but the words clotted in his throat. He could feel himself drowning in words to say, yet nothing came out. He opened his mouth to start, but before he could the figure turned around, freezing as it caught sight of Leo. The words died on the blue turtle's tongue. What could he properly say in a moment like this anyways? He felt the shadowy turtle's eyes rake over his stiff form, causing him to feel ants. Slowly, the turtle tiptoed closer to himself. He could faintly make out orange splotches on the smaller turtle's limbs and face. Soon enough, they were face to face.
The only words Leo could think of finally escaped – “Im back.”