{"submission_id":"901272","keywords":[{"keyword_id":"10877","keyword_name":"drowning","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"1090"},{"keyword_id":"22165","keyword_name":"fleshlight","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"407"},{"keyword_id":"165","keyword_name":"male","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"639935"},{"keyword_id":"690","keyword_name":"masturbation","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"22536"},{"keyword_id":"452","keyword_name":"rat","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"10831"},{"keyword_id":"10944","keyword_name":"spirits","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"169"},{"keyword_id":"18653","keyword_name":"teenage mutant ninja turtles","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"4880"},{"keyword_id":"3440","keyword_name":"turtle","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"7065"}],"hidden":"t","scraps":"f","favorite":"f","favorites_count":"3","create_datetime":"2015-08-01 23:59:47.579298+02","create_datetime_usertime":"01 Aug 2015 23:59 CEST","last_file_update_datetime":"2015-08-01 23:55:39.625357+02","last_file_update_datetime_usertime":"01 Aug 2015 23:55 CEST","username":"Applepye","user_id":"167029","user_icon_file_name":"55685_Applepye_shime302.gif","user_icon_url_large":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/55/55685_Applepye_shime302.gif","user_icon_url_medium":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/55/55685_Applepye_shime302.gif","user_icon_url_small":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/55/55685_Applepye_shime302.gif","file_name":"1228588_Applepye_63.rtf","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1228/1228588_Applepye_63.rtf","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1228/1228588_Applepye_63.rtf","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1228/1228588_Applepye_63.rtf","files":[{"file_id":"1228588","file_name":"1228588_Applepye_63.rtf","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1228/1228588_Applepye_63.rtf","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1228/1228588_Applepye_63.rtf","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1228/1228588_Applepye_63.rtf","mimetype":"text/rtf","submission_id":"901272","user_id":"167029","submission_file_order":"0","full_size_x":null,"full_size_y":null,"screen_size_x":null,"screen_size_y":null,"preview_size_x":null,"preview_size_y":null,"initial_file_md5":"c24b347dab8a09a8702b37be2caf514e","full_file_md5":"c24b347dab8a09a8702b37be2caf514e","large_file_md5":"","small_file_md5":"","thumbnail_md5":"","deleted":"f","create_datetime":"2015-08-01 23:55:39.625357+02","create_datetime_usertime":"01 Aug 2015 23:55 CEST"}],"pools":[{"pool_id":"24966","name":"TMNT 100 Theme","description":" This is the one that will eventually have female turtles in it. If you don’t like the guys to have relations with females then don’t start reading and just ignore this story. Follows Turtles Fore","count":"72","submission_left_submission_id":"872447","submission_left_file_name":"1186785_Applepye_632.rtf","submission_right_submission_id":"917936","submission_right_file_name":"1253132_Applepye_632.rtf"}],"description":"Goes from smutty to sad. ","description_bbcode_parsed":"<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'>Goes from smutty to sad. </span>","writing":"Leonardo opened his eyes and was greeted by the dim light from the alarm clock and the sounds of Mikey sleeping next to him. Having his brother share the room with him, after all they had been through, helped to ease Leo’s stress. However, as great as it was to have him around, there were times that Leo wanted to be alone. As a matter of fact it was exactly what he wanted that moment. Certain needs had to be met.\n\nWith a soft nudge, Leo attempted to gently wake his little brother. As expected, Mikey was deep asleep. Leonardo had no idea how Mikey could sleep so deeply. He was always so relaxed despite the training and the trauma he had lived through. It was one of the things Leo admired the most about his brother. \n\nThe stress plagued Leo every moment of his life. Maybe it was because Mikey didn’t have the burden leadership that he was able to stay so carefree. Leo would gladly burden the stress if it meant that Mikey could continue to stay so innocent. It was that carefree nature that helped to keep Leo sane. \n\n“Hey,” Leo whispered harshly, shaking Mikey. “It’s your turn to make breakfast.”\n\nMikey moaned and buried his face in his pillow. “I’m making oatmeal in the slow cooker.”\n\nRolling his eyes, Leo sat up in bed; just his luck. He wanted his morning to himself and Mikey set it up so that he could sleep in. There weren’t many options open to Leo. It wasn’t like he could do it in the shower; it was an open space where anyone could enter at any time. So the only option was the bedroom. Leo liked it better in the bedroom anyway. He had access to all that he needed and there was a small sink to clean up afterwards. He just needed the room to himself. He knew Mikey was going to get the hint. A thing that Leo would rather Mikey not know about. Leo heaved a deep sigh. “I would like to be alone this morning.”\n\nMikey turned his head enough to look up at Leo. A knowing smile spread across his beak. “Alright. I’ll get up.” It was one of the biggest down sides to sharing a room. Most of the time, Leo knew when Mikey was… pleasuring himself and vice versa. \n\n“Thanks,” Leo mumbled as Mikey got up. \n\n“I’ll use my extra time to candy some nuts for the oatmeal or something.” Mikey yawned, stretching as he did. “Don would like that. I wonder if Tello has as big a sweet tooth as Donny-boy does.”\n\n“You could ask him,” Leo said as he got out of bed. \n\n“I’m going,” Mikey replied and headed for the door. Locking the nob on the way out, Mikey looked over his shoulder and grinned at Leo. “Don’t make a mess. I don’t want to sleep on sticky sheets.” Mikey shut the door before Leo could stammer out a reply.\n\nLeo walked over and checked the door just to be sure that it was locked before he pulled out his laptop and headphones. It was bad enough Mikey knew what he was going to be doing, he didn’t need the others knowing that he did it to porn. He didn’t watch the porn as much as listen to it. The rough demands of the women turned him on. It was a part of himself he never wanted his family to know about. \n\nThe files on his computer were hidden as best as he knew how and the computer was password protected on top of that. The only one who could hack into his computer was Donny and Leo trusted him not to. In fact, Donatello was so trust worthy that if Leo needed any work done on his laptop he knew that he could trust his brother to fix it without going through his private files. \n\nAfter setting up his laptop, Leo pulled out his box from its hiding spot. He didn’t know where Mikey’s was, nor did he care to. Each of them got a box from Donatello a few years ago, along with a laptop. Donny knew that they all had needs that weren’t being met and did his best to make sure that they could satisfy them on their own. \n\nThe boxes contained a few sex toys, including a fleshlight, and lubricant. All they had to do when they used up their bottle of lubricant was take the empty bottle to Don to get a replacement. He kept himself adequately supplied. The laptops have tough firewall software that would help protect them from getting any malware. Every so often Donny asked for them back to perform updates and to make sure they were free of any viruses. \n\nLeonardo pulled out the fleshlight and his bottle of lubricant. He could tell by the weight of the bottle he was getting close to needing a new one. He hated going to Donny for more. He would have preferred to keep this sort of thing private. The less they knew the better. These little subtle announcements to his brothers were embarrassing. \n\nPushing those thoughts aside, Leonardo got everything ready. As much as he wished he could simply meditate the urges away, he couldn’t. \n\nHe squeezed some lubricant into the fleshlight and placed it on the bed, under a pillow to hold it in place. He then slipped the headphones on and pressed play on his laptop. “Oh yeah…. Fuck me!” the woman’s voice came over the headphones. He listened to the woman’s urging voice as he slid  into the slick silicone. Closing his eyes he focused on the sensation and the words. “Is that all you got?” the woman demanded. “Harder!” And Leo complied. “Oh right there,” the woman continued. “Fuck me right there. Oh shit yeah.”\n\nLeo’s fingers dug into the sheets as he reached climax. He held his breath against the churr so he would not announce to the lair what he was doing. He had a brief moment of disappointment that such a foul mouth could set him off like it did. But it was what he liked and he prayed that no one ever found out about it. \n\n……..  \n\nTello sat in the small shrine with his back against the wall, just under Mikey’s shell, staring at the picture of his family. Closing his eyes he reminisced. He could still hear Mikey’s laugh, see his big blue eyes as he looked up at him in utter confusion, and then the times when he surprised them all with his intuition. \n\nA sad smile crossed Tello’s beak as he remembered the time they shot Raph with arrows while insulting him. He was so quick to anger and insult but he also expressed the deepest level of compassion. \n\nAnd then there was Leo. He was such a dork but he was also dedicated and forced to grow up too fast. They all were. They just wanted to have fun that first day they went to the surface. They didn’t want to be thrust into a war. Part of him wished that they had never asked their father to be allowed to go up. But what would have happened to the rest of the world if they hadn’t? Would Shredder have been able to stop the invasion? Would he have cared enough to? Why was it their burden to bear?\n\nHe couldn’t help but wonder if liberating his brothers’ remains had helped them at all to be a peace. He looked up at Leo’s shell, on the center wall, at all the scars from his torture. There was a thick hole on the upper left side of Raph’s. The one on his plastron had been bigger, but Shredder didn’t keep that part. \n\nWhy did those memories always force themselves to the surface when he was trying to remember the happier times? He wanted to remember their laughter, not their screams or cries for help. \n\n“Donatello,” Splinter’s voice echoed from just beyond the curtain. “I can sense your distress.” Pulling the curtain aside, Splinter looked down at Tello. “Come with me.”\n\nWith a slight nod of his head, Tello wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up. He followed Splinter into the dojo. “Meditate with me,” Splinter said as he pulled the orb from its spot on the shelf and placed it on the floor. \n\nTello took his spot on the mat and focused his mind on the orb and his family. \n\n“I know your mind is troubled right now, but try to think of them at their best,” Splinter instructed, softly. “It will give them the strength they need to come to you whole.”\n\nTello felt the orb reach out to him and did not hesitate to reach back. It was like a wave washed over him and surrounded him in warmth. \n\n“Donnie!” he heard Mikey call out to him. “Have I got news for you.” Tello smiled as Mikey came into view and rushed forward for a warm hug. “There are other turtles here from other worlds who are also waiting to be born into your world. We’ve been sharing stories and getting to know each other. One group said that they knew the Donatello from your world. They all died later in life or quickly and were able to handle it better so they won’t carry their scars with them.”\n\n“Mikey,” Leo hissed out a warning. “You can’t give too much away. We don’t want to chance messing all of this up.”\n\n“Sorry,” Mikey mumbled, looking down at his feet. “I’m gonna miss having three toes.”\n\nRaph came up and smacked Mikey on the back of the head. “Shut up.”\n\n“Ouch,” Mikey complained, rubbing the back of his head. He looked up at Donnie. “Can you believe that it still hurts when they hit me, even here in the spirit world?”\n\nTello laughed at his brothers’ antics. “You all look well.”\n\nLeo nodded. “The shrine you build helped to build our strength.”\n\n“Oh good,” Tello sighed and then tilted is head to the side. “You know about that?”\n\n“Yeah,” Raph nodded. “We know. When you cremated Splinter’s pelt he was able to enter into his next life.”\n\n“Is it Karai’s child, like Miwa thinks?” Tello asked. \n\n“Yeah,” Leo nodded. “I think it’s safe to tell you that now.”\n\n“What about Shen?” Tello asked. “Has she left for her new life?”\n\nLeo and Raph shared a look before Raph answered. “She has to wait a few years before she is able to go. And we can’t tell you where she is going.”\n\n“I understand,” Tello nodded. Smiling he reached out to Leo and rested his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’m just glad you are doing better. How are the others?”\n\n“April and Casey are getting ready to go,” Leo answered. “April’s death was kind of quick so she won’t be affected as much. Casey, on the other hand, suffered for a while so… he will. Leatherhead’s decided that he didn’t want to be reborn so he has moved on. And Slash is just waiting for his time to go. He’s going to be reborn about the same time we are.”\n\n“Is it soon?” Tello dared to ask. \n\n“We’ve got a while,” Mikey answered with a shrug. “We can’t tell you anything more than that.”\n\n“But you’ll tell me,” Tello pleaded. “You’ll tell me before you go? I don’t want to come back here to find that you all are gone. I want to be able to say goodbye.”\n\n“We’ll tell you,” Raph reassured him. “I promise.”\n\n“You should probably go,” Mikey said as he put a hand on his chest. “It’s getting hard for me to breathe.”\n\nTello turned to Mikey and pulled him into his arms. “Is it because I’m here? Are you getting tired again?” \n\n“No,” Raph answered. “Being tired only makes it hard for us to hide our scars. Every so often, we relive our deaths. It’s a spirit thing, I guess. We won’t be able to hold our concentration while it happens. You’ll be able to see the scars that our deaths have left on our souls.”\n\n“I don’t want to go through it again,” Mikey said in a panic and Tello held him tighter. “I don’t like not being able to breathe. It hurts.”\n\n“You should go,” Leo said, placing his hand on Tello’s shoulder. “Mikey’s is kind of long. You shouldn’t have to go through it again. And aside from that, like Raph said, you’ll be able to see our scars.”\n\nTello shook his head. “I wasn’t able to comfort Mikey then. I’m not going to leave him now.” Mikey gasped for air and stopped breathing. His knees buckled and Tello guided him to the ground, still cradling him in his arms. Mikey’s eyes were fogged over and his skin was ashen. He looked as if his dead body had just been pulled out of the river. “I’ve got you, Mikey.”\n\nMikey gasped and clung to Tello. “Don’t let them send me back down,” he pleaded before he held his breath again. It felt as if they were underwater. It felt real enough that Tello almost started to hold his breath. But he knew it was just in his mind. He was safe in the lair, in the dojo with Splinter next to him. It wasn’t real. He could breathe.\n\n“I’m here, Mikey,” Tello soothed. “It isn’t real. It’s just a vivid memory.” He looked over his shoulder at his brothers, who were frozen in place like they couldn’t do anything else. Blood seeped from Raph’s ears and his eyes were gone. Leo somehow still managed to concentrate enough to hide his scars. Tello looked back down at Mikey and held his little brother’s head with both hands in an attempt to get Mikey to look at him. “It isn’t real Mikey. Breathe. You’re not under water. It’s all in your head.” He looked back at his brothers. “You’re not in cages. Snap out of it!” Pressing his forehead against Mikey’s, Tello screamed, “Breathe!”\n\nMikey gasped and grabbed hold of Tello. “It’s just in my head,” he rasped out. “It’s not real.”\n\n“You don’t have to relive it,” Tello soothed. “Think of a good time. Remember being out at the farm, being able to run out in the open field and bask in the sun?”\n\nMikey nodded his head. “That was nice.” The sensation of being underwater started to fade and it was replaced with the feeling of warmth. Some of the color returned to Mikey and he looked up at Tello with is bright blue eyes. “I remember the first time we looked up at the stars. There were so many in the sky. It was so beautiful.” It didn’t last and Mikey’s color once again started to fade but at least he was calm. \n\n“And then the fireflies as they started to dance around us made it look like we were surrounded by the stars.” Tello fought the urge to cry as he continued to hold on to Mikey. “And then one landed on your nose. We both started laughing.”\n\n“Thank you, Donnie,” Mikey whispered, curling into Tello’s arms. \n\n“We don’t have to relive our deaths,” Raph said, dropping to his knees behind Tello. “We can fight against it.”\n\n“You really helped us today, Donnie,” Leo stated, placing his hand on Tello’s shoulder. “But we are all starting to get tired. You don’t want to see me when I get too tired to hide my scars. It’s not a pretty sight.”\n\n“Okay,” Tello nodded. “I’ll go. I’m glad you’re doing better.”\n\n“We’ll see you later, Donnie,” Raph said and collected Mikey from Tello. “We’ll be okay.”\n\nPulling himself away from the orb, Tello opened his eyes. Splinter reached over and placed his hand over Tello’s. “Did it help?”\n\n“Yeah,” Tello nodded. “It did.”\n","writing_bbcode_parsed":"<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'>Leonardo opened his eyes and was greeted by the dim light from the alarm clock and the sounds of Mikey sleeping next to him. Having his brother share the room with him, after all they had been through, helped to ease Leo&rsquo;s stress. However, as great as it was to have him around, there were times that Leo wanted to be alone. As a matter of fact it was exactly what he wanted that moment. Certain needs had to be met.<br /><br />With a soft nudge, Leo attempted to gently wake his little brother. As expected, Mikey was deep asleep. Leonardo had no idea how Mikey could sleep so deeply. He was always so relaxed despite the training and the trauma he had lived through. It was one of the things Leo admired the most about his brother. <br /><br />The stress plagued Leo every moment of his life. Maybe it was because Mikey didn&rsquo;t have the burden leadership that he was able to stay so carefree. Leo would gladly burden the stress if it meant that Mikey could continue to stay so innocent. It was that carefree nature that helped to keep Leo sane. <br /><br />&ldquo;Hey,&rdquo; Leo whispered harshly, shaking Mikey. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s your turn to make breakfast.&rdquo;<br /><br />Mikey moaned and buried his face in his pillow. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m making oatmeal in the slow cooker.&rdquo;<br /><br />Rolling his eyes, Leo sat up in bed; just his luck. He wanted his morning to himself and Mikey set it up so that he could sleep in. There weren&rsquo;t many options open to Leo. It wasn&rsquo;t like he could do it in the shower; it was an open space where anyone could enter at any time. So the only option was the bedroom. Leo liked it better in the bedroom anyway. He had access to all that he needed and there was a small sink to clean up afterwards. He just needed the room to himself. He knew Mikey was going to get the hint. A thing that Leo would rather Mikey not know about. Leo heaved a deep sigh. &ldquo;I would like to be alone this morning.&rdquo;<br /><br />Mikey turned his head enough to look up at Leo. A knowing smile spread across his beak. &ldquo;Alright. I&rsquo;ll get up.&rdquo; It was one of the biggest down sides to sharing a room. Most of the time, Leo knew when Mikey was&hellip; pleasuring himself and vice versa. <br /><br />&ldquo;Thanks,&rdquo; Leo mumbled as Mikey got up. <br /><br />&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll use my extra time to candy some nuts for the oatmeal or something.&rdquo; Mikey yawned, stretching as he did. &ldquo;Don would like that. I wonder if Tello has as big a sweet tooth as Donny-boy does.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;You could ask him,&rdquo; Leo said as he got out of bed. <br /><br />&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going,&rdquo; Mikey replied and headed for the door. Locking the nob on the way out, Mikey looked over his shoulder and grinned at Leo. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t make a mess. I don&rsquo;t want to sleep on sticky sheets.&rdquo; Mikey shut the door before Leo could stammer out a reply.<br /><br />Leo walked over and checked the door just to be sure that it was locked before he pulled out his laptop and headphones. It was bad enough Mikey knew what he was going to be doing, he didn&rsquo;t need the others knowing that he did it to porn. He didn&rsquo;t watch the porn as much as listen to it. The rough demands of the women turned him on. It was a part of himself he never wanted his family to know about. <br /><br />The files on his computer were hidden as best as he knew how and the computer was password protected on top of that. The only one who could hack into his computer was Donny and Leo trusted him not to. In fact, Donatello was so trust worthy that if Leo needed any work done on his laptop he knew that he could trust his brother to fix it without going through his private files. <br /><br />After setting up his laptop, Leo pulled out his box from its hiding spot. He didn&rsquo;t know where Mikey&rsquo;s was, nor did he care to. Each of them got a box from Donatello a few years ago, along with a laptop. Donny knew that they all had needs that weren&rsquo;t being met and did his best to make sure that they could satisfy them on their own. <br /><br />The boxes contained a few sex toys, including a fleshlight, and lubricant. All they had to do when they used up their bottle of lubricant was take the empty bottle to Don to get a replacement. He kept himself adequately supplied. The laptops have tough firewall software that would help protect them from getting any malware. Every so often Donny asked for them back to perform updates and to make sure they were free of any viruses. <br /><br />Leonardo pulled out the fleshlight and his bottle of lubricant. He could tell by the weight of the bottle he was getting close to needing a new one. He hated going to Donny for more. He would have preferred to keep this sort of thing private. The less they knew the better. These little subtle announcements to his brothers were embarrassing. <br /><br />Pushing those thoughts aside, Leonardo got everything ready. As much as he wished he could simply meditate the urges away, he couldn&rsquo;t. <br /><br />He squeezed some lubricant into the fleshlight and placed it on the bed, under a pillow to hold it in place. He then slipped the headphones on and pressed play on his laptop. &ldquo;Oh yeah&hellip;. Fuck me!&rdquo; the woman&rsquo;s voice came over the headphones. He listened to the woman&rsquo;s urging voice as he slid&nbsp;&nbsp;into the slick silicone. Closing his eyes he focused on the sensation and the words. &ldquo;Is that all you got?&rdquo; the woman demanded. &ldquo;Harder!&rdquo; And Leo complied. &ldquo;Oh right there,&rdquo; the woman continued. &ldquo;Fuck me right there. Oh shit yeah.&rdquo;<br /><br />Leo&rsquo;s fingers dug into the sheets as he reached climax. He held his breath against the churr so he would not announce to the lair what he was doing. He had a brief moment of disappointment that such a foul mouth could set him off like it did. But it was what he liked and he prayed that no one ever found out about it. <br /><br />&hellip;&hellip;..&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><br />Tello sat in the small shrine with his back against the wall, just under Mikey&rsquo;s shell, staring at the picture of his family. Closing his eyes he reminisced. He could still hear Mikey&rsquo;s laugh, see his big blue eyes as he looked up at him in utter confusion, and then the times when he surprised them all with his intuition. <br /><br />A sad smile crossed Tello&rsquo;s beak as he remembered the time they shot Raph with arrows while insulting him. He was so quick to anger and insult but he also expressed the deepest level of compassion. <br /><br />And then there was Leo. He was such a dork but he was also dedicated and forced to grow up too fast. They all were. They just wanted to have fun that first day they went to the surface. They didn&rsquo;t want to be thrust into a war. Part of him wished that they had never asked their father to be allowed to go up. But what would have happened to the rest of the world if they hadn&rsquo;t? Would Shredder have been able to stop the invasion? Would he have cared enough to? Why was it their burden to bear?<br /><br />He couldn&rsquo;t help but wonder if liberating his brothers&rsquo; remains had helped them at all to be a peace. He looked up at Leo&rsquo;s shell, on the center wall, at all the scars from his torture. There was a thick hole on the upper left side of Raph&rsquo;s. The one on his plastron had been bigger, but Shredder didn&rsquo;t keep that part. <br /><br />Why did those memories always force themselves to the surface when he was trying to remember the happier times? He wanted to remember their laughter, not their screams or cries for help. <br /><br />&ldquo;Donatello,&rdquo; Splinter&rsquo;s voice echoed from just beyond the curtain. &ldquo;I can sense your distress.&rdquo; Pulling the curtain aside, Splinter looked down at Tello. &ldquo;Come with me.&rdquo;<br /><br />With a slight nod of his head, Tello wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up. He followed Splinter into the dojo. &ldquo;Meditate with me,&rdquo; Splinter said as he pulled the orb from its spot on the shelf and placed it on the floor. <br /><br />Tello took his spot on the mat and focused his mind on the orb and his family. <br /><br />&ldquo;I know your mind is troubled right now, but try to think of them at their best,&rdquo; Splinter instructed, softly. &ldquo;It will give them the strength they need to come to you whole.&rdquo;<br /><br />Tello felt the orb reach out to him and did not hesitate to reach back. It was like a wave washed over him and surrounded him in warmth. <br /><br />&ldquo;Donnie!&rdquo; he heard Mikey call out to him. &ldquo;Have I got news for you.&rdquo; Tello smiled as Mikey came into view and rushed forward for a warm hug. &ldquo;There are other turtles here from other worlds who are also waiting to be born into your world. We&rsquo;ve been sharing stories and getting to know each other. One group said that they knew the Donatello from your world. They all died later in life or quickly and were able to handle it better so they won&rsquo;t carry their scars with them.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Mikey,&rdquo; Leo hissed out a warning. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t give too much away. We don&rsquo;t want to chance messing all of this up.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Sorry,&rdquo; Mikey mumbled, looking down at his feet. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m gonna miss having three toes.&rdquo;<br /><br />Raph came up and smacked Mikey on the back of the head. &ldquo;Shut up.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Ouch,&rdquo; Mikey complained, rubbing the back of his head. He looked up at Donnie. &ldquo;Can you believe that it still hurts when they hit me, even here in the spirit world?&rdquo;<br /><br />Tello laughed at his brothers&rsquo; antics. &ldquo;You all look well.&rdquo;<br /><br />Leo nodded. &ldquo;The shrine you build helped to build our strength.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Oh good,&rdquo; Tello sighed and then tilted is head to the side. &ldquo;You know about that?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Yeah,&rdquo; Raph nodded. &ldquo;We know. When you cremated Splinter&rsquo;s pelt he was able to enter into his next life.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Is it Karai&rsquo;s child, like Miwa thinks?&rdquo; Tello asked. <br /><br />&ldquo;Yeah,&rdquo; Leo nodded. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s safe to tell you that now.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;What about Shen?&rdquo; Tello asked. &ldquo;Has she left for her new life?&rdquo;<br /><br />Leo and Raph shared a look before Raph answered. &ldquo;She has to wait a few years before she is able to go. And we can&rsquo;t tell you where she is going.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;I understand,&rdquo; Tello nodded. Smiling he reached out to Leo and rested his hand on his brother&rsquo;s shoulder. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just glad you are doing better. How are the others?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;April and Casey are getting ready to go,&rdquo; Leo answered. &ldquo;April&rsquo;s death was kind of quick so she won&rsquo;t be affected as much. Casey, on the other hand, suffered for a while so&hellip; he will. Leatherhead&rsquo;s decided that he didn&rsquo;t want to be reborn so he has moved on. And Slash is just waiting for his time to go. He&rsquo;s going to be reborn about the same time we are.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Is it soon?&rdquo; Tello dared to ask. <br /><br />&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a while,&rdquo; Mikey answered with a shrug. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t tell you anything more than that.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;But you&rsquo;ll tell me,&rdquo; Tello pleaded. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ll tell me before you go? I don&rsquo;t want to come back here to find that you all are gone. I want to be able to say goodbye.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll tell you,&rdquo; Raph reassured him. &ldquo;I promise.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;You should probably go,&rdquo; Mikey said as he put a hand on his chest. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s getting hard for me to breathe.&rdquo;<br /><br />Tello turned to Mikey and pulled him into his arms. &ldquo;Is it because I&rsquo;m here? Are you getting tired again?&rdquo; <br /><br />&ldquo;No,&rdquo; Raph answered. &ldquo;Being tired only makes it hard for us to hide our scars. Every so often, we relive our deaths. It&rsquo;s a spirit thing, I guess. We won&rsquo;t be able to hold our concentration while it happens. You&rsquo;ll be able to see the scars that our deaths have left on our souls.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to go through it again,&rdquo; Mikey said in a panic and Tello held him tighter. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like not being able to breathe. It hurts.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;You should go,&rdquo; Leo said, placing his hand on Tello&rsquo;s shoulder. &ldquo;Mikey&rsquo;s is kind of long. You shouldn&rsquo;t have to go through it again. And aside from that, like Raph said, you&rsquo;ll be able to see our scars.&rdquo;<br /><br />Tello shook his head. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t able to comfort Mikey then. I&rsquo;m not going to leave him now.&rdquo; Mikey gasped for air and stopped breathing. His knees buckled and Tello guided him to the ground, still cradling him in his arms. Mikey&rsquo;s eyes were fogged over and his skin was ashen. He looked as if his dead body had just been pulled out of the river. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got you, Mikey.&rdquo;<br /><br />Mikey gasped and clung to Tello. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t let them send me back down,&rdquo; he pleaded before he held his breath again. It felt as if they were underwater. It felt real enough that Tello almost started to hold his breath. But he knew it was just in his mind. He was safe in the lair, in the dojo with Splinter next to him. It wasn&rsquo;t real. He could breathe.<br /><br />&ldquo;I&rsquo;m here, Mikey,&rdquo; Tello soothed. &ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t real. It&rsquo;s just a vivid memory.&rdquo; He looked over his shoulder at his brothers, who were frozen in place like they couldn&rsquo;t do anything else. Blood seeped from Raph&rsquo;s ears and his eyes were gone. Leo somehow still managed to concentrate enough to hide his scars. Tello looked back down at Mikey and held his little brother&rsquo;s head with both hands in an attempt to get Mikey to look at him. &ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t real Mikey. Breathe. You&rsquo;re not under water. It&rsquo;s all in your head.&rdquo; He looked back at his brothers. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not in cages. Snap out of it!&rdquo; Pressing his forehead against Mikey&rsquo;s, Tello screamed, &ldquo;Breathe!&rdquo;<br /><br />Mikey gasped and grabbed hold of Tello. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just in my head,&rdquo; he rasped out. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not real.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have to relive it,&rdquo; Tello soothed. &ldquo;Think of a good time. Remember being out at the farm, being able to run out in the open field and bask in the sun?&rdquo;<br /><br />Mikey nodded his head. &ldquo;That was nice.&rdquo; The sensation of being underwater started to fade and it was replaced with the feeling of warmth. Some of the color returned to Mikey and he looked up at Tello with is bright blue eyes. &ldquo;I remember the first time we looked up at the stars. There were so many in the sky. It was so beautiful.&rdquo; It didn&rsquo;t last and Mikey&rsquo;s color once again started to fade but at least he was calm. <br /><br />&ldquo;And then the fireflies as they started to dance around us made it look like we were surrounded by the stars.&rdquo; Tello fought the urge to cry as he continued to hold on to Mikey. &ldquo;And then one landed on your nose. We both started laughing.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Thank you, Donnie,&rdquo; Mikey whispered, curling into Tello&rsquo;s arms. <br /><br />&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have to relive our deaths,&rdquo; Raph said, dropping to his knees behind Tello. &ldquo;We can fight against it.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;You really helped us today, Donnie,&rdquo; Leo stated, placing his hand on Tello&rsquo;s shoulder. &ldquo;But we are all starting to get tired. You don&rsquo;t want to see me when I get too tired to hide my scars. It&rsquo;s not a pretty sight.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Okay,&rdquo; Tello nodded. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go. I&rsquo;m glad you&rsquo;re doing better.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see you later, Donnie,&rdquo; Raph said and collected Mikey from Tello. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be okay.&rdquo;<br /><br />Pulling himself away from the orb, Tello opened his eyes. Splinter reached over and placed his hand over Tello&rsquo;s. &ldquo;Did it help?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Yeah,&rdquo; Tello nodded. &ldquo;It did.&rdquo;<br /></span>","pools_count":1,"title":"TMNT 100 Theme #24 Seeking Solace","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"text/rtf","pagecount":"1","rating_id":"2","rating_name":"Adult","ratings":[{"content_tag_id":"3","name":"Violence","description":"Mild violence","rating_id":"1"},{"content_tag_id":"4","name":"Sexual Themes","description":"Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal","rating_id":"2"}],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"t","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"6","views":"127","sales_description":null,"forsale":"f","digitalsales":"f","printsales":"f","digital_price":""}