Raphael's eyes flicked open with a jolt of energy. He was used to waking up early in the morning after a poor night's sleep by now. If that wasn't enough, there was always that little spike of wakefulness. Almost as though someone were poking him via an extrasensory mental connection. His eyes narrowed and he glared down the hall at the spare room where his teacher, Master Adachi, was—undoubtedly—already awake and awaiting him. He sighed and looked down at his brothers.

They had fallen asleep in a heap somewhere in the middle of Space Heroes IV, Leo's choice, obviously. He was such a nerd.

Getting out from under his siblings without waking them was going to take a significant amount of contortion. Raph's gnawed his lip as he concentrated on sending a tiny pulse of soothing energy through his older brother's body. It had the desired affect. He was able to wriggle out of Leo's grip without waking him. Moving Donny and Mikey was considerably easier because the two little brothers were completely knocked out.

Raph looked fondly back at the turtle pile, but another tug on the mental string between master and student broke his smile. He prodded gently in reply and proceeded to the spare room.

Adachi was seated in the center or the dim space, which was lit only by candlelight. Sensei and student exchanged no words. After bowing respectfully, Raphael took his place beside his teacher and joined in morning meditation.

----------------------

Leonardo turned drowsily, reaching blindly out with one hand. His fingertips felt the rigid curvature of a shell and his eyes cracked open. Orange...Michelangelo. His other arm was also wrapped around a shell. He turned his head. Purple...Donnie. He closed his eyes and his ears tuned in on their gentle breathing. One, two sets of breath next to him. Leo's heavy eyelids drooped as he listened to the deep, soothing pattern of breaths surrounding him.

Then he jerked forward. His eyes snapped opened all the way. His eyes looked from side to side. His breath hitched and his little brothers began to stir.

"Ugh." Don rubbed his head and looked up at his older brother. "Leo?"

"Where's Raph?" Mikey asked, his voice thick from sleep.

"Yeah. We got most of the way through Space Heroes III, and that's the last I remember seeing him."

"That's because you fell asleep first, D! I told you, you needed more caffeine."

"I did not fall asleep first!"

"Oh really? Then I guess all that snoring must have just been your movie commentary."

"I do not snore, Mikey!"

Leo's panicked breath evened out a little. Raph had come home last night. But then, where in the world...

As if in answer to the question in their minds, an unfamiliar voice, low and biting sounded through the quiet lair from the dojo.

"Where is your focus?"

Thud. Thud.

"Don't let your guard down."

Bang! Smack!

"I've seen far better from you."

Mikey shook off his sleepiness and said, "I think he's in the dojo."

Leo rolled his eyes. Donatello playfully smacked the back of their little brother's head.

Mikey giggled, "Seriously, though, D. You totally snore, bro."

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

As his younger siblings continued this very mature argument, Leo crept over and slid the dojo doors open enough to see inside. He wanted to watch Adachi train his brother. The longer he watched the more his lips curled and he his teeth ground together like he was eating one of Mikey's experimental pizza recipes. Mikey and Donnie's argument was cut off by Leo's uncharacteristic growl. Perplexed, they joined him at the dojo doors.

Raphael took blow after blow, getting knocked back and shooting forward. Then he got slammed shoulder-first into the dojo wall. He slid down to the floor like a raindrop on a windshield. Still panting heavily, Raph's head came back up and his golden eyes glittered. He shook his left arm and pounded the shoulder with his fist, trying to get some feeling back in the injured limb.

Leo's blue eyes became dangerously bluer.

With a loud battle cry, Raphael charged. Adachi used Raphael's momentum against him. Adachi's knee slammed against Raph's plastron, and a swift kick sent him flying across the room. Raph hit the mat gasping.

"Get up," Adachi ordered

The turtles tensed. Leo's legs moved before his body even registered the fact, leading him straight into the path of the rising hothead. His younger brother safely at his back, Leo scowled at their guest.

"What's your damage, Leo?"

"What?! My damage?" Leo wheeled 'round with his fists clenched. His jaw dropped.

The scuffs on Raph's arms and shell were gone. Stunned silence followed. Adachi was dissecting Leonardo with his eyes, making the leader twitch.

Master Splinter came up behind Donatello and Michelangelo, surveying the scene with narrowed eyes. "What is going on in here?!"

Leo crossed his arms over his chest. "You tell me," he said. His glare shifted from Raph to Adachi.

"Oh, so now you coming in here and interrupting our training session is my fault?" Raph's voice rose. His fists were hungry for a fight.

Donatello's eyes met Mikey's, and they nodded. Mikey handed one of his nunchaku to his brother.

"No," Leo shook his head, stepping defiantly into Raph's space. His eyes turned, once again, to Master Adachi. "It's his."

One of Adachi's eyebrows rose.

Master Splinter's ears flattened against his head. "Leonardo! Master Adachi is our guest—"

"And my Sensei," Raph growled.

Leo snapped. Words left his mouth unchecked. "Why should he be?"

No one graced Leo's question with an answer. With the exception of Raphael, all eyes drifted towards the ninja master in question.

His face was as blank as Raph's.

Mikey's head tilted to one side. Raph's fists, first shaking with rage, had gone still. At the same time, Leo's chest heaved and the veins in his neck were bulging.

Don's shoulder twitched and he raised a hand to scratch it. The tingle of little legs made him freeze. His neck creaked as his head swiveled in dreaded slow motion to look at his hand.

The brainiac's terrified scream killed the elephant in the room. He flung the bug away and sputtered at his family's rush of questions. One voice rose far above the rest:

"Nobody move!" Raphael bellowed.

They obeyed.

"Where are ya, little guy? Donnie didn't mean to scare you."

"Scare him?! What about me?!"

A screeching song hit the air and everyone looked at the wall.

"Whoa!" Mikey exclaimed, rushing towards it.

"Mikey—" Raph's warning came too late and the cicada flew away from Mikey's grasping hands.

"Ah! I got it! I got it!" Mikey chased it.

The bug flew straight for Raph with Mikey in hot pursuit. Raph caught his little friend in his hands, and kept his little brother at bay with his foot.

"Leave him alone, Mikey. He's been traumatized enough already, you'll scare him to death with your ugly mug."

"Dude, I'm right here." Mikey stuck out his bottom lip and was disappointed when Raph rolled his eyes.

"Raphael!" A stick hit the ground.

Raph jerked to attention.

"What have I told you about bringing strange creatures into the lair?"

His eye-ridges rose as he shifted his weight from side to side. "Um...nothing Sensei."

"Yeah, I think that was me, Sensei." Mikey pointed out.

Splinter's paw hit his forehead and he groaned. "I should not have to tell you!"

"Raphael, perhaps it would be better if you return your—friend—to his box." Adachi suggested.

"Hai Sensei," he bowed. His eyes strayed to his father.

Splinter sighed and gave a curt nod.

"Friend?" Leo asked.

The cicada crawled up Raphael's arm and all the way up to rest atop his head. He grinned briefly at it and ran a finger along its back.

Three green jaws dropped.

Donnie's finger trembled as he pointed and asked, "Who are you and what have you done with my brother, Raphael?"

A rough hand slapped Donnie's away.

"Haha, very funny. I'll be in my room."

Brief silence followed Raphael's departure as they watched him go. Master Splinter's ears fell and he turned to his old friend.

"You conquered Raph's fear of bugs?"

Adachi was grinning fondly after Raphael, shaking his head. At Splinter's question, his face stiffened. His gaze dropped to the mats.

"I have tried for years to help Raphael face his fear, and I was not successful." Splinter murmured.

"Sometimes it is easier to confess one's fears to a stranger than it is to admit them to a friend or family member, my friend."

-------------------------

"There you go, little guy. Nice and happy."

The cicada crawled onto the bark inside its box and warbled.

"You know, cicada are very hard to sustain in captivity. For bugs they produce a surprisingly large amount of waste and they feed on living tree matter, so—"

"Donnie."

The quiet call halted any further dissertation. His eyes met his brother's. Don's jaw clenched and his mouth formed a grim line.

"What happened to you?"

"This, again? You trying to be funny, Don?"

Donnie didn't even blink.

"What happened to you, Raphael?" he repeated.

Raph pulled his shoulders back and drew himself up to his full height.

"We all felt it."

Raph's eyes widened. Then the muscles in his face relaxed. He sighed and trotted past his brother to his bag, bringing out a few packages wrapped in brown paper.

"I saw what was in your mind, Raphael. I deserve to know."

Raph set the packages aside. He didn't turn around. "I got sick."

Don stood a little straighter. "That's Master Splinter's story."

His older brother glared back at him.

"That's the only story." Raph said, stressing the second and third words.

The stare-off was fierce. If a single grain of rice had hit the floor of Raph's room, both turtles would have jumped.

Donnie blinked first. He growled and turned away, only to toss his head back over his shoulder, "Leo had a valid point. Why is he still your Sensei?"

"My six month training period isn't over."

"Then why come back?" Don clenched his fists.

The words hung in the air. Raph moved away.

"That eager to get rid of me, Don?"

Donnie turned. His mouth fell open and his eye-ridges drew together. One arm reached for Raph's shoulder, but his courage withered and he fell short. "Raphael, whatever's going on—"

"Just go, Donatello."

"Why won't you tell me?" he demanded, balling his fist at his side.

"Go."

A clammy current of air blew into the room as Donatello stormed out of it. He took one last look back. Raph hadn't moved an inch. Don's lips curled and he slammed the door behind him.

Raphael's hand reached out. He spread his fingers against the cool wall and slid down to the floor. His head dropped down onto his knees.

"I'm sorry, Don," he whispered, "but I have to keep you safe."

---------------------------

Leo sighed. He looked at the lab door, the sounds of a blowtorch and miscellaneous clanging came from inside. At the same time, a happy ditty drifting from the kitchen indicated they would be having ramen for dinner tonight.

He turned off the television and wandered down the hallway. His feet carried him straight to Raphael's door. Leo reached for the doorknob, but quickly drew back his hand. Looking both ways down the hall, he shifted his weight from side to side. He reached for the doorknob again, stopping when he noticed the eerie gold light pouring out the little crack at the bottom of the door. One of his eye-ridges rose. His fist knocked firmly on the door.

"Raph?"

Something heavy fell on the other side of the door and hit the ground with a harsh thud. Leo breezed into the room, eyes scanning the room from top to bottom and left to right.

Raphael was lying in a heap on the floor, staring at his older brother with eyes wide as saucers. "I...I fell."

A smirk was threatening to form on Leo's lips. "From where? The ceiling?"

Raph's face turned red as his bandana tails. "No! Shut up!"

"What'd you do? Trip on the rug?" Leo asked, smiling.

"Can it, Fearless!" The color started to drain from the hothead's face.

"Of course it wasn't your fault. Obviously the rug caught you off guard by jumping up at you."

His face resuming its natural shade of dark green, Raph's golden eyes turned to Leonardo. "Not a word."

"Aw, come on, Raph. Don't you think Mikey and Donnie should be warned about the dangers of your sentient carpet?" He laughed hysterically.

Leo's laughter stopped abruptly when Raphael grabbed him by the plastron. The red-masked turtle's glowing golden eyes stared so fiercely into Leo's soul it made his blood run cold.

"Give me your word that you won't tell anyone about what you saw."

"Raph, I don't understand. What are you—"

"Why did you come here?"

Wide-eyed and caught in his younger brother's iron grip Leo's lips quavered, "Donnie and Mikey are busy. I came to—apologize for earlier and I—I saw a light." He wriggled, with no success. "Look man, put me down. Seriously, what is your deal?"

Raph released him.

"You just caught me at a bad time. I was trying to—" he lowered his voice, "meditate."

Leo's brain stalled. He blinked slowly. "Meditating?"

"Yes."

"You?"

Raph scoffed. "Well du-uh. The shell do you think the damn candles are for? Romantic atmosphere?" he jibed.

"Covering up the stink of leather and sweat..."

"Why you little—get over here! I'll slap that smirk right off your face!"

Laughter bounced off the walls. Leo hightailed it out of there with his little brother at his heels. Laughing like a child, Leo looked back over his shoulder. He laughed even more when he realized that Raphael was laughing with him.

"Run all you want, Fearless! I'll get ya!"

"Imma getcha, 'Eo!" echoed the Raph he remembered.

Memories steering him out of the lair and into the sewers, Leo twisted and turned through the tunnels.

Raph caught up earlier than expected, but instead of pouncing, he matched Leo stride for stride.

"Thought you were trying to catch me," the eldest reminded him.

"I was, until you stopped running."

Leo raised an eye-ridge, but kept moving. "We're still running, Raph."

Shaking his head, Raph explained, "You weren't running from me anymore, you started running to something...or somewhere," he corrected, softly.

"You still remember the way."

"Could get there with my eyes closed."

"Didn't think you remembered."

"I've never forgotten."

They slowed to a stop. Their eyes met.

With a nod of the head, Leo took a step back. "Lead the way."

Nodding, Raphael made a sharp left.

This was a very old part of the sewers. They climbed up a narrow, iron ladder covered in rust. It creaked under their weight. Raph hoisted himself up and offered his arm to his brother. Leo took it. Shoulder to shoulder they stood, staring down a tunnel very different from the ones they'd just left.

"The secret subway. After so many years..." Raph said.

Leo's eyes glazed over. He looked over at Raph and saw his little brother...six years old, huge green eyes filled with joy and laughter.

"I'm not that kid anymore, Leo."

Leo started. He gave a stiff nod, but said nothing.

"Raphie, come on, we gotta go home or Master Splinter will come looking for us!"

"Aww, but you said I could be the pirate king this time..."

"You can be king next time. We gotta go home now."

"Promise?"

"Yes, Raphie, I promise."

"Why are you thinking so much about it?"

"Huh?" Leo blinked.

"Us playing here. You'd think there'd be other things on your mind, Fearless. Patrols, training, dinner, stuff like that."

"How did you—?"

"Bit obvious," Raph quickly supplied. "Why else lead me here?"

"I came here a few times while you were away."

"And?"

"It's not the same."

"I coulda told ya that. Nothing's ever the way it seemed back then."

"What happened to us, little brother?"

Raphael sighed. "That's an easy one, Leo. We grew up."

-------------------------

In the dead of night, the two older turtles slunk stealthily back into the lair. All was quiet, but the light in Donatello's lab was still on.

"Go to bed, Fearless. I got this one." Raph gestured to the lab.

"Sure you won't need a hand?"

"Nah, best do this one alone. Don and I—we got a few things to sort out."

Tired eyes staring up into Raph's, Leo nodded. But before Raph could leave, his wrist was caught in a firm grip. "Raphael, you know if you ever need to talk..."

Raph shoved his older brother's face backwards. "Sheesh, go to bed, Fearless, before you start getting really sappy. It's too late for this shit." He was startled anew by a stiff one-armed hug from Leo.

"Goodnight, little brother."

Leo's door clicking shut snapped Raphael out of his stunned contemplation. Drifting back to the task at hand, he cautiously maneuvered his way through the mass of inventions in Donnie's lab.

The brainiac was in the process of falling asleep at the desk, but at the sight of Raph, he rose, his brown eyes challenged Raph's presence.

Raph raised his hands. "You're not too happy to see me."

All he got from the brainiac was a scoff.

"After earlier, I don't exactly expect ya to be. But from what I heard, you took my trip the hardest. Why's that, Don? Because you might be next, because of Leo's extended vacation in the jungle, or because you couldn't stop me?"

Don's eyes closed and he lowered his head.

"And then you three felt my thoughts. Can't accept that it wasn't your fault, can you? I guess I can understand that. Fevers can bring out some strange things."

"It wasn't just a fever," Don spoke for the first time, his voice hoarse.

Raph took a long look at the brainiac. Don's shoulders were tense, his face was relaxed and his chest was puffed out.

"No, it wasn't." Raph ceded, any protest would have been useless. "How much do you know?"

Inclining his head, Don kept it vague, "Not much. Master Splinter said that your decision may have changed our lives forever. You seem awfully close and loyal to your Sensei even though you've only known him for four months. And whatever this is—it's not a fever or a sickness. It's something much more powerful than that." Without another word, Donnie's hand swiped Raph's shoulder and the hothead gasped.

Cursing, Raph grabbed the shallow wound with his opposite hand. "The shell, Donnie?!"

His eyes detected the silver gleam of a shuriken pressed between Donatello's fingers. He pulled his hand off the wound to further scold his brother. Raph saw the movement of Donnie's eyes and realized, too late, the brainiac's true intent.

"Clever little shit."

Don bravely stepped forward and examined Raph's shoulder. The cut was gone.

"Some kind of self-healing?"

"Something like that."

Their eyes met.

"Don, if you tell anyone..."

"Tell me the truth."

Raph shook his head. "I can't. Don, I can't tell you anything. But please believe me when I say that I have good reasons for not telling you. I know you won't understand, but Donnie, I need you to try and accept it."

"Fine."

Raph's hand gently squeezed Donatello's shoulder. "Thanks little brother. Now get some sleep. You got trainin' tomorrow morning." Making his way to the door, Raph paused. "You comin'?"

"I'll catch up. Give me a couple minutes to put some of this stuff away."

"Two minutes." The hothead left the room.

Don straightened some things and rolled up a few blueprints. With a glare at the door Raph had disappeared through he murmured, "For now, Raphael. I may not understand right now. But I will figure it out."

-------------------------

Donnie's two minutes were up. Raph got off the couch and started for the lab when—

"Raphael."

"Master Splinter." Raph bowed.

"Please come with me, my son."

"But I was just going to the lab to tell Donnie—"

Splinter's sharp stare halted any further protests. He followed his father to the dojo.

"Sit." Splinter ordered.

Raph obeyed.

The old rat's ears fell and his tail drooped.

"Father?" Raphael leant forward.

"Raphael...there are a few things we need to discuss."

"If this is about the cicada, I—"

Splinter raised a hand. "This evening while you were out, Adachi and I had a lengthy conversation on the subject of your training."

Golden eyes rose to scan his father's face.

"He has asked that you become his fulltime student."

"W-What?"

Plowing straight through the shocked response, Splinter continued, "This, I am certain you realize, would mean a prolonged period in Japan."

Blinking rapidly, Raph tried to speak, but floundered.

"Such distance would put a further strain on your brothers and myself, but it is your future we are discussing." He put a hand on Raph's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "It is your decision, my son. I wanted to inform you so that you may consider your options. Adachi will give you until your training period is up to make your final decision."

Raph's eye-ridges furrowed. "Father, I don't..."

"Raphael, do not misunderstand, but the fact that Adachi has come to view you as more than a student does not mean he will not lead you astray."

"What? Master Splinter, I don't understand."

"Meditate on it, my son." Splinter turned and left, his tail flicking behind him.

------------------------

It was extremely late. Everyone else was asleep in their beds. He'd triple checked. It had given his body something to do while his mind was still hyperactively mulling over the things his father had said. He rolled out of bed onto his feet.

Stopping outside the guest door, Raphael steeled himself and turned the knob. The light from hall behind him stretched across the floor.

"Lingering in doorways is such a tiresome habit. Do you lack the courage to cross my threshold?"

"You think I'm afraid?" Raph's eyes flashed.

"You are troubled."

"But you don't know why. Is it that you can't read through mixed emotions or are you just not trying very hard?"

"Perhaps the wall you've constructed is too strong for me to penetrate."

"My Father says I shouldn't trust you."

"Your father is a fool."

Danger flickered across Raph's face. "Don't ever insult my father!"

Adachi's face went blank.

"I'm beginning to have some doubts, myself! Why have you been treating me less and less like a student and more like a son, huh? Maybe you don't really care about me or the future of this world! Maybe there is no prophecy, no chosen-one! Maybe this is all a ploy to get me to stay and train with you, and to pull me away from my family!"

"You saw the images as clearly as I did. You saw what would become of them!" Adachi's lips curled in anger, "You are letting the opinions of those who fear what they do not understand influence your beliefs. If conflicted you must make a decision for yourself, not be swayed by the narrow minds of others!"

"Exactly. So I am going out into the sewers to meditate, alone, and I'm not coming back until I've seen the images myself, with my own mind."

"You don't know the technique—"

"I'll learn." Raph growled, storming out.

Adachi frowned and watched him go, listening to the gentle thud of the lair door closing behind him.

----------------------

It was just barely morning light when Adachi emerged from his room and crept down the hall to the dojo. The first person he saw was the last he expected to see. Splinter's facial expression suggested a similar state of surprise.

"I thought you and Raphael might have already finished your training for the day."

"He went out into the sewers last night." Adachi noted the circles under the old rat's eyes, "Which, despite your words, you already knew."

Splinter didn't even try to argue. His ears twitched.

"I take it he has not yet returned."

Again, the answer was silent.

"It was your words last night that led him to this, Splinter."

"Wasn't it your lies that encouraged him thus far?"

"I have never lied to Raphael."

"Hiding things from him is enough, as is deceiving him with your false legends."

The room darkened as Adachi's face twisted angrily. "You know as well as I they are not false. You have felt the sting of Takeshi's blade yourself! It was I who restored your health. Had you forgotten that, old friend?"

"Back then, the world was different."

"Perhaps you don't realize, but Raphael's training is—"

"—no longer your concern. I suggest, Adachi, that you return to Japan."

His aura as black and stormy as a thundercloud, Adachi loomed over the small, aged figure of Master Splinter.

"Then you lay a curse upon yourself, and all your sons." He left, pausing in the doorway to add, "I will not leave until Raphael decides for himself."

---------------------

Leo sat on his bed twiddling his thumbs. Raph had been gone all day and now most of the night. His blue eyes glanced at the clock for the tenth time in the past half-minute. He trudged out the door of his room and down the hall to the main room. The light was still on in Don's lab and the clatter of pots and pans told him Mikey was still in the kitchen. Another set of sounds caught his ears and steered him towards the training room. Grunts and soft movements led him to crack open the dojo doors and peer inside.

Raphael, with his eyes closed, intensely focused, was performing a kata that Leo had never seen before. Curiosity piqued, Leo slid silently into the room and moved to counter his brother.

Eyelids snapping open, Raphael jerked back, sending his fists into the floor. The strike shattered the floorboards, leaving ripple-like concentric cracks two feet in diameter around the points of impact.

Leo stumbled when the dojo floor shook from the power of Raph's fists. He toppled over onto his shell with a startled yelp.

Raph was up in a flash, yanking his brother off the floor and shaking him furiously.

Leo stared.

"What the hell did you think you were doing, Fearless?"

"Raph, calm down."

"CALM DOWN? Leo, don't you get it?! You just—and I—" Raph shook his head. "I could have—" he hugged his big brother tightly, still keeping Leo's feet off the ground.

Leo slowly returned the hug, stunned. But when he looked over Raph's shoulder at the crater-like holes in the dojo floor, he began to understand. That could have been him. His brother could have...

"What is going on in here?!"

"Are you guys okay?"

"What happened?"

Their worried family members must have come running as soon as they'd heard the thud. Leo rubbed Raph's carapace, glaring briefly at the last figure to emerge, standing a few meters behind the others.

"Raph, listen, it's okay," whispered Leo.

"But I could have—"

"But you didn't." Leo pulled Raph into another hug, which the hothead allowed, but didn't return.

Raph's gaze lifted and met Master Adachi's stern glance.

"Listen, why don't you teach me that kata you were doing, huh? Then we'll call it even." Leo suggested, trying to lighten the mood. He gave their brothers an 'all clear' symbol behind his back and felt them relax.

But Raph seemed more on edge than ever. "I can't."

"Aww, c'mon. It looked super cool. Don't tell me it's exclusive to ninjas trained in Japan."

Raph shook his head and pushed his brother's arms off of him. "I just can't teach you, Leo."

Leo's head tilted to one side. A small frown began to shadow the corner of his mouth. "Why not? What's the big deal, Raph? You know I can just remember what you did, right? You might as well just teach me. It began like this, right?" Leo mimicked the movements he had seen Raph performing earlier.

Master Splinter's eyes narrowed. His ears shot straight up and his tail stiffened. He wheeled around on Master Adachi. "You taught my son the high katas?!"

The turtles winced at their Father's tone. Raphael seemed to shrink.

Adachi lowered his gaze.

Splinter turned to his sons, fixing a particularly steely glaze on Raphael. "My sons, leave us."

One by one, the anthropomorphic turtle teens filed out of the dojo. Outside in the main room, Michelangelo and Donatello fidgeted, while Leonardo paced from side to side, occasionally throwing looks at the dojo doors. The conversation inside was still too quiet to make out, but was gradually growing louder.

Leo looked at his brother.

Raphael was the only one who hadn't moved a muscle since he'd slid down to the floor, leaning up against the outer wall of the dojo overlooking the main room. His green eyes were glazed over as he listened to the words being exchanged betw—

Leonardo did a double-take. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. Nothing changed. Raph's eyes were still green. Leo shook his head again. He must be hallucinating.

Then he looked over at Mikey. Michelangelo had that same look of awe and disbelief on his face. He checked Don. The brainiac's head tilted to the side with a rather flat interest, the way he always did when observing an interesting side effect to one of his homemade pain remedies.

Just as he was about to voice his discovery, voices floated through the dojo walls.

"How dare you instruct him in the high katas, he is only a child!"

"He is not a child any longer."

"You had no right to teach him."

"I had every right as his Sensei and mentor, you entrusted his training to me."

"I did not give you permission to instruct him in your ancient ways."

"It is what he needed."

"I will refuse you any further attempts to train my son."

"I intend to see him through the Rites of Passage. He must complete them to fulfill the prophecy."

Raph could feel his brothers' eyes on him. He ignored them. His stomach was doing summersaults. After storming off last night and coming back a few hours ago with a much clearer head, but with no further insight as to which of his Senseis to believe, he was torn. He felt like the rope in a tug o' war.

Master Splinter laughed. "Prophecies only go so far, Adachi."

"You doubt my judgment?"

"I know what became of your last 'chosen one'."

There was a long pause.

Raph's brothers took a seat across from him, watching carefully.

"I was wrong about Takeshi. But I am not wrong now. Raphael is the chosen one."

"No! He will never be!"

Raphael's heart stopped.

"He is not strong enough."

Donatello's analytical mind examined his brother.

Raph's eyes, which had been bright green when they had first found him hugging Leonardo in the dojo, had faded slowly back to gold. At Splinter's final words, his face had become an expressionless mask. The dim light played off his golden eyes in an unfamiliar way, the likes of which, Donnie had never seen before, and then he stood.

Inside the dojo, Adachi bowed his head. One hand brushed his chest.

Splinter was staring harshly at him. The glare slowly melted. The rat's mouth fell slack and his eyes widened. He rushed out the doors just as Raphael rose to his feet.

"Raphael..."

"I've made my decision."

Splinter's whiskers trembled, "My son..."

Raph leaned out of his father's reach. "I will return to Japan with Master Adachi as soon as the next plane leaves."

Mikey sprang forward, "Raphie, no!"

Donnie grabbed him and held him back.

Ignoring the outburst, Raph continued to address Master Splinter. "I can't be kept a child forever, Father. And I can't stay where I'm not wanted or where I'm a danger. You might not believe in me...but I'm stronger than you think."

Head held high, Raphael walked smoothly down the hall to his room, feeling Leo's glare, Don's frown, and Mikey's tears tugging at his heart.

Please guys, you've gotta understand, he thought, blinking away the tears at the corners of his eyes, this is all for you.

---------------------

How was it? Was it worth the wait?