An eighteen-year-old mutant ninja turtle sat out on the porch at the old farmhouse thinking about his life. Contrary to what one might think, this was not at all unusual. Not for him.

Truth be told, Leonardo had been pondering the circumstances of his life since his childhood and he often wondered whether or not his brothers did the same. He had once asked his younger brother, who was more in-tune with emotions than any of his other siblings, and he had not gotten straight answer. Then again, Raphael almost never gave a straight answer when it came to those types of questions.

His brothers had to, he thought, have looked back on their lives at some point or another, the way he often did. How could they not? It was a natural thing to do, wasn't it?

But the four turtle brothers hadn't exactly had all the time in the world to sit around and think. Especially over the last two years. They'd been busy saving the city, and in some cases, even the world. Their life was a demanding one that required constant work, time and effort to maintain. Not to mention the amount of grit and dedication that went into their ninja training.

It felt nice to get away to the farmhouse for a little while. To escape the bright lights, the big city, and most importantly the relentless work they had to do in New York. Oddly enough, it had been Raphael who had suggested the trip. Though they were initially shocked, after their arrival Donnie, Mikey, Splinter and Leo had soon realized that Raphael seemed to be just as at ease here as he was in the city, no matter how much he said otherwise. He was just whining to keep up his tough-city-guy persona. Even more surprisingly, that big-city attitude hadn't lasted very long.

Raphael was opening up a little. He was reverting slightly to the way he had been when they were children. Donnie and Mikey seemed shocked by the radical change in Raph's behavior from a loud-mouthed badass, to a rather loud-mouthed cheerful and simplistic young adult. Not too simplistic, though, since he still indulged in working on his bike for a couple of hours every day.

For some reason this change in Raph had really thrown Donnie and Mikey off. They had been much more surprised than Leo was. Why, he wasn't entirely sure, though he suspected that it was because most of the walls the hothead usually surrounded himself with were down.

Raphael was acting, Leo thought, much like a human child portrayed in the movies about country farms and things. He constantly went on long runs through the fields, and he usually brought something interesting back with him.

It was beautiful up here of course. And it contrasted greatly to the sewers that they had grown up in.

Leo briefly found himself thinking about how different their life might have been if they had lived out in the country, in a place like this, rather than in the sewers of the great metropolis. Is this what Raph would have been like? So open, free and limitless? It was hard to imagine. His younger brother had always been such a puzzle to him. A puzzle that was impossible to solve. Every time Leo thought he'd finally put together all the pieces, there would always be a couple that just wouldn't fit. It was vexing. And yet, as he watched his brother running through the fields, filling the bird feeder with seeds, digging a trench out down to the field so the rain wouldn't wash them away, training in the woods amongst the trees, skipping stones across the pond, hopping across the river, Leo couldn't help but smile. Raph really was his little brother. It was obvious, no matter how much Raph tried to hide it, that he was happy here. He was free. He wasn't being contained. Leo had fleeting memories of Raph mentioning how much he hated being confined to the sewers, to a small space, and that sometimes he just wanted to get out there and run.

Raphael acted like a child here. Perhaps that was what had surprised Donnie and Mikey. Raph's cynicism always made him seem older than his actual age, but there are rare moments, when he indulges, that he could actually seem younger. Of course, whenever he acts immaturely or hotheadedly he is definitely acting like a child, but Leo was really thinking about the times when Raphael, even as a teenager, would seem like the little eight-year-old Raphael he remembered from their childhood.

Leo giggled as he thought about the way Raph used to come over and lean on him to get his attention when they were that age. His eyes sparkled as he remembered how Raph would keep leaning until he fell over. Raph was always doing that. Pushing him over. And then he would go tell Master Splinter, "Daddy! Raphie leaned on me again!" The smile on his lips didn't fade as his thoughts shifted to Donatello.

Donnie, too, had shown signs of relaxation and openness that Leonardo had not seen in a long time. Don was slightly more ill-at-ease here at first because of the lack of sophisticated technology here on the farm, but he had slowly adjusted back to the tempo of everyday life in the country. He was glad to see Dr. Cluckingsworth, of course, and the two of them were able to bond a little more. But Don was also, in Leo's opinion, working on a smaller scale and at a slower pace than he would have allowed back home. That, in itself, was a miracle. For the first time in years, probably since they were eight years old, Donatello was not overworking himself. In fact, he seemed to be taking his time and enjoying a small amount of leisure. Donnie was going for walks, exploring things, and gathering samples, mostly mushrooms and other fungi, that he brought back to the house to study and catalogue. He collects molds, spores and fungus. It's a whole thing.

Leo didn't understand his genius brother's fascination with the stuff. It didn't really matter to him. But whenever he was walking through the forest and he saw an unusually mushroom, he would slice it off and carry it in to Donnie. Leo enjoyed seeing the way his little brother's eyes sparkled with mirth and appreciation as he graciously accepted the little fungi as though Leo had just presented him with a block of pure gold.

And Mikey, well, Mikey hadn't changed much. He was still cheerful as ever. Leo often wondered: What would our life be like without Mikey? But whenever he tried to think too much about it, the dismal answers made him stop as soon as he had started. Mikey was the sunshine. He brought life into their family, even when the darkness threatened to swallow them whole.

Raphael was the pessimist, the cynical one. Mikey was a full-fledged optimist on steroids. He was so cheerful that sometimes you couldn't stand to be in the same room with him. He was cheerful to the point of it being unbearable. Yet, despite their opposite personalities, Raph and Mikey were a great team. They balanced each other out, or canceled each other out, if you prefer. Raph was the negative and Mikey the positive. They pulled together to work something out and in the end everything was neutral. Whenever Mikey had his head in the clouds, it was Raph who pulled him down. And when Raph was just about thinking that the world was submerged in darkness, Mikey was the one who pulled him out and showed him the light.

With Donnie and him, things were slightly different, Leo mused. They were both largely neutral. And they agreed on many things, which gave them a nice common ground on which to build a strong, trusting friendship. Of course they had their spats and their moments where they wanted nothing more than to wallow in a pit of despair, but it was always their younger brothers who would pull them back.

Raph was always the one who gave Leo pep talks. He knew what Leo held dear and he knew exactly how to use it to his advantage. That was why their fights were often so deadly, because both of them knew exactly how to perturb each other. But in the long-run, Leo appreciated the fact that Raph knew him so well, because his hotheaded brother always knew when to help and when to simply leave him be.

As for Donnie, Leo suspected that Michelangelo was Donnie's main comforter. He and Raph did, on occasion, step into the mix, but mostly it was those two. It had always intrigued Leo that Donnie and Mikey had such a close relationship given the fact that they were polar opposites.

Once, when he had mentioned it to Donnie, the genius had said the same could be said of him and Raph. That comment had made Leo gawk. It wasn't that he and Raph were total opposites. He actually believed that they were just too alike for their own good.

"Meow."

Leo looked down, staring straight into the bright, amber eyes of a dark-gray tabby cat. It seemed to be gauging him, thoughtfully. He raised an eye-ridge and then his eyes went wide as it jumped up into his lap. It clawed at his shell a little and he frowned trying to push it off. But the cat wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. It climbed up his arm and onto his shoulder.

"Hey! Get down from there! I said get off!" He tried to shake it off gently but the cat stayed firm. He frowned and glared at the disobedient cat. He could easily throw it off but he didn't want to hurt it. And he definitely didn't want it getting mad at him.

"Aw relax, Leo. She's just trying to play with ya!"

Leo looked up, surprised that he didn't hear his brother approaching. His jaw dropped, but he slowly snapped it shut after he decided that it would probably be safer not to ask.

Raph's left knee was badly skinned and he was carrying no less than three cats in his arms. Again, Leo wondered whether or not he should ask for an explanation, but in the end the situation left him too stunned for words.

Raph plopped down onto the old wooden chair beside Leo and put his feet up on the rungs underneath, holding the cats in his lap. They were all meowing loudly. And Leo just stared at his brother for a few moments. He couldn't decide whether he wanted to laugh or send Raphael an inquiring stare. In the end, he did neither and settled for a flabbergasted, "Huh?"

Raph rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something when Don and Mikey came over from the field in front of the barn. Don, who was carrying Dr. Cluckingsworth, was definitely not very pleased to see cats on the premises.

"Alright Raph, how do you explain them?" He pointed to the cats.

Raph shrugged. "Dunno. I saw them in the field while I was walking. I just ignored them at first, but they followed me all the way into the woods. What's the matter, Don? Don't like cats?"

"I like them fine." Don said with a glare and Leo could just feel the 'but' that was about to come. "But," Leo smiled at Don as the brainiac went on, "the cats could go after April's chickens. And that wouldn't be a good thing."

The cat perched on Leo's shoulder had turned around and taken a seat. It was now eyeing Dr. Cluckingsworth with a curious expression on its face.

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Can I have one?! PLEASE?!" Mikey begged.

Leo chuckled at Mikey's pleading face, but he shook his head. "No, Michelangelo. You already have a cat. Ice cream kitty."

Mikey deflated a little. "Yeah, I guess so."

Raph frowned and added. "Yeah, knucklehead, think about how jealous Ice Cream Kitty would be if you got a real cat. He'd never forgive you."

"Oh, wow, I never thought about it that way. You're right. Thanks Raph!"

Leo smiled.

Donnie then noticed Raph's bloody knee and all hell broke loose. "Raph, what happened to your knee?"

"Skinned it."

"I can see that." Don said with a roll of his eyes. "How did you skin it?"

Raph shrugged absently. "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"You hard of hearing Donnie?"

Donatello glared at Raphael. "I didn't hear an answer there, Raphael."

"Maybe I didn't understand the question."

"I'll go get the first aid kit."

"Don't bother. You won't be getting anywhere near me with it."

"Excuse me?" Don asked, his eyes narrowed.

Mikey and Leo glanced with surprised eyes in Raphael's direction. Sure their hotheaded brother didn't like getting fussed over, but they had all been raised with an understanding of the necessity of cleaning all their injuries and taking care of themselves. Raph really should know better.

"Raph, let Donnie clean out that knee or it could get infected." Leo advised calmly.

Raph shook his head. "I already washed it off." He countered, defensively.

"We need to use disinfectant."

"I used soap, pea-brain."

"We at least need to wrap it then." Don said calmly.

Leo marveled briefly at how calm Don was even though he had to deal with Raphael as a patient.

Raph said, stubbornly. "Make me."

Donatello stood with his hands on his hips, his arms akimbo. "Is that a challenge, Raphael?"

Raph smirked. "What do you think, Donnie-boy?"

Don growled and lunged, knocking Raph off his chair. The cats jumped frantically out of his lap with startled cries and then proceeded to the yard where they began, as Don had predicted, chasing the chickens. The chickens began clucking really loudly, which startled the cats and a few of them went running. But, the one on Leo's shoulder stood fast. She didn't go anywhere. He stared at the cat and it blinked slowly back at him.

The commotion finally settled and Leo's brothers were now staring incredulously from Leo to the cat on his shoulder.

Mikey slowly asked, "So what's up with that one? Doesn't it want to chase chickens, too?"

Raph chuckled and shook his head, holding an arm out in front of Leo's plastron. The dainty, gray tabby climbed down onto his arm and went to perch on his shoulder instead. "She," he emphasized to his little brother, "has got a lot more sense than those three jokers." Raph gestured to the other cats. "They're not too bright. But Raj here is smart."

Don's eye-ridge shot up in intrigue. "Raj?"

"Short for Mirage." Raph said tersely.

His three brothers all smiled at him as he petted her softly. She purred. Raph smiled.

Mikey grinned and joined his brother in petting the pretty, gray tabby. "Are you going to keep her?"

Raph sighed and shook his head. "No...I don't think it would be right, you know, taking her away from her friends and her home." It was obvious to the three of them that Raph really wanted to keep her and that this decision had saddened him.

Leo put a hand on Raph's shoulder. "It's okay, little brother. You'll see her when you visit."

Don smiled, Raph's conduct concerning the knee issue earlier now completely forgotten. "And I'm sure she and Dr. Cluckingsworth will get along just fine. They'll be great friends."

Raph grinned appreciatively at his siblings. "Thanks. Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Guys, it's time to eat!" April called from inside the house.

They slowly stood.

Leo threw an arm over Raphael's shoulders. "Come on, Raph. Let's get some food for your new friends."