Forgiveness

"He's gone!" Leo cried in panic as he realized Donnie had disappeared.

Raph glanced at his brother before tossing his sai towards a stuffed sack of sand. Training seemed to be the best way for him to keep calm currently. "He probably had to take a walk or something." He replied, picking up his weapon and returning to his original place. "He'll be back."

"That's not acceptable Raph! We already lost one brother…" He trailed off before frowning. "I won't let it happen again. He's in no condition to be walking around!"

"SHH!" Raph suddenly shushed Leo. For a moment the blue banded turtle looked like he was about to argue, but eventually he heard what had unsettled his brother.

The both of them stood side by side silently trying to pinpoint the location of the intruder. Soon enough all was silent. They waited for any further movement but none came.

"Probably a sewer rat." Leo sighed as the two loosened up and returned to their original thoughts, only to be caught by surprise as they found Michelangelo standing behind them.

"Mikey!" Raph cried, clearly startled, before stopping himself and stepping back. "Wait…Why are you here?"

Leo had placed his hands on his katanas before thinking otherwise and lowering his arms. They had all agreed to hear him out when they met up again. This was their only chance to set things right.

Michelangelo just stood there cautiously, looking like he was about to bolt at any minute. Nothing like the Mikey who had turned on them earlier, something was up.

"Uh…Hey…Guys…" The youngest slowly greeted them with a false smile that quickly faded. The other two noticed and exchanged looks before deciding he wasn't dangerous.

Raph was the first to act.

"Ow!" Mikey suddenly felt a dull slap to his head. Rubbing it, he eyed Raph.

"That was for turning on us!" The short tempered turtle explained before crossing his arms.

"Raph!" Leo scorned his brother who didn't seem to mind.

Mikey interrupted them. "He's right Leo. I…I was stupid."

"You think?" Raph replied. "We're brothers Mikey. Brothers don't turn on each other! What happened?"

"I'd like to know too Mikey." Leo confirmed before a more regal voice broke in.

"We would all like to know." Master Splinter stepped out from the shadows of a nearby tunnel and into the abandoned subway station. "Since you have returned I presume you are ready to explain?"

Mikey glanced down at his slashed hand. He was covered in cuts and bruises and looked like he had been recently hit by a bus. After everything that had happened he began to truly wish the stone had sent him back in time, back before he had ever made any major mistakes. But it didn't, it had only sent the lair back in time along with Donnie. The same way it had sent the Shredder's lair back in time. He still had to explain everything to them, whether they believed him or not. So he began his rather long explanation.

It took some time, eventually they all found themselves sitting on the floor, that is, all but Splinter. He remained standing until the end, rubbing his beard afterwards as he let the new information sink in.

"So…." Raph began slowly. "It's safe to go back home?"

Leo scratched his head. "That's all so…Honestly hard to believe. But…I guess it must have happened. It explains everything actually."

"But hey! That means Donnie's okay right?" Raph asked Mikey who shrugged.

"Last I saw him he was perfectly fine and acting like none of this had ever happened."

Splinter finally finished his thoughts and smiled. "It would seem that your Master Ryuu deemed it fit to restore order here. Since he could not send you back to the specific time you wished for he gave you an item that could at least fix your mistakes."

"You think so?" Mikey asked.

"Of course."

Then the turtle noticed his brothers were staring at him quite seriously. For a moment he thought he was in trouble again and hesitantly stepped back. "What guys?"

The two of them smiled mischievously at each other before suddenly pouncing their brother. With a yelp of surprise he fell back as the two of them noogied his head. "Hey! Guys! Cut it out!"

After a short struggled the three of them sat up smiling. Raph placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "I'm glad you came to your senses lil' bro. It's good to have you back." Then he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "And uh…Sorry for blaming everything on you. And for everything else."

"Same here." Leo did likewise and smiled widely before Splinter stood before the three of them. "I believe it is time we return home."

"Yeah." Mikey agreed with a smile. Home sounded good.

…

"Where the heck have you guys been?" Donnie asked as they all began to file in. For the first time he got a good look at Mikey. "And what happened to Mikey? Did you guys go on patrol without me?"

"Sorry about that." Leo replied. "There's a lot we're gonna have to explain to you but first we really need to take care of Mikey."

"You guys go ahead. I'm starved." Raph stated. "We didn't have much to eat at the new hideout."

"What new hideout?" Donnie asked, utterly confused. "Why would we need a new hideout?"

"It's a long story." Raph patted him on the shoulder and headed towards the kitchen.

Leo made Mikey sit down as Donnie got out the first aid kit. It surprised his brothers when he didn't jump at all from the medicine but they began to understand that he had probably experienced worse pain. By the time they were done he practically looked like a mummified hospital patient.

"Well, take it easy and we'll make something to eat." Leo stood and headed towards the kitchen.

"Hey wait! You guys didn't explain anything to me yet!" Donnie called after him as he quickly picked up his things and followed.

Mikey sighed contently, ready to leave every dark thought behind and crash in his room before he felt someone standing behind him. "Master Splinter?" He guessed as the rat placed a paw on his shoulder.

"I believe we need to talk." Was all Splinter said as he led the way to the dojo.

Upon entering he found that the rat was already standing at the far end of the mat, hands calmly folded behind his back.

"Um…Are you going to punish me now?" He asked, knowing full well that he deserved it.

"Perhaps." Was all Splinter said before disappearing. In the blink of an eye Mikey found a fist not even an inch away from his face. "Perhaps not."

Mikey stumbled backwards. He knew he could have dodged that yet he was so overcome with emotion from this whole ordeal he just wasn't in the spirit.

Then Master Splinter made a kick at his head. Instinctually he rolled to the side and regained his footing just in time to flip backwards, avoiding a blow to the stomach.

"Very good. You have been taught well." Splinter began as he approached calmly.

"Master Splinter! What are you doing?" Mikey croaked, still too shocked to understand what was happening.

The rat stood at the ready and fixed a steely gaze upon his youngest student. "Didn't you mention that after you had trained with Ryu you had wondered if you could defeat me as well?"

That's when it dawned on him. It was the last question left unanswered after everything. He found out who he wanted to be and where he belonged. But he never found out if he was stronger than his father yet.

"It's okay." Mikey held up his hands in surrender. "I don't care anymore."

"But I do." Splinter replied before throwing a flurry of blows. Michelangelo appeared to be dodging expertly, but in reality he was panicking on the inside. He honestly didn't want to go all out against his own father now that he finally got to return home.

Suddenly he found his back leg caught and before he knew it he had been flung across the room. It wasn't as hard a toss as he had become accustomed to, but it was still enough to disorient him. As he regained footing he took a kick to the face.

"Stand up Michelangelo! Do not tell me this is all you can do." Splinter demanded as he stood back, waiting for his pupil to stand again.

"Why are you doing this?" Mikey asked. "I don't want to fight you."

The rat raised an eyebrow at that. "Is it not in a Master's nature to challenge his student's abilities when the time is right? Is it wrong for me to wish to see how far you've come? Come Michelangelo, show me what you can do!"

Taking a deep breath the turtle made a decision. He would fight.

Before Splinter knew what was happening, he was suddenly being struck from all sides as his son disappeared. He was able to dodge most of them, but one landed successfully on his back. Quickly he spun around to counter only to find nothing there as a foot appeared beside his head. With barely enough time Splinter leaped out of the way, but not before getting his cheek grazed.

Now the two were standing on opposite sides of the mat again, staring each other down.

"You have come far Michelangelo." Splinter grinned. "But not far enough!"

And with that the rat propelled himself forward. Michelangelo leaped out of the way just in time and pivoted on his heel, hoping to do a quick spin around and land a hit. However something quite unexpected happened as he lost his footing and plummeted to the ground. He had forgotten about Splinter's tail, which was used to trip him. Mikey glanced up to find a foot on his chest holding him in place as Master Splinter reeled his fist back and struck. The turtle couldn't do anything and tightly closed his eyes, expecting a sudden flash of pain. Only…It didn't happen.

Cautiously the turtle cracked open an eye. He found an extended hand hovering in front of his face.

"What?" He asked confused.

"You fought honorably." Splinter smiled as he removed his foot and helped his son up. "Though you still have much to learn, you now know when to use all your' might, and when to hold back."

Thinking about it Mikey realized he was right. Before he would go all out on anyone just to prove he was the strongest. Then he decided he didn't want to be the strongest anymore. And finally, now that he had fought Splinter, he realized whether he wanted to be the strongest or not didn't matter, it was deciding when he needed to be strong that did. And had Master Splinter waited till he had recovered from his injuries Mikey may have surrendered to the desire to not fight anymore.

"Thank you Master Splinter!" Mikey did a short bow as he smiled profusely up at his father. "I'll train really hard from now on and never doubt your lessons again!"

"I hope not." The great rat replied. "Now go join your brothers. I believe now that everything is back to normal you may want to make sure they do not mess up the kitchen again."

"Hai Sensei!" Mikey bowed again and rushed out beaming. Everything was back to normal. His brothers forgave him, his father accepting him, and he was home.

Walking into the kitchen he found Raph digging through the fridge as an impatient Leo stood by the counter, arms crossed and waiting. Donnie on the other hand was asking the others a ton of questions about what happened. Apparently they didn't feel like explaining at the moment.

Another smile crept up on the turtles face as a new realization hit him. Since they were all originally the same age, now that Donnie had been sent back in time Mikey was no longer the youngest.

Mikey was no longer the youngest.

He decided not to mention it until later, but man was it going to be a fun topic to bring up.

A/N: Okay, it's over. I finally ended it after weeks of procrastination. -.- Sorry guys, it's just hard to let go. :P