26I must take the time to thank Splinter for the kind words on chapter one! I get nervous and embarrassed at such comments, but I appreciate them greatly! I hope I don't disappoint later on. And it's safe to say that there will be learning going on- on both sides of the "Generation Gap"! I also need to thank Reinbeauchaser as well (and I did what you said re: anon. enabling) for her equally moving comments, as well as Amberli Raven, Aaron Smiley (I wish I could, but I don't know how I'm doing it myself at the moment) and Doppleganger33 (yes, it is rather cold). Oh, yeah- this story takes place before the story "Father's Day", btw. I hate bringing it up, but I need to say for my own peace of mind.
Oh, yeah- TMNT is the property of Mirage Publishing. Someday, though... the "what if" game is owned by all of us guilt-ridden children...
At April's, Splinter makes sure it is safe to enter the store.
"Give me a minute, Master Splinter," April says, and quickly posts the "closed for inventory" sign.
"One of the advantages of owning my own business," she says, smiling. "I can set my own times."
Then she leads him up to her apartment, and they sit at the kitchen table.
"Can I get you any tea or anything?"
"No, thank-you, Ms. O'Neal. I am not here on a personal visit. I am looking to purchase a few items, and I need your assistance in doing so," he replies, and he pulls from inside his robe a list and some money. "One of the advantages of scavenging the sewers is there is a lot of lost money to be found."
April looks at the list, then at Splinter
"Are you going on a camping trip?"
"Yes- I suppose so," he replies. "I need very little, but it would be nice to have a way to heat my water for tea and rice without the requirement of building a fire, or the need of electricity."
"I have a battery-operated camping stove you can borrow," she says, "and it is ready to go. These other supplies are not hard to get. But where are you going?"
"I have a desire to go away for a few days," he says sadly. "I need to go away for a few days and meditate."
"Is there anything wrong?"
Master Splinter sighs.
"What could be wrong when you live with four teenagers?"
April gets up, starts the tea kettle, sets out some snacks, and then tells Splinter she'll be back soon.
She takes the money, the list, and heads out for the store.
She returns shortly with his supplies, then gets the camping stove out for him and shows him how to work it.
"But where are you going? Is Casey taking you up to the farmhouse?" she asks.
"No, I will be in the sewers," he replies. "I have no desire to go anywhere above ground for this trip. But I am going alone, and do not wish the others to know where. I need to make this trip alone."
And he sighs again.
"I will not say more than that," he continues. "I would be grateful if you would assure anyone who asks after me that I am well, and will return in a few days. If anyone asks, that is." And he gets up to leave.
"If anyone asks? What happened? What did they do? Why are you leaving? Are you leaving now? What about the guys? What did they do?"
But Splinter merely thanks her for everything, collects his bundles, and makes his way back to the sewers.
April is unsure what to do. She thinks about it for a while, trying to decide what is the best course of action.
Since he didn't say not to, she finally calls Don.
"What did you guys do?" are the first words out of her mouth. Then she tells him of her visitor and his request.
"Yeah- thanks, April," he says, then he turns to the brothers.
"I think Sensei is running away from home," he says.
"What?" three voices, in unison, echo in the Lair.
"Only a child runs away from home," Splinter interrupts, coming in with his supplies. "And as we all know, there are no children living here."
He goes into his room without another word.
After looking at each other for barely five seconds, they all enter Splinter's room without knocking, and they kneel down.
"Sensei, please, what is going on?" Leo takes the lead as usual.
Splinter is packing his supplies in a large backpack. He picks up his Rememberal, and carefully wraps it before putting it in the pack.
"I am going away for a few days to meditate," he says simply. "I will be back in a few days. That is all you need to know."
"But Sensei- Sensei, please accept all our apologies for our behavior earlier today," Leo says, and they all bow before their master.
But Splinter is not interested.
"Do not apologize for what you feel," he says, finishing his packing. And he heads for the door without the usual admonition to stay in the Lair until his return, or that Leo is in charge.
"Uh, Sensei, we should stay in the Lair while you're gone, right?" Mikey prompts him, as they follow him out of his room.
"You are not children, Michelangelo" he replies. "Make your own decisions. I will be back in a few days."
And he is gone.
"Let's follow him," Raph immediately says.
"Yeah, Raph- that's the adult thing to do," Don says sarcastically.
But Raph is not to be denied. He leaves the Lair almost behind Splinter- and spends at least an hour trying to pick up Splinter's trail.
But Splinter is not in the mood to be followed as he was to the Nexus. He has vanished quickly and with no trace.
"Now what?" Raph asks when he returns, frustrated, to the Lair later.
"Good question," Leo says. "I wish I knew the answer."
"I guess we should just let him alone," Mike says, and they all look at him. "Well, haven't you guys ever wanted to be alone? I guess this is one of those times when Sensei wants to be alone."
And they stand there, feeling lost all of a sudden.
The rest of that day, that night, the next day and night, and the next day pass.
The guys pretty much do what they want- yet they don't want to do much of anything.
Mike finds his video games and comics boring.
Don stares at his projects listlessly.
Raph puts little effort into his workouts.
And Leo's training runs tend to turn into long periods of serious meditation.
And they all play the "what if" game.
"What if something happens to him while he's gone, like someone snatches him, and we don't know? Like that hunter who was after Leatherhead- or Bishop?" Mike mentions to his cat who is sleeping on his comics.
"What if he gets sick in the sewers alone? He's not as young as he used to be," Don worries over his computer-generated map of the tunnels. "Or what if there's an accident? He could be pinned under a cave-in."
"What if he runs into the Foot? Just because Karai has claimed a truce, that doesn't mean all of them agree to it," Raph imagines at the punching bag. "Or the Elite Guard? They don't exactly follow Karai! Or Hun? Or Bishop?"
"What if he never wants to come back?" Leo quietly asks at dinner the third night.
The others look shocked.
"I mean it. What if he's decided that we don't need him anymore? What if this so-called 'few days to meditate' is just a ruse to leave for good?"
"Leo, you have a seriously twisted imagination," Don says, shivering. "Sensei wouldn't just tell us he's going for a few days and then vanish for good. He would tell us straight out."
"Look, we should all have followed him at once, and begged him not to go," Raph says. "Let's find him and bring him home."
"Easier said than done," Mike points out. "You couldn't find his trail when he first left, and you're a great tracker."
"We gotta do something," Raph says angrily. "We gotta find him."
"I agree, but we just can't rush out and start searching," Leo says. "We need to plan a strategy for finding him. Like using the tracking devices Don has planted on all of us."
"No good," Don breaks the news to them. "I tried the first day- he found the bug in his stick, and removed it. The same for the one in his robe."
"Let's get some stuff together and start searching!" Raph is growing angrier, thinking of all sorts of tragic things that could be happening to Splinter.
"Let's make a plan!" Leo counters.
The argument about how to go about finding Splinter continues. Mike and Don look at each other, and then they leave the Lair together.
"Let's go ask Leatherhead if he's seen Sensei since he left," Mike suggests.
"And we can call April and ask her what we should have asked the first day," Don agrees.
By the time Leo and Raph realize that their brothers are gone, they are back with news.
"April says that Sensei asked her to get enough supplies for several days," Don tells them. "And he borrowed her camping stove, so he will be coming back. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't borrow something if he has no plans on returning. And she said he planned on sticking to the sewers."
"Leatherhead saw him the day he left," Mike adds. "He stopped by and told him he was going away for a few days, but he'd be back to start L. H.'s meditation lessons next week. So maybe we should just wait."
"No, we've waited too long as it is," Leo says.
Raph agrees.
"We need to try to find Sensei now and make things right," Raph says. "Leo and I think we should start simple and start with the old Lair."
"But that place was completely destroyed by Stockman's bomb," Mike reminds them.
"It's as good a place as any to begin," Leo says. "We'll start first thing in the morning- just in case he comes back late tonight, agreed?"
They all say yes, and they gather up supplies.
They decide that they will camp out until they find Splinter or return home empty-handed.
Early that morning, Leo leaves Sensei a note just in case he returns while they are looking for him.
"What did you write?" Mike wants to know.
"Well, I was tempted to just say we were out on a training run," Leo says, "but then I decided to just tell him the truth; that we are out looking for him so we can beg forgiveness and bring him home."
"Smart idea," Mike says seriously.
They make their long way to the old Lair.
But it looks as if no one has been around since the collapse.
They spend a good part of that day examining possible ways into the place. Around noon, Mike finds the way that Leatherhead must have used to escape through, but inside there is no trace of recent habitation.
"Kind of sad, seeing the old place," Mike says softly, looking at the remnants of familiar items that were unsalvageable when they first had to leave.
They slowly make their way out of the place, and try to plan their next destination goal.
They spend the day looking wherever they can think, but no trace of their Sensei can be found.
At every fresh-looking collapse or pile of rubble, their imaginations kick into overdrive.
At every dark tunnel that ends with a dark hole in the floor, their anxiety ramps up another notch.
They finally stop for the night, and each thinks dark thoughts until they all fall into uneasy sleep.
In the middle of the night, Leo wakes the others.
"I've got it! Master Splinter's original burrow! The place where he first took us when he found us. We should go look there!"
"Leo, do you even know where it is?" Don asks sleepily. "I mean, I barely remember the place, and I've helped with the maps."
"I went there with Sensei a few years ago, while we were inspecting the old tunnels," Leo says. "Why didn't I think of it sooner? Let's go now. It's quite a long ways from here, but we could be there well before sunrise."
They pack up and slowly make their way through old, dark, unfamiliar tunnels to a vaguely remembered first home.