#I've been jokingly referring to it as Finding Donnie in my head lol

[forestwhisper3]

...One more thing before I head to work.

Boop!

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[Excerpt from Dragon of the Sun, chapter 4]

Still, it was something for him to think about, at least. The timelines were splitting, but they were still close enough for Donnie to end up in this future like his own had. So if the Michelangelo that this Donnie knew had tapped into abilities he'd never shown signs of before...

Did that mean he could too?

The question lingered in his mind throughout the trip to the Shredder's palace. It lingered throughout the ensuing fight, where he stood back to back with Leonardo and Raphael for the first time in ages, urging them to keep going so they could buy Donnie the time he needed.

It lingered up until he was surrounded by a swarm of Karai Legion bots, at which point he knew he'd reached the end of the line.

"Donnie!" he called out.

I love you.

"Donnie, I-!"

I'm sorry. For not telling you directly. For being a jerk. For breaking my own promise to protect you.

He closed his eyes and breathed in, feeling how the air filled his lungs. How his heart beat within his chest. How full of life he was in the seconds before his death.

It was...peaceful.

Thank you...for saving me anyway.

He felt the way the blades stabbed and cut into his flesh, a brief moment of pain overtaking him, and then...

He stepped into warm, golden light...

"My son."

...and grinned.

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"Oh, Michelangelo," Master Splinter sighed before bringing him close, the warm fur and the claws gently scratching at the back of his shell enough to make tears well up in his eyes.

He'd forgotten what it felt like.

"Dad-" he began, quickly cutting off.

What could he even say to him? After failing again and again? He wasn't the Michelangelo he had left behind. He was broody and angry and broken and-

"Hurt," his father murmured, tightening his hold as if he would slip away the first chance he got. "You were hurt, my son. That does not place you at fault. It never did."

His eyes clenched shut, the ache in his throat turning into a tight knot, pressing against the walls of it until he thought he would choke.

"I-…"

His father began to hum. A low, gentle melody that Mikey remembered being prominent in their youth when the world felt too big and the shadows too dark. Hearing it again made the tears begin to fall in earnest, and he felt his knees give as he sunk to the floor and finally let go.

The anger. The grief. The loneliness. Everything.

Splinter took it all, shouldering the burdens of his life and replacing them with tender words and affectionate touches that almost burned with how foreign they felt now. Not completely- Shadow and April had made it their goal to "smother him in love" whenever possible -but…it was different, coming from him. The only time anything had come close was with-

"Donnie!" he gasped, eyes widening as he straightened in his father's arms.

If he was dead now, then that meant-

"Dad, where's Donnie?!"

He needed to see him. The brother who'd vanished, not the one lost in time. He needed to hold him close. To yell at him for being stupid- because that was the only explanation for how he'd managed to disappear in the first place. He needed-

He just needed him.

But…his father didn't answer. Instead, there was a strange look in his eyes. Knowing, almost.

"…Dad?"

"He is not here," he finally answered.

"What d'you mean he's not here?" he asked, confusion and anger and fear churning in his stomach as the implication began to sink in. "Why-?…Why wouldn't he be?"

"Because he is still alive, Michelangelo."

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@joyfuladorable

You are tagged now :D