#TMNT 2003 Casey | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

officiallyashley · 1 year ago

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“Let us help you guys...” (. tmnt 2003 .)

SUMMARY: Ever since their encounter with Draco and the Daimyo’s son, Alex, Raph, and the others had realized how odd Donnie and Ash are acting.

NOTES: enjoy! This takes place weeks after the episode called Same As It Never Was. This is one of my favorite episodes in the TMNT 2003 series, so I thought that I would write a oneshot about it and how those events really messed with Ashley and Donatello. You may want to re-read the Same As It Never Was headcanons that I made a while back for some clarity.

WARNINGS: depictions of self-destructive behaviors, elements of anxiety, elements of depression, mentions of multiple character deaths, implications of disordered eating patterns, depictions of clear mental health issues, arguments amongst couples. If there are any other warnings that a missed, then tell me and I’ll add them.

𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫: 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲, 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦. 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲!

{~~~}

THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ASHLEY AND DONATELLO.

The two ninjas have been fighting their inner demons and trauma alone for the past few weeks. It had been like this since Draco and the Daimyo’s son fused together, stole Lord Simultaneous’ Time Scepter, and sent the turtles and the kunoichis to different points in time. Once Ash and Donnie had gotten back from their point in time, they were vastly different from before. Everyone was extremely worried for Donnie and Ash. Their family desperately wanted to help the two of them with dealing with whatever they had to deal with, but it was so incredibly challenging to get anything out of them. Both Ash and Donnie became quieter and more reclusive. Ash’s irritation and self-destructive habits had started showing up again, and her patience and tolerance were practically nonexistent. Donnie was the same way in terms of irritability. His fuse was a lot shorter than normal, which was extremely unlike Donnie’s typically levelheaded demeanor. Donnie began to throw himself into old inventions and new projects, constantly keeping himself busy with something.

Everyone knew that Donnie overworked himself to distract himself from the troubles he was experiencing. Their family knew exactly the reason why Ash was wearing long sweatshirts in the middle of the sweltering heat. Ashley and Donatello weren’t the same people as they were before the time-traveling incident happened. For the turtles, April, Casey, and Splinter, all that they felt was helplessness and worry for their two family members. These drastic personality changes in Donnie and Ash have caused rifts in their relationships with others. Donnie was more likely to get aggravated at Alex accidentally knocking something over as she brought her boyfriend his third cup of coffee in the morning, and that led to Donnie blowing up in her face. When Raph would say something sarcastic as a joke, Ash wouldn’t take it as what it was and explode like a bomb.

It was like walking on eggshells when others were around Ash and Donnie. It was transparent that both Donnie and Ash needed some mental health help, but they both were constantly denying that they needed help. Leo and the others realized that their family members weren’t willing to talk about what they witnessed because they didn’t want to burden anyone. At first, Splinter had told everybody to just give Donnie and Ash some time to process everything themselves. For about two weeks, the Hamato family was patient with the purple-masked turtle and the brunette teenager. By the time the third week had rolled around, nothing was improving. Even now, coming up on the fifth week of no answers and pondering, it was clear to everyone that Donnie and Ash needed to talk about what they were going through. No one wanted to be the one to come off as invading or nosy, but it had become almost too much for the others to see Ash and Donnie deteriorate right in front of their eyes. Seeing how much their family members were suffering in silence was becoming frustrating for the rest of their friends and family because they didn’t know how to help them. Donnie and Ash weren’t giving anyone any sort of inkling as to how they could aid them because they both thought that they didn’t need and deserved the help that was right in front of them.

Ashley’s stomach growled ferociously. She didn’t have to ponder why the hunger pains were so strong. The brunette hadn’t eaten that much over the past three days, which is something that she didn’t realize Leo and Mikey had picked up on. Ash decided that, fine, she would go and retrieve a little something from the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen area of the lair, Ash saw that her loyal boyfriend was sitting at the counter sipping on a glass of water. Judging by the fact that he was breathing slightly heavier than usual, Ash could surmise that he had been training harder. That was one of his ways of coping with stressful situations.

“Hey, there, sweetheart. How are ya feeling?” Raph inquired. There was a genuineness to his tone of voice, along with a hint of concern.

“I’m fine,” The brunette said in a clipped tone.

It stayed silent for a brief moment. That was until Raph spoke up and broke the quietness. “Ya can’t just keep fighting in silence like this, Ashley. You and Don both can’t keep this up forever.” The red-banded ninja turtle commented on his lover’s and his younger brother’s unusual mannerisms. His tone was lowered and unsmiling.

Ash grumbled in response. They annoyingly grabbed the cherry and chocolate-flavored Greek yogurt from the top shelf at the back of the fridge, and they slammed the door. They stayed inaudible as they walked to the other side of the kitchen and opened the silverware drawer, retrieving a spoon from its holder. Ash tore open the seal to the Greek yogurt, expecting to remove it cleanly. However, to their dismay, the cover didn’t even come close to ripping off easily. There was only roughly half of it that tore off. This made Ashley growl in anger. “RAH! UGH!” Ash exclaimed loudly with rage in her voice. The brunette threw the spoon across the stovetop, clashing noisily with the top of the stove. “Why didn’t it open right?! Goddammit!” Ash screamed, “You know what? What’s the fucking point? I wasn’t hungry anyway!” Ash then pushed the carton of yogurt to the back of the stovetop.

Raph approached his girlfriend carefully. Ash had her head in her hands, her lavender-grey hues wide with so many different and complicated feelings that were locked inside of her. “Ashley, calm down,” Raph said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her, “please, you need to talk to someone.”

Ashley scooted away from her lover’s touch. This disheartened Raph, but he wasn’t going to give up on trying to comfort her. “Don’t touch me, Raph! I’m fine!” Ash protested harshly.

Raph narrowed his eyes. “Really?! Are you really fine, Ashley?!” The ninja turtle’s voice was rising from its normal vocal volume. “Yer getting upset over a fucking yogurt not opening right! Ya don’t usually get so damn upset about small shit like this! This isn’t like ya!” Raph infuriatingly pointed this out to his significant other.

Ash clenched their fists. Their demeanor was giving off vibes of irritation, depression, and reverence. All Raph wanted to was to help Ashley, and he wanted to know what had happened. What was going through their mind? “Raphael, for the last fucking time, I’m fine! I don’t need help!” Ash exclaimed arduously.

Raph balled up his fist, closed his eyes tight, and he slammed it against the counter. This caused a loud BANG! to ring out across the rest of the lair. He opened his eyes, looking straight at his girlfriend, who had fallen silent from what the ninja turtle just did. The atmosphere was tense and thick. Still, she didn’t let the loud noise, no matter how scared she was of them, falter her cutting gaze toward Raph. “You are so goddamn stubborn, ya know that, Ashley?” Raph spoke tightly and lowly. He sighed out of annoyance. “Fuck, it’s like I’m talking to a brick wall! Every time I try something to help ya out, it doesn’t work! There’s always an obstacle that I have to overcome. It’s the same thing with Don! Hell, am I doing something wrong?!” Raph exclaimed stressfully. The volume of his voice was booming at the beginning, but as he continued to speak, his volume went back down to a normal level. “I wanna help ya both out, we all wanna help ya both out, but we just can’t! We can’t because you and Donnie won’t give us anything to go off of!” His emotions were finally erupting, and he was getting everything off of his plastron at last.

Ash was thinking before they spoke. “Listen, I can’t speak for Donnie, but I’m okay. I don’t need help, so you and the others don’t have to worry about me.” The brunette declared in a low and calm manner. Their tone of voice was too steady for Raph. Far too even and collected to Raph to feel any sort of easement or reassurance from his lover.

Raph could feel the irritation and rage cloud his thought process. He could sense the pain and agony bubbling up inside of him. Raph bit his lip. All he could do was stare at the love of his life, someone who he loves dearly and more than anyone else in the world, and think about how broken they are. Raph couldn’t even imagine how Ash and Donnie were feeling. They were both feeling and experiencing the same emotions, as they were together when everything took place. “Ashley, I love ya so much. I want ya to be happy in life, and I can’t stand to see ya wallow in the negativity yer feeling. I’m telling ya this now, and I plan on telling Don the same damn thing to hopefully get this through yer thick skulls: ya both need to come clean about what happened when the whole Daimyo-Draco shit went down. This is seriously fucking you two up, and no one here wants ya both to continually suffer in silence.” Raph sighed shakily. It was like he was about to burst out crying from frustration and anxiety. “Please, it doesn’t even have to be me, but at this point, ya need to talk to someone. I’m beggin’ ya, baby, just… help yourself live happily by going to someone that ya love…” The red-masked ninja turtle was practically begging and pleading with Ashley for them to take his advice. He held Ash’s hands gently, tenderly squeezing back.

Ash just kept that same stone-cold expression on their face. They didn’t know what to say to Raph, so they made the decision to not comment on anything that was said. Ash averted their gaze from Raph’s gaze. Eyes are the windows to the soul, as some others would say, and the brunette teenager knew that Raph was trying to see the emotions carved out in her eyes. She didn’t want Raph to see into her trauma, just to spare him from having to hear everything. Ash doesn’t want that for Raph nor anyone else that they love, and neither would Donnie.

Ash didn’t squeeze Raph’s hands back. Raph took the hint, so he let go of his partner’s hands. Discouraged by this conversation, he decided that he would leave and give the brunette woman some space to calm down. Before he left the kitchen, though, Raph leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I love ya, Ash,” Raph muttered, “Don’t forget that.” After that, Raph left the conversation. Ash was frozen in place. Now, they were left alone with only their thoughts, the mess they’d made, and the quietness they’d created.

Meanwhile, with Donnie and Alex, things were going just about the same as they were with Raph and Ashley. Alex had come into her turtle boyfriend’s laboratory to check up on him. Alex still had that familiar anxious feeling in her gut. Nonetheless, the psychic woman was still very adamant about getting something out of the love of her life. Most every time Alex had dropped by Donnie’s laboratory, she would inquire about how he was feeling. That was her entryway into allowing Donnie an opportunity to voice how he was feeling and what he and her younger sister experienced together. To Alex’s disappointment, Donnie never took that chance to be vocal about his troubles. He would just brush it off like nothing, focus even harder on his work, and then ignore Alex for the rest of the time that she was in there with him. This was frustrating to Donnie’s girlfriend, but alas, Alex wasn’t deterred by his dismissive mannerisms.

Typically, Alex wouldn’t pry too much when it came to other people dealing with emotionally challenging situations. She knew that people had the right to their emotional privacy, as did she have the right to that, as well. However, under these circumstances, the red-haired woman couldn’t be complicit in Donnie staying silent about his sufferings. She had to say something to Donnie. Even if she didn’t want to be perceived as persistent and nosy, Alex had to get Donnie to say something about what had happened to him and Ash. Alex tried discussing this critical matter with her younger sister, but that didn’t go well by any means. If anything, it made everything so much worse for both of the sisters. If she wasn’t able to reach Ashley, then Alexandria sure as hell was going to reach Donatello. Now, after wanting her boyfriend to communicate with her, Donnie was, unquestionably, antagonized by Alex’s concerns.

“Alex, stop! I told you so many times already that nothing is wrong!” Donnie exclaimed with vexation, turning around in his swivel seat.

Alex sighed. She tried not to lose her composure. “Listen, babe, I want to help you. If you just… tell me what happened, if you talk about what you and Ash went through, I can help! I want to comfort you!” Alex expressed vehemently, standing up from her seat.

Donnie stood up from his seat. “I don’t need comfort, Alex, because I’m—”

“Okay? Okay?! You’re not okay, Donatello! You’re not!” The red-haired psychic exclaimed with a shattered voice. She almost let tears fall from her emerald green orbs, but, as of now, she successfully held them in. “I-It’s challenging enough to watch my baby sister deteriorate in front of me — I can’t lose you, too!”

Everything went silent. The couple didn’t have the strength to speak up, as they both let Alex’s statements linger in the air for a minute. “Dove… I, um, I-I…” Donnie trailed off, lost. He was rendered speechless.

“Don’t you fucking say it.” Alex stated darkly, glaring at him, “I mean it, Donatello! Don’t you say that you’re okay, or that you don’t need comfort! You do need those things now more than ever!” Her emerald gaze held tearfulness and worry.

Donnie thought about what he was going to say next. He knew that what he was about to say was going to piss off his significant other, but he didn’t know what else to say to her. “I’m fine. Just let me work.” He stated simply.

Even though his statement was barely audible, the redhead heard exactly what the purple-banded ninja turtle had just told her. With that response, she was pissed. Her eyes went wide, and she just went off on her boyfriend. “Donatello Hamato, I want to help you! We all want to help you! However, we can’t do that until you tell us how to do that! Talking to Ashley is fucking pointless because they won’t speak up, and trying to get anything out of you is a goddamn nightmare because you’re not giving anyone anything to work with!” Alexandria confessed with tears beginning to cascade down her face. She was beyond stressed out with her boyfriend, and she, along with the rest of Donnie’s family, was worried sick. This all showed in her voice as she ranted.

“Dove—”

“We are all feeling so damn hopeless with both you and Ash! Do you know how worried sick we all are of both of you?!” Alex questioned her boyfriend harshly, but she wasn’t giving him any time to respond. “I want you to be able to enjoy your life while you have it! I want you to love yourself and the family that you have! No one wants to see you wallow in your own misery, Donnie. Especially me. I can’t see you fall down the rabbit hole of depression and wander aimlessly through a wonderland of confusion and hurt. Splinter is worried about you. Your brothers, Casey, and April don’t know how to aid you. I… I’ve run out of all of the ideas, as well. I feel so incredibly fucking helpless…! We… We all feel so helpless! We just want to help you two…” Alex sobbed, an arduous and broken tone in her voice. The red-haired teenager began to cry, and the sound of her hiccups filled the room.

Donnie was stunned by her words. He could see how long Alex had been holding all of this inside of her, and he could only imagine what everyone else was feeling. Even though he wanted to inform his family of what he and his good friend had been through in the previous weeks, Donnie couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was frightened by what he had to go through, and he knew for certain that Ashley was just as haunted as he was. They were both extremely riddled with trauma.

“I don’t want to talk about it at all, Dove…” Donnie voiced after a moment of silence.

“Fine,” Alex muttered bitterly, “I’ll give you the space that you need to continue your work. I’m always open to talk if you need someone to rant to.” With that, the female psychic wiped the tears from her eyes and her cheeks. She silently put her hair up in a high ponytail, turning away from Donnie. Without another word, Alexandria Singh had walked out of Donnie’s laboratory. This left Donnie alone, reveling in the aftermath of this argument. He began to overthink everything that had just taken place, wondering what he could have done differently so this wouldn’t have happened.

Alexandria and Raphael both stormed out of the rooms they were previously in. They both walked into the living room, sitting next to each other on the couch. In front of them sat Leo and Master Splinter on the couch across from them. Mikey resided on the floor in front of the tv where he was playing his video games. It was quiet for a brief moment, as no one knew what to say at first. Splinter was waiting to see if either his second oldest son or the psychic teen was going to speak up, but neither of them did.

After a bit, Mikey paused his game. “Okay, someone has to say something. The silence is wayyyy too loud for my liking.” The orange-masked turtle commented as he broke the quietness.

“I’m assuming that you guys got in another fight with Ash and Donnie respectively?” Leo surmised before taking a sip of his chamomile tea. Although, no one needed to guess what happened because everyone else in the lair could hear both altercations going on from where they were. It was even louder because both arguments were happening at the same time.

“Yeah,” Alex sniffled quietly. She kept her voice low and her responses short.

Raph just grunted in reply.

Splinter hummed in thought. “Hmm… this is most troublesome…” He spoke with contemplation.

“Master Splinter, we’ve tried everything with Donnie and Ashley! What are we supposed to do now?” Leo asked his teacher, searching for some guidance.

“Fuck, I don’t know what to do! I already told Donnie that we want to help him, but we’re feeling incapable of doing so.” Alex chimed in with distress.

“I told the exact same thing to Ash, and they didn’t listen to a goddamn thing I said!” Raphael voiced.

“At least they both know how we all feel now…” Mikey piped up, trying to look on the bright side of things in this situation.

However, no one else in the room could do that at the moment. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that they’re gonna come to us to speak about it, Mike,” Raphael replied to what his younger brother said.

“Damn…” Mikey cursed under his breath. He was pondering something, but no one had pulled him up on it.

Splinter carefully stood up from his seat on the couch. “Master Splinter?” Leo inquired.

“Let me talk to them,” Master Splinter told the four teenagers.

“Good luck with that, dad,” Raph murmured under his breath.

Without another word and with no objections from any one of the four teens, Splinter retrieved both Ashley from the kitchen and Donnie from his laboratory. The three of them followed behind the elder inaudibly. Neither Ash nor Donnie even acknowledged Raph or Alex. The two of them couldn’t even look their lovers in the eyes after their respective arguments took place because of how guilty they felt. Ash and Donnie couldn’t even meet Leo and Mikey’s gaze. They wished that they could find the courage to finally tell their family the events that took place, but it was too hard for Ash and Donnie to do that.

Donnie and Ash sat next to each other. They were sat on their knees facing Master Splinter. “What do you need us for, Master Splinter?” Donnie asked his Sensei.

Master Splinter grabbed a tea kettle, and he poured the tea he prepared beforehand into three teacups. Calmly, he spoke. “My son, I brought you both into the dojo to discuss what has been bothering you.” Master Splinter stated simply. He handed Ashley and Donnie some tea, which they took with no objections.

Donnie remained silent. This left the answering up to the brunette. Begrudgingly, she responded to her elder. “I’m okay, Sensei,” Ash whispered briefly.

Splinter lifted his brow in question. “Ashley, Donatello, it has been quite evident that you are suffering in silence. Whatever it was that you went through, let us help you with processing it.” Master Splinter said calmly, attempting to ease the nerves of his son and his student.

Ashley took a sip of her tea. Hmm… Earl grey… They thought to themselves. Donnie didn’t bother to take a sip of the tea that his father gave him. “Splinter, I can’t speak for Donnie, but I can assure you and everyone else that there isn’t anything that’s bothering me,” Ash said with a sigh.

“If there is nothing wrong, then why are you trembling?” Master Splinter questioned with furrowed brows.

Ash’s stoic expression on her face morphed into one of confusion. Then, into an expression of surprise. What? Trembling? That’s when the brunette teenager glanced down at the hand that held the glass teacup. Sure enough, the teacup was shaking along with their hand. Ash’s lip quivered. Still, she stayed quiet. Donnie glanced over to see that, yes, indeed, Ash’s hand was unsteady due to some sort of emotional distress. Her mental and emotional turmoil was finally showing through after all of this time.

“You, my son,” Splinter began, making Donnie turn his attention to his father, “have been struggling. You and Ashley have been extremely traumatized by a specific incident. You know you can tell me anything that you desire.” The ninja master tried to appeal to the two young adults that he was a safe space for them to vent their mental and emotional wounds.

To the Splinter and Ashley’s surprise, it was Donnie that broke first. “S-Sensei, what we saw was awful… It's been over a month now, and I still can’t get those images out of my head! I can’t even sleep at night because of how horrible my nightmares are!” Donnie finally broke, and there were tears pricking his eyes. Tears were threatening to fall, and it became evident in his tone of voice.

“Don’s right, Splinter… Every time I close my eyes, I see all of the blood. I see all of the gore. I hear them take their last breaths, I hear their painful screams. They keep telling me that I could’ve done better, that—that I should have saved them!” Ashley just started to burst out in sobs. She was hysterically crying, tears falling continually down her cheeks. Her makeup had begun to smudge slightly. However, she didn’t give a care in the world at the moment.

“Who are you referring to?” Splinter asked his student, intrigued by what they were saying.

That’s when Donnie and Ash both started to explain everything that happened to them. How they were transported thirty years into the future in a dystopian future, and what happened in that timeline. How the Shredder took over New York City, how Donnie left and never returned, how Splinter died in front of his sons and the kunoichis, and how Casey had been murdered right in front of everyone’s eyes. They both commented on how broken the Hamato family had become in that timeline. Ash even mentioned how she died in childbirth with her and Raph’s fourth child, and how Alex ran away and never came back after losing her husband and their baby. They also mentioned the plan that Ash and Donnie came up with, and how they, with the help of that timeline’s version of Mikey, Leo, Raph, April, and Raph and Ash’s children, were finally able to bring peace to that timeline. However, this is where both Donnie and Ash choked up.

Splinter took in everything that the teenagers were saying. They were very clearly distressed. Both of them were crying heavily, Ash more than Donnie. It wasn’t like either of them to just start crying like they currently were, and Splinter knew this. Ash was biting her thumb as a small toddler would, and Donnie kept his gaze averted from his father. “Take your time, my children,” Master Splinter told them steadily. He was shocked by the information that was already told to him, but he didn’t let it outwardly affect him.

“Even though Donnie and I managed to defeat the Shredder and ensure peace in their timeline, so many lives were lost along the way. April has absolutely no other friends left, and me and Raph’s poor babies don’t have their mother nor their father around anymore!” Ash cried out, sniffling. “They don’t even have their Uncles or Aunts by their side to help them through this tough time…”

“It’s horrendously dark, Master Splinter. It’s all just so… bleak and miserable…” Donnie muttered sadly, his voice breaking under the pressure of his emotions.

“I am so sorry that you two had witnessed something as traumatic as that. Truly, I am.” Splinter said genuinely. He felt horrible that there was a timeline out there where his mortal enemy had won, his family became broken apart, and his loved ones ended up dead in one way or another. Splinter couldn’t imagine what it was like to see how it ended like Ashley and Donatello did. He paused for a minute, thinking of what else to say. “You both should be proud that you reunited the three brothers with each other. I would like to think that there was a sense of comfort for those three seeing you both there with them.”

“There was. That version of Raph was just so… broken. Leo and Mikey were, too! Mikey wasn’t as boisterous and fun-loving as he once was, and…” Ash chimed in after they had calmed down from their sobbing, “… fuck! It’s all so tragic! I wish I could do something to rewrite their history! N-None of them deserves what they got!”

Splinter silently stood up from where he was sitting. The great ninja master crouched down in front of his son and his son’s friend, and he hugged them tightly to comfort them. “You should be proud of what you two did. Even if you couldn’t save everyone, you, Ashley and Donatello, made such an impact on the people that were spared. Your bravery and leadership changed their course of time forever, and you should be fulfilled with what you two did. I know for certain that version of April and the others are beyond grateful for what you both did.” Splinter spoke to his two pupils gently.

Ash and Donnie immediately embraced their Sensei in response. Ashley sniffled a little more, but Donnie still continued to let the tears silently fall from his eyes. “Thank you, Master Splinter, for being there for us,” Ash expressed her and Donnie’s gratitude.

“Of course. We are all family here, and we need to be there for each other when we need it the most.” Splinter voiced truthfully.

As the three of them broke the hug, that’s when the rest of the Hamato family walked in. First, it was Mikey, then Leo, then Raph and Alex, and April and Casey. Donnie rushed over to Alex, who engulfed him in a big hug with a gentle smile present on her face. Ash walked quickly over to Raph, and she hugged him tightly. “I’m assuming that you all heard everything?” Ash asked softly.

“We did, babe, we did,” Raph confirmed as Ash gave him a kiss on the cheek, “ya don’t have to re-explain everything again.”

Both the couples dispersed from their hugs. Mikey offered his big brother a bright grin, and he pulled Donnie into a side hug. Leo approached Ashley, who was standing next to her boyfriend. “I-I’m sorry if I’ve been a dick over the last few weeks…” Ash trailed off.

Leo put his hand up. “Ash, we understand. You and Donnie have been through a hell of a lot. You guys need to rest and mentally recoup from what you’ve been through.” The blue-masked leader expressed his comprehension of the situation.

“Thanks for understanding, bro,” Ashley said with a smile and a thankful gleam in her lavender-grey eyes.

“Let us help you guys,” Leo started, “alright? We can’t have you and Don going through such an ordeal all by yourselves.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ash said as she gave Leo a quick hug, “You’re a good friend, Leonardo. Don’t forget that.”

Leo just grinned, giving his best friend a nod in response.

Ashley and Donnie were far from recovered, and they both knew that what they saw that day will still continue to haunt them in a way. However, with their family by their side, Ash and Donnie knew that comfort was just one initiation away. They knew that help was just one call away. Ashley and Donatello knew that they had plenty of support around them, and they also knew that they didn’t have to suffer from their inner demons alone.

𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 © 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑. 𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚. 𝐢 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐞𝐭𝐜. 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥.

#tmnt #tmnt 2003 #tmnt angst #tmnt 2003 angst #tmnt 2003 raph #tmnt 2003 leo #tmnt ocs #tmnt 2003 oc #tmnt 2003 mikey #tmnt 2003 april #tmnt 2003 donnie #tmnt 2003 casey #tmnt 2003 splinter #tmnt 2003 ashley #tmnt alex #tmnt 2003 ash #tmnt 2003 same as it never was #same as it never was #ashwrites

7 notes · View notes