"Booyakasha!" Mikey jumped into the lake. "Guys, you should totally get in as well."
"Due to my robotic body, staying in the water long wouldn't be good for my circuit systems." Don answered.
"Whatever you say, robo-bro. At least put your feet below the water."
"Okay, I could do that. But not long."
Donatello sat down and put his robotic feet into the water. Raphael and Leonardo put the final touches on their house, made of solid rocks and wood.
"There. All sturdy and pretty good against bad weather." Raph said and wiped away a few sweat drops from his forehead.
"Yeah." Leo answered. "It's not like the old home we had, but we will get used to it. By the way, how are your memories? Getting all back together?" He looked at his brother.
"Donnie told me and showed me some holographic images about our past. Some of them are pretty bizarre and some of them are impossible to believe, but I think it's all coming back together slowly." Raph said as he sat down on a rock.
Leo smiled at him and sat down next to him, looking at the lake.
"What about you, Leo?" Raph asked. "You seem to know a lot more than me."
Leo rested his head on his left palm. "I only remember a few things. What I really want is to forget what I did in the desert as Maximus Kong."
"Hey, it wasn't your fault. That mutagen did all the crazy stuff, not you."
"I know. I just have this feeling that I could have done something against it."
Awkward silent broke their conversation. Raph tried to change the subject, but he saw Leo standing up.
"I'll go and get some firewood." Leo walked into the forest.
"Poor guy." Raph sighed.
He looked down at the ground and thought about how to cheer Leo up. Mira arrived back with a basket, full of fish in it.
"We will have roasted fish for dinner."
"Nice job, Mira." Raph smiled, but his cheerfulness turned into sadness.
"What's wrong Raph?"
"It's...nothing. I was in a blackout, that's all." Raph stood up. "Here, let me help bring this basket inside the house."
"Thanks." Mira nodded.
As they walked inside, Mira looked around and admired the hard work she and the turtles did. Using only wood, stones and leaves, and some help from Donnie's technology, a solid house was created and this made Mira happy and proud.
"Maybe we could go back to the desert, grabbing some metal parts to upgrade our house." Raph said as he put the basket down and started to fill their storage with the fish.
"That would be a good idea." Mira answered as she helped Raph. "Raph, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure. Hit me."
"Everything is alright between you and Leo?"
"Yeah." Raph stopped for a little bit. "He just needs some time to forget his Maximus side."
Mira nodded, and soon they finished packing up the storage.
"There, all done." Raph said. "C'mon, let's join Mikey and Don. It's the first day of Summer. We should enjoy that."
"Yeah." Mira agreed and both of them walked out from the house and reached the lake.
"Finally. I thought you guys wanna stay dry." Mikey said with a brig grin on his face.
"You're gonna regret that I joined you, dummy." Raph answered. He pulled down his clothes and went into the water. Mira sat down next to Donnie and she put her feet below the water.
"Oh, it feels great." Mira said happily.
"Yeah. I can feel my metal feet are cooling down." Donnie said.
"Say, Donnie," Mira looked up at the robot turtle. "Don't you mind that you can't feel anything now that you are a robot?"
"To tell the truth, being a robot has both positive and negative sides. I don't need to eat, drink, go to bathroom and I never get tired after a long fight. But yeah, the negative side is that I miss my bones and flesh and skin. But I got used to it, so no worries."
Mira nodded and her head turned to Raph and Mikey after she heard them laughing and trying to push each other below the water. It made Mira giggle. Moments like this made her happy.
"Say 'uncle', Mike." Raph said with a grin as he tried to push Mikey's head below the water.
"Nuh-uh dude. I may be older, but my ninjutsu got better." Mikey laughed.
Meanwhile, Leonardo came back with a lot of firewood. He watched his brothers and Mira having fun at the lake. Seeing them made him smile. He didn't want to ruin their moment, so he continued walking into the house and put down the firewood at the corner. He sat down on his custom made chair and looked at his hands. He tried to forget all the horrible things he did as Maximus Kong. He sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair.
"I don't want these memories. I wanna forget." He whispered to himself.
Soon, Donatello walked into the house.
"Hi there." Donnie greeted.
"Hey." Leo answered with a lazy smile. "You guys having fun?"
"Yes." Don answered. "But it's not the same without you. We should spend the first day of summer together."
Leo leaned a bit forward to see the others having fun outside.
"Alright. I'll try." Leo stood up from his chair that creaked a bit.
"Everything is alright? My scanners detected bad mood swings."
"I didn't ask for scanning, Donnie. And I'm fine. Well, I will be fine."
"During these moods, master Splinter always suggested to meditate and clear your mind."
"Meditate? I'm sorry Donnie, but a lot of years passed since the Mutagen bomb and now, I don't think I'm able to do that."
"If you want, I could help you. I installed a meditation program many years ago for Raph to help him control his temper."
"Did he ever meditate?" Leo couldn't help but smiled at this one.
"Not really. But I thought someday my program would be useful. And I think this is the moment."
"Alright." Leo sighed. "Let's do it now."
Donatello moved some furniture away to make space and he sat down in front of Leo.
"Please, sit down, brother."
Leo sat down in front of Donnie. He was a bit unsure what he needed to do since he didn't meditate for a long time.
"Now, close your eyes."
The giant turtle closed his eyes.
"Do you need quiet background music?"
"I don't know, Don."
"Music helps the mind relax, let's give it a try."
Donatello searched the music inside his programs. Two speakers activated on Donatello's chest and he started to play the music, quietly.
"That's...pretty nice." Leo smiled as he enjoyed the soft tunes.
"Now, don't think about anything. Clear your mind. It's only you and the universe. Make the thoughts leave your head and allow the universe's energy into you. Breathe in slowly. Hold it for a few seconds, then exhale it."
Leo did what Don said. It did calm Leo down. The slow breaths helped him clear his mind and relax.
After some minutes, the meditation ended. Both of them stood up and Don scanned him again.
"This meditation helped you a lot with your emotions."
"Yeah." Leo smiled. "Please don't scan me often."
"Only when It's necessary."
"Got it." Leo chuckled. "Thank a lot Donnie. I hope you don't mind if I wanna meditate with your help."
"Anytime, Leo."
Both of them soon joined the others. They enjoyed the water, except Donnie, but after that all of them lay down on the grass and enjoyed the sun. In paradise the temperature wasn't hot like in the desert. It was pleasant.
At night, they made fire with the fire wood that Leo brought and they shared stories with each other while they cooked the fishe above the fire. They ate the fish and soon most of them went to sleep. The fire danced softly.
Leonardo looked up at the sky and like he was hypnotized, stared the stars.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Raph sat down next to Leo. "In the desert the sky was all weird and stuff, both night and day."
"Yeah. It's sure beautiful." Leo admitted. "I don't know why, but since we arrived here in Paradise, I always look up and just stare at the stars."
"I could watch the stars all night as well, Leo." Raph leaned softly on Leo's shoulder. "I'm glad that you are here with us."
Leo looked down at Raph and smiled, then he wrapped his giant arm around Raph's body softly and held his brother close.
"I'm glad I am with you and my family."
Raph smiled wide and cuddled to his big brother, using Leo's arm as a pillow.
"Good night, Leo."
"Good night, Raph."
Leo leaned back on the ground, made himself comfortable and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for Leo to find himself in the world of dreams. A dream where he was a teenager, spending quality time with his brothers and friends, and of course with his father as well.
