“Computer, end simulation ‘Reunion’!” A fracture of a second passed after Donatello had spoken and the images of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael faded into nothingness.
Renet only saw this in the corner of her eyes, her gaze following the aged genius. Looking around, she took in the tidy, clean – almost sterile – apartment that bore no resemblance to the different workstations she had seen Donatello tinker and ponder at. Gone was the creative chaos, replaced by spotless furniture and walls that – aside from a few photographs – showed little of the person living here.
Unnoticed by the owner of the place, Renet followed him while he carefully made his way through his home. Maybe his fading eyesight was the reason he made sure no clutter lay around so that he could cross the rooms without accidents by using his still excellent memory. He would probably say so if someone was to ask. But nobody asked.
Renet would not ask either. She did not want to be seen at the moment. Let alone heard as she did not trust her voice right now. Tears started to form in her eyes and soon would fall. It broke her heart to see the warm and gentle soul that was Donatello so lonely, longing for his brothers‘ company, for their voices, their warmth.
It was not that the brothers, who had been so close in their youth, were at odds with each other. Sure, there had been more than one bump on their road that caused conflicts, some smaller, some bigger. But they loved each other and cared for each other. When Raphael failed to repair his robot, Donatello was there. (Renet had been tempted more than once to let Donatello know how Raphael messed with the uncanny machine to have a reason to call Donatello and check on his well-being, but there was no telling how her old friends would react to being regularly spied on. Not good probably.) Leonardo’s tech bokken needed maintenance, too, now and then (Leonardo made sure of it) and Donatello was fast to help. Funny enough, it was Michelangelo who needed his help the least. His time in space had provided him with an impressive knowledge about technology that almost rivaled that of his genius brother. So when he called, he did so to make sure Donatello was fine. But he did not do it often, because he did not want to bother his brother more than necessary.
Yes, his brothers tried not to get on his nerves and he did not mean to bother them with his desire for their company. Even though he was glad for a reason to see them, he still made sure to leave them be as soon as whatever needed repair was fixed.
Donatello had reached his bedroom and crawled under the blanket. Before he closed his eyes, he ordered the computer to play his favorite songs and to stop after he had been asleep for an hour.
Renet knew why this apartment spoke so little of Donatello. Her old friend did not really live here. He was stuck somewhere between the past and the present. He longed for the time he was near his brothers, even though he never cried for it. But Renet did now. She cried, she cried bitter tears for the old turtle.
“There is, like, nothing I can do,” she whispered, unheard by the now sleeping genius.
“Or is there?” she questioned
“No.”
“Well…”
“There is something I could do, kinda…”
“Actually, there would be, like, a LOT to do…”
“And Lord Simultaneous would totally have my head…”
“If he knew…”
“But, like, does he have to know?”
“I mean, there is so much going on right now. He cannot be everywhere at once.”
“Okay, scratch that, he can, because he is, like, the lord of time and stuff. But…”
“…if he does not know that there is a reason to be somewhere, he won’t be there. He totally hates splitting himself to be in more than one place at the same time!”
Her decision made, Renet wiped the tears from her eyes and swung her scepter. She was carried along Donatello’s lifeline into the past.
It was all a blur because she was in an unnecessary hurry, but now and then she saw glimpses of those who had touched Donatello’s life and soul during the years. April O’Neil, Casey Jones, his father and sensei Splinter, even herself. But his brothers were the most prominent. And there were voices, mostly distant, speaking all at once and therefore impossible to understand, but sometimes she caught a few words spoken in Donatello’s voice.
“Spar with Raph, will you Leo? I am at a very critical point in this experiment.”
“Not now, Raphael! This is important!”
“Sorry, Michelangelo! I am very busy. Some other time, okay?”
Travelling through so many years of this whirl of an unusual and exciting life, made even the experienced timestress a little dizzy. But when she reached her destination it did not take long for her to regain her senses.
A soft breeze of a warm Northampton spring greeted her. The wind rushed through the leaves of the old trees as if to wake them from their winter’s slumber. He carried several voices to Renets ears and the timestress did not hesitate to follow them. Only a few strides were needed to step out of the woods and reach a wide and open field graced by a small rivulet. She spotted Donatello and his family in the company of April and Casey. Renet stepped closer but decided to remain unseen.
The two humans were seated on a plain uni-colored picnic blanket, enjoying the sun and an extraordinary lively conversation for two people as different as April and Casey.
Raphael and Michelangelo were engaged in a Frisbee game, obviously garnered with house rules Renet did not understand. Leave it to Michelangelo to complicate a game that usually only meant to throw a flat thing from one person to another.
Leonardo was talking to his father. They stood near the rivulet so Renet could barely hear what they were saying, but from the look on their faces and their overall composure it seemed to be a pleasant topic
Everybody seemed comfortable. Including Donatello. But he had distanced himself from the rest of the group. Not by putting much space between himself and the others. In fact he was sitting pretty close to Splinter and Leonardo, but his back was turned on them and he did not speak a word. He stared at something on the ground, deep in thought and a look on his face that showed how far away his mind had wandered.
Renet drew closer to see what had captured his interest and almost rolled her eyes at the irony when she finally spotted the object of his studies. It was a turtle that was slowly but steadily making its way through a little puddle of mud near the water. Of all the things that could draw Donatello’s attention away from his family.
She chuckled a little, but then she saw Splinter’s ears twitch and fell silent immediately. The magic of her scepter that concealed her was powerful, but it was unwise to underestimate the old master’s instincts.
Turning back to Donatello she silently shook her head. He was a good person. Warm, gentle and sweet. He did not deserve to be alone because he was gifted and cursed with a brilliant mind that tended to drift away and pull him with it. Away from those he loved and who loved him.
Inaudibly Renet sighed. It was a lot of work. But she could fix this. She WOULD fix this. She grinned. After all, time was on her side.
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