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[ruevealing]

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[semilethal]

I don't know where to start. [And there's the other question that he's too afraid to ask; if Rue is one of those people too, whose forgiveness he'll need to earn. The only thing he knows to do, the only thing he's good for, is building. This project was such a resounding failure...

What could make up for that? What little trinkets or toys could he make or fix to make up for all of this? Donnie's fingers tighten around Rue's talons, clinging like a child.]

[ruevealing]

[Across there bond, while Donnie trembles and clings to their talon, terrified of what might happen next, he would feel Rue's love settling over his shoulders, like a wing shielding him from the world.]

Then I will be there with you every step of the way, Donatello. You and I will find out where to start together. How does that sound?

[semilethal]

[Warm.

Like Dad's hugs.

Donatello blinks back stinging tears. He doesn't have to figure this part out by himself. He doesn't have to fix this one alone. He hasn't seen his father in years, hasn't been held by him or comforted by him or protected by him. Even with Raph here it's felt sometimes like being left adrift, scrabbling for a handhold wherever he can find one.

But he has a mother now.

He'd...forgotten.

Donatello rubs a knuckle against his eyes, sniffing hard.] ...I think I'm ready to get out of the tree now, Mom.

[ruevealing]

[Thankfully, getting out of the tree was so much easier than climbing up it.

Rue gently untangles Donatello from their talon, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze, before they shimmy down enough to leap to the ground.

It's certainly not graceful and elegant, the way they land powerfully on all fours, but Rue is up on two legs almost immediately, opening their wings for their son without hesitation.]

Here, I can catch you. I've been practicing!

[semilethal]

[The tree shudders when Rue lands on the ground, shocking Donatello a little as he grips the branch and stares down at them. He...did not expect that casual display of power from gentle, graceful Rue, but then again he hadn't expected them to climb up into the tree after him in the first place. Maybe he should stop trying to predict what the people around him will do; he's been kind of shit at it lately.

Rue's wings open remind Donnie that, despite them all being grown and larger than Splinter (even Mikey), their father will still fling his arms open for hugs upon request. Donatello fidgets for a moment, struggling to convince himself that he's allowed to do something as childish as jump into his parent's arms after years of trying so hard to be self-sufficient-

But then he leaps down to his mother.]

[ruevealing]

[Look, Rue is hardly athletic or agile in the slightest, but when it comes to their children, they can do anything.

(Besides, they have a lot of practice catching Casey.)

So Donnie leaps and Rue catches him without fumbling, wrapping their boy up in their wings and giving him a happy little spin now that they're both on the ground. But instead of letting him down immediately, they turn back towards their cottage, taking Donnie with them. And if he doesn't stop them, they are going straight to the couch where the rest of the world can't interfere.]