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((Author's Note: Finally figured out what to write, AND had the time for it! 3nodding Hopefully, this don't sound all that corny...))

Raph gazed into his bowl of Fruit Loops as he slowly poured some milk into it. It was probably 6 or 7 in the morning, which was about the right time for sunrise on the surface. It was early August, and the lair was blissfully cool in the midsummer morning. The house was still quiet, since everybody else was still asleep...though Raph knew that Leo would soon be waking up.

The hothead himself usually wasn't up until 9 or so. Even though his body had now readjusted to his old sleep schedule, he still liked to sleep in a little later than his brothers. He didn't mind; it at least gave him some privacy...until Mikey decided to drag him out of bed around mid-morning. The only time he was usually up this early was if Leo or Sensei had some morning practice--or lessons--for the whole group. That, he didn't complain too much.

But the rest of the family was still asleep at this hour, and Raph just couldn't go back to sleep...not after that strange, disturbing dream. Seeing himself back on that roof again... The turtle shuddered. ~I don't ever wanna go through that again,~ he thought sorrowfully as he munched on a spoonful of half-soggy cereal. ~I'd rather die than pull that again...on any of them...~ He quickly stuffed his mouth with his breafast. Eating his favorite food comforted him...a little...

"You might wanna slow down, Raph," A voice gently suggested from behind. "I don't want you to choke."

The ninja looked up to see his blue-banned brother standing in the doorway. "Mornin' Leo," He muttered around the food in his mouth.

"G'moring," Leonardo replied as neutral as possible. "You're up early."

"...couldn't sleep much..." Raph swallowed and started to stab at his bowl with his spoon. "Had a weird-a** dream..."

"About your element?"

A green head shot up. "You, too?"

"Yeah..." Leo quietly sat across from his brother. "Well, the main focus was my element, but..."

"It involved personal issues, huh?" Raph inquired, fully awake now and curious.

"...Yeah...yeah, it did..." Leo stared at his hands, which rested on the table before him.

Silence hung in the air, as thick as the ocean fog. Raph knew that his brother had something to say, and simply waited as he ate.

"Raph, I'm sorry," The 'leader' finally blurted out. "I didn't mean to sound harsh, what I said that night--"

"About what? Me runnin' round like Night Watcher and putting our family at risk? Or me being a irresponsible hothead?"

"...that...and claiming that I was better than you... I didn't mean to--"

"Leo," Raph interrupted, "You actually were telling the truth when you said that."

The other turtle stared at his brother, stunned.

"You are better," the red-banned turtle went on to say. "You've always kept yourself in control. You know what it really means to be in charge, to lead us in and out of dangerous situations. You're a helluva lot better fighter than I could ever be."

"That's not true!" Leo protested that last point. "You're a lot stronger than I am!"

This time, it was Raphael's turn to stare. "...stronger? Me?"

"Yes, and I'm not talking about physical strenght, either. You're the one who always kept going when the rest of us were ready to drop and give up. You're the one who could take hit after hit--a lot more than even I could. Your spirit is the hardest to break; your will the hardest to conquer. You're a stronger...better warrior than I am, Raph, and--" Leo paused, then, slowly, admitted, "...I envy you for being that way...even if it makes you stubborn and ill-temptered."

A spoon fell out of thick, green fingers and bounced off the rim of a cereal bowl. Raph's jaw fell open for a minute or two. "You? Envy me?!"

"I know it sounds crazy, but... You've handled all the s**t we've been through better than the rest of us. Yeah, Mikey would laugh and joke...but I know that's just to cover his pain half the time. He'd cover his wounds so that he could help the rest of us heal faster and better. Don buries his pain in all the lab work he does in order to solve a lot of problems. But you...you choose to bear it by yourself most of the time. You bear your scars with little remorse...and that makes you strong--stronger than I could ever be."

"And you've envied me for that--all this time?"

"Yes. Part of me still do, actually..."

Raph sat stunned for a few moments...and then burst out laughing. He couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it all.

"It's not funny!" Leonardo protested.

"I'm sorry-hehehee!" Raph chortled. "But it's just... Oh, my god! I never thought that you'd be jealous of me!" He continued laughing until his eyes started to water.

Leo, at this point, was looking rather indignified, feeling a slight blush on his cheeks. "It's true, though!"

"Oh, I know! I know!" Raph gasped as he calmed down and wiped away his tears. "It's just...I'm the one who's always been envious of you, bro. I've always been jealous of you acting like the perfect student and son for sensei."

"...what made you change your mind? Well...besides the obvious..."

Raph smiled. "When I went back home, after you got caught by the foot and Winter's brothers, I trashed the dojo in my grief and anger. When Sensei called me on that, I told him that I finally saw why he saw you as his favorite son. Y'kno what he said to me?"

The turtle shook his head. "No...what did he say?"

"He said that while you were his favorite student...he didn't see you as his favorite son. I realized that I've been a fool all this time--that Father loved all of us just the same... Oh, man!" He muttered as he started to cry again. "Now, you got me goin' again!" He wiped away his tears with the back of his hand.

Leo smiled as he leaned over to grap the kitchen towel. "Here."

"Thanks..."

"...did he really say that?"

"Yeah...he really did." Raph smiled through the tears.

Leo returned the smile. "Somehow...I'm glad to hear that. Sometimes...sometimes, I wonder if it was worth making you upset and jealous over me. Then again...I've actually missed the fights we used to have."

"You missed them?"

"Yeah! I mean, ever since we've closed the portal, you haven't been...well, yourself!"

"I could say the same about you, Leo...though, I don't blame you if the reason's me."

Leo smirked. "Well, it hasn't been the same since you stopped being the Psycho of the family," He teased. "It's been too quiet without the yelling matches and all the rough-housing you used to do with Mikey..."

Raph's chuckling echoed throughout the kitchen. "I guess I've been out of it for a while, huh?"

"It isn't the same without your flames of justice."

"'Flames of justice'? You haven't been reading Mikey's comics again, have you?"

"No, that's your guilty pleasure, not mine!"

"Of course," Raph drawled on sarcastically. "After all, I'm not the one who secretly wishes that Karai wasn't a Foot leader--"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!!!"

"Ah-hah! The blush tells all, big brother!"

"Raphael..." Leo growled warningly, eyes narrowing dangerously while his whole face was beet red.

"Does my ears deceive me, or are they actually fighting?" A new voice quipped from the doorway.

"Sounds like old time, huh?" A second voice joined in.

The two sitting turtles stopped in mid-argument and turned to see their brothers standing in the kitchen doorway, grinning their heads off.

Leo and Raph looked at each other...and then burst out laughing, for no apparently reason.

~Things are definitely getting back to normal,~ Raph thought as he continued laughing.