katleept

Title: "Turtle Pretzels"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: G
Summary: Splinter may already be used to his beloved sons' natural ninja instincts, but he is still amazed by the pretzels they become.
Warnings: Turtle Tots
Word Count: 401
Date Written: 28 November, 2010
Challenge/Prompt: LJ comm Writers_Choice's #382 challenge: Pretzel
Disclaimer: Splinter, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are © & TM their respective owners, none of whom are the author; are used without permission; and may not be used without permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

It had come to him as no surprise that his sons were naturals at martial arts, Splinter mused as his tail swished slowly from side to side beneath his scraggly robes. After all, they had certainly proven, time and again, that the normal laws of the human body and its abilities did not apply to them. He mused silently over the many times that their tiny, green forms had already resembled the strange human concoction, a pretzel, that he had seen washed into the sewer before.

It never ceased to amaze him how tangled his four, beloved children became in their sleep. Even now, as he struggled to separate their arms and legs as they clung and wrapped around their brothers, their bodies seemed an almost impossible maze. Ah, well, he sighed, the family who sleeps together survives together. He stooped down, lifted the tiny turtles into his furry arms, and carried the lot of them to his makeshift bed.

There he would sleep with the four surrounding him until, by the break of dawn, their five bodies were one giant pretzel. He would worry about getting the stickiness of the various liquids they had splashed in out of his fur tomorrow, just as he would about separating his body from theirs without harming them. He smiled as he looked down at the peacefully smiling faces and noted that tomorrow would also be another day full of training, their adventures and humorous, adorable mishaps of life that only these four baby turtles could bring to him, and love, lots and lots of love.

His tail swished happily, and had he been a catman, Splinter would have purred. He had never been so loved. His four boys might be pretzels in disguise, but they were also blessings, the grandest jewels any father could possess, and the truest wonders the world could ever bestow upon an old rat. As he tucked them in on top of and around him, Splinter wriggled down and kissed their tiny foreheads. "Good night, my sons. Sleep well." He had to stifle a yawn himself before he whispered the last three words that he dared not yet tell them where they could hear him, "I love you."

Huge smiles shone upon each little face, but their Sensei could not see them for their father was already fast asleep, dreaming of the bright tomorrows to come with his family.

The End