A Friend Against Dark
AO3 LINK: [may upload later]
FANDOM: ROTTMNT
A short fic about six year old Raph, his fear of dark and a gift from his dad.
His brothers were small, and Raph knew they didn’t like the dark (if he didn’t like it, so they wouldn’t too, right?). And he was the biggest of them! And the strongest! And the oldest! So he had to be brave!
Raph really, really disliked the dark. It was scary. He couldn’t see in the dark too, so he couldn’t tell if there was a monster or not! And if he couldn’t know that, how was he supposed to protect his brothers from the bad monsters as he had promised?
…
The six-year-old looked around his very dark room. More of a peeked from under the blankets. Then he shut his eyes tightly. Maybe if he closed his eyes, he’d forget the dark existed. Maybe he could dream of nice things. Like pizza! Or uhhh… more pizza? Or Jupiter Jim!
…
Raph opened his eyes. He saw… he wasn't sure what he saw. But he was sure something moved in the dark. So with a small yelp, he jumped out of his bed and sprinted out of his room.
He paid no attention to his surroundings as he ran to his dad's room.
"Daddy!" He cried and jumped to Dad's bed.
Dad's eyes shot awake with terror and jumped on his feet. As Raph hugged him tightly and shut his eyes, Dad Sked with worry: "What's it, Red?"
"In d-dark! Mo-monsters!" Raph buried his head into his dad's robes. "There's one in the dark!"
"Oh…" Dad sighed. Raph felt his arms around him, pulling the turtle into a hug. "You're scared, my son?"
Raph nodded.
"I see. Is it the same one from last night?"
"Y-yes." Then Raph thought for a second. "I'm not sure. But Raph's scared."
"Are you sure it is a monster?" Dad asked this time.
Raph pulled away to look at him. "Of course it is! It must be!"
Dad smiled slightly. "Alright then. I guess there's really nothing to change your mind."
He wasn't sure what Dad meant, but Raph shook his head. Then he went back to hugging him as tightly as possible. He felt Dad hold him and slowly lay on the bed. The warmth of the covers and Dad's repeated rubs on his shell started to calm him.
"Can I sleep with you, dad?" The tiny shaking turtle asked.
"Of course, Red." Dad answered softly.
Raph snuck closer to Dad, as he now felt relaxed and calm. The monster couldn't get him here. He was safe.
Then he realized something, a thought coming to his mind, and he turned abruptly to see Dad as much as he could.
"Dad, what if the monster finds Leo, Donnie and Mikey?" He asked with a new tone of worry.
Dad smiled again, "Don't worry my son. They're safe." He patted his head. "I made sure of that."
Raph relaxed, not questioning how. He closed his eyes, not shutting them tightly this time, knowing everyone was safe.
It didn't take long for him to fall into dreamland. He briefly heard Dad wishing him goodnight.
◇◇◇
The next day Red had completely forgotten about the dark and the monster hiding in there.
Splinter, however, had not. He even had a surprise for his son, a small gift. Something he hoped to help him. Something he hoped would stop Red from crying in fear and running to Splinter's room in terror.
Red lately had been doing this more and more, and it made Splinter feel bad to see one of his boys so afraid for no reason at all. Even if his reactions usually were funny.
And there was the fact that as much as Splinter loved his sons, he was getting tired of waking up almost every night in sheer fear. So he had to find a solution, or else he'd make his already ruined sleeping habits worse.
He truly wanted to find a way to explain and make Red understand that there was nothing in the dark. That those monsters were not real (most of the time). But it was hard to convince a six-year-old this statement was true. So instead Splinter had paid a quick visit outside.
He found the boy watching one of Lou Jitsu's movies, and his brothers surrounded him, sleeping. Most probably they had fallen tired from running around and doing their usual, playing games and accidentally breaking stuff… Ah, he better check if something was missing in the lair. Again.
Red also looked sleepy, his eyes half closed as he watched the movie. Splinter, doing his best not to wake up the rest of the boys, approached him. Quietly he patted Red's back to catch his attention. The eldest turtle turned to see his dad, at first confusion and then the joy of seeing him back beamed on his face.
"Daddy!" He shouted.
Splinter was quick to hush him and pick him up. Luckily the excited statement didn't wake the others. While Red hugged him tightly, Splinter walked out of the room.
Now that they were away from Blue, Purple, and Orange, and there was no chance of waking them up, Splinter put Red down.
"Alright, Red. I want you to stay here and wait for a minute." The rat said as he walked back to grab his gift.
Red gave him thumbs up and smiled widely.
In a short while, Splinter returned with the present in his hands, hidden behind his back.
"Remember the monsters in the dark, Red?" He asked.
Red nodded.
"Today I got you something that will protect you from them all!" Splinter announced, revealing the brown teddy bear he held.
The snapping turtle's eyes sparkled with excitement. Then immediately he grabbed and held on to it, hugging it tightly.
"For me?" Red exclaimed.
"Yes." Splinter confirmed.
Red jumped up and down excitedly, hugging the teddy bear even tighter. "Thank you Daddy!!" He then tackled Splinter with a hug, still holding the bear.
And as the days passed, Splinter didn't wake up to Red's cries.
Raph never again was scared of the dark like before. His teddy bear friend was always there to protect him.
For years, it went on like this. For years, the little gift Splinter gave Raph grew to be one of the most important things for Raph. It ended up being named Brown, and Raph found comfort in hugging it whenever he felt down.
For years, Brown became his best friend. Even if it was worn out, Raph never let go of it, always fixing (or getting it fixed at times) the stitches.
And every time he felt bad, Raph remembered how his dad had been there for him. How he was the one to give his best friend to him.