[Splinter is waiting in the workout room, deep in meditation on the mats. He hears Donatello enter the house, hears him speak with his brother. Even though he wants to see his son--his healthy, alive son--he waits. Donatello and Michelangelo need time.
He knows that Donatello will come to him when he is ready.]
[When Donatello comes, he comes quietly, padding into the room and dropping to the mats with hardly a sound. He kneels before his father, head down, and says nothing. He's not sure yet what degree of trouble he's in, and it isn't his place to speak first.]
Telling and reassuring are two separate actions. You can tell anyone anything, but it takes reassurance to make them understand. It does not matter that you planned to return and to keep your word, not when your absence and the way you left took its toll on them.
[And, in a moment, he will.] I should have told them how I was feeling, instead of just running away. But I didn't know how I felt. I had to leave to find out.
Ye-es... [Cautiously. He told Leo and Raph the main thing he was confused about, and he knows Raph couldn't stop himself from spilling the beans to Mike, but he's not sure whether Splinter knows also.]
He knows that Donatello will come to him when he is ready.]
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THWACK!]
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Telling them is not enough, Donatello! While it may have been necessary, you still have hurt your family in the way that you left.
When I left the burrow, did I leave any doubt that I planned to return? Did I not make sure that you would be safe in my absence?
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... I know you did not mean to hurt them, Donatello. They know you did not mean to hurt them. But do you understand why you have?
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