Disclaimer: I own nothing


Outside of the farm house, in the morning of Christmas Eve, a blanket of snow has appeared before them overnight. The roof is buried with three feet of snow as the sound of the wind is heard through the closed windows, showing the pure, white, cloudy sky. It should be a joyous time, but everyone in the house is in deep thought about their homes back in New York City. They sit around the fire place, contemplating on this joyous occasion. A long couch faces the window with April sitting between Raphael and Donatello. On the recliner lounges Leonardo, while Casey sits on the edge of its armrest and Michelangelo is on the floor cross-legged with his elbows on his thighs and hands on his face.

"So, tomorrow's Christmas." Everyone nods. Michelangelo is the only one who is excited about the holiday, but if his brothers and friends are not elated, why bother?

April then stands up.

"You guys! I have a great idea." She clasps her hands together. Donatello shifts to face her.

"What is it, April?" Now everyone observes at her, waiting for her dramatic response.

"We should get—a Christmas tree." She says bluntly. Michelangelo immediately gasps.

"Yeah! We should definitely get one!" He turns to Leonardo. "Please can we get one? Pretty, please?" He extracts his pathetic puppy eyes and claps his hands together for emphasis. Leonardo sighs, but ultimately agrees. He does not want his family to feel sad on such a jolly holiday, plus it would distract them from thinking about home. He stands up from the dust filled recliner.

"Alright, let's get a tree." Everyone cheers. They gather up their scarves, mittens, hats, and coats. Leonardo is leading them out into the woods.

"I'll go to the store and see if I can find some decorations." Casey suggests.

"Alright, thanks Casey. Raph, Donnie, April, why don't you go find a tree. Mikey and I will gather more firewood." They all agree and split up.

—-

The crunching sound of the snow underneath their feet is the only sound that is overheard. Raphael is dragging the ax onto the ground, leaving behind a jagged trail in the snow. April has her hands in the pockets of her coat. She is slightly shivering; her breath of clouds appears as she breathes out. Donatello notices, and quickly takes off his scarf and gently wraps it around her. She looks at him surprised by his bold action.

"Don't worry. The cold doesn't really affect us." Raphael notices and removes his bright red hat. He walks up to her, takes down her hoodie and puts his hat on her.

"Thanks guys." She grabs both other their arms and they continue to walk onward to locate a flawless tree.

They march until there are surrounded with various shapes of trees, drenched in snow. It had stopped snowing a couple of hours ago, but the whole land is covered by at least three feet of snow. April walks ahead in order to find the perfect tree. Raphael just stands while Donatello starts to create shapes onto the snow with his right foot. Raphael spots him and cocks an eyebrow. He is drawing a heart. He looks up to him, Donatello is smiling to himself. April appears.

"I found the perfect one!" Her face is beaming. She guides them to where the tree is. She left a red glove on the tree, in case she forgot.

"This is it. What do you guys think?" She asks as she removes the glove and puts it back on.

"I think it's fine." Donatello looks at Raphael.

"Yeah, let's chop it down." Raphael brings the ax to the tree.

"This one?" April nods.

He raises the ax high and starts chopping until it begins to fall over.

"Timber!" April laughs; he smirks and winks at her.

Donatello comes to help him carry the tree back to the farm house. April marches on ahead, as the boys follow her.

—-

Casey finally arrives at the little shop that he found a couple of days ago. He parks the Hippy van in front, gets out, and slams the door shut before he walks towards the store. He walks in as a bell loudly rings; the place is pretty big, nothing like the other store that he went with April months before. A woman spots him from behind the counter.

"Hello there!" She joyfully exclaims.

"Hello." He slightly bows his head as he walks around the store.

"Is there anything that I could help you with?" She is a stout woman, with blond hair, in her forties.

"Yeah, do you have any Christmas decorations?"

"Of course, they are all located in the back." She points to the end of the store.

"Thanks." He walks towards her pointing direction. He sees a variety of decorations, but he only has enough money to buy so much. He takes out his wallet to see how much he has.

"Crud." He puts back the money and contemplates on what he should purchase. He has in one hand some silver tinsel, while the other he has a golden colored star. He looks back and forth; he cannot make up his mind. He feels a tap on the shoulder. He flinches and turns to look back at her. The woman smiles to him.

"How much money do you have, young man?" Her eyes look kind, he could tell.

"Umm, not a lot ma'am." She squints, trying to get him to reply.

"Only ten bucks." He says while he looks off to the side as he sets the items back down on the table. She continues to stare at him directly into his eyes.

"I'll tell you what. You can have all this—." She gestures at a huge pile. "For just ten dollars." Casey widens his eyes.

"Oh no! I can't—"

"I insist. Tomorrow is Christmas." She smiles.

"But—"

"I won't take no for an answer, son." She crosses her arms across her chest.

Casey chuckles. "Alright ma'am, thank you."

"'Tis the season." She turns to leave. Casey stares at the pile that she gestured. He smiles to himself. She reminds him so much of his mother.

—-

"Mikey, can you get the ones over there?" Both Michelangelo and Leonardo are amongst the trees, looking for logs and branches to feed the fireplace for the night.

"Sure." He walks a couple of feet away. When he is out of ear shot, Leonardo decides to sit down on a snow covered log. He feels exhausted, as he has not yet fully recovered. He breathes out a tiring sigh. He places his arms across the top of his knees and looks down to the snow covered ground. He rubs both of his knees with his cool hands, trying to relax by breathing calmly. He looks up towards the sky, thinking about his sensei, Karai, and how he wishes to go back. He would just have to wait for the right time, and until he gets better.

Michelangelo returns with some twigs and a couple of logs. He walks to where Leonardo is. He stops as he sees him.

"Are you okay, dude?" He knows that Leonardo still feels sore. He looks at his little brother with a faint smile.

"Yeah, I'm okay Mikey." He fumbles as he stands up and then reaches down to pick up some scattered branches that are around him.

"Oh, it's okay I got them!" Michelangelo goes to pick up the rest. Leonardo just smiles. He is glad that he has a little brother like him. They both walk back to the farmhouse with the collected wood.

As Leonardo and Michelangelo reach the door, they find Donatello, Raphael and April with the tree in front of the door.

"Wow! I love it!" Michelangelo declares as he walks up to the snow covered tree, still carrying the wood with his hands. He begins to inspect it while Leonardo walks towards them.

Casey drives in and parks the van and gets out, along with a box of decorations. April spots him as he slams the door of the van shut.

"It's not much but—" April walks to him and looks in with both of her hands on the edge of the brown cardboard box.

"It's perfect Casey." She glances at him and smiles. She takes the box from his hands and walks into the house to where the tree now is. Casey follows her. He cleans off his wet boots onto the 'welcome home' mat, then walks in and takes off his hat and coat, and goes to where his friends are.

"Woah, nice tree! Who picked it out?" Raphael nods his head to April's direction. She turns and blushes.

"It seemed like the perfect one for us." She looks back to the tree and runs her hand onto its dewy spikes. "It's precious."

Casey agrees and goes by her and begins to pick up the mismatched trinkets to hang. Michelangelo comes in from the kitchen wearing a frilly pink apron around his waist.

"Cookies will be done in a half hour!" He is beaming with a smile, as he always does. Donatello reaches for the box and accidently bumps his arm into April's. He blushes and looks down.

"S-sorry, April." She smiles. She grabs a Santa hat from the box and puts in on him.

"That's alright, Donnie." She gathers the rest of the hats and begins to walk to each friend and puts on their festive hat.

"There, now everyone is in the Christmas spirit!" She puts on her own hat and clasps her hands together, feeling rather accomplished. Everyone beams at her. Without her and her charming and caring nature, they would not be celebrating this holiday. It is Raphael's turn to dig into the box. He pulls out a CD.

"What's this?" He holds up the disk up close. "All I Want for Christmas is You?"

April immediately runs to him and snatches the CD from his hands.

"Oh! I love this song!" She gasps as checks the back of the disk's case. "And it's from my favorite singers! I love this version!" She quickly takes the disk out and goes to the CD player that is located next to the uncovered window. She pops it in. Immediately it starts playing a soft alto voice, as piano notes play in the background. As the music continues, she sways to the lyrics and soft beat.

"There are other versions?" Donatello asks.

"Yes, of course. I especially like this one because its tune and rhythm is so sad, yet so heartwarming." She closes her eyes as the chorus begins. The piano melody surrounds them; they silently listen to the lyrics being sung with care and passion from the two singers.

The song continues to play as the gang return to decorating the whole house.

Leonardo goes to hang up the mistletoe on the entrance. He smiles up. He looks down and sees April. She stands there, looking at the mistletoe, holding candy canes.

"You know what this means right, Leo?" She smirks at him. He smiles back.

"Of course." She leans in and gently kisses his cheek.

"Thank you for being the best leader anyone could ever have." She hands him a candy cane.

"You're welcome, April." He smiles and graciously takes the sugary treat. "And thank you for keeping this group composed." She smiles. "You're welcome, Leo."

Raphael spots them, as he is carrying a snow globe in his hands.

"Hey! Instead of standing there, why don't ya help?" Both of them laugh.

"Alright, alright." Leonardo leaves April under the little magnetic plant. Raphael smirks and goes under it with her.

"Ya know, you still owe me one for saving ya from the Kraang." She giggles; she grips his broad muscular shoulders and leans in to place a kiss on his nose. He pouts.

"I was kinda thinking—"

"You get what you deserve Raph." She walks away, but he smiles.

April reaches the kitchen and takes a peek to what Michelangelo is doing.

"Hey, Mikey. What'cha doing?" Michelangelo turns his head as he grabs a tray from the oven.

"Hi April, I just finished making some cookies." She takes a whiff. "You want to help me decorate them?" He asks.

"Of course!" They begin to mix in the icing ingredients together creating the colors red, green, and yellow. They grab each cookie that has cooled down and begin to decorate. They rarely spend time together, but today they are content that they are enjoying each other's rare company.

—-

The sun begins to set. All six members are now sitting around the living room, with the fireplace on. They are all covered in fleece blankets.

"Tomorrow's Christmas!" Michelangelo yells, with arms held up high for emphasis. Everyone has either a cup of hot chocolate or cookies in their hands.

"So, what would you guys wish Santa to bring you?" Michelangelo asks, trying to get them to cheer up. Everyone remains silent, having thoughtful yet sad faces.

"I wish for Master Splinter to be safe." Donatello says first. Everyone nods in agreement.

"I would like to see if my sister is okay. She's, you know, too young to be aware of this sort of mess. Hopefully she's fine without me." Leonardo who is sitting by him pats Casey's back.

"I hope Mr. Murakami is okay. He's always been very nice to us." Michelangelo takes a bite out his tree shaped cookie.

"Hopefully Spike is out there—somewhere." Raphael looks towards the window, as tiny snowflakes fall.

"And Karai. I want her to realize that her true father is Splinter." He looks down to his cup of hot chocolate filled with marshmallows.

"I miss her." He whispers.

Sniffling came from April's direction. Everyone looks at her. She has small drops of tears running down her cheeks.

"I wish for my dad to be safe." She covers her mouth with her hand while she silently cries. "He's the only family I've got left. I don't want to lose him, and I don't want to be alone anymore." She rubs her tears away.

"You know April, you aren't alone." Michelangelo confesses.

"Yeah, you have us." Donatello turns to her and smiles. Raphael wraps an arm around her.

"He's right ya know. You're with us." He smiles at her, showing his bright green eyes that she always found fascinating.

She puts her arms around both of them.

"Thanks guys." She stares at the bright tree. It truly feels like Christmas; being around your loved ones around a bright present less Christmas tree.

"The tree looks beautiful, you guys." It starts snowing hard outside. April notices and points it out. Everyone glances at the window. April slides out of the comfort of being on the couch and stands up to go to the CD player. She plays her favorite song again. She goes back to sitting between Raphael and Donatello. Michelangelo's cookies are placed on the coffee table in front in her; she takes a couple before snuggling up between Donatello and Raphael.

They take their time to admire the tree. The colorful lights flicker various colors of red, blue, green, yellow, purple, orange, and white. The silver tinsel sprinkled messily around the branches, along with obnoxious ornaments surrounding the tree and a gold and red colored star that overpowers the tree, making the top fall off slightly to the side. They are glad that they are not alone and that they have one another on this joyous season.

All I want for Christmas—is you


I don't know why all my fics seems to have a sad tone; maybe I'm just a sadist. I just want to one day write a happy and fluffy fic, but all of my writing professors say that a story must have something at stake, nothing is all lovey dovey with no conflicts apparently.

The song I used:

All I Want for Christmas is You- Park Bom and Lee Hi
If you listen to this version (cover) and watch the MV, you can tell that it has a depressing factor to it, which is why this fic came out that way. I just love this version!