Merry Christmas! While this author is very lucky to spend Christmas with the entire family, many people are not able to do so. This story is dedicated to them.

Leonardo woke up on that bright, cheery morning. The birds were singing, the rivers were running, and the entire world screamed that today was the day that the Savior was born. Today was Christmas Day.

He rolled over and sighed. He had been dreading this day.

Master Splinter had sent him all the way over to Japan for another training session with the Ancient One to improve his skills. Unfortunately, events had caught them all unawares, and the Ancient One had to leave unexpectedly. Leonardo had agreed to watch over his house high on the mountain, and after weeks of solitary training, finally realized that the Ancient One would not return in time for him to leave for home.

Once again, Leo was going to miss Christmas with his family.

The first time had been hard enough. He had been in Central America then, and had been aware that he would not come home. This time was worse, however, because everyone thought that he would be home at least a month before December. He had been sending them letters, telling them that he was delayed. They would have received his last letter a couple days ago.

Leo turned over in bed, and looked towards his make-shift Christmas tree. It was a bonsai tree, decorated with a few flowers from the garden. Underneath the tree was a picture of his family, and next to that there was a picture of the Ancient One.

There was no one with him this Christmas. And considering that the Ancient One lived alone on a high and secluded mountain, he wouldn't even see a passing stranger.

Leo turned over again. The whole purpose of Christmas wasn't to give and receive presents, although that was nice. But how could he spend this day without his family?

There was no point in getting out of bed today. He didn't even feel in the mood to train.

Knock knock.

Leo jumped out of bed, knocking over his lamp.

Someone had just knocked on the front gate.

A perfectly normal action, if he wasn't at the top of a secluded mountain.

And it couldn't be the Ancient One, because no one knocks at the door of their own house.

He must have imagined it. This was impossible.

Knock Knock, came the sounds again.

Someone was definitely at the front gate.

Confused, Leo grabbed his katana and made his way across the courtyard.

Knock Knock KNOCK, came the sound again.

Leonardo opened the door, ready to attack if need be. He wasn't sure what to expect, but this could be an enemy.

Even though enemies don't tend to knock on the front gate before they attack a stronghold.

He opened the gate, and was shocked by what he saw.

His brother Raph was standing there, grinning wildly at him.

Leo fell back, his katanas clattering to the ground.

"Raphael!" he cried out, "Is it really you?"

"Yup," said his brother, stepping inside the courtyard with his supply pack, "We got your letter, and Masta Splinta said that if you couldn't come home, we might as well send home to you. Surprised ya, didn't I?"

"Did-did you come all this way for me?" asked Leo.

"Course," said Raph, "Couldn't have you spending Christmas alone, now could I? Donnie and Mikey wanted to come, but someone had to stay home with Sensei."

"I'm glad you came, Raph," said Leo, hugging his brother.

Raph tolerated it, just this once.

"Well, where are my manners?" asked Leo, "Come inside! Make yourself at home! I'm sure the Ancient One will be pleased when he finds that you've come to visit."

"Thanks, bro!" said Raph, following his brother through the courtyard.

"How long are you staying?" asked Leo.

"Couple weeks," said Raph, "As soon as the Ancient One returns, I'm off. Wouldn't want to get in the way of your training."

"Here, you can have the spare room," said Leo, "There's a mat to sleep on, but I know where to find a hammock if you want. The window faces South, so the sun won't come directly in the window, and it always has a great view."

"Thanks, bro," said Raph, smiling, and he peeked into some of the other rooms.

"Is this your room? Ha, looks like I just woke ya'up, Leo! And that's a nice little tree ya got there."

"Heh," said Leo, embarrassed, as he put his hand behind the back of his head.

"Hey, the family sent me something for ya," said Raph, "Would ya like to see your Christmas presents?"

"Presents?" Leo asked, "Raph, this is too much! I'm still shocked just to see you."

"Na, they wanted me to give em to ya right away," said Raph, walking back to where he had dropped his supply sack, "Here ya go! This is from Masta Splinta."

He handed to a startled Leonardo a beautiful wooden box, which upon examination held various oriental teas along with a small hand-carved wooden cup to drink them with. Leo knew instantly that his Father had made the box and cup with his own two hands.

"This is from me," said Raph, handing him a shinning new sword, which fit Leo perfectly.

He must have made it himself.

"This is from Donnie, don't worry, I'll explain it in a sec," he said as he handed his brother a strangely-shaped device, "And this is from Mikey," he finished, handing his brother a hand-made cloth doll of his orange-masked brother. "He said it's to keep ya from getting lonely," Raph explained.

"Raph," said Leo, his face tearing up, "I-I didn't expect-"

Raphael put his arm over his brother's shoulder.

"It's good to see ya, Bro," he said, watching as a tear fell down Leo's face.

"I'm sorry," said Leo, "I didn't get you anything."

Raph punched him gently in the shoulder. "You're my present, Bro," he said, "Don't worry about it."

Raph bent down and picked up Donnie's present.

"This is a new shellcell," he said, "Donnie rigged it up to reach home from anywhere in the world. Bounces off satellites, or something."

"W-what?" asked Leo.

"Don't worry," said Raph, "You can turn it off during training 'n' all. But here's my favorite part: this new shellcell has two-way visual communication."

"What?" asked Leo.

"It means ya can see who's on the other end, idiot," said Raph, "And they can see you."

"You mean that we could…we could…"

"Yeah," said Raph, "Let's do it now."

"Really?" asked Leo, tears streaming fully down his face.

"Let's wait until you're ready," his brother said, hinting that he should dry his tears, "But we'll make it a surprise for them."

"What do you mean, 'a surprise'?" asked Leo.

Raphael smiled mischievously.

"They don't know I'm here yet," he said, "I wasn't s'posed to get here 'til day after tomorrow at the earliest. They f'gured that later was better than never, ya know?"

"So you're here early," said Leo, smiling, "Raph, how'd you do it?"

His brother winked at him. "I called in a favor and got here on a plane," he said, "We only got your letter yesterday, and I left the house about an hour after that. Spent the whole Christmas Eve on the plane. It was a big blow, not havin' ya home and all, but we had started to guess it might happen, considering the other letters you were sending us."

"You called in a favor?" asked Leo, "With whom?"

"Someone I saved a while back," said Raph, "He was more than happy to help me out."

Leo just smiled.

"Right," said Raph, "Let's give 'em a call, shall we?"

"Right," said Leo, smiling wildly.

Raph picked up the new shellcell and began pressing buttons, showing Leo how he was doing what he was doing, and finally Leo began hearing the standard "Donnie's-invention" ringtone.

Raph held the shellcell away from Leo, so that he couldn't be seen from the cell, and smiled.

"Hi Don," he said, looking at the little screen.

"Raph?" Donnie asked, his voice coming in loud and clear.

Leo hadn't realized how much he had missed his little brother's voice.

"What's going on? Is something wrong?" Donnie asked.

"Nothing's wrong, Bro," said Raph, "I've got a Christmas present for ya."

He looked over at Leo and smiled. Leonardo then came over and stood by his brother, looking over his shoulder.

"Um, Hi Don," he said, staring at the small picture of his brother on the screen.

Donnie fell over, and then ran out of the room, screaming for Splinter and Mikey, before he ran back to the fill up the screen space again.

"Is it really you?" he asked, in disbelief.

"It's really me," said Leo, smiling, "Thank you for your present, Don!"

"GUYS!" Donnie called, turning around, "HURRY UP!"

"My son, what is it?" Splinter asked, finally entering Donnie's room.

"Hello Sensei," said Leo, staring down at the screen so that both he and his brother Raph were in the picture, "Thank you for your gift."

Master Splinter's reaction was stunned silence, followed by a few tears.

"My son," he said to Leo, "It is good to see you again." And then, "I don't know how you made it in time, Raphael, but you have done well."

"Thanks, Sensei," said Raph.

"What's going on? Is Donnie okay?" asked Mikey, running into the other room half a world away.

"Merry Christmas Mikey," said Leonardo laughingly.

"LEO!" said Mikey, shocked, as he realized that it was Leo on Donnie's screen instead of Raphael, "How did-? Are you-? Leo!"

Raph laughed.

"I made it early," Raph explained, "You should have seen Leo's face!"

"Thanks a lot for sending him, guys," said Leo, "This means a lot to me!"

"How do you like the presents?" asked Mikey.

"I love them!" said Leo, "Yours was very thoughtful, Mikey. I wish we were there with you guys, though."

"That's alright," said Donnie, "You and Raph are in paradise. Now the rest of us will have to go to Japan!"

"And Leo," said Mikey, "You'll be home before you know it! So in the meantime, play nice with Raph! You know he's not going to be so nice for long!"

Leo laughed, his first true laugh in a while. "It's so good to hear and see you guys again," he said.

"Oo, oo!" said Mikey, "Guys, on three! One, two…"

"MERRY CHRISTMAS, LEO!" shouted Mikey, Donnie and even Raph, while Splinter said the words rather than shouted them.

"Merry Christmas, guys," said Leo, side-hugging the brother at his side, "And thanks for your gifts. Especially this big one with the tough shell."

Raph smirked as he playfully punched his smiling brother.

THE END