Set between of the events of "Golden Garden"

Snow.

Snow fell softly from the dark blue sky, with its white-greyish clouds covering a little part of its greatness. But down in the forest, me and my child - as I now call him -, hidden as ghostly figures, approached a lonely farmhouse, where an oddly strange family celebrated a holiday.

I watched with a smile as Raphael glared curiously at the people on the Universe he chose. He seemed like a little child, curious and innocent, as he saw the "wonders" the other people made in their own home.

"Blue, look! Is that a snowflake?" He asked, as a small, white snowflake layed alone on the window where we watched the others.

"Yes, Raphael, it is," I told him, as he faced the white dot with glimmering eyes. "Do you want to go inside?" I asked.

He happily nodded, as I took his hand and we passed through the door - that was left open by them -, to be greeted by the Turtles of that Universe. April, Casey, Karai and Shinigami were there as well, as April and Karai chatted around the Christmas tree.

I saw as Raphael eyed the tree with concern, and expected curiosity. Then he asked me, "Why did they put clothes on a tree? And why is it inside their house? Weren't trees supposed to be outside?"

I softly laughed at his questions. "Well, you see, this tree in particular isn't a like common tree. And it's not wearing "clothes". It's decorated for Christmas." I told him.

"What is Christmas?" He asked me.

"Christmas is a celebration to the birth of Jesus, the Son of God." I explained, "In this holiday, usually gifts are shared around the tree, and people reunite with their friends and family so they can celebrate this date."

"The Son of... God?" He asked, clearly confused, "Shouldn't that be... me?"

I couldn't hold a snort. "No, silly!" I laughed a little bit more as he kept glaring at me with confusion in his eyes. "Jesus is the Son of the Greater God. He is more powerful than any other God or Goddess, like me. The story of Jesus is long, but we know for sure that his purpose was come down to Earth to sacrifice himself and offer freedom for humans. So now, they possess a choice. They can either go to Hell or Heaven. It all depends on their actions."

"What about the other Gods and Goddesses? Don't they get this chance too? And the mutants? Do they?" He asked.

"Yes, we do. Everyone that's capable to feel and think like God does has the chance to go to Heaven, or to Hell."

"So... Where will we go to?" He asked.

"As I said, my child, it all depends on your actions. You choose whether you'll go to Hell or Heaven." I told him, "So, where do you want to go?"

He seemed thoughtful. "How about we go to this Hell first?" He happily suggested, as I held back another laugh. He noticed it, and grimaced. "Hey, what's so funny?"

"Raphael, we cannot go to both places. We can only go to one, and we can only go when our lifetime is over."

"What? So we can only go to those places after we're dead?" He sounded surprised. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Actually, it does. Because, if there weren't those places, where would we go in the afterlife? We'd be lost in an eternal void of emptiness. Would you like to be in somewhere like that?"

"I... guess not."

I smiled at him, as he turned to see the people that reunited around the Christmas tree, all chatting and smiling, some giving gifts to others, as they received their presents with joy and gratitude. I smiled again, as I turned to face Raphael. Only then, I saw my child's expression. It seemed like a shake of concern and sadness. I frowned, and sighed softly. How could I be so stupid?, I thought, I should've imagined that he'd want to celebrate too.

As my gaze remained upon him, an idea popped up in my mind. Why should I give him a common celebration? I am a Goddess; I can do anything!

"Child?" I asked, as he turned his head to face me.

"Yes, Blue?" He asked.

"I believe we should head home now. These people will celebrate, we should not intervene." I told him.

He frowned, but didn't argue. Instead, he nodded, took my hand and led me to the doorway, where outside the snow still surrounded the air, and little ice crystals glimmered within the moonlight.

Oh, my Child. He has no idea about what surprises await him.

Fireflies flought together around our Garden, being living stars that decorated our home. I watched as Raphael gazed the stars on the sky, as the Moon shone upon him.

I want to give him something.

Something he does not expect. Something new and strange and... Incredible.

And I have just the thing.

I stepped away from him, and grabbed one of my golden flowers. Raphael gets upset when a flower dies, but this one has a bigger purpose. I took all of its petals off, leaving it "naked" and not greatly beautiful like the others.

With the move of a hand, a group of flowers that laid before me bowed and retreated, and let me face the pure, brown dirt. Holding the golden petals in my hand, I focused my power, and transformed all 5 of them into seeds, and planted them where the dirt was.

Then, focusing my power again, the seeds began to grow, becoming a small seedling with golden leaves, growing larger every second, while its trunk showed its beautiful coloring, a wonderful mixture of brown, purple, orange and red, and soon its branches grew further, giving place to majestic golden leaves that shone as brightly as the stars.

As it was expected, Raphael soon took his place by my side, admiring with surprise and wonder, the beautiful tree, which was shining in the center of the Garden.

"This, my child," I said, "Is your Christmas gift. For it is the living representation of our love for each other. Can you see how beautiful it is? That's how strong and beautiful our love is." I softly told him, grabbing his hand and facing him with a loving expression. "Merry Christmas, my Child."

He smiled gratefully with tears in his eyes, as he pulled me to a warm hug. "Thank you, Mother," he told me, holding back tears of true joy, "I love you."

"I love you too," I told him, hugging him back, but tighter, "My Son."

The Universe used in this story belongs to TurtleFangirl2012. It is a future shot, which she gladly shared with me.

Merry Christmas!