Happy Holidays, guys! Merry Christmas, Happy New Years, or whatever the heck you celebrate!
The brilliant white blanket of snow glistened brightly against the city's bright green and red lights. Bells ringed merrily by, the stars seemed brighter in the wintery season, and people rushed in and out of the stores, shopping for relatives or friends as they hauled and shouldered their shopping bags. Christmas lights hung over the houses, the shops and restaurants, and the antique shops that were dotted across the vast and busy city. Vehicles rushed by and a few grumps sneered out unintelligible curses that weren't suited for children. Children ran by as they laughed and threw snowballs at each other, caked in winter gear from head to toe. And many pedestrians of the city hurried to the fast food joints that were still open. The stores were almost closed and people were hurrying into the shops for last minute gifts.
Underneath the Big Apple, was an abandoned subway shop that consisted of about five teenagers and one adult. One turtle with sweet, baby blue eyes hummed traditional Christmas tunes under his breath, hanging ornaments up on the large and emerald green tree. Three other turtles, one with oceanic blue eyes and mask was watching some sort of television program, one with electric green eyes and a red and tattered mask read a horror comic book, a smaller turtle resting on his shoulder, and another turtle with mahogany eyes and purple mask tinkered with some device. And tall rat sat cross-legged in the dojo, underneath towering tree, his eyes calmly closed and his breathing even, indicating he was mediating.
And there was one human - sorta - sat cross-legged on the couch, reading something called Carrie.
Jewel would glance at Mikey decorating the tree, raising a curious brow. He's been decorating and sprinkling the tree and lair with multiple Christmas décor. She went back to her book as she skimmed the printed letters. Christmas was edging its way tomorrow. And Mikey was beyond ecstatic. Everyone she knew had something planned. Gwen was celebrating with her step-dad and sister, travelling up the Statue of Liberty to look at the snowflakes descending down the sky. Nicole was having dinner with her cousins and grandmother. And who knows where Clara was, all Jewel knew that she was somewhere back in Japan while April and her father were having a quiet Christmas together by watching movies. And Jewel was celebrating the holidays with the turtles and Splinter. Though she wasn't that exciting.
Holidays were never much of a big deal back when she and her father celebrated them. Her dad would just take her down by the frozen lake after everyone went home from her birthday hangout. People would envy her since she was born on the twenty fifth of December and they would point out she got extra presents. She'd shrug and say she didn't care too much. All Jewel wanted to do was relax. Down by the lake trailed a path of cherry blossom trees, now void of the blossoms. They would stroll down the frozen path and sit in front of a grave that rested her deceased mother. Jewel would talk to the grave and tell her mom how she's been this year. Of course, Jewel knew that it was childish since her mother couldn't physically hear her and Jewel couldn't hear the sound of her voice.
But Jewel wanted to believe her mother did hear her, even deep down within her heart she knew mom couldn't, but the thought was always nice. Jewel fell asleep without realizing it and her father would carry her bridal style back to their home, gently laying her in bed and covering her in blankets. But then he died, and Jewel was left on her own. Instead, she would spend the holidays and her birthday all alone, wandering down in Japan and continuing the tradition, sitting in front of both snow covered graves of her parents.
But now Jewel wasn't exactly alone anymore. She was living with the turtles and she was okay with that, they were like an odd family to her. But there was a dull ache in her heart when she realized she couldn't visit her parents or talk to them, even though she knew it wasn't exactly talking to them. Mikey had earlier asked her if she could wear something more festive and Jewel just sighed at him tiredly and rolled her eyes. She calmly explained to him that she didn't like dressing up much for the festive holidays and still refused even when he pulled his famous puppy dog eyes. She merely smirked at him and didn't budge an inch. She had finally relented when Mikey kept begging and begging and smothered her with baked goods she didn't like to eat and thick, chalky smoothies she only drank when she was training. She settled for a simple black velvet long sleeved top, a candy cane colored skirt and black boots and she straightened her hair into the Aaliyah inspired hair. That was as christmasy as she would get and she told Mikey he was just gonna have to deal with it.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone take a seat next to her and she quirked a brow at him, "What'dya want, Lion Boy? Another kiss?" she asked him teasingly and watched him with a smirk as he blushed but stared at her with a half-hearted glare. It had been three days since their first kiss and Jewel decided she'd let him ask her out to save him all the teasing. Leo shrugged, "No," he shook his head, "I just wanted to ask you something."
As soon as the words left his lips, Jewel heard Raph, Donnie, and Mikey mocking Leo with a kissy faces as they pretended to smooch. She smirked when his face morphed from bashful and shy to annoyed. He immediately sent them all a silent death glare and he turned to her, "Can we talk in private?" he asked in a hushed tone. She rolled her eyes but nodded, "I've got the place."
The rebellious kunoichi and turtle sat side by side on the rooftops, their legs dangling over the side of the roof. They stared up at the falling snow of the starlit skies, and Leo's shoulder stiffened when Jewel rested her head on his shoulder. "Aren't you gonna ask me out already?" she asked him quietly. Leo felt heat rise at the back of his neck, and he let out a nervous laugh, "Uhh...I want to," he admitted, and he bit his lip. Jewel just looked at him up and down, "And?" she urged, awaiting for his explanation. Leo just shrugged in response. "I don't know. I-I never thought - I mean, I just -"
He sighed heavily, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked anywhere but her, "I don't want you to say yes just out of pity..." he quietly admitted and her sly smirk faltered as she looked at him in confusion. Pity? Did he think she was just gonna go out with him because she felt sorry for him? Jewel didn't know what went on in Leonardo's head, but did he really think she was that shallow? "Pity," she slowly repeated, and he shrugged like he didn't know what else to say. "Well, yeah," he scoffed, turning his gaze from the stars to her, raising a nonexistent brow, "Isn't that the only reason you kissed me that night?" he asked and she was slightly taken aback.
She shook her head firmly, her expression softening, "Of course not," she told him honestly, "Do you really have little faith in me?" she asked him with an edge to her tone. Leo shook his head, "No, but -"
"So why is it so hard to believe that I would actually say yes?"
Leo paused for a moment, and he just stared at her, like he wasn't sure he had heard her right. He sighed, "Because you're Jewel." he meekly said. And she scoffed at him, "Yeah, and you're Leo. What's your point?"
"Because you can have any guy you want," he admitted, "And I'm just a mutant turtle."
Jewel only rolled her eyes, her eyes flat, "Okay, that makes sense, but I don't give a damn if you're a mutant turtle or whatever. Half the guys I went out with I don't even like or remember for God's sake. And I've never liked a guy this much for this long."
He blinked, "Really?" he quietly asked, like he wasn't sure if he heard her correctly and she smiled softly, her eyes honest, "Yeah, really." she whispered before staring back at the twinkling skies that lit up her face beautifully and Leo could smile softly at her. He shifted a little before mustering up what little courage he had left.
"Hey, Jewel?"
"Hm?"
He paused, before swallowing thickly and telling himself to just man up and come out and say it, "Do you wanna go out with me?" he blurted quickly that he wasn't sure if she understood him.
Slowly, so slow that it was agonizing, she turned her beautiful, magnificent midnight blue eyes, darker than his own oceanic ones, and a smirk curved upwards on her pretty, pretty lips. She shrugged one shoulder coolly, "Sure," she said nonchalantly that he blinked in surprise before a smile graced his lips. Then he helped in shock and surprise when she grabbed his katana straps and pulled him forwards and pressed her sweet and soft lips on his.
After about a few minutes, the other turtles and Splinter sat in the pit of the lair, the room was dimly lit, and the light illuminated the room in a whitish blue hue. Jewel and Leo walked through the turnstiles and Mikey immediately perked up as he literally bounced higher than a ball as he bounded himself over to them, beaming, "Julie! Just the girl I was looking for!" he greeted. Jewel raised an eyebrow and looked at him questioningly. "I'm gonna assume you want somehting," she said with a small laugh. Mikey rapidly nodded with a large grin, and he grabbed her wrist and dragged her to his room. Normally Jewel would've sliced his head off, but she had grown accustomed to his childish nature that it'd grown on her. She merely rolled her eyes and followed along, but not before winking at Leo, who blushed with a small smile, and Donnie and Splinter watched him with amusement in their eyes. Raphael simply shook his head.
"GUYS! Jewel said she's gonna do the thing!"
Donnie and Raph instantly perked, wide grins on their faces, "She's gonna do the thing?!" they yelled in unison. Leo, oblivious as to what they were talking about, looked back and forth at the pair before stammering, "Thing? What thing?"
As if on cue, Jewel strode into the lair with a microphone in one hand, attached to a long, pitch black chord, and Mikey heaved a large black box with small, multicolored buttons that blinked, and Leo assumed they were the settings or something. "The thing where I sing a Christmas song out of my choosing," she called, a bottle of water in her other hand as she threw her head back and took a swig of it.
Leo raised a curious brow, smirking, "Okay, so you can fight, dance, gymnastics, and sing?" he said, teasingly and incredulously at the same time. "Uh, how is it possible that you can do everything?" he joked. Jewel grinned mischievously, shrugging, "I have my ways," she winked.
They all quickly gathered in a circle, sitting cross-legged with Splinter in the middle of the dojo, and Jewel steadied the microphone to the dark stand as she rapped the mic a little, her expression concentrated as if to make sure everything worked properly. She quickly tapped in the music for the song as she sat on the stool Mikey had propped up for her. She gave them all her confident smile, "Okay," she said, her voice a tad louder from the mic, "I agreed to sing something christmasy but I ain't singing one of the classics, this isn't the fifties anymore, people," she joked and they chuckled collectively.
Jewel heaved a light sigh, she closed her eyes before...
The sweet, gentle music was heard softly in the background, bringing a type of romantic, Christmas feel to the song.
"You're the best present ever
Life's a snow globe when we're together
Like a Norman Rockwell picture
Baby, baby
It's crazy how"
They all swayed their heads a little as they listened to her angelic voice croon.
"We're walkin' around this frozen town
I'm wrapped up like a bow
In your arms, shootin' stars
Are bouncin' off the snowflakes
Fallin' down and decoratin' all the tangled lights
There's nothin' like these silver nights with you"
At the last line, Jewel smiled and sent Leo a discreet wink, which everybody else caught on and they all shared a knowing glance. Leo simply grinned and blushed slightly.
"Streets are crowded, stores are busy
Sippin' cocoa, I'm just wishing
There'll be some mistletoe so you might kiss me
Walkin' around this frozen town
I'm wrapped up like a bow
In your arms, shootin' stars
Are bouncin' off the snowflakes
Fallin' down and decoratin' all the tangled lights
There's nothin' like these silver nights with you!"
At the end of the song, everybody clapped as they beamed at her. Splinter stood up and patted Jewel on the shoulder, "You have a beautiful voice, Julia. I truly enjoyed it." he complimented with a kind smile. Jewel offered him a small smile, a little uncomfortable at the praise since she wasn't used to the emotional stuff that followed the turtles around. They were all a bunch of saps sometimes.
They watched some Christmas movies Jewel had told them about, like Home Alone, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and some others they've never heard of. They stuffed their faces with pizza, all kinds of festive toppings chosen by Mikey, of course. Jewel simply dished on her own Christmas dish, bread stuffed with all kinds of her favorite vegetables and a side of candy cane smoothie that was minty fresh. Jewel rested her head on Leo's shoulder, and if he had noticed or anything, he didn't say a thing. He stood up after they finished one of the old classics to got get another drink of candy cane smoothie Jewel had made for all of them. It wasn't actually bad. It was cool as ice, but it was also minty and incredibly sweet.
Jewel went to go retrieve her stuffed puppy, Dolly, and watched Leo with a gleam in her eyes as he slurped on the smoothie in its festive, decorated cup. She tapped him on the shoulder and he stopped in his tracks and turned to her, raising a questioning brow, "What is it?" he asked. The pyrokinetic grinned mischievously as she motioned her eyes upwards, above their heads. He followed her gaze, and a massive and bashful grin spread across his face.
Above them was an object hovering over them by a string, glinting in the lights Mikey had set up, "Isn't that a mistletoe?"
"Mm-hm!" she smirked before launching herself at the turtle, wrapping her arms around his neck and the two of them fell over, a surprised and high-pitched yelp emitting from the turtle as his glass glanced loudly to the floor, the smoothie's contents splattering all over the place. Splinter's ears perked up as everyone blinked hard in surprise and they snapped their heads around to find the pair. And they all openly chortled as Splinter shook his head in amusement, as he remembered how he and Tang Shen used to be the same way when they were young.
To say they all sent the Christmas card to their friends, as they wore teasing smiles on their faces and pointed to Leo's lip stick smudges all over, wearing that goofy grin, was the best Christmas presents they all could ever ask for.
Oh, and I do NOT own Silver Nights by Sabrina Carpenter. That belongs to her and the writers.