December 11th: Stockings

Title: Home
Summary: She stands in front of the wall, studying the stockings lined up in a row…
Genre: Friendship
Character(s): April, Donatello
Rated: G

Dis: I don't own TMNT

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She stands in front of the wall, studying the stockings lined up in a row, and sighs deeply. It is Christmas Day and she is spending it with a family she has only just recently obtained. Her father is still missing and she didn't want to go with her aunt to a family function and be pitied or asked questions she didn't know the answers to. So as soon as her aunt had left she had escaped out of her window and wound up in the sewer with her mutant friends.

Now, she is truly aware of how alone she was as she looks from one stocking to another. Leonardo's is blue, the white stitching of his name so perfect that she wonders if Splinter did it. Mikey's is a light orange, his name a burnt orange. Raph's is red, his name a bold green. Donnie's is purple, his name in white like Leo's. April knows that tonight is the night she and her dad would open presents and when done she would go to her stocking where her dad stashed an extra present or two.

This year, she has no stocking and no dad. She thought about going to her old house to get some of her favorite decorations but didn't have the stomach for it. She knew that if she had stepped one foot inside the threshold that her holiday would have been spent crying in the darkness of her dad's room.

She was done crying.

Instead she was in a warm home with loving friends and a secondary father that was trying to teach her everything he knew in a short amount of time so that she could be a kunoichi. She is catching on, but the bruises on her arms and legs are a clear sign that she needs more practice.

"April?"

She turns her head around and smiles as Donatello comes to stand beside her. "Hey."

"What're you doing over her by yourself? We're going to start a movie soon then open presents."

"I'll be there in a bit just…" April looks at the stockings one more time. "Looking at these."

"Splinter made them." Donatello clears his throat and the hand that is behind his shell comes out and Apri's eyes widen. "I thought that, y'know, since you're here and all, that you would want one. Sorry, I'm not as good at stitching like Sensei is."

In his hand is a yellow stocking. Her name is stitched in a light blue and she can see that the stitching isn't perfect like in the others but her eyes still tear up as he hands it to her. She takes it, their fingers brushing before she hugs the stocking to her chest. A wave of feelings rush over her and when happiness fills her to her core, a sense of belonging, she rushes forward to hug him. She feels him tense before wrapping his muscular arms around her.

"Thanks, Donnie," she whispers, resting her cheek against his shoulder.

"You're a really good friend, April. Like a sister to Mikey and, well, we want you to feel loved. Especially now... I," he pauses, clearing his throat. "WE, all love you."

"Oh, Donnie, I love you guys too." She pulls back and looks up at him, her blue eyes shimmering and her smile growing. "Thank you. This means a lot to me. Really."

"Y-You're welcome," he answers, blushing before showing her a hook he put beside his stocking… Raph's had been there before but he had moved it so that his and April's could be together. If and when his brothers noticed that, he would be teased for a while… Though the hug she gave him made it worth it. "You can hang it here."

April did just that and she looks at the line of stockings again. Yes, this is her family now. Her strength and will to fight comes from these mutant boys and their mutant sensei and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"I guess we better go watch the movie," says April, taking Donnie's hand and leading him out of the room. She hesitates at the doorway, looking back at the yellow stocking, before the gentle tug of Donnie's hand pulls her away.

She is home.

END