Journal entry N°24- Leo's journal:
Winter Snuggles.
Of all seasons, my favorite one has to be winter.
To me, winter meant hot chocolate and marshmallows– when Father could find a salvageable bag. Winter meant snow, pine trees and Christmas movies on T. Winter meant Christmas, Santa Claus, gifts and carols.
The downside of all that was the cold.
I mean, when you're a coldblooded reptile with no mayor source of heat to keep you alive the last thing you'd want is to be cold, right?
Personally, I didn't care how cold it was outside; I loved winter and I loved the cold weather. Still do.
It has always been like that ever since I was a little turtle and none of my brothers can understand why… and I bet you don't understand a thing either.
Well, allow me to clarify your doubts by telling you a sappy little personal story.
Twas the night before Christmas…
…no, it's not that kind of story but the phrase seems fitting. Now where was I?
Oh yeah, the story…
…
The ride to the farmhouse had been extenuating mostly because of how long it took them to arrive but Don couldn't risk accelerating because of the snow on the road and the last thing he wanted was to spend Christmas patching up injuries and fixing the BattleShell. Eventually they made it to the already familiar place where April and Casey waited patiently to their arrival and after a warm welcoming of hot chocolate and freshly baked brownies, the guys were ready to set the campfire outside the house.
The ground was covered with a powdery soft carpet of snow. It was quiet, as if the snow has absorbed the sounds of the world. Though beautiful the snow was cold and sharp as it bit at their fingers and the wind kissed their cheeks.
Despite all this, Who sighed happily. "Don't you just love nights like this?"
"You mean chilly nights that freeze your butt and give you a stuffy nose?" The warrior in red said gruffly.
"Always the charmer, aren't you Raph?" Don replied while roasting a marshmallow.
"I'm just trying to understand why she likes feeling like a popsicle so much"
"My body temperature that is higher than the commonly accepted so I need to cool down every now and then to be comfortable. And this kind of weather is perfect"
"… you know what I heard? Blah blah- med science- blah blah- another Donatello- blah blah" Mikey said between mouthfuls of s'mores.
"Well, don't know about you guys, but I'm quite comfortable" Leo said, resting his head on the thick log that served him as seat.
"Sure, because you're hogging the entire blanket" Mikey retorted.
"That ain't the only thing he's hogging. Know what I'm sayin'?" Raph smirked as he glanced at his blue-clad brother who was conveniently lying beside the long haired girl.
Who rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Knock it off, hothead"
The brothers laughed as they distinctively noticed the red tint coloring the girl's cheeks that wasn't exactly a product of the cold air hitting her face.
A couple of rounds of s'mores later, Michelangelo was the first one to forfeit.
"Welp, it's been fun and all but I'm outta here" He declared, stretching his arms as he stood up.
"I thought you wanted to roast some marshmallows" Don said, making circle in the snow with a twig.
"Changed my mind" The warrior in orange shrugged. "And I can hear a tray of muffins and chocolate chip cookies calling me"
"They're calling us, little brother" Raph said also joining the youngest.
"Aww c'mon Raph, it's not so bad" Leo replied.
"Are you crazy?! My butt is numb, I can't breathe through my nose and I think I can hear my teeth chattering"
"I have to agree with them this time, Leo" The purple-clad turtle added after a particularly strong, bone-chilling breeze hit him. "Besides, it's getting late and temperatures tend to drop faster"
"Ok, then you guys go get warm" Who said. "I'll stay here a little longer"
Raph shrugged. "Suit yourself. C'mon guys"
The trio picked their blankets and their bags of marshmallows and quickly entered the house leaving the leader and the girl outside sitting by the campfire.
"Your bros sure hate this kind of weather"
Leo wrapped the blue blanket around him tighter. "It's understandable. We're cold blooded"
"And shouldn't you be with them?" Who chuckled. "What's your excuse?"
"I uh… well, I wasn't going to let you out here all by yourself"
"Hmmm, I see"
The first frozen flakes shyly made their appearance softly landing on the white blanketed grass. Soon, more of them began to fall, their amount gradually increasing as well as their speed rate.
It was truly an enchanting sight that made Leonardo sigh and smile, his dark eyes lost in the dark blue sky above him however, his concentration faltered when he heard a twin sigh coming from beside him.
"Leo, do you want to know why I love cold weather so much?" Who said all of the sudden.
"Sure"
"Where I live, snow is nonexistent but my grandma used to take me to the mountains where the air was cold enough to pretend it was snowing. It was a long and exhausting trip but she never denied me that wish"
The girl looked down at the sword wielder, sad smile on her face. "This will be my first Christmas without her. She passed away four days ago"
Leo sat up alarmed. "Gosh, I… I'm sorry. I didn't-"
"It's ok"
Turning her face to the sky, Who tightening her jacket and rubbing her arms to warm them up.
'So that's is why she disappeared all those days. What a way to spend the holidays' Leo thought gloomily.
"… she liked to snuggle when it was really cold" Who continued interrupting the ninja's internal monologue.
"I didn't like that much, I preferred to feel like ice but I did it for granny. Then, when I was home, I turned the AC and snuggled with my teddy bear or a soft pillow. I guess eventually I learned to love the feeling of bundling myself like a burrito when it was too cold"
"So in other words, you like cold weather because it reminds you of your grandma's snuggles?"
"You could say that" Who shrugged. "What's your story?
Leo blinked. "My what?"
"Master Splinter told me some interesting things about certain baby turtle who looooved to curl up in his lap"
Seeing there was no escaping this one, the blue-clad turtle glanced at the burning logs to avoid Who's teasing smirk.
"It all started when we were babies, before we fully mutated. Splinter took us to his home, a relatively dry sewer tunnel. It was fine for him because he had his fur and such but those cold tunnels weren't the perfect place for a tiny cold blooded reptile, let alone four! I guess Splinter must've noticed somehow that we weren't exactly comfortable lying on the ground so he made a little nest, put us all very close to each other and then he curled up around us, providing us extra warmth"
"Wait, hold on… how do you remember all that?" Who asked. "I mean, you were still a non-mutated baby turtle when all that happened!"
"Yes but you'd be surprised of the things good meditation allows you to see" Leo replied. "Anyway, when we fully mutated and moved to a better place but we still felt chilly at times even with our blankets so Splinter would take us to his bed and we would sleep together so we could share body warmth but… to me it was more than that; I always saw it as a way of bonding with my family and suddenly I didn't care if winter came anymore because that was my chance to feel my brothers and Father close to me"
The flickering flames brought fond memories of those sweet old days came to the young leader's mind. He saw his father, much younger and stronger chasing four little energetic turtle tots around their first lair, trying to dress them up properly for their annual trip outside so they could play in the snow like any normal kid would. The smell of hot chocolate and freshly made dinner coming from the humans' houses felt so real, too real to be just a childhood memory.
He could hear his brothers' laughter the first time they teamed up against Splinter and 'won' almost burying him in snow and how the tables turned when he tackled them back and they had to suffer his tickle torture.
Leonardo's vision blurred because of the unshed happy tears those memories had caused. Those had been great times for sure.
"Hey, you alright Leo?"
"Huh? Y-Yeah yeah, just… something in my eye"
"So, I'm guessing your brothers don't know about this?"
Leo shook his head. "They usually don't take stuff like this seriously, they'd just mock me. Especially Raph"
"You should tell them; they're not mind readers. How are they supposed to give you winter snuggles when they don't know you love them and want them?"
Leo blinked. "…winter snuggles?"
"With Splinter, you were lucky" Who carried on. "You know, cuz he's your dad and parents have like powers or something? But what about your brothers, haven't you thought they could want to share this with you?"
"That's… actually a good point" Leo said thoughtfully.
"Seriously Leo, if you want snuggles, ask for snuggles! We're not all mind readers here" She added crossing her arms.
The sword wielder looked at her and smirked widely. "Is that a proposition?"
Who's eyes widened in shock but she quickly sobered up playfully swatting his arm. "Don't get too fresh, Leonardo"
The latter rolled his eyes and opened the blue comforter to subsequently wrap it around the girl, pulling her closer to his side. She smiled her thanks and rested her head on the ninja's shoulder, snuggling closer.
"Leo! I brought you choco-chip cookies! And some of your favorite steaming tea- awwwww~"
Both teenagers turned their heads to see a smiling Mikey holding a tray full of treats.
"You guys look so adorable~" He cooed.
Don wasn't far behind the youngest turtle and also had a mischievous smile on his face. He didn't always like to tease people one but whatever chance he had to do it, he took it.
"Well, well, well~ What have we here? Did we interrupt something?"
"Donnie, not you too" Leo groaned.
Lastly Raph joined the scene, taking his place beside Leo and hooking an arm around him. "So this is why you wanted to stay! Clever, clever Fearless"
"Guys, wait! This is not-"
"-instead of standing there, why don't you just join us?" Who suggested pointedly ignoring the teasing. "This silly head here is been missing years of snuggles so you better start fixing that"
"Awww~ Widdle Weo wants snuggles?" Raph cooed jokingly, giving his brother a noogie.
"I don't know about you guys but it's way too cold and Who's idea sounds tempting" Don said. "Make some room for me?"
"Hey! What about me? I want snuggles too!" Mikey protested.
Leo laughed and made some pace for his little brothers and while Don squeezed between Who and Leo, Mikey took possession of the leader's lap curling up happily like a cat.
"Are you guys serious? We could just go inside, sit by the chimney-"
"-Raph, just join the snuggles!" Who mildly snapped.
…
… and tough guy Raphael had no other choice but to press closer to my left side and wrap the rest of the comforter around him.
I can tell he enjoyed it as much as I did.
End of Journal entry N°24
…
…
Gotta thank my granny for inspiration. (We'll miss you, love) And now that my messy life is "back to normal", I can safely say: stay tuned for more updates!
Merry Xmas everyone!
With love:
Whoey