Hey, guys! This is the third and final part. (Keep me posted on what you think! Every comment makes my day.)

A Ninja's Christmas Pt 3

Ara

Ara shuffled along the sewer floors, deep in thought. She had Mikey for Secret Santa, and here she was on Christmas Eve, with no gifts and even fewer ideas. If she'd drawn any of the other guys, she could have brushed it off and made them something decent that they'd enjoy. But Mikey? No, his gift had to be perfect. She wanted to see his eyes light up and hear him squeal with excitement. Ara kicked at a small snowdrift that had accumulated under a grate above her head. She could already see that squeal of happiness turning into tears.

Wait... what was that? Ara lifted her head and closed her eyes, sorting through the sounds above her. Boots scraping on the sidewalk, angry car horns, a door clicking shut, a cough, a weak whimper… bingo! She waited for all human sounds to fade, then scaled up the cracked wall and pushed open the grate.

After glancing around to assure that no one was near, she cautiously inched towards the bent-up box that the whimpering sounds were coming from. A tattered FREE TO A GOOD HOME sign gave one last, futile fight to stay taped onto its cardboard flap, then fluttered away in a gust of wind. Ara peered inside the box to find a single, shivering puppy. It had chocolate brown fur with tiny black spots sprinkled across its face. There was snow on the tip of his nose, and he was quietly whimpering. As Ara reached forward to pick it up, the puppy's eyes widened. It backed up, cowering in a corner.

"Hey, hey… it's okay," Ara cooed softly, gently reaching out a hand. The puppy hesitated for a few more moments, then stumbled towards it. She picked it up and pulled its violently quivering body close to herself. Tucking the puppy in the crook of her arm, she quickly unwrapped the bandages around her hands and made a sort of nest out of them. She then placed the puppy inside and wrapped it around him. Eh, it would have to do for now. She heard the sound of crunching snow around the corner and disappeared down the hole, just remembering to shove the grating back in place before she leapt to the floor and headed for home.

"What d'you got there, Ara?" It wasn't until Ara heard Mikey's voice that she realized the puppy would be a perfect gift for Christmas.

As the idea entered her mind, she called out, "nothing! Don't you dare look, Michelangelo! It's… It's your present, and if you look, I'm keeping it for myself!"

There was an excited whoop from the other side of the room, but it was going obediently in the other direction. "What is it?" Donnie asked as he emerged from his workshop, tugging a pair of goggles from his eyes.

"You're going to have to wait for Christmas," Ara retorted.

"Oh, come on!" Mikey's voice bellowed from another room. "It's not his present! Please tell him? See, I'm not even listening!" This statement was followed by a series of ear-splitting La-La-La's.

Ara rolled her eyes. "Fine." She headed for Donnie's workshop, closing the door behind her. "Will you tell Mikey? Or the others? The more people that know about this, the higher chance there is of someone letting their tongue slip."

Donnie quickly agreed to keep his mouth shut, so Ara lifted back the bandages. The puppy timidly peeped out and blinked in the sudden light. Donnie's eyes widened. "Woah… I don't know, Ara." He shook his head uncertainly. "There's sorta been an unspoken 'No pet' rule ever since Mikey brought home a family of mice." He shuddered at the memory.

"But Raph has Spike!"

"True, but Spike is so… mellow," Donnie countered. "I can't say the same for this little guy, or at least in a few weeks." He picked up the puppy from where it was sitting in the bandages and gently sorted through its fur. "But it doesn't have fleas, so I'd say he has a fighting chance of passing Splinter's inspection. Speaking of which…" Donnie jerked his head towards the side door, where Splinter had been standing quietly.

Ara leapt up to block the puppy in Donnie's hands from her sensei's view. "Master Splinter! We were just…" Splinter raised an eyebrow, and Ara sighed, seeing that it was pointless. "Can we keep him?"

Splinter crossed the room and scooped the puppy from Donnie's hands, then peered down at the little creature in a mulling sort of way. "We are not a zoo for every stray that passes by!" he said firmly. The words hadn't even left the rat's mouth when the puppy decided to leap up and plant his little paws on Splinter's chest.

The sensei smiled. "However, teaching Mikey some responsibility couldn't hurt."

Ara grinned. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes… and no."

Ara's face fell, and Splinter chuckled in amusement. "Just joking. It's a yes!"

Ara laughed and raced forward to engulf him in a hug. "Thanks, Master Splinter! Mikey's gonna love this!"

"IT'S CHRISTMAAAAAAAASS!"

"Gaaaah!" Ara woke up with a startled jolt and fell straight out of bed as Mikey nearly broke down the door to get into her room.

"Wake up! It's Christmaaaas!"

"I'm awake, I'm awake!" Ara mumbled, rubbing her head.

Mikey yanked on her hand, jerking her upright. "C'mon! Let's open presents!"

Before she could reply, Mikey had whisked her out of her room and into the kitchen, where Splinter was calmly sipping a cup of tea. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Master Splinter." Ara got out a bowl and made herself some cereal.

Mikey threw his hands in the air as she sat down to eat it. "What is WRONG with you people? It's Christmas morning, and the first thing you do is eat BREAKFAST!?"

"Sounds like a good start to me," Ara replied, taking a bite. "Besides, we can't open presents until April comes."

"Michelangelo, why don't you go wake up your brothers?" Splinter suggested.

Mikey sped out of the room, and Ara winced as he went to work. "Rise and shine! Let's see those smiling faces! Hop to it, men!" Ara heard Mikey groan with frustration. "Leo, Raph, Donnie! The house is on fire!"

"We don't live in a house, genius!"

"Yeah, but it worked, didn't it? Ouch! What was that for?"

"Hey, guys." April walked into the kitchen and wearily set a wrapped package on the counter.

"Hi… hi April," Ara stuttered in surprise. "You're here kind of early, aren't you?"

April scowled. "Yeah. Yeah, I am."

"APRIL'S HERE?" The green blur that was Mikey shot across the room to April, nearly knocking her over on impact. When he left to drag his brothers into the room at a faster speed, April looked over at Ara for an explanation.

Ara leaned towards her friend and whispered, "I think he had one too many Christmas cookies."

"That'd explain a lot," April muttered with a dry smirk. After the cookie incident, Mikey had made it up to Ara by making a ton of no-bake cookies that didn't need flour. They were actually pretty good.

Raph stumbled sleepily into the room, his brothers not far behind. As soon as he saw April, he grinned. "Woah, you got here fast! What did you do, ditch your aunt?"

April's face clouded. "She ditched ME. I found a note this morning saying that her second cousin had a baby last night, and she apparently HAS to see it. We're supposed to make up for it with a really good Christmas dinner. Assuming that she's even home by then, of course."

"I'm sorry, April. That really stinks," Mikey said, suddenly solemn. He brightened back up an instant later. "I know what'll cheer you up! Presents! Can we open them now?"

Splinter smiled. "I believe a brief gift exchange is in order."

"FINALLY."

Everyone scattered to get their presents and met back up again near the TV pit. "Let's open presents oldest to youngest. So that means Splinter is first. Who had him?" Leo asked, looking around.

"That would be me." Raph pulled a newspaper-wrapped box from behind his back and presented it to Splinter with a grin. Keeping half an eye on his red-banded son, Splinter carefully undid the string and tore the paper from the box, then pulled out a little white square.

Leo gasped. "It's a…"

"iPod shuffle!" Donnie finished, shocked. Ara clasped her hands over her mouth, suppressing giggles.

"Thank you, Raphael," Splinter said slowly, turning the shuffle over in his hand.

"You're welcome," Raph beamed. "Its not exactly the latest technology, but it works fine. I even downloaded a couple of songs… here." Raph popped the ear buds into place, then pushed play. Ara caught a few notes that sounded like rap. "Oops…" Raph grinned sheepishly, quickly switching songs.

This one was better, the notes gently sweeping by in a soft and peaceful manner. "Thank you, Raphael!" Splinter beamed. This time, Ara knew he truly meant it.

April's turn was next. She was presented with the skateboard and ninja smoke bombs, and to everyone but Mikey's surprise, she absolutely loved them. "Sweet!" April snatched a smoke bomb and chucked it at the ground, reappearing a second later with a cookie in hand.

Jaws dropped. "How did you know how to..."

April shrugged nonchalantly as she popped the cookie into her mouth. She placed her skateboard in her lap and settled down on a bean bag to watch the rest of the gift-opening.

Leo was next, and he recieved the only season of Space Heroes that he'd never seen. Raph got a habitat for Spike and a some new, non-defaced comic books for him to work his doodling magic on. April hadn't been able to get her hands on a fancy processor, so she gave Donnie a battered computer she'd gotten for almost nothing. It had a lot of new, usable parts Donnie had never been able to get his hands on, and he was over the moon with excitement as he began to gingerly pull it apart like he was excavating treasure. The rest of the morning would be punctuated by excited squeals, (Guys! A memory expansion card! In perfect condition! April, you're the best!) and April glowed happily every time.

"Okay, now Mikey." Leo pronounced.

Ara smiled. "Close your eyes." Mikey obeyed, rocking back and forth with excitement. Ara left the room and returned a minute later with the puppy.

This produced gasps from April, Leo, and Raph. "What is it?" Mikey screeched, visibly struggling to keep his eyes shut.

Ara set the puppy down in front of him. "You can look." Mikey's eyes flew open, and he froze as he saw the puppy, mouth open wide with surprise.

He shook his head in disbelief. "For…me?!"

Ara grinned wider. "For you."

With a squeal of joy, Mikey shot forward and picked up the puppy. The usually timid creature yipped happily, wagging its tail and licking Mikey's face with its little tongue. When Mikey calmed down enough to talk several minutes later, he gushed, "I'm naming it Pepperoni. Pepper for short." Everyone agreed this was a decent name, especially with the black spots splayed across its face.

"And finally, Ara," Leo smiled. He picked up the blanket-wrapped object beside him and held it out to Ara. "Careful with it."

Ara gingerly took the present and set it on the ground, then folded back the blanket. Her breath left her chest with a whoosh. It was a single sword, obviously meticulously handmade. The handle had delicate cherry blossoms carved into the soft wood. The blade was gleaming and sharp, made of lightweight metal. It came with a leather scabbard that she slung over her shoulder, the strap crossing diagonally over her plastron. She picked up the sword and made several experimental slices with it. It cut through the air with effortless precision. "Leo, it's…" Ara struggled to find the right words. "Magnificent. How did you...?"

Leo blushed. "Splinter helped me a little." Ara sheathed the sword behind her shell, beaming. "Thanks, Leo. You too, Master Splinter." She stepped forward and gave Leo a hug before planting a tiny kiss on his cheek.

Leo promptly turned crimson. "No... no problem."

"Pepper! Bad dog! No eating the nice turtle!" Ara turned to see Raph holding Spike high above his head and Mikey shaking his finger at a guilty-looking Pepper.

"He nearly murdered him!" Raph sputtered, setting down Spike and lunging for the puppy.

Mikey had him in his grasp in a second, arm flung protectively over his new pet. "All he did was lick him!"

"Lick him, my shell! He had Spike's head IN HIS MOUTH!

Leo rolled his eyes and crossed the room, sliding one of his new Space Heros cassettes into the television. "Ever heard of peace on earth?"

Raph snorted. "Says the turtle who gives swords as Christmas presents." Leo wisely chose to ignore this last comment as he settled down to an episode.

Ara rose and headed for the kitchen, where she made a large batch of hot cocoa. Pouring it into cups, she put them onto a tray, went into the den, and handed a cup to Mikey. "Be careful around Pepper. Chocolate's bad for dogs."

Mikey took a sip and his eyes widened. "Ara, this is awesome!"

"Thanks." She passed out the rest of the mugs and then sat down, slowly sipping her cocoa and savoring the moment. It was so… peaceful. Peace was something hard to come by these days.

That thought put a damper on her mood. These days… the days she could only come out at night, the days with no hope of ever going to college or chasing her career dreams. The days she couldn't go anywhere in public, be it restaurants, libraries, stores, or even just walking down the street.

No. Ara shook her head to clear her thoughts. She shouldn't think about those things. She had to focus on the good. Ara took a deep breath. She had met four awesome turtles who shared her greatest passion: ninjutsu. She had a wonderful new sensei that reminded her of her father in so many ways. If she hadn't stumbled upon them on a fluke stroke of luck, what would have happened to her? Ara shuddered at the thought. One thing was for sure: she had gotten really lucky. She had a family again, one that she grew to love more every day.

Just then, Mikey subconsciously began humming Christmas songs under his breath. Moments later, Raph unknowingly joined in. April and Ara grinned at each other in amusement from across the room, they too picking up the tune. Before long, everyone was gently humming in harmony. The music swelled, and at that moment, everything was perfect.