The snow-storm came back that night with increased fury and continued for three days. The house became uncomfortably cold during the night when even the weak sunlight was not there to offer what little warmth it could. Another bed was moved into Splinter's room and April was moved to join him in an effort to keep both occupants as warm as possible. I was recruited to watch over them while the boys did some last minute repairs around the house, but I knew the real reason. My core body temperature was103 degrees, far warmer than a human's and even more so than the Turtles'. I acted like a living heater for the room, my wings and body radiating heat constantly. I didn't mind. It gave me plenty of time to read my book.

Splinter woke up on the fourth day, much to everybody's relief. He could only stay awake for a few minutes at a time, but just to know that he was alive and healing was a huge relief to everyone. April still hadn't awoken. Donnie thought she was in shock and her body was recovering very slowly. He was confident she would fully recover, though, and I knew him well enough to trust his judgment, so I didn't worry too much about her.

All of a sudden, I heard Mikey screaming in the kitchen. I flew off my post on the chair (not literally, mind you) and dashed into the kitchen, my heart racing.

"What's wrong?" I nearly shouted. Mikey was staring at a piece of paper on the kitchen table with horror on his face.

"Do you realize what day it is?" he asked, his eyes never moving from the piece of paper, apparently a calendar of some sort.

"Umm… no. What day is it? Is it important?"

"It...is…Christmas Eve! And we haven't done ANYTHING TO DECORATE THE HOUSE!" What were we thinking?!"

The kitchen was silent for a moment as I registered Mikey's dilemma, and then I couldn't help but giggle.

"That's the problem?" I asked, holding my sides with laughter. My wings bobbed up and down with the movement of my body as I laughed. Mikey scowled.

"Yes." He said, more serious than I had ever seen him. "And I will not let it slide. Not this year. Come on, Angel!"

He grabbed my arm and dragged me outside into the front yard. He pointed to the woods on the edges of the property. "I'll go find us a tree if you start finding the decorations buried somewhere in loft of the barn. They'll be in giant cardboard boxes with the word "Decorations' on them. You'll find them easy enough. When you do find them, bring them inside and start on the living room. The others are out doing errands and won't be back until tonight, so we have the house to ourselves all day."

"Yes sir!" I said and gave him a stiff salute. He nodded in satisfaction and sprinted off into the forest. I rolled my eyes, grinning, and headed into the barn. I found the boxes easily enough and brought them into the house with lightning speed. Mikey returned not long after, dragging a modest tree he had obviously just cut down behind him. We found an old tree stand in one of the boxes and set the tree up in the living room with a large bowl of water underneath it. Mikey had trimmed it before it was brought inside, so the sharp scent of the freshly cut pine filled the house with a most wonderful aroma. I set about putting up all the ornaments I could find while Mikey put up the rest of the decorations. Somehow he covered the entire outside of the house with Christmas lights by himself in just under an hour.

"Brrrr…" he shivered as he came in. "That snowstorm is not nice." He rubbed his green hands together viciously, trying to get the blood circulating again.

"Is it really that bad?" I asked. "I thought it had stopped"

"Never underestimate your enemy, even if in this case it is just a snowstorm" said an ancient voice from the hallway. Much to everyone's surprise, Master Splinter stood in the doorway to the hallway, looking at us approvingly. Mikey rushed over and pulled him into a gentle hug then helped him onto the couch in front of the tree.

"Didn't expect to see you up and moving, sensei." He said.

"I was quite tired of that old room." He explained. "Besides, I wanted to see what you two were up to."

"Nothing but trouble," I reassured him. He smiled.

Splinter threaded cranberries and popcorn while Mikey began working his magic in the kitchen and I went outside to get firewood. Mikey insisted we get a roaring fire going so the house would be nice and warm when the others got back.

The freezing wind outside bit through my clothes and chilled me to the bone. I quickly gathered an armful of wood from the woodpile beside the house and brought it inside. I got the fire going, and just in time. A hurried knock at the door sounded through the house. I opened the door and let three very cold and nearly frozen turtles tumble through the doorway onto the mat.

"Why is it so freakin' cold around here?" grumbled Donnie. I giggled.

"Good thing I have a nice warm fire going for you." I said, motioning over to the roaring fire.

"Nope" he said, ignoring my comment. "You're closer. Come here." He reached out and pulled me into a giant bear hug, effortlessly lifting me off my feet and swinging me around the hallway. I squealed in delight. I wrapped my arms around his neck, not caring about how cold his skin was against mine. I felt a purr of pleasure rumble through his chest as I began instantly warming him up.

"My turn," Leo said, dropping the bag of groceries he was holding and reaching for me. Donnie shook his head violently and tucked me under his arm like a football.

"No way, Leo. I got here first. She's mine." When Leo continued to reach for me Don suddenly took off down the hallway toward the kitchen, where Mikey could be heard singing merrily as he cooked. Leo gave chase, not willing to give up that easily. With amazing dexterity, Donnie made it through the kitchen without knocking over any of Mikey's creations and into the living room. Leo, however, nearly knocked over a bowl of pudding and had to make a last-minute save, buying Don and I a few more seconds of head start. He set me down on the couch and turned to face Leo, who had just entered the room. Just then, a snow-covered Raphael entered the room.

"Where's my five-foot heater?" he asked, looking around the room for me.

"Does nobody care that I spent the last half hour building a great big fire for you guys that would warm you up a lot faster than I could?" I asked in exasperation.

"Nope." They said in near unison. I rolled my eyes. Splinter, who was sitting on the other side of the room, gave me a knowing look and a conspiratorial smile. His eyes flicked to the window behind me leading to the back porch, then looked back at me. I gave his a small smile, understanding his suggestion perfectly.

"My sons," he said slowly, getting they guys' attention instantly, "I do believe Leonardo is in the right." Leo gave Donnie a smirk, but Don was having none of it.

"No way! I'd barely had her for a few seconds before he barged in. My turn wasn't done yet."

"Um, yes it was." Said Leo matter-of-factly.

"What am I, chopped liver? I'm the one covered in snow here."

As the three of them argued, I silently slipped the hatch to the window and let it slide open slightly. Unfortunately, a cold gust of wind immediately blew into the house, alerting my brothers of my intention. They all cried out in dismay and reached for me, but I was already out the window and onto the porch, laughing with glee. Before they could follow me I hopped onto the railing and leapt into the air, unfurling my wings and rocketing into the sky.

I landed on the top of the barn lightly, grinning as I watched the boys stumble out of the house, still bickering. Soon, however, they began talking together in hushed tones, obviously plotting how they were going to get me down. A gust of wind carried their voices up to me.

"According to my calculations we have a 15% chance of convincing her to come down willingly…"

"…but where's the fun in that? I say we get up there, pick up the kid by her oversized wings, and carry her down."

Guys, I have an idea. What if we…"

Unfortunately for me, the wind decided to die down just then and I didn't hear the rest of Leo's idea. I shrugged my shoulders, waving my fingers at them playfully whenever they looked up at me. I sat down on the snow, tucking my wings around me to keep out most of the cold, and decided to wait and play along with their little game. I didn't have to wait long: within minutes Raph had taken off into the forest, Leo had disappeared into the house, and Donnie had begun racing toward the barn doors. Confused, I stood up, bouncing on the balls of my feet anxiously. I peered over the edge of the roof and saw Donnie climbing up the worn walls with his ninja claws at an alarming rate.

Cheater! I thought, backing away from the edge of the roof but never taking my eyes off of the place where I thought he would pop up; while I was distracted, however, Raph had apparently been climbing the back side of the barn and conveniently popped up behind me, making me jump literally three feet in the air. He reached out to grab me from behind, but lucky for me a few loose feathers had come loose when I jumped and landed on his face. He sneezed, batting at the black fuzzies like they were flies. I sprinted back to the front of the barn, leaping over Donnie, who had just arrived at the top, and gliding into the open air above the back yard. I was just thinking I had given them the slip when I heard something whizzing though the air. I spin around in mid-air, but it was too late. The net engulfed me, pressing my wings against my body; I began tumbling to the ground uncontrollably despite my efforts to get free. Instead of crashing to the ground, however, I fell into a pair of strong arms. I glared at Leonardo from beneath my rope prison.

"If you weren't three times my size I swear I would pummel you to death right here and now." I said, trying my best to sound angry. Leo knew me too well for that, however, and just rolled his eyes at me and grinned.

"Ah, but I am three times your size and currently have you trapped in a net that probably weighs more than you do, so I don't have to fear about being pummeled to death just this moment." He said, winking. I shook my head in mock frustration but couldn't keep a grin from appearing on my face. He just smiled all the wider and put me down, helping me untangle myself from the heavy net. Raph and Donnie soon joined us. We walked back to the house together leisurely, joking and laughing and enjoying each other's company. Before we got inside, though, Mikey threw open the door, obviously excited.

"Dudes, get in here now! April's awake."