A/N: I am sooooooooooooooooooooo sorry for the long delay in updating! This chapter took forever to write and I've been super busy with Christmas and the usual. Again, I apologize. This chapter is longer than the others to help make up for it! Enjoy! And don't forget to review! =]]

Disclaimer: I own Kaliyah and that's all. I don't own the turtles. Sigh…

Chapter 11: Christmas with the Turtles…This Oughta Be Interesting…

Kaliyah sighed and sank into the old couch, exhausted after taking all of her exams in one day. Maggie had met her for breakfast and lunch that day. Kallie tried to make it up to her since she had called recently. Maggie wanted Kallie to stay at her place, but Kallie ensured her friend that she was fine with who she was currently with. Maggie relented but demanded to meet her new friends, which of course was an impossibility since Kallie's new friends were mutant ninja turtles.

Kallie didn't think Maggie was quite up to meeting them.

Christmas was right around the corner and normally Kallie spent the holiday with Sam and his family. Her mom had been invited but she always went back to Texas to visit Kallie's grandparents. Kallie assumed her mother would be doing the same thing this year and she knew she would be invited to Sam's again. She still wanted to do something nice for the guys though. They had helped her so much and were continuing to do so.

Presents were the least she could do.

"Hey Kallie!" A voice shouted from the dojo.

Kallie groaned as she sat up and called, "What?"

"C'mere!" Raphael yelled for her again.

"I don't want to!" Kallie groaned, sinking into the couch once more.

"Get yer ass in here Blondie!"

"Raphael!"

"Sorry Sensei!"

Kallie snickered as she slowly got to her feet. She made a big show of stomping the entire way to the dojo. When she made it she was met with eye rolls from Raphael and Leonardo. She looked around and didn't see Mikey or Don anywhere.

"Alright, I'm here. What do you want?" Kallie demanded.

"How did exams go?" Leonardo asked.

Kallie narrowed her eyes. "Please tell me that you didn't call me all the way in here just to ask who my exams went."

Raph smirked while Leo simply rolled his eyes.

"No, that's not the only reason but is it a crime to ask you how your schooling is going?" Leo demanded.

Kallie felt somewhat sheepish after that and she eased the scowl off of her face. "I'm exhausted actually. 6 exams in one day is practically suicide."

"You took all of them in one day?" Leo asked incredulously.

Kallie nodded. "I just wanted to get it all over with."

"I can see that. Now, are you ready for a mission?" Leo asked with an amused expression.

"A mission?"

"It's pretty dangerous." Raph commented.

"What kind of mission?" Kaliyah asked, feeling very apprehensive at the smirks the two brothers were wearing.

"Every year we get something for Master Splinter." Leonardo started.

"And every year he friggin' knows what he's gettin' before we even wrap it!" Raph added.

"So what do y'all want me to do?"

"Could you buy his present? We'd give you the money of course, but he won't be suspicious of you. Plus, he's still not as in tuned to you as he is the rest of us." Leo said.

"Of course." She replied immediately.

Leo quirked his lips up slightly in his version of a smile. "Thanks. We really appreciate it."

"No problem. It's the least I could do. I'll get it soon since Christmas is only a few days away and since I won't be here for it I'll need to—."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WON'T BE HERE FOR CHRISTMAS?!" A voice shrieked. Kallie jumped about a mile high while Raph and Leo just sighed, Leo putting a hand to his forehead as if he had a headache.

Suddenly an orange blur tackled Kallie to the ground. She hit the mats with an 'oof' as she was suddenly face to face with a very upset looking Michelangelo.

"What the heck?!" Kallie cried.

"Why won't you be here for Christmas?!" Mikey demanded again.

"Could you get off me?"

"Why. Won't. You. Be here. For. Christmas?"

Kallie sighed. "I have plans with a family friend, plus I don't wanna intrude on y'alls family time. It's bad enough I've disrupted your lives this much, I don't wanna disrupt it during the holidays!"

"You're not disrupting anything!" Mikey cried.

Kallie squirmed, trying to wriggle her out from underneath the heavy turtle. "Mikey, I'm sure y'all have plans—"

"Plans that include you!"

"You are more than welcome to stay Kallie." Leonardo added.

Kallie craned her neck to the side to see Raph and Leo looking down at her. Kallie felt slightly uneasy. Every time these guys went out of their way to help her or to do something nice for her Kallie couldn't help but feel uncomfortable and guilty. It had been a long time since someone had been this nice to her. And despite how much they had proven themselves, over and over again, she still couldn't help but think that it wouldn't last; that eventually they would want something in return.

"Are you sure…?"

Mikey absolutely beamed at her. "Of course we're sure! This is gonna be GREAT! April and Casey are bringing a Christmas tree over tonight and we can decorate it! In fact, normally the whole lair is decorated by now but I've been kinda distracted with everything that's been going on. But that's okay cos' you can help me decorate it! And we can bake cookies and sing Christmas carols! I can't wait!"

Kaliyah couldn't help but grin at the over enthusiastic turtle. "Alright Mike, we can do all that. But uh, can you do me a favor first?"

"What?"

"Get the hell off of me. You weight a ton!"

Michelangelo laughed and flipped to his feet before offering her a hand. Kallie rolled her eyes and grasped it, allowing Mike to pull her to her feet. He winked at her before bounding out of the room talking about finding all their Christmas stuff.

"Is he always that enthusiastic?" Kallie asked.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Only on days that end in 'y.'"

Kallie laughed at that, following the two other turtles out of the room listening as Mikey sang Christmas carols at the top of his lungs.

OoOoOoO

Kallie finished shopping and she was exhausted. April had gone with her, Master Splinter was insistent that she didn't leave the lair alone, and the two of them had everything purchased and wrapped as they carefully laid the presents underneath the tree Mikey and everyone else had decorated the day before.

It was a huge tree. Casey and Raph had dragged it in and it was a good 8ft tall. Kallie couldn't even see the top without craning her neck or stepping back several feet. Mikey had gotten everyone to help decorate it. Raphael had tried to avoid it but eventually Mike had annoyed him enough that he too stepped in and put a few ornaments on. A lot of the ornaments they had were handmade. Master Splinter told a few adorable stories about when they were kids and making ornaments. There were four ornaments that seemed to be more precious than the rest; four ceramic balls painted with blue, red, purple, and orange. Each ornament had a different letter on; L on blue, R on red, D on purple, and M on orange. The writing was squiggly and one could easily see that it was done by children. But what made them so special was the little brown furry figure on the other side of the letters. Each of the boys had drawn Master Splinter on their ornaments. The story goes that Master Splinter had brought home a craft kit that was full of ceramic projects. He needed to go back up to the surface to get more food and a distraction for his sons was greatly needed as well. This project would be the perfection distraction, he thought. And as he left the four turtles each went to their own rooms and did their projects. The boys claimed that none of them knew what the others were doing and when they had finished all four of them had similar Christmas ornaments made for their father. Splinter said it was the closet to tears he had been in a very long time.

The moment the Christmas presents touched the floor, Michelangelo was bounding into the room.

"Don't even think about it Mikey!" April warned, a warning finger pointed at him.

Mikey skidded to a stop and held his hands up in mock surrender. "I didn't even do anything!" He protested.

"Yet." Came an amused voice.

Donatello was smiling as he walked into the arm, throwing an arm around his sibling. "You can't help yourself Mikey."

"Can too! How do you even know I was excited about the presents? I could've been excited to see two of the most beautiful women in the world enter our humble abode!" Mikey added with a charming smile.

Kallie blushed furiously as April rolled her eyes. "Flattery will get you nowhere Mike."

Mikey saw Kallie and grinned. "Got her to blush, I'd say that's a win."

Kallie scowled at him. "Don't make me take your present back."

"You got me a present?!"

Don groaned. "You've done it now. He's not going to leave you alone for a minute until you tell him what you got him."

Kallie smiled smugly. "Bring it on. Trust me; I'm more stubborn than him."

"That's impossible." Raph said as he walked into the living room.

"Yeah, everyone knows the most stubborn person here is Raph." Casey said as he too joined the rest of the group.

"No one asked for yer opinion sidekick."

"Hey, I ain't the sidekick!" Casey protested.

"Mike, you won't get a word outta me. Trust me." Kallie told him. His eyes sparkled, almost challenging her before a look from Leo made his enthusiasm dim a bit.

"Fine." He muttered petulantly.

"Hey, you only have one more day to wait!" Kallie told him, trying to make him feel a bit better.

Mikey grinned. "True!"

"We brought pizza!" April said as the group cheered.

The rest of the evening was spent eating pizza and swapping stories. Kallie sat and listened, laughing hysterically at some of the stories Mikey told about his brothers. Raphael claimed most of them were lies but one look from Leo told Kaliyah that Mikey was actually telling the truth. Master Splinter told Kallie that he wanted to meet with her after dinner for another training session and Kallie's heart started pounding again. She was worried about having another panic attack, but she was slightly hopeful that now that she knew what she was in for that maybe she would be a bit more prepared.

And soon enough she found herself sitting opposite Master Splinter in his dimly lit room. He stared at her again, with those mind reading eyes of his. Kallie blinked several times and tried to keep from turning her face away from the old rats. She knew that he was only trying to help.

Master Splinter stared into Kaliyah's eyes once again. She was guarded still. That wall put back firmly in place, the chinks he had made a few days ago barely noticeable now; but they were still there.

"We're going to try something different today Kaliyah."

The young girl looked up at him, confused as Master Splinter got to his feet and grabbed a violin from somewhere in the shadows, handing it to Kaliyah.

Kaliyah's eyes lit up at the familiar instrument.

"I want you play." He instructed her.

She grabbed the violin in an almost reverent way. "You…you want me to play?"

Splinter nodded.

Kallie grabbed the bow and tested the instrument, running the bow lightly across the strings. It was perfectly in tune and Kallie felt her hands start to move on their own, moving gracefully and creating a beautiful melody.

Splinter closed his eyes and allowed the music to fill him. He waited a few moments before opening his eyes again. Kaliyah's eyes were closed now as she swayed slightly to the music she was playing.

"Continue playing Kaliyah. I'm going to ask you a series of questions, answer them but never stop playing. Keep your eyes closed and concentrate on the music."

Kaliyah nodded her head once and continued playing.

"We talked about how guarded you are last time. This time we will scratch the surface as to why." Master Splinter said. "How old were you when your father died?"

"13."

"Were you two close?"

"Closer than anything." She sounded close to tears already.

"When he died, did you talk to anyone about how you were feeling?"

"My mother."

"She did not help you, did she?"

"No." The cold voice with which she spoke startled the old rat. Her forehead was wrinkled now, as if scowling and trying to get rid of some unpleasant feeling.

"She was not a source of comfort for you."

"Never."

"You shared everything with your father?"

"Everything." She breathed.

"He wrote you letters while he was gone, correct?"

Kallie fumbled slightly, the notes coming out choppier now.

"Focus Kaliyah." Splinter said. The young girl took a deep and shuddering breath before the notes started to blend nicely once again.

"I…I got a letter almost every week."

"He told you about his time there?"

Kaliyah nodded. "A few things, he mainly talked about how much he missed me and my mom."

"His passing left you broken."

Kaliyah nodded, tears spilling onto her cheeks. She continued to play though; the music changing into a more desperate tune.

"But you didn't change completely then."

Kaliyah shook her head.

"It was after talking to your mother."

"She…she didn't u-understand. She never understood m-me. Only Dad did," said Kaliyah. "And then sh-she met Robert…and it w-was like my Dad n-never existed!"

This was certainly a surprise. "She married another man…"

"6 months a-after dad died! 6 friggin' short months!" The music was rough now, an almost frantic sound. "I begged her n-not to! B-begged her to wait! Sh-she didn't care though! I d-didn't even know this m-man!"

"So you never trusted anyone again…"

Kaliyah was standing to her feet, still playing, her eyes still closed as tears continued to pour down her face.

"Sh-she promised to always b-be there for me! B-but she LIED! Sh-she told me I w-was being selfish! Th-that I should've been h-happy for you! Sh-she didn't care about h-how I felt! SHE DIDN'T CARE!" She screamed. The music slowed and soon the young girl slid to her knees, dropping the violin next to her.

"People let you down; family is no exception to that."

Master Splinter walked over to her and sat down right in front of her. His hand came to her chin as he lifted her face to his.

"You have broken things where your heart should be." He told her.

Kaliyah nodded.

"But what is broken can always be fixed, one way or another."

Kaliyah's bright blue eyes pierced Splinters soul. They were shining with tears, but they were clear and unhindered. She was one hundred percent open now.

"I must ask you one more thing." Master Splinter said to her.

Kaliyah said nothing as she waited for him to continue.

"Do you remember anything from the letters that your father wrote to you?"

"Every single word."

Master Splinter nodded. "I would like for you to write down everything you remember. We will go over the letters next session. That is all for tonight."

Kaliyah nodded and stood to her feet, making her way to the door.

"Can I ask you a question?" She turned to look at the old rat.

"Of course Kaliyah."

"Why did you have me play the violin the whole time?"

Master Splinter smiled at her. "Well that is simple."

Kaliyah cocked her head to the side and Splinter couldn't help but chuckle softly. Her expression reminded him so much of his youngest son, Michelangelo.

"You are most open when you are playing. You hide nothing and your soul is bared. You put everything you have and the essence of who you are into your music. This makes it easier for me to unlock the true Kaliyah Miller."

The young woman looked slightly troubled but simply nodded at him as she slipped out of the door.

OoOoOoO

"IT'S CHRISTMAS! C'MON EVERYONE! WAKE UP! GET UP GET UP!" A voice shouted. Kallie groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. She could hear footsteps pounding up and down the stairs. Doors were opening, threats were thrown, and soon Kaliyah's door was thrown open.

"Get yer ass up Sweetness. If we gotta get up at this awful hour, ya gotta get up too."

Kallie groaned. "Ugh…"

"My sentiments exactly. Let's go."

Raphael helped her to her feet and shuffled her out of the room. Raph smirked down at her as she scrambled to get her mop of hair on top of her head in a bun. She nudged him in his side and he nudged her gently back as the finally made it down stairs.

Mikey was practically bouncing up and down as he circled the tree.

"About time!" He said accusingly at her.

"I'm sorry, but normally people are still sleeping at this hour!" She defended.

"Not on Christmas!"

"Mike…tone it down." Donatello said. Kallie saw that he was nursing a cup of coffee.

"Where?" She demanded.

Donnie grinned and pointed to the kitchen. She practically ran there and grabbed a steaming mug of the delicious brew.

"Can we open them now Sensei? Pleeeeease!" Mikey begged.

Master Splinter looked amused and exasperated at the same time as he brought a hand to his forehead, trying to hide a grin. "Yes Michelangelo, go ahead."

The orange banded turtle shrieked with glee as he lunged for the presents. Kallie couldn't help but laugh as he started tossing presents to his family.

Leo received a few new meditating CDs from Master Splinter, a new Katana sharpening kit from Raph, a book on ancient Japanese battles from Donnie, and a PSP from Mikey. Leo laughed as he looked at the video game player.

"Thanks Mike, this is great. I have no idea how to use it…but I know you saved up a lot for this."

Mikey grinned. "I'll show you how to play it dude. S'not hard."

"Anything technological is hard for Leo." Donnie muttered to Kallie. Kallie snickered and Leo shot them both a look.

"Does he have like sonic hearing or something?" Kallie asked.

"Yes." Leo's three younger brothers replied at the same time.

Donnie received a book on ancient Japanese inventions, a new external hard drive from Leo, a series of medical encyclopedias from Raph, and a new chess set from Mikey. Don thanked his brothers and father as they looked to Raph to open his gifts next.

Raph got a book on different ways to meditate from Master Splinter, a new punching bag from Leo, a new motorcycle helmet from Donnie, and the newest two seasons of Raph's favorite wrestling show. Raphael actually grinned at his brothers and father as he thanked them.

Mikey was next and he received a book about different fighting stances and techniques from Master Splinter, a new fighting video game from Leo, a series of comic books from Raph, and a paint set from Donnie. Mikey was so ecstatic with his gifts that he practically tackled each of his brothers as he thanked them.

"Master Splinter we all pitched in to get you one really great gift." Leonardo said as he grabbed his father's gift from underneath the tree.

"I was under the impression you had not purchased anything for me this year…" Master Splinter said, eyeing his sons.

"We had an accomplice." Raphael said with a wink to Kallie. Kallie snickered at the incredulous look the old rat was giving her.

"I believe I have been outsmarted by my sons and a young girl."

"Just open it Sensei!" Mikey urged.

Master Splinter slowly opened the gift and grinned broadly as he saw the vintage Japanese tea set.

"Thank you my sons. This is most excellent." Master Splinter said as he grinned at his boys.

Kallie got up and grabbed her own gifts for the small family. She handed one to each of the boys, including Master Splinter.

Mikey immediately tore into his and gave her a knuckle bump as he took out his new wireless controller. Donnie thanked her for the new tool set she had got him. Raphael punched her in the shoulder lightly as he took out a new motorcycle jacket, big enough to easily fit over his shell. And Leo smiled softly at her as he saw the complete set of all the Marvel Comic Book Superhero movies. He had confessed to her that he loved those movies. Master Splinter thanked her as well as he opened his variety of rare teas that she had ordered from some tea company on the internet.

"We got you a gift too!" Mikey said enthusiastically.

Kallie groaned. "I thought I told y'all not to get me anything?"

Raph snorted. "Yeah, like we're gonna listen to ya."

"Here!" Mikey said as he shoved a gift in her hands.

Kallie scowled at them but they laughed and urged her to open her gift. She did as they told her and tore into her gift, unable to hide her enjoyment at being given a gift. Once the wrapping was torn off Kallie's breath caught in her throat as she looked down at her present.

It was sheet music.

Her sheet music. From her apartment.

"It was the only thing we could salvage and it looked like it was in your handwriting…" Donatello started.

"We thought it mighta been important." Raph added.

"So we spruced it up as much as we could." Mikey supplied.

"If it's not what you needed we thought it'd be nice to at least have something that belongs to you here." Leo commented.

Kallie felt tears sting the corner of her eyes and she blinked them away as she beamed at the boys.

"These are my songs. Songs that I've written throughout the years…this is…the greatest gift. Ever. Thank you."

"Awesome!" Mikey said and Kallie hugged him fiercely. She hugged each one of them, including Raphael even though he simply ruffled her hair.

Best Christmas ever?

Kallie certainly thought so.