April entered the lair after school to find the turtles hanging out watching TV, she smiled and asked them.
"Hey guys. Whats going on?"
Mikey turned from the TV and said.
"We are watching these people that are dressing up all in green with these weird green plants coming out of hats!"
Donnie put a hand over his face and exhaled in frustration.
"They are shamrocks Mikey, and I told you, it is the St. Patrick's Day parade."
Mikey looked at his older brother and said.
"Why do humans want to walk around dressed in green all day? Isn't that our thing?"
April stood by and watched the conversation in interest and then said.
"Have you guys ever celebrated St. Patrick's Day?"
Raphael was sitting in his bean bag chair and looked up at April when she walked over to them.
"What is St. Patrick's Day any way? What's the fuss about? I mean people just run around dressed in green all day long."
Splinter cleared his throat and said.
"It is a day that people of the country Ireland, or those that are from that country celebrate their heritage on this day."
Leonardo looked over at their father and asked.
"Why on March 17, I mean shouldn't you be proud of your heritage every day? And what's with all the green? It looks silly on all the humans."
April spoke up.
"Well, its not so much about heritage as it is about an Irish monk named Patrick that died on March 17 way back in 461AD. It was believed that he wore green mostly and in his honor the people began to celebrate the day by wearing green. It is a religious day, mostly for Catholics."
Mikey frowned and thought long and hard.
"So... its kinda like Easter? You celebrate some one who died?"
April smiled seeing he some what understood.
"Yes, only Easter doesn't have a set date, know one really knows when he died, they just know it was between March and early May."
Raphael asked.
"So what's with the Shamrock? Is that part of the Catholic religion or something?"
She chuckled and said.
"No, Saint Patrick used the three- leaved shamrock in the Holy Trinity to Irish pagans. We just talked about this in school so that's how I know so much about it. We talk about it every year."
Splinter smiled at April and told her.
"Thank you for teaching us about this. I honestly did not know the history behind the day, I was never really informed about it. As my village did not celebrate the day."
Mikey frowned and asked.
"So what happens if you don't wear green?"
April chuckled and told him.
"Well, for some reason and I never asked or looked it up, but, you get pinched if you don't wear green."
He let out an exaggerated sigh and said.
"whew that is a relief! At least the four of us don't have to worry about that. And Raph is defiantly safe! Because his eyes are green!"
Splinter looked at his sons then he noticed the look Michelangelo was giving him.
"Don't even think about it Michelangelo."
April realized she may have given Mikey an idea... a very bad idea. She was safe because of her green shirt but Splinter was not safe. He had no green on at all.
Leo, Raph, and Donnie chuckled as Splinter backed up out of the room.
As the day went on the three oldest turtles kept Mikey busy so he would not be tempted to pinch their father.
April went home, she knew she had started trouble and wasn't about to stick around and find out the outcome of what she started.
During training that evening Michelangelo got his opportunity when he was paired off against their father in a sparing match.
With moves like lightning Splinter knocked his son to the ground repeatedly, Mikey waited for the right moment when he would be in position.
Mikey flipped backwards as his father came at him again, then did a cart wheel to the side. He did a jump in the air followed by a flip that sent him behind Splinter.
He reached out and took hold of his Sensei's tail and gave it a pinch.
Splinter jumped and spun around.
Leo, Raph and Donnie looked on in shock.
Raph spoke up first.
"Mikey tagged Sensei? Leo? I think he showed you up."
Donnie was laughing and said between breaths.
"No, he pinched him because he is still not wearing any green! It wasn't because he was trying to tag Sensei, he was trying to pinch him, he had been trying all day."
Splinter stood before his son and said.
"Very good Michelangelo, now, do you know what happens on St. Patrick's Day when you wear too much green?"
Mikey's eyes went wide when he saw his Sensei's cane start to come down on his head, he moved fast and blocked it.
All during the rest of training both father and son kept trying to tag each other, much to the amusement of the other three turtles who did nothing but laugh at the antics of both father and son who were playfully hitting each other the rest of the day.
The following year and years after Michelangelo made sure to wear cloths on St. Patrick's Day and made sure it wasn't green, Splinter on the other hand made sure to wear something that had green so he would not fall victim to his son's pinching fingers.
A/N: The parts that April is talking about St. Patrick's Day was googled so to make sure it was accurately written. I made up some parts just for fun, and I thought it would be cute to see Splinter's playful side...
