Note: Some elements in this chapter come from Tyroth's Darkstorm's fic 'Memories of the Lost' go to his FF page or browse my Favouraites to read it, or you may not understand some parts in his chapter.
Chapter Four
Christmas Guests
The next day, Sephie found it hard to focus as they finished the final preparations for the arrival of Tyroth's parents. As she helped set up some extra tables ready for their first Christmas Buffet, she saw Mona who seemed to be in a world of her own as she was helping Cam the Rhino and Barry the Warthog set up the Boom boxes and other equipment so they could play music.
"I wish you could talk to me Mona…" Sephie thought "I told you before you could trust me, somethings really on your mind, and you got to say it before you hurt yourself!"
As she was away with her thoughts, her tail bumped into someone behind her, snapping her from her daydream with a start.
"Hey!" she turned to see Sarah go flying as she was carrying a plate of gingerbread that Tyroth had cooked earlier, everyone turned to look and cried out in fear as the gingerbread went flying, but Michelangelo did a forward roll and grabbed the plate for quickly catching the gingerbread and not dropping one bit.
At once everyone cheered and Michelangelo proudly took a few bows.
"Nice catch Mikey!" said Donatello.
"Well done!" said Mona with a smile at her adopted baby brother.
"yeah!" good work!" said Leonardo.
"Way da go Mikey!" said Raphael.
"It seems you have been paying attention in your training my son." Said Splinter "This pleases me greatly."
"Heh! It was nothing!" said Michelangelo proudly "The gingerbread is safe and sound!"
"Wow!" Kate said in an amazed voice "Great reflexes!"
"Thanks!" said Michelangelo "I'm some turtle aren't I?"
"That you are!" said Kate with a wink as well as a slight blush.
A laugh then made her eyes narrow and she saw Percy puckering his lips and he looked ready to tease her, to which Kate bared her fangs, but Tyroth snorted as if telling to him quit it and Percy shut up straight away.
Michelangelo then put the gingerbread on one of the tables, and he walked away grinning, still proud of himself and several other Mutopians patting him on the shell.
"What's with you Sephie?" asked Sarah in an annoyed tone.
"Sorry Cat girl." Said Sephie "Didn't mean to knock you off balance there….two and a half miles away…"
"More than two and a half!" said Jack "More like ten!"
"Guess I was too busy thinking about Santa!" said Sephie as she forced a laugh, she didn't want to tell the others about Mona's feelings, she wanted to keep it confidential.
"I'll try again with you Mona…" Sephie thought to herself, "I will…I can't let you be alone in this…"
The morning passed quickly, and soon everywhere was set up for the first Christmas Party. Splinter and George did an inspection and they nodded in satisfaction.
"The place looks excellent!" said George with a smile "Especially with our guests coming!"
Tyroth and Amber grinned at each other.
"Mom and dad will love this!" said Amber "And it's gonna be our first Family Christmas in so long!"
Tyroth felt a few tears in his eyes as he thought of the Christmases he had with his family, and of course when Sephie started joining them in their traditions, and then of course the time when things changed and he and Sephie became what they were now.
"It's like good lucks come my way Jen-Jen." He said "Well, not in the way I imagined, or in the way I wanted...but it did!"
"Everything happens for a reason hun!" said Sephie "It was a traumatizing time...and I'm sure you would give anything for it to have been different...but...in a way...things worked out!"
"No shit Sephie!" said Kate "Tyroth's one lucky guy!"
"Hopefully some of us will share his luck one day." Jack said "Wishful thinking!"
The other Chicago Knight's nodded in agreement.
As Jack mentioned that, Mona felt her stomach twinge again, and she ground her teeth slightly.
The whole morning, people were talking to Tyroth and Amber about their parents coming, and the resentment within her was getting stronger and stronger.
She wasn't sure if she would be able to focus or even enjoy herself once Tyroth and Amber's parents arrived, she had managed to keep her focus in check, and even hidden from the ever suspicious Splinter and even Leonardo, but how long now, she wasn't sure.
As she was thinking, she caught Sephie's eye, but she quickly looked away from the Gecko.
Sephie narrowed her eyes.
"Something defiantly is getting to Mona!" she thought, "I'm sure of it!" she looked back at Tyroth and Amber who were still talking excitedly about their parents coming, and soon the penny dropped.
"I knew it!" she thought "She must be upset that Tyroth and Amber's parents are coming...and she still misses her family!"
She looked back at Mona again who was talking to Raphael, she chewed her lip and began to think.
"I know Christmas isn't an easy time for her sometimes..." she thought "Especially when she told me that she spent two Christmases alone...but...she did find happiness with the turtles...and last year we did a great job with the pantomime we put on! But that niggling feeling she said she felt, it's never gone away...well...it never did for any of us..."
She was lost in her thoughts, she looked around at the other Chicago Knights, all of them were talking excitedly and some were helping themselves to some of the food on the tables.
"We've all dealt with our trauma...and helped each other...and in a way we're one big family! So I guess we found it a little easier to cope...but Mona..." she swallowed hard and looked at the floor.
"Sephie?"
The gecko was brought out of her thoughts by Tyroth.
"Hey, babe? You okay?"
Sephie looked up at her dragon mate and looked over at Mona again then back at him.
"Is everything alright?" asked Tyroth "You seem distracted today."
"I'm okay!" said Sephie, she checked to see if Amber was nearby, but luckily the marine iguana had gone over to talk to Tania the Panda. "I'm just...well...slightly worried about Mona."
Tyroth looked up at the Lizard Lady and frowned at first wondering what could be wrong, but then after a few seconds he began to realise.
"Oh shit..." he said softly "It's because..."
"Yeah..." said Sephie "At least that's my gut feeling..."
"Damn..." said Tyroth "I should have known..." he looked towards the door wondering when his parents would arrive, he knew it wouldn't be long.
"Baby," said Sephie "Mona wouldn't want you to not enjoy yourself on her account! After you and your family we reunited, she was very happy for you! It's just this time of year can surface some bad memories...because of what happened and all..."
"She never likes to speak about it." Said Tyroth "And I can understand why...it's not the sort of thing you'd bring up in civilised conversation, even the Chicago Knights and the rest of Mutopia don't know the full story of what happened."
"I tried to talk to her earlier." Said Sephie "But she didn't want to talk, I'm really concerned...if she doesn't talk about her feelings...maybe something bad might happen...like what happened with Leo!"
Tyroth nodded in agreement, even though they hadn't met the turtles during that time, they had heard the story and it made them both shiver to think about.
"We'll just have to see how it goes." Tyroth said.
"I'll keep an eye on her." Sephie said "But don't hold back on anything hun..."
Tyroth was about to reply when suddenly Cam and Barry came to the entrance of the hall grinning.
"Tyroth! Amber!" they said "Look whose here to see you!"
Tyroth and Amber looked up and they soon saw their parents Richard and Erica walk in, both wearing coats and half covered in snow.
"Raymond! Jennifer!" they cried.
"Mom! Dad!" Amber cried quickly bounding over to her parents almost knocking Sharky and Jack over in the process, as soon as she reached them she threw her arms around them and hugged them close.
Tyroth followed suite quickly and briefly forgetting what he and Sephie were talking about and embraced his parents and sister close.
"Missed you so much!" cried Tyroth "Been waiting for this day to come forever!"
"We're so happy to be here!" Erica said "And the place looks amazing!"
"Thanks!" said Tyroth "Well, tell that to everyone here! They did all the hard work!"
"That we did!" said Michelangelo with a grin "Nice to see you again Mr and Mrs Ottosen!"
"Nice to see you too Michelangelo!" said Richard "And you lot too!" he nodded at the turtles, Splinter and Mona who smiled and said hello back.
At once everyone gathered around to say hello and Merry Christmas to Richard and Erica who greeted them all with enthusiasm.
Mona kept a frozen smile on her face as she greeted the Ottosens, although her appearances said she was happy, deep down she kept wishing with all her soul that her own family would have been able to join them.
"If only mom, dad, Jake and Callum could be here..." she thought "I'd give anything to see them again...anything...Even if it was just for a few minutes...just to say hello...happy Christmas...and that I love them...and I'm sorry..."
She watched as Amber and Tyroth talked excitedly to Erica and Richard about how things were going in Mutopia and how they had been working hard to keep the streets clean of crime, not just in Chicago but also in New York, as well as Amber's training with the Knights.
All the while the feeling in her heart and stomach hurt more, she couldn't deny she was jealous, even though she was happy for Tyroth that he got his family back, she couldn't help but think it was unfair that he got his family back and hers had no idea what happened to her and how they spent every Christmas, and practically every day wondering if she was alive, or if she would return home.
She remembered some time ago she saw a program on the TV about people who had gone missing which had featured her, and Tyroth and Sephie, in fact Tyroth and Sephie were there with her when she saw the show, and she had seen her devastated family talk about her and how her parents and brothers had said that every-time they heard the phone ring, or someone knock on the door, they either hoped or feared that it would be news about her.
"It's not fair..." she thought "Life's just no fair at all..." she sighed again and decided to try and join in the fun and push the feelings aside, but somewhere deep inside, she knew it was getting harder.
"Maybe a couple of glasses of mulled wine will help me relax..." she thought as she went to join Heather and Tania by the drinks bar, both mutants were already sipping the mulled wine and talking happily and Mona hoped she would soon get wrapped up in the party atmosphere, anything to keep her distracted.
Seems more fuel is being added to the fire here...Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Love Bloodrayne666