The First Christmas in Forever
This is a BNA/ROTTMNT crossover story. This is a Christmas special for an up coming crossover story that I plan on posting in the new year. Sorry its a bit late but I hope you enjoy it.
Summary
Ciela had live with the turtles in the sewers for months now, and she has gotten used to being around them. Yet there were things that were still new to her. Especially when it came to learning about the up coming holiday known as Christmas. She had never really experienced it before, as she had always been locked away within the lab. So, she didn't really know how to spend it with her new family. Fortunately for Ciela, the Hamato family are going to give her the best Christmas she ever had. Along with Leo giving her a gift that she will hold close to her heart.
Chapter 1
It was a cold winter morning within New York City. The people on the surface of the city were just getting ready for the day. While down underground, a few of the occupants were just getting up. In one of the carts of the abandoned trains, a group of children and a young teenager were still sleeping. Ciela was sleeping comfortably in her bed, buried within the warm blankets. One the floor the five children were nestled together within the large nest that Leo, and the other turtles had made for them. Cynthia the white-tailed prairie hare was cuddling with Alex the Osprey, who had his arm wrapped around her. The twins, Holly the Bengal kitten and Josh the golden retriever, were cuddling with Marcia the pine marten between them.
For a while everything was peaceful. Until they were all awoken by a loud crash, that echoed throughout the lair. Ciela shot up within her bed in surprise, while the children shifted into their beastmen forms out of instinct.
"Hey, who, what!?" exclaimed Marcia as she looked around in confusion.
"What was that?" asked Cynthia as she clung to Alex in fear.
Ciela, worrying that something had invaded the lair, quickly shifted into her wolfdog form. She jumped out of bed and raced out of the train carriage to the main part of the the lair. When she got there, Ciela called out to Leo.
"Leo what's going on . . . here?"
Her words faded off in the end when she saw Leo and his brothers dragging in a large spruce tree. They were wearing their winter coats with snow clinging to their heads and shoulders. Leo turned when he heard Ciela call out his name before speaking in a cheerful voice.
"Oh, hey there Ciela."
"Uh . . . hey," greeted Ciela with a confused expression upon her face. "Is everything alright in here? The kids and I heard a loud crash a moment ago."
"Oh, sorry about that," spoke Leo with a smile. "We were just bringing in this tree and accidently knocked over one of the speakers for the TV."
"Well, we wouldn't have crashed into said speaker if we hadn't picked out this large tree Leo." Donnie grumbled from the left side of the tree. "I said that we should have gotten a slightly less larger tree but no~. You just had to chose the biggest one of the lot."
"Hey, I wanted a tree that was the best for the family." Leo argued as he turned to glare at his twin.
"Alright you guys, that's enough." Raph spoke as he gave his two brothers a glare. "Let's set this tree down in the living room."
"I agree," said Mikey in a strained voice. "I don't think my arms can handle holding this tree up any longer."
"Alright, alright," said Leo as he rolled in eyes in exasperation.
Ciela watched as the brothers carried the spruce to the living room. The beast-girl frowned as she tilted her head to the side in confusion. Why were the turtles bringing in a tree? It didn't make any sense to her. She decided to follow after them to see what they planned to do with the tree. Ciela paused at the entrance to the room and watched the brothers place the tree in a tree stand. Raph held the tree up while Mikey began to screw in the bolts. Leo and Donnie stood off to the side as they watched the procedure.
"Okay Raph, just slightly tilt the tree to the left." Leo instructed his big brother.
Raph did what Leo told him and shifted the tree slightly. Ciela continued to watch this before she heard the sound of small feet coming up behind her. She turned to see the children walking towards her. They stopped to stand on both sides of the beast-girl as they gazed up at the large tree in amazement. They all let out collective gasps of wonder and joy.
"Wow!"
"It's so big!"
"How the heck did they bring that into the lair?"
"This is so cool!"
"I'm so going to climb it!"
The one who said they were going to climb the tree was Marcia, who had an excited smile on her face. And before Ciela could stop her, the young pine marten dashed towards the tree. Luckily she didn't get very far as she was quickly grabbed by the back of her pajama shirt, by one of Donnie's metal spider legs from his battle shell. Which had somehow appeared from underneath his purple jacket. Marcia struggled as she tried to break out of the metal claw's grip, while Raph and Donnie gave the pine marten disapproving looks.
"Don't you even think about it Marcia," said Raph in a firm voice. "This tree is not for climbing."
"Oh, come on!" exclaimed Marcia angrily. "Just let me climb halfway to the top!"
"Out of the question," said Donnie as he turned Marcia around to face him. "You are by under no circumstances allowed to climb that tree young lady. We've worked hard to bring it into the lair, and standing it up within the living room. We don't want if falling down and breaking anything."
Marcia pouted as she crossed her arms and legs together as he hung from Donnie's spider claw. Cynthia walked forward to gaze up at the tree. Her eyes sparkling in delight. She then turned to look at Raph.
"How were you all able to get that tree down here big brother?" asked Cynthia curiously.
After making sure that the tree was secured, Raph let go before kneeling down and picked up the little hare.
"It wasn't easy little sis," said Raph as he placed Cynthia on his right shoulder. "We had to sneak into the tree lot early this morning, while making sure nobody up top noticed us. And when we did find our tree, Leo decided to summon one of his portals to get the tree down here into the lair. Luckily nobody notice us taking it."
"And we also made sure to leave some money behind to show that we've bought it." Mikey stepped in as he popped up beside Raph to reassure Cynthia that they didn't steal the tree.
Ciela was relieved to hear that. Even though she wasn't really accustomed to the ways of human society, she did learn one thing from April when they went shopping together. You have to pay for stuff before you take them out of the store. Along with how stealing was against the law. Holly and Josh walked towards the tree as they stood on either side of Leo.
"Is that tree for us?" asked Holly in a hopeful voice.
"Sure is kiddo," replied Leo as he smiled down at the Bangel kitten. "The perfect tree for our favorite holiday."
"Favorite Holiday?" asked Ciela with a frown.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Mikey as a large smile appeared on his face. "The most exciting holiday next to Halloween. Christmas!"
The five beast children cheered excitedly while Ciela only looked even more confused.
"What's a 'Christmas'?"
The room went silent as the four turtle brothers and the beast children looked at Ciela in shock and confusion.
"You're kidding right?" asked Donnie as he set Marcia down on the ground.
Ciela slowly shook her head 'no' and she got the feeling that she might have said something wrong. Mikey gasped as he dashed forward to stand right in front of Ciela, who flinched slightly at his sudden closeness.
"How could you have not heard about Christmas?" said Mikey with a flabbergasted expression upon his face. "It's one of most the famous holidays where family and friends get together, and spend time with each other during the season."
Ciela hunched her shoulders slightly as a shameful look appeared on her face. Her ears dropped down as the beast-girl's eyes shifted to gaze at the ground.
"W-well . . . I . . ." started Ciela as she tried to find the words to answer Mikey's question.
She didn't have to as Leo was the one who quickly understood why she hadn't heard of Christmas. A sad expression appeared on his face before he spoke in a gentle voice.
"You never really experienced Christmas while you were locked up in that lab, did you?"
A mournful look appeared on Ciela's face as she nodded her head at Leo's question.
"I've . . . always been locked up inside my room within the lab." Ciela said as she began to explain herself. "And none of the scientists ever really talked to me when it came to the tests that they would preform on me. So, I've never really experienced what was outside my prison walls."
A look of understanding appeared on everyone's faces. The Hamato Clan and beast-children already knew Ciela's past, and how she had be subjugated to terrible experiments. But what was even worse for Ciela was that she never got to experience the outside world. For she had been in the walls of the facility ever since she had been a baby. Leo was the first one to grow determined as he walked up to Ciela and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Ciela blinked in surprise and looked up at Leo in confusion.
"Well, we'll just have to fix that," said Leo with a confident smile on his face. "My lady, allow my brothers and I to show you what Christmas is really all about."
"That's a great idea!" exclaimed Raph with a large smile on his face.
"I concur, showing our female canine friend the ways of Christmas could be a interesting experience." Donnie said as he nodded his head in agreement. "It could also be a fascinating experiment to do as well."
"Yeah, we can show you what we do during Christmas," said Mikey excitedly as he looked at Ciela with a smile.
"I don't know," spoke Ciela hesitantly as she gazed around at the brothers. "I mean, wouldn't only cause trouble? I don't want to be a bother and get in the way of what you guys do during Christmas."
"Ciela, trust us, you're not going to be a bother," Leo said in a reassuring voice, "besides I'll be fun. And I'm sure April, Cass and Casey will help out in introducing you to Christmas as well."
"But still . . ." started Ciela before the twins dashed up in front of her.
"Come on big sis," said Holly as the Bangel kitten grabbed Ciela's paw hand.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Josh enthusiastically.
Ciela looked down at the twins for a moment before a soft smile appeared on her face.
"Alright," said Ciela with a soft sigh. "I'll give it a shot."
The children let out a loud cheer. Unfortunately their cheer was cut short when the loud, grumpy voice of Master Splinter shouted out from within the lair.
"Be quiet! Can't an old man get any sleep around here without this shouting!?"
"Sorry dad!" called Mikey to the rat. "We'll be more quiet!"
The answer that everyone got was a low grumble. After they were sure Splinter had fallen asleep again, Ciela turned to look at the beast-children. The children all held shameful expressions upon their faces before the all spoke in a whisper.
"Sorry."
"It's alright," said Ciela in a soft voice before raising a finger up to her lips. "But we should all me a little quieter until Papa Splinter wakes up, alright?"
"Yeah, dad's not exactly a morning . . . uh . . . rat," spoke Leo as he stumbled over his words slightly before he continued. "So it's best that we don't wake him up on the wrong side of the bed."
The five children nodded their heads in agreement.
"Right, now that that's settled. Let us get started on the list of things we need to do to give Ciela an acceptable look on Christmas." Donnie said in a serious voice before taking on a thoughtful look. "I just need a bit of time to think one up first."
Leo, Mikey and Raph rolled their eyes while the beast-children just looked at Donnie in confusion. Ciela smiled at the purple turtle before speaking.
"Well first off, the children and I should get ourselves ready for the day. As we do that, Mikey can whip us up some breakfast."
"You got it," said Mikey with a wink.
"And after breakfast, we can start trimming the tree," said Leo before giving Ciela a better explanation when he saw the confused look on her face. "It means; we get to put decorations on the branches of the tree. We'll show you what they look like later. Right now you and the kids just get yourself cleaned up."
"Okay," said Ciela with a chuckle before looking at the children. "Alright everyone let's get going."
With a collective 'Okay', four of the children began to head back towards their respective rooms. Cynthia was the last to follow as she gave Raph a big hug before he set down on the ground. Ciela watched the young prairie hare race off for a moment before turning to look at Raph.
"You two have really come a long way with each other, Raph." Ciela said in a gentle voice with a smile appearing on her face. "It's hard to believe how Cynthia had changed from been afraid of you."
"You're telling me," said Raph as he pulled down the hood of his coat. "It really took a long time for her to warm up to me. Especially when it came to my size."
"Yeah, but after showing her just how much of a softy you are, Cynthia quickly grew to love you." Leo said with a smirk on his face.
"Not to mention the other kids," added Mikey as he began to unwrapped scarf from his neck. "They were so scared when we found them in our sewers a long time ago. But after they got to know us they weren't afraid anymore."
"Except for that little marten," said Donnie in a low mutter with a frown upon his face, "she was the wildest one among the children and it took even longer for us to gain her trust. Not to mention the most stubborn one amongst the other kids."
"You only say that because Marice quickly took a liking to you," said Leo with a chuckle.
"She did not!" exclaimed Donnie in denial as he glared at his twin brother. "The only reason she hung around me was to annoy me with her presence."
"Just like another beastmen that we know," said Leo with a knowing look on his face.
A blush of embarrassment appeared on Donnie's cheeks as Ciela, Raph and Mikey started to chuckle. He then turned away with a huff before muttering under his voice.
"We will not speak of her at all."
Everyone laughed at Donnie before Ciela, who quickly calmed herself down, decided to speak again.
"I better head towards the bath myself. I need to be ready for what we have planned for today."
"Aw~ but I wanted to snuggle with you for a little bit!" whined Leo playfully as he wrapped his arms around Ciela while resting his chin on top of her head. "It was so cold out there and I need your soft fur to warm me up!"
Ciela chuckled as she playfully tried to shove Leo off of her before ducking out of his arms. Leo blinked in surprise, wobbled for a moment then turned to see Ciela standing behind him in her human form.
"We'll have hugs and cuddles after I have a shower," Ciela said with a smile. "Until then just be patient."
"My lady, how can you be so cruel to me?" questioned Leo dramatically as he placed a hand to his chest while gazing at Ciela with sad eyes.
Ciela chuckled before playfully blowing him a kiss. She then turned and made her way towards the bathroom. Ciela knew that Leo was only playing around with her and that was what she loved about him. Leo had been one of the first to make her smile whenever she felt sad, scared or lonely. And in return Ciela would be there to help him through his toughest times. Whether it was a bad dream, or he was having an off day, Ciela would sit with him and give Leo comfort while not saying anything. The two of them would hold each other up whenever the other fell. That was how they roll.
It took a while for Ciela and the children to get themselves ready for the day. There were a couple of squabbles on who should get the bath first, but Ciela managed to calm the children down and get them organized. They were now sitting in the kitchen as Mikey cooked up breakfast for everyone. The turtle brothers had taken off their snow gear a little while ago before they had entered the kitchen. The children were back in their human forms and were eagerly awaiting for breakfast to be served. Splinter was also seated at the table as he inspected his bitten tail with a frown. He then turned to glare at Holly, who was back in her human form and sitting beside Ciela.
"I wish you would train that child to stop biting my tail," grumbled Splinter angrily before he sadly looked down at his tail within his hands. "My tail can't take anymore of her abuse."
"Well . . . maybe you stopped insisting that rats are delicious, then maybe she won't bite your tail anymore." Ciela advised as she gave Splinter a look of both amusement and pity.
A couple of months back, Holly had grown into the habit of biting on Splinters tail whenever he was either sleeping or not paying attention to his surroundings. Many of the family members within the lair found it amusing, yet Ciela always worried that Holly would go to far in her biting. She knows that Splinter has a great amount of patience, but she knew that even those with great patience can have their limit.
Splinter let out a huff before speaking again. "What I say about rats is true. We are delicious and nothing is going to change my words on it."
"So, does that mean I can keep biting your tail?" asked Holly curiously.
"No!" shouted Splinter in frustration.
Holly only blinked at Splinter in confusion while the others, minus Ciela, began to laugh again. Leo, who had gotten control of his laugh, walked up to Holly and placed a hand on her head.
"I think it's best that you back off on biting dad's tail chika. Otherwise you won't get any presents if you do," Leo advised the young Bangel kitten in a firm yet gentle voice.
"How come?" asked Holly as she looked up at Leo.
"It's one of the rules humans have during Christmas," explained Leo with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Yeah, well, human rules stink." Alex said with a frown as he leaned against the kitchen table. "Especially when it comes to keeping us beastmen under their thumbs all the time."
The others sadly gazed at Alex after hearing his words. In the course of the months, the Hamato Clan had learned a great deal about beastmen and how they were treated like wild animals. Along with how the humans would hunt them down just for sport. Just thinking about that really made the brother's blood boil.
"Yeah, we know buddy," said Raph as he gently placed his large hand on Alex's back. "We get that you and the other kids don't like humans very much."
"Except for April, Cass and Casey," Cynthia interjected from her spot on Raph's lap. "They're the only ones who we really like the most."
"Yeah, especially how April is always the one to bring us gifts," Josh added with a large smile on his face. "They're always awesome."
"Unlike someone's gifts," muttered Marcie with frown as she gave Donnie a pointed look.
"*Scoff* I'll have you know that my gifts are perfect," said Donnie as he glared at Marcie in anger.
"Name one," said Marcie with a challenging look on her face.
Donnie was about to say something but Mikey interrupted him. "Alright everyone, breakfast is ready and I hope you all have a big appetite."
It wasn't long before everyone began to dig into their food. There was some minor chit-chat amongst the family members, along with occasional joking that would cause everyone to laugh. The family soon finished off their breakfast and quickly cleaned up before heading back to the main room, where the tree was waiting to be decorated. It took a while for the Hamato brothers to find the tree ornaments. Yet when they brought brought the box into the room and opened it, Ciela and the kids saw that there weren't many ornaments in it. When Ciela as why there were so few Leo explained that some of the decorations that they used to have had been destroyed back in their old lair. Due to Shredder, the demon samurai, and his foot clan trashing their old home, many of their belongings had been either smashed or burned in the chaos. Ciela sadly frowned after hearing Leo's story but didn't say anything about it. The group began to sort through the decorations before a loud beep sounded through the lair. The loud beep caused Cynthia to quickly cover her ears and let out a whimper of discomfort. Raph gently reassured the beast-child that everything was alright. Donnie quickly checked his electrical screen on his wrist before smiling.
"Well, looks like April, Cass and Casey Junior are coming in for a visit," he announced to all his family members.
"Alright!" cheered Marcie excitedly when hearing that Cass was coming, "I can't wait to show her some of my new fighting techniques to her!"
"Just make sure that you do them in the dojo when she gets here Marcie," said Ciela with a serious expression on her face. "We don't want another incident like last time."
"Don't worry, I will," said Marcie with a wave of her hand before she ran out of the room.
Donnie groaned before he turned to look at his family members. "That little marten is too energetic for her own good."
"Not to mention she seems to favor Cass over you Dee," joked Leo with a smirk.
"I still worry about Marcie spending too much time with Cass," spoke Ciela with a concerned expression upon her face. "I know that Cass is your friend and is part of the clan. But I can't help feeling that she might teach Marcie difficult fighting technique that might get her injured one of these days."
"You aren't the only one," said Raph as he lifted Cynthia up to help her in putting a decoration up on one of the higher branches. "Cass is a great sparing partner when it comes to me fighting her. But sometimes she can be a little too enthusiastic about her training."
"I wouldn't worry about Marcie," said Mikey as he picked out a Christmas decoration from the box. "From what we've seen, Marcie is a pretty tough girl and seems to knows how to take care herself."
"I still worry," muttered Ciela as she took an ornament out of the box.
Leo walked up to Ciela before placing a gentle hand on her shoulders. "Ciela, Marcie is twelve years old and that about around the time when kids start to gain independence. You're going to have to let give her room to grow sooner or later."
Ciela glanced up at Leo with a light frown upon her face. But soon smiled at him before she let the red-sider give her a hug to comfort her. They separated from each other before hearing the sound of feet coming into the main room. They all turned to see Marcie with April, Casey and Cass following in behind her. Marcie was gripping Cass's hand with a large smile on her face, while telling the human girl about the training she had done. The other beast-children, minus Cythia, then ran forward to greet their human friends as well. Ciela watched this with a smile before noticing that April, Cass and Casey were carrying wrapped packages in their arms.
"Hey ya'll," greeted April with a smile, "we just came by to drop off some Christmas gifts for you."
"Thanks, but you didn't have to April," said Raph with a smile.
"Hey, it's the least I can do for my family," said April as she gave Raph a wink.
'Christmas gifts?' thought Ciela as she looked at the packages in April's arms. 'Are those what they're called?'
Casey managed to place the presents down before he was tackled to the ground by Holly and Josh.
"Brother Casey!" cheered the twins.
"Hey guys," greeted Casey as he gave the twins a hug, "it's great to see you too."
"Yes, it great to see our future fighters once more," said Cass as she gazed at both Alex and Marcia with pride. "Have you been taught to disembowel your enemies yet?"
"Not yet," replied Marcie with a smirk, "but I have been doing a lot of training. I even almost got the move you showed me down."
"Good, I wish to see your progress," said Cass in a firm voice.
Marcie eagerly nodded her head at Cass. Ciela watched this from a far and shook her head slightly at the two. When the beast-girl had met Cass, she had been a little apprehensive and untrusting towards the human ninja. Especially when it came to Cass shouting without warning. And even though she had grown used to Cass, Ciela still didn't have a very good option of her. It was made a bit worse when Cass wanted to start training the children to be ninja warriors. Ciela turned to place an ornament on the tree just as April walked up to her.
"Hey, merry Christmas Ciela," greeted April with a smile as she placed her gifts down underneath the tree.
"Merry Christmas, April," said Ciela as she smiled back at the older teenager. "I see you've bought a lot of . . . presents for everyone."
"Sure did," said April with a proud smile on her face. "I made sure to grab some gifts for you and the kids too."
Ciela blinked in surprise when April said that she had bought a gift for her as well. Ciela had never been given a gift before, so this was something completely new to her. A sad smile appeared on the beast-girl's face before she spoke in a soft voice.
"Thank you, April. That's really kind of you."
"It's no big," April replied with a wave of her hand.
Ciela was about to argue that it was a big deal when Leo suddenly appeared between the two.
"Hey there April," greeted Leo with one of his award winning smiles. "Just the girl that I was hoping to see. I was wondering if you and I could have a quick chat with each other."
Before April could reply, Leo quickly dragged her off somewhere. Ciela watched them go for a sec before turning back to decorating the tree. It wasn't long before Casey walked up to her with the twins following along beside him. The three of them were carrying the gifts that he brought into the lair, along with some of Cass's gifts as well.
"I'm guessing Cass decided to take Marice to the dojo?" said Ciela with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah," replied Casey as he placed the gifts under the tree. "She was pretty eager to see how far Marcie had gotten in her training."
"I see," voiced Ciela with a nod.
"I'm guessing you're still not used to Cassandra yet, huh?" asked Casey as he helped in decorating the tree.
"Not really," replied Ciela with a shake of her head. "Don't get me wrong; she seems like a nice person. It's just that she's a bit too . . ."
"Battle strived?" guessed Casey with a smile.
"Yeah, something along those lines."
"Not to mention that she can be a bit scary too," spoke Holly from beside Ciela.
"And loud," added Josh beside his twin sister.
"Yeah, I can understand that," said Casey with a chuckle. "Even I was a little bit intimidated when I first met her. She's a bit different to what my mom had been, but still had the same personality as her."
Ciela gave Casey a sympathetic smile. Casey was the complete opposite to Cass when it came to temperaments. With Cass; her temperament was that of a great inferno. But when it came to Casey; his temperament was calmer and more patient around others. It was that kind of temperament that Ciela was grateful for when it came to the other beast-children. She had just finished placing another ornament on the tree when April suddenly came over.
"Hey, Ciela," said April with a smile on her face. "I just realized that I forgot to buy a few things on my Christmas list. I was wondering if you'd like to come help me for a bit?"
Ciela blinked before an unsure expression appeared on her face.
"Oh, uh . . . I'm not sure if . . ."
"You'd best take up her offer," said Donnie as he appeared behind Ciela, "after all she does not take 'no' for an answer."
"We can handle things from here," reassured Raph as Cynthia sat on his right shoulder.
"Yeah, go and have some fun," said Mikey as he popped out from among the branches of the tree.
"And don't worry, we'll keep an eye on the kids while you're gone," spoke Leo as he walked up to Ciela with a confident smile on his face.
Ciela glanced around at the brothers for a moment before sighing in defeat. She then turned to Holly, Josh and Alex, who had appeared to stand beside the twins, before speaking to them.
"You kids be good while I'm away. Don't cause the turtle brothers any trouble and help out in decorating the lair for Christmas, alright?"
"We will!" exclaimed the beast-children with a smile.
"Alright then, let's get going!" cheered April.
She then took Ciela's hand and began to lead her out of the lair. The turtle brothers, Casey and beast-children watched them go before Leo turned to everyone with a smile.
"Alright fam, time to get started on making this place festive," he said with a smirk on his face.
Ciela was walking down the street beside April as snow slowly fell down from the sky. Ciela was wearing a dark blue coat with the hood drawn up over her head, and white mittens to keep her hands warm. The beast-girl stuck close to April as she looked around with a wary expression upon her face. Ciela had been up to the surface a couple of times with Leo or any of the others, yet she still felt a bit nervous whenever she went out and walked amongst the humans of New York. She knew the dangers that beastmen faced when they risked walking the streets that were inhabited by humans. There was always the chance of running into Anti-beastmen hunters lurking within the shadows of alleyways or corners. So, Ciela always had to keep her guard up whenever she came up to the surface.
"So . . . where exactly are we going?" asked Ciela curiously.
"Well, we need to stop by the comic book store to pick up the latest issue of Jupitur Jim that just came out this year." April replied as she started to list the places they were going to visit. "Once we finished there, we'll go to this electronic store that Donnie says has the best gadgets in it. Then this new art store that had opened a few months ago. And after that we'll stop by the toy store to check out the plush toys they have on sale."
"Those sound like interesting places to visit," said Ciela with a smile on her face.
"Yeah it is," said April with a nod of her head.
Ciela chuckled in amusement as she and April down the street towards the comic book store. They were just passing a jewelry store when something in the store's window caught Ciela's eye. She paused in her steps to look into the store's window. April also paused as she turned to look at Ciela in confusion.
"What 'cha looking at girl?" asked April as she walked back to stand beside Ciela.
Ciela replied by point to one of the gem stones that was up for display. "I'm just looking at that black stone near the front. The one that's shimmering blue, orange, purple, red and yellow underneath the light."
April turned to look at the stone that Ciela was pointing to. She blinked when she saw the small, round shaped stone that was glowing multiple colors underneath the light. It was set in a silver edging and was attached to a silver chain.
"You mean that stone right there?" questioned April as she pointed to the stone she was looking at.
"Yeah," replied Ciela as she looked at her human friend. "I've never seen a stone like that before when we went on the camping trip last summer."
"That's because it's a gem stone," said April as she dug her hands into her jacket pockets. "Precious stones that sold to people who have a lot of money in their pockets."
"But what kind of stone is it?" asked Ciela as she looked back at the stone again.
April hummed as she began to think for a moment. "Geology isn't really my forte but if I remember correctly, I believe that stone is called labradorite."
A look of wonder appeared on Ciela's face as she stared at the stone in front of her. "It's really beautiful. It's like a rainbow has been sealed inside it."
"Yeah, I think I've heard of something like that," said April as a thoughtful expression appeared on her face. "Just can remember what it is right now."
Ciela smiled at her friend before she and April continued on their way towards the comic store. They made sure to visit the stores that April needed to visit. Ciela made sure to keep close to April through out their shopping trip, while making sure that she stayed calm and didn't shift into her beast form. She had to admit that the shopping was fun. And it went smoothly without any hitches. The two friends managed to buy the gifts that they were looking for, and were heading back home. They walked passed the jewelry store again with Ciela giving the labradorite a quickly glance. She still couldn't believe how beautiful it was, yet Ciela knew there was no way to that she could afford something like it. She turned her gaze away from the jewelry store and continued on her way towards home. April had paused to take a picture of the stone before following after her friend. Ciela and April were almost to the sewer entrance when Ciela stopped in front of a crafts store. Ciela stared at it thoughtfully before looking at April.
"Is it okay if we stop here for a moment?" asked Ciela.
"Sure," replied April as the two of them walked to the door, "you thinking of buying something here?"
"You could say that."
The two friends entered the shop and began to look around inside. It didn't take long for Ciela to find what she needed within the store. Once she paid for the items that she found, she and April headed back to the lair. Once they were in the sewer, Ciela started to relax as she pulled the hood of her coat off of her head. It didn't take long for the two friends to enter the lair, and when they did Ciela couldn't help but be amazed at the sight before her. Many decorations hung from the walls and the tree looked amazing.
Ciela's mouth hung wide open in shocked surprise before whispering in a soft voice, "wow."
"Yeah, the boys can work pretty fast when you least expected," said April with a smile.
"Hey, welcome back ladies," greeted Leo as he entered the main room.
With him were Holly and Josh. Josh was sitting on Leo's shoulders while Leo carried Holly on his right arm.
"Didn't expect to see you back so soon," he said as he placed Holly down on the ground.
"Shopping went faster than we'd expected," said April as she and Ciela took off their coats.
"Although we did stop to do a bit of window shopping on the way here," added Ciela as she told Leo a half lie. "I hope the children didn't cause you and others any trouble."
"Nah, they were actually pretty helpful in decorating the lair," reassured Leo as he took Josh off his shoulders and placed him on the ground. "Alex was especially helpful when it came to hanging the star on the tree."
"We also got to help Mikey in baking Christmas cookies," added Josh with Holly nodding in agreement.
"I'm glad that you kids were able to help the brothers out," said Ciela as she held her coat in her arms.
"I think they get their helpful nature from you," said Leo in a teasing voice before holding his hands out towards Ciela. "May I take your coat, my lady?"
"Why yes good sir," spoke Ciela in a high class voice before handing Leo her coat, "you are so kind, thank you."
Holly noticed the bag Ciela was holding before speaking. "What's in the bag?"
Ciela glanced down at Holly and gave the beast-girl a playful wink. "Sorry, I can't tell you. It's a secret. You're going to have to wait until Christmas to see what it is."
The twins let out a whine of protest before Leo wagged a finger at them. "A bup, bup, bup, you heard her children. Be patient and wait until Christmas comes. Until then why don't you go back to the kitchen and help Mikey with the baking?"
As soon as he said the word 'baking' the kids quickly turned and headed back to the kitchen. Ciela chuckled before she looked at Leo again.
"Thank you Leo," she said in a soft voice.
"No problema," said Leo with a smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me. April and I need to discuss a few things."
"Okay, I'll be in my room for a bit. I want to unwind after all the shopping that me and April did."
Leo only nodded his head before he and April walked away. Ciela turned and headed straight towards her train cart.
'Time to start making some gifts,' Ciela thought quietly to herself. 'Hopefully they'll all like it.'
As Ciela was heading towards her room, Leo and April had walked into the game room. Leo looked around to make sure nobody was around before he spoke to April in a low voice.
"So, what's the news? Did anything up top catch Ciela's eye?"
"Two places," replied April as she pulled out her phone and showed Leo the picture of the labradorite. "The first thing that caught her eye was this stone in the jewelry store. But's it pretty expensive so I'd advice not to try and buy it."
Leo looked at the picture of the labradorite with a thoughtful expression upon his face. What April said was true. The stone was pretty expensive and even he didn't have enough to buy it. An idea then came to the turtle as a smirk appeared on his face. April noticed and frowned at her little brother suspiciously.
"What are you thinking Leo?"
"I might have an idea on how I can get this stone for free without having to buy it." Leo replied as he rubbed the underside of his chin. "But I'm going to need some help from you and my bros. You up for a bit of an adventure tomorrow?"
"Do you even have to ask?" said April with a smile.
"Alright, we'll gather Casey Junior, and my brothers and tell them what we're doing tomorrow."
With that the two quickly went to find their four family members.
To be continued
And that's the first chapter. I hope you all enjoy it and I hoped that you all had a great Christmas. I also hope that you all have a great New Year as well. White Hunter howling out to you and creativity!