I don't own Rottmnt, I mean I don't own the 2012 version, why would I own this one?

Day one: off to a sweet start

Hamato Leonardo was a celebrator.

This was something his family knew all too well.

It didn't matter the holiday; he would go all out. When it was his turn to plan the Easter hunt, they'd still be finding chocolate eggs come June. Every Valentines his family was gifted the fanciest heart shaped boxes of chocolate and cards he could find. If he had his way on Halloween, the lair and a good five miles of tunnel would be turned into a haunted house that could rival any theme park.

By far though, it all paled in comparison to Christmas.

Leo loved Christmas. The food, the decorations, giving and getting gifts, everything. As soon as Thanksgiving was over, he'd start counting down the days. All while belting out his favorite Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas, any chance he got.

At least it wasn't…that song.

It was both a blessing and a curse as far as his family was concerned. They truly admired his enthusiasm and appreciated his efforts, admittedly it was cute how giddy he got, like he turned back into a little kid as soon as a holiday was in sight.

That said, it was a lot, especially at Christmas. They all loved the holiday, but it was exhausting, Leo was exhausting. It was bad enough stores began celebrating as early as September, they didn't need or always want all that "Christmas vomit" as Donnie put it in their home twenty-four seven for a month straight.

None of them were shy to let Leo know this in the past. Past them didn't hide their irritation, didn't hesitate to tell Leo to put a sock in it for five seconds. Past them made it abundantly clear when they wanted Leo to back off and give them a moments peace.

…Past them were morons.

Past them didn't appreciate what they had, didn't realize how easily it could all be taken away. Past them didn't consider that each celebration, each year, could be the last. Past them took it all for granted.

Took Leo for granted.

Fortunately, present them knew better now.

More importantly, present them had a plan.

December 14th

It was a little after two in the morning when the door to Mikey's room cracked open. He looked around, making sure the coast was clear, before quietly creeping out. Secure in his hands was a small box he'd kept hidden in a secret spot of his room no one knew about; his go-to hiding place for anything important and this was important.

The plan depended on it.

As he tiptoed through the lair, he met up with Raph and Donnie. 'You got it Dee?' Raph signed to Donnie after checking to make sure they were alone. He nodded, revealing the object in question from behind his back. Raph nodded with a smile 'Mikey?' He held up his box, making Raph's smile grow. 'Let's do this' he signed with a nod, and they silently made their way to the kitchen.

Mikey turned on a light above the stove, illuminating the kitchen enough to not draw attention. As Donnie set the large object on the table, Raph grabbed a bag from where it'd been stashed earlier that day when April brought it over.

They got to work quickly, but thoroughly. They'd planned this down to the letter and would not slip up now. Donnie opened each little latch on the object, allowing Mikey to put a piece of paper inside, followed by Raph placing something overtop. Once done, Donnie would close it back up and they'd move on to the next. There was some silent debate over which of Raph's should go where, but it wasn't long until they were finished.

Now came the tricky part.

They silently made their way out of the kitchen and though the lair until they reached their final destination.

Leo's room.

It was already decided Mikey would be the one to do it. He was the smallest and most agile of the three, it would be the easiest for him. Mikey took the catalyst of the plan from Donnie, giving his brothers a determined nod, getting a salute from them in return.

He stared at the door to their brother's room; his earlier excitement slowly being replaced with apprehension.

This was it, the moment of truth.

Mikey glanced back at his brothers. They gave him their best encouraging smiles but were clearly just as anxious. If he messed this up, that was months of planning down the drain!

…No pressure.

Mikey took a deep breath to steady his nerves, letting it out quietly.

He had this.

Not letting go of the precious cargo, Mikey used his foot to open the door. They all to froze with a wince as the door creaked slightly, their hearts speeding up as tired mumbling from within reached their ears. Leo was the lightest sleeper in the family, they could only pray he would just ignore the sound and go back to sleep.

Thankfully, the room went quiet after a few seconds, and they mentally breathed a sigh of relief. His determination renewed, Mikey pulled the door open, quieter this time, wide enough to get inside.

Sneaking in as silently as only a ninja could, Mikey carefully placed the object on his brother's desk, treating it like it was made of glass rather than metal. He studied it closely, adjusting its position ever so slightly as his artistic eye made sure it was just right. He wouldn't allow anything less then perfection.

With a satisfied nod, he turned to leave but stopped when his gaze fell on Leo. He was laying on his stomach, hugging his pillow, he looked so peaceful.

Mikey smiled warmly; such a sight had been rare for so long. He was grateful it was becoming more common again, to see his brother happy again, and the plan would help with that.

Being gentle, Mikey adjusted Leos covers a little, tucking him in like his brothers used to for him when they were small and still did when they thought he was out. He didn't wake up thankfully, but Mikey swore he saw Leo smile. His own smile growing, Mikey creped out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Once he was sure Leo had remained asleep, he turned back to Raph and Donnie and gave them a thumbs up, 'mission accomplished' he signed for good measures. They smiled as their excitement returned tenfold and they went back to their rooms as quietly as they'd left.

As soon as December first rolled around, Leo set his phone alarm to his Christmas playlist, on shuffle so the song or carol he awoke to would always be random.

Today was Jingle Bell Rock.

With some reluctance, Leo sat up with a yawn and stretched, rubbing his eye with the heel of his hand. He began humming along with the jingle as he slowly woke up, this one was easily in his top ten Christmas songs.

Leo reached for his phone when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Looking up, his eyes widened in surprise.

Sitting on his desk was some kind of metal box. It was about the size of a standard laptop and shaped like a Christmas tree, it was even painted green. There were also Christmas lights and decorative balls painted on it, with the top in the shape of a gold, sparkly star.

Leo blinked, confused, that had definitely not been there when he'd gone to bed. Turning off the music, Leo cautiously got up and walked towards it. As he got closer, he realized there were numbers painted on it. They started at the trees stump base, where a big fancy "1" was painted. The rest of the numbers made there way up the tree, before ending at the star with an equally fancy "12." Each numbered spot had a little latch on it and a faint outline, indicating they were doors.

Was this…an advent calendar?

He crouched down to better inspect it, looking over every angle. If it was an advent calendar, why were there only twelve days? Why was it appearing now on the fourteenth? Didn't most people start these on the first of December?

Leo ran a finger along the cool metal, it looked like Donnie's handy work. Scratch that, it was absolutely Donnie's, he'd just found his twins genius-built logo along the side. Well at least he didn't have to worry about that horror movie scenario anymore. Leo scratched his head, trying to figure out whatever it was that was going on.

He locked eyes with the first day. If it really was an advent calendar, then there should be a treat inside each door, right?

…It was on his desk…in his room…surely it would be okay if he investigated a little closer, right?

Looking around like he was expecting to get busted or jumped because there was a very real possibility this was a prank; Leo cautiously opened the first door.

Inside was what looked like a round chocolate wrapped in silvery-gold foil, sitting on top of a piece of red paper. Leo picked up and unwrapped the chocolate, the outside looked normal enough. He sniffed it, it certainly smelled safe, and sweet. He bit his lip, hesitating, before deciding to take his chances and took a small bit.

Oh!

Not only was it prank free, it was one of his favorites!

Fudge swirl, these weren't cheep!

Leo happily popped the rest in his mouth with a smile. As he ate, his attention went back to the paper. Now that the chocolate was gone, he noticed it was folded, no doubt a note. Swallowing, he picked it up and unfolded it. There was a single message written down, in Mikey's handwriting, with a doodle of what looked like a cookie in the corner, also courtesy of Mikey.

Sweet things are happening in the kitchen.

Leo's brow arched, his confusion returning.

Now Donnie and Mikey were in cahoots?

What were they up too?

After he finished getting dressed, Leo was surprised to find Shelldon waiting outside his room. "Sup dude!" The little mechanical turtle greeted enthusiastically from where he hovered, giving what was meant to be a wave.

"Uh…hey Shelldon" Leo greeted back with a wave of his own, his suspicions growing. A mysterious advent calendar shows up in his room at random, clearly put together by at least two of his brothers, and now one of said brother's creation-slash-son just happened to be waiting at his door the same morning?

Yeah, there was no way this was a coincidence.

"So…" Leo began, folding his arms and staring the robot down skeptically "what brings you here this morning?"

"Oh, nothing" Shelldon replied playfully, looking surprisingly excited for a machine. It was amazing how much emotion he could convey, really, but he expected nothing less from Donnie. "Did you see it?" He suddenly asked, growing giddy as he leaned closer.

He knew it.

"I did."

"Did you like it?"

"Well yeah-"

"Did you find the note?"

"Yeah, I did-"

"Awesome! Onward!" He cheered with a flip before flying towards the kitchen, Leo watched him go, still lost, before realizing Shelldon wanted to be followed. So he had been sent to get him. Leo quickly jogged after the robot, catching him relaying something into his built-in comm once he'd caught up. "Five golden rings, this is three French hens, the partridge is in the pear tree. I repeat, the partridge is in the pear tree" he mumbled like he was in an old spy film.

Leo eyed him suspiciously "you wanna tell me this scheme Donnie and Mikey have you in on?"

"Why good sir, I haven't the foggiest notion to what you speak of!" Shelldon said in a haughty, British accent. "But if I did" his voice now back to normal "I'd tell you its gonna be majorly epic! Seriously, your gonna be all like wha?! You know, if there was anything to report."

Oh yeah, that was convincing.

Well, it was clear the robot wasn't going to crack, so with a soft sigh, Leo decided to drop it for now. They were almost at the kitchen, so he was going to find out soon enough whatever…this whole situation was.

Shelldon stopped at the doorway once they reach the kitchen with a dramatic bow. Still eyeing the robot suspiciously, Leo entered the kitchen. Not only were Mikey and Donnie there, but so were Raph and Splinter.

His whole family was in on this?! Just how worried should he be?!

He glanced around and noticed all the cooking supplies spread about the table. Ingredients, utensils, what could Mikey possibly have planned for breakfast? Wait, no, he was at the stove cooking waffles, so what was all this for?

"Dudes! He's here!" Shelldon suddenly announced, making him jump as his family's attention turned to them.

"Morning Leo!" Mikey greeted cheerfully as he set down the large stack of waffles.

"Uh, morning" Leo answered back awkwardly as the robot flew off, his eyes still on the table. "What's uh…what's all this for?" As he looked at his family again, he realized they were all wearing aprons "and what's with the aprons?"

Mikey's smile grew "we're making Christmas cookies!" He cheered in a sing song voice, practically bouncing.

"We?" Leo repeated in disbelief, staring at his little brother like he was speaking Latin. "You, Hamato Michelangelo, are going to let us help you make Christmas cookies?" Mikey had a reputation of becoming super protective of the kitchen around the holidays, no matter how many times Leo asked, he was always met with a big no. "And you guys" he turned to their brothers and Father "want to bake cookies?" They'd been even harder to convince, always too busy or telling him to leave Mikey alone "seriously, what's going on? And what's with that advent calendar?"

"Its simple really, dear Nardo" Donnie said as he draped an arm over his shoulders. "For the next twelve days, we have something special planned to properly celebrate the holiday season leading up to the twenty-fifth" he explained, brining up a little calendar on his gauntlet, but it was gone before he could get a good look at whatever was written down "today, we bake cookies."

That was…super random, but he guessed it made sense. This was their first, real Christmas after the Krang invasion last year, so why not make it extra special. "Okay…but why didn't you guys tell me sooner? I could've helped, and that really doesn't explain the calendar."

"I assure you there's a reasonable explanation for all your questions" Donnie said sagely with a nod, before tossing an apron into his face. "Well, those tasty morsels won't prepare themselves!" He said with a clap, releasing Leo and walking off, ignoring his twins dirty look.

So he just…wasn't going to get said explanation?

Leo stared at the apron in his hands, he really wanted answers but…he'd honestly lost count of the number of times he'd tried to talk his family into doing this over the years. If they were serious, he just couldn't pass this opportunity up. Reluctantly, Leo slid the apron on, deciding not to question the way his family's eyes lit up, at least for now "so…are we making sugar cookies or gingerbread?"

"Exactly!" Mikey said cheerfully, handing him a plate of waffles. Guess they were going to eat breakfast as they-

"Wait, what?" Leo's head shot up in shock, he had to have heard wrong that time "w-we're…we're making both?!" Every year since he was six, he'd asked to have both, but Splinter always shot him down. Said they were going to make one or the other, but never both.

"That is correct, my son" Splinter nodded, moving a few things around. "Orange and Red will make sugar cookies, you and Purple gingerbread" he explained "then we decorate, and then my favorite part, we eat!" He laughed as he rubbed his hands together.

Leo gapped, looking around at his family with slight panic "…seriously, who's dying?"

Once they convinced Leo that no one was dying, at least not to their knowledge, including him, they got to work on the first batch of cookies. He still received no explanation for the sudden change of heart, but he wasn't about to complain about checking this long-awaited activity off his Christmas bucket list.

Maybe he was just being paranoid, and they really did just want this year to be extra special. He couldn't fault them for that, still, he couldn't deny the curiosity and confusion were nagging at him. After all, it didn't explain why he'd been left out of planning, or the calendar. "Sooo…" he began as casually as possible while he mixed his ingredients "…about the calendrer and these celebration plans…what inspired all this and why didn't you guys fill me in sooner?"

"All in good time, sweet Nardo" Donnie said, mixing with precision. It was so irritating they wouldn't just tell him, what was the big deal?

Well, fine. It did sound like they had their reasons, whatever they might be, and that they intended to tell him at some point. He supposed he could let it go for now "alright, but why twelve days? Aernt advents usually twenty-four? And why start now?"

"Oh, well that's easy" Donnie shrugged, his attention remaining on his bowl. "We did try to plan for the twenty-four days, but it proved next to impossible as we just kept repeating ourselves. And given these are the last twelve days to Christmas, it just made the most sense" he explained.

That did kind of make sense.

It simultaneously did and didn't answer any of his other questions, but it did make sense.

"You sure you haven't been practicing behind my back?" Mikey asked accusingly as he watched Raph mix his ingredients with surprising ease.

"Is it so hard to believe I'm good at this?" Raph asked irritably, just as accusing.

"No, we are just surprised at how long you've gone without breaking or spilling something" Donnie said before Mikey could "you don't exactly have the gentle touch cooking requires."

"You calling me clumsy?!"

"Heavens no, but I am thinking it loudly."

"Ah, this takes me back" Splinter sighed before an argument could break out "when you four were young, you used to huddle together in the kitchen while I prepared our meals. Most times you just played with your toys or colored, but sometimes you'd help."

"Really?" Raph asked in surprise "I don't remember that."

"Oh, I'm not surprised, it was when you were very little" he chuckled. Back when his boys had been so small, carefree, and innocent. Untouched by the Krang, Shredder, and his questionable parenting. Those days felt so far away now, times he now feared he'd taken for granted, but maybe most parents felt that way now and again as their children aged.

'Well, I have no intention of taking these days for granted' he thought as his gaze fell onto Leo. He must've felt his Fathers stare as he looked up at him with a smile. Splinter's smile grew in response.

There was a lot he wouldn't take for granted anymore if he could help it.

"Alright I think we're ready for the cutters" Mikey announced as he examined the batter in each of their bowls. They were all looking to be the right consistency "now, flour the table and grab a shape. Dibs on the tree."

Donnie groaned with a roll of his eyes "Angelo, what is your obsession with tree shaped cookies?"

"They're the best ones!"

"They literally all taste the same!"

Leo shook his head, ever since they were kids, Mikey's favorite Christmas cookies had been the tree shaped ones. Didn't matter what kind of cookie, if it was shaped like a tree, there'd be none left once Mikey was done.

"Its fine Don Tron" Leo said, patting his twin's hand "we're gonna be making gingerbread men anyway" he reminded him, already grabbing two cutouts shaped like little people. Donnie rolled his eyes again, especially when Mikey stuck his tongue out at him in triumph, but he shrugged it off and took a reindeer cutout. "Which one are you gonna pick, Raph?" Leo asked the snapping turtle as he spread flour on the table.

Raph hummed, looking at the selection. All that was left were snowman and little balls meant to be ornaments "I think I'll go with the snowman" he finally decided. It wasn't long until the sink was filled with dirty dishes and the table covered in flour.

"Okay so, we only got the one rolling pin. So we'll have to take shifts" Mikey announced, holding said appliance "I call first go." No one argued, it was Mikey's kitchen, albeit unofficially.

"So when do we start on the icing?" Leo asked, patting his mound of gingerbread dough.

"While they're in the oven" Mikey answered as he began rolling out his dough. "And no. eating. The dough Raph!" He hissed at their brother, catching him about to shove a ball of the stuff in his mouth.

"There's enough!"

"That's not the point! There's raw egg in that!"

"He's right you know" Donnie nodded in agreement. Raph scoffed but put the dough back as he sulked.

Leo snorted, trying to smother his laughter but a few giggles still slipped out. As he got his laughter under control, he noticed his family were all smiling at him. There was something about them and the look in their eyes that felt strangely sad "what?"

"Nothing" Raph said softly "just…glad to see you enjoying yourself."

"Okay…?" It wasn't that weird a response, they'd been saying stuff like that for a while now following the invasion, but it'd been dying down recently so it was odd to see it return. "Are…are you guys enjoying yourselves?" He asked hesitantly, feeling embarrassed at how shy he felt.

They stopped and Leo instantly wished he'd kept his mouth shut for once. He wanted to try and write it off as a joke or backpedal, but didn't get the chance as his big brother spoke first. "…You know, I really am" Raph said, almost sounding surprised, his smile growing.

"Yeah, its nice making cookies with you guys" Mikey agreed cheerfully. It made him really regret chasing them away from the kitchen in holidays past, and especially not taking Leo up on this suggestion sooner.

"I must admit, I am enjoying this more then I thought I would" Donnie confessed, trying to repress his grin. Both him and Raph couldn't help wishing they'd agreed to this before, they'd always assumed it would be too tedious, but this was honestly quite pleasant.

Leo studied their faces and tones, looking for any trace of sarcasm or deception to spare his feelings, but was relieved to find none. They were being completely genuine when they said they were having fun making Christmas cookies together.

Just like he'd always hoped they would.

Leo couldn't help but smile "I'm glad you guys are having fun" he said, a bit embarrassed when his voice cracked a little. He really hoped he wouldn't cry; it would be so dumb to cry over this.

His brothers smiled warmly and returned to their own cookies; they didn't show it, but they were overjoyed to see Leo smile. Not the cocky grin that had become his default over the years, his real, genuine smile.

The one they'd realized almost to late that they rarely saw much of anymore.

The plan had only just started but it was already turning into a success.

It wasn't long until the cookies were baked, and the icing was prepared. Now they just had to wait for them to cool enough to decorate "should we save some to put out for Santa?" Raph teased as they cleaned up.

"Nah hermano, everybody knows the big man's favorite cookies are chocolate chip" Leo said confidently.

"Why, cause there your favorite?" Donnie asked with a smirk.

Leo matched his smirk, shoving him playfully "cause there the best, duh. And I know there your favorite too." Donnie just shrugged, he was right, and they both knew it "alright, so if you guys' won't me tell what's going on with the calendar, will you at least tell me what you've got planned for the next eleven days?" He asked, making one last attempt to figure out their angle.

"We wouldn't want to ruin the surprises" Mikey said coyly. Leo hummed, ruin the surprises huh? So they didn't want him to know what was going on for a reason. "I think they should be cool enough for icing now" Mikey announced before Leo could give it more thought.

"Mmm, they smell delicious boys" Splinter said, practically drooling. Oh, it was taking everything he had not to eat them now, but that would jeopardize the plan, and he refused to do such a thing after all his boy's hard work.

Especially not with the way Mikey was eyeing him.

"They'll be even better once they're done. Everybody grab a couple and some icing and get your creativity on" Mikey instructed while filling his plate. His brothers and Father didn't need to be told twice, each taking a generous number of cookies and got to work.

Mikey, of course, had mostly trees. Each one different from the last, and each with a generous amount of icing. No two trees looked the same, it was honestly impressive but not surprising, he was the family artist after all.

Donnie had a few gingerbread men and snowman, but mostly reindeers. He seemed to be crafting each of Santa's reindeer individually, including Rudoph, giving each its own personal look. They were all fairly light on icing but looked incredibly professional.

Raph had a little bit of everything and was mostly decorating at random. His weren't nearly as clean as Donnie's or artsy as Mikey's but he wasn't bothered. They were turning out better then he'd expected and besides, they'd all tased the same in the end.

Splinter had used the left-over dough to make a few extra ornament cookies. Like his youngest, his were practically drowning in icing, while trying his best to make them look like actual ornaments and not just randomly colored balls. It wasn't working, but he'd made worse.

"Dang that's nice Donnie" Mikey said as he admired his brothers work "did you watch a tutorial before doing this?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny anything" Donnie answered coly.

"Dad, not too much icing. They'll be inedible" Raph warned the rat with a grin.

"Not possible my son" right, he should've known Splinter would eat them no matter what. Raph chuckled and shook his head as he glanced over to Leo.

Leo had mostly gingerbread men and a few snowmen. He was deep into his decorating, humming his favorite carol with his tongue sticking out and a small smile on his face. The gingerbread men were dressed in a verity of different Christmas clothing. Some looked like Santa and Mrs. Claus, some like elves, a few were harder to place. The snowmen looked mostly the same, just with different scarfs.

"What are those?" He asked, pointing to the strange gingerbread men.

"Ugly Christmas sweaters" Leo answered without missing a beat, he didn't even look up.

"HA! Oh, I wish I'd thought of that!"

"You got a few left big guy, go for it" Leo suggested, it wasn't a bad idea. As he got ready to start, he glanced back at the cookies Leo was currently decorating and paused.

"Is that…us?" The others stopped and looked over as well, equally stunned.

There were four gingerbread men currently on his plate that he was working on. The first had a red bandana, the next purple, the third orange. They also wore wrappings like theirs, had their weapons, and were green. The fourth one looked a little like Splinter, wearing his rob and even had a tail.

"Uh…yeah, kind of" he confessed sheepishly, embarrassed he'd been caught. He shrunk back a little as his family stared at him like they were about to cry "I-I can toss them if you guys think they're lame-"

"No!" Mikey cried.

"Don't you dare!" Donnie added forcefully.

Leo jumped, holding the icing bag close, startled by their reaction. A large hand came down gently on his shoulder as he looked up to Raph's warm smile "we love em, Leo" he assured his brother as he grabbed Leo's last gingerbread man and some blue icing "but they're missing someone."

Leo stared at him before grinning, taking the last cookie and beginning to turn it into a mini him. The rest of the family watched fondly, there was no doubt in anyone's minds the first day of the plan was a complete success.

They could only hope the rest of the plan would be too.

I wasn't initially a fan of Rise, however, curiosity got the best of me, and I decided to watch it. I'll admit, its good.

…Undeniably flawed…but good.

Anyway, I actually started writing this last year, but I knew it wouldn't be done in time, it still might not, and I didn't want to continue it for too long after the holiday. So I decided to write it then edit and post this year so…here we are. Let's go!

Until next time.

Also, I'm not sure how to portray sign language in written form, sorry if I got it wrong I mean no offence.