Song: White Christmas – Taylor Swift

"Glad you're here, Casey."

   I glance at April as she plops down on the couch beside me. Her yellow shirt is partially covered with a green and red puffy cardigan. A tiny piece of holly has her bangs clipped out of her face, and her sky-blue eyes have a steady glow about them. A happy expression dances among her thin, apricot lips.

   She had talked me into coming over to Lucy's place to spend time with her and the turtles. I had readily agreed when she called me, and she didn't seem convinced that I'd show up. But I did, and I'm reaping the benefits of proving her assumptions wrong.

   I return the joyful look. "Me too," I respond. Unable to resist I add, "Don't know what I'd do without free food," while I smash my face into a double chocolate chip cookie.

   April smirks. "Take it easy, Jones, or you're gonna have a stomachache."

   I swallow the treat in one bite and reach for another cookie off the plate in front of me. "Fat chance!" I fire back as I inhale yet another.

   April rolls her eyes.

   The tiny Christmas tree in the corner of the room twinkles with bulky, rainbow lights. The strands flash with holiday cheer, and it covers every inch of the atmosphere. The golden star on top is a little scratched up, but it gets the point across. Tiny, round ornaments spot the green tree branches to hide how bare the pine needles are. Clearly, it wasn't easy finding a real tree on such short notice.

   About that time, Michelangelo bursts into the room screaming at the top of his lungs. "DUDES, IT'S SNOWING!"

   "Really?" Lucy is the next to react positively. She glows with excitement, her light eyes glittering happily. "I can't remember the last time I saw snow! Let me go get my coat!" And she's racing off to her room before anyone can respond.

   Raphael glares at me with a muted frown. "Big deal," he mutters. "We see snow more than a turtle can handle."

   Just then, Lucy appears snuggled inside a warm, pink coat and grabs Raphael's hand. "Come on!" she exclaims as she tugs him towards the front door.

   Raphael's mood changes in a split-second. His gruff expression softens and the tension in his shoulders begins to fade. He even betrays a small grin as he allows himself to be dragged out into the frozen winter air.

   "Wait for me!" Michelangelo scrambles after the pair with his orange bandana tails flapping after him.

   April shakes her head and stifles a smile. "I'm going to go check on the turkey in the oven," she announces as she rises from her seat.

   "I will help you," Lucy's mother speaks up. For the past few days, Ms. Hollick has seemed drawn to my red-headed friend. She talks to April the same way she interacts with her own daughter. She expresses a deep, caring interest in April, though she would never admit that to any of us. I try to keep an eye on Ms. Hollick in case things get suspicious, but my gut tells me that's not the case. Ms. Hollick is just sharing her motherly instincts- yet I can't help feeling slightly jealous about their closeness.

   "Snow..." Karai murmurs as her brilliant gaze stares out the window. White, powdery flakes float gracefully onto the glass and melt right before her long snout. She blinks frantically as if she can't believe her eyes.

   I rise and pace over to the serpent. It's leery how she isn't human, but she's my height. Her shoulders square to mine and her chest puffs out to meet mine. She doesn't seem aware of my presence next to her until I speak.

   "Pretty cool, right?" Secretly proud of the sly pun I threw in, I grin to myself.

   Karai doesn't seem to notice. "Haven't seen... in years," she replies hoarsely. For a moment, emotion floods her vision as the twinkle with reminiscence.

   "Years?" I wrinkle my eyebrows. "It snowed last year. Did you not see it?"

   "Locked away... forbidden to leave," she mumbles. Her head droops. "Trapped." A shiver goes down her spin. "Sss-so long."

   A frown contaminates my lips. Shredder was never a nice guy, but the fact that he treated the one he believed to be his daughter so harshly was a new low. No matter if you're a bad guy or not, you're supposed to love your family. Then again, he did turn Karai into this hideous mutant creature as well. Maybe I shouldn't be so surprised.

   I glance at the side of Karai's face. Pity swarms in the pit of my stomach. She's always been stubbornly loyal to the Shredder and anyone that stands against the turtles, but this mutation seems to have changed her for the better. Her argument of supporting the Shredder was that he raised her from a small child and that it would be dishonorable to turn on him. However, she might change sides forever if we can cure her from this condition.

   "Don will find some way to help you," I whisper, and she gives no sign that she heard me.

   Speaking of the purple-clad turtle, he shows up with Leonardo shoving him into the living room. Donatello looks exhausted with dark circles under his eyes and sagging cheeks. His forehead is wrinkled in permanent concentration, and his russet-brown eyes seem to be fixed on a world far away. He reeks of cleaner and sulfur from weeks of working with chemicals. Did the gap in his teeth get larger?

   "Donnie is going to join us for dinner!" Leonardo says joyfully, until he glances around the half-empty room. "Where is everyone?"

   "Here!" Michelangelo appears in the doorway with a wad of snow in his fist. Before any of us can react, the snowball is pelted across the room and smacks me in the face.

   The four of them laugh as I shake myself. The cold stings my nose and bites my cheeks, but determination flares up a fire inside my chest. I curl my arms inward and shoot him a challenging glare. "You're gonna pay for that, Mike!" I growl playfully.

   Michelangelo grins as wide as his cheeks allow him. "Gotta catch me first!" he yelps, before flying out the door.

   "Come on," I invite Leonardo and Donatello, and I snatch my hockey stick propped up beside the front door. As I rush after the small turtle, a wall of invisible ice smashes against me from every side. My spine crawls and an involuntary shiver works its way through my muscles. The scent of clean asphalt floats around me. The cold atmosphere propels the laughter and taunts of my friends to the next street. The ground before me is already encased in a light layer of dusty snow, and the flakes continue to slowly drift down onto the cold world. Rooftops are camouflaged against the white clouds in the sky. Streetlamps and telephone poles almost shake from the weight of snow stacking on them.

   A presence makes itself known over my shoulder a second before I recognize Karai slithering up beside me. "Blizzard..." she hisses softly as her jade-green eyes scan the heavy clouds.

   "We can't stay out here long, team," Leonardo announces as he steps out onto the porch. "The snow is going to pick up speed and we'll turn into turtle-pops."

   I smirk as I leap off the stairs and bolt down the street. "Then we better get into trouble fast!"

   "Not so fast, Jones!" Raphael's green head pops out from behind a trash can and he throws a snowball in my direction. It nails my leg and causes me to stumble sideways as a small, searing pain surges through me. Looking down shows me that another tear was added to the collection already on my jeans.

   "What was that, dude?!" I shout back at him, more impressed than appalled.

   "I put an icicle in it," Raphael responds with a cocky expression on his face.

   I wrinkle my eyebrows as I snatch a handful of snow from the ground. "That's how it's gonna be, huh?" I toss the ball at him with as much power as I can muster, but the red-clad turtle ducks behind the trash can. It nails the brick wall behind him and explodes into tiny snowflakes.

   "Wimp!" Raphael's muffled voice calls out from behind the metal can.

   I grit my teeth to stop from smiling. "Coward!" I retort as I hastily form another snowball. "Come out and face me like a real ninja!"

   Before either of us can make a move, another ball soars through the chilly air and slaps Raphael on one of his exposed sides. "Ow!" he snaps as he rises from his kneeling position. "Who threw that?"

   Lucy jumps out from behind a snowy mailbox. "Ha, ha!" She grins with pride at her accomplishment as she jumps up and down like an excited little girl, her wavy hair flowing behind her. "I got you! I told you I would!"

   Raphael's gaze gleams with faint admiration. "So you betrayed me?"

   Lucy gives him a smile I've never seen- one that suggests rebellion. "I'm on the winning team," she giggles and comes to stand beside me.

   I raise my eyebrows at Raphael. We both share mutual looks of shock; even he didn't know she had this much spunk.

   A battle cry erupts from Michelangelo as he charges toward us. "I'll save you, Raphie!" He whips out a slingshot and starts pelting Lucy and I with cold snow.

   "Run!" I grab Lucy's arm and tug her behind a parked car. We dive headfirst onto the pavement; luckily, it's softened by the snow. We collapse and laugh breathlessly, white powder covering every inch of our jackets.

   Lucy pauses, and a tiny smile lingers on her pale lips. Her gray eyes confidently meet mine. For the first time, she seems to be comfortable with me.

   "Quick!" I say as I start shuffling snow around. "Make as many snowballs as you can!"

   Lucy obeys with a tiny laugh. It takes thirty seconds to make a decent pile of snowballs, and that's all the time we have before the thunder of feet comes bearing down towards our hiding spot.

   "Ready?" I ask the short blonde.

   She gives a single nod and clutches a ball to her chest.

   "Fire in the hole!" The two of us jump to our feet and throw our weapons in the direction of the sound. In moments, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Karai are shaking off and spitting snow out of their mouths.

   "Two against five?" I complain. "What a bunch of bologna!"

   Leonardo's eyes meet mine, and they gleam mischievously. "You're right. Sneak attack!" He twirls around and, in one swift movement, kicks a wall of snow at his group and darts in my direction. He squares up with his back to Lucy and me, facing the team he abandoned.

   "Traitor!" Raphael snarls playfully. "You'll pay for that!"

   Each of us set to work on gathering more snowballs. Within forty-five seconds, both teams are vulnerable in middle of the street with white powder airborne towards each side. Laughter and trash talk fill the snowy air, all stealth forgotten. Smiles contaminate every face; even Karai has a snake-like grin across her scaled lips. Lucy gets hit more than she throws snowballs, but the light into her gray eyes reveals that she doesn't care. Donatello seems to lose himself in the game as well, with his knees bent eagerly and mask furrowed like eyebrows. He's out of shape from hiding in his substitute laboratory, but his heart has just as much fight as it used to.

   For once, it feels like the old days. Before Master Splinter got killed. Prior to Shredder taking over the city and turning us into criminals. Way before Elizabetta first showed her face in the turtle's home. Back when life was as simple as spray cheese in a can.

   The bitter wind had been slowly picking up speed, but now it feels like a full-blown tornado. Snow blasts passed my vision and creates a barrier between my senses and the environment. Only half of my hands are covered by my fingerless gloves, so my exposed skin stings. I can't smell anything except cold, and my ears are muted. However, I manage to hear Leonardo call out, "Follow me!"

   I grab onto whoever's closest to me, which happens to be Raphael, and we trudge our way back to Lucy's house. Racing inside, Donatello is the last to enter the warmth. He slams the door shut and locks it, as if the snow runs a risk of breaking in. He shuts the pink curtains on the front window. Then, the purple-clad turtle turns around with a scolding expression.

   "You hauled me away from detrimental research for that?" he criticizes.

   "Aw, c'mon dude!" Michelangelo has to stand on his toes to put his arm around his brother's shoulders. "You totally had fun! I saw you nail Raph with that giant snowball right in the kisser! That was pretty sick."

   Donatello's cheeks turn a light shade of pink and he puffs out his chest just enough for me to notice. "It was, wasn't it?" he mumbles without attempting to disguise his pride.

   April appears around the corner. "Oh good, you're all inside. The Christmas Eve dinner is served!"

   "FOOD!" Michelangelo throws his elbows to get through everyone as he runs for the dining room. The rest of the team follows, except for Raphael who hangs back with me. He claps me on the back and smirks.

   "Glad you came," he says gruffly.

   I return the grin. "Merry Christmas, pal."

   "Merry Christmas, bud."

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Extra long chapter for y'all who patiently waited on this update! 2280 words, wow.  Thank you guys for sticking around, for the rest of the month i'm going to try and be more frequent about these updates. <3