The Broken Angel

이것은 아주 일지도 모른다, 아주 이른….또는 아주, 아주 늦게… 그러나 즐거운 성탄!

(Yes, that's Korean ^^)

Okay….odd season to write a Christmas fiction….oh, well. Turtle tot fiction-Leo, Raph, Don, and Mikey are busy hunting in the sewers on a cold

December eve for a Star for their tree. However, when Splinter takes them to the spot where they first met, Leo finds something that is, perhaps,

even better.

Dedicated to Mikell, Second Daughter, and Rhoda! (I know it's sentimental....hope you like anyway.)

"The First Noel, the Angels did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep
On a cold winter's night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

They looked up and saw a star
Shining in the East beyond them far
And to the earth it gave great light
And so it continued both day and night.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

And by the light of that same star
Three Wise men came from country far
To seek for a King was their intent
And to follow the star wherever it went.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

This star drew nigh to the northwest
O'er Bethlehem it took its rest
And there it did both Pause and stay
Right o'er the place where Jesus lay.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

Then entered in those Wise men three
Full reverently upon their knee
And offered there in His presence
Their gold and myrrh and frankincense.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!

Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made Heaven and earth of nought
And with his blood mankind has bought.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!"

"Ooh….guys…this is pretty…."

"That's tinfoil, Mikey!"

"I know….isn't it beautiful?"

Don smiled and shook his head as a little turtle happily hurried around the dark, moist roads, squatting every now and again to pick up another

shiny tinfoil ball (Usually the ones he dropped) and put it in the little bag he carried.

The turtles were on a sewer excavation with Splinter, who was busy hunting for thread for some last minute sewing. It was Christmas Eve. Right

now, the turtles were hunting for anything to adorn their little tree-it was a tiny, little scrap of a thing-like the one in A Charlie Brown Christmas...

But that made it all the more endearing for the three year olds.

Raph grinned. Excellent....these bells would need a little polishing...but they were twinkly and....nice looking. Raph tucked them in the little bag he

kept at his side.

Now, for the string....

Splinter finally stood up, brushing the dust off his robe.

"Come along, little ones," called Splinter as four cheery faces turned to him. "We must look for more useful items on another level before we go

home."

Raph carefully tucked the bells away, as Mikey covered the tinfoil.

Turtle hand in hand with rat, they went off.

Splinter stopped.

For some reason, he was looking at something with glassy eyes before he knelt. Don blinked. Perhaps he found something good?

He stepped back, and in doing so, stepped on something hard.

"Ow!" exclaimed Don, hopping away from his location and peering down to see what had fallen.

A pinecone. A dumb pinecone.

Oh, well. Some must've fallen...Don was about to fling it away, when he stopped.

There were a few more....here and there.....and he had some plaid ribbons in his bag....

Hmm. This gave the young scientist an idea....

Leo stared. Not only could he not find anything....but Splinter was still bent over a little opening filled with straw, where the normal leaks of the

sewers had turned to milky white ice.

Leo shivered, and looked up in the darkness. People were rushing home to get out of the chill....home for Christmas eve. That was nice. Leo

longed to do the same, but he had to find something first.

Oops. Scratch that. He had to go to his master and see if everything was alright.

Leo stepped forward-and a flashing sparkle dazzled his eyes, from near the water.

Leo blinked. The flashing glitter was still there. While the others were still busy with their own crafts, Leo turned near the canal, puzzled.

"Um....guys?"

But no one heard him. Leo shrugged. Okay-dokey, then. He cautiously made his way towards the partly frozen water. He knew from experience

not to fall in....as did his brothers, but that's another tale altogether, readers.

What was the glitter? Snow? It was a beautiful thing....to look up while you shivering, your breath making a puff in the air as you saw ghostly,

silver falkes serenely falling through the grates of the sewer...

Cold fingers closed around a little object. Leo squinted and held it up so he could see better.

It was a little doll. Leo had seen people before, of course, on television and from behind grates, but this was oddly different.

The doll was faded and worn, yet she-Leo could tell that much-still had a calm, lovely smile, with dusty, yet hopeful blue eyes and long, hazel

brown hair.

But why on earth did she have wings on her back? The concept of a human having wings was so utterly alien to Leo that he blinked again.

Weird….and what was with the crown of stars? It was a crooked halo, so it was halfway off, down her face, but it looked rather cute because of

that.

"Find anything interesting, my son?"

Leo jumped. Splinter was leaning on his staff, looking interested, as did three other turtles, who were clutching their found items.

Leo grinned. "I....think so," he said, after a moment of thought, handing the little doll to Splinter.

Splinter glanced at the little figurine, frowning as if he were trying to remember something, then, his countenance brightened as he remembered.

Mikey peered at it curiously. "What's with the thing on her head?"

Splinter smiled. "One question at a time, my sons. This-" he carefully handed the doll back-"is an angel, my son. And, that, Michelangelo, is a

what we call a halo."

"An…angel?"

Splinter let out a soft chuckle. "Yes, my son, an angel."

"Oh." Leo turned the petite figure around to see her wings. "What does she do, exactly?

Is she a person?"

Don blinked, wide eyed. "Wow. How can a human be born with wings?"

"Well….ah…….how do four infant turtles and a rat turn into what we are?"

Raph laughed. He had them there.

Mikey's own eyes brightened.

"Ooh! I bet I know what an angel is! It's a superhero, isn't it?"

Splinter smiled.

"Something like that, little one. They are…messengers, I suppose. Ambassadors of light and hope-which is why it is another tradition to put an

Angel on a tree as well as a star."

"Really?!"

"Yes….quite an old custom, actually."

Splinter turned back to the place he was gazing at. Don blinked after a moment of silence.

"Uh....Sensei? Is something wrong? Why do you keep staring at that?"

Splinter jerked a bit, as if he'd been jerked out of a reverie.

"....do you recognize this place, my sons?"

Raph frowned.

This place was much quieter then in other parts of the New York sewers....and oddly soothingly familiar.

Mikey broke the silence at last.

"Have....um.....Sei-Sei? Have we....been here before?"

Splinter smiled and nodded, looking pleased.

"This was my home, a very, very long time ago."

The turtles peered with new interest.

"Ohhh...." Don sounded fascinated. Then, he looked up at Splinter.

"Where were WE?"

Splinter smiled sadly.

"When my master...passed, I had to create my home here quickly. I did so, and, for three days, I lived, scrounging on the streets.

It was one day, when I was kneeling by an old box, that ended with the dramatic change of many lives."

Splinter paused. Four turtles were now listening breathlessly to him. He smiled and went on.

A truck was recklessly crashing down the street as an old blind man was crossing. A young boy sprinted across the road, knocking him just in time

to safety. But, in doing so, he accidentally bumped into a young lad with a glass jar.

In it were four, newborn turtles."

The jar crashed to the ground, even as an enormous canister bounced out, and rolled into the sewers after them. I hurried in after them-for some

reason, I was feeling quite anxious for them. You can imagine when I found they were alive....but covered in the goo like substance."

Leo took Splinter's hand. Splinter squeezed it.

"I remembered how I'd been knocked away from my own life so recently....and I began wiping the substance off them. I was afraid they would

suffocate and die.

I took them to this place," he continued softly, "and, I found that having them doze nearby made me feel...more at ease. Soothed. I had spent

the last three days alone, and I welcomed the company."

A moment's pause.

"What happened next?" asked Don quietly.

"They grew, my little ones. Quite a bit...but to me, it seems as if a fragment of them will always be here, on that day..."

Now Raph squeezed Splinter's hand.

Splinter smiled. "Rather ironic, you know...babies in straw." Then, Splinter sighed. "You four were the most adorable things….you still are, you

know."

The turtles made "Ew, Yucko" faces at each other.

For a moment, they just stood there, silent as they pondered unanswerable questions in the dark as glitter fell from the skies.

Then, Mikey sneezed, and Splinter knew he ought to take them home. He gently tugged on Mikey and Don's hands, who were holding Leo and

Raph's.

"Come along, little ones. I do not wish you to catch cold."

"I guess..." Leo stopped for a moment. Then, excitement coursed through him.

"Oh! Sensei, can we have the angel on top?!"

But Mikey looked doubtful.

"Well…" Mikey paused. He had really wanted a star on top….

"Y'know, she already HAS a star with her," commented Don, with a smile. "Actually, she has…." He paused, and turned to Splinter.

"Um…does a crown of stars count?"

"It does, my son."

"Oh." Don turned to Mikey again. "Master Splinter says "Yes," so you get seven stars as well as one."

That did it. Mikey eagerly grabbed his tinfoil bag and tugged on the chain of command.

"Come on, then!" he exclaimed. "Let's GO!"

And reader, if you were there, perhaps, on that chilly New York Night, you would've seen an armchair by the fire Splinter had managed to

start in the old grate, flames dancing merrily.

And reader, you would've seen four little figures in their father's arms as he read from a little emerald book.

"Twas the night before Christmas,

And all though the house,

Not a creature was Stirring,

Not even a louse."

(Splinter found the word "mouse" used that way very offending, thank you very much.)

And, reader, as each turtle dropped off into slumber, including their father, who managed to sleepily mumble,

"Merry Christmas to all....and to all a good night..." before the book slid from his limp fingers onto the floor with a plop. Then, Splinter sighed, as

his head nodded off.

And, reader, another thing you would've seen, is a little tree.

It was meek and meager, but carefully decorated.

Tinfoil and gold bells that had been carefully polished shimmered in the dying embers. The pinecones seemed to twinkle with their glitter like

freshly fallen snow.

And, reader, you would've seen an angel, hal now straight, and looking a great deal neater and cleaner now, but her eyes and outstreched arms

still bore the same sweetness.

And reader, if you HAD been there, perhaps, it could've been a trick of the light....but you could've sworn she winked.

Fin