October 13, 2012

"...your emotions tell your body what to do,

See how much a single gesture can reveal…"

April blinked, her hazy vision returning to see the blurry outline of Donnie's face as he sang their song.

"And ev'ry little step

Ev'ry single step,

Is one step closer…

To saying what you feel…" Donnie sang. "April?"

April took a moment to reorient herself, finding herself on the ground laying across Donnie's legs. The girl looked around, the voice that had originally been calling out to her had been silenced. Her gaze was drawn back to the item she had touched.

The crystal.

The crystal remained on its shelf where it'd been when she'd touched it.

"April!" Donnie drew her in for an embrace. Unaware of the reason why, April gasped and tightened her hold on her boyfriend. She pressed her face into his neck, not embarrassed in the slightest when the tears dampened the tails of his bandana.

Why does it feel like it's been forever since I've held him like this? She thought.

Donnie pulled away, wiping her tears with a concerned chuckle. "Did you have another episode? You were out for a while."

She shook her head. "No… I-I don't remember anything. Maybe it was my blood sugar or something…" She pointed to where the crystal rested. "What's that one up there?"

The vendor blinked away his astonishment as he turned to see where April was pointing. "Huh, never really noticed it before. Whatever it is, it's yours." The vendor stood to wrap the small crystal for the girl. "I've never had someone faint at my booth before. Hope you feel better." He held out the wrapped package to April as Donnie helped her into a standing position.

April paused, staring at the gift. Once again without knowing why, she subtly clenched her hand and used her power to crush the crystal to dust within the covering.

"What the heck?" The vendor muttered, feeling the shift within the cloth. He opened the package to see the pulverized crystal. "Huh! None of 'em have ever done that before…" April felt utterly at peace as the fragments of the crystal were dumped into a nearby trash can. The vendor turned back to the pair, arms crossed. "Can I do anything else for you?"

Donnie glanced around the nearby stalls. "Maybe point us in the direction of something sweet to eat?" They thanked the vendor once more as he pointed them towards the front of the market and the sweets stalls.

"It's a shame that thing shattered so easily," Donnie entwined their fingers, grinning when his girlfriend rested her head against his shoulder. "It would've looked stunning as a necklace."

"Yeah…" April murmured, breathing in the crisp Hidden City air as an unfathomable sense of freedom coursed through her body. "Maybe." She tugged on his hand. "Come on! Let's find that sweets stall and get a cake for Karai. It's almost time to head back to Takeshi's for the party!"

"Sounds good to m-" Donnie was cut off when April pulled him down for a deep kiss. This was not like any of their previous kisses; this was a 'I need you to breathe' kind of kiss. It wasn't long before the teens pulled apart, breathless. "Not that I'm complaining… but what was that for?"

April frowned. "I… don't know…" She reached up to play with his bandana tails. "I missed you."

The boy chuckled warmly as he rested his forehead against hers. "You were only out for a couple of minutes."

"It felt like a lot longer," She hummed.

They stood that way for a moment longer before making their way to the sweets stall. They picked out a cake perfect for Karai and headed back to the apartment.

April walked in behind Donnie carrying the cake and paused. Everyone was there.

Splinter was standing next to the tiger mutant Takesi, discussing how well Karai was doing in school and if the rest of the Hamato kids might benefit from a structured school environment.

Leo sat with Karai, blushing as she opened his gift to her. She smiled widely at the traditional whetstone he'd gotten her to keep her tanto sharp. Leo blushed deeper as Karai touched his arm, thanking him for the gift.

Raph and Mikey found Takeshi's Nintendo '64 system and were playing some old-school 'Duck-Hunt'. The boys were playfully shoving each other in an attempt to sabotage the other's aim. Mikey shouted in triumph as he hit the secret duck at the end of the level, winning him the game. Raph grumbled good-naturedly before grabbing Mikey in a headlock to give his younger brother a noogie.

April stood in the doorway, tears streaming down her cheeks. Donnie frowned, noticing her tears. He closed the door behind her and escorted the weepy girl to the kitchen.

"Hey… you okay, Apes? You've been more emotional than usual today." He put the cake down on the island in the kitchen so he could tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, his hand resting on her cheek.

The red-head laughed cheerfully, wiping away her tears. "Yeah, I'm fine. Maybe my hormones are just outta whack this month." She pulled her new unicorn out of her bag. "Can you find a knife and start cutting the cake? I'm gonna introduce Squishy Derp to Mikey."

"If you're sure…"

"I'm sure." April reached up to peck his cheek. "Corner piece for me, please!" The girl bounded off to find her brother while Donnie chuckled, setting out to cut the cake.

"Mikey! Check out what I got at the market!"

The boy maneuvered his way out of Raph's headlock to see April's newest find. "Is that a-"

"A unicorn! Yep! A real one!" April stroked the little guy's head and the creature practically purred. "His name's Squishy."

"We need to see if he gets along with Ice Cream Kitty and Spike. It's nice that almost everyone has a little companion." Mikey tickled Squishy under his chin. "What else you guys get up to while you were out?"

"Not much…" April was suddenly overwhelmed with the immense need to give Mikey a hug.

Mikey stumbled back, catching them both. "Whoa, April! I'm never one to turn down a hug, but what's the occasion?"

She smiled. "Someone asked me to give you a hug from them."

"Really?" Mikey lit up. "Who was it?"

April frowned again. I've been doing that a lot since I woke up… "I don't remember…"

Her brother patted her shoulder reassuringly. "It's all good. It'll come back to you. Now, if you don't mind… I've got a date with that cake!" Mikey whooped as he vaulted to the kitchen. Leo and Raph were right behind him reminding him of his last insane sugar high and to go easy on the cake.

The room was loud, noisy, and chaotic. April wouldn't have it any other way. She grinned, hugging Squishy Derp to her chest.

"I'm home." She whispered.

FIN

[Insert At the Beginning from 1997 Anastasia as end credits]

Well friends, here we are... together on the last page.

THANK YOU for all of your kind comments, views, favorites, and PATIENCE over this 3 year 4 month journey that we've called Once Upon a December Night.

I also never thought that so many people would want to read something that I had written, not to mention keeping up with it over a course of years (dry spells and all) :) I just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who's been a part of the OUADN journey, but especially to these people:

-Guest & Waterfire98 (the first two to comment on July 20, 2020 and October 19, 2020 respectively)

-Windblazer Prime (first to like)

-Shadowbridger (first to follow)

-Marcus S. Lazarus (first time any of my stories were added to a community!)

Also to Frozenwolfheart22 (who has been a DEVOTED follower from the very beginning, commenter, and even brief editor! Thanks for all the kind and inspiring words!).

Seriously though: with each favorite, follow, and review, it encouraged me to keep writing. I truly believe that God brings people together for reasons that we can't even comprehend... even if it's just for a smile or a laugh. Maybe just for the wonder of pure imagination.

But you know what? I love you guys SO MUCH and now that we've got a whole new timeline to play in...

YES! There will eventually be a sequel to Once Upon a December Night! I can't say when it'll come out as I have an entire Miraculous series to edit/rewrite! After a break and some time to create a backlog of chapters to pull from, I should resume posting my Miraculous rewrites come summer.

Until then...

Stay safe, stay kind, and STAY CREATIVE!

"One little spark, of inspiration/ Is at the heart, of all creation/ Right at the start, of everything that's new/ One little spark, lights up for you" - Journey into Imagination, EPCOT

"Jesus looked at them and said, "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God."" -Mark 10:27