Contemplating Christmas: Wise Men's Gifts

Donatello tore his gaze away from the wires that he was soldering as the creak of the old barn door alerted him that someone had entered his domain.  Setting the soldering gun aside, he carefully removed the goggles that protected his eyes and set them to rest on top of his head.  Chocolate brown orbs focused on the spot where he believed that in a moment someone would appear, however, no one came.  Was it the wind  he wondered?  Not likely, he hadn't heard any great gusts of the wind outside these walls.  Then what?  His brow ridge furrowed as a frown settled upon his face.  Was Michelangelo trying to sneak up on him?  Or worse yet, Casey waiting to ambush him with another snowball attack?  
"Donnie?"  a familiar female's voice called out and he visibly relaxed as he recognized the woman's voice.
"Back here Dom!"  he called as he stood and stretched out his sore muscles. How long had he been out here today he wondered as he looked around for the old clock that hung near his workstation?  His eyes widened when he saw the time.  Had he really been out here that long?  
"Hey, Donnie."  
Dominique's voice drew him from his thoughts, and a smile crept upon his face as he turned to find his friend bundled up for the winter weather that she obviously was not used to. Her slight form was covered in a large, dark gray jacket.  A matching tossle cap that hid nearly all of her short dark locks save for the long bangs that peeked out from beneath it. Her face was half way hidden as well, as a navy blue scarf was wrapped around the bottom half of her face. And a pair of thick black knit gloves covered her hands.  Hands that held something that made his smile grow wider.   "Ohhh coffee..."  
Dominique stopped short and soon a lopped sided smile appeared on her face as she tugged off the scarf which covered it.  Her expression clearly said, what am I, chopped liver?   "Ohhh coffee?  No hey, Dom, good to see you, frigid weather we're having...just a zombie like ooooh coffee..."  she mimicked his tone, teasing him slightly as she held out the holiday decorated styrofoam cup.
Donatello chuckled as he took the festive cup from her.  "Hey, Dom....thanks."  
"You're welcome.  I figured you could use a refill...." she began as she tucked her scarf, hat, and gloves into her backpack, however, her words soon trailed off as she saw all the empty cups that sat on his workstation.  "...or not.  How many cups of coffee have you had?" She asked, then quickly added. "Have you slept?"
"A few..."  Donatello said as he set down the cup of steaming coffee, then began to collect the scattered empty cups to throw them in the large trash can next to his work area.  "Who needs sleep?"  he grinned as he lifted the hot coffee to his mouth take a drink.
Dominique features twisted into a small frown.  "You're as bad as Cassidy."
Curious brown eyes peered over the top of the large coffee cup as he looked upon Dominique with mild interest. "Who's Cassidy?"
“My Chem lab partner.  Much like you, she's brilliant and doesn't sleep much, mostly because she forgets when she ...gets in the zone as she says.  If you leave her alone in the Chem lab, she loses track of time and will stay there until a staff member kicks her out.”  
Donatello chuckled, “Well at least I'm not the only one that loses track of time when working.” he mused out loud before he took a sip of the coffee.  His eyes widened ever so slightly as he recognized the flavor as his favorite.  “Mmmm...that's good.”  
“I think that if given the chance, you two would be incredibly dangerous in a lab together.  I don't think anyone would see either of you for days.”  She joked.
He pondered this a moment, a half amused smile appeared on his face for the briefest of moments as he considered her words. It would be nice to have someone as passionate about science and technology as he was to work with.  However...
“While having a lab partner is an intriguing thought...”  he began softly.  “Sadly, that isn't very likely, no, that is an impossible scenario considering...” he let his words hang in the air, knowing that she would understand his implications.
The softest of frowns touched Dominique's lips as she realized that she had unintentionally upset Donatello.  She hadn't meant to, of course. In fact, she hadn't even thought twice about her comment as spending time with Donatello and the others was something that had become a normal part of her life.  And although she realized that they were different, that they were not human, she had become so used to being with them that the words had simply come out of her mouth without giving his unique situation any consideration.  Watching him, she felt bad that she had inadvertently saddened him.  
“You know, I may not be a genius like you or Cass, but, I can follow directions rather well.” She began as she leaned against the old wooden table that was his makeshift workspace.  “So, if you ever want a lab partner...”
Tearing his gaze from his green, three-fingered hands, his warm brown eyes soon came to settle on Dominique. And for a moment, he silently regarded her as though he was contemplating what his next course of action should be.  Moments later, his eyes twinkled with new hope as a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.  “Do you want to see what is under that tarp?”  he asked, nodding towards the large brown tarp that nearly completely covered very large item near the center of the room.
Her own eyes seemed to sparkle as his words reached her.  “I thought you'd never ask!” she said with newfound enthusiasm and pushed away from the table to follow him over to the hidden item.  
Donatello slowly lifted a corner of the tarp, allowing Dominique to peek inside, and as her eyes widened in surprise, a small grin appeared on his face.

"Is that what I think that is?”  
The purple-masked turtle's grin grew broader. “Yep.”
One eyebrow rose in question as she watched him lower the tarp, concealing the large machine. “And what exactly are you planning on doing with that?”
“Do you remember how I told you that Casey ambushed me the other night?”
She nodded, then stared at him in disbelief as she realized what he intended to do. “Are you serious?”
“Deadly,”  he grinned wickedly, then held out a hammer to her.  “Let's get to work...”
“I always knew that you were an evil genius,”  Dominique teased as her fingers gripped the handle of the hammer.  As the tarp fell away, she marveled at the invention that had kept him sequestered away the last couple of days.  He was, as she had said earlier, brilliant, quite brilliant to create such a contraption with such limited resources. Tearing her gaze away from the impressive device, her gaze soon fell upon Donatello who now stood at the table that held his tools and it occurred to her that now might be a good time to give him his Christmas present.


"Hey, Donnie..." She said as she removed her jacket and hung it on a rack next to Donatello's brown leather bomber jacket. Unzipping her backpack, she turned and started to cross the room to where he now stood.

"Hmmm?" the questioning sound escaped him softly as he poured over the items on the table, trying to discern which of its contents he would need to finish the device.
"Maybe you should open this?" she suggested.
"Open...what?" he began as he turned to face her, surprise etching itself into his face as he saw her standing there holding an 8 by 11-inch box, which was wrapped in festive holiday paper.  
"Merry Christmas, Donnie." She smiled as she held the silver and purple wrapped box out to him.
"Thanks, Dom,"  he smiled, then gingerly took the box from her. With great care, he peeled away the layer of purple and silver festive paper, then set it on the table where his tools rested.  Slowly he removed the lid of the white box, and as its contents came into view his eyes widened as large as saucers.  "Is that... is that a Circuit Scribe?" his voice filled with disbelief as he tore his gaze away from what appeared to be a rollerball point pen to look at Dominique.
"Yep!" She beamed proudly, pleased by his reaction to the gift.
"Where did you get it?" he asked, sounding astonished.
"Cassidy pointed me in the right direction." She smiled brightly at him.
"Wow...this is...incredible," he said in a breathless whisper.  "Thanks, Dom." he managed softly as a smile replaced the shocked expression that had been there moments ago.
"You're welcome,"  she said as she watched him marvel over the gift that she had given him. She was so pleased that he liked it.  And was rather amused when he seemed to forget about the project that he had been working on and had cleared off a section of the table so that he might test out the new apparatus that she had given him.
"Come check this out," He called to her after a moment, "You have to see how this works!"
Smiling she made her way over to Donatello's side and watched as he demonstrated how the device worked. Hopefully, she thought, the others will be as happy with their gifts as Donnie is with his.

**
Hours later, the kitchen door swung open and a gust of wind whipped through the room, sweeping over the lone occupant.  Although chilled, Splinter merely looks up from the small container that he had been scooping tea leaves from, his dark brown eyes moving to the doorway, and soon a pleasant smile appears on his face as the young dark haired woman hurries to shut the door behind her.

"Oh my gosh, it's freezing out there." she mutters to herself, unaware that anyone else is in the room.  

"Then come...and join me for tea."  Splinter gestures to one of the empty chairs that rested near the island where he was preparing to fill a small metal ball with tea leaves.

Surprise flickered across her features as she heard his voice, but soon, a warm smile appeared on her face.  "Thank you Sensei."  She said as she removed her coat then stuffed her hat, gloves and scarf in the sleeve of her winter jacket before hanging it on a hook near the door.  Crossing the room, she pulled out a stool as Splinter moved to the stove to adjust the heat on the old kettle that heated the water for tea.

"You have been outside for some time." Splinter observed as he noticed the red hue that colored her cheeks.

"Yes, Sensei.  I went out to check on Donatello, to see what has been keeping him locked away in his makeshift lab."

"And what did you find?"  Splinter asked as he removed two spoons from a drawer near the stove.


Inwardly Dominique flinched, she didn't want to tell Splinter what it was that Donatello was working on, after all, she didn't think he would approve of it.  And so, she simply said.  "A new invention."

His ears twitched as her nondescriptive response reached him.  And soon one furry eyebrow rose in question as he turned to face her.  "What sort of invention?"

Damn.  She had hoped, rather foolishly, that Splinter would have been satisfied with a simple answer, but then, he was not her Aunt.  Splinter tended to pay more attention to his sons, and to others in general.  "A giant snowball launcher..." she said softly as she sheepishly peeked up at him from beneath the bangs that had fallen in front of her face.  As much as she did not want Donatello to get into trouble, she knew that she could not lie to the ninja master. More importantly, though, she did not want to lie to him.

Splinter's eyes closed and he shook his head ever so slightly.  "Kids."
Even as the word escaped him in a sigh, he knew that although they sometimes behaved as children would, neither Casey nor his son were children.  How fast Donatello had grown, how fast all of his sons had grown.  Now they stood on the cusp of adulthood, preparing to take their first steps as adults. Opening his eyes, his gaze fell upon Dominique, and he realized that one of his sons had already taken such a step.  Such a thought brought another, and soon a pensive expression settled upon his face as it occurred to him just how much Raphael had matured these past few months.  

"Sensei."  her soft voice drew him from his thoughts.

"Yes, Dominique?" his voice came quietly as he silenced his musings.

"Is everything...okay?  You're not upset about Donatello's..."  

Splinter raised his hand to silence her concerns.  "Everything is fine." He assured her with a smile.  "I merely lost myself for a moment."  

The tea kettle's shrill whistle startled Dominique and caused the old rat's ears to twitch.  "Quite an unpleasant noise,"  he said as he turned to remove the old metal teapot from the stove.  "My kettle's song is much more pleasant."

"Sensei, would you excuse me for a moment, please?" She asked, then waited for him to dismiss her.  Hurrying to the living room, she quickly made her way to the enormous, richly decorated Christmas tree and gingerly lifted a large box that was wrapped in a festive paper of a deep shade of green.  Returning to the kitchen, she carefully set the box on the kitchen island.  Once he had turned to face her, she meekly began to ramble off her thoughts.  "I know that this goes against tradition, however, every Christmas eve, my uncle and I would exchange gifts, so I was hoping that...perhaps...you might like to open your gift this evening."

"I would like that very much."  A warm, kind smile appeared on his face as it became clear to him in that moment how Dominique felt about him.
With great care, he drew the gift closer, then slowly undid the ribbon, and carefully set it aside.  Long slender fingers moved across the paper, finding the places that it had been taped together and there his sharp nails sliced throw the clear, sticky tape that held the paper in place.  Slowly he pulled back the decorative wrapping paper to reveal a small, wooden create with Kanji burned into the wood.  His dark brown eyes flickered from the printing on the box to the young woman that sat waiting anxiously for him to open the gift.  Returning his attention to the wooden box, he carefully removed the top half and as he peered into the silk lined crate, a silent gasp escaped him as he saw its contents.  Nimble fingers brushed lightly over the small cups of the handcrafted Japanese tea set, lingering on the symbol that had been painted on each of the cups and the teapot.  Tearing his gaze away from his clan's symbol, he looked upon the young woman that sat across from him with an expression of surprise mixed with concern.  "Where did you get this?"  

Knowing the reason for his concern, Dominique quickly replied. "I made it.  Well, I didn't make the tea set, I merely painted the symbols on it, and then used a kiln," Again, she saw emotion flicker within his dark orbs, and could guess the thoughts that had entered his mind. "Don't worry Sensei, no one was around.  I found this small pottery shop that rented a room for parties, so I rented the party room.  I told the owner I was a finicky artist that didn't want to be disturbed.  So she left me alone to work." She smiled brightly, hoping that her explanation would relieve some of the anxiety that she believed he felt over the possibility that someone might have seen his clan's symbol.

The feeling of dread that had started to rise within him slowly began to abate as her words reached him. And it was not long before those unsettling emotions were replaced by ones that warmed his heart as he realized the great lengths that Dominique had gone to in order to create the beautiful, handcrafted tea set.  He was truly touched that she had chosen such a thoughtful, meaningful gift, and marveled at the time and effort that had put into her endeavor. Gingerly he lifted one of the tea cups out of its protective casing so that he might better examine it.

"There are six cups in total, one for each member of your family," Dominique explained as Splinter cradled the cup in his furry hands. Watching him, sensing he was lost in thought and fearing that he might still be worried, she decided to try to add a little levity to the conversation, "And an extra one, just in case Mikey drops one."

"There are no extra."  Splinter said as he lifted his gaze to look at her.

"Wait. What?" her eyes widened slightly, and her heartbeat quickened at the thought that one was missing.  Did she somehow leave one in the pottery studio?  Perhaps leave it on the counter after she had washed them to make sure that they were clean before packing them away?  Standing she moved forward to attempt to look into the box, however, stopped short when she realized that Splinter was reaching for her hand.  
Lifting her head to look at him, curious green eyes watched as his long, slender fingers gently grasped her wrist and turned her hand over his in, then carefully placed the 'extra' cup in her hand. "There are no extra," he repeated softly, smiling warmly as he held her gaze.