A/N: Hello! This is the first fanfic I've ever written, so don't expect too much. This takes places immediately after The Rings of Akhaten and continues through their adventures. I hope you enjoy reading! Note: letters written in italic are the Doctor's or Clara's thoughts. WARNING: Eventual whouffle, but I won't raise the rating above T, don't expect smut.

I don't own anything about Doctor Who, all credits go to the BBC.

"They wanted you to have it. Everyone, all the people you saved. You. No one else. Clara."

The Doctor smiled as Clara took her mother's ring and put it back on her middle finger. She looked at him and then hopped out through the doors of the TARDIS. The Doctor walked up to the doors and closed them, relieved that she didn't try to ask him why she reminded him of someone who died. He rested his forehead on the door window, thinking about what she said a few moments ago.

"Well whoever she was, I'm not her. Okay? If you want me to travel with you that's fine. But as me. I'm not a bargain basement stand-in for someone else. I'm not going to compete with a ghost."

He smiled sadly, because she was actually wrong. It was her, but he couldn't tell her that, could he? But she was right in one way, he shouldn't act like the Clara he met in Victorian London was still here, he had to focus on finding out more about Clara Oswald and the mystery that had intrigued him so much.

He walked up to the console and looked at his reflection in one of the small mirrors, observing himself and thinking. A sinister voice in his head spoke.

"Look at you. The Last of the Time lords, The Oncoming Storm, The Predator of the Daleks. A man who could turn around armies at the mention of his name, look at what you've been reduced to. You're interested in nothing else than finding out who Clara Oswald is. You've become pathetic. You should just go back to your cloud and live out the rest of your life before you destroy any more lives."

He mentally scolded himself, shoving his darker thoughts back into his head. He couldn't think like that, he shouldn't. He reminded himself, with a nostalgic smile on his face, that it was Clara who dragged him out of the abyss, who brought him back into the world of the living. "But that's just it, isn't it?" he thought bitterly, "you travel with someone, they make you happy again, and then they're violently torn from you, pushing you even further down the gutter. When will you just stop this?"

The Doctor shook his head frantically, trying to push away those thoughts. Get a hold of yourself. He knew that even though he touched so many lives, saved the universe so many times, his dark side will always be with him. Every time he was angry or frightened, the part of him that killed his own kind would resurface and would try to gain control. This was why he needed companions - they made him better. They made him The Doctor.

He grinned at his reflection before straightening his bow tie and pulling the nearest lever. One of the few benefits of having a time machine, he thought. He didn't have to wait a whole week to meet Clara again, and that thought made him giggle like a ten year-old. He typed in the time coordinates before waiting for the TARDIS to materialize at the same place, but a week later. After the noise stopped with a loud thud, he ran to the doors, opened them and poked his head out to scan the street.

He couldn't see Clara yet and there was no car parked in front of the Maitland residence. He checked his watch: it was 7:01 AM, he was right on schedule. The Doctor waited for a minute, then frowned in confusion, then pulled out his sonic to scan the house. He was gone for a week, had something happened? Is Clara okay? Did she change her mind about travelling with him? No... she wouldn't... would she? The readings the sonic gave him were normal, everything was normal. So where was Clara?

He nervously started pacing in front of the TARDIS, thinking about what had happened. He left her alone for a week, did it happen again, did she die? A sense of dread filled him, thinking what he would do if she died because he didn't even bother checking on her. Suddenly, something grabbed him by the shoulder.

"BOO!"

The Doctor let out a high-pitched scream and jumped. He was terrified, his hearts racing. He turned around to see Clara standing right behind him. He tried to stop shaking as he frowned at Clara, who was grinning at him, her head shaking slightly, evidently trying to suppress her giggles.

"Clara, what on Earth are you doing? Stop laughing, it isn't funny."

Clara waited a few seconds for her laugh attack to stop. Her face then formed into a worried expression, as she saw how startled the Doctor was.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help it."

"It's okay," he assured her and smiled. "So... you ready?"

"Of course," she smiled and ran off into the TARDIS excitedly. She was wearing a short crimson dress and her hair was tied in a ponytail. The Doctor noted that she looked quite lovely. He caught himself staring at her. Really, Doctor? You're 1251 years old, it's not like you've never seen a woman in a dress. He followed her and ran to the console.

"So, I hope you've got a ready response this time - where do you want to go," he clapped his hands at ran next to Clara. "What do you want to see? Clara?"

Clara was distracted. Her eyes were exploring the interior of the TARDIS. After a few seconds, she turned towards the Doctor.

"Yes! Sorry. What I would like to see is... your snog box!" she said, pointing her index finger up to the ceiling of the TARDIS.

"Clara, please, it is not a snog box," he said, looking annoyed, but then his face formed into a smug grin. "It's called the TARDIS, which is short for 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'. So please, use the correct term."

Clara pretended to contemplate that suggestion for a second, but then just shot back "Nah, 'snog box' is much more... catchy." She looked back at the Doctor to see his reaction, but he wasn't really listening. He took off his waistcoat and left it on the console and started rubbing his hands together, grinning happily, looking just like when he asked her to say 'Doctor who?' one more time. Clara noted to herself that he looked even taller and lankier in his shirt and braces. She caught herself thinking that he looked nice. Stop that, she thought. Slightly confused, said: "What are you so excited about? You look like an eight year-old at Christmas morning. Doctor?"

His expression became a mixture of sadness and happiness. After a short delay he said "Nothing, it-it's just... no one else really wanted to explore the TARDIS with me before."

"Really? All the people you travelled with, no one wanted to know more about a ship that can go anywhere in time and space?" Clara seemed genuinely surprised.

"Some of them did, but I had to drag them along. Why do you want to explore my ship?"

Clara arched an eyebrow. "Well... it is bigger on the inside and it has a garage. Also, you mentioned that it is the most powerful ship in the universe. What normal person wouldn't want to see that ship?"

The Doctor smirked and held out his hand. Clara took it and the Doctor's face broke out into a grin. They ran off into one of the TARDIS corridors.

"Just a heads up - there is a slight chance that we might get... well, lost," the Doctor murmured. "I don't really explore the TARDIS a lot." Too many memories, he thought bitterly.

"Just give me the basic tour."

The Doctor smiled. "Okay. First off, I think this is the Music room." The Doctor pressed a button next to a big door, which just melted away to reveal a large room with a disco ball. The Doctor ran inside and spread his arms. "Ta-da!"

Clara laughed and looked around. The room seemed endless. "So why is it called that? The Music room?"

The Doctor threw her an annoyed look. "Because that's exactly what it is. You imagine a song, any song, and if the owner of the ship agrees with it, it will play. So come on, think of a song. Concentrate on it."

Clara nodded and thought about it for a second, then she beamed at the Doctor when the music started playing. She was trying to find the source of the sound, but couldn't see any speakers. The room looked like it was endless. However, she caught the Doctor's expression with the corner of her away. He was still smiling, but his eyes - they seemed vacant, not really in the present. Clara couldn't really figure out the emotions behind his gaze, but he looked like he was on the brink of tears. For a moment, she thought she saw sadness, grief... and was it guilt?

"Doctor? What is it, what's wrong?"

Carmen by Georges Bizet was echoing through the room.

He caught her gaze and broke out of his trance. He quickly blinked away his tears.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." he smiled sadly.

Clara gave him a warm smile and then skipped out of the room. The Doctor didn't move, he just kept standing in front of the door, waiting for Clara to leave it. As he walked out, he whispered: "Don't worry, Oswin. I still remember."

He smiled sadly and left the room. Once he and Clara started marching across the corridors of the TARDIS, he snapped his fingers and closed the door of the Music room, the music stopping as soon as the door closed.

The Doctor tried to stay in the present as Clara showered him with questions about the TARDIS. "You never really explained... how is it bigger on the inside? How big is it? What do you keep in here?" He chuckled at her excitement. He didn't answer any of them, he spotted a TARDIS-blue door to his right, opened it and ran inside.

"Come on, this is one of my favorites! Come in."

Clara rushed into the room, and what she saw made her gasp with surprise.

She almost let out a scream as she looked around. The room had no floor, it looked like they were standing in thin air. Clara looked around the room. Everything was dark, pitch black, apart from where the Doctor was standing. Miniaturized projections of whole galaxies were slowly spinning around the Doctor. He reached for one of the galaxy projections and enlarged it. It was The Milky Way. He brushed through the dense layers of the galaxy with unrivaled speed, like he was trying to find something. He found a planet and smiled.

"Would you like to see it?" he asked.

"See what?"

The Doctor just grinned before taking the planet and throwing it at Clara. Before she could catch it, the planet suddenly enlarged and Clara saw what it was.

It was Earth. Clara slowly walked around the planet, trying to take in all the information. She always wondered what it actually looked like.

"This is where all of you humans live. Your home, in the year 2013. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Clara didn't say anything, she just kept circling the planet, before turning to the Doctor.

"Why are you showing me all this?"

The Doctor looked alarmed after she said that; it was one of the last words Victorian Clara said to him before being dragged to her death by the Ice Governess. He took a deep breath before replying.

"What do you mean?"

Clara looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I mean what I said. Why are you showing me all of this, why did you come knocking to the Maitlands' house dressed as a monk?"

The Doctor was slightly taken aback by her tone. "Do you want me to take you back home?"

Clara looked at him and smiled warmly. "No, no, I don't. It's fun, travelling with you, but you're being so nice to me for... no reason what so ever, so I was just curious. Why are you being so nice to me?" She took his hand which slightly distracted the Doctor, his hearts skipping a beat.

The Doctor smirked. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"So you're just being generally nice?"

"Yes. Now, pick somewhere. On Earth."

"What? How do I do that?"

"Literally, pick a place on the planet. Anywhere, any time."

Clara immediately knew the answer and grinned.

"I always wondered what Las Vegas was like back in the eighties."

The Doctor took her hand and they ran towards to console, laughing and talking as they got ready for Vegas. However, things rarely go according to plan, so they end up visiting a sinking Soviet submarine.

A/N: Thanks for reading Chapter 1! If you have any questions, if you want me to include anything in this story or if you don't like something and want me to work on it, please leave a review, any kind of feedback is welcome! If you liked it and want me to update more often, press 'follow', favorite or leave a review.

Bye!