Author's note:

Dear readers,

I know I have abandoned this story in the past and I'm really really sorry. I know it's a shitty excuse, but I've been really busy. However, I am determined to finish this story. I'm going to edit and re-write every chapter so far, and then I'm going to write the final chapter. I hope you will all have patience with me while I do this. When I started this story, I hadn't been writing regularly before that. I have spent a lot more time writing stories in the two years that passed, and I want to apply what I've learned to the chapters of this story. I don't want to finish a clunky story that makes me cringe when I read it now.

I want to thank you for the reviews I have received so far. They really do make my day, so please don't stop. I love getting feedback! I LOVE it.

I'm not a native speaker of English, so please keep that in mind while reading the story. Spelling and pragmatics can be really hard for me. Sometimes I use words that are typically used in the US even though this story is set in the UK. I don't know any better and I'm sorry about that. ;)

Well then: here it is. The first revised chapter of The Piano Girl. I hope you'll enjoy it, and if you do, please leave a review.

Love, Eleanor

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters, settings or plots.

1.

It had been a great day. The Doctor had decided to spend the day with River. He had picked her up from her cell, and he had taken her to the Brighton Pier when it opened in 1899. They had had a picnic on the beach and laughed at strangers' stares at their 'odd' clothing. They had gone back to the Tardis in the late afternoon, planning to find a nice place to have dinner… Paris maybe?

He loved spending the day together, just the two of them. However, when they got back to the Tardis, it turned out the day was not going to end according to plan. Nothing ever did.

The Doctor snapped his fingers as they approached the Tardis, and they could hear music drifting through the opened blue doors. This was a bit strange, but he didn't think too much of it. The Tardis could play music. She'd done it before. Maybe she'd gotten bored, and had turned on some music for her own enjoyment. He'd never seen that happen before, but then again, there's a first time for everything.

When the two of them entered the Tardis, it turned out that this wasn't what was going on. The music didn't seem to come from the control room at all. One of the doors that led to the hallways was slightly opened. Walking over to the door, River following in his footstep, he could see through the gap. The hallway seemed to have vanished; instead, there was a sort of room, with natural light, grey walls and a wooden floor. He looked over his shoulder at River, who was just as surprised as him.

Suddenly, it dawned on him that the music wasn't a recording. It wasn't perfect. Every now and then, there would be a small mistake, a wrong note, and the player would stop for a fraction of a second before continuing. Also, the piano was slightly off-key.

This led him to believe that there was an actual live piano player, who had somehow entered his ship, and who was now playing a piano in a room that had not been there before. Burning with curiosity, the Doctor opened the door a little further, as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the pianist. He peered round the door. To his surprise, his eyes found a girl sitting on the piano bench, her back towards him. There was an upright piano pushed against the wall opposite the door. It had the same colour as the wooden floor.

River popped up beside the Doctor, dying to find out what was going on. She turned her head sharply towards him when she saw the girl. He could read the questions in her eyes, but he didn't want the girl to know they were there just yet, so he didn't say anything.

Instead, he turned his gaze back to the girl. She was wearing black tights, black trainers, a black cardigan and a black skirt with pink flowers. She had thick blond hair that fell just past her shoulders and a fair skin. Even though he could not see her face, somehow she reminded him of someone. He didn't know what it was. Her posture? The colour of her hair? He felt like he'd seen her before, like he recognised her, but couldn't remember when and where.

The music she played was quite beautiful. It was a not a complex melody, but it had a certain charm in its simplicity. He didn't recognize it, and he didn't see any sheet music on the piano. The melody drifted to a close, the final chord resonating through the strange room. The girl, still oblivious to River and the Doctor standing behind her, reached for a green mug placed on the piano, only to discover it was empty. She stood up from the bench and turned around, noticing them for the first time.

Her face lost the little colour it had, and she seemed too surprised to say anything. The Doctor studied her face. He hadn't seen it before, he was sure of that. Still, he felt that same feeling of recognition while he looked at her. She had dark eyebrows and big brown eyes. They contrasted oddly with her pale hair and skin.

The girl took a few steps backwards. 'You gave me a fright!' she said shakily. 'Who are you?'

'Who are you?' retorted the Doctor. 'What are you doing here?'

'What do you mean? You are in my house!' the girl exclaimed.

'Actually, your house seems to be in my house. Or part of it, at least.'

The girl looked at him in utter confusion. 'I don't understand.'

The Doctor opened the door further and to a few steps back. He took River's hand and pulled her back as well. The girl could now clearly see the control room, and, assuming she did not have a control room in her home, would be convinced part of her house had moved.

The girl stepped out of her piano room, and looked around the control room, shock washing over her face.

'Where… how… how… Where are my parents? They were in the kitchen! There were sitting just here, in the kitchen, and now they're gone! Where's the kitchen? What have you done to my house? And what have you done to my parents?'

'I don't know what happened! I didn't do anything!' the Doctor answered. 'I wasn't even here. You and your piano just sort of popped up in my ship. It wasn't my fault.'

As he said that, the door to the piano room closed with a loud bang.

'I'm sorry, I must have left the window open,' the girl said. The Doctor couldn't help but laugh at her automatic apology, which seemed so strange under the circumstances. The girl turned around and opened the door. She froze. The Doctor looked over her head to see what had happened. The room had vanished again, and the space behind the door had turned back into he hallway it used to be.

'How did that happen?' The girl didn't sound distressed, but curious. He saw a sense of wonder in her eyes, and she seemed genuinely interested in how such a thing could happen. Again, she reminded him of someone, but he couldn't remember whom.

'Doctor, what's going on?' River said under her breath.

'All right,' he said decidedly, and he paced away from the girl and the door. 'Let's figure this out. First things first: what's your name?'

'Immy,' the girl said. She cleared her throat. 'I'm Immy.'

'Immy… That's a lovely name! Sounds cheerful. Well, I'm the Doctor and this is River.'

'Hello!' River said, smiling at the girl.

'From your point of view, what physically happened?' the Doctor continued. 'What happened when you came here?'

'Nothing happened. I was just home, playing the piano, and suddenly you two were standing in my piano room and the rest of the house had vanished. I hope my parents are okay…'

'I'm sure they are,' the Doctor said, even though there was of course no way of knowing for sure. 'If you tell me were you live, I can get you home.'

'Yeah, okay…' Immy followed the Doctor to the console and told him her address.

He typed it in. 'Are you sure that's correct?'

'Of course I'm sure! What idiot can't remember their own address?' she spurted, highly affronted.

'It's just… The Tardis says it doesn't exist.'