Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS! This is a submission to my own Secret Santa Fanfic Challenge. Yes, I'm allowed to do it too! This fanfic is a secret Santa gift for one of my favourite authors on this site, LizzeXX, and is based on her original characters from her Hearts of Time Saga. It's set before they find Clara again because LizzeXX herself will probably write about Clara meeting the Time Family in one of her own chapters.
Second Disclaimer: I don't own Angel and Ayla! This is not an attempt at plagiarism, just a little something to show my support for a fantastic fellow writer. I really hope you enjoy it, LizzeXX!
The rules of the SSFC are that you pick an author on that you like, and write a Christmas themed one-shot, then surprise them with a link to the story via PM as if it's a Secret Santa gift. Pretty simple, really!
An Angelic Christmas
"Oh I wish it could be Christmas every day!" the Doctor sang as he twirled his daughter Ayla around the console room. "When the kids start singing and the bands begin to play-ay!" Ayla sang along happily. Angel stood and watched them both with a smile on her face. "Oh I wish it could be Christmas everyday! Let the bells ring out for Christmas!" her Mate and daughter sang their hearts out.
The Doctor noticed her and his hearts leapt. Angel was dressed in a long, TARDIS blue coat lined with soft white faux fur, and a scarf patched with blue and white. "Why don't you give your love for Christmas?" the Doctor finished off softly, coming over. "You look beautiful" he murmured, leaning in to kiss her, only for Angel to press a finger to his lips. "We ought to do it properly" she winked, pulling a sprig of mistletoe from her coat pocket.
Whilst her parents were kissing, Ayla sighed and sat on the jump seat, waiting. When they didn't stop kissing for a whole minute and a half she asked impatiently, "Can we go see everybody now?" Angel and the Doctor pulled apart and chuckled. "Of course darling; have you got all the presents you want to give them?" asked Angel. Ayla nodded eagerly and showed her a little wagon filled to overflowing with wrapped gifts.
"Oh! Hold on, I'll be right back" said the Doctor before rushing off. The TARDIS groaned, and Angel looked at the Time Rotor in concern. "What's wrong, Sissy?" she asked, her Sister had sounded…exasperated, for some reason. The TARDIS simply told her that she'd see, and indeed she did, when the Doctor came bouncing back into the console room wearing a cherry red Santa hat with an oversized bell jangling about on the end. "It's a Santa hat!" he exclaimed happily, "Santa hats are cool. Look, I got three to match!"
He plonked two more Santa hats on Angel and Ayla's heads. "There, perfect!" Angel shook her head and moved to the TARDIS console, brushing the white pom-pom on the end of her new headgear aside. Thankfully, only the Doctor's hat seemed to have a bell on the end. "Daddy, what does this button in my hat do?" asked Ayla, before pressing. 'Jingle Bells' began blaring out of a hidden microphone in the pom-pom. Ayla switched it off.
Angel was starting to wonder just what her hat did, and looked it over carefully. Like Ayla, hers had a tiny button inside, coloured off white so you had to really look hard to spot it. She pressed it and little lights sprang to life around the rim and inside the pom-pom. "Why…?" she asked in bewilderment. The Doctor smiled and gave her a kiss. "It felt like it would suit you, because you light up my life" he told her, before giving her another kiss. And another; and one more, just to be on the safe side.
They landed at the Pond's house, and the Doctor, who had been eager as Ayla until now, suddenly seemed hesitant. "What's wrong, love?" asked Angel. "Nothing, it's just…what if she's there?" he asked Angel. She could tell he was referring to River, and she tried to use her powers to see if River would be there. "I…I feel like she'll be there, but" she added quickly, "it won't be so bad". The Doctor sighed, but relented. He could never say no to his Mate, after all.
They were greeted at the door by Captain Jack Harkness. "Uncle Jack!" Ayla cried in delight, barrelling straight into the man's arms. "Happy Christmas, Ayla! I see your mum didn't see your dad getting these daft hats in time to stop him" Jack grinned. The Doctor pouted. Jack carried Ayla inside the house, which was full to the brim with family. Better yet, River Song was nowhere in sight. "Here Gray, catch!" Jack called to his brother, tossing Ayla into the other man's arms. Gray caught his niece deftly and tossed her up in the air, Ayla squealing with glee all the while.
Gray set Ayla down before her parents could panic too much, and she ran over to get her wagon from her mum. "I got you all presents!" she announced, going around and hugging, 'Merry Christmas'-ing, and giving gifts and cards to everyone in the room. In the end, there were only three presents with cards attached left in the wagon. "Who are they for?" asked Donna.
"They're for"- Ayla began, only to be interrupted by a flash of lightning. Jack pulled out a pistol and aimed it at River, who looked at it and then raised an eyebrow. "You brought a gun to a Christmas party? Really?" she asked in disbelief. "It's not just any gun; it's a gift from my niece" Jack retorted, before pulling the trigger. A load of sticky string sprayed all over River Song from the end of the joke pistol. She spluttered and wiped it off, frowning at Ayla of all people. "Did you just invite me here to prank me?" she asked suspiciously.
The Doctor gaped down at his daughter. "Ayla…you invited River?" he asked in disbelief. Ayla nodded and gestured to the other three presents. "The smallest one is for you, and the other two are for Aunt Amy and Uncle Rory. I wanted you to take them their gifts so they don't have to miss out" she explained to River.
River was stunned that the girl had actually got her a Christmas gift. She wouldn't put it past Angel to set her daughter up for this; the Time Lady was so manipulative, but…in a good way, she supposed. And she had promised her mother to try and be nice to the Time Family, so she relented. "Oh, alright; but just this once, understand?" she warned, picking up the gifts. "Thank you, River" Ayla said quietly. River rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you're welcome…you like books, right?"
Confused, Ayla nodded. River pulled a tattered, dull looking thick tome out of her bag. "It's about ancient cultures and things" she said vaguely, handing it to Ayla. The book was filled with the driest prose imaginable, but hey, a present was a present right? River left without another word, but Angel kept holding the Doctor's hand. She'd grabbed on to it to stop him lunging at River and throwing her out the house the moment she arrived.
"The nerve of that woman" fumed Donna. "First she barges in here without having the decency to knock, then she accuses sweet little Ayla of trying to prank her"-
"But she did agree to take Amy and Rory's presents to them, and she…sort of gave a Christmas gift to Ayla. Let's just let it slide, shall we? It's Christmas, we should be celebrating" Angel reminded them. "Exactly!" the Doctor cheered, before kneeling down to get on Ayla's level. "So Ayla, tell me- did you get your mum and I anything for Christmas?" he asked.
"Well, um, I wasn't sure what to get you. Cos you both have each other, and me, and Aunt Idris, and I wasn't sure what I could get you that would be just as special" Ayla explained, "but then Aunt Idris gave me something that she said would be really, really special. It's right here at the bottom" she said, pulling a thin, flat rectangle out of the bottom of the wagon. It was wrapped in TARDIS blue paper, the same colour as the wagon, which was why no-one had noticed it before now.
Smiling, Angel and the Doctor unwrapped their joint present together. It turned out to be a portrait of the two of them and Ayla in the TARDIS console room, wearing face paint and silly outfits. They'd been to a carnival the day this picture had been taken, Angel recalled. Ayla had got her face painted to look like a lion, or as she said, like Aslan; the Doctor was decorated like a tiger, and Angel herself looked like a leopard. There was something quite unique about this particular painting though.
"It's in 3D" Jack realised, looking over Angel's shoulder. "How does it do that?" asked Brian, who had also come to have a look. Ayla had given him a lovely potted fuchsia for his windowsill. "Time Lord art; a little slice of frozen time. It's wonderful, sweetheart" the Doctor told his daughter, before pulling her into the biggest hug he could manage.
Angel smiled at the sight, and then walked over to stand besides Brian. "Are you okay, Brian?" she asked him. "Oh, I'm fine. I just wish I'd known that Professor Song would turn up…I would have sent a gift to Rory and Amy if I had. Do…do you think they're getting on okay, without us?" he asked. Angel smiled. "I'm sure they're doing just fine. In fact, I know for certain that wherever or whenever our family members are, we're all thinking of one another tonight".