Two pairs of feet crunched through the frost covered grass. Charley could see her breath coming out in warm puffs in front of her as she and the Doctor walked through the forest of an alien planet, the night air turning her cheeks a bright pink. It was cold, but not unbearable, and the two of them were dressed warm enough to fend off the chill.
"Not much longer, I promise," said the Doctor, his gloved hand tugging on hers as he once again sped up his pace in anticipation.
"You said that half an hour ago!" She pulled him back to be walking at her side. "We can slow down a bit. At this point, a few more minutes won't hurt any. The ground is a bit slippery, and I'd rather not fall!"
The Doctor gave her a sunny smile that was so warm, it could fight away the cold. "You're going to love it, I promise."
"Don't worry; I never doubted you on that!"
The Doctor and Charley walked in silence for a few minutes more. Charley noticed the trees getting more and more dense the further they walked, until finally ,they were growing so close together that they seemed almost impassable. The Doctor suddenly halted in his movement, and she turned to him with a questioning expression.
"The clearing's right past these trees. I'd like for it to be a surprise- would you be willing to close your eyes and let me guide you?"
Charley rolled her eyes fondly, then shut them tight. "Lead away!"
The warmth of his hand seemed to seep through the layers between them as he guided her firmly by the shoulder. She had thought the ground would be a hazardous mess of tree roots, but somehow, he managed to find a clear path. After a short while, they sped up, and she knew that they had made it into the clearing. "Almost..." the Doctor muttered then softly tilted her head upwards. "There! Alright Charley, you can open your eyes."
The sight that greeted her was absolutely breathtaking. What must have been billions of stars lit the night sky like glittering gemstones, cut through the middle with a dazzling aurora that shone purple, blue, and green. "Oh, Doctor," she gasped. "It's beautiful!"
"It is, isn't it?"
"Every planet we've ever visited must be in the sky right now!"
"Not quite, but there are a lot of them," he said, smiling. She felt him squeeze her shoulder, and only then realized that he hadn't taken his hand away. "Do you know, a sky like this only happens on the night of this planet's New Year? Only once a year! And their years last 1052 Earth days, so it's quite a special sight."
"So it's New Year's Eve, then?" Charley asked.
The Doctor pulled out a pocket watch. "It's currently... ah, yes! It just turned New Year's Day."
Charley watched a shooting star streak across the sky. "Well then, Happy New Year, Doctor."
"Happy New Year to you too, Charley."
They remained still for a few minutes, just staring at the night sky. It was eventually who broke the silence between them.
"Doctor?"
He turned to look at her. "Yes?"
"If you could have a superpower, what would it be?"
"Hmm, that's a difficult one." He thought for a moment. "Being able to create force fields would be rather handy, I imagine. Invisibility, too. You know, I'm not entirely sure. What would you choose?"
Charley's gaze never wavered from the sky. "The ability to stop time." She could almost feel his eyes on her sharpen in curiosity, but he didn't say anything. "Traveling through space and time is absolutely wonderful. But every once and a while, it's really nice to just stand still. And sometimes, at moments like these, I wish I could stop time. Then it would never have to end."
Charley felt the weight fall from her shoulder, only for the Doctor to grab her hand in his. "I understand. But I also think the fleetingness of time is what makes experiences all the more precious. I suppose... we just have to make the most of moments like these, while we have them."
Charley squeezed his hand.
He squeezed hers back as they looked on into the night.