A soft whistle blew placidly through the town as the gusty wind gently calmed for the first time in days. The annual snow blizzards were finally over, and the children of Christmas were free to play outside once again. Only one of the residents of the town really knew what was going on. Why they were being attacked, what the question was and the answer to it. This man was the oncoming storm, the predator, the bringer of darkness, the Marshal of Mercy and now the protector. This man was The Doctor.
There wasn't a single soul in the town that was not grateful for the Doctor's contribution to defending Christmas. Parties were held daily and the local puppeteer now made his money from nothing more than performing stories of The Doctor fighting monsters. Nobody had worked out the connection that as soon as the Doctor arrived, so did trouble, but as long as he kept them safe he would always be remembered by the folk. At the time, nobody knew that he would outlive all of the current members of the society, but this great man from Gallifrey had gallantly defeated Sontarans, Judoon, Draconians and creatures from the darkest depths of the universe, giving him an unforgettable reputation amongst both the descendants and ascendants alike.
Many months had now passed since the Time Lord had arrived (so many that The Doctor had lost count) and day after day more and more aliens tried new ways to sneak past the mainframe above. Today, a small troop of shady figures marched up along the closest hill and towards the merry little town, not afraid of being detected in the slightest. It was only a matter of minutes before The Tower's bell had been rung and The Doctor marched out in his usual fashion, dressed in his standard arrangement of bow tie, waistcoat and long jacket, triumphantly marching through the town and towards the approaching enemy. Snow flakes brushed his face and on his clothes as he walked forwards without hesitation. As he flicked his quiff to the left, (clearing out the frozen water particles that flew lightly down to the snow-topped ground) the Doctor began to Squint his eyes slightly. He could make out the female like appearance of his confronters slowing down and almost panting for breath. He sped up his pace. Even if they were threatening him they needed help. He was a Doctor after all, and as he paced towards the suffering attackers, he remembered his promise. Never cruel or cowardly. Never give up, never give in. This was no exception. As one of the advancers collapsed, the towns protector quickly reached for his sonic screwdriver and flicked it open, rushing towards the weak party ahead. As he cleared the snow from his hazy eyes, he recognised the netted armour as none other than that of Homo-Reptilia.
"Silurians! What are you doing here? You should be back on Earth somewhere warm, not on a freezing planet!" He rushed over to one of the collapsed troops and scanned her with the green light of the sonic while the effect of the cold spread to the rest of the group, causing others to collapse and rest on the ground. As The Doctor cradled the Silurian in his arms to help with her strength, she attempted to raise her disk-shaped heat-ray towards her healer, but just couldn't find the strength. Checking the medical results on the screwdriver, the man continued to speak. "You're cold blooded, you'll freeze to death in minutes! Mind you, nice idea. You clearly didn't show up on the mainframes' heat signatures, but still..."
The Doctor ran over to another collapsed warrior. Their green, scaled skin was covered in snow and ice which the doctor quickly heated up with the sonic. The Silurian below him spoke in a hushed, whispered and icy tone.
"Are you the...Doctor that the me-sss-age talks off?"
"Yes I am" sighed the Doctor, "And don't worry! I'm not going to answer the question! If I were do you really think I would have left it this long?".
There was a pause. The reptile contemplated this for a while and The Madman no-longer-with-a-box retracted back into a standing position, reaching deep into his jacket. Seconds later, his hand emerged with several white pills in it's palm. "Take one of these each. They make the body's systems believe they are warmer than they actually are, tricking your brain into giving you more mental and physical strength. Should keep you warm enough to get back to your ship and leave this planet alone. This isn't your fight!"
The Silurians looked confused.
"You're not going to kill u-sss?" Why?"
"Because that's not what I do. I'm a protector, not a fighter." And with that, he handed out the pills and casually stomped back to his workshop at the bell-tower.
The Wooden door slammed shut seconds after the old yet physically youthful man sat down in his chair. He still couldn't comprehend after a millennia why some species would get involved with him when it would cost them their lives. An electronic voice echoed from the corner of the room.
"Welcome back, Doctor."
The Doctor sighed. "Handles, why do life forms act so stupid sometimes?"
"Processing data..."
"I came up against a load of Silurians today, and already that lot up their have come up with some stupid ideas of how to kill me! Can't they figure it out? I'M NOT GOING TO ANSWER THE QUESTION!". There was a long silence as the Doctor sat back in his chair.
"I have developed a query" came the voice of the severed cyber-head. The Doctor waddled over to his electronic companion and picked him up carefully like a cat, carrying him over to his seat. "Why do you not keep the less passive of the attackers to assist you. Logic suggests that after a while, the less aggressive of the enemies will have returned to their homes, and you will only be left with the most aggressive who will be willing to find more advanced ways to kill you." The Doctor smiled warmly, slowly stroking the metal casing of the head with his thumb.
"Perhaps you're right mate, perhaps you're right..."
There was a knock at the door.
Dragging himself up to answer the door, The Doctor continued his conversation with Handles. "How long have I been here handles? I lost count months ago..."
"Processing data..."
A mirror was resting sturdily on the wall next to the door. The Doctor checked himself over, fixing his bow tie and brushing his hair when suddenly...
"Handles, I've got a grey hair!"
The Door knocked again. "Alright, alright! I'm coming..."
As the door flung open ,The Doctor was surprised to find that there was nobody meeting his eye line. Instead, he looked down to see a young girl, no older than five, holding a drawing up to him. It depicted four stickmen on a blank canvas. The one on the far left was clearly meant to be him, with a large bow tie on his neck labelled "kool". The Doctor Smiled at this. The other three were green with patches of grey which he guessed where the Silurians from about an hour ago. At the top was the girls name in bold yellow crayon "Anna-Bella".
"Thank you Anna-Bella..." The Doctor said, taking the drawing from her. Another male adult voice came from just around the corner.
"No, thank you Doctor."
As the Doctor turned around, he saw the older man talking to his daughter, informing her several times about how late (or indeed early at this hour) it was. After Anna-Bella had left, the father looked around, luckily missing the open crack in the side of the wall. "This is a nice place you have here" He concluded.
"Really? I thought it could be much better..."
Swiftly, The Doctor pranced along the room, finding some home-made green-tac. Of course he could have made it blue, but that's just boring. Finding a place on the wall, The Doctor stuck Anna-Bella's drawing onto the surface, the first of the many hundreds to come.
"Want to go to the roof?" said the man.
"Hmm?"
"It's nearly dawn, it only last's a few minutes."
"Oh," The Doctor replied, "I don't think I've actually seen dawn before. I've just been cooped up in here all day."
The father smiled in the light that he was finally talking to the protector of Christmas himself, resting in the old wood and stone tower that he called home.
The floorboards squeaked as he slowly and shyly pressed forwards.
"It's beautiful sir, it really is".
The Doctor scoffed in disapproval.
"Oh please don't call me sir! I don't deserve anything like that." There was another pause. Almost a minute passed when the silence was broken.
"Processing data..."
The Doctor coughed to break the awkwardness of the situation, then looked up and smiled.
"Sure, why not. Let's go to the roof" and with that, The centuries old man dashed off to the stairs, climbing up to the clock tower roof...
The lights in the sky twinkled like sparks crackling in a fire. The Doctor knew that most of those lights were not actually stars, but rather space ships in orbit, ready to attack. He dared not ruin the sight for the man following him briskly. They both sat down, watching in different directions. Slowly and carefully, the male corrected The Doctors gaze. The time traveller slid his jacket off, clearing out the pockets starting first with the sonic screwdriver. He started a gentle conversation to try and keep the light mood going. "So... what's your name?"
"Oh, Um, Gerald"
"Nice to meet you um-Gerald. You have a nice little girl down there" he said, pointing across the landscape of the town below.
"Thanks..." The silence crept up on them again as they waited for the light to rise over the hills. "Where are you from?"
"The planet Gallifrey, I lost it a long time ago... I started travelling you see, in my TARDIS, across the universe. Back in the good old days...
"What stopped you?"
"It hasn't come back yet! And the fact that I have to stay here and protect Christmas as well of course, but I'm worried for the old girl."
After removing a now-mouldy Toffee apple, rotten Jelly Babies, a spare bow tie and a hammer from his jacket, the next item pulled out rather surprised The Doctor. It bore a resemblance to a leather wallet, except the leather was all torn in age and ripped at the corners. Inside, the blank card of the Psychic Paper was creased and bent and probably now unresponsive to thought patterns.
Better get that fixed up when I get the TARDIS back...
He began to stare out, loosing connection to the world. He remembered the old days with Amy and Rory and Clara. Back on Earth with Jenny, Vastra, Strax... and even the older days with Susan, Jamie, Sarah, Romana, Tegan, Peri, Ace, Lucy, Rose, Donna...
Gerald shook The Doctor's shoulder, snapping him back into reality. The Doctor continued. "Still, I haven't given up hope. Maybe one day soon. I really need to get used to that truth field. I don't even really know how long I've been here..."
"Wait, you don't know?" Gerald exclaimed, shocked.
"Know what?"
"Well the whole town knows it, that's why we've been holding parties today! It's been exactly one year since you first arrived!"
And precisely on cue, the sun began to rise. Light began to cut through the hills and glisten on the white patches of snow that covered the valley. The only heat the land would see for hours. The streaks of light hit the Doctors face for the first time in a whole year. A new beginning, a new start. The old days were nothing but a memory, The Doctor could see this now. A sight to look back on every now and then but no longer a reality. The TARDIS was gone, Clara was safe and Christmas needed defending from whatever was coming next. This was The Doctor's new life.
Gerald talked with golden yellow streaks hitting his flesh. "Happy new year Doctor."
"Yeah, happy new year to you too mate..."
And in that instance, both The Doctor and Gerald forgot all their troubles. The Doctor now knew what it was he was protecting, and Gerald knew that he was protected. The ancient Time Lord of Gallifrey opened his arms, pulling Gerald in. For that instance, all in the world was right.
"Calculation complete." bursted out Handles. "You have been on Trenzalore for one year..."
And then The Doctor remembered. This was Trenzalore, his planet-wide deathbed. Taking one last glance at the battered psychic paper, The Doctor headed back to his workshop, and kneeled down by the open crack.
"Doctor Who indeed..."