First, consider this disclaimed. I got inspired this holiday season, and here it is. I never really connected with the ninth doctor until December, but now I think he's the sort of man I want to be my uncle. I want everyone to be my uncle, of course... :P enjoy, E.I.

A Rose-y Christmas with Nine

"Well, Rose, where'd you like to go this time?" the Doctor asked with a grin, fingers hovering over the navigation keys. Rose's face scrunched up a bit, thinking.

"Actually, Doctor," she said, enunciating the word "doctor" the way only she could. "I was thinking of something a little more… normal."

"Normal?" he replied with a bit of confusion.

"Yeah," she played with a few of the TARDIS's controls, stepping away when the Doctor batted her hand away. "Maybe, I dunno, a holiday or something. Humans, instead of weird-looking, want-to-kill-us aliens?"

"Really?" said a surprised Doctor. "The fearless, daring Rose Tyler, wants to do something normal." A little smile appeared as he twiddled his toggles and set a course. Rose noticed the mischievous glint in that familiar face, and walked quickly around the TARDIS console.

"What? Where are we going? What did you do?" As the TARDIS started to jerk through the Vortex, Rose kept attempting to get the Doctor to disclose what he'd done. She even spent a few minutes staring at the screen above the console, hoping that it might show something in English; Gallifreyan seemed to be the only language appearing.

After about ten minutes, the TARDIS's usual materialization sounds sang out.

"Is it safe to go out?" Rose asked, looking around. The Doctor just kept smiling.

With a few more furtive glances, she inched her way to the door, and opened it a crack. She looked at the Doctor, confused.

"But… that's a Christmas tree lot."

"Yep!" the Doctor said, maintaining his slightly smug smile. "But not just any Christmas tree lot. We are here, at the first truly successful human colony in another solar system. And this is their very first bunch of Christmas trees! Well? Aren't you going to pick one out?"

"We're getting one?" Rose asked incredulously. "We are going to get a Christmas tree for the TARDIS?" The Doctor laughed.

"Yeah! Something small—maybe a meter high—to go by the chair next to the console." Rose smiled a bit at his enthusiasm.

"Ah, there's that old smile back!" joked the Doctor. "Well, go on, then."

Just before heading out the TARDIS door, Rose turned.

"Um, Doctor?" she said.

"Yes, Rose?"

"You do have money to pay for it, right?" The Doctor just smiled even more.

Rose and the Doctor were laughing their heads off, mugs of eggnog held close to them.

"And his face! When you said... you said..." Rose was nearly hysterical with laughter, bent over her cup, shaking.

"'Keep the change'!" The Doctor could barely blurt out the quote, he was so filled with mirth.

"Well, then." Rose tried to get a straight face on, only partially successfully. "What's the point of a Christmas tree, Doctor, without decorations? And, I don't know, presents?"

"I'm no the best with gift giving, Rose, I'm warning you. But decorations, now that I can help you with." The Doctor leaned in and pointed, indicating the stairs that lead into the depths of the TARDIS. "The last time I decided to decorate, all I had to do was go up those stairs, turn right at the first landing, then another right immediately. I went into the second door on the left, and it was a cupboard full of fantastic stuff to put on a Christmas tree! Of course, the TARDIS is tricky, she never wants to make it easy, especially for my companions, so I'd probably try to reverse what I did last time."

"Aha,"Rose stood up and looked at the stairs. "But the stairs don't go down." The Doctor frowned, his large ears drooping a bit.

"Then I suppose I'll just have to tell her to be nice." He reached over their fold up table and started using the complicated controls.

"And you're sure the TARDIS will lead me to the right place?" Rose seemed a bit skeptical.

"This is me we're talking about, Rose. Of course I'm not sure."

Rose grinned, and set off up the stairs.

Twenty minutes later, Rose came running down the stairs, a child's wagon bumping down after her.

"What kind of things do you keep back there, Doctor?" she asked a bit breathlessly. The Doctor just started unloading boxes of Christmas stuff from the wagon, mumbling an indistinct "well...".

"Doctor! There was this crashing sound, and I heard something growl. I couldn't see anythin', so I just ran! What was it?" Rose grabbed the boxes out of the Doctor's hands. The Doctor's eyes grew wide.

"Oh. Oh! Back in a few, get started on the tree!" he yelled, pulling his sonic screwdriver out of his leather jacket as he sprinted up the stairs. Nervously, Rose removed all the decorations from the cart, parking it in front of the staircase as a little barricade. One could never be too careful. She searched through the boxes until she found one full of dozens of colours of tinsel and garlands. Finding a thin brass coloured one that she liked, Rose sat next to her pretty little tree and slowly wound it around and through the tiny branches. When she looked through the three boxes entirely dedicated to ornaments, she laughed to herself, finding that not one of them did not have at least a little blue on it. TARDIS blue, to be exact.

A loud clatter echoed down the stairs.

"FANTASTIC!" The Doctor came running down the steps, jumping the last couple. Rose started to her feet.

"Doctor! What happened? Are you alright? What happened to your jacket?!" Rose eyed the Doctor for injuries, then gave him a warm hug. His eyes were fiery, and he was still breathing hard and grinning broadly. His leather jacket had been ripped, as if by giant claws, but he didn't seem hurt. "What was that? Why was it on the TARDIS? Is it gone?" The Doctor took her shoulders gently.

"I am fine. It got out. It was angry at me for locking it up. I never completely figured out what it was, which was why I kept it on the TARDIS. And, no, it is not gone, but it is locked up again. I told the TARDIS to keep it far away from any of my friends. I hope she won't be put out at me." This was, in true Doctor fashion, all said in one breath.

"But what about this tree, then?" He looked at Rose happily. "Do you have any particular plans for it?"

"Well," Rose replied a bit cheekily. "I think it might turn out a bit blue."