A/N: Happy New Year! Over break, I watched a certain Doctor Who episode and I heard the Doctor say a certain thing and couldn't resist writing a story about it. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll say more at the ending note.
Disclaimer: My New Year's resolution is to acquire Doctor Who, but at the moment I do not own it ...
The Last Room
"So, Doctor, where are we?" Rose asked excitedly.
"I don't know – random coordinates," the Doctor replied. "However, I know a way to find out ..."
With a happy squeal, Rose raced for the doors of the TARDIS. That was one thing the Doctor … loved … about her – everything new excited her.
Rose opened the doors and she and the Doctor stepped outside. They were in a desert and it was nighttime, a beautiful sky filled with stars showing.
"I don't recognize this. Doctor?" Rose asked.
The Doctor held out his finger and then licked it. "Earth," he surmised. "The Middle East. Around – oh, I'd say, the year 1. Give or take."
"Give or take how much?"
"... about five years ..."
Rose laughed. "Come on, Doctor. Let's find out what's going on in the Middle East around the year 1, give or take." And with that, they set off towards the village, which they could see in the distance, hand in hand.
When they finally reached the village, they were surprised that it was absolutely packed with people who all seemed to be in a rush. After a couple of tries, they were finally able to stop a man to ask him some questions.
"I'm sorry, my … cousin and I got lost and we're not actually sure what town we're in. Could you tell us?" the Doctor asked.
"Cousin?" Rose whispered to him questioningly.
"It's more acceptable than companion," he replied under his breath before returning his attention to the man, who had started to speak.
"You are in the city of David."
"Bethlehem?" the Doctor exclaimed as a nagging suspicion began to form in the back of his mind. "Um, sorry, don't mean to sound stupid, but why exactly are all these people here?"
"Where are you from that you don't know what is going on?"
"Uh- I live in a cave; we're hermits ..." the Doctor lied as he pulled on his ear.
The man looked at heaven and muttered something that sounded like a prayer to be delivered from the ignorant gentiles. Then he explained: "Caesar Augustus has decreed that the whole world shall be enrolled and so these people have come here to be enrolled. Excuse me," the man finished as he walked away, sending back offended looks as he took in the whole of Rose's outfit. which showed a good bit of skin from the back.
"No!" the Doctor exclaimed unbelieving. "No! We can't be- oh! This is brilliant, Rose! Absolutely brilliant! This is history in the making. Rose, we have got to get a room!"
"What? Why? I don't-" Rose protested, confused.
"You'll find out- oh, this is brilliant!"
After a couple of tries, they finally found an inn that was not full. After securing room, Rose seemed to change her mind about the whole situation as she looked around at their meager surroundings. "I don't mean to sound stingy, Doctor, but is it really necessary that we stay here on the 'front lines'?"
"Rose Tyler, I'm surprised at you! We're about to witness one of the biggest events in Earth history and you're worried about a little bit of dirt? This is nothing compared to that restaurant we visited on Delleeta."
"First of all, Doctor, I don't even know what's going on here. And second of all, I don't mind the dirt. It's the giant rats I care about," Rose finished with a shiver.
A couple of seconds later, there was a knock at the door of the inn. The innkeeper opened the door and the Doctor and Rose caught a glimpse of a man and a donkey that was carrying a very pregnant girl. The man asked if there was any room in the inn for him and his pregnant wife.
The innkeeper replied, almost sadly, that the last room had just been taken.
The man begged the innkeeper to reconsider. "Are you sure, sir? My wife is to give birth soon and must get out of the cold; there is no room in any of the other inns."
"I'm sorry – we are full," the innkeeper said as he started to close the door. Then he seemed to have an idea and reopened the door. "If you can't find anywhere else, I have a stable outside of town that you are welcome to stay in. It's not much, but it will keep you out of the cold."
"Thank you, sir," the man said with a small smile before leading the donkey bearing his wife away.
After the innkeeper closed the door, the Doctor looked at Rose who was standing completely still, shocked. Then, she slowly turned to him. "Tha- that was-" she stammered. "No, it couldn't be! That would mean- but, that was! No, no, no! I can't believe it! We're part of the nativity!"
Knowing the Doctor, his reply was rather predictable - "Oh, yes!"
Now that they knew exactly when they were, the Doctor wanted to hurry out to the stable as quickly as they could. Fortunately, Rose managed to convince him to wait a couple of hours before they went out there. The Doctor may have forgotten about the fact that Mary still had to give birth, but Rose hadn't and she wasn't going to make labor any harder for the girl.
So, a couple of hours after the Doctor and Rose had first seen the famous couple, they finally made it to the stable outside of town. It surprised Rose.
When she had pictured it as a little girl, she'd always assumed that the whole place would have been filled with light. That humble stable would have been flooded with it and it would have made everything shine like gold. Somehow, even the dirt would have been gone. Of course, when she'd grown up, she'd known that the stable would have been nothing like that. But deep down, she supposed she still thought you'd be able to tell, just by looking at the stable, that great events were happening there.
You couldn't. As the Doctor and Rose walked down the hill, the stable looked just like a regular, old, filthy home for animals, Rose felt a pang of something – pity, perhaps – for the poor Mary, who had had to give birth in this squalor.
But when they peeked their heads into the stable, Rose could see that her pity was wasted. A slumbering infant lay peacefully in a manger and his mother, who was kneeling down beside him, looked down upon him, her face full of more joy and love than Rose had ever seen before. Joseph stood and watched over both of them, his face full of contentedness. Rose had never seen anything more beautiful in her entire life.
Then, the Doctor stepped forward, to stand over the manger, and Mary looked up at him questioningly. The Doctor gazed down at the baby Jesus with a strange look on his face that Rose vowed to ask him about later.
"Your son will grow up to be a great man," the Doctor said softly to Mary.
The young mother spoke to him: "You do not believe in him." It was not a question – it was a statement of fact.
The Doctor was almost sad. He of all people could use someone to believe in and out of all the men, in all of time, this one might very well be worth believing in. But he couldn't. How could this little child be God? "No, I don't. But he'll be great all the same, and- and this is an honor."
Mary just looked son at her son with quiet pride. Then, Rose stepped forward.
"Um- may I hold him?" Rose asked softly. She didn't know what prompted her to do so – he was going to grow up to be one of the most famous men ever – but still … there was just something about him.
The Doctor looked at Rose, surprised, but Rose ignored him and accepted the slumbering infant from his mother.
He was a newborn, so he was still kind of pink and wrinkly, but Rose thought he was beautiful. He was so tiny though! Rose found it hard to believe that this little bundle would someday inspire billions of people.
Rose's thoughts were interrupted by a yawn from the small baby – he was waking up. She decided to give him back to his mother, but before she could do so, his eyes opened and locked onto hers. She looked into those deep eyes and was filled with wonder at how the entire course of the world had been changed by this small family in a stable.
As soon as Rose returned Jesus to his mother's arms, the Doctor and Rose took their leave and began the walk back to the TARDIS.
After a couple of minutes of silence, the enormity of what they had just done sunk in. "Wow," was all Rose could say.
"Yeah," the Doctor agreed in the same kind of stunned voice.
A couple of minutes later, Rose again broke the silence. "Doctor?"
"Hmm?"
"Earlier, when we first came into the stable, you had a strange look on your face. Why?"
The Doctor was silent for a minute. Then he responded, "Think about who that kid is going to be! I mean, I don't believe he's God, but he's probably the greatest man ever born on your planet. I mean, talk about a man for peace!" the Doctor finished excitedly, as was his way.
"I guess there is a reason why this is always the most peaceful day of the year." By this time, they had reached the TARDIS and Rose turned back around for one last look at Bethlehem. Then, she gasped. "Doctor! Look!"
The Doctor quickly turned around and immediately saw what Rose was looking at. There in the sky over Bethlehem was a star that seemed ten times brighter and bigger than all the others. "Now that- that's brilliant. The star's real! Of course, the illusion of its size and brilliance is caused by the current location of Jupiter and this a phenomenon that occurs every millennium, but still – the fabled star of Bethlehem isn't a … a, um, a fable!"
Rose laughed in delight and looked back up at the sky.
The Doctor looked at her. Earlier, when he had been thinking about having someone to believe in, he had forgotten about one thing. He had Rose and if he believed in anyone, it was her. Contentedly, he took Rose's hand and joined her in looking up at the stars.
Two years later (for the Doctor) and two thousand (for the rest of the universe), on a failing space cruise liner above Earth …
"This Christmas thing, what's it all about?" Astrid asked, incredibly confused.
"Long story." the Doctor replied. He continued, full of nostalgia: "I should know – I was there. I got the last room."
A/N: So, the ending is what inspired me to write this story - yes, it's really from "The Voyage of the Damned". Yes, this is a Christmas story, but we're still withing the 12 days of Christmas so I'm not posting this late. I'm not! I personally am Christian, so I don't believe the way the Doctor does, but even though he wouldn't have believed in Jesus, I do think that the Doctor would've admired him. For readers of Word of the Day, I will update very soon ... I just ran into a mile long line of writer's blocks ... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Please review!