Amelia's tousled red hair fell partially onto her face. She was fast asleep in her twin bed with its dark-orange striped comforter and its abundance of pillows in every shade of the rainbow, curled up at the center as if it were a nest. The twenty-one-year-old young woman had a tiny, dreaming smile on her lips as the painted stars on the deep blue walls seemed to glow faintly.
A tap came at the door, quiet and hesitant. "Amy?" came the soft whisper.
"Mmmm…?" the red haired Scot mumbled, half waking up. "Wha? Wha's it, Doctor?"
The door opened slightly. A dim light shone into Amy's room, partially blocked by the outline of a young-looking man with floppy dark hair. "Amy, come and see."
Amy sat up, yawning. "Doctor, I was asleep."
The Doctor smiled apologetically. "Yeah, sorry about that. But you've got to come and see this, Amy, you don't want to miss it."
She got out of bed reluctantly. "What are you even doing up, Doctor?" she queried, annoyed.
"Uh. Nothing, I guess. Just stumbled across this, and trust me, you have to see it." The Doctor reached for Amy's hand. She grasped his, grudgingly, and allowed him to lead her down the oddly shaped TARDIS corridor towards (she assumed) the console room. Sure enough, the familiar orange and blue pulsing lights greeted her as they stepped along. The Doctor pulled her to the TARDIS doors. "You might want to cover your eyes at first," he said. "It's a bit bright."
"What is? Doctor?" Amy protested, confused. But he took no noticed and opened the doors regardless.
The most colorful display of lights Amy had ever seen greeted her eyes. Slightly overwhelmed by the light's intensity, Amy had to look away quickly. Her eyes fell on the Doctor's face. The boyish features reflected the colors, the ancient eyes gleamed, and a sort of awe and wonder showed in his expression. Amy smiled and, squinting, turned back to the outside.
Bright greens, vibrant teals, pale magentas and glowing golds shimmered and swirled in a cloud of gases, lit throughout by a bright white star, seemingly as large as Earth's star and about as far away from the nebulae as the sun from the Earth, too.
"Doctor, it's…it's lovely," Amelia managed.
"Isn't it, Pond?" the Doctor agreed. "I've traveled for so long, but the universe still manages to amaze me. Isn't that wonderful?"
"It is," Amy replied. The lights, while beautiful, were starting to hurt her eyes. "Sorry, Doctor, could we close the doors now, please?"
"Of course, Pond." The Doctor hesitated a couple of seconds before shutting the door, though, taking one last glimpse at the universe's artwork. He knew that he would never see it again after he closed the door, even with a time machine. This alignment only happened once, and that was it. Sure, there would be other alignments and sights and nebulae and stars similar, but this one, this exact view, could only be seen one time, and then he would lose it forever.
"How did you find it?" Amy asked curiously. "And why weren't you asleep?"
The Doctor avoided her second question. "Oh, I was just drifting, and it came up on the monitor. The TARDIS told me about it, didn't you, girl?" he added, patting the console affectionately. His ship gave a purr and a tremor in response. "I thought I'd share it with you. That's half the fun, you know. More than half, really." He glanced sideways for Amy's approval.
She raised her eyebrows. "I appreciate that you showed me this, but you didn't answer my other question." The Doctor remained silent. "Don't you sleep, Doctor?"
"Not as much as humans," he said finally.
"But some?"
"Not usually."
"Shouldn't you?"
"Suppose so," he muttered, not meeting her gaze.
"Then…why don't you?" Amy genuinely didn't understand.
"Pond," the Doctor said, stubborn voice melting into something else, something Amy couldn't quite identify. He fidgeted with his bow tie. "Oh, Amelia. It doesn't matter, don't worry about me. You go back to sleep; sleep as long as you want. We'll go somewhere amazing when you wake up."
That wasn't an answer, but Amy didn't press any further just then. "Okay. Good night, Doctor. I'll see you soon." She turned and walked back to her bedroom, collapsing again into the soft, warm embrace of her numerous pillows and blankets, falling back asleep almost instantly with the ghosts of the colors still dancing on her eyelids.
Eagerly, as soon as Amy wouldn't be able to see the light and complain, the Doctor pulled the door open again, only to have his hearts fall in disappointment. Something, or several things, had shifted, and the star no longer shone directly through the nebula. The colors were still pretty and the light still bright, but they no longer combined with the dancing arrays of the interacting light particles like they had before. Sadly, the Doctor closed the blue wooden door and turned away. As if trying to cheer him up, the TARDIS's lights brightened and danced for him. He smiled up at her.
"Thanks, but not now, old girl. Amy really is right. I should try to get some sleep for once." The TARDIS dimmed the lights and hummed comfortingly. "I know, believe me. I'm not looking forward to the dreams, either. Not so close to regenerating. This body's still trying to get used to everything I've done before. You know that, love. Try and keep the nightmares away, eh, dear?" The Doctor sat down on the hard glass floor and, ignoring how uncomfortable it was, lay all the way down, pressed next to the base of the console with his face rested on laid together hands. The lights dimmed once more until they were almost out, but tiny bits of colors still gleamed through. A warm breeze came out of nowhere and settled in a pocked over the Doctor. He sighed and closed his eyes. The colors went out.
Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it. For those of you following my series of stand alone one-shots of each of the Doctors and their companion(s) in New Who, yeah, I skipped Ten alone. I couldn't think of anything. Sorry! If you have suggestions, I'd love to hear them and I'm still willing to write one and publish it out of chronological order. For those of you not familiar with my previous works, hi! If you're interested, the first in the series is called The Red Bicycle, then Faith and Trust, Nobody Was Done Dancing, Admit Defeat, Saving One Life, and The Diamond Reefs of Kataa Flo Ko. The next one is entitled The Quickening of the Winds.
(Without this note, the story was exactly 1000 words, and I did not do that intentionally. Just thought that was interesting. Thanks again for reading.)