The first story in the "Flower of the TARDIS" Series
Disclaimer: None of the Doctor Who characters or stories belongs to me.
Chapter 1: Rose
The Doctor stepped into the TARDIS, a slight look of disappointment on his face. He had just left Rose with Mickey in the alleyway. The girl was unsure of whether to stay or not, but had decided to take care of her mum and Mickey. The Doctor accepted this, though hesitantly. He had been impressed by this girl, and wanted to take her on as his next companion. "Oh, well," he commented to himself, sighing. As he dematerialized the TARDIS, he looked around the TARDIS, which hummed lightly. Suddenly, the vortex appeared within the TARDIS, and a young girl fell out of it, clutching her hand to her wrist, which was adorned with a thick brown strap.
The girl doubled over, her mouth open in a silent expression of pain. "Time travel without a capsule..." She said to herself. "That's a killer"
She looked up, saw the room she was in, and frowned, confused. She had been in her home, and her mother had given her the Vortex Manipulator and sent her away. Away from the war. This... this looked like a… she wasn't quite sure where she was, actually. She looked up at the man before her. He was much taller than her. His ears and nose were large, and his dark hair was shaved close to his skull. He wore a leather jacket over a red jumper, and black pants. His eyes, like her own, were blue.
She opened her mouth, but just as she was about to speak, he did.
"I'm the Doctor," he said, frowning. "Who the hell are you, and how did you get inside my TARDIS?" He asked angrily.
Her face blanched as horror filled her. No! Not the Doctor! Anyone but him. It was obvious that he could see her shock, she knew that, but she was unable to mask it. She looked up at him, and took a small step back.
The Doctor stepped closer to the strange child. Looking at her, he could tell that she must be around ten years old, and the brown of her hair and striking blue colour of her eyes was oddly familiar, though he couldn't quite place it. Her nose and ears were small, unlike his large ears and nose. But her eyes were big, taking in everything around her with a clear amount of fear present.
At the fear sparking in her eyes, he stopped and put a kinder look on his face, or at least tried to. She was only a child. After what he had done… he couldn't harm a child. He knew he had to help her. "Are you alright?" He offered out his hand to the girl. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes, and hesitantly took his hand.
"They call me Flora," She said softly, and the Doctor smiled reassuringly down at her. He led her to the hall then paused for a moment.
"Let's get you some better clothing," He suggested with a smile.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" She asked, looking down at herself. Her clothing may be tattered and dirty, but it was all she had left of home. She wore a red dress, which had been made for her by her mother. It was a simple dress, with the shoulders flared. The sleeves fit to her skin, except for at her wrists, where they flared out. There was a darker under dress made of the same material, with a vest-like over dress in a lighter red. Her hair, which reached down to the middle of her back, had several strands in thin braids, and she wore a dark red hat with flowers and leaves embroidered on it in gold coloured thread.
Her hair was dirty and tangled, and her face and dress were covered in grime. She wasn't sure where her shoes had gone, but when she looked down as she followed this man who called himself a Doctor she could see that her feet were bare. Her dress was rather burnt and town in many places, and she had a few burns on her skin in addition to the scrapes and bruises.
"How did you get your hands on that?" the Doctor asked the young girl, gesturing to the time machine which was strapped around her wrist.
She didn't reply, staring ahead of them into the long corridors. She didn't seem phased by the twists and turns and long corridors like his companions always were, and the TARDIS engine was humming more loudly than usual, but not in an agitated way. Almost as if the old girl were trying to calm the child!
They walked to the wardrobe, which was a massive, beautiful room. There were layers upon layers of clothing on racks, with several spiral staircases leading to the higher levels.
"Take your pick," The Doctor said as he led the girl to a section with clothing that he figured was a suitable size for her. With a glance at his wristwatch, he turned to the door. "Come join me in the console room when you are ready. The TARDIS will lead you back," He said to her, then went to the door and slipped out, returning to the console room to think. Why had this child shown up? What had happened to her clothing, and how had a child with clothing in that state of disrepair gotten hold of a Vortex Manipulator? And why did the TARDIS seem to like her?
Half an hour passed, and then an hour, but the girl had not returned. Another hour passed, then two, and The Doctor began to feel worried.
He stood and headed back to the Wardrobe, hoping the girl had not left there and gotten lost. He looked in the area where he had left the girl, and a soft smile came to his face at the sight before him. The girl lay on the floor, fast asleep, surrounded by random items and pieces of clothing, including that ridiculously long scarf he had worn so many lifetimes ago. Her old dress was draped over a banister, but her hat was still on her head, since it wasn't too dirty. She was wearing a white blouse, and the light blue skirt that she had chosen was made of a soft material that draped around her and reached to her mid-shin. On her feet was a pair of trainers, with long white socks that she had pulled up to her knees. She also wore a Cardigan that was a colour of blue several shades lighter than the skirt she wore. Her hair was splayed all around her, and the hairbrush in her hand told him what she had been doing right before she fell prone to the arms of sleep.
The Doctor picked her up and gently carried her, taking her to a room that the TARDIS was kind enough to create for her. It was a plain room, with white walls and white sheets on the bed, but there was a quilt laying at the foot of the bed. The Doctor laid the quilt over the girl once he had put her on the bed. He patted her head with a smile then left the room, shutting the door. He could learn more about the child another time. Right now, she needed to sleep. And sleep she would.
~8~
A brown haired child ran through a hallway, giggling. Barely older than five, she stopped to crouch behind a small cabinet and look at the glass ball she clutched between her palms. No bigger than an apple, it held within it a stunning flower from a faraway place.
It was such a beautiful thing that the little girl would always try to take it from her Papa's desk so that she could look at it for longer.
Hearing footfalls, the child quickly clutched her prize between her hands and continued her mad dash down the corridor, only stopping when she came face-to-face with a wall.
"I'm gonna get you!" a laughing voice called at her, and she quickly spun around, her eyes meeting his as he caught up, looking a little out of breath. He was young, although not to her, and had the softest brown hair the little girl had ever touched. Oh, she loved to sit on his shoulders and play with her Papa's hair.
Her Papa's icy blue eyes locked on his target, hands at the ready as he scooped her up and held her close with one arm, using the other to tickle her belly and sides relentlessly until the child was forced to cry out for mercy.
"Papa, no!" she giggled, batting at his arm and wriggling like a little worm. She wasn't scared of falling though. Papa had the strongest grip she had ever felt, and he would never drop her, no matter how she wiggled.
He stopped his tickling, but before she even realized it, he had snatched her treasure away and held it far away from her short reach. "My flower!" she cried, grasping for it in vain.
"Sorry, Piccolo Fiore," he chuckled. "My lovely little Blossom"
"Me or the Asani?" the little girl demanded, pouting playfully. Although she knew that he sometimes referred to the flower in the glass ball as 'his blossom,' she knew that he was talking about her this time.
He simply shook his head with amusement and crouched down to release his little prisoner, slipping the treasure into his pocket where it would be safe from her. For now. She would get it back again.
"Now, then. Let's join your mother in the dining room for dinner, alright?" he suggested, bopping her on the nose with his pointer finger before standing and offering his hand. The child rapidly stood and latched onto her father's hand eagerly, giggling as they walked down the corridor, happy together.
~8~
The Doctor stood in the console room a few hours later, thinking of Rose, the young woman he had met in London. He wondered whether she would like to join him in the TARDIS. She had certainly seemed like she wanted to. But there was that boy. Ricky the Idiot, he scoffed mentally. He was keeping Rose tied down. But perhaps there was another thing he could say, to convince her to travel with him. He grinned maniacally and ran to the column, pressing buttons and setting the TARDIS down just moments after it left Rose and Mickey in that alley. He ran to the door, and stuck his head out with the grin still on his face.
"By the way," He said, looking directly at Rose. "Did I mention, it also travels in time?"
With that he slipped back into the TARDIS but left the door ajar, waiting inside for the girl he knew would follow. She ran inside, a broad smiled on her face, eager for the adventures about to face her.
A/N: Hey there, readers. My first attempt at a Doctor Who fiction, bit nervous about how it's going to turn out, but I'm trying. I will be updating at (hopefully) regular intervals. I've only finished this chapter so far, but I wanted to test the waters! It'll probably be a few months before I post the next chapter, unfortunately, as I want to get a solid buffer ready for when I actually start updating regularly :D
Teaser:
Who is this mysterious child? Where did she come from and how did she get a Vortex manipulator? And why is she afraid of the Doctor? Answers to these questions upcoming, next time on A Surprising Discovery, with "The End of the World!"