(The 10th Doctor, after his final goodbye with Donna Noble)
The Doctor sat with his back to the front doors of the TARDIS. Its gentle hummi9ng was the only sound. The Doctor buried his face in his hands. I hope she's okay.
For the past six months, Donna had been the only thing on his mind. He couldn't rid himself of the guilt.
"Rights, that's it! I'm going on a holidays!" He burst to life. The Doctor ran, as his usual bubbly self, to the control panel and began setting the co- ordinates. The blue box settled in a small alleyway in London. The Doctor locked the TARDIS and set off into London.
It was summer time and kids were everywhere; the holidays had begun. The Doctor shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and began strolling through the streets. Maybe I'll give Queeny a visit. Buckingham Palace was rising before him. Groups of tourists were clustered outside the strong black gates, gaping at the sheer royalty and magnificence of the 'house of Great Britain'. The tour guide called something and the group moved on again.
As the Doctor neared the big gates he noticed there was still someone there, a little girl. He stopped beside her and looked through the gates. "Nice, isn't it," the small girl whispered. "Oh yes!" the Doctor grinned gingerly. The girl shifted her feet and something caught the Doctor's eye. He turned to look at her. She bore a head of flaring foxy hair, tide into two small pigtails. The Doctor smiled, affectionately. She turned and looked up at him. "Hi," she smiled. "Hi." "I like your shoes," she pointed. The Doctor looked down at his white Converse and smiled. She pointed at her own feet. She wore a smaller, green pair. "Ah- ha! Great minds think alike!" She giggled. "I have to go. Bye mister!"
The Doctor sauntered back to the TARDIS. He just crawled in the door when a spark went flying from the controls. "What!" The Doctor sprinted up to investigate. "What! No! No! No! The time clock!" The TARDIS was still suffering a few damages and the time clock had been damaged. The Doctor no longer had any control over what century or even year it sent him to. He began fiddling around, in an attempt to fix the problem. "Right, let's see now!" The TARDIS began to move, the Doctor clutched onto the rails for support. The TARDIS groaned and roared. It shivered and rattled, finally the movements seized and all became calm once more.
The Doctor ran to the door. He had arrived in the exact same spot, in the London alleyway. He rushed out and down the streets, looking for a newspaper or something with a date on it. He caught a glimpse of a news agents when suddenly he collided with someone and together they tumbled to the ground. "Oi! Watch it!" The Doctor sat up, in a daze. All he could see was orange. His sight came back into focus and a face and body formed. It was a young girl of around 13 years. "Oh sorry, here let me help you." Together the two gathered up her schoolbooks and placed them back into her bag. "Don't I know you?" She raised an eyebrow. Her eyes fell on his white Converse. "It is you! Sorry, but have you ever seen Buckingham Palace? You probably don't even remember me but-" "Green Converse girl, no! Really? No!" "Ya, that's ,me! That was me!" "Oh boy, you've grown up haven't you!" "I'm Jenny," she smiled. The Doctor grinned back at her. "The Doctor, pleased to meet you." Jenny took the Doctor's outstretched hand and smiled. "The Doctor? That's not s name, that's a profession." "What, of course it's a name, it's my name!" he winked. "So, the Doctor-" "No, no just Doctor." "But you just said-" "I know, I know but just say 'Doctor'." Jenny raised an eyebrow, crossed her arms and put her weight onto one leg. "Are you done?" The Doctor smiled with embarrassment and rubbed the back of his head. "Yes, sorry." "You know, if you had just given me a proper, real name, we'd have none of this confusion but as my nan always says 'boys will be boys… dumb and complicated." This time she winked.
The two of them began to walking. "So tell me, Jenny, what year is it?" "What is this, a pop quiz?" "Curiosity." "Curious of what, to know whether or not I'm as dumb as a turnip?" "No, to know what year it is." She stopped and turned to face him. Her eyebrow was raised once again and left hand was positioned perfectly on her hip. "What are you, some kind of time traveller or something?" she joked. "Traveller! Time tr- goodness what do they be teaching ye kids in schools these days! No, no I'm a time Lord!" Jenny's mouth dropped. "I knew it! I knew Gramps didn't make up that silly old story! Silly old man!" "What?" Just then Jenny's phone went off in her pocket. "Okay, Mother! I'm coming! Fish and chips again? Yes of course I want the curry sauce, you ask me this every Friday! Okay, okay, hold your horses. I'M COMING!" she shoved the phone back into her pocket, in aggravation. "I've got to go. Bye… Doctor!" And she hurried off down the street. She still never told me what year it is.
The Doctor stood there for a moment, watching the passer-bys; their clothes, hairstyles, listening into snips of their conversations, trying to figure it out himself. In the end he tried estimating Jenny's age and then adding it to the year when he had first met her. If he was correct, he should be in some year around 2012.
The Doctor hurried off back to the TARDIS. As he rushed back down through the streets though, he couldn't help knocking that irritating itch of loneliness. He missed Donna's non- stop moaning and boldness. He almost felt sick as he saw his beautiful blue box and it came to him that he would have to enter it alone again. The vastness inside made it even more lonely. A few mere sparks ignited from the time- clock. The Doctor hurried round, fiddling with a few sticks here, pushing a few buttons there. The TARDIS once again began to moan and growl and beam and rattle. The Doctor clung to the rail as it flew through time. And again the TARDIS landed in the same alleyway. This time it was Christmas. The Doctor grabbed his long kaki coat and headed out into snowy London.
He stuffed his cold hands into his trouser pockets and began his stroll through the streets. He quickly learned that it was more than just the seasonal feel of Christmas, it was Christmas eve more precisely. The pubs were bursting with people, as it was still young in the night. The Doctor decided to stroll into one and made his way through the crush and up to the counter. He ordered himself a water.
In the corner of the room a band was playing, an Irish trad band more specifically. The Doctor recognised one of the songs. The crowd mainly consisited of young people in their early 20s.
A girl, in big heels and flashy hair, came stumbling over to the bar, next to the Doctor. She ordered a drink. Another girl came hurrying up to her. "I can't find her anywhere! She wasn't in the toilet, Kate. What if she flushed it and got sucked in, Kate!" she slurred. "Jenny's fine, Megan. She's gone home. I think you should too, it's okay, I'll mind Brad for you." "You leave Brad out of this!" And with that the second girl stumbled off in a huff. The first one took her drink and was about to leave when the Doctor tapped her on the shoulder. "Sorry, but did you say Jenny?" he yelled over the loud music. "Ah, you just missed her, Bill. That grandmother of hers ordered her home before 12." "Where's she gone?" "Home, Bill!" She went to leave again. "Wait, where's home?" "I'm not going home with you! I am a lady!" "What! No, no, no, Jenny!" "O, just turn left outside." She waved him off and went back into the crowd.
The Doctor fumbled with the keys to the TARDIS. I could be chasing some randomer all night. The Doctor shuck his head. It would be nice to bump into her again, be a lot funnier that just going over to a news agents.
The Doctor stuffed the keys back into his jacket pocket and hurried out the door of the pub. With a boyish grin on his face, he sprinted down the street and turned left. And there, at the other end of the cobbled street was a girl with flaring red hair. The Doctor slowed to a casual jog as he made his waydown after her. "Jenny!" he yelled. The girl turned round. She was dressed in a pretty knee- high dress with a denim jacket and a pair of black pumps. It seemed she had been crying, black mascara was running down her face. She stared at the Doctor for a moment, confused. Then suddenly, "Doctor!" She hurried over to give him a hug. "God, look at you, you haven't changed a bit since I was 6!" The Doctor hugged her back. "Don't you ever change your clothes? I mean honestly man, this can't be hygienic!" "Excuse me, I changed everyday! It just so happened that I met you three times today!" he winked. "O right, still clinging traveller story." "Time Lord, I'm a Time Lord. And it's true, you know!" Jenny waved him off. The two began walking. "Are you okay?" "What?" "Well I don't know if it's the fashion this century, me being a Time Lord and all, but red eyes puffy cheeks and black streams usually indicate crying?" "Oh," Jenny smiled at him. She wiped some of the mascara from her cheek. "It's nothing just… nothing." The two walked in silence for a bit. "So what year is it now? 1998, 99?" he grinned. "2019, actually." "So where are we headed?" "Well, I'm headed home and you I suppose will be back in the big UFO. Big fancy spaceship, is it? A flying saucer, ya? The Doctor raised his eyebrow this time. "What do you take me for? A relative of the family of Blood or something!" Jenny burst out laughing. "Okay, this is me." They stopped outside a familiar house. The Doctor stopped and stared at the house, a frown of confusion slowly forming across his face. "What you live here?"