Walking into the TARDIS control room, Martha smoothed out her dress and sighed. The Doctor had greeted her with an unusual smile that morning, informing her that it was his birthday. Martha was immediately suspicious, questioning how he kept track of his birthdays. His answer was long and full of gibberish, half of which Martha didn't even listen to. In the end, she'd given up and insisted that they go somewhere so that she could get him a present. After muttering about how it would be good to find more psychic paper and something about new trainers, he shook his head and requested only one thing.
"I just want you to do something for me. I want you just to do it and not question why. Can you do that for me?" The Time Lord had turned to look her in the eyes, a serious look falling over his face.
"It is your birthday..." Martha sighed, knowing that she was making a mistake by giving in to his wishes, "so... fine."
As the Doctor's stern expression was swept away by a broad grin, Martha internally groaned. He wasn't the type of man to try anything inappropriate, at least as far as she knew. No, Martha's mind turned to other worries as the Doctor led her to the wardrobe. After a few minutes of looking through the racks, he handed her a very old-fashioned dress, muttering all the while about a party of some sort. When he insisted, she took the outfit and ran to get dressed, desperate to discover what he wanted.
This is about where we came in, I believe. Now Martha stood behind the Doctor in the soft red dress that flowed down to her feet in a cascade of silky fabric. The style of the dress seemed very 1840s to her and it was beautifully extravagant. Her hair was adorned with a ribbon made of similar fabric. Martha's make up was light, but definitely noticeable. The Doctor turned away from the controls to face her as the TARDIS landed with a loud thud. With a few stunned compliments and characteristic rambling, he led her to the TARDIS door. He stopped and turned to face her again, his hand resting on the door handle.
"Martha, I mean it. You look amazing. Amazing and... different. Good different. If I didn't already know that you were you, I wouldn't even recognize you." The Doctor told her with a smile.
"Thank you, but I still would like to know why you made me dress like this." Martha replied flatly.
"I have a few things to do, a few things that you don't need to be involved in. I'll come back to get you in a few hours. Until then, I want you to enjoy yourself. You said you wouldn't question me." The Doctor swung the door open and flashing lights flooded the doorway, "This party is celebrating... something. It's Christmas Eve, 1843. Try not to get into any trouble."
The Doctor pushed Martha out of the door and shut it behind her. Within seconds, the TARDIS dematerialized. With another sigh, she walked inside to escape the blistering cold. Walking up to the door, she flashed the guards the psychic paper and stepped inside. The room was large and well-lit, reminding her of children's stories about princesses and balls. Women wearing dresses similar to hers walked with their men, chatted with each other, and danced with handsome partners. The men all seemed to be doing something, weather it was accompanying their wives or talking with each other. Martha noticed quickly that there was only one man who was alone and, of course, he was walked towards her.
"Hello, how are you tonight?" The man greeted her.
The suit he wore was similar to all of the others and he didn't look that strange. Still, Martha couldn't help but think that he was very out of place. Unlike most others, he wore a bowtie and his bangs curved over one eye, but even his slightly different looks didn't explain the feeling she had. Somehow she just knew for sure that he wasn't meant to be there.
"I'm fine, and yourself?" Martha replied curtly.
"I'm fine as well. I was wondering, why is that invitation of yours blank?" He asked motioning towards the psychic paper.
"Oh, it's just a special sort of ink; it can only be seen by a certain light. The guards have a light that makes it seen." Martha stuttered out, shocked by his ability to see past the paper.
"Well, this one must have the special ink too, right?" The man replied with a smile, holding up his own psychic paper.
"How did you get that?" Martha asked in a hushed voice.
"The more appropriate question is how did you get yours? I happen to be from... um... out of town, as it were. I've got a way to get around to buy psychic paper. You don't seem to be different from anyone here. How do you get it?" The man questioned her curiously.
"I travel with a friend, he let me borrow it." Martha explained truthfully.
The man nodded knowingly and placed the psychic paper in his pocket. Martha slid hers into a small pocket in her dress as well. After all, it wouldn't be good if someone else got a hold on one of the papers.
"What's your name?" The man asked Martha.
"Call me Samantha. And you?" She replied, the false name feeling so natural that
she felt annoyed with herself.
At that exact moment the song came to an end and familiar song started to play.
"Oh, Pachelbel's Canon in D! I love this song, don't you? I was there when it was
written, you know. Would you like to dance?" Without waiting for a response, the man jumped up and led Martha on to the dance floor.
The waltz wasn't a hard dance, so Martha knew that as long as she paid attention she would be fine. She and the mysterious man spun and twirled on the dance floor, chattering about their adventures. He'd been to Pompeii, she told him about the end of the universe. They exchanged stories, his vampires for her mutated man. While he had met Winston Churchill, she'd met Shakespeare. Their stories were equally amazing and terrifying. As the other guests started to leave for home, they talked on the steps outside. All too soon, Martha received a note on the psychic paper.
"That would be my ride." She said sadly, glancing at the message.
"Perhaps we'll meet again." The man replied.
Martha noticed the TARDIS materialize and watched the Doctor step out of the doors. He looked tired, as if it had been a long few hours. Which, of course, it could have been. Things could be very wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey, as he put it. It might have been a few hours for her and a few days for him. He started to make his way towards her and she turned back to the stranger that she'd become such good friends with. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and started to walk over to the Doctor. A fleeting thought ran through her mind and she turned back.
"What's your name?" She asked him.
"I'm the Doctor. Just the Doctor." He replied with a smile, "And I know that you're not really Samantha, are you Martha?"
"You're... how did you... what?" Martha looked between the two Doctors, the Doctor who was walking up the stairs to meet them and the Doctor whom she had been talking with all night.
"That Doctor is me and I'm him. He's my past, I'm his future." The new Doctor explained, about to launch into a long explanation.
"Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey." Her Doctor told her, cutting the new Doctor off.
"Well, Doctor, I'll be right down." Martha told her Doctor.
Her Doctor nodded, turning around and walking back to the TARDIS, leaving Martha with his future self. He glanced back only once, questions filling his mind. He was clearly going to die again, so how? What led him to a party on Christmas Eve in 1943? The new Doctor gave a slight shake of his head, indicating that his younger self shouldn't worry about it. He would find out in time. Martha's Doctor entered the TARDIS and the new Doctor turned his attention to Martha.
"You're alone right now. You don't have a companion." Martha observed.
"I'm just waiting for the right moment to gather them up again. They're waiting, but they're just married and I want to let them live a normal life for a while. I figured I might as well enjoy myself while I wait. I make sure that Christmas is always an adventure for me." The new Doctor told her.
"I noticed. Maybe you should go back for them. I bet that they wait for you every day." Martha suggested.
"Well, I should be going now. I have a feeling we'll meet again. Not just in my past, either." He told her quietly.
"I'll be waiting." She replied in a near-whisper.
Their lips brushed lightly before the new Doctor, unable to handle situation, pulled Martha into a hug instead. They both parted ways, the new Doctor walking back to his new TARDIS and Martha heading back to her Doctor. The new Doctor went back to 2010 to find Amy and Rory Pond and take them out for another adventure, if they wanted. Martha shut the door to the TARDIS and walked up next to the Doctor.
"Martha, good. Just in time. I got a distress signal from the 42nd century Torajii system. You should go get changed." The Doctor told her.
"Yeah, I'll go do that." Martha replied absently and walked back towards the wardrobe.
Martha knew that she would never have a chance with this Doctor, with the loss of Rose Tyler still fresh in his mind. Still, someday there would be a different Doctor who didn't miss Rose quite as much and who might give her a chance. As she walked back towards the control room, the psychic paper glowed in her pants pocket. She looked at the message scrawled across the paper and smiled.
iSee you soon./i