The Doctor was under the control panel of the TARDIS when he heard a beautiful melody begin to play from down the hallway. He stopped tinkering, with a part that really did not need tinkering with thank you very much, and slowly got up from his position, making sure he avoided bumping his head on anything. He peered down the hallway as he got up, before following the music.
Finally arriving at the door he believed the magnificent melody was emerging, he opened it slowly, pausing to see what was inside. The Doctor's jaw dropped when he noticed who the person who had been creating such wondrous sounds. Donna Noble sat at the mahogany piano, passionately playing the beautiful instrument.
Blinking confusedly he opened the door completely ans proceeded to step cautiously closer to his companion, who still hadn't noticed his presence. The ginger woman happily let her fingers trail over the keys, her eyes closed so she could hear clearly what she was creating and mouth slightly gaped. She was skillfully pressing every key without sight an impressive feat to say the least.
The Doctor's mouth gradually became a content smile, as he watched her, not daring to make his presense known, for fear of what she would most certainly do. He didn't really want to suffer at the hand of Donna Noble. So there he stayed, fixed in place, in the music room, listening to Donna's unexpected talent.
This became a ritual. Every time Donna began to play the piano, the Doctor found himself watching from the doorway, getting lost in whatever piece Donna decided to play on that occasion.
The Doctor noticed little things about Donna during these moments. He noticed how her brows knitted together whenever she was concentrating on a certain part of a piece of music, how relaxed she seemed to become the longer she played, her hands gliding precisely over the white and black keys, even how sometimes she would hum or sing along to the song she was playing and how whatever she was feeling that day or night would influence greatly on what she played.
Obviously she played any genre brilliantly, perfect down to the last note.
One day he decided to take a large step forward. The Doctor had decided on this particular day to sit next to Donna, to watch her from much closer. He was aware that she would most probably slap him into his next regeneration, but he was willing to take the risk.
Quietly as possible, the Doctor walked swiftly next to the cushioned seat and sat down gently. Suddenly Donna's nimble fingers stopped moving over the instrument, her eyes snapped open and she looked over at the intruder without moving her head. She relaxed slightly when she noticed it was only him.
"Spaceman, what are you doing?" Her gaze turned harsher, to match the venom in her voice.
The Doctor grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of is neck, "well... I heard someone playing the piano and came to investigate," he explained. His brain went into overload thinking about all of the different ways Donna could cause him suffering.
"Why didn't you just ask to watch me you dunce?" Her tone was much lighter than before, and surprisingly gentle, completely different to what the Doctor had expected her to sound. None the less, he grinned ecstatically and moved closer to Donna, to get more comfortable.
Eventually Donna playing the piano became a nightly ritual. Generally the Doctor sat in the music room listening to her play as he tinkered with bits and bobs he had decided needed fixing or being looked at, other times he would just sit on the sofa the TARDIS had put in the music room, listening to whatever came from Donna's playing that night and on especially rare occasions he would even fall asleep on said sofa.
This night was one of those occasions. Normally he would wake up in, what he assumed, was early morning with a blanket draped over his body and a pillow placed under his head, but something was different this time.
He had still woken up with the blanket and pillow, except this time he had also woken with a Donna Noble curled up to his side, almost laying on his chest, she was also wrapped up in the blanket with him.
This put a sleepy smile on the Time Lord's face. The Doctor laid there with Donna snuggled into his side, quietly noting all of the details about Donna that he had missed. Everything from how her nose made an almost inaudible whistle, to how her hands clenched around whatever was warmest, which seemed to be his loose shirt and how her freckles littered almost all of her face(he tried counting them, but it was no use, there was just too many).
The Gallifreyan grinned, gently running a cautious hand through his companion's brilliant long ginger hair(which he envied so very, very much!), thinking about everything that made her special to him. Every little detail that was most likely looked over by everyone else who met her. He made sure to lock all of this vital information in to a safe space in his mind.
He knew Donna would be waking up quite soon, but he was going to enjoy every last part of the calm scene he was a part of, if only for a short moment longer.
THE END.