"And I will still be here, stargazing. I'll still look up, look up, look up for love."
The night sky is, always, a beautiful thing. But to be a part of it; to dance among the stars in the safety of the TARDIS doorway; to hover in deep space with nothing else to mar the view...it was absolutely mesmerizing. After all this time, Clara still couldn't believe it. A gasp released as the Doctor opened the doors, though she'd seen similar vistas dozens of times by now. Her heart thumped just a little louder in her chest; her heart, made of stardust and pumping with blood forged in a supernova.
She was a part of it all. Through all of their trips, all of the running and screaming and laughing, that was the main lesson. That everyone and everything out there and in here was connected, endlessly. Tethered together by the strings of the universe, which danced and pitched and formed new galaxies and sewed new lives out of those long gone.
Clara blinked and found a lost tear in her eye, which she wiped away before the Doctor returned. When he did, she gave him a simple smile and came back to herself.
"You picked a nice spot tonight," she said, as if those words were enough. As if the blues and reds dotted with white against the backdrop of black hadn't just brought tears to her eyes.
"Jupiter Juice?" he asked suddenly, procuring a newly opened glass bottle filled with a purple substance.
Clara gave it a hesitant sniff before taking a sip. With raised eyebrows, she shook her head.
"I was expecting grape. What is in that?"
"No idea. Usually best not to ask," the Doctor said, taking a large gulp of the stuff.
"Tastes like whiskey."
"It's not; I definitely got the non-alcoholic version. Probably."
Clara cocked her head, tempting another small sip. It tasted alright, after the initial shock was through. A little stronger than she liked, but nothing she couldn't handle.
"Hey, is the TARDIS shell outside?" she asked, turning to the door.
"Of course. Why?"
"I was thinking we could sit in the doorway for a bit. Look out. The stars are gorgeous."
The Doctor gave her one of his rare smiles; the kind that lit up his eyes and made her heart skip a beat.
"I thought you'd never ask," he said softly, leading her to the doorway.
They sat with their legs dangling over the edge, hands holding tight onto their glasses as they drank. Clara wasn't afraid, though. She knew the TARDIS would catch her. And if she didn't, then the Doctor would.
That thought brought an unconscious smile to her face.
"What?" he asked.
She shook her head, her smile softening but not fading.
"Nothing." She leant her head on his shoulder, trying to ignore the fact that his whole body stiffened at the contact.
Clara sighed, eyes flickering down to another brilliant part of the sky.
"I wish everyone could see the world like we can," she said. "Maybe there'd be less...bad stuff. Wars, and fighting, and bigotry and all that."
The Doctor was quiet for a moment, taking another large swig of his drink.
"Ah, but what about the billion pound profits?" he said sarcastically. "And the power-trips, and all of the people to oppress. You can't do any of that when you have a conscience."
She turned up to him, giving him a strange look, and then nestled back onto his shoulder.
"You're speaking boldly tonight."
"I've been hanging around in your time; trying to make sense of it all. It's like humans enjoy suffering, or making others suffer. Watching over Earth is like watching over library full of book-burners."
"You don't have to tell me," Clara murmured. "I have to live with it."
She took another small sip, and then set her drink down beside her. With her hands now free, she wrapped them around the Doctor's arm and smiled at the fact that he didn't jump or stiffen this time.
"But some of them are pretty great," the Doctor said thoughtfully.
"You mean, like, Shakespeare, Da Vinci, Einstein…"
The Doctor cocked his head.
"Among others." He looked pointedly down at her.
Clara froze for a second, and then grinned.
"Are you being charming?"
"Why; is it working?"
Clara turned away from him, back to the stars, trying to process what to say next. As she gazed at a planet that had just come into view, the Doctor took another sip of his drink. She noted that as he lowered it back to his lap, it was half empty.
"Doctor, you're drinking that way too fast."
"I told you, Clara, it's not alcoholic."
Clara rolled her eyes, but didn't comment.
"I think…" the Doctor said, shifting how he was seated. "Humans are, usually good. Or at least have good intentions. But sometimes they do things that are just so, so unbelievably pudding-brained. And then some of them are really just…"
A dark look came into his eye as he stared out at the stars.
"Some of them are not good. And then they're encouraged by...by people who have power. People w-who have authority, and use that authority to do bad things and spread bad things...that needs to stop. I've seen it, time and time again. You give bad people a platform and you give them airtime...it never ends well. Not on my planet, not on yours...nowhere."
Clara was leaned back now, watching him carefully.
"Doctor?"
His eyes were a bit pink as he turned to her.
"Hmm?" He took another large gulp of his Jupiter 'juice'.
"Are you...where were you; before you picked me up?"
He seemed to need to think hard about that. Then his mouth fell open in an 'o' shape, just before he relaxed again.
"I was bouncing around your future. I like to look ahead; know what's coming up for you soon. The Jonas Brothers are coming back! Ooh, sorry, spoilers." He cleared his throat, adjusting how he was seated again. "But...some bad stuff, too. Nothing...sadly, nothing you haven't seen before. Well, nothing you haven't seen similarities to before."
His brow furrowed. Clara wasn't sure if he was thinking of the events he'd witnessed or whether or not the word 'similarities' existed.
"It's frightening, Clara," he said, shocking her with his openness. "How terrible human beings can be."
He passed his glass into his left hand, and then suddenly took hold of her fingers with his right.
Clara's eyes widened. He'd almost never initiated hand-holding before. Almost never admitted he was afraid.
"But you can be pretty great, too," he said with a smile in her direction. His eyes were red and glistening now; his cheeks blushed with pink.
"Do you hear that, universe?" he shouted at the night sky, making Clara jump. "Clara Oswald is one of the good ones! She's on the side of heroes!"
He went to take one last swig of his drink, but Clara pried it gently out of his grasp.
"How about we take it easy with that now, okay?" she said softly, setting his glass on her other side.
She rose to her knees and took his other hand in hers.
"Come on; let's get you up."
He groaned with the effort, but eventually made it to his feet. Clara kept one hand wrapped around his waist, though, as his steps were anything but graceful.
"I think I forgot to eat supper, Clara," he said. "Is that why my head feels all loopy?"
"I think that's because you downed a glass of, whatever the hell Jupiter Juice is, in less than half an hour. Still, though, I didn't know you were such a lightweight, Doctor."
"I told you, it's not alcoholic."
"Yeah...but you also once called jelly babies 'fruit'."
He looked at her like she just said Santa Claus wasn't real.
"They are! They're my favorite fruit, next to bananas."
Clara dropped the conversation for now, letting him lean on the console to give her arms a break.
"I'm feeling hungry, too. Know of any good restaurants still open?"
Now his eyes were simply incredulous.
"Clara, we're in a time machine...everything is still open."