Chapter One: The Snowmen
First off, yes. A lot of this first chapter is taken directly from the episode 'The Snowmen,' and this is to set up the story. I'm trying to keep this as close to the storyline as possible but just changing exactly how The Doctor finds out about Clara if it was Victorian Clara who became his travelling companion. After this one, there will be references to other episodes and there may be snippets from them, but this one obviously is heavily taken from the episode. So, much of the dialogue and storyline in this first chapter belongs to Moffat and the BBC. Thanks for reading and I hope you'll enjoy reading about the adventures of Victorian Clara.
Clara Oswin Oswald
I was born on the 23rd of November in the year 1866. My mother, Jessica Oswald and my father, Mark Oswald raised me here in London. I miss my old Pa, so does Ma, but we manage best we can. I was 26 years old and 1 month exactly when a man walked into my life who would change everything I thought I knew about the world. A man who would show me the stars.
It all started when I was working at the Rose 'n Crown, just for a favour. I'd gone outside, just for moment, only a moment. All that noise, all those men. I needed a moment out in the cold chill of the snow. It was the snowman. I noticed it, seemed as though it came out of nowhere, and its face…it was fierce like an animal. And then he walked by.
"Did you make this snowman?" I ask him. He wears a top hat and walks as though he doesn't care about anything at all and yet cares too much, so much that the world is a heavy burden upon his back and he has to look down just to bear it. A man like this certainly could have created such a frightening looking snowman.
"No," he says without stopping, without even turning his head to glance at me.
"Well who did?" I ask him because there hasn't been another soul pass here in a while and this snowman hasn't been here that long. He doesn't respond but I don't care. I keep talking anyway, figure he's bound to stop and listen eventually. Ma always said I had a mouth on me, didn't know when to keep it shut. "Cause it wasn't there a second ago. It just appeared from nowhere." I can see I've got his attention.
He turns and his face is so young and yet so very hard, so closed off from everyone and everything in this world. It makes me wonder what has happened to him to make him this way. His clothes tell me he is at least well off, not likely to have been an orphaned child growing up in the slums of London and he looks healthy. He's walking over to me, his feet crunching the snow beneath. He pulls out a pair of glasses, round. They don't suit him, it's almost as though they belonged to someone else and he borrowed them. He puts them on and looks at me; I mean really looks at me. Then his attention falls to the snowman.
"Maybe its snow that fell before. Maybe it remembers how to make snowmen," he says. That's silly, I think. At least I only mean to think it.
"What? Snow that can remember? That's silly," I tell him.
"What's wrong with silly?" he asks.
"Nothing," I say, thinking how very silly this whole thing is. Even talking to him now seems silly. "Still talkin' to you ain't I?" For some reason he strikes me as familiar even though I'm certain I'd remember a face like his. Yet I can't shake the feeling I know him from somewhere. He gives me the very slightest of smiles before his face falls back to that closed off expression.
"What's your name?" he asks me, taking off his glasses and putting them in his pocket. Always says just my first name, never know with some of the blokes 'round 'ere.
"Clara," I tell him.
"Nice name Clara," he says. He says my name in a way that makes it feel special, precious even, like I know he'll remember it because maybe I'm just a little bit important. God knows why. And then he's leaving.
"Definitely keep it," he says, referring to my name. "Goodbye."
On a whim, I decide to follow him 'round the corner.
"Oi," I call to him. "Where are you going? I thought we was just getting acquainted?!"
He turns back 'round and sadness is all I see, etched into his perfect face. Then he smiles at me again and I notice his eyes are green.
"Those were the days," he says, looking down. I wonder if that's what 'appened. If he lost a friend, maybe a lover? Sure would explain a lot about 'im. He says nothing else, just turns away again and goes to leave. But now I'm determined to figure him out. I know I should just drop it, Ma would tell me off for following him like this. I almost don't. I even take a few steps back to the bar but then I hear the horse and the crack of the whip as the carriage rolls off and I can't leave this alone. I run.
I catch up to the carriage easily, climb onto the roof and slide myself forward just a little. There's a hatch up here. It's a bumpy ride but I hold tight and I can hear a conversation inside the carriage. He's talking to a woman.
"Ah. How refreshing to see you taking an interest again. Was she nice?" the woman's voice asks.
"I just spoke to her," he replies gruffly. Was I right about the lost lover? It would explain his hesitance.
"And made your usual impact no doubt," the woman replies.
"No. No impact at all," he tells her. "Those days are over." He sounds tired, tired of this conversation and I wonder how long it has been.
"You can't help yourself. It's the same story every time and it always begins with the same two words," the woman's voice says.
"She'll never be able to find me again. She doesn't even have the name Doctor," he cuts in. Doctor what? "What two words?"
I'm starting to slip so I take a stab and open the hatch, popping in head first so that my eyes are level with his. "Doctor? Doctor Who?" And he looks surprised, like he didn't expect this at all. 'Spose people don't usually go popping their heads down into people's cabs.
He pulls me in, doesn't talk to me, not even one word. A short time passes and he orders his driver to stop. I watch him the whole time. He is certainly very handsome, definitely sad and I'd guess lonely too. He gets out and puts a hand up to me, a signal to stay here. I do, stupidly, stupid Clara and he locks me in. There's a thing, not human, in fact kind of looks like a walking potato and he talks to it. The way they act they obviously know each other and I think this might have been our driver. I think it must be some kind of alien, though I didn't ever believe in them until tonight. The Doctor looks at the snow and he talks to the alien thing. I can't hear 'em properly, they're too far away.
"Oi let me out!" I shout, banging against the door. He ignores me. I keep yelling let me out, yelling at him for daring to lock me in 'ere. I try kicking the door but that just shakes the cab and hurts my foot a little. I'm furious at him and at myself. Never follow strange men Clara, I remind myself a little too late. He doesn't even glance over at the carriage the whole time I'm yelling. "Who locks women in his cab?" I yell, and I'm raging. "Doctor!" I try his name, or whatever it is. "Are you listening to me? Oi!"
He pulls the door open and I jerk back just in case.
"Don't worry, no one's going to hurt you," he says in a soothing voice and the way he says it, I trust him. Don't know why or how seeing as he just locked me up in this same cab, but I still trust him. The alien is standing in the doorway.
"What is that thing?" I ask The Doctor.
"Silence boy!" It says. At least it speaks English, that's nice. I remember to keep my mouth shut but I'm fuming. I don't even look at all like a boy!
"That's Strax," The Doctor tells me. "And as you can see, he's easily confused. To his credit, Strax does look confused.
"Silence…girl!" Strax says instead. "Sorry about that."
The Doctor tells me that Strax is something called a Sontaran, a cloned warrior race that is factory produced and this launches a short argument between the pair.
"Who are you?" I ask finally breaking them up.
"Doesn't matter because you're about to forget," he says to me. "We'll need the worm," he says to Strax. What the bloody hell is the worm?
"You'll need the what? What worm?" I question The Doctor. He says simply that it won't hurt just takes away the last hour of my memory. That means all of him. That is not happening.
Strax returns looking very confused and well..it turns out the worm got him instead. They search for it under the cab and I laugh at the whole thing. It's so obvious where this is going.
"Oi," The Doctor says when I laugh, looking at me. "Don't try to run away. Stay where you are."
"Why would I run?" I ask, trying not to laugh anymore. "I know what's going to happen next and its funny."
"What's funny?"
"Well, your little pal for a start. Ugly little fella isn't he?" I reply.
"He gave his life for a friend of mine once," The Doctor says. But Strax is alive.
"Then how come he's alive?"
"Another friend brought him back," he says, and then louder so Strax hears it clearly he adds "I'm not sure whether his brain made the return trip!"
"Neither am I."
And just like I suspected Strax does find the worm and loses his memory again. I pick up the gloves, the gauntlets as The Doctor called them, and hold them up.
"Because these are the gauntlets, aren't they?" I say as Strax panics, thinking he's been run over by a cab. The Doctor takes the gauntlets and eventually he's putting the worm back in this jar and explaining how it works.
"You're still not trying to run?" he notices.
"I don't understand how the snowman built itself," I say, switching subjects in the hope it distracts him from that worm thing. "I'll run…once you've explained."
"Clara who?" he asks. I never give my full name to strange men, Ma always used to say to me when I was younger to only ever give my first name. Just Clara.
"Doctor who?" I shoot back at him.
"Ah. Dangerous question," he says.
"What's wrong with dangerous?" I ask. I don't see how I could possibly get myself in much more danger than I am here. He's still talking when a snowman pops up. This time it literally is out of nowhere. Nobody made it.
"The snowman," I say but he doesn't hear me, keeps talking about the ruddy snow.
"No Doctor," I say, pulling him over and pointing it out to him. "The snowman."
"Ah interesting," he says. "Well, were you thinking about it?"
"Yes," I say. Of course I was thinking about them. It's weird. Another one pops up just like the first.
"Well stop," he says, pulls me away. Another one. "Stop thinking about the snowmen!" I can't, and there are more and more popping up, surrounding us.
"Clara," he says, his hands are against the sides of face, his fingers in my hair, his eyes staring into mine. If I weren't so afraid I'd be almost happy. "Listen to me, it's feeding off your thoughts."
I'm panicking, I can't help it. This is all impossible. "I don't understand."
He says it's a telepathic field and I'm part of it. I'm terrified; the only thing keeping me from bursting into tears and giving up is him, his arms holding me, his eyes watching me. The more I think of them, the more they'll appear he says to me.
"Picture them melting," he instructs me. I close my eyes and I do, I picture them all melting away. Ice cold water splashes against us both and they disappear.
"Good. Very good," he says, letting me go. I double check but they are definitely gone. I ask him if it'll happen again and he tells me that if it does I'll know what to do. And with that he gives me the perfect reason not to use the worm.
"Unless I forget," and his expression, I know I've won, just this little bit.
"Don't come looking for me. Forget about me. Do you understand?"
"What about the snow, shouldn't we be warning people?" I ask. There are so many questions I have about this man. How are you so calm? Why is your friend an alien? Are you an alien? Why do you look human? I don't ask any of them.
"Not my problem," he says, shuts the door and wishes me a Merry Christmas before instructing Strax to take me back to the Rose 'n Crown. I jump out the other side and wait as Strax pulls away before I follow him. As I follow, a feeling of déjà vu is creeping up on me. Like I've done this with him before, in another life. I feel like I was born to follow him, like I'm part of him and whatever his story is.
I follow him to a park, empty except for us and hide behind a tree. I'm lucky I'm so small, I always used to be just a little bitter about it but it's coming in handy now. I watch as he jumps ever so slightly and pulls down…a ladder. A ladder in the sky. He climbs up and the ladder retracts completely. Now it's my turn. I check to make sure no one else is around and walk over. I jump…and fall back. It's further up than I thought. I try again and this time I feel it, my hands connect with the cool steel and I swing for a moment in the air before it comes down. I climb up and watch as it retracts behind me. I can see a man walking outside the field and I call hello. He doesn't even hear me. Invisible. I notice the staircase, a spiral staircase that reaches high into the sky. He's got an invisible staircase. This man, whoever he is, is magical. So I climb.
He lives on a cloud. It's beautiful, all the stars above and the world below. I step off the staircase cautiously and the cloud holds my weight. I'm nervous and confused and so, so excited. There's a blue box. That must be where he lives. Awfully small. I knock on the door and then I panic. What if he hurts me, gets rid of me by pushing me off his cloud? I duck around the side as the door opens.
"Hello?" he says and he sounds surprised and maybe I'm crazy but just a little bit hopeful. He steps out, says another hello. He keeps calling it as he walks around and I manage to stay out of his sight until I can make a run for the staircase. I'm not as brave as I thought.
I wake up the next morning, my mind working through what was a dream and what was real. I'm certain that the kiss was only a dream but the memory of his lips on mine hovers there anyway and it makes me smile. I'll find him again someday, somehow. I'll be braver next time, I'll have to be. And then I sit up because I need to get to work soon. I'm sure the children will have missed me while I was gone. I've missed them. I love living my double life. Clara Oswin Oswald, barmaid and Miss Montague, governess to the Latimer family. I've been saving every bit I can in the hope that one day I'll be able to make my own life with my own adventures. But for now, I'm just a background character in the story of others.
Francesca's been having nightmares poor dear. Mr. Latimer tells me so when I arrive and Digby is keen to share his sister's story. The nightmares are about her old governess, who Digby hated because she was always cross. The same one who drowned in the pond a year ago. I notice then that even though everything else seems to have thawed, the pond is still frozen. I ask Franny about her dreams and I realise how it all fits together. I need a Doctor.
I go back to the park and try to find the ladder but it seems to have disappeared. I call for him instead, ignoring the strange looks and the voices of people talking about me. Then a woman approaches me and asks what I'm doing. I tell her I am looking for The Doctor.
"Doctor Who?" she says. That's him.
Strax is here in this house. The woman introduced herself as Jenny, Jenny Flint, and the other woman, the one who also appears to be some sort of alien, is named Vastra, Madame Vastra. She makes me answer with one word only, it's like a big riddle game but I manage. She tells me that lies are words, words, words. She says many. She gives me a test, to give The Doctor a one word message to explain everything. Only one word. These people are his friends, they will contact him because they do not approve of his isolation either. She says he suffered losses, plural. Many losses. No wonder he is so sad.
"Pond," I say and that seems to be the right word.
That night I keep hoping he'll turn up and then I pull open the curtains and he's there. At the pond and Strax is walking away. He came back…for me. I wave and he waves back so I signal him up. He turns round and then turns back holding up a hand. 5 minutes. I close the curtain and get the children ready for bed.
Franny asks me if she'll have nightmares again tonight.
"Definitely not," I tell her. She asks how I know. I tell them I have a story for them. They ask if it's one of my stories, my definitely true ones. I've told them many. Like the one about being born behind the clock face of Big Ben, accounting for my acute sense of time (partly true) or the one about how I invented fish because I dislike swimming alone (also partly true). And they are intrigued because they love my stories, as children often do. I begin and this time, this one is completely true.
"There's a man called The Doctor. He lives on a cloud in the sky and all he does, all day, every day, is stop all the children in the world from ever having bad dreams," I say and the door opens a little. I assume it must be him so I add "And as a matter of fact, he's right here. Aren't you Doctor?"
It's not the Doctor.
"Blooming 'ell!" I say and my accent falls away, forgotten. It's a woman…made of Ice. I back away, protecting the children. Digby notices my other voice and I try to be calm as possible but I can't even focus on that right now. The Ice Woman says the children have been naughty and I figure it has to be the Governess, the one who drowned in the pond. I tell the children to run and I follow. I lock us in a room and take a deep breath, knowing that she will get here soon. I tell Franny to imagine her melting but Franny is too young and too scared to focus and then the Ice Governess is at the door, moving closer.
"Where is he?" Digby asks. "Where's The Doctor?"
"I don't know," I say. He said he'd come up so where is he?
"Doctor," I hear and it's coming from a puppet. That means… "Doctor. Doctor Who?" and there he is with a device in his hand that has a green light. He points it at the governess and she melts into a puddle of water. He saved us. I'm pretty sure that's what he does.
He says she won't come back, that she's draining through the carpet as we speak. He says we're very welcome.
"We're very grateful," I reply. "I knew you'd come."
"No you didn't," he says but I can see something different. There's a spark of life, this lightness that wasn't there last time I saw him. He says he doesn't do this anymore and yet he's here, ain't he? He says a lot of words too. He stops mid-sentence, looking in the mirror like he's suddenly realised something important.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"Sorry it's just…you know I put it on," he says, more to himself than to me. He means the bow tie. It is cute and it suits him. He straightens it and I realise that this small thing, this habit, means something to him. It suddenly feels cooler.
"It's cooler," I say to no one in particular. He thinks I mean his bow tie, says bow ties are cool, but I meant the room and I tell him so. I see it then, she's coming back to life, the Ice Governess. He tries to melt her with his device but this time it doesn't work. He grabs our hands and says "Run."
Mr. Latimer is at the base of the stairs, asking his children what on earth is going on. He sees me and The Doctor.
"Who the devil are you? What are you doing in my house?" Latimer asks. Oh bother is all I can think.
"It's okay," The Doctor says. "I'm your governess'…gentleman friend and we've just been upstairs…kissing!" I give him a look. How could he say that? But then I remember the dream, the kiss, and I wonder if he's thought of kissing me too.
Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax arrive, scare the poor maid half to death. Mr. Latimer has only one question and it's for me.
"You have…a gentleman friend?" Oh for pity's sake. Men. All that's happening and that's what he decides to focus on? Really? The Doctor meanwhile is in full swing, talking to his friends about the snow and the Ice Governess. He says something to me and he calls me Clara.
"Clara? Who's Clara?" Latimer asks and I wish he would stop asking questions. If I survive this, I'm fairly certain I've lost my job. Still I 'spose the Rose 'n Crown will take me on board permanently if I ask.
"Your governess is in reality a former barmaid called Clara," The Doctor tells him and before I have a chance to explain the Ice Governess is at the top of the stairs. Closing in.
They hurry us away, stop the Ice Governess with some sort of force field for the moment while they discuss what to do. He lights up as he talks and he is genius and handsome and absolutely perfect to me.
"Stay here," The Doctor instructs. I don't listen. Ma always said I was a terrible listener.
"Oi," he says when he realises I've followed him, looking me up and down. "I told you to stay in there."
"Oh…I didn't listen," I tell him. We are standing close, so very close. A dream come true.
"You do that a lot," he says and I just go for it. I might die tonight and even if I don't, life is short and he is gorgeous.
"That's why you like me."
"Who says I like you?" he asks and he is too close. I kiss him. He squirms like he doesn't know what to do and yet, almost unnoticeably, I feel him kiss back just a little. Yes. He definitely likes me.
"I think you just did," I say when I pull away.
"You kissed me!" he says.
"You blushed," I point out.
"And with…just…shut up!" He stammers, pulls my hands away and straightens his bow tie. He seems to do that a lot. And then he runs off and I follow him, giggling ever so quietly.
He tells me that we need to get the Ice Woman out of the house but keep her away from Doctor Simeon. He hands me an umbrella before he breaks the shield stopping the Ice Governess and sets it up again behind us. We run, as we do he says we need to go to the roof. I grab his hand and pull. He complains that hand grabbing is his job. We reach a window and he climbs outside. I attempt to follow but…
"Come on got to get going," he says.
"My bustle's stuck!" I say, cursing this dress for being so stiff.
"Your bustle?" he asks, comes back and pulls me out. We fall back, me on top of him. So close that I could kiss him again. I don't.
"You're going to have to take those clothes off," he says. "I didn't mean…"
"I know I understand," I interrupt. "I do."
"Good."
"Now what's the plan?"
"Who says I've got a plan?"
"Course you got a plan, you took that," I say, gesturing to the umbrella.
"Maybe I'm an idiot," he replies. It's obvious he isn't.
"You're not. You're clever, really clever," I say and he throws me the umbrella.
"And you. If I've got a plan, what is it? You tell me."
"Is this a test?" I ask.
"Yes."
I think for a moment. We're not trying to escape and we're not hiding. We're getting her to follow us. Why? The ladder. I lift the umbrella up and feel it connect to something so I pull down. Perfect.
"After you," he says.
"After you," I reply. "I'm wearing a dress. Eyes front soldier."
"My eyes are always front," he says, stepping on the ladder.
"Mine aren't," I say. One thing about working at the Rose 'n Crown, you learn to flirt with the men in the bar. He looks at me.
"Stop it."
"No," I reply. He's cute when he's flustered. I clear my throat and hold the ladder tight. The Ice Governess is at the window.
"I understand you're the previous governess. I regret to inform you the position is taken. Goodnight," I say to her and the ladder pulls me up as it retracts. The Doctor is waiting and we race up the stairs, the Ice Governess still following us. He tries to chat, silly boy. When we reach the top his box is there, waiting.
"So you actually live up 'ere on a cloud in a box?" I ask. It's magnificent to look at.
"I have done for a long time now," he says.
"Blimey, you really know how to sulk don't ya?"
"I'm not sulking," he responds.
"You live…in a box!" I tell him.
"That is no more a box than you are a governess'!" He says. Men are always the same, thinking they know everything.
"Oh spoken like a man! You know you're the same as all the rest," I rant. Ma would be so furious with me talking this way. 'You'll never get a husband like that,' she'd be telling me. But she ain't here is she? "Sweet little Clara, works at the Rose 'n Crown. Well for your information I'm not sweet on the inside and I'm certainly not…" I stop. He was right about the box. He flicks on the lights and it is even more amazing than everything I've seen the last couple of days. He looks at me.
"It's called the TARDIS," he says. "It can travel anywhere in time and space and it's mine."
"But it's…look at it, it's…"
"Go on, say it," he says. "Most people do."
I run outside, check the 4 walls.
"It's smaller on the outside," I tell him.
"Okay, that is a first."
I ask him if it's magic. He tells me that it's a ship, a space ship.
"Does it have a kitchen?" I ask him after taking it all in.
"Another first," he says. I'm glad that I'm a surprise to him, that my questions are first. I like having that ability to be unexpected to a man who seems to expect everything.
"Sorry. Don't know why I asked that, it's just… I like making soufflés," I tell him. Ma tells me it's such a waste of time but it's making the soufflé that's the best part. When I was younger the other kids in the neighbourhood called me Souffle Girl.
"Souffles?" he asks, looking at me like he's realised something impossible.
"Why are you showing me all this?" I ask him when he says nothing more.
"You followed me remember? I didn't invite you," he replies. He is so difficult.
"You're nearly a foot taller than I am," I tell him. "You could've reached the ladder without this," I hold up the umbrella. "You took it…for me," I say and throw it to him, he catches it easily.
"Why?" I ask.
"I never know why. I only know who," he tells me, giving me a key.
"What's this?" I ask him, look him in the eyes. Those green eyes that seem so much older than his face.
"Me. Giving in," he says and he smiles. Tears fill my eyes because I'm still scared of what will happen next and I'm happy that he is letting me in, that he is as he puts it, giving in.
"I don't know why I'm crying," I manage to say in a soft voice.
"I do," he says. And he tells me to remember this moment, right here and now.
The Ice Woman grabs me from behind and holds me tight. She yanks me backwards and the key drops to the ground. "Get off me!" I yell as I wriggle and squirm, desperately trying to get free. He tries to stop the Ice Governess first with his device again, the umbrella still in his hand.
"Let her go," he says it in a strong voice but to me it sounds like begging. "Let her go now."
I wonder suddenly if this is how he losses people, do they all die around him? He is looking at me and he knows that I'm going to fall over the edge with her, we are so close to the cloud's edge. He does something to the umbrella that I don't understand but he uses the device on it and then she gives a final tug and we are both falling. I'm going to die.
"Clara," he yells and he tosses me the umbrella. I manage to grab hold of it and force it open. It slows me down just a little but I'm still falling far too fast to land safely, unharmed. The Ice Governess keeps falling faster than me and she's gone. I'm still falling too fast. He's going to lose me and there's nothing I can do.
I hit the ground with a thud and fall hard on my back. Everything hurts and the wind is knocked out of me, but I'm still breathing, still awake and able to see for now. The TARDIS forms around me a few seconds later and he's standing there above me.
"Are you okay?" he asks and it hurts because I know I'm not. Even though I survived the fall I can just feel the damage to my body.
"I don't think so," I say, and I can feel the tears but I force them away. There's ice all around me, the remains of the Ice Governess. He takes me inside the room to the others with the TARDIS, and Strax uses a device, called the Resurrection Device. It might work they say. Madame Vastra says it can bring people back for a while. I want to hope, seeing that Strax used it and is alive, but I feel like I'm slipping away.
"Madame Vastra said you were the saver of worlds once," I say to him, his hand holding mine as he looks at me, full of denial about what will happen. "Are you going to save this one?"
"If I do will you come away with me?" he asks. I want so badly for that to be my life, and he has to save the world, whether I survive or not.
"Yes," I tell him and he looks so thrilled that it breaks my heart.
Madame Vastra goes with him in the TARDIS, he's going to find Doctor Simeon and whatever else is causing all of this. I'm trying, trying to stay awake, to stay conscious but I'm falling. I don't know where I am. I feel like I've fallen like this before. I must be going insane.
I wake up and there's no more pain, and he's here beside me again.
"How?" I ask him.
"Clara! Oh Clara! I thought…we all thought…my impossible girl," he says to me. Impossible Girl. I feel like he's said that to me before but I don't remember when or why. "You, you were crying. Your eyes were closed but a tear ran down from your eye and they," he gestures to the Latimers, "they were crying. They love you Clara and they thought…Just imagine it Clara. A whole family crying on Christmas Eve. It melted the snow, turned it to salt water. You…you were the one who saved the world in the end and you saved me."
I don't tell him that I thought I was going to die too. I was so certain.
"Doctor?"
"Yes Clara?" he says.
"Are you going to show me the stars?" I ask and he nods, but his expression is like the one he wore earlier when I mentioned the soufflés. It's almost like I'm as familiar to him as he is to me.
"Just like I promised," he says, putting the TARDIS key back in my hand and kissing my forehead.
Goodbyes are always hard, but the fact that I am alive means that this time the goodbyes will not be permanent. Franny cries when I wave goodbye, and Digby looks like he might but he doesn't quite let the tears escape. Mr. Latimer wishes me luck and thanks us both. Ma is just delighted when I tell her I met a man. Not so delighted when I tell her I'm not working as a governess anymore and well...a little furious when she realises that I'm not marrying the man, only travelling with him. As I'm leaving she keeps reminding me how undignified this all is.
"Imagine how this will look to everyone Clara Oswin Oswald," Ma tells me as I'm packing the last of my things from home. "A woman galavanting around with a man the way you are. You're 26, Clara, you won't be this young and pretty forever you know! What was so wrong with Mr. Latimer? He was infatuated with you! I can tell these things. He would marry you. Why do you insist on trying to be different?" I just kiss her cheek and promise to visit them all soon enough. I pack up my few things, even the savings I have that I'll no longer need. I've got a man with a box full of adventures now.