Knock, knock.
"Hmm?" Amelia Pond muttered sleepily, raising her head. "Uh, Rory, wake up." Rory Williams mumbled something incoherent and kept his face buried in his pillow. She shoved him slightly. "Oi, get up, stupid face."
He rolled over. "Wha's'it Amy?"
"Door. Get. Now."
Knock, knock. "Amy! Rory! Get up!" came the shout.
Rory rolled out of bed and went over to the door. He opened it. "Doctor, what the…" His voice trailed off.
The Doctor was wearing a purple tuxedo. And a yellow bowtie. And a fez.
"…hell are you even wearing?" Rory finished.
"Party clothes!" he exclaimed. "Coming?"
Now Amy was out of bed, her eyes wide at the Doctor's eccentric tux. "Where?" she said, her Scottish accent made even stronger by sleepiness.
"New Year's Eve, year 9,999! Now that's a hell of a party!" the Doctor cried, waving his arms over his head in the dance move that Amy coined as "The Drunk Giraffe" because not even a giraffe would attempt it sober.
Amy raised her eyebrows. "Doctor, are you drunk?"
"No!" he protested. "Well, maybe a little."
"Should you be flying the TARDIS like that?" Rory questioned sensibly.
"Probably not, but between River and I we seem to be getting it done fairly well," the Doctor admitted.
"Ah, River's there, too?" Amy asked, interested.
"I wouldn't go to a party like that alone, now would I?"
"I actually wouldn't put it past you," Rory remarked. "And you're inviting us? Should we get dressed for the occasion?"
The Doctor didn't look offended at the first part of the comment. "Yes, get dressed, Ponds. Formal event, see, look." He gestured at his clothing.
Amy winced. "Yeah, I'm not using that as a guide."
"Why?" the Doctor asked, concerned. He looked down at his bowtie and then reached up to make sure his fez was still on his head. "Is there something wrong with my clothing?"
"Should you tell him, or should I?" Rory muttered.
"I'll leave it to River," Amy whispered in response. She raised her voice to answer the Doctor. "Okay, Doctor, the TARDIS is outside?" He nodded. "We'll be there in a minute." He didn't leave. "Go and wait for us there," she added bluntly. "We're going to get dressed now." Now he got the message.
"Oh! Okeydokey, Ponds." He whirled around and danced down the stairs.
Amy and Rory exchanged glances. "Are we not going to ask how he got into our house, because he doesn't have a key," Rory noticed.
"Sonic."
"Right. Forgot that he actually uses that to open doors. So, party clothes, eh?"
Amy sighed and turned on the light, walking over to the closet and pulling out a couple of nice dresses. "I honestly hope that isn't what we're supposed to be wearing," she said, referring to the Doctor's wear.
"I seriously doubt it," Rory responded. Amy tossed him one of his three nice suits. "Thank you, dear." Amy held up the dresses.
"Which one?" she asked. One was slim, long, full-skirted, and dark blue with gold trims and had straps, the other sleeveless, green and teal floral, and had a knee-length, wide skirt that was good for twirling.
"Um, they're both lovely," Rory replied unhelpfully.
"Thank you, husband, that was a brilliant insight. Remind me never to ask your opinion on clothing again," Amy remarked, selecting the blue one.
"Good choice," Rory added hastily.
"Shut up."
"Okay."
When they were both dressed, they raced down the stairs, laughing with excitement. This promised to be a fun night.
The Doctor was waiting for them at the door. He swept Amy into a big hug. "Amy! You look lovely."
"Oi, hands off, sir," Rory said, only half-joking.
The Doctor released Amy, and silenced Rory by pulling him into a hug, too. "Rory! You look lovely, too!" Rory coughed uncomfortably and wriggled out of the Doctor's crushing embrace.
"Where's River?" Rory said quickly.
"In the TARDIS," the Doctor answered. "Come, come, come along Ponds!" He took their hands and dragged them into the waiting blue box.
River was waiting. She turned and gave the Doctor a flirty wink, tossing her ridiculously curly hair and smiling hugely with her red-lipsticked lips. "Hello again, Sweetie!" she called. "Hello, Mum, hello, Dad."
"River!" Amy greeted her daughter happily.
"Hullo, River!" Rory added. "Have you been keeping the Doctor in line?"
"Who wants him in line? I much prefer him off of it," River replied.
Amy laughed. "All right, then."
"Oh, Sweetie," River added, addressing the Doctor, "there's someone waiting for you back at the party, they caught me just as we were leaving. Apparently they know you."
"Yes, yes, I know. Please avoid him as we're going back," the Doctor replied nervously.
"Friend of yours?" Amy said sarcastically.
The Doctor nodded. "Very old friend."
No one asked for the details. "All right, then," River said. "Geronimo." She flew the TARDIS, as always, much smoother than the Doctor did. She left the "brakes" on, though, so the familiar noise was still there. To tell the truth, Amy didn't believe that the brakes were the cause of the noise, and that River had just blocked the sound that one time to mess with the Doctor.
The party was incredible. There were thousands of people there, all crammed together in a huge, outdoor square. Not all of them were human, either. While running around, dancing, and drinking some strange beverages, Amy and Rory observed a very large number of alien races. Some of them, they recognized, but most were completely unknown. The Ponds did their best not to lose sight of the Doctor and River, but it was difficult due to the masses of people. Eventually, they gave up, and just had fun.
There was loud music, but it wasn't so loud that they had to cover their ears. Apparently it was familiar to most of the people, because they all sang along at some points, but Amy and Rory didn't recognize any of it. It wasn't bad music, though. There was less than an hour until the year 10,000, and the excitement just kept building.
The Doctor and River seemed to be having the time of their lives. They had found a spot slightly less crowded, and they were dancing. Quite a few people were standing around watching them and cheering them on, because they could actually dance very well. River couldn't stop laughing and the Doctor just kept this silly, delighted grin on his face and couldn't seem to get rid of it.
There were less than five minutes left. River and the Doctor found the Ponds again and together they made their way to the front of the square. Everyone was screaming and cheering as the gigantic holographic timer ticked down.
Fifty-nine seconds.
Amy grabbed Rory around the waist. "Ready, Mr. Pond?"
"Absolutely," he shouted back over the roar of the crowd.
River was still dancing a little. "One time occurrence, Sweetie. Once in the universe."
"Not really," the Doctor said loudly. "10,000 years is kinda subjective depending on species and religion—"
"Oh, shut up," Amy shouted at him. "Don't you dare spoil this moment with science!"
He wisely didn't say anything else.
Twenty seconds. People were beginning to count down out loud.
"Fifteen!"
"Fourteen!"
"Thirteen"
"Twelve!"
"Eleven!"
"Ten!"
"Nine!"
"Eight!"
"SEVEN!"
"SIX!"
"FIVE!'
"FOUR!"
"THREE!"
"TWO!"
"ONE!"
The loudest cheer that Amy and Rory had ever heard broke out. People were hugging and kissing all around them. Amy threw her arms around Rory and kissed him hard. Rory responded in turn. River was kissing the Doctor, too.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" proclaimed the hologram in huge, neon letters. Extremely impressive fireworks burst into the air, flashing the numbers: 10,000! all over the sky.
Laughing, the four travelers made their way back to the TARDIS. The party wasn't over, but they had seen what they came for, the Doctor assured them. There wasn't anything more that was much fun.
After the uproar of the party, the quiet of the interior of the Doctor's space/time ship was shocking but welcome. Amy sighed and leaned against Rory, who leaned against the console. "That was amazing," she sighed.
"It was. Thank you so much," Rory agreed.
River smiled. "We wouldn't dream of going to such a thing without you, would we, sweetie?" She elbowed the Doctor in the ribs.
"Hm? Oh, of course not, dear." The Doctor landed the TARDIS. "Goodnight, Ponds."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly sleep after that," Amy murmured. She was already half asleep. Rory smiled.
"Yeah, you can. Come on, Amy." Rory tugged her arm over his shoulder. "Thanks again, River, Doctor. Will we see you again, soon?"
River smiled mischievously. "Spoilers, Dad."
The Doctor was more forthcoming. "Of course, Rory. Very, very soon. Sleep well."
"Goodnight, Doctor," Amy said.
"Goodnight, Pond."
River gave both her parents a quick hug. "Goodnight."
"'Night, River."
The Ponds stepped out of the TARDIS into the cool night air.
"Let's get to bed, 'kay?" Amy said sleepily.
"Yeah, let's do that."
"'m tired."
"I can see that. Come on, we have to get all the way upstairs before we can sleep." Rory supported Amy as they went inside. Behind them, the whirring of the blue box disappearing broke the quiet night.
Amy barely managed to get back into her pajamas before collapsing into bed. Rory crawled in next to her. "Goodnight, Rory…" she whispered.
"Happy New Year, Mrs. Pond."
"It isn't New Year here."
"It's always New Year somewhere," Rory replied.
Amy smiled sleepily. "Tha's not how it works."
"Shh, of course it is. I love you."
"Love you, too."
Soon, the breathing of the two time travelers was slow and in synch. 8,000 years in the future, the Doctor and River Song were returning to the party…
Happy New Year! I hope you liked that little story. It's part of a series of one shots I'm writing, one with each Doctor and his companion(s) from New Who. The first is called The Red Bicycle. The previous two were Colors and The Quickening of the Winds. Thanks for reading. I love you all!