"You know
what?"
"What?"
There was a moment of silence before he
responded and for a millisecond she contemplated asking once more.
"I don't like you."
Her eyebrows rose in curiosity and
bemusement. "Ah, excuse me?"
"I don't like you." He
repeated, folding his hands and resting his forearms on his bent
knees.
The day had been off to
a good start so far. They had not yet encountered any ghastly
monsters or damsels in distress, so the Doctor decided to take Donna
to one of his favourite places in the whole world- a tiny town
nearing the east of South Australia called "Kapunda". She had
laughed when he told her the name of the town and she then repeated
it; suggesting that the 'punda' sound reminded her somehow of
'panda'.
It all seemed better though, when they stepped out
of the TARDIS and on to the local duck-pond. Donna stood in awe of
the beautiful tall trees and the lively green island in the middle of
the large pond. The only thing off-putting was the colour of the
water the ducks swam and practically lived in. Although, this was
tolerable, because the view of the trees and all of the pretty little
swans and ducks frolicking around made up for this tiny
downside.
They took each other's hand and walked along the
bridge before they sat at a bench on the opposite side to where they
came.
"Shall I just leave
now, then? The town seems beautiful enough; I'd love to stay..."
Donna mused as she looked at the houses across the road of the
duck-pond. They appeared to seem nice and cosy on the outside- the
type she'd love to settle down in to.
"No, no I want you to
stay with me. I just don't like you." The Doctor stated rather
simply with a shrug.
"Ok. Um, mind if I ask why? You know- is
it just something that has come to mind right now at this passing
moment, or have you never really liked me in the first place?" she
tried to act casual, but still had that hint of challenge in her
voice that told him he just shouldn't of started this in the first
place.
"Well... it's just a thought that's been growing on
me lately. I don't have anything against you...well...maybe I do.
But that's only because you have the upper-hand in this situation."
He once again shrugged nonchalantly, earning a bewildered look from
his fiery companion.
"What situation? What
are you on about?"
"You're, just, being more awesome than
me, and I don't particularly think it's very fair. For
almost a thousand years I have been trying to
be the most
awesome living creature in all of existence, and then I meet you, and
all of my effort just becomes worthless, and I don't know if I can
take it anymore." The Doctor explains, the look of bewilderment
still glued to Donna's face.
"ok, 1- what are you on? And 2-
how do you believe that all of this is possible?" she counted these
questions on her fingers and awaited the answers; sure that they
would be as ridiculous as the actual statement 'you're being more
awesome than me.'
"I'm not 'on' anything. And you're
ginger...and rude."
"I'm ginger?"
the 'rude' bit seemed to slip her mind completely, it was the
'ginger' bit that she was worried about the most.
He made an
enquiring look from her hair to her face. "Yeah, you hadn't
noticed?"
"Of course I noticed, genius. But you don't like
me because I'm ginger?"
"Well...pretty
much, yeah."
"Like I hadn't gotten enough of this in high
school." She muttered under her breath, reclining back on the
unusually-comfortable dark green park bench.
"oh, no. No no no
it's not that kind of 'I don't like you because you're
ginger', thing. It's just, I've never been ginger, and I've
always wanted to be ginger. So it's not because of your hair
colour, it's...well...it is
because of your hair colour, but..."
"tut tut, I know what you
mean, alright? Just slow down there. And what do you mean 'I've
never been ginger'? Do Timelords get to dye their hair like normal
people as well? And if they do, why don't you just go to a
salon?"
"No, it's a little different to that. I regenerate
from time-to-time, and, well hopefully it's a situation that you'll
never need to encounter, but I turn in to a different...person." he
tries to explain as smoothly as possible.
"So...you change? It's
not always you?"
"oh, no it is
always me, I just look... different." The Doctor took her hand in
his and gave it a comforting squeeze. Donna tried her best to
suppress an oncoming tear from rolling down her cheek. She'd come
so far from a Temp living at home with her mother in Chiswick, and
despite his paper-thin physique- she'd become quite fond of this
incarnation and would not know what she would do if she had to lose
him against her will. Donna snuggled in a little bit closer to the
Doctor and rested her head on his shoulder, letting that single tear
flow down her cheek. "Well, I do
like you, and to prevent you from leaving- maybe we should just stay
here forever."
"What makes you think I'd want to stay with
you?" he jokes, of
course, squeezing her hand just a little comfortingly tighter.
"Ah,
because I'm rude and ginger, of course." She gives him one of
those infamous smirks, and he repeats "of course" before dropping
a gently subtle kiss on her forehead.
