Before I even get started, I just wanted to let you know that I have been working on this since Christmas Eve. It is not nearly four days later and I have finished it just because I wanted to give you guys a Christmas present. Not that I celebrate Christmas. Well, I do because my family is Catholic. But by choice. Anywhoo. I can't actually say it was a Christmas without the Doctor, because what's a Doctor Who Fanfic without the Doctor? Or any canonical character...? But I was inspired to write this after I watched The Year Without a Santa Claus for the bajillion and first time so I stole the title from there. I hope you enjoy. Happy Christmas!
Winnie smiles to herself as she hums along to the carols being sung in the shopping center. She was in the city not too far away from the small town she'd grown up in. The mall was busy as shoppers rushed around for last minute gifts for crazy aunts who knit too many sweaters and wacky uncles that smoked a cigar every hour in addition to the chain of cigarettes that were too often clutched between his teeth.
Yule was already two days past, though she was certain the chill of that night with her mother's coven was still in her bones. Her gift to her Goddess's consort already given and the trinkets for the ceremony already packed away waiting for the next year.
Still, with the Christmastime aura gathering in bunches with snowflakes and huddled together around storefront windows, Winnie found herself thinking back to all those Christmases spent with the Doctor.
That first Christmas when she'd used the bench he and his scarf were draped upon as a shield during that snowball fight, was the last Christmas she'd ever celebrated. After that she was allowed to be a small part of Mary's coven's festivities come Yuletime. And then she'd gotten his scarf the following 25th of December, the same scarf she wore now to protect herself from the cold.
And then two faces and a few years later they'd replayed the scene, again on Christmas. It was always on Christmas. But she only got to stay for a little while before she had to leave.
And then she was in London the next time. And it wasn't actually christmas and it had been a while and she was fourteen. She'd started to acquire that faint Scottish accent she has now, an effect of spending too much time with her mum.
She'd accidentally run into the Tardis while in a heated conversation that consisted of gossip only a schoolgirl would care about. He'd said hello to her and her cousin and they'd hugged and he promised five minutes, though it was five days. At least he had the five right.
She started traveling with him, just short little adventures to planets and times he knew were safe. Of course that drew to a close eventually, after she nearly "died" her mum exnayed that.
But Christmas he was always there. In the park on the bench, or he'd pass her in London a few days later. He'd always appear, and once he left for the next year there'd be a little trinket left behind for her from some far off land on a planet millions of lightyears away.
Winnie's pulled back into the current time by a little girl in pigtails and fuzzy earmuffs.
"Sorry," the mom apologizes her hands full of shopping bags. "I think she's had too much sugar."
"Nuh-uh," the girl says. "I was playing tag with my new friend."
"Sorry," the mom repeats. "She's got this imaginary friend that likes to hide behind strangers."
WInnie flashes the mom a smile. "Nonsense. It's fine. I used to be much the same." She crouches down to the little girl's level. "So what's this friend look like."
"You didn't say imaginary," the girl says shocked. "Everyone says my friend is impossible."
Winnie chuckles. "I try to believe in five impossible things before breakfast. This morning I believed in dogs with no noses, a planet named Raxacoricofallapatorius, her sister planet named Clom, a time-and-space traveling police call box that's bigger on the inside and her pilot who's this madman with two hearts."
The little girl's eyes were wide by the time she finished. "That can't be true!" the girl exclaims loudly, but then her face softens and she looks hesitant. "Can it?"
Winnie smiles and pulls out her phone. "Well let's see." She flips through some of the pictures pulling up one from when she, Rose and the Doctor traveled to the planet of Barcelona. "Tada!" Winnie says showing the girl a picture of her and the Doctor playing with a noseless dog. Winnie looked a little sad since the Doctor wouldn't let her keep the stray. "No nose. And that is my time-and-space traveling madman."
"Cool!" the girl says.
Winnie nods and sticks her phone back in her pocket. "Now, tell me what your friend looks like so I can help you find him."
The girl's eyes brighten at the prospect of someone believing her. "He's my age, well he's older than me but he looks like he's my age. And he's green with little spikes for hair. But sometimes he looks like me."
"Really?" Winnie asked looking around.
"Mhmm. His name is George. And he says you can only find him if you're looking for him."
"Well, let's see, little green and spikey, that sounds like a Vinvocci."
"What?"
"Vinvocci," Winnie says with a smile. "I met one a while back while I was on Castillo, one of the moons of Jupiter. He worked at this little place that sold jewelry carved from diamonds from the planet Midnight, which is made entirely of diamonds. Actually," she lifts the sleeve of her jacket just enough to unclasp the bracelet found there, "I bought this from him, weell, technically my friend paid for it. The roses are diamonds from Midnight and the leaves are stained Hufasa wood from some planet whose name starts with a "Q". And the metal is rose gold from the surface of Jupiter itself."
"It's really pretty," the girl says.
"Here," Winnie says holding it out. "Let me see your wrist."
The girl holds her tiny wrist out, and Winnie has to wrap the bracelet around twice so it doesn't slide off.
"There, you can keep it." Winnie glances up at the girl's mom who seems to have a bright smile on her face. "And if I see George, I'll tell him where you are."
"What do you say?" the mom asks.
"Thank-you!" the girl says, hugging Winnie around the neck.
"You're very welcome. But I ask for one thing in return."
The little girl looks expectantly.
Winnie pulls out her phone and slides the screen to another photo. This one of her and the Doctor in front of the Tardis. "If you see this madman, tell him his very best friend says he's late for Christmas Dinner."
"But it's not Christmas yet."
Winnie just smiles and touches her nose. She stands swiftly and looks to the mom again. "Merry Christmas and blessed be."
"Merry Christmas," Mom and the girl say together.
They continue on their way and Winnie is left alone to her thoughts once again. She's done with her shopping now, she thinks as tiny tears start to prick her eyes. The Doctor won't be coming. Not this year. He'll spend it with Rose and she'll be alone with her little calico cat. On Christmas. She'll be alone on Christmas.
Ironic, it is, that she cries over this. She doesn't even celebrate the holiday, And she was the one that told the Doctor not to come back for two years at least. She wanted to concentrate on finishing her schooling. But with his absence in her life, it's only made it more difficult for her to do anything.
Her mum's house is chilly when she finally arrives home, The wood burning stove had long gone out, only coals having remained when she left for the shops. But with a short trip down in the basement, the house starts smelling of warm cedar as the temperature slowly rises.
Mary was in England visiting with her late husband's family. Winterlynn was supposed to fly out a few days after Christmas in time for New Years. So the entire house was empty save for the ten year old calico called Nala she's had since her eleventh birthday.
Nala was currently sitting on the kitchen table where her shopping bags had tumbled over and were spilling their contents on the table like that gossip she was so attuned to.
There's gold gift wrap and brown paper in the back of her mother's closet that she uses to wrap the few gifts she bought for her friends, because despite her lack of celebration, she still enjoyed the giving portion. After things were wrapped and the paper replaced and bows stuck to packages, Winnie arranges the presents into a tree like shape and stick one of her mother's gold-star-painted candle holders on the top.
"It's Christmas-y enough, don't you think Nals?"
The cat just meow-oofs at her from her position.
Winnie chuckles and shakes her head, going into the kitchen to find herself something to eat, settling on a crunchy peanut butter and raspberry jam sandwich and a stolen piece of baking chocolate, because Ghirardelli was one of her favorites.
She spent the night on the couch watching the same Christmas Cartoons she did as a child, singing along to all those songs she memorized as she fell asleep.
The world was covered in a thick white blanket when she woke, Christmas morning. Well, her tiny patch of it in Baldwinsville, New York.
It's chilly again, the fire having died out, and after she set the kettle on to boil she sets to work to make the house warm again. After that she's at a loss as to what to do.
"Merry Christmas, Nala," she says as she sits down on the couch with a mug of Twinning's. She didn't remember which one. It was the red tin. Probably, English Breakfast. Most likely.
She turns on the Hallmark Channel and prepares herself for a day of overly romantic and cheesy Christmas movies. She supposes she could take out her dimension-traveling laptop and see what lies ahead for her and her Doctor, but that's still cheating despite having nothing to do.
It's about 1:30 in the afternoon when she decides to ring up her friends and family and wish them a happy holiday. The five minute phone call to her mother turns out to be three hours as the phone is passed between everyone. She hates to think of the phone bill with a three hour and twenty minute international call., but it was worth it as she thinks back to the smiles she could hear.
She's tempted to dial the TARDIS's number, but then thinks he's probably busy. Besides, it's bad form to call someone after you sent them away for two years.
But she does think back to the last Christmas. And how she and Rose were at a loss after the Doctor regenerated, and then how she nearly got them all killed when she decided to take a side trip with a borrowed sonic and TARDIS to the children's home she stayed at before Mary adopted her. But she still saved them just before the killer tree, well, killed them. And then the killer Santas and blood control and spaceships and Harriet Jones, Prime Minister, though Winnie knew who she was. And then the Doctor lost his hand but won the Earth and sent the threat away with their tail between their legs and then Torchwood. And then Winnie started to realize things.
She smiles over at Nala. "Looks like it's just you and me now kit."
The calico cat meows at her as she jumps up on the back of her couch.
She must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew there was a timid knock on the door and the movie playing wasn't the one she was watching prior.
She doesn't have a clue as to who it could be. Perhaps one of her neighbors inviting her to Christmas dinner since they realized she was alone this holiday. But the tiny confused grin flipped itself as she opened the door.
There was silence as her sapphire eyes stared out, but it was cut short.
"I just spent Christmas Eve with a bloody thick ginger, robot Santas, the Empress of the Racnoss, and a drained Thames. I thought maybe a nice relaxing time in the park would be good. But then there was this little girl in pigtails and fuzzy pink earmuffs who told me my "very best friend said I'm late for Christmas dinner"."
Winnie stares at her Doctor. There is an ever present tiny grin on his lips but her eyes reflect the tears she finds in his beautiful brown ones. She can't even say she's mad at him for breaking his promise because she knows. She just throws her arms around his neck and hugs him close.
"She's gone," he says with a sniffle. "Rose is gone."
"I know," Winnie breathes, hugging him close. "I saw it already, you don't have to explain." She pulls back enough to give him a smile. "Come on. Let's have dinner."
It wasn't anything special she made. Just some leftover turkey and mashed potatoes from her Yule dinner with her mum. They found some Christmas crackers in the TARDIS and they shared a couple of glasses of hot cocoa and a scarf in the park as they watched the children have a massive snowball fight.
A little girl only about nine with pig tails and fuzzy pink earmuffs hid behind their bench at one point. The Doctor and Winnie, after sharing a reminiscent glance turn to look at the child.
"Oh, hello, we didn't see you there," the Doctor says.
"I think that's the point," Winnie says.
"Shh," the girl says, "before they find me."
The Doctor nods and Winnie zips her lips as they turn back around with a little giggle. It's not long before they hear the little girl scream and watch as she circles the bench.
"I take it that means you are out?" Winterlynn wonders.
The girl nods. "Can I sit with you until the game is over?"
"Of course," the Doctor says shifting so the girl could sit between him and the Wiccan.
"What's your name?" Winnie wonders as the girl slides into position.
"Grace," the girl tells as she takes a puff of her inhaler. "Grace Osgood of London."
Winnie smiles. "That's a beautiful name. And of London? I didn't even notice your accent. My dad was from London."
"We came here to visit my grandmother," Grace tells them. "Mum says she's getting too old to travel to see us so we have to travel to see her."
"Well, I was here visiting my Mum," Winnie says, "but she left a few days ago to spend Christmas with my Dad's family. I couldn't get a ticket on the same plane so I'm going to travel later."
"What's your name?" Grace wonders.
"I'm Winnie," she says then glances up at the unusually silent man. "And that's the Doctor."
"THE Doctor?" Grace wondered eyes wide.
"That's not usually what we get."
"Sorry," she says softly, "It's just my uncle used to tell us stories about a man who called himself the Doctor."
"Grace, come on! We're starting again." Three head turn towards a woman that looked about Winnie's age.
"That's my cousin Sarah. I gotta go. It was nice seeing you again Winnie. And thanks for the bracelet."
Winnie smiles as she watches the girl run off.
"Well, that was interesting," the Doctor says slowly.
Winnie turns to him with a smile. "Is that what you said when I walked away?" She shakes her head and stands up. "Come on lets go home."
"I'm guessing this is it?"
Winnie frowns. "I did say two years and you did come a bit early."
"It's been a year and a half," he said in his defense.
Winnie smirks. "I did graduate a semester earlier than I thought I was going to."
"What did you go to uni for any way?"
She shrugs with a nonchalant look on her face. "Oh, just Bachelor's in physics."
"It took you five years for a Bachelor's degree in physics?" he wondered. "I thought you were more clever than that."
She shrugs with a tiny smirk. "Well, there's also that Master's in astronomy. Well, there's a little concentration in astrophysics, but my degree covers all of it."
"Physics and astronomy, I should have known."
"I told you I should have been the Physics teacher and not the Gym teacher. Though I will admit I looked pretty rockin' in those gym shorts."
"Yes, you did," the Doctor says with a smirk.
Winnie blushes deeply. "Alright, come on, where are we headed to next?"
The Doctor's eyes widened. "You're coming back?"
With a giggle and a nod, Winterlynn rushes past him. She's already circling the console by the time the Doctor catches up.
"Let's set it to random and see where we end up. But first I have a stop to make. Weell, I have a phone call and then a stop to make."
The Doctor chuckles as he tosses his trench coat over the railing. "Glad to see you getting reacquainted with our TARDIS."
Winnie pauses in her running around. "Who are you trying to butter up? Me or her?"
The Doctor smiles as he moves to stand next to her. He laces their fingers together. "Promise me you won't leave me like that?"
"With naught but a letter and no promise of returning for good or like Rose?"
"Yes."
Winnie squeezes his hand a brushes a peck of a kiss to the back of it. "Promise. Cross my heart."
There's tears in his big, sad, brown eyes and salty tracks on his cheeks, but he's smiling that contagious smile of his and Winnie smiles back as the TARDIS throws them down on the floor.
"I'll be right back," she says as she stands and runs out.
A young woman sits on a park bench in a tiny town in upstate New York. She watches as children run about throwing imperfect spheres of snow at one another. They're having a war. The Great Snowball War. Between the streets named after flowers and the streets with strange names, The Flowers and The Strangers. It's been going on for years. Nineteen years to be exact. There's never a winner. There's never an end, but it continues on for generations.
The young woman smiles as she ducks in avoidance of one of those imperfect balls. This particular battle is starting to end. And it seems the Flowers are winning.
Suddenly something is blocking her view, but it's only there for a brief second before it's lying around her neck.
"Sorry," a sweet voice says behind her. "You just looked cold."
The young woman glances at the long, colourful scarf around her neck before turning her head to question the girl's motive but the girl wasn't there.
Standing, the young woman searches the park. She catches a glimpse of a girl rushing inside a blue police call box just before a faint wheezy grinding sound is heard.
It proves to be just the push Sarah Osgood needed to follow her father's footsteps into UNIT.
"What was that about?" the Doctor wonders as Winnie shakes the snow from her hair.
"She looked cold. I thought she could use a scarf."
The Doctor cocks a brow.
"Don't do that. You know I hate when you do that. It's not fair. I can't do that."
"Who was she?" the Doctor wonders.
"Spoilers. And oh! Grace said to tell you she said hi."
The Doctor smiles as she joins him on the jump seat. "Cute kid. Reminds me of you a bit at that age."
Winnie frowns as she leans back. "I was never that cute."
The Doctor's arm moves to rest behind her shoulders. "Oh, you were exceptionally cute. Still are, if I'm being honest. Well…"
Winnie rolls her eyes at that. Of course he would backtrack, she honestly wasn't very cute at all. The TARDIS hums as she's halfway through the motion, the exact moment she spots the hologram branch of white berries hanging above their heads.
"When I say cute I mean- Are you okay?"
Winnie turns her glare from the console. "She thinks she's so funny. But ha! Joke's on her. It's a hologram, it doesn't count," she growls turning back to the console.
"What?" he asks glancing up. "Just a bit of mistleto-oh." He swallows as a blush settles on his cheeks. "Traditions, never was one for them."
Winnie gives a half smile. "Me neither. Besides… Hologram. Doesn't count."
"Right."
"Merry Christmas," Winnie says with a brighter smile. "I'm off for a rest. Wake me when we land."
The Doctor watches her as she leaves, sonicing the mistletoe away once she's out of sight.
"I just got her back."
"Don't go scaring her off with forced kisses."
"Of course I love her."
"She doesn't- she's not- She's standing around the corner."
Winnie pokes her head back around the corner with a sly smile. "Sorry. She wouldn't let me leave. She's plotting against us."
It was the Doctor's turn to glare at the console.
"Oh, look at it this way, we'll have so much fun trying rebuke her plans on hooking us up. It's like that one time my first year in uni I had that really annoying roommate that was like constantly there. I don't think she ever left. But like she always told me she had this friend who was single too. Never the same friend though. Can't tell you how many times she tried that. Donna. Donna, I think her name was. Not the same Donna that you met. Mine was a natural blonde and American. And tiny. Like Tinkerbelle sized. And her mum or aunt or great uncle was deaf so she would sign a lot of what she said. Or didn't say. But it was cool because she taught me a lot, so now if I ever meet a deaf person who can understand ASL I can talk to them. You're just gonna let me keep talking, aren't you? Fine, I'm actually leaving this time. Hopefully. Merry Christmas. Happy belated Yule. Happy early New Year. And, oh, I love you, too. In that crazy like-a-brother-but-if-we-ended-up-drunk-and-snogging-I-wouldn't-mind-too-much sorta way. Good night!"