The Doctor stood in front of a full-body mirror, examining himself with a critical eye. Hands moved to adjust the black leather belt, complete with a shining brass buckle. He stroked the soft red fabric of his clothing, edged with creamy white fur, then turned to study himself from the side. He stroked the false facial hair attatched to his face, white and silvery like freshly fallen snow, still having yet to be soiled by the destructive footsteps of passersby. His nose wrinkled up disdainfully. Yup, still appearing to be fat, thanks to all the stuffing underneath the extra-large clothing he wore.
"Roooose," whined the Doctor, adjusting the rather itchy white beard on his face. "Do I really have to do this?"
"For once," the blonde appeared from seemingly nowhere, a smile lighting up her features, "We get a Christmas where nothing tries to kill us. Don't you want to do something nice for once?"
"Saving the universe is more than nice..."
"Christmas-nice, Doctor."
"Roooose."
"Stop complaining Doctor, you're going to love this."
Rose snaked her arms around the Time Lord from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder, looking into the reflection of the two of them, together, in this one mirror. Before them, two people regarded them with the same reflected expressions; Christmas was in their eyes and sugar plums in their cheeks. Despite the Doctor's complaining, she knew that he would still comply. After all, when did he ever get the chance to hand out toys to children? She knew that deep down, the Doctor did have a soft spot for the little tykes.
Finally, she took her arms away and grasped his hand firmly, leading him to the waiting doors of the TARDIS. Light bled through the translucent windows, and faintly she could hear the babble of the streets of London, as folks scurried to their homes to be in time for Christmas Eve supper, before the children were sent to bed with candy canes dancing over their heads, in their dreams.
"Ready, Santa?"
"Rose."
"Let's go!"
The familiar squeak of the TARDIS door signaled their exit from the blue box; night was just beginning to fall, the stars beginning to wink above like cold, cheery Christmas lights in the sky. The lights of London were just beginning to come alive, and in the distance Rose could see the beacon, the towering time-marker that was Big Ben, and further away still, the Eye. Her hand tightened around the Doctor's as they stood, marveling at the simplistic beauty, before she turned to regard him.
"Right place," she confirmed, before turning back to the building in front of them, an apartment complex, two stories. "The first flat is 11-A. Let's go."
This time, the Doctor said nothing, just giving her a cheeky grin as he hoisted the sack of goodies onto his shoulder. Together, the two entered the complex, scaling the stairs - the Doctor took those two at a time, such a spring there was in each of his steps - and finding the correct flat within minutes.
"Do your thing," said Rose, leaning back on her heels as he set down the bag, pulled out his trusty sonic screwdriver.
"You sure they're not home?"
"Yeah," replied Rose, "Supposed to be out for Christmas dinner."
A soft humming accompanied with the glow of the screwdriver and bam! they were in. Slowly, the Doctor turned the doorknob, having thrown the bag of toys over his shoulder once more. The door cracked open...
And light spilled in the hallway. Funny. Maybe they'd left the lights on.
The Doctor poked his red-hatted head around the door...
He cleared his throat, throwing the door wide open. "Ah, hello!"
Rose tilted her head, an expression of confusion taking over her face. Then understanding flashed over as she heard the tiny, high-pitched voices call out, "Father Christmas!"
Oops. Major problem in the plan. Rose heaved a sigh, hid behind the now-open door. She squinted through the crack of the door, watching the Santa-Doctor as he improvised.
He gave a jolly laugh - well, as close to jolly as he could get. "My, my, I hadn't expected you to be home so early. I was about to put your presents under the tree..."
"What'd ya get me?!" cried a brown-haired, dark-eyed little girl, whose hair was pulled back in one long braid.
The Santa-Doctor gave a light chuckle, shook his finger. "Can't tall ya; you have to open your present in the morning, understand?" The young child pouted, gave a nod, returned to her seat at the dining table. The impersonator turned toward the rather stunned parents, jaws hanging wide open. He gave a warm smile. "I'm so terribly sorry. You see, I'd been informed that you wouldn't be here at this time; I'd planned to put the gifts under the tree while you weren't home..."
"Thief!" cried the woman.
The Santa-Doctor held up his gloved hands. "Oh, no, no! It's me, really!" Upon the exchange of words, the boy piped up, finally getting over his shy silence.
"N-no, mum, he's real. Father Christmas, show her your Christmas magic..." Rose smacked a palm to her forehead. How was he supposed to- oh... The blonde heaved a sigh, began to sprint back to the TARDIS at full-speed. She hoped she could pull this off.
"Well, you see..." began the Santa-Doctor. "I don't really travel in a sleigh pulled by reindeer like ol' Rudolph..."
"What?!" shrieked both the children. Their eyes were glued to the red-suited Time Lord.
"Well you see," he continued hurriedly, "I can't this year. They're sick; got the erm... snowflake flu!" The children looked on in horror. "They'll get better soon, but for now, I've been traveling in a big blue box, delivering presents to all the children like you!" Another smile lit up his face as the groaning sound of his beloved TARDIS coughed itself into existence, right in the very room! A collective gasp could be heard from the astonished family, and then silence when Rose stepped out of the TARDIS.
"'ello!"
The Santa-Doctor covered her quickly. "She's my assistant! Meet Rose, the elf!" Luckily, the children squealed with excitement, both leaping from their chairs to throw their grubby arms around the blonde. She gave a smile, knelt to hug the two of them before standing up again.
"You see..." Digging around in the sack, the Santa-Doctor procured two neatly wrapped gifts in brightly coloured paper, complete with bows. "I am Father Christmas," he leaned down to give the two gifts to the children, who looked on in awe and wondrous excitement before dashing to place the presents under their glimmering tree. "But you must remember that there is more to Christmas than receiving gifts-" he shot a look at the parents, who seemed to have finally managed to pull their jaws back to normal positions. "Remember to cherish your family. Spend this Christmas with them, happy. Understand?" The two children nodded, and with that he turned toward the TARDIS, a gentle hum waiting for him.
"I've got to go deliver the presents to the other children," he smiled, "But you remember that, okay?" Without waiting for a reply, he swept into the TARDIS with Rose on his heels, the door swinging shut behind them. Seconds later, the blue box disappeared from thin air, leaving only the yet again hanging jaws of the surprised parents and the wondrous, glimmering eyes of the children.
Back in the TARDIS, Rose paced about, voice irritated. "I can't believe they were home!"
"Rose."
"I mean, that could have gone much worse!" She seemed to be ignoring the sound of her name.
"Rose."
"Had to go and get the TARDIS - do you know how hard it was to get this thing in there? I barely know how to operate the-"
"Rose!"
She stopped, looked at the dark-haired Time Lord. "What?"
A smile lit up his face. "That was... brilliant! Let's... let's do it again." Rose's expression mirrored the Doctor's, and she went to throw her arms around him in a great hug.
"I knew you would enjoy it, making them happy," she whispered into his ear, "You up for more?"
"Of course!"
The Doctor wormed his way out of Rose's embrace, hands flying over the TARDIS controls, which hummed happily under his touch. With the pull of a lever - "ALLONS-Y!" and off they went, the TARDIS spinning through the shining night sky, bringing Christmas to those who deserved it.
And bringing happiness.