The 12 fics of Christmas

Day 1: Christmas Carols

The Doctor was beginning to regret joining Clara on what she called an 'adventure in her world'. He had been expecting danger; dark alleys; fun; running. Instead, he had been met with only walking and carols. So many carols. How many versions of Jingle Bells could the human race possibly create?

It had started well enough. He and Clara had ventured off in a beautiful, snowy old village Clara had visited when she was a child. She had told him with a twinkle in her eye all about the gingerbread houses she and her parents had built, the snowball fights they partook in, and all of the snow angels she had engraved in the snow. Enough to fill Heaven, she had said.

Their hands were entwined almost the entire time, hers warming his with her purple and blue striped woolen mittens. Their feet were in sync and the snow crunched beneath their boots. A feeling of warmth and comfort and utter bliss had filled the Doctor almost immediately. Then the carolers came.

It started with just two or three young college students standing beside a wonderfully lit tree. They had their little folders filled with old holiday tunes, their faces bright with spirit and joy. It was actually quite nice. Clara seemed to really enjoy them. She even dropped a pound or two into a donation basket they carried.

Five minutes later, another group of singers came. This group was traveling, taking up almost the entire sidewalk. Clara and the Doctor were forced to hide in the entranceway of a nearby cookie shop to avoid being trampled. The group passed by with pointed looks at the Doctor and Clara.

When that group had finally gone, the two time travelers freed themselves from the cookie shop foyer and started down the road again, searching for something fun to do for the rest of the evening. The sun was reflecting off of the snow, giving it a gorgeous yellow glow among the dark shadows of the trees and buildings. The Doctor was entranced.

Suddenly, a belting soprano voice crooned in his ear, nearly deafening him. It was Jingle Bells. Of course it was. Clara pulled the Doctor by the arm out of the way of a large caroling group that had nearly ran him over as he was staring at the snow. With wide eyes, the Doctor regained his sense of hearing enough to pick out about three wrong notes from the enormous congregation of singers. The musician inside him cringed.

"Not a fan of Christmas carols, eh Doctor?" The Doctor merely shook his head in reply. He hadn't really heard Clara's question properly, anyway, over the screaming carolers beside him.

The sun set quickly, and soon it was time to head back to the TARDIS and get Clara to sleep. The Doctor had a whole day worked out on the planet Spiron for when she woke up and he wanted to make sure she had enough energy to keep up with the racing Hoptoids. Unfortunately, the singing banshees weren't quite done with him yet. Just as he pulled out his shiny key and began unlocking the old, creaky blue door, a voice rang out behind him. Then another joined. Then more. Soon, the whole village was crooning their obnoxious rendition of 'we wish you a Merry Christmas' directly into his ear. Clara smiled politely towards them and joined in their tune, forcing an exasperated sigh from the Tumelord beside her as he finally got the door open.

"Just admit it; you know you enjoyed their singing."

The Doctor paced to the controls, turning levers and pushing buttons as fast as lightning to both get out quickly and avoid Clara's mocking. His human companion followed behind with a playful grin on her face.

"They were completely out of tune. You'd think with all the singing they do they'd at least be decent."

Clara gripped the handle of the scanner and swayed towards him as the ship took off. "Aw, c'mon; they weren't that bad."

They Doctor gave her a two second long stare of disbelief, then started towards her. "Right; time for you to go to bed."

"I'm not even tired."

"Of course you are."

"Doctor!"

The Doctor had put his hands on her shoulders and guided her towards the corridor leading to her TARDIS bedroom. Clara lightly pushed him off and, with a grin, turned to him and walked backwards towards her room. "Look; I'm going. Happy?"

They shared one last playful chuckle before Clara spun back to the corridor and skipped to her door. The Doctor watched her go with both joy and a bit of regret. Though he knew she needed her sleep and knew he had been the one to enforce her bedtimes on the TARDIS, he couldn't help but wish for her to stay awake with him. It got lonely for a Timelord when he had too much 'time' by himself.

Boots scuffled down the metal staircase to the underbelly of the TARDIS, where dimmer lighting and a quieter atmosphere always proved soothing to the Doctor, even on his most stressful days. This time, Sexy had made sure his guitar was already leaning on a plugged in amp by the wall. How did she always know?

The Doctor lifted the guitar strap up and over his head, then turned the volume up slightly on the amplifier and took a pick out of his jacket pocket. It was an oldie but a goodie and it had once been owned by Johnny Cash. The story of how it came to arrive in the TARDIS was a blur for all involved, but there was something about a Zygon in there somewhere.

Before he knew it, the Doctor had begun strumming. The strings felt like time and space beneath his fingertips, reverberating and sending waves out into the atmosphere. It was such a luxurious sound. Such a wonderful feeling. He didn't care what song he was playing; in fact, it never crossed his mind. It was just so calming. Standing beneath his time machine's control deck; not a worry in the world. Clara asleep down the hall. Freedom like he always dreamed of in those days back on Gallifrey. A scared kid, he had been. Look at him now.

"Not such a bad song after all, is it, Doctor?"

The Doctor's fingers slid abruptly off of the strings, causing an ugly, screechy sound from the amp. Looking especially jumpy and owlish, his eyes beamed up into Clara's. When had she even gotten there?

"What?"

She leaned over the railing, already dressed for bed in a nightgown and light pink robe. "Jingle Bells. I heard you playing."

"That wasn't Jingle Bells. It was...you know I just forgot the name of it."

"It was Jingle Bells."

"No; no way. I'd never let myself play that sort of rubbish."

Clara turned away from the railing, a playful smile still written on her face. "Whatever you say, Doctor."

As she walked away, she called out a quick "Goodnight," then disappeared. Quietly, the Doctor began strumming a tune, looking up every few minutes to check for any sign of his companion, but none came.

It was midnight Clara's time when a faint but unmistakable song began humming throughout the TARDIS. The Doctor had soniced his guitar so it now required no amp as he strolled down the corridor towards Clara's door. Softly he pushed the door open between notes and peeked inside to find a slowly awakening young human. "Clara."

His voice was barely above a whisper, but it was enough to awaken the already stirring inhabitant. She dazedly opened her eyes and sat up, turning on the light as soon as she was coherent enough to do so. "What is it, Doctor?"

"I learned a new song."

Clara looked bemusedly at her alarm clock. "It's midnight. Can't this wait till morning?"

"I might not be brave enough in the morning."

At this, Clara's eyebrow raised. She was fully awake now, and watching the Doctor's every awkward shuffle with curiosity. Finally, his fingers began pressing down the strings and, after a quick smile to his companion, he began playing and then, shockingly, singing.

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. Just like the ones I used to know. Where the treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow."

Clara's hands were over her mouth, both wiping tears out of her eyes and covering the giant smile that had taken over half of her face. By the end of the fourth verse, she had given up hiding. Joyous tears stained her face and flowed into her wide, gappy smile.

When the Doctor strummed his last chord, Clara let out a small chuckle, then burst up out of bed and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Though taken by surprise, the Doctor quickly warmed into it and let go of his guitar, letting the strap catch it as he returned the hug. Clara rested her face on his shoulder and gathered herself before stepping back and looking up into his eyes. "That was my mum's favorite Christmas song. How did you know?"

"You told me."

"When?"

The Doctor scratched his neck, gazing at everything but Clara. "Two years ago?"

"How on Earth did you remember that?"

The Timelord dropped his hand to his side and took a deep breath, then met her eyes once more. "How could I forget something that's so important to my best friend?"

Clara's eyes seemed to inflate. In a matter of seconds, her arms were back around his neck in a tight embrace. "Thank you, Doctor."

The Doctor closed his eyes as their foreheads dropped to each other's shoulders. This was home. Here, in the TARDIS, with Clara Oswald. Even if he had to endure all of the Christmas carols in the world, this was worth it. In fact, maybe, just maybe, the Christmas songs weren't so bad after all.