There were many things that Romana found odd about the Doctor. The fact he was so reckless and somehow hadn't died, the fact he was the antithesis of a Time Lord and still be a genius, the fact that he walked around with that multicolored scarf and still expected people to take him seriously, and the fact that they did.

She found herself staring at that scarf, or more like glaring at it, far more than she expected. So much so that she found herself asking a question that really shouldn't have mattered with the Key to Time at stake, but one that demanded an answer.

"Doctor, where are you getting all of your scarves?"

The Doctor, fiddling with the TARDIS console despite the fact that they weren't going anywhere, looked up. "Hmm?"

Romana signed. Why did he never pay attention? "Where are you getting all of your scarves?"

"Oh, this one? I got it from UNIT."

"From where?"

"UNIT. It's a place I went to many times on Earth."

Romana felt tempted to roll her eyes and comment on the Doctor's obsession with Earth, but there was still something nagging her.

"But you have more than one."

"What?"

"Your scarf. I've seen you wear one that's longer, one that's shorter, and one with a slightly different color scheme…"

"No, you're mistaken," the Doctor said nonchalantly. "I only have this one."

False. Romana observed him a lot, and she could clearly see the different scarves he wore. "No, you don't. I wasn't born yesterday, Doctor."

"With your age, you might as well have been."

Romana took a deep breath to restrain herself from shouting. Of course, he always went back to that. Why did she even bother? "Alright, fine. Forget it."


It wasn't until she had regenerated and the issue of the Doctor's scarf had long since left her mind that Romana would get her answer. She was wandering through the TARDIS corridors, in search of the Doctor. It didn't take long for her to find his room.

"Doctor," she said, opening the door. "I need to ask-"

The image she saw silenced her immediately. The Doctor was sitting on a chair, staring off into space as if he was in another world. He was holding needles and a long burgundy cloth that stretched to the floor.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm?" He looked up at Romana. "Oh, hello."

"Are you...knitting?" Romana surveyed the material closely and nearly laughed. "You are. Oh...you knitted all of your other scarves, didn't you? That's where they're coming from."

"Yes." He stared, daring her to make fun of him. Perhaps she would have before, but now she only smiled. "They're wonderful, Doctor."

"They are, aren't they? It's quite relaxing, although I do tend to get a little distracted…" He gestured helplessly to the long trail of material.

Romana rolled her eyes and walked towards the door to leave him in peace. She suddenly turned around. "Wait, Doctor, this one's a different color."

"Is it?" He goggled the unfinished scarf as if he'd never seen it before. "Ah, it is. Well, that's no problem. I thought it was time for a change anyway."

Romana rolled her eyes for the second time and left without a word, trying to shrug it off. Still, she smiled the second she shut the door. Discovering the origin of the Doctor's scarves made her far more satisfied than she would ever admit.

Yeah, yeah, something in canon probably contradicts this, but I really like the idea of the Doctor knitting his own scarves, so leave me alone.