"I just can't get over this," Tasha said as she gaped at the room.
I smiled. "You learn to, eventually. Once you see the entirety of this universe, this little amazement seems normal."
"How is it possible for all of this," she spun around, arms out, "to fit in such a tiny box?"
"In just the same way that it's possible to travel through time and space." I opened one of the doors, revealing an empty space. "This can be your room, if you like."
"Really? I get my own room?"
"Of course. What, did you think we shared?"
"No. I thought we slept on the floor."
The both of us laughed as she looked around.
"I love it," she said after a few moments of examination. "This will do perfectly."
"Sorry about the bunk beds. Amy, Rory, and I have been trying to persuade him to redecorate for ages, but we can't get him to budge."
"Are you kidding?" She tossed her bag onto the bottom bunk. "It's a bed, with a ladder. What could be better?"
My jaw nearly dropped at this statement. "Oh, he'll definitely like you."
"Lena!"
Me and Tasha's heads whipped toward the sound, coming from outside the room.
"Speak of the devil," I muttered, then craned my head out the door. "What is it?"
"You're needed in the control room, pronto!"
I looked at Tasha. "You coming?"
She shook her head. "No, I think I'm going to get a little settled in. Try and redecorate, you know?"
I nodded. "Alright. If you need anything, let me know."
"Thanks."
With that, I walked through the halls, retracing my steps from earlier back into the control room, where the Doctor was, as usual, tinkering around with buttons and switches and dials.
"What's up?" I asked him.
He spun, smiling when he saw me. "I have a surprise for you."
Uh oh. I eyed him suspiciously. This could be either a very good thing or a very bad thing. With the Doctor, you could never truly tell.
"What does this 'surprise' entail?"
His grin grew wider. "Now if I told you the answer to that question, it wouldn't be much of a surprise anymore, would it?"
I sighed. "I suppose not."
He clasped his hands together. "Right then. Go gather the others, we've got somewhere to be."
It was getting a little stuffy in my sweatshirt, so I quickly changed into a cute gray sweater before walking down the hallway and shouting, "Pond, Williams, and Soul! Time to go!"
Rory and Amy jogged out immediately, falling into pace next to me.
"Who's Soul?" Rory asked me.
"That's Tasha's last name," I replied.
"I see."
I looked over at him. "Are you okay, Rory? You've been acting a bit odd today."
"What?" He glanced back at me. "Yeah, I'm fine."
I exchanged a glance with Amy, my eyebrows raised, telepathically asking her, "Do you know what's up with him?"
She shook her head and shrugged, mutely replying, "No idea."
Maybe it was just me being paranoid, then. I tried to shake off my sudden suspicion and kept walking, rejoining the Doctor once again.
"Ah, there you all are," he greeted us. "Ready to go?"
"Not yet, we've got to wait for Tasha."
Right on cue, my friend entered the room, quickly walking over to us.
"Reporting for duty," she said cheerfully.
"Great! Let's go." We started to follow him out, but he stopped short and turned, grabbing a couple items off a nearby shelf. "I almost forgot. We're going to need these for a bit."
I weighed the torch in my palm, clicking it on as I stepped out of the TARDIS and into the warm night. I stared up at the sky. The few stars that could be seen were dim, hardly visible. That was a shame. I so did love the stars.
I took in my surroundings, shining the light around, the beam showing me trees, dirt, grass, leaves, and a pebble path that was covered in so much debris it could barely be justified as something that leads a way. Nevertheless, the Doctor started following its direction, guiding us through the trees.
"Where are we?" Tasha wondered.
"A forest, obviously," Rory answered. Maybe my ears still had hints of paranoia, but his tone sounded irritated.
"I gathered that," she said. "What I meant was, where are we going?"
"This way," the Doctor said, pointing through the trees. If I looked closely enough, I could see a clearing, filled with lights.
"What is that?" I asked.
"A party!" he replied joyfully.
"In what year?"
"1950. Rather lovely time, if you ask me."
The clearing was getting closer now, and I could make out a large house, and tiny little dots that littered the green lawn, which I guessed were people. Of course, there was also the high possibility that they were aliens of some sort. You had to learn to start expecting these sorts of things when you traveled with the Doctor.
Soon, we broke out of the protection of the trees, leaving ourselves exposed in the middle of the gigantic lawn. We were close enough to the party now that I could hear voices, laughing and happy.
Out of nowhere, I was struck with a feeling of deja vu. I had been here before. Well, not here, exactly, but in this sort of situation. A long time ago, with different people. My mind flashbacked to the memory…
"What planet are we on, Doctor?" I had asked, trying not to trip on roots as we approached the building, which was surrounded by red-skinned creatures, who were all dressed in emerald green clothes.
"Not sure. I'm not even familiar with the name of this race."
"You haven't been here before?" Rose asked, surprised.
"Can't say I have." He grinned, quickening his pace. "Ah, the excitement of unexplored places."
I remember I had laughed, also feeling excited, because I too loved new planets, new adventures when we had no idea what to expect. Nowadays, though, I tended to get a bit more nervous than I used to when I wasn't sure where I was.
The five us trampled down the hill, trying to keep our footing on the steepness of the land.
Now, I could hear the sound of a band, muffled through the walls of the mansion. I could make out the features of what used to be the tiny black dots and found that they were indeed human.
"Will you please tell us where we are?" Amy asked The Doctor.
"Not a chance. It's a surprise, remember?"
"Is there at least some sort of purpose for us here?"
"Yes," he said as we weaved our way through the small groups of people, all dressed in glamorous outfits. "We are here to meet someone."
"Who?"
"I'm not telling!"
Amy sighed.
"But she's important," he continued. "Don't worry, you'll see soon enough."
He opened the door to the large house for us, but as I stepped through I worried someone would call us out. I mean, we weren't exactly dressed for a dazzling 50s party. I said as much to The Doctor.
"Right you are, Lena. But I don't think we need to worry, this was the start of the strange era you live in now. The people shouldn't be too suspicious."
We casually continued to walk around the room, following the man who pretended to know exactly where he was going, even though we all knew he didn't have a clue.
"I could've sworn she would be here," he said after a while, scratching the back of his head. "I would've bet money on it."
"You know if you told us who we are searching for," I said quietly, "we could actually help you find her."
The Doctor gave me a look.
"Well, maybe we should get back to the TARDIS," he said with a tone of disappointment. "Since there doesn't seem to be anything for us heeeerrre!" His voice wavered up and down with a cheery air as he spotted someone walking through the crowd. "There! There she is!" He rudely spread apart a couple that were dancing slowly to the music so we could have a clear view. He was pointing to a woman with pale, blonde, curly hair and lipstick that was a very bright shade of red.
We walked forward, the Doctor following behind, as I quickly stepped forward, heart racing at the thought of who this might be.
It couldn't be, it just couldn't be, not really.
But when she turned, I saw that it could, and it was. Really.
She was even prettier than she was in the pictures.
Standing before me was the one and only, Marilyn Monroe.
—
A/N: Sorry this one was kind of poorly written, everyone! I never was the best writer in the bunch. I should have part three up in the next week, and I hope that one is a little better! :)
