"Now, Luna, if you could go anywhere, where would you go?" The Doctor asked, running over to the control panel.
Luna thought for a moment, following him slowly. "Well. I've always wanted to see the man in the moon. My mother used to tell me stories about him. It'd be nice to meet him," she said after a moment, pausing to stand by him.
He looked at her for a moment, before shrugging and putting in the coordinates for the moon. He laughed a bit when he saw Luna holding tightly to the railings when the TARDIS started to shake and move. She sighed a bit in relief when the TARDIS stopped.
"Well, alright then. If my calculations are correct—and they usually are, we should be on the moon. You can step outside, but if we stay for too long we'll have to put on suits. The dear doesn't hold that much oxygen," he said, patting the control panel fondly.
Luna smiled a bit before walking to the doors. "The moon is out there?" she questioned, sounding curious but not skeptical. She watched as the Doctor nodded. Then she grinned brightly and stepped out onto the surface of the moon.
She gasped a bit, seeing the wonderful view and the scene of Earth below. "This is amazing," she breathed, taking in the view.
"Yeah, moons are always pretty cool. They're great places to visit. I once camped out here," he said, gazing out with her.
Luna turned around pointedly. "So, where does the Man in the Moon live? I've been meaning to ask him some questions. Mainly about why he exactly created the Nargles," she murmured dreamily.
The Doctor coughed a bit. "Right. Well, supposedly he lives over there, facing the Earth," he spoke quickly, pointing to the left of them, "but I like to think that he actually lives over there, on the dark side of the moon. Much better view of Mars and what not. So, I would suggest we grab some lights and head over there," he finished, turning to walk back into the TARDIS.
She stayed for a few moments, gazing at the Earth before following him back inside. "Doctor? Where are you?" she called out, not seeing him in entrance way.
"Just a moment, I'm trying to find the lights! They used to be next to the library, but I think... Ah! Found them!" he said, coming back with two miner's hats and no less than seven different flash lights.
Luna furrowed her eyebrows. "Is that muggle technology? How does it work?" she asked, picking up one of the flashlights and turning it on. She watched in fascination at how easily it turned on and off. "Oh, this is ingenious!" she said with a laugh, putting one of the hats on. "How do they come up with it?" she murmured, switching the light on her hat.
The Doctor grinned a bit, seeing her so intrigued by the simple flashlights. "I'm not exactly sure how they work, but we really should go if we want to meet the Man without having to wear those ridiculous suits," he said, pulling on his own hat. "Now, c'mon, you still do want to meet him, don't you?" he questioned with a smile, walking out of the TARDIS.
She eagerly followed, simply brimming with anticipation. "Oh, I'm so excited! I don't think I've been this excited since the D.A meetings started!" she laughed in her own quiet way, skipping along and playing with the flashlight. "My mother told me stories about him all the time when I was younger. It was my favorite bed time story," she murmured, remembering past nights with her mother.
The pair walked and chatted as they neared closer to the Man in the Moon's home. "Oh, we should probably turn on our lights now. It is getting a bit dark," Luna said, cutting off one of the Doctor's stories.
"Oh good, that means we're almost here. We only need to walk about ten fe—oh look! There it is!" he said, pointing to a small hut a few feet in front of them.
"Is that where he lives? Oh, I should have brought a gift! It's rude not to," she frowned, looking at the door sadly. She brightened quickly. "Oh! I could give him my extra necklace! I make plenty, just in case I lose them. I can't have the Nargles infesting my brain," she said, pulling out a necklace from her pocket that was identical to the one on her neck. "Do you think he'll like it?"
He smiled. "I'm sure he'll love it. Now, go on, what are you waiting for?" he questioned, motioning her towards the door.
She took a deep breath before knocking on the door. The door opened slowly, revealing the face of a pale, old man. He had a bald head, was rather short, and had a friendly atmosphere to him. She grinned brightly, not believing that this was real.
The man looked at the pair, before blocking his eyes. "Do you think you could put out those lights? They're a bit bright," he said kindly, walking out of his small home.
Luna quickly shut off the one on her head but kept the one in her hand on, only so she could see him. "Oh my. You really are real!" she said with a laugh, bouncing slightly on her toes. This was the man who her mother told stories of, the man who her father insisted created the Nargles, and she was talking to him.
"Of course he's real! There have been so many legends about him, so he can't be fictional," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes a bit. "All stories have some truth in them; it's just that some are hidden well."
The Man smiled. "He's right you know," he said to Luna. "Now, I take it you're staying for a bit? Come in, come in," he waved them into his home, walking slowly.
Luna turned to the Doctor. "I can't believe it! He's actually real! Thank you for taking me here," she smiled, before following the Man.
He was sitting on a wicket rocking chair in the middle of the hut. "Well, I'm the Man in the Moon, to put it simply, but you can call me Wu Kang, Gekkawo, Hjuki, or Máni. They're all my names." Máni looked at the pair, before pointing to each one. "You're Luna and you go by the name Doctor," he said, leaning back in his chair.
Luna grinned more. "You're better than I thought you'd be! Oh, I've heard so many stories about you," she exclaimed, sitting down on the floor near Máni's chair. "I simply love everything about you. I did have question though. Why exactly did you create the Nargles?"
"Ah, well, there's an interesting story behind those little buggers. You see…"
The Doctor looked around the hut as Máni and Luna discussed the rare creatures. It really was amazing how the Man adapted to live in the dark. He took out his trusty sonic screwdriver and soniced a few things.
"Ah, I see… Very interesting," he murmured to himself, interpreting the readings from his sonic.
"Just because I'm old doesn't mean I can't hear you poking around in my things," Máni said casually. "You don't have to scan my knick-knacks," he laughed.
The Doctor scratched his neck, walking back over to where Luna sat simply brimming with happiness. "Er, sorry. Sort of a force of habit," he muttered sheepishly.
Máni waved him off. "You weren't hurting anything. Now," he continued, turning back to Luna, "you said you wanted to give me something?"
The normally very relaxed girl smiled nervously before pulling out the necklace. "If the Nargles are ever bothering you too much, you could wear this. It keeps them out of my head," she explained, showing the matching necklace she wore.
The old man smiled softly. "It's been a long time since I've gotten a gift. You're very kind, Luna. You'll be going places, dear," he said, placing the present around his neck.
The Doctor thought Luna's smile couldn't get any bigger.
Which is why it was really bad that they had to leave.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we really should be going. The TARDIS is probably running out of oxygen," he said, a bit sadly.
Luna frowned but stood up. "Máni, you have no idea how nice it was to meet you. I've heard so much about you and you're absolutely wonderful. Thank you for the information on the Nargles; that should help Daddy and me warn others about them."
"Well, you're welcome then. If you ever find yourself on the moon again, just drop by. Nice people like you are always welcome in my home," Máni said, standing up and opening the door for the pair.
"Right well. Goodbye," the Doctor said, turning on his miner's hat and walking out.
Luna paused once in the doorway. She quickly turned around and hugged Máni before smiling and skipping out the door. "Goodbye, Máni!"
The two could hear his laughter as they walked back to the bright side of the moon and back to the TARDIS.
"Oh, thank you, Doctor! This has been one of the best days ever!" she said, eyes completely bright.
"Well, I'm glad you had fun. I'll have to visit again," he said, leaning against the control panel.
"He was telling me the most marvelous stories. Oh, thank you so much!" she laughed.
"Anytime. I've been meaning to come back to the moon anyways. The TARDIS has wanted to come back for a while. She loves the view. Isn't that right?"
The TARDIS made a little whirring noise.
"Now, where to next?"
I hope you enjoyed the second piece! It was so much fun researching the Man in the Moon, and I hope you enjoyed him like I did. All of the names are based off of the different legends based off him (I choose Máni, the Norse name for him, because it was the easiest to pronounce). Special thanks to Tumblr user livetotry-beproud for editing this fic for me. I couldn't thank you enough! I hope you enjoyed this story, and please leave a review if you have the time. Thank you for reading!