The TARDIS landed in a quaint little neighborhood in a village Maggie had never been to, but the Doctor and River seemed to know very well. Even before they left the ship the door to the blue house was swinging open, and a pretty red-haired woman in her early thirties came streaking out at them. "Doctor!" she cried jubilantly. She was shortly succeeded by a beaming man with a protuberant nose and sandy brown hair.
"Amelia Williams!" replied the Doctor cheerfully, opening his arms and - looking at the other man, who nodded - catching the gorgeous woman in his embrace. Then he captured her husband in the same; these two, at least, had matching rings with which Maggie could tell they were together. "Well, look at you two! So young and spry! Oh, it brings back such fond memories. Now, we're going on a picnic to Asgaard with your daughter and my new companion - you'll love her, seventeen and brilliant - be sure to wear your jackets."
She couldn't help feeling flattered by the Doctor's secondhand praise, even from inside the TARDIS, while River stepped out to meet the people she greeted as Mum and Dad. Well, that didn't make any sense at all...
"Amy, Rory, this is Maggie Moss," the Doctor introduced as he guided his friends onto the ship. "Maggie, Amy and Rory Williams."
"Pond," the couple corrected simultaneously, then turned to Maggie and grinned. "Hello Maggie, it's nice to meet you." Rory, the husband, shook her hand first. "Where are you from? Earth?"
Maggie blinked, not entirely certain until recently that there had been more than one option. "Likewise. Yes, I'm from London," she replied politely, this time successfully repressing the instinct to curtsey. The Doctor shot her a look over his friends' shoulders and she hastily added, "Oh! I'm also from the year 1900. My apologies; I forget to mention that."
It was rather amusing, watching the Ponds as they processed this information then reeled back with shocked laughter. When the tawdry business of the introductions was taken care of they were off to a place called Asgaard. Maggie's first alien planet - how thrilling.
"What's it like?" she asked eagerly, rather like a child awaiting a visit from Father Christmas. "Is it temperate? Sunny? Overcast? Do the indigenous peoples look human? Do they speak English?"
"One at a time!" laughed the Doctor while his companions grinned nostalgically. "It's the rainy season right now, but it makes the sky glow a most glorious shade of turquoise. The people are peaceful and slightly psychic - they read minds - but still communicate verbally. The TARDIS will translate all languages into your native tongue."
"So they speak English?" Maggie asked pointedly.
She was stopped short by a finger poking the tip of her nose. "To you, they speak English. To me, they speak Gallifreyan. In fact, you're all speaking Gallifreyan to me right now, and I'm replying in Gallifreyan, but to you all it sounds like English. Fun, isn't it, psychic technology?" He grinned around at them all while they shook their heads, bewildered. "What?"
"Two years we were on the TARDIS, and you never mentioned that bit," Amy shook her head, grinning. "Get us back in ten minutes, will you? Jemma and Mick are due back from school in twenty."
A soft smile spread over the Doctor's face as he checked a few screens above the steering console. "Jemma Pond and Mick Williams, brilliant names. River, have you met your siblings?"
"Doctor!" Maggie interjected, bouncing in place in a most undignified manner. "Not to be rude, but we're on an alien planet and you're having a bit of small talk. May we please carry on this riveting conversation outside?" The Doctor looked heartily amused by her impatience.
It was, oddly enough, Rory who came to her rescue, patting the Doctor on the shoulder. "Come on, Doctor, don't leave the poor girl waiting any longer."
Dreamlike smile turning into an amused grin, the Doctor turned to Maggie. "Alright, alright, but first a few ru - oy!" She darted past him and through the doors of the TARDIS, leaving the old companions to share happy memories between themselves as she let out a shout of surprise and wonder.
"Oh!" Maggie gasped to herself, staring almost straight up at the sky and turning circles in place, trying to see everything, take it all in. It was more than music, which was good for the ears and the heart and blood. This was sight. The skies were a rolling endless canvas of turquoise, as promised, with clouds that were not so much white as translucent, hanging low and shimmering in the air all around like shining fog. She reached out one hand and touched a tangible cloud hanging near her head and felt its wetness on her skin. Rainy season, indeed.
The grass was dark, a very deep shade of orange that was unbearably soft against Maggie's hands when she reached down to touch it. Then, through the air, they came soaring: bicycles, rigged with propellers and wings and made to fly. Their riders were too small to be seen, but could be heard whooping at one another as they turned somersaults in the air. Maggie closed her eyes against the image from her daydreams and breathed deep, then turned to find the Doctor and company watching from the doors.
With a faint rustling in the soft turf, the basket and blanket for the picnic fell to the ground as the Doctor abandoned them to run to her side. Steady arms wrapped around her, and it was then that Maggie realized she was sobbing breathlessly. "Maggie, I'm sorry, is it too much?" he asked, pulling back to get a proper look into her teary eyes.
She shook her head frantically from side to side, holding on tightly to the wrists on the sides of her head. "This is the most beautiful place I've ever been," she gasped. "It feels like a dream. I...I've never been so far from home, and yet felt more alive." Impulsively, she threw her arms around the Doctor again, clutching his tweed jacket in insubstantial fingers.
As they began to exit the TARDIS one by one, Amy spared Maggie a fond smile. "I remember my first planet," she told her conspiratorially. "Crash of the - wait, River, have you-?"
"I have," nodded River. Amy sighed, relieved.
"Crash of the Byzantium," she continued, taking Maggie's hand in hers; the younger girl felt her face burn. "Come on, let's go find a good spot while the boys mess about."
Looking back, it was just in time to see the Doctor reaching up to ruffle Rory's hair, then being rugby-tackled to the ground. "Roranicus, you've been practicing!" laughed the Time Lord gleefully before trying to wriggle free.
The three of them laughed before leaving the men to their games, trekking up a gentle slope to see the vastness of the countryside below. Up above, however, the people on the flying machines seemed very intrigued. "Hey, humans!" one of them shouted, sounding male. "Incoming!"
Before Maggie could look up there was a beautifully-crafted flying machine hovering down into the grass a few feet away, a small breeze ruffling her hair as she gaped. A perfectly normal-looking boy dismounted the sleek seat, turning a dial to stop the propellors spinning before stepping away. He wore a leather helmet with ear coverings, a pair of goggles, and a broad smile.
"Greetings, humans," he announced warmly. "Welcome to Asgaard. Just passing through?"
He pulled off his helmet and goggles in one swift move, revealing tufted blue hair, a pair of tiny pointed ears, and narrow green eyes that had no pupils. Now that they were closer, Maggie could see the same strange shine to the boy's skin, almost like scales, as there was in the air all round.
Seeming to notice her eyes lingering on him and his machine, the boy turned to Maggie and offered the little finger of his paw-like hand. "Greetings. I'm Naarde." He looked up at his companion. "Raende, get down here! We've got humans!"
"I'm Maggie," she finally replied, breathless with wonder. She didn't quite know what to do with Naarde's offered finger, but then he hooked it around the little finger of her own hand and they shook. "Oh! It's a pleasure to meet you. May I please have a look at your machine?"
Naarde grinned at her, revealing clean rounded teeth. "The Winger? Certainly, come along!" This time he offered his arm, escorting her to the machine as his companion landed on their group's other side and engaged with River and Amy. She was a beautiful female, with similarly-coarse blue hair that cascaded down her back and eyes of deepest brown.
The Winger was exquisite. It had a long, slim body of bronze tubing, a jumpseat, and a pair of small pedals that controlled not the propellors themselves, but what appeared to be a small generator.
"You pedal to keep a supply of energy, see?" explained Naarde, climbing into the jumpseat and pumping the pedals with his strong legs. On the generator a row of lights illuminated, the last one flashing for several seconds before solidifying. Then Naarde twisted a knob beside the steering apparatus and the propellors started spinning with a dull roar. It was much louder, and the wind more fierce, on the inside, and Maggie inched nearer to the alien boy to ensure she was as far from the spinning gears as possible. "Care for a spin?"
Gasping, Maggie quickly shook her head. "Goodness, no! I mean, no, thank you, perhaps I should rejoin my group?"
The boy smiled kindly and shut down the motors. "Maybe next time, then."
She nodded gratefully and pulled back, jogging back to Amy and River's sides, where they had been rejoined by the Doctor and Rory. Naarde and Raende took back off in their Wingers, becoming specks on the horizon in moments. Maggie was filled suddenly with the overwhelming regret of denying the boy's offer.
"Why didn't you go for a ride, Maggie?" asked River when she had resumed her seat, delicately sipping a glass of water. "You certainly seemed keen on them when we arrived, and I think that boy was sweet for you."
Unable to formulate a reason why, Maggie merely shook her head and watched their receding forms vanish with a heavy heart.
Seeming to sense her trepidation, the Doctor tossed an apple her way, snapping her back to reality. "It's alright to be friendly with people, you know," he assured her, "it won't hurt your reputation like it would in 1900."
She chewed that over in her mind as the rest of them chattered around her on the blanket, only dimly aware of the moment River refused a glass of wine and Amy bursting into shocked, happy tears. Then Rory made some move like he alternatively wanted to hit and embrace the Doctor, and she couldn't help but laugh with everyone else.
"This is brilliant! I'm thirty-three and - I'm going to be a grandmum," said Amy, face going curiously blank. The Doctor poured her another measure of alcohol before lying back in the grass. They all followed suit and watched the Wingers streak through the shimmering sky. All was tranquil.
After their picnic Amy and Rory were dropped off back at home, giving River and the Doctor long-lingering embraces on the front stoop, even sparing a quick hug for Maggie despite the fact that they'd never met before that day. River positively glowed with happiness as they went back to the TARDIS and flew back to a tiny flat in Westminster.
Placing his hands on her shoulders, the Doctor left a feather-light kiss on River's brow. "Give us twenty minutes, would you, love?" he asked, charging back to the ship with Maggie in tow. "Maggie, I need your help. How are you with scissors?"
It took longer than twenty minutes, certainly enough, to get the Doctor a proper haircut and a new suit, but even though Maggie reminded him of the time he was adamant. "I have to look perfect. This is...this is important. This is vital, Maggie. I can't..." He closed his eyes and swallowed roughly. "I can't tell you now or I won't go through with it. Just trust me, will you?" After staring hard at his own reflection in the mirror to straighten his bow-tie, he looked over his shoulder and smiled weakly.
"You look very handsome," she told him with all the honesty in her heart. "Congratulations, Doctor. A father! You must be so..." She trailed off at the look in the Time Lord's eyes, clasping her hands demurely at her front. "I'm sorry, I've been too bold, I'll just keep to my room and let you have your evening together."
As she tried to make a quick escape, the Doctor's cool hand closed carefully around her wrist. "It's okay, Maggie, you can come along. Just...give us space? The locals are peaceful, and the towers are beautiful. It would be a shame to miss it just to give an old sack like me time with the Missus." He smiled fondly at her, patting her head briefly before letting go. "Shall we?"
At her nod they left together to fetch River. Despite the Doctor's insistence that she wasn't a burden, Maggie kept her distance when he knocked upon the door. When River answered she put hands to her beaming smile before throwing her arms around her husband. They held one another much longer than seemed necessary, the Doctor burying his face again in the warmth of her shoulder. The Doctor had an expression of overwhelming despair on his face when they drew apart, but kept it hidden from River as they returned to the TARDIS.
"So, Darillium," he announced with much forced cheer and a heaviness to the set of his shoulders, "to see the singing towers."