Clara rolled out of her extremely uncomfortable bed slowly, dreading the day. She looked in her mirror to see her hair a ratted mess atop her head and mascara lines down her cheeks. She had been too lazy to take off her makeup that night, and seeing as what today was, she had been crying.
Hastily Clara brushed her hair and washed her face, not in the mood to take a shower or try to look presentable - but she knew that she couldn't go out looking like this. She'd never want the Doctor to see her like this.
After putting on jeans and a loose fitting t-shirt, Clara walked to the console room. She smiled when she saw the Doctor fiddling around with buttons on the console, remembering that his second favorite thing to do was toggle. He looked up at her with a big grin on his face as she walked over to where he stood.
"Ah, good morning Clara! Where to today? There is the creation of an alien species happening today on the planet Neborasis, truly fascinating!" The Doctor looked at her expectantly.
"That sounds great," Clara said, not feeling like teasing the Doctor about how big of a nerd he was. "Anywhere's good today, as long as it isn't Earth." She forced a small smile, and nodded her head towards the console. "Let's get going."
The Doctor's face fell - this wasn't his Clara. Something was wrong. "Are you alright, Clara?"
"Yeah, peachy keen. Now show me that new Alien race of yours."
The Doctor nodded his head and set the coordinates. After an extremely shaky ride through the time vortex the TARDIS landed them on Neborasis, May 12th, 3013. The Doctor smiled excitedly - it wasn't every day you got to see the birth of a new species! He grabbed Clara's hand and quickly pulled her out the door and onto the beautiful planet.
As Clara looked around tears welled in her eyes. The planet truly was beautiful; there were trees everywhere. And not just any trees - Maple trees. With big, red maple leaves.
As the first tear rolled down her cheek Clara sharply turned around to go back into the TARDIS. "Okay, this was boring, let's go somewhere else. Anywhere else, really. This isn't exciting."
The Doctor turned at Clara's words and watched as she tried to open the TARDIS door. He normally would have chuckled when she cursed as the TARDIS kept it's doors locked, but he could hear the sadness in her voice. He went up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder, turning her around. Seeing the tears streaming down her face, he put a hand on cheek and wiped the tears away with his thumb.
"Clara, why are you crying?" He asked, searching her dark brown eyes for the answer.
"Oh, it's nothing, really, can we just-"
"No, Clara Oswald, you're going to tell me what is making you upset right now. I will not have my Clara crying for any reason - has the TARDIS upset you?" The Doctor was getting angry now - he had never seen Clara this upset, and he certainly didn't like it. He felt the strong need to protect her in the pit of his stomach; he just wanted to make her smile.
And Clara did smile at the Doctor's over-protectiveness. She was glad that he cared. "No, it's just... you do know what day it is, don't you, Doctor?" The Doctor just looked at her, slightly confused. "It's Mother's Day," Clara clarified when she realized he wasn't going to make the connection. "The maple leaves, they reminded me of..." Clara stopped as more tears threatened to spill over. Realization dawned on the Doctor and he quickly hugged Clara to his chest tightly, running a hand through her hair soothingly.
"Hey, now, it's alright. I'm so sorry - had I know I never would have brought you here. Come on, we can go somewhere else - there's a planet that doesn't have any mothers at all! The male species gives birth and takes care of the young - how about that?"
Clara laughed shakily and she buried her head into the Doctor's shoulder. Just being like this with him made her feel better almost instantaneously. "No, that's okay. I mean, you were so excited to visit here - I wouldn't want to disappoint my chinboy." Clara looked up at him with a small smile. The Doctor was reluctant, but he slowly let go of Clara and took her hand, leading her through the trees to try and find the two species who had come together to create a brand new one.
"Do you have a Mom, Doctor?" Clara asked as they wandered through. She was doing everything to not look around here at the trees, so she tried hard to focus on the back of the Doctor's head. She needed to be distracted.
But at her question the Doctor froze up slightly, squeezing her hand tighter without even realizing it. "I did, yes," the Doctor said, slowing his pace. "Not anymore."
When she heard the sadness and slight anger at his response Clara instantly regretted asking. But, as always, curiosity got the better of her. "What was she like?"
The Doctor smiled, remembering his mother. "Oh, she was wonderful. Always telling me about the galaxies and how fantastic all of space was. She was the one who tried to teach me how to fly a TARDIS... she was the one who told me to travel, to see the stars." Clara smiled at this - his mother sounded an awful lot like her own.
"She sounds fantastic," Clara said, squeezing the Doctor's hand for comfort. She knew how hard it was - losing someone so important. And the Doctor had lost so many...
"She was." The Doctor turned around to face her, and Clara almost ran in to him. She hadn't expected him to stop so suddenly - so the Doctor put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "What was your Mom like?" The Doctor asked, pretending as though he hadn't stalked Clara's timeline after the first time they met.
Clara smiled fondly, remembering everything about her mother. "She was brilliant. And beautiful. And she was always there for me - always telling me stories and finding me whenever I was lost." Another tear rolled down Clara's face, which the Doctor quickly wiped away. She smiled at him; her throat was too choked up to say anything else.
The Doctor didn't know what came over him in that moment, but for some reason he pulled Clara quickly to his chest and hugged her tightly before pulling away and leaning his head down to brush his lips lightly against hers. Clara's breath hitched at the action, and the Doctor turned away quickly. What had he juts done?
"I-I'm sorry, Clara, I... I..." Before he could explain Clara pulled him around by the hand and crushed her lips onto his. After about 3 seconds of wild arm flailing, the Doctor rested his hands on her waist and kissed her back. They stayed like this until the need for oxygen became too strong. When they did pull away the Doctor leaned his forehead on hers, looking into her eyes.
"Thank you," Clara whispered. She didn't think he knew just how much she needed him in this moment. The Doctor just smiled at her, kissing her lightly on the nose before pulling his head away and grabbing her hand again.
"Come on; I think I know somewhere much more exciting." The Doctor smiled and pulled her back into the TARDIS, setting coordinates and pointing over to the closet. "Go put on something pretty... not that you don't look pretty now or anything, just..." Clara laughed at his fidgeting and let go of his hand, heading over to the closet.
"You're walking on thin ice, Chinboy. Better stop there."
As she felt the TARDIS land Clara emerged from the closet is a long, red gown. "Will this do?" she asked the Doctor flirtatiously, doing a little spin for him. At this the Doctor choked up slightly. "Um, yes, that's... that's... shut up!" He grabbed her hand and led her out the TARDIS door, watching her face the entire time.
Clara couldn't believe where they were. Quickly the Doctor led her to a pew and they sat down in silence. Clara admired the beautiful insides of the church - lilies were everywhere, along with beautiful white satin. Tears of happiness rolled down Clara's cheeks as she heard the music play and watched her mother come down the aisle. "My Dad always said she looked stunning," Clara whispered in the Doctor's ear. And she truly did - Clara still had the white wedding dress; she planned on wearing it at her own wedding one day. The Doctor just nodded, but couldn't watch the wedding - no, his eyes were glued to his impossible girl's face. She was crying again, but smiling as well. He knew how much she loved this.
As the ceremony came to a close the Doctor and Clara quickly slipped back into the TARDIS - her mother could definitely NOT see her daughter at her own wedding. As they got back inside Clara kissed the Doctor again - slowly, and full of passion. The Doctor didn't flail his arms this time, instead, one hand tangled up in her hair and the other rested gently on the side of her face. As they pulled away, Clara beamed up at him.
"You have no idea how much this means to me."
The Doctor just smiled, kissing her forehead gently. "Anything for you, impossible girl."