Clara sat cross-legged on her bed reading a book which was resting in her lap. It had been three months since the trip to Japan, and the Doctor had dropped Clara off at her house so he could "think some things over". She was hoping that three months was enough time for him, but the Doctor could be unpredictable. For her, it was impossible to know how long it had been on his timeline - had he been without her for three months, or had it been days, minutes, or years?

Clara did her best to stop it from getting to her. Mostly, she passed her time reading, watching TV and making soufflés. She didn't want to leave the house, in fear that the Doctor might appear while she was gone.

Frankly, Clara had grown tired of waiting. During her break from traveling the stars, she was so anxious, and she was jaded with this feeling that something needed to happen. She even contemplated getting a job, but that would tell the Doctor that she was ready to move on from him in life. That was as far from the truth as possible, for she could hardly stand living without him, in her boring little home, with her boring little life.

It was that morning, exactly three months after he had returned her back to London, that the Doctor finally decided to show up. Clara had been in the shower, shampooing her hair, when she heard the achingly familiar noise of the TARDIS.

She immediately jumped out of the shower, soap bubbles still clinging to her hair and body, grabbed her robe and ran downstairs. Out the door she sprinted, bare feet and all, towards the Doctor. She flung her arms around his neck and clutched him tightly, grateful that she was no longer restricted to her boring, normal old life of time passing normally.

"It's so good to see you, Clara," the Doctor exclaimed, looking overcome with joy. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, getting some soap on the tip of his nose.

"It's good to see you too." Clara replied, "but I better get washed up before we head off on any more adventures." The Doctor laughed and escorted her back inside.

The pair sat in the living room, sipping on tea. The Doctor had asked how she'd been spending her days, and she responded by wondering the same thing of himself. Apparently, neither of them had gotten up to much. The Doctor had explored one or two planets, but mostly he was cleaning up and rearranging the TARDIS, for she had looked a tad messy after Japan.

"They were mostly planets that I've been to before. Not really anything too new or special," he said. Clara responded by sharing some memories of her time at home, visits with friends, books she'd read.

"Well, where are we off to now, Doctor?" asked Clara, excited to get going again.

"I was actually hoping," The Doctor said, cautiously, "that I could stay here for a while, I'm tired of being on the road, and I'd like to be able to have some time where I'm not fighting off any other species."

Clara, though a little disappointed, nodded her head, glad to at least have her Doctor back. She set up a little bed for the Doctor on the couch just outside of her room, and set up some ground rules.

"First," she'd said, "You can't go through my drawers, and you have to respect the fact that I need privacy. Second, be careful of the neighbors, they hate me already and don't need a reason to call the police. Okay?" The Doctor nodded, seemingly excited to try living as a regular, plain ol' human.

Only three days later, the Doctor was bored of reading, watching TV and making soufflés (or attempting to). He kept prodding Clara to pack her bags so they could get going.

"Oh, so now you're tired of being a 'regular person'. I thought you said you wanted to stay here at least a week." Clara teased.

"Well, what is there to do here? It's just so boring. Are all human lives so boring?" He whined.

"Fine, I'll pack my bags." Clara said, and went upstairs to get her already packed suitcase.

In the TARDIS, Clara looked on as the Doctor pushed random buttons on the console, hoping with all her heart that she was about to go on an incredible adventure - just like old times.

"So, where are you taking me, Doctor?" She asked, excited.

"Oh, I don't know, wherever the TARDIS wants to go, I suppose." He replied.

With the familiar wheeze, the TARDIS took off, heading wherever she had decided to take them. Clara held on to the railing surrounding the console, for the TARDIS really was having a fun time deciding where to take them. The Doctor looked over at Clara, the anticipation clear in his eyes. With a final thud, the TARDIS landed, and the Doctor went to the door to inspect the outside world.

He flung open the door, and in blew a rush of freezing cold air. Stepping back, he motioned for Clara to join him. She grabbed her coat, and hurried alongside him, not prepared for the drastic change in weather.

Far in the distance, they could see an array of colorful lights shining on the glistening snow. The breeze carried soft music, and Clara could hardly contain her excitement as the Doctor locked the TARDIS door and returned to her side. He took her by the arm as they proceeded towards the intriguing lights and sounds.

Together, they approached an area that looked like a little town. There was a collection of twenty or so glass domes, arranged in a circle around what looked like an ice sculpture of a fairy. Collected in the domes, or milling about the statue, there were creatures that looked very much like humans, only a tad shorter and with undertones in their skin- green, blue, and purple. What was odd about these creatures was, though it was at least minus twenty-five out, they had on what looked like bathing suits, and no shoes.

The Doctor and Clara, still arm-in-arm, approached one of aliens. Tapping it on the shoulder, the Doctor said "Excuse me, but we were just traveling about and we are a bit lost, do you think you could tell us where we are, exactly?"

"Certainly," the person replied, in a delicate, high pitched voice, "We are in Indigo, of course."

Clara shot the Doctor a hopeful look, wondering if that meant anything to him.

"I'm afraid you'll have to tell us a bit more than that. We've really wandered out of our way. What planet are we on?"

"The planet Fae, best in the elemental system," the creature explained proudly, "My name is Lily, and you are?"

"I'm Clara, and this is the Doctor." Clara replied.

"Wonderful! you are just in time for our winter solstice celebration. Come join us for music and food and dancing. We love visitors!" Lily said excitedly, leading them towards the ice statue.

They passed little clusters of people, who were talking, or dancing, or singing. They were met with many smiles, and some people even shook their hand, or said hello. Clara was enjoying their welcomeness, and remembered exactly how much she had missed this experience - all the new things, all the interesting people!

Lily lead her and the Doctor behind the ice sculpture to a bonfire pit. Much to Clara's surprise, the fire was purple! It was strangely beautiful, and there was a group of the Fae people who were gathered in a circle around it, singing a melodic song. Their voices all blended together, forming perfect harmonies in another language.

"Will you come sing with us?" Lily asked, looking up at the Doctor.

"We would love to, but is there any way we could learn the song first?" the Doctor replied, a little apprehensively.

Lily, laughing, said "There is no need, just join hands with someone in the circle."

The Doctor proceeded forward, urging Clara along. Clara stepped into the circle and joined hands with the Doctor on one side, and Lily on the other. She suddenly felt a warm presence enter her body, and she found she knew all of the words. It felt so good to sing with these people.

She looked over at the Doctor, and saw that he had this big goofy grin on his face. They were having so much fun that they didn't realize how much time had passed. The sun had set and nearly risen again before Clara began to feel how tired she was.

"Doctor, do you suppose we could pop back in the TARDIS and have a rest before we have any more fun here?" she asked.

The Doctor, looking just about as tired as she felt, nodded, and turned to leave when Lily called out, "That won't be necessary, we have lodging that you are welcome to stay in." Clara looked at the Doctor, who shrugged.

"Sure," Clara said, "That would be just fine."

Lily showed them to a little glass dome and let them inside. This one was much smaller than the rest, only a single bed and a dresser in this room. "I hope this is alright, it will be a bit squishy, but should be fine for a couple like you two." Lily said.

Clara and the Doctor looked at each other, both bright red. "Oh, I see you are not yet a couple. Well, I suppose it will give you a chance to get better acquainted." She followed up, winking at Clara as she left the room.

"You sleep on the bed," the Doctor urged, his eyes wandering around the room, "I can just stay awake - make sure things are okay." "Doctor, you should know well enough by now that I won't let you do that. We are both sleeping on the bed, that's final." Clara replied firmly, gesturing to the bed, "There is tons of space."

She walked over to the dresser, finding a nightgown for her and a pair of pajamas for the Doctor, both white and the perfect size. She handed them to the Doctor and proceeded to peel off her stockings, which were turning out to be definitely not the right wardrobe choice judging by the days events, as she could no longer feel her legs. Clara attempted to reach the zipper on her dress, but finding she could not reach it. As she went to tug the dress over her head, the Doctor came behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I…I can…um..." he said quietly.

Clara just smiled at him, and pulled her hair off her back so he could unzip her dress. His fingers brushed her spine and made her skin tingle as he pulled the zipper down, giving her goosebumps.

Immediately, he stepped back and covered his eyes, allowing her to change.

"Okay," Clara said once she finished, "Your turn."

She began to brush her hair out, making it fall in silky waves down her shoulder. Then, overcome with exhaustion, she fell into bed beside the Doctor.

Clara awoke with the absence of the Doctor's warmth, and found that the sheets beside her were cold, and that the Doctor's pajamas were heaped on the dresser. She rose only to see that she was surrounded by a battlefield.

The people of Fae were fighting these great big creatures that looked like polar bears with jewel-encrusted snouts. Clara scrambled to get her clothes on and sprinted outside. Frantically, she scanned the crowds for any sign of the Doctor. She spotted him, finally, directly across from where she was standing. She took off weaving around people and bear-things alike.

The Doctor was holding someone in his arms, frantically trying this or that with his sonic screwdriver. As Clara drew closer, she realized that it was Lily, who had been fighting a bear when it took a swing at her face. Unfortunately, it had broken her neck.

"Doctor," Clara said softly, "I don't think there is anything you can do, I'm sorry."

The Doctor looked up at her, sorrow plain on his face. For him, this was just another death to add to his massive toll, another picture on his obituary wall.

Clara reached her hand out to him, intending to take him to the TARDIS, when suddenly the wind was knocked out of her. She fell to the floor with a thud before her fingers reached his, and she could hear the Doctor scream her name. Above her, there was a massive white figure looming, and she wanted to scream, to move, to do anything, but she couldn't. Her mouth filled with a strange, metallic, coppery taste. Blood. Somewhere it registered, in the back of her mind, behind all of the tiredness, that she was dying.

Suddenly, the looming figure was pulled off her and a familiar voice broke through.

"Clara, Clara? Can you hear me?"

She wanted to nod, but she was just so tired. Strong, familiar arms encircled her and picked her off of the floor. They carried her back to the blue box, the TAR-DIS. What a funny name for a place like this. The voice broke through her tiredness again.

"Clara, My Clara? Please, everything is going to be fine, just let me know if you're okay. You of all people can live through this, my impossible girl. I will not let you die. If I have to fight off an army of one million Daleks, I'll do it, for you, Clara. You are one of the most wonderful people I have ever met, and you-" the voice broke, suddenly becoming much more vulnerable and desperate, "You can't die. I won't be able to live with myself if you die, Clara. You have so much left to live for, you can find a husband and have a baby and all of that, just cling on to that thought Clara." Now the voice was choked up, like it was crying.

"Clara Oswin Oswald, I am madly, irrevocably in love with you and I will not let you die."

Clara felt a hand on her stomach, and then all she could see was beautiful, swirling golden-yellow light.