Sorry for waiting a few days, I've been very busy! I got up on Saturday at half four in the morning, and just before we came back, I got hit on the corner of my eye with a fast moving metal bar! So I spent the two hour lorry ride home on the floor holding some wet kitchen roll over a bleeding eye and feeling kinda dizzy. Better now, won't even leave a scar, but guess what? The cut is LIGHTNING-SHAPED!
Ok, I'm rambling now so here's the next chapter.
The world materialised around them again, and the gang noticed the temperature was much more mild here. It was also quite dark.
"I wonder where we are.", Clyde said, as they all shrugged their jackets back on.
"Dunno, but let's find out!", Rose started walking, Rani by her side, Sarah Jane and Clyde bringing up the rear.
Rose snuck a look at Rani; her expression was unreadable, but if Rose had to guess, she would've said Rani was feeling conflicted. As to what she was feeling conflicted about, Rose had an idea, but it could've been completely wrong. Rose, herself, was thinking about what Sarah Jane had said earlier, about the Doctor changing again. She needed to know more.
"Rani, can I talk to Sarah Jane for a minute, please?"
"Sure.", Rani slowed down to walk with Clyde and Sarah Jane caught up with Rose.
"What is it?", Sarah Jane asked
"Can you tell me about what the Doctor's like now?"
"Um, ok. He's, um…a bit younger than he was before, well, he looks it…never stops talking…oh, and he thinks bow-ties are cool, apparently."
"Really?", Rose laughed, "Oh, he's missing my style so he's tryin' to make up for it!" She was laughing uncontrollably, which led Sarah Jane to laugh too.
Sobering up briefly Rose asked with a slightly worried edge to her voice, "Who's his companion now?"
"Well he has two, but when I met him, he was alone, said he'd dropped them off on their honeymoon."
Rose's expression instantly cleared. It was obvious to Sarah Jane that she was still very clearly in love with the Doctor, no matter what he looked like. She had again been showing signs of jealousy towards any companions of the Doctor, like she had the first time Sarah Jane had met her.
"Hey, look at that!", Clyde's shout was answered with gasps. Up ahead were beautiful lights, the distant sound of people, and a very tall tower…
"Paris!", Rani instantly clocked where they were.
Looking at Sarah Jane, inclining her head to the two teenagers walking along behind them, Rose said, "The city of love, how 'bout that."
Sarah Jane laughed, "You meant to come out here, didn't you?"
"Maybe.", but the cheeky grin gave it all away. She raised her voice, "Ok, let's not forget what we're lookin' for, guys! But that doesn't mean you can't let your hair down just a little bit!"
Clyde, pointing to his head, said, "Am I meant to be offended?"
But Rose and Sarah Jane had already gone. Suddenly a bit nervous, Clyde turned to Rani, "Shall we explore then?"
She nodded and they set off the opposite way to the other two, still with Sarah Jane's sonic, and still wearing their Stetsons. As they walked into the centre of the city, the temperature dropped, and they moved closer together, not knowing it. They were drinking in the scene, and they were walking ever closer to the Eiffel Tower.
Nodding towards the famous landmark, Rani said, "Shall we take a little trip? It'll be easier to see from up there."
Clyde agreed so they made a beeline for the Tower, and presently found themselves travelling to the top in a lift.
As they reached the top, Clyde went straight over to the side to look over the rail, while Rani stayed behind a bit; she didn't really like being close to the edge, but took very small steps to the rail, and staying close beside Clyde, tentatively looked out over the city below. It was beautiful. Lights were shining, people were talking, and the gentle sound of music drifted up from a lower floor of the Tower. And still no sign of a crack.
Rani sighed, she really wanted to make the most of the opportunity to be in Paris with Clyde, but she was also anxious about finding the crack before it destroyed the universe.
Clyde noticed she was restless, he too loved being here with Rani, and really wanted to dance with her, but wasn't sure how to go about asking her. The music changed; it had been a fairly lively song, but now it was quite slow, and strangely soothing. Clyde walked back from the edge, Rani following suit, and he held out his hand for her, "Wanna dance?", he asked with a slightly pleading edge to his voice.
"Um, sure." Inside Rani was jumping with joy, but she managed to keep her composure as she walked closer to Clyde, and put her arms around his neck. Clyde rested his hands lightly on her waist, and they swayed gently, enjoying the relaxed feeling that calmed their recently adrenalin-filled beings. For a few minutes they forgot that the universe could be on the brink of destruction, they forgot that Rose and Sarah Jane could walk in any minute.
Which is exactly what they did.
Chatting noisily, they suddenly found themselves looking at Clyde and Rani, who were dancing, and they were instantly silenced. Luckily for them, Clyde and Rani hadn't heard them, and the two women watched from a distance, smiling to themselves.
But the happiness and relaxation was short-lived.
Something stirred from the shadows. Something about the size of the average fourteen year old, smaller than all of the gang, but nonetheless intimidating; it was oddly shaped. It came out of the shadows, and Rose saw it was indeed an alien (her suspicions had been aroused straight away), and she counted one, two, three…six eyes!
"Clyde, Rani look out!", Rose yelled; Rani and Clyde had not noticed the alien. They broke apart quickly, looking round, and ran over to Sarah Jane and Rose.
"What is it?", Rani asked, her eyes fixed on the gun in its hand.
"I don't know, but it may not be vicious.", Sarah Jane tried to see through to the alien's good side. If it even had one. Raising her voice, she spoke to it, "We mean you no harm, that is, if you don't mean us harm."
The alien said nothing, but rapidly took aim at Rani, firing.
She screamed, but the ray emitted from the gun only grazed the top of her head, turning the Stetson into dust.
"Stupid hat!", the alien spoke.
Clyde quickly took his Stetson off, and dropping it into a pot plant, he moved closer to Rani, and took her hand, not only for her comfort, but for his own. Rani glanced down at their now entwined hands, and looked at Clyde, hr eyes wide. Nevertheless, she held on tighter as Rose and Sarah Jane confronted the alien.
"Ok", said Rose, "You can put that down for a start."
There was a pause, and Rose neatly dodged the ray from the gun as the alien fired again.
"Oi!", she cried indignantly, "That almost hit me. Lemme tell you though, you're aiming is c-, um…terrible. Yeah, let's go with that word. Terrible!"
The alien fired one more time, into the air, and with a pained expression, it collapsed.
The gang rushed over to it, Sarah Jane cradling it, "Can't we do something?"
"'Fraid not.", Rose said sadly, "There was one of these on parallel Earth, and they don't live long. It's dyin' and there's nothin' we can do. May as well send it home.", she added, seeing its teleport device. She tapped in the co-ordinates, straightened up, and the alien disappeared, back to its home planet.
"At least they can give it a funeral.", Clyde said
"Yeah. Come on then. Next stop: …well, I don't really know!"
Rose was still clearly sad about the loss of life, and maybe mentioning parallel Earth, but she once again shook back her sleeve. Sarah Jane shot her a comforting glance, as she put a finger on the bracelet. Clyde and Rani, their hands still joined, Rose noticed, moved forwards too and, smiling weakly, Rose tapped in the co-ordinates of their next destination, and they disappeared.
Soooooo, you like? I tried to incorporate the requests of TheMasterOfTime, so if you're reading, I hope I did a good job! Ok, I've decided the destination for the next chapter, not gonna give too much away, but my friend Liz came up with the idea. The next chapter will, in a sense, be dedicated to you (without that sounding weird!)
R&R!