Chapter 4: New World with New Eyes

Jane looked down at her charred clothing and wrinkled her brow, "Perhaps," she suggested, "We should consider a more fire retardant wardrobe before we impose ourselves of the rest of civilization?"

"Brilliant," the Doctor agreed.

"Just to be certain, though-I am alright now, aren't I?" Jane looked up at him uncertainly, "I only ask because this is just my second time regenerating...and you've got rather more experience at this than I have."

The Doctor pulled a stethoscope from the folds of his coat and went to work. He checked that both of her hearts were working. It had been so long since he'd felt that...the four heartbeats of his people. He nearly closed his eyes he felt so overwhelmed.

"Doctor?" Jane asked nervously.

"Sorry, just...it's been a while."

"I beg your pardon!" she slapped at his hands indignantly.

"Hold on, hold on, I didn't mean that!" the Doctor protested, springing back defensively.

Jane glared at him half-heartedly, "Oh, that line is open to interpretation, is it?"

"Yes!" the Doctor huffed, "the sound of the Time Lords' heart beat...aside from my own, yours is the first I've heard in a while."

"Oh, alright," Jane grumbled, "We hardly know each other, of course you didn't mean...doesn't matter. Let me up, I'm going to find something fire-proof to wear." Jane shoved the blankets away and slid out of the bed and trudged across the room to find something decent and un-charred to put on.

As usual, and rather out of habit, Jane avoided her reflection as she browsed the Doctor's closet for appropriate apparel. The Doctor simply changed into a similar version of the suit he was wearing before and then watched as she selected clothes. Unlike the Doctor, Jane hadn't quite gotten used to regeneration, and he noticed that she was picking out clothes that would have fit her old body. Jane was no longer the faded waif he'd first met only hours ago, she looked far healthier; her face fuller-her whole body stronger, but with soft and delicately feminine curves. If the Doctor were to draw a comparison, he would pair Lady Christina as most similar in body type to this new version of Jane. Jane hadn't really investigated herself, aside from the initial finger and toe count(which the Doctor had insisted she perform-one could never be too careful with regeneration.) and hadn't seemed to notice that the faded grey t-shirt she had chosen for herself was not going to fit, at least not in the way she remembered. He kept silent, even when he wanted to chuckle at Jane's look of horror when she donned the shirt and stared at her bare mid-riff in mild confusion. Her solution to her wardrobe miscalculation was to dig a heavy black hooded sweatshirt from some musty (and probably slightly mouldy) old pile of rags and hide in its folds. The sweater nearly hung to her knees and she had to roll up the sleeves, though still managed to look like Harry Potter in his whale-sized cousin's hand-me-downs.

"Ok, ready to go." she announced after pulling on an abused pair of baggy dungarees.

The Doctor looked at her in disbelief, "Under no circumstances am I going to inflict you on the world wearing...that."

"What are you, Queer Eye for a Time Lady?"

"Not hardly," the Doctor snorted, "Though Captain Jack would be a help at this juncture."

"Who would what?" she made a face, "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"You look like a homeless person."

"I am a homeless person." Jane pointed out. "I haven't got a TARDIS, Gallifrey is gone, and there are no other colonies of Gallifrey anywhere in the universe. What do you suggest I wear?"

The Doctor looked over at the pile of clothes he had idly collected while Jane was turning herself into one of the Seven Dwarves. He jerked a thumb in the mound's direction.

Jane snorted, "Not likely." she picked up the first item of clothing between her thumb and forefinger as though she might catch a horrible disease, "Pastel pink? What am I, an Easter Bunny?" She tossed the blouse onto the floor, followed by a floral print skirt, "Flowery flowers?"

"Right...so..."the Doctor burrowed into the pile, pulling out a handful of pieces of clothing and dumped the rest on the floor, "Here, take these and put them on...and there's probably some sort of appropriate female under garment in that armoire over there." he gestured towards the back of the room.

He pointedly ignored the rollercoaster display that Jane was imitating with her eyebrows, refusing to be embarrassed by his stockpile of ladies lingerie. Rocky Horror Picture Show was a big mainstream fashion craze at several points in human history and to avoid being pelted with toast, a Time Lord learned to dress the part. Jane stalked off with her new clothes, muttering darkly under her breath.

Moments later there was a loud shriek, followed by an equally loud crash, and a string of the most creatively multi-lingual curse words in the known universe.

"Is everything turning out alright back there?" the Doctor called innocently

"Just spiffing!" Jane barked back, "I was very nearly strangled by a murderous pair of stockings."

"Dangerous things, stockings." the Doctor nodded in grave agreement.

"I'd just as soon wear the coconut bra and grass skirt you've got back here than contort myself in one of these fashionably complicated torture devices!" Jane shouted at him, slightly muffled. "Or maybe you have a burlap sack hanging around that I could put to use?"

"How do you feel about a monocle?" the Doctor asked mildly, examining the elegant piece of eyewear he'd forgotten he even owned.

"Not favourable!"

"What about a nice wide sombrero?" he called out to her.

"Are you planning on taking me on a Mexican fiesta vacation?"

"Not right away..."the Doctor conceded

She paused, "Ascot, then?"

"Nope."

"Ow!"

"Are you sure you're alright?" he called, frowning again in concern.

"Well, I'm dressed, at least." her voice was coming closer. She shuffled back into sight.

"Put these boots on." he handed her a pair of riding boots. She slipped them on, tucking her pants into the knee high boots.

"Now, brush your hair and give the final approval in the mirror" the Doctor ordered, resting on his heels expectantly, arms crossed.

"You're just so bossy." Jane flipped her hair back, it longer than she was used to, thicker and with a slight curl to it, too. She twirled a strand around her finger, examining it under the light. It's darker and richer than her previous shade. She glanced back at the Doctor, it was darker even than his...but not black. It was the kind of hair she'd wanted when she was mousy and meek. It was the kind of hair that a confident woman would have, she mused silently to herself as she carded her fingers through the long silky strands.

"Shall I leave you alone then?" the Doctor cocked his head to the side.

She gave him a half smile. "Maybe just a moment before I look at myself in the mirror, would you?"

The Doctor's eyebrows rose, but he nodded and backed out of the closet room.

Jane took the brush from the small chest of drawers and began to run it through her hair. After losing count of the strokes and feeling her hair crackle with static electricity, she set the brush down and walked over to the floor length mirror. She took a deep breath and slowly drew her eyes to her reflection.

She gasped, looking at herself in the mirror.

"What is it?" the Doctor ducked his head into the closet.

"Well, it's just—"she pointed to herself weakly in the mirror, "It's just like that Earth folk tale, isn't it?"

"You're gonna have to be a bit more specific." The Doctor cocked his head. "'Mirror, mirror on the wall?' That one?"

Jane laughed, "No, the one with the swan and the ugly duckling that it used to be—are you familiar with that one?"

"I am, indeed." The Doctor tried not to smile, biting the inside of his cheeks.

"Of course, there's also that other old Earth fable about the human so enamoured by his own appearance that he drowned in the river after he tried to kiss himself." Jane said in consideration, "Human stories often paint humans as being indomitably stupid, don't they?"

"Narcissus…I believe the story was about Narcissus. And yes, but I think they do that so they stories have an obvious lesson to be learned." The Doctor pointed out.

"'Don't try to kiss your own reflection if you don't know how to swim'?" Jane suggested cheekily.

"No, I think the lesson is that 'being beautiful don't make you brilliant'," the Doctor shot back.

"Ha! No, it's 'never have your friends around when you do something stupid because they'll leave you to drown and then tell the story about your stupidity after you're dead'!" Jane laughed.

"Or 'choose your friends wisely'!" the Doctor chortled.

"Have you heard the one where a little girl breaks into the home of a family of bears and proceeds to eat their food and break their furniture?" Jane wheezed in laughter.

"Or-or!" the Doctor pointed, "the one about the children who drop all of their food on the ground and then become termites to eat an old lady's house, after which she cannibalizes them for her own lunch?" he threw his head back and guffawed at the ridiculous picture his words painted.

Jane clutched her sides in laughter, face red with giggles. "Oh, Doctor, stop! I can't laugh anymore!" she gasped.

It took them a while before they settled down, and their giggles only came if they looked at each other. Finally, with the occasional snicker, Jane brushed her hair back from her face and peered once more into the mirror. She stared disbelievingly at her reflection. Frowned a little in awe and turned away.

"What is it?" the Doctor's eyes were still crinkled happily at the edges.

Jane glanced once more over her shoulder, "I look so different."

"Ah yes, the mystery of regeneration."

"No, it's not just that," a line appeared between Jane's new dark eyebrows, "I've never been pretty before."

"Let's have a look at you then," the Doctor reached forward and spun her around. Her hair unfurled behind her and she laughed. She stopped, breathless, in front of him. He held her hands and gave her a look up and down. Her long hair cascaded down to the middle of her back in graceful thick chestnut waves, a striking contrast to her lovely peaches and cream complexion. She was wearing the clothes he had chosen for her. A pair of dark wash jeans tucked into her riding boots and a long sleeved, scooped neck, thin-knit sweater that matched her eyes.

"Your eyes are TARDIS blue." he said quietly. And he was correct, a deep blue iris, turned up just slightly at the outside, giving her an elegant feline quality and fringed with dark feathery eyelashes, frame by dark sculpted eyebrows. Her nose was straight and did not turn up at the end, and her mouth had a sensual quality which seemed play coy with a knowing smile. Her teeth were straight and white, the bone structure of her face was perfectly married to the rest of her womanly features, not too harsh and yet, defined. The Doctor realized he was waxing poetic in his head a little, but she was glorious to gaze upon.

"Why, Doctor!" Jane ducked her head and affected what could only be described as a terrible Scarlett O'Hara southern belle accent, "You do know how to turn a girl's head!"

"Now, stop it. Stop your embarrassment, you're lovely." The Doctor chided.

"I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing that." a light blush coloured her cheeks and she squeezed his hands in her, "Let's explore the universe, shall we?"

"Allons-y!" the Doctor agreed and led her to the door, pushing it open.

Uncharacteristically, the Doctor was quite silent as they gazed out the door of the TARDIS. They were back on Earth, not quite when they'd left. The Doctor held out his hand to Jane, who accepted it and stepped into the spring day with her fellow Gallifreyan.

"It's all so new and bizarre, isn't it?"

"What's that?" the Doctor looked at Jane curiously.

"Looking at new worlds with new eyes…"a small smile spread across her face.

A glitter of happiness glinted at the corner of the Doctor's eyes, "So it is."