The Doctor open his arms wide, waiting for her to give him one of her warm hugs. "Les, you made it!"
She can't help the small smile that is appearing on her lips. She ran up to him to give him a big hug.
The Doctor crushes her tightly, swaying her about. "Oh, Les, it felt like ages." He pulls back from her, holding onto her shoulder's but keeping her at arm's length to look at her properly. "What date and year is it for you?"
Leslie looks at him oddly. "June 4, 2013. Well, it was getting close to midnight." She looks down at the light orangery table. "Which is why I thought that's what the cake is for."
The Doctor looks at the table, then to Leslie, turns back to see the chocolate covered cake with the words 'Happy Birthday, Leslie.', that wasn't there before.
"Ahh... well..." The Doctor throws out his arms into the air. "Surprise! Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."
Leslie waves her hands at him to stop his... well she can't think of an adjective for the moment. "Okay, it's okay. I'm going to hear the Spanish version of that five times in the span of a morning, and the FaceBook Posts and my college friends, so don't. And I saw that look on your face, your tell. But thanks." She wrapped her arms around him. "A bad rendering of 'Happy Birthday' from my favorite Doctor, with a dream cake, from which I hope has an ice cream center, and one that I hope I can eat, is the best I could have hope for on my birthday."
The Doctor sadly smiles, behind Leslie's back. 'Has it really been that long for her?' "Aren't you doing anything for your birthday tomorrow?"
"Well, yeah, my friends are coming, but most of the family are very busy during the weekdays, work and all that so, Sunday for them." She pulled back. "I have so many questions about this."
"Yes, of course. It's a part of human nature that you lot tend to be curious."
"My lot, huh? Is that why you tend to pick us humans, because of asking questions at the right moments?"
"No, not just. " The Doctor gaze at her. " Has any side effects effected you? From the dream last night?" He clarifies for her.
Leslie looked at him. "...Well, my neck kinda hurted for a while, but that's par for the course for me these days. Tons of translations and possible neck cramps for the rest of my days."
"Leslie, just tell me. No masking the situation."
She nodded as she made her way to the consul room, still in awe of how it's right there in front of her, to be able to touch it and hear the good vibrations of the Type 40 TARDIS.
She turned back to him. "Do you think that we can go somewhere? Somewhere that all sunny and grass and good clouds?"
The Doctor nodded as he pulls down a lever. "Next stop; cloudy field."
As the TARDIS moves it's Time Roter, she couldn't help but twirl around the glass floor.
"Anywhere in -" The Doctor stopped as he saw her happily running around. As she twirls, she stops in front of him. "In particular?"
She grins. "The Windy City."
- - - - 5 - - 8
Leslie looked around an unfamiliar park, all the kids running around, texting, oblivious to the blue box that's parked right near the soccer field.
"Has anyone mistaken your TARDIS for a port - ta - potty?" She asks as she takes a closer look around the field.
That catches the Doctor off guard. "What?"
Leslie shrugs. "It's blue, it's small looking... If we parked in a fair, especially the street ones, she would definitely get nervous at being noticed."
"I don't usually go to fairs," The Doctor says unconvincingly. "And I haven't been asked that since the 70s."
Leslie nods. "In that case," She looks around. "If there's a chance that a flyer or an announcement for a street fair happens to appear, we should take the chance to go." Her face falls as she can't find any advertisement. "Oh, well, can't let the universe time these things. Let's find a grassy patch."
Leslie and The Doctor lay down on the grass, far away from anyone as to not disturb them. Leslie takes a deep breath.
"My neck had a pain that I hadn't had since I was- Since before coming to Mexico." Leslie turns to him. "Throughout the day, it just dulled and..." She looks back at the sky, as a hand shaped cloud appears. "And as far as I know, there's nothing out of the ordinary in my walls. And good thing, my mami would just freak out about the apartment having cracks in the woods. So, why me? I'm nothing special."
"Les, don't you say that!" The Doctor say softly.
"But it's true. At least to you. I'm not a mystery, not even a five - minute crossword puzzle. There was a point in my life that I felt like that all the time. The special bit. " Her hand moves to her left arm, squeezing it. "But, life is better now." She lets go of her arm and puts it back at the grass. "I've made over 50 friends in a span of a few months. Which is kinda helped by the fact that I just stay in one classroom." She smiles softly. "I thought it was at first because of the American - Mexican thing, but I found a place where people are ... Where I don't feel paranoid or worry about something waiting for me at my locket to 'ask' for money or want a paper from me, unless I want a applesauce facial at lunch. Or having back issues because I have to carry all my books around the block - wide school." She looks back at the Doctor. "Well, not all the time it's like that. Teachers, work, the two jobs that I have during school, Track, which thank goodness I have the option to change for next year. But, it's the best after the ... it's great there." She stretches the corner of her eye to get rid of the extra eye mucus. "Off tracking, sorry."
"More like off tracked into an unfinished bridge, but I don't mind. Sometimes even the greatest of minds wander."
Leslie slightly smiles as she looks back up at the sky to see an 8 and an 5 intertwined together.
"Getting back after that little spiel , why me? Out of all the universe, and of all the teenage girls' minds you could have invaded, wow, that sounded so wrong, why me?"
The Doctor shrugged. "I have no clue. What matters is that at least is with somebody who isn't completely mental."
Leslie responds by lightly shoving him with her elbow. "Hey! I'm not all cloud cuckoo, Mister Hipster."
"I'm not a hipster." He grumbles under his breath, as if he has to hear this for quite a while. "And, not just that, whatever this is, it has to do with the crack on my side of the universe. And what this is, it's... like a long distance Skype call. Sometimes the connection is bad, but take a few moments and here we are."
Leslie looks up back at the sky, and spots a Cyberhead cloud. Huh. "So, like AOL, then?" That earns a chuckle from him. "Wait, how long has it been for you?"
The Doctor looks up at the sky, away from her. "What makes you say that?"
"The hug, the look on your face when I talk about me. I had to learn to be extra observant, like a female Encyclopedia Brown. How long has it been?"
"About 20 or so days. " Leslie's eyes grow at his words. "I suppose I should mention about that crack," 'When did he mention that?' Leslie thinks. "Do you know anything about them?"
"Yeah, the cracks in your universe happened because of the TARDIS exploding. Causing people to be erased, forgetting events, traveling to other worlds, that sort of thing. But you saved the universe, stopped the cracks."
The Doctor shakes his head. "Not all of them. Do you know about Trenzalore?" Leslie nods. "By how much?"
Leslie takes a deep breath, trying to recollect the memories of two years prior " The fields of Trenzalore, where everyone must speak true, the question, The fall of -" She looks up at the Doctor. " The Eleventh. And the... " She stops. "How long do you know Clara?"
"Well, the last time I saw her, it was about 5 or so years."
"Okay," She has to take the chance. "Have you figured out what she is?" She says softly.
"Yes, I have."
"So you saw your grave? The one crack. Which means you must be stuck, unless you somehow managed to randomly whoop back to that one crack. And, it's on Trenzalore, isn't it? You're in the war."
"Yes, indeed. And it's not a war, it's a siege. About 180 years at this point. Probably rounding, have to check my homemade holo - calender."
"That long then? That's ..." She lay her head next to his shoulder. "I don't think I would have cope living that long."
"Well, I don't cope on my own, remember about the town called Christmas. Well, when I'm not occupied I tend to spend my time among the young ones. Becoming a sort of .. Father Christmas. " He said, recalling the words from last night, or last month, depending on who's point of view.
"That is good, then. So all that time to yourself and you're making time to dream with a teenager from another universe, and let her complain about herself."
"But that's the thing. It's great that you're like this. At least you have happiness in your life. You have so many people that you're getting parties to celebrate yourself on two days."
"Okay, yeah. Well, not all of my friends are going to be there and - hold on, cowboy." She stands up. "I know what you're trying to do."
"What am I doing?"
"You don't want to talk about the disturbing fact that we're dreaming at the same time, in different universes, and a very strong theory that a crack in time and space has to do with that. "
"That's mostly because I have nothing to go on. I had to sleep on average 42 minutes to see if I have a chance to talk to you. And it still took about 20 or so days until I'm here again. For all I know, this is a strange science that I haven't encounter."
"But, I don't know, can't you use your screwdriver, app it, and check the crack."
"That was to close a crack, and I can't do it for this one." The Doctor looks away from Leslie.
"Fine, then I guess for the rest of my days, then, I'm dreaming with a outer universe space Yoda." She looks back at the Doctor. "How about we get of here? I need you to take me somewhere. If you want to."
- - - - 5 - - 8
Leslie stands in front of her grandmother's tombstone, with the Doctor off to the side, silently watching.
"I visit her whenever I could, since coming here." A sad smile appears on her face. "'Course, I could never 'talk' to her."
"Why not?" The Doctor quietly asks.
"For one thing, a lot of people visit the cemetary. And despite what you say, this is the capital of the state. And a lot of people are heavily religious. " She gestures around the Doctor. "Pretty pink houses and glass windows. A hermit could live in cozy comfort if they wanted to." She puts a hand over her mouth. "Okay, that's a bit disrespectful, but still."
She takes out a notebook from her ... her bigger on the inside pockets. "This is what I wanted to say to her earlier, but I couldn't."
"Say it now."
"I was, you ninny." She looks through her imaginary journal to find the page that she wrote on her computer.
Dear diary, It's been a while since I've written in you. But that's mostly because I had nothing more to give to you.
I've told you my hopes and crushes, my short terms goals about the future.
I felt that's all I would write for the rest of the year.
I though wrong.
I have a story to tell. I'm writing it all in one sitting for fear that it would all be one vivid dream.
Or, if the universe is really cruel, the start of a mental breakdown.
Well, here is the story of a lifetime.
I had a dream, a strange one at first. I dreamed that I was, well more than I already was. And somehow mixed Brenda with Beatrix.
And then I met the Doctor. Who, for the life of me, was so like the show and everything else, I figured that I was daydreaming, like that time I was going into North Dakota and saw Kim Possible and Shego fighting and doing back flips to catch up to the car.
But then, that wasn't the case. He needed help to jump start his machine.
I ended up in the crossfire.
That's how I woke up, but the pain, and elation followed me throught the day. Even at Track, where it made me push harder.
I'm not a normal teenager. I don't even think that when I become a mature adult will I ever be normal.
I want to believe that this is real, if only because I have a world to play with, with a Doctor, My favorite Doctor, the one I started with, and his TARDIS.
If he comes back into my dreams, then I want to see how this goes. Maybe I might be inspired to start my book series.
She looks at the Doctor. "It's an original character that fall into the Whoiniverse, only it's not really that original, seeing as the character was from a LOST tie- in book, well not really the original from the tie in book, seeing as -" The Doctor nods towards her book. "Right."
And as much as I had more friends to rely on, I can never really tell them what I want to say without messing up the whole sentence.
My family are one of the few that understand me, at certain points.
I don't know how I even managed to get this, maybe The Writer in me is very powerful. But, I want to go with him. Even if It might turned out badly.
She close the book, turning to the Doctor. Tears are staining her face.
The Doctor holds out her hand. "Come on, we should head back."
She takes his hand.
- - - - 5 - - 8
"We both have a unique opportunity. In the realm of dreams, we can go any where. I have my TARDIS, and you have a chance to experience the universe without leaving your bed."
"You know, what I wonder," Leslie muses out loud. "that this dream realm is realistic enough that I feel like I'm getting too cold."
The Doctor and Leslie take a few steps towards the warm food stand, awaiting to get their food.
"Yeah, if we managed to dream again, we should test that."
Leslie shrugs. "All right, but I like the nice and slow pace of this 'dream'." She takes a deep breath as she became the first in line. "Two funnel cakes, please." The woman nods as she steps to finish cooking the cakes. She turns to the Doctor. "You don't mind funnel cakes?"
"Nah, it's fine. Your favorite?"
"One of many." She lightly pats her stomach. "Didn't get this figure being picky."
"All right, seeing at it is your birthday, I'm indulging you, but even if it doesn't make a difference, we're getting you on a good diet."
"You're not my mother, or my grand-father, and - fine, we'll try it. Hammering home the diet thing, great."
"Tell you what, if you can be more creative the next dream, I won't let you go on a diet."
Leslie nods, as she streches her back, smiling as she spots a tilt - ta - world. She pulls at the Doctor's arm. "Come along, Doctor."
"But, the Funnel cake..."
"I'm testing the limitations of dreams. This is a part of that."
"Really?"
"That, and it's been ages since I'm been at a good fair with a hurl a whirl."
The Doctor hurries along. "Then let's go then."
- - - - 5 - - 8
Leslie opened her eyes slowly. She twisted her body, finding herself wholly relaxed even after that long night - day thing.
She grinned, at the rising sun. A new day, a new year to look forward to, and dreams of adventures just waiting for -.
Achoo!
Leslie rubbed her nose, where she felt that it's running.
"Damn it, should have worn a jacket." She shook her head as she turned to the stairs.
All right! I finished a mulitparter for the first time in my fanfiction 'career'. Yay! *Dances the Drunk Giraffe* And pretty close to midnight. A first that I haven't been able to gain. Yay.
Like I said before, this was paired up with the chapter that preceded it, but I could update this along with it, because partly I wanted this to be posted on the date to which it was orignally suppose to end on. And it might have made sense to end it on the day that it started, the story, one year ago. But of course, par for the course for me, it takes me over a year to do that.
In all seriousness, almost three years has past since first watching Doctor Who. Which was mentioned to me, many times by my friends, and I watched one with them, which turned out to be series 4 two parter ending, so I was a bit overwhelm. But then, of course, I managed to marathon series 5, and it was magnificent. And I've been a fan ever since. And not just Eleven's run, I even got into the Big Finish stuff, especially Lucie Miller's run as one of the longest running, post 2005 companions of any median, as far as I know seeing as I cannot get the comics where I am.
Right, anyway, you may not care about a fangirl, well, fanwoman, or fanlady, talking about her Whovien beginnings. But this is just for me and my reawaken inner writer. And if anyone is interested, then that's okay.
.
Leslie and The Doctor will return in 'Dreams of an American - Mexican.'
Coming out in late 2015.
Or later next month. Depends.
