Chapter 11: London, England, 2010
Author's Notes: This whole series was based on an idea in my ficlet Perfect Present so it seemed right to incorporate it into this chapter.
Rose sighed, watching the moisture of her breath as it swirled in the cold night air. If she listened, she could just barely make out the words of the Christmas carol being sung inside the house. Suddenly the door opened, letting the loud raucous of festivities out to cut through the night until the door closed again. She smiled at Mickey as he came over the sit next to her.
"What are you doing out here then?" he asked with a smile. He nodded his head towards the door. "Should be inside with the rest of the family."
"Nah. Not really my thing."
"What're you talkin' about? You love Christmas! Used to yell after me until I bought you the best present you could think of." Mickey chuckled lightly and put his arm around Rose's shoulders. "So come on. Just this once, stop worrying about things and have some fun."
Rose smiled at him lightly. "I know I should. It's just hard you know? It's like… The last Christmas we had together didn't go too well. Ended up running from these weird creatures. Had these sort of… tongues for arms... or tentacles. Never did find out what they were. Very disgusting."
Mickey frowned. He didn't have to ask who she'd meant when she said 'we,' because it was always the same person, but something else she said had caught his attention. "Last Christmas? How many did you have?"
Rose smiled. "A few. It was sort of a thing. It he thought I was upset or something, we'd go somewhere for Christmas. Or at least at Christmas time. Out of all the things we did and places we went, I thought that that was the most amazing. A day that's supposed to happen only once a year, and we could go whenever we wanted." She sighed and leaned back, stretching as she did so.
"You know what's weird?" She asked after a long silence. "All those times and I never even bought him a proper present." She smiled wryly, and Mickey couldn't help smiling back.
"All right then," he said. "If he was here, popped in for a holiday, what would you get him?"
"I don't even know. What do you get for a 900 year old alien who has everything?"
They both laughed, then felt the silence take over. It was Rose again who broke it.
"I know what I'd want though," she told him.
"What's that then?"
"A picture… Just one picture to help remember."
Mickey shook his head with a smile. "Come on now. You're not gonna go forgetting about him anytime soon."
"Yeah I know that. But, I can't quite picture him right some times. 's not everything mind you. Little things mostly. The style of the lapel on his jacket… Whether or not the buttons on his pockets were hidden. Even the layout of the console. I never really figured out what each button and bob did, but they were all so familiar. I knew where each one went… and now I don't."
She stood and walked to the edge of the porch, scuffing her trainer across the light dusting of snow that had landed earlier that day. She heard the metal bench scrape lightly on the wooden flooring as Mickey got up behind her. He never was one for grace.
"It's not exactly high quality or anything," he said suddenly, coming to stand next to her. "Took it when we first came to this world when I thought… well when I was thinking I might be staying and I wouldn't see you again."
He handed her his cell phone; his old Nokia, not the new slim-line phone he used nowadays. Noticing her appraising look he smiled. "Just a bit of home."
Rose took the phone from him to look at the screen which was currently set to its camera display. It showed only two pictures in the phones memory. The first was a washed out image she could just barely make out as a Slitheen, the one that had attacked her mum at home. The next was a picture of her in that ridiculous wait staff uniform. Standing behind her and blocked just partially from view was the Doctor. She smiled at the image of the man who resided in her dreams. "Just like I remember him," she whispered. That in itself provided some comfort.
"Right," Mickey said, straightening up and looking slightly embarrassed. "Maybe if you want, I could see about, you know, printing you a copy or something. It'll be small, but it'll be something… or something."
Rose smiled as Mickey continued to stumble on his words. "I'd like that, thanks." She turned to face him and let her forehead rest on his chest for a moment. "Come on. Let's get inside."
Walking back though the door and into the house, Rose let herself drift through the Tyler family Christmas party, waves of memories crashing through her. It seemed that no matter where she turned, she was faced with another reminder.
A leather bound copy of A Christmas Carol. Snowflake decorations. The tug of the silver chain around her neck. A man telling a girl the history of the holiday. Her own red evening gown. Christmas cake (the significance of which she'd realized later on). A black and white photo of Trafalgar square, framed on the wall. Cups of hot cocoa and a teddy bear under the tree. A Rockettes insert from her Mum and Pete's recent trip. A little girl wandering off.
She slid onto an empty couch and allowed herself a small smile. What seemed like ages ago she'd dismissed signs and repeated words as pure coincidence, only to find them to be her own doing. If she allowed herself to believe in the same again she could see the patterns and know it was all a sign. Whether she'd done it herself, or the Doctor, or simply fate, all of those reminders gathered together to remind her of one thing. He was thinking of her.
With a sigh, she looked up towards the ceiling and closed her eyes.
"Merry Christmas, my Doctor."
