When Alba awoke, she was alone in bed, surrounded by darkness. Disoriented, it took her a moment to remember where exactly she was. She poked her head out through the canopy to look up at the mountain.
"Gallifrey," she said out loud, liking the way the strange word sounded when it rolled off her tongue. Never in a million years would she have imagined that such a place could actually exist, yet here she was. And that was only the tip of the iceberg.
The whole of the universe was at their fingertips, if the Doctor's vortex manipulator were really capable of all the things he said it was. At the very least though, it were definitely capable of traveling through space. The Doctor had brought her from New Earth to here, and here was unmistakably a different planet, Gallifrey if he were telling her the truth. She hadn't thought to ask him what year it was here, if their years were even the same as they were on New Earth. With them having an extra sun on Gallifrey, she'd have to imagine not. Still, she was no astrophysicist, so she had no idea. These were questions for the Doctor, if she could even successfully pin him down to get an answer. Reluctant was a bit of an understatement when it came to talking about things relating to himself, directly or indirectly. He'd been more forthcoming in the last day than he'd been the entire time she'd been with him, however long that was. Between the missing time and not actually knowing if time progressed the same here, she had no idea how long she'd actually been gone from home.
She grabbed her rumpled night gown off the floor and slipped it over her head before making her way down the stone steps to the antechamber that lead back out to the hallway. Finding the bedroom door unlocked, she slipped out of the room. She ran her hand across the smooth rock surface of the wall as she walked, finding it warm to the touch. Though it didn't feel too hot by all the windows, she had to imagine the rock absorbed at least some of the heat from the twin suns. Maybe. She could be entirely wrong again.
She popped into the room he'd earlier indicated as the loo, not surprised to find that that the bathroom counter and sink, as well as the giant jacuzzi bathtub had been carved out of the mountain rock. The tub was so large, it actually looked more like a small pool than anything. A gouge cut into the rock above the bath had a stained glass window set into it, casting purple-blue and green light onto the room below. In the opposite corner, an elaborate looking shower head and dials protruded directly out of the face of the rock. She almost had to chuckle. He'd called this a loo, when it looked more like a Turkish bath or something. Bemused, she relieved herself before washing her face at the giant rock sink. Observing herself in the mirror, she was surprised to find that she actually looked well-rested, and even felt that way, too.. She frowned a little, thinking of the things they had discussed the day previous. Alba was almost surprised she hadn't spent the night tossing and turning, running from the spectre of Jimmy Stone. It was almost as if…
Well, as if she felt safe with the Doctor, which she honestly had no real reason to feel that way. She almost never slept through the night without waking up though, but she had this time. Of course, the fantastic shag probably hadn't hurt. She bit her lip, suppressing a smile at the thought.
Slipping back into the hallway, she passed the grand fireplace and rounded the corner to find the Doctor in the kitchen, bent down into a cabinet putting something away. Taking an appreciative glance at his bum, she couldn't help but notice that he was wearing jeans. Jeans! She'd never seen him in anything so casual, unless she were counting his pants, which she didn't. She had started to think the only thing he owned were suits, which he looked quite nice in actually, in a university professor sort of way.. Not wanting to startle him, she waited until he'd ducked out from under the cabinet to gently clear her throat, alerting him of her presence.
"Oh! Well good morning, gorgeous," he said, giving her an uncharacteristically sunny smile. Alba was caught off guard. He just seemed so...cheery. It was unlike him, or at least the him she had thought she was getting to know. "I just went out and picked up some groceries, since I had nothing in. Luckily most of the canned goods in the pantry don't expire any time soon, but I picked up some milk and eggs and butter, meat, fresh fruit, stuff like that. Figured it might come in handy."
"Maybe just a bit," she said, pulling a stool up to the island to watch him. "D'you want me to make us some breakfast?"
"Actually, I thought maybe we could go for a picnic on the beach. Perhaps go swimming, if the water is warm enough. I suspect it will be though. I mean, that is of course...if you want to?" he stuttered, turning to look at her.
"What, like a date?" she teased, her tongue finding its way through her teeth as she grinned back at him. She almost couldn't help it-his good mood was infectious.
"Well, I suppose if you want to call if that. Just thought it might be nice to eat and enjoy each other's company while we look over the water. What d'you say, Rose? Sound good?" he asked, suddenly sounding a bit shy.
"Sounds better than good. Sounds brilliant...except, I don't have any clothes here. No bathing suit or anything like that."
"Oh, well that's alright," he said, an amused twinkle in his eye. "Clothes are overrated anyway. I thought we could go naked. Did I leave that part out?"
"Um yeah, you neglected to mention that small detail," she said, feeling her mouth go dry. it wasn't the nudity that had her nervous, but the rapid shift and increase in intimacy between them. It had literally happened overnight, and she still wasn't sure what to make of all of it all. Still, she thought it odd that he'd chosen to leave her after she'd poured her heart out to him like that. When he'd come back, he had done his best at trying to comforting her. She gathered it wasn't something he was used to doing, but he had been kind and urged her to forgive herself. That was a whole lot more than many people had done for her. Even her own mother seemed to feel she had earned that guilt, thought it served to teach a lesson and stand as a reminder of the mistakes she had made. She knew her mother didn't mean to be cruel, but it felt that way sometimes. It was easier to forgive Andrea that now though, in the wake of everything else that had happened.
"Oh well. Naked picnic. Naked lunch. That was the name of a book actually, an old Earth author named William S. Burroughs. Controversial title, in spite of the fact that he wasn't referring to actual nudity, more naked in the sense of being stark in its imagery...I'm rambling again, aren't I?" he paused, looking at her for confirmation.
"You are, but I don't mind," she replied. "Your rambles tend to be fascinating. You know so many random things, things most people wouldn't know about old Earth. Are they big on history on Gallifrey?"
"I suppose. As they say, those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it. We have no religion, we just have history," he said, and she thought that was a strange thing to say, but it was still strange for her to consider a world that was wholly absent of religion.
Alba wasn't particularly religious herself and she didn't see humanity as a whole moving away from the comfort of their faith anytime soon. She couldn't blame them, though. A part of her wished she did believe-in Santori, or something else. Anything to give her a modicum of hope that something was looking out for her, for them all. As it was, her life had taught her that you can only ever truly rely on yourself-everyone else will screw you at some point or another.
Praying was like wishing, as far as she was concerned, and as her mum used to say, i'wish in one hand and shit in the other, see which fills up first'/i. The turn of phrase had been Andrea Prentice's way of basically saying that if you really wanted something, you should go get it yourself and not wait around for someone to give it to you. That being said, it was even harder now to entertain any ideas that she was being looked after, not when she had ended up where she had, not when there were so many who were even worse off than she was.
How far into the future had the Gallifreyans gone that they'd left even the comfort of faith behind them? And how different was their society because of it? Were all of them as morally wishy-washy as the Doctor? Because Harry and Rani hadn't seemed like especially scrupulous characters themselves. And then there was Jack, who she admittedly still had questions about. He'd never been anything but kind to her, it was hard to imagine the how or why that would've let to him getting involved in something as dark as human slave trading, let alone being best friends with someone like the Doctor. Having few beliefs herself, she didn't think that religion was the thing that really made a person good or bad. Most of the time, she thought she was pretty good, actually. At least she tried to be. At the end of the day, she thought that was really what mattered-being kind for kindness sake. Life was hard enough without inflicting unnecessary cruelty on your fellow man, whatever you believed happened after life ended.
"So..no religion. I guess no Christmas, either. I can't even imagine. Do you lot even celebrate holidays here?" she asked.
"Oh, we don't have religion but we still have tradition. We have festivals and celebrations still, they just aren't religious in nature. Perhaps...perhaps maybe I could take you to one, sometime soon. We'll have to see. Anyway...the beach! Yes, that's right. Why don't you go fetch some towels and a blanket out of the linen cupboard, and I'll pack us a picnic basket?" he said, more statement than request.
"Right, sure," she said, turning on her heel to go back the direction she had just come. She knew she shouldn't be surprised by him anymore, but still, she was. Every day was a new adventure where he was concerned. The cupboard stuck a little before opening-it was obvious it hadn't been used for a while. Why did he keep linens in a house that he didn't use any more, anyway? She supposed it didn't matter. The towels that she grabbed smelled clean, even if they had been in storage for a while. She grabbed what looked like a knit throw down from the top shelf, pulling it and several other blankets down on top of her.
"Of course," she sighed, rolling her eyes as the soft avalanche tumbled over her. She bent down to retrieve the pile of blankets, refolding each of them as she went. Lifting up a pink-and-yellow afghan, she was startled when a book fell from the creases and thumped against her foot. Curiously, she bent down to pick up the volume and noted with wide eyes the inscription on the cover: iOur Daughter's Baby Book/i.
She glanced back in the direction of the kitchen, but she could still hear him shuffling around in there. The coast was clear. Holding the volume between her hands, it naturally fell open to a spot a few pages in. The document pasted there was a little larger than the rest of the book, which explained why it fell open to that spot. Turning the book on it's side, she realized that it was a birth certificate. The names had been inked in by hand and she squinted to read what they said, but she could hear the Doctor's footsteps coming down the hall. Damnit! There was no time. She hurriedly jammed the book back onto the shelf it had fallen from, and rushed to heave the pile of blankets back up in front of it.
"Perfect timing!" the Doctor beamed at her as she stood up, the pile of towels clutched in her arms. Her heart thudding, she realized she'd thrown the knit blanket she'd grabbed down for them back up on the shelf as well. "Oh, could you not reach the top shelf? Here, let me grab us a blanket."
Alba felt her stomach drop as she watched him reach for the shelf with the blankets, sure that the book would come tumbling down. She wasn't exactly eager to see how he'd react to being confronted with a memento of his dead daughter, but she also wanted a chance to go back and peek at the book later, if possible. If he found it now she knew she'd never see it again. She watched him reach up to grab the blanket, sucking in her breath in anticipation of the discovery. But it never came. He grabbed a dark blue cotton blanket and shut the cupboard door without incident. She let her breath go in a soft rush of air, and he glanced at her.
"You feeling alright?" he asked her, placing the folded blanket on top of the pile of towels in her arms.
"Yeah...I'm fine. Guess the idea of naked swimming with you has me a little bit breathless, that's all," she replied hastily. She swore the Doctor looked pleased when she said this.
"Right, well let's not waste any time then. Follow me, imon petit rose/i," he said, picking the picnic basket up off the floor where he had placed it and gesturing with his free hand. At the other end of the hall, right before the bedroom, the Doctor lifted a small panel and punched a code into the interface underneath. One of the glass window panels in the hallway slid up into the rock noiselessly, granting them access to a small ledge and a rocky path leading down to the beach.
"Watch your footing," he advised, stepping out onto the ledge and beckoning her to follow. She eyed the steep path over top the pile of linens with trepidation, but the Doctor was smiling like he knew exactly what she was thinking. "It's steep, but it's fine if you take your time. Besides I'll go first, so if you fall, it'll be on top of me."
"Well that's reassuring," she said sarcastically, stepping out onto the ledge. He flipped the sonic out of his pocket and aimed it at the window, shutting it from the outside. It slid back down out of the rock face, and when it had closed completely you couldn't even tell where it had been. The illusion was a good one, that was for sure. Even right up close the windows looked like living rock. She started picking her way carefully down the path after the Doctor, who was only a step or two ahead of her at most, and also apparently part mountain goat. He picked his way easily down the uneven path, avoiding the rocks and branches as though he walked this path everyday. True to his word, when she stumbled and lost her footing he caught her by the elbow before she could fall to the rocky ground.
"Sorry," she mumbled with embarrassment, bending down to grab the blanket she dropped.
"No, it's alright. I warned you the path is a bit steep, it's easy to get tripped up on. Not too much further though," he said, gesturing downwards. Alba could see they only had maybe ten more steps at the most to go, but he still held onto her elbow the remainder of the way, guiding her carefully to where the sandy surface of the beach began. Taking in the scene around them with interest, it occurred to her this was the first time she'd been outside since she'd been captured, not counting the hovercar ride her and Jack had taken to the wedding dress fitting or the walk up to the house from the mountain.
The light breeze off the dark turquoise ocean carried the scent of salt and the heady aroma of a nearby cluster of purple-white flowers that looked not-quite like orchids. The fine orange sand underneath her feet was warm, and she drew her toes through it, making little patterns as they stood there looking out over the water. In any other circumstance, she might've been inclined to call it paradise-it was tranquil enough to be, she thought. Somewhere in the near distance, a bird was singing, completing the image.
"It's so beautiful, it's almost unreal," she said, her eyes following the horizon line in either direction.
"Funny, I was thinking the same thing, but about you," he said, turning to look at her with a smile. "Shall we?"
She blushed at the compliment, but managed to grin back at him. "I suppose we shall," she said, letting him lead her closer to the surface of the water, where they spread the blanket and stacked the towels on top of the picnic basket to keep the contents cool. Their hands finally free again, he pulled her into a tight embrace and tilted her chin up, pressing a long, lingering kiss against her lips that left her shaking in the knees by the time it was over.
"I've been waiting to do that all morning," he whispered, pausing for breath.
"Apparently, I've been waiting all morning for you to do that to me...," she exhaled, a little embarrassed to be so flustered over a kiss.
"Mmmm. I think we should probably eat breakfast now. Otherwise, I might devour you whole," he murmured, sending a shiver down her spine.
"I might not mind that...," she muttered under her breath, sinking down to the blanket. The Doctor shot her a curious look that made her wonder if he had overheard her, but she realized she didn't care if he had.
"Mimosa?" he offered, handing her an empty champagne flute out of the basket. "I brought blood orange juice, it's pretty fantastic if I say so myself."
"Champagne?" she asked, holding her glass out so he could pour. "Are we celebrating something?"
"Sure. We're celebrating the day Rose and the Doctor went to the beach," he replied, splashing the juice into her glass. "Cheers."