The Bits in Between
Chapter Twenty-Five: Fortuna
By Lumendea
AN: This takes place after Travels in Time and before the start of the Christmas Ghosts. I'm sorry to say that this is your update for the weekend. I fell on ice and pinched a nerve in my arm so typing is difficult at the moment. Don't worry, I'm recovering nicely so I should be back on schedule next week!
…..
"I was aiming for Christmas," the Doctor muttered. "Could've just gone back into the TARDIS."
"Nope," Rose said. She turned her brilliant smile on the Doctor. "Skye wanted a day out."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, but he did smile a little as they walked along the street towards the British Museum. It was strange. He and Rose were walking along, hand and hand down the pavement while Sarah Jane and Johnny tried to keep Skye from running off ahead of them. Luke was shaking his head and walking with his grandparents behind them. The Doctor wondered if they were expecting him to make a run for it.
They reached the staircase, and Skye suddenly spun around and raced towards Rose. Skye grabbed Rose's hand and started tugging as hard as she slight twelve-year-old girl would allow. Rose allowed herself to be led up the stairs of the British Museum. Barbara chuckled warmly and followed, pausing long enough to drop a few pounds into the donation box.
"What is going on?" the Doctor asked.
"You'll see," Barbara said. "Skye and I discovered it on one of our afternoons out."
"Gran and I come here every third Sunday," Skye explained happily, still leading Rose. "You'll be glad that we showed you."
They ignored the other patrons in the museum and Rose allowed her goddaughter to lead her through the first few rooms with a small smile on her face. Then they reached one of the statue rooms. Rose had never spent much time here. While the statues were pleasant enough, she'd always found them a bit dull with their lack of color and sense of movement compared to later Renaissance pieces.
But then they stopped in front a particular statue and Skye looked at her expectantly. The statue was that of a woman in a Roman style dress who was missing one arm. It was on a small low stand that allowed them to move around it if they wished. Rose had been in this room plenty of times and never noticed anything unusual, but as Skye grinned at her and Barbara looked between the statue and Rose, she saw it.
"It's me," Rose said.
"Blimey," Ian said. He blinked in shock at the statue. "It is Rose."
"Jackie will love this," Sarah Jane added. "We should have brought her."
"It's…" Rose struggled for what to say. "Wow."
"I know!" Skye jumped up and down in excitement until her mother stilled her with firm hands on her shoulders. "It looks just like you."
Rose pulled her hand away from Skye and stepped closer to the statue. The Doctor was beside her in an instant and began to circle the statue. Rose just kept staring at the face. She knew those features, and they were remarkably exact. The slope of her nose was right, the shape of her eyes was spot on, and the slight smile was familiar from the mirror.
Her right arm was missing on the statue, her dominant hand, and her sword arm. It was just a statue, but there was something very unsettling about seeing yourself missing an arm. She touched her bracelet and flexed her fingers. Then she spotted another detail. Thanks to the style that had her long hair piled atop the statue's head, the ears were left clearly visible. The statue had earrings.
Rose took off one of the small rose shaped earrings that she'd picked up at an alien market and held it up near the statue's ears for inspection. It was exactly alike, and she shook her head in disbelief.
"Can I see?" Skye asked.
Nodding, Rose handed the earring down to the girl and moved closer to the Doctor who was staring at the statue's backside with a bit too much intensity. She glanced at the statue's bum and felt her cheeks heat. If the statue was accurate then all that running was paying off.
"Doctor?"
"It's a bit odd," the Doctor said.
"What is?" Rose asked.
"For statues like this, they often made the torsos separately and then added the head later. It was early mass production. Apparently, the sculptor was so enamored with you that you were the model for the whole thing."
"But it is Rose," Barbara said firmly. "She was the model, correct."
"I'd say yes," the Doctor said. He looked at Skye who was comparing the earrings with great interest. "And I'd say that we're due to have you model for it."
"Now?" Rose asked.
The Doctor grinned, and she knew that he was eager for a chance to escape the domesticity. He grabbed her hand as his eyes glinted madly.
"No time like the present!"
Then they were off, rushing towards the entrance of the museum. Behind them, Barbara huffed, and Ian outright laughed. Skye held up Rose's earring that she'd left behind with confusion. She called for Rose to come and take it back, but it was too late. They were already gone.