Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Beautiful In Blue

I apologise for the long wait for this chapter. Updates may be sparing at best, and chapters shorter, as I will be busy studying for exams. Two of them.

Chapter Twenty Nine

The massive tree split into two identical giants, one of which began, inch by inch, to shrink down, until it was small enough to fit into the palm of the Doctor's hand. He and Anna grinned at one another, as she studied the cloned miniature Christmas tree. "Aw, it's so cute; so, do we just take it back to the TARDIS?" she asked. The Doctor winked at her, and led her out of the dome, still clutching their trees clone. Then he put two fingers to his lips, paused for dramatic effect, and whistled loudly.

A globe, or an orb, of sparkling light floated down and landed in front of them. It reformed and then solidified into the form of another pixie, with long blond hair and crystal blue eyes. "Hello! Can you take this back to our ship for us? It's just up on the cliff there" asked the Doctor, pointing helpfully.

"Of course, sir, and it looks simply wonderful!" the pixie complemented politely. She took the little tree and flew away. The Doctor looped his arm through Anna's and guided her through the snow, the hems of their long coats dragging in the white blanket. "Are they really pixies? I thought pixies were only mythological" commented Anna, placing a hand on her back. The Doctor slipped his arm out from under Anna's, and placed it around her back instead, massaging her as they walked.

"The pixies are the native life forms of this planet, which didn't even have a name until it was discovered by human explorers. One of them apparently thought the pixies would replace them and steal them away to another dimension, which is just silly. Everybody knows its faeries who do that" he explained, and Anna merely chuckled and rolled her eyes.

The Doctor was obviously in a very cheerful mood. "Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?" he sang all of a sudden, "in the lane, snow is glistening! A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a Winter Wonderland!" he threw his free arm out as if to encompass the festive planet. Anna laughed at his ridiculous antics, and accidentally miss-stepped into a snowdrift, nearly overbalancing.

Luckily her Doctor's arm was still around her waist, holding her steady. He insisted on stopping to scoop the snow out from where it had fell into her boots, and Anna was actually quite glad of the rest. Resting with one hand on a nearby dome and one on her belly, she asked "So where exactly are we going, and more to the point, what can I expect to go wrong when we get there?"

The Doctor jumped to his feet and pressed a finger to her lips. "Shush, you'll jinx everything!" he protested. Anna raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I had no idea you were so superstitious" she teased him.

"Well, can you blame me? Wherever we go, things go wrong. First there was the spa planet where we found out you were pregnant- not that was a bad thing, far from it!" he added hastily. "Then you were killed on Cheem, I was kidnapped on Callisto IV, there was that Lezacrim on Halloween…it's like I broke a mirror and got seven hundred years bad luck".

Anna waited patiently for him to stop rambling, and then calmly pointed out, "Technically, we've been travelling for nine hundred years, give or take. Secondly, the accidental or wanton destruction of reflective glass does not incur unpleasant fates on the person in question. Also, I regenerated, helped you escape, you made a new friend with young Billy and finding out we were having a baby was certainly not entirely a bad thing. What I'm trying to say, Thief, is you have nothing to worry about".

The Doctor smiled; a smile that quickly slipped off his face as he checked his watch. "Come on old girl, or we'll be late!" They stumbled over the snow, down the line of towering domed Christmas trees, and up towards a large white and silver steam train, white smoke swirling from the funnel. With an ear piercing whistle, the train began to pull away from the platform. "What! No, no! Come back! Look over here! Hey!"

Despite the Doctor's best efforts, the train chugged merrily away, carriage after carriage sliding past them and into the distance. Anna glanced at the Doctor's expression of pure exasperation with the universe, and blushed. "Erm, sorry" she muttered apologetically, "you might possibly have something to worry about". He sighed and reached out to take her hand.

"It's not your fault. I'm the one who wanted to stop…well, back to the box I guess". Before they turned around, the train suddenly came driving backwards down the track, hissing to a halt. Apparently the Doctor's yells had been heard after all. "Climb aboard, then!" called the driver. Marvelling at their change of luck, the Doctor helped Anna onto the train and stepped on board after her, sliding the door shut behind them.

The inside of the carriage was a long, communal corridor, done up with the colour scheme of a sweater knitted by one's grandmother. Festive wreaths decked the hall, and carols trickled out of hidden speakers. The seats were arranged lengthways down the walls of the carriage, divided by raised cushions and positioned behind windows.

Anna sat with her back to one of the cushions, with her feet propped up on the Doctor's lap. He unlaced her boots and began to rub her sore ankles; Anna smiled and sighed in delight. "That's nice" she murmured.

"You know, a better compliment wouldn't have made my ego grow that much bigger" the Doctor huffed. Anna chuckled and replied "Okay, that's the best thing you've ever done for me, you're the most wonderful person in the universe, et cetera, et cetera".

The Doctor rolled his eyes and asked "Well, if you're going to be like that I won't ask you what you think of Winter World…but you can tell me, of course, if you really want to" he hinted. Anna smiled and replied "Honestly? It's beautiful, and this snow isn't making me crave chips". The Doctor chuckled, remembering their brief visit to Sibelia.

"But I am craving apples" she added. The Doctor slid across the seat and jumped up, twirled around and saluted her. "Yes, ma'am!" he announced, before traipsing down the corridor in search of the buffet. Anna watched the snowy landscape whirl by through the window, absent-mindedly drumming her fingers on her belly. She could feel the baby kicking, as if they were practising for all the running.

A particularly hard jab made her wince; that was probably the baby trying to somersault. "You're certainly active, aren't you?" she murmured. "You'll take after your father a lot, he never stays still for long either; but that's one of the things I love about him. He loves you, you know, so very much. There's so much in store for you, my darling" smiled Anna.

"You'll be our miracle, our healer, our hope. The whole universe will be your home. I'll take you where you want to go, and teach you to drive a TARDIS; now that will annoy your father. Oh, your father; he'll try to get you eating fish custard and wearing those ridiculous hats of his, and he'll turn into the Oncoming Storm around any boy that come your way, and he'll sneak you sweets before dinner when he thinks I'm not looking. No matter what, we'll be there for you, both of us" she promised.

It wasn't long before the Doctor returned, carrying a fruit basket decorated with a holly and mistletoe wreath. On his head perched a garishly red Santa Claus hat, complete with fluffy white trim and a bobble dangling at the tip. "I've got a Santa hat now Anna, Santa hats are cool! And Christmassy! They were giving them out for free in the buffet. I got you one too, so you wouldn't feel left out" he said cheerfully.

Anna smiled and accepted the hat; he looked so pleased that she couldn't even think of dropping it in a roaring log fire the first chance she got. Well, perhaps she could. "You haven't told me where this train is going yet" she prompted, before munching a nice ripe apple. The Doctor sat cross legged on the floor and unpeeled a banana. "We're going to the North Pole!" he informed her excitedly.

"Oh, of course, because lots of planets have a north" remembered Anna. Between bites of banana, the Doctor explained what there was to look forward to. "We'll stay in a log cabin, and have Christmas dinner; ooh, and there's a Santa's grotto". The Doctor's eyes were practically gleaming with excitement. "Is the grotto for the children?" asked Anna, and he visibly tumbled back to Winter World. "Right, err, for the children" he said, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

Anna took pity on him. "You can go in the grotto if you really want to, Thief. There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes, right?" The Doctor perked up at this. "Right! Besides, I don't really need to go into Santa's grotto – we can go inside the secret Santa grotto instead!" Anna's expression became dubious. "And err, what exactly is a secret Santa grotto?" she asked.

"Oh, well Santa's grotto is technically for the children, so they can tell Santa – not the real Santa Claus, just someone dressed like him – what they want for Christmas, and then it's given to them on Christmas Day; but the adults go to the secret grotto, and keep what they want for Christmas…well, a secret" explained the Doctor. Anna was still puzzled. "But if we keep what we want for Christmas a secret, how will anyone know what to give us?" she inquired.

The Doctor tapped her fondly on the nose. "You'll see, dear" he smiled.