Nearly at the wedding now, and quite possibly the most fluffy opening couple of lines to a chapter in the whole story :-)
The Doctor slumped down exhausted on a sofa next to Clara, with an ice cream in his hand. Clara leaned across and gave it a big lick.
"Oi! Get your own." He then playfully poked her on the nose.
"So all finished then?"
"Yes, every guest collected."
The Doctor had been very busy that day, shuttling around all time and space. Clara had been introduced to a bewildering selection of guests, and was beginning to get them all a bit muddled up. There was that American guy Canton, and he was with Queen Nefertiti. No, that wasn't right? And what were those strange cactus headed creatures again? Were they the Panbabylonians, no they were different creatures she'd seen in Akhaten, and then there were the…
Clara's thoughts were interrupted by the Doctor exclaiming "NO!" as suddenly a weird looking creature appeared in front of them.
"Ood Sigma?" The Doctor whimpered with a worried face.
"Doctor. It has been a long time."
"Ood Sigma, last time you appeared like this, my song was ending. Please don't tell me the same thing is about to happen again, not when I have found true happiness at last."
Clara held his hand as she sensed his concern.
"Doctor, don't worry, I am just here to send you a message from the Ood people. Your song, the song for you and Clara is just beginning, and will last for an eternity. You are a good man, who deserves some happiness. We are so pleased for you both, and will sing a song to celebrate your future together."
"Oh thank you, thank you" the Doctor exclaimed, as the Ood faded again, before slumping back into the sofa with his eyes closed.
"Are you ok?" asked Clara with a worried look.
"Sorry, bad memory from the end of my previous life, just before I regenerated, sandshoes me that is. Ood Sigma then appeared to me to warn me that my song was coming to an end, he was right, as he can see into the future and seeing him there again I… ergh my ice cream has melted over me! That is so not cool!"
"I dunno, ice cream on the leg will be quite chilly actually!"
"Ha, ha, very funny."
"You go and wipe that off; I'll go and get you another one. Quite fancy one myself actually!"
Clara returned with two ice creams just as the Doctor returned from the bathroom.
"So what are you doing tonight Clara?" asked the Doctor.
"Oh, a quiet drink with the girls. Nothing too naughty, don't want to be ill for my wedding!"
"I do have a time machine, in case you need two days to sleep off a hangover."
"Might give that a miss thanks, for once I'd rather accept time in the correct order!"
"The correct order, how quaint."
"And what about you, Doctor? What are you doing tonight, your last night of freedom?" Clara laughed.
"Me? Oh, a quiet, intimate evening."
"Intimate?" replied Clara with a quizzical frown.
"With my best friend, the one who's been with me for so long, and has seen all the good days and all the bad days. Someone who knows what I need, and has always been there for me."
Clara smiled.
"I hope you and your TARDIS will have a good evening together."
"I've got a lot to thank her for, and don't want her to feel left out, with all the wedding excitement."
"So what will you do?"
"Oh, talk to her, give her a bit of TLC, that sort of thing."
"I'm sure she'll be fine, after all she created me. It's not as if I've got my own TARDIS, waiting to steal you away from her!"
Clara stroked the Doctor on the cheek.
"But send her my love anyway."
Clara got up, then started to laugh, much to the Doctor's puzzlement.
"Sorry, but you've now got ice cream on your nose!"
That evening Clara had reserved a small area in a bar near the hotel. She was the first to arrive, as she was waiting Captain Jack walked past.
"Hey Clara, can I join you?"
"Not for long I'm afraid!"
"Ladies only evening, I presume?"
"More specific than that actually! Just a quiet drink with my fragments."
"Your fragments? Clara Oswald, are you being DNAist?"
"Yes!"
"Suit yourself!"
"Besides, I know what happened at the Doctor's stag night, and I would like to keep my hair like this, thank you!"
"Fair point!" Jack laughed and walked on.
Soon after Clara Oswin Oswald arrived and they embraced.
"This is all too much for me to take in" exclaimed Clara Oswin, "This paradise planet, the robot waiters, the weird guests; none of this makes sense to me… except you marrying the Doctor."
"I never thought it would happen, indeed as a human I never could have married him."
"The Doctor was clearly in love with you."
"The day he first knocked on my door, dressed as a monk which was a bit weird when I think about it, it was you he was looking for, as he called me Clara Oswin Oswald. When you came back to life, and ran over to kiss him, I thought that was it for us, that he had got back his true Clara."
"I had no idea you were there, and it was exciting to see him again! Sorry about that."
"Please don't apologise, it was you who brought the Doctor back down from his cloud, and I saw the excitement in his eyes when he saw you again."
"He was excited that I was alive again, maybe it was guilt over my death first time around."
"It was a strange feeling. Delight at all my fragments no longer dying, but then fear at how it would affect my relationship with the Doctor. Especially dear Oswin."
"Ah yes, Oswin. The night she swapped places with you, I couldn't understand what was going on."
"I was devastated, heartbroken. I was determined to keep a bit of distance between myself and the Doctor, as I knew deep down it could never work, but it was so hard and to see him with another version of me it made me question everything. But then, for her to do what she did, to sacrifice herself so that I could be a Timelady, was amazing. Her and Claroswin, I feel humbled by what they did."
Clara Oswin raised her glass.
"To absent friends!"
"Absent friends!"
As they were toasting Oswin and Claroswin, Lara arrived.
"Gosh, I didn't think you missed me that much!" she laughed.
"Hello Lara, we were toasting Oswin and Claroswin."
"I thought so! It's so exciting, my second time being a bridesmaid at a Clara wedding."
"Lara" spoke Clara, "I've been thinking."
"As long as you're not about to change your mind about the wedding!"
"No, it's about you, and your desire to get away."
"Ok?"
"How do you fancy being a nanny on Earth? My planet."
"That would be amazing, but how could I do that?"
"Before I left to become a teacher, I stayed with the Maitlands, looking after their children. Since then, they've had a succession of nannies, none of which stayed very long, the current one leaves next week. You'd be perfect."
"Would I?"
"Lara, I know you'd be great, you love children, and Earth is very similar to Zagotian Major."
"And let's face it" added Clara Oswin, "Deep down we're all very similar. The perfect replacement for Clara… is another Clara!"
"Have you spoken to them about it yet?"
"Not yet, but I'm sure they'd be happy with the idea. I know the children will love having a nanny from another planet! I'll ask them tomorrow."
"Thanks Clara that would be amazing. Wow, living on another planet."
Soon afterwards Cara joined them, having finished her shift.
"The wedding suite looks lovely; it's going to be a wonderful day tomorrow. The best wedding we've ever held here!"
"Are you going to be busy?"
"I'm afraid so Clara, but then if I wasn't working, I'd be worried sick in case anything went wrong, and I so want it to be the perfect day for you and the Doctor. Maybe, just maybe, you'll catch me on the dance floor at the end of the evening." Cara smiled.
"So how are all the guests settling in?"
"Oh fine, we are used to having a wide variety of guests here."
"Even Strax?"
"I saw him outside by the swimming pool. Apparently he had been told to guard it in case giant snowmen emerged. No idea why giant snowmen would emerge from a swimming pool, but he seemed devoted to the task."
The others laughed.
"A good move by Madame Vastra" replied Clara. "Is everyone else enjoying themselves?"
"Yes, it's all very jolly back at the hotel. Probably the effect of the local cocktails!"
"I can imagine! My father certainly seemed to relax after his first one, and was positively happy by his third. Indeed he was begging me to take him somewhere exotic on the TARDIS."
"Let's hope everyone is still ok tomorrow morning!" Lara exclaimed, thinking back to how ill she had been after her first evening on them. And last!
"The Doctor did offer to take me away in the TARDIS for two days to sober up if I overindulged tonight" continued Clara with a smile, "But by the sound of things it'll be everyone else who'll be ill instead!"
"Luckily the wedding isn't until tomorrow afternoon, and we'll be there for you tomorrow, even if everyone else is in bed!" replied Clara Oswin, raising her small glass of sherry.
"To Clara and the Doctor!"
"Clara and the Doctor!"
Clara smiled then started another toast
"Oswald for the win. Oswin!"
"Oswald for the win. Oswin!"
"So that's where Oswin comes from!" exclaimed Clara Oswin. "I always wondered what my middle name meant!"
That night Clara lay in her enormous hotel bed with a contented smile on her face. She wasn't tired; as a Timelady now, she didn't need much sleep, but would still go to bed regularly, both out of habit but also to keep hold of a slither of her humanity. She thought about the Doctor back on the TARDIS and laughed, he'd be back on the TARDIS, talking to her, rewiring her circuits, that perfect bond between them that would never be broken. At that moment Clara really wanted to be back on the TARDIS with that amazing man, but there would be time for that, and they deserved their final night together. What was it that strange creature had said about their song lasting for an eternity? Clara really hoped it was correct.
Nearly there now, nice for Clara to spend her final evening as a single girl with her fragments, even if she was being DNAist!
Thanks for all the reviews, nearly time for my song to come to an end, though the story never ends!