The penultimate chapter has arrived!
"You know, before we get serious, I just have to say that you are one of the universe's finest creation and if you hadn't fallen in love with Clara, I would have happily swooped in," Jack said, placing both hands on John's shoulders.
"Please remove your hands from me."
"Unwillingly, but I'll respect your wish," Jack replied with a grin. "So, where do you want us to begin?"
"Wait, so this whole thing about having our memories erased is actually true?" Clara asked as she had a difficult time believing so.
Missy shrugged. "Yes, and all thanks to Rassilon when he was in charge."
That would mean the story was about them. The fairy and human who fell in love.
"I was told by Romana that he wanted to be a member of the high council."
"Yep," Missy confirmed, examining a piano. "The problem with Rassilon is that he's one of those stuck-ups who think they're the only ones who are right."
They waited for her to elaborate further, but she simply gave them a boring look. "Can't be bothered to explain right now."
Clara inhaled deeply, trying to make sense of what was going on. "Right, what does any of this have to do with you?"
The bell at the entrance chimed and Romana entered. "Nothing at all," she stated.
John slumped his shoulders. "That's very helpful," he muttered sarcastically.
Jack then spoke. "Ok, I knew about the story, but I never knew it was about you guys until Missy here told me about it," he explained. "The whole having two head fairies instead of just one is a new policy implemented by Romana here."
"So that nobody suffers from a case of power trip," Romana added.
"Anyway, back to the point, we set you up so you could finally have your happily ever after and if you think about it, isn't that just romantic, I mean imagine the babies you'll produce."
"That's enough," Missy growled. "But's he's right, the first part that is."
Clara and John exchanged looks. It still didn't make sense why they were going through the trouble just to get them back together. There has to be more to it.
"What do you gain from all this?" the Doctor inquired.
Romana shook her head. "Nothing, I was just mad at Rassilon's cruelty and the injustice you and Clara had to suffer."
"I just like pissing the old rancid prune off because he's fun to piss off," Missy said.
"I just want you two to get married and have lots and lots of kids," Jack added, grinning and wagging his eyebrows.
"That's just very odd," John commented, taking a step away from Jack.
Clara, on the other hand, remained in her spot.
"Also, if you two are together, we can pass a new law which lifts the ban preventing a fairy and human from pursuing a relationship."
That sounded like good news to the Doctor.
"But obviously, you'll have to give up your life as a fairy and live as a human," Missy added.
That wasn't what he was expecting. He didn't want Clara to throw her life away for him.
"Fair enough," the Impossible Girl said, surprising John. "It will be worth it," she whispered, taking his hand.
"Are you sure about this?" he murmured. He didn't want her just to throw away her life for him. It wouldn't be fair. "What about-"
They needed to sit down and have a proper conversation about it.
She merely beamed. "As I've said before, it's just retirement," she said. "I won't miss out on much."
Their little moment was interrupted when they heard a sniff. Jack had been silently crying in the background. "I'm sorry, but this is just so beautiful," he managed, wiping a tear. "Your future kids are so lucky."
Missy glared at her colleague. "Could you please be emotional somewhere else."
Romana checked the time. She needed to get back to her fairy godchild who would return from the show with his father and step-mother anytime now. "I hope I've been somewhat helpful," she began.
"Would have been a lot more if you didn't speak in riddles," the Doctor commented, unaware of how rude it sounded until Clara elbowed his arm. "I mean, thank you."
"Thank you, Romana," the Impossible Girl said sincerely.
Romana smiled in response. "I wish you both all the happiness in the universe."
"You can thank us by getting pregnant," Jack added. "Give this world more Peter – I mean, John Smith with a touch of Clara Oswald."
Clara and the Doctor stared at him awkwardly.
"I'm just going to stop you there," Missy said as she pushed him away.
"She won't lose her memory again, right?" the Doctor asked as it just occurred to him that Clara would become human.
Romana nodded. "No, rest assured that both your memories will be unharmed, though I regret to inform you that you will not be able to recover the deleted ones."
He wished there was a way for them to get those memories back. It was all such a blur in his mind. How did they fall in love? How long was she his fairy godparent?
Clara gently squeezed John's hand. "I don't think that matters since we fell in love anyway."
Missy and Romana exchanged looks. "However, we can't just simply let you roam free just yet," the former stated. "You will have to renounce yourself as fairy godparent."
"Right," Clara replied, forgetting about the rule.
"How long will that take?"
Jack shrugged. "It depends really, I mean she has to get approval from the high council first, which I imagine won't be that difficult since Romana is on board with the idea."
"And as for Rassilon," Romana continued as she knew exactly what the Doctor would say next. "It only takes three members of the high council to approve Clara's renouncement – two excluding myself, so it's a fairly simple process."
The Impossible Girl could tell that the man next to her wasn't entirely comfortable with the thought of her being away for too long. "Don't worry about me," she said. "I'm sure it won't be long."
"And if it is, just imagine the passionate se-" Jack said before being cut off by getting his chest elbowed. "That way, you can have kids quicker," he continued, despite being winded.
The Doctor straightened his back. "I suppose I can spend the time reflecting and trying to digest all of this."
"We're not going to ask her to return to Gallifrey tonight," Missy said. "But we do expect her to report back tomorrow."
"Thank you."
"As a gentle reminder, you can thank us by-"
Jack never had the chance to finish his sentence as both Romana and Missy dragged him to the entrance of the shop. "You seriously need help," Missy grumbled.
"I bid you farewell," Romana said as she helped drag Jack out of the shop.
Jack then mouthed 'make babies' before grinning.
Clara and John silently watched as all three left and once they were out of the sight, the fairy godmother slumped her shoulders. "That was…"
"Interesting."
She had heard stories of how straightforward and flirty Jack can be, but never did she imagine he would be like this, asking them to have children, nonetheless. "Would you mind telling me the story again?"
"Story?"
She tugged his arm and led him to the flat upstairs. "Yes."
"You mean how we first met the first time?"
The Impossible Girl beamed. "Yeah, it's funny how our first meeting then is more or less similar to the second one."
He chuckled in response, never letting go of her hand. "What, you rudely waking me up?"
"Just trying to enforce a good habit in you."
"By giving the impression you broke into my flat?"
She opened the door and once they were inside, turned around to face him properly. "I didn't even need to do that."
It was still a bit surreal that they were the story that floated around in her world. What are the odds?
"Clara," John said, snapping her back into reality. "Are you absolutely sure about this?"
She got on her toes and gave him a kiss. "Is that reassuring enough for you or do I need to give you another snogging lesson?"
He grinned. He definitely wouldn't mind receiving a lesson right now.
"How long will she be away?" Bill Potts questioned with a hint of sadness.
John racked his brain for a proper response. He wished he could give her a definitive answer, but he couldn't as he had no idea when Clara would be back or if she had changed her mind. He couldn't blame her if she did change her mind. It has been almost two weeks since she left, and he was missing her terribly. "I'm not sure."
"What do you mean you're not sure?" Bill replied, frowning. "I miss playing Uno and chess with her."
He blew air between his lips. "I've told you before, Bill, that Clara needs to see over some personal matters."
"What does that even mean?" she retorted, returning to her homework.
If only she knew that Clara is a fairy godmother. Well, was now.
"Did you say something to make her run away?" the eleven-year-old speculated.
His mouth was agape. "No, I can assure you that I did not scare her away."
"So why did she leave or are you lying to me?"
The Doctor could only sigh in defeat. He might as well give her a partial truth as that will finally stop her from grilling him any further. He couldn't take it anymore. "Ok, fine, you win," he began. "Clara is actually moving some of her belongings from… Blackpool to London."
The child remained silent for a moment.
"She's moving in with me."
Bill's eyes lit up immediately. "She's moving in with you as in living with you indefinitely and not until she finds permanent employment?"
John took a sip of his hot chocolate. "Yes."
The eleven-year-old grinned. "Does that mean you and Clara are a couple?"
He smiled at the memory of her giving him a snogging lesson the night before she left and the 'I love you' that they had said to one another. "If I say yes, will you stop questioning me?"
"Maybe."
That was good enough for him since she could have just said no. "Yes, we are," he confessed. "Or at least I think we are."
"Yay!" the girl exclaimed, raising both arms.
He couldn't help but chuckle at her response. "Why does it matter to you so much?"
"Because you guys are so obviously into each other and it's really stupid not acknowledging it."
She definitely has a point, not that he will admit it. "Right, now that that's finally over, please return to your homework."
"Did you at least act like a good boyfriend and call her?"
He opened his mouth. Fantastic. How's he supposed to answer that question? He could just tell her the truth that he hadn't heard from her since and get an earful from her, but that's not something he's looking forward to.
Bill patiently waited for a reply before her eyes shifted to the entrance as she spotter a figure approaching.
The bell chimed and John immediately turned around, hoping for the best but his hopes her dashed when he saw that it was only Moira.
"You look like you've had quite the interrogation," the woman commented with a chuckle.
"You're early today, mum" the child commented as she packed her belongings.
Her mother shrugged. "Restaurant closed early because the owner's throwing a party, so I managed to get everything done earlier than expected."
The schoolgirl walked to her mother, but not before pausing and locking eyes with the Doctor. "You should call her."
He really wished he could.
"Oh, Clara's still away on leave, is she?"
"Yeah, she's moving in with John," Bill explained.
Moira grinned. "About time, eh?"
"I hope this stops her," he said, pointing at the eleven-year-old with his eyes. "From telling me to do this and that because Clara is already bossy as she is."
The girls laughed in response.
"Bye, mate and thanks for looking after Bill."
John said nothing as he watched mother and daughter walk out of the shop, wondering when Clara would be back.
"You think I'm bossy, do you?" a familiar voice behind him said.
The Doctor's lips curved upwards into a smile, but he wouldn't dare to face her just yet, fearing she might disappear. "Bossy and short."
"Here we go again," Clara muttered before letting out a squeal as John suddenly whirled around and lifted her up into his arms and twirling her around.
"I thought you weren't a hugging person," she muffled into his shoulder.
"This isn't a hug," he replied.
"You act like you haven't seen me in weeks," she joked once they had pulled away. "It's only been two days."
"What?" he said.
She knitted her eyebrows. "Hang on, how long has it been for you?"
He decided against telling her since it didn't matter anymore. "It's not important – doesn't matter."
"How long?"
The Doctor broke eye contact. "Two weeks, almost two weeks."
The Impossible Girl shut her eyes. "Jack."
"That makes sense because he did mention doing something like this."
They stared at one another before bursting into a fit of giggles. "I suppose it worked since you clearly miss me."
He sat down in his favourite chair, next to where his guitar was leaning against the desk. "I wouldn't go that far."
She leaned playfully against the counter. "Why did you hug me then?"
"It wasn't a hug," he denied weakly.
"Shouldn't you do something better than that?"
His eyes widened.
"Kiss me you idiot," she said, inching closer to him. "I can see Jack got to you."
He pouted. "Let's not mention him because it's ruining the mood."
She laughed before bending down and kissing him. It finally felt nice to be back with John. No deadlines, no wondering if he'll ever find his happily ever. Nothing. Just them finally together.
"So does this mean you're here… for good."
"No, I'm just here to say goodbye to you," Clara replied sarcastically.
The Doctor could only flash her a grin before he captured her lips, making sure to put the lesson she had given him to good use.
