A Christmas Carol (Part Two)
The Ambassador slowly shut the door to the cupboard, being careful not to jostle or catch the string passing through the doorway. The Doctor's sonic was tied to the one end of the string, dangling from the ceiling in little Kazran's bedroom, with the other end of the string passing into the cupboard and tied to the end of the Doctor's finger as the man and the child sat on the floor along the wall, the recorder set up before them. She moved over, sitting beside the recorder as it was quite a cramped space and there was hardly any room on the other side. She curled up her knees to her chest and wound her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees.
She glanced over at the Doctor, she didn't know him well, mostly just rumors and the few things she'd picked up on while travelling. What she did know made her think that it would barely be a minute before the silence got to him and…
"So why are you so interested in fish?" the Doctor asked, not even 20 seconds after she'd sat down.
"Cos they're scary?" little Kazran shrugged.
"Good answer."
The Ambassador cleared her throat and gave him a pointed look.
"Bad answer," the Doctor corrected, though he let out a light chuckle. If he hadn't known that she had no children, he would have thought she had just from how maternal she came across just now about the danger of the fish being a 'good' reason to want to see them.
"What kind of tie is that?" little Kazran spoke up, shifting.
"A cool one," he glanced over at the Ambassador to see her reaction, mouthing 'what?' when she gave him a look that clearly said he was mad.
"Why is it cool?"
"Why are you REALLY interested in fish?"
The Ambassador looked between the two, falling silent as she took to just observing the Doctor as he sat beside the child. It was not a secret on Gallifrey that the Doctor had a family, children, grandchildren even. He was a father and she had never seen him around children. There was a part of her that had to remind herself that, by human standards Amy and Rory and many humans they came across WERE adults. But compared to herself and the Doctor, nearly everyone was still a child in their eyes. To be around a child by human standards…
Thinking on his behavior earlier, he had been very kind to Kazran, not commenting on the abuse the boy suffered but trying to make him feel better. Relating to the child, knowing the typical fears and interests. Even now, knowing the fish could be dangerous, he had devised a way to give Kazran what he wanted so desperately to see while also trying to make it safer for the boy. They weren't in the room with the fish, but safe in the cupboard, waiting. And now he was showing a genuine interest in the boy's fascination with the fish. It wasn't him trying to get more information about them, it was about showing true interest in something clearly so important to the child.
And Kazran seemed to trust that it was genuine, for he answered, "My school. During the last fog belt, the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them, a whole shoal. No one was hurt, but it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains."
"You must have been frightened," the Ambassador commented.
It just served to make the boy gloomy, "I wasn't there. I was off sick."
"Ooh, lucky you…" the Doctor began, but the clear sorrow on the child's face said otherwise, "Not lucky?"
"It's all anyone ever talks about now, the day the fish came. Everyone's got a story."
"But you don't," the Doctor realized, "I see."
The Ambassador tilted her head in observation, resting her cheek on her knee instead of her chin. She had seen plenty of parents, not just on Gallifrey, parents like the boy's father, who would just as soon say it was a good thing, that the fish should be left alone, that he should forget about it, focus on something else, stop thinking about it, get over it. The Doctor was showing empathy, understanding, he wasn't making Kazran feel worse or trying to tell him how he should feel.
"Why are you recording this?" the boy asked, seeming desperate to change the subject.
The Ambassador answered, as the child's gaze drifted up to her from the recorder, "Don't you want to remember when you finally see a fish?" she offered him with a smile, earning one in return, a hope filling the child's eyes at the thought of it all.
"Do you pay attention at school, Kazran?" the Doctor asked suddenly.
"Sorry, what?" he looked at the Time Lord.
"Cos you're not paying attention now," the Doctor pointedly looked at his finger where the string was tugging against it. He grinned, quickly pulling the string off his finger and handing it to the Ambassador before jumping to his feet and rushing for the door.
"Doctor!" the Ambassador called out, her eyes wide at how he was about to just rush out there.
"Doctor, are you sure?" even little Kazran seemed concerned, which only served to make the Ambassador more on edge.
"Trust me," he winked at them.
Little Kazran frowned as though he was sure the Doctor was lying to him, that he would go out and see the fish and not show him, "Ok."
"Oi!" the Doctor snapped a finger, "Eyes on the tie. Look at me. I wear it and I don't care. Trust me?"
Something in his words must have gotten through to the boy, telling him this was going to happen, for he smiled, "Yes."
"Sadie, watch the line," the Doctor winked at her, pointing a finger, before turning to hurry through the door.
"Doctor!" the Ambassador tried to call one last time, but he was already out. If whatever fish was out there didn't kill him she was sure she was going to.
Little Kazran glanced between the door and the Ambassador, his eyes flickering to the string in her hand, "He…he does know what he's doing right?"
"I'm sure he thinks he does," the Ambassador sighed, gripping the string tightly. She was sure the Doctor would tug the string to let them know it was safe or if he needed help.
"Do you think there's really a fish out there?"
"Well, he hasn't come back in," the Ambassador reasoned, "There must be something out there he's focused on."
The boy positively beamed at that, turning where he sat towards the door to call through it, "What is it? What kind? Can I see?"
"Just stay there a moment!" was the response.
"Is it big?"
"Nah, just a little one."
For a single moment, the Ambassador was going to suggest the boy go out and see. But there was a feeling in her gut that said to wait till the Doctor signaled them that it was ok. They were using the sonic as a lure, essentially, maybe he was waiting to see if they might be able to get another fish, slightly bigger for Kazran's delight.
"How little? Can I come out?"
"No!" the Doctor shouted, and the Ambassador's small smile fell at the sudden strain in his voice, "No. Maybe just...wait there for a moment."
"Doctor?" she called out, standing and moving to the door, "Is everything alright?"
"Fine!"
The Ambassador frowned deeply at how his voice cracked. He sounded a bit frightened now, nervous. Something had clearly happened but he didn't want her or little Kazran caught up in it. It didn't make her feel better that she didn't know what it was. Their people were a telepathic sort, able to sense each other, share thoughts or see memories if they wanted to. During the war it had been imperative among platoons to create a link among them, share reports and call for aid, give warnings and spread orders. But each Time Lord took it upon themselves to close it down when not in combat.
There were too many fears and nightmares to share among themselves, everyone needed what little sleep they could muster. The moment she had realized she was no longer in the middle of the war, she had shut down that open link. If she wanted to, she could open it back up, reach out to the Doctor and hope he was receptive, hope he would allow her to peek at what he was seeing. From what she had seen of him, his desperation for any sort of connection to their people, his end of the telepathic web would be open to any Time Lord signature.
But…she couldn't get herself to do it.
To allow someone into your mind was a serious matter, only done with the greatest of trust or in circumstances that required it. This was not one of those times, she wasn't sure she could bring herself to do it just to see what was on the other side of a door.
"What color is it?" little Kazran called out, hearing only the affirmation that things were well and not the tone it was said in.
"Big!" the Doctor replied, his voice sounding nearer to the door than before, "Big color."
The Ambassador had only just opened her mouth to ask him a question herself when the door burst open and the Doctor dashed inside, crashing into her and managing to shut the door behind him in the process. The two aliens landed on the floor with an oomph, their foreheads knocking together in the mayhem. They gasped at the flash of warmth that shot through them, the roaring of their connection flaring to life. The rush of fire in their veins stole their breath, stole all thought from their minds for a moment or two.
The Ambassador could feel the Doctor's forehead nuzzle against her own, his nose lightly skimming the apple of her cheek, before he jumped back, nearly hurling himself away from her. His back ended up pressed against the door, not seeming to notice something that was slamming itself against the wood, his eyes wide and fixed on her.
She pushed herself onto her elbows, panting as she looked at him, at the…the fear and regret and apology on his face. The way he was looking at her…she didn't need to open her mind to him to know what he was thinking. He had made the mistake before of trying to force their connection, finding ways to try and touch her, urging her to let it strengthen when it was something she wanted nothing to do with. He was clearly afraid she would think this had been the same thing, some plot or con to come up with more ways to do the same thing.
But she could see it was a mistake. There was no way he could have known she had stood and moved to the door. It was an accident, she knew that. She took a breath and gave him a nod, letting him know that she didn't blame him or think he had done it on purpose. The connection had overwhelmed them both the moment it crashed over them, but HE had been the one to pull away this time, and that meant so much to her.
The Doctor let out a relieved breath, offering her a smile.
What had felt like a stretch of time for the Time Lords, the connection muddling all sense of it, had only been a handful of seconds.
Enough for little Kazran to look between them, startled at the sudden toppling over and mad scramble that happened after, and then notice the banging on the doors, which was far more alarming to the child than whether the two adults were ok from their fall, "What's happening?"
That seemed to jar the Doctor back into the present, and he quickly turned onto his knees, pressing against the doors, "Well, concentrating on the pluses, you've definitely got a story of your own now," he hurried to explain, "Also, I got a good look at the fish," he glanced over his shoulder more at the Ambassador, "And I understand the fog, which'll help us land a spaceship in the future, and save a lot of lives," he turned back to the door, spinning so his back was pressed to it now, "And I'll get some really interesting readings off my sonic screwdriver when I get it off the shark in your bedroom."
"There's a shark in my bedroom?" little Kazran gaped at the same time that the Ambassador shouted, "There's a WHAT in the bedroom?!"
"Oh, fine, focus on that part!"
The Ambassador shook her head, hurrying to her feet to rush to the door, helping the Doctor push against it…right when the banging noise stopped.
"…has it gone?" the boy asked, "What's it doing?"
"What do you call it if you don't have any feet, and you're taking a run-up?" the Doctor wondered.
The Ambassador's eyes widened at that, grabbing his elbow and yanking him away from the door moments before the shark slammed into it, crashing right through the wood, splintering it and sending it flying everywhere. It began snapping at them, the two Time Lords backing against the farthest wall, with little Kazran between them, trying to keep the boy safe while being careful not to touch him too much.
"It's going to eat us!" Kazran cried out as the shark kept snapping and snapping, an odd green glow shining from in its mouth, "It's going to eat us! It's going to eat us...is it going to eat us?"
"Maybe we're going to eat it?" the Doctor said, trying to lighten the mood.
"I very much doubt that," the Ambassador huffed, flinching back from the sharp teeth.
"It's stuck, though."
"It won't be for long!"
"Let's see," the Doctor muttered to himself, trying to work out a plan, "Tiny brain. If I had my screwdriver, I could probably stun it."
"Well, where's your screwdriver?" little Kazran demanded.
"I'm guessing, there," the Ambassador nodded at the green glow.
"You know, there's a real chance, the way it's wedged in the doorway, of keeping its mouth open," the Doctor mused.
"There is?" little Kazran asked.
"Why is that important?" the Ambassador looked over at him above Kazran's head.
"Cos I've only got two goes, and then it's your turns," he told them.
"Two goes at what?"
"Two arms!" he held up his arms, scrambling to stand, "Right, then! Ok…"
"Are you mad!?"
The Doctor just winked at her, "Geronimo!" he shouted, rushing at the shark with a cry of, "Open wide!"
The Ambassador turned and put one of her gloved hands over Kazran's eyes.
~8~
The Ambassador stood a little off to the side of a small patio beyond Kazran's bedroom window, her arms crossed, her eyes on the skies and the fog around them, keeping a lookout for any other fish or sharks that might be out there. The Doctor and Kazran were behind her, both huddled around the shark now lying on the ground while the Doctor checked it over with what remained of his sonic.
"What's the big fishy done to you?" the Doctor was muttering, examining his sonic when the readings he got weren't useful, "Swallowed half of you, that's what. Half a screwdriver, what use is that? Bad, big fishy."
"Doctor?" little Kazran asked, his voice full of wobble and guilt, "I think she's dying."
"Half my screwdriver's still inside, but yeah, I think so."
"If they live in the cloud cover," the Ambassador began to reason, moving back closer to them, "I doubt they can survive long outside it."
The Doctor pointed at her, agreeing, "Just quick raiding trips on a foggy night."
"Can't we get it back up there?" little Kazran sniffled, "We were just going to stun it. I didn't want to kill it."
"She was trying to eat you…"
"She was hungry!"
"No one meant any harm," the Ambassador moved over to the boy, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I think she knows that. She can tell you don't want her hurt."
"How do we help her?"
"I'm sorry, Kazran," the Doctor sighed, seeing the boy look at him, a doctor, "I can't save her."
"What if we took her back up to the could belt?" the Ambassador suggested, glancing over to the side where the TARDIS was.
"She'd never survive the trip," he shook his head, "We need a fully functioning life-support."
That was all it took for Kazran to perk up, a lightbulb going off in his mind, "You mean like an icebox? Ok! Come on!"
The Time Lords could only glance at each other for a moment as the boy jumped to his feet and dashed off, leaving them little option but to follow. They moved after him, following him out of his room, across the halls and down the stairs to the main sitting room of the house. While the boy hurried to the side to grab a lamp, the Doctor found himself distracted by a Christmas tree in the corner.
"Ooh, a tree!" the Doctor cheered, moving over to it to examine the ornaments.
"It's sad, isn't it?" the Ambassador asked as she joined him, seeing that Kazran had handling the lamp well in hand.
"What?"
"That a man like Elliot Sardick had a tree, but the Kazran we met didn't," she murmured, looking at the tree sadly, "What must his life have been like to lose even this bit of spirit."
The Doctor glanced from her to the tree and then over his shoulder at little Kazran, his hearts sinking a little at the thought. Even Elliot Sardick had some Christmas spirit in him, but the man's son had none left. Something had happened through his life that had beaten that spirit out of him.
"Come on!" little Kazran called, urging them to follow once more as he led them to another staircase down to the basement. It wasn't quite what most would have considered a basement though. For there was a door, with a small window on it, that showed a room beyond filled with rows and rows of containers, such as the ones they had seen in the future.
"What is this?" the Doctor frowned through the glass.
"The surplus population," Kazran sighed, not sounding pleased to speak it, "That's what my dad calls it."
"I don't think we'll be able to open it," the Ambassador glanced from the wheel on the door to the keypad beside it, it was very clear it required some sort of code.
The Doctor lifted the sonic's remains to the keypad, trying to get the passcode, but the sonic only made a weak noise, "Ah, what's the number?"
"I don't know," little Kazran huffed, trying to turn the wheel regardless of the code, it wouldn't budge.
"This place is full of alarms," the Doctor said, the sonic had picked up that at least, "It's not just the door. I need the number! I need the number!"
"Yes, we know," the Ambassador gave him a look, "You saying it over and over won't help us get it, will it?"
"Kazran," the Doctor spun to the boy, "Any ideas?"
"I'm not allowed to know until I'm older!" the boy spoke miserably, kicking the door.
The Time Lords looked at each other, their eyes widening, both shouting, at the same time, "The TARDIS!"
~8~
"This is a really terrible cheat," the Ambassador muttered as she tried to help the Doctor pilot the TARDIS back to the future. Popping back and forth between the same timeline was usually something prohibited, though some Time Lords would do so for cheap tricks. The Doctor was pushing it to the limit with his plan already, going back to Kazran's past to try and change the future. The box, at least this time, seemed to realize time was truly of the essence to save Amy and Rory and wasn't giving her quite as hard a time as normal when it came to piloting...though the console did still spark before it would let her push a button.
"It would only be cheating if we were trying to find out a code he didn't know," the Doctor remarked, pulling a lever to set the box down, "He knows it, just not yet."
He gave her a wide smile before dashing out of the box before she could even speak another word.
"Monitor," she huffed under her breath, moving over to it. It would have been better to take a peek at this Kazran, judge what sort of state he was in first before rushing off. With the new memories forming, being so tied to his younger self, being so fresh, one could hope he'd be more amiable to the Doctor asking for the code. If his younger self was desperate to help the shark, there was a chance it would echo to this Kazran and make him more likely to give it up.
But there was no guarantee. For all they knew, this Kazran could be ranting and raving with anger at the change in his memories, cursing them and the shark.
She flicked on the monitor, not too sure what Kazran was actually feeling as she watched him, the present him, appear on the screen. He seemed to be yelling, seeming frantic, pacing and waving his arms…but…
"7258!" the man was yelling out to no one.
Ok then, frantic but helpful.
She glanced at the doors to the TARDIS, debating if she should go after the Doctor and yank him back into the box as they now had the code and didn't need to bother the man, when she heard his voice on the monitor.
"Just what I was after!"
She looked back to see he'd appeared in the doorway to the sitting room, giving Kazran a pointed finger in thanks, before rushing back to the box.
"Right," he clapped as he hurried back in, "Got it, it's 7…"
"7258," the Ambassador cut in, already setting the controls to take them back, hissing and shaking out her hand when a particularly nasty spark actually singed her glove.
The Doctor's expression morphed into one of confusion, "How did you…"
"Monitor," she nodded over to it, "I was about to suggest we check his mental state first before you rushed off."
"And you call ME the cheater," he harrumphed, but moved to the controls to help set the box off, back to little Kazran.
"You are such a child," she muttered.
He merely…proved her right by sticking his tongue out at her, then pulling another lever to park the TARDIS where they had before, bolting out the doors and racing through the manor down to the basement.
"7258," the Doctor called out, knowing time was precious and hoping little Kazran could hear him, "7258!"
By the time they got to the bottom, the boy had already punched in the code on the keypad, the mechanisms for the lock starting to open. The Doctor moved over to the wheel on the door, turning it with a bit of stain till the door was open for them to hurry past, Kazran leading the way with his lamp, though the boy slowed once they passed the threshold. The room was a freezer of some sort, very cold, with its own version of the fog quite thick as it wafted past the number of ice boxes lined up.
"Ah, there's fish down here, too…" the Doctor noticed, quite small ones floating about, circling the two Time Lords, curious.
The Ambassador smiled at them, holding out a hand, palm up, to see if any would get close and laughing lightly when one came to rest on her palm.
"Yeah, but only tiny ones," little Kazran waved them off, moving further into the room, "The house is built on a fog lake. That's how Dad freezes the people…" he came to a stop in front of one, looking between it and the one next to it, "They're all full, but we could borrow one…" he looked to the second box and pointed at it, "Yeah, this one."
The Time Lords moved over to see which one the boy had picked, the Doctor taking the lamp from him to hold it up higher and see inside.
"It's that woman," the Ambassador murmured, glancing from the box to little Kazran. It was the woman they had seen in the box earlier, with the boy's future self.
"Hello again," the Doctor eyed the box.
"You know her?" little Kazran asked.
"Do you?" the Ambassador turned to him, "You picked her quite quickly, out of all these boxes."
The Doctor nodded, the boy HAD seemed to take a quite direct path to this woman's box and then play up trying to pick between it and another, "Why her? Important, is she?"
"She won't mind," the boy dodged the question, "She loves the fish."
"And how do you know that?" the Ambassador wondered.
The boy merely reached out to tap a number on a keypad on the side of the box, allowing a projection to appear in the small window. It was the woman, though she was conscious and speaking, smiling even, "My name is Abigail Pettigrew, and I'm very grateful for Mr. Sardick's kindness. My father..."
"She starts to talk about the fish in a minute," Kazran beamed.
"Does she?" the Ambassador began to smile. It was occurring to her that the boy had been here before. Even if he didn't have the code to enter the room, he'd certainly been there before, likely more than once. His father probably brought him down there for work, or to show him 'the way things worked around here' or inventory or whatever reason. But the boy, being a child, had probably wandered, or been sent away by his father, it wouldn't surprise her, and had likely seen a pretty woman with a kind face and been curious what her story was.
The fact that he knew when she started talking about fish told her he had seen this projection a few times at least.
"…but I would not allow it," the projection continued, "I could not have chosen this path were it not for the compassion and generosity of the great philanthropist and patron of the poor, Mr. Elliot Sardick, but I'm also surrounded by the fish, the beautiful, iridescent, magical fish..."
The Ambassador glanced up when she noticed the Doctor moving down the row of boxes, peering into each as he passed, "Why are these people here?" he called over to Kazran, "What's all this for?"
Little Kazran sighed, not seeming pleased with the question and how it took his attention away from the projection, "My dad lends money. He always takes a family member as...he calls it security."
"Your father sounds like a difficult man to love," the Ambassador remarked, eyeing the boy, who didn't deny it, but also didn't defend that there was love there either, "You would know that better than anyone though, I suppose."
Instead of answering, Kazran just stepped forward and hit a few more buttons, turning a series of lights on within Abigail's box.
An odd sort of whirring-beeping noise sounded, drawing their attention over to the Doctor who was banging part of his sonic on his hands, trying to get it to stop.
"What's wrong?" the boy asked as he walked over to the Doctor, the Ambassador behind him.
"Just my half a screwdriver trying to repair itself," the Doctor sighed, "It's signaling the other half."
The Ambassador froze, "…the other half that's still inside the shark?"
"Yeah…" the Doctor tensed, looking around, "Sounds like she's woken up. Ok. So it's homing on the screwdriver..."
"Doctor!" the Ambassador shouted, reaching out to grab his arm, yanking him towards her as the shark suddenly loomed out of the fog behind him, snapping as though about to rip his head off. The Doctor stumbled forward into her at the sudden move, sending the two of them toppling into one of the boxes behind her. This time though, they weren't in a position to knock heads, both landing on their sides and scrambling to their feet.
But the shark was already gone…and so was little Kazran.
"Kazran?" the Ambassador called out, turning in a circle to try and see him through the fog. He must have run off when the shark appeared.
"This way!" the Doctor turned, the sonic in his hand, using it to lead him to the other half of it, if they couldn't find Kazran they could at least find the shark and keep it away from the boy. They only made it down one row of boxes and around a corner when a noise that was distinctly not a shark or sonic rose up.
Someone was singing, a woman, and there was only one other woman there besides the Ambassador.
They turned and quickly made their way back through the fog to where Abigail's box was, now open, with the woman nowhere in sight. But in the middle of the fog a few feet away they could see the silhouette of a boy standing in the middle of the row. They moved over to little Kazran's side, glancing at him to make sure he wasn't harmed, before following his gaze to what he was looking at.
There, at the end of the row, was Abigail, kneeling beside the shark as it laid on the ground, singing to it, even stroking it like a pet.
The Doctor glanced down at the sonic as it beeped, still getting a reading from inside the shark, "It's not really the singing, of course," he remarked, the sonic confirming what he initially thought.
"What is it?" the Ambassador asked at the same time that little Kazran said, "Yes, it is, the fish love the singing, it's true!"
"The notes resonate in the ice," the Doctor explained, more to the Ambassador as the boy was not too keen to hear anything contrary to what he thought, "Causing a delta wave pattern in the fog."
"That makes sen…" the Ambassador began…when the Doctor quickly slapped himself on the back of the neck, "…are you alright?"
He pouted, "A fish bit me!"
The Ambassador had to look away at how petulant and put out he looked at the fact that a fish would do such a thing.
"Shut up, then!" little Kazran huffed, wanting to listen to the music more.
"Of course!" the Doctor realized, only managing to 'shut up' for near 10 seconds this time, "That's how the machine controls the cloud belt. The clouds are ice crystals!" he turned to the Ambassador, glee written across his face, "If you vibrate them at the right frequency, you could align them and..." he slapped his neck again, "Ow!"
"Another fish?" the Ambassador guessed.
He rubbed his neck, "Why do they keep biting me?"
"Look," little Kazran turned to him, a glower on his small face, "The fish like the singing, ok? Now shut up!"
The Ambassador snorted, "Well, he certainly told you."
The Doctor just pouted.
~8~
One quick hop of the TARDIS would find the box down in the ice vault a short while later, the Doctor working on sealing the shark inside Abigail's box while the Ambassador kept an eye on little Kazran and Abigail as the two looked into the TARDIS in obvious awe. Both seemed to be respectful of not entering when they hadn't been invited or outright allowed, but she also knew that humans could be curious and didn't always follow rules when they wanted to see something. She was more concerned with Kazran rushing inside and pushing a button he shouldn't than Abigail doing so.
…then again, Kazran seemed quite taken with Abigail, so long as the woman didn't rush into the box, she doubted Kazran would leave her side.
"It's bigger on the inside!" little Kazran breathed, his eyes wide.
"Yeah, it's the color," the Doctor called over, "Really knocks the walls back," he grinned at them, straightening up as he tapped the box, "Shark in a box, to go."
The Ambassador moved over to the box, helping him lift it up to carry into the ship. She had seen little Kazran about to do the same, likely to impress Abigail, but the boy was young and small and she didn't want to risk him struggling or feeling embarrassed to do so. The Doctor gave her a grateful smile over the end of the box, the two of them hefting it and moving into the ship, both Abigail and Kazran having entered to 'hold the doors open' for them.
"Shut the doors please, Kazran," the Ambassador called over to him as she and the Doctor set the box down, the Time Lord hurrying to the console to set the TARDIS off up to the cloud belt.
"This is...amazing!" Abigail laughed as she looked around at the room in wonder.
"Nah, this is transport," the Doctor disagreed lightly, "I keep amazing..." he ran back to the doors Kazran had just shut and threw them open once more, "Out here."
The Ambassador let out a light huff, shaking her head and crossing her arms at his actions. She had JUST asked the boy to close the doors and now they were open again. She'd always been taught that the doors should never be opened while in flight, ANY sort of flight, even if it was just hovering around somewhere. It wasn't safe. All they needed was for Kazran to fall out of the doors and there went the future.
And given how fixated the boy was on the fish, the scene before them would certainly be enough to tempt him too close to the doorway. Just beyond was, admittedly, a beautiful sight. Small hints of sunlight filtering through the fog, illuminating parts of it, showing all the numerous sorts of fish swimming through the clouds. Kazran and Abigail rushed back to the doors after the Doctor, staring out at the lovely world beyond, Kazran even pulling out a camera from his robe to take pictures of it all.
The Ambassador sighed and moved over to the ice box, starting to punch in the code she'd seen little Kazran put in earlier, starting the defrost process for the shark. She watched it through the window carefully, calling a "watch out!" to them moments before the shark burst out of the box and immediately swam straight for the fog beyond, ready to rejoin its family.
"Hey, look at her go!" Kazran let out a little whooping cheer.
"Doctor," the Ambassador called him over as she moved to shut the lid of the box, noticing a series of numbers on the front of it, "What do you make of this?" she asked him. She could vaguely recall the other boxes she'd glimpsed had numbers much higher than the ones on this box, being in a single digit, "Is this what the families still owe?"
The Doctor hummed, thinking about it, before turning to someone who would know better, "Abigail," he gestured the woman over, "This number, what does it mean?"
"It pertains to me, sir, not the fish," the woman replied.
"We guessed that," the Ambassador told her lightly, "How does it relate to you?"
Abigail glanced between them before looking at the Doctor, having heard the Ambassador call him over just moments ago, "You are a doctor, you say? Are you one of mine?"
The Doctor frowned, "Do you need a doctor?"
The grim look on Abigail's face said it all, but just as the Doctor was about to ask her what was wrong, maybe being able to help with all the technology and knowledge he had picked up over his long life, a chime began to sound on the console.
"Sorry!" his eyes widened as he rushed over to the console, "Time's up, kids!"
The Ambassador glanced at Abigail once more before going to help him pilot, the cloud belt, while calm now, was still quite hard to navigate through or remain solitary in for long.
"Why?" Kazran sighed.
"It's nearly Christmas Day!" was all the Doctor said, pulling a lever to send them back.
~8~
The Ambassador leaned against the corner of the TARDIS as she watched the Doctor and little Kazran help Abigail back into her ice box, the woman smiling as she turned to face them, "If you should ever wish to visit again..."
"Well, you know," the Doctor shrugged, glancing back at the Ambassador, at the TARDIS, they really had to get back to the future and check on bigger Kazran, see if the plan worked, "If we're ever in the neighborhood..."
"He and Miss Sadie come every Christmas Eve!" little Kazran cut in, jumping on the chance to be able to see the pretty woman in the icebox again, "Yeah, they do, every time. They promise!"
"Hold on, Kazran," the Ambassador spoke, pushing off the TARDIS to walk over, "We never said…"
But it was too late, the boy had already closed the door on Abigail. He spun around to face them, a wide smile on his face, "Oh, look, it's past my bedtime, better go. See you next year!"
The Time Lords could only blink as the boy dashed off across the fog of the ice vault, disappearing through the door.
"I think we just got outsmarted by a 12 year old boy," the Ambassador deadpanned.
The Doctor sighed, "Happens more than you'd like to believe," he commented.
She glanced over at him, something in the tone of his voice, that melancholy edge to it, told her he wasn't just speaking about children he'd encountered on his travels. It was, at times, too easy to forget the man beside her had had a family of his own, children. He acted so like a child and he never mentioned his family…
Well, why would he, given the hell that had been the war, given what happened to their planet. His family was gone, just as hers was. While she had just come from it, with the scars being too fresh to want to discuss anything she'd seen, done, or lived through, those scars would be deeper on him, having lost so much more.
"I suppose there's no getting out of this, is there?" she asked instead, not commenting on his tone, not asking for any other information, letting him have his grief while also giving him an out to talk about something else.
"I don't think there is, no," he confirmed, "It may be for the better though."
"How?"
"I'm not sure if this was enough to change his future," he glanced at the Ambassador, "One good memory, among thousands of bad?" he shook his head, "Especially for a child, it sticks with you."
The Ambassador nodded, understanding. It wasn't even just about being a child, it happened for everyone. The bad times always seemed to stick with a person much longer and more profoundly than the good. Probably because every species was genetically ingrained to remember pain so as to avoid it later, for self preservation. Hurt taught you a lesson, hurt taught you when something was bad, to stay away, to avoid it, to not make the same mistake again. Good times were easy.
"Let's check on his future," she suggested, a happy medium, "See if it's changed, or even improved slightly, and if not…we come back."
He glanced at her, a soft smile on his face as he nodded, "Sounds like a plan," he gestured to the TARDIS in a sign for her to lead the way, "Going to try to negotiate with him again?"
"Not if we don't see signs of change," she remarked. It would be a waste of time they didn't have to try and make the same argument if Kazran was still of the same mindset. She might have a better chance of arguing, but it would still take longer than what Amy and Rory had.
"You know…" the Doctor began as they set to work putting in the instructions for the trip, "I've called you Sadie a few times now…you haven't said anything."
She let out a long breath, glancing at him, wondering if he'd noticed as he did tend to seem oblivious at times, "It's Christmas."
He began to grin widely at that.
"Do not," she cut in, firm, pointing a finger at him, "Think this means you can just set down at Christmas time ALL the time and expect this," she warned him, knowing he wasn't above doing just that, setting down at Christmas and Christmas only from now on, "Or I'll take it back."
He laughed, crossing his hearts, "Christmas according to the Companion's timeline?" he offered as a compromise.
She narrowed her eyes, "No skipping ahead in their timeline just to land on Christmas either."
He pouted, caught, but nodded, "Deal."
She gave a nod as well and almost laughed when she was able to pull a lever, sending them off to check on bigger Kazran.
~8~
Needless to say, to no one's surprise, Kazran's future had not changed much at all when the Time Lords went to check, and so they popped back to Kazran's past, on the next Christmas Eve, ready for another babysitting stint. The Doctor had been right that one good memory of the holidays hadn't been enough, Kazran would surely need more and…perhaps he also needed friends, some sort of people he could trust to keep their word and be there when they said they would, to CARE about him. It didn't hurt also that them becoming his babysitters, friends, or even imaginary friends as Amy would have seen it, would mean that, at some point in the future, the older Kazran would have fonder feelings tied to them and perhaps be more agreeable to help them.
It was just the getting there that was taking longer than expected.
They agreed to keep popping into the future to check on it, to see if there were any changes to be found. But they had to pilot those trips extremely carefully, something the TARDIS seemed aware of as there hadn't been any sparking or stuck levers on the last trip. They couldn't afford to pop back to the future too long after they last checked, it would just eat up the time Amy and Rory had left. So they planned for 1 minute between each check in, to allow the timelines a moment to sync up to Kazran's new memories by the time they arrived.
Right now, though, the Ambassador was trying to help the Doctor untangle some sort of harness while balancing a headband with antlers on her head. The Doctor and Kazran both had on father Christmas hats, though Kazran was holding a sort of green version of it, smaller, and less fur-trimmed, an elf hat the Doctor had called it.
They were back in the ice vault, Kazran, like before, so excited he'd run to Abigail's box and begun the defrost program the moment he'd heard the funny wheezing of the box.
"Merry Christmas!" little Kazran called as he threw the door to the ice box open.
"Kazran!" the woman smiled at the child, looking past him to see the Time Lords just finishing with their work, "Hello!"
"Hello, Abigail," the Ambassador called, slinging the harness over her shoulder.
"Come on, come on," the Doctor urged little Kazran and Abigail towards the TARDIS, "We've got to hurry!"
"What are we going to do?" Abigail asked.
Little Kazran beamed, moving to take her arm like a gentleman as she walked, "The Doctor's got a great plan! Wait till you hear!"
~8~
"You are out of your mind," Abigail spoke as she watched the Doctor trying to hook the harness up to a two-wheeled open carriage that sat in the snow behind Kazran's manor, "This will never work!"
"I'm not too sure about it either, Doctor," the Ambassador added. She'd thought, when he'd originally asked for her help getting the harness straightened up that he was going to hook it up to a horse or something.
But apparently 'a carriage ride like you've never had before!' meant attaching it to their dear old shark friend instead, for a ride up to the skies. It was, as he'd put it, a combination of an old Earth legend about Father Christmas having flying reindeer pulling his sleigh and another planet he'd been to where the horse drawn carriage had been pulled by horses with wings. It was the same principle, he'd argued, just with fish instead of four-legged animals.
She was quite sure that the reindeer and horses were not carnivores like sharks were, they wouldn't be as likely to be eaten by those four-legged creatures than their 'old friend.'
"Oh, don't think shark, think dolphin," the Doctor said.
"You're not making it better."
"A shark isn't a dolphin!" Abigail agreed as the man hefted little Kazran onto the back seat.
"It's nearly a dolphin," the Doctor tried to argue.
"No, it isn't."
"That's where you're wrong, because..." he wracked his considerable brain for an exact reason, but was forced to settle for, "Shut up."
The Ambassador shook her head and gestured to the carriage, urging Abigail to get on, the woman choosing to sit in the back with Kazran, leaving a spot beside the Doctor for the Ambassador to climb up beside.
"Here you go, Sadie," the Doctor tossed her the sonic, a grin on his face at the flash of annoyance on her face at her shortened name, clearly getting the feeling that he was going to start abusing her gift of not making a fuss about it on Christmas, "You can do the honors."
She let out a huff, but flicked the sonic on, "If this shark eats us…"
"It won't eat us," he waved it off, "To start, we helped it and so that would be incredibly rude."
"It could be anywhere," Kazran spoke, looking up at the night's sky, "Will it really come?"
"No chance. Completely impossible. Except at Christmas."
They looked up as a shadow swooped over them, to see the shark drifting past, its mouth opening to reveal the green of the sonic within.
The Doctor stood up on the carriage seat, grinning at them, "Geronimo!" he shouted, before leaping off the side and onto the shark, appearing to want to wrestle it into the harness.
The Ambassador quickly held up a hand over little Kazran's eyes while Abigail rushed to cover his ears in case this all went terribly wrong.
~8~
In an honestly shocking turn of events, the Doctor made it out of his wrestling match with both arms intact and minimal bite marks. Soon enough they were all soaring through the skies, the Doctor at the reins of a shark-drawn carriage, whizzing through the clouds.
"How are we going to get back?" Kazran called above the wind.
"I don't know!" was the Doctor's reply.
"Do you have a plan?" Abigail asked.
"I don't know!"
"Just don't crash," the Ambassador half begged him, clutching onto his arm as they dipped low suddenly and back up.
"I don't know!"
"Doctor!" the Ambassador huffed at his ridiculous answer.
He just laughed, Kazran and Abigail cheering behind them as they continued on their flight.
~8~
"Best Christmas Eve ever!" Abigail beamed at the trio as she stepped back into her icebox, though her gaze was a little more sympathetic when it came to rest on the Ambassador, the woman looking more than a little green after the ups and downs of the ride.
"Till the next one!" little Kazran promised, shutting her door himself, the Doctor a little preoccupied by trying to check on the Ambassador as the woman heaved into a bucket next to the TARDIS.
~8~
There were many more Christmas Eve adventures to come after that night, adventures that took place all over the world, all over space and time, from the pyramids of Egypt all the way to their current trip of…well, they didn't know. Each year they rotated, picking a new place to go. When Kazran had been 13, the Doctor chose a shark-drawn carriage ride. When he had been 14, well, that had been the TARDIS doing a mystery tour, the old girl deserved it after all the effort she'd been putting in with the trips…that and Abigail hadn't believed it could go anywhere in space and time. Kazran was 15 when the Ambassador chose a trip to Egypt. At 16 Kazran had admitted to them that his voice was cracking something awful, his growing pains had hit him later than other boys his age, he'd begged them for a trip to the theater, somewhere where he wouldn't have to talk.
Now though, the boy was 17, well past those spurts, and it was Abigail's choice.
Clearly little Kazran had remembered this detail, the boy dressing very well and taking particular care of his appearance as he met the Time Lords in the ice vault that Christmas Eve. He looked quite dashing, which was something Abigail noticed right away as they opened her box.
"Merry Christmas!" they all called.
But Abigail only had eyes for the grown boy, "Kazran!" she breathed, as though seeing him for the first time.
Kazran actually blushed at that, reaching out to hold his arm to her, escorting her to the TARDIS parked just a few feet away.
"You've grown," Abigail remarked, continuing to stare at him as they entered the box.
"Yeah," he replied, clearing his throat out of habit. It hadn't cracked in a few months, which he was grateful for, but he was so nervous he thought it might start up again.
"And now you're blushing."
"Sorry."
"That's ok."
"So Abigail," the Ambassador turned to her as she reached the console where the Doctor was standing, "It's your choice this time, where would you like to go?"
"Any Christmas Eve in the whole wide world, wide Universe," the Doctor smiled.
"I…I'd like to go to this one," Abigail told them.
~8~
The Doctor and the Ambassador walked side by side, observing Kazran and Abigail ahead of them. It had become abundantly clear, even to the Doctor, that the boy adored Abigail, had quite the crush on her. And, as much as they hated to think of it that way, it…it could complicate things. If the woman didn't return his feelings, it could crush him and they'd be right back to the bitter old man in his future. If she didn't return his feelings, an innocent little boy would be so hurt, and that was just heartsbreaking to think on.
They didn't think Abigail, even if she didn't like Kazran the same way, would be cruel or harsh to him. What they'd seen of the woman told them she was quite kind and soft-hearted, she would never intentionally hurt someone and she did seem to have a soft spot for the boy.
Equally though, if she DID have feelings for him in return…would it make the future better? Would her sense of Christmas spirit rub off on Kazran?
They didn't want to use her as a chess piece to get the future they wanted, so they did their best to stay out of it, to neither encourage nor discourage it. For once, it seemed to the Ambassador, the Doctor was following the guidelines of their people and not interfering. At least in that regard. He'd already interfered in the boy's life, but he at least was keeping out of interfering with the boy's heart.
The Ambassador frowned as she watched Abigail come to a stop in her walk to look through the window of a family preparing for the holidays. There was a woman handing a man, likely her husband, a drink as the man kissed her in thanks, a young boy seen in the background too, "Doctor," she elbowed him lightly as he got distracted by a few more fish swimming by a nearby lamp, "That woman…"
"Who?" he focused on her, following her line of sight to the window.
"Doesn't she look familiar?"
The Doctor squinted, before realizing what she had, that the woman through the window that Abigail was so keenly focused on…was the old woman in the future! The one who had appealed to Kazran's future self with her family, she was Abigail's sister! Which meant the young boy they could see was the woman's son, the older man from that family too, the father of the two children who had all gone to see Kazran.
Speaking of the devil though, Kazran's younger self stood near them, glancing between them and Abigail and the window with a deep frown, "Who are they?" he asked, gathering that they knew the people inside whom Abigail was watching.
"Her family," the Ambassador answered, "That woman is her sister."
"We met her once, when she was...older," the Doctor added.
Kazran shifted beside them, noticing that, while Abigail was smiling softly, there were tears running down her cheeks, "Abigail's crying," he said quietly.
"Yes," the Doctor answered in equal whisper.
"When girls are crying, are you supposed to talk to them?"
"I have absolutely no idea."
The two men paused a moment, before both turning to look at the Ambassador…though it took her a few seconds to realize they had.
She sighed, "Asking what's wrong is usually a good first step," she told them, "In a concerned way, not like it's an irritation to you," she added, not that she thought Kazran would, but the boy seemed so nervous she didn't want to risk that he would end up barking out the question and making a mess of it, "I'm sure you'll be able to go from there."
Kazran looked between them all one more time before taking a breath and heading over to Abigail.
"Oh, I really hope this turns out well," the Ambassador murmured, not just about Kazran and Abigail, but the Doctor's entire plan as well.
When there was no immediate response, which was quite unlike the Doctor NOT to have something to say, she looked over to see the man in question disappearing around the corner at the end of an alley just beside where Abigail's family lived.
"Doctor!" she hissed quietly, "Doctor, where are you going?" she hurried after him, down the alley and around another corner, where she'd only just caught him entering the back door of Abigail's sister's house, the man quickly calling 'close the curtains!' She hurried up to the door, seeing Abigail's sister leaning heavily against it as though she'd seen a ghost, "I am so sorry about him…" she began to apologize, not sure what the Doctor had said to her.
But the woman just looked at her, tears in her eyes, "Abby's here for Christmas?"
She nodded slowly, gathering enough of what was said…and the fact that the Doctor likely hadn't said enough to not give the woman a terrible fright, "She's right outside, actually…would you like to see her?"
The woman sniffled deeply, wiping beneath her eyes, before gasping, "This place is a mess!" and rushing away to try and gather some of the clutter.
"Come in!" the Doctor shouted, drawing her attention to the front of the house where he'd thrown the curtains open for dramatic effect, gesturing to the door where Abigail's brother-in-law was hurrying to let them in.
The Ambassador could only hope that this would be a lesson to Kazran, in some way, how important family was and how nice it was to have people around you who loved you at Christmas time. Lord knew his older self didn't seem to care about that.
~8~
The Ambassador half squatted down, looking at the ornaments dangling from the branches of the small family's Christmas tree, taking special note of the obviously handmade ones. Behind her, the Doctor was playing a card game with Abigail's nephew while Kazran and Abigail's brother-in-law worked on decorating the fire mantel. She could vaguely hear Abigail and her sister speaking over by the table, but didn't pay much mind to it, more fascinated by the ornaments. Humans were odd with their holiday traditions, it was always interesting to learn about them.
"Pick a card, any card at all," the Doctor urged Abigail's nephew, holding up a fan of cards to the boy, "Memorize the card," he instructed after the boy plucked one, "Put it back in the deck. Don't let me see it," he waited till the boy did so before shuffling the deck and whipping one out, "The three of clubs."
"No."
That got the Ambassador's attention as she turned to see what the Doctor would do.
"You sure? I'm very good at card tricks."
"It wasn't the three of clubs."
"Well, of course it wasn't," the Doctor huffed, tossing the card to the side, "Because it was the seven of diamonds!" he announced, pulling another card out of the stack with a flourish.
"No."
The Ambassador had to put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at the pout on the Doctor's face.
"Oi, stop it, you're doing it wrong!"
"I don't think it's the child doing it wrong, Doctor," the Ambassador told him.
He pointed at her like he was going to argue, but Abigail's sister stood and called out to them all before he could.
"Tomorrow's dinner is cancelled," the woman announced, "As my sister refuses to attend."
"Isabella..." Abigail gasped.
"Instead..." she looked to her sister and smiled, "We'll have it tonight."
~8~
Not-Christmas dinner was quite the festive event, as it turned out. The family had little, but what they had was shared around without hesitation. The Doctor even surprised the family with a set of crackers, holding one out to the young son.
"3, 2, 1…pull!" he instructed, to the cheers and laughs of everyone as the cracker popped.
"How did you do that?" the boy gasped, seeing a playing card hidden in the cracker.
"Your card, I believe," he grinned, smug.
The boy just giggled and shook his head, "No!"
"Oh, shut up!" he huffed.
The Ambassador reached out and patted the Doctor on the back of his shoulder in sympathy. He so wanted to be impressive to the child but came across more funny than anything.
"Er, Merry Christmas," Kazran called, holding up his cup in his right hand in toast.
"Merry Christmas!" Abigail was the first to echo, holding up her own glass in her left.
It didn't escape the Ambassador's notice, as everyone else gave their own cheers, the hands that were used, it was clear to her that Kazran and Abigail were holding hands under the table. She let out a small sigh, offering them both a smile with her toast.
To young love.
A/N: Lol, the Doctor got a tiny Christmas gift in being allowed to call her Sadie without her grumbling about it, but I can say that's not the gift exchange I mentioned last chapter ;) I feel like here we get more of a look into how different the Doctor and Sadie are in terms of their approaches to things. Like when they check on future Kazran for the codes, Sadie thinks 'use the monitor' to save time and also not risk Kazran's reaction, where the Doctor's just like 'run right in there!' :)
I feel like this might also be the first adventure they're having together without something looming over them or something from the past putting a sour note on it all. With the Signora, Sadie was still reeling from her loss and not in the mood for an adventure, then was put off by the Doctor's reaction. Then the Dream Lord reveals what happened to Gallifrey, then Sadie's sort of still stuck there with no real conversation about it, then she learns more about the planet and it still hurts and Rory's gone, then she's alone in the TARDIS, then the TARDIS is exploding and she's turned to stone. Looking past the threat to Amy and Rory, it is sort of the first trip once she's...not moved past it, but come to accept some things and make a real effort to be friends with the Doctor.
I think, part of why Sadie's going along with his mad plan, is because of that, because she's trying to understand his way of doing things and make an effort to be a little more accepting of his methods and him :)
Curious though if Marilyn will still feature and how that will all play out ;) ;)
And, just a tiny treat, since I posted it on my tumblr I thought I should put it here :) A sneak peek of TL6, which is the Time Lady OC I plan to introduce in a story starting in series 6 of the show :) Just some background for why I posted another sneak peek of her. I made some homemade soup and since I'm the only one who eats it I basically spent a week having it for lunch and dinner lol, and each time I'd eat it, TL6 would just poke and prod me and beg me to 'post it, tell them, it's funny!' till she broke me down. So here's a fun little teaser for her ;)
~8~
"I really DON'T think this is necessary, Doctor," she began, looking down at herself. She had a life vest on, an inflatable tube around her waist, and floaties strapped to her arms AND her legs.
"Oh, I think it is," the Doctor remarked, checking the straps on her vest.
"You're going a bit overboard."
"AM I?" he gave her a pointed look as the Ponds just watched on, utterly lost.
"I am NOT that bad!"
"Really?" he scoffed, "Then, tell me again, HOW did you regenerate that first time?"
She pursed her lips, not wanting to say, knowing the answer would do her in, but he already knew what it was, so she huffed, "I drowned."
"Yes. In your soup. I didn't think it was possible for someone to drown in their soup, but you proved us all wrong."
"That was not my fault!"
"You fell asleep in it!"
"I was hungry!" she defended, "…and apparently very tired."
"Yeah, not making it better."
~8~
Hope you liked that glimpse into her ;)
Some notes on reviews...
No offense taken at all ;) I don't want to give away too much, because I have it planned that when Idris comes around we'll find out for sure, from the TARDIS herself, why she doesn't seem to like Sadie. What I can say though, is that it's not stubbornness or not liking the Ambassador because she won't touch the Doctor or because of her fears. When I think on the reason behind it all, it doesn't come across to me as being of a petty nature. The TARDIS has definitely not been easy on Sadie, purposefully changing halls around or making things difficult for her, she'll spark if Sadie touches the console or refuse to budge levers and things. She could do much worse, given all we've seen of the TARDIS being capable of, she wants it to be known she's unhappy but she does know that her pilot wants Sadie to stick around so she can't really do too much to express her displeasure without making the Doctor unhappy. There is a deeper reason why she's unhappy with Sadie though. I really am so sorry to not be able to give a more 'x is why she doesn't like Sadie' response just yet :( We'll definitely find out why in the next story though ;)