Disclaimer: I need a vacation, too. If I owned Doctor Who, I certainly could have the money to do so. Unfortunately I do not own it.
Free
(Interlude S.6 Ep. 10 11)
Dandelecan IV does not come to mind while searching of a spot for vacation time. A pity.
-o0O0o-
Rory stepped out of the TARDIS, threw one glance at the wide ocean washing against the bottom of the cliff he was standing on, before turning back annoyed.
"Doctor, this is not home."
The Doctor's head crept out of the TARDIS like a turtle's, swinging from left to right before he blinked.
Seriously? "You told us you agreed. You agreed for us taking a break!"
He angrily straightened his bowtie. "Of course! I swear I used the exact coordinates. Earth, London, April 22th, 2011. Something must have interfered. She was sucked out of the vortex to this place. Wherever this is."
Amy stepped into the soft green grass and the wind. "I like it."
Before Rory was able to say anything, something knocked against the wooden hull of the police-box shaped spaceship. Surprised all three of them turned to see nothing. Until a very familiar face under a big summer hat appeared behind the corner.
"Tella!"
Rory shielded his eyes and looked up in the sky and yes, there were the bright twin suns of her current home planet, which always seemed to be one at the first look. The soft grass should have been an indication, too. Grass on earth was never this soft, you could always feel the earth under it, in some way. Not here.
The rest of the Time Lady came out behind the TARDIS and she bobbed a small curtsy at them, which was even more accented by the white alien summer dress she was wearing. "Amelia, Roderick. How wonderful to see you again. Doctor.
"Tella. Of course."
"I beg your pardon?"
"I just wondered what interfered with the TARDIS to bring us here."
"You are not here on your own accord?"
"Course not, if you call her."
"I did not."
"Oh. OH! But.."
He looked to the TARDIS and back to Tella again. "Then, why?"
"Hopefully not a Invasion of Sontarans, they came pretty close to the system in the last nine years. Oh, please not today, how inconvenient."
"Today? Why, what's today?"
"The Equalience. Well, the start of it. It is the highest holiday on Dandelecan IV. As the mayor I am expected to organize the festivities and the last thing I need in this week is an adventure. The whole ceremonies are exhausting enough. It is worse than a funeral."
"What?", blurred Amy and Rory simultaneously.
The Doctor rose one eyebrow. " Five days of standing and singing in stuffy clothes?"
"Nine days of constant chattering , meals, one religious ceremony after another and dancing in little to no clothing. Every ninety years. And I am not speaking of that sparely excuse of clothing Amelia and Rory are wearing, I am speaking of… nudity. Or some veils at best."
Apparently Time Lords had another definition of funerals, too. Tella's differing definition of appropriate clothing was nothing new.
"So you're basically celebrating for nine days… what?"
"The equal standing of both suns, for once both visible fully. Some old mythology about two lovers and their eternal relationship. I could tell you, but I am rather afraid we do not have the time. You will need a basic course in the whole mythology and the creation myths, too to understand it. Let us just say, it is a rare event in the life of the Leycan, their lifespan and your human one are the same. It's a big vacation for everybody."
Vacation. Oh.
Rory sighted. Not exactly what he had wanted. "I don't think anything will happen. We… I asked the Doctor for a time-out. And the TARDIS seemed to think we can get that here."
"Does she? Wait. I know that look." She stepped closer and inspected Rory's face very carefully. "Yes. I know that look very well. What has he done this time?"
"Oi," protested the Doctor, but Tella shushed him down. Instead she stepped in between Rory and Amy and placed her arms a fingertip away on both of their waists on their back, and then stepped forward again. And even if she didn't touched them, somehow they still followed her, as she gently urged them into a landscape full of green hills and a little cottage maybe 50 meters away. Some figures moved on a flat plane a bit further down, clearly preparing some big celebration, while a flock of irritated sheep-like creatures had retreated to the top of another hill, watchfully observing the ongoings.
"You two have definitely more stories to tell than I do. Even ninety-eight years on that planet are not eventful enough to fill more than an hour to talk. That is why I like it so much. And the two of you definitely need to talk. I am sure there is some tea we can spare. Perhaps even some other drinks."
Amy eyed her out of the corner of her eye, taking in the sparkle in Tella's eyes. "Oh come on. You are actually happy we're here. All of us."
"I am not unhappy."
The humans changed a look and suppressed both a grin.
-o0O0o-
It was a hell of a vacation. In a good way.
Rory sat on the cliffs, staring down to the lights floating on the sea. There wasn't much land on Dandelican IV, just spread islands and a small continent at the south pole, so the people tended to live in cities of boats,made of skins and bones of sea creatures. The Islands were used as rare farmlands and to build temples for the gods and there were only a few occasions a mortal was able to even step on dry land. The Equivalence, the highest holiday here, was. The only person with the right to live permanently here, beside the gods and a few sheep, was Tella.
"Leaves the question what they think she is," he murmured smiling.
"Who being what?"
He flinched and turned his head to make out the shape standing outside the small sphere of light he was sitting in. "Do you want me to fall of that cliff?"
"It is in fact the least dangerous place to do so. I already jumped there myself, it will not cause you any harm if you wish to do so."
Rory sighted. "That was..."
"Sarcasm, I know."
Tella sat down next to him, feet dangling over the edge and her magnificent robes sprawled out around her. Rory grinned.
The one thing Tella hadn't overstated, was the very spare use of clothing. It felt like a beach party, where some of the better build persons had 'accidentally' forgotten their bath clothes. Except, it was about seventy meters over the beach. The Doctor had with concerning joy immediately joined the nudes, and had left Tella with a shrill squeak, downright purple face and four cups of wine to calm down.
Afterwards she had to fight even more to keep her long covering robes on her body because the argument that it was forbidden for Time Lords to show this much skin obviously had been successfully undermined.
The two Time Lords were finally able to convince the ceremonial masters, Tella was honoring the traditions by wearing those robes even more because they were worn on ceremonies on Gallifrey itself. Even if Tella later admitted to the two humans, those were just her daily robes as headmaster of one of the lower academies.
That was the moment the two got a vague feeling of how pompous the Time Lords really had to be, if that elegant Dress with the over coat, all that embodiment and that sash and those floating sleeves with the gloves, all in silver and back, was considered casual wear.
On the question why then the Doctor didn't wear anything alike, he simply pointed out being a guest. Which didn't quite settled the matter but nobody really wanted to question one of Lady Storyteller's -or 'Muamma Hikaye' as the kids called her- esteemed Guests.
Yes, Tella had built herself quite a live on this beautiful planet.
Then, Rory noticed something else. "You... jumped down those cliffs? Into Water. Of your own will! Water."
"It was kind of fun, yes."
When she saw his face she continued, as if she had read his mind: "If you search for the real Storyteller, I bound her to one of the bones anchoring the great hall. I'm her secret good twin. But you must keep my existence hidden, her reputation will suffer heavily from it. And no, I'm not intoxicated. Except perhaps by the excellent atmosphere. It sometimes happens that you get drunk on emotions."
Rory shook his head in an unbelieving laugh and Tella winked before she looked down onto the glowing lights, too. "I often come up here after dark. I hate, how little everything seems, but on the other hand, the reflections of the lights are amazing, are they not?"
Rory nodded. Being a festival of love not lust, it was roughly a mixture of valentine's day and Christmas, only celebrated in daylight so the both suns as the guests of honor wouldn't miss a single second of the party. This left the evening and nights to a calm time with family and friends.
The last four days Amy and he had explored the wide landscape of hills in an evening stroll, bathed in the sea accompanied only by the stars or buried themselves in Tella's collection of books and movies (or whatever the alien equaling technology was called), even if they never dared to step into that wardrobe trunk, afraid of getting lost. And sometimes they both just talked alone in their guest room. That's what they told the others at least.
Tella was barely able to join them so far, she always fond a huge mass centered around her, leaving her to spin the most wonderful, tragic, thrilling and loveliest tales. But apparently, today she had been able to leave the boats, to find herself on dry land again.
Everybody knew how much she hated water, which made her accept this place as her home even more surprising.
"Amy and the Doctor are with the water weavers," Rory informed her, not able to bear the pregnant silence anymore. Normally, he was quite comfortable around her, but this was the first opportunity after Apalapucia he could talk freely with her. He just wasn't sure he was able to.
Tella's face was as unreadable as always.
Yes, she tried to show more human-like expressions, but sometimes she forgot. "I'm happy they seem to enjoy your stay here quite well."
"It was exactly what we needed." It truly was, a hell of vacation. And he needed the alone time with Amy. Even if they hadn't spoken about... what happened.
"That is always good to hear."
He nodded and flicked a pebble over the edge.
She'd never press. She was curious, her seeking him out up here alone was proof to that.
But she never asked for Personal Stories, she was very decent on that matter.
"Tomorrow, will be the main ceremonies. I will not be mayor anymore, so we have a lot more time to spent together. I might show you the stables or give you a tour of the village or my school, if you wish?"
"Your school? I thought you are mayor."
"I have a daily resting circle of 30 minutes, when I choose to sleep daily. I can afford to be both. Besides, it is wonderful to work with children again. I would never miss that opportunity."
Ok, scratch that last thought.
"You truly are a master of words."
At least she had the decency to look in his eyes. "I apologize. It is just, you clearly feel uncomfortable and I consider myself a poor host, if I not at least inquire the reason for that."
"It has nothing to do with the festival. It's just..." he sighted. He could tell her to leave it alone and she would. She always did. He rubbed his head and finally mumbled one word. "Apalapucia."
"A beautiful Planet, if the stories are to be believed."
Rory shook his head. "No. No, it's a terrible place."
And then he told her about the quarantine, and the two rooms with the different time streams. About the three of them separating and Amy growing old without Rory and the Doctor.
About how bitter the girl who waited had become, and about the Doctor forcing Rory to become like him and make the impossible decisions.
About how the Doctor left that older version simply to die, tricking Rory and in extention her with a smile and a lie like he did with so many before. About how everything could have been avoided if the Doctor had simply researched where current epidemics were and avoided those areas.
The leviathan should have taught him a lesson on that, shouldn't it?
And during the whole story Tella merely listened.
Some people said listening, being able to really listen to somebody was not only a gift but a rare ability. Something Rory had to agree.
She gave him time for his thoughts, let him explain himself and his doubts.
And when he finished she stared thoughtful down to the waters. He waited expectantly for her to say something, to react, but she didn't do anything. He knew, she sometimes fell into the habit of being slower... no, taking more time for something than the people around her had, but still. This lack of anything was concerning. "Tella?"
"Color me impressed," she finally sighted. "For the first time in the last tree regenerations I'm not sure what to say."
Rory snorted, "Yeah..." He fell silent. Really impressive.
"There is no more gentle way to say it than that he was completely right in his actions. I apologize, Rory, I do not have the proper words to explain myself without causing misunderstandings."
"What."
He felt like she slapped him.
She continued to explain.
"He should have avoided it. It was unfair to leave the decision to take the older one in or not to you, yes. To trick you into tricking her, nonetheless. But he was completely right in discarding that older one. She was a time fragment of an accidentally created timeline which should have never existed. He corrected his wrongdoings efficiently. In his own way. Yes, his trickery is disturbing to experience from the receiving end, Rory. But that is his way of accomplishing his deeds, as disgusting as it is."
Of course she would only concentrate on the task of keeping time intact.
"He abandoned her. Again. He constantly abandons her, let her wait for him like a puppy. Forces me to twist myself into a caricature of him. Hell, I too lived for 2000 years, I'm a nurse and oh, now I convinced somebody to help me for my selfish goal to save my wife. By giving that somebody hope just to let tat person down. Which happened to be an older version of my wife."
"You did this on your own."
"What? NO!" Tella rose one eyebrow at his vehement protest, which even angered him more.
"I have never wished to be like him!"
"Not once? One little instant is all it needs to change the universe. And you have made decisions that led you here."
"Not consciously! I don't…. I never wanted to be like…" He stopped and took a breath. "You don't have any Idea, what he did to Amy, when he abandoned her back then. How often she stuck me into that old tattered suit, so she could pretend to travel with him."
"And you chose to do it."
"Would you have left Kelliox, if he had an unhealthy obsession with a figure you didn't knew was real or not?"
"Kelliox would have never simply accepted such an occurrence as truth. But I would support him in his research while trying to keep his mind together, yes."
"Well, I was a kid who had no Idea how to handle this other than playing along."
"But you did knew, when he turned up again. And you knew exactly the damage done, so you followed, to protect her from her euphoria. And I…." she went silent and closed her eyes. Then she shook her head.
"Oh Rory," she sighted," it seems I am in dire need to apologize."
Was that guilt in her eyes?
"If I had realized, our conversations are poisoning your mind like this, I would never have dared to voice my displeasure as openly as I have in front of you."
Huh?
Her hand reluctantly traveled to his, but stopped before she touched him, resting next to his in the grass. "He cares about you. Never make the mistake of assuming he does not. That is his entire problem, he cares too much. So why should it be different with you?"
Taken aback, he blinked. "You are the one always saying he doesn't!"
"No. I accuse him of manipulating you through the natural fascination he inflicts on your kind. That he does not care about the effect he has over you. I never said, he did not love you. To use a word that might not be as accurate enough, but hopefully discerns this conflict a bit."
"He's a loving, manipulate ass." Rory repeated, just to be sure and Tella chuckled.
"Language, Rory."
"That's rich, coming from you."
"Touché. Besides, as a person living in a society capable of time travel, I assure you there barely comes anything good out of a person returning to live with their younger self and their partner. There happened some ghastly things. I am not talking about the punishments for this illegal act of crossing one's own time stream."
"So, it is all your and my fault," he concluded provocative.
"Hm? Oh, no. No, It is certainly not."
She thought a second. "He is a person people wish to impress, because he himself is impressive. And combined with his ignorance in that regard, he is enormously dangerous."
"I never did anything to impress him. I protect Amy."
"Which makes manipulating you a very easy task."
"I know," Rory growled. "Don't you think I don't notice? Both of you? That's the worst. You at least force one to think, even if its exactly the conclusion you want people to come to , because you think it's right. And he? He's like this person you walk around with, saying to go left. There is a parallel road with a nicer view and you do it. And at the end you are in a completely different place where you wanted to be? But so subtle, you don't notice you get lost? I don't know, I can't do metaphors."
"Comparisons," corrected Tella instinctively.
"Whatever. The point is…." He stopped, remembering what she had said before. "The small decisions."
She did it again. He gulped and stared down on his hands. She was right. Of course, she was. But still, the Doctor was terrifying. What he, Rory, did was terrifying.
"She... always wanted me to be the Doctor. And how can I refuse her wishes, I suppose?"
Tella lent forward, so she could glimpse the form of the TARDIS next to her house on the cliffs next to theirs. "He has a way of worming himself into you. You can struggle and refuse all you want. He will forever change you. Forever. And the abhorrent thing is, you come to love it. Deep down in the darkest corner of your hearts, you love it."
She grinned at him, her real grin with that mischievous sparkle in her eyes, and he rolled his eyes. "Heart. One Heart. There's a line we definitely won't cross."
Tella spluttered a booming laugh.
Rory observed her with a skeptical smile. "You're sure, you're not drunk?"
"We have a way higher tolerance than humans. But no. Except on emotions, as I said before. I have not allowed myself that much fun in centuries."
Her eyes wandered to the few stars the sphere of light around them allowed them to see. "He is truly something. You know, they say, you have to pay a price for being with the Doctor. A price too high and terrible. When in truth, he simply gives as he takes. Everything is of the same value."
"Then what exactly has he given to me, to justify this?"
She smiled. " I like trick questions. They keep your mind occupied and force you to rethink and view something out of a different angle. Especially now, when the most can't keep up with me anymore. That was a trick question?"
That woman. "Yes, " he whispered only half surprised of this answer. The Doctor had given him as much as he had taken from him. And Amy and him were still here, alive and breathing and he wouldn't have missed any of it. Despite Melody. Despite the 2000 years he had to watch over a black box, the Doctor sure could have opened sooner.
Despite Apalapuchia.
"She said, she gifted me the years with her. The older Amy, I mean. With the younger ones."
"And she was right. She had waited and wasted her life of waiting for you. Do not get me wrong, it is surely not a waste of time to wait, you of all people know that. But you also know what can happen in that time, what you could have done together in that time. And so, does the Doctor. He did not lock her out because she was old, it was because she grew old with either of you. He hates aging, because he hates losing, yes. And I do not deny, that there might be a little bit of truth in your doubts. It is our nature to be not well acquainted with loss. So, somebody with his lifestyle will easily see himself cursed, especially after such events like the time war. But I have the faintest of hopes that he one day remembers that the good things outweigh the bad ones. He had and will lose people, but he was a part of them and they will always of him."
He blinked and stared at her. Did he hear right?
"All right, now this gets really creepy. Sure, you're the Storyteller?"
"For the first time since the war, yes." She smiled and stared down to the town. "I am living in this place for about two hundred and fifty years now. I have seen ten full generations of villagers born and die. It does miracles in regard of remembering your detachment training. Although I must admit, I still have issues with the war."
"Me, too," Rory reluctantly admitted.
Then he furrowed his brows, because the last time they had seen Tella, she said something about nearly two hundred and sixty.
"Rory, is everything all right?"
"Sorry, yeah. Yeah, I think. We're not visiting in the same time, are we? I mean... uhm..."
"Our time streams are not always synchronized, no. There were not that big jumps, yet. Sometimes an adventure you tell me of, had not happen, yet, but will be the next time we meet. Other than that, he is pretty accurate."
"He's trying to impress you."
"He is trying to impress everyone. Why do you think he so eagerly joined – how do you call them- the nudes. And of course, he never thought of..." she stopped and signed. "I am sorry. This is getting old. I just cannot help myself."
"You're a teacher, it's your job," Rory reassured.
She chuckled. "You had a bad teacher, if constant criticizing of a persons character is seen as apart of the job by you. It never should. It saddens me, that I defined myself for you over my anger about him. I can see that now, with you coming to me, wanting me to confirm all the terrible things you depicted him doing, to feel being in the right. That is not who I am."
Rory never thought she was. Not completely. Tella was... Tella. Deeply conflicted about her curiosity for this new world and life and the longing for her old one. Afraid of change but graduatly adjusting. The one who lost everything because of the Doctor, the one he was always afraid that either him or Amy turned into one day. The one who had to stick with a perton who took everything from them, because there was anything else left.
But that wasn't right. Tella had a life. Here on this planet, with friends and a home.
He cused internaly. She might be right with that, too.
But she had never shown anything else but her dislike for the Doctor. Wrong.
She came back into the TARDIS. Multiple times, even with that life she had here, she came back.
The Time Lady continued to explain. "I respect the Doctor. I abhor some of his habits, but I value his acquaintance. He is a man who tries to be good, because it is the right thing to do. Ignoring the question of what qualifies as god and evil. I am sorry for feeding your fear of him hurting Amy even more. You cannot trust him, yes, but you can trust that he will always give his best. And you know that. Please do not let my personal issues cloud your image of him. He cares deeply for both of you, and he only wishes your best. Even if his methods are ..."
"... terrible."
"... questionable," Tella corrected. "But do not ever tell him, I said that."
"Said what," the Doctor asked behind them.
The both turned to see Amy and him staggering up the hill with their own tiny light, both only wearing coats of brand new wave-silk.
Tella smiled. "There will be only apple, and pear pies tomorrow."
The Doctor spluttered. "This is the most evilest of evil revenges that were ever avenged. Why, you ... Dalek!"
"I beg your pardon! You deserve it, and you know it. Especially, for that. Ten-folded."
Amy rose an eyebrow, but Rory could only shrug. And his wife smiled knowingly.
"Everything all right?"
"Yes." And surprisingly, it was.
-o0O0o-
Tella and all the other females in leading positions have had officially given their offices to their male successors at midday of the fifth day. The reason for that specific chance was apparently, that now the female sun dominated the light and therefore the ninety years of a matriarchal society ended, until the male sun rose to power and the patriarchal period of their society had to change again in ninety years of time. The Equation was so much more than just some festival of love or the sun. It was a change of believe the species of this planet willingly submitted themselves under, changing their complete social orientation without normally not living long enough to see it change back. If one even did live long enough to see at change least one.
Now at the last day of the festival Tella sat on her usual spot on one of the many benches nursing a cup of sweet but not very strong berry-wine .
Today's music was not as wild and tribal as it had been the last few days and there were some distinctively human rhythms, so Amy and Rory had bravely stepped onto the dance floor and started a jive, which turned up to work perfectly with the songs. Unfortunately the drunken Giraffe did, too, and so the Doctor jumped around with his hands over his head followed by an overexcited brunch of children and weirded out glances.
And Tella's frightening annoyed glare.
Amy sighted and asked Rory for a break and a drink. He nodded and left her alone so she could work herself through the couples on the dance floor.
"You look like you are going to kill him every second."
"I might actually will."
Woha. What do you answer to a mood-killer like that? No pun intended. Amy really needed to stop drinking that wine.
"I…. don't think that's a good idea."
"Which is the only reason why he is still alive. One time, just one time he has to show at least some manners, but no. Of course not. It did not even come to his mind that he is disgracing me, too. He is representing the males of our full species. From now on the people I have to live with everyday will look at me and ask themselves which one of us showed our real typical behavior."
"It's just a dance."
"This? This is not dancing. That is the annoying part. If he was going to dance properly, I had have no problem with it. But instead of simply refusing to, because he does not want to anymore, he is again behaving extra ridiculous to alienate himself. As always."
Her voice was calm and nonchalantly, but that one sparkle in her eyes Amy wasn't able to identify turned into well known disgust.
"So, why you don't dance with him?"
Tella's head spun around. "Me? I am married! Also, it is downright scandalous to dance with somebody if you are not in a relationship beside a group dance -which we are not able to perform here. The facts beside that gallifreyan dances, which are all the dances I know, are synchronized with the unique turn of the planet and also him being completely naked."
"You said Dandelecon IV has the exact turn like Gallifrey. That's why you life here. Also, if you're worried about them wondering who of you two behaves like a real Time Lord, I doubt they knew how scandalous you two dancing together really is."
"He is naked! This alone is a reason not to even consider it. And he knows the meaning of it. In a society where serving food counts as courting, what do you think dancing is viewed like, an act even humans see as romantically? Also I will neither dirty the memorial of my husband by dancing with another man, nor the memorial of my race by dancing while still mourning them."
Amy sighted. "How long are you awake now? You said it had been 98- Years since we have seen each other. This and the Time previously spent-"
"257 Years."
Amy froze and eyed her warily. For her it had been two, maybe a bit more. But that's time travel for you. Time Lords were creepy, Tella hadn't aged. No, that wasn't completely true. She had aged roughly one, maybe one and a half years, which was why Amy not ever thought about it twice. "Nearly three hundredth years? Then don't you think you can at least stop mourning. Not exactly moving on, but at least remember them not only in dead and dusty objects? You are still two people, you are still able to dance, you know. And I'm sure Kelliox doesn't mind, he knows how loyal you are."
"He is the reason why I'm not able to dance with him anymore."
Amy frowned. "No, he's not. Kelliox died because of a virus not…."
"A virus He had introduced to the colony!" Tella pressed through her teeth.
"What!"
Tella rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Never mind."
"What? Of course I mind! You can't say something like this and then…"
"Yes, yes I can. Because it is another Timeline. I confused the Timelines, all right? He is in his thirteenth regeneration, there is no one coming after him."
"You are nuts."
For once Tella did not made any comment, instead watched the Doctor again. "He could wear at least some holographic clothing."
"You wear something."
Tella's dreaded eyebrow ached. "I… beg your pardon? Yes, I do?"'
"Even if he's naked, he still isn't able to touch you. If that's your main concern."
"My main concern is him degrading me. And maybe himself. Skin contact has nothing to do with that."
"So?"
Tella let her gaze wander over the festival ground, and Amy could swear, she lingered a bit longer on Rory, then fixated the Doctor again.
"Decisions," she mumbled.
"Sorry?"
Tella's hand wandered to her necklace "Admit it. You just want to see an gallifreyan dance,"she mumbled absentmindedly.
"Maybe?" Amy grinned.
Tella sighted, rose to her feet and smothered out her clothes. "So a lady must do, what a lady must do."
Then, she stepped directly into the Doctors way, just to fall in a deep curtsy but with a strange way of holding her hands. The Doctor froze and stared at her.
"Just.. acquaintances, "Tella clarified without looking up, but kept her eyes still averted from his naked body.
The Doctor stood still for at least another half minute. Long enough for the others around them to stop and start staring and whispering. Then slowly he moved his hands, then his whole body. He bowed, then he took a step directly next to her, taking her hand and swirling her around in a graceful manner, before catching her with one hand, palm to palm and the other at his waist, her mirroring the position exactly. The music started anew and they stared to circle each other in slow steps, changing direction and hands in a special pattern, testing and probing and getting accustomed.
Somehow Amy got the feeling not entirely only to themselves.
Then the Doctor swirled her again, this time caching her with both hands again palm to palm before they started something distinctly like a mixtue of a menuet and a folk dance, jumping and circling each other elegantly. And Amy understood Tella's former frustration. Yes, the Doctor was able to dance, quite decently actually. And as the Doctor swirled Tella through the air, she also started to understand why this was considered intimate.
She did expect the tear running down Tella's cheek.
She did not expect her carefree giggles and judging by the Doctor's surprised but wide beam and the proud glances he threw to Rory and Amy, he didn't either.
Rory took her hand and nodded to the nearly empty dance floor, cleared in awe of the unusual couple. She considered few seconds, because this obviously was their dance, but then noticed a few other couples willing to join, too, but not brave enough to take the first step. So she let Rory guide her to the floor, joining with a waltz and earning an greeting nod from Tella before all the others joined them again, too.
Strangely out of all the Nine days, this one was the most satisfying.
And after being politely asked, and in the Doctor's case forced, to stay a day longer and help with the aftermath of the celebration, he in return tried to convince Tella to follow them, which she politely denied.
"It's a time machine, they won't even notice you're gone. You're not even the mayor anymore!"
"Yes, but I am the local teacher, Doctor. I cannot just walk away from my students. It is a four hours trip to the next school."
"Rory is a nurse! He has a responsibility to his patients, too. Which he had never failed in."
"Actually…." Rory piped up.
"Almost never. Come on, one trip? Somewhere you'd never been before? And the TARDIS would be happy to spend some time with you, too. I know you're curious. Come on, Lady Storyteller. So many new Stories to discover."
Her eyebrow aced. "No."
"One Trip?"
"Doctor!"
"Fine. Fine. Precious Times, then."
He let Rory and Amy in, before following and closing the door, then taking the stairs up to the console in very slow steps . He still expected her to change her mind. And Amy knew the chances for that happening were higher than a Planet existing entirely out of … bushes.
But apparently a Planet like that had to be around somewhere, because a second later the door opened and a glaring Tella stepped inside. The Doctor grinned and took the last few steps in one leap.
"Oh stop grinning like that. One Trip."
"You don't need to, you know. You don't owe me anything."
"Just.. get out of here, before I regain my sanity. And I better not come to regret this."
He fixed his bowtie and pushed down the lever which started the Rotor. "You won't!"
When they stepped out into the staircase of a hotel, he wasn't that sure anymore.
AN: Hey, I know this is out of my normal schedule, but I desperately needed some calm, happy fluffiness and I'm convinced you needed that, too. And this finally gave me the excuse to show Tella's softer side. And yes, friend dance with each other. Even if normally not completely naked…..
I'm not sure with the Title, yet. But Dandelecan IV is an awesome planet and I'm really happy to explore it a bit more. Although it currently starts to turn more into a Icelandic landscape but without the Snow and more grass. More volcanic. I admit, I present this twist to its inhabitants lifestyle in celebration of the confirmation that Time Lords are nearly immortal gender fluid pansexual aliens. And are considered to be one of the highest advanced species.
This had been my head canon for a long time and now I'm finally able to use it without people suing me. HA!
A big thanks to Dlxm95 for favoring and following and also a shoot out to you for being my tenth follower. Yay!
To all the others, as always please read and review for telling me what you think of this story and thank you for staying with me in this chaos. Only a few shot's left, then we're finished with the eleventh Story and everything will be normal again, I assure you XD
Greetings
alkatie
Ps: This Episode? I can't even start, so I will just threw out some random bullet points.
Well, now we know why the Cybermen have those teardrops on their eyes. Don't think about why they kept it through all their models, this leads to a dark place of thinking.
Missy? Awesome! Her whole quips and remarks were wonderful. I also loved her beautiful hat and her parasol. Seriously, she has a sonic device in the tip of her parasol! Maybe her Laser even.
Speaking of surprising devices: the Sonic is a whiteboardmarker? The Sonic is a whiteboardmarker! I laughed so hard I missed the complete explanation, not that bad because I already knew this, but still. Oh yes, what a hell of an emotional rollercoaster this had been. You see Bill getting shot but have to laugh a second later because of what the Doctor had said in that flashback on the roof, just to cry over Bill again. I'm a little bit disappointed about her end because this amazing character had to either live on or go out with a serious big bang and neither of it happened. She is the victim the whole time. Surveyed by the master for years. I like his goatee and his love for disguises. He's himself again, yay! Also that one massive "fu you" to all the people suing Peter Capaldi and all the classic who fans for calling the Doctor "Doctor Who". Ha. And the introduction of the two genders "comic relief" and "exposable". But that was Missy, too.
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