Just before the doors of the TARDIS, the Doctor slipped behind Clara and placed his hands over her eyes. "What-?" she giggled, dimpled smile gracing her features.
"I want you to wait until you get inside to see her," he responded. "She's really gone all out this time." Clara heard the door of the TARDIS creak as he opened it. The Doctor guided her over the step into the TARDIS, and she felt the ship's cool air slip over her skin. "I don't think I've seen anything this elaborate since…well, you'll see," the Doctor declared, removing his hands from Clara's eyes.
She blinked at the sudden light striking her gaze, and then gasped as she took in the new features the TARDIS had settled on. Before her the room spread out in its usual circular dimension, but much larger than she remembered from previous times she herself and her echoes had been on the TARDIS. She and the Doctor stood on a raised platform that circled the central control area. A ramp led down to the six-sided control panel but this time the control panel's metal surfaces shimmered faintly golden. The column from it led upwards to the ceiling, with the rotors still spinning above, emblazoned in their Gallifreyan writing, but sparkling gold as they caught the light.
The illumination in the room came from the ceiling, where huge cathedral like windows, each with beautiful stained glass, let in sunshine from outside the TARDIS. Each window had huge Gallifreyan writing on it, like the time rotor.
Around the central control panel and lining the walls at its level, were comfy looking upholstered chairs and bookcases full of bound volumes and curios. There were TARDIS blue rugs on the floor, detailed in swirling golden thread with more Gallifreyan symbols. The walls were a soft, warm brown that looked like wood, and a pattern of recessed roundels spread across some of the evenly spaced panels.
The whole effect was warm, cozy and inviting. Clara spun laughing down the ramp, looking upwards at the stained glass windows. She swung her arms around, giddy with the beauty of it all. She finished her impromptu dance at the control panel, where she looked up at the rotor. "It's beautiful! I love it."
A succession of trills and beeps came from the TARDIS herself, along with sparkling golden tendrils that briefly reached out and touched Clara on her shoulders. Startled, she jumped back, but with a wondering look on her face. "Did she just…hug me?" she asked the Doctor, eyes wide with awe.
"What did it feel like?" he asked, coming up to stand beside her.
"Kind of tingling, like fingers gently touching me, but with a slight kick to it." Noticing the Doctor's sudden worried expression, Clara hastened to add, "It didn't hurt. I almost liked it."
He smiled and wrapped an arm around her. "Then that's what she did, all right—she 'hugged' you. You know she likes you now, since she remembered you were the one who brought us together."
"Took her long enough to figure it out," Clara wryly remarked, glancing back to the rotor. The TARDIS gave a flat beep at her in response.
"Well, you can't blame her. You probably confused her, considering she'd met your Victorian echo, who was most likely infused with some artron energy. You weren't before you jumped into my time stream, so the pre-time stream Clara disoriented her, made her perplexed by why there were two different versions of you," the Doctor explained.
"Makes sense," Clara reasoned. She turned to one of the upholstered chairs and tossed her coat on it. "Now…about that favor I wanted to ask…" She walked back over to the Doctor, leaning on his arm and dimpling up at him.
"Yeees?" he asked, with a little trepidation as to what was on her mind.
She teasingly patted each side of his face with both her hands. "Don't look so scared! I just wanted to ask if you'd take me somewhere to find a Christmas tree. That's what Danny was supposed to be doing today after all. Now you have to do it."
"All right, then, where do you want to go? Somewhere on Earth? There are some lovely trees in Siberia…and ancient Norway has splendid forests," the Doctor enthused.
"Not ancient Norway. We'd probably wind up in the middle of a group of Vikings planning an invasion," Clara frowned.
"True. I did that once, and I don't think I'd like to repeat the experience. Although I did get a nice space helmet for a cow out of the deal," the Doctor replied, dancing around the control panel, flipping levers and pushing buttons.
"A space helmet for a…cow…" Clara groaned. "I know you're dying for me to ask what that was all about, but I think I'll save it for a boring evening some time."
The Doctor stopped his dance around the TARDIS, and turned to her. "Clara," he growled low, in an enticing tone that always made her shiver with anticipation, "evenings with me are never boring." He straightened up and gave her a seductive look.
She smirked up at him. "You'll have to prove that to me some other time," she purred. Then she laughed at him when he blushed. At that moment the TARDIS jerked them almost off their feet.
"Where are we headed, then?" she asked, when they regained their footing after the TARDIS stopped its shaking.
The Doctor pulled one of the scanners over so they could both look at it. "Sansrithrat the Greater. It's a planet in the Orion belt. There are some lovely trees there I think you'll find perfect for Christmas."
"Do they come with ornaments on them?" Clara asked, leaning on the console and looking up at the scanner, which showed the solar system Sansrithrat orbited in. She noticed there were only five planets in that system—Sansrithrat being the third.
"Don't be silly, Clara. Of course they don't," the Doctor crisply replied. "That's only on the planet I took Madge and her family to. Although those trees no longer exist…or rather they do now, but in the future they won't…or they didn't in the 1940's…or…oh dear. It all sort of gets mixed up sometimes."
"I suspect it's why you ARE a madman. No worries…it doesn't bother me," Clara tossed back. As the TARDIS made its usually loud landing, she sauntered over to the chair and picked up her coat. "So…ready to go find me a Christmas tree?"
The Doctor grinned and led the way to the doors. He bowed down and gestured for her to go first. "After you, my lady."
She giggled and pulled the door open, only to change her demeanor to astonishment at what she saw next.
