A/N: Surprise and Merry Christmas everyone! I couldn't post this when I wanted to due to the problems on the site, which I'm pretty sure happened last Christmas as well. But it doesn't matter now, here is an extra chapter for you all!
Kari stood there in beside the console, a thick coat on over her jeans and jumper. Martha had also forced her to wear a scarf and hat, just to make sure she was going to be warm enough. "Can someone please tell me why I look like a flipping marshmallow?" She moaned, looking over at the Doctor in his long brown coat and Martha in one she had found in the wardrobe.
"Oh, stop moaning." The Doctor told her. "It's a surprise."
"I hate surprises." She grumbled, trying to fold her arms across her chest but being restrained by the puffy, white coat. "Surprises are dangerous."
"Why do you always say that?" Martha asked her, going and standing beside her while the Doctor dashed around a little more.
"Because it's true. They are dangerous. You could scare someone half to death with a surprise, and not all surprises are good, I'd like to add." Kari just wanted to know what was going on now, she really didn't like it when she didn't know what was happening.
A moment later, and the blue box made a thump, letting them all know they had landed. "Okay, we're here." The Doctor told the pair, darting over to Kari and grasping her hand tightly. "We all ready to go?"
Kari just rolled her eyes at him. "I've been ready to go for the past thirty minutes. Can we just get on with whatever this little surprise of yours is?"
"Patience, my dear, patience." He whispered to her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before dragging her over to the door.
The moment it was pulled open, a gust of freezing cold air hit the trio, making all of them brace themselves for the chill that was outside. "Why couldn't we have gone somewhere warm, like Rio?" Kari mumbled, adjusting her scarf to cover her face as white flakes of snow landed on her nose.
"Because Rio doesn't have what this place has." The Doctor told her, a smile on his face.
"And what is this place, Doctor?" Martha called, shoving her hands in her pockets to keep them warm. It seemed to be snowing rather heavily, and that slight wind was making it blow right at them all.
There was a glint in the Doctor's eyes, just causing Kari to become even more suspicious than she had been in the kitchen. "The perfect place to get what we need." He replied, not really giving anything away, much to Kari's annoyance.
She decided to let out a groan, so that he knew she was getting annoyed a little. He may have thought this was going to be a perfect surprise for her, that she was going to love it, but she really didn't like trudging through the snow and not knowing why.
The three of them had been walking for almost ten minutes when they finally came to a market place. The stalls were selling everything imaginable. From flowers, fruit and vegetables, to clothes, shoes and hats. There were stalls selling snow globes, candles, and what Kari could only describe as gravity lights. They looked like the gravity globe she had seen back on the Byzantium, only much smaller and in a variety of different colours.
"Here we are, one of the best markets in the galaxy, especially at this time of year." The Doctor told them, his eyes scanning every still stall, as if he was searching for something. "Now, since we're here, the pair of you might as well go and do a bit of shopping." He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pouch. "Here you go. Don't spend it all on sweets."
"Uh, and what exactly are you going to be doing?" Kari asked him, narrowing her eyes at him, trying to work out what he was up to.
"Few things I have to get. You know, restock and such. Won't be long. Meet you back here in, oh, let's say, three hours? Then we can go grab something to eat." His answer didn't really help with the suspicion that Kari was feeling, in fact, it was making it worse.
Kari plucked the pouch from his hand, shoving it into her deep coat pocket. "You know, I will work out what you're up to. And then, you are going to be in some serious trouble, got it mister?"
The Doctor nodded at her, but with a huge grin on his face. "Oh, I'm always in trouble with you for one thing or another." He told her, before gently placing his lips on hers and giving her a kiss. "Be good, and I'll see you soon." And with that, he disappeared into the crowd, leaving Kari standing there with Martha.
Kari just turned to her friend, a firm look on her face. "Okay, what in the name of Gallifrey is he up to?" She asked her, hoping that she would give her a truthful answer.
Martha just shrugged at her. "Right now, I have absolutely no idea. I know he's up to something, but he really didn't tell me what it was. Sorry."
The look on her face told Kari that she was telling the truth, and that she really didn't know what the Doctor was up to. She let out a sigh, before shoving her arm through Martha's. "Oh well, guess we might as well go and have a look around then since we're here."
"I thought you'd enjoy a bit of shopping, Kari." Martha said, a little surprised that she wasn't more excited about shopping on a new planet, because she certainly was. "How often does the Doctor take you out to go shopping?"
Kari thought about it for a moment, before arriving at her answer. "Uh, never. And that's how I know my sexy idiot is up to something. I'm not a big shopping person, unless I've got my gorgeous Ianto with me. He has got the best sense of style, seriously."
"And, uh, who's Ianto?" Martha asked her as they wandered around, glancing at the stalls and seeing if anything caught they eyes.
"Well, I guess he is my brothers other half. At least he is at some point in time. You remember the guy who delivered that dress for me, when we gate crashed your sisters function?" Kari asked, getting a nod in response. "That was my Ianto. You never know, you might get to meet him properly one day." She added, knowing full well that Martha was going to end up spending some time at Torchwood in the future.
"So, this brother of yours…"
Kari had a feeling she knew what was going to come out of Martha's mouth next, and so jumped in to avoid talking about Jack. "Is someone that you will meet soon. Actually, you're going to be meeting him very soon. Just watch out, he is a really big flirt."
Martha just nodded at her. Every time she tried to get information out of her about her elusive brother, Kari always managed to pull her away from the subject. "So, seen anything you like yet?" Martha settled for asking, making sure to change the topic of conversation as they carried on wandering.
"Not really. What about you? Anything caught your eye yet?" She asked, still trying to work out exactly what was going on and why they were there.
"I don't know. I've seen a few nice… trinkets, I guess." Martha told her, "I don't even know what half of this stuff is."
"Yeah, neither do I. This is why we need the expert. But no, he has to go off and cause trouble." Kari moaned, just knowing that something was going to happen. There was a feeling in her gut that was just telling her that something was going to happen, that thing weren't going to be peaceful for long.
That was when something actually caught her eye, something small, and different to everything else. Kari dropped her arm from Martha's and headed over to the stall, her eyes fixed on the glittering ball of what had taken her eye.
"You found something then, Kari?" Martha asked her, finally arriving beside her as she keep gazing at something on the stall.
"Uh, yeah. Maybe." She muttered. There was no explaining why she was so drawn to it, it was just something so simple, so common. A small marble, full of tiny specks of light. It was like something she had seen in a film once, a certain film about men in black. Kari was finding it hard to draw her eyes away from it.
"Twenty silver chips." A female voice said, finally getting Kari's eyes to leave the little sphere. "Or fifteen gold." Kari just looked back down at it, finding something so entrancing about it all. "What can you see in it?"
"Well, it's just a stone, isn't it?" Martha asked, looking at it and not finding it all that interesting.
The owner of the stall shook her head. "Everyone sees something different. Myself, I see the burning of a sun. Some people see the faces of ones long lost. What do you both see?"
"It's a stone. All I can see is a shining purple stone." Martha said, a frown forming on her face. "Kari, what about you? What can you see in it?"
"I… I don't know. It… it keeps changing." She said, her gaze not moving. "At first, it was like looking up at a night sky, just full of stars. But it keeps changing, there's so many colours, so much light."
Without even realising it, Kari had picked it up, and handed the small bag of coins to Martha. She couldn't let it go, not now, not when it seemed to just have her so hypnotised.
"Hey, Kari! Wait up!" Martha shouted after her, getting her to actually stop. "Are you okay?" Kari just nodded at her. "You know, maybe getting that wasn't such a good idea."
That was when Kari finally snapped out of it, out of whatever trance like state she was in. "Sorry, Martha. I best put it away. I just couldn't stop watching it, all the changing colours and patterns. It was beautiful."
Martha could only frown at her, she hadn't been able to see anything past it being a colour stone, and knowing that Kari had seen something so amazing did make her a little bit jealous. "Well, we spent enough time hanging around this part. Let's go have a look somewhere else, shall we?"
Kari nodded at her, and the pair of them headed off and further into the market. They carried on passing different stalls, Martha taking more of in interest in everything now, while Kari just seemed to be wandering.
"What do you think of this?" Martha asked her, picking up a silver chain with a set of three stones dangling from it. "I was thinking of getting it for Tish, you think she'll like it?"
She looked at it, and straight away Kari knew it would be perfect for Martha's sister. "I think she'll love it, Martha. Have you seen anything for your mum? You got Leo that set of paper weights." Kari said, a smirk on her face.
"Hey, those are not paper weights. The bloke said that they tell the weather."
Kari just needed at her. "Uh, yeah. So, what exactly is it saying about the weather at the moment?" She asked, just knowing that Martha wasn't going to be able to answer her.
She watched her friend pull out the box with the set of four round, metal balls from her bag. One of them was currently pure white, and cold to touch. The gold one was vibrating slightly, emitting a little humming noise. The silver ball was also cold, so cold that you couldn't even touch it without your hand turning blue. Finally, there was the glass ball, where inside there were little white flakes floating down.
"Um, I… I'm not sure." Martha admitted, causing Kari to roll her eyes.
"Okay, listen carefully. Season, wind, temperature, and cloud type." Kari told her, pointing to each of the balls in turn. "So, white and cold, because clearly it's winter. The gold one is vibrating because there is a light wind at the moment. The silver one is so cold, you'd get frostbite trying to pick it up. And just look at all the snow falling inside of this one." She said, pointing to the glass one which just looked like a snow globe.
"And how, exactly, do you know all of that?" Martha wondered, looking at the gift she got for her brother and trying to remember exactly what Kari had said.
Kari shrugged at her. "No idea. I just did. I don't know, it was like it was just common sense to me. Not that I'm saying you don't have any common sense, I'm just saying that… that it's… I don't know, I just knew." She said, getting herself into a bit of a fluster. She didn't want to offend Martha, but she just couldn't explain it more than just knowing. "So, you getting that necklace for Tish then?" She said, trying to pull them back onto the reason why they were still standing at the same stall.
"Yeah. Yeah, I am. She's going to love it, don't you think?" Martha said, ask Kari passed her the little pouch with the gold, silver and copper round chips that they used for currency.
"So, now you just need to get something for Mummy Jones." Kari teased, as her friend handed over the chips and they began their little walk again. "Actually, I think I've already seen something that will be perfect for your mum." She said, dragging Martha back a few stalls and stopping when they reached the one she was looking for.
"Okay, so what exactly did you see that you think will be so perfect for my mum?" Martha asked her, being slightly sarcastic. She didn't really know how much Kari knew about her family, about her mother and father, and what would soon happen. Kari respected Mrs Jones, for more than just one reason.
Kari smiled at her, as she picked up a pair of dangling earrings. "These. The metal that they are made from is so very rare. It doesn't corrode, it doesn't rust, it is always perfect. And these pearls, they aren't just any pearls." She explained. "From the Oysters of Calastaron, in the darkest parts of the ocean. They bring luck and protection to anyone who wears them. Or, you know, so I've heard." Kari told her with a shrug, trying not to get too excited about the earrings.
She had heard about those types of pearls before, from the Doctor when they had visited Calasataron and they had gone off exploring a local village. Kari had loved it, and had loved the stories the locals told of the pearls and their 'magical' properties.
"You know what?" Martha said, turning to look at her friend. "You're right. They would be perfect for mum. I'm going to get them."
"Great. So that would leave us with…" Kari pulled her phone from her pocket and checked the time on it. "Another hour and fifteen until we have to meet up with the scheming Doctor."
"Yup, and I've managed to get something for my mum, Leo and Tish." Martha said, smiling as they started their walk again. "Now just to get something for myself. Are you getting something for anyone?"
Kari eyed her suspiciously. "Are you suggesting that I spend the Doctor's money to buy him something while he left us to walk around on our own for three hours?"
Martha shrugged at her. "Well, if you see something you think he might like, I don't see why you can't get it for him."
"Martha, this is the Doctor. What do you get the man who has everything, who has the whole of time and space to explore? What do you get them?" Kari asked her, being completely serious. The Doctor really did have everything, he didn't want for anything. He had his TARDIS, the whole of space, and every moment in time. There was nothing she could think of that he could possibly want or need.
There was a smirk forming on Martha's face. "Well, I know something that he wants but doesn't have yet."
Kari raised an eyebrow at her, curious as to what it could possibly be. "Really? And that would be?"
All Martha could do was smile at her. "Spoilers."
Kari simply groaned as she dragged Martha down another street and towards a mass of stalls that they had yet to visit. She didn't have high hopes that she was going to find something for the Doctor, he was an impossible person to shop for. But she was still thinking over what Martha had said, about knowing what he wants but doesn't yet have. Kari just kept trying to work it out, but she just couldn't.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, their three hours were up and they were heading back to meet the Doctor. Kari still hadn't found anything for the Doctor, and she was a little disappointed with that fact. The only thing she had bought was a small music box. The music from it was unlike anything she had ever heard before, and it just made her feel so happy when she heard it.
"Ah, there you both are. You have a good time?" The Doctor asked, strolling over to them and instantly wrapping an arm around Kari, placing a kiss on her temple.
"Oh, it was brilliant. I managed to pick up gifts for my family. I can't believe how much stuff there is here. We barely even managed to get through a third of it." Martha exclaimed, clearly still in high spirits from their little market shopping.
"And what about you, Kari? Did you get anything?" The Doctor asked her, looking at her curiously.
"Uh, yeah, a few things." She told him, not really feeling like telling him exactly what she had gotten. She didn't know why, but she didn't want him to know she had bought herself some little trinkets to place in her room.
The Doctor just looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to elaborate. When she didn't, he let out a sigh. "Well, come on then. Back to the TARDIS." He said, trying to suppress the grin that was trying to hard to work it's way onto his face.
"So what have you been up to then, Doctor?" Kari asked, letting the Doctor hold her close to him as they walked back to their blue box. She wondered what he could have been doing for the past three hours.
"Oh, you know, having a look around." He replied, trying his best to act casual and not give anything away. He had been working non-stop for the past three hours to make everything perfect, to surprise his Kari. "Now come on, I'm sure you could do with a nice hot cuppa, or maybe even a hot chocolate. You're nose is turning a bit red." He said, tapping her cold nose.
Kari just rolled her eyes at him. "Well what do you expect? You've had us out here in the cold for hours. It's windy and snowing, of course my nose is going to be red." She told him, leaning against him a little more without even realising it.
"Did you not enjoy your little day out then?" He asked her, clearly a little upset at the idea that she didn't have as good a time as he had hoped she would.
She noticed that he seemed a little hurt by her comment, she was always able to notice things like that when it came to the Doctor. "Doctor, I did enjoy it. I got to spend some time with Martha and do a little bit of shopping. But it's just so cold out here, and I didn't have you to keep me warm."
"I'm sorry." He whispered, once again kissing her temple. "I just had something to do, and I thought you would like to spend some time with Martha." He told her, just as the blue box came into sight.
"Never mind. Let's just get into the TARDIS so I can get this marshmallow off and have a lovely cup of tea." Kari said, picking up her pace and just wanting to get out of the cold. She couldn't help but want to be back inside the blue box, and made sure to drag the Doctor and Martha along with her.
There was a smile on her face as she saw the amount of snow that had gathered around the box, and settled on the groves of the panels. It reminded her of Christmas. But that smile soon turned into a bit of a frown, she couldn't remember any of the Christmases she spent with her father anymore, and that worried her slightly.
"Kari? Everything okay?" The Doctor asked her, making her look at him. "You've been staring at the TARDIS for five minutes."
She nodded at him a little. "Yeah, sorry. Just… trying to remember something, that's all." Kari told him, before resting her hand on the door and hearing it click open.
"I still don't know how you can do that. Get her to open for you just by touching her. But I guess I shouldn't really be surprised, the two of you are as thick as thieves." The Doctor said, watching and waiting as Kari stepped into their ship.
She only just made it over the threshold when she stopped, her mouth dropping open and her eyes widening. The whole place had been decorated, tinsel and coloured lights hanging from every single one of the coral beams. It was an amazing sight, to see the TARDIS so bright and festive.
A few tears couldn't help but fall from the corner of her eyes. Just moments ago she had been thinking of Christmas, and now she was seeing the TARDIS full of Christmas decorations. The lights that she could see, floating in the air all around the console, were the ones she had spotted at the market.
"What… why is…" Kari stuttered, not really knowing what to say. "Is this what…"
The Doctor just stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "Merry Christmas, Kari." He whispered to her, lightly kissing her hair as he let her take everything in.
This was what he had been doing. Those three hours had been spent shopping and decorating the TARDIS, making it a special day for Kari, a day she would never forget. Their time stuck in 1969 had made him realise just how much his Kari missed the little things from the time before she met him. He just wanted to do something for her to let her know that he really did care, and that they were a family.
The last time he celebrated Christmas properly, with Rose and her family, Kari hadn't been there, she had left once he had finally picked out his outfit, before they managed to make it to the doors. Christmas dinner hadn't been the same. Sure, Rose, Micky and Jackie had all smiled and laughed and had a good time, but the Doctor couldn't, not with Kari gone.
Kari was still really too stunned to do anything, so the Doctor unwrapped his arms from around her, taking a hold of her hand and leading her through the TARDIS, Martha right there beside them, a big grin on her face. She hadn't said anything, because in all honest, she knew the Doctor had a grand plan, she knew what he was planning, just not the scale of it all.
"Okay, now close your eyes." The Doctor told her, stopping outside of a room she couldn't recall ever seeing before. She done as she was told, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. "Ready?" She nodded, still unable to find her voice.
She heard the door click open, before being led inside. It felt warm, and she could hear a crackling sound in the background as well. It smelt different as well, so many different things attacking her nose, such as cinnamon, pine, roast dinner, and something else that she just couldn't place.
"You can open them now." The Doctor said to her softly.
Kari took a deep breath as she slowly let her eyes open. "Oh, my… " She breathed, her eyes scanning every inch of the room. It was decorated like the console room had been, except there was a tree, at least ten feet tall, a real tree. "Doctor I… I don't know what to say. Thank you so much. This is wonderful." She told him, before throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him, completely forgetting that Martha was standing there as well.
The pair only broke apart when they needed to breath, both blushing but with smiles on their faces. "I'm glad you like it, Kari. Now come on, I made Christmas dinner." He said, pointing to the table that was set and filled with food.
Turkey. That was what Kari could smell, roast turkey. It was a full Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings. "You… you cooked this?" She asked him, as he pulled out the chair for her to sit down.
"I most certainly did. What do you think I've been doing while you and Martha were shopping?" He asked her, sitting down beside her. "I was getting all of this ready."
"I really don't know what to say, Doctor. Thank you, it's fantastic." Kari said, beaming away at him. "Merry Christmas, both of you." Her eyes met with Martha's as well, and she noticed her friend was smiling away as well. "Best not let this amazing dinner go cold."
The trio ate, and all of them said how delicious it was and how stuffed they now felt. "Right, time for presents." The Doctor said, getting up from where he was sitting and heading over to the tree. He picked up to boxes, handing the first one to Martha. "Happy Christmas, Martha." He said, letting her give him a hug as she took it.
Kari and the Doctor watched her open it, her eyes lighting up as she ripped of the red wrapping paper. "Oh, Doctor! How did you know? I've been needing a new one for ages." She said, pulling out a brand new watch from the box.
"I know, you kept moaning about needing a new one." He told her, before moving on to give Kari her present. "Kari, this is for you." For some reason, he had suddenly gone nervous, and he hands were shaking a little as he passed it to her.
Kari was nervous as well. She hadn't expected to get anything from him, she hadn't expected to come back to the TARDIS and for it to be Christmas. Unlike Martha, she carefully undone the wrapping, prolonging the excitement and nervousness she was feeling. With the wrapping finally gone, a blue box was left in her hands.
She bit her lip as she pulled the lid off, revealing a smaller box, the size that would contain jewellery. Her hearts were pounding in her chest as she slowly, painfully slowly, opened the lid to the smaller box. A gasp escaped her lips and her eyes widened as she saw what lay before her.
The box contained a necklace, bracelet, and earrings. Each of them sparkling and covered with glittering stones. They were beautiful, and Kari was close to tears once more. People kept giving her so many wonderful things, and she never once gave them anything back.
"This must have cost you a fortune." She whispered, not taking her eyes from the gift in her hands. "They're beautiful."
"Beautiful things, for my beautiful Kari." The Doctor told her, kissing her cheek.
"I… I didn't get you anything. I… I didn't know that…"
The Doctor put a finger to her lip to stop her from talking. "Kari, I don't expect anything from you. I don't want anything."
"Well, I'm totally stuff. And, as is Christmas tradition in my house, it's time for the after dinner nap." Martha said, trying to cover up the small yawn that she let out.
Both Kari and the Doctor chuckled a little at her. "Go on then, Martha. I'm going to help the Doctor clear all of this lot up, and then maybe curl up on the sofa for half hour myself."
"All right, well behave. And happy Christmas." Martha said to them both, before disappearing off to her room.
Kari and the Doctor both got straight on with clearing up the table, still smiling away. It wasn't until they were both sitting down on the sofa in front of the open fireplace that something Martha said came flooding back to her. Straight away Kari knew what she could give the Doctor for Christmas.
"Uh, Doctor?" She said, nestled up against him and getting a murmur from him. "So, I've kind of been thinking." Kari managed to say, trying to get a sentence formed in her head of what she wanted to say. "And I was thinking that maybe… maybe this ring could be more than just a promise." She told him, twisting it around her finger without even realising it.
She thought that maybe it was time to admit everything not just to herself, but to the Doctor as well. Her life had changed so much since that night she met him in her back garden. Her whole world was turned upside down, and she fell in love with the Doctor, the mad man with a box who she never believed was real. But he was real, and she really did love him, more than she ever thought was possible. Everything he had done for her, all the places he had shown her, that was more than she could have ever imagined, and she wanted it to last forever.
A/N: Well guys, I hope you enjoyed it and that you all have a great Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Normal updating will resume on Monday.
A little note, I have opened the poll for Kari's episodes. Please check it out and vote for your top THREE episodes. Those are then going to be the episodes I focus on getting out to you all next.
Well, thank you to everyone who has read/favourited/followed this story, or any of my others. I love reading all the reviews you guys leave, so thank you so much.
Pippa.