Clara climbed out the other side of the carriage just before Strax drove away, believing her to be inside. She secretly followed the Doctor to the park.
He stood beside a low brick wall topped with a metal fence and hopped with a downward wave of his hands. He appeared frustrated and muttered to himself before relaxing and taking a few deep breaths. He lifted his foot and stepped up onto thin air. "Ah! That's better!" he said to himself. With a light hop he flew over the fence and landed softly on the other side. He looked around cautiously before walking away with his hands in his pockets, whistling.
Clara noticed he wasn't walking on the ground. His feet seemed to be touching the snow, but he made no footprints. He stopped and looked around again before floating slowly straight up. He reached up and pulled down a ladder that appeared out of nowhere. He climbed up and the ladder retracted, becoming invisible once again.
"You can't conquer the world using snowmen," the Doctor continued, "Snowmen are rubbish in July. You'll have to be better than that. You'll have to evolve."
"Sir, it appears to be stuck!" Simeon's clerk said from the other side of the door.
"What have you done? Have you locked the doors?" Simeon asked the Doctor angrily as he walked to the doors.
"You'd need to translate yourself into something more, well, human," the Doctor continued, ignoring them, "To do that you'd need a perfect duplicate of human DNA in ice form. Where do you find that?" He turned to look at Simeon's desk.
Simeon and his clerk argued on opposite sides of the locked door.
The Doctor instinctively hopped into the air to fly to the desk, but he only floated a short distance before drifting back to the ground. He walked the rest of the way. He knew the reason his flying had stopped working, but he didn't want to admit it. "Let's see. Most opened file . . . ." He tossed it in the air. "Most viewed page . . . ."
It fell open upon landing on the floor.
"You should really delete your history!" The Doctor pointed at the file with his cane as he read. "'Governess frozen in pond.' Gotcha!" He looked up at Simeon with a smile.
"Got it, sir!" the clerk exclaimed from the other side of the door.
"Get in here!" Simeon growled, "Take him downstairs."
The Doctor pumped his arms and, thankfully, his flying worked and he quickly flew out through another door as two men entered.
Clara looked over the edge of the spiral staircase and noticed with surprise they were hundreds of feet in the air. "How did we get up so high so fast?"
"Clever staircase, it's taller on the inside," the Doctor answered.
"Why do you need a staircase anyway? Why do you need that ladder? I've seen you, you can . . . fly. You don't need a ladder to get into the sky."
"You've seen me? How long have you been spying on me?"
"Really not much, it was just the once."
The Doctor paused before responding. "Yes, I can fly. At least I used to," he added quietly.
"What do you mean 'used to'? I saw you!"
He paused again. "It's not easy, you know. Flying at all is difficult, but flying straight up for any distance is exhausting."
They reached the top of the staircase and stepped onto a cloud.
"Remember this, this right now, remember all of it. Because this is the day . . ." the Doctor proclaimed, stepping excitedly around the console, "This is the day, this is the day everything begins." He set to work manipulating the controls.
He looked up to see Clara being dragged out of the TARDIS by the ice governess. "Clara!" He ran after her.
Clara struggled. "Get off of me!"
The Doctor ran out of the TARDIS, pointing the sonic screwdriver at the governess. "Water vapor doesn't stop ice, I should've realized!"
"Get off!"
"Let her go. Let her go! NOW!"
"Get off of me!"
"Clara!"
The Doctor looked into Clara's eyes and she looked back. Time seemed to slow down, only for a moment. The governess took a misstep backwards and fell off the cloud, taking Clara with her. The Doctor ran to the edge and leaped off, diving after them. The governess still tried to grab Clara as they fell.
The Doctor realized with horror his flight wasn't working at all. He was falling just like Clara and the ice statue. He had to save Clara, but he couldn't if he wasn't flying. He forced himself to spread his arms to catch the air and remember how to fly. Clara began to fall faster as he slowed his descent ever so slightly. He couldn't let her fall out of reach, but he had to remember how to fly. He forced himself to close his eyes and concentrate. He had to stop thinking about Clara. He had to focus on the air around him. His mind continued to pull his thoughts toward Clara. He struggled to keep Clara and fear out of his mind. If he didn't figure it out now, it would be too late.
He suddenly felt it. He was flying. They were too close to the ground. He swerved and dove as fast as he could. He sped toward Clara, but so did the ground. He reached out his hand. She looked at him, terrified, her hair whipping around her face. He was too late. His hand was only inches from hers, she was only inches from the ground. He jerked it away at the last millisecond and spread his arms, shooting off fast enough that he didn't see her hit the ground.
He dodged some trees and a wall at high speed before swerving up and using his momentum to fly above the buildings. He screamed at the sky. He was gliding downward, rapidly losing his grip on the air. He directed himself toward his staircase. He slowed himself down, but fell hard on the steps. He groaned in pain and anguish as he pulled himself to his feet and climbed back up to the TARDIS.
"Something's going on, something impossible, something . . . ." The Doctor backed away from Vastra and Jenny and Clara's grave. "Right, you two stay here, stay right here, don't move an inch." He turned and jumped into the air, flying with ease.
"Are you coming back?" Vastra asked.
"Shouldn't think so!" the Doctor called.
"But where are you going?"
He dove down, spun around, and swerved back up, facing Vastra. "To find her, to find Clara." He laughed, pumped his arms, and flew rapidly away.
He knew the reason his flying was working again. He'd remembered who he was. He was off to explore the universe, solve mysteries, and discover new things. He was the Doctor again.