All is Bright
"Are you kidding me!?" Donna scoffs. "A church!?"
The Doctor looks up, as if noticing their destination for the first time. "Sure, why not?"
She turns to him.
His eyebrows arch. "It is Christmas and you said you wanted to go to a special one." He sighs. "I thought you hated Christmas."
She glares ahead of her. "I do."
"Is that why you wanted to see a special one? Change your mind?"
Donna shrugs. If anyone can do that, this skinny Spaceman can. She shudders and wraps her arms around her chest. "Where are we?"
The Doctor sees the people surrounding them. When he sees the mountains in the distance and the buildings, he nods. "From the look of it, I'd say Bavaria."
Donna looks around. "When are we?" she clarifies and gestures to the horse-drawn carriages. "Those don't look like BMWs."
The Doctor pauses and sees a newspaper tucked under a man's arm. He discreetly scans it. "1818," he answers. "Christmas Eve. And this is Obendorf."
Donna shakes her head. "Means nothing to me. What's so memorable about this place?"
The Doctor takes her hand. "Come on!" he says. "A proper Austrian Christmas!" he says, his eyes dancing in the crisp starlight.
Donna cannot help but smile. "Oh, all right," she says and speeds up. "At least it'll be warm in there."
"Just remember you're speaking German so they can understand you!" he hisses.
She glares. "I know that!"
They sit in the back of the cozy little church.
A man stands at the front and clears his throat. "I offer my apologies," he says softly. "But you know our organ is broken."
The Doctor looks over, interested. "Maybe I can…" He starts to rise, but Donna keeps her hand on his forearm.
"Hush," she whispers.
The man clears his throat. "But I didn't want to be without music on this holy night, so we have a guitar and this small song Father gave me. He wrote it a couple of years ago and I wrote the music for it today," he said, his cheeks reddening.
He sits down and picks up the guitar as two singers stand and join him.
"And Merry Christmas," he says before starting to play.
The two chords are strummed repeatedly, and Donna narrows her eyes. "I know this…" she whispers but falls silent as the lyrics begin, soothing and comforting. It's the perfect lullaby, and Donna is taken back to a time when the snow seemed whiter and the bells rang cheerfully and all she needed to do to be happy was snuggle in her father's arms as he hummed that famous carol while her mother made hot chocolate and her grandmother handed out cookies. She blinked back tears, easily envisioning her Gramps wearing one of his stupid Christmas hats.
She felt a soft hand cover hers, and she looked over. The Doctor, her best friend and most dazzling man she'd ever known, was gazing at her with warm affection. The heat of his touch spread through her, making her almost dazed with pure contentment.
"All right then?" he asked.
She nodded, her throat too tight to speak.
The Doctor looked around. "December 24th, 1818, the very first performance of Silent Night ever," he whispers. "And you're here to hear it, Donna Noble."
She smiles. "Thank you, Spaceman."
He squeezes her hand. "Any time, Donna."
A/N: This was inspired by a recording of Silent Night by John Denver and the Muppets, a Christmas Together (go look it up on YouTube), it touched my soul as a child and will always be cherished.