AN: This was written for queen-beastie on Tumblr for this years Classic Who Secret Santa. I hope they enjoy it! Merry Christmas!
It wasn't often Ace thought of her life back on Earth. Back before she had somehow sent herself hurtling through space to be found by the Doctor on that boring old ice planet. Especially since now she gets to travel through all of space and time with the Professor. But sometimes homesickness would creep over her heart like ice, dulling the world around her into a misty haze.
She was good at hiding it though. She didn't want the Professor to get the wrong idea and leave her behind.
But then he would look at her with his strange piercing eyes beneath his white panama hat, and Ace would barely have time to understand what she saw in them before he had whisked her off to another time and place. And all thoughts of home would vanish behind the thrill of adventure.
~OCT~
"Where are we, Professor?" Ace shivered drawing her leather jacket closer around her. The Doctor had landed the TARDIS in a neverending evergreen forest blanketed in a crisp, sparkling snow.
"This, Ace," the Doctor smiled gesturing around them with his question mark umbrella, "is Picea Prime, more commonly known as the Christmas Tree planet."
Ace looked around unimpressed. "Why are we here? Is there gonna be an alien invasion soon? Some kind of world-threatening disaster?"
"No, Ace," the Doctor sighed loudly but then brightened once more. "We're here to pick out a Christmas tree!"
"Why?" Ace groaned. "Christmas is for little kids."
"Ace," the Doctor said and linked his arm through hers to begin to walk away from the TARDIS and deeper into the forest. He leaned into her as if to impart some great knowledge. "Sometimes to be a grown-up means you've got to be a little childish. Come on, let's find the perfect Christmas tree!"
~OCT~
"Welcome! Welcome!"
A short balding man wearing a garish red and green suit bounded toward them with open arms and a broad grin. He was clearly a salesman of some sort with his shrewd eyes and smarmy smile. As he drew nearer, Ace noticed that his ears were slightly pointed. She groaned.
"Professor, you've got to be kidding," she muttered to the Doctor. He shushed her and doffed his hat to the little man.
"Hello!" the Doctor called with a smile. "I'm the Doctor and this is my friend, Ace."
"Hello, Doctor and Ace," the little man nodded at them teeth still bared in an obnoxious grin. "My name is Clark. Welcome to Picea Prime! How may I be of assistance?"
The Doctor looked to Ace expectantly. She shrugged. The Doctor wagged his eyebrows and nodded towards Clark who was watching them both with hawk-like interest. Ace rolled her eyes and turned back to the small elf-man.
"We're here for a Christmas tree," she said tonelessly.
"Excellent!" Clark said completely ignoring her lack of enthusiasm, used to dealing with teenagers before. "You've come to the right place. Do you know what kind of tree you're looking for?"
Before either of them could answer, Clark began to lead them down a row of trees espousing the many different merits of the trees found on Picea Prime. The Doctor followed along in his wake hooking his umbrella handle around Ace's elbow to drag her along with them.
~OCT~
"What do you think, Ace?"
They were standing in front of a tree indistinguishable from the million others on this planet. Ace was cold and tired and sick of looking at stupid Christmas trees. She just wanted to go back to the TARDIS and get a cup of hot cocoa. She wrapped her arms around herself in a shrug. "It looks like a tree."
"Ace," the Doctor scolded.
He looked the tree up and down once more and then began to walk around it. He circled the tree three more times letting out the occasional hmmm of indecision while Clark looked on anxiously. The Doctor, finally satisfied, stopped in front of Ace.
"We'll take it," he said to Clark who grinned broadly up at him.
"Wonderful!" Clark clapped his hands together. "I'll call my brother to cut it down for you."
"Oh no, that won't be necessary."
Ace and Clark gaped at the Doctor. "What?"
"It can stay right where it is," the Doctor said without taking his eyes from the tree. He turned back to them thoughtfully. "Wait here a moment. I'll be right back."
He turned and walked a few meters behind the tree and disappeared into the forest. Clark turned to look at Ace. "Does he always do that?"
Ace shrugged. "Yeah, pretty usual for the Professor."
~OCT~
A not short while later, after Ace had gotten tired of standing and sat in the snow and Clark had paced a nervous path through it, a wheezing mechanical sound reverberated around the forest. Ace grinned as the blue police box materialized in the lane beside them.
"What is that?!"
"Relax," Ace said getting to her feet. "It's the TARDIS."
Clark's confusion only grew as the TARDIS fully materialized and the Doctor stepped back out into the snow carrying a large box.
"Here we go, Ace!" He called pushing the surprisingly heavy box into her arms. She looked down to see it filled with dozens of Christmas ornaments. The Doctor turned to give Clark a charming smile, "This shouldn't take us too long."
~OCT~
"There!" The Doctor declared. "Perfect!"
Ace had placed the last ornament on the tree-a tiny, bright red Dalek. She tilted her head to the side and nodded. "Yeah, it really is."
The Doctor laughed. "You sound surprised!"
"Can you blame me?" Ace laughed with him. They had spent the last hour and a half putting lights and garlands and ornaments on the tree the Doctor had refused to cut down. Clark had grown weary of watching them and gone back to his cabin office to get hot chocolate for them almost an hour ago. He had yet to return. But Ace and the Doctor had taken turns trying to find the best place to put every single item from the box on the tree. It had been much more fun than Ace had thought.
The Doctor pursed his lips at the tree. "You know, Ace, I think our little tree might be missing something."
Ace looked the tree up and down. It had everything; lights, ornaments, even a star for the top. She walked around the tree trying to find something wrong with it, but the Doctor's earlier assessment was right. The tree was perfect. "What could possibly be missing?"
"This," the Doctor said holding up a familiar silver canister with a mischievous grin.
"Wicked."
~OCT~
The concussive force from the explosion knocked Ace back a few steps. Her heart pounded in her chest and she laughed deliriously. She felt more than heard the Doctor laughing along with her. Their carefully decorated tree was now nothing more than ash and debris. It was perfect.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" a voice shouted from down the row of Christmas trees, all the snow now shaken from their branches but otherwise untouched. Ace was a master of explosions. Clark was running toward them face almost as red as his ugly suit.
The Doctor grabbed Ace's hand. "Come on! Into the TARDIS!"
They both ran pell-mell into the blue police box as the small man cried out after them. The Doctor slammed the doors shut as he reached the TARDIS console wheezing from laughter.
"That was brilliant, Professor!" Ace yelled still high from the adrenaline rush of explosions and running away. This had to be the best Christmas she'd ever had.
"So Christmas isn't for little kids anymore?" the Doctor teased still smiling.
"Not anymore," Ace said rolling her eyes. She stared at the Doctor for a long moment and then crossed the console room to wrap him in a hug. "Happy Christmas, Professor," she said into his shoulder.
The Doctor hugged her back. "Happy Christmas, Ace."