If anyone has questions about the Houses or what Rovies are, look them up on TARDISWiki and Tumblr (I do it by Google Search). Most everything I am using is actually canon, and it's actually really interesting when you get past the first paragraph.

The mention of the holiday Christmas is used in this chapter. I myself am Christian, so I do not mind the use. If you are part of any other religion(s), this use of the holiday is not meant to offend you. It is simply used to describe similarities between Christmas and the Gallifreyan holiday mentioned in this chapter, using the same type of celebrations, though it does not express celebrating the Christian God. This use of Christmas is not meant to offend anyone in any way, shape or form.

Disclaimer was in the first chapter, go read if you care, although I am using a new song's lyrics, Just be Held by Casting Crowns. I don't own this song, either, just using it to express the Whouffle that is to come later, and I will change some words to make it better for the story.

(Spoilers!)


Hold it all together, everybody needs you strong

But life hits you out of nowhere and barely leaves you holding on

And now I'm tired of fighting, chained by your control

There's freedom in surrender

Lay it down and let it go


The next day the Doctor left the mansion to go buy a wedding present.

He soon returned and brought Jackie with him, as well as Rose.

"I don't know what to buy!" He exclaimed when they asked where they were going. "I've never bought something for a woman. I don't know how."

They traveled by TARDIS to the Citadel, where it was known to have many shops and restaurants in the middle, like a mall. Only the richest people shopped there. They parked in TARDIS parking (yes there are things like that) and entered the mall.

"The first thing you're looking for," instructed Jackie, "is something elegant. Women love somethin' elegant, like chocolate."

"So... can I just buy a box of chocolates?" The Doctor said, hoping he could get this over with.

Jackie slapped his arm. "No, silly," she said. "This is a weddin'. You can't just buy chocolates for a weddin'."

"See, women like elegance with a li'l thought to it. If ya just buy chocolates, then she'll know you didn't put much thought to it. It means something to them," Rose coached.

"Especially if it's Rassilon's daughter. And then you have to buy a present for her husband, don't forget," Jackie added.

The Doctor put his head in his hands and groaned. "Why don't you just go and find something for both of them, and come back and find me?"

"Nope," they said at the same time, grinning. "If we're goin' to teach ya, you're gonna learn."


Several hours and opkes later, the Doctor, Jackie, and Rose returned with six presents for both bride and groom. Jackie and Rose were chatting excitedly about the wedding, wondering what sort of dress the bride would wear, what sort of music would the Towers of Derillium would sing (recorded, obviously), and, of course, who the groom was. The poor Doctor was left to carry the gifts they had bought. Exhausted, he dumped them in the crafts room to be wrapped later and practically collapsed on his bed in the room connected to his study.

And I still have to talk to Clara, he thought. Sighing heavily, he sat up (why did his back hurt so much?) and made his way to the arts and crafts room.

Fifteen minutes later, he had four badly wrapped presents and still had eight more to go. "Gods," he thought. "I'll never get this done."

Another five minutes later and he had Clara helping him with wrapping them, as she had worked in the most houses with children and therefore would know how to wrap their presents on the eve of Otherstide.

"No, no- you're- it doesn't- it goes the opposite way, Doctor," Clara caught his mistake before he made it.

"Oh," he said sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I'm really terrible at celebrations. I can imagine, though, you've had lots of practice wrapping presents."

"Yeah," Clara said. The Doctor noticed her stutter was gone. He put it under 'Things to Contemplate Later.' "A lot of my previous masters... They had kids, and of course they wanted things, so I had to shop for them and wrap them all."

They continued in silence, Clara every once in a while correcting a mistake of his.

"So... I had a question," Clara said. "Actually, two."

"Fire away," the Doctor said, still trying to get the tape dispenser to work properly.

"Um... is... is Madame Vastra a mistress, or is she..."

The Doctor looked up in surprise. He laughed. "No," he said. "She's a very old friend of mine who recently got evicted from her home. She asked if she could stay with me, and she's been staying for about three years. I don't mind, really, it's nice to have someone plan things out for you."

"Oh," Clara said. "I didn't know."

"What's your second question?"

"What's an Otherstide Day like?"

(This one never ceases to amaze him.)

"You've never had an Otherstide Day before?" Clara shook her head and finished the fifth present for the bride.

"Well, and Otherstide Day is a celebration similar to the planet Sol 3's Christmas, held annually in honour of the Other, one of Gallifrey's founders.

"It consists of a feast followed by various forms of entertainment, often shows and plays depicting the story of the Other's banishment from Gallifrey. As part of the celebration, the cousins of each Great House won't step foot outside until the night was over. This is to immitate how the people of the Citadel hid within their homes while Rassilon chased the Other out of the city."

Coincidentally, the Doctor's Naming Day was the same day as the eve of Otherstide.

"Huh," Clara said. "It sounds like fun. I've never had one, you know. Always watched the kids and their parents go out and celebrate, but I always had to stay in and clean up. Never had one, even when I lived on the river of Lethe."

"Well," the Doctor said. "It's just lucky for you we have our own little Otherstide celebration here, isn't it?"

"Oh, really? Oh, it would be amazing to attend one! Do we go anywhere? What food do we eat? Is anyone special coming?" She fired out questions so fast the Doctor's mind couldn't catch them all.

"Woah, woah, slow down! You'll ruin it all!" She quieted, and the Doctor can continued. "I can't tell you everything, but I can say that Jack and Ianto always put on a hilarious romance show, where one is Rassilon and the other is the Other, who always complains to Rassilon about how much he loves him, and Rassilon almost lets him go but then he realizes that it's forbidden love, so he always banishes the Other. It's always different every year, so we can't really expect what's next. They always choose different people every year to play different parts, and everyone plays it so well.

"Jackie and Donna create a feast where everyone eats together, and we have music in the background. We have a dance where everyone is required to dance with everyone at least once, and, whoo, Jenny and Vastra... oh, I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I?"

"That all sounds amazing," Clara said. "I can't wait."

The Doctor only grinned in response.

It came to their attention that they had, in fact, wrapped all the presents for the wedding, and it was then that the Doctor asked Clara to serve at it, if she'd like. She gladly accepted the invitation and went to ask Amy if she'd go too.

The Doctor had a good feeling that he'd repaired his relationship with Clara after The Incident.

And now, he had to go get his (un)lucky suit tailored.


I'm sorry that this chapter is shorter than most but I want to save the actual wedding part for the next chapter, because it's hella long. Thank you for understanding. (It's only off by 567 words to make it 2,000, which is my goal I set for myself.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU AND I LOOK FORWARD TO 2016 BEING AWESOME!