Hey! I'm back with the latest chapter!

The BBC still owns Doctor Who. I tried to bribe them into giving it to me but apparently 50 cents and a bag of stale potato chips wasn't enough.


"What's the alarm for, then?" Ashildr asked as she hurried to the console room.

"That supernova should've killed us, but it didn't. We had all the shields up, apparently, but the radiation shield is failing."

"Meaning?"

"We'd better get the hell out of here or we'll be fried by over 5,000 rads of cosmic energy."

Clara pulled the main lever. Nothing happened as sirens and warnings continued to blare.

"That's not good…" She flipped a few more levers, a panicked look in her eyes. "That is really not good."

"What's really not good?"

"Something's interfering with the ship's time drive. We can't access the time vortex if it's malfunctioning. We can't go anywhere, and the rad shields are failing, and I don't have the first clue as to how to fix either of them."

"As for the time drive, all we need to do is harness enough energy from that supernova and it'll be up and running again."

"How'd you know that?"

"It says on this monitor." Ashildr gestured to the screen in front of her. "See?"

"It's in Gallifreyan, you can't expect me to understand it!"

"What I'm gathering from this data is that we need to harness the energy… But we've got to do it without absorbing any radiation."

"That's just it." Clara frowned. "We're stuck, then. How can we get the energy without the radiation if the rad shields are growing weaker by the second?"

"We'll have to draw in the energy and pray that what's left of the shield will hold up long enough for me to activate the time drive."

"You're crazy!"

Ashildr raised an eyebrow as she smiled at Clara. "I know." She turned her attention back to the control panel.

"You're going to get us killed!"

"You're already dead, and I'm immortal, I don't think either of us dying is really a possibility at this point! We have to activate it, it's now or never!" Ashildr pulled a lever and pressed a few buttons. "Clara, pull the ignition in three, two, one-"

A flash of white.

Then…

nothing.


Clara woke up in a grassy field underneath a tree. Everything was vivid, the grass a vibrant green and the sky a deep blue. The air was warm and clean and pure, smelling of wildflowers.

The meadow was made of rolling hills and wide valleys, stretching on until it met forest in every direction. There didn't appear to be any civilization in the area apart from a few small, furry creatures that looked like a cross between a rabbit and a fox and some butterfly-like insects.

Preoccupied with taking in her surroundings, Clara was slow to notice one major thing.

Neither Ashildr nor the TARDIS was anywhere in sight.

"Ashildr?" Clara called.

Clara didn't know what she would do if something had happened to Ashildr. The immortal Viking girl was literally the only reason she hadn't yet returned to Gallifrey.

"Ashildr!"

The only response was her echo and the leaves rustling in the breeze.

"I'm up here, Clara." A voice said from above, startling Clara. Ashildr was sitting on one of the lower tree branches. "Sorry if I scared you."

"What happened?" Clara asked. "And where are we?"

"I'm not entirely sure what happened…" Ashildr started, pausing to jump down from the branch she had been sitting on. "But I know for a fact that I set the coordinates for the nearest habitable planet. What I don't know is exactly what this planet is. I'm also not sure where the TARDIS is, or how we both wound up outside of it."

"Okay. Any idea of where the TARDIS could be?"

"No clue. But I suppose we'd better start looking. But what does the exterior even look like at this point? For all we know, the crash might've messed with the chameleon circuit."

"Could it be a diner again?"

"Maybe it's reverted to cylindrical form."

"Actually… I think it's a diner."

"What makes you so sure of that, oh Clara the Wise?"

"Take a look for yourself, Ashildr the uh... the Sassy."

"You couldn't come up with a clever comeback, could you?"

"Shut up, that's not the point!" Clara laughed, playfully shoving Ashildr. "Look!"

Clara stood at the top of the hill, giving a brilliant view of the valley below. In the middle of the waving green grass stood a familiar building, their TARDIS, once again having taken the form of a diner.

A warm, flowery breeze blew as Clara and Ashildr walked towards their TARDIS. "Wherever this place is, I wouldn't mind staying awhile." Clara said, smiling and taking Ashildr's hand. "Let's hurry back and find out what planet we're on, then we can sit down for some lemonade."


By the time the pair reached their diner-TARDIS, the sun was slowly sinking towards the horizon, turning the landscape into a hazy golden dream. Ashildr leaned against the side wall of their time traveling diner, waiting for Clara to return with their lemonade.

She sighed. It had been literally billions of years since the immortal had even had a friend. The Doctor didn't count; he was generally somewhat mean towards her, likely because she was unintentionally responsible for the "death" of his closest friend.

But Clara… Clara was kind and brilliant and beautiful. Just the thought of her brought a smile to Ashildr's face.

It had been billions of years since she had a friend.

It had been even longer since she was in love.

The real problem for Ashildr was trying to distinguish between the two feelings.


The bell on the diner door rang softly, followed by Clara sitting down in the soft grass next to Ashildr. "Alright, so I've found out what planet we're on, and I've got lemonade! Not just lemonade, but pink lemonade, the best kind there is!"

"Thanks." Ashildr smiled. "But… why is it pink? I'm billions of years old, and not once have I seen a pink lemon."

"There's a few planets they grow on, including this one. We're on the planet Greenvale, in the Gemini Quadrant of the Andromeda Galaxy. This region is largely uninhabited. Most of the civilization here lives in the surrounding forest."

"Friendly civilization?"

"We've got no real way of knowing." Clara said, pausing to take a sip of her lemonade. "Although it'd be better not to find out."

"You're probably right."

"Anyway…" Clara said, "You were about to say something. Before we crashed, you were going to tell me something, and it seemed important."

Ashildr froze, remembering what she had come so close to saying earlier. "I… Ugh… Nevermind, it wasn't important."

"I bet it was. Tell me, I'll listen."

Ashildr took a deep breath, then spoke. "A long, long time ago, I was in love. But I can't remember what it felt like." She paused. "And between the Doctor and Jane Austen and Danny Pink, I feel like you'd have a good concept of what love is."

"Alright." Clara smiled. "So when you're in love, it feels like you're falling and flying at the same time. Whenever you're with someone you love or doing something you love, you'll just get this never-ending rush of pure joy." She laughed as she brushed a stray wisp of hair behind her ear. "It's nearly impossible to explain it… But when you're in love, you'll just know."

Somewhere during her explanation, Clara had moved closer to Ashildr. Comfortingly close.

A hint of a smile lingered on Clara's face."Any particular reason you're asking me about love?"

That question felt like a brick in Ashildr's stomach. "Alright, I'm just gonna get this over with now. See, my problem is that I'm so used to being alone. I don't really know how to feel emotion of any sort anymore. Ever since I've started traveling with you, I've been happier, which is weird because I haven't felt happiness in thousands of years. And it's a weird feeling. Almost uncomfortable. I don't know if it's because I haven't felt anything but loneliness in ages, or if you're my friend and I just can't distinguish my own emotions, or if I've fallen in lo-" Ashildr cut herself off mid-sentence, aware of what she had nearly said. "Erm… Forget everything I've said." She laughed nervously. "I think there must be something in the atmosphere here that's messing with my brain."

"First of all, I checked, and this planet's atmosphere is nearly identical to that of Earth." Clara smirked. "But nice try."

"It was worth a shot." Ashildr laughed in an attempt to disguise her awkwardness, desperately hoping that Clara would shut up. The last thing she needed was for Clara to further mention-

"Secondly…" There was a fraction of a second of silence as Clara turned to Ashildr, making eye contact for what seemed like the first time in ages. "you don't need to worry." She smiled softly, pressing a brief yet gentle kiss to the other girl's lips, taking Ashildr by surprise. "I've known the whole time."

There was a slow silence as the breeze whispered its sweet sunset melody.

Ashildr, still surprised, was the first to speak. "I… I didn't know you knew. How could you even tell?"

"It was obvious."

"Was it?"

"It really was. I'm sorry if what I did was… Well… Too forward or too sudden, or if you didn't even mean what I thought you meant in the first place."

"You're not wrong. I mean, it was sudden and unexpected. I can't say I didn't like it; that would be a lie."

"Do you have feelings for me, then?"

Ashildr sighed. The Impossible Girl, asking impossible questions. "I don't know."

"It's okay if the answer is yes."

"I assume you've gone through the process… Of falling in love, that is."

"Yes."

"Is the first part of falling in love like an airplane crash? Like you're plummeting and you know what's going to inevitably occur but you're almost content with it?"

"I've never heard it described like that, but sure."

"And what's it like to have a best friend? It's been lifetimes since I've had a friend."

"A friend… Well… A friend is someone you're close to. I'd consider us friends, although in light of recent events, that title may be subject to change."

"I… I wish I knew how to feel. Trust me, Clara, if I could give you a definitive answer, I would. My problem is that I'm not used to any emotions other than sadness and loneliness, so it's damn near impossible to know if what I feel for you is friendship or if it's something else. So if it's okay with you…" Ashildr leaned on Clara's shoulder, seeking comfort. "... I'd like to be able to fly around the universe kicking alien butt and just be your friend. If something happens between us, it happens. We shouldn't force it."

"I agree. We just need to be ourselves. No more assumptions."

Ashildr sat up and turned to Clara. "Do you want to know what I was going to say back on the TARDIS?"

"No. Not yet. Someday you can tell me. Just not today." Clara glanced at the sky, where the sun was meeting the horizon. "We should go. I doubt we want to be outside on a strange planet at night."

"You're right."


The tiny bell on the diner door rang as the two girls made their way through the diner, towards the console room.

"Where to next?" Ashildr asked, flipping through the TARDIS manual while flipping various levers.

"Let's see if she can take us somewhere exciting. Somewhere that'd get my heart racing… if such a thing were possible."

"Alright. Come help me land her." Ashildr instructed. "It's a lot easier to fly this thing with two people."

Things seemed different. When piloting the TARDIS, it wasn't uncommon for the pair to bump into each other or for their hands to touch as they reached for the same button. But things were different now. Apologies were hasty and stammered, lingering touches lasted for what seemed an eternity.

Just as Ashildr was about to try and diffuse the tension, Clara opened the door and spoke up. "Ashildr, you have to come see this…"

All previous tensions were forgotten as the pair stared in awe at the sight before them.

The landscape was desolate and barren. A ways away from the diner stood a gigantic castle, blending in with the darkness that surrounded them.

"If I still had a heartbeat…" Clara murmured, taking Ashildr's hand, "I'm positive it'd be racing."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ashildr asked, tightening her grip on Clara's hand, trying to somehow make it clear that this was not a good idea.

"We're immortals. We'll be fine."

"Alright…"


AAAA I hope you liked this chapter. I spent approximately a month trying to get it right! Reviews are appreciated! :)