Lilly stood in her room, looking herself up and down in the mirror.
"Well, I guess it's an okay outfit," she muttered. "I don't think it looks the best it could, but it should work for adventuring." She turned sideways to test how she looked from another angle.
"Ugh, still not the greatest, but it'll do." Her outfit wasn't the prettiest, but it was most likely going to be appropriate if any sort of running or physical exercise was going to be involved in going with the Doctor.
Lilly turned back to face the mirror. Her long brown hair had been pulled back into a braid, and although it still fell quite a ways past her shoulders – so only the tiniest bit shorter than usual – she wasn't risking trying to tame it any more than that (her hair was a monster when she tried to put it in a bun). Her outfit consisted of a pale-blue flannel shirt over a white tank top. Skinny jeans and a pair of black, high-top Converse just about finished off the outfit.
Lilly looked to her right, towards her desk. The little rack she used to hang her necklaces on caught her eye, and she made her way towards it. Lilly only owned about five necklaces, two of which had been given to her by Clara, and the other three . . . well, she wasn't sure where she got them from, really. Possibly given as a gift by some obscure relative many Christmas's ago, since she couldn't ever recall having someone other than Clara over to her house for Christmas.
Lilly unhooked one of the necklaces from the rack, and walked back over to her mirror. Holding it up to her chest, she peered at her reflection.
I look okay, she thought to herself. Hopefully Clara agrees. Clara was her boss when it came to her outfits. On the night prior to an event that she would have to go to, Clara would always come over and tell Lilly what looked good and what didn't. She'd help with makeup, jewelry, everything. One time she even brought over some dresses of her own, since she'd decided that Lilly's were too unprofessional.
Lilly continued to stare at her reflection. The necklace, in her opinion, looked good with the outfit. It was a thin black choker with a small, silver crescent moon dangling from the front. A wheezing noise echoed from outside, and Lilly quickly put on the necklace before running out of her room, down the hall and out of her house.
A grin was plastered onto her face as she saw the TARDIS waiting for her on her lawn. Clara peeked out the door, smiling as she watched Lilly run up to her.
"Well someone looks adorable," she commented. Lilly smiled.
"Glad the boss approves." They looked at each other for a moment longer, both barely containing their excitement, before Clara opened the door further, and Lilly ran inside.
Lilly's smile got wider as she noticed the glee on the Doctor's face. Clara shut the door behind her.
"So we're moving through actual time?" Clara asked, before running up to the Doctor. "So what's it made of, time? I mean, if you can just roll right through it, it's got to be made of stuff, like jam's made of strawberries, so what's it made of?"
"Well not strawberries, no, no no no, that would be unacceptable." Lilly giggled. The Doctor began to move to the other side of the console so she followed him.
"So we can go anywhere?"
"Within reason. Well, I say reason." Lilly grinned, and shared an excited look with Clara.
"So we could go backwards in time, yeah?" Clara questioned.
"And space, yes."
"And forwards in time."
"And space, totally. So where do you want to go, hey? What do you want to see?" Lilly smiled as she followed them around the console. The Doctor turned to face the two girls, expecting an answer.
"I . . . I don't know," Lilly admitted, eyes wide. "I mean- you offer us all of time and space, and we've no idea what's out there." She looked up at the Doctor. "We've never been off of Earth; we have no clue what could possibly be waiting for us." Lilly grinned.
"So . . . how about . . . someplace awesome!" The Doctor clapped his hands, and quickly spun around to flip some switches on the console. Lilly laughed in delight as she held on to the railing.
This is the best day of my life!
The Doctor slowly led Lilly and Clara out of the TARDIS, after giving them the instruction to keep their eyes closed. He kept one hand on their shoulders to keep them steady.
Light seeped through Lilly's eyelids, and a smile spread across her face.
"Can you feel the light on your eyelids?" The Doctor asked. Lilly nodded, while Clara responded with "mmm-hmm."
"That is the light of an alien sun." Lilly's grin grew wider as the Doctor maneuvered them slightly further away from the TARDIS.
"Forward a couple of steps . . . okay," he said. Lilly could hear the smile in his voice. "Are you ready?"
"Yes," Clara replied, while Lilly nodded her head again. "No! Yes." Slowly, the two girls opened their eyes. Lilly stared in awe at the ginormous sun in front of them.
"Welcome to the Rings of Akhaten."
Wonder filled Lilly's eyes as she watched the sun; watching flickers of light emanate on its surface, flares reaching out in bursts of scarlet and gold. What seemed to be a city loomed before them, standing humble yet strong on top of one of the larger asteroids orbiting the star.
"It's . . ."
"It is!" The Doctor exclaimed. "It so completely is, but wait! There is more!" Lilly gaped.
"More what?" She asked.
"Wait wait wait." The Doctor peered at his watch. "In about five, four, three . . ." He slowly walked them forwards a little bit more. ". . . two . . . look at that." As he finished the countdown, a large asteroid moved past them, revealing a golden pyramid atop one of the asteroids.
"Woah," Lilly breathed. It shone in the light of the star, reflecting every ray, and she couldn't take her eyes away from it.
"What is it?" Clara asked.
"The pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten. It's a holy site for the Sound Singers of Akhate," the Doctor explained. Clara tore her eyes away from it, asking:
"The who of what?" The Doctor turned to face her.
"Seven worlds, all orbiting the same star, all of them sharing the belief that life in the universe originated here, on that planet." Lilly turned to him.
"Did it?" She asked. "Did all life actually come from here?" He smiled.
"Well . . . that's what they believe. It's a nice story." Clara paused for a second, before asking:
"Can we see it? Up close?" The Doctor looked down the two girls, before holding out his hands. Lilly didn't hesitate to grab on, and Clara followed shortly after. They all rushed back into the TARDIS.
When the TARDIS landed, Lilly was the first one out the door, quickly followed by Clara and the Doctor. The Doctor quickly took the lead however, leading them through the throng of people. Lilly's eyes darted around, trying to take in as much as she could, while still keeping up with the Doctor.
Once they reached a more open area, they stopped running. Lilly stared at her surroundings. Booths of all kinds were lining the sides of the street. All sorts of different species were moving about, and she couldn't keep her eyes off of them.
Clara slowly started to move away from the Doctor, and Lilly held tightly to her hand, following her through the crowd.
"Wow, I just- wow," Lilly breathed. "It's just so . . . wow." Clara giggled at her friend's lack of words. Clara turned back to face the Doctor.
"Where are they from?"
"Oh, you know, the local system mostly."
"And what should we call them?" Clara questioned. Lilly was still gazing at all of the activity around them, but she was brought back into the conversation when the Doctor pointed at one of the aliens.
"Ah, there are some Pan-Babylonians." He pointed at another alien. "A Lugarlirakush." He looked around bit, before pointing out another alien species. "Uh, some Eukanians."
"I hope there won't be a quiz on all of this later," Lilly joked. The Doctor grinned down at her, before continuing to point out more species.
"A Hooloovoo," he said, greeted it in its own language, before it walked past.
"That chap's a Terraberserker of the Kodonian Belt; you don't see many of them around anymore." Clara looked back at the alien but the Doctor quickly tugged on her hand, and ran up to a more robot-looking alien. Lilly and Clara swiftly followed him, trying to dodge the other aliens.
"Ho-ho! That's an Ultramanta!" He ran back to Lilly and Clara. "You know, I forgot how much I like it here; we should come here more often." Lilly raised an eyebrow.
"You've been here before?"
"Yes, yes, yes. I came here a long time ago with my granddaughter." That stopped her in her tracks. Granddaughter?
"Hang on, you have a granddaughter?" He began to race off. "Doctor?" Lilly grabbed Clara's hand again, before running after him.
"Doctor!"
When they found the Doctor again, he had a small basket of glowing blue . . . things. Lilly wasn't sure what to call them. He walked up to them, the previous conversation seemingly forgotten.
"Exotic fruit of some description." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, scanning the fruits while Clara took one from the basket and began nibbling on it.
"All right, non-toxic, non-hallucinogenic, high in free radicals and low in other stuff, I shouldn't wonder." Clara began shaking her head, clearly not liking the taste very much.
"No?" The Doctor questioned. She put the fruit back in the basket.
"So, why are all these people here?" Lilly asked. The Doctor hooked an arm over each girl's shoulder.
"Ah! For the Festival of Offerings. Takes place every 1,000 years or so when the rings align. It's quite a big thing locally, like Pancake Tuesday." Lilly smiled at the poor comparison. Clara turned around, and Lilly turned to go after her, when she saw Clara run into someone.
"Woah!" Clara exclaimed, drawing away from the alien. The person growled at her, and Clara's eyes widened. "Um, Doctor?"
The Doctor came rushing over, barking rapidly. Lilly slowly approached her friends, keeping an eye on the alien.
"What's happening? Why is it angry?" Clara asked, not taking her eyes off of the creature.
"This isn't an 'it,'" The Doctor said, pointing at the alien. "It's a she! Dor'een meet Clara, Clara, Dor'een."
"Dor'een?" Lilly questioned.
"Loose translation. She sounds a bit grumpy but she's a total love, actually. Aren't you, yes you are." He looked from Dor'een and back to Clara. "You know, actually, she's just asking you if you fancy renting a moped."
Clara looked to the moped, then back to Dor'een, and barked at Dor'een. The Doctor grinned at her, while Lilly was trying to figure out if she should laugh, be slightly ashamed or be proud of her friend's attempt at trying to speak an alien language.
"So, how much does it cost?" Clara asked.
"Not money, something valuable. Sentimental value. A photograph, love letter, something like that." Lilly raised an eyebrow, and the Doctor tried to explain further.
"That's what's used for currency here. Psychometry. Objects psychically imprinted with their history. The more treasured they are, the more value they hold."
"That's horrible," Clara replied, crossing her arms.
"Much better than using bits of paper." Lilly placed a hand on her hip, trying to formulate a response, but when she was unable to find any she simply settled for huffing and crossing her arms.
"Then you pay," Clara said. Lilly gaped at her friend.
"With what?" Clara was about to respond to the Doctor when Lilly interjected:
"Clara, you can't just ask him to give up something treasured, that's just . . . that's just rude." Clara looked properly shamed for a moment, but it was gone as quickly as it came, and Lilly rolled her eyes in resignation. It was so hard to get a lesson through her head sometimes . . .
Clara turned to talk to the Doctor, only to find that he had run off at some point in their short exchange.
"Doctor?" She called, and Lilly whipped around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bow tie-wearing alien. No such luck.
She let out a frustrated groan, and was about to try to call for him when a little girl ran up to her.
"Oh! Hi, are you okay?" She asked. The girl stared at her for a second, before darting past. Lilly turned to face where she had run off to. She shared a glance with Clara.
"Huh," Lilly commented.
"Do you think we should-"
"Yeah we should."
And with that, they ran off after the girl, blissfully ignorant of the Doctor's eyes watching Lilly's every move.
"Odd how she acts and looks so much like her, yet she has no clue who she is . . ." He stared at the spot that she had just been for a moment, before slipping relucantly back into the crowd. She was a mystery to solve, and quite a strange mystery at that, but she was to be solved at another time. For now, he had to remain clueless.
But little did he know, the time was rapidly approaching where he would be clueless no more.