The Doctor and Donna spend Christmas in a jail cell, and then exchange gifts.

"And so this is Christmas," Donna said as she lowered herself to the floor next to the Doctor. "A jail cell and cold porridge."

"You'd think they could have at least given us a cell with a bed. I really am sorry, you know," the Doctor said for at least the hundredth time since they had been arrested for picking flowers. In the five hours since, they had been paraded around town with their hands tied together, interrogated by the police, and then dumped into the cell.

"Say that one more time, Martian, and my head will explode into a million tiny pieces," she threatened. She was so sick of his stupid apologies, especially because he had no reason to be sorry. She could only remind herself of his guilty conscience and need to protect her so many times.

"Sor-oh no. I mean, um, I apologize," he mumbled, looking sheepish.

"Argh! Stop." Donna gently punched him in the arm. "Just stop."

"Ow." He rubbed his arm. "Someone's not going to be on the nice list this year."

Donna snorted. "Well, neither is the man who ate my last packet of chocolate biscuits."

"I told you that I would replace them," he reminded her. "Maybe that's what I got you for Christmas." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Oh, great, my special prsent is a replacement packet of biscuits." She rolled her eyes. "How thoughtful of you."

"Well, if you don't want them…" He began to dig around in his pocket and soon pulled out the biscuits in question. "More for me. They took the sonic but left these. Strange, right?"

Donna snatched the packet from his hands and tore them open. "You didn't even bother to wrap them?" That stung. Of course she didn't expect anything from him, but...still. All of his bragging about getting her an extra special Christmas present had made her excited to find out what it was.

"I didn't say they actually were your present. I only said maybe," he said, and threw back his head and laughed. "Your face! I'm surprised you didn't slap me!"

Donna chuckled despite herself. "You know what I just said about not apologizing anymore? I take that back. Go on, say it."

"No way, I'm not risking being punched again."

"I'll share my biscuits if you behave."

"Sorry," he said immediately, and held out his hand, grinning.

Donna smiled back as she gave him a biscuit. "I guess they're going to have to be our Christmas dinner this year. Well, them and the porridge." Neither of them had even bothered to taste it.

"Yeah, I suppose so," he agreed. "But don't worry, we'll go to your family's house as soon as we get out of here. Just think, before you know it, we'll be eating turkey and exchanging presents."

"I hope so. Mum would have loved the flowers." She sighed. They had picked armfuls of silver lilies and arranged them into a bouquet to bring to her for Christmas. How were they supposed to know that the lilies were endangered? They only seemed to be growing everywhere! "When do you think they'll let us out of here?" she asked.

"As soon as they actually accept the fact that we're off-worlders and not familiar with the local flora, I hope." He shrugged. "Worst case scenario, they'll try to hang us in the morning. But don't worry - I won't let them hurt you."

"Right. Well, Happy Christmas," Donna said, before she took a bite of her biscuit. She sat the packet down and gestured for him to help himself.

"Happy Christmas," the Doctor echoed.

Silence fell over them as they ate, the biscuits disappearing quickly between the two of them. After that, the Doctor spread one of their meager blankets out on the hard ground floor and lied down, gesturing for Donna to join him. She did as he asked, stretching out beside him, and they used the other blanket to cover up.

"Might as well make ourselves a bit more comfortable, right?" he asked. "Maybe we can get some sleep so that we can be ready for whatever tomorrow brings."

"Yeah," Donna agreed. She rested her head on his arm and closed her eyes, but she soon found that sleep wouldn't come. Hours passed, unless they were only minutes. The floor was hard and cold under her body, and the silence was stifling. Unable to bear it any longer, she began humming quietly under her breath, hoping that she wouldn't disturb the Doctor.

"Jingle Bells?" he asked.

"Mm-hmm. Sorry if I woke you."

"You didn't. I'm too uncomfortable to sleep." He started humming along with her, and soon they had made it through all of the Christmas carols that Donna knew. The Doctor hummed alone for a while, sharing both long-forgotten and futuristic songs as well as some alien ones, and then he looped back into familiar Earth songs so that Donna could join in again. But she was finally starting to grow tired, and the soothing sound of his voice was like a lullaby. She wondered if he could sing well. Probably, she decided. Maybe she would ask him later. When he began rubbing her back, she was done for. She hummed a soft, contented sound, and closed her eyes.

"What is that infernal racket?" a deep voice demanded, and Donna jumped as she was pulled from the cusp of sleep. One of the prison guards appeared outside their cell door, a tall, green man with all sorts of silver markings on his skin that looked like moving tattoos. He made a guttural sound that might have been a groan of disgust. "Is that your mating song? And are you...? Oh, how horrid! Stop that nonsense right now. Break apart. The female must come with me if you cannot behave yourselves."

Donna felt her face turned red. "I'm not going anywhere with you," she said.

"Yes, you are," the Doctor whispered, as he stood up and offered her his hand. "He's got a limp. We'll be able to push past him and run." Donna kept hold of his hand as she stood, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

It was surprisingly easy to dodge the guard as they scampered out of the cell. The Doctor grabbed his sonic from the guard's desk and tugged her after him as they made a break for the door. The guard was shouting behind them, but they payed him no mind as they ran.

They made it back to the TARDIS in record time and stood clutching each other and panting in the console room. Only after the Doctor put them into the vortex did they relax, collapsing onto the jump seat together in a heap.

"Ready to go to see your family?" the Doctor asked, after they had had a few minutes to rest.

Donna wanted to go, but she was completely exhausted, and despite his chipper tone, she knew the Doctor was too. With a heavy heart, she turned to face him. "Do you think we could put off going for right now? My legs are killing me, and I really need to get some sleep."

"Of course, if that's what you want. Today was pretty rough." He touched her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "But would you mind if I give you your present before we go to bed? The real one, I mean."

She nodded, finding a tiny reserve of energy deep within herself. "Let's go to the library, and I'll give you mine too."

As they entered the library, a fire roared to life in the fireplace, and the decorated Christmas tree next to it lit up in shades of red and silver. Donna smiled despite herself, still loving the cheery decorations that the TARDIS had created for them. She picked up her present for the Doctor from under the tree and sat down on the sofa beside him.

"I want to save yours for last," he said, as he turned towards her, his knees brushing against hers.

She wanted to tease him, but he had been so excited to give her the present that she couldn't bear to burst his bubble. "Here you go," she said, as she handed him his present.

He unwrapped it carefully and slowly, making sure not to tear the wrapping paper as he peeled away the tape. Donna couldn't help but smile as affection for her friend filled her. He never failed to surprise her.

When he finally managed to remove enough of the paper to slip the box inside out, he broke into a grin. "It's the TARDIS pyjamas! Oh, Donna, you're brilliant!" He hugged her tightly and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

He had seen the police box pyjama set while they'd been out shopping, but they had been out of his size at the time. Donna had managed to call and place an order, and she'd even spent just enough on them to get free shipping all the way to her family's house on Earth.

The Doctor insisted on going to change into them immediately, and Donna was left to wait, wondering he was dragging this out on purpose. She wouldn't put it past him.

When he finally returned, he was grinning from ear to ear and carrying a small wrapped box. "Here you go," he said, softly, as he held the box out to her. She was pleased to see that the pyjamas were a perfect fit for his lanky form.

She took the box and turned it around in her hands, inspecting it closely. It was roughly the size and shape needed to hold a ring box, and her heart skipped a beat at the thought. Why would he get her a ring? Could he possibly…?

She was tempted to follow his lead and unwrap it slowly, but she couldn't stand to wait any longer. Instead, she tore into it eagerly and was only half-surprised to find what appeared to be a ring box inside. "Oh, Doctor," she said, softly.

"Go on, open it," he encouraged.

She opened the lid and found a rock nestled among tissue paper. Not a rock as in a diamond ring or another piece of jewelry, but just a simple, plain brown rock. She looked up at the Doctor, who was eagerly awaiting her response. "It's...nice?" she managed to say. And if rocks could be nice, it was. It was smooth, flat and perfectly round, but it was still just a rock.

"Do you know what it is?" he asked.

"Is it not a rock?"

"Oh, it most definitely is a rock, but it's not just any old ordinary rock. It's a heart stone from the planet Wogge. They're also known as memory stones because people give them as gifts to those who they have shared important life experiences with. It's a way to tell someone that they're important to you, and to say that you'll never forget them." He smiled at her. "They're especially popular to give as wedding gifts. But the best thing about heart stones is what they do when the receiver picks them up."

The Doctor really was sweet when he wanted to be, and Donna was pleased with the thought that he had put into her gift even if it wasn't quite what she had expected. She reached to pick up the rock, but immediately dropped it when it flashed a bright pink. "What?" She carefully picked it up again, and this time she didn't drop it. The rock shimmered and shone as she held it, looking for all the world like a tiny, flat pink disco ball. "Oh, it's beautiful," she said, and felt tears come to her eyes.

"I want you to know that I'll never forget you for as long as I live, Donna," he said. "I know you doubt it sometimes, but you are very, very special and important to me."

Donna stood to hug him, no longer holding back her tears. "I'll never forget you either. How could I?"

He held her close for a long while, soaking up the hug. When they finally broke apart he asked, "Did you read the little paper in the lid?"

She turned to do just that, and found a list of what the different colors meant. She gasped aloud when she got to pink. "You're asking me out on a date?"

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. "What would you say if I were?"

"I'd say yes, of course," she said, and beamed at him, moving in for another hug.

He grinned back as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Well, in that case, yes, I am asking."

"And I'm saying yes." She giggled. "And do you know what else? I'm wide awake now, so we can go for Christmas dinner. That is, if you feel up to it?"

"Oh, I do!" he said. "Shall we attend as a couple?"

"I think we shall," she said.

And they did.