Chapter 6: Kyoto, Japan 1336

AN: Last chapter for the Ninth Doctor.

It was Jack who first suggested that they visit Japan for a break. A little relaxation before getting back to their roles as heroes of time and space. When he brought it up, Rose was the first to respond with "Do they have Christmas in Japan?"

"What?" Jack laughed. "Of course they do. What kind of question is that?"

The Doctor knew exactly why she was asking. Nearly killed by a Slitheen in the safety of the TARDIS, then attacked for sneaking into the hatcheries of Raxacoricofallapatorius. All on top of ending things with her sort-of boyfriend. Poor thing needed a break. He cast her a quick look, then adjusted the settings he'd been putting in.

"Right then, Kyoto, early 32nd century. 24th of December."

Jack frowned. "32nd Century? How boring is that? You gotta go for something more feudal! Samurai and geisha and all that. How about 1336? I met a chieftain's daughter there who should take good care of us."

Rose's eyes lit up. "Can I wear a kimono?"

"I'm sure there are some in the wardobe." The Doctor began adjusting their coordinates.

"I can help you get it on," Jack offered. "Let's just say I've tied, and untied, my share of kimono and yukata." Jack smiled. The Doctor frowned. Rose laughed.

"Think I can manage fine on my own, thanks."

Both Rose and Jack disappeared, retuning a few minutes later dressed surprisingly appropriate for the time and place. The two of them had an awful habit of picking out inappropriate or distasteful clothing for their destination. The Doctor blamed it on the movies and television they watched.

"Ready to go then?" He held the door open for them, locking it once they'd all walked out.

"Doesn't look all that Christmassy," Rose commented, glancing at the rather plain looking city.

"Yes, well, thank your friend Captain Jack for that. Be another 600 years before they celebrate it here."

"We could have changed the date," Jack insisted.

"Right. 'Oh, 1336, absolutely! Know the daughter of a chieftain who'll put us up nice. It'll be a great time.' Sound familiar?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "I hardly sounded like that. I merely made a suggestion." He began walking, Rose and the Doctor following close behind. They made their way down several residential streets until reaching what appeared to be a market place. Immediately Rose was drawn to a small bakery, inhaling the sweet scents that poured out into the street. As she stared at a shelf of sweets the Doctor came to stand next to her.

"Now, in modern Japan, and by modern I mean your time," he bumped Rose with his shoulder, "it's a tradition for fathers to bring home Christmas cakes. But, the country's work ethic can be so severe that some of the time mothers have to go buy the cake because their husbands are working."

"On Christmas?" Rose asked. "There should be a law against it."

Jack winced. "Yeah, they tried that around 4012. Didn't work out too well. Shut the world down for an entire day and it takes a long time to get things running again, trust me."

"Besides," added the Doctor. "Most of Japan is Buddhist so they don't see the need. Even in England there are shops and companies that stay open."

"So why celebrate Christmas at all if they're Buddhist?"

The Doctor sighed, leading them back out of the shop to continue walking. "Do we really have to go through this every time? Tell people you have a holiday where everyone gets presents-"

"Okay, I get it." Rose rolled her eyes towards Jack who held back a snicker.

"Anyway Doc, you were saying…"

"Right. Christmas cake. Fathers are supposed to bring it home for the families, but then they decided Christmas was a romantic holiday, so ask a girl out on Christmas and give her a cake and she pretty much knows where you stand."

"I'll have to remember that," Jack commented. "Modern day Christmas could be a very opportune time." He winked at Rose, then did the same for the Doctor who merely shook his head at his companion's behavior. They were making their way towards the capital when they heard a piercing cry.

Instinctively they took off immediately towards the screaming. Turning down an alley they found several people running in the opposite direction from what looked like a giant monk - twice the height of a man, with a bulbous stomach and huge hanging earlobes. It squinted its eyes in their direction, then turned, fanning itself with a small paper fan, and began to walk towards a temple on a nearby hill. As it walked it peered back at them from a pair of bright eyes in the back of its head.

"It can't be…" The Doctor stared up at it awestruck with a smile on his face.

"What is it?"

"Well, I think it might be a few centuries early for Christmas, but Hoteiosho sounds right."

"Some sort of monster?" Rose asked.

"Santa Claus."

"What?!" Both Jack and Rose were staring at him with their mouths agape.

"Japanese Santa Claus. Carries around gifts in a sack and watches children all year round since he's got eyes in the back of his head."

"So what's it doing here?" Jack asked, the three of them running to follow.

"No idea. Hoteiosho is actually an ancient god that they adapted into Santa Claus around the 1900's, but this looks like more than just a myth."

"You think they got the idea for the God from this guy?"

"Could be, or maybe whatever it is has disguised itself as one of the local deities."

The reached the entrance to the temple and cautiously stepped inside. There was no sign of the giant creature, but a small rattling at the back of the main room drew their attention. They moved towards it and heard a scurrying in the direction of the entrance.

"Hold it right there!" Jack drew his blaster and the scurrying stopped. With an annoyed sigh the Doctor reached over and lowered Jack's weapon, then turned to address whatever was with them in the temple.

"We're not here to hurt you."

"If you're lost or something, we can help," Rose added.

Slowly a small creature, the size of a cat, though shaped more like a roach, emerged from behind a stack of crates. It looked up at them timidly, then glanced down at the floor.

"You can really help me?" It asked, fidgeting in front of them.

The Doctor kneeled down to better match the creature's height. "Yes. But first I want to know if that was you scaring those poor people out there."

The creature nodded, its arms trembling. "They bring food here for their gods, so I eat it. But they haven't brought much lately and I was hungry…"

"How'd you do it?"

It reached under its shell and procured a small silver device which the Doctor took to examine. Jack came up behind him to look as well.

"I've seen this before. Xeraphin technology."

The Doctor looked up. "Xeraphin? I know they had shape shifting technology, but for something so small to… Oh well. Have to analyze it later. In the meantime we can get you home."

The creature jumped back. "Home?! I don't want to go home!"

"But you wanted us to help you?" Rose stared at it in confusion.

"I thought you had some food," it griped, scurrying forward to take back its device. Both the Doctor and Jack lunged forward to grab it back, stumbling over each other as they did so. As they got back to their feet the creature ran from the temple, activating the device. From the bottom of the hill people looked up, pointing and gasping.

The Doctor, Rose and Jack shouted at the creature to stop but the now giant figure merely laughed, its voice hollow and echoed. "My people!" It called out. "These foreigners dare to defile the home of your Gods and now they wish to destroy me!"

Immediately the attention of every man, woman and child was on them. Both sides stood stock still for an all too brief moment, then took off running. The trio ran down the side of the hill, followed closely by the false Hoteiosho and the local citizens. Rose stumbled and slid on the incline and both the Doctor and Jack spun back round to help her, giving their largest pursuer time to catch up.

The Doctor gave his companions a quick push to continue running, then reached into his pocket to throw something at the creature. It let out what sounded like a pigs squeal and ground to a halt, effectively stopping the people running behind it.

Rose and Jack waited for the Doctor at the bottom of the hill, then took off running again in the direction of the TARDIS once he'd caught up. Though it didn't seem they were being followed any longer, they were all grateful for Jack's knowledge of the city as he quickly brought them to their original starting point and they piled into the blue box, panting heavily.

When they'd caught their breath the Doctor ushered Rose and Jack out of the console room, muttering about the impracticality of running in a kimono. They returned a few minutes later, dressed in far more casual attire.

"What did you throw at that thing?" Jack asked after a long bout of silence.

The Doctor shook his head. "Nothing really."

"Must've been something. I mean it stopped instantly. Some soft of portable barrier or repellant?"

"Nope."

"A destabilizer?"

"Nm-nm."

"Then what?"

"Cake."

Jack and Rose both looked up perplexed.

"Cake?"

"It was hungry, so I threw some food. It worked. Not that big of a deal."

The other two nodded, then suddenly Jack turned to stare straight at the Doctor. "You said cake?"

"Yep." He quickly opened one of the ships access panels and stuck his head in, fiddling with the wires.

"Where'd you get cake?"

"Bought one. At the shop we stopped at. If you wanted one, you should have asked."

Jack shook his head with a smile on his face. "No- No, if you wanted to eat it you would have had it right then. You- You were gonna give it to someone." Jack's eyes went wide and looked from the Doctor to Rose then back again. Rose merely stared at him with a blank look of confusion on her face.

"What?"

"Modern Japan," Jack prompted.

"Uh huh."

"Christmas cake…"

Rose cocked her head to the side, then smiled. "Aww. Bringing home cake for the family? Thought you didn't do domestic." She teased, leaning over to peer around the side of the console.

Jack rolled his eyes, wondering just how thick Rose could be, or if she was missing the connection intentionally. Suddenly he found he couldn't keep himself from laughing. He could hear muffled chuckling coming from inside the panel as well as the Doctor's smiling face came out. They both looked at each other, then Rose, and began laughing again. Rose frowned at the two of them.

"What?"

"You're just too cute sometimes Rose."

Rose laughed along with them, because there wasn't anything else she could think to do. Then suddenly the laughter stopped and a white light filled the room, separating the three companions.