A Christmas Carol (Part 2)
As soon as the shark had calmed down enough, the Doctor and Evy managed to move it to Abigail's ice-box. The Doctor got to work locking it in as Evy brought down the TARDIS, leaving the doors open for Abigail and Kazran to peer inside.
"It's bigger on the inside…" Kazran breathed.
"Yes," the Doctor agreed as Evy double checked the locks, "It's the color, really knocks the walls back," he rapped on the box, "Shark in a box to go!"
Kazran and Abigail ran over to him and looked in at the box for a moment before the Doctor and Evy hefted it up and carried it into the TARDIS. They placed the shark on the floor, Evy shutting the doors before they ran up to the console and got the TARDIS off.
"This is amazing!" Abigail looked around in awe.
"Nah, this is transport!" the Doctor grinned, "We keep amazing…" he and Evy ran to the doors, throwing them open once more, "Out here!"
They were in the clouds, in a sky full of fish, just swimming around.
"Come on then," Evy pulled the Doctor away and over to the box, leaving Abigail and Kazran to look outside, "Let's get sharky back out there."
They knelt down and worked on opening the box as Kazran pulled out a small image capture device and took a picture of Abigail only moments before they jumped away from the door as the shark darted past them and out into the sky.
"Hey!" Kazran ran back to the door, looking out, "Look at them go!"
The Doctor shut the ice-box door and Evy frowned, seeing a number 8 on a timer, "Abigail," she called, drawing the woman's attention, "What does this number mean?"
Abigail glanced at Kazran before walking over to them, "It pertains to me ma'am, not the fish."
"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, looking at her, curious about the number as well, "But how?"
"You are a doctor you say? Are you one of mine?"
"Do you need a doctor?" Evy asked her gently.
Abigail looked down, about to answer, when a timer dinged behind them.
"Ah!" the Doctor turned and ran up to the console, Evy shaking her head at him before joining him, "Sorry time's up kids."
"Why?" Kazran frowned and turned around.
"It's Christmas day!"
They took the humans back to the ice-box room, getting Abigail's all upright and working once again. She took a breath and walked back into hers, turning to face them, "If you should ever wish to visit again…" she began.
"Well, you know," the Doctor shrugged as he leaned against her box, "If we're ever in the neighborhood..."
"They come every Christmas Eve," Kazran said excitedly.
"What?" the Doctor looked down at him, Evy trying to keep a smile off her face as a child got the best of him.
"Yeah, they do. Every time, they promise!"
"What?" the Doctor demanded, turning to face Abigail as Evy laughed, "No, we don't…"
But the door sealed shut.
~8~
Evy had gotten quite a good laugh out of the Doctor's flustered state. As soon as Abigail had been frozen again, Kazran had rambled about how excited he was and promised to think of plans for next year before running off…which didn't leave the Doctor with any time to argue. She'd simply given him a kiss, saying it might be fun and reminding him that they had a time machine and could just jump a year ahead instead of waiting.
After that he was much more agreeable to the idea.
They reappeared in the ice-box room to see Kazran standing there, wearing a Father Christmas hat and holding two for them as well. As soon as the Doctor had seen the hat, he'd gotten another Christmas themed idea and ran into the TARDIS looking for a harness. Evy was a bit afraid for his sanity till he shared his idea at her...and then she was very afraid for his sanity. What little he had left of it.
"Merry Christmas!" they shouted as they opened Abigail's ice-box once more, seeming like it had only been an instant to the woman since she saw them last.
"Doctor!" Abigail greeted, "Evy! Merry Christmas Kazran!" Kazran ran forward and took her hand, leading her towards the open door to the room, following after the Doctor and Evy, "What are we going to do?"
"The Doctor's got a great plan," Kazran replied, "Wait till you hear!"
They led Abigail and Kazran outside and managed to find a small sleigh to use. The Doctor immediately got to work, trying to rig the harness to the sleigh as Evy explained their plan to Abigail.
"You are out of your mind!" Abigail shook her head, "This will never work."
"Oh, don't think shark," the Doctor called, stepping away from the sleigh, "Think dolphin!"
"A shark isn't a dolphin."
"It's nearly a dolphin," the Doctor argued, pulling out his sonic.
"No, it isn't," even Evy had to point out.
The Doctor looked back at the two women, holding his sonic in the air, "Well that's where you're wrong because…" he looked at Evy who raised an eyebrow at him, "Shut up…" he muttered.
"Excuse me?" her eyebrow rose higher.
"I love you?" the Doctor tried.
"Better," Evy smirked, kissing him on the cheek, "I love you too."
"It could be anywhere," Kazran commented, getting out of the sleigh and running over to them, "Will it really come?"
"No chance," the Doctor replied, "Completely impossible…" he smiled at Evy, "Unless Evy is here or…" there was a faint beeping noise, "It's Christmas."
~8~
Somehow they had managed to rig up the shark to the harness without getting bitten and were now flying the sleigh across the winter sky. Kazran and Abigail were sitting in the back while Evy and the Doctor sat in the front, holding the reins, trying to control the shark as it rampaged through the sky.
"How are we gonna get back?" Kazran called.
"We don't know!" the Doctor shouted.
"Do you have a plan?" Abigail asked.
"Never!" Evy yelled, laughing, as they flew around all over the town in a shark drawn sleigh.
~8~
They were back in the ice-box room, Abigail absolutely beaming as she stood in her ice-box, "Best Christmas Eve ever!" she breathed.
"Till the next one," Kazran corrected as they waved, shutting the door.
~8~
"Merry Christmas!" they shouted, opening the door to Abigail's ice-box.
"Evy!" Abigail smiled, "Doctor! Merry Christmas Kazran!" Kazran took her arm like last time and led her out of the box, but to the TARDIS this time, "Where to this time?"
"Did we ever mention..." Evy began.
"All of time and space!" the Doctor shouted, laughing.
~8~
"Merry Christmas!" they shouted, wearing fezzes as they opened Abigail's ice-box.
"Doctor!" Abigail laughed, "Evy! Merry Christmas Kazran!"
~8~
"Merry Christmas!" they shouted, now wearing multi-colored scarves, Kazran decked out in one Evy had found at the back of the TARDIS wardrobe that seemed very familiar to the Doctor.
"Evy!" Abigail hugged the girl, "Doctor! And Kazran!"
~8~
"Merry Christmas!" they shouted, opening Abigail's ice-box.
Abigail's eye was immediately drawn to Kazran who was now much older, in his late teens, and looking quite dashing in his suit, "Kazran?" she breathed, looking at him. Evy and the Doctor exchanged knowing glances before leading them all into the TARDIS, "You've grown," Abigail commented, still unable to take her eyes off him.
"Yeah," he smiled a bit.
"And now you're blushing," Abigail grinned.
"I'm sorry," he gave a nervous chuckle.
"That's ok," she cut in, still looking at him.
"So!" Kazran nervously jogged over to the Doctor and Evy as they fiddled about the console, "Doctor! Evy! Where this time?"
"Any Christmas Eve you want," Evy said.
"We've got them alright here," the Doctor patted the TARDIS.
"Might I make a request?" Abigail called.
They looked at her, Evy smiling gently, "Course you can!"
Abigail smiled as well, "This one."
~8~
They strode about town that night, just aimlessly roaming, following Abigail as she pointed out various shops and houses, taking in how much had changed since she'd been frozen. She paused though, stopping outside a small house and looking in through the window as the family within prepared for Christmas. The Doctor, Evy, and Kazran stood back a bit, watching.
"Who are they?" Kazran asked, watching Abigail closely.
"Her family," Evy replied, having caught a glimpse as they walked past, "The lady's her sister."
"We met her once when she was…older…" the Doctor commented, thinking of the old woman who had been with the family of four in the older Kazran's home.
Kazran frowned, "Abigail's crying…"
They looked over, indeed she was.
"Yes…" the Doctor agreed.
"When girls are crying aren't you supposed to talk to them?" Kazran looked over at them.
The Doctor thought for a moment, "I have absolutely no idea," and he really didn't. He looked at Evy, with her…things just came naturally. He always knew how to calm her or reassure her or help her, but other people…when they did the things she did, he was lost.
Evy smiled softly, "When we're upset," she told Kazran, laying a hand on his shoulder, "Having a friend to just be there for us is sometimes more than enough. You don't always have to speak to say something," that bit of information just seemed to confuse him more so Evy gave him a gentle nudge over in Abigail's direction. He walked over, leaving Evy and the Doctor standing there. She looked up at the Doctor, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
He smiled, "Always."
They turned and snuck around to the front of the house without Kazran or Abigail even noticing.
"My sister's family," Abigail told Kazran, "They're so happy."
"They look very poor," he commented, watching as they decorated the room, sparse, cheap decorations.
"They are very poor. Doesn't mean you can't be happy."
"Then why aren't you?" he looked at her in concern.
The curtain in front of the window was thrown shut in their faces. Abigail flinched, "Because this is the life I can never have," she murmured, tears in her eyes.
"Why not?"
Abigail just took his hand, "I think you're blushing again."
Before Kazran could speak the curtain was thrown open. They looked over to see the Doctor and Evy standing inside, grinning at them, "Come in!" the Doctor shouted.
"Come on!" Evy motioned for them to move.
They laughed and headed into the house.
~8~
Later that night, the Doctor was holding out a fan of cards to a small boy, "Pick a card, any card at all."
Evy sat beside him, amusedly watching as he tried his hand at a card trick while Kazran helped the child's father hang Christmas decorations. She looked over at Abigail who was sitting with her sister.
"Every Christmas Eve?" Abigail's sister was shaking her head, "I don't understand at all."
"I'm not sure I do," Abigail admitted.
"You memorize the card, you put it back in the deck," the Doctor continued, "Don't let me see it," he paused, "Or Evy for that matter, it would be cheating."
"Is this what it looked like last year?" the father called over to Abigail's sister.
"It doesn't have to look exactly the same," she told him.
The man just shook his head, "I'm starting again," he took down a few lights, looking over at Kazran who was standing there with the lights and garlands draped over his shoulders, "Come on Kazran we're starting again."
"That's Sardick's boy, isn't it?" Abigail's sister turned back to her.
"He's not like his father," Abigail said.
"His father treats everyone like cattle. One day that boy'll do the same."
"No. He's different."
The Doctor whipped out a card, "Three of clubs!"
"No," the child said.
Evy snorted as the Doctor mock glared at her, before he turned back to the boy, "Are you sure? 'Cos I'm very good at card tricks."
"It wasn't the three of clubs."
The Doctor threw the three of clubs over his shoulder, "Well of course it wasn't 'cos it was the…" he pulled another card out of the pocket of his jacket, "Seven of diamonds!"
"No," the child shook his head.
Evy started laughing.
"Oi," the Doctor frowned, elbowing her a bit to get her to stop as he looked at the child, "Stop it, you're doing it wrong."
"I see him around the town sometimes," Abigail's sister continued, "Never any friends."
"He's got me," Abigail cut in.
"All those Christmas Eves. You never once came to see us."
"I'm here now."
"Then stay. Stay for tomorrow. Have Christmas dinner with us."
"I can't," Abigail replied sadly.
"Well then," her sister stood and turned to her family, "Tomorrow's Christmas dinner is cancelled as my sister refuses to attend."
"Isabella!" Abigail cried, grabbing her sister's arm.
"Instead…" Isabella continued, smiling, "We'll have it tonight!"
~8~
The Doctor was sitting beside Evy at the end of the table full of Abigail's family, everyone holding a party popper in their hands, "3, 2, 1!" the Doctor shouted and they all pulled the poppers.
"How did you do that?" the child asked, pulling a card from his popper.
"Your card I believe," the Doctor smirked at him.
The boy looked down at the card, holding up the eight of hearts, "No."
"Oh, shut up!" the Doctor frowned as they all laughed.
Evy just shook her head, getting up and going over to Kazran. She picked up his hat and there was a card sitting on top of his head. She held it up to the boy, queen of spades, "Is this it?" she handed it to him.
"Yeah!" the child cried, looking up at her.
She smiled and sat back down next to the Doctor, "Don't mind him, he's rubbish at sleight of hand."
"I'm not that bad!" he countered.
"Seventeen times in Shan Shen," she deadpanned, reminding him of when he'd tried to remove her Perception Filter, "Four times on the Starship UK," and Mandy's ID wallet.
He just grumbled till Evy gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Kazran held up a little tin mug, "Merry Christmas!"
The Doctor and Evy smiled, holding up theirs as well, "Merry Christmas!"
The rest of the family joined in, cheering and toasting. Evy glanced at Kazran and Abigail sitting beside each other. She reached over and took the Doctor's hand in her own, much like the young couple was doing as well.
~8~
Back in the ice-box room Abigail was smiling widely, "Best Christmas Eve ever!" she laughed, hugging Evy.
"Till the next one," she replied.
"I look forward to it," Abigail agreed, hugging the Doctor as well before turning to glance at Kazran, "Now I'd like to say good night to Kazran."
"Of course," the Doctor nodded, "Yes…" the young couple stood there, looking at each other, "Well on you go," they gave him a look as Evy just shook her head.
"Doctor…" she said softly. He looked at her as she gave him a meaningful look.
"Oh!" his eyes widened as he realized what they were talking about, "Oh! Yes, right sorry…we'll um…"
"We'll just go now," Evy told them, taking the Doctor's hand and tugging him away.
"Good night!" he nodded at Abigail, "Good luck…" he turned to Kazran, "Night! Good night."
Evy tugged him more and he finally turned around and headed off with her.
"Doctor!" Kazran called, running after them. They stopped, "I um…I think she's going to kiss me."
"Yeah, I think you're right…" the Doctor laughed, nudging him back towards Abigail.
"I've never kissed anyone before," Kazran ran back to them, "What do I do?"
Evy just rolled her eyes at him before grabbing the Doctor's face and pulling him in, kissing him hard on the mouth, not stopping till he was breathless, leaving him stunned as she sauntered off towards the TARDIS.
The Doctor's eyes were wide and glazed as he looked after her, not entirely sure where he was until Kazran started to talk again.
"Um…I…" Kazran swallowed hard, "I don't think I could quite do that…"
The Doctor slapped himself hard, snapping himself out of his daze, and spun to Kazran, putting an arm around him, "Just um…try to be all rubbish and nervous and a bit shaky."
"Why?"
"'Cos you're gonna be like that anyway, unless we make it part of the plan then it'll be on purpose," he slapped Kazran's cheek lightly and nudged him off again, "Off you go then…"
"Now?" Kazran asked, coming back, "I kiss her now?"
"Kazran trust me, it's you go up to that girl and kiss her…" he swallowed hard, glancing at the TARDIS, "Or run to a room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don't make that mistake now, go!" he pushed Kazran back to Abigail, who seemed to have taken a leaf out of Evy's book in how she said good night, and nearly jogged back to the TARDIS fully intent on finding his lovely Link and not making the mistake of designing a screwdriver.
~8~
They had gone to so many places during those Christmas Eves. Egypt, Australia, America…and those were just a few of the memorable ones. Now, they were back in America, in California to be exact, Hollywood, 1952, and they were having a blast. The Doctor and Evy had run into their old friend Frank Sinatra and he'd cornered the Doctor into singing a duet with him.
Evy had been in the middle of a conversation with Doris Day when the Doctor suddenly ran over to her, grabbing her hand, and pulling her out of the room, muttering something about crazy blondes and chapels. Apparently, he'd accidently gotten himself engaged to Marilyn Monroe…
He popped his head behind a bush, making sure Marilyn wasn't there, only to see Kazran and Abigail before the pool, "Guys!" he shouted, running past them, pulling Evy with him, "We've really got to go, quite quickly. I just accidently got engaged to Marilyn Monroe…and Evy's going to kill either me or her and neither will be very pretty," he looked over to see them kissing, "You…" he walked over to them, "Is…" he popped up on either side of them, watching them, "How do you keep going like that?" he looked over at Evy, "I mean we have a respiratory bypass system but…" he looked over to see them still kissing, "Do you breathe out your ears?" he snapped his fingers, "Hello! Sorry…" he rapped on Kazran's head lightly, "Hello!?" and then on Abigail's, "Guys! She's phoned a chapel! There's a car outside. This is happening now!"
"Yoo hoo!" someone called in the distance.
"Yoo hoo!" he turned and waved before wincing and looking over at Evy, who was standing there, with her arms crossed, and her eyebrow raised…not good. Not good at all. He knew that look, that stance, and the eyebrow...hers was an eyebrow of doom when all things were combined. This would not be good for him.
He turned back to them, "Right…fine…got to go! Meet back at the TARDIS!" he ran forward and grabbed Evy's arm, pulling her back the way they came.
~8~
Back in the ice-box room, the Doctor was still apologizing to Evy for what happened at the party as Kazran and Abigail said their goodbyes, "I'm sorry," he told her again, "I have absolutely no idea how that even happened! I swear! One minute we were talking about how diamonds are supposedly a girl's best friend and I said I thought a woman's best friend was her husband and then the next thing I know she's kissing my cheek and running off to get a chapel set up. I swear I…"
He was suddenly cut off by Evy grabbing the lapels of his white coat and pulling him down for a sound kiss. She pulled back after a moment, looking him straight in the eyes, "You are mine and don't you ever forget that."
He breathed out a sigh of relief, smiling softly, as he brushed a lock of hair from her face, "Never ever."
"Good," she nodded.
The sound of the ice-box door sealing reached them, drawing them away from their thoughts. They looked over to see Kazran stepping back from Abigail's box.
"There we go," the Doctor smiled, taking Evy's hand and pulling her down towards him, "Another day. Another Christmas Eve. We'll see you in a minute eh? I mean a year."
They stepped past him, heading for the TARDIS.
"Uh Doctor!" Kazran called, "Evy!" they stopped and turned, "Listen, why don't we leave it?"
"Leave what?" Evy frowned.
"Well you know, this. Every Christmas Eve. It's getting a bit old."
"Old?" the Doctor shook his head, not understanding.
"Well, Christmas is for kids. Isn't it? I've got some work with my dad now and I want to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control."
The Doctor blinked, "Sorry, we…we didn't realize we were boring you."
"Not your fault. Times change," he turned and walked off.
"Not as much as we'd hoped though," Evy sighed.
"Kazran!" the Doctor shouted as he walked towards him, Evy beside him. Karan stopped and turned to face them. The Doctor pulled out his sonic, "I'll be needing a new one anyway. What the hell. Merry Christmas," he put it in Kazran's hand, "And if you ever need us just activate it and we'll hear you."
"I won't need you," he nearly sneered.
"What happened Kazran?" Evy asked him, this wasn't like the man they were getting to know, "What aren't you telling us?"
Kazran just shook his head at them and walked off.
"What about Abigail?" the Doctor called.
Kazran just turned, gesturing around, "I know where to find her."
"Yeah…" the Doctor nodded sadly.
Evy took his hand and squeezed it, leading him back to the TARDIS.
~8~
The Doctor had a bit of hope left for the young man. They appeared the very next Christmas Eve in the area outside Kazran's bedroom. They stood by the window as the young man strode into the room and over to his desk drawer. He opened it and pulled out the half of the sonic that the Doctor had given him, turning suddenly to see them stranding there. He strode over to the window. The Doctor leaned down and smiled at him.
But Kazran just glared and thrust the curtains closed.
Evy sighed, resting a hand on the Doctor's arm, "Come on…backup plan then, we need to contact Amy."
~8~
Now that the Ghosts of Christmas Past had done their job, it was time to move onto the second part of the plan, the Ghost of Christmas Present. The Doctor and Evy had appeared back in the present time and immediately contacted Amy, telling her that they hadn't managed to change Kazran enough for him to help them. Now it was time for her to appeal to him. She had to make him realize what was happening to the people on the ship right that very moment.
The Doctor told Amy all they had learned about the boy, about the fish and the singing, about the Christmas Eves with Abigail, anything that could possibly get through to him. Evy talked Rory through how to get the ship's holographic programs to project to Kazran's house, even how to hack into the projectors in the ice-boxes to show him the other people on the ship, and how to work those controls so Amy could speak to the bitter old man. They promised to be listening the entire time, they could even watch through the monitor of the TARDIS.
"Hello!" Amy appeared in the older Kazran's sitting room.
"Who are you?" Kazran demanded, jumping back from her sudden appearance in the room, "What are you doing here?"
"You didn't think this was over did ya?" Amy asked, putting her hands on her hips, "I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present."
"A ghost?" Kazran asked incredulously, "Dressed like that?"
Suddenly Rory pushed her out of the way, "Eyes off the skirt."
And then Amy pushed him and took her place again.
"You turned into a Roman," Kazran commented.
"Yeah, yeah, I do that," Amy replied, looking away at something Kazran couldn't see, "I also do this," and suddenly she disappeared.
Kazran looked around, startled, "Do what? What are you talking about?"
He was silent a moment, before he caught the sounds of singing. He followed it down to the ice-box room, looking through the window in the door to see people standing there, singing 'Silent Night.' He quickly opened the door and stepped inside, looking at them.
"They're holograms," Amy appeared behind him, "Projections, like me."
"Who are they?" he asked.
"The people in the ship up there. The ones that you're gonna let die tonight."
"Why are they singing?"
"For their lives," Amy replied, looking around, "Which one's Abigail?" Kazran looked back at her in shock, "The Doctor and Evy told me."
"Did they now?" he sneered.
"They don't hold back. You know them."
"How would I? Never met them before tonight. But I seem to have known them all my life. Now why?"
"You're the only person who can let that ship land. They were trying to turn you into a nicer person. And they were trying to do it nicely."
"They changed my past," he spat, "My whole life!"
"Time can be rewritten."
"You tell the Doctor and Evy," he turned to glare at her, "Tell them from me, people can't!" he strode through the holograms, causing them to disappear, and over to Abigail's box, just looking in at her.
Amy appeared behind him, "That's Abigail?"
"I would never have known her if the Doctor and Evy hadn't changed the course of my whole life to suit themselves," he grumbled.
"Well that's good isn't it?"
"No."
Amy glanced over at Abigail, "Why is she still in there? You could let her out any time."
"Oh yes. Anytime at all. Any time I choose," he rested a hand on the base of the window, just touching the box.
"Then why don't you?"
"This is what they did to me," he said quietly, "Abigail was ill when she went into the ice. To the point of death. I suppose the rest on the ice helped her. But she's used up her time. Those Christmas Eves with me. I could release her any time I want…" he dropped his hand to run a finger across a number 1 on the dial of her door, "And she would have a single day," he looked over at Amy, "So tell me, Ghost of Christmas Present, how do I choose which day?"
Amy blinked back her tears, "I'm sorry. I really am. I'm very, very sorry. But you know what? She's got more time left than I have. More than anyone on this ship."
"Good," Kazran spat.
Amy looked over her shoulder, "Rory, widen the beam."
Suddenly Kazran found himself standing on the star liner. He could see what was happening on the bridge, the pilot, the captain, and the assistant all scrambling to try and keep the ship as stable as possible while Amy stood there beside Rory.
"Status update on engine one!" the captain called.
"How did I get here?" Kazran demanded.
"You didn't," Amy said, "It's your turn to be the hologram," she walked over to him, "Since you're gonna let a lot of people die tonight we thought you might like to see where it's all gonna happen."
Kazran looked behind him, hearing something, "The singing…what is it? I don't understand…" he looked over at the main window where a screen was playing, showing the people around the ship singing.
"It's the Doctor's idea," Rory said, "The harmonies resonate in the ice crystals, that's why the fish like it," there was a jolt, "He thought that, maybe, it would stabilize the ship. But it isn't working. It's not powerful enough."
"Why are they still singing then?"
The captain turned to face him, "Because we haven't told them," an alarm started blaring, "Sir, I understand you have a machine that controls this cloud layer. If you can release us from it, we still have time to make a landing. Nobody has to die."
"Everybody has to die."
"Not tonight," Amy argued.
"Tonight is as good as any other night," Kazran countered as Amy shook her head, "How do you choose?"
"Doctor?" Amy asked, holding up the comm., "Evy?"
"Yeah?" the Doctor's voice came over it.
"Are you hearing this?"
"Yeah," Evy sighed.
"They're here?" Kazran looked around, "Where are they? Doctor? Evy?" and suddenly he disappeared, reappearing in the ice-box room, "Doctor! Evy!" he spun around to see Evy and the Doctor standing there. The TARDIS behind them with the door open just a crack.
"We're sorry," Evy said, glancing at Abigail's box, "We didn't realize..."
"All my life I've been called heartless. My other life. My real life. The one you rewrote. Now look at me," he looked over at Abigail.
"Better a broken heart than no heart at all," the Doctor replied.
"Try it," Kazran snapped, "You try it."
"I have," the Doctor said, taking Evy's hand in his own, "Believe me, we both have."
Kazran looked away, "Why are you here?"
"We're not exactly finished with you," Evy walked forward, away from the Doctor to face Kazran, "You've seen the past and the present, now you need to see the future."
"Fine, do it," he snapped, "Show me. I'll die cold, alone, and afraid. Of course I will. We all do. What difference does showing me make? Do you know why I'm going to let those people die? Not a plan. I don't get anything from it," he turned and strode up to her, the Doctor tensing, but Evy didn't back down, "It's just that I don't care. I'm not like you. I don't even want to be like you. I don't, and never ever will, care!"
It was silent a moment.
"And we don't believe that," the Doctor said, walking over to join Evy.
"Then show me the future," he glared at them, "Prove me wrong."
"We are showing it to you," Evy said, "Right now," she took a breath, speaking louder, "What do you think of it?" she looked over Kazran's shoulder, towards the TARDIS, "Is this the man you want to be Kazran?"
Kazran turned to see his younger self standing there, staring at him. They both slowly walked towards each other, taking the other in.
"Dad?" the younger Kazran asked, staring at his older self.
Kazran threw his cane down and stormed over to himself, raising his hand, ready to strike as the Doctor and Evy watched in silence, hoping this would work.
Kazran hesitated, as he did with the young boy from before, and stared down at his younger self, now crying and as much afraid of him as he had been of his father. He dropped his hand, shaking, "I'm sorry…" he mumbled, "I'm so, so sorry…" he reached out for his younger self but the child backed away, terrified of him. But he stepped nearer, resting his hands on the child's shoulders, "No need to be frightened…" the child began to cry openly as Kazran hugged himself to him, mumbling, "I'm so, so, so, so, so…"
They both started crying as the Doctor and Evy walked towards them, "Kazran…" the Doctor began as the older Kazran looked up, "We don't have much time."
~8~
The ship jolted violently, sparks flying, "Integrity at 30 percent!" the pilot called.
"We have five minutes max!" the captain shouted, "We need to land!"
Suddenly the Doctor appeared on the screen, Evy in the background, by a flashing device, talking to an old man and a child, "Hello?" he called, "Hello? Ah! Hello everyone! Uh, try to lock on to our signal."
"Doctor what's happening?" Amy asked.
"We just saved Christmas!" he grinned, "Don't go away."
And then the screen cut off.
"Doctor?" Amy shouted, "Doctor!"
~8~
The Doctor turned around, running over to Evy, who was standing beside the controls, as Kazran tried to get them working, the younger version of him standing on the other side of her.
"We good to go?" he asked.
"The controls aren't responding," Evy said seriously.
"Why not? They're isomorphic…" he looked at Kazran, "They're tuned to your brainwaves. They'll only respond to you."
Evy blinked.
"They won't respond," Kazran stated.
"Well, it doesn't make sense," the Doctor said, "That's ridiculous…" he started fiddling with the bottom of the controls, "Why won't…" he could feel the prickling of awareness filter from Evy's mind to his, he looked at her, "Oh…oh, of course. Stupid, stupid…"
"What's wrong? Tell me, what is it?"
"It's you," Evy said softly, looking at him, "We changed you so much that the machine doesn't recognize you."
"But no. My father programmed it to…"
"No," the Doctor cut in, "Your father would have never programmed it for the man you are now," he sighed, walking away.
"Then what do we do?"
The Doctor turned around, "Um, um, I don't know, I don't know…" he rubbed his head. Evy walked over to him, taking his hands before he could start smacking himself.
"There must be something," the young Kazran said.
"This!" Kazran shouted, "You can use this!" he held up the sonic, "I kept it, see…"
"What?" the Doctor asked, "Half a screwdriver?" he looked away, before freezing, an idea occurring to him, "With the other half up in the sky, in a big old shark, right in the heart of the cloud layer…"
"If we use the aerial to boost the signal and set up a resonation pattern between two halves…" Evy began, her eyes widening at she finished his thought.
"Yes!" he scooped her up and spun her around, the two running back to the controls, "Come on now, that would work. My screwdriver coolest bit of kit on this planet, coolest two bits, it could do it!"
"Do what?" Kazran asked.
"His screwdriver is still trying to repair itself," Evy explained, "It'll keep signaling the other half. We just use that signal to go from this sonic to the one in the shark and send something else up."
"Send what?" young Kazran asked but the Doctor hesitated.
"Well what?" Kazran asked, "What?"
The Doctor looked at Evy, who nodded, before turning to the older Kazran, "We're sorry Kazran, we truly are."
"I don't understand," he shook his head.
"We need to transmit something we know will work into the clouds," Evy said softly, resting a hand on the man's shoulder, "We don't have the time to waste trying to find another suitable signal."
"We need her to sing," the Doctor said.
The two Kazrans looked at each other.
~8~
They stood outside Abigail's ice-box, Evy, the Doctor, and the young Kazran off to the side as the older Kazran stood before it, heating her up.
"Her voice resonates perfectly with the ice crystals," the Doctor said, "It calmed the shark, it'll calm the sky too."
"Could you do it?" Kazran asked, watching the process, "Could you do this? Think about it…one last day with your beloved. Which day will you choose?" he looked over at them.
"Any day," Evy answered without hesitation. They all looked at her. But she just took the Doctor's hand, "If it was my last day, it wouldn't matter what day, as long as I got to spend it with the person I truly loved," she looked at the Doctor, just squeezing his hand as she could tell his throat was closing with emotion.
"And I would pick Christmas," Abigail said, stepping out of her box, "Christmas Day," Kazran gasped, looking at her. She smiled softly at him, "Look at you. You're so old now. I think you waited a bit too long, didn't you?"
"I'm sorry…" he whispered.
She just lifted a hand to rest on his cheek, "Hoarding my days like an old miser."
Kazran laughed, tears in his eyes, "But…if you leave the ice now…"
"We've had so many Christmas Eves Kazran. I think it's time for Christmas Day."
"Yes," he nodded.
The Doctor put an arm around the young Kazran's shoulders, his other arm wrapping around Evy's waist, pulling her close as he nuzzled the top of her head.
~8~
On the ship, Amy and Rory hung on for dear life as it sparked and jolted around them.
"Doctor!" Amy shouted into the comm., "Evy!"
"We can't hold it!" the captain yelled, "We're going down!"
And suddenly, a faint sound of singing could be heard.
"Captain I've got…" the pilot began, "I don't know what I've got…"
"What is that?" the captain frowned, looking over at him, "What are you listening to?"
"It's just come from outside!" the pilot shouted, hitting buttons, feeding the noise into the cabin, "This is coming from the actual clouds!"
~8~
Back on Earth, Abigail stood in the street, holding the half-of-a-sonic, singing into it as wires ran out the bottom. The Doctor fiddled with a few of them as Evy stood with the young Kazran, the older one standing beside Abigail, "Well?" Kazran asked, "Well?"
"The singing will resonate in the crystals," Evy explained, "It'll feed back and forth between the two halves of the screwdriver."
"Now one song, filling the sky, the crystals will align, and I'll feed in a control phase loop," the Doctor finished, "And the clouds will unlock."
"What does that mean?" the young Kazran looked up at Evy, "Unlock? What happens when a cloud unlocks?"
Evy smiled at him, "Something that hasn't happened in this town for a very long time now," she looked over at the Doctor, who smiled, and looked up, just as it started to snow, Abigail's song echoing around them.
~8~
"We're flying normally!" the assistant shouted as the ship began to calm.
"Can you land?" the captain asked.
"I can even land well!" he smiled.
Amy and Rory hugged fiercely, so happy to be safe once more, "Oh, they did it!" she cheered, "The Doctor and Evy did it."
"Yeah," Rory rolled his eyes, "They get all the credit…" Amy gave him a look, "Which is actually fair enough if you think about it."
Amy just laughed and kissed him.
~8~
The Doctor and Evy watched as Abigail continued to sing, Kazran holding her hand. They smiled at each other before leading the younger Kazran back to the TARDIS as children ran by to play in the snow. They paused outside the box as the submarine beeping sounded. They looked up to see the shark flying through the clouds.
"Hello my old friend!" Kazran shouted, waving at the sky.
The Doctor ruffled the child's hair as Evy opened the doors, letting him in, "Come on," the Doctor laughed, "Let's go."
They stepped into the TARDIS, looking back and smiling at the couple, before getting in and disappearing to return young Kazran back to his own time.
~8~
The Doctor looked intently at a snowman before him, rubbing his nose with the carrot sticking out of its face while Evy laughed, "You know, that could almost be mistaken for a real person," Amy called as she and Rory walked over to them, still dressed as a policewoman and centurion, "Snowman isn't bad either."
"Ah yes, you two, about time," the Doctor called.
"Can I ask why you're dressed like that?" Evy eyed them.
"Ship, uh, kind of lost our luggage," Rory remarked, "Crash landed…"
"Yeah…" the Doctor nodded, "But why are you dressed like that at all?"
"They uh, they really love their snowmen around here, don't they?" Amy changed the topic, "I've counted about twenty."
"Yeah, we've been busy," Evy laughed, patting the Doctor's snowman on the head.
"Yeah, yeah you have," Amy agreed, giving them both a hug.
"Pleasure, right, come on," the Doctor pulled away, "Let's go!"
They turned and walked off, Evy and the Doctor perfectly at ease but Rory and Amy shivering a bit, "Got any more honeymoon ideas?" Rory asked.
"Well, there's a moon that's made of actual honey," the Doctor began, "Well not actual honey...and it's not actually a moon...and technically it's alive…"
"And a bit carnivorous," Evy reminded him.
"But there are some lovely views," he argued, taking out the key to the TARDIS and unlocking it.
"Yeah, great!" Rory replied sarcastically, "Thanks…"
"Don't worry Rory," Evy laughed, "I know some very lovely, non life-threatening places you can go."
He gave her a smile and walked into the TARDIS, shutting the door.
"Are you…are you ok?" Amy asked, eyeing them.
"Course we're ok," the Doctor nodded, "You?"
"Course. It'll be their last day together, won't it?"
The Doctor looked down and Evy took his hand, giving him a soft smile, "Everything has to end sometime," she said, "Or else nothing would ever begin."
Rory popped his head out, "Uh, your phone was ringing. Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like THE Marilyn."
"Doctor?" Amy raised an eyebrow at him.
"Tell her I…um…moved to Guam," the Doctor replied as Evy just laughed.
Rory gave them a look before shutting the door.
"Where are they?" Amy asked, looking around, "Kazran and Abigail?"
"Off on a little trip I should think."
"Where?"
"Christmas," Evy smiled.
"Christmas?" Amy asked.
"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, "Christmas."
Amy laughed and shook her head, going in the TARDIS as well.
The Doctor squeezed Evy's hand and looked up at the sky, "Halfway out of the dark," he sighed, kissing the back of her hand before they stepped into the TARDIS too.
~8~
True to her word, Evy had found a nice little planet for Amy and Rory to spend some quality time that didn't look like it would have any life-threatening situation for them to face. It was a lovely honeymoon planet, which was actually a planet on a honeymoon. Somehow it had married an asteroid.
Evy and the Doctor laughed, waving at Amy and Rory from the doors of the TARDIS as the humans headed to a little hotel/resort. They walked back inside and sent the TARDIS into the Vortex, both silent a moment till the Doctor picked up a small box and walked over to Evy.
"Merry Christmas," he said, handing it to her. She smiled and looked down at the box, pulling the purple bow off of it and opening it. It was a small belt with a little sort of holster attached to it, "To complete your outfit," he commented, looking at her.
She laughed and gave him a kiss of thanks before taking his hand and pulling him away from the console and up the stairs.
"Where are we going?" he laughed as he was pulled through the halls.
"To your gift," was all she said, coming to a stop by a door he'd never seen before, "I asked the TARDIS to provide a room for it," she said, seeing his confused expression.
He nodded, still confused, even more so when she opened the door to reveal a small room, about the size of a moderate walk-in closet, that was completely empty.
"Take off your shoes," she said, taking hers off as well. He hesitated a moment, now thoroughly confused, but did as she said, pulling off his shoes and socks. She pulled him into the room, shutting the door behind her and walking to the middle of the room. She pulled a small sort of computer-like chip out of her pocket and placed it into a small notch in the floor in the center of the room. She took out her sonic and aimed it at the chip.
"Merry Christmas," she glanced at him before turning the sonic on.
Suddenly the room shimmered and they were no longer standing in the empty room.
His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he looked out at his favorite part of the beach on Gallifrey. Before him were the waves, rolling in from the burnt orange sky, the beach continuing down on either side of him, and behind was a hill of sand. He blinked before looking down in shock. He picked his foot up, he could literally, actually feel the sand between his toes. He stepped to the side, his hand out in front of him as he walked, no simulation movements, until his hand came in contact with the wall. He walked back to where he'd been standing, looking around in amazement, tears in his eyes to not only see his home once more, but feel it. He could feel the breeze, smell the ocean, feel the warmth of the twin suns on his face as they just began to set.
"The beach…" he breathed.
"I know it was your favorite place to go back home," she said, "You could look out at the waters and imagine traveling them during the days, and look up at the stars at night. I've also made…there's also the mountains, the canyons, the fields, the Central Citadel, the Academy, the Untempered Schism…my house and yours."
"How?" he breathed, looking over at her.
"It's a projection, a holographic representation of Gallifrey. A bit of home you can visit if you get homesick."
"Yeah…" he nodded, still in awe, "But it's so...real…how did you do it?"
"A bit of holographic technology, coupled with some simulators, some virtual reality tech, and a lot of sensors. Sort of experimented a bit. Took copies of my memories, of my sensations, and project them in the mind of whoever's in the room, makes them feel some of what I felt."
He shook his head, "But…but that sort of recreation is painful!" he spun to face her. The process to actually acquire the sensations to replicate was said to feel like tiny hot needles poking your brain.
"But it was worth it. To see that look on your face when the projection started."
He looked at her and then around the beach before running to her, picking her up and swinging her around, his hearts swelling with happiness at the gift she'd made for him. He spun her so much he actually got dizzy and fell onto the sand, Evy falling on top of him, both of them laughing. He rolled them over, brushing some hair from her face as he smiled down at her.
"You know…now that Amy and Rory are gone on their honeymoon," he began, "And it doesn't look like they'll be calling us fearing for their lives anytime soon…" he grinned, "What's say we make the most of our time alone?"
He gave her a suggestive look and was answered by being pulled down and into a kiss he happily responded to, both getting thoroughly distracted.
A/N: Awwww, I love the gifts they gave each other :) And how flustered the Doctor got about Marilyn. I just loved this chapter. I always felt so bad that the only thing the Doctor had of his home in the show was the TARDIS, I wanted to give him a bit more, so his own room that shows his home, where he can feel, just for a moment, that he's back, to know it's not truly lost forever, well, I think it's a wonderful gift :)
And the next chapter is the dynamic changer! Woo! I'm really excited about it. It's also the Sarah Jane Adventure, The Death of the Doctor, episode. I'd recommend watching it on youtube or something to better understand the chapter. I'll do my best to explain more of what is happening before the Doctor even appears (unlike in my Academic Series).
Next chapter...the Doctor gets another gift. We'll learn more about the legacy of Time Lord names, why the Doctor and Evy's true names are what they are. Something from The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith will come into play. And (my favorite part) the Doctor pulls a Malcolm.