A/N: Guys, I'm really sorry for not updating as often as I should (okay, it's been over two months) but I'll try to write more often! Thank you for the reviews - you're so lovely! So, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

It was a crisp January morning and Ernest and I had decided to go on a walk for a bit of fresh air. The doctor - not the Time-and-Space-Travelling Doctor but the Medical Doctor - had told me to get as much exercise as possible so that I could fully recover and get back to normal (as normal as it could be with Ernest as your best friend, anyway...). A white blanket of snow covered the earth for as far as the eye could see, apart from two pairs of black footprints which we'd trailed behind us like a path of breadcrumbs from the fairytale Hansel and Gretel. It felt sort of magical to be on our own in a wondrous landscape, the snow seemingly smothering our every word.

"How come you knew the names of those two strangers who woke you up?" Ernest asked innocently, but I could tell that it had probably been playing on his mind since the second he woke up this morning. "I'd never seen them before and I'm pretty sure I know all of your friends." It was weird, but true; he did know all of my friends. For some reason though I didn't want him knowing about the strange people that I met. I felt somewhat protective over them; as if they were a secret that I had to keep otherwise the magic would be lost.

"Who?" I said, trying to be as casual as possible.

"Those people who woke you up."

"Ernest, you're being silly; you're the one that woke me up."

"You must have been hit really hard on the head if you can't remember. There was a tall skinny bloke with spiky hair in a suit and a red-haired woman who sounded Southern. They're hard to forget, Freya."

"I'm not stupid; you were the one who woke me up. You told me something about turning the machine that kept me alive off and I wanted so much to tell you I was okay that I woke up. I know what I woke up for, mate."

Ernest was getting more and more agitated by the second. I knew he knew that I was lying but he couldn't bring himself to say it. His red cheeks got even redder as he tried to argue his case; he'd never give up. Never ever. And it was excruciatingly annoying- kind of like a yapping puppy trying to get its treat.

"And I was the one who was awake at that point." He sighed heavily, turned to look me straight in the eye and said, "you're lying aren't you?"

His brown eyes bore into me. I couldn't lie to my best friend. Okay, I just had but I couldn't keep it up for long.

"Okay, okay, I was lying!" I blurted. I'd never been very good at keeping pretences for long, especially with him. He laughed and, just to be more annoying, he blew his dragon-like billowing breath onto my glasses so that they steamed up.

"I like the past tense there," he smiled as I wiped my lenses clean. "So, back to the original question, who were they?"

"It's a really long story," I said, still trying to get out of telling him. He sighed heavily and for a minute all you could hear was the crunch as we ploughed on through the deep, even snow. As we arrived in the play area, cold gust of wind showered wispy clouds of snow powder onto our faces and the gate before us swung open miraculously.

"Ladies first," Ernest gestured. I looked at him long and hard. He was attempting to cajole me into telling him the truth, which was unnecessary as I wasn't about to tell him.

"Age before beauty," I smirked; I would not give in to his silly flattery, he would have to wait for the full story. We wandered towards the swings and, as I sat gingerly on one, the creaks seemed to echo around the whole neighbourhood, sparking a giggle from Ernest.

I stared at the skeletal climbing frame as more flakes of snow drifted to land on it. Ernest sat next to me, an equally loud creak escaping from underneath him as well. My gaze shifted to look upon him, waiting patiently for his next move. But he didn't say anything.

"Ernest?"

Nothing.

I shook his shoulder, saying his name again, but he just stared at some imaginary place in the distance, a cloudy look appearing in his unblinking eyes.

"Are you alright?" I said. No response, nothing.

I checked his pulse: it was still going, but his skin was freezing cold.

I was starting to get worried now.

"If this is a joke, Ernest, then it's really not funny." I tried my most serious voice, but nothing could snap him out of this trance.

"Okay, I'll tell you who they were-"

I was cut off by a robotic whirring noise and the snow seemed to swirl around one spot- the top of the children's slide. Slowly, something seemed to be appearing out of thin air and it was a shape I recognised – the blue box that I'd been in before. I turned to look at Ernest just as it materialised and by now he was fully out of his weird state.

"What. The. Hell. Is. That?" he whispered, a grin appearing on his lips.

The door opened suddenly to reveal the Time-And-Space-Travelling Doctor and the Southern, flame-haired woman, Donna.

"Hey, look where we are!" the Doctor laughed out loud. "At the top of a slide! I've always wanted to do this." He stepped forward and slid rapidly down the slide, screaming at the top of his lungs as he hurtled in dizzying circles to the bottom, "weeeeee!"

Donna stared in horror for a minute at the Doctor's childishness but, for the sake of YOLO (I use this term sarcastically, please remember), she took off as well, until they were both in a heap at the bottom of the slide in fits of laughter, snow falling steadily on top of them.

I creaked off the swing and made my way slowly towards them. "Doctor, Donna? What are you doing here?" They immediately looked up and Donna's mouth dropped open.

"It's you! Freya, was it? It's been so long, how are you?" The Doctor came over to shake me very warmly by the hand.

"Actually, it's been, like, a few weeks since you came to the hospital, sir. And by the way, thanks for waking me up," I said, trying to be polite in front of people I'd had dreams about since my Awakening.

"Well, time flies when you're having fun, eh Donna?" She nodded enthusiastically and smiled to herself.

"You really were a doctor then, weren't you?" she whispered in his ear.

"I suppose I was," he grinned as he turned his gaze to me. "And no need to call me sir, Freya. Now, who's this boy you have with you? In fact, I already know don't I?" And he winked at me. Luckily, Ernest didn't seem to see so I rolled my eyes.

Meanwhile, Ernest seemed completely fine with the fact that this box had just appeared out of thin air and two slightly eccentric people had popped out of it. He strolled straight up to the Doctor and shook him by the hand, "I must congratulate you on that magic trick, it was most impressive, but you must have used lots of mirrors and other devices to perform it, may I?" The Doctor stared at him, stunned.

"There isn't any trickery involved, Ernest."

"Woah, how d'you know my name? Who even are you?"

"I'm the Doctor and this is Donna."

"Doctor? Doctor what?"

"If you must, people normally say 'doctor who' but as you please. And it's just the Doctor." He seemed a bit miffed at that.

"Just go with it," Donna whispered to my best friend, nudging the Doctor painfully in the ribs.

I wandered up to the blue box and stood on tip-toes, tracing where I had before, along the wooden rim, until I found the spare key again. "You little minx..." the Doctor started, before being elbowed again in the stomach by the fiery Donna. The key wandered it's way to the lock where it paused of a moment before looking back for permission. Donna nodded encouragingly whilst the Doctor looked more and more annoyed. I inserted the key and turned it carefully, hearing the clicked and shoving the door opend with my shoulder. The orange glow flooded the area around me as I stood on the doorstep, gesturing for Ernest to follow. He looked a bit apprehensive but now a queue was forming to get in.

"Ladies first," he said unsteadily.

I grinned, "Age before beauty," and shoved him in. I stepped in behind him and the Doctor and Donna followed. Oh, if you could have seen his face!