Notes: I'm so pleased with how this turned out! And, I'm more than halfway through the next part. I was originally a bit worried, but it almost wrote itself once I got going. Feedback is always welcome!
Rose and the Doctor had been relatively stationary for months. After a romantic dinner in Victorian London, Rose had asked if they could stay for a while. Their friends Vastra, Jenny, and Strax lived there after helping them with the trouble at Demon's Run. So, it seemed a friendly place for a break.
They made frequent trips to visit with their new granddaughter, Clara. But they avoided the rest of their extended family on Earth for the time being. Jamie promised that so long as there was no mention of what might be happening with the rest of them, it would be alright for them to cross timelines a bit with Jackie and the others at Torchwood. They simply couldn't miss out on Clara's early years completely.
"Where is my beautiful little, Lady Clara?" the Doctor called as he entered his son's TARDIS. They were currently docked together on Barcelona.
"Here I am, granddad! Where's gran?" the little blonde responded with a happy squeal when he lifted her up into his arms.
"Oh, she'll be here in a minute. She was just finding your present," he told her with a wink.
"Why do you call her Lady Clara, dad?" James asked.
"Because she is a Time Lady and entitled to be referred to as such," he answered, tapping little Clara on the nose playfully.
"Never hear you calling me Lord James. I'll forever be little Jamie to you," James grumbled.
"Don't know what you're complaining about. I hated it when they called me Lord Doctor back on Gallifrey," the Doctor told him.
"And that makes it a good thing to call her Lady Clara?" James asked.
"I could call her Princess, but I thought that her proper title would be more appropriate," he replied.
"She is my little Princess," Rose announced as she entered the room. "And I have a lovely new dress for my little Princess!"
"Gran! I'm so glad you're here! Can we go to the beach today?" Clara shouted as she leapt from the Doctor's arms and ran to hug Rose around the legs. She looked just like her mother, her head a mess of unruly curls, her eyes bright blue.
"Of course we can, sweetheart. That's one of my favourite things about Barcelona. And then, we can all go and get ice cream," Rose told her.
"I'll take the dress and add it to her collection," River said. "Good to see you, Rose, Doctor."
"Where are we in your timeline? Are you still in Victorian London?" James asked curiously.
"Yes. So, not a word about the others for now. Let's just enjoy today," the Doctor insisted.
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Back in Victorian London again, it was wintertime. Their TARDIS was parked atop a cloud over the park. The Doctor had made a secret staircase down to nearly ground level and concealed it with a perception filter. While they were there, the Doctor asked Rose to help him redecorate the console room. It hadn't been changed since he regenerated, and they could do with something new. It gave Rose something to do and learn, while she took the time to learn to let go of her mother's statements.
She and the Doctor had both shifted their wardrobes to fit the time period, since they were spending so long in one place. The Doctor had taken to wearing a purple suit and waistcoat, rather than the brown jacket he had chosen after his regeneration. This look was more classic, and much more planned than the thrown together style he had worn previously. Rose teased him about changing his wardrobe before changing his face and he explained that he had changed it more often in his earlier regenerations, though always kept with a similar theme to match his tastes. His new outfit still had a bow tie, the trousers slightly too short with his boots, but it suited him nicely. Rose wore typical Victorian dresses, not wanting to be called a naked child as she had been in Scotland when they had met Queen Victoria.
They did their best not to be noticed, since the pair had been officially banished from the kingdom, after all. The only ones that really knew they were there by name were their friends, who needed a bit of secrecy themselves. But one evening, as they were strolling through the snowy alleyways, they met someone who would change it all.
The young woman was wearing a deep red dress with a black shawl, and wore her light, curly hair, pinned up as was the style of the time. A long evening of serving drinks at the Rose and Crown, however, had made several ringlets fall free to frame her face.
She watched Rose and the Doctor walk past the doorway, but when she turned back to go inside, there was a large, sharp toothed snowman standing right in front of her. She squeaked in surprise and called to them, "Did you make this snowman?"
Rose and the Doctor paused and looked at each other. His eyes pleaded with her for a moment before they both turned back.
"No," the Doctor replied.
"Well, who did? Because it wasn't there a second ago. It just appeared, from nowhere," the young woman claimed.
The Doctor circled the snowman appraisingly as Rose looked over this stranger. There was something familiar about her, but Rose couldn't place what it was.
"Maybe it's snow that fell before. Maybe it remembers how to make snowmen," the Doctor suggested.
"What, snow that can remember? That's silly," she responded, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What's wrong with silly?" the Doctor asked.
"Nothing. Still talking to you, ain't I?" she countered.
"What's your name?" he wondered.
The girl glanced between them for a moment, seeming to consider her answer. "Aria."
"Nice name, Aria. You should definitely keep it. Goodbye!" he told her and took Rose's arm as they continued walking.
"Shouldn't we be worried about that?" Rose whispered to her husband.
"Are you sure you want to go back to it all yet?" he asked her.
"We can solve something here without involving my mum," she argued.
"Oi! Where are you going? I thought we was just getting acquainted," Aria called to them as she followed.
They climbed into the waiting carriage, leaving the girl a few blocks behind them. They were only slightly surprised to hear Rose's mobile ringing once they were seated.
"How refreshing to see you taking an interest again. Was she nice?" Vastra asked.
"Hello, Vastra," Rose sighed. "We only spoke to her. Not like we're jumping into it all. It's almost like you don't want us hanging around."
"You can't help yourself and you know it," their Silurian friend insisted.
"Do you know anything about snowmen appearing out of nowhere?" Rose asked her, knowing that they were out talking to people more often than they were.
"I knew it! You are going to help her," Vastra insisted.
"Look, we can solve this ourselves. We don't need anyone else's help. The girl can safely get on with her life. It's not like she'll ever find us again," Rose argued.
"The Doctor always makes an impact. You know that better than anyone, Rose."
"Yes, but she hasn't got the name, Doctor, has she?" Rose snapped, her patience wearing thin.
At that moment, the window in the roof of the carriage slid open and Aria's face popped into view as she asked, "Doctor? Doctor who?"
"What are you doing?! Stop the carriage!" Rose shouted out the window.
After insisting that the girl go back to wherever she had come from, the Doctor and Rose got on with their investigation. Alone.
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"I don't understand why I can't just tell them who I am," Clara complained.
"Because your parents and grandparents made it very clear when they dropped you off here a few months ago, that when the Doctor and Rose arrived, none of us could tell them who you are. They need to figure it out for themselves," Jenny answered as she helped Clara into her corset.
"Why don't they already know who I am? I don't understand," she pouted.
"Because in their timeline, you are only a little girl, not a grown woman. How old were you when you remember them taking on a new companion?" Vastra explained.
"I dunno. Maybe six or seven Earth years? Hard to say since we travelled so much. It was before I looked into the vortex. I remember the first time I saw the new console room, it was so different," Clara told them.
"It will all make sense soon, my dear," Vastra assured her. "Now, you'd best be going. Captain Latimer will be very upset if you're late."
Clara was getting tired of being stuck in one place and time. She was a Time Lady and wanted to roam all of time and space, like her parents and grandparents did. She used to, when she was younger, but her parents had insisted that she spend some time here. She was to study human behaviour, working in the bar and as a governess for some local children. She liked it well enough for a while, but she was bored. The appearance of her grandparents was bound to mean that her time here was almost up, and the strange snowman probably meant that an adventure was coming as well.
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"They've taken samples from snowmen all over London. What do you suppose they're doing in there?" Strax informed the Doctor and Rose as they spied on the Institute run by Doctor Simeon.
"Why in the world would you need samples of snow? It's just frozen water, isn't it?" Rose wondered.
"This snow is new. Possibly alien. When you find something brand new in the world, something you've never seen before, what's the next thing you look for?" the Doctor asked.
"A grenade!" Strax said excitedly.
"Some way to use it to your advantage, I suppose," Rose guessed.
"Exactly. Power. A profit. That's Victorian values for you," the Doctor replied, disappointed in aspects of the human race once again.
"I suggest a full frontal assault with automated laser monkeys, scalpel mines and acid," Strax told them, as if planning for war.
"Yeah, best hold off on that for a bit, Strax. We need a bit more reconnaissance first," Rose responded, patting him on the shoulder.
"But if the snow is new and alien, shouldn't we be making some attempt to destroy it? Be reasonable," their Sontaran friend argued.
"We need more information. And I think, my love, that your plan to have Aria getting on with her life safely, isn't quite going as planned," the Doctor commented as he watched the young girl taking a few snow samples of her own.
"Ah, I shall wait for you at the carriage, sir," Strax told them before quickly making his way back to their transport.
"He doesn't usually care if anyone gets suspicious about him. Wonder why he took off?" Rose questioned as she and the Doctor approached Aria.
Rose tapped her on the shoulder, surprising the young woman.
"Oi!" she cried.
"Don't worry. No one's going to hurt you," the Doctor assured her.
"Why are you doing that?" Rose questioned, pointing to the small test tube in her hand.
"I don't understand how the snowman built itself. I don't like not understanding," she answered.
"Aria who?" the Doctor asked, looking her over. Like Rose, he sensed there was something familiar about her, but he couldn't quite place what it was.
"Doctor who?" she asked, playing his game.
"Oh, dangerous question," the Doctor replied.
"What's wrong with dangerous?" Aria questioned. She couldn't wait to get back to dangerous. Even before her parents had dropped her here, she knew their trips were always safer than the ones her grandparents went on. But she had never been allowed to travel with them.
"The snow emits a low level telepathic field," the Doctor began, missing Aria's gasp as something appeared behind him.
"My snowman," Aria whispered and Rose noticed it as well, her eyes going wide as she stared at it.
"It seems to reflect people's thoughts and memories and because it's unusual, somehow it carries a previous shape and," he rambled.
"No, Doctor!" Aria interrupted. "My snowman."
"Ah! Interesting. Well, were you thinking about it?" the Doctor asked, connecting his theory to their current situation.
"Yes," she answered.
They all turned to run from the frightening snowman, only to have another appear right in front of them.
"Best stop then!" Rose suggested, but even more appeared to surround them.
"Aria, stop thinking about the snowmen!" the Doctor shouted, doing his best to shelter both of the women from the snow creatures. One of them breathed snow in their direction as it lunged forward.
"Get down! Aria, listen to me. The snow's feeding off your thoughts. You're caught in their telepathic field. They're mirroring you. The more you think about the snowmen, the more they appear. Imagine them melting. Picture it. Picture them melting!" he shouted placing his fingers on the sides of her face. He had hoped to boost the strength of her mind against the things, but found himself blocked from her mind somehow. He was startled from the realization by the splash of cold water hitting all of them suddenly. He decided that he must have imagined it. Surely, it had something to do with the girl's stress level as she tried to block herself away from the monsters.
"Well, very good. Very, very good. Ha!" he exclaimed excitedly.
"Is that going to happen again?" Aria questioned worriedly.
"Well, if it does, you know what to do about it," the Doctor assured her.
"So please, leave this alone, Aria. We'll take care of it, I promise," Rose pleaded with her. So many people had been hurt by getting involved with them. As much as they loved River, Amy and Rory, their lives would have been so much easier and less painful if they'd never met their little family.
"What about the snow? Shouldn't we be warning people?" she asked.
"We'll take care of it," Rose insisted. She and the Doctor walked back to the carriage where Strax was waiting for them, not noticing that Aria was following to see where they had parked their TARDIS.
She wouldn't reveal herself to them yet, but she missed the Old Girl. It had been so long since she could feel either of the TARDISes in her head. The Doctor had done something to shield her mind before she was left here, so that his past self wouldn't sense the presence of another Time Lord and discover who she was too soon. It meant that she could barely even feel her own parents, far away as they were.
She watched from a distance as they got out of the carriage by the park. Her grandparents climbed over the fence, despite Rose's Victorian dress, and laughed together as they ran to the middle of a nearby grassy area. The Doctor jumped into the air and pulled down a ladder, as if from a fire escape, but out of thin air. The pair climbed upwards and disappeared, the ladder sliding up into the dark sky as well.
Aria ran to the spot in the snow where their footprints disappeared and jumped up herself. It took a couple of tries, as she was much shorter than her granddad, and she was wearing period shoes. She climbed up after them, realizing that they had concealed a whole staircase from the world below. When she reached the top, she saw her favourite sight in the universe. A large, blue Police Box.
