A Christmas Carol: Christmas Day
"A ghost?" Kazran eyed her, "Dressed like that?"
Rory appeared, pushing Amy aside and out of view, "Eyes off the skirt!" he pointed a warning finger at Kazran, trying to seem threatening...though that affect was lost rather quickly when he himself was shoved out of frame by Amy.
"You turned into a Roman…" Kazran muttered, not quite sure if it was a different person who had spoken or if the woman had somehow just transformed into a Roman soldier. Given everything that had happened to him tonight...well, all those Christmas Eves ago...it was very possible she was just able to turn into a Roman. Why not? Travelling with the Doctor and Angel had shown him things were...strange.
"Yeah," she chuckled, "I do that. I also do this," and then she disappeared.
"Do what?" he frowned, wondering what she was going to do that was so special, she was a hologram, of course she could disappear, "What are you talking about?"
He fell silent a moment later, hearing people singing 'Silent Night' from somewhere in his house. He glared, people were in his house! That would not do. But thanks to the Doctor all his servants were elsewhere so it was up to him to get the riffraff out of his home. He turned and stormed out of the room, following the noise till he reached the ice vault. He paused at the doorway, not wanting to enter. He hadn't entered that room since the night he'd locked Abigail away, no, he'd always had his servants move the people to and from it, never setting foot in there again. It was...it hurt too much and he didn't want that, he just wanted others to hurt as much as he had. But when he looked inside, seeing a number of people standing there, singing, all green holograms, he shook his head, this wouldn't do. He keyed the code in and opened the door, entering and looking at them, when Amy appeared behind him.
"They're holograms," she spoke, making him spin around to face her, startled, "Projections, like me."
"Who are they?" he glanced back at them, spotting women and men and children and older people as well. So many varying ages of annoyance.
"The people on the ship up there. The ones you're going to let die tonight."
"Why are they singing?" he shook his head, not understanding the point. If they were on a crashing ship, shouldn't they be screaming or something? It was less amusing to watch people singing instead of panicking. He...frowned at that. A part of him felt like he'd enjoy it if they were panicking, and he knew that was a left over remnant of the man he had been before the Doctor and Angel got involved, but...another part of him felt like, if they HAD been panicking, that he would be more likely to actually...help...which the new him still was uneasy with doing.
No one was there to help Abigail, why should he help others? Not even the Doctor, with all his medicine, or Angel, with all her angelic qualities, could help her. He very much doubted they would be able to even if he told them about Abigail, the woman only had 1 day left after all.
"For their lives," Amy eyed him, seeing his gaze flickering to the side and knew his attention was being pulled to Abigail, "Which one's Abigail?" he looked at her quickly, "Angel and the Doctor told me."
"Did they now?" he glared.
"They don't hold back," she shrugged, "You know them."
"How do I? I never met them before tonight. Now I seem to have known them all my life. How? 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," she sighed, "I bet that was Angel though. The Doctor..."
She'd seen him in action. She'd seen him give people one chance and once chance only to do the right thing before he did it himself or forced their hand. She'd seen him give Prisoner Zero the chance to turn himself in before bringing the Atraxi down on him himself, she'd seen him give Liz 10 the chance to figure things out before readying himself to 'kill' the Star Whale, she'd seen him give the angels a chance to free her before he let them all fall into a crack in time, and she'd seen him offer the Signora a chance to stop the storm before doing it himself and leading to her end among many other adventures. She'd seen this...darkness in him...but over time, over their travels, she'd seen him get better, she'd seen him offer the Silurians a chance for peace even after they'd taken Angel, she'd seen him changing, becoming...more understanding, nicer...and she was sure it was Angel. The girl had a way of calming a situation, of trying to make things easier, and...she was kind herself. It was like that kindness was rubbing off on the Doctor.
If it had been the Doctor she'd met as a little girl, she was sure that he would have just used his 'tall dark hero' act and somehow force this Kazran to operate the machines. She didn't know how, bankrupt him, rig up a bomb, rally the town to a mob, maybe even set a shark on the man...but this Doctor, he was trying to be kind, he was trying to show mercy and take pity and understand why Kazran was the way he was.
She knew the Doctor wasn't a bad man, not at all, but she did see a hint of darkness in him, a darkness that always came out whenever someone he cared about was in danger, more so when Angel was in danger really, but she knew he cared for HER as well. And Rory was there with her so she knew Angel was worried too. But...she couldn't help but feel like Angel was doing good for him, making the Doctor calmer, making him more hopeful, making him...lighter. The more he was around Angel the more she saw a change in him, a...light that just held back the darkness, made it smaller. Whenever Angel was there it came out, like it had when she'd gone to Torchwood. Only a few days had gone by and the Doctor had been a wreck and snapping at people and flying off the handle and threatening the TARDIS...but bring Angel back and he was all smiles and laughing and...nice...again.
"They've changed my past!" Kazran snapped, pulling Amy out of her thoughts, "My whole life!"
"Time can be rewritten."
"You tell the Doctor and Angel, tell them from me, people can't," he strode forward, breaking up the holograms as he went before stopping in front of Abigail's pod.
"That's Abigail?" Amy guessed, watching him.
"I would never have known her if the Doctor and Angel hadn't changed the course of my whole life to suit themselves."
"Well, that's good, isn't it?"
"No."
Angel eyed the pod, waiting for him to open it, but he didn't, "Why is she still in there? You could let her out any time. "
"Oh, yes. Any time at all. Any time...I choose," he reached out to touch the window.
"Then why don't you?"
"This is what the Doctor and Angel did to me," he muttered, "Abigail was ill when she went into the ice. On the point of death. I suppose the rest in the ice helped her, but she's used up her time. All those Christmas Eves with me. I could release her any time I want...and she would live a single day," his hand dropped to the '1' on the door before he turned to Amy, "So tell me, Ghost of Christmas Present, how do I choose which day?"
"I'm sorry," she began, completely shocked by the state Abigail was in, the Doctor and Angel hadn't mentioned that when they told her about Kazran, hoping she might be able to use the knowledge to get through to him, which made her fear that they didn't know either, "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."
Amy frowned, "Rory, widen the beam."
The room flickered out of existence and Kazran found himself standing on the flight deck of the crashing ship, Amy and Rory to the side, by a small control panel on the wall, with the captain and her pilots before him, "Update on engine one..." the captain shouted.
"How did I get here?" he gasped, his eyes wide, actually starting to feel afraid that he was on the ship too now, that he would die, that he was being punished by being forced to die like the rest of the commoners.
"You didn't," Amy told him, "It's your turn to be the hologram. Since you're going to let a lot of people die, I thought you might like to see where it's all gonna happen."
"The singing..." he breathed, hearing the faint songs still being sung from somewhere in the ship, "What is it? I don't understand."
"The Doctor's idea," Rory explained, "The harmonies resonate in the ice crystals. The fish like it. He thought maybe it would stabilize the ship. But it isn't working. It's not powerful enough."
"Why are they still singing, then?"
"Because we haven't told them," the captain spun to face him, concern and fear for the passengers etched on her face, "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," he sneered.
"Not tonight," Amy remarked, crossing her arms, eyeing the man.
She didn't see it. Angel had been sure, said that he would change, that he would be a better man than he was, that he'd save them. Rory believed her 100 percent, he always did. And she usually did, but like Rory had said earlier, they were cutting it fine. She couldn't see this working, the man before her didn't seem even the least bit concerned for any of the people on this ship. The Doctor was worried, she knew, he was worried that their plan would fail and that the ship would crash and he'd be unable to help them. But Angel was hopeful, Angel really believed Kazran could come through for them.
She could only hope the psychic was right, that she'd 'seen' it happen or something and that it wasn't just her wishing that it would all be ok.
"Tonight's as good as any other. How do you choose?"
Amy closed her eyes for a moment, calling out, "Doctor? Angel?"
"Yeah?" the Doctor spoke over a speaker, making Kazran jerk his head up as though he could see them through it.
"Are you hearing this?"
"We hear it," Angel said sadly.
Kazran frowned, something inside him pinging at the sound of Angel being sad, at knowing HE was the one making her sad. But he pushed it aside, it was just a left over remnant of his new memories of her as a child, of the kind woman who had hugged him and brushed away his tears and protected him and praised him...no, she didn't matter to him at all. Not really. No.
"They're here?" he looked around instead, "Where are they? Doctor? Angel!" Rory turned off the hologram and Kazran appeared back in the vault to see the Doctor leaning against a container, Angel beside him, the Time Lady eyeing him with such a disappointed look that he had to turn his gaze away, "Doctor!" he gasped, "Angel!"
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, "We didn't realize."
"I didn't see it," Angel added, glancing at Abigail's container.
She hadn't sensed anything was the matter with her, and now, knowing that Abigail was ill...she was afraid she wouldn't be able to help regardless. She hadn't tried to heal an illness before, something affecting every part of a person's body. As soon as they'd heard about the illness, the Doctor had used the TARDIS to look up Abigail's medical records and found it was a terminal disease, one of the evolved forms of an Earth disease that had mutated throughout the centuries. They doubted even the Sisters of the hospital in New New York would have been able to find a cure for Abigail. She wanted to try, she very much wanted to, but looking at how complex the disease was, how far it had progressed...Abigail was just too ill, she was too near her end, she literally had only hours left she was so gravely ill and she knew...
She couldn't save the girl.
And that hurt, she hated death, she hated it so much, hated that it had to be a natural part of life. But she'd seen it in Miracle Day, what could happen if people were unable to die. It had put things in perspective in a way, but she still didn't like it. She still wanted to try and save as many people as she could but...Abigail...she knew, she could feel it, the only way she'd be able to save Abigail from the disease was to let the Vortex take full control of her, like with Jack, she'd literally brought him back from the dead, but she'd had no control over it. Physical injuries she could heal, she was sure, but illness...it was more complex than an injury, it wasn't just one area that was being affected it was everything. It was Abigail's lungs and heart and organs and blood, it was everything...just like when SHE had been dying as well.
It was an illness, it was a disease, and she knew she wasn't strong enough to save her from that.
And she hated it.
So all she could do was try to help, try to give Abigail the best day ever...like the Doctor had tried to do for her.
"All my life, I've been called heartless," Kazran spoke quietly, staring at Abigail's pod, "My other life, my real life, the one you rewrote. Now look at me."
"It's better to have a broken heart, Kazran, than to not have a heart at all," Angel whispered.
"Oh, try it," he sneered at her, "You try it."
"I have," Angel replied without even blinking.
She was doing it right now.
Kazran eyed her a moment, seeing the horrible pain in her eyes before swallowing hard and looking away, unable to bear it, her pain...no matter what, he could see it, her pain was worse than his, the pain in her eyes was more intense than the one he saw in his own when he looked in the mirror, "Why are you here?" he sighed.
"'Cos we're not finished with you yet," the Doctor said.
Angel turned away from the pod and walked forward, "You saw your past change, the present along with it, you saw what's happening right now in that ship. There's really only one thing left to see isn't there? The future," she paused and looked back at the Doctor, a small, ironic smile on her face, "Fitting isn't it? I'm the Ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Come?"
"Fine!" Kazran glared, drawing her attention back, "Do it! 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? It's not a plan. I don't get anything from it. 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!"
"And I know YOU Kazran," Angel told him gently, "So I find it hard to believe that."
"Then show me the future. Prove me wrong."
"I am. Right now actually. What do you think of this?" she stared at something past his shoulder and Kazran turned around to see his younger self there, behind him, in pajamas and a dressing gown, "Do you want to become him, Kazran?"
The two Kazrans slowly walked towards each other, staring, "Dad?" Young Kazran breathed.
Kazran dropped his cane and lifted his hand, ready to hit the boy...
But his mind flashed back to when his father had struck him and when he'd almost struck the boy who was Abigail's great-nephew and dropped his hand, starting to cry, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry…" he reached out for his younger self who took a step back in fear, "It's ok, don't be frightened," he put his hand on Young Kazran's shoulder and pulled him into a hug, "I'm...I'm so, so, so..."
"Kazran," Angel called, stepping up and putting a hand on his shoulder, "We need to hurry."
~8~
"Structural integrity at 30 percent!" the second pilot yelled.
"We have five minutes max," the captain reported, "We need to land!"
There was static and then the Doctor appeared on screen, "Hello, hello! Ah, hello, everyone. Prepare to lock on to my signal."
"Doctor, what's happening?" Amy gasped.
"We just saved Christmas. Don't go away!" and then the camera switched off.
"Doctor? Doctor!"
~8~
Kazran stood at the controls of the machine as the Doctor walked up, Young Kazran at Angel's side as she had her arm around the boy's shoulders, trying to keep him calm as the boy fidgeted, not quite sure what was going on but knowing that a lot of lives were at stake, "We good to go, then?" the Doctor grinned.
"The controls won't respond." Kazran remarked.
"They're isomorphic, tuned to your brainwaves, they'll only respond to you."
"They won't."
"That doesn't make sense, why wouldn't..." he tried the controls himself, when a thought struck him, "Oh! Oh, of course. Stupid, stupid Doctor!"
"What's wrong? Tell me, what is it, what..."
"It's you," Angel realized, rubbing her head, the Doctor's thoughts were racing so much and so loud they were starting to give her a migraine, "Going back and helping..." she glanced at Young Kazran, smiling at the man he'd become, the man he was before them, "We changed you," she looked at the older version, "The machine won't recognize you anymore."
"But my father programmed it..."
"He would never have programmed it for the man you are now," the Doctor told him.
"Then what do we do?"
"Um...um...I don't know, I don't know."
"There must be something!" Young Kazran cried, grabbing Angel's hand for comfort.
Kazran pulled out the sonic, "This! You can use this! I kept it, see?"
"What, half a screwdriver?" the Doctor scoffed, "With the other half...up in the sky in a big old shark, right in the heart of the cloud layer!" he cheered, spinning to the Kazrans from where he'd paced off, "We use your aerial to boost the signal, set up a resonation pattern between the two halves...that would work! My screwdriver," he winked at Young Kazran, "Coolest bit of kit on this planet. Could do it."
"Do what?"
"My screwdriver is still trying to repair. It's signaling itself. We use the signal, but we send something else."
"Send what?" Young Kazran frowned.
"Well?" Kazran asked when the Doctor didn't say, "What? What?"
The Doctor turned to him solemn, "I'm sorry, Kazran. I truly am."
"I don't understand."
"We need to send something into the cloud belt, something we know works."
Angel took a breath, knowing the Doctor wouldn't want to say it, "Abigail has to sing."
~8~
They stood in the ice vault again, Kazran just having put in the code to warm Abigail up, "Her voice resonates perfectly with the ice crystals," the Doctor told them, "It calmed the shark. It will calm the sky, too."
"Could you do it?" Kazran turned to him, "Could either of you do this? Think about it, Doctor. One last day with your beloved. Which day would you choose?"
The Doctor blinked a strange, painful, feeling rising in his hearts, he felt empathy with the man, like he understood exactly how he felt…but when had he ever had only a day left with someone he loved? He remembered vaguely the time Angel had been ill, he remembered feeling scared she'd die, that she'd leave him alone. He recalled the terror and pain he'd felt in the Daleks' Vault, thinking that was how her last day might go. He didn't want that, to be alone, but...it was odd though. It was like that entire time with Donna was a blur, like it had happened too fast. He put a hand on his hearts, feeling them twist painfully, maybe that was it. It hurt too much to remember, so he didn't.
Angel looked over at him, hearing his thoughts, a small frown on her face. Maybe...maybe that one theory of hers was correct, that the last him just...hadn't wanted to remember her because it would hurt too much to see her with a different man and know it wasn't 'him.' Maybe his efforts had gone a bit wrong, maybe he'd taken it too far and left the holes in this Doctor's memory as a result. In a way...it was sweet, to think the last him loved her so much, but...in another way...it hurt that it meant he wanted to forget her. She hoped he wouldn't have done it purposefully, like her theory that he had regretted the Mating, but she just...didn't know.
Young Kazran looked up as he felt Angel tense beside him. He frowned, seeing a very sad expression on her face as she looked at the Doctor's back as he stood before them. He squeezed her hand, earning a small smile from the woman as she looked back at him, squeezing his hand in return.
"Christmas," Abigail answered, stepping out of the box, "Christmas Day. Look at you," she gently touched Karan's cheek, "So old now. I think you waited a bit too long, didn't you?"
"I'm sorry."
"Hoarding my days, like an old miser."
"But...if you leave the ice now..."
"We've had so many Christmas Eves, Kazran," Abigail reached out and took his hand, "I think it's time for Christmas Day."
~8~
"Doctor?!" Amy cried into her comm..
"We can't hold this," the captain called, "Time's up, we're going down."
"Angel!"
"Captain, I've got..." the second pilot called, "I don't know what I've got," he switched on the speaker so everyone could hear someone singing.
"What are you listening to?" the captain asked.
"This is coming from outside. This is coming from the clouds."
~8~
Abigail stood in the road outside Kazran's house, singing into the sonic which the Doctor connected to Kazran's machine via a series of very long wires, "When you're alone, silence is all you know..."
The Doctor stood working on some adjustments while Kazran watched Abigail, entranced, Angel behind Young Kazran with her arms over his shoulders, locking in front of his chest as they smiled and enjoyed the song, Angel with a knowing smile on her face, certain it would all be alright.
"Well?" Kazran looked at the Doctor.
"When you're alone, silence is all you know..."
"Well, the singing resonates in the crystals," the Doctor nodded, "It's feeding back and forth between the two halves of the screwdriver."
"Let in the noise and let it grow..."
"One song, filling the sky. The crystals will align, I'll feed in a controlled phase loop, and the clouds will unlock!"
Angel smiled and looked up.
"What does that mean?" Young Kazran frowned, twisting to glance up at Angel, "What happens when a cloud unlocks?"
"Something wonderful that I don't think anyone has seen in quite some time," Angel breathed, laughing as snow began to fall.
~8~
"We're flying normally," the first pilot gaped.
"Can you land?" the captain looked over.
"I can even land well!"
Amy and Rory hugged tightly, "Oh, they did it!" she laughed, "The Doctor and Angel did it."
"Yeah, they get all the credit," he remarked, before sighing, "Which is actually fair enough, if you think about it."
Amy just smiled and kissed him.
~8~
Kazran wrapped a hand around one of Abigail's as she sang, "When you're alone, silence is all you see. When you're alone, silence is all you'll be…give me your hand and come to me!"
The people of the city came slowly out of their houses to marvel at the snow, the adults barely able to remember a time when this happened, taking as much time to enjoy it as their children were, all of them starting to play in the white flurries.
"When you are here, music is all around. When you are here, music is all around..." Abigail placed her hand against Kazran's cheek and they both looked up at the sky to see the shark swimming above them.
"Hello, my old friend!" Kazran called up to it with a cheer.
"Open your eyes…don't make a sound!"
"Come along Kazran," Angel shifted her arms to rest on Young Kazran's shoulders, leading him off to the TARDIS, now parked outside the mansion as well, "I think it's time we get you home for a Christmas Day of your own."
"Doctor," Kazran looked at the man as his younger self went with Angel to the box.
"Merry Christmas Kazran," the Doctor smiled, waving as he moved to follow Angel.
"Doctor," Kazran repeated, making him stop, "I wasted my time with Abigail," he told the man, "Don't waste yours with your own beloved."
The Doctor blinked and frowned at that, not having a clue what the man was talking about before he shook his head, walking to the TARDIS as Young Kazran entered. He and Angel paused in the doorway, smiling, looking around. The Doctor's gaze fell on Angel, his smile softening, he truly couldn't imagine this adventure without her. He knew she had played a large role in getting through to Kazran, both the adult and the child, she was wonderful like that. He should have known though, he should have had faith right from the start that things would work out with Angel there. She really was a Christmas Angel...
~oOo~
"Doctor, it must be well past midnight, Earth time," Mr. Copper said, joining them, "Christmas Day."
"So it is," he smiled, "Merry Christmas," he looked at Angel softly, lifting her hand to kiss the back of it, "Merry Christmas Angel, oh!" he shouted suddenly, making Astrid and Mr. Copper jump but Angel just smile, "A Christmas angel," he nodded, kissing Angel's forehead as well, "That's what you are, my good luck charm and my Christmas angel."
"You're my angel too you know," she whispered back to him, resting her chin on his shoulder to look at him, "My spaceman angel."
He leaned forward, giving her a peck, "I like that title."
She beamed, "I like the title of Mate as well," she told him.
"I love it," he breathed, staring into her eyes, "The Doctor, Mate of the Angel," he winked, "Perfect. Like you."
~oOo~
"Come on," Angel whispered, stepping into the TARDIS, pulling him from his thoughts as he tried to place where he had heard that phrase 'Christmas angel' before, neither of them noticed Kazran and Abigail wave as the TARDIS disappeared, leaving a carriage and harness behind it.
"Let in the shadow…let in the shadow, let in the light of your bright shadow…"
~8~
The Doctor rubbed his nose with a snowman as Angel laughed, standing by a small group of children, teaching them how to make one as well, "You know, that could almost be mistaken for a real person!" Amy smiled, "The snowman isn't bad, either."
Angel turned and excused herself from the children, stepping back to the Doctor as he looked up to see Amy and Rory walking up the street towards them, both still in their outfits, "Ah, yes, you two!" he grinned, "About time! ...why are you dressed like that?"
"Ah, kind of lost our luggage," Rory reminded him, "Kind of crash landed."
"Why are you dressed like a policewoman and centurion though?" Angel raised an eyebrow at them, a knowing smirk on her face, "Why not wear real clothes?
"They really love their snowmen around here," Amy offered instead, "I've counted about 20."
"Yeah, we've been busy," the Doctor nodded.
"Teaching the children how to make snowmen," Angel added.
"Yeah, yeah, you have," Amy hugged the Doctor, "Thank you!"
Angel laughed, hugging Rory as well.
"Pleasure," the Doctor stepped back, allowing Angel to hug Amy too, "Right, come on, then, let's go!" they headed back for the TARDIS.
"Got any more honeymoon ideas?" Rory wondered.
"There's a moon that's made of actual honey. Well, not actual honey. And it's not actually a moon. And technically, it's alive and a bit carnivorous, but there are some lovely views," he unlocked the doors.
"Yeah, great, thanks," Rory shook his head.
"Don't worry Rory," Angel smiled, "I'll pilot this time, I've a few ideas."
He smiled at her gratefully before entering.
"Are you ok?" Amy eyed them.
"Course we're ok," the Doctor smiled, "You?"
"Of course," she glanced up at the sky, observing the snow, "It'll be their last day together, won't it?"
"Everything, all things, must die," Angel remarked, "Otherwise nothing would ever begin."
Rory opened the door and peeked out at the Doctor, "Your phone was ringing. Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like THE Marilyn."
"Doctor?" Amy eyed him.
"Tell her I'm busy," he groaned, sounding very much like Marilyn was the LAST person he wanted to deal with which made Angel smile a bit.
Rory laughed and headed back in as Amy looked around, "Where are they? Kazran and Abigail?"
"Off on a little trip, I should think," the Doctor smiled.
"Where?"
"Christmas," Angel smiled as well.
"Christmas?"
"Yeah, Christmas," the Doctor nodded. Amy just shook her head and went inside as the Doctor looked up at the sky, "Halfway out of the dark."
"Halfway into the light," Angel corrected, watching as the couple flew over head in a carriage drawn by a shark...but then she looked over at the speakers set up along the streets, her breath catching in her throat as her hearts stopped hearing the song playing over them.
'All I Want For Christmas' was playing, a slower version. It made sense, this was a period in humanity's future...so that song was of the past...but...that song, why did it have to be that song?
She swallowed hard and looked at the Doctor...but he didn't even seem to notice it was playing as he looked up at the sky, waving at Kazran and Abigail as they passed. She closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head and turned to head in...when the Doctor put a hand on her arm a moment, stopping her.
"Angel…" he eyed her, concerned and, for a single moment, she thought perhaps he'd seen her expression fall at how he hadn't heard the melody playing, that familiar and oh-so important melody, but his next words countered her thought, "Was there any particular reason you wanted Amy and Rory to go on the ship and not stay on the TARDIS after we stopped the Egyptian goddess?"
She blinked, "No."
"Are you sure?" he frowned, "You barely gave them a minute to change clothes before you were setting a course for the starliner. You didn't even let us change out of our formal clothes before we were rushing out to the Orient Express either."
She shrugged, "I just thought they'd enjoy a real honeymoon…which you should be setting a course for right now, don't you think?" his eyes widened at that reminder and he ran to the console where Amy and Rory were sitting around.
Angel sighed and looked at the TARDIS, stroking the corner of the door frame. That had been a partial truth, it seemed she was getting better at those sorts of lies, not that she was happy about it. She didn't like lying. She really HAD wanted to give them a good honeymoon instead of tokens though. But that wasn't all there was to it.
She just...had a feeling...she couldn't let Amy and Rory begin something on the TARDIS.
What, though, she didn't know.
A/N: Wait...Angel stopped Amy and Rory from...doing things?! What?! But...if the first time Amy and Rory were together in this reality was on their wedding night...and Angel kept that from happening...what does this mean for River?!
All I can say is that River IS the biological daughter of her parents and, as we saw, she's still the one manipulated by the Silence, she's still a psychopath, and she still ends up in Stormcage for murder, so all that happened in her past to bring that on still happened. So really, the only question is...how might that happen? Could it be that Angel leaves between this series and the next and returns for Space/Time which means the Ponds would be left unattended in flight, through the Vortex, in their room? All we know from the sneak peek is that Rory seems to think Angel's pregnant for those 2 months and that her stomach hurt in Space/Time. 2 months for humans could be more time than that for the Time Lords...especially depending on when Angel might be dropped off, in what year, or she might have lost something in those 2 months...and her stomach hurting...doesn't mean she's pregnant in Space/Time }:D I can say Sarah Jane will be making Angel an offer she might not be able to refuse given her 'condition' at the moment }:) I suppose we'll have to wait and see }:)
I know you probably want to kill me for sneaking in 'All I Want for Christmas' in here and having the Doctor be completely oblivious to it, all I can say is that...we know he'll remember, so we know that he'll remember that promise one day, and I think this moment will be something he'll struggle with, not just that he didn't keep that promise to always sing her that song every Christmas, but because he also kept his promise about the shark-drawn carriage ride but forgot the meaning and importance behind it :) But lol, did you love how Kazran told him not to waste time with Angel? I found it ironic because Kazran wasted so much time not being with Abigail and the Doctor has NO idea what the man's talking about :)
I mentioned somewhere, not sure if it was here or on tumblr, that I'd try to give a little notice for the first chapter and last chapter of a multi-chapter submission to the HOTS challenge whenever it might be completed. So I just wanted to say that Nikki Pond's Forgotten challenge submission is now officially complete :)
Some notes on reviews...
I can say the Doctor will definitely remember Angel at some point, we'll just have to wait and see if the baby will be there for him to discover too }:)
I felt bad for Abigail in this chapter, because Angel does save a lot of people that the Doctor couldn't, but here she couldn't save Abigail, the disease was just too far along :( But I think here she realizes that it wasn't anything that was caused by the Doctor like...so many other people she saved were attacked because of the Doctor getting involved, like Sir Robert and the werewolf or the Headmaster with the Family of Blood, but here the disease was there before the Doctor appeared and it was something Abigail already was dealing with and not alien in nature so I can't see Angel blaming herself for not helping because in a way it wasn't their fault it happened...if that makes sense lol. But I can say we'll see Angel upset in the future with the Doctor wanting to comfort her ;) That's cool about the DW story :) My next Time Lady one won't be up till next year too :) Lol, the Doctor is really cute when he avoids questions isn't he? :)
I think it's Angel who's worse off, Kazran gets his one last day with his love and he is able to come to terms with her eventual passing, get closure, and he'll be able to grieve and move on...Angel's stuck with a constant reminder in the Doctor that he's forgotten her and pushing himself away from her and dealing with the potential loss of her baby every day :( But at least we know he'll remember eventually :)
Lol, I think Angel might accept the invitation though, she's too nice to say no :)
I think it's more a little joke with the TARDIS blue :) It started as more of an unintentional thing that she gravitated to wearing that color in her normal outfit of choice, until the Doctor pointed out that she seemed to select clothes that featured it and now I think it's just a natural part of her outfits (not her period outfits though :)) as sort of honoring the machines that were such a large part of her life on Gallifrey. I think the TARDIS herself would help with the shade of blue clothes, that wardrobe is very well stocked :) I don't think there's anything wrong with you at all, I think everyone enjoys a bit of drama and angst, because reading something that's so happy all the time isn't believable. We've all been hurt and sad and that makes the story relatable or at least I hope it does :) Oh we'll be seeing her really tell someone what's on her mind before this story is over ;)
I think she'd only die if it was the Doctor in her timeline, like the one she's with. For example...if Trenzalore is to be believed and the Doctor will truly die one day and not come back...he's dead in the future, but Angel's still alive. And if Angel died with him then the present Doctor would have to be dead too :) If it was HER Doctor though, she'd die yup, unless one of them was wearing the Dampening Bracelet :) I can say there are quite a few twists about how/when the Doctor remembers, but we'll have to wait and see what they are :)
I hope you enjoy your holiday! Just think, when you get back you'll have a nice chunk of chapters to read instead of 1 a day :)
Oh Amy's reactions about finding out what happened to Angel were my favorite to write. Rory always struck me as the calm one, like Angel in a way, the one person who can really calm the fiery one down, Amy has some extreme reactions :)
I thought the video was very interesting and I agree, it makes a bit of sense yeah :) I can say that there will definitely be a bit of enjoying the relationship after he remembers, but I won't say how much since I don't want to give away just when it'll happen :) I think they'd be eager for that too...but that's if the baby even makes it to that point, there will be...quite a few dangers to come and the baby might not even make it :( I can't say when Jack will find out, there's...quite a few twists about that that we may not see come full circle till Series 7 :) But I can say that he will be at Demons Run, he'll be meeting the Ponds before that episode and I can't see him just sitting by when the events of Demons Run goes down knowing how important everyone is :)
That's awesome! Expect a birthday shout out on the 25th ;) I can't say whether you'll cry or not, I've found I'm really bad at guessing that. Like I might hope for it once an episode and think that's all that will happen and then it happens each chapter for that episode lol. But hopefully the shout out will cheer you up if you do cry :)