Kazran looked up from the newly created photos he had been looking through as the phone rang. Glaring at the device a little, he reluctantly got up and answered it. "Yes, what?" he barked. "Oh, Mr. President, we've been through this. It's not going to crash on my house, so what's it got to do with me? Yes, I know, four thousand and three. As a very old friend of mine once took a long time to explain, life isn't fair." With that, he slammed down the receiver.
"Hello!" a new voice cried as a green holographic Amy suddenly appeared before him.
"Who are you?!" Kazran exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"You didn't think this was over, did you?" Amy asked almost sarcastically. "I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present."
"A ghost?" Kazran eyed her kissogram police outfit skeptically. "Dressed like that?"
It seemed like Amy was about to say something when she was shoved out of sight by Rory . . . dressed as a Roman Centurion. "Eyes off the skirt!" he ordered before Amy pushed him out of the way.
"You turned into a Roman," Kazran stated.
"Yeah. Yeah, I do that. I also do this." She disappeared.
"Do what?" Kazran cried into empty air. "What are you talking about?"
"Silent night, holy night," a new round of voices rang out. Kazran spun around, trying to spot the source of the voices. Seeing none but still hearing them, he followed the sound all the way down the stairs and into the cryo-storage vault. There, several green-colored holograms were standing around singing.
"All is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin, mother and child, Holy infant so tender and mild. Christ the Savior is born. Christ the Savior is born!"
"They're holograms," Amy explained, appearing behind the baffled Kazran. "Projections, like me."
"Who are they?" Kazran demanded.
"The people on the ship up there. The ones that you're going to let die tonight."
"Why are they singing?"
"For their lives. Which one's Abigail?" When Kazran shot her a questioning glare, Amy added, "The Doctor and Alex told me."
"Did they now?" Kazran deadpanned.
"Ah, they don't hold back. Alex especially. You know them."
"How do I?" Kazran wondered. "I never met them before tonight. Now I seem to have known them all my life. How? Why?"
"You're the only person that can let that ship land," Amy said softly. "They were trying to turn you into a nicer person. And they were trying to do it nicely."
"They've changed my past, my whole life!" Kazran yelled.
"Time can be rewritten."
"You tell the Doctor and Alex, tell them from me, people can't!" Kazran snapped before storming past the holograms, causing them to disappear. He continued storming through the sea of doomed carolers until he reached Abigail's icebox.
Amy followed him, staying a step behind him once she reached Abigail's icebox. "That's Abigail?"
Kazran stared at Abigail's frozen form almost tenderly. "I would never have known her if the Doctor and Alex hadn't changed the course of my life to suit themselves."
"Well, that's good, isn't it?"
"No."
"Why is she still in there?" Amy asked. "You could let her out any time."
"Oh, yes," Kazran agreed, laying a hand on the icebox window. "Any time at all. Any time I choose."
Amy looked at him questioningly. "Then why don't you?"
Kazran let out a bitter laugh. "This is what the Doctor and Alex did to me. 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."
He turned around to look at Amy head-on. "So tell me, Ghost of Christmas Present, how do I choose which day?"
Amy looked at him sadly. Alex had worried about why Abigail had required so many doctors and now, she knew the answer. "I'm sorry," Amy apologized. "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 nodded approvingly.
Amy sighed. "Rory," she called over her shoulder. "Widen the beam."
All of a sudden, Kazran's surroundings changed. He was no longer standing in the dark, fog-infested cryo-storage room, but in a huge, bright white room. In front of him, white-uniformed people desperately worked over a bunch of controls as a huge window in front of them exposed the brutal storm outside. Lights flickered as the ship was tossed and thrashed around by thunder and lightning, but this didn't stop the passengers continuous carol singing.
"Status update on engine one," the captain called out.
Kazran looked around in shock. "How did I get here?!"
Amy came up behind him, no longer a hologram. "You didn't. 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 going to happen."
"The singing. . . What is it? I don't understand."
"It's the Doctor's idea," Rory explained, coming up to him. "The harmonies resonate in the ice crystals. That's why 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 replied, turning around to face them. She approached Kazran. "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," Kazran retorted.
"Not tonight," Amy argued.
"Tonight's as good as any other. How do you choose?"
Amy sighed, knowing he was thinking of Abigail and how she had only one day left. "Doctor?" she called out. "Alex?"
"Yeah?" the Doctor's voice rang out from the speakers.
"Are you hearing this?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Alex replied.
"We can hear," the Doctor confirmed.
"They're here?" Kazran cried. He looked around crazily, Amy and Rory getting the sense that he was just a little scared of what the Doctor and Alex could do to him if they decided to be cruel. "Where are they? Doctor? Alex?!"
Suddenly, Kazran was back in the cryo-vault. He almost didn't register his surroundings, still concentrated on finding the Doctor and Alex. "Doctor! Alex!" he shouted.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor's voice said from behind him. Kazran whirled around to see the man leaning against an icebox, Alex resting in his side. "I didn't realize." Alex only looked at him sympathetically, her sadness for him breaking a chord inside Kazran.
"All my life, I've been called heartless," Kazran told them. "My other life, my real life, the one you two rewrote. Now look at me!"
"Better a broken heart than no heart at all," the Doctor replied.
"Oh, try it," Kazran challenged. "You try it!"
Who says I haven't? Alex thought, thinking about how brokenhearted she was at the thought that the Doctor could never be with her, a simple human.
"Why are you here?" Kazran questioned, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Because we're not finished with you yet," Alex revealed, stepping away from the Doctor and over to Kazran. "You've seen the past, the present, and now I, the Ghost of Christmas Future, will show you what is to come."
"Fine! Do it!" Kazran challenged her. "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 two. I don't even want to be like you two! I don't and never, ever will care!"
The Doctor just shook his head, not at all bothered by Kazran's rant. "And I don't believe that."
"Neither do I," Alex agreed.
"Then show me the future! Prove me wrong!"
"We are showing it to you," Alex revealed.
"She's showing it to you right now," the Doctor said. Louder, he called out, "So what do you think?"
"Is this who you want to become, Kazran?" Alex asked, looking over Kazran's shoulder.
Kazran spun around to see his young twelve-year old self standing there, dressed in the pajamas and robe he had been wearing when he first met the Doctor and Alex. Young Kazran stared at his older self in fright. "Dad?" he breathed.
Kazran dropped his cane in shock at being called and misidentified as that monster. He lifted his hand, rearing to strike his younger self. Young Kazran backed up in fear. Seeing this, something inside the elder Kazran snapped and he began to cry. "I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm so, so, sorry." He reached out to touch his younger self, but young Kazran backed away, still afraid. "It's okay, don't be frightened," he assured him, pulling his younger self into a hug. "I'm so, so, so. . ."
"Kazran," the Doctor interrupted, stepping forward and wrapping an arm around Alex's waist. "We don't have much time."
~Living the Life of Ally~
"Hello? Hello?" the Doctor called into a computer comm in Kazran's sitting room. He brought up an image on the computer, now able to see Amy and Rory in the ship's flight deck. "Ah, hello, everyone! Prepare to lock onto my signal."
"Doctor, what's happening?" Amy demanded.
"Alex and I just saved Christmas," the Doctor vaguely replied. "Don't go away!" With that, he cut the signal and jumped up, heading to the back of the room where Kazran and Alex were standing by Kazran's organ-like cloud layer controls. Young Kazran was standing a little ways away, trying to keep out of the way.
"We good to go, then?" the Doctor asked as he approached. Then he noticed the frantic and worried look on Alex's face. "Ally, what's wrong?" he demanded.
"The controls," Alex said.
"They won't respond," Kazran revealed.
That's impossible! The Doctor thought but didn't say. Instead, he opted for some optimism. "Of course they will. They're isomorphic. They're tuned to your brainwaves. They'll only respond to you."
"They won't respond," Kazran insisted, shaking his head as he flicked an unresponsive switch.
"That doesn't make sense." The Doctor began pacing back and forth, desperately trying to figure out what was going on. "That's ridiculous! Why wouldn't . . . oh."
Alex's eyes widened as realization clicked in her brain. "Oh," she breathed.
"Of course!" the Doctor cried, slapping his forehead irritably. "Stupid, stupid Doctor!"
"What's wrong?" Kazran demanded. "Tell me, what is it?"
"It's you," the Doctor and Alex replied.
"We've changed you too much," the Doctor added. "The machine doesn't recognize you."
"But my father programmed it."
Alex shook her head. "Your father would have never programmed it for the man you are now."
"Then what do we do?"
The Doctor began pacing again. "Er . . . er . . . I don't know. I don't know!"
"There must be something!" young Kazran cried.
"This!" elder Kazran exclaimed, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out the Doctor's half of the sonic screwdriver. "You can use this. I kept it, see?"
"What, half a screwdriver?" the Doctor scoffed. "With the other half in a big old shark, right in the heart of the cloud layer. . ." He trailed off as an idea began to form.
"Doctor?" Alex asked, wondering what he was thinking.
"If we use your aerial to boost the signal," the Doctor told the elder Kazran, "set up a resolution pattern between the two halves . . . ooh . . . come on, that could work! My screwdriver, coolest bit of kit on this planet! Coolest two bits! It could do it."
"Do what?" Kazran questioned.
"Well, my screwdriver is still trying to repair. It's signaling itself. We use the signal but send something else."
"Send what?" young Kazran wondered.
The Doctor didn't answer. In fact, he looked rather reluctant to answer. His reluctance was a big clue to Alex and upon realizing what it was he intended to send, she sucked in a breath.
This caught the attention of both Kazran's. "Well, what?" elder Kazran demanded. "What?"
"I'm sorry, Kazran," the Doctor apologized. "I truly am."
"I don't understand."
"We need to transmit something into the cloud belt," the Doctor explained. "Something we know works."
Alex turned to look at the elder Kazran. "We need Abigail to sing."
~Living the Life of Ally~
A few minutes later, they were back down in the cryo-vault, all of them standing before Abigail's icebox. The young woman inside was unconscious, oblivious to the heartbreak and upset that was happening just outside the confines of her box.
"Her voice resonates perfectly with the ice crystals," the Doctor explained as Kazran started the thawing and heating process on Abigail. "It calmed the shark. It will calm the sky, too."
"Could you do it?" Kazran questioned. "Could you do this?" He eyed the Doctor and Alex critically. "Think about it, both of you. One last day with your beloved. Which day would you choose?"
"Christmas," a voice came from behind him. Kazran turned to see Abigail standing before him, looking just as she did the last time he saw her, after their Christmas Eve in 1952 Hollywood. "Christmas Day." She smiled sweetly at Kazran, Alex knowing that despite his aged looks, Abigail's feelings for him hadn't changed in the slightest.
"Look at you," Abigail breathed, placing a hand on Kazran's wrinkled check. "You're so old now. I think you waited a bit too long, didn't you?"
"I'm sorry," Kazran apologized.
"Hoarding my days, like an old miser."
"But if you leave the ice now—"
"We've had so many Christmas Eves, Kazran," Abigail interrupted. "I think it's time for Christmas Day."
Kazran hesitated. He really didn't want to say good-bye to Abigail. It was why he had hoarded her days. He was too afraid to do it and he wanted to keep her with him for as long as possible. But it wasn't fair to her and besides, four thousand and three people were counting on him to save them. He took a glance at his younger self. Make that four thousand and four.
Almost inaudibly, he nodded and murmured, "Yes."
~Living the Life of Ally~
Just a few minutes later, the group were standing outside. The Doctor had managed to hook up his half of the sonic screwdriver to the beam transmitter in the dome. Now, as both Kazran's, Alex, and the Doctor stood by the wires running up to the beam, the Doctor monitoring and adjusting them carefully, Abigail sang into the sonic, watching the sky as she did so.
"When you're alone, silence is all you know. . ."
"Well?" Kazran questioned as the Doctor stepped away from some wires. "Well?!"
"Well, the singing resonates in the crystals," the Doctor explained. "It's feeding 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 controlled phase loop, and the clouds will unlock."
Young Kazran wrinkled his nose in confusion. "What does that mean, 'unlock'? What happens when a cloud unlocks?"
Alex bent down next to him and grinned. "Something magical," she promised.
The Doctor smiled. Alex was amazing with kids. She'd make one great mom someday. Trying to shrug off the sudden envy coursing through his system that it would be with some other man and not him, he said, "Something that hasn't happened in this town for a very long time now."
"When you're alone, silence is all you see," Abigail sang. "When you're alone, silence is all you'll be. Give me your hand and come to me!"
All of a sudden, it began snowing. Young Kazran gasped while Alex laughed delightedly, causing the Doctor's smile to grow even wider. Even the elder Kazran grinned. Around them, families rushed out of their houses, little kids gasping and squealing and diving into piles of snow as the adults murmured about the magical Christmas surprise.
And still, Abigail continued to sing. "When you are here, music is all around. When you are near, music is all around. Open your eyes, don't make a sound."
Just then, the shark carrying the other half of the sonic screwdriver flew overhead. The elder Kazran watched it glide by wistfully. "Hello, my old friend," he murmured.
"Let in the shadow. . ."
"Let's go," the Doctor said to young Kazran, Alex leading the boy over to the TARDIS.
As the three departed into the TARDIS, the elder Kazran approached Abigail. Abigail looked over and smiled widely at him. She placed a hand on his cheek as she continued to sing, this time only to him.
"Let in the shadow, let in the light of your bright shadow. Let in the shadow, let in the shadow."
Behind them, the TARDIS dematerialized, leaving behind the carriage and shark harness from many Christmases ago. If Kazran and Abigail noticed the Doctor and Alex's departure, they didn't say anything, too caught up in looking at each-other as they tried to make the most of Abigail's last moments.
"Let in the light of your bright shadow."
~Living the Life of Ally~
A little while later, after dropping young Kazran back in his proper time, the Doctor and Alex were back in Sardicktown. The Doctor knelt in front of a snowman and rubbed his nose against the snowman's carrot one. Alex stood by, shaking her head and rolling her eyes in a fond manner. She was about to tease the Doctor when a new voice rang out.
"You know, that could almost be mistaken for a real person." Alex looked up to see none other than Amy Pond and Rory Williams. Amy smirked and added, "The snowman isn't bad, either."
"Amy! Rory!" Alex squealed, launching herself at the Ponds. Amy laughed and hugged her best friend back while Rory ruffled the girl's hair. Alex pulled back, laughing in relief that her best friends were okay . . . then she noticed their attire. Amy was wearing the police kissogram outfit from their Atraxi adventure, their first proper meeting with the Doctor, while Rory was wearing the Roman Centurion outfit he'd been sporting when they found him at the Pandorica.
Alex raised an eyebrow, an impish smirk forming on her face. She was about to say something when the Doctor said, "Ah, yes, you two. About time. Why are you dressed like that?"
Amy and Rory's faces turned slightly red. "Er . . . kind of lost our luggage," Rory weakly answered. "Kind of crash landed?"
Alex nodded along, pretending to go along with their explanation. "Okay, of course, that makes sense," she acknowledged. "But that brings up the question on why you were wearing them at all."
"Yeah, they really love their snowmen around here, don't they?" Amy chattered, eager to change the subject. "I've counted about twenty."
"Yeah, we've been busy," the Doctor replied.
"Yeah," Amy nodded, looking at him gratefully. "Yeah, you have. Thank you." She moved over and hugged him and Alex at the same time, spreading her arms around them so tight, the two were literally squeezed together.
"Pleasure," the Doctor said, accepting the hug while Alex shifted back a little, feeling the adrenaline coursing through her body at being in such close contact with him and trying to dispel it a little.
The Doctor separated from Amy a few moments later and clapped his hands. "Right, come on then, let's go!" he called, leading them towards the TARDIS.
"Got anymore honeymoon ideas?" Rory joked.
The Doctor cocked his head in thought. "Well, 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."
"Sounds like the feel-good romantic planet of the century," Alex dryly quipped.
Rory nodded his head and rolled his eyes in agreement. "Yeah. Great. Thanks," he said before disappearing into the TARDIS.
Amy started to follow him, but hesitated. "Are you, are you two okay?" she asked.
"Of course I'm okay," the Doctor said.
"Ditto," Alex lied, not feeling okay at all. This whole adventure had tested her feelings for the Doctor so much. She had to kiss him, and it had been so wonderfully good . . . then he went and almost got married to Marilyn Monroe! And the worst part was, he was so oblivious to her feelings for him. Of course, she couldn't tell Amy any of this, not with the Doctor standing right there.
"You?" the Doctor asked Amy, as always oblivious to Alex's inner torment.
Amy nodded, but she was watching Alex with a guarded expression. "Of course." She paused and then looked up into the sky. "It'll be their last day together, won't it?"
The Doctor nodded. "Everything has got to end sometime, otherwise nothing would ever get started."
The door to the TARDIS opened and Rory came out. "Your phone was ringing," he reported to the Doctor. "Someone called Marilyn." Alex tensed up. "Actually sounds like THE Marilyn."
Amy looked over at Alex, who was so tense you could see the muscles clenched beneath her skin, and then to the Doctor, who had a look of utter horror on his face. "Doctor?"
"Tell her I'll phone her back," he muttered to Rory.
Alex stepped up to the doors. "Don't worry, Doc. I'll handle it," she told him before heading inside and shutting the door behind her.
Rory had set the phone down between some levers on the console. Alex stepped up to the console, eyeing the phone as if were a rattlesnake. The TARDIS hummed reassuringly, making Alex smile.
"I know," she murmured, patting the console gently. "You don't like her either, do you?" An affirmative hum rang out. Alex sighed and reached for the phone. "Let's get this over with," she muttered before lifting the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"It's Marilyn," a breathy voice rang out. "Who's this?"
Alex rolled her eyes. Frank Sinatra had introduced her to half the celebrities there, Marilyn one of them. "Alex Locke. I was with the Doctor at the party, remember?"
"Oh, right!" Marilyn recalled. "The brunette with the split ends!"
Alex almost let out a squawk of outrage. Okay, she did not have split ends. She got a trim every month, thank you very much. And second, even if she did have split ends, they weren't noticeable. But, instead of snapping at Marilyn and telling her this, she took a deep breath and said, "So what do you want?"
"The Doctor," Marilyn sighed in that annoying wispy voice of hers. "He's so handsome and dreamy . . . and he's supposed to be my husband."
Over my dead body, Alex thought.
"Or," Marilyn continued, "if not my husband, I'm perfectly willing to be his lover, you know?"
Alex stuck a finger down her throat and swallowed a gag. Dear God, she wanted to throttle Marilyn. But she was in 1952 and Alex was in . . . whatever year it was here in Sardicktown. And she couldn't fly the TARDIS. Oh, she wanted to do SOMETHING to the blonde! Then . . . an idea popped into Alex's head. She grinned. Oh, she was brilliant! It was a brilliant idea! And she knew it would work, because she had seen it used on an episode of Hart of Dixie.
"Oh yes, I know," Alex said, allowing a knowing tone to enter her voice.
Marilyn, despite her ditzy behavior, noticed this, just as Alex hoped she would. "You do?"
"Yep," Alex smirked into the receiver. "Oh, just one request. Could you be done with him by eleven?"
"Why?"
Alex sucked in her breath and swore. "Oh, hell, oh God, I thought he told you! Oh, Jesus. Oh, God, this is so awkward."
"Told me what?" Marilyn demanded, her voice sounding a little worried.
"All of that denying that we're a couple and flirting with other people," Alex began, pausing for dramatic effect, "it's foreplay."
"What?"
"Yep, foreplay," Alex nodded, even though she knew Marilyn couldn't see her. "All those jealous feelings we get when we see or hear about the other with someone else, it makes the sex that much hotter and steamier and incredible. My husband comes up with some pretty fantastic ideas."
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah, you'll have a blast," Alex gushed before going back to the regular tone she had started this conversation with. "But yeah, eleven. That would be fantastic. And tell him I'm so sorry I let the cat out of the bag."
"EW!" Marilyn screeched. "That's sick! You people are disgusting! Forget it! Go play your sick games elsewhere!" And with that, Marilyn Monroe slammed the phone down and hung up.
Alex placed the phone back in its cradle, smiling victoriously to herself. There. That was taken care of. Take that, Marilyn!
"'Hotter, steamier, and incredible?!'" a Scottish-accented voice rang out.
Startled, Alex whirled around to see Amy and Rory standing on the platform with her, both laughing hysterically.
"'Foreplay?!'" Rory echoed, gripping the railing with one hand as his body bent forward in laughter.
Alex gawked at them, eyes wide. "How long were you standing there?!"
"Long enough!" Amy gasped, falling back against the railing as she clutched her stomach. "I can't believe you told her that!"
"Is the Doctor here?" Alex asked worriedly, looking around for the tweed jacket and bowtie-wearing figure. If he had heard any of that, she'd die of embarrassment.
"No," Amy reassured her, still snickering. "He's outside."
Thank God, Alex thought.
"What did she say to you before she hung up?" Rory asked, straightening back up as his laughter died down.
Alex leaned against the console and dryly repeated, "Ew. That's sick. You people are disgusting. Forget it. Go play your sick games elsewhere." This launched Amy and Rory into another round of hysterical laughter.
"I . . . can't . . . breathe!" Amy gasped as Rory fell into a chair, literally collapsing from laughter.
Alex was about to tell them to keep it down in case the Doctor heard, when that very person walked in. He eyed the Ponds with a confused and wary look on his face, as if they had caught some horribly contagious alien disease and it was only a matter of time before he caught it as well.
"What are you two laughing at?" he asked as he went over to the console.
"Alex just told us a funny joke," Amy dismissed, giving Alex a wink.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Must've been some joke."
"You have no idea," Rory muttered, getting up from his seat.
Alex hastened to change the subject, less the Doctor pry anymore and discover what she'd told Marilyn. "So where are Kazran and Abigail?" she asked.
The Doctor pressed a few buttons and smiled. "Off on a little trip, I should think."
"Where?"
"Christmas."
"Christmas?" Alex repeated, puzzled.
"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, looking up to smile at her. "Christmas. Halfway out of the dark."
Alex smiled and leaned against the console. "Not bad for one day's work."
"No," the Doctor agreed, pulling a lever down. "Not bad at all. Oh, what did you say to Marilyn?"
Amy and Rory sucked in their breaths.
Alex ignored them and casually placed a hand on the console, gripping it tightly as she prepared for the lie to leave her mouth. "Oh, I just told her you'd come later." Behind her, Amy coughed, trying to keep her laughter reigned in.
The Doctor nodded, not noticing this. "Thank you, Ally. Not that I will be going back, of course." He shuddered, trying to put the image of him and Marilyn at the altar out of his mind. If he wanted anyone at the altar with him, it was Alex. Stop thinking that! He snapped to himself.
Shaking his head, he threw down another lever and turned to grin at the Ponds and Alex. "So, where to now?"
A/N: And there's the final part of 'A Christmas Carol'! Tomorrow's the final chapter of 'Living the Life of Ally'! :( BUT, to cheer you up, tomorrow we get the title of the sequel, the title of my new OC story that I'm launching in a couple weeks, AND a sneak peek of that story! Also, I'm so incredibly sorry for not updating yesterday. I attended Big Blue Madness, the big launching event of the University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball team, men and women, and I didn't get back home until eleven and I was so tired that I went straight to bed. But I've updated tonight! :)
Notes on reviews. . .
SopherGopher'sAwesomeSister - Yes, they kissed! I can say that Alex will be with Amy and Rory at the start of 'The Impossible Astronaut' so it's a definite possibility. We'll know for sure in tomorrow's chapter. :) The sequel is outlined, but still needs to be rewritten. Nope, the new OC fic will be in its own story. The sequel will also be separate. :) Aw, I'm glad you figured out why you hadn't seen this episode. I hope you enjoy it! :)
rycbar15 - Glad you liked the added in bits! :) Truthfully, I haven't thought much of any of Alex's other relatives. She definitely has relatives that run G-Locke in New York City, but I'm not sure of the specific names and relations. We may see more of them in a future adventure though. :) I don't see any harm in revealing the new OC's name is Esme Grigori. :)
jesterlover - YES! THEY KISSED! :D
Gwilwillith - Thank you! :)
The-Lonely-Assassins - Yes, Alex does get jealous a lot and easily. It's supposed to be a flaw of hers, but I can see how it flares up a lot and may get tiring. Thanks for the input and I'm glad you're enjoying the story! :)
ElysiumPhoenix - Glad I made you so confused on that chapter! Glad you loved or hated it! :)
We're All M-M-Mad Here - I'm glad you liked that bit. I'll say that tomorrow, we'll be getting a lot more of it. A lot. I think the Doctor's reaction to Alex leaving would be reluctant acceptance and he would try to hide his true feelings about it. :)
mayfire21 - Lol, yep, they had an app for that! :)
SopherGopherroxursox - That's exactly what my cats would do. The cat I consider mine, Sparky, would go crazy and run all around trying to grab everything while the other one, who is already mentally unhinged, would have a nervous breakdown. :) Yep, the mistletoe kiss! I loved writing that part. :) Glad you love the jealousy parts! Hmm, that's one option, but I wouldn't promote it. :)
Neko 97 - I know, I feel so bad for Amy in that part! :( Liz is pretty cool with all her cryptic hints. And I love Alex's 'Doctor' moment too. He would be proud I think, while also scolding her for baiting the alien when he wasn't there to protect her. :) Glad you love the Pandorica chapters! :)
Cigar Fancy Pants - I know, it's taking a while, but that's the way real relationships develop. But, if it makes you feel better, the romance in my new OC story will be moving much faster than the one in here :) I said that as far as we knew, she didn't have a pocket watch and I can't say whether she's human or not. But we'll find out in the sequel! :) We'll see if she's with him in those 200 years he's running from Lake Silencio. I can say we'll find out for sure in 'The God Complex'. :)
ShadowTeir - Good thing Kazran changed in this chapter. :) The kiss was cute! I loved that part. Yeah, the romance is taking forever in this and we'll find out tomorrow, in the final chapter, what happens between them. }:) Glad you liked the chapter! :)
fangirl00123 - That's a good idea, but that won't be happening. I can say that Alex does travel through the Doctor's timeline in a future story where she has to fix a time discrepancy and meets all the other Doctor's, including 9 and 10, and some will get crushes on her. So it's very possible we get a kiss in 'Smith and Jones'! I've also got an idea for an AU meeting of the Doctor and Alex, where she meets him in Season 4 when he's the 10th Doctor. So, we'll see her with 10 and 9, but not in what you suggested. It's still a cool idea though! :)
Timey-Wimey Somn-Like Lass - Yes, they finally kissed! *dances along with reader* Yep, they really are oblivious. I know! Poor Alex! :( I love the Christmas specials too! I know I'll be sobbing at this year's Christmas special and I already have ideas for how Alex will react to the Doctor's regeneration. }:) Oh yeah, fish can be scary, especially sharks. I've never thought of babies as scary, but I don't really pay much attention to them. I don't really like kids. Nope, no cancer Alex, I don't think I could write that. :) Well, we know at Lake Silencio, River shoots at the Doctor's 'girlfriend' and we all know who that is. Yeah, River will still be flirting with the Doctor, but I'll say that her attempts won't work out in the way she wants them to. :)
