The Wedding.
The Doctor straightened out his collar with Susan's help, wincing at the uncomfortable feeling of the fabric. " Hold still!" Susan ordered. The Doctor rolled his eyes. After 3 minutes more of wrestling the offending collar, Susan stepped back to admire her handy work. " That'll do. Grandmother, what do you think?" Susan asked Rani, who was leaning against the wall, smirking at the Doctor's predicament. The normally cold Time Lady was genuinely happy for her old schoolmate, but she'd really needed to resist the urge to laugh as Susan had wrestled her grandfather into the wedding robes.
" I think he looks good. Wonderfully done Susan, although it would've been easier on you if you'd had some co-operation." Rani said at last, fixing the Doctor with a glare that spoke volumes.
" Hey, these clothes are uncomfortable. Look at me, why can't we just wear normal clothes?" The Doctor whined like a little child not getting his way, again.
Susan and Rani folded their arms, somehow looking alike inspite of their different ethnic appearances, and reminding the Doctor that Susan got most of her looks from Rani's side of the family, and not from him. " Because this is a traditional Time Lord marriage ceremony, and because Romana deserves only the best." The Rani reminded him. " You're not breaking Romana's hearts by wearing something different. She loves you, but like Grandmother said, Romana deserves only the best. By wearing something else you'll break her hearts, and if you do we won't forgive you, and neither will she." Susan added in the same vein as her grandmother, her arms folded, and her dark eyes, usually filled with warmth were now narrowed. The Doctor's argument deflated at the thought of breaking Romana's hearts. He admitted that he could be undeniably careless and thoughtless, but when it came down to it he wouldn't break the hearts of the woman he loved. He turned back to look at himself in the mirror. He had to admit his robes weren't as bad as the robes worn on Old Gallifrey. The wedding robe was much more smaller and less bulky than those robes had been. Wedding robes had followed the same basic design as the centuries passed.
The Doctor was wearing two different robes, the first one was like a jacket or a cloak and cascaded down to the floor. This robe itself was white, symbolising light and love, with astronomical symbols and Time Lord script in gold thread. The second robe was light blue and was more like a shirt or a set of Roman robes worn by a senator only these ones were in one layer.
Rani and Susan wore purple robes, the colour Romana had chosen, and they were more like dresses. That was something about Time Lady fashion the Doctor didn't understand, the men suffered whilst the women didn't and wore less. The Doctor looked around the room, trying to find something to take his mind off his nervousness - what man wasn't terrified about impending marriage, even to the most beautiful woman both in soul and body? - and simply looked around, taking in his surroundings.
The room was identical in every respect to the marriage rooms on Old Gallifrey, and the most special thing about this one was that this was not inside a TARDIS, where the TARDIS would simply adjust the Architectural configuration system and present the room like a holographic program. Romana, Flavia, Susan and Rani had driven people mad just to make it perfect, driving people to the point of insanity just to make it perfect. The Doctor had to admit they'd done a good job, the recreation without deciding to simply use a TARDIS showed just how committed his granddaughter, her grandmother, old friend and fiancé were to making this wedding perfect, and the Doctor preferred this service to the one he'd had on Gallifrey centuries ago to that harpy he'd married. That service had been a pro Time Lord ceremony, meaning there wasn't anything original. The Doctor wondered why Romana wasn't going for that option since she'd been one of those Time Ladies who'd been fanatical, when he'd first met her, but she'd surprised him with this and the amount of detail she'd put into it. Then again, Romana always was keen on detail, and the thought of going with the simple option must've been repugnant to her. The isle was split with two sides for friends and family members, and ornamental torches stood above them.
The room was in the shape of a hexagon, made sense considering the number 6 was an important one in Time Lord society and culture, and it was very expansive, and the Doctor saw most of his old companions - Martha, Sarah Jane, Tegan, Polly and Ben, Peri - all were here, and the Doctor had to smirk at the reactions they'd had when they'd met the new him, including clueless ones like Ian and Barbara, and the Doctor's smirk grew as he remembered meeting them again.
FLASHBACK.
The Doctor and Susan were just walking into the hallways to the changing room when they heard voices. " Why are we here, and why did you kidnap us?"
" You've got a TARDIS? The only person we know who's got a TARDIS is the Doctor?"
Susan and the Doctor glanced at each other, recognising the two voices. " They're here?" Susan asked amazed. She hadn't heard those two voices in centuries. The Doctor nodded, " Yeah, but I told the idiot to simply invite them here, not kidnap them. Better get in there, last thing we need's a fight."
Both of them headed in the direction of the argument, and the Doctor and Susan stopped in the doorway, for similar reasons. For Susan, it was amazement that she was seeing her two old friends again, but they hadn't aged. For the Doctor, it was the same reason, only it was clear the years had matured the pair, even though they hadn't aged beyond the day they'd last met, all those years ago.
Susan glanced at the Doctor, " Why haven't they aged?"
His eyes still on them, he replied, " I tried, for 2 years, to return them home, but my link with the TARDIS was still rudimentary. Every time we travelled it was trial and error, a lottery that never worked. When we were chased through time by the Daleks, they saw an opportunity to leave for home, and they simply took it."
" That doesn't explain why they aged," Susan argued.
The Doctor turned his sad gaze at her, " The Dalek machine, it was powered by taranium."
Susan gaped at him, " Taranium? That's one of the rarest minerals in the universe. When exposed to chronon particles, it generates radiation that's unstable to organic matter. With the Daleks it's not a problem, with those shells, but with humans..." She shook her head, amazed by her grandfather's stupidity. " Why did you let them go in that thing, you know what taranium powered time machines do to living flesh? You do know it's permanent?"
The Doctor nodded grimly. " Afraid so." He sighed, saddened that once again he'd ruined his old friend's lives.
Susan saw the direction of his thoughts, and whacked him on the arm, making the Doctor go, " Ow! What was that for?"
" For feeling sorry for yourself, Ian and Barbara knew what they getting themselves into."
At the sound of their names, Ian and Barbara turned away from the harassed Time Lord who'd brought them here against their will. After the time they spent with the Doctor, being kidnapped was practically second nature.
Barbara looked at the two young people, and for a moment she could've sworn she recognised them, particularly the young woman with long dark hair. " I'm sorry, but can you tell us where we are?"
" And why we were brought here, against our will?" Ian added, looking scathingly at the Time Lord.
" Yes," The Doctor agreed, looking at the unfortunate Time Lord with dark eyes. This wasn't how he'd hoped to see these two amazing people. They'd made him look deeply at himself and change his lifestyle. " I told you not to kidnap them, but to welcome them here. What went wrong?"
The flustered young Time lord was shaking in terror in the face of the Doctor's anger. " I tried to invite them here, but they wouldn't listen. I told them about being a Time lord, and I mentioned your name Doctor, but they wouldn't listen, so I stunned them and brought them inside the TARDIS."
The Doctor's glare intensified, Ian and Barbara stepped back, feeling the anger this alien - they were sure he was an alien, but they both heard what the Time Lord called this man. Doctor. It couldn't be, could it?
" You could've handled it better, and so could I. I should've gone myself," The Doctor admitted.
" Who are you?" Barbara asked. The Doctor turned to face her, and the former schoolteacher who could normally make students, any students, think they were in the Sahara, and sweat profusely. " Who are you?" Barbara asked again.
The Doctor slowly turned to face them, Susan mirroring his movements. Susan began first. " Hello, Ian, Barbara."
Ian had just about had enough of this, " Look, tell us who you are. We've been kidnapped, again, and now we're-"
" It's me, Susan." Susan replied. " Listen, I'm definitely Susan. I kept showing you up in front of your classes, and I was shown up myself." She added wryly.
" And I'm the Doctor." The Doctor said, grinning. His earlier anger with the careless Time Lord forgotten.
" No, you're not. The Doctor's an old man, crotchety and eccentric." Ian argued.
The Doctor sighed. Time may not have touched this man properly yet, but his mind was still as argumentative as he had been when they first met. The Doctor knew as soon as he explained he wouldn't hear the end of it.
" You forced your way into the TARDIS, you followed Susan back to Trotters yard because you were curious about her at Coal Hill school. I picked up a battered old painting still in its frame and commented it could be cleaned, that it was a pity it got into that state. You and Barbara threatened to find a policeman, I promised to stay behind. When you insinuated I'd run away, I replied I would be insulted. Just as you were about to leave, Susan called from the TARDIS, and you Barbara forced your way inside whilst I wrestled with Ian." The Doctor folded him arms.
" Oh my god!" Barbara exclaimed, her eyes wide as she took in the two young people.
" It's a biological process," Susan explained, holding up her hands. " When our bodies grow old or are injured, we regenerate. Become new. Every cell...changes, and shift around. There's a change of personality, a change of appearance."
" How many times have you done it?" Barbara whispered. Ian was so shocked he couldn't speak. Barbara carried on, " I mean, have you done this before we met...?
The Doctor smiled, " No. We were both in our first lives when we first met." The Doctor smiled at his granddaughter, wrapping a warm arm around her shoulders. " Our timelines are...nonlinear, because Susan left after that Dalek invasion, and because she stayed with David, so then she hadn't needed to regenerate. I'm in my 10th life, and Susan's in her 2nd."
Ian breathed, " It's not possible."
The Doctor groaned, " Again, Ian, this you where you give up. You see aliens, yet you put a Human spin on their nature, narrowing your understanding of them. Susan and I are not Human, we don't have the same life cycle you do. Why is regeneration so hard to understand? Humans shed dead cells all the time, your organs break down, meaning your own cells continually regenerate themselves."
" But - "
The Doctor stopped Ian, " No, Ian. It's true, I'm the Doctor, and this is Susan." He repeated. The Doctor sighed, realising that it would take lots of persuasion just to get Ian to accept the truth. That was the problem with the man, he was intelligent but his thinking was so 2 dimensional.
FLASHBACK ENDS.
The Doctor shook himself out of his memories when he heard a soft fluting music start up. The ceremony had begun. Flavia, Rani and Susan, the Gallifreyan equivalent of bridesmaids, came forward. Flavia and Rani were holding ornamental torches, elaborately carved and polished, and they lit the torches. Susan was carrying a tray with two goblets, a bowl with some local fruit, a glass with a flower in it, and a knife on it.
The Doctor felt his hearts quicken when he saw Romana herself, wearing silver trimmed robes similar to what Susan and Rani were wearing. There was no best man in a ceremony like this. Romana was wearing a strapless robes, and she was holding wild flowers that were both delicate and yet beautiful at the same time, and the Doctor couldn't help but feel they were appropriate for Romana, who gave off an air of delicacy and yet strong beauty at the same time.
When Romana got to him, both Susan and Rani stood to the side, their heads bowed out of respect for the ceremony. Flavia stood in front of the tray, and held up the knife. The Humans in the room held their breaths, but they kept still thankfully. This was an alien ceremony and was different to what they knew back on Earth.
" Our ancestors believed the universe blessed marriages, through blood and souls," Flavia announced as the music died down. " We are here to bless the universe with the union of these two Time Lords, who have known each other for many centuries." She handed the knife to the Doctor, who took it slightly hesitantly.
" I take this knife to bless our union," he said, holding up Romana's hand and cutting it gently. Romana didn't even wince as she looked at him with love as the wound drew blood, controlling the flow of blood she held out her hand for the knife. Romana took it from her husband to be, and held out the knife for all to see.
" I take this knife to bless our union," She said, repeating the Doctor's words. She made a similar cut on the Doctor's hand. As she did, the lights died down and the ceiling showed a realtime view of the stars.
Flavia smiled around the room. " The cosmos smiles down on these two." To the Doctor, she said. " Do you take this woman, to be your wife and joined soul?"
The Doctor smiled. " I take you, Romanadvoratrelunder, as my joined soul, and my wife." As he said this, they held hands, letting the blood mix.
Romana kept her composure, but everyone could see the depth of her emotions. " I take you," she said his Time Lord name so quickly the Humans didn't catch it. Everyone had secrets afterall. " as my joined soul, and my husband."
Flavia held out the goblets, which were filled with a colourless liquid. The Doctor and Romana squeezed a drop of blood into both of them, and the liquid bubbled and turned yellowish gold before settling on turquoise and the liquid steamed.
Flavia took the blood soaked knife, and sliced the fruit before dropping a piece into each of the goblets before adding a petal from the flower into the mix.
" Drink to celebrate your union."
The fruit was a common enough one on Old Gallifrey, with seeds growing on plantations. The fruit had been considered to have many mystical powers by Gallifreyans of the past, whilst the flower was like a medicinal herb. As both Time Lords drank from the goblets, they felt a cool taste trickle down their throats.
They were married.
As the Doctor and Romana were getting into bed on their wedding night, the Doctor couldn't help but grin as he watched his wife jump into the bed and they clambered under the covers.
That was a lovely day, the Doctor remarked in his mind as he thought about the wedding and how his friends had been.
He could feel the mental smirk Romana had when she got closer to him, and the Doctor shuddered as she felt his new wife's magic touch on his thigh...
Yes, it felt good to be finally married!
A/N Sorry that I didn't add much interaction between the Doctor and his former companions, but I wanted the ceremony to focus on him and Romana.
