Child of Earth

By Lumendea

Chapter Twelve: Reason to Celebrate: Girlfriends

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

….

Setting down her school bag, Rose sighed in relief and rolled her shoulder. She pulled out her laptop and returned it to her desk, lamenting that she couldn't just use a smaller laptop or one of those tablet things that the Doctor had mentioned would be around in a couple of years. As she stepped away from her desk, the ring on her hand caught a beam of sunlight and glittered catching Rose's eye.

Rose stopped and studied the ring on her finger with a small smile. The round cut gem shimmered in the light casting off different shades of purple, blue and gold. To a casual observer, it might appear to be a strange sapphire or an artificial stone, but Rose knew it was a Fire Heart Stone from the planet Plesadius. The Eleventh Doctor had given it to her when she was only sixteen, officially to let him find her and protect her, but now….

Chuckling, Rose fought back a silly grin. Now she had to question his choice of a ring. A small pendant or bracelet would have worked just as well. He could have sent her a TARDIS key and locked onto that. Instead, it was a ring and now Rose found herself rather fancying it as her engagement ring. It certainly would fit that incarnation of the Doctor to give her a ring before even stealing her first kiss. Ever since her fusion with her other life purple had become her favourite colour and there was something rather poetic about a Fire Heart Stone.

The ringing of her phone distracted Rose from her ring and she crossed the room back to her bag. Pulling out her superphone, Rose glanced at the number and grinned as Sharon's name popped up. She brought the phone up to her ear and cheerfully answered it.

"Go your butt to London," Sharon ordered around a happy laugh. "This medical student doesn't have to work tonight or tomorrow!"

"Oh do we have plans then?" Rose asked affectionately.

"You got engaged," Sharon reminded her and Rose smiled to herself. "And we have yet to celebrate it! I don't want the universe to think I'm a terrible mate!"

"You're a wonderful mate, you just have no social life thanks to medical school," Rose teased even as she stood up and walked towards her room. "Dare I ask what we'll be getting up to?"

"We're going dancing, got to enjoy your last bit of freedom."

"Honestly Sharon so I'm engaged to the Doctor, we aren't going to be getting married tomorrow. It could be decades before our timelines realign."

"I'm confident that pretty boy is going to be making good on that proposal as soon as you return from Neverland in the future."

"Still could be decades away."

There was the sound of the phone being wrestled away from Sharon and Rose smirked just before Shareen's voice came on the line.

"Rose just grab a dress, some shoes and makeup and come down to our flat. We'll get ready and go have some fun together. This is the first weekend in months that Sharon and I have had off from the teaching hospitals at the same time so get down here."

"Alright, alright," Rose laughed as she looked into her closest. "Pity I don't have the wardrobe."

"Do you still have the metallic dress we made you buy last summer?" Shareen questioned.

"Yeah."

"Bring that."

The call ended and Rose looked down at her phone with a small huff, but it lacked any real annoyance. She couldn't help but smile as she headed for her bedroom. Her friends certainly had a point. As proud of them and their pursuit of medical professions she was their studies took up a lot of their time. And with her travels with the Doctor approaching fast, Rose really couldn't think of anything better than going back to London and having some fun with her mates.

Then she opened her closet and found the dress in question. Her smile became a little forced as she eyed the silky gold dress that she was now expected to wear.

….

The dress was shorter than she remembered and the strappy gold shoes that Shareen lent her made her legs look really long. Sharon had curled her long hair, increasing the soft little natural waves to a bloody cascade and then refusing to let Rose put it up. She'd even done more than her usual light makeup and done up her nails, letting the warm company of her best mates talk her into more than she usually bothered with.

Rose kept resisting the urge to tug the black hem down, but on the other hand, the looks she was getting were a bit exciting. She rarely let herself enjoy more than a casual flirt, but the attention was nice. When a girl had the Doctor, really had the Doctor, she didn't date much or at all. As she moved in the heels, Rose felt her body adjusting much more comfortable to them than she remembered. It surprised her given how rarely she wore heels. In fact, the last time she'd worn heels had been her almost wedding. Or in her alternate life.

"That must be it," Rose muttered to herself, earning an odd look from Sharon as they were waved into the club.

"What must be it?" Sharon questioned, leading Rose towards the dance floor as the loud music echoed in the club.

"I'm not tripping all over myself," Rose told her, gesturing towards the heels. "That's new, must be from one of my other lives."

"That statement only makes sense from you," Shareen laughed before pausing, "Or one of your Time Lady daughters."

"Come on, dancing," Sharon insisted urgently. "This medical student needs to work out some energy!"

Rose grinned as her friend hauled her out onto the dance floor. Sharon sent a flirty look towards a fit bloke a few feet off and spun on her red heels that matched her dress as she started dancing. Shareen was a few steps behind Rose in her own little black dress and giggling at Sharon's antics. The music was pounding a bit louder than Rose liked as she couldn't hear much, but her heart was beginning to beat in time and she grinned.

She wasn't sure how long they danced. Sharon slipped away from her and Shareen a couple of times to dance with particular blokes, but Shareen seemed to understand Rose's reluctance to dance with any of the men here. The two girls twirled and laughed together, stubbornly ignoring the small crowd that was gathering around Sharon though Rose kept an eye on her friend just in case.

It was lovely. Rose had allowed herself to taken out dancing before on several occasions, but this time it just seemed better. There was a happy hum in the back of her mind that Rose could only assume was coming from one of her other lives. She giggled at the notion that maybe she'd been a dancer in another life until she noted that she definitely pulling this off much more gracefully than she ever had before.

"What is it?" Shareen asked over the music. "You've got an odd look."

"I'm realising that I must have been good at this in another life," Rose called back.

Shareen threw her head back and laughed, "Well you aren't tripping in those heels so I'm going to agree that you probably were."

It was utterly ridiculous. A completely unusual thing to be carrying around, but Rose offered her friend a small shrug and teasing grin. She lost track of time as each song was quickly replaced by another. Finally, even her endurance began to fade and she was breathing a bit heavier than normal. Shareen was sweating slightly, but smiling happily and Sharon had rejoined them.

"Drink?" Sharon asked around an exhausted laugh.

"Yeah," Rose agreed as she began to work her way around the press of bodies towards the bar with her mates following close behind.

The music was still loud, but it eased a bit around the bar. Taking a deep breath, Rose fluffed her hair and lifted the long strands off of her neck to cool off.

"Can I buy you a drink?" A tall dark haired man with olive skin asked as he moved over to them with a sweet grin in place.

"Thanks, but I'm engaged," Rose told him with a smile as she raised her hand let her ring catch the light. The words hit her and Rose gasped softly. "I'm engaged," she repeated.

"You okay?" the guy asked looking a touch worried.

"Yeah," Rose breathed, a bit aware of Sharon shifting next to her. "Yeah, I'm great."

"Just really hit you didn't it," Sharon laughed as she grabbed her hand. "Yeah honey you agreed to marry the Doctor."

"I did," Rose agreed with a nod as Sharon started leading her over to a corner curved sofa around a small low table. "I really did. And he even asked."

Sharon chuckled and half pushed Rose down into a seat. She sat down next to Rose and Shareen came over a moment later, carefully carrying three drinks. Shareen sank into the spot on Rose's other side with an affectionate look.

"Here," Shareen said as she handed Rose the drink.

"Thanks," Rose murmured as she accepted the drink and lifted it up into the air. "Here's to living life so spun around that somehow you end up facing the right direction."

"I'll drink to that," Sharon laughed as she clinked her glass to Rose and Shareen's.

As they sipped their drinks and cooled off, Sharon was turning to look at some of the various men in the club. Rose recognised that smile from sixth form and couldn't quite contain her groan. Shareen just shook her head knowingly.

"Hey just because you've been taken since you were sixteen doesn't mean I can't flirt," Sharon informed Rose sternly.

"I have not been taken…." Rose trailed off as both of her friends gave her looks and sighed, giving a sigh of defeat. "Yeah, I guess I have been."

"Rose?" Someone asked from the right of them drawing her attention.

Turning around, Rose looked towards the voice and her eyes widened. Amelia Pond dressed in a short green dress with her long ginger hair half up in a crown braid was standing there with Rory, looking very pleased. Her grin widened as Rose smiled in surprise at her and she let go of Rory's hand and darted towards them.

"Wait who is this?" Shareen started to ask as Rose stood up and half jumped around the low table.

Amelia stepped forward and hugged her. Sadly whatever height Rose gained on the tall girl from her heels was cancelled out by Amelia's own. The ginger girl held her for a long moment with a soft happy hum escaping her that instantly made Rose relax. When Amelia released her and stepped back, Rory instantly put an arm around his girlfriend.

"Hello Amelia," Rose greeted warmly. "How are you doing? What bring you to London?"

"I'm great and just visiting," Amelia laughed. "Your accent is normal now," Amelia observed with a chuckle. "Like I remember."

"Remind me to tell you the story," Rose sighed softly, not wanting to go into her other life right now. "Some other time."

"Hi there," Sharon greeted from behind Rose. "So you're Amelia?"

"Guilty," Amelia laughed with a little wave as she looked at Sharon and Shareen curiously.

"I'm Shareen," her friend offered with a slightly sad smile. "And she's Sharon."

"And that makes you Rory I'd wager," Sharon remarked as she turned her eyes to Rory.

"Yeah, nice to meet you both," Rory remarked with a nod though he looked a bit nervous. "Should we really be-"

"Oh relax honey," Amelia scolded affectionately as she shifted towards the table and pulled him with her. "Let's sit down and have a visit."

"So do you live in London?" Sharon asked as the five of them moved back towards the sofa.

"No we're living in Edinburgh now," Rory told her with a smile as they sat down. "Just down here for the weekend to visit some friends."

"Oh are you from London originally?" Sharon asked with a tilt of her head. "You sound Scottish."

"No," Amelia laughed, "Leadworth, it's a small village in Gloucestershire though the TARDIS is really home. And I am very much a Scot."

"Boy is that the truth," Rory chimed in with a smile.

"So did your gap year go well?" Rose questioned.

"Yeah it was nice to travel around," Amelia answered quickly with a wide grin. "Course having to travel by plane was a bit rubbish."

"But we saw a lot of Europe and went into Asia for a bit too," Rory added. "Then we went to Australia during the winter."

"That's lovely," Rose replied with a wide smile before looking back at Amelia. "So you took the Doctor's advice on Edinburgh huh?"

"Well I can study art and music history at the University of Edinburgh and there is the medical school for Rory so we can stay together. We've got a flat of our own in the city."

"Art and music history?" Shareen repeated before looking at Rose with a smirk. "Wonder where you picked that up from?"

"Well you meet da Vinci, Robin and Monet before you even hit puberty and attend amazing concerts every other month you develop a passion for the arts," Amelia answered with a proud little smirk. "I just love all the passion, love, pain and hope that becomes immortal through art. It's just amazing. Besides now that I'm studying it the Doctor actually lets me do some of the introductions during our trips."

Rose listened to her little speech with a warm smile, all but basking in the raw energy possessed by the girl. She could understand exactly what she and the Doctor would see in Amelia. Enough that they'd raise up a little girl as a companion, but then Rose knew from her own experience how much having open eyes could change your life. Then she saw the look of absolute adoration on Rory's face as he watched Amelia and her heart melted a tiny bit with a phantom feeling of joy for the ginger girl.

"And what about you Rory?" Rose asked, turning her attention to the young man. "Enjoying your schooling?"

"Yeah it's a great school and my professors are really good, helpful and for the most part don't find my questions insane." She must have frowned because Rory rushed to reassure her, "I originally wanted to be a nurse. When we went on a trip to… well never mind that, but I was really inspired by how the doctors there worked and the things they achieved. But sometimes I reference techniques and creeds they followed which Earth doctor's don't."

"Not yet anyway," Amelia added before leaning over to kiss her boyfriend's cheek and snuggle up against him. "He's brilliant at it, though."

"You two are just too sweet," Shareen sighed before she suddenly grinned. "Oh, by the way, we're out celebrating Rose's engagement to the Doctor."

"Shareen!" Rose scolded while Amelia perked up and beamed at her.

"Really? You got engaged now!? I never knew that!"

"Well he and I have a temporally complex relationship," Rose reminded Amelia while the ginger all but vibrated in her seat.

"I know, but wow!" Amelia cried as Rory gave her a fond look while chuckling. "That's just lovely, but you aren't travelling with yet, though."

"Like I said complex," Rose reminded her. "Sort of like my relationship with you apparently."

"Yeah but at least I'm an adult," Amelia laughed. "Might have been weirder to have a seven-year-old suddenly rush up and hug you."

"This has got to be weird then," Shareen observed as she watched how Amelia happily shifted to be a bit closer to Rose. "Seeing basically your Mum when she's your age."

"A bit yeah," Amelia agreed with a bright laugh. "But hey that's what happens when your family is made up of time travellers. I mean there's my sorta-parents Rose and the Doctor and then Athena, Astra, Ali-"

"Mia," Rose cut in quickly. "Timelines."

"Oops," Amelia gasped with a grimace. "But uh you have met Astra and Athena now right?"

"Yes," Rose agreed with a nod before she sighed. "So did you travel in the TARDIS with them too?"

"No," Amelia answered with a shake of her head. "They're all older than me. They used to joke I was the changeling child that you adopted after they were full grown with their own TARDIS."

"Okay," Rose sighed with a small nod. "I know where that puts you in my timeline then."

"A ways down the timeline if you aren't even travelling with the Doctor yet," Amelia agreed with a thoughtful nod. "Weird to think of it being so far away to you, but it'll be amazing."

"I'm sure it will be," Rose told her with a soft smile that Amelia returned looking so happy with the world.

"I'm a bit surprised that he brings a kid on the TARDIS, to be honest," Sharon observed. "Knowing the companions that we know-"

"Well there are some different circumstances with me," Amelia admitted as she sipped her drink. "At first the visits were in part just to monitor me and make sure that I was okay after… exposure to something. I really shouldn't talk about it."

"No you shouldn't," Rose agreed. "No more talk about the future. We'll all students as weird as that might be to you and Rory, let's focus on that or your travels on Earth."

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a crash from the back of the club. Something vaguely humanoid in shape and glowing a soft blue colour rushed through the dance floor and vanished out the side door, knocking the bouncer over. The shouts of the patrons were lost on Rose as she looked around quickly and noted a group of humans in dark uniforms and holding vaguely weapon shaped objects rushing after the creature.

"Oh," Sharon breathed. "That looked like an alien."

"I'm pretty sure it was," Amelia agreed as she climbed to her feet. "Looked like an Arcateenian to me."

"We're going after it aren't we?" Shareen asked with a soft sigh. "Oh well, watching Rose Tyler resolve an alien emergency in heels should be amusing."