A/N: Welcome to the third Doctor Who story of the 'Fairy Tale Memoirs' involving my OC, Avalon Reynolds, and the 11th Doctor. This story will be the rewrite of the first half of the 7th season with the major arc being from the Doctor Who comics. A few original chapters will be thrown in! I would recomend you go back to the first story Stars Dance then Falling in Temptation to better understand Avalon's history and her relationship with the Doctor!
Avalon Reynolds will look like Rachelle Lefevre - ginger locks and blue eyes!
Her sister, OC Lena Reynolds will look like Bella Heathcote - ashy brown hair and blue eyes!
And, just for fun, the theme song for this story is "Written in the Stars" by the Girl And The Dreamcatcher.
***The cover for this story was done by the fabulous hogwarts-is-my-wonderland on tumblr!
Avalon Reynolds couldn't be more excited for today. It was a special day, a day that she absolutely loved. It was a day that, usually, was a huge surprise thanks to the Doctor. Her husband was extra secretive on their anniversary.
Ten years ago they had gotten married in the oddest of places, at the oddest moment, and she would never forget it. The Doctor wouldn't either. Ten years later, they were still acting as if that day had been yesterday.
That morning - or whatever moment it was in the TARDIS - Avalon woke up to find the Doctor gone from their bed and room altogether. There was only an old-styled folded letter left in his spot. The excitement immediately started at that moment. Avalon quickly grabbed the letter and took a moment to appreciate the fact that the letter had been made to look vintage. The Doctor always did that when he wrote her letters. It was something cheesy but she absolutely adored it.
My Ava, today's going to be the best! I have something planned for us and I'll need you to be dressed appropriately for the era. That shouldn't be a problem for you.
Avalon laughed. No, it really wouldn't be. She loved going into the TARDIS wardrobe.
The era's like a typical Earth version of India. It'll be spectacular, I promise! Only the best for my Ava!
With love, the Doctor.
Avalon shook her head and laughed again. She loved that man and all his antics.
"Well," she started climbing out of bed, "I guess we have our assignment…" She tilted her head up to the ceiling, meaning to the TARDIS, "What do you say grandmother, can we make me look amazing for my 10th anniversary?"
The TARDIS hummed instantly. Avalon took that as a 'yes!'.
"Let's do this!" She hurried out of the room.
~0~
The Doctor was deeply focused on the console when Avalon found him. He always got so lost when he was 'fixing' parts of the TARDIS. Avalon admired his focused face, the way his eyes dazzled with new interest as if this was the first time he was ever looking at the console.
Avalon eventually cleared her throat to claim his attention. She often did that but today was different. As far as she knew, they were on a schedule.
Hearing her made the Doctor turn around and forget all about the console. His wife was looking extra beautiful today. She was dressed in a casual colorful sari that with its shade of greens made her ginger hair look even more fiery orange.
"You look amazing," he breathed in like he'd lost all the air in his lungs.
Avalon beamed at his praise. "Yeah? It's alright?" The Doctor nodded silently, still taking in her appearance. "Because I don't really know what kind of India you're taking me too and I wanted to get it right…"
"And you did, love," he had come to her and cupped her face. "Look at you. Beautiful."
She blushed under his intense gaze. "Thanks," she whispered.
The Doctor couldn't help himself and kissed her there. He had a lot of things planned for them today but he had to stop a moment to relish the fact that he was actually married to her. Ten years later and it was still a shocker.
"Where are we going, exactly?" Avalon asked when the Doctor had finally brought her up to the console.
"Kale!"
"Kale?"
"Kale!"
Avalon watched him go around the console to take them to 'Kale'. She didn't want to say that it didn't exactly sound promising but...that's exactly what it felt like. Of course she reminded herself that her husband was always proving her wrong about places. She would just have to wait and see.
When the TARDIS landed, the Doctor had lost some of that excitement. Avalon noticed it quickly and moved to his side.
"What's wrong?" She asked him and tried taking a peek at the monitor but he kept moving it away from her. "Doctor!" She said with a huff. "What's going on? This isn't part of your surprise, is it?"
"No, no…" He mumbled, a crease of worry marking his forehead. "Something else…"
"What is it?"
He finally met her gaze and there was nothing but apologies. "I'm sorry, Ava. I planned this day specifically for us, but…" He trailed off and glanced at the monitor again.
Avalon moved the monitor to her side so she could see for herself. It was a crashed ship right on the planet he was taking them to. She lightly smiled. "Oh my Fairy Tale Man, you could never say no to helping someone." She turned to him, grabbed his face and planted a kiss on him. "And I love that. Now c'mon! We've got a spaceship to inspect!"
"But it's our 10th anniversary…" He didn't want her to pretend like it didn't bother her that they would get sidetracked, because if it did bother her then she should be able to tell him. They had long ago created a space for them to be honest with each other when it was finally just them in the TARDIS and he didn't want to see that vanish.
"Yeah, and it'll still be there when we finish!" Avalon grabbed his hand and hurried towards the door. She was glad she wore the flats today. It was going to be an interesting day indeed!
~0~
The TARDIS had landed on a bright green field. As soon as the pair stepped out, they saw the crashed spaceship across from them. It had nearly hit a tree (that looked quite Earthly to Avalon).
The Doctor cautiously took the lead towards the ship, almost preferring for Avalon to stay in the TARDIS altogether...but he knew if he said that, she'd kill him. Where he went, she went, period.
The ship was relatively small. While the Doctor inspected the ship, Avalon took the immediate area of the field for any survivors. Neither found anything.
"No survivors, judging by the impact depth, it must have come down with quite a wallop," the Doctor assessed two gray tubes sticking out from the ship's back. "I'm guessing either engine failure or some seriously inattentive driving!"
Avalon snorted from her spot and cast a look his way. "You're one to talk, huh?"
The Doctor met her gaze with a frown. "Shut up!"
Avalon laughed and turned away. She studied the field and thought it was a magnificent spot for a picnic. There were two mountains in the distance with a bright sun poking between them. She could see the tips of a distant town ahead of them and wondered if that had been the spot the Doctor was planning on taking her to.
"A strange new world! Somewhere I've not been before, I wonder what it holds in store, new races that I've yet to meet, and monsters to defeat!" She had suddenly sang into the air. She blinked, silently asking herself where that had come from. She always sang, yes, but when she wanted to. Right now was the least appropriate time to sing.
"A strange new world! Floating around a distant star, haven't a clue where we are!" The Doctor started singing as well, making her whirl around to meet his puzzled face as he continued singing. "Or if there's something deadly here, don't even know the year!"
Avalon was going to ask him why he was singing but something quite different came out instead. "A strange new world! Love this bit, it's really cool! You always tell me not to wander off, because that's the rule! Somewhere new in time and space, a thrill you can't replace! On a strange, strange new world!"
They both took in a breath when it had passed, but it left a series of questions afterwards.
"Okay, I love singing and while I do admit that it would be fun to be in a musical...where did that come from!?" Avalon patted her cheeks then lips as if something was on her that made her spontaneously break into a number.
"I don't know," the Doctor was trying to come up with a reasonable explanation, but so far he had nothing.
"This isn't part of the plan, right?"
"Course not!"
"...can we make that into a plan later on?"
The Doctor met his wife's smirking face and laughed. "Sure." He walked over to her and grabbed her hand. Soon they began to walk in hopes of getting some answers.
"So, what do you think caused it?" Avalon asked.
"I don't know…" He trailed off when he spotted something in the sky. "Actually, I might have a theory now."
"What would it be?"
"That," he pointed up to the sky where a huge orange spaceship was coming down.
"Ah...that was relatively easy," Avalon shrugged. Nothing was ever easy but maybe today would be different.
The ship landed across them and when its cargo door opened, a group of purple and blue aliens came rushing towards them. They wore golden armor that could resemble Japanese samurais but they were far from that. They had big teeth sticking out from their mouths, pointy ears like elves only their stature was far bigger than traditional fairy tale elves. Only one of them seemed to wear a regal head crown while the rest wore horned helmets.
"Ah...Ava…" the Doctor pulled them back a step, seeing the aliens were only coming closer.
"Yeah?"
"Run!"
"Mhm!" Avalon turned with him and ran as fast as she could.
The group started firing a thumb with white some weapons. They were missing but only by inches. They were nearing a hill and when the Doctor looked back, he saw the next aim was far too precise. He shoved Avalon down the hill, only hearing her scream right before the next fire hit him.
Smoke billowed around the Doctor's body and when it cleared up, he was glad to find himself still intact and not disintegrated. He didn't see Avalon anywhere nearby, much less heard her. He only hoped that she had landed somewhere far away and safely...and wasn't too angry with him.
"Who are you? Identify or die!" He heard a gruff voice behind him.
With several coughs, the Doctor got up from the ground and wobbled for s bit until he could reclaim his balance. When his vision cleared up, he was surrounded by the aliens. Each one of them was holding the threatening guns at him.
"I'm the Doctor, and who might you be?"
"We are the Shasarak of Baloch!" The leader of the group responded. "You are not a native of this maggot heap?"
The Doctor frowned at the words. He pulled out his psychic paper and flashed it at the leader. "No, I'm more of an Intergalactic Accident Investigator."
A few more of the aliens arrived at the scene. One of them stepped towards the leader. "We have surveyed the remains, leader! No sign of the cargo!"
The Doctor lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, ho, and what cargo might that be?"
His answer came in the form of newly appointed guns in his face.
~0~
Avalon was furious with the Doctor...and scared. She was very scared for him right now. She had stop mowing after what seemed like forever and when she got up, he was nowhere to be seen. She had to hope that he was alive and that, like every other species they had met, they had stupidly taken him into custody where he would no doubt break free eventually. But, just in case, she ran for her life towards the town that she'd seen when they first arrived. She would need some help. The town was quaint and there was no modernization to it. She hoped that there was still some help it could offer her.
"Please! Please!" She came up to the first person she saw, a young dark-skinned man. "Whoever you are, please help me! My husband has just been stopped by these alien lizards...or elves, I don't know what they are but they attacked us!"
The man blinked at her, a natural response Avalon expected, but what she hadn't expected was for him—and everyone else—to break into a whole number.
"Hello beautiful lady, I have a song in my heart for you! A melody of joy and of the girl meets boy...please feel free to join in too!" The young man led the chorus.
Avalon felt sick. They were singing too...they did that too! "What the hell is going on!?" She yelled to no avail. Everyone was dancing in a perfect chorus line, even those on the roofs of their homes!
"Welcome, beautiful lady! For the town where we sing all day, a carnival of fun under the golden sun! We hope you will enjoy your stay!"
"STOP SINGING!" Avalon screamed at them until the number was up. It was so strange to see everyone go back to what they were doing like they hadn't broken into some Mama Mia scene. "What the hell is this?" The young man returned to Avalon's side. She clung to his arm before he turned for another number. "My name's Avalon. Listen, there are these monsters nearby and a spaceship that apparently crashed—"
"You mean the fallen star?" The man smiled, unperturbed.
Avalon froze to stare at him, dumbfounded. "What?"
"The fallen star. I'm Rajiv, by the way."
"...nice to meet you, can you help me? It's my 10th anniversary and my husband had this entire day plan for us but then we found that spaceship and they started attacking us so my husband, being his stupid self, pushed me down a hill and now he's gone—"
"Take it easy," Rajiv put his hands on her shoulders. "You're not from around here either, huh?" He looked down at her chosen sari then her hair. "Nobody around here has that bright orange hair."
Avalon patted her hair, mumbling, "It's from my father. Please, my husband…"
"Let me show you something," he motioned her to follow him and though she had no idea where he would lead her, she went. "It might be why your husband was taken."
He brought her into a house that was barely furnished. There were no doors and the windows had no glass. But there was something that froze Avalon two steps into the house. She was bright blue with a sleeveless maroon dress with a green sash going down from her right shoulder. She had golden cuffs around her wrists and a matching golden head crown. The left side of of her face, along with her left shoulder, were not blue but instead part of a robot's body.
"Welcome," the woman greeted Avalon, "I am Muse."
~0~
The Doctor was taken into the Shasarak's ship which turned out to be far bigger than what he originally thought. They had him sit in the cargo room, the door wide open as if it were a means to taunt him with. Escaping was right there and he couldn't do it. They told him what they were searching for at least. He wasn't totally lost.
"And that's what you're looking for, this Muse?" He asked them just to make sure he got things right.
"That is our mission and our ambition," the leader gave a nod. "We have chased it and traced it to here! Until completion and acquisition, we will not rest in our quest! No fear!"
The Doctor watched as the leader and the rest of the Shasark gathered together...until they…
"Are we singing!?"
"Yes, we are singing!"
"If we're singing that can only mean good news!" The leader had pressed his hand to his chest while the other arm raised above his head. Like a true number, the rest of the Shasark copied his moves. "Cos if we're dancing…"
"Yes, we are dancing!" The group choruses together.
"...then we must be getting closer to the Muse!"
The Doctor watched them in awe as they sang and danced about this Muse. It was terrifying and yet hilarious at the same time. He checked the open ramp door and took his chance to run out.
They never even noticed.
~0~
"Amazing…" Avalon made countless rounds on the Muse, much like the Doctor would do. "Simply amazing," she admired the Muse's form. "You look like a right goddess - and please take my full complement about that - but you're a robot. You're a sentient A.I."
The Muse simply smiled at Avalon. Behind Avalon stood Rajiv who was attentively watching the sight, almost precariously as if Avalon would try to do something against the Muse.
"I was constructed as an amusement for the Maharani of Baloch," the Muse explained to Avalon.
"Not the guys that took my husband," Avalon said. They were the evil ones.
"No, not them. I would induce courtiers to perform musical routines against their will…"
"Ah, making them break into musical numbers," Avalon nodded. "Got to say, that's kind of a cool superpower."
The Muse's smile wasn't as happy as it could've been. "An insurgent faction, the Shasarak, realized my powers could also be used for evil. As the Shasarak attacked, I was smuggled out of the palace by the Maharani servants. The Maharani would not have me dismantled, as I am a sentient machine."
"Right," Avalon understood. The Muse wasn't the first sentient machine she came across with. "So you landed here and the Maharani all died except for you."
"Yes," the Muse bowed her head in shame.
"That's not your fault," Avalon said quickly. "The Maharani were trying to save you. They did that."
"But now the Shasarak are coming for you, aren't they dear?"
Avalon whirled around as soon as she heard the Doctor's voice. She breathed in relief seeing him standing under the doorway. "Fairy Tale Man!" She ran towards him, encasing him in a big hug.
"Ava," he held her tightly and pressed a kiss to her hair.
"Thank goodness you're alright," Avalon parted from him...and smacked him across the chest.
Rajiv winced at the thud.
"Stop pushing me away when people try blowing us up!" Avalon promptly yelled at the Doctor.
"I didn't want you to get hurt!"
"You're going to get hurt the next time you do that, got it!?" The anger vanished in Avalon's face in the next second when she grabbed his face to kiss him. "You stupid man," she said afterwards, still holding onto him.
"Yeah," he agreed with a light smile. He would never stop trying to keep her safe and she knew it. He would always choose her over him. It was a promise he made to her grandfather a long time ago and it was a promise that he would see it through until he took his last breath. She would always be safe, no matter the cost.
"So, this is your husband?" Rajiv asked Avalon once they were good again.
"Mhm, bowtie and all," Avalon said with a laugh as she tweaked said bowtie.
"What do we have then?" The Doctor set eyes on the Muse who had been watching him since he appeared.
"A sentient robot," Avalon told him.
He stepped towards the Muse, raising his hands to show he was a friend. "Hello Miss, mind if I gave a quick poke around?"
"He means that nicely," Avalon smiled at the Muse.
The Doctor popped the sonic on the Muse and scanned her exposed robotic circuits. "Oh you are gorgeous!"
Avalon promptly cleared her throat, making the Doctor wince. Rajiv chuckled beside her.
"I love you my dear wife!" The Doctor exclaimed.
"Keep going you idiot," Avalon playfully rolled her eyes.
"It's just this is magnificent! You are magnificent!" He told the Muse who was sheepishly standing as he examined her.
"I am...damaged?" She asked him.
"Afraid so. It's why you've been leading us a merry dance! You can't control your powers! You can't stop the music!"
"Oh! Oh!" Avalon suddenly beamed and started singing, "Please don't stop the music!" Unfortunately, no one seemed to recognize the lyrics. She groaned. "You guys are so aliens. Rihanna, people!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Excuse my wife. She's from Earth."
"And don't you forget it," she pointed at him. "So the Muse is what makes people burst into random musicals at the slightest provocation? Okay, like being in a stage school?"
"Yup," the Doctor popped the 'p' in his answer. He stepped back from the Muse, his eyes still lingering over her. "But you should be able to self repair...given a suitable energy source."
"What does that mean?" Rajiv politely asked Avalon. He had lost them somewhere along the way and no matter how much he tried figuring things out, it seemed impossible.
"Technobabble, technobabble," the musical note slipped through Avalon's lips, "Half the time it sounds like he's gone mental. Technobabble, technobabble, my brains not dimension transcendental!"
The Doctor smiled as his wife kept singing. He went back to sonicking the Muse's exposed circuits.
"Technobabble, technobabble! Excuse how am I supposed to know? High score at scrabble! How do you reverse a neutron flow! Timey-wimey? Leaves me stymied! Are we coming, going, will be, or have been?" Avalon did a twirl, much to their amusement. "Paradoxes in police boxes! Why does he never explain what he means?"
The Doctor turned to face Avalon, a huge smile crossing his face when she stopped and realized the musical number she'd spontaneously gave. "Lovely," he clapped for her, making her flush in embarrassment. " I should mention that I do have a plan now. With any luck it might just work and…" He crossed the room to take Avalon's hand. He raised her hand and brought it up to his lips for a kiss. "My wife will get to star in her own show."
"Oh God," Avalon's smile was one of utter nervousness. What could he have in mind?
~0~
The Shasarak eventually found the town where they believed the Muse was hidden. They came down the hill and looked around the solace place. It seemed empty…
Somebody cleared their throat, instantly capturing the Shasarak's attention. It was Avalon who sat on the edge of the crate.
"Welcome," she wiggled her fingers. She then brought herself up to stand over the crate and clapped her hands. "Welcome to the village where we sing and dance! Where the rhythm of the music has us in a trance!"
The rest of the villagers started coming out singing to the same words and dancing to the melody in the air.
Avalon twirled in place as she led the number, but her eyes were keenly watching Rajiv and the Doctor by the building where the Muse was hiding. "For every day is spent in Non-Stop celebration! Where we harmonize and slap are thighs in close formation!"
"The Muse is causing this agitation!" The leader of the Shasarak concluded and stepped back with his comrades. "We must be close! Through there!" He pointed to the only small opening the dancing villagers allowed.
Avalon kept singing as she hopped off the crate, allowing the rest of the villagers to take over the number while she disappeared behind them. Once she was in the clear, she made a run for the outskirts of the town where Rajiv and the Muse were waiting for her.
"The Doctor?" She quickly asked them.
"In the town!" Rajiv answered her. Things were going according to plans.
"Let's go! Go!" Avalon ushered them first into the field. They ran as fast as they could towards the Shasarak's ship. It was just as the Doctor said: the ramp door was still open.
There was only one Shasarak guarding the ship when they arrived.
"How do we get past them?" asked the Muse.
"Well, we could distract them while…" Avalon trailed off when Rajiv zoomed past them, screaming before he punched the sole alien. Avalon blinked. "Or we could do that. Definitely do that."
"Rajiv!" The Muse rushed after the man who was staring down at the unconscious Shasarak.
"He's out cold," he said proudly. He had no idea if that would work.
"Did you have to hit him so hard?"
"Which would you prefer: unconscious or semi-unconscious?"
"He makes a good point," Avalon joined them and headed straight for the ramp. "If I had my blaster I would've gotten him good too but my husband is ever so against them."
The trio entered the ship carefully just in case there was another Shasarak lurking around.
"So what did the Doctor say this power supply would look like?" Rajiv asked. Everything looked so high tech inside the ship, how would they find the one power supply they were looking for?
"This!" The Muse exclaimed. She had wandered to the opposite side of the room and found a square hole in the wall. She shoved her arm inside and was immediately engulfed by a white electricity.
"That could've gone horribly wrong if it was the incorrect hole," Avalon said with widened eyes.
"Muse, what's happening to you?" Rajiv was concerned as the Muse glowed a brilliant white even when her arm was no longer in the hole.
"I am recalibrating!" Her eyes were shining in the same manner as her body.
"Oh this is great!" Avalon beamed. Things were actually working out! "With her power back, we'll be able to take care of the Shasarak with no problem!"
"Assuming they haven't hurt anyone in the town yet," Rajiv mumbled.
Avalon's beam faltered.
~ 0 ~
The Shasarak had found their way into the same home where the Muse had once been but instead of finding a trace of her, they found the Doctor waiting for them.
"Doctor, you have deceived us!" roared the leader.
"What? You didn't like the number?" The Doctor nodded out the window. "I thought my wife was lovely out there. And on such a short rehearsal too…"
"You, your wife, and everyone else in this maggot town are going to die," the leader aimed his gun at the Doctor. "Prepare to take your final curtain call! You thought you could make a fool out of the mighty Shasarak but you can't!"
The Doctor didn't look the least bit threatened. His eyes had seen something glowing behind the Shasarak. He grinned. "Right, right. Hey fellas, how are we feeling?" He asked as if there was something going on...and there was.
"Can't stop! Tapping my feet, can't stop!" The leader and the rest of the Shasarak began to sing together. "Shaking my meat! Oh, something's come over me! Grooves got a hold of me! Can't stop driving to the beat!"
The Doctor laughed at the sight of the Shasarak tipping their helmets at him.
"Can't help! Jiggling my chest! Can't help! Ripping off my vest! There's no defying it, Muse is supplying it! Making us dance like we're possessed!"
"You bet she is!" The Doctor cheered with a fist in the air.
~ 0 ~
One hour later, the Shasarak were still singing and dancing inside the house while the rest of the village listened.
The Doctor approached the Muse and Rajiv who were the nearest to the house. "I had a word with the Maharani and the're sending a ship to take the Shasarak into custody," he was proud to tell them. "They won't be bothering you again."
The Muse was smiling with utter gratitude. "That is great. Thank you, Doctor."
"And what about the Muse?" Rajiv asked, his eyes a bit saddened as he gazed at her. "Must she return to the stars too?"
The Muse met his look and suddenly the ground became very interesting. The Doctor smirked. "Well, that's up to her…"
"I would like to stay…" the Muse admitted and perhaps stepped slightly closer to Rajiv. "If that is alright of course."
Rajiv quickly nodded his head. "Of course it is!"
"Thank you, Doctor," the Muse said once again to him.
"Really," Rajiv nodded. "Your wife was telling us that today was supposed to be your anniversary…"
"Right, ten years," the Doctor said proudly and contently until the day's happenings flashed across his mind. "I promised her a day for us and...I think I haven't lived up to it."
"Might I make a suggestion?"
The Doctor recognized the look of a plan brewing on Rajiv's face. "I'm all ears."
~ 0 ~
Avalon had zero idea of what was going on but she would never refuse a chance to get dressed up and tonight's clothing was perhaps one of the most beautiful choices she'd ever tried on.
The women of the village had come to her declaring there was to be a celebration because the Shasarak were gone. Avalon tried to say that she and the Doctor had plans of their own but they assured her that the Doctor was being helped as well. With that, they brought Avalon into another home where a lovely bath was set up for her. She would smell like roses and lavender, the latter being her favorite scent.
Her hands and feet were marked in the traditional Henna comprising mostly floral patterns. Avalon absolutely loved it and listened attentively to the meanings behind the darker shades. She especially liked the one that said her husband would love her for all an eternity.
Her hair was done at the same time. Due to her outrageous curls, it was a lot easier to leave it down with only a small puff at the top of her head. However, golden flowers decorated her curls in the back and when Avalon saw them she thought they resembled Earth marigolds. When her hair was done, the women helped bring it over her shoulders so the flowers wouldn't disappear as they pulled the pallu of the sari over the top of Avalon's head. Afterwards, they settled a maang tikka over her forehead. It was a jewelry with a sparkling golden flower design matching the thick necklace around her neck. The same golden adorned her wrists in the dozen bangles she'd been given. She was given a beautiful red sari with a blouse. It was marked with golden embroidered borders that matched her long golden earrings dangling over her shoulders. Her makeup was left mostly natural with only the faintest pink sprinkled over her cheeks.
She was in love with it!
"I think this is a little too much for a celebration," she remarked once she was allowed to leave the house.
"Not at all," one of the women assured her.
They walked in silence until Avalon spotted a lovely altar set up under a canopy up ahead, decorated with a wondrous supply of exotic flowers. She was more than confused to find the whole village surrounding the altar like...they were ready to watch and not celebrate as she was told the villagers would do.
She finally caught the sight of the Doctor and she couldn't believe he had actually allowed people to give him a change of clothing. He only did it on special occasions and it seemed like tonight was a big one. He was wearing a long type of jacket in a cream color with fitted matching trousers. Sparkling red adorned the jacket in the form of small flowers with a golden bead in the middle. They were the same colors as Avalon's.
"Look at you," she looked him over in delight.
"Look at you," he said, mesmerized by her appearance. He knew she would be dazzling in red but his thoughts paled to the actual sight of her.
"It's going to be a good party, I hear," she said, hoping that her blush wasn't matching her sari.
"Yeah, I think it will be," he took her hand after waving the women goodbye. "Ten years it's been since we got married…"
"Has it been that long?" Avalon pretended to think about it. "It seems only yesterday we were trying to rid the world of the Silence."
"Time with you passes by so quickly," the Doctor raised one of her hands to his lips. "I can't wait to see what we'll be doing in, say, a century?"
A big smile crossed Avalon's face. "A century with you? Sign me up."
"Yeah?" The Doctor loved seeing her face light up just at the mere thought of spending a century with him. "Well, I was thinking—or rather Rajiv and the Muse gave me an idea—that maybe we can do something extra special for our first anniversary of double digits."
"And what's that? A huge party? You know I love parties," Avalon said, already eyeing the tables at a distance from them. There were people preparing food and chairs. It seemed like there would be quite the party tonight.
"Yes, there will be...if you decide to renew our vows?"
Avalon's eyes snapped to his in a half a second. "What?"
"It's been ten years since we were married, Avalon, and I would really like if you would agree to renew our vows; to have the chance all over again to say how much we love each other."
Avalon's smile returned to her face. Now she gazed at the canopy again then the villagers anxiously waiting to hear her response. She looked down at herself then at the Doctor. "You did all this to renew our vows?"
"We were short on time, forgive me, but that was the intention…"
Avalon chuckled with tears in her eyes. She brought her hands together in front of her nose, doing her best not to ruin the work the kind women had put into her appearance. "You never cease to amaze me, Fairy Tale Man."
"I hope I never do," the Doctor smiled at her. "So...what do you say?"
"Of course I want to renew our vows!" She dropped her hands and beamed. "Yes! Let's do it!"
The villagers roared with applause and happily cheered the couple on as they made their way to the lovely canopy. Rajiv and the Muse were waiting for them behind a lit fire.
They would face each other, holding each other's hands tightly, as they listened to Rajiv's kind words about them and the prosperity he and everyone else in the village wished for them. Their eyes would never leave each other's even as the ceremony took over an hour. They would only grow closer when it was their turns to talk to each other.
Sweet words were exchanged, promises of eternal love were made, and anticipation for their long future together were said. They could hardly wait to seal their new promises and renew their love with a kiss but they made it...just barely.
As the night progressed into a lovely celebration with the Muse's musical talents, and Avalon's melodic voice, both she and the Doctor realized that this would become a new tradition for them.
And it did.
For as each time they closed a new decade of their marriage, they would renew their vows on a different planet with different customs and traditions. They wanted to celebrate their love in as many ways as possible.
Author's Note:
Haaaa *evil laugh* if you were expecting to start off with Asylum of the Daleks! You know me, I never go for the linear thing. I wanted to show a bit of Avalon's and the Doctor's life as a married couple before they start getting into trouble again. I thought this was something they would really do for their anniversaries (because they are cringy-fluffy!)
But a disclaimer, this plot/episode (minus the marriage ceremony) is part of the Doctor Who comics!
As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"