Renata had never felt so out of place. She turned and turned in front of a long-view mirror and as much as she liked the dress Gabby had helped pick out for her, it just didn't feel right.

"I don't know about this, Gabriella. I'm 758, I don't think it's appropriate for me to wear something like this."

Gabby came up behind the Time Lady and looked her over, snorting. "No, I think it's fine. And while you look like you're 758, you've got a young face on. Plus, who the hell cares? It's a free world, you can wear whatever you want, and this dress makes you look hot!"

"I'm not sure I like that," Renata brought a hand up to her hair. She'd put it in one of those tight buns she always wore in her last incarnation but even that didn't feel right.

Gabby had found a precious white dress that reached down to Renata's ankles. It had knitted colorful flowers going along the hemline. It was sleeveless, leaving only two thin straps over the shoulders. It was nice up until Renata realized the scandalous plunging v-neckline it had. Gabby argued that it wasn't exaggerated but Renata was pretty sure that a dress should not have an open slit that almost reached her belly button. Gabby tried to compromise by adding a necklace that had a choker-style with one long line going down the slit of the dress.

Renata still wasn't buying it. "I need to change," she ultimately decided and stalked back to the millions of the clothes the wardrobe had.

Gabby groaned and stomped after her. "But why? You look so hot! The Doctor would never get over it!"

"I don't feel comfortable in it," Renata shrugged. "It's...well...I don't know. I'm just not used to it." She stopped walking and turned around, offering Gabby a soft smile. "I really appreciate you helping me with this whole date but I don't think this is for me. I can't, uh, how do you say it? 'Pull it off?'"

Gabby laughed while Renata went back to search for a different dress. "You can pull off anything! You're Renata!"

Renata scoffed. "You say that like it's supposed to mean something good."

"I'm sure it means a thousand words to the Doctor...and others," Gabby set her hands on her hips, smirking all of a sudden. "Bet River Song remembers it too."

Renata stopped at the mention of the woman. It reminded her that she had a pending conversation with Gabby. Now was as good a time as ever. "Gabriella, I'd like a word with you concerning Dr. Song."

Gabby made a face. "You really want to talk about that woman before you go on your date?"

Renata abandoned the racks of clothes and walked back to Gabby. "Not so much about her but you...and her."

Gabby scoffed. "That makes it better." Renata took her back to the vanity desk where they both sat down. "What do you want to talk about then?" Gabby asked.

"Well, you," Renata sighed. She smiled at Gabby in a sort of grateful way but Gabby was sure there was a bit of sadness in it too. "I understand that you and I...we have become like family and it's in one's nature to defend family but...I don't think you need to go that far when River is around."

Gabby looked at her as if she was crazy. "What? You have met River, right? You've seen the way she acts! I've seen the way she acts! I've met her 3 times already and she's just horrible!"

"She does have a difficult personality—"

"No," Gabby snapped. "You're not going to sugarcoat how terrible she is, especially when it comes to how she acts around you. She's plain mean, Renata, and she has no regard for your feelings."

"Be that as it may, I don't like the way you act when she's around. I really appreciate how much you want to defend me but I do not like the person you become when you're around River." Renata sighed. She needed to explain this well or else Gabby might take it the wrong way. "You're this sweet, adventurous young woman but when River showed up this last time...you turned into this competitive, snappy woman."

Gabby frowned. "I was trying to defend you since you won't do it!"

"What?" Now it was Renata's turn to be confused. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, c'mon, Ren! You're so passive-aggressive that you just let River walk all over you! I stick up for you because you're my family, yes, but also because if you don't do it then someone's got to! The Doctor's too oblivious for this kind of stuff so it's up to me!"

"Gabriella, what on Earth are you talk—"

"Renata," Gabby took Renata's hands into hers and gripped them tightly, getting Renata's silence for the moment, "You're not good with confrontation. You've said it yourself. I respect that you don't like to fight anyways, but sometimes...sometimes you have to. When you meet people like River Song, you need to defend yourself. River's made it perfectly clear that she hates you - and me - and she'll keep on saying all the stuff because she knows that you won't say anything. You won't get mad at her and you won't snap at her. You're giving her the power to act the way she does."

Renata suddenly thought back to the Doctor's words about River. She gave River power over her because of the secret she kept from the Doctor. It still hurt her and when River kept mentioning it, she just let it happen, thus hurting herself all over again. "Perhaps you're right in some aspects…"

"I am!" Gabby nodded. "River takes the shots because you won't do anything about it."

"That may well be but I still do not like how you act in return," Renata said, now taking Gabby's hands so that she could grip them. "I'm afraid that one day your hatred for River will make you do something you might regret."

"Like what?" Gabby scoffed. "Smacking her? Because she already tried doing that to me, remember? And why hasn't she done it again? Because she knows that I'll respond."

"But must it be so harshly? So...so brash?"

Gabby took in a deep breath. "Oh boy. Okay, look, maybe I do go a little overboard but you also realize that you aren't doing the right thing either? You can't let people walk over you, Renata. You need to change."

Renata pursed her lips together. It wasn't the first time she heard those words. Change.. She was centuries old, she had lived a certain way and to change at this point in her life was a very difficult thing to do. "I'm not sure I can do that, Gabriella. The Doctor says he'd help me change little parts of myself for the better, but...what if I can't? What if I'm just destined to stay as a boring ole, uptight Time Lady? Maybe River takes her shots because she knows that she's better. She's very adventurous, spontaneous…"

"Yeah, and a liar, manipulative and did I mention rude?" Gabby rolled her eyes. "No. When I say change, I don't mean to change because who you are isn't enough. I mean, everyone changes...but you've never really had that luxury, huh?" She watched Renata shift in her chair. Obviously not.

Renata had grown up following the rules to the last detail. Her family offered no room for change, no room for any abnormality. When she was hiding her identity from the Doctor, she couldn't afford to change and let it slip who she was. She had lived a very long life and yet she hadn't changed one bit. To have the freedom to actually change bits about herself must be frightening...and confusing.

"You don't have to change things about yourself that you don't want to," Gabby clarified first before going on about anything else. "Because I, personally, love you the way you are. I know Martha does too and I for sure know what the Doctor thinks. But now, Renata, you have the freedom to look at yourself and decide what you want to change, if you want to change something about yourself. My advice, the only advice I have, is to maybe add a little more backbone to your personality. Get some snaps, because if you don't then River will never stop trying to hurt you."

"I'm afraid that I've already hurt her and that's why she's always so cross with me," Renata admitted. She decided long ago that she had hurt River in the future so much and that's why River hated her.

"It does not matter," Gabby snapped. "Because you - this you - has not done anything to her and I highly doubt that you did something terrible to her. That's just not you. She's jealous because the Doctor loves you and not her. That is not a reason to hate someone."

Renata would like to believe Gabby's words but who knew what the future had in store for them? For all they knew, River could absolutely be right to hate her.

"Ren, please just say that you'll at least try to stand up for yourself every now and then," Gabby said, deciding to start with baby steps. She couldn't expect Renata to make full formed snaps and comebacks in one day. "You don't deserve to have anyone treat you the way River has."

Renata took in a breath and ultimately nodded. "Okay, but if I agree to this then I also want you to try to not be so...rude in return. Don't let River suck you in and please don't start with her either."

Gabby looked away. "Someone's gotta do it."

"No," Renata pulled her hands out of Gabby's and reached for her head, gently turning Gabby's gaze back to her. "You don't have to fight my battles. You shouldn't hate someone because they hate me."

"She hates me too, Ren," Gabby said, thinking it was pretty obvious.

"Please don't let that hatred turn you into someone harsh and mean," Renata said softly. "I wouldn't be able to bear it."

Gabby sighed. She couldn't say 'no' to that, right? Renata was looking at her with adoration and fondness, just like she would always do to her and Donna. She was such a Mom and she didn't even realize it. "Fine, I will try," Gabby said after a moment. "But I swear to God if she tries getting close to the Doctor I will have to make a response."

Renata playfully rolled her eyes. "No, you won't. He's a big boy, he can take care of himself. Now c'mon, I really have to find another dress."

"Do we really have to change that?" Gabby got up after Renata. "It's really beautiful."

"Yeah, but...it doesn't feel right," Renata concluded and went in search of another dress. Gabby took her loss with her head held high and helped Renata find something different.

Eventually, Renata found a satin cream-colored dress with a flared skirt that went down to her knees. It was sleeveless with thin straps with a higher draped neckline. Renata came up to the mirror again and nodded at her new change. She even found open-toed shoes with straps that tied arond her calves.

"You do look nice," Gabby admitted in the end. "But if I can just change one thing…" She put on her best, pleading smile that Renata had no choice but to allow her to make that itty-bitty change.

Gabby stepped behind Renata and undid the tight bun locking away all her hair. She patted Renata's hair down and spread it around, leaving some over her shoulders. She stepped around to grab a hair clip off the vanity desk. She smiled knowing it the TARDIS purposely made it appear. It was a golden butterfly hair clip. She clipped a part of Renata's hair from her left side so that it wasn't all over her face.

"Ta-da!" She exclaimed when she was finished. "I have to say, it's still weird that you had this bright blonde hair months ago and now it's almost black."

Renata smiled as she gazed into the mirror. "It does look rather nice this way, huh?"

"Yes! Those tight buns are fine when you're cooking but sometimes it's okay to let it hang loose," Gabby grinned and stared at the mirror. "I think my little Time Lady is ready for her first date ever." Renata rolled her eyes when Gabby proceeded to make a dramatic 'awww'.

"Go make sure the Doctor leaves you, Amy and Rory on the right planet," Renata ushered her towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah," Gabby waved her off and started walking on her own. She stopped by the doorway and called back to Renata. "Hey, I am happy you guys are finally doing this. You deserve it."

Renata smiled softly at her. "Thank you Gabriella."

~0~

"Hey," Gabby found the Doctor aimlessly wandering around the console. "Where's Amy and Rory?"

"Ah, I just set them up on their next date!" He grinned. "And don't worry, I won't make you late for your class with Zhe."

Gabby chuckled. "Thanks. Renata's almost done. I do have to inform you that I had her in this gorgeous, sexy dress and she refused to stay in it. I think you would've had fun with it."

The Doctor did his best not to show how that affected him but once he heard Gabby's laughter he knew that he'd failed. Instead of arguing with her, he sent right to her Zhe's gallery and shut the TARDIS doors on her. Now he would just have to stop wondering what that dress looked like…

Although, once he saw the dress Renata actually wore, he thought she looked just as amazing as she would've with the other dress. She even had her hair down! It felt like ages since she last let her hair hang freely like that. He wasn't opposed to her usual hair buns but something about leaving her hair down made things more fun! He could play with one of her wavy curls, stroke her hair altogether - well, he hadn't actually done that yet but if he did, he knew it would give him the best feeling ever - and most of all, she looked a bit more...whimsical.

"Is everyone gone, then?" Renata came to stand beside him at the console. He'd been staring at her for a rather long time now and it was making her body all warm.

"Hm?" The Doctor blinked. He had to get back to the present! It'd be much better if he actually went on the date rather than imagine it. "Right, yes, yes they are! All the little humans have been properly sent off to their babysitters: Gabby with Zhe and Amy and Rory with a good ole friend of mine."

Renata laughed. "You make them sound like they're our children."

"Well, people have remarked that you and Gabby look alike…" He trailed off as she laughed again. "What? You know it's true."

"I think that we should just go on that date," she turned to face him, biting her lower lip. "We've never actually been on a proper date so I may be a little anxious."

"As am I," the Doctor assured her. All their old secret meetings had been just that: secret meetings. They used to sneak into the Academy so he could show her things and it almost always ended with them running to avoid getting caught. While fun, they were not actual dates. He would've loved to have taken Renata out, or better yet to have had the opportunity to 'court' her. The practice was hardly done on Gallifrey but there were a few families who allowed their children to get to know their betrotheds before marrying them. Renata had done it with her late husband. Being able to spend time with Renata in public would've been his absolute dream.

A few centuries later, but we're finally here, he concluded. And he would not waste it.

~ 0 ~

Renata didn't know whether to laugh or not when she stepped out of the TARDIS to see a very busy beach-side with so many stalls and activities that it seemed to go on and on forever. "The beach…"

The Doctor nervously glanced at her. She hadn't said it so loudly which could mean that this wasn't the best place for them. "If you don't like it we could go somewhe—"

"I didn't say anything, did I?" She turned to him, tilting her head to the side. "Pretty sure I didn't. Relax, Doctor." She rested her hand over his arm, rubbing it up and down until she felt his body unstiffen form his pole-like stance. I'm nervous, you're nervous, let's just...take it easy." Easier said than done for her. She lived to make things complicated. "Tell me, where are we? And does it come with a fan?" There was heat in the air, nearly humid, which was making her regret leaving her hair down. She had no idea how the Doctor was keeping up with that jacket of his.

"Well, it's a small beachside kingdom," the Doctor started explaining and little by little would lose some of that lingering nervousness. "I believe there's a Queen this time - I haven't visited in ages - and they literally spend all their time like life's some big carnival."

Renata side-glanced him then, her lips very closely forming a laugh. "Oh, and what would you know about that, huh?"

"Oh, shut up." He rolled his eyes at her. She laughed and suddenly the ice had been broken. "Bilandia, that's where we are."

Renata gasped when she heard the name. "Is it really?"

A long time ago the young Doctor droned on and on about the world of Bilandia where the people had fun from sunrise to sunset. It was his type of world and he vowed that one day he would go, and even take Renata - who was then Zuriah - with him. At that time, she had laughed at him because she could never visit a place with no structure or responsibilities. He would argue that there was structure and responsibilities but that it wasn't heavily drilled into them like Gallifrey did with them. The people of Bilandia were always cheery and carefree, spending most of their time making up games and friendly competitions. Rumor had it that not one person from Bilandia would frown.

"You actually came here?" Renata asked the Doctor after they started walking towards the stalls. He nodded at her again. "You did what you said you would…" That was just like him. If he said he would visit a place, no matter how far it was, he would end up doing it. "Good for you," she smiled at him. "I admire that in you. Always did back at home. You had all these plans and you always did them. Even the stupid ones."

"Thanks love," he sent her a sarcastic look for her last words.

She made an apologetic face because that's not what she was intending on doing. "Sorry, sorry, I...I can't get this right, can I? Words have never come easy to me."

The Doctor surprised her with a kiss on her cheek. "It's okay if you're not good with words. I will always understand what you mean to say."

Renata's hearts fluttered at his familiar words.

Renata swallowed and pulled her finger from his hand. He was smiling so stupidly at her, full of genuine care for her. "Fine!" she relented for that case only. "You don't ever pull that on me again because it's selfish! You're selfish!" she was letting her emotions take her over and that was not good. She felt like a child, really, shouting and almost crying. "I scold you, I say things I don't mean, I make your life impossibly difficult but it is my unfortunate way of saying that I do care! I'm selfish too because I want you to take it and know what I actually mean!" Oh my god she had definitely sounded like him with his rambling.

The Doctor was sure that if he showed a smile it would be rude but he was fairly amused at her innocence. He only slightly chuckled and yanked Renata into a hug, surprising her in the process. "You think I didn't know that already? If you had actually hated me, you would've left a long time ago. Renée, contrary to the popular belief that I am a clueless idiot—"

"Which you are…" Renata blurted and scrunched her eyes shut. "Sorry."

The Doctor laughed again. "I do know what actual hate looks like, and it's not in you. It's okay if you're not good with words. I will always understand what you mean to say.'

She had possibly screamed till his ears could pop and yet in the end he still knew what she was trying to say. How could he do that? Not even her late husband had that talent and God knew he could've used it.

"It's so odd how we work," she sighed. Her arm curled around his once they entered the aisle of stalls. "I'm just sorry I'm so difficult, and I'm sorry I can't control it."

"Difficult?" The Doctor side-glanced her with a smile that seemed to struggle not to show.

Renata shook her head. "You know what I mean. I bet your life would've been a lot easier if you hadn't picked ME me." The Doctor had to come to a stop in order to listen to her wrong logic. "You could've had someone with the same passion for adventure and, you know, breaking the rules. But instead...you decided you wanted me."

"Well,you could've been with someone who wasn't an entire rule breaker, who actually followed routines and the rules...and yet you decided you wanted to be with me," the Doctor lowered his head to hers, wearing a playful smile across his face. "Why'd you do that?"

Renata pursed her lips, staying silent. She saw what he was trying to do and it was quite genius, really; very him. It was the same question she posed to him.

"Well?" The Doctor asked again, clearly enjoying the struggle she was in. She always put herself down and it was high time it stopped.

"I just meant…" Renata trailed off, his big ole smile was making it difficult to keep making her point. "Doctor, why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" He asked innocently, even stuffing his hands into his pockets for dramatic effect. "I only raised another question that you haven't answered."

"You know what I meant!"

"Yes, yes I did and you know that my answer would be the same as yours."

Renata's eyes lowered to the sand serving as ground. "I love you because you're you," she said quietly. She felt his finger slip under her chin, raising her gaze up to his.

"I love you because you're you," he told her with the same sincerity. There couldn't be anyone else.

Renata smiled lightly at him. "But what about someone who actually knows how to have fun?" She played with the buttons of his shirt.

"Oh, you can have fun. We just have to put some training into it."

"What?"

The Doctor pulled her hand off him and kissed the back of it. "I'm going to teach you how to have a full day of fun. No responsibilities - well maybe just one."

"What would that be?"

"You'd have to kiss me every 10 minutes - well, 7 minutes. No, wait, 3 minutes...actually…" He had started swaying his head as he tried coming up with the right, reasonable, schedule when Renata grabbed the sides of his heads to kiss him. Or maybe we could just do this every two seconds, the Doctor thought that was his best idea.

Renata pulled away from him, drawing in air as soon as she could. "You want to show me around?"

"Yes ma'am," the Doctor nodded, his expression too fascinated to comprehend what had just happened. It was strange being able to actually get a surprise kiss from Renata, after such a long time of hiding and then there being nothing between them for centuries, and each time it happened he couldn't stop it.

Bilandia truly was set on the beachside and Renata thought it was incredibly beautiful. The people weren't for much fancy things - yet something else Renata could get behind on - and so their homes were constructed to sustain only the most basic things. According to the Doctor, they hardly ever spent time at home anyways. They only returned to sleep.

"It's a party planet — you brought me to a party planet," Renata joked with a laugh. It sounded like his planet, though.

"No, I brought you to a fun planet," the Doctor corrected and purposely stopped them in front of a vendor with a small cart in front of him. He was selling what looked like flavored icicles.

"How is he selling icicles?" Renata fanned her face with her hand. The heat had turned her face slightly red already.

"They're pretty intelligent people, Renata. They do have freezers," the Doctor said just as he handed Renata a scrunchie for her hair. She beamed at it and thanked him with a kiss on his cheek. He then moved up to the vendor to get them some of those icicles.

While she did enjoy leaving her hair down for today, the heat was too much for her long hair. She thanked the stars that this incarnation had given her shorter hair than the last time because if she still had her truly long blonde hair, she would've lost it. By the time she picked it up into a tight bun again, the Doctor had returned to her side holding two sharp icicles in his hands. One was a baby blue, resembling a real icicle, and the other was white.

"I'm afraid you'll poke your eye out with those," she said with true fear on her face. One moment he might be making a joke and then the next he loses an eye!

The Doctor chose to ignore her and held out the white icicle. "Coconut?"

Renata shrugged and took it from him. She'd never had one of those but she was curious about them. The vendor did seem to have a lot of business. "How do I…?" She stopped upon seeing the Doctor taking a giant bite out of his. She actually flinched at the loud, harsh crackling sound his icicle gave. "How could you do that!?" She shrieked.

The Doctor had no idea why she was reacting like that. He'd only taken a bite. "What?" He asked in-between munces.

She continued staring at him with widened eyes but seeing that he wasn't understanding her made her have to physically explain why what she saw was plain horrible. "You just bit through ice! You just…" She shuddered. "No, you can't do that."

"Yes you can, watch." The Doctor was about to take another bite when she yelled for him to stop, actually snatching away his icicle. "Hey! That's mine!"

"I will not give this back until you decide to eat like a normal person!" She moved his icicle behind her back.

"You're being ridiculous," he huffed and went to reach around her for his icicle.

"No!" She turned with him. "Didn't that hurt your teeth?"

"No!"

Renata groaned. She shouldn't even be surprised. "Look," she promptly licked her icicle and immediately tasted coconut. "Mm, that's good…"

With her distraction, the Doctor was able to reach behind her to take his icicle back. He looked directly at her with a grin before taking another bite out of the icicle.

"DOCTOR!"

~ 0 ~

When Renata was able to get past the Doctor's odd way of eating icicles, he started taking her around the beachside to show her the truly fun parts. She was amazed by the sight of a man who performed fire tricks but her hearts nearly stopped when the Doctor volunteered to be a part of the tricks. The performer was a professional, she was sure, but it still scared her half to death when flames literally danced above the Doctor's head. All he did was grin at her and point to the flames. He truly saw no danger.

She got her laughter back when he found them another spot to spend time at and it involved arts and crafts. She still retained her first incarnation's knack for crafting skills while the Doctor...struggled. He still had fun with whatever he tried to make - because as much as she loved him she couldn't figure out what he made - and even showed it off. She thought it'd been incredibly sweet to give up his craft to a young boy who hadn't stopped complimenting it since the Doctor finished.

"I would've given it to you," he said once they started heading somewhere new.

"It's alright, I think that boy is going to have a lot of fun playing with it," she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You're too sweet, you know."

"Speaking of sweet, how's about we try that!?" He yanked her towards a sweet-smelling stand that, admittedly, did look interesting. It was decorated with all pink and fluffs of white clouds rising from it.

The vendor was a young man with olive-toned skin and bright yellow eyes. He smiled at the pair when they approached the stall and held out a stick to them with a bright pink bread that had purple spots on it. "Welcome, would you like a taste?"

"What, it's free?" Renata curiously asked, her hand already reaching to take the stick. It smelled pretty nice and they hadn't exactly had lunch yet. Of course starting lunch dessert wasn't the best of ideas. Oh God, the Doctor's rubbing off on me already.

"It's sample-hour miss!" The vendor grinned and urged her to try it.

Renata glanced at the Doctor, offering him some first. He shook his head and, like the vendor, urged her to give it a taste. She finally took a small bite of the bread and was quite intrigued by the taste. "It's...different," she remarked in-between her chewing. It tasted something like cotton candy but...there was something behind it...something kind of sour. "I don't know if it's for me," she smiled apologetically to the vendor.

"Do not worry, one taste is all you need," he assured her as he took back the remaining bread.

"Still, sorry about that waste," Renata smiled at him. She didn't like doing that one bit but she couldn't see herself continuing to eat that. Perhaps the very first her would've been more accustomed to eating things she didn't like solely because it would be rude but...Now that she had been cooking for the Doctor and their companions for a long time now, she was a little braver.

"Thank you," the Doctor told the vendor and continued on their way.

"You don't think he's mad, do you?" Renata asked, suddenly her lower lip becoming attached to her teeth.

The Doctor chuckled at her. "Course not. That's the point of samples, Renée."

Renata sighed, deciding that he was right. She was doing that thing where she over thought things and then made herself miserable. It was yet something else she needed to work on.

Having heard some of those thoughts, the Doctor stopped walking and turned to her, kissing her out of the blue. "You really have got to stop overthinking so much," he murmured against her lips. "I promise you that the vendor is just fine."

She nodded fervently, trying her best to really take his words. "I know you're right...I will try."

The Doctor took that as a win. Her trying meant she actually wanted it and that alone was good. He didn't ever want to see her do things solely because it was 'expected' of her. Nothing was expected of her - alright, maybe expecting her to act how she wanted was technically something.

"Can we go try something else?" Renata asked him, once again wanting it. She was actually having fun and was excited about it. She wasn't being entirely boring! And it was fun! Who knew!?

The Doctor loved to hear it. "Of course." He gave her another kiss first. Then, off they went again.

It was a bit of a struggle to forget all about the sample trying with the amount of people they saw walking by who were trying the same thing. For them it seemed entirely normal that bread was sour. It even made the Doctor laugh how much Renata went on about it. He only managed to calm her down when they found a proper meal stand.

"Why is it also served on a stick?" She grumbled one last time when they handed her yet another stick with what looked like chicken.

"Because it's easier to eat on a stick when you're on the go," the Doctor shook his head at her. It was hard not to laugh sometimes. The things he found usual might as well have been blasphemy for her. As a show that he was saying the truth, he bit into his chicken and motioned how easy it was.

With a sigh, she did the same. She was either so hungry that it tasted amazing, or it was actually amazing. Either way, she loved the tangy lemon zest it had.

"Okay, how about we try the rock climbing wall?" The Doctor's eyes practically shined with excitement at the idea.

Renata, on the other hand, dreaded an accident involving his fall to his death. "Why don't we try something more calm?" She suggested, much to his disappointment. She laughed at his pouty face. "We did just eat, dear. We should take it easy."

"Yeah, I guess…" the Doctor promised himself that they would still try it out later on.

"Ooh," Renata suddenly stopped, bringing a hand up to the side of her head.

"Are you okay?" The Doctor watched her repeatedly rub her temples. Her thoughts were getting a little scrambled too. That was concerning.

"I don't...I don't know…" Renata had her face scrunched up, her fingers working tirelessly to sooth her temples.

The Doctor was about to pull her hands down to see for himself when he heard a young girl's cry. He, and Renata, saw that the girl was crying for her mother to listen but the mother was in the same state as Renata. She was rubbing her temples, her face scrunched. As the Doctor looked around, he noticed there were many people in the same predicament. Something was going on but it wasn't affecting everyone, including him.

He panicked. Renata was being affected and he didn't know what it was! He turned back to the Time Lady and immediately attempted to find out what was bothering her. His fingers had just grazed her skin when he was bombarded with a series of images in his head.

"Arg!" He recoiled from Renata.

It didn't appear like Renata had even felt his attempt to help her. She kept seeing all her memories flashing before her, being pushed aside it seemed, to allow for something new to take over.

"Renata!" She heard the Doctor's call but it sounded so far away like they were standing on opposite mountains. Little did she realize he was actually right in front of her, yelling for her to snap out of it. He didn't want to outright shake her but seeing her get more and more lost was making him reconsider his reluctance.

Suddenly, Renata - as well as the other people affected - dropped her hands to her sides and raised her head. As soon as the Doctor met her gaze, he knew she wasn't there anymore. Her eyes were blank, her mind the same. The Doctor felt nothing with their telepathic connection. It was as if somebody had flicked a switch and turned off everything that made Renata herself.

The same had happened to the others. There was a widespread panic as those unaffected tried to snap their loved ones out of the trance. The Doctor chose to skip that futile strategy and went right to the scanning. He scanned Renata - who hadn't even flinched with the sonic's bright light in her face - and quickly looked at the results.

"You know what's wrong, huh?" The Doctor flinched at the sudden voice beside him. He glanced at his right and saw a teenage girl, a dark brunette, staring expectantly at him. "Well, what's that thing of yours saying?" She asked again.

The Doctor wouldn't even bother. He studied the results again and shook his head. "The frontal lobe of the brain has been turned off or...or hijacked. And that's...that's impressive cos my friend—" He winced, that was nowhere near what Renata was to him. "My...my Renée is one special woman." To hijack a Time Lady's mind was nearly impossible and yet someone seemed to have done it, along with other people's.

"Hey! Look!" The girl shook the Doctor's arm to make him see that those affected were walking away.

"Renata!" The Doctor jumped and chased after the woman, leaving the girl to follow him. "Renée, c'mon! Snap out of this!" He put himself in front of Renata but it wasn't enough. She shoved him to the side and kept moving.

"My Mom's doing the same thing," the girl sighed and gestured to a woman amongst the group who was dressed quite nicely.

The Doctor recognized the royal green robes the woman wore and gasped, his eyes snapping to the young girl. "Your Mum's the Queen!?"

The girl nodded her head. "I'm Princess Malina, but just call me Malina and please tell me you know what's going on!?"

"Somebody's taken control of them," the Doctor turned to see Renata disappearing in the midst of the group. "I-I don't know who or what but…"

"I bet I know who it is," Malina interrupted him, her arms folding over her chest. She was scowling. "There's been this rebellious group lately wanting to dethrone Mom."

"Where can I find this group?"

"No, they're good hiders. No one's been able to find them."

"Well I say that at least one of them has got to be around here somewhere and I'm going to find them," the Doctor had joined Malina in scowling but the girl could straightaway see a darkness flash in his eyes.

"I'm helping," she declared after a moment. Just as the Doctor looked at her, she added, "I'm the Princess, you can't tell me 'no'."

"Guess not," he rolled his eyes playfully.

~ 0 ~

After practically begging most of the unaffected to stay out of the way, the Doctor and Malina sought to first find the affected people. They had to have gone somewhere and according to Malina there was a specific spot that might be it. So, he followed the teenager through the beachside and decided to ask her the questions that one would naturally be curious about in a situation like this. How Malina and her Mother were even at the beachside central was beyond him. The last time he visited, the King had always remained in his own palace.

"Mom loves the people and their daily routines," Malina shrugged. "I got used to it. Plus, it's kind of fun. But this has never happened before. Someone got extra bold."

"And extra stupid," the Doctor grumbled. They decided to take Renata away from him, while on their date, and there was hell to pay.

"We're getting them back," Malina glanced at him, her eyes full of determination. "My Mom is the Queen and she's coming back. Same for your wife."

The Doctor was red in the face in mere seconds. "Not my wife! Not my wife!"

Malina gave him a strange look. "Alright...sorry, didn't know it wasn't going to go there."

"Well, it's not that I wouldn't want to - God knows that was always a dream - but not right now, at least I think not right now…" He trailed off upon catching Malina's widening smirk. "I'm shutting up now."

Malina laughed at him. "Okay." She motioned him to keep following her. She led him towards the outskirts of the beach side where sure enough they saw the affected group. The Doctor scanned the group for Renata and was relieved to see Renata was still amongst them and not completely lost.

Malina forced him to hide behind the last building before the outskirts began. They poked their heads out (one over the other) and noticed that the group was carrying stuff in and out of a cave.

The Doctor soon spotted a high tech machine right in the middle. The group was bringing in old wood planks and were setting it against the machine, creating a pseudo campfire in the process.

"What's that?" He asked, pointing to the machine.

Malina sighed. She didn't sound very surprised to see it. "That was stolen a few days ago. It's the backup generator to our kingdom's power supply. If that goes, then it'll be easier for the rebellion to take down the kingdom. All they have to do is just blast the regular power generator and that's it. Why are they going through so much trouble by using our people for this?"

The Doctor could answer that straightaway. "Because would you take down your own people if they're innocent? Especially if your own leader is amongst them?"

Malina was outright horrified. "That's terrible! I have to get my Mom out of there!" She was already on her way out of hiding when the Doctor scrambled to yank her back by the collars of her dress. "Hey! Hey! Let me go!"

"Shhh!" He frantically gestured to be quiet. "You go out there and you might get all hypnotized next! You want to get your Mother back? Help me!"

Malina huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine, what's your plan?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted, instigating a glare from the teenager. "But I will have one! First, I would like to know how these people were affected and how others weren't. There has to be something about them in common. Although between them and my Renata, I'm not sure what it is."

"What makes her so special besides the fact you're in love with her?" Malina all but snapped at him.

"She's a Time Lady which means her biology and physiology is all different, quite unique as there is no one else like her except for me and I haven't been affected, have I?"

"Jury's still out on that one…"

The Doctor's face fell flat at her sarcasm. "Let's just compare, shall we?"

Malina agreed. "Okay, my Mom's unique too cos she's the Queen. She doesn't do everything that the others do."

"What did she do today?"

"Um, she danced. She did arts and crafts. Uh...she tried samples…"

"Dancing can't be it. Renée doesn't do a lot of that and she certainly didn't do it today…"

"What kind of person doesn't dance?" Malina made a face.

"Oi! I didn't say she doesn't dance. She's just shy!"

Malina rolled her eyes. "Alright fine, so not the dancing. What about the arts and crafts?"

"Nah, I did that stuff too."

"Okay, well, what about the samples?"

The Doctor suddenly remembered Renata's experience with the sour bread sample. "Did your mother try the bread sample?"

"Yeah, but she didn't like it. She said it was too sour. She also tried the cotton candy, the squash—"

"My Renée didn't try any of that stuff, just that sour bread."

"So...what? We're thinking something was in the bread?"

The Doctor hated to do it but he ran away from the site, leaving Renata in the process. He had to get back to the bread vendor and see what was in that bread! Malina scurried after him and followed him to the stall. Coincidentally, the vendor was nowhere to be seen.

"You think the vendor is behind it?" Malina watched the Doctor ransack the entire stall, throwing things to the side and one nearly at her had she not ducked in time. She threw him a glare for his carelessness but he didn't notice. He was on a mission and nothing was going to distract him.

"Well, he's not here and he was very insistent on us trying his bread," the Doctor muttered.

"But my Mom just happened to come here…"

"Then he got lucky. Either way, he got a lot of people to try the bread, didn't he?" Just as the Doctor had asked, he spotted a pile of tiny silver devices in the very corner of the stall's shelves. "Hello…" He stuck a hand all the way in, making Malina wonder if he lived to make himself look like an idiot, and pulled out a handful of the devices.

"What are those?" Malina leaned forwards to see the pile in his palm.

With a quick scan of the sonic, the Doctor had found the source of the mind control. "These are so tiny that anyone would swallow them without even noticing." He stuck one between his teeth to test out the device's hardness and realized that while it couldn't be dented, it was fairly easy to slip down the throat. Renata hadn't even noticed it. She was too focused on the sourness of the bread…

"Oh," he blinked in realization.

Malina was in the dark about his thoughts and his widened eyes didn't exactly give her much to go on by. "What?"

"The bread was sour. Your Mum mentioned it to you and that's what we're not that to me. It was the first thing she noticed because it was the most prominent characteristic about the bread. If they're so focused on what the bread tastes like they're not going to notice one device flipping through. That is subtle genius."

Malina didn't see it the same way. She was horrified by what he had said. "It's intoxication! My Mother and your girlfriend ingested that. Everyone who was affected did! That means they are literally walking around with... A piece of technology inside their stomachs!"

The Doctor set a comforting hand on the teenager's shoulder. "Not to worry. A lot of people have technology inside their bodies. That's not the dangerous part. All we have to do is interrupt the signal that's controlling them. And I'm guessing that it has to be somewhere around that generator."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because I'm pretty sure that the vendor is also there. If I was about to make a huge statement, I'd want to be there front and center."

~0~

The Doctor and Malina snuck their way back to the site of the brainwashed people. They had gathered up a lot more wood to set fire. The Doctor, however, was no longer focused on the big ole machine in the middle (something Malina scolded him for). He reasoned with her that if they interrupted the signal then they wouldn't really need to stop the people from burning down the power generator because they wouldn't want to burn it down anyways. It made a lot of sense but Malina didn't initially see it.

"Where would it even be?" She hissed. Her eyes were following her Mother who had just emerged from the cave with a new pile of wood in her arms. It's sick and her to see her mother act like a puppet for God knows who.

Before the Doctor could answer, they heard someone yelling. They quickly sought to find the source of the noise and didn't have to look for long because the vendor of the sour bread had appeared. He no longer donned the vendor uniform of a baker. He instead wore loose clothing that was marked with a weapon belt. The Doctor very quickly spotted the blaster residing at his waist.

"Let's go! Let's go!" He yelled at the brainwashed people. "We don't have all day!" He pulled out a small device with a few buttons over it. One press of it caused a good chunk of people to cry out in pain.

The Doctor's jaw clenched. It was electrical shocks. And Renata had been amongst the affected.

"N-n-n-no! What are you doing!?" Malina had to use all of her strength to hold him back. "You'll get us caught! Then she'll really be a goner!"

The Doctor wrestled free from her grip but he did listen. Plus, the vendor had seemingly noticed Renata. She was glowing golden.

"You're not a local," the man mused. He reached to touch her face, something that nearly brought the Doctor out of hiding again. "What are you? State your name and origin now."

Renata obeyed without a moment's thought. "Renata, Gallifrey."

"Never heard of it. Why are you glowing?"

"I do not know."

"Yes, you do! Now tell me! Or I'll just dispose of you. I don't need nuisances."

"Doctor!" Malina whimpered when she once again had to restrain him from running out there. "Please!"

The vendor got right in Renata's blank face. "What are you?" He repeated, his tone now hard with suspicion.

"I do not know. The Vortex Butterfly has unforeseen effects," she answered.

"Vortex Butterfly?" The vendor laughed. "I heard that name once. They said you have the power to kill anyone. That's why they're so afraid of you. But lookie here, I got you and without even trying. Aren't I clever?" His hand curled over her chin as he gave it a little sway.

Meanwhile, Malina continued to struggle keeping the Doctor at bay. He couldn't take seeing that arrogant man keep touching Renata like she was a doll. If she'd been in her right senses, she would've smacked him away already. But she wasn't around, so it was up to him to ward off all dangers.

"Doctor, you'll get us caught!" Malina cried.

"Doesn't matter! He's holding the signal device in his hand! And he needs to get his other bloody hand off her!" The Doctor finally pried Malina's hands off him and rushed forwards. "Get the hell away from her!"

The vendor spun around to see the furious Doctor storming towards them. "Who the hell are you!?" The Doctor said nothing but his darkened face spoke volumes. The vendor knew there was trouble and how best to resolve it. "Stop him!" He ordered Renata who immediately brandished a glowing golden hand.

The Doctor skidded to a stop "Renée, don't!"

Renata didn't blink at his voice. Swirls of golden butterflies emanated from her hand, forcing the Doctor to jump to the side.

From their hiding spot, Malina deeply sighed watching the Time Lady throw continuous energy at the Doctor. "Who saw that coming?" She got up from the ground and decided to make her move too.

"Renata, stop!" The Doctor had to hide behind the pile of wood a few times.

"Yeah, she won't be doing anything until I tell her to," the vendor laughed mirthlessly at the sight.

"What the hell do you want with them anyways!?" The Doctor angrily tried coming back to the man but Renata was ruthless in her attacks, and quite constant too. There were miniscule gaps between her attacks so he couldn't find a moment to either punch the vendor straight across the face - because he REALLY really wanted to do that - nor find a way to interrupt the signal. Finally, he decided on the simplest of plans, which he would profusely apologize to Renata for later.

He made a run directly for Renata, avoiding as best as he could her angry fires, until he rammed her to ground. He thanked the stars that the ground was still sandy to cushion her fall.

"I'm really sorry Renée, I'll make it up to you later!" He planted a kiss on her forehead and scrambled to get up. The vendor was glaring at him but the Doctor noticed the cautious steps he was taking back. "Here's the chance you get - the only one you'll get - to stop everything and leave."

The vendor smirked. "I will do no such thing. It's time that this kingdom finally come to its senses."

"Yeah, and what would that be?"

"It's time to dethrone her Majesty," the vendo sarcastically gestured towards the Queen who was currently setting a new plank of wood down.

"Why? Last time I heard, she was doing a good job. Everyone seems happy!"

"I don't want a Queen in charge!"

"Oh, well, as long as you're being rational," the Doctor rolled his eyes. He happened to spot Malina trying to sneak her way through the crowd. The brainwashed people took no notice of her and the vendor was too busy with him to catch her.

Malina met his eyes and nodded to the pile of wood she was nearing. With one smirk, the Doctor knew what she planned to do. He couldn't say he didn't want to do it either.

So, he cleared his throat and did what he did best: talk. The vendor couldn't turn around even the slightest or he would catch Malina. "So, uh, who exactly are you? I'm talking names."

The vendor smirked. It seemed like he'd been waiting to be asked. "I'm Reagan, the leader of the rebellion. You're definitely not from around here, huh? Are you like her?" His dark eyes flickered to Renata's unconscious figure on the ground. His smirk widened as the Doctor's glower formed once again. "Oh, are you with her? Definitely have to be like her then."

"I'm the Doctor and you've made a terrible mistake."

Recognition flashed across Reagan's face just like it had when Renata named herself. "I scored myself two of you? Ah, if the Silence could see me now. Sorry to say, I'm keeping the little butterfly. She's kinda cute."

The Doctor balled his fists on his side, only keeping himself restrained because Malina was approaching him. "Sorry, she's taken. Plus, to her, you're a whining child."

Reagan scowled. "How dare—"

Malina smacked the wooden plank on the back of his neck. She laughed when the man collapsed on the ground. 'That's for my Mother!" The Doctor rushed forwards to swipe the brainwashing device before Reagan came to. Malina watched him intently as he sonicked the device. "Can you interrupt the signal?"

The Doctor didn't answer her. He focused entirely on the signal that was broadcasting pretty strongly. There were so many people connected to the one device and he didn't want anything to go wrong when it disconnected from their minds. Suddenly, there was a loud wail like a siren that erupted from the device.

Malina clapped her hands over her ears, yelling over it, "What's happening!?" She looked around and saw all the brainwashed people freezing in their spots. They were groaning in pain. "Doctor, what's happening to them!?"

"Almost got it!" He promised her. There was a just pesky firewall that was preventing the whole mind signal from completely dissolving.

"But they're in pain!"

"I know, just…"

"My Mom's in pain!"

The Doctor tried hurrying up as fast as he could. He'd never heard his sonic's whir so loud and constant before. He felt his air return to his lungs when the device finally short-circuited. He hissed and let the device drop to the ground.

He spun around to see the people finally coming out of their brainwashed state. He grinned but soon ran to Renata when she started waking up. "Renée!"

"My head is spinning!" She let out a groan for the ones she missed when she was unconscious. "All of my thoughts were in fast mode or something…"

"I got you now," the Doctor helped her to stand slowly.

"Don't you always?" She smiled at him despite being wobbly on her feet.

The Doctor looked her over with heavy relief knowing that she would be fine. His hand found her back and pressed her to him for a tight hug. Renata didn't understand much of what happened but she felt his necessity to hold her for at least a moment. Their telepathic connection was coming back slowly but surely. It honestly frightened the Doctor how accustomed he was to having Renata's mind with his. He spent such a long time being alone and having nothing to connect to and suddenly he spent a few months connected with Renata and losing it for just a few hours drove him mad.

"You actually did it!"

He heard Malina's laughter behind him. He only let Renata go the sufficient amount in order to turn around, but his arm stayed around Renata's waist. Malina was coming towards them with her mother, the Queen, beside her.

"Who's that, Doctor?" Renata naturally asked him when the young teenager came up to them like nothing.

"A friend," he shrugged.

"When did that happen!?"

"When you were brainwashed."

"When I was what!?" Renata was horrified and as much as she tried remembering, she just couldn't. One moment her head was hurting and then suddenly she was waking up on the ground.

"Your Majesty," the Doctor gave a slight bow and once Renata heard him she did the whole bow, resulting in her immediate dizziness.

"Woah…" She stumbled a bit so the Doctor tightened his grip around her.

Malina laughed. "She's funny."

"My Renée is all sorts of things," the Doctor proudly said, planting a kiss on Renata's cheek.

"My daughter tells me you are responsible for saving us," the Queen spoke up. She looked just as frazzled as Renata.

"Well, it was a team effort," the Doctor said, meeting Malina's gaze. "Your daughter was the one who knocked Reagan out so I could get the device from him."

The Queen glanced over her shoulder to the unconscious man on the ground. "Yes, how unfortunate that this happened. My daughter said you were out-of-world visitors. You should let us thank you."

"It's really not necessary," the Doctor shook his head. "I think Renata and I would just like to be on our way."

Malina saw his subtle dejectedness when he said that, the implications it had. "Mom, they were on a date," she said, much to the Time Lord's embarrassment. "And it got ruined. I think I know how to thank them."

"Oh God whatever it is, it's not necessary," Renata reiterated the Doctor's words.

Malina grinned. "I think it is!"

"Quite right," the Queen agreed with a firm nod. There was nothing to say after that no matter how flustered Renata was.

The same flusteredness followed her for the hours to come. The Doctor had suggested she take a quick break in the TARDIS while he made sure that there were no more of those brainwashing signals. She offered to help but the last thing he wanted was for the signal to reactivate her. It made total sense, she just wasn't all that for it.

Outside, the Doctor was more than flustered when he was able to see what Malina and her mother had done for them. It was night when Malina finally allowed for the two to see the place.

"Whaddya think?" Malina anxiously waited for their responses, though she was getting a pretty good feeling just by their faces.

The area was secluded so there would be absolutely no interruptions from anyone nor anything. There was a wooden platform set up on the sandy ground with four pillars. Twinkling lights wrapped around each of the pillars. They could see the table was already set up with a few plates and glasses. An unlit campfire had been set up across from it.

"It's pretty simple but I thought it might be good," Malina started speaking when neither Time Lord said anything for a good while. "I even had the ingredients for smores left by the campfire."

"Smores?" Renata repeated, her face scrunching. "What's a smore?"

Malina gawked and quickly looked at the Doctor, silently asking him if she was serious. He just nodded with a bemused smile. "Oh please show her what smores are! Please! They're the most delicious snacks ever! Humans got that right!"

Renata shrugged. "Okay," she said because she would rather agree than start a whole argument over a snack.

Malina could tell what Renata did and once again looked at the Doctor for some help. "How does this work?" She gestured between the two.

He smirked. "Very interestingly."

"Doctor," Renata scolded with a blush on her face.

"Right, okay," Malina preferred to move on. "Do you like the place? My Mom made sure to get only the best."

"It's wonderful. Thank you Malina," the Doctor smiled at her.

"Really," Renata added. "We didn't need any of this."

"It's the best we could do for the Doctor and the Vortex Butterfly," Malina made a huge gesture like those titles held a big importance, and they just might. "Mom says anytime you want to come around, you're definitely getting the royal treatment." With that, Malina left with the guards waiting for her.

"She's a nice one," Renata remarked when they were finally alone. She glanced at him with the same questioning glance as before. "Where'd you pick her up?"

She'd been nudging him to tell her what had happened. She was aware that her mind had been taken over but the Doctor assured her that nothing terrible had transpired while her mind was shut off. He didn't feel the need to explain that she'd tried attacking him. That would just cause her an unbearable guilt that was totally unnecessary. He knew that in her right mind, she would never do something like that.

So, instead of answering her question, the Doctor decided to do something else. He only heard her light yelp when he grabbed her body and dipped her to land a kiss on her lips.

Renata was blinking wide from surprise but her mouth was curving into a laughter, prompting the Doctor to believe she was more amused than annoyed. "What was that!?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I saw it in a movie Gabbs showed me. Thought it looked cool. Was it cool?" Panic bloomed over his face thinking it might have been the complete opposite of what he had intended. Renata finally laughed though, ending such thoughts.

"That was certainly different but I'm...not opposed to it…" She blushed at her admission. There was a rush she got from that little action that she wouldn't mind feeling more times.

The Doctor beamed. "Perfect! Because I plan on kissing you as much as I can! By surprise too!" He brought her back up, relishing in her second laugh.

"Okay!" She was quite red in her face, something the Doctor loved to see.

The Doctor then turned her around so they would face the beach. Even though it was night, the moon provided the perfect light reflecting off the crashing waves. "Do you wanna know a secret about these beaches?"

"Sure," Renata nodded.

"Well, I can't tell you about it...I have to show you!" There was a brief mischievous glint in the Doctor's eyes that Renata missed. She only felt the sharp pull of his hand towards the beach when he darted for it.

"Doctor, hold on!" She cried but he was far too excited to run straight first into the water. She shut her eyes before he would head her into it and not a second later did she feel the terribly cold water crashing over her. She naturally screamed but instead of helping her, she just heard the Doctor's laugh. Her eyes snapped open to glare. The water was up to her waist and he was just laughing at her!? "What the hell!?"

"Renée, look at yourself!" He gestured to her body.

With a frown she did and realized that while she felt the coldness, she wasn't wet. Her entire body remained dry. "I'm not…"

"The water doesn't actually wet you!"

"But it's so cold!" Renata hugged herself, bracing herself for the incoming wave.

The Doctor laughed again and moved in front of her to block the wave. She only felt droplets of it. "It's real water with real effects. I thought it'd be a nice surprise."

Renata dropped her arms on her sides to glare up at him. "I was not happy!"

"Not even right now when I'm heroically taking the waves for you?" He smirked at her.

Renata rolled her eyes. "You're unbelievable!"

"I like to think that I am," he said far too proudly for her liking. It was probably one of the most accurate descriptions about him.

She ended up smiling. "Yes, you really are," she ultimately agreed with him. She gripped his arms (the waves were still going hard and she was rocking a bit) and used that hold to lean up and kiss him. She meant it to be a simple kiss but she was pleasantly surprised when the Doctor pulled her closer.

Little by little, the coldness of the water faded away. Every now and then remnants of salt would sneak up in their kiss, but it wasn't like they minded. Their arms were wrapped around each other so tight that even when the waves were hard enough to rock them, they didn't break apart. The only thing that happened after a while was the Doctor's confidence rising enough to let his hand wander up to Renata's hair and slowly pull her strands until her entire bun fell apart. Renata remembered him doing the same thing the first time they kissed in their last incarnations so she suspected it would be his favorite thing to do no matter what incarnation he was in. It was okay, she didn't mind, he could do it whenever he wanted. It was riveting to feel his fingers maneuvering through her hair.

It was only when Renata heard a deep howl that she pulled away. "What was that!?"

The Doctor didn't share her fear. He chuckled and set her not wet hair down. "Nothing. Just a party going on somewhere."

"That's a party!?" Renata gaped. It sounded like an outright mess.

The Doctor laughed. "Yes."

"Oh God no!"

The Doctor would've laughed more but he ran the risk of irritating her and that wasn't on his to-do list today. "Would you like to go have some smores?"

"Smores? Dessert before dinner?" Renata made her usual disapproving face.

"C'mon Renée, you'll love them!" The Doctor grabbed her hand and led her out of the water. Renata was still amazed that they made it out flatout dry.

"How many times did you come here before?" She curiously asked him when they reached the campsite. She had taken a seat over the lone log while the Doctor rummaged through the smores ingredients Malina promised them. He'd gotten the crackers and chocolates out and now he was putting the marshmallows on their sticks.

When Renata had asked him her question, he shot her a smile. "Plenty. My first time here? I couldn't have been more than 500. Probably one of the first places I came to after I left Gallifrey."

Renata's expression softened. "Was it really?"

"Yes. We said we would go one day and I wanted to see it for the both of us."

"And what did you think about it?"

"Doesn't matter," the Doctor shrugged in an attempt to look casual. He didn't want to tell her how sad he'd gotten when he stepped out into the kingdom of Velandia. It was one of their places they joked about coming to one day and he did the stupid thing of actually believing things would work out for them on Gallifrey. He thought that one day they would go together.

Well, they kind of did. He smiled at that. She was right there with him, waiting to try smores. It was truly something he never thought would happen after the terrible night they "broke up". He couldn't be more thankful for this miracle.

Renata watched him silently slide in a marshmallow onto the second stick. He looked so at home making those things. It was always fascinating to her how he got these types of notions that no one on Gallifrey would ever think of, much less do. And he knew how to do it. Sure, lots of times he just winged it but there were more times like these with you exactly what it was doing. I was just wondering about him. He just knew how to do things.

"Ready?" The Doctor took a seat next to her and held out her marshmallow.

Reluctantly, Renata grabbed the stick. "Is everything on a stick here?"

"No, love. This is actually how humans do a campfire."

Renata's face was extremely doubtful. "Why on earth would they do that?"

"Because it's fun. Try it." For show, the Doctor moved his stick towards the fire and motioned Renata to do the same.

Once again, reluctantly, Renata followed. "This is so weird," she chuckled. Her marshmallow was melting accordingly. "Then what happens?"

"Once the marshmallow gets all squishy, we put that into the sandwich and voila, there's your smore!"

Renata eyed the unfinished sandwiches on the plates. "This is so weird…"

"Look Renée, I know this wasn't the date you had in mind so next time I'll pick something better than smores. I promise."

Renata smiled softly at him. "I can't think of a more appropriate date than this one, darling." She laughed at his puzzled face. "What did you expect? Something normal?"

"So...you're not upset about today?"

"Well, I'm not so thrilled I can't remember 2 hours of my life but I know that you saved me and all those other people. That's my Doctor." She leaned her head against his arm. "That's all I need."

"You sure?" He looked down at her.

"Absolutely." She tilted her head up to meet his gaze. "It's what I wanted from the beginning. You and I together, doing whatever we wanted. I just never thought we'd have the freedom to."

"Me neither," he admitted. The rules were always behind them, forcing them apart, that now that they were gone...it felt weird. He actually had Renata - Zuriah - sitting with him, making smores. The past him would've never believed it.

Renata could guess what he was thinking. She snaked her free arm around his neck to bring his head closer to hers. She pressed a kiss to his lips. "Thank you for my wonderful date." Before the Doctor could say anything, she left a few kisses going down the side of his neck. She giggled when he stiffened then looked up with a cheeky smile (something beyond her). "And that's for saving me...as well as for whatever I did to you during those 2 hours."

The Doctor awkwardly cleared his throat while he desperately tried to keep hold of his marshmallow on a stick. It was shaking far too much. "I didn't—"

"I know I did something to you," Renata gave him a look. "You shut out those 2 hours from your mind. Sneaky."

"Renée…"

"C'mon, show me how to eat these mores!"

The Doctor smiled at her. She was far too adorable sometimes. "Smores, love. They're called smores."

"Right!" Renata laughed and pulled her marshmallow away from the fire. It did look kind of appetizing. Maybe if she could just…

"Renée, what are you doing!?" The Doctor had caught her red handed biting into her squishy marshmallow. He was at a cross between laughing at her wide-eyed face or laughing at the idea that she actually went ahead and did something like that. He chose both.

"It's actually good…" She said in-between chews.

"Who could've seen that coming?" The Doctor laughed one more time before reaching over and taking a bite of her marshmallow.

Renata was not okay with that. His bite had basically taken her entire marshmallow. "DOCTOR!"

Author's Note:

And that, ladies and gents, was their first ever date! Next chapter is one of my favorites of this fic. It's a long awaited closure for Gabby and what she's been dealing with on the side, as well as some reflecting for the rest of our crew! Can't wait for you guys to read it ;)

P.S. 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"