The Doctor and Thea raced around the console, taking 3 panels each so they wouldn't run in each other's way as they chased the crashing ship, said ship currently the destination of Amy and Rorys honeymoon.
It had been fine at first, they dropped the Ponds off for their honeymoon on the luxury liner, leaving the TARDIS to trace the ship just in case anything happened.
They'd been ready to go to see Sarah Jane and the gang while they left the Ponds to their alone time, when the Doctor realised the coordinates Thea had been putting in (she wanted to pilot so not to turn up years late), were not for Bannerman Road, but the ship Amy and Rory on.
He hadn't needed to speak aloud as the TARDIS alerted them that the ship had lost control, Thea sending them to help before even realising they were in distress.
The Doctor typed on the keyboard, sending a message to the ship, assuring the newlyweds help was on the way.
'Come along, Ponds.'
The Doctor insisted they were Ponds and not Williams, despite officially they were married as Williams, he didn't care, claimed Pond sounded better.
They'd tried to land on the ship but couldn't get a fix through the cloud belt.
"We should go for Christmas Dinner." Thea commented offhandedly.
The Doctor paused, looking at her in confusion at the sudden change in topic it. She had been worried for Amy and Rorys safety, and the rest of the ships passengers and crew and suddenly now she wanted to stop and get Christmas Dinner? What?
"With Mr Karzan Sardick." she nodded, changing the coordinates to the mans home.
~.~
The TARDIS landed on the roof of a large manor house, rather Victorian looking, the planet very much like Earth, apart from the thick clouds that prevented you from actually seeing the sky.
There was a large spire from the top of the house, shooting an energy beam into the sky.
"The source of our problems." Thea commented.
The Doctor looked around, realising Thea had known where the source of the problem was, even if she hadn't realised, she knew. It was strange how her feelings worked, how she would sometimes say something that would happen in the middle of her own rambling and be unaware that she even said anything, or how she would just do something that, again, she didn't realise she was doing until someone pointed it out.
She was so often completely unaware of all those little feelings and senses and it was rather brilliant actually! This was without knowing, this was just naturally her and her abilities and if she started to try and focus, well, she would be even more remarkable!
"You're getting good at this." He told her.
"Just following the feelings as you suggested." She shrugged.
She felt safe following them whenever he was around, like she knew nothing bad would happen when she was with him. Knew he wouldn't get her hurt. She was safe and protected under his care.
The Doctor looked around the roof for an easy way in without having to move the TARDIS again, spotting the perfect way in and it was Christmas Eve...
"Come along, Smith." he grinned, pulling Thea along with him to the chimney.
"But the fire..." she gestured to the smoke, but her words went unheard as the Doctor dove into the chimney with a cry of 'geronimo!' She shrugged, stepping onto the edge and peering down into the darkness, before shrugging and jumping in after him. She may as well follow, it was Christmas Eve, there was a chimney, what the hell? And the Doctor would put the fire out before she reached the bottom.
The soot burnt out the fire as it fell from the Doctor jumping, falling out into the room and covering the ground as he toppled out and onto the floor, Thea following after, landing on top of him.
"That was actually rather fun." She said, shaking the soot and ash from her hair.
"Ho, ho, ho and all that." the Doctor chuckled, before noticing the small crowd of people all staring at them, a small family of four with young children, an older man in a fine robe and a few servants, all staring at them from their sudden arrival. "Ah. Yes. Blimey. Sorry." he grinned at them, "Christmas Eve on a rooftop. Saw a chimney, my whole brain just went, what the hell!" he walked over to the children, "Don't worry, fat fellow will be doing the rounds later. I'm just scoping out the general chimney-ness. Yes. Nice size, good traction. Big tick."
"Fat fellow?" the father of the family frowned.
"Father Christmas," Thea turned to them, "Santa Claus or, jolly old Saint Nick."
"I've always known him, Jeff." the Doctor added.
"There's no such person as Father Christmas." the young boy argued.
"Oh, yeah?" the Doctor showed him an old black and white photo, "me and Father Christmas, Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge, 1952. See him at the back with the blonde? Albert Einstein. The three of us together."
"You met Albert Einstein." Thea gasped, "and went to see Santa with him."
He nodded, "had to go and have words of my own, apparently you were put on the top of the naughty list the other year."
"Did he tell you want I did?" she blinked.
"Yes, he did."
"And?"
"I made sure he got you extra the next year. You had no reason to be on that list. You did nothing wrong."
Well, she had been in the wrong, but she had done it from the right reasons. Apparently, she had tried to break into Buckingham Palace the same time he had been on the Titanic about to crash land over the queen's home. Obviously, she had a bad feeling about the royal family's safety at the time. Though having no proof of any actual danger, the guards hadn't been too impressed. Though he had been impressed she'd managed to get past them. Very sneaky. He heard UNIT had a field day trying to cover for her.
"Stay on the nice list." he pointed at her, "Keep the faith." he winked at the children, "Stay off the naughty list."
"Its not all its cracked up to be." Thea agreed.
The Doctor spun, noticing a flashing control panel with knows and buttons just waiting to be pressed, "ooh. Now, what's this then? I love this. A big flashy lighty thing. That's what brought us here!" he sat in the chair, spinning around, "Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them. Not actually," he spun to face them, "but give me time, and a crayon. Now, this big flashy lighty thing is connected to the spire in your dome, yeah? And it controls the sky. Well, technically it controls the clouds, which technically aren't clouds at all. Well, they're clouds of tiny particles of ice. Ice clouds. Love that." he jumped up seeing Thea hadnt come over to the control panel with him but was staring at a metal pod in the middle of the room, a woman frozen inside, "Who's she?"
"Nobody important." the old man, Kazran Sardick, sneered.
"Nobody important?" the Doctor scoffed, moving over to the pod and glancing inside, "Blimey, that's amazing. Do you know, in 900 years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important before."
"She's very important." Thea tilted her head, "was important..." she squinted through the small window, "will be important." she shook her head.
She had actually tried just then, getting the sense that the woman would help them get the ship to land safely, she could feel that the woman was important for that, just not quite how she would help.
"That won't work." She told the Doctor as he moved back to the control panel, fiddling with the controls.
"Oh, it will, cos this console is the key to saving that ship, or I'll eat my hat. If I had a hat. I'll eat someone's hat. Not someone who's using their hat. I don't want to shock a nun, or something. Sorry, rambling, because...because this isn't working!"
"That won't work." Thea repeated.
"The controls are isomorphic." Mr Sardick stated, "One to one. They respond only to me."
"Oh, you fibber." the Doctor looked back at him, "Isomorphic. There's no such thing."
"The Masters laser screwdriver." Thea called.
Kazran rolled his eyes, reaching over and flicking a switch, turning the machine off and back on. The Doctor tried the same switch but nothing worked. He tried a few more knobs before flashing his sonic over the machine and over Kazran, checking the readings, "These controls are isomorphic!"
Thea threw her arms up, "if only someone had told you."
"You didn't say isomorphic." he countered, "just it wouldn't work."
She blinked at him, "why else would they not work for you if not isomorphic?"
"Oh, just...shh, you." he huffed, "or I'll tell Jeff to put you back on the naughty list."
"I have never met anyone as irritating as you."
"Right back at you, kiddo."
"The skies of this entire world are mine." Kazran informed them, "My family tamed them, and now I own them."
"Tamed the sky?" the Doctor scoffed, "What does that mean?"
"It means I'm Kazran Sardick." he glared at them, "How can you possibly not know who I am?"
"You're not interesting enough to grab our attention." Thea crossed her arms.
"So, we need your help, then." the Doctor looked at the man.
"Make an appointment." Kazran waved off.
"4003 people are in a spaceship trapped in YOUR cloud belt." Thea told him, frowning, "without your help they will die!"
"Yes?"
"You don't have to let that happen." the Doctor said.
"I know, but I'm going to. Bye, bye. Bored now...Chuck!" a servant stepped forwards to grab them, Thea dodging his grip as the Doctor ducked out of his hold, moving back to Kazran as he settled in a chair, "ooh, look at you, looking all tough now."
"There are 4003 people I won't allow to die tonight. Do you know where that puts you?"
"Where?"
"4004."
"Was that a sort of threat-y thing?"
"Whatever happens tonight," Thea began, "just remember...you brought it on yourself."
"Yeah, yeah, right. Get them out of here." he waved his hands to his servants who grabbed the pair and pulled them off again, this time they didn't resist, "And next time, try and find me some funny poor people."
They reached the door when the young boy picked up a lump of coal, throwing it at Kazran, hitting him on the head. He stormed over, ready to strike the boy.
"No, stop, don't!" the Doctor yelled.
"Don't you dare!" the boys father threatened, "You leave him."
Kazran slowly lowered his hand. Thea frowning at him, "get him out of here. Get that foul-smelling family out of here. Out!" the family were pulled out the room as he stalked back to his chair, noticing the Time Lords hadn't left, "What? What do you want?"
"A simple life." The Doctor replied.
"You didn't hit the boy." Thea murmured.
"Well, I will next time." he sneered.
"You won't...because you know how it feels to be hit, don't you?"
Before Kazran could even answer, too stunned that she knew that to give a snappy remark, the Doctor snapped his fingers, "the chairs prove it."
"The chairs?" Kazran scoffed.
"There's a portrait on the wall behind me." Thea pointed at the portrait of the stern looking man, "Looks like you, but it's old and so is he, it's your father. All the chairs are angled away from it. Your father has been dead for 20 years, but you still can't get comfortable where he can see you. There's a Christmas tree in the painting, but none in this house, on Christmas Eve. You're scared of him, and you're scared of being like him. But you're not." Thea smiled, "you're nothing like him."
"What makes you say that?" he demanded.
"Because you didn't hit the boy." the Doctor answered simply, "Merry Christmas, Mr Sardick."
"I despise Christmas." Kazran snarled.
"You shouldn't." he remarked, finally heading for the door as Thea followed him, "It's very you."
"It's what? What do you mean?"
"Halfway out of the dark."
They headed out of the room, and to the main doors as Kazran ordered the servants to clean the soot from the floor.
"Quite the detective skills." the Doctor eyed Thea.
"Yeah, well, didn't want to professors to get the idea of a Visionary in their class," she shrugged him off, as they stepped out into the streets, "so I learnt how to trick them into thinking I just noticed the fine details most overlooked," she gave a low laugh, "one suggested I worked for the CIA."
The comm in the Doctors pocket beeped and he pulled it out, "have you got a plan yet?" Amy asked instantly.
"Yes, we do." the Doctor replied.
"Thea, is he lying?"
She scoffed, "Of course."
"Don't treat me like an idiot, Doctor."
"Was he lying?" Rory's voice spoke over the comm.
"No, no." Amy replied tensely.
"Ok, so the good news." the Doctor began as they walked down the street, "I've tracked the machine that unlocks the cloud belt. I could use it to clear you a flight corridor and you could land easily."
"Oh, hey. Hey, that's great news." Amy cheered.
"Except the controls are isomorphic." Thea added.
"What does that mean?"
"They only work for one person."
"But we've met the man." the Doctor continued.
"Ah, well there you go." Amy cheered.
"And he hates us." Thea sighed.
"I'm sorry, he hates you?" Amy scoffed, "I can understand the Doctor being his usual charming and clever self, but you...he must be evil."
"What?" Thea laughed.
"Come on, everyone loves you, and if they don't they usually end up being a bad person."
"Huh, really?" Thea blinked, breaking into a smile, "thats quite a hypothesis you have there."
"Sir?" the father of the family called as they walked over to them, "miss?"
"Hang on." the Doctor told Amy, lowering the comm to speak to the family.
"I've never seen anybody stand up to Mr Sardick like that. Bless you, and merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas." Thea returned.
"Sorry, bit busy." the Doctor held up the comm.
"You'd better get inside, sir." the man said, "The fog's thick tonight, and there's a fish warning."
"All right, yeah." he nodded before blinking at what the man had said, "Sorry, fish?"
"Yeah. You know what they're like when they get a bit hungry."
"Yeah, fish, I know fish. Fish?"
"It's all Mr Sardick's fault, I reckon." the man sighed, "He always lets a few fish through the cloud layer when he's in a bad mood. Thank you. Bless you once again, sir." the man turned and headed off with his family.
"Fish?" the Doctor frowned at Thea, utterly confused.
"Doctor, the Captain says we've got less than an hour." Amy warned them, "What should we be doing?"
"Fish." Thea blinked, wandering to a lamppost seeing a few fish swimming around in the fog as though it was water.
"Fish that can swim in fog." the Doctor mused, "I love new planets."
"Doctor, please don't get distracted!" Amy huffed.
"Too late." Thea laughed as the Doctor held his fingers up to the fish to nibble on.
"Now, why would people be frightened of you tiny little fellows?" the Doctor wondered, "Look at you, sweet little fishy-wishies."
"They're very small..." Thea commented, "down in the fog so..." she looked up at the heavy cloud belt, "Big fish up there."
"Oh great, thanks, because there was a real danger we were all going to nod off." Amy huffed, "We've got less than an hour!"
"We know." Thea rolled her eyes as a bell tolled from the clock tower as it struck 11, 'Ding Dong Merrily on High' playing behind them, "plenty of time."
"Easy for you to say." Amy grumbled, "you're not on ship, its not you in danger. So how are you getting us off here?"
"Oh, just give us a minute." the Doctor waved her off, pacing as he thought, "can't use the TARDIS because it can't lock on. So, that ship needs to land. But it can't land unless a very bad man suddenly decides to turn nice just in time for Christmas Day."
"Doctor, I can't hear you." Amy shouted over the music, "What is that? Is that singing?"
"A Christmas carol." Thea nodded absently, trying to think of a way to get through to the man in time to get him to land the ship.
"What?"
"A Christmas carol." the Doctor told her.
"A what?"
"A CHRISTMAS CAROL!" They both shouted, before spinning to each other, the same idea hitting them.
"Kazran Sardick!" the Doctor beamed.
"Brilliant!" Thea cheered, "hope he's not afraid of ghosts."
A cunning smile spread across the Doctors face, "Merry Christmas, Kazran Sardick!"
~.~
The Doctor and Thea stood at the back of the main parlour of Kazrans Manor, the old man fast asleep in his chair as they played a video of him as a young boy, in his bedroom, recording the fish.
The boys father had stormed into the room, shouting how foolish he was, that the fish were dangerous.
The shouting awoke the older Kazran in shock at hearing his fathers booming voice, waking up in time to see his younger self get backhanded by his father.
Thea flinched, unable to watch, she would never be able to understand how a parent could hit their child like that. While her parents had rarely shown they'd loved her, at least they had never struck her like that. She could hear younger Kazran on the video apologising over and over and his father continued to yell at him.
It was heartsbreaking to see the young boy breakdown sobbing in his arms at his desk, even more so seeing the older Kazran reviving the memory.
"It's okay," the Doctor murmured, walking over and putting his hand on Kazrans shoulder, "it's okay."
Kazran jerked away, spinning and glaring at the pair, "What have you done? What is this?"
"Found it on an old drive. Sorry about the picture quality. Had to recover the data using quantum enfolding and a paperclip."
"Don't bother calling your servants." Thea added as the old man rushed over to a rope to pull to call them, "they all quit."
"Apparently they won the lottery at exactly the same time," the Doctor added as he sat in the now vacant chair, looking at a newspaper, "which is a bit lucky when you think about it."
Lucky in the sense this planet didn't have a lottery, but the servants didn't question it.
"There isn't a lottery." Kazran frowned.
"Yeah, as I say, lucky."
"There's a fog warning tonight." The voice of Kazrans father drew their attention back to the video, "you keep these windows closed, understand? Closed."
"Who are you?" Kazran demanded.
"Tonight, we're the Ghost of Christmas Past."
"Mrs Mantovani will be looking after you tonight." Kazrans father continued, "You stay here till she comes. Do you understand? Do you understand?"
"Did you ever get to see the fish?" Thea asked softly, "back when you were a kid?"
"What does that matter to you?" Kazran sneered.
"It mattered to you." she replied, not at all faltered by his bad attitude as she nodded to the screen as his younger self sobbed.
"I cried all night," Kazran admitted, "and I learned life's most invaluable lesson."
"Which is?" the Doctor asked.
"Nobody comes." he nearly snarled, glaring at them, "Get out! Get out of my house!"
The Doctor jumped up, tugging Thea back as the man banished his cane around at them, "Okay. Okay, but we'll be back. Way back. Way, way back."
"We are the Ghost of Christmas Past after all." Thea warned him as they headed back into the TARDIS, a quick hop into the past, setting down just outside of young Kazrans bedroom, rushing to the round window they'd seen in the projection and threw it open.
"See?" the Doctor beamed as young Kazran turned back to look at them, "Back."
"Who are you?" Young Kazran frowned.
"Hi. I'm the Doctor." He jumped down from the window into the room, turning to help Thea.
"And I'm Thea." she smiled at the boy.
"I'm your new babysitter." the Doctor told him, bouncing on the boys bed.
"Who's she then?" Kazran looked round at Thea. She looked as though she still needed a babysitter herself.
"I'm also her babysitter." The Doctor told him as Thea said, "I'm his babysitter."
"Where's Mrs Mantovani?" Young Kazran asked.
"Oh, you'll never guess." the Doctor smiled, "Clever old Mrs Manters, she only went and won the lottery."
"There isn't any lottery."
"You already said that." Thea commented.
"What a woman!" the Doctor hoped of the bed.
"If you're my babysitter," young Kazran began, "why are you climbing in the window?"
"Because if we were climbing out of the window, we'd' be going in the wrong direction." Thea said simply.
"Exactly." the Doctor agreed, "pay attention."
"But Mrs Mantovani's always my babysitter." Kazran frowned.
"Times change." the Doctor shrugged, peering into the camera, "Wouldn't you say? You see? Christmas Past."
"Who are you talking to?"
"You." the Doctor answered him before speaking to the camera again, fully aware the older Kazran was still watching, "Now, your past is going to change. That means your memories will too. Bit scary, but you'll get the hang of it."
"I don't understand."
"Just nod along and agree with everything he says." Thea informed the boy.
"Exactly!" the Doctor nodded before realising what she said and pouted, "hey!" he pointed warningly at her, before getting back on topic, "Right then, your bedroom. Great. Let's see. You're 12 years old, so we'll stay away from under the bed. Cupboard! Big cupboard. I love a cupboard." he rushed over to the cupboard, peering inside, "Do you know, there's a thing called a face spider. It's just like a tiny baby's head with spider legs, and it's specifically evolved to scuttle up the backs of bedroom cupboards which, yeah, I probably shouldn't have mentioned."
"You mean that thing from Toy Story?" Thea blinked at him.
"What?" he turned to her.
"From Toy Story, the mean Sid boy but a dolls head on a robotic spiders body."
"You watch Toy Story often to remember that, huh?" he asked her.
"Great movies." she grinned, "fourth one kind of ruined the third one."
"Yes. Right." he clapped his hands, "So. What are we going to do? Eat crisps and talk about girls? I've never actually done that, but I bet it's easy."
"You're supposed to talk about girls when girls are not around." Thea told him.
"Well want do boys talk about, then? Since you're little miss know-it-all."
"I don't know." she shrugged, "football? Star Wars? Space. That I won't let them know their future."
"Is that what all boys talk about or just Luke and Clyde?" he asked, amused.
"Are you really a babysitter?" Kazran cut in.
"I think you'll find I'm universally recognised as a mature and responsible adult." The Doctor whipped out the psychic paper to show the boy.
Thea blinked seeing it blank, as the psychic paper was to anyone with psychic abilities.
"It's just a lot of wavy lines." Kazran stated.
The Doctor looked at the paper, "Yeah, it's shorted out. Finally, a lie too big. Okay, no, not really a babysitter, but it's Christmas Eve. You don't want a real one. You want us."
"Why? What's so special about you?"
"I'm amazing." Thea smirked, "I'm adorable and I'm the most fun you'll ever have."
"Have you ever seen Mary Poppins?" the Doctor turned to Kazran.
"No." he shook his head.
"Good. Because that comparison would've been rubbish."
"Yeah, she makes you have medicine." Thea scrunched her face in disgust, "bad tasting medicine as well. If they wanted you to get better, they should make medicine taste nice."
"And that's why I started sneaking it into your tea." the Doctor tapped her nose.
"Yes, I know. I always see it coming."
He gave a small chuckle at her joke about her psychic abilities, "Fish in the fog!" he cheered, seeing small fish swim past the window, "Fish in the clouds. How do people ever get bored? How did boredom even get invented?"
"My dad's invented a machine to control the cloud belt." young Kazran informed them, "'Tame the sky', he says. The fish'll be able to come down, but only when we let them. We can charge whatever we like."
"Yeah. We've seen your dad's machine."
Thea blinked, seeing a large shadow drift past the window, moving over to the window and sticking her head out, looking up at the clouds.
"What?" young Kazran gaped, "You can't have." it was still being built!
"Tame the sky." the Doctor murmured, "Human beings. You always manage to find the boring alternative, don't you? You want to see one? A fish. We can do that. We can see a fish."
"Aren't you going to tell me it's dangerous?" Kazran frowned.
"Dangerous?" the Doctor scoffed, "Come on, we're boys. And you know what boys say in the face of danger."
"What?"
The Doctor hesitated a moment catching Thea shaking her head behind the boy, drawing her finger across her neck in an action to get him to stop talking. He nodded his silent understanding. They knew nothing of the boys mother, Kazran, young and old, hadn't mentioned his mother. If his father was busy working too much to take care of Kazran, why was his mother not watching him? Why was a babysitter needed? Either way they didn't need to risk upsetting him about his parents more than he already was.
"What?" Kazran repeated, giving the Doctor an odd look at his silence, turning to Thea.
"Bring it on." She determined.
~.~
Kazran looked around nervously as the trio sat close together in the cupboard, The Doctor had attached a long piece of string to the sonic, leaving it hanging in the bedroom behind the closed cupboard door, the other end of the string wrapped around the Doctors finger so they'd know if a fish came through the open window.
"Are there any face spiders in here?" Kazran asked quietly.
"They don't inhabit planets with a lot of fog." Thea quickly assured him before the Doctor could tell him they'd be hiding under his bed right now.
"So, why are you so interested in fish?" the Doctor asked him.
"Because they're scary."
"Good answer."
"What kind of tie is that?"
"A cool one." he winked.
"Why is it cool?"
"Why are you really interested in fish?" Thea asked him.
Kazran sighed, "My school. During the last fog belt, the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them. A whole shoal. No one was hurt, but it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains."
"Were you scared?" the Doctor asked him.
"I wasn't there. I was off sick."
"Ooh, lucky you..." the sadness on Kazrans face said otherwise, "not lucky."
"It's all anyone ever talks about now. The day the fish came. Everyone's got a story."
"But you don't." the Doctor realised.
"Why are you recording this?" Kazran changed the topic.
"To remember when you saw the fish." Thea replied, "and you can look back at it again and again."
"Do you pay attention at school, Kazran?" the Doctor looked at him.
"Sorry, what?" Kazran frowned.
"Because you're not paying attention now." he looked at his finger as the string tugged on it. "Shh."
"Doctor..." Thea hissed as he jumped to his feet, rushing to the door.
"Doctor, are you sure?" Kazran eyed him.
"Trust me." he winked.
"Ok." Kazran sighed.
"Oi." the Doctor snapped his fingers, "Eyes on the tie. Look at me. I wear it and I don't care. Trust me."
Kazran gave a small nod and smiled, "yes."
"I'll let you know when it's safe."
Thea saluted, stepping up next to Kazran as the Doctor stepped out into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
"Does he...know what he's doing?" Young Kazran looked over at Thea as she frowned at the door.
"No." she answered honestly.
"Do you really think there is a fish out there?"
"He hasn't come back in sounding disappointed."
Kazran beamed at that, the idea of a fish being in his room that he'd get to see, "What is it?" he called through the door, "what kind? Can I see?"
"Just stay there a moment." The Doctor replied.
"Is it big?"
"Nah, just a little one."
"How little?"
Thea blinked, getting a bad feeling in her gut as the Doctor didn't respond.
"Can I come out?" Kazran asked.
"Not yet." Thea tugged him further back from the door.
"No!" the Doctor shouted, "Maybe just wait there for a moment."
"What colour is it?" he asked, oblivious to the Doctors strain in his voice.
"Big. Big colour."
Thea opened the door and the Doctor stumbled back in, slamming it behind him as something pounded on the door behind him.
"What's happening?" Kazran gasped.
"Well, concentrating on the plusses, you've definitely got a story of your own now. Also, I got a good look at the fish, and I think I understand how the fog works, which is going to help me land a spaceship in the future and save a lot of lives." he pressed his back to the door to keep it shut, "and I bet I get some very interesting readings off my sonic screwdriver when I get it back from the shark in your bedroom."
"There's a shark in my bedroom!" Kazran gaped.
"Oh fine, focus on that part." the Doctor huffed.
"Shh!" Thea hissed, listening intently as the shark stopped banging.
"Has it gone?" Kazran frowned, "What's it doing?"
"Taking a run-up." Thea tilted her head, "or whatever you call a run-up without feet." she ushered Kazran to the corner of the cupboard, jerking the Doctor away from the door seconds before the shark rammed itself through, getting stuck, its mouth chopping, a faint green glow from the back of its mouth.
"It's going to eat us!" Kazran cried, as they huddled against the back wall, trying to keep as far back from the shark as they could, "It's going to eat us. It's going to eat us...is it going to eat us?"
"Well, maybe we're going to eat it." the Doctor suggested.
"I don't like the taste of fish." Thea remarked.
"It's stuck, though. Let's see. Tiny shark brain. If I had my screwdriver, I could probably send a pulse and stun it."
"Well, where's your screwdriver?" Kazran demanded.
"There." Thea pointed to green glow in the shark, "that's going give you indigestion."
"On the plus side, it within reach." the Doctor tried to defend, "you know, there's a real chance the way it's wedged in the doorway is keeping its mouth open."
"There is?" Kazan frowned.
"Just agree with me, because I've only got two goes, and then it's your turn."
"Wait, what?" Thea looked over sharply, knowing what he was about to do.
"Two goes?" Kazran questioned.
"Oh, don't!" Thea rolled her eyes.
"Two arms." he held them up, scrambling to his feet, "Right, then. Okay. Geronimo." he cried, rushing to the shark, "Open wide!"
~.~
The trio stood outside on the small patio area outside Kazrans bedroom, Thea and Kazran kneeling on either side of the shark as the Doctor stood of to the side examination the half sonic he had managed to grab. Both his arms still intact.
"What's the big fishy done to you?" the Doctor muttered, "Swallowed half of you, that's what. Half a screwdriver, what use is that? Bad, big fishy."
"Doctor?" Kazran looked up at him, "I think she's dying."
"Half my screwdriver's still inside, but yeah, I think so. I doubt they can survive long outside the cloud belt. Just quick raiding trips on a foggy night."
"Can't we get it back up there?" Kazran sniffled, "We were just going to stun it. I didn't want to kill it."
"She was trying to eat you."
"She was hungry!"
"What if we took her back up to the belt?" Thea suggested, "she would get better."
"She wouldn't survive the trip." the Doctor shook his head, "we need a fully functioning life support."
"You mean like an icebox?" Kazran perked up, "ok." he jumped up, pulling them off, out of his room and down to the main parlour, grabbing a lamp as the Doctor caught sight of a Christmas tree in the corner, getting distracted by it. Someone like Elliot Sardick had Christmas spirit in him, but sometime in the future his son loses that spirit. It was sad.
Thea pulled him off, seeing Kazran hadn't noticed and continued his way down another set of steps leading to the basement.
They came to a large metal door with a small round window, the Doctor peered through to the large room filled with fog, lined with ice boxes, likely filled with people liked they'd seen earlier.
"What is this?" the Doctor frowned.
"The surplus population." Kazran answered, "That's what my dad calls it.'
"Oh, it's not turning. Oh, why won't it turn?" he moved to the large wheel turning g to turn it but it would t budge.
The Doctor used the half sonic on the keypad to the side but it was too fired and damaged to be much use, "what's the number?"
"I don't know."
"This place is full of alarms. It's not just the door. I need the number."
"I'm not allowed to know until I'm older." Kazran huffed.
Thea blinked, "7258."
The Doctor looked at her before entered the numbers and the door clicked unlock as Kazran turned the wheel, the door opening.
"How did you know that?" Kazran gaped at her.
No one was allowed to know the code!
"She's psychic." the Doctor beamed, so, so proud!
"I um..." she shifted as they both stared at her, "I got a sense of you when you were older, when you knew the code..." she closed her eyes, almost able to see it in her mind, "you're an old man, standing in the parlour shouting the code to help us get inside." she stepped over and kissed his cheek, knowing his older bitter self would now recall this happening, "thank you, Kazran."
"You are brilliant!" the Doctor cheered.
"Well, come on!" Kazran called seeing the Doctor was just beaming at Thea and slipped into the room, Thea following, Kazran behind her.
"Ah, there's fish down here, too." the Doctor remarked seeing small fish swimming in the thicker fog as they walked down the rows.
"Yeah, but only tiny ones. The house is built on a fog lake, that's how Dad freezes the people." he stood before a box, "They're all full, but we could borrow one. Yeah, this one."
The Doctor held up the lamp, peering through the small window to see the girl from earlier. "Hello again."
"You know her?" Kazran eyed him.
"Why her?" Thea wondered, "important, is she?"
"She won't mind." he waved off, "She loves the fish." He reached out and imputing a number on the keypad, a projection of the woman smiling, playing on the window.
"My name is Abigail Pettigrew, and I'm very grateful for Mr Sardick's kindness. My father..."
"She starts to talk about the fish in a minute." Kazran beamed, oblivious to the Doctor wandering off to the other boxes as he focused on the video.
Thea smiled, nodding along as she watched the video with him. He may not known the code to the room just yet but he had clearly been down before, probably when his father moved someone new it. Probably wandered off and saw a pretty face and was captivated by her.
"...but I would not allow it." the projection continued, "I could not have chosen this path were it not for the compassion and generosity of the great philanthropist and patron of the poor, Mr Elliot Sardick. But I'm also surrounded by the fish, the beautiful, iridescent, magical fish."
"Why are these people here?" the Doctor called.
"...they dash beneath the light as they dart through the fog."
"What's all this for?"
"My dad lends money." Kazran replied, "He always takes a family member as...he calls it security."
"Sounds like a hard man to love..." Thea remarked slowly, watching Kazran as he didn't deny it. His eyes locked on the woman's face. "but you know that, don't you?"
"I am not alone, and I am at peace." the projection finished.
Instead of answering, Kazran stepped up and started the warm up process, the woman glowing with a faint light.
A whirring noise sounded and they looked over to see the Doctor bashing his sonic in his hand.
"What's wrong?" Kazran frowned.
"Just my half a screwdriver trying to repair itself." he muttered, "It's signalling the other half."
Thea tensed, whirling round to him, "the other half that is inside the shark."
"Yeah..." the Doctor looked up as the realisation hit him, "Sounds like she's woken up. Ok, so it's homing on the screwdriver."
Thea yanked the Doctor forwards as the shark suddenly appeared in the fog, snapping at them, the sudden movement sending the Doctor to the floor, pulling Thea down with him as Kazran ran and hid behind the boxes to avoid the attacking shark.
"Kazran!" the Doctor shouted, unable to see him in the fog.
"This way!" Thea led him down a row of boxes, slowing as they spotted a woman singing at the end of the row, the shark before her, as she stroke it while she sang.
"That's beautiful." Thea smiled, catching sight of Kazran watching from behind a nearby box, "don't you agree?"
"It's not really the singing, of course." the Doctor remarked as the boy stepped out seeing the shark was no longer attacking.
"Yes, it is. The fish love the singing." Kazran insisted, "It's true."
"What do you say it is, then?" Thea glanced at the Doctor.
"The notes resonate in the ice crystals," the Doctor explained, "causing a delta wave pattern in the fog. Ow." he suddenly slapped his neck, "A fish bit me."
"Shut up, then." Kazran huffed.
"Of course! That's how the machine controls the cloud belt. The clouds are ice crystals. If you vibrate the crystals at exactly the right frequency, you could align them into..." he slapped his neck again, "ow!"
"Another fish?" Thea guessed.
"Why do they keep biting me?" he whined.
"Look, the fish like the singing, okay?" Kazran glared at him, "Now shut up!"
Thea snorted, "that's you told. Now shh."
The Doctor pouted as the singing lulled the shark to sleep.
~.~
"Its bigger on the inside..." Kazran breathed, staring inside the TARDIS with awe.
"Or smaller on the outside." Thea countered.
"Not once has anyone said that." the Doctor shook his head as he finished securing the shark in Abigails ice box now it was calmed down enough.
"Well maybe one day they will." she defended.
"Do you want to bet on that?"
"Do you?" she countered.
The Doctor glanced at her as he pushed the box inside the TARDIS, seeing her smirking as she held the doors open, almost knowingly, "do I?" he wondered, before shaking his head, knowing that answer. No, he did not. Everyone knew better than to make a bet with a psychic, whether they were joking or not. "right, shark in a box ready to go."
Thea grinned, stepping side to allow Kazran and Abigail in as they stared in amazement, shutting the doors behind her and hurrying to the console to help pilot.
"This is amazing!" Abigail laughed.
"Nah, this is transport." the Doctor waved her off, "I keep amazing out here..." he ran to the doors, throwing them open, "out here!"
They all gathered at the opened doors as the TARDIS hovered in the middles of the sky, schools of fish, "Come on, then. Let's get this shark out." he turned to start the thawing process.
"Shark incoming!" Thea laughed, tugging Kazran to the side a moment before the shark burst out the box and immediately swam outside to join her family.
"Hey, look at her go!" Kazran whooped.
The Doctor frowned, seeing a series of numbers on the box, he'd seen them on other boxes but most of them had a higher number, "Abigail, this number. What does it mean?"
She walked over to him, seeing Thea pointing out the types of fish to Kazran, "It pertains to me, sir, not the fish."
"Yeah, but how?"
"You are a doctor, you say? Are you one of mine?"
The Doctor frowned, "do you need a doctor?"
The sad look on Abigails face said it all, but before he could ask what was wrong a bell went off and he spun around, "ah. Sorry. Time's up, kids."
"Why?" Kazran pouted.
"It's nearly Christmas Day!"
"Santa doesn't come if he knows you're awake." Thea added.
~.~
They'd gone and dropped Abigail back in her ice box, with Kazran telling her that they came every Christmas Eve and so began the tradition and visiting Abigail and having some fun. If it helped change Kazrans future they wouldn't complain, and they did have fun.
The first time, the Doctor had managed to summon the shark down with his half sonic, harnessed it to an open carriage, and theyd had a beautiful sleigh ride in the cloud, pulled by the shark. They visited every year, doing something fun and special everything they visited.
Then one year Kazran had simply shaken his head that he didn't want to see Abigail, the Doctor had instantly thought nothing they'd done had helped changed Kazran, that he no longer wanted to see Abigail and wanted to focus on the work with his father. But it was only because he was embarrassed, his voice starting to change, all those pimples. He didn't want to see Abigail and embarrass himself while going through puberty.
And so they'd skipped ahead a few years to a time when he had finished puberty and now a dashing looking young man in his early 20s.
Abigail had certainly not missed the change in Kazran from when she had last seen him, usually she greeted the Doctor but this time it was a breathy, "Kazran!" as she couldn't take her eyes of the young man he had become as they entered the TARDIS.
"You've grown." Abigail remarked as they stood to the side while the Time Lords piloted them.
"Yes." he nodded, his cheeks reddening.
"And now you're blushing."
"I'm sorry."
"That's okay."
Kazran cleared his throat and looked over to the Time Lords, "So, where this time?"
"This time its Abigails choice." Thea smiled, looking over at the woman.
Any Christmas Eve in the whole world." the Doctor added, "the whole universe."
"I...I'd like to go to this one." Abigail told them.
~.~
They soon realised why Abigail wanted to stay here for this Christmas Eve. She wanted to check in on her sister and her family. Abigail stood at the woman of her sisters home, watching as the family prepared for the holidays, completely oblivious she was watching.
"Who are they?" Kazran whispered as he stood back by the Time Lords, giving Abigail space as she silently cried.
"Her family." the Doctor answered, "The lady's her sister. I met her once, when she was older."
"Abigail's crying."
"Yes."
"When girls are crying, are you supposed to talk to them?"
"I have absolutely no idea." the Doctor said honestly.
When his children had crying it was usually because something had upset them, or they were stressed and he had always assured them it was alright. That he was there for them. Usually he had gotten them some of their favourite food to cheer them up and distracted them with something he knew would get them smiling again.
But Abigail was a grown woman crying over the sight of her family, he didn't know what to do with that.
Crying children he could handle, crying adults was another thing entirely.
Thea rolled her eyes as both the Doctor and Kazran looked at her for an answer. "boys," she huffed, "Just be a friend to her. Ask her if she wants to talk but do not pressure her too. Just let her know you're there for her." she gave him a small push towards Abigail.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the Doctor asked Thea after a moment of watching Kazran and Abigail speaking.
"I think you should knock instead of barging round the back door." she replied.
The Doctor just grinned, turning and running down the nearby back alley as she chased after him to see him barging in through the back door, without knocking and she slipped in after him to see Abigails sister, leaning heavily.
"Abis' here for Christmas?" she breathed, tears in her eyes.
"Look here she is..." Thea hurried over to the window, throwing the curtains open where Abigail stood outside with Kazran, the two looking surprised to see her waving inside, gesturing them to come in as Abigail's brother in law hurried to open the door for them.
~.~
Kazran and been pulled to help Abigails brother in law decorating the mantel as the sisters spoke, leaving the Doctor to entertain her nephew with a card trick. With Abigail admitting she was only here for the night and wouldn't be joining on Christmas Day her sister had refused to celebrate Christmas, deciding to have their dinner that very night so Abigail could celebrate the holidays with them.
It had been wonderful, hilarious watching the Doctor trying to find the boys card again, even getting a card in the cracker he pulled, the boy would have been impressed...if it had been the right card.
Regardless, it had been lovely and so they'd escorted Abigail back to her box until next year.
Abigail smiled as she hugged the Doctor, "Best Christmas Eve ever." and hugged Thea.
"Till the next one." the Doctor joked.
"I look forward to it." she nodded, glancing to Kazran who was stood, silent, "Now I'd like to say good night to Kazran."
"Of course..." the Doctor nodded, gesturing them to do so, but they simply stood there, "well, on you go."
"She wants a private goodbye." Thea told him, tugging him away, "his age is getting to him." she added quietly getting a small laugh from Abigail as the Time Lords left them privacy.
"Doctor!" Kazran called as he ran after them, "Thea..." he focused his attention on her, "I, er, I think she's going to kiss me."
"That much is obvious." she deadpanned.
"I've never kissed anyone before. What do I do?"
"I doubt she's kissed anyone either. Your first kiss is always nervous and might just break out in uncontrollable giggles. So just lean in and just go with what comes naturally."
"What, now?" his eyes widened, "I kiss her now?"
"If you don't I will."
"Thea." the Doctor chastised as Kazran turned and walked back to Abigail.
A moment later the girl pulled Kazran into the kiss.
The Doctor blinked, Thea words finally hitting him, "hold on a minute young lady!" he called seeing her picking up the pace to head down the corridor, "you've kissed someone?"
"I'm over 400 years old." She defended, "and I have a pretty face. Obviously I kissed someone."
"Why didn't I know about this?" the Doctor asked as he followed her back to the TARDIS.
"Because I didn't know you then. Do you want to know my entire life story?"
"You want to know mine." He countered, "and yes, actually, I would."
She stopped and looked at him, "it's very boring."
"To turn you into the young lady you are now?" he shook his head, "I doubt that."
~.~
And the Christmas Eve tradition continued. They'd gone to Hollywood. The Doctor getting himself in quite the predicament as he somehow got engaged to Marlyn Monroe, the woman insisting they got married there and then.
So he had given the woman the slip, running off to find the others, dashing past the bushes to find Kazran and Abigail kissing by the pool, both dressed nicely for the time period. Even he had put on a white suit and bowtie.
"Guys!" he shouted, rushing over, "we've really got to go quite quickly. Have you seen Thea? I just accidentally got engaged to Marilyn Monroe. How do you keep going like that? Do you breathe out your ears?" he stiffened hearing a 'yoo-hoo' from across the pool, the blonde waving at him. "Hello?" he looked between the two still kissing, "Sorry. Hello? Guys, she's phoned a chapel. There's a car outside. This is happening right now!" he winced at another yoo-hoo, "Right. Fine. Thank you. I'll just go and get married then, shall I?" he asked, turning and ready to stalk over to the woman only to get pull back into the bushes to see Thea had brought the TARDIS closer.
"Thought you might be in trouble." she said, breathlessly.
"Oh, I love you!" he cheered, hugging her tightly as he ran into the TARDIS.
~.~
Thea frowned as she watched Abigail and Kazran say goodnight to each other as Kazran shut her back in her box for another year. She noticed they seemed rather solemn on the return trip and she knew it wasn't the Doctor trying to break their kiss apart. Anyone would be annoyed at him breaking a kiss up. Heck, she would be!
But there was something they must have talked about because neither looked happy, she was certain she could still see some tear stains on Abigails cheeks, but it wasn't her place to say anything.
"There we go." the Doctor grinned as Kazran slowly joined them, "Another day, another Christmas Eve. We'll see you in a minute, eh? I mean, a year."
"Doctor..." Kazran hesitated before sighing, "Listen, why don't we leave it?"
"Sorry, leave what?" he frowned.
"Oh, you know, this. Every Christmas Eve. It's getting a bit old."
"Old?"
"Well, Christmas is for kids, isn't it?"
"No," Thea cut in, "Christmas is for family and friends and...lovers."
Kazran shrugged her off, "I've got some work with my dad now. I'm going to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control."
"Sorry," the Doctors frown deepened, "I didn't realise we were boring you."
"Not your fault. Times change." he walked off.
"Not as much as I'd hoped." he muttered.
"Somethings happened." Thea murmured, "something..." she trailed, wandering back to the ice box, eying Abigail closely.
"Kazran!" the Doctor called, rushing after the young man as he neared the doors, "I'll be needing a new one, anyway." he held out his half eaten sonic, "what the hell. Merry Christmas. And if you ever need me, just activate it. I'll hear you."
He snatched it off him, "I won't need you." he said, a bite to his words.
"What's happened?" the Doctor asked, "What are you not telling me? What about Abigail?"
Kazran turned on his heel and stormed off, "I know where to find her!"
"Right." the Doctor nodded with a sigh as he turned back to Thea as she stared at Abigail, her gaze drifting to the number 1 on the front, "we'll try one more Christmas and then it's part B." he frowned, seeing Thea just staring at the number, "what?"
She pointed, "its counting down."
"She asked if I was one of her doctors..." the Doctor murmured, recalling when that number had been 8.
"If its not how long the Sardicks have her for..."
That mean Abigail only had 1 day left to live.
No wonder Kazran didn't want to do this again, next year. It would be Abigails last.
~.~
The Doctor had gone against Theas warning and stood outside Kazrans bedroom window the next Christmas Eve, he had seen the young man pull out the sonic, looking as though he was ready to call them with the half sonic...only to see the Doctor peering through the window and angrily shut the curtains on him, throwing the sonic back in its drawer.
"Right!" the Doctor clapped his hands as he returned to the TARDIS as Thea stood at the console. "its time for Christmas present."
"Amy?" Thea called down the comm. hoping now they were in the TARDIS they could get a better fix.
"Have you sorted it yet?" she responded a moment later.
"Nearly." the Doctor called, "were on phase 2 of the plan."
"And what's that?"
"You."
~.~
They'd connected a hologram of Amy into the ice room, seeing that despite all those Christmas Eves, knowing what would happen to Abigail had still left him as a bitter old man.
She had shown him all the people on the ship singing Silent Night, they'd switched the hologram to make it appear as though he was on the ship, perhaps scoring him enough to change his mind but it still didn't worked.
But they had managed to connect the sound up, listening in.
"Nobody has to die." they heard the captain speak.
"Everybody has to die." Kazran sneered.
"Not tonight." Amy argued.
"Tonight's as good as any other. How do you choose?"
"Are you two hearing this?" Amy called.
"We can hear." the Doctor replied, closing his eyes as he stood by the console while Thea collected their final plan before he silently set them down in the ice room.
"They're here?" Kazran spun around, though he was still seeing the ship as Amy's hologram cancelled out, "Where are they? Doctor? Thea!"
"Stay here a moment." Thea told the younger Kazran she had brought into the TARDIS as the Doctor stepped out.
"Why?" he frowned.
"To make sure its safe." the Doctor lied as he moved down the rows to face the older Kazran.
Kazran huffed but did as told, staying inside the box even as Thea left the door open a crack.
"I'm sorry." the Doctor sighed as he stood at the end of the row, "I didn't realise."
"All my life, I've been called heartless. My other life, my real life, the one you rewrote. Now look at me."
"Better a broken heart than no heart at all." Thea murmured.
"Oh, try it." he sneered, "You try it." She just held his gaze, looking sorrow as he averted his eyes to the Doctor, unable to keep looking at the sadness her eyes held, "why are you here?"
"Because I'm not finished with you yet." the Doctor stated.
"You've seen your past get rewritten," Thea spoke, "you saw what was happening right now on the ship. So what's left? the future." she smirked, "yeah, we know, the psychic is the ghost of Christmas yet-to-come."
"Fine." Older Kazran glared at her, "Do it. Show me. I'll die cold, alone and afraid. Of course I will. We all do. What difference does showing me make? Do you know why I'm going to let those people die? It's not a plan. I don't get anything from it. It's just that I don't care. I'm not like you. I don't even want to be like you. I don't and never, ever will care!"
"And that is where you're wrong."
"Then show me the future. Prove me wrong."
"I am..." Thea sighed, "right now. What do you think?" she glanced back round to the TARDIS as young Kazran, having just met the Time Lords for the first time and saved the shark, stepped out in his pyjamas, "Is this who you want to become, Kazran?"
Younger Kazran slowly stepped closer to his older self, staring at him, at how much he looked and sounded like... "dad?"
Older Kazran dropped his cane, raising his arm to strike his younger self, for how dare anyone compare him to his father, when he realised...his father always hit him.
And here he was about to do the same.
To his younger self. Didn't that make him even worse than his father?
He lowered his arm, starting to cry, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." he reached out, but the boy stepped back, terrified, "It's okay, don't be frightened." he reached out and pulled him into a tight hug, "I'm, I'm so, so, so..."
"Kazran." The Doctor cut in gently, "We don't have much time."
~.~
"Amy!" Thea grinned down the comm as they followed Kazran up the controls for the cloud belt, "Rory!"
"Thea!" Rory eagerly answered at her voice, just her tone of voice helped calm down his worry, "what's going on?"
"Have you done it?" Amy asked.
"Kazrans agreed to release the cloud belt. We're sending a signal from here, tell the captain to lock on and you be able to safely land."
"Got it!" Amy called, turning the comm off as she did just that.
Thea ran over to where the men stood at the controls. Kazran frowning as he flicked a few switches, "they're ready and waiting."
"The controls, they won't respond." Kazran muttered, trying more buttons but the controls didn't react.
"Of course they will." the Doctor countered, "They're isomorphic. They're tuned to your brainwaves. They'll only respond to you."
"They won't respond."
The Doctor frowned, seeing he was right, the machine did nothing as Kazran tried the controls, "That doesn't make sense. That's ridiculous. Why wouldn't..." he tried the controls himself when realisation dawned, "Oh. Oh, of course. Stupid, stupid Doctor."
"What's wrong?" Thea frowned as she stood back with young Kazran.
"Tell me, what is it?" Kazran asked.
"It's you." the Doctor explained, "we've changed you too much. The machine doesn't recognise you."
"But my father programmed it..." older Kazran shook his head.
"Oh..." Thea breathed, "but he wouldn't have programmed it for the man you are now."
"Then what do we do?"
"Er, I don't know." the Doctor shook his head, "I don't know."
"There must be something." Younger Kazran cried.
"This." older Kazran pulled out the half eaten sonic, "you can use this. I kept it, see?"
"What, half a screwdriver?" the Doctor huffed, only to realise what that meant, "With the other half up in the sky in a big old shark, right in the heart of the cloud layer."
"And Abigails singing will resonate through the sonic into the heart of the belt..." Thea said, knowing that as much as they didn't want to force Kazran to have to wake Abigail for this. Her last day. They didn't have time to experiment or find someone else. They knew her voice worked.
"If we use your aerial to boost the signal." the Doctor nodded, "that would work. My screwdriver, coolest bit of kit on this planet. Coolest two bits. It could do it."
"Abigails singing?" Older Kazran repeated, not really understand what the two had just said, but he had caught that, "you want to wake her up?"
The Doctor looked at him sadly, "I'm sorry, Kazran. I truly am."
Thea stepped over and place her hand on his arm, "she would want to help." she smiled softly, "all those Christmas Eves, don't you think maybe now is the time for a Christmas Day?"
~.~
The Time Lords stood, solemn, as Kazran stood before Abigails box as it slowly warmed her up.
"Her voice resonates perfectly with the ice crystals." the Doctor explained, "It calmed the shark. It will calm the sky, too."
"Could you do it?" Kazran had to asked as he looked over at them, "Could you do this? Think about it. One last day with your beloved. Which day would you choose?"
Abigail stepped out at that moment, saving them from having to answer, "Christmas. Christmas Day. Look at you." she smiled, resting a hand on his cheek, "You're so old now. I think you waited a bit too long, didn't you?"
"I'm sorry..." he began.
"Hoarding my days, like an old miser." she teased.
"But if you leave the ice now..."
"We've had so many Christmas Eves, Kazran. I think it's time for Christmas Day."
~.~
Abigail sung into the half sonic, like a microphone, in the middle of the street, the sonic connected to a mess of wires, connecting to Kazrans machine and the TARDIS.
"Well?" older Kazran asked as the Doctor stepped up besides him.
"Well, the singing resonates in the crystals." he remarked, "It's feeding back and forth between the two halves of the screwdriver. Now, one song, filling the sky. The crystals will align and I'll feed in a controlled phase loop, and the clouds will unlock."
"What does that mean, unlock?" young Kazran asked, "What happens when a cloud unlocks?"
"It snows!" Thea laughed, spinning around, arms out as the moment she spoke snow began to fall.
"Something that hasn't happened in this town for a very long time now." the Doctor agreed.
If the singing hadn't attracted the locals, the snow did, peeking out their windows to see the group standing outside, Kazran Sardick along them, besides Abigail as she continued to sing and slowly they stepped outside, enjoying the snow they never saw.
A large shadow flew over head, "Hello, my old friend." older Kazran greeted as the shark flew past.
"Come on," the Doctor get the younger Kazran a small nudge seeing him staring in delight at the snow, "bedtime."
It was Abigails last day. It would be unfair to the older Kazran to share it with his younger self who still had those days to come. And it really was well past the boys bedtime.
~.~
"And then you finish with the carrot nose." Thea was telling the small gathering of children as she pushed the carrot into the snowman she had shown them how to make.
With how little snow they had on this planet, none of them had ever made a snow man before and so one of the brave little boys had asked her to show them, and so she and the Doctor started a little competition of who could make the most. There was quite a few snowman down the street.
"Now on you pop!" the Doctor grinned as he stood and watched her teach, "go and make your own, and don't forget to borrow your dad's hat."
The children scattered, excited to make their own snowmen as Amy and Rory walked over. "You know, that could almost be mistaken for a real person. The snowman isn't bad, either."
"Ah, yes, you two." the Doctor turned to them, "About time. Why are you dressed like that?" he frowned, seeing Amy in a policewoman outfit and Rory as a Centurion.
"Er, kind of lost our luggage." Rory shrugged him off, "Kind of crash landed?"
"Yeah, but why are you dressed like that at all?"
"I'm not saying anything." Thea smirked at the couple.
Amy flushed, clearing her throat and changing the topic, "Yeah, they really love their snowmen around here, don't they? I've counted about 20."
"I made 11 of them." Thea grinned.
"Yeah, we've been busy." the Doctor chuckled.
"Yeah, you have." Amy smiled, giving them both a tight hug, knowing how hard they had worked to safe their life's and everyone else on the ship, "Thank you."
"Pleasure." the Doctor returned, "Right, come on then, let's go."
"Got any more honeymoon ideas?" Rory asked.
"Well, there's a moon that's made of actual honey. Well, not actual honey, and it's not actually a moon, and technically it's alive, and a bit carnivorous, but there are some lovely views."
"I doubt they'll be looking at the views." Thea said.
"Thea!" Both humans turned brilliant red.
"What?" she blinked innocently as Rory shook his head and went inside the TARDIS.
Amy waiting until the doors shut behind him before asking, "Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay." he replied, "You?"
"Of course." she glanced up at the sky, "It'll be their last day together, won't it?"
"Everything has got to end some time, otherwise nothing would ever get started."
Rory poked his head out the TARDIS, "Your phone was ringing. Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like THE Marilyn."
"Doctor?" Amy eyed him.
"Tell her I'm busy." the Doctor groaned, really not in the mood to listen to the woman complaining that he ran off so suddenly before they got married.
"I got it." Thea followed Rory back inside to deal with Marilyn.
"And be nice!" the Doctor warned.
"Aren't I always?"
"No."
"Where are they?" Amy laughed as she looked around, "Kazran and Abigail."
"Off on a little trip, I should think." the Doctor smiled.
"Where?"
"Christmas."
"Christmas?"
"Yeah, Christmas." he nodded as Amy headed inside the TARDIS. He waved to the sky as a shark drawn carriage flew overhead, "halfway out of the dark." he smiled, following the others into the TARDIS to see Thea alone in the room.
"They've gone to bed." Thea told him as she looked at the monitor, "I've told them straight to bed, save that stuff for the honeymoon."
"Right..." he nodded slowly, making his way past and down the under console.
"So I'm searching for a better honeymoon destination for them. The French Polynesian Islands sound nice. I heard its luxurious. An over water private bungalow."
"Well, we'll let them decide in the morning and when we drop them off, Christmas on Bannerman Road?" he asked her.
She nodded, smiling, "that would be nice. Christmas with the family." She glanced at him, "Sarah Jane would be more than happy to make an extra plate for you. I'd love it if you stayed as well."
"If Sarah Jane would have me." He chuckled, "I do actually have something for you."
"What like a Christmas present?" she startled.
"Something like that." He agreed, reaching into his pocket.
"I didn't get you anything. I mean I didn't even think. It's just...you go to all these places and see all these thing what would you even get a man whose most prized procession was a screwdriver."
"It's sonic." He defended, "but, er, here..." he handed her a folded piece of paper. "I'm not sure you'll like it, and it's totally fine if you don't, but just..." he gestured for her to open it.
She eyed him, "you're acting weird."
"Just read it before I take it back and pretend I never had it."
She eyed him a moment longer, growing suspicious of why he was acting so weird and almost nervous before unfolding the paper, her eyes widening at what it was.
Her words caught in her throat, "You want to adopt me?" she breathed.
"I would," he nodded, "Yes."
"Why?" she frowned, shaking her head, "I mean...really?"
"Thea..."
She swallowed, nodding, "Theandreas."
"What?" he blinked.
"My name. I was called Theandreas."
"Does that mean...?"
"Yes." She nodded, tears in her eyes, as she lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he instantly put his own around her, "you can adopt me, Doctor, er, dad even. Oh that's weird. Dad," she tested the word, "you're my dad."
He chuckled, "you're my daughter." He returned.
"Doesnt mean you can call me Theanadreas. I hate it."
He smirked, "only when you're in trouble."