Author's Note: I'm in the midst of a Chronic Boredom-style depressive episode, so I did my best with my last go-over but if there's any typos or poor grammar or clunky writing I missed, I'm sorry! It was very hard to focus.

Emerald Green

Chapter Twenty-Five

Rainstorm

She was better, but still, Molly yawned and stepped around the console. "I'm exhausted. It's been…a long day. A long day and a half."

"Technically, it's been-"

"It's a saying," she cut in quickly. "Anyway, we went through a lot today. I'm drained. Give me an hour to take a quick nap?"

The Doctor nodded. "Fair enough. And we'll think of where else we can go over tea."

"Sounds good."

With a wave, Molly turned and went back to her room.

While, yes, she was tired, very tired, more than that – she really needed more than a minute to process what had just happened.

She stretched out on the bed, then grabbed the pillow and held it over her face, with no disregard for her red lipstick. The extra layer of darkness – though without windows, it was often pitch black in her room – helped her think.

Molly had spent almost her whole life afraid of anyone learning her secret. She changed her name, moved away, avoided pictures, tried to fly at least a little under the radar, reinvented her whole identity, all to avoid anyone knowing what had happened to her. What she thought she had done.

She'd never been more afraid (in recent years, anyway) than when she'd realized she was actually on the TARDIS, actually with the Doctor. There was not a single person, in reality or in fiction, that she was more terrified of learning what she'd done. And he hadn't judged her. Even about telling her father she was a goddess, he hadn't judged her. And he had seen things in her story she hadn't seen herself.

She should have known; she really should have. He wasn't always forgiving, but he always gave chances. And he knew she hated herself for what she thought she'd done. And miraculously, he had picked out the details that proved her main reason for hating herself was invalid: her mother had told her to run.

Granted, she still had thought her mother begged for help, and still ran. It had still happened. But try as she might, she couldn't get angry with herself over it. Maybe she'd punished herself enough. Maybe it was just the ecstatic relief of knowing she hadn't just abandoned her mother to her death while she pleaded for help.

The relief was the sweetest thing she'd ever tasted. It was more than a weight lifted, more than the world taken off her shoulders. She couldn't think of a metaphor that expressed the exact weightlessness she felt. It felt beautiful. It felt glorious.

Thinking on that, Molly fell asleep, feeling a deep peace she hadn't known before.

She felt groggy when she woke up. Again, she cursed the inability to know how much time had passed. She checked her appearance in the bathroom and washed the smeared lipstick off her face and reapplied it before slipping on the necklace Clara had given her and going back to the console room.

"Was that like, a really long nap?" she asked the Doctor, as he looked up at her from his book.

He stood from the chair and dropped it in his seat. "Depends. For a Time Lord, yes. For a human, also yes." He stuck his glasses in his pocket. "I'd say you slept about ten hours."

"What? Ten hours?"

"Well, you'd been through a lot," replied the Doctor. "Physically. Emotionally. Time Warp-y. Understandable you'd sleep a bit longer than you thought."

Molly agreed, begrudgingly. It had been some of the deepest sleep she'd had in ages, so she must have needed it. Still, she hated making the Doctor wait so long for her. And to burn up so much of their time together. She wasn't sure how much they'd have left. The clock was always ticking until the TARDIS found her way home. "Sorry you had to wait so long."

The Doctor shrugged. "I kept busy; I always do. You ready to hop ahead a bit, try the moon again? Grab some breakfast?"

Molly yawned and stretched her arms over her head. "Absolutely." It occurred to her that she felt no deep need to make up for not reciting the names before or after she'd slept.

They hopped ahead a few years, and landed back where they had the first time. They walked through the city, and stopped at the café they had the day before for breakfast.

The Doctor took a seat with the coffee Molly had purchased with a quick story of a prank war she'd engaged in at one of the foster homes. "So, what would you like to do today? Just the fairytale moon? Hop around the moons some? Check out some other planets? Whatever you like."

Molly took a sip of her coffee as she considered. "Maybe hit a moon or two then check out something else. There's so much to see, and I don't know how much time we have to see it all."

The Doctor frowned. "What do you mean, how much time we have to see it all? We have all the time in the universe. Literally."

Molly started to pick apart her orange-and-some-weird-outer-space-vegetable muffin. "I mean, until the TARDIS figures out how to get me home."

"Ah," the Doctor said, and he cleared his throat before taking a sip of the coffee again. He kept his eyes on the pastry on his plate. "Right."

"Neither of us really know when that'll be, do we?"

"No, no. No idea at all. Could be ages," replied the Doctor. "Could be tomorrow. You're right. We should fit in as much as we can."

"Any recommendations?"

She watched the Doctor think about it a moment as she ate. "We could do a space station. There's one pretty close to a sun that goes supernova."

"Sounds dangerous."

"Totally safe. Nothing bad happens. Well, almost nothing bad. Okay, not the space station," he dismissed. "There's a planet that has a sort of recreation of the wild west, mixed up with a 1960s Earth Space Age feel. We could go horseback riding around the hills, take in a movie, hit a market."

"I haven't been horseback riding since I was little." Molly remembered the last time, when she was around 12-and-a-half. She used to walk a couple miles down the road to the horse ranch and volunteer to help feed them in exchange for a ride now and then. "Sounds like fun."

"Alright, that's settled! We'll head to D'Gups Alpha after a couple moon trips."

"You know," she started, "We seem to do a lot of markets."

"Best place to get to know a society," the Doctor said, grinning. "Well, second, first is libraries." He paused. "Well, third. Second is museums. But third, definitely third. You see all the people, the things they value, what entertains them, what décor they prefer, what food they like. Excellent people-watching. Sometimes there's music."

Molly considered this. "Okay. You have a point. I'm sold. Horseback riding, movie, and market it is!"

"Right after the moons," the Doctor agreed. "Shall we be off?"

Molly nodded, and quickly finished off her muffin before they headed out of the café.

Rather than taking the TARDIS, they decided to have the authentic experience of taking the space shuttle bus. Molly kept her eyes closed tight the whole time, even though the Doctor kept encouraging her to look out the window, even as they approached the moon. She may now be more-or-less used to the TARDIS, but she didn't need the direct reminder they were in space. She also trusted the TARDIS a hell of a lot more than the shuttle.

Still, they arrived safely, and took some time to look around at the décor. There were castles and dragon animatronics that looked and behaved like they were real, interacting with people. Molly spotted an actual yellow brick road, which made her happy that the Oz series was well known. There were types of creatures she didn't recognize that were also some sort of animatronic, like the dragon. She assumed they were from other worlds. One looked almost like a minotaur, but with six legs and two extra arms. The legs reminded her of the Lutumedes, so she quickly looked away.

They went into one of the castles and listened to one of the storytellers tell a fairytale from a world the Doctor described as housing a sentient species of mold slimes. It was a little strange to her, but a fairytale was a fairytale, and it ended in the princess-like character running off with the knight – except rather than kissing, they combined to form one blob. Molly decided she'd had enough of that particular line of storytelling, and together they went to explore the books.

The Doctor was excited to find a rare book full of fairytales from a planet that had been near Gallifrey, and purchased it with a story. It had been expensive and cost a detailed telling of Rings of Ahkatan. It'd had to be something very personal. Molly thought a story about stories and purchasing things with items of sentimental value had been appropriate.

Molly bought a cheaper book of Earth fairytales from the years 2500 – 3000 with the tale of her running away from the burly bodyguard. She felt pleased when the clerk laughed at the cake falling in his face.

After, they headed to the horror moon, but neither of them lasted long there. It was like going to Horrorland, from the Goosebumps book. Everything was terrifying. As much as Molly appreciated horror, they agreed to leave about fifteen minutes in.

They took the shuttle back again – Molly managing to peek once at the stars and then closing her eyes tightly again – and headed to the TARDIS.

"Alright, off to D'Gups Alpha!" the Doctor announced as he began on the controls.

Molly leaned against the console. "You know, that's probably the weirdest name I've ever heard."

"I know," laughed the Doctor. "They couldn't decide what to name it, when they moved in. They used the first letter of the founder's initials and stuck Alpha on there since they planned to claim another planet. Never did."

"Probably the potential future name kept the planets hiding from them."

The Doctor pointed to her and nodded his head, agreeing. They took off. "What do you want to do first?"

"Movie, lunch, horseback riding, market?"

"Perfect," the Doctor agreed. "I've timed it so Abyss of Venus will be showing. Over lunch I can make sure you enjoyed it properly."

"What if I don't like it?"

"Then I'm afraid we'll have to part ways here." But he gave her a little wink so she knew he was joking.

She had, actually, enjoyed the movie, despite her hesitance in watching new scifi (she was never sure if someone was going to get stuck out in space). He was right, in that it was funny with a dash of horror. The horror she normally would have enjoyed more, if they weren't coming off the horror moon.

They sat in what looked to Molly to be a hole-in-the-wall, local hangout place. Locals always knew the best food, and this was no different. Molly ordered something that reminded her of Cajun cooking. She avoided a side that seemed to be fried worms.

The Doctor was right about the look of the planet. The planet itself was largely desert, though with bits that seemed sort of an oasis, with proper dirt and trees, even whole woods, and grass that was a Robin's Egg blue. People wore a mix of cowboy and space age clothing, some even wearing astronaut helmets as hats. Molly thought that might remind the Doctor of River, maybe make him a bit sad, but he excitedly announced he was going to buy one at the market.

"So, what did you think?" the Doctor asked.

She took a sip of what tasted like a peach milkshake. "I liked it. It was fun. I really liked the parts when they didn't show space at all. Those were my favorites."

The Doctor almost snorted. "That was about ten minutes of it."

"The best ten minutes," Molly joked. "But really, it was a good movie. I liked the characters. The comedy was really witty. I liked the banter between the navigator and the captain, even after it was revealed the captain was the villain."

"Best part," the Doctor agreed. "Okay, I suppose you can stay."

Molly chuckled. "Thanks."

"So, what about you? What's your favorite?"

"I don't think I have one," she said, and paused to think through every movie she'd seen. "There's one I watched a lot at the hospital. Last Night in Soho. It's like a psychological horror, with a girl sort of time traveling in her dreams, and then the dreams showing up in her regular life. Matt Smith was in it – you know, the actor who played you. In this played someone who seemed charming at first but ended up trapping one of the main characters in a prostitution ring."

"I don't think I like the idea of being a villain like that," the Doctor said, discomfort on his face.

"Well, it wasn't you. It was an actor," Molly reminded him.

"And if I said Lydia Hart played a similar part?" the Doctor asked. "This Matt Smith is my counterpart, the way Lydia Hart is yours. Worse, if I'm real, and also a show in your universe, than somewhere there's probably a universe where that film is real, and he's wearing my face."

Molly frowned. "What I find most interesting is that in each of our universes, our counterpart is an actor. I never thought about it before."

The Doctor's eyes looked distant again, like they had a few times when he considered something he wasn't going to say out loud. "True. That is a bit…odd."

Molly finished her drink. "Are you ever going to tell me what it is you're thinking about when you get quiet like that?"

The Doctor looked a little startled, and then slowly smiled. "No. I mean, it's nothing, really. But also, no."

Molly sighed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, cowboy. Let's get to the stables."

They'd been riding for about half an hour. It felt good to be on a horse again; the visits to the horse ranch had been some of her happiest childhood memories. One of the few things she enjoyed outside ballet.

She was riding on what looked like an Arabian crossed with a Morgan, all cream save for some black around the hooves and nose. The Doctor rode what seemed to be this planet's Appaloosa, dark brown with a white section on the back covered with black spots, sort of like a dalmatian. That had been the horse she'd had the most experience with, back home.

Their path took them through some sparse woods, which reminded Molly a little of the Pine Barrens.

They seemed to remind the Doctor of the Pine Barrens, too. "Hey, Molly."

"Yeah?"

"It didn't occur to me until now," he began. "I never really…apologized, for the fire in the Pine Barrens."

She looked over at him with a raised brow. "Did you start the fire?"

"Course not," he said, defensively enough that she thought maybe he actually believed she was accusing him. "But I knew the wildfire was coming that night. I shouldn't have slept. It was longer than I usually sleep, but I hadn't slept more than once or twice since Clara left."

Molly glanced over, surprised. "Wasn't that a hundred years ago?"

"Something like that."

"You didn't sleep for a hundred years?"

"I sort of…forgot." He paused. "Really, I didn't feel safe. What I'd done…I didn't want it to follow me into my dreams."

A hundred years without sleep. Even for a Time Lord, that was a long time, at least according to the show. But she deeply understood the need to avoid nightmare. "It's fine, really."

"But I should have known. I don't like to check places before I arrive, it's not how I travel, but because I slept the fire surprised us, and because didn't repair the HADs, we could have been trapped in a wildfire without the TARDIS." He paused. "And I should have listened to you about the White Stag."

Molly almost laughed. "It's fine, Doctor. I know how you travel. It's honestly more fun that way. Besides, I was questioning whether I actually saw something half the time, too. We're cool."

"Cool," the Doctor repeated, smiling. "We're very cool."

"Hell yeah, we are."

"We almost died," the Doctor reminded her.

"We almost die a lot." Molly had hoped it wouldn't be as often as it was on the show, but it seemed to be. "I can hardly judge you for sleeping. And sure, if we'd done a quick Google search about the Pine Barrens that year, we would have seen there was a wildfire. But where's the fun in that?"

"Where indeed," he agreed. "Good. Good. I just wanted to make sure you were…"

"Were what?"

"Still having fun. Not too worried, or anxious to get home. Feeling safe."

"Again, where's the fun in feeling safe?" Molly smiled over at him. "Don't worry about me. I'm having a great time." So great that the thought of it inevitably ending hurt her heart in a way she didn't want to examine too closely.

"Perfect," he replied.

They continued their ride for a little while longer, before the curiosity in Molly's brain made her feel as though it would explode. She'd watched him trying to fit seemingly random pieces of a puzzle together for too long. But this was the Doctor. She'd have to get a little tricky.

"So, how old are you now?"

He looked over at her, strangely suspicious. "Why?"

"Just wondering."

He looked away and seemed to struggle to remember. "Somewhere around…2,112? Maybe? I honestly don't know anymore. Haven't since I turned 800-something, really. I've just been making it up."

"Do they all blur together?"

"Yeah, a bit."

"Do you ever celebrate your birthday?"

"Not really. Not for a long time," he said. "I travel through time, it's almost never my birthday when I land. Not that it would mean anything if it was."

"Do you at least get yourself a cake at random so you can blow out the candles?"

"Oh, definitely. One of the best human traditions."

"What kind of cake?"

"Usually chocolate. Sometimes strawberry."

"Are Jammie Dodgers your favorite cookie?"

"Of course."

"Fish fingers and custard is your favorite food, right?"

"Well, you already know that."

"What mystery is it you've been trying to solve?"

"I've been thinking about – oh," he stopped, and sent her a look that was a strange, proud but irritated glare. "Good try."

"Damn," she mumbled. "So close."

The Doctor pulled ahead a little. Molly figured it was so she wouldn't try to read his face for clues. "It's really nothing."

"If it was nothing, you'd tell me." He didn't answer. "At least let me know if it affects me."

"Affects…" he paused. "No. Yes. Probably not."

"Does it have to do with me?"

He sighed, and pulled the reins to stop his horse. Molly stopped hers beside him. "I'm still bothered by my show in your universe being called Doctor Who. There's something about it that…tickles part of my brain. I don't know why."

Molly didn't know if she was relieved or disappointed, but she shrugged. "Sometimes a show name is just a show name. At the start of the show, the Doctor – you – that Doctor didn't really know who he was, sort of. No one did. And people say 'Doctor who?' to you a lot. That's probably it."

"Maybe…" he started, his eyes distant again. Molly thought of all the other odd things that had made him seem distant. Nothing seemed to connect, especially not to the show. But before she could ask, the Doctor smiled again. "Maybe I can beat you to the ridge."

So, no real answers. That was alright. She knew there probably wouldn't be, not unless it was ever directly, urgently relevant to her. She could live with that. Possibly.

She grinned. "You're on."

The blue skies had faded to deep grey by the time they got to the market. Dark clouds hung over them, and it felt like there was electricity in the air. They had a little time to look at a few booths, despite most of them closing for the oncoming storm. When a roll of thunder even drowned out Molly's bragging about winning their race, the few remaining shoppers rushed to take cover under an awning stretching across a few buildings. Molly and the Doctor joined them, standing outside a café closer to the trees than the market. The air coming from the café had the odd smell of coffee and pineapple.

The smell of the rain that came pouring down seconds later smelled just like the rain on Earth, though. The cool scent of the water, the petrichor smell as it met the rich dirt, the green smell of the trees, though the trees here were a variety of colors. Molly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She remembered days as a child running down her dirt driveway in the rain.

She looked out towards the trees, and the rain was like a veil, slightly obscuring them. She looked over to the Doctor. "Is the rain normal here?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's not, like, acid or anything, right?"

"Of course it's not. Why?"

Molly smiled, then sat down and began taking off her boots. "Fantastic."

"What are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing?" Once they were off, Molly stuffed her socks into the boots, then stood and let her hair out of its ponytail. The Doctor didn't reply as Molly stuck her hand out in the rain, testing it. It was cool, but not cold. She stepped out from under the cover.

"Molly!" the Doctor objected.

Molly turned her face up to the rain, closing her eyes and letting it wash away her makeup. "Alien rain," she smiled. She turned back to the Doctor. "It's rain. On an alien planet."

The Doctor looked uncertain. "It's just like any other rain."

"No, it's not. It's rain on a whole other planet!" she argued. "It's amazing."

She thought she caught a little smile on his lips, a little look of affection in his eyes, but the rain blurred him a little. "We've been to other planets. We've been to the past. We've been to the future. Space mermaids, giant robots, ghost deer in the Pine Barrens, Cybership. And you're still amazed by rain."

"Alien rain! Alien water!" she corrected. She felt the wet earth under her feet, the rain running down her skin, her hair weighted down with the water. It felt like her soul being cleansed. Some of the mud of her trauma being washed away.

Molly reached a hand out to the Doctor. "Well? Come on!"

The Doctor leaned forward a little to peek up at the dark grey sky and the downpour of water. "I don't think so."

Molly laughed as she began backing away from him. "Whatever you say, old man!"

She knew it would be enough. He stuck a hand out to feel the rain, then set his jaw and bent down to take off his own shoes and socks. He hesitated a moment, then ran out to meet her as she continued backing towards the trees.

"This is ridiculous," he said, but with a grin.

"I know!" she shouted, the rain now falling hard enough to make a conversation difficult without raising her voice. She grabbed his hand. "Come on!"

"Come on where?"

"Doesn't matter! Run!" She turned and took off towards the trees, dragging the Doctor along beside her. They ran almost to the edge of the trees, and turned left for a while, then back towards the café. Molly laughed the whole time, and the Doctor's laughter followed behind her. She glanced back once to catch the silly grin on his face she loved watching on the screen when she locked herself in her room to watch Doctor Who. She'd rewound to watch him smile like this over and over again. And here it was, in person. It was, of course, even better.

She screamed as she suddenly slipped in mud, and fell straight onto her back, dragging the Doctor down with her. He managed to twist at the last minute to avoid landing on top of her, but slammed down beside her, harder than she'd fallen. She was worried he might be hurt, but he was still laughing.

"Sorry!" she said, apologizing for pulling him into the mud. "I'm a human disaster."

He grinned. "Well, we're a great pair. I'm a Time Lord disaster."

Molly sat herself up, and saw the people under the awning staring. "Is it possible to die of embarrassment?"

"I've been reliably informed that it is not, no," said the Doctor, getting to his feet and dragging her back up. He turned his face up to the rain and let it wash away the mud that had spread over his cheek. Molly reached up and helped wash it away, and noticed a softness in his eyes as she did it.

"I love the rain!" she declared, as if it wasn't obvious. "It's weird, because I hate the cold, and I hate being soaking wet usually, but the rain is different. It's exhilarating. It makes me feel more alive than anything else does."

The Doctor looked back down at her. "You know, I think you're right about that. I do feel energized. Euphoric. Other E-words."

"See? It's the best." Molly twirled around, but had to grab onto the Doctor again when she slipped. But the force pulled them both down again. She hit her head on his shoulder, as his elbow dug into her thigh. "Ow. Sorry."

"It's fine," he laughed. "Bruised shoulder or not, it's still fun."

"Fun, and painful."

The Doctor put his hands around her waist and she gripped his shoulders as he lifted her up, a little too fast. She slammed into him, his face going into her wet hair, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a hug motion to keep them from falling back down from the force. "Citrus," he mumbled as they got steady on their feet again and pulled apart.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he said quickly.

She decided to let it slide. "So, the rain is the best. The mud, less best." She was starting to sound like him again.

"I think we've both had plenty of mud lately."

Molly looked down at her feet. "Partially why I took my shoes off. I don't want the TARDIS to be mad about us tracking in more mud."

"We will be dripping water all over her, though."

That was true. "Sorry to get you in trouble with your best friend."

The Doctor smiled. "She'll forgive us. You're my other best mate, after all."

His best friend. The Doctor had called her his best friend. Happiness exploded in her mind like a white light and it took her a moment of grinning stupidly before she managed words. "You're my best friend, too."

"I know," he said, smugly. "Who else do you know in the universe?"

"…I meant the TARDIS. The TARDIS is my best friend."

"Oi." He playfully nudged her.

But Molly was still soaring. Best friends with the Doctor. How much better could life be? The Doctor was her best friend. And she was his.

There was that light gathering around him again. She felt lightheaded, and a ridiculous giggle escaped her.

"What?" the Doctor wanted to know.

She decided to just be open. What was the point in hiding her vulnerability now? He'd heard the worst of it. "I still get…you know…sometimes."

"I don't know. Still get what?"

"Dizzy," she explained. "Star-struck."

He looked incredulous. "It's been…" he ran some sort of calculation in his head. "Almost three weeks!"

Not even three weeks. It felt like forever. It felt like not nearly long enough. "Yeah, well…you're kind of a big deal." She froze. "Oh, no." Now his ego would be even more inflated than usual, and she wouldn't hear the end of it.

She saw that light in his eyes again, and the small smirk coming across his face, and prepared herself for it. Instead – "Me, too."

Now it was a full laugh that escaped her. "Are you kidding me?"

"Course not. Why would I be?"

Molly shook her head in disbelief, then had to push some of the soaked strands of hair out of her eyes. "Why would you be star-struck? I mean, I get the whole TV show thing, but seriously, it's not the same."

"Why not?"

She gestured towards him. "Time Lord."

He mirrored her gesture. "Human."

"Literal savior of worlds."

"You just saved a world. And a few moons," he added.

"That would've ended exactly the same if I hadn't been there. Actually, it would have gone better if I wasn't there," she added.

"I disagree. For one, I wouldn't have been there at all if it weren't for you." His voice was softer now; she could hardly hear it over the rain. But she detected that note in it, the one that meant he was thinking of the things he'd done those hundred years between companions. "For another, your being there still helped. Besides, there's also the Mechanas-"

"Also better without me."

"Except for the people you stayed behind to save. The Vannique-"

"Exactly the same without me."

"I wouldn't have narrowed it down to them so quickly if it weren't for the paper airplane. Then there's the Cybermen."

Molly thought about that one. "All I did was fly the TARDIS a bit."

"And came up with a way to get to us safely. Not to mention the number of people who would still think I was dead if not for you. Craig and Sophie. Brian still there, unable to talk about what happened to Rory with anyone. Clara wondering where I'd gone, if I'd died. Sarah Jane. And then there's all the other people from your universe you saved, like in the show. How many poor and homeless would have died without that clinic?"

She turned his words around in her head. "Okay, fine. Savior of people, I'll take."

"Savior of worlds, savior of people…same thing."

That felt nice, she had to admit, if only to herself. "Okay, but you're a literal legend."

"And you're Molly Quinn." He said it as though being Molly Quinn was a class of its own. "Gorgeous, clever, funny, brave Molly Quinn."

That just made the feeling of being star-struck worse, and she almost reached out to grab his arm to keep from being so dizzy she fell again. "…gorgeous, huh?"

He winced. "Oh, shut up." He grabbed her hand. The sudden storm was beginning to let up, and they began back towards the cover of the café.

Gorgeous, clever, funny, brave. She didn't need to feed his ego even more by saying that those were all his qualities. It was best if she didn't think about being star-struck too much. He'd become a real person for her, wholly now, and she didn't want to lose that.

It had almost been three weeks together. How much time did she have left with him as a real person?

Author's Note: Why, yes, I was hyperfixated on Last Night in Soho when I wrote this chapter, why do you ask?