FicWad

Needless to say, trying to keep warm during the trip proves to be enjoyable then when they get back to the lodge they have booked into, they decide to up their relationship after a visit to the hot-tub and a conversation about the past. Just a one-shot Christmas story set after the events of 'The Christmas Invasion'



Rose was painting her nails, watching the Doctor out of the corner of her eye.

"So, can we do something special then?" she asked. "I mean a week ago, you were spark out and you missed most of Christmas Day."

"Well at least your mother found a turkey from somewhere I suppose?" the Doctor replied, thinking he was grateful she'd not done nut cutlet.

"Yeah, I wonder where she got it from, she said she'd nothing special in earlier, when we brought you back. Hey, you were in my bed, ha!" she laughed.

"Stop it Rose, I was regenerating at the time, I didn't know where I was, until you woke me up – too early."

"Well excuse me for not wanting to get obliterated by a Christmas tree," Rose tried to reply seriously.

"Who's swallowed a dictionary then?" he teased, turning some dials and thinking maybe he did owe her after all since he was unconscious all day. "Okay, I give in. You want another chance at Christmas?"

"That would be nice, somewhere with proper snow, not fallout from an alien spacecraft."

"Right, proper snow it shall be. Tell you what, I know where we're bound to get the real thing. Allons-y Rose Tyler, get some warm clothes and a thick coat and meet me back here in ten minutes. Oh and bring a bag with you for an overnight stay. You wanted snow, I'll give you snow," the Doctor grinned.

Rose put the top back on the nail polish bottle, carefully and got off the jump-seat.

"Really? We're not going back to Cardiff are we?" she asked warily.

"No, why don't you just trust me eh?" he replied, trying not to be hurt by the remark that he'd landed in Cardiff instead of Vienna or wherever the intended destination had been, since his head was still a bit fuzzy over some of the finer details of his last incarnation.

Rose gave him one of her grins and retreated to her room, willing the Tardis to have picked out some suitable attire for a trip to somewhere that had genuine snow, in vast amounts to throw some snowballs at him. The Tardis had indeed placed some thick woolly jumpers and a nice padded coat in her wardrobe so she got changed, got her rucksack and stuffed another jumper, some clean underwear and another pair of trousers into it, plus some toiletries then picked up the coat after putting her boots on.

The Doctor was waiting for her, after inserting their names into the bookings of a Lapland lodge and had checked to see when the northern lights would be visible as close to the recent Christmas Day as possible. Pleased with himself, he sat on the jump-seat with his feet on the console and waited for Rose's return.

A short time later, asking her if she had enough with the rucksack, they landed gently and he checked the monitor.

"So, where are we?" Rose wanted to know.

"Come and see," the Doctor insisted, switching off the monitor before she saw he'd landed them at the back of the local reindeer stable in some unpronounceable town even he couldn't translate.

He opened the door and allowed her to go first.

"Great, this looks interesting," Rose huffed as she saw rows of stalls and smelt the air.

"Wait until we get outside Rose, give it a chance eh?" he asked, locating the door in the side of the stables.

Then as he opened the other door, he saw a smile creep across Rose's face.

"Tell me we're not in Lapland or somewhere?" Rose laughed, seeing everyone either on skis or wearing long boots and trying to walk on the almost cleared paths in the village.

"Okay, I'll not tell you we're in Lapland then," the Doctor grinned. "See that lodge over there?"

He pointed to the wooden structure with a name in red across the entrance.

"Are were actually staying there?" Rose asked, the Doctor offering to take the rucksack.

He put her arm in his free one and they made their way around on the pavement towards the lodge, Rose dragging behind him watching all the sleighs go by and the people outside the decorated shops.

"This is great, thanks Doctor," Rose called to him as she tried to keep up with his long legs, since he walked even faster than the other Doctor had done.

"We'll check into the lodge then we'll go try the local food," he suggested as they crossed over what could have been a road to the wooden lodge.

"Hey, I'm not eating any reindeers," Rose warned him.

"They don't eat the transport Rose," the Doctor laughed as he opened the door to the lodge.

He got out his psychic paper and strode up to the desk.

"Hello there, Aino," the Doctor spoke, looking at the young woman's name badge. "I'm the Doctor and this is Rose Tyler, we have a reservation."

Rose wondered if he was speaking the native language, whatever they spoke here, probably Finnish, since she'd skipped a lot of geography lessons with Shareen in favour of going to the local mall. Whatever it was, she heard the young woman telling him they were booked in room five and she saw him taking the key.

"Welcome to Lapland, Doctor," the young woman told him. "Is this your first visit?"

"Yes, my friend wanted to come, I promised her plenty of snow, didn't I Rose?"

Rose stepped forward, eyeing the other woman, who didn't seem much older than she was.

Rose twisted her hoop earrings, having taken off her fur mittens.

"Yeah, he promised me snow," Rose replied, taking his arm as he tried to sign the register. "So, do ya have a hot-tub somewhere?" she asked, thinking it would be a fun way of warming up later.

"Yes, downstairs, just visit when you want," the receptionist replied, looking at the register.

Rose didn't want to share with a bunch of strangers but just with the Doctor, since she'd not got a proper look at this new improved version of him after Mickey had thrown her out of her bedroom while he'd put Howard's pyjamas onto the sleeping Timelord. Rose bet anything that Mickey had chickened out and left the Doctor's shorts on.

"Come on Rose, we'll take our things to our room then we'll go on a sleigh ride," the Doctor told her, picking up her rucksack.

Rose loved how he said 'our' things, had he sneaked something in while she wasn't looking? She followed him up the stairs to the first floor and waited for him opening the door. As she crossed to the window, she got a good view of the snowy village or town, she wasn’t entirely sure.

"Aw, this is great, thanks Doctor. So, we take a sleigh ride then get something to eat, yeah?" she asked, just to make sure.

"That's what I said. I like that jacket you chose, are you going to be warm enough?" he asked, not wanting to deal with a frozen Rose when they got back or she might drag him into the hot-tub with her.

It wasn't that he didn't want to get close to her but the niggling feelings he got from memories of his past regeneration told him to be wary. She was barely twenty years old and he was over 900, her mother already objected, that he did remember. He also remembered the slap Jackie Tyler had given him when he'd kept Rose away for a year in Earth time and suspected no matter how many times he regenerated, it would always be with him.

"Yeah, this jacket's lovely and warm. Come on then, what are we waiting for?" Rose asked him. "Is it actually Christmas here?"

"Yes, it's Christmas Eve," he replied confidently, having double-checked before leaving the Tardis.

He knew she'd been disappointed when he'd crash-landed in the middle of the courtyard and she'd been left to deal with an alien spaceship hovering above the planet. What he couldn't get over was the fact she'd spoken for the entire Human race in his place. It had been fortunate he'd woken up when he had but he regretted telling her she'd given up on him. What did he expect when he'd changed right in front of her without any warning?

"Rose, I wanted to say sorry," the Doctor told her, stopping her opening the door.

"What for?" Rose smiled, leaning on the door.

"For saying you were rude and not knowing who I was. I am sorry Rose, you weren't to know, I tried to warn you but the urge to change was too strong but I'll make it up to you, I promise. Friends?" he smiled, holding out his hand.

Rose still wasn't sure about that hand but she took it.

"Yeah, friends. You gave me a bit of a shock ya know, changing just like that. How often do ya do that?" Rose asked him.

"This is my tenth regeneration, well ninth I suppose, it depends how you look at it," he grinned. "Let's see, when I regenerated the first time into my second, that was one so my ninth into my tenth is…." He stopped and gave her a big grin. "Oh, you work it out."

"Well it could be your eleventh I suppose, like ya say, it depends how you look at it but to me, you're number ten," Rose declared, thinking by the time they'd debated this he'd be in his next. "Yeah, now I think about it, the first one didn't count, did it?"

"Leave it Rose, let's go get that sleigh ride," he suggested, since it seemed a bit pointless debating such things when he knew there was one he buried deep inside that he could never admit to, the version of him who had to end the time-war.

He knew deep down, that had been the reason why he'd been so reluctant with her when they'd first met.

Putting on his best smile, he led Rose back downstairs, locating the sleigh station just down the street and pulled Rose behind him. They didn't have long to wait and the driver offered them a fur blanket to cover themselves as Rose put her arm in the Doctor's.

"This is great," Rose declared, snuggling up to him. "Where does the sleigh take us?"

"Around the area I would imagine," the doctor replied, thinking if she got any closer, she'd be sat on his lap. Even he noticed how cold it actually was once they were sat still and Rose was hogging the fur blanket.

"Sorry, are you cold?" she asked him, trying to remember if he actually suffered from it.

"Me? No, I'm fine," he replied, hoping she'd give him a bit more blanket back.

Rose realised and re-arranged it slightly.

"Sorry, I never realised. So, where exactly are we?" she asked as they passed all the snow-covered fields.

"Ah, well, it's a bit awkward to pronounce but we're definitely in Lapland," he grinned, hoping his new teeth weren't chattering.

"Well, wherever it is, it's like a scene from a Christmas card. Did ya say it was Christmas Day tomorrow?" Rose asked, hoping it was.

"Yes, we get the full works, minus the robot Santas and alien spaceships," he joked. "Tell you what, we should go find Santa's workshop, I never got you a present."

"I got you," Rose grinned, still trying to keep warm. "So, will we get to see the northern lights later?"

"I hope so, it's quite spectacular from here, we should get a good view. So, we'll go get something to eat and a hot drink when we get back," he suggested as he felt a bit of warmth return as he touched Rose's fur mittens.

"Yeah, then we'll see if anyone's using the hot-tub," Rose replied, still with a grin on her face.

Now he knew he was in trouble. It wasn't that he didn't want to share a hot-tub with her, seeing her in just a swimsuit or whatever, he just didn't expect when he'd regenerated to be younger and more than a impressionable young woman could deal with.

They huddled together, the driver not seeming to care about how cold it was and they finally got back to the starting point. The Doctor helped Rose out and they headed across the street to a café–bar and ordered some warm food.

"So, can we look around then go to the hot-tub then?" Rose teased him as they finished their soup.

"Did you pack your bathing suit?" the Doctor asked, hoping he could get out of it.

"I expect you can borrow something? We could nip back and get our swimming things," she suggested, not wanting to be done out of seeing what he looked like under his brown striped suit.

"Oh, okay then, you can nip back and get what you need I suppose," he relented.

"I hope you're coming in the tub with me?" Rose asked him, thinking there was no point if she was going in alone.

"I'll see. Want to get your things now?" he asked, before he changed his mind.

They sneaked around the side of the stables and while Rose went to her room, he rummaged through his wardrobe, smirking that the Tardis had deposited a pair of Hawaiian patterned swim shorts at the bottom.

"Are you insinuating something?" the Doctor laughed. "You always hide the swimming pool from me but maybe you can reveal it to Rose one day?" The Tardis hummed in response. "Yes, I know she's your favourite Human," he added.

The ship couldn't agree more. Rose was surprised she'd been provided with a choice of suitable swimming attire and chose a black and white striped costume and a matching robe. She put them inside a small holdall that had appeared from nowhere and went to find the Doctor.

"Sure you want me to come with you?" he asked as they went back to the lodge.

"Yeah, we can just get warmed up. I always thought it would be cold here but I had no idea how cold it could get. How do people live here?"

"I expect they get used to it. Come on then, I'm not going in if anyone else is there," he replied.

"Neither am I," Rose muttered under her breath, wanting to be alone with him.

"I never said I was sorry, about when we were on New Earth," he turned to her.

"It wasn't your fault, you didn't know she was gonna be there. I'm fine anyway, I've no idea what happened until you stopped me falling on the floor," Rose admitted.

"Nothing at all?" he had to make sure as he opened their room door after Rose went to check if they could use the tub.

"No, it was like I couldn't sense anything but I was just about aware she was accessing my thoughts."

"So you don't remember locking me in one of those cells then?" he smiled, throwing his coat on the back of the chair.

"Did I?" Rose grinned. "What else did I do then?"

"Oh, nothing much, just snogged my face off," the Doctor laughed.

Rose went bright red. "No! I can't believe I missed that!" she laughed, covering her face. "That wasn't fair."

"Never mind, I knew it wasn't really you," he replied.

"Oh, so ya don't think I'd want to try and snog you then?" Rose tried not to sound offended.

"Now Rose, I didn't mean that. I know I've changed a bit and well, I'm bound to attract some attention amongst the female population."

"Are you kidding? Doctor, trust me, you will get a lot of attention, especially if you just say I'm your friend," Rose told him.

"Ah, well, I guess I'll need some protecting from them?" he asked.

"Yeah, you will, trust me. Well, are we going downstairs or not?"

They went down to the basement, finding no-one there and went behind the screens to get changed. Rose emerged with the robe around her shoulders while the Doctor had put his t-shirt back on as an afterthought, in view of the conversation they'd just had.

"You're not keeping that on?" Rose giggled as she took off the robe.

"No. You look good in a swimsuit Rose," he had to admit, watching her lower herself into the bubbling water and wondering if it should be bubbling or not, since he'd not been in one before.

Maybe it was a cross between a hot-tub and a Jacuzzi?

"Hey, this is great," Rose laughed as he sat beside her. "Thanks for bringing me."

"My pleasure Rose. So, another Christmas Day tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think I can manage another one," she smiled back at him. "About Cassandra possessing me and kissing you?"

"Don't worry about it Rose. Mind you, she had to get the idea from somewhere," he mused. "Sure you don't remember?"

"No, I think I'd remember something like that," she turned to smile at him. "Remember on the spaceship, you said no second chances? Did that apply to me?"

"Rose, how could you think that applies to you?" he turned to ask, his arms behind him on the side of the tub.

He touched her shoulder gently, Rose pulling away but he persisted.

"So, do I get a second chance, at maybe kissing ya?" she asked hopefully.

"Well maybe under the mistletoe later eh?" he joked. Then he saw the look on her face. "Oh, you were being serious?"

"Well I was, I don't know about you, Doctor," Rose replied.

"You want to up our friendship?" he asked, knowing he should have foreseen this, when he'd changed his appearance.

He put his arm further around her and pulled her closer.

"Come here Rose. Look, I'm not objecting to us being a little more like, well, like a boyfriend and girlfriend, it's just, well it will take some getting used to, I'm a bit out of practice," he admitted.

"You mean that, that we can tell everyone I'm your girlfriend?" Rose asked, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Well maybe not tell your mother, let her get used to me like this first," he agreed. He leaned across and put his finger on her lips. "Let's see how it goes eh?"

He touched her lips gently, Rose melting into the short, sweet kiss. Yes, he could go for more of this, he thought.

"Warm enough now love?" he asked, not sure if she wouldn't slap him for calling her that.

"Yeah, let's go find some mistletoe," Rose grinned. "I haven't got ya a present yet."

"We can go later, I've not got one for you. You did notice there was only one bed, in our room?" he smiled as he helped her out of the tub.

"Yeah, did ya just book a double room? You always claim you don't need any sleep," Rose teased him.

"Well I don't need much sleep but you know what?" he asked as Rose went to get dried and changed.

"No Doctor, tell me," Rose smiled to herself.

"Now I can watch you sleep - that will do me as a Christmas present," he replied.

After a rather large meal of a festive nature, they went back outside and joined the crowds watching the green glow from the northern lights and the shapes and shadows they were making.

"Rose, you made me change you know," he admitted on the way back.

"When I looked into the heart of the Tardis? How could I have left you there, on your own?" she asked him, his arm around her.

"I sent you back to be safe, I should have known you'd come back. You saved me Rose, I think that's why when I was changing, well I sub-consciously chose a form that would make me appear younger and before you say anything, I know you loved me just as much before I changed as you do now."

"You already know?" Rose asked as they reached the lodge.

"I know everything Rose. I just wanted to make it easier for you, in front of others. Now, about you sleeping?" he smiled as he went up to the bar to order two large mugs of hot chocolate with cream.

"Who said I wanted to sleep?" she teased him, leaning with her back to the counter.

"That's what I thought. Do we still need the mistletoe?" he asked, looking upwards at a sprig over the bar.

The End!