tampered | (no subject)

Reinette waited impatiently, contrary to what she’d promised the Doctor. It had been far too long since she’d last seen him; since she’d said what they’d all thought was their final goodbye. Nearly a year, it had been, and now that their reunion was mere moments away... It was doing nothing at all for her nerves. She paced back and forth in front of a grand fountain, mindful of the stares she was garnering.

Was is the dress? she wondered. All these people, pulled from so many worlds, and apparently none pulled from her own, the way they stared. No one from her world, nor anyone from a world taught not to gawk.

Any moment now, any moment his face would appear in the crowd. ... There.

And she couldn’t help but smile and the sight of him. Her Doctor, dear lonely Doctor.

She walked forward into his arms, hands raised to his face, just as she had done so many years ago.

“And how good it is to see you once more, Fireplace Man.”

Her touch somehow managed to feel familiar, despite having had her only touch him like that once before several years ago. It felt wonderful though. It made him feel... less alone. He nuzzled her hands a bit before taking them in his own.

"I came back for you," he said, glad to be able to say the words he never thought he'd get a chance to. "But I was too late. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I came too late."

He’d come back for her.

A swell of emotion she couldn’t place made it hard to keep the smile on her face. She pressed her lips together. Of course he’d come back. The whole time she’d waited, she’d never doubted for a moment that he wouldn’t.

“Doctor, I cannot fault you for trying. But it is I who has come for you, now. And I believe I have arrive just in time.”

The Doctor had forgotten that she never knew that he had returned for her. That he wanted to take her with him to travel the stars and through time and space and show her all the most beautiful things in creation. And he might not be able to show her all that here, he would show her everything he could that she wanted to see.

"Just time in time?" he asked, looking a bit puzzled. Part of him knew what she was talking about, but the habit of denial was a hard one to break. "I was going to go get dinner, if that's what you mean..."

Reinette laughed softly. That was the Doctor, making a joke when everyone else was being too serious. He didn’t need to joke to relax her, though – his mere presence was enough. Already she’d placed the fact that they were all trapped in this world in the back of her mind. “That’s not quite what I meant, Doctor, no." She swept her arm through the air, gesturing to the city around them. "But far be it from me to keep you from your plans.”

"You're alright here for a bit longer then while I nip off for a bite to eat?" he teased, arching one eyebrow and jerking his thumb over his shoulder to one of the nearby restaurants. As if he could do anything but be with her right now.

"It won't be long," he shrugging a bit. "Just a few hours or so, maybe run a few errands in the City then I can come back and get you."

“A few hours?” she asked, glancing about her, playing along. She knew he wouldn’t really leave her there alone. Not so soon after being reunited.

“Oh, I should be alright,” she said, as she moved a few steps away to perch on the edge of the fountain, arranging her dress around her. “I shall wait for you here, Doctor. A few hours."

This is why Reinette was amazing. Well, Reinette was amazing for a lot of reasons, this was just one of them. She could tease him right back without hesitation with a completely straight face. She gave as good as she got, maybe better.

"Few hours, day or so, week at the most," he added, scratching his head thoughtfully, as if he was pondering it all over. "I'd say a month at the absolute latest, depending on how things go."

His grin was back now and he practically beamed at her.

"Or you could just come with me," the Doctor said, offering her his arm.

“One would certainly hope that you don’t make a habit of leaving persons waiting for more than a few hours. Now that, I do believe, is the pinnacle of discourtesy. How many lovely ladies have you left sitting on the edge of a fountain in strange, new worlds? Am I the first?”

She smiled and stood, eyeing him. “Perhaps I should accompany you, Doctor.” She took the proffered arm. “Just to see ‘how things go.’”

"Technically I haven't left any since you're coming with me," he said, giving her a quick wink as he headed to nowhere in particular. Right now the where didn't matter, it was all about the who.

"Things could go towards Xanadu," he suggested, nodding his head to the east. "Beautiful gardens to walk through with flowers for all sorts of different worlds and realities."

[ooc: Sorry, but I need sleeeep. I have no problems backdating bit in case it comes up in the threads he would invite her to go to/live in the TARDIS.]

“Xanadu.” She tried the give the word a place in any of the languages she’d heard before, but she couldn’t. But if it was a garden, then it could have no name at all as far as she was concerned. It was a passion of hers, gardening; she loved to be in her own garden at Versailles, nurturing and growing the most beautiful flowers in France. The chance to view and be among flowers from other worlds… oh, that did sound exciting. And if she did have to be stuck here, have to get used to this alien world, then at least the first place she could go would be a garden. And at least she would be with the Doctor.

“I think I would like it if things went towards Xanadu, Doctor.”

"And who am I to deny you something you'd like?" the Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow. The garden was one of his favorite places in the City, perhaps the favorite after the clock. Somehow he didn't think that she would enjoy the clock quite as much as the garden though.

"Reinette, you're going to love it here. So many amazing things to see and experience. Did you know, well of course you didn't know, that there's a younger version of me here? And a clone, too. Oooh, but you don't know what a clone is... that's going to take some explaining..."

“Other versions of yourself… Rose did say something along that lines, about not asking which version of you I was looking for. A silly question of course - you’re the only Doctor I know, and I care to know no others.”

Reinette paused, deep in thought. A younger Doctor, in same world as her Doctor. She wasn’t sure she understood how that could be, but she likened it to being on the skyship, how she could be one age, at one time, and hear her voice five years in the future. If she had followed the voice, stepped through into her future instead of taking the slow path… Then perhaps that is how both Doctors could be in one world.

After a moment, she smiled. “And as far as I have seen, Doctor, you haven’t aged at all, and I am unsure as to how inclined I am to believe that you were once any other age than you are now. I wonder, how does time function in this world? Am I to wither and gray whilst you, my handsome Doctor, never change? That would be a cruel fate to suffer, though if I am by your side, I think it would be most tolerable. And being stuck here, as we are, it seems there shall be plenty of time for explanations.”

{ooc: Sorry, I'm in and out today! }

"Oh you talked to Rose again? That's good, I bet she was excited to see you! And she told you about the me that's not me?"

This was going to take a lot of explaining to do, trying to get her to understand about Time Lords and regenerations and temporal paradoxes and things like that. Not that she would have any trouble understanding, the Doctor had already seen how quick Reinette was at accepting things. There was just a lot to explain.

"You see, Time Lords live for a very long time," he said, scrunching up his face in thought. "When we're dying, instead of just up and dying like most races, we regenerate. A whole new body and personality with all the same memories. This earlier version of me is a previous regeneration. So he looks different, not nearly as handsome though, and acts a bit different but we've got the same memories. Well, I've got all his he hasn't got all mine. He's the second me that's not me that I've met here."

Edited 2008-09-27 21:38 (UTC)

“I did speak with her, and she only mentioned the you that is not you, but I’m afraid she did not go into further detail.” Another pause as she took it all in.

“Forgive me if I am slow in understanding all of this. This other you, the younger one- He does not look as you do, does not act as you do, does not retain the same memories as you do because he died, no- regenerated, as you called it, and therefore has not done the things you have. It would as if I met my older self; the younger would not have the same experiences as the older, as she has not experienced them yet. It makes some sense, but in a terribly convoluted sort of way. Though I suppose I should not be surprised at anything, anymore.”

Her brows furrowed in thought. How confusing it must be, so many Doctors in one place. “Tell me, though. Is he also called the Doctor? And if he is the second you that you have met… Well, how many more versions of you are there? Are there any more of me?”

"Oh, we have some of the same memories. But you're right, it's like if you met yourself ten years ago you'd have all the memories she does, but she wouldn't have all of yours," he explained. And he didn't think that she was slow in understanding it at all.

"And he is called the Doctor," he said with a nod. "When we all meet we refer to each other by which regeneration we are. I'm ten, he's nine. I met four here and five back home not too long ago. And no, there's no other you..."

Turning to her, the Doctor beamed broadly at her again. "In all the universe, in all the galaxy, past, present, and future there is only one you."

“I do think you mean to flatter me, Doctor,” she said, laughing.

“Though, I wonder how confusing it is to everyone else, two Doctors in one world. How should one refer to the both of you? Doctors nine and ten?” Another laugh.

“How strange this new world is.”

"Is that what you think? Would I do something like that?" he asked, giving her the most innocent expression that he could. In all honesty, it was hard not to flatter Reinette. Maybe that was the excitement of seeing her again or he was that infatuated with her. Either way it was hard to help himself.

"Maybe they'll just start saying Nine and Ten, I don't really know," he said with a shrug. "It was never much of a problem before. It is very strange here though. In an amazing way. I'll have to take you to see the clock some time. Counts down to the end of everything."

“You are an unpredictable man, Doctor, smashing through mirrors, coming through fireplaces... I really would not put flattery past you, sir,” she said, smiling. “Though, I do hope you will not mind me calling you ‘Doctor.’ ‘Ten’ doesn’t quite suit you. Doctor, on the other hand, fits you perfectly.

“And as for this clock... First, clockwork monsters force their way into my world, in order to murder me, and now you wish to take me to see a clock that is counting down until the end of everything.” She looked up at the Doctor, affecting a look of disbelief, and then breaking into a smile. “I think I would like to see it.”

"Well you'll just have to be on your guard against flattery then," he said with a reassuring nod. Of course, Reinette seemed entirely capable of it herself, managing to make the Doctor as if he were someone special. Considering his already large ego, that was certainly saying something.

"Ohh, that's my girl, I thought you would like to see it. And the force field around it, you'll love that. Best part of the clock. But first, to the garden."

“On the subject of gardens, did you know, Doctor, that there is a stone bench in the middle of the gardens at Versailles? It’s very simple; it isn’t very large, nor is it intricately decorated, but in the early hours of the morning, just after the sun has risen and dew still weighs heavily on the flower petals, it is the most beautiful place in the world. Oh Doctor, I could sit for hours on that in that garden, surrounded by the roses, lilies, and hyacinths... They were always my favourite, the hyacinths.” Reinette smiled at the memory. “Do you think there will be any hyacinths in this garden, this Xanadu?” she said the name slowly, trying to pronounce it as the Doctor had.

"I didn't know that," he confessed, although it sounded like a very beautiful place. He could imagine her sitting there too, fitting in perfectly amongst all the other beautiful things. He would definitely have to get some hyacinths for the garden in the TARDIS if it didn't already have one.

"I'm sure there will be," the Doctor reassured here. "There's nearly every flower you can imagine. If you take a deep breath you can already smell it."

Reinette closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She could smell the garden already, and oh how lovely that smell was. She could pick out the individual scents of some of the flowers – sweet honeysuckle, strongly fragrant rose, and there, just there, a light touch of hyacinth.

“Careful, Doctor,” she said, laughing. “Introduce me to this garden and I may never want to leave.”

"That wouldn't do," the Doctor objected. "Because then I'd never want to leave the garden either and that wouldn't be nearly as fun as exploring with you. I'd have to tempt you with the offer to visit the garden aboard the TARDIS then."

While it couldn't quite compete with Xanadu for the alternate dimensional selection of flowers he did have quite a few from different worlds.

“Aboard the TARDIS? Is that a ship?” Reinette laughed softly. “Well, if there is a garden aboard, you may certainly count me in for a visit. I can’t say I’ve been aboard many ships. Small ones, on the lake, but none larger.

“Is that it there, in the distance? Even from afar, it looks magnificent.” If the rest of this world was as beautiful, she thought, then the phrase ‘trapped in this world’ was going to lose its malevolence.