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Clara hadn't been waiting. Of course she hadn't been waiting, because that seemed desperate and she wasn't desperate to see what that blue box could do. Of course not.
Still, the moment she heard that whirring noise, the sound of wind without a source she was outside, chucking the doors open the moment they'd solidified in front of her. The Doctor and Danni were already waiting for her, like they both knew she was going to just come in. It would have annoyed her if she hadn't been so fascinated by the way the Doctor just threw a switch and then they were travelling.
"So we're moving through actual time?" She asked, her excitement speeding up her speech. She ran up to the doors, trying to see through the small windows. All she saw was white, which wasn't very useful.
She turned to run back over to the pair, the Doctor leaning on the console smugly, his arm around Danni's waist as he leant his chin on the blonde's shoulder. It was a big chin, how had she not noticed that before?
"So what's it made of? Time?" She asked the pair, "If you can just rotor through it, it must be made of stuff, like jam's made of strawberries. So what's it made of?"
"Well. Not strawberries. No." The Doctor replied, shooting her a confused look, like he couldn't understand where that thought had even come from. It was a valid thought, "Although," he turned his head, placing a kiss on Danni's hairline, "that would explain why you would occasionally appear smelling of strawberries."
He placed another kiss in the same spot and Danni flushed a light pink. She should have known that he'd do this, it was him trying to reassure her and it wasn't that she didn't appreciate it, she just still wasn't sure how she felt about him doing it in front of Clara, "No, that was Martha. She bought me this lovely shower gel set. I loved the strawberry one, I wish I still had some left."
"We can get you some more." He told her. Clara watched them both, eyes widen with her excitement. The Doctor really didn't look like he was about to let Danni go, which was rather sweet but also got in the way of him answering her questions.
"And we can go anywhere?" She asked, hoping to bring them back on track. This was her trip, they could be lovey-dovey on their own time.
"Within reason." The Doctor replied, almost in a warning tone, "Well, I say reason…"
"So, we could go backwards in time?" She suggested and he nodded.
"And space. Yes."
"And forwards in time."
"And space. Totally." The Doctor added again. People always seemed less impressed by the moving in space than the time travel. No one seemed to realise how inconvenient it would have been to jump a couple of millennia but be stuck at home, "In fact, that's where we're off to right now. Further into the future than you have ever dreamt of being." He let go of Danni just for a moment, sending them off towards Akhaten before pulling her back to him.
Clara felt it, that slight jolting that meant the TARDIS was in flight and her face showed the wonder at the idea of actually flying through time and space. Danni smiled softly, the expression not missed by the Doctor, who was watching her closely to make sure that she was always okay. There was always something so wonderful about watching someone travelling in the TARDIS for the first time. She couldn't help but wonder if her Clara would have reacted the same. She had wanted to know if there was a kitchen.
Clara dashed up to the door again, the turned back to look at the pair, "There's a whole new place outside those doors?" She asked them and the Doctor nodded.
"New floor, new planet. New air, all waiting." She walked closer to the door, then back towards them again.
"I feel sick." She told them bluntly, "But it's a good kind of sick. Like on Christmas day, is that right?"
"We'd be worried if you weren't feeling like that." Danni replied, which was entirely true but not for any reason Clara knew about, "That's what it's like when you're about to see something awesome." A smile spread on Clara's face, a bright, joy filled grin that the Doctor was pleased to see appear on Danni's as well.
"That's what I want to see." Clara replied, "Something awesome!"
~0~0~0~
Clara didn't want to experience the first new planet she'd ever been on like it was a trip to the seaside. She closed her eyes and slowly, and quite gingerly, stepped out of the TARDIS and was amazed by how she felt. The air around her felt the same, the ground beneath her feet felt the same. She was almost convinced, actually, that they'd not moved at all. And if she'd not been in the blue box before, she would have probably thought they were lying.
"Can you feel the light on your eyelids?" The Doctor asked Clara, leading Danni out of the TARDIS, walking backwards so he knew she couldn't see. Every time she tried to look past him, his hand would gently force her to look back into his eyes, a smirk on his face as he made sure she kept her focus solely on him.
"Mm-hm." Clara replied.
"That's the light of an alien sun." He explained, "A sun no one on Earth has seen before, a sun no one on Earth would even know existed, and its light is shining on your eyelids." He was saying it like he was talking to Clara, but his eyes were trained on Danni, watching her every reaction.
He hadn't been lying, this trip may have been to ease Clara in, but it was also to help Danni get back into the habit of travelling again. And he'd found out quite a while ago that he could completely enrapture her just by talking about something new, something no one else had seen before, or touched before. Even though she had, briefly, already been to Akhaten, he hadn't brought her here. And this was how to do it, he knew that was how to get her comfortable.
And it was working. Her eyes were wide, her lips slightly open as she watched him, waiting to hear more and he couldn't describe how powerful he felt, having that effect over her, "Are you ready?" He asked both of them.
"Yes." Danni whispered and he, all too briefly, brushed his lips against hers.
"Yes. No. Yes." Clara stuttered before taking a deep breath in and opening her eyes.
"Welcome to the Rings of Akhaten." He told the pair. Danni stared, much like Clara, placing one hand on his arm as she stepped past him to stand by Clara. Both women were stunned by the sight, a large, red sun dominating the skyline as asteroids floated lazily around it in front of them. There was a larger chuck of rock off to the side, with buildings they could barely make out on it.
"It's..." Clara started, unable to finish the sentence but still being able to articulate it more than Danni could. A quick glance at the blonde woman next to her surprised her, after all she and the Doctor travelled together, surely stuff like this wasn't new for her?
"It is." The Doctor agreed, "It so completely is. But wait! There's more." He rubbed his hands together excitedly.
"More what?" She asked, because this so much more than anything else she'd ever seen.
"Wait, wait, wait." He shushed her, quickly checking his watch, "In about five, four, three, two..." Danni gasped, her hand leaving his arm completely as stepped right to the edge of the ledge they'd landed on, as far as she dare go as the large asteroid came into view. A golden pyramid sat right on the top, and it shone brightly in the sunlight, glowing almost as if it had a light on the top.
"What is it?" Clara asked in stunned awe.
"The Pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten." The Doctor replied, watching them both, each reaction making this trip more and more a success, "It's a holy site for the Sun-singers of Akhet."
"The who of what?" Clara replied bluntly, for the first time tearing her gaze from the sight in front of her to look out of the corner of her eyes at him.
"Seven worlds orbiting the same star." He explained to her, "All of them sharing a belief that life in the universe originated here. On that planet."
"All life?" Clara repeated and he nodded.
"In the universe."
She paused for a moment, wondering if she really did want to ask this question, "Did it?"
"Well, it's what they believe." The Doctor replied, a kindness in his voice that made Clara smile, "It's a nice story."
"Can we see it? Up close?" He looked down at her, seeing her staring expectantly, hopefully and he smiled down at her. She beamed and turned, dashing back into the TARDIS, ready for him to take them down there.
"Danni?" He called when the blonde didn't move, "Are you coming?" She turned to look at him, keeping the same look of awe that she had looking out at the sun, like he was the most wonderful thing she'd ever seen and he held his hand out for her. She took it, stepping up close and, pushing herself up on her tiptoes, hesitantly brushed her lips against his. He followed her as she pulled away, making the same motion in return before pulling her into the TARDIS.
~0~0~0~
Danni actually still remembered the marketplace, even though her memories of the events that followed arriving were a bit hazy. She remembered the market being busy, and she remembered a Silent, but she couldn't really recall much else. So, when Clara dashed out into the street outside, Danni wasn't far behind her.
She was used to seeing non-human looking aliens, so watching Clara stare in amazement was actually more entertaining than looking around at the stalls. Not that she'd admit that, but she was interested in how the girl reacted. The Doctor always loved this part, and as the years had gone on, Danni could see the appeal.
Clara walked ahead of them, the Doctor pulling Danni to a stop as a vendor decided that the Doctor was the perfect person to sell to.
"I really can't buy that." The Doctor told the creature, which had no eyes and rather sharp looking treat, "I don't have the colouring." Danni giggled slightly as he tried to be polite about it, despite the creature's insistence that the Doctor needed it.
Clara managed to save him, running back over until she was huddled with the duo, cutting them off from the stall. The Doctor ushered them away and they started walking at a leisurely pace, if only to watch his wife look around.
"Where are they from?" Clara asked.
"Oh, you know, the local system mostly." He replied.
"What do I call them?"
"Well, let's see." The Doctor drawled, looking around to see what species he could see, "There go some Panbabylonians." He pointed to a couple of grey creatures with big, jet black eyes, "A Lugal-Irra-Kush. Some Lucanians-"
"Oh, I know that one!" Danni interrupted excitedly, jumping up and down and he was suddenly having a flash of her ginger self doing the same thing, "A Hoova-" She stopped, shaking her head, "No, Hooloovoo. That's right, isn't it?" He saw the alien she was pointing at, with a metal triangular face covering, coming up from their collar to their forehead.
"Yes, it is!" He praised and she smiled brightly, before becoming distracted by an alien with a black hood, "Ah! Qom VoTivig." He leant in, the pair making strange noises at each other before doing some sort of secret handshake.
"Do they all do that?" Clara asked Danni, looking at her like she was an expert.
"No." Danni replied, deciding to pretend she was, "Definitely not. And if they do, I've been sorely missing out." Clara giggled and the Doctor turned back to them, wrapping his arm around Danni's shoulder, completely missing the moment between the two.
"That chap's a Terraberserker of the Kodion Belt. You don't see many of them around anymore." He told them before pointing at a robot with bright red eyes and what appeared to be a gun, "Oh! That's an Ultramancer." Danni nodded, that did seem like a fitting name.
"You're just showing off, now." She teased him.
"I can't help it if I know so much." He replied in his typical modest way, "You know, I forget how much I like it here, we should come here more often."
"You're the driver." Danni pointed out, "We can go back occasionally, if you wanted to."
"What's the fun in going back?" He retorted, "There's so much more to see, Danni-Girl!"
"Hang on, you've been here before?" Clara interrupted, filing the nickname away for a future questioning. Why did he feel the need to clarify that she was a girl? Was it because she wasn't a girl sometimes? Or did they know a bloke called Danni as well?
"Yes, I came here a long time ago with my granddaughter." He removed his arm from around Danni's shoulder, distracted yet again into running off and leaving the two.
"Did he... did he just say granddaughter?" Clara asked Danni, who nodded.
"Yeah." She drawled, "He likes to drop that occasionally, just to remind everyone that he is really old." She nodded in the direction he went, "We'd better catch up, otherwise he'll just leave us behind. He's like a child in a sweet shop sometimes."
"He can't be that old, though." Clara argued, "I mean, he did turn up in a monks outfit, but he can't be that old." She looked suspiciously at Danni, "Can he?"
"He's 1200 years old." She replied, "Well, at least that's what he's currently claiming. That number is only an estimate, he was never good at keeping track."
"No!" She exclaimed before moving closer to Danni, like they were sharing a secret, "Really?"
Danni nodded, "Cross my hearts, sweetie."
"Oh my god." Clara laughed, "This is absurd. This is ridiculous. What about you? How old are you?" She wrinkled her nose, "Is that rude? I feel like that might be rude. I've not offended your culture, have I?"
"No." Danni laughed, "I am..." Had she had a birthday recently? "Oh, buggering 'ell, I'm almost 30."
"Hang on, 30?" Clara replied sceptically, "And he's 1200?" She nodded.
"It's complicated." Danni offered, "I find it easier to just go along with it. Things make sense eventually." Clara pondered on this, then nodded.
"Sounds good to me."
~0~0~0~
How had she managed to get left behind? Honestly, she was the wife, surely she should have been the one he was paying attention to. She had been warming to Clara, despite her attempts to really not care about her, but if he was going to ignore her for some pretty young girl in a skirt, she might just have to change her mind about her.
A little girl crashed into her side, stumbling and Danni immediately reached out, steadying. The pour girl looked terrified, wearing some grand robes that seemed to drown her and Danni immediately became concerned for her. No child should look that scared.
"Woah, careful sweetie." She told the girl, "You'll get yourself hurt doing that." The girl shook her head, eyes wide in fear as she dashed away. Danni frowned, looking back to see if she could see some parents, because she was entirely too young to be in such a crowded marketplace on her own, when two men dressed in the same robes appeared, both looking around intently.
"Have you seen her?" One demanded, and Danni frowned, immediately not liking them. She was sure the girl had a name, and if they were looking after her they should have looked more concerned instead of inconvenienced.
"Who?" She asked.
"The Queen of Years." The man replied.
"I have no idea what you just said to me." She retorted, acting puzzled. Deciding that she didn't know anything, the two men stepped around her like she was an obstacle, disappearing around the corner. The moment she saw that they were gone, she turned and headed after the girl, through a doorway covered in fabric that lead to a dark room full of metal boxes.
"I know you're scared." She called into the room as she slowly walked through it, checking over the edges of boxes, "But I'm not going to hurt you, if that's what you're worried about." There was no answer, no sign of the little girl even though she couldn't have gone anywhere else, "And I'm definitely not going to hand you over to anyone who might be looking for you, because I don't think you want that, do you?" She looked behind another box, but there was nothing there. She was starting to get really worried, nothing should make a child hide this well.
She turned around and let out a tiny scream, the little girl who'd appeared, breathing heavily from her wrong. A hand flew to her chest, her hearts beating wildly.
"You're really good at that, aren't you?" She told the girl, who backed away once, "No, it's okay." Danni promised, "My name's Danni, I'm here to help you, I promise." The girl didn't look too convinced, "What's your name, sweetie?"
This seemed to confuse the little girl, "You don't know me?" She whimpered and Danni shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I don't." Danni replied, "Are you running from those two men in robes?" She nodded, "I know the best hiding place in all the universe. How about I show you, then you can tell me what's wrong?" The little girl didn't look too convinced, "What's your name, sweetie?" She tried again.
"Merry." She replied quietly and Danni held her hand out to her.
"Well, Merry." She said, "I promise no one will find you if you don't want them to." Again, the girl didn't look convinced, then her gaze shot to entrance where, with a whoosh and a swirl of black, three figures appeared with round eyes and masks over their mouths.
"Merry, where are you?" They breathed in unison and Merry shot forward, taking Danni's hand.
"We'll loop 'round." Danni told her, pulling her to the other side of a box, keeping out of sight until they reached the doorway.
~0~0~0~
"Here she is." Danni told Merry, reaching the TARDIS, "The best hiding place in all the universe." Merry looked at it, eyebrows furrowed, completely unconvinced.
"It's teeny." She pointed out and Danni shot her a knowing grin.
"Wait and see." She retorted, placing one hand on either handle. She tried to pull the doors open, but they didn't budge, "Think you can let us in, sweetie?" She asked the box, which worried the little girl slightly, "She's scared and we're hiding." An almost silent click and Danni grinned, "thank you, sweetie." She pulled the door open and turned to Merry, "Coming, sweetie?"
Merry glanced behind her, then decided that going into the box was still her best bet. She dashed through the doorway in front of Danni, coming to halt with an audible gasp as she saw the inside. Danni smiled, pulling the door closed again.
"She's huge!" Merry breathed and Danni smiled happily. Children were always so accepting. Even the Doctor had trouble calling the TARDIS a 'she', but Merry got it straight away. Children always did. They listened, unlike 1200 year old Time Lords.
"That she is." Danni agreed, "And this is only part of her. She stretches out more than you could ever imagine." She sat the little girl on the stairs that led to the centre console, "Right, so why are we hiding?"
"Will they be able to find us in here?" Merry asked worriedly, "She's bright blue."
"No, she has this thing called a perception filter. Means that people can't notice her unless you know she's there. They'll just walk on by." She reassured her. The girl relaxed and Danni wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "Trust me. No one's going to find you while you're in here. So, you can tell me."
"You really don't know who I am?" Merry asked and Danni shook her head.
"Not a clue, I'm afraid." She replied, "I've not been here before."
"I'm the Queen of Years. They chose me when I was a baby, the day the last Queen of Years died." The little girl explained timidly, "I'm the vessel of our history. I know every chronicle. Every poem. Every legend. Every song."
"That's a lot for one girl to know." Danni replied with a frown.
"And now I have to sing a song in front of everyone. A special song. I have to sing it to a god. And I'm really scared."
"Scared of what?" Danni asked gently.
"Getting it wrong." Ah, that made a lot of sense.
"Can I let you in on a secret?" Danni asked her and she nodded, "I'm scared. All the time. Of everything. There's no situation that I could be in where I wouldn't be scared." She nodded towards the door, "I mean, today I was just supposed to be visiting a market with my husband and his friend. I've been terrified the entire time. I mean, what if one of us gets run over? What if we get robbed? What if I fall over in front of everyone and they laugh?" Merry giggled and Danni smiled, "You see? Just like that. And I could have let it keep me in here. It would have been very easy to say 'go on without me', especially because look at her!"
"Then why did you go?" Merry asked.
"Because I was scared." Danni replied, "Because being scared doesn't mean that it's going to be bad. Doing stuff because you're scared makes you brave. I had a very bad thing happen to me, but I'm not letting it get the best of me and you shouldn't let your nerves get the best of you."
"But what if I get it wrong?" Merry insisted.
"But what if you don't?" Danni countered, "What if you do the best job the Queen of Years has ever done? There'll be clapping, people will talk about you for years to come." She leant in closer, like she was about to impart a secret, "And I think you'll do brilliantly."
Merry looked at her hopefully, "You think so?"
"I know so." Danni replied.
"Will you be there?" Merry asked her, "I'd like that." Danni nodded.
"I'm sure I can arrange that." She stood up, stretching slightly, "Now, I'm guessing them two men we were running for were actually probably very worried, even if they seemed incredibly grouchy." She held her hand out to her, "I'll take you back to them, how does that sound?" She nodded, jumping up and taking her hand, "Now, tell me, what are those blue fruit called? With the goo inside?"
~0~0~0~
The Doctor had only turned his back for a moment, how had he managed to lose her already? This was not part of the plan, this was the opposite of making sure she was okay. Clara had protested when he'd started dragging her along, but it was drowned out by the sound of the crowded marketplace and his own, terrified thoughts.
"She's a big girl, you know?" Clara snapped, stumbling slightly as he dragged her quicker than she could comfortably walk, "She's probably just back at the TARDIS."
"But what if she's not?" He countered, "You don't understand, she can't be on her own."
"Why not?" Clara countered, "She looks pretty capable to me, I'm sure she can find her way around a market."
"She can." He agreed, "But she'll be scared. Scared and alone." Again. She'd felt scared and alone because of him, because of one stupid act when he was angry. And now it might be happening again, and it'd be all his fault again, just because he couldn't keep his eye on her.
"She doesn't look scared to me." Clara replied, pulling him from his dark thoughts of Danni, curled up in an alley, trying to make herself invisible from the rest of the planet.
He followed Clara's eye line, and realised that wasn't the case at all. Danni was, in fact, talking to a vendor with a wicker basket in the crook of her arm full of blue tillis, which he'd offered to both her and Clara before to try. Clara hadn't been impressed, but Danni had loved it.
The Doctor dropped Clara's hand immediately, rushing over to his wife, who beamed when she saw him.
"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly, looking her over to make sure there wasn't a scratch on her, "I've been looking for you everywhere."
"Yeah, sorry, I made a friend." She replied vaguely, "Then I went to buy some more of these." She lifted the basket up.
"With what?" He asked.
"I had some pictures with me, just in case." She explained, "There was one of me and Martha on Titan." She looked down at the basket, eyebrows furrowed, "I only wanted a couple, but she started piling them on me. She wanted to give me more, but I just couldn't carry them. I hope I didn't offend her." She looked so disappointed he couldn't help the laugh of relief that burst from him. All this time he'd been so concerned that she'd be scared, when he was the one running around like a headless chicken while she bought fruit and worried about offended local species. Maybe he wasn't quite as ready for this as he let on, all he wanted to do was take her back to the TARDIS.
He grabbed her by both arms, placing a kiss on the middle of her forehead even as she batted him away, "How about we let Clara have a wonder around a bit longer and we go back to the TARDIS?" He suggested.
"Oh." She replied, sounding disappointed, "But I promised I'd go to the ceremony."
"What ceremony?" Clara startled him, popping up by his side, "Oh, and thanks for planning to abandon me to go hide in your snog box."
"I met the Queen of Years." Danni explained and couldn't help but smirk slightly when the Doctor looked impressed.
"Really?" He asked and she nodded.
"What's the Queen of Years?" Clara asked.
"A little girl who has to learn basically the entire history of the planet." Danni explained, "She's singing at a ceremony soon, I promised I'd be there." She looked up at the Doctor, "Please, I don't want to miss it."
He faked a sigh, like he was giving in when really he couldn't have been happier that she wanted to participate in anything, "Fine." He reached down, linking his fingers with hers. If she felt him hold her hand that little bit tighter, she didn't comment. They headed towards the amphitheatre, Clara falling into step on the other side of him, "So, what was she like?" He asked.
"Scared and running." Danni replied, "You would have loved her."
~0~0~0~
Merry glanced over her shoulder nervously, her hands almost shaking under the pressure. She was stood on a small, round platform on the edge of a large ledge, with what felt like a hundred thousand people watching.
She caught Danni's eye, who waved and she felt slightly less nervous, although still just as scared. But with her new friend there, she turned around and faced out towards Grandfather.
"It seems like an awful lot of pressure to put a little kid under." Clara whispered, leaning towards Danni, who nodded.
"I hate it that these tasks always seem to fall onto children." Danni whispered in reply. Clara agreed. Children should be left to grow up happy and full of light, not responsibility.
Then Merry starting singing, and the pair fell silent, "Akhaten…"
The Doctor pulled out an envelope, opening it and skimming the contents, popping on his glasses as he did. If asked, he'd say he put them on to go with Danni's glasses, but he did actually find it easier to read these days with them on.
The envelope had been given to them as they'd entered the amphitheatre, like a programme at a theatre, "They're singing to the Akhaten in the Temple." He explained to the women, "They call it the Old God. Sometimes Grandfather."
"Oh, god of Akhaaaten..."
"What are they singing?" Clara asked.
"The Long Song." He replied, pronouncing it with all the care it deserved, "A lullaby without end. To feed the old god. Keep him asleep. It's been going for millions of years. Chorister handing over to Chorister. Generation after generation after generation."
"She's so good." Danni stated, watching the little girl with a soft smile on her face.
"She is." The Doctor agreed, placing a kiss on her temple. Clara looked around, her gaze caught by various members of the audience holding their hands out, trinkets being presented to seemingly no one before disappearing into golden dust.
"What are they doing?" She asked, confused.
"Those are offerings. Gifts of value. Mementoes to feed the Old God." He explained and she laughed happily as she watched on, reminding him again of Danni. He felt something fall into his lap, something very light and followed by another one shortly after. He looked to his side to see Danni quickly flicking through the small pile of photographs she'd brought, settling on one of her, the Doctor and Amy in Tokyo. She held it aloft, giggling to herself as it also disappeared into a golden dust.
"That's so awesome!" She exclaimed quietly. He shook his head, she might have regenerated, but the fact that she was still amazed by everything meant absolutely everything to him. That look of wonder on her face, as it did with any of his companions but more with her, made every trip worthwhile. This was why he continued to travel.
Then the asteroid with the pyramid started to rumble and it was very obviously not supposed to do that. Merry turned around, her eyes immediately seeking out Danni, who stood up in the middle of the noisy crowd.
"It's okay, sweetie!" She called as loud as she could, "You did brilliantly!" Then Merry yelled in fright as she was engulfed in a golden force field, lifting her off the platform and out into the space surrounding them, "Merry!" Danni scrambled down through the crowd, but she was already too late as the little girl floated out of her reach.
"Help!" She cried and Danni spun, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes as she made his way to her.
"We have to save her!" Danni cried, "She was scared, but I said it was okay and now it's not!" His face was set with grim determination as he took her hand, leading her out of the amphitheatre and back to the marketplace.
"Hey, wait up!" Clara cried, sounding outraged as she caught up with them, "Why are we walking away? We can't just walk away!" The Doctor turned to look at her.
"Listen. There's one thing you need to know about travelling with us..." He thought for a moment, "Well, one thing apart from the blue box and the two hearts. We don't walk away." He turned back, leading Danni to Dor'een, a lovely creature who spoke like a barking dog and hired out mopeds. He barked at her a couple of times, she barked back and he felt him pockets for something precious. The only thing he had on him was his screwdriver, and he needed that for actually saving Merry once they'd gotten there. His other precious thing, well, was his wife and he would not tell her he thought of her as a 'thing'.
"I need something precious." He told Clara hurridly, hoping she could offer him an alternative.
"Well, you must have something," Clara retorted, "all the places you've seen."
"This." He pulled out his screwdriver, waving it slightly before pocketing it again, "I don't want to give it away. It comes in handy."
"You're 1,000 years old. And that's it, your spanner?" Clara challenged.
"Screwdriver." He retorted, offended and patting his pocket. She didn't know what she was saying.
"This is my wedding ring." His head snapped to see Danni holding her ring out to Dor'een, "It was given to me by the last Time Lord, it's made from the very last White Point star and means more to me than I can tell you. Please look after it." Dor'een it off her, then happily waved to a moped. She turned to the Doctor, her eyes shining with the regret she was fighting in her head, "We need to save her. I can't lose someone else." She whispered and he nodded, trying not to think about how he could steal the ring back, instead gently placing a kiss on her forehead, one she didn't try and bat away.
"Let's go save us a little girl." He replied with a soft smile.