Title: Think Anything
Author:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
glory_jean
Pairing/Characters: Fourteen/Rose
Rating: All Ages
Beta:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bananasandroses
Prompt:songs_in_time Spring Hopes Eternal 2009 prompt #27
Summary: The Doctor takes Rose on a trip down memory lane. Post JE no real spoilers
Author's Notes: Fourteen is based on the ficlet One Last Time byjesidres and I borrowed some concepts from shinyopals Fourteenverse fics. Quotes from "World" by Five For Fighting. Image from davidtennant.com.
Got a package full of wishes
A time machine, a magic wand...
No instructions or commandments,
Laws of gravity or indecision to uphold...
Take a chance, grab a piece
Help me to believe it
The TARDIS rumbled and shook its way through the Vortex. Rose clung tightly to the console as the Doctor span dials and cranked cranks a bit manically. Well, it was only natural, really, she supposed. He'd been without a TARDIS for far too long. He could feel the universe (and a new one at that) waiting for him and he was running towards it with enthusiasm.
This TARDIS was only a baby, so she could either travel to whens or wheres but not both at the same time – yet. Their first two journeys had been to places within their current time period. Both had been picked at random by virtue of a blindfold and a star chart. Disappointingly, they had ended up exactly where they'd intended and absolutely nothing had gone wrong. Nice scenery though.
So, for this third voyage out, the Doctor had insisted on travelling to a different time. They would have to aim for Earth's solar system but since Earth was a trouble magnet, he'd reasoned, something interesting was bound to happen. Once he'd plotted their destination, he'd refused to reveal it; instead, rather annoyingly, he'd hinted that they were not headed for a location on Earth itself.
With a final shudder that sent Rose tumbling to the floor, the TARDIS materialised. The Doctor gave her a smug grin as he helped her to her feet. Rose wondered idly, as she rubbed a bruised elbow, whether this TARDIS had a harder floor than the other or if she was just getting old.
"So, guess where we are?" The Doctor was bouncing a bit on his toes, his face aglow with nervous excitement.
"Umm, the Moon?"
"The Moon?" he grumbled, as his face fell. "I can take you to any-when in all of history, and you think I would take you to see the Moon?"
Rose shrugged unrepentantly, smiling at him in that way she knew drove him insane. Indeed, he did seem to have lost track of his complaints in favour of staring at her tongue where it was caught between her teeth.
"Doctor?"
"Hmm? Oh. Right! Yes!" And he was in motion again, running to grab his coat. "So, if you'll recall, year 5 billion —"
"Sun expands, the Earth gets roasted —"
"And our first date —"
"In two bodies," she added, and he paused to beam at her.
"So, you think, end of the Earth, end of the story, right? Wrong!" He ran to the door and flung it open, "Rose Tyler, welcome to a brand new world."
She joined him at the doorway as he stepped out.
"Careful," he warned, reaching for her hand, "the gravity here is only one tenth that of Earth's. Wouldn't want you to go bouncing off, now."
Her body felt strangely buoyant as she crossed into the planet's gravity field from the TARDIS'. The Doctor seemed to have very little trouble with the change, but she lurched into him as she attempted to move forward.
"Hold still a moment," he said, pulling something from his pocket and kneeling in front of her. "Weights," he explained, fastening them to her ankles. "Just like the first Earth astronauts used. Well, not just like. These are much more effective. Should help a bit."
Rose took a deep breath of alien air. It was humid and smelled sharply of marshy, mossy planet life. They were standing on a rocky plain covered in burnt orange earth. Clinging to the rocks was something similar to lichen but in deep shades of red so dark they were nearly black and a variety of greyish browns. The sky was a deep turquoise and a red sun shone in the east.
"Terraformed?"
"Nope, nature at its finest."
"Wait, you said we were still in Earth's solar system. How can that be?"
He immediately switched into his teaching mode, just as she'd hoped. The only thing missing was his glasses.
"When the sun expanded, the inner planets were consumed or turned into burning hot rocks. But now the outer planets – there, the story is much more interesting. After being locked in ice for much of their history, suddenly the sun is large enough to warm them. This is Titan. Sixth and largest moon of Saturn."
"And that," he pointed at the large shape that dominated the southern sky, "is Saturn itself. No more rings."
"Melted?"
"Yep. But they're still here." He spread his arms to include the planet in general. "In a sense."
Rose frowned in confusion.
"As the rings broke up," he began to explain," liquid water was captured by Titan's atmosphere as it passed through it. Not to mention the larger pieces of icy rock that it picked up along the way. Good thing, too. If not for that, at this very moment you'd be breathing a toxic combination of methane and ethane with just a touch of hydrogen cyanide for flavour. Well, not breathing exactly...."
Rose smiled indulgently as he trailed off.
"Anyway, so here you have it – brand new world. Whatever shall we do with it?"
"Let's see," she began, adopting her best ‘thinking’ pose. She pointed towards a mountain, before which spread a river valley with something vaguely plant-like covering it. "I think I'd want my house right there. Nice view of the country side and the...planet," she waved at Saturn high above. "And right over there," a sweep of her hand indicating a spot near the river meandering lazily past, "our very own amusement park."
"With candy floss?" He bounced a bit at the idea.
"Naturally."
"We'll need a petting zoo for your brother. Maybe then he wouldn't feel the need to collect so many creatures." His face took on a look of slight disgust for a moment.
"Oh, I know. A library! Your very own library named for you and there could be a statue of you at the entrance."
"Would be a tad narcissistic of me."
"Our world. Who's to complain?"
"True enough."
He led her around a strangely gooey patch of land.
"It's amazing. To think all this was hidden. Just waiting for the right moment. I guess the end of the world wasn't entirely for nothing. All of that destruction. And yet it lead to this."
His expression of proud wonder took her right back to when he first wore this face. For a frozen moment she was twenty again. Then the Doctor sobered.
"It won't last long, though. A few hundred million years is all poor Titan gets. Just enough time for some basic life to flourish. The sun will continue to cool and begin shrinking into a white dwarf. Everything will turn back to ice and this moon won't be able to support life anymore."
Rose chilled at the thought. "Oh, that's so sad."
"Yeah, but it's here, right now and that's brilliant," he said emphatically. "And later, the solar system will become the most amazing nebula as the sun finally dies. It will be the inspiration for songs and poems on hundreds of worlds."
His gaze turned wistful, his thoughts far away.
Rose felt strangely on verge of tears. It suddenly seemed like it wasn't just the fate of the solar system that they were discussing anymore. She stroked a finger over his cheek and he turned to her.
"How do you always know how to say just the right thing?" she murmured.
"Weelll," he drawled, smirking. "It's a gift."
His hand found hers, and they made their way through the valley underneath the Saturn-filled sky.
What kind of world do you want?
Think Anything
Let's start at the start
Build a masterpiece
Be careful what you wish for
History starts now
Author:
glory_jeanPairing/Characters: Fourteen/Rose
Rating: All Ages
Beta:
bananasandrosesPrompt:
songs_in_time Spring Hopes Eternal 2009 prompt #27 Summary: The Doctor takes Rose on a trip down memory lane. Post JE no real spoilers
Author's Notes: Fourteen is based on the ficlet One Last Time by
jesidres and I borrowed some concepts from shinyopals Fourteenverse fics. Quotes from "World" by Five For Fighting. Image from davidtennant.com.Got a package full of wishes
A time machine, a magic wand...
No instructions or commandments,
Laws of gravity or indecision to uphold...
Take a chance, grab a piece
Help me to believe it
The TARDIS rumbled and shook its way through the Vortex. Rose clung tightly to the console as the Doctor span dials and cranked cranks a bit manically. Well, it was only natural, really, she supposed. He'd been without a TARDIS for far too long. He could feel the universe (and a new one at that) waiting for him and he was running towards it with enthusiasm.
This TARDIS was only a baby, so she could either travel to whens or wheres but not both at the same time – yet. Their first two journeys had been to places within their current time period. Both had been picked at random by virtue of a blindfold and a star chart. Disappointingly, they had ended up exactly where they'd intended and absolutely nothing had gone wrong. Nice scenery though.
So, for this third voyage out, the Doctor had insisted on travelling to a different time. They would have to aim for Earth's solar system but since Earth was a trouble magnet, he'd reasoned, something interesting was bound to happen. Once he'd plotted their destination, he'd refused to reveal it; instead, rather annoyingly, he'd hinted that they were not headed for a location on Earth itself.
With a final shudder that sent Rose tumbling to the floor, the TARDIS materialised. The Doctor gave her a smug grin as he helped her to her feet. Rose wondered idly, as she rubbed a bruised elbow, whether this TARDIS had a harder floor than the other or if she was just getting old.
"So, guess where we are?" The Doctor was bouncing a bit on his toes, his face aglow with nervous excitement.
"Umm, the Moon?"
"The Moon?" he grumbled, as his face fell. "I can take you to any-when in all of history, and you think I would take you to see the Moon?"
Rose shrugged unrepentantly, smiling at him in that way she knew drove him insane. Indeed, he did seem to have lost track of his complaints in favour of staring at her tongue where it was caught between her teeth.
"Doctor?"
"Hmm? Oh. Right! Yes!" And he was in motion again, running to grab his coat. "So, if you'll recall, year 5 billion —"
"Sun expands, the Earth gets roasted —"
"And our first date —"
"In two bodies," she added, and he paused to beam at her.
"So, you think, end of the Earth, end of the story, right? Wrong!" He ran to the door and flung it open, "Rose Tyler, welcome to a brand new world."
She joined him at the doorway as he stepped out.
"Careful," he warned, reaching for her hand, "the gravity here is only one tenth that of Earth's. Wouldn't want you to go bouncing off, now."
Her body felt strangely buoyant as she crossed into the planet's gravity field from the TARDIS'. The Doctor seemed to have very little trouble with the change, but she lurched into him as she attempted to move forward.
"Hold still a moment," he said, pulling something from his pocket and kneeling in front of her. "Weights," he explained, fastening them to her ankles. "Just like the first Earth astronauts used. Well, not just like. These are much more effective. Should help a bit."
Rose took a deep breath of alien air. It was humid and smelled sharply of marshy, mossy planet life. They were standing on a rocky plain covered in burnt orange earth. Clinging to the rocks was something similar to lichen but in deep shades of red so dark they were nearly black and a variety of greyish browns. The sky was a deep turquoise and a red sun shone in the east.
"Terraformed?"
"Nope, nature at its finest."
"Wait, you said we were still in Earth's solar system. How can that be?"
He immediately switched into his teaching mode, just as she'd hoped. The only thing missing was his glasses.
"When the sun expanded, the inner planets were consumed or turned into burning hot rocks. But now the outer planets – there, the story is much more interesting. After being locked in ice for much of their history, suddenly the sun is large enough to warm them. This is Titan. Sixth and largest moon of Saturn."
"And that," he pointed at the large shape that dominated the southern sky, "is Saturn itself. No more rings."
"Melted?"
"Yep. But they're still here." He spread his arms to include the planet in general. "In a sense."
Rose frowned in confusion.
"As the rings broke up," he began to explain," liquid water was captured by Titan's atmosphere as it passed through it. Not to mention the larger pieces of icy rock that it picked up along the way. Good thing, too. If not for that, at this very moment you'd be breathing a toxic combination of methane and ethane with just a touch of hydrogen cyanide for flavour. Well, not breathing exactly...."
Rose smiled indulgently as he trailed off.
"Anyway, so here you have it – brand new world. Whatever shall we do with it?"
"Let's see," she began, adopting her best ‘thinking’ pose. She pointed towards a mountain, before which spread a river valley with something vaguely plant-like covering it. "I think I'd want my house right there. Nice view of the country side and the...planet," she waved at Saturn high above. "And right over there," a sweep of her hand indicating a spot near the river meandering lazily past, "our very own amusement park."
"With candy floss?" He bounced a bit at the idea.
"Naturally."
"We'll need a petting zoo for your brother. Maybe then he wouldn't feel the need to collect so many creatures." His face took on a look of slight disgust for a moment.
"Oh, I know. A library! Your very own library named for you and there could be a statue of you at the entrance."
"Would be a tad narcissistic of me."
"Our world. Who's to complain?"
"True enough."
He led her around a strangely gooey patch of land.
"It's amazing. To think all this was hidden. Just waiting for the right moment. I guess the end of the world wasn't entirely for nothing. All of that destruction. And yet it lead to this."
His expression of proud wonder took her right back to when he first wore this face. For a frozen moment she was twenty again. Then the Doctor sobered.
"It won't last long, though. A few hundred million years is all poor Titan gets. Just enough time for some basic life to flourish. The sun will continue to cool and begin shrinking into a white dwarf. Everything will turn back to ice and this moon won't be able to support life anymore."
Rose chilled at the thought. "Oh, that's so sad."
"Yeah, but it's here, right now and that's brilliant," he said emphatically. "And later, the solar system will become the most amazing nebula as the sun finally dies. It will be the inspiration for songs and poems on hundreds of worlds."
His gaze turned wistful, his thoughts far away.
Rose felt strangely on verge of tears. It suddenly seemed like it wasn't just the fate of the solar system that they were discussing anymore. She stroked a finger over his cheek and he turned to her.
"How do you always know how to say just the right thing?" she murmured.
"Weelll," he drawled, smirking. "It's a gift."
His hand found hers, and they made their way through the valley underneath the Saturn-filled sky.
Think Anything
Let's start at the start
Build a masterpiece
Be careful what you wish for
History starts now
