Day 35: Main Street

[mrmewmaker]

Shiki was a little disappointed. When she heard the words 'field trip', she had expected the town to be a whole lot bigger. How could you even go shopping properly in a town like this? There needed to be a whole lot more stores, she decided. Two department stores, boutiques, and a record store, at least

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[mateswithnobody]

[from here]

The Main Street looked like it would be as good a place as any to start looking for the places on Donna's "to-do" list. It wasn't as though she'd been given a map, but she was confident in her ability to find her way around. She'd navigated through many an office area before, even the messiest, so there was nothing to worry about! And even if there had been, there would be no getting between her and a manicure this day.

"So how was your night? Running through the basement I keep hearing about I'm betting?" she asked, starting some small talk until they arrived. If she didn't ask, then the Doctor would have, so no use in delaying the inevitable.

[timedork]

"Oh, yes, the trip! Quite fun," the Doctor agreed, his earlier thoughts about the TARDIS nearly forgotten. Maybe they could look around a bit and then go to look for the ship. Or look for the ship while looking around.

He grinned when Donna asked him about his night. "I saw Rose!" he announced proudly. He glanced over his shoulder at the crowd that was still formed outside of the buses, hoping to stop the blonde girl, but he couldn't see her. Well, if they weren't all together, that simply meant they could cover more ground. If he and Donna didn't find the TARDIS, maybe Rose would. "She said that you two met earlier."

[mateswithnobody]

"Did you?! I was thinking you might!" she nudged him a bit, smirking knowingly, "About time you found her again. And yeah, we did have a chat. She's from... pretty far back though," Donna pouted just a bit, eyes turning up to see what the Doctor would show as a response.

[timedork]

The Doctor's expression turned serious. "Yes," he said. "She is."

He couldn't decide whether or not that was a good thing. On the one hand... It meant she hadn't been separated from him yet in her timeline, but if she had spent some time with this future version of him (relatively) that she hadn't told him about for fear of spoilers, that would make the upcoming separation harder on her.

And it was hard on him, as well. Seeing both Rose and Donna again, when he had thought he never could... Was this what it would be like when he met River Song again for the first time? It had always been hard enough to know that humans would wither and die, but to know how their time together would end...

[mateswithnobody]

That was not the look she'd wanted. For heaven's sake, he should have been happy that someone he'd kept saying he'd "lost" was here and fine! Even if she was from the wrong time!

She nudged him again, this time harder to get his attention. "Listen to you. All mopey just because of that." The pouting was still there, but just a bit softer and with traces of a smile. "It's still her, isn't it? Younger or older, who cares? Isn't it just good that you can see her?"

[timedork]

"Oh, don't get me wrong," the Doctor said, a smile spreading across his face. "It's brilliant!"

He wished he could tell Donna why it was hard. She had an uncanny knack for getting him to talk whether he wanted to or not, so if it weren't for spoilers, he would have been willing to tell her and spare himself the trouble of keeping it bottled up. But she couldn't know that he'd left Rose in another universe with another him. He had to keep quiet, to keep pretending he was still from the Library, or Shan Shen, or close to.

He strode forward, passing her, and then glanced back. "So, where would you like to go first?"

[mateswithnobody]

Donna smiled brightly as well, but there was something he wasn't saying. She was used to that, of course, but when he went from one extreme to another like that she just knew he was trying harder to not say.

She let him pass her for a moment but was soon placing her hands on her hips and giving him a stern look. "I'm the one leading this, you," she scolded half in teasing then stepped back up level with him and then passed his altogether. "Don't go wondering off either."

[timedork]

The Doctor gave her a lopsided smile. "Yes mum," he said. He took a few long strides to catch up, and then fell into step next to her.

[mateswithnobody]

Not him too! Donna made sure to hive his arm a thump when he got close enough, but she only ended up smiling for his remark after.

They'd passed a few places by now and Donna was beginning to wonder if they needed to try another street, but soon enough she spotted the sign for a place named Pearl's and remembered it as one of the places on her coupons. "Here we are," and before there could be any protest, she'd drug the Doctor in along with her.

[gone here]