justprompts; What is the most meaningful gift you've ever received?
Slivers of orange light stretched across the grated floor, snaking up the coral walls of the TARDIS and blocking Donna’s path. Well, not exactly blocking but she’d come to a stop either way. To the side was a heavy door covered in the same sort of symbols that the Doctor usually scribbled on his post-it notes - they always reminded her of crop circles, which somehow offended the Doctor - left just slightly ajar.
Open door? Strange symbols? Mysterious light? Well, Donna was having trouble sleeping anyway. A quick peek wouldn’t do any harm.
Tiptoeing to the crack, she tried to see inside. Flashes of orange and red light greeted her, occasionally dimming into darkness but that was all. She couldn’t see anyone in the room, nor could she see anything special inside it. Her investigation was going to have to go deeper.
The door proved harder to open than Donna had initially thought. Her slippers slid on the floor but after a moment of struggle she was in. A very sneaky entrance if she did say so. The Doctor was standing in his brown suit, looking out of the strangest thing: a window. A regular old double glazed window.
Donna barely had time to contemplate the window or the lights outside it when the door slammed shut impossible fast, as though the TARDIS herself was locking her inside. The Doctor gave a shout and spun around, trying to hide the window behind a set of thick curtains.
“Donna!” The Doctor’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat. He stood with his back to the window, holding the curtains together. It was like a kid caught in the act of stealing a cookie. “What are you doing here? I thought you went to bed.”
“I couldn’t sleep. But never mind me! What’s a window doing on the TARDIS?” Donna asked, stepping closer.
“What’s wrong with windows?” The Doctor rocked on his feet. “I quite like windows. Well, long as there’s a nice view.”
“Regular windows on a spaceship? Not very practical.” Donna moved to the curtains, not peeking in yet.
“You’ve been on the wrong sorts of ships.”
“So what’s outside it?”
“Who said there’s anything outside?” The Doctor gave her that owlish, innocent stare. The one which, unfortunately for him, Donna was unfazed by. “Maybe I just like windows. They’re brilliant decorations. There’s this planet in the Deneb system that-”
“Don’t try that on me, spaceman.” Donna crossed her arms. “You’ll get off track. I want to know what you’re up to.”
“Donna, it’s not…it’s not even something I should be looking at,” he sighed, leaning back against the hidden window. “I said I wouldn’t look again. I even locked the doors ages ago. I shouldn’t be here.”
“If you’re not supposed to look, then there’s no harm in me looking either,” Donna pointed out.
“It’s private.” Now the Doctor was using that tone that Donna hated. He was closing himself off.
“How private?”
“Very.”
“Then you should share it.”
The Doctor had the nerve to snort. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Then try me.” Donna stood tall. She wouldn’t back down to a challenge, especially ones he made in that mood. “What good will it do you if you don’t say anything?”
“Donna, it’s not-” he began but Donna cut him off.
“I told you. You talk all the time but you never say anything. You never show anyone anything. Sometimes, you have to speak. You can’t expect someone to understand if you won’t let them try.”
The Doctor stared at her. Donna stared right back. Neither blinked nor looked away, making no moves and no sound. Finally the Doctor turned to stare down the dusty curtains, playing with a small tear. Donna glared at the side of his head but he refused to look up. If he was going to play that game, then fine. She turned and headed for the door.
“Donna?”
She stopped, fingers digging into the door in an attempt to pull it open. Looking behind her, she saw the Doctor waiting, actually meeting her eyes this time. His hands were holding the curtains to pull them open.
“Come look.”
Donna stayed in place for a moment before returning. The Doctor inhaled slowly before throwing back the curtains. The bright orange light flooded the room again and Donna was forced to hold her hand to her face. When her eyes had adjusted, she let her hand drop to see.
“Oh my god,” she gasped, hand rising again to cover her mouth.
The Doctor said nothing as she rushed to the window, pressing her hands to the glass. Outside was an incredibly alien world. Fields of red grass with yellow and lavender flowers stretched out for miles in a valley resting between the tallest mountains she’d ever seen. Snow-capped peaks reflected the sunlight - both suns - adding a ring of light to the top of the basin.
Then, without warning, the scene melted away and a new one filtered down. This time it was a massive stone house nestled in the side of one of the mountains. It overlooked a city that could only be described as a mega-metropolis protected in a glass dome, full of shining spires. It was spring here. A young boy played in the garden with a woman, laughing as the wind blew through the flowers. He looked disappointed however when a man called him inside and dragged his feet as he disappeared from view.
The slideshow moved to the next scene. This one featured the same boy but older now. He was dragging another boy towards a lake while several others looked on, some rolling their eyes or laughing before moving on. They all appeared to be wearing similar robes, almost like a school uniform, carrying bags with them. The boy the memories focused on laughed as he reached the lake and took the chance to splash his friend. His friend, meanwhile, did an impressive impersonation of a wet cat.
“Oh my god,” Donna repeated, finally tearing her gaze away to face the Doctor. He was watching as the scene changed again, seemingly absorbed in it. “Doctor…Doctor? Is that…” She stopped herself and switched her question. “What is that? Is there a planet out there?”
“A memory,” he answered softly. “Several memories. Replaying over and over again. There’s nothing there.”
“Memories? …Yours?” Donna looked back out the window. The boy was staring into a strange, swirling vortex in a metal frame, eyes wide. “Is that you?”
“Yeah. Well, was. Long, long time ago.”
“You’ve always been skinny,” Donna remarked. She was happy to see the flicker of a smile on the Doctor’s face. She watched as the boy - the Doctor - made a show of skipping class. “How is that possible? It’s just a regular window.”
“I bought it years and years ago,” he explained, rubbing his neck. “A traveling salesman was trying to sell me windows. I told him I wasn’t interested but he said I could have them display anything I wanted. I chose this. He was a very convincing salesman,” he added as an afterthought.
“You missed home,” Donna said. The Doctor stayed silent. They watched another memory play out. “But if that’s all yours, I mean, if it’s your memories, why wouldn’t you want to look?”
“Because it’s gone, Donna.” The Doctor’s voice grew tight. He swallowed, trying to manage it. “That planet, those people, those times. I can never have it back. Never.”
“It can’t just be gone.” It was strange but when she said it, she believed it wholeheartedly. Donna couldn’t place why. She’d never be able to explain it to him. But she knew she was right.
“Yes, it is. I was the one who did it. I can never go back.” He shut his eyes and Donna looked back at the changing memories. The boy was now sitting under a tree full of silver leaves. The leaves caught the sunlight and for a moment they looked like they were ablaze.
“There’s always hope,” Donna said. When the Doctor didn’t respond this time, she continued on. “It’s beautiful.”
“It was. But everything looks so different when you’re young.”
“That’s how it works for all of us.”
The two stood in silence. At some point Donna took the Doctor’s hand or perhaps he took hers; maybe they met halfway. Her mind wandered as she watched the memories play. His home and his people gone and he thought no one could understand. But Donna stared at the silver trees and imagined if she were the last human. If Earth was gone. If there was nothing left because of a choice she had made…
It was sometime later that the Doctor and Donna found themselves leaving the room. She watched as he locked the door once more, spinning odd dials in the circle language. Donna nudged him and he looked up.
“So, going to explain to me why your lot lived in a giant snowglobe?”
“It wasn’t a snowglobe!” the Doctor groaned. “It’s a dome.”
“Right, like a snowglobe. Even had snow.”
“You can’t appreciate the architectural ingenuity of that dome.” The Doctor rolled his eyes.
“Could’ve made a killing selling trinkets of that,” Donna said, eyes wide. “Imagine the tourists taking home that.” For a moment the Doctor’s look soured. Yet then he gave a snort, a smile cracking across his face. The look sent Donna into a fit of giggles, forcing her to stop in her tracks.
“Donna! C’mon. Don’t wander off!”
“Oh, don’t tell me what to do, spaceman,” Donna snapped. But she smiled as she walked by his side. She’d imagined a world where she was in the Doctor’s place and there had only been one thing she could think of needing; one thing that would matter in the universe that was left.
A friend to share it with.
Note: As usual! This idea came to me while reading a short trip about that window. Supposedly Seven locked it away but I imagine Ten might want one last look. I debated for a while how to do this prompt but I thought it would be best as something he and Donna shared.
Open door? Strange symbols? Mysterious light? Well, Donna was having trouble sleeping anyway. A quick peek wouldn’t do any harm.
Tiptoeing to the crack, she tried to see inside. Flashes of orange and red light greeted her, occasionally dimming into darkness but that was all. She couldn’t see anyone in the room, nor could she see anything special inside it. Her investigation was going to have to go deeper.
The door proved harder to open than Donna had initially thought. Her slippers slid on the floor but after a moment of struggle she was in. A very sneaky entrance if she did say so. The Doctor was standing in his brown suit, looking out of the strangest thing: a window. A regular old double glazed window.
Donna barely had time to contemplate the window or the lights outside it when the door slammed shut impossible fast, as though the TARDIS herself was locking her inside. The Doctor gave a shout and spun around, trying to hide the window behind a set of thick curtains.
“Donna!” The Doctor’s voice cracked and he cleared his throat. He stood with his back to the window, holding the curtains together. It was like a kid caught in the act of stealing a cookie. “What are you doing here? I thought you went to bed.”
“I couldn’t sleep. But never mind me! What’s a window doing on the TARDIS?” Donna asked, stepping closer.
“What’s wrong with windows?” The Doctor rocked on his feet. “I quite like windows. Well, long as there’s a nice view.”
“Regular windows on a spaceship? Not very practical.” Donna moved to the curtains, not peeking in yet.
“You’ve been on the wrong sorts of ships.”
“So what’s outside it?”
“Who said there’s anything outside?” The Doctor gave her that owlish, innocent stare. The one which, unfortunately for him, Donna was unfazed by. “Maybe I just like windows. They’re brilliant decorations. There’s this planet in the Deneb system that-”
“Don’t try that on me, spaceman.” Donna crossed her arms. “You’ll get off track. I want to know what you’re up to.”
“Donna, it’s not…it’s not even something I should be looking at,” he sighed, leaning back against the hidden window. “I said I wouldn’t look again. I even locked the doors ages ago. I shouldn’t be here.”
“If you’re not supposed to look, then there’s no harm in me looking either,” Donna pointed out.
“It’s private.” Now the Doctor was using that tone that Donna hated. He was closing himself off.
“How private?”
“Very.”
“Then you should share it.”
The Doctor had the nerve to snort. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Then try me.” Donna stood tall. She wouldn’t back down to a challenge, especially ones he made in that mood. “What good will it do you if you don’t say anything?”
“Donna, it’s not-” he began but Donna cut him off.
“I told you. You talk all the time but you never say anything. You never show anyone anything. Sometimes, you have to speak. You can’t expect someone to understand if you won’t let them try.”
The Doctor stared at her. Donna stared right back. Neither blinked nor looked away, making no moves and no sound. Finally the Doctor turned to stare down the dusty curtains, playing with a small tear. Donna glared at the side of his head but he refused to look up. If he was going to play that game, then fine. She turned and headed for the door.
“Donna?”
She stopped, fingers digging into the door in an attempt to pull it open. Looking behind her, she saw the Doctor waiting, actually meeting her eyes this time. His hands were holding the curtains to pull them open.
“Come look.”
Donna stayed in place for a moment before returning. The Doctor inhaled slowly before throwing back the curtains. The bright orange light flooded the room again and Donna was forced to hold her hand to her face. When her eyes had adjusted, she let her hand drop to see.
“Oh my god,” she gasped, hand rising again to cover her mouth.
The Doctor said nothing as she rushed to the window, pressing her hands to the glass. Outside was an incredibly alien world. Fields of red grass with yellow and lavender flowers stretched out for miles in a valley resting between the tallest mountains she’d ever seen. Snow-capped peaks reflected the sunlight - both suns - adding a ring of light to the top of the basin.
Then, without warning, the scene melted away and a new one filtered down. This time it was a massive stone house nestled in the side of one of the mountains. It overlooked a city that could only be described as a mega-metropolis protected in a glass dome, full of shining spires. It was spring here. A young boy played in the garden with a woman, laughing as the wind blew through the flowers. He looked disappointed however when a man called him inside and dragged his feet as he disappeared from view.
The slideshow moved to the next scene. This one featured the same boy but older now. He was dragging another boy towards a lake while several others looked on, some rolling their eyes or laughing before moving on. They all appeared to be wearing similar robes, almost like a school uniform, carrying bags with them. The boy the memories focused on laughed as he reached the lake and took the chance to splash his friend. His friend, meanwhile, did an impressive impersonation of a wet cat.
“Oh my god,” Donna repeated, finally tearing her gaze away to face the Doctor. He was watching as the scene changed again, seemingly absorbed in it. “Doctor…Doctor? Is that…” She stopped herself and switched her question. “What is that? Is there a planet out there?”
“A memory,” he answered softly. “Several memories. Replaying over and over again. There’s nothing there.”
“Memories? …Yours?” Donna looked back out the window. The boy was staring into a strange, swirling vortex in a metal frame, eyes wide. “Is that you?”
“Yeah. Well, was. Long, long time ago.”
“You’ve always been skinny,” Donna remarked. She was happy to see the flicker of a smile on the Doctor’s face. She watched as the boy - the Doctor - made a show of skipping class. “How is that possible? It’s just a regular window.”
“I bought it years and years ago,” he explained, rubbing his neck. “A traveling salesman was trying to sell me windows. I told him I wasn’t interested but he said I could have them display anything I wanted. I chose this. He was a very convincing salesman,” he added as an afterthought.
“You missed home,” Donna said. The Doctor stayed silent. They watched another memory play out. “But if that’s all yours, I mean, if it’s your memories, why wouldn’t you want to look?”
“Because it’s gone, Donna.” The Doctor’s voice grew tight. He swallowed, trying to manage it. “That planet, those people, those times. I can never have it back. Never.”
“It can’t just be gone.” It was strange but when she said it, she believed it wholeheartedly. Donna couldn’t place why. She’d never be able to explain it to him. But she knew she was right.
“Yes, it is. I was the one who did it. I can never go back.” He shut his eyes and Donna looked back at the changing memories. The boy was now sitting under a tree full of silver leaves. The leaves caught the sunlight and for a moment they looked like they were ablaze.
“There’s always hope,” Donna said. When the Doctor didn’t respond this time, she continued on. “It’s beautiful.”
“It was. But everything looks so different when you’re young.”
“That’s how it works for all of us.”
The two stood in silence. At some point Donna took the Doctor’s hand or perhaps he took hers; maybe they met halfway. Her mind wandered as she watched the memories play. His home and his people gone and he thought no one could understand. But Donna stared at the silver trees and imagined if she were the last human. If Earth was gone. If there was nothing left because of a choice she had made…
It was sometime later that the Doctor and Donna found themselves leaving the room. She watched as he locked the door once more, spinning odd dials in the circle language. Donna nudged him and he looked up.
“So, going to explain to me why your lot lived in a giant snowglobe?”
“It wasn’t a snowglobe!” the Doctor groaned. “It’s a dome.”
“Right, like a snowglobe. Even had snow.”
“You can’t appreciate the architectural ingenuity of that dome.” The Doctor rolled his eyes.
“Could’ve made a killing selling trinkets of that,” Donna said, eyes wide. “Imagine the tourists taking home that.” For a moment the Doctor’s look soured. Yet then he gave a snort, a smile cracking across his face. The look sent Donna into a fit of giggles, forcing her to stop in her tracks.
“Donna! C’mon. Don’t wander off!”
“Oh, don’t tell me what to do, spaceman,” Donna snapped. But she smiled as she walked by his side. She’d imagined a world where she was in the Doctor’s place and there had only been one thing she could think of needing; one thing that would matter in the universe that was left.
A friend to share it with.
Note: As usual! This idea came to me while reading a short trip about that window. Supposedly Seven locked it away but I imagine Ten might want one last look. I debated for a while how to do this prompt but I thought it would be best as something he and Donna shared.