The Defender of Time

Twenty-Eight

Alessia jumped the last three steps and thrust her arms out proudly. "Ta-da!"

The Doctor turned to her from the console and smiled, turning around to lean against it. "I like it," he remarked. "You look very 1950's."

"Good. I tried hard." Her outfit; a yellow pleated pinafore over a ruffled blue blouse, clasped with glassy white buttons across the center of her chest, had come from the depths of the wardrobe. There weren't many things for smaller bodies in there, so she'd had to look hard, but she'd scored.

She didn't really need to change her clothes, but her father had said they were going to the 50s, so of course Clara and Alessia had taken the opportunity to put on fun clothes.

"Are you ready?" Asked her father. He stepped forward and squeezed Alessia's shoulders. When she nodded, he asked, "How about your mother?"

Alessia shrugged. "She's still getting dressed. She was going to do my hair, but..."

Her father smirked, reading her mind. He grabbed her hand and pulled the door open. "Ladies first."

Sleeping Beauty's castle towered above their heads, shimmering in the mid-morning sun. The entranceway was packed to its brim. Parents and children were lined up, peeking over each other for peeks into the park, each of them looking like they were about to experience a trip to Heaven itself. The bright colors of their clothing and cinched waists were every bit 1950, and it was wonderful.

Disneyland in the 1950s. That was in the very beginning of its time.

Come to think of it, there were a suspicious amount of balloons lining the brick walls. Red, white, and blue, to match the banners and signs spaced strategically along the entranceway to show the guests where to walk.

"Is this opening day?" Alessia whispered. She tightened her grip on her father's hand, swallowing hard.

He smiled. "Bingo."

"But I didn't want opening day, Dad! There aren't any good rides on opening day! Gabby went and she got to go on all of the cool rides."

The Doctor stole a look back into the TARDIS, but Clara didn't come out of her outfit-choosing in time to shush Alessia (in that way that only she could really do). "Come on, Less," he tried. "Think of all the history that's going on today! 1955 alone we got the Polio vaccine, Peter Pan on NBC-- ooh, I could go show you that, if you'd like. I ran the wires-- Rosa Parks!"

Alessia shifted the sleeves of her dress and looked down at her Sunday-school shoes. Admittedly, it looked wonderful. Bright, colorful, bursting. She let herself smile. "Alright," she admitted. "This is pretty good."

"There's my little girl!" The Doctor planted a kiss on the top of Alessia's head and pulled her toward the crowd, which was slowly filing through the broad front gates. "Maybe we'll meet the Mr Disney, eh? Wouldn't that be cool!"

"I'm going to tell him how much I loved Fantasia." Alessia found herself beaming now. "That came out before now, right?"

The Doctor blew a puff of air through his lips. "I've no idea. Your Mum'll know."

"What'll I know?" Clara caught up quickly and took Alessia's other hand. She was wearing a red dress which cinched at the waist with a broad belt, and a pair of small white kitten heels. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, and a pair of cats-eye sunglasses rested on top of her head.

"What year did Fantasia come out?" Alessia looked up at her mother, still smiling. "Was it before this?"

Clara hummed and waggled a pair of hair ties in her right hand. Alessia sighed and turned around to have her hair braided. "Which Fantasia?" Clara asked.