To The Moon and Back [A Doctor Who fanfiction]

Waltz Among the Roses

The TARDIS came to a sudden stop, but I kept my grip on the railing. "I'm getting better at staying up." I said to the Doctor. He laughed and snapped, and the doors opened to reveal a palace with a beautiful courtyard. "France, seventeen-sixty-five. Right after Madame de Pompadour's reign ended." I took a step outside and looked around in wonder. "I thought it would be a good place to have some tea, relax in the gardens for a while, maybe attend the masquerade ball tonight."

"There's a masquerade ball tonight?" I asked him in amazement. He laughed and joined me outside, closing the TARDIS doors behind him. "I thought you might like that." He said, smiling at me.

"But I don't have anything to wear," I said. "Well then we'll have to find something for you to wear." He said, sitting down on a bench. He patted the spot next to him and I sat down, taking in the beautiful flowers and perfectly trimmed hedges all around me. "It's all so beautiful here." I said. "It is, isn't it?" The Doctor responded, looking around.

"Did you know that your name means 'wondrously beautiful' in Latin?" He asked, turning to me. "No, I didn't." I responded, surprised. He nodded and looked back at the rose bushes. "It suits you," He murmured. I looked at my lap and smiled, feeling my cheeks grow pink.

I heard people talking and I looked up to see two noblemen in fancy clothing walking towards us. "Hello! You two! What are you doing here?" One of them asked as they approached us. We stood up and the noblemen looked us up and down with looks of disgust and confusion on their faces.

"What are you two doing out here dressed like that?" One of the noblemen asked us. I looked down and realized I was still wearing my shorts and t-shirt. "Oh, we are dreadfully sorry." The Doctor said, motioning for me to stand behind him. "We were actually just about to go change. Our apologizes. Have a lovely day."

Before we could even turn away the other nobleman nodded in my direction. "Is she your wife?" He asked the Doctor. "Yes, she is." The Doctor answered, his face not changing from its blank expression. I turned to him, my eyes widened. "Now if you'll excuse us," He said, ushering me into the TARDIS, slamming the door behind us.

"Why did you say I was your wife?" I asked him, crossing my arms and raising my eyebrows. "Because, a young lady out by herself dressed like that," He motioned towards my sneakers. "Could get herself into lots of dreadful trouble. I simply covered for you." He said. "Oh, well, thank you." I said, taking a step back from where I had been cornering him against the railing.

"Now," He motioned for me to follow him and walked down one of the ramps leading downstairs and into a room on the right. I walked in to see a spiral staircase leading both up and down in the middle of the room, with clothing racks lining the walls and coat hooks with random jackets and accessories scattered throughout the room.

The Doctor walked over to a big wooden chest, opening it and rustling through it. He pulled out various pieces of clothing, tossing them behind him, before pulling out a big satiny dress with a white bodice and undercoat with a peach overcoat and sleeves.

"It's got sleeves." I said, wrinkling my nose but accepting the dress. "Really?" He asked incredulously. "I just gave you a beautiful dress to wear to a masquerade ball in seventeenth century France, and all you say is 'it's got sleeves'?" I laughed. "I'm sorry, it is beautiful. I just thought it would be a little hot to wear." "It'll be chillier in the palace." He said, pulling out a feathery hat to match the dress. "Plus, even if it is still hot, everyone else is going to be hot too so it doesn't matter anyway."

He tossed me the hat and started walking upstairs. "Wait! Where am I supposed to change?" I called up to him. He looked at me over the railing. "There's plenty of space where you're standing." "Wait, you expect me to change out here in the open?" I asked him. "I won't look." He said, rolling his eyes and smirking. He walked all the way to the next floor so I could only see the bottoms of his shoes through the grate floor.

I sighed and held up the dress again, smiling as I studied the intricate swirling patterns on the overcoat. I quickly changed out of my modern clothes and into the dress, fixing my hair in the mirror by the chest before placing the hat on my head.

A few minutes later the Doctor walked back downstairs wearing a big coat, carrying a pair of funny looking shoes and wearing an even funnier looking pair. He stopped at the bottom of the staircase when he saw me, giving me a once over before handing me the shoes.

"If that's how you look then I'm scared to see how I look." He said, shivering. "Hey!" I said, whapping him on the arm. He laughed and I rolled my eyes. "I'm kidding, you look nice, you just don't look like you." He said, offering a small smile. "I find it difficult to believe you know what me is yet after less then twenty-four hours." I replied, putting on the shoes and readjusting my hat.

"Milady," He said, bowing dramatically and offering his hand out. "May I have this dance?" "With pleasure," I said in a mock proper voice, taking his hand. He placed one hand on the small of my back and kept the other slightly in the air. I placed my other hand on his shoulder and we waltzed around the room laughing with joy.

Eventually we stopped and began walking back to the console room. "So, are you ready for the ball?" He asked as he flipped a couple switches on the console. "It's not even sunset yet." I said, looking at the light still shining in from outside in the courtyard. "We have a time machine, time isn't the boss of us." He said, flipping a lever and sending the TARDIS into the time vortex without any shaking this time.

I looked at the windows again to see no light shining from outside. I turned around to see the Doctor holding two masks, both intricately detailed to match our clothing.

I helped tie the Doctor's on and took a look at it. "Why does yours have such a big nose?" I asked, giggling. "Because it's a doctors' mask." He responded. "Back in the day, it was a shameful thing to be a doctor, it was considered embarrassing, and so they wore masks so no one would know who they were." I nodded thoughtfully as he helped me put mine on, which didn't have any nose at all.

"Shall we?" He asked me, offering his arm. I looped my arm through his and he smiled at me. He turned back towards the doors, snapping his fingers, revealing the palace from the front view, beautifully lit up with lights all over the place, with women and men wearing stunning masks arriving and walking up the front steps.

"Let's go party." The Doctor said, grinning.