31 days of ficmas

Bells (Clara/Rose)

Since she was a little girl, Clara Oswald loved hearing the bells chime. She used to sit by the window and listen to them. She found them comforting. They were steady, unchanging, always ringing each hour passing by. They never failed, never were late. They had always been there to fill the hole digging her heart slowly as she was losing her family, as she was falling into a life of loneliness. Her life was rhythmed by the bells ringing. Weddings of friends, funerals of her family, time running its course. The music of life and death. And love.

She had met her by chance in the school they were both working in. She was the new art teacher, and midday was ringing. The students had run out of the room and she was gathering her stuff and cleaning the room. Clara was going to her own classroom when she caught sight of her. The sun was bathing her into a golden halo, and the brunette's heart was echoing the bells. She had lost her sense of time and reason as she observed the blonde. The latter had caught her eyes watching her and smiled shyly at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Their first date happened in a coffee shop. Clara could remember the ringing of the small bell above the door every time someone was coming in. That ringing and the blonde's laugh were the only thing she could remember from that day. It could have been a good or a bad day for her, she didn't remember. Most likely a good one since Rose had wanted to see her again. Date after date, secret meetings in the school when no one was looking, they got to know each other. There were people suspecting something about them and rumours but the women were only playing with them.

Their first kiss happened during the Christmas night. They were walking under the snow right after dinner. Rose was overexcited and kept squealing at the Christmas lights and at the snow. It was amusing Clara actually. Rose had a child's soul, and it was as refreshing as comforting. No one had made her feel so young, so happy and so safe since her mother. She hadn't realised how much she had missed it until Rose came into her life. Perhaps she was the right person. Perhaps she would be the one showing her that there were things worth fighting for. And they kissed in front of a church and its midnight mass as midnight rang.

The future told her just that. Day after day, month after month, their relationship was improving and they were falling deeper in love with each other. They were sharing more and more things and soon enough, they moved in together in a small flat facing one of the churches of the town. Rose knew how much Clara loved the sound of the bells and she had insisted on them renting that one. And every night, they were sitting by the window with a cuppa and listening to the sound of bells chiming. That was during one of those nights that Rose asked for her hand in marriage and the last hit of eleven was still ringing in the air when Clara said yes.

And there they were, holding hands in theceremony room of the city hall, facing the mayor and smiling. It was finallythe day they were getting bounded to each other with a ring, the day theirforever began. Their family and friends were all there to witness their union,to witness them saying yes to a forever they had thought impossible in thepast. They walked through the doors to the sounds of people applauding and ofthe bells ringing the music of love Clara loved so much since forever...