A Day of Autumn
by Camilla Sandman

Disclaimer: BBC's. Me no own.

Author's Note: I apologise in advance if I get something wrong - rather new to Doctor Who. Spoilers for "Parting of the Ways". Implied invented adventures before that. References to Jack, but no real appearance this time. I'm sorry, Jack. Maybe next time if you look very handsome.

Rating: PG. Slight, slight implied naughtiness. Nothing that would warp your mind.

II

Part One

II

It's snowing colour, is Rose's first thought. Red, yellow, blue, something almost like pink. She stands still, her arms spread out, laughing and she can feel his eyes on her even before he speaks.

"Leaves," he says. "The Fannah tree grows only on the tallest mountains and when they shed their leaves, they fall down a long way."

"Rain of leaves," she says and laughs again as she turns to him. He's still leaning against the doorway of the TARDIS, arms crossed, looking at her with that expression she never quite dare decide what means. "Autumn?"

"Autumn," he agrees. "Isn't meant to be autumn."

"That's why we're here."

"Yep."

"Is it going to be dangerous?"

"Probably."

"Lots of running?"

"Almost certainly."

She smiles and reaches for his hand, feeling the warmth of his skin as a wind breathes at her. "Let's get to it, then."

II

She's not sure how long she's been travelling with the Doctor anymore. At first, she counted the days as best she could, marking them down in a little notebook. But she's given up now, especially after the book was eaten by the Taglaxtic rats.

He rides time as a wave and she clings on and how many water drops fall on her suddenly doesn't seem so important.

He'll know, of course, and she can ask him, but she never does. She doesn't ask a lot of things and what she does ask and he answers can still give her nightmares.

Mad grin and charm and silly jokes and all the world of darkness behind. Oh, she knows the shape of him, as much as she can know from the outside. He is TARDIS, always a new room, always walls hiding something much more on the inside.

And she's still there.

Sometimes, she thinks she stays for the grin as much as seeing the rain of leaves on distant planets.

"So this is...?" she asks as they walk

"Fanu'Sha. It's populated by a peaceful species of tree-dwellers," he explains. "Bit like you apes, only smarter."

"Ha-ha."

"No, really, they are. Already been to the stars and decided they preferred the view from their trees."

"Not like me then," she replies.

"No, not like you," he agrees and smiles at her. "Rose Tyler, Time Lord Companion, Jeopardy Seeker Extraordinaire."

"You make it sound like a title."

He doesn't reply, merely gazes up at the looming mountain. Distantly, she can hear the wind through the trees at the top, making what almost sounds like a song.

"In summer, they do sing," he says, still looking up. "This isn't right. It should be winter. They should leave their trees and make for their winter habitats. It's frozen."

"What is?"

"A day of autumn."

"Is that bad?"

She doesn't need to hear his answer to know that it is. He's got that look on his face again, like a storm coming and he at the first wave.

"Yep."

"Good thing I'm wearing good running shoes," she says, mostly to herself.

"But how?" he mutters to himself, then glances at her. "Nice shoes."

She glances down at them to think of a reply, but something moves in the corner of her eye and she turns around.

"Doctor?"

"Mmmm?"

He looks over at her, then notices her gaze and the five aliens standing around, as if they have come up of the Earth itself. His expression doesn't even flicker and she wonders how long he has know they were there.

"Hello!" he says brightly.

Five guns (even alien, she knows a gun from how it's held) raised is all the reply he gets.

"I thought you said they were peaceful," she whispers, edging closer to him without really thinking.

"They are. They're supposed to be, anyway."

"Tell that to them."

"All right." He grins cheekily and turns to what must be the leader, though how he knows, she has no idea. "You're supposed to be peaceful."

There isn't much reaction from the five, and she takes a moment to study them. Long arms, the skin faintly green and the eyes deeply green. The clothes are shades of brown and dark blue and slightly glimmering in the sun. Their heads seem odd, and it takes her a moment to realise it's because they have no ears. Beautiful still, in their own way, as much as she can be a judge on alien beauty.

"I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler and her good running shoes," the Doctor goes on, arms folded and posture relaxed. "And you are...?"

"Taking you to your execution, alien destroyer!" the leader says, voice a song and for a moment, Rose thinks she can hear the wind faintly hum with it.

"Ah." The Doctor nods and looks down at her. "Clearly, they've redefined the term 'peaceful'."

II

As it turns out, no one gets executed on Fanu'Sha without being brought before the Great Singer, leader of the particular part of the planet they've landed on. Rose isn't sure what she expects, but the dwellings high in the trees are not quite it. They seem almost like beehives, round rather than mimicking the straighter lines of the trees. She's tempted to ask the Doctor, but he looks busy sniffing the air, or whatever the heck he is doing. Being Time Lord-y and looking for what's wrong, probably.

Their captors don't seem to have much to say either, merely leading them on carved stairs up, up, up until she thinks they're almost in the sky. The trees seem impossibly large and tall and she when she finally dares a look down, the Doctor's hand is a steel grip on her arm.

"Don't fall," he says, eyes almost dark. "It hurts."

"Wasn't planning to," she mutters and feels something hard in her back as they're pushed into the "beehive" at the top. The windows are round too, she notices, and the sun streams through the leaves and into them, making a strange pattern of light and shadows.

And when she looks down, she realises this is the access level on the top - and downwards, the trunk has been carved into, making paths down into darkness.

"Who are you?"

She looks up and sees what has to be the Great Singer, judging by the nervous glances of everyone else. The colour seems more deeply green on her and the voice is richer, deeper, stronger.

"I'm the Doctor..." the Doctor begins, but the Great Singer merely moves her longest finger, and one of the guards slams an elbow into his gut.

"The dominante female will speak," the Great Singer says, keeping her eyes on Rose.

"Don't!" Rose cries, feeling hands restrain her as she tries to move. "He's the Doctor, I'm Rose Tyler. We're just here to... Uhm, admire you?"

"You should not be here at all. How did you get here? The noise of strangers have not been heard forever. How did you come here? What did you use?"

"Magic?" Rose suggests. "Accident?"

"Perhaps." There is a moment of silence as the leader seems to think, and Rose steals a glance at the Doctor, who merely shrugs, still seeming as calm as can be. "I am Fennea'Sha, Great Singer of the Fanu'Sha. You will dine with me and tell me how you came here, Rose Tyler. Guards, take our other guest down."

Good running shoes might not be quite enough this time, Rose thinks and give the Doctor a small wave as he's dragged away.

II

A change of clothes later and Rose finds herself in another room, at the end of a table with nothing whatsoever of what she would consider food. Some of it seems like dirt, some of it she is willing to swear are pure rocks.

She's gonna have to have a talk with the Doctor about a TARDIS dental plan.

"You came here through time," Fennea'Sha suddenly says, and Rose nearly spits out the rock she's been trying to judge with her teeth where has a soft spot. "Tell me how."

"Why?"

"Winter kills our song, our leaves and trees. I seek life. I seek the secret of time."

Rose has to bite back an urge to laugh. If they only knew...

"Not much I can do," she says brightly instead, wondering if the rock is for sucking at rather than chewing. "I'm not the expert."

"You will change your mind. You have forever."

"What do you mean, forever?"

"Forever." Fennea'Sha looks distant, long fingers clucthing wood. "There is no time. There is no winter. There is only now. But it is broken. The leaves are still dying. I've wrapped us in summer and the leaves are still dying. Autumn has still come. Why? You will help us and the song will be forever."

"What's 'it'?"

The alien draws a line across the wooden table and it parts, and the light turns green. For a moment, Rose thinks it's a piece of the TARDIS in there, but it isn't quite right, just a faint echo of it.

"Time," Fennea'Sha says, eyes bright.

The Doctor was right, Rose thinks. She's looking at what is wrong. And now it's time to do something very, very stupid.

She spits out the rock and clutching it in one hand, she brings it down on time and the world goes all green.

"Whoops."



Part Two

II

It's one of those days again, the Doctor thinks. Time being wobbly, hostile aliens about, no real obvious plan for escape and he's shackled up in a cold tree dungeon - and all he can do is grin madly.

"This isn't funny, Doctor."

"Oh, but it is. You look great in a traditional Sha'Fal dress."

Rose merely rolls her eyes, tugging slightly at her own shackles before slumping down next to him. The green and brown fabric she is wearing clings to her body and looks made for someone a bit smaller. Not that he's complaining.

"We're so in trouble," she says, cleaning against her knees. Knowing what she's told him happened with the leader of the Fenu'Sha, he can only agree.

"You're the one who smashed the Great Singer's great treasure and ensured she'll be down later to torture us both."

"You're the one who went on about something being wrong."

"And I was gonna fix it."

"You're just jealous I stole your thunder."

"All right, Thunder Girl, what's the rest of the plan, then? You're the dominante female, so dominate me."

"You wish."

She shivers and he feels the grin fade from his lips.

"Cold?"

"I'm not exactly wearing much, you'll notice," she says sarcastically.

"Come here."

It takes a bit of doing with both shackled to the wall, but eventually she's leaning against him, hands inside his jacket. He can feel her breath rise and fall, her heartbeat reverberate across his skin.

"Have you ever wanted to freeze time, keep a moment forever?" she asks.

"Yes," he replies and closes his eyes to the memory.

Gallifrey. Life. A moment before the burn, forever and ever. No death. No kill. No change.

And then he wouldn't know her hand in his, his breath mingling with hers.

"Me too," she says quietly. "I'm just not sure what moment."

"Maybe you haven't found it yet."

"Maybe."

She shifts slightly, resting her head against his chest and the weight of her seems no burden at all.

"So weird, listening to your heartbeats."

"Not to me."

The silence lasts a moment longer before she shifts again.

"Doctor? Is that the sonic screwdriver in your pocket?"

"Yes."

"You could have freed us at any moment. What were you waiting for?"

"The perfect one?"

II

The people of Fanu'Sha really should learn to put exits at the bottom of their trees too. He remembers that in the future they will, but that still doesn't change the fact that he and Rose have to climb to the top of the tree (preferrably unnoticed) and then down again on the outside.

"Next time," Rose says, breath ragged, "let's go somewhere flat."

"Yes, O Dominant Female."

Up, up and up, knock down a few guards, up, up and up some more. They're not even halfway to the top when the tree begin to shake. Faintly at first, but soon more and more until it seems an earthquake.

"What's happening?" Rose asks, holding onto the wall with one hand and anchoring him to her with the other. He doesn't tell her he has his own grip on a wall.

"I think time has discovered the tree is supposed to be dead."

"That's not good."

"Nope."

"Can we find somewhere to jump out?"

"I don't know. Can you fly?"

"No. Can you?"

"Never got around to it."

The tree stops shaking for a moment, and he takes the chance to look around. Steps ever upwards and wood and glimmering fabric in the distance.

Ah.

"Rose, go downstairs and grab the gun of the guard we knocked out. Maybe we can blast our way out."

"Okay... Aren't you coming?"

"I'll just see if I can find anything to use up on the next floor."

She nods and then her steps fades into the darkness, hurrying down, down, down.

"I didn't realise she wasn't the dominant one," the voice of the Great Singer says from the darkness.

"You forgot," he replies, looking into the shadows. "You been stuck in this time for so long you've forgotten others are not like you. I'm the expert, but she's my companion. There is no domination."

"Then what is there?"

He doesn't reply, merely waits as the shadow walks haltingly down and the Great Singer walks into the faint light. She's fading, the green turning to brown before his eyes. Dying. There must be death in time.

"I'm sorry," he says, and means it. "What you used... It wasn't built for that purpose. It wouldn't have worked anyway. Time will find its way. It had already started. Your world would have been ripped apart if Rose hadn't destroyed that thing."

She looks wildly at him and her eyes feel like a mirror of something he almost was. "No. How can you know that? How can you...?"

"I think what you used came from my world," he says calmly, even as his mind shakes with memories he can never forget. "Gallifrey, home of the Time Lords. But even we dare not tame it. We follow it, feel it, join it, but some things cannot be done."

He tries not to wish it could, tries not to wish he could trap Gallifrey in life, in a day of autumn such as this forever, nothing ever touching it. He tries not to wish it and fails, yet knows he would never try it.

No change and you might as well be dead.

"I could force you to teach me all you know," she says, but there is no light in her eyes and the song has faded from her voice. "I could kill your companion unless you did."

"You could. And I could tear your planet apart and burn all the trees if you dared harm her."

"How much are you willing to let burn for her?"

"A million stars and all the planets around," he replies, no hesitation. "And she would tell me not to, force me not to. I can't help you. I'm sorry."

The Great Singer slumps against the tree and he takes the chance to bolt downstairs, not bothering to look back. He doesn't think she'll kill, but he'd rather not see it if it turns out to be wrong. It would be too embarassing to face.

He's almost at the bottom when Rose comes running at him, weapon clutched in her hand and a look of determination on her face that fades to relief as she sees him.

"Oh. You took so long. There I was thinking you'd gone to confront some danger without me again."

"You know me, I'm a coward," he replies, and eyes the weapon. "Let's see if this thing can blast us through."

"And then what?"

"Then we run and try not to get hit by falling trees," he says, and grins. "Ready, Rose Tyler and the amazing running shoes?"

"With you, always."

II

The trees fall with great shudders and and beats against the earth as drums in a dirge. He stands with Rose and listens until there is no sound, no song, only the memories of it.

"Did I do this?"

"No. Time did."

"What happens now to this place?" she asks quietly, watching the wind find no tall trees.

"What's always meant to happen. The seasons will come and go, life will spark and die, things will change. Everything changes."

"You're nine hundred years old. I can't imagine you've changed much."

"You have no idea," he says absentmindedly. "Come on, Rose. Time to move on, see a new day somewhere."

"What's next?"

"Somewhere flat. No trees. I know a planet of only crystals and grass and two suns."

"No danger?"

"Not this time."

"No running?"

"No. Walking, if you want. Or we can sit still and watch the suns rise. Trap the moment forever in memory. It might be perfect."

She smiles, a flicker of sadness in her smile still. "Let's get to it, then."

He nods and his hand has already found hers, as it always seems to do. In the distance, the first flakes of snow are falling quietly, bringing end so that beginnings may be too. Ever the change, time's constant companion.

He finds himself hoping he has an ever companion too. Just for today, tomorrow never coming.

"Rose?"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"Keep the dress on."

"Only if you put on something equally revealing."

"Deal."

It's going to be a good day, he thinks.

FIN