#i can't keep subjecting my twin to my ramblings

[dimonds456-art]

CUPHEAD CROSSOVER!

@year2000electronics ask and ye shall receive

Ramblings under the cut!

The general idea is that the AU follows a similar story structure to Cuphead, but the lore is similar to Gravity Falls. There's just one key difference: everyone can see and interact with Bill. He just can't really interact with our world. Yet.

Bill is a projection, brought forth by Gideon Gleeful. He would allow Bill free presence, and in return, Bill basically made him famous, AND his Earthen right-hand. So he takes the place of King Dice.

From there, the history is almost the same as GF. Ford came here to investigate anomalies, found Gravity Falls, met Bill, and started building a portal. The possession came with a different cost this time, though; Ford's soul. Bill promised he'd be in good hands and that it's just kinda part of the gig, but because of this, Bill's ability to possess him never left.

Once Ford got the metal plate installed, Bill was limited, sure, but he still had control of the soul contract, meaning he could basically just. Force Ford to do shit. The main limiting factor here is that he has to know where Ford is and has to be able to see him. If he can't see him, he can't control him. Once Ford is in the multiverse, this is the main reason Bill can't get him. He doesn't know where Ford is.

The main story is just everyone in Gravity Falls making really really stupid mistakes. The only person who has not fallen for Bill's games is Stan, who- like Elder Kettle- tried to warn the twins about making bad deals, but ultimately this fell through when they got curious and visited Gideon's tent, where Bill was also observing.

In my interpretation of this AU, Pacifica takes the place of Ms Chalice. She's hurt and alone, and her dad made a deal with Cipher that resulted in. this. I like to think it was a Monkey's Paw type scenario, but my brain is an egg so I'll figure that one out later. Basically Pacifica wants her body back (ghost rules the same as the DLC), so she decides to help Dipper and Mabel under the belief that they can assist her once Bill is defeated.

However, this falls through. However the deal worked, it persists, and Pacifica starts to wonder if she'll always be a ghost. But that's where Ford comes in.

Ford, taking the place of Saltbaker (kinda? kinda.), offers to try and help her restore her physical form. Call in the twins and let's be off let's go. He says he needs to build a machine that could potentially reverse the effects permanently, and he needs parts. So that's what the twins are doing. The cookie is replaced with an astro-physical restorative remote, but a really, really weak one, and it requires a host to work, keeping the idea that one of them will always be a ghost until the machine is done.

The only problem with this plan is that Ford's contract with Bill is not up, and was not destroyed by Dipper and Mabel, and Bill can see him now. So. In short, that ain't Ford.

The parts the kids were gathering were for the portal.

Once they figure that out, we get a Baking the Wondertart equivalent, Bill is defeated, and in doing so, Ford is freed of the contract as well, meaning Bill can't mess with him anymore.

Not sure if Bill lives all the way to the end of this story, but there is a good chance unless I figure out how to kill him, seeing as Weirdmageddon probably doesn't happen here.

Gotta think on it more, but that's the basic idea. First draft. All of this is subject to change hdfsdfjh

[batsydoodle]

truly need to find other people to be neurotic about batman and co with. It's been so long since I've been in a fandom where I'm that invested. I need that sicko to sicko communication. I need somewhere to throw up my AU and brainrot thoughts. I need someone i can look in the eyes and say i need to get that old man pregnant and will look right back at me with understanding and say same

[mushangaa]

Metal

2024/02 (full view) Water | Earth | Metal

Frida, the oldest, her element is Metal and boy does she know how to use it in combat. But instead of cold grey I went with a more loving interpretation. And Bismuth vibes. Iridescent Bismuth has all them colours of her sibs in it too. I talked a bit about her element in relation to Raphaels element (fire) in this post.

And I shall ramble some more in general under the cut.

I just love Frida, or rather the Frida I cooked up in my head since we never got her properly in rottmnt. She is rather mature and responsible, she has a lot of things to keep on top of on the farm and is very business about it, thankfully she shares that load with Raphael, the other oldest sibling TM. But beneath all that she is also a bit of a gremlin like the rest of the fam, she just grew up a little too fast in some ways, but she has not let go of all of that and beneath her mature ways and responsible behaviour there is still a mischievous lil girl that sometimes will engage with the pranks of the youngest or get into some shit with the twins or convince Raph to shenanigans if she feels he has been wound up to tight lately - or full on brawl with him with reckless abandon since those two can't hurt each other that easily since they are matched in strength so Raph can let go a lil of his control and so can she. And like I dunno how to properly explain it in English but Bismuth gains it's fancy colours when it is subjected to moist air (just like silver turns black after a while and so on) and normally it is just grey and I like to relate that to Frida who is a very dark bluegreen black hue and likes simple clothes and muted colours but on the inside she is just as colourful as the rest of them you just gotta give her room to get out of her shell so to speak and be a little less restrained just like you have to dig up Bismuth for it to become colourful. She also normally does not do dresses, she gets one in her family portrait here but usually she tries to not be too femme on clothes, for one she does not like skirts and dresses too much she has a lot of farm work and loves riding, neither of those make dresses practical to her and she'd hate for her father to buy her fancy stuff only to soil or rip it needlessly. She also kinda really dislikes how she gets treated if she does go with more femme clothing - see she is the oldest daughter and a great deal of their yokai neighbours and those in town have a lot of opinions about that. Like how she is approaching the age of needing to be wed and settle down. Or how she is a bit too headstrong and opinionated for a female. Or how she needs a strong hand to reign her in obviously since her poor wifeless dad obviously raised her too much like his boys and yadda yadda and if she does then lean more into her femininity they are all over that since now that.. that is more proper isn't it? Isn't it better like this? She looks so pretty. Anyway so like Frida does not reject her femininity in general but she totally rejects how people around her define it for her and there have been some hands thrown in the past with neighbour boys who tried to court her and on one beautiful occasion Splinter roundhouse kicked a neighbour through the east wall (which the whole family happily repaired together) of their farmhouse after he made some implications about her biological clock ticking and whatnot and maybe wedding her to one of his sons before nobody wants her no more. That all is to say, Frida doesn't exactly do dressed but she does this dress. She calls it her "dress I own for your funeral if you don't mind ya business"-dress. It has magpie colours and shimmers a bit in light, the bottom part has some white flowing feather like applications in there. She fell in love with that one so Splinter got it for her for the special occasions. Frida also is the only one of her siblings who inherited her dads eyecolour.

[ammoniteflesh]

My Rook concept is crystallising... All of this extremely subject to change based on how well it works with the game (and I'm purposefully keeping it p vague so I have wiggleroom) but ramblings below the cut.

Advi Aldwir, dwarf Veil Jumper, rogue (with a view towards the veil ranger spec).

Not sure what caste her family's from yet - going to see if the game chooses for you - but I have an eye towards servant caste or possibly merchant.

Again, the game might choose this for me, but I would love to have her be from the subturranean embassy in Minrathous rather than Orzammar proper.

The bit I have decided on though: Advi was a twin. And, as we know from Myaja and Lucjan, twins occupy a deeply weird position in dwarven society - being considered to have one soul but two bodies.

Advi's twin is dead, leaving her with half a soul. I wanna say their death was Advi's fault, just to tie into that juicy regret theming we keep hearing about!

And in the wake of her twin's death, she has a bit of a nervous breakdown. Dead dwarves go to the Stone, but her twin can't have done - they're not fully dead, because Advi still lives. Where are they, then? Does the other half of her soul still survive somewhere?

So she becomes a surfacer and pours everything she has into investigating the Fade, eventually becoming a Veil Jumper.

[ayotamacheck]

I'm so happy you like Cassandra! I warn you this is messy and kinda long. So possible spoilers for a story not even written?: Basically early on in the story it's discovered, unsurprisingly, that Pufferfish is doing illegal things on the the side so the main gang decides to take matters in their own hands (who is apart of the gang and how is still being worked on, but I know it includes Yuri, Surya, and Scott. Yuri who is understandingly concerned about Cassie farming with a shoulder injury. Surya who becomes best friend #1 and accidental wingman. And Scott who's just here for a good time) As the story goes along Cassie starts having weird dreams and it's revealed that there's some sort of shadow monster thing sleeping deep within the island and Pufferfish is waking it up. So yeah that's a problem.

Then the whole third eye awakening thing happens with the chieftain; Cassie starts doing the bundles and slowly becomes the "vessel" for the Goddess. A domino effect of magical shenanigans happen, the gang becomes "Team Starlet", Ling and the chieftain become team advisors from home base aka the lab. Kira, Wakuu, and a Poyko detective oc I made just for this get involved eventually. And Ben somehow?? Also shoutout to Raj and his coffee and Theo gets the merfolk's support as well.

Lily hacks into Karen's computer at one point. A group chat gets made. Jim probably punches someone. Chaem definitely punches someone. Cassie punches several people. The "final battle" comes along and Cassie legit dies for a second but its okay she gets better. The whole town helps out in their own way even if they realize it or not.... Poor Connor doesn't know what's happening. He's surprised he hasn't had a heart attack yet.

Varying subplots and miscellaneous things involve: Lily going through a sexuality crisis which cultivates in her and Jim having a really sweet moment were she comes out. And then a few days later, Jim nearly goes into shock when he realizes that it's Cassandra of all people Lily likes. Theo's just confused on how Lily ended up dating a jock. Poor Scott gets subjected to an entire combat training montage, thanks to Kira and Cassie, cause they need his archeologist skills in the cavern but he has to be able to defend himself. Also possibly a roommates to lovers situation with him and Charles?? I'm still on the fence. Oh and Cassie keeps quiet about her past for the first half of the story, except to Yuri and Charles cause of health reasons, nobody recognizes her except Chaem vaguely. So when the truth finally comes out everyone's in awe besides Chaem whose just shouting that she knew her from somewhere. And last but not least towards the end (year 4ish?) Cassie's twin brother Jason moves to the island cause of unfigured out reasons.

So yeah that's all I've got so far. I'm so sorry about the length I wanted to ramble more than I thought I did. I really want to write a proper fanfic about it but I have a horrible track record when it comes to stories. Not to mention I don't have a computer to use and I hate using my phone to type stories.... So wish me luck I guess? 😂

YOOO WHAT?? this is literally so cool!!

no joke this reads like it would be the plot of a whole tv show. an AMAZING fic at the very least. all ive got is this summary and im already super invested!! i love the roles you're giving to npcs; the main gang feels like they would be super fun to see interactions between, especially as stuff develops :0 and the portion with lily and jim having a really sweet moment when she comes out is so cute!! wingman surya?? top tier perfect in every way. and the idea of scott getting a whole training montage is so funny i can't 😭😭 (and possible roommate to lovers?? 👀👀 ooh??👀👀)

AND a twin brother at the end too?? amazing??

if you wrote a fic for this id read it so fast!! this is so cool im so invested already 😭 don't apologize about the length at all im loving every word, do not hesitate to send me more if you think it up 👀

[x-other-souled-x]

Dumb ramble time!

Gonna hit whatever cones to mind so this is probably going to be disjointed, but we are having a Lot of Thoughts rn cuz we relaxing hella. Also our phone keeps trying to autocorrect real and correctly spelled and used words into other words, like "we ARE having" became "we ATE having" and many instances of changing "you" to "i" and the other way around, so if there's any of that in here we didn't catch then oops my bad we are zooming and the breaks are broken OKAY GO!

××××××××××××××××

Thinking about it, in the case of introjecting characters, we tend to only pick one guy out of the cast to come live with us. Except in the one case we yoinked The Twins, even tho one of our other introjected members is also canonically a twin and he didn't get his brother. This does sometimes cause feelings of longing and loneliness despite any type of potential exomemory being extremely rare with us.

In-system romantic relationships feels like a touchy subject with us. I mean amongst ourselves anyway. When you have some members who staunchly believe thats "not a real thing" and that it's harmful, but then the majority of the rest of the system is like "nah who gives a shit, it's comforting". It hurts my head whenever it comes up because everyone is so damn opinionated in here. We have some of what would be called "problematic relationships" as well, but it sucks we can't really talk about them. It's not like it's anyone else's business so that helps, but it feels like when you're suppressing expressing yourself. Sucks. What if my love language is being publicly gross so everyone knows how much I'm gonna smooch up my partner?

I think it's stupid when others try to hold traumatized people to some impossible standard of being a "good trauma victim" as if the traumatized beings won't be fucked up in some way. Yes yes responsibility is not being handwaved away here, I'm no talking about that. I mean how hostile some ppl are to dark and taboo themes in fiction and that presenting itself in system members sometimes. Like how I see way too much pedantic bullshit about how any system member who identifies themselves as a younger age than the body can NOT have a sexual drive or they are actually somehow gross and a bad victim. Be for fucking real, will you?

Unfortunately the cozy position we were in to type has been compromised. (Totally chill, normal way.) So although I'm sure we have more to say, we must abandon our comfy post and face the world.

[diabolik-writer]

Umbridges Punishments (George Weasley x Ftm!Reader)

Harry Potter

Slytherin reader!

(It's only hinted at though)

Warnings : Umbridge misgenders you and slight panic attack

A/n: I originally wrote this for an Oc story I am currently writting. I figured it'd be cute as a one shot too. I changed quite a few things, such as the ending and the name to Y/n obviously. I don't know if I'll post the Oc story on here when I get enough of it done, but we'll see. If you like this and wish to read the original writing/story line for this, let me know.

Extra info: Y/n = your name, N/n = nickname, L/n = last name

Pain spread throughout my hand as the quill slid across the paper. I paused, waiting for it to fade, but it didn't. The pain continued to pulse as I wrote; Umbridge hovering behind me, watching as my hand turned red.

This was the fifth time I have been dragged into her office. It seemed like the smallest things got me in trouble. This time, I was just standing close to the Weasley twins when they pulled a prank on a Slytherin. Umbridge grabbed my arm quickly, ignoring the twins, yanking me into her office, where she had me sit down and she forced me to write with her quill. "You know what to write. This time you will write ten sentences." she announced, her hands joined behind her back as she smiled down at me. I whimpered, imagining what I was about to go through. My arm still hurt from the six she made me write last time.

'I am a troubled and useless mudblood' carved into my right hand as I wrote, making me squeeze my eyes in agony. The words continued to appear, causing a hiss of pain to escape my lips. I got to eight before I physically couldn't take it anymore. My hand was shaking and tears fogged my eyesight. I lowered my head, trying to cover my face with what hair I had. Umbridge scoffed and shook her head. "Two more, dear. Wouldn't want that number to double, would we?" I shook my head quickly, making the quill move again and making more words litter my hands.

When I had finished the last two, Umbridge grabbed the paper and quill from me. "Do you get the message, dear?" she asked, amusement laced in her voice. I knew that if I tried to speak, it would've come out weak and broken, so I just nodded. Umbridge seemed satisfied with my answer as she smiled and replied, "Good. You may now go, Ms.L/N."

My heart sank and my stomach flipped. Out of my seven years at Hogwarts, no one has called me "Ms''. They had always called me "Mr'' out of respect for my identity. I had always been accepted for who I was and I was never misgendered at Hogwarts by a professor. I didn't argue or correct her, though. I just stalked out of the room, wanting to get to my dorm room as fast as I could.

I kept my eyes on my shoes, watching for feet around me and avoiding as many people as possible. I could feel tears in the back of my eyes, making my face feel hot. I didn't want to be seen on the verge of sobbing, face red and puffy. I wanted to get to my room so I could cry in peace.

But my luck soon ran out; as I turned around the corner of the dungeon, I bumped into two tall boys, who were walking together. "Woah! Watch where you're-" There was a pause as I looked up. The two gingers that I knew too well, stood there, eyes wide. "Y/n?" They asked at the same time. I ducked my head down, hoping they had missed the red, puffiness of my face. They, of course, were observant and hadn't missed it.

"N/n? What's wrong, love?" Fred asked, worry filled his features. Pain pulsed through my hand again. I clutched my wrist and held my right arm to my chest. It helped ease the pain a small bit. George glanced down at my arm and gently reached out for it. He took it on his own. The long sleeve of my robe, covering my hand. He rubbed it softly, eyes flickering up to mine, keeping eye contact. His chocolate brown eyes were welcoming and made me feel safe. Same with Fred's. Both waited patiently as I slowly rolled up my sleeve.

They both glanced down at the same time and gasped. They scanned my hand, taking in the, now, scars. They burned as George's grip tightened, causing me to flinch. George loosened his hold on me and quietly apologized. Fred's eyes flew up to mine. They were alite with rage. "Who did this to you, Y/n?" He demanded, raising his voice.

The slight raise in his voice sent me into a panic. My breathing began to quicken and the tears I had been holding back began to pour. My body began to tremble like it had when I was writing. Fred's face dropped and he quickly embraced me, apologizing repeatedly.

George and Fred then shared a look, beginning to lead me out of the dungeon. I buried my head into Georges shoulder, as him and Fred's arms wrapped around my shoulders. I only moved my head to see where we were as I heard "Password?" from a woman's voice.

We were at a painting. George whispered the password to her and it opened. I looked up at Fred in confusion. He glanced down, his eyes shone with worry, love, and sadness. He bent down and whispered in my ear, "Gryffindor common room." I backed my face away quickly, making my crying-dazed brain, dizzy. "I can't go in there! It's against the rules. I can't break any more rules." I rambled in a panic. Fred kissed my forehead, we had entered now. The Gryffidors in the room all stared at us. Fred whispered in reassurance, "It'll be alright. They all like you and if they have a problem..." Fred and George shared a look, one that challenged anyone to say something.

They brought me over to the couch, George sitting next to me. Ron and Hermione rushed up to us. "Are you bloody mental? If Umbridge finds out he's in here, we're all doomed." Ron looked like he saw a ghost. Hermione punched his arm and looked over at me. "Quiet, Ron. They wouldn't bring him in if there wasn't a problem. Is he alright?" she asked Fred and George, as I sat looking at my feet. Most of the Gryffindors in the room were watching now with a silent interest.

The twins ignored Ron and George explained what was on my hand to Hermione. George gently took my right hand in his, while Fred talked, and traced the words with his fingers. Harry, who had joined us, sighed. "Umbridge got ahold of you." It wasn't a question. He knew the punishment that was given to me. George looked up from my wrist in his hand, in confusion as Harry pulled his sleeve down. I glanced up in time to see writing scarred on his hand. Some were more faded than others, signalling that he had been subject to multiple punishments too. "She practically takes me in for sneezing. She has this quill that carves what you write into your skin." Harry explained.

George and Fred shared a glare, full of hatred. They were coming up with something to do in revenge. It was obvious. Ron was more focused on the scars on Harry's arm. "Bloody hell, Harry. Doesn't that hurt?" Ron asked, eyes wide. Harry motioned his hand to me, whose face was still rosey and wet from the tears. "Obviously, Ron."

George began to move, letting go of my hand, all eyes fell on him. He laid down on the couch, causing me to move further to the edge to give him space. He started patting his chest, making eye contact, suggesting that I lay down too. I was too tired to think a lot, so I just moved and laid down in between his legs with my head on his chest. George ran his fingers through my hair and I sighed happily. Closing my eyes, the tension in my body slowly disappeared. Around me, I heard Ron, Hermione, and Harry leave, going back to whatever they had been doing previously, Fred likely joining them.

George watched as I relaxed, finally safe from Umbridge's punishments in his arms. My breathing calmed and the feelings in my hand faded as George mumbled a spell to relieve the pulsing pain. I took a deep breath, sinking further into the couch and George. My mind slowed and I started falling into a deep sleep. George's hand continued to run through and play with my hair until he fell asleep as well. 

[owlf45]

Hello! I hear you're a twin, what's it lile being a twin? My first kids are twins and they're about to turn 1 soon, any advice for them? (Or us as the parents?) Also, I love all of your AU's, can't wait to read more!

oh my gosh this is literally. so sweet. im so glad to have received this ask. also early happy birthday for them!!! as for my thoughts about what its like being a twin: i mean, i dont have a lot? its hard to explain. i never remember that i have one. its the equivalent of having a sibling who’s the same age as you, i guess? except youre always around one another and you can never seem to get away from the other. its constant contact all the time. youre always hearing about whats up with them and whatever. and i mean its cool to think about, and its nice if youre taking the same class bc you know whats for homework and you can ask each other about stuff, but it can get pretty frustrating from time to time. there are times it feels like having someone you know you can be with that you can rely on since theyre often there. other times? not so much. as for advice, i hope youre ready for an absolute doozy bc i have a lot of thoughts on the subject (obviously all my opinions and experiences). ill be referring to my sibling as “squirrel” (and myself owl) since they heavily associate with that name. i am going to try not to mention a lot of their capabilities and instead talk about myself for their privacy, but know that theyre incredibly talented and amazing, i just wont talk about those unless i get their explicit permission. also i might add some more later! i’ll ask my mom about it. 

also i deeply apologize for being repetitive here, i’m simply rambling without thought and i didnt organize this too well haha. and if you dont make it to the end i just want to say that people arent mean, they just have a child-like ignorance that can sometimes come across as insensitive. 

so i’ll start with the parents

1. when first enrolling them into school (unless youre planning to homeschool them) i would talk with them about moving them into different classes when they’re entering grade school. (my parents did this with me in first or second grade.) it sounds weird and even mean, but this is absolutely important to do for several reasons. one, this gives both of them an opportunity to form their own connections with different people, and allow them to have stable relationships outside of one another. i find it a little frustrating to see media often stick twins together (especially fraternal twins) and make them so closely aligned that they’re inseparable. (see harry potter and ouran high school host club for popular examples.) this is absolutely how twins grow dependent on one another, and it simply isnt great, especially bc as children most likely than not they do not get along. things can get toxic pretty quick. separation also allows them to develop different interests, talk with different people, and avoid the inevitable bossing one another around. (kids like to embellish, and they cant do that when their twin is hovering over their shoulder, or telling them what to do 24/7, or grating on their nerves. i am at fault for this for doing this to squirrel a lot at a young age, and it strained our relationship.) granted, its good to have overlapping friendships, and keeping one another entirely separate isnt great either, but twins spend a GROSS amount of time together as it is. let them flourish in their own environments where they aren’t scared of being themselves or constantly with their twin, who they absolutely will have arguments with. let them find hobbies, books, TV shows, etc. exclusive to them. let them be themselves before being a twin. 2. please dont compare them. this should go for all siblings but you would not believe the amount of comparison i (and squirrel) constantly faces on a day-to-day basis. its frustrating and its stupid, and its enhanced by the fact that we  are in very similar environments with very similar groups of people and are of the same age. twins will inevitably come to the fact that friends, outside family members, teachers, principals, guidance counselors, etc. will compare their looks, personality, attitudes, mentalities, and effort in the class or on the field. there will always be comments like  (if they arent fraternal) “omg you guys dont look alike. i never wouldve suspected!” or “jeez youre so much smarter than your twin” or, my most hated, “you guys don’t act alike at all!” it is constant, and at times it’s inescapable. id suggest keeping home an environment where comparison is kept little to none. it has caused severe insecurities in both squirrel and i. they’re excellent at so many things im not, and the same goes in reverse. the comparison has made us feel incredibly inferior (although they would never admit it) bc we arent recognized for the stuff we’re good at, but rather what the other is. if one of your kids learns at a different rate, isnt as “good” at something as the other, joins a hobby later than the other, doesn’t perform as well at some kind of craft, try not to compare the other. encourage both and remind them that theyre improving, rather than reminding them about their pesky sibling’s accomplishments. friendly competition is good from time to time, but it sucks when you want to invest in something when your sibling is already really good at it. (for example, squirrel is starting to do art and writing, both of which ive been doing for a long time, and they constantly compare themself to me. this is not a mentality you want to bestow upon your kids.) 3. “oh yes, this is my kid, they’re gay!” “oh yes, this is my child, they have adhd!” “oh yes, this is my child, theyre someone with disability!” “oh yes, this is my child, theyre trans!” “oh yes, this is my child, theyre adopted!” this shouldnt sound right because it isnt. or: please, my dear loving parent, dont introduce your kids to every new person with, “oh yes, this is my kid, they’re a twin! here is their twin!” because it’s not a personality trait and if used constantly it brings with it a handful of insecurities that you are nothing more than a trophy of good luck and genes and that you are nothing without your twin and its not fun. instead, if youre going to introduce them, talk about what they like, what hobbies theyre invested in, or even just say, “here’s my kid, here’s their brother/sister/etc”. they deal with that knowledge all the time. your kids will absolutely talk about being a twin if they want someone to know, but you dont have to do it for them. its a little hard to escape if theyre fraternal, but if not it should ultimately be the kids’ choice if they want to broadcast that information to the world. it can also come across as demeaning depending on the context.  4. being a twin isnt earth shattering. its like the sky is blue. i lived with squirrel my entire life, its not like i one day realized how amazing it is. try and minimize other people’s rude nosiness and never-ending questions, bc the experience was always there and theres a chance they probably dont know what its like to not be a twin. its the equivalent of speaking spanish your whole life and someone randomly coming up to you and going woah you speak spanish??? thats amazing, whats it like? also people seem to think that because youve met a twin youre allowed to ask very personal questions, like: i might be a genetic anomaly but im human not a storybook. so if ever in the situation and your kids seem uncomfortable, i’d try and change the subject.  5. dont fetishize it and stay away from people who do. my previous school had a website, and the first slideshow you saw on their front page was a collage of all the fraternal twins they hosted—all professional photography too btw—who were usually around the age of 6. meaning they most likely didnt consent to it. its gross, and the fact that it was only fraternal twins disgusts me. there are also so many comments about “oh my god too bad you dont look more alike” and that is. gross. so gross.

6. Twins are not a unit. They are two people from the same birth, and that is it.

Also, I don’t know why so many people are surprised when twins act differently, or when they don’t spend that much time together, but try and encourage them to ignore the amount of comments of “wow you don’t act alike!” if there was an age gap no one would be too surprised, yet when youre twins, people expect you to be incredibly similar. and in ways we are, but it feels like youre under pressure to suppress that similarity just so you’re recognized that you’re your own person.

a little note: this habit of suppressing similarity, i think, is what causes the whole “twins are complete opposites” theme. the dichotomous expectations for twins to either be practically the same person or complete opposites will come up, and just remember to try not to project that image onto your kids. appreciate both no matter how differently/similarly they end up developing. 

7. under that note, encourage your kids to find different environments and places to be. again, they’ll spend a gross amount of time with one another, so its important to give them a time and place where they can get away from one another. also remember to share praise with them equally, because a school system wont. 

for example, i tend to be very academically-favored in my education system. squirrel is more focused in other areas, and because of that i was awarded for that more than them by our school. that doesnt make them lesser, theyre far better than me at so many things (that again i cant share) but it really sucks because along with all the other teenage angst you have and all the rampant emotional hormones, it can make insecurities well up real fast. (this too can make twins feel down, especially during college admission season, which is an experience a friend of mine has had.) also, squirrel’s friends tend to tell squirrel that they’re the “mistake twin” (since obviously one of us weren’t planned). its a joke, and they always laugh, but sometimes it sticks. i have to make just as many “im the mistake twin” jokes to “even it out”, which i shouldnt have to do. little reminders that both twins are appreciated go a long way. 8. even though you should encourage your kids’ differences, its important to let their relationship develop and to do things together. squirrel and i bonded as kids a lot over shows, series, etc. danny phantom, minecraft series, anime, other cartoons, games, youtube channels—they’re a great way to sit down and share interests. let them do activities together, go out with one another, go on bike rides, read books together (wings of fire is a great series btw, we bonded over that too.) just things that can allow them to connect. 

i know a lot of what i said was to encourage the diminishing of the “twin unit” label, but it’s okay to let yourself (and especially your kids) to enjoy what it has to offer. have discussions with friends, talk about why it’s cool, make all sorts of jokes! (squirrel and i are ying and yang, for example.) i just want to emphasize the importance of recognizing individuality. 

9. encourage open discussion as much as possible. unfortunately this was not the case for me as a kid, and even today squirrel and I suffer from a dysfunctional relationship because we cant talk about shit feowmiow. its frustrating, especially because whenever they expressed them (i could be bossy and dismissive, squirrel just wanted me to hang out with them and do literally anything with them even though i never did; i always wanted to help them whenever they didn’t understand something, but they always thought i was being condescending) it ended up in a screaming match. please encourage them to talk about their stuff because my whole family cant and its especially rough between squirrel and i because of this fiewofmwo. (this note also goes for parents! make sure they know that they can talk to you if something is upsetting you, about anything really, but know that even talking about “twin problems” is important.) 10. this is going to sound stupid but your kids are going to go to a lot of different hobbies and i suggest having a “family schedule” bc having twins means there’s a lot going on, usually at once. remember to try and share responsibility of who drives whom where and at what time, or who has what appointment and at what time. its a hassle, and it was incredibly stressful for my mom, who did 99% of it. it was a lot on her. 

11. and since it’s on my mind! please make it very clear that its not okay to steal your sibling’s homework if you’re in the same class the day before it’s due to copy down all the answers without their knowledge after they’ve spent a week on it tirelessly gathering all the information themselves. (yes squirrel has done this several times, yes i got really peeved at them, no my parents didnt do anything about it and the behavior continued and it pissed me off fbeuoweifow) 

12. since this is for you, you wonderful parent, i wish you luck and love! its a great experience raising twins. remember that there will be lots of fights but i appreciate you and youre doing amazing.

13. i know from what ive said it seems like people are just. mean but it mostly comes from a place of child-like ignorance! people are so kind and excited about it that sometimes they forget that we’re merely people. since twins are rare it feels like no one talks about it, and i just want to prevent all the things ive experienced from going over your head like it did my own parents. having twins is absolutely awesome and it should be something to be excited about! it just happens that the expectations we’ve created of twins can come across as insensitive from people. dont feel too overwhelmed, most of the twin-related stuff almost immediately becomes old news once you’ve settled in one environment. people stop talking about it as soon as they know about it. once the questions and introductions stop, discussions of being a twin becomes the tiniest portion of a twin’s life feowfmeio  for the kids! its much the same and obviously it doesnt apply much since theyre so young, but i wanted to say it anyway for when they’re older. sorry if it gets a little repetitive: 1. dont feel pressured to be change your interests and talents if they are incredibly similar/drastically different from your twin. just be you!  2. also dont be discouraged from doing something you love or something you want to do because your twin might be involved. fail, mess up at something they’re good at, etc., it’s okay! remember to look at your growth rather than theirs. 3. whenever it gets hard talk it out! share your feelings! 4. even if youre not as popular, or as academically inclined, or as athletic, or as creative as the other, that doesnt make you any lesser than the other 5. when faced with comments that make you uncomfortable, stand strong, and also talk with your friends if they do so! tell them why, they will understand

6. enjoy all the perks of being a twin!! dont feel ashamed of it, have fun, talk about why you like having a twin! remember that it doesnt diminish your individuality. 

here’s a little portion of the advice i got from a good friend of mine, who is also a twin with a bit of different experience: 

i hope this helps! i apologize for overloading haha 

[saiilorstars]

Stars Dance

Ch. 17: The Ghosts of Christmas

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: 11th Doctor x Original Female Character

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Chapter summary: It's the first Christmas the Doctor and his companions get to spend together after putting the universe back together. Of course the Ponds aren't having the best of their honeymoon, and Lena is terrified of a flying shark...but Avalon does get to reenact one of the most classic Christmas stories to make everything all better!

(Previous chapters) // Sequel Story!! 

Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

"I'm not doing it," Avalon crossed her arms as she peered down the chimney of a rather large house, ignoring the pouting Time Lord beside her.

"But it's Christmas!" he sighed in exasperation, gesturing to the chimney that was just begging to be climbed into. He thought this would be something Avalon would literally jump to do. It was part of the classic movies, right? Why was she all frowny in the face then!?

"Yes, and I'm not Santa Claus," Avalon snapped at him. "I am going to take the front door like a proper person." She headed back to the TARDIS when Lena stepped out.

"Guys, Amy and Rory are pretty distressed up in that ship of theirs, what are you both doing here?"

They'd recently gotten a distress call from the newlywed Ponds that the cruise ship the Doctor had brought them to for their honeymoon had entered some sort of problem and the ship was actually going to crash if the clouds in the sky weren't cleared up. Apparently, the clouds were controlled by a family in the planet they found themselves in and for some reason the Doctor thought going down the chimney was the best way to enter the house of the man who controlled the sky.

Avalon felt ready to smack him for being such an...idiot. "Your 'big brother' wants to play Santa Claus and go down that chimney," she sighed.

"Cool!" Lena beamed and shut the doors of the TARDIS before running over to the Doctor, "Can I be one of those helping elves? I think they're so cute."

"No!" Avalon turned to them, gaping at her sister. "Lena, you can't jump into a chimney! Do you know how bad that'll be for your asthma?"

Lena rolled her eyes, "Here we go again," she muttered to the Doctor. She really thought Avalon was finally going to let go of her over-protectiveness and simply have fun. But apparently that was going to be something difficult judging by what they were seeing now.

"It's Christmas," the Doctor called back to Avalon, as if that alone was the perfect excuse, "C'mon, Ava," he hurried up to her, grinning widely, "You're fun, you're...a bit wreckless-"

"I am not!" she huffed and crossed her arms.

"But you're fun," he pointed, "And fun people always take the fun route..." he nodded back to the chimney, "...c'mon, Ava," he poked her hair.

"Don't touch my hair," she closed her eyes with irritation as he continued to do just that, "Don't...Doctor, don't...don't...FINE!" she snapped and startled him enough to back off, "Fine, we'll...play Santa," she huffed again, "But I am not gonna be the elf," she warned.

The Doctor hadn't listened as he'd grabbed her hand and brought them back to the chimney where he peeked again, hearing the loud voice of an elderly man coming below, "Geronimo," he smirked at the twins.

"Not with me you don't," Avalon took back her hand, "You go first and break our fall," she smiled sweetly, hoping that it would make the man realize he was being completely childish and ridiculous and would end up getting hurt.

It was like she didn't know the Doctor at all, thought Lena.

The Doctor clapped his hands together and jumped into the chimney.

"You have got to be kidding me," Avalon sighed while Lena giggled.

"Wonder if he got hurt," Lena peered inside.

"Probably," Avalon shrugged and sighed, "Well...better get it over with," she sighed again, unable to believe she was actually going to do this.

If she still had more space in her journal she would've written about it.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had fallen down the chimney and managed to land with a perfect somersault on the floor. He stood up to greet an elderly man, a family of four with one daughter and son, and a couple of servants. He dusted the soot off himself and grinned, "Ah! Yes, blimey. Sorry! Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, my whole brain just went, "What the hell!" Don't worry, fat fella will be doing the rounds later. I'm just scoping out the general...chimney-ness. Yes," he leaned against the chimney and smirked when he started hearing the shrieks of the twins.

Avalon came toppling down the chimney first and ended on the ground on her stomach. She groaned and lifted her head up to look at the Doctor, "I hate you."

He absolutely grinned at her soot-covered face. "No you don't!"

"Eek!" Lena came down right after and landed on her back, laughing to herself, "Okay, even I have to admit that was fun."

Now the Doctor softly smiled at his baby sister. His hearts warmed seeing her having so much fun again. She was alive and having fun. He still couldn't get over the fact she was back!

"Sorry," Avalon noticed the others after the Doctor helped her and Lena up. "He wanted to play Santa."

"Santa?" the little boy of the family spoke up.

"Father Christmas," Lena offered another alias, "Santa Claus?"

"Or, as I've always known him, Jeff," the Doctor shrugged.

"Shut up, you do not know Santa Claus," Avalon nearly laughed but got paused when the Doctor gave her a smirk. Her eyes widened - did he know Santa Claus? Wait, was Santa Claus real?

"There's no such person as Father Christmas," the boy shook his head, cutting the silence.

"Oh, yeah?" the Doctor pulled out a small, black and white photo from his inside pocket and walked up to the family, "Me and Father Christmas, Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge, 1952. See him at the back with the blonde...Albert Einstein. The three of us together...vrrroom! Watch out! OK? Keep the faith, stay off the naughty list."

"No way!" Avalon snatched the picture right out of his hand to see for herself. "This is impossible!"

Lena sighed and tapped the Doctor on the shoulder. "We have our friends stuck in a crashing spaceship, remember?"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor quickly ran to a large panel filled with buttons of all kinds, "Now, what's this? And I love this, a big flashy lighty thing - that's what brought me here. Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them. Not actually, but give me time and a crayon," he sat on the chair in front of the panel and swivels to face the others, "Now, this big flashy lighty thing is connected to the spire in your dome, yeah, and it controls the sky. Well, technically, it controls the clouds, which technically aren't clouds at all," he stood up and walked up to the elderly man, "Well, they're clouds of tiny particles of ice. Ice clouds, love that. Who's she?" he pointed at a silver chamber containing a woman inside.

"Nobody important," the elderly man, Kazran, dismissed.

"That's rude," Lena frowned.

"Do you know, in 900 years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important before," the Doctor agreed and headed back to the control panel to use the controls, "Now, this console is the key to saving that ship, or I'll eat my hat... if I had a hat. I'll eat someone's hat. Not someone who's using their hat-"

"How about you don't eat anyone's hat and we save Amy and Rory?" Lena raised an eyebrow, making him stop his rambles and see he was once again trailing off into another subject.

"You can't know Santa Claus!" Avalon finally looked up from the picture she'd taken from the Doctor, still unable to wrap her mind around it.

"I do," the Doctor returned and took back his picture, smirking at her. "And those controls aren't working!"

"The controls are isomorphic – one to one - they respond only to me," Kazran informed as he moved up to the Doctor.

"Oh, you fibber... Isomorphic! There's no such thing."

Kazran pulled a switch on the panel and shut down the machine to prove his statement. The Doctor went ahead and used the same switch only to see it wouldn't respond. With a frown, he pulled out his screwdriver and used it over the controls and Kazran. Once he checked the readings he blinked and looked at the others, "These controls are isomorphic!"

"The skies of this entire world are mine. My family tamed them, and now I own them," Kazran explained, getting more and more irritated with the Doctor.

"Tamed the sky? What does that mean?" Lena looked at Avalon, knowing that didn't sound very good for their situation.

"It means I'm Kazran Sardick," Kazran glared at them, "How can you possibly not know who I am?"

"Because we get bored easily," Avalon snapped, not liking the attitude the man had taken with her twin, "Point here is we need your help to save our friends."

"Make an appointment."

"I wasn't asking for your help, I was informing you," Avalon crossed her arms.

"There are 4,003 people in a spaceship trapped in your cloud belt," the Doctor stepped in before the ginger went off with a full temper, "And what my friend is trying to say is that without your help, they're going to die."

"Yes," Kazran nodded.

"I think the correct answer is that you're going to help," Lena spoke up again.

"You don't have to let that happen," the Doctor agreed.

"I know, but I'm going to. Bye-bye. Bored now. ..Chuck!"

Avalon's mouth opened with horror, "You old-"

"I'd watch the tongue," the Doctor pointed at her before she finished her sentence.

"I'll take it under consideration," Avalon mock-glared at him as servants neared them from behind to get them out the door.

The Doctor managed to break free from the servants restraining him and rushed back to Kazran as the man had sat down on his chair, "Ooh, look at you, looking all tough now," the man mocked.

"There are 4,003 people I won't allow to die tonight. Do you know where that puts you?" the Doctor asked.

"Where?"

"4,004."

Kazran let out a small laugh, "Was that a sort of threat-y thing?"

"Whatever happens tonight, remember... you brought it on yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, right. ..Get him out of here," Kazran called to the servants again, "And next time, try and find me some funny poor people."

The Doctor was forced towards the doors along with the twins and family. The little boy took a lump of coal on the ground and threw it Kazran, hitting him on the head. Kazran stood up in anger and headed for the boy with a raised hand to strike with.

"No, stop, don't!" the Doctor struggled to free himself of the servants holding him back.

"Don't you dare! You leave him!" the father of the boy was in the same predicament as the Doctor.

After a moment, Kazran seemed to realize what he was about to do and lowered his hand, "Get him out of here! Get that foul-smelling family out of here! Out!"

Although the family was taken, the Doctor remained in the house, nodding for the twins to go ahead and leave as well. He waited a moment until Kazran noticed he was still there.

"What? What do you want?" Kazran rolled his eyes with irritation.

"A simple life," the Doctor shrugged, "But you didn't hit the boy."

"Well, I will next time!"

"No, you see, you won't. Now why? What am I missing?" the Doctor turned and started to focus on the details of the house.

"Get out! Get out of this house!" Kazran shooed him off to no avail.

"The chairs! Of course, the chairs! Stupid me, the chairs!" the Doctor smacked his own forehead.

"The chairs?"

"There's a portrait on the wall behind me. Looks like you, but it's too old, so it's your father. All the chairs are angled away from it," the Doctor gestured to each chair facing the portraits away, "Daddy's been dead for 20 years. But you still can't get comfortable where he can see you. There's a Christmas tree in the painting, but none in this house, on Christmas Eve. You're scared of him and you're scared of being like him. And good for you, you're not like him, not really. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Kazran blinked.

"Because you didn't hit the boy. Merry Christmas, Mr Sardick."

"I despise Christmas!"

"You shouldn't," the Doctor headed for the doors, "It's very you."

"It's what? What do you mean?"

"Halfway out of the dark," the Doctor mumbled as he finally left.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and the twins were outside of Kazran's home where they spoke to Amy and Rory on the phone. Up in the ship things were growing more and more frantic and so it was no surprise that the first thing Amy said to the group below was, "Have you got a plan yet?"

"Yes, I do," the Doctor answered almost immediately, prompting Amy to respond with...

"Are you lying?"

"Yes, I am," the Doctor bowed his head.

"Don't treat me like an idiot," Amy snapped.

"OK, the good news. I've tracked the machine that unlocks the cloud belt. I could use it to clear you a flight corridor and you could land easily."

Avalon took the phone from the Doctor and scolded him, "Don't give false hope," she rolled her eyes and spoke into the phone, "He can't control the machine, Amy."

"Less great," Amy sighed.

"But I've met a man who can," the Doctor shouted into the phone, making Avalon flinch with his voice right beside her ear.

"Ah, well, there you go!" Amy cheered.

"And he hated you," Avalon reminded the Doctor who stuck his tongue out at her for ruining it again.

"Let me guess, he was being extra charming and clever?" Amy sighed.

"To the max," Avalon nodded even though Amy couldn't see it.

"Say what you want but all I heard is that you thought I was being charming and extra clever," the Doctor pointed at Avalon with a smirk.

"Oh don't get too riled up on that," Avalon looked at him with a smirk of her own, "That was my own Christmas present for you, one nice lie."

The Doctor frowned and pointed at her again when Lena cut in, "Alright, stop it." She looked at both with a scolding face before she took the phone from Avalon.

"Sir, sir," the father of the family they'd been thrown out with came towards the group.

"Hang on," the Doctor told the twins and met with the father, shaking his hand.

"I've never seen anybody stand up to Mr Sardick like that," the father remarked, "Bless you, sir, and merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas. Lovely," the Doctor nodded.

"But a bit busy," Avalon reminded.

"You'd better get inside, though," the father warned.

"Why?" Avalon asked as she looked around.

"The fog's thick tonight, and there's a fish warning."

At that, the trio gave the father an odd look, "The fish?" they asked together.

"Yeah," the father nodded, "You know what they're like when they get a bit hungry."

"Yeah, fish, I know fish," the Doctor looked at the twins, "Fish?" both sisters shrugged in confusion.

"It's all Mr Sardick's fault, I reckon. He always lets a few fish through the cloud layer when he's in a bad mood," the father shrugged, "Thank you. Bless you once again, sir," and with that he hurried on out.

"I'm sorry but did he just say fish?" Avalon scratched her head.

"OI!" they heard Amy's voice from the phone, "The Captain says we've got less than an hour. What should we be doing?"

"Uh, hang on..." Lena said to her while she and the other two looked around and saw small fish swimming around a streelight as if they were moths.

"Fish," the Doctor blinked.

"Fish that can swim in fog?" Avalon frowned, "That's a real thing?"

"How's that for impression Miss Reynolds?" the Doctor shot her back a smirk.

"Now I feel terrible for my lousy present," she playfully rolled her eyes.

He shook his head and stepped closer to the fish, "Now, why would people be frightened of you tiny little fellas?" he held up his hand and let the fish go near it, "Look at you, sweet little fishy-wishies. Mind you, fish in the fog, so the cloud cover... Ooh. Careful up there."

"Big brother, Amy's very adamant about being saved," Lena called, holding the phone from her ear as the ginger shouted over it, "And she says they've got less than an hour."

"I know,' the Doctor mumbled as he glanced at a nearby clock.

"Then best stop messing around with the 'fishy wishys' and get to work," Avalon clapped her hands to get the attention off the fish.

"Big Brother, it's Amy again," Lena sighed, her ear partially ringing from the loud tone Amy was taking with her.

"Oh alright, let's see," the Doctor started pacing as he thought, "Can't use the TARDIS, cos it can't lock on. So that ship needs to land, but it can't land unless a very bad man suddenly decides to turn nice, just in time for Christmas Day!"

"Oh!" Avalon suddenly squealed, startling him and Lena, even Amy as the phone had gone quiet for a moment.

"What?" the Doctor looked back to see her clapping her hands excitedly with a huge smile.

"I got it! I got the plan!" she cheered, "Don't you hear the singing?" she gestured to the speakers of the town that were playing a Christmas song, "A Christmas Carol! A Christmas Carol! A Christmas Carol!"

"I'm scared," the Doctor looked at Lena, never seeing the ginger acting like such a...ray of sunshine? If that even made sense.

"Me too," Lena admitted as she stared at her squealing twin.

"We have to do this," Avalon ran up to the Doctor who instinctively took steps back, "Oh please, oh please, oh please!?" she clapped her hands together, "A Christmas Carol is one of the best stories I've read!"

"That's great...what does it have to do with this though?" the Doctor asked, taking one more step back for caution.

"You said it yourself!" Avalon laughed, "How do we turn a man who's been bitter and mean his entire life? A Christmas Carol!"

The Doctor blinked as he finally got what the ginger was so excited about. Of course, a story, a classic story that Avalon loved. She had the opportunity to play out an entire story...on Christmas...of course she was squealing and clapping about it. That made more sense.

"You are clever," he concluded, "Well done," he did a mock-bow, making her laugh.

"Can someone explain to me, please?" Lena came up to them, "And perhaps Amy?" she held the phone between them, "She's yelling again," she whispered.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and the twins managed to sneak back into Kazran's house, after the servants had 'luckily' won the lottery. The Doctor set up a projection of a young Kazran while the current, elder Kazran slept. With a loud shout of his father in the

projection, the current Kazran awoke with a startle. He was stunned to see the projection of his younger self talking about the fish in the skies when his father came in...and struck him. He quickly stood up from his chair and rushed up to the wall where the projection played.

The trio had entered the room without Kazran noticing and the Doctor cautiously walked up to him and set a hand on his shoulder, "It's OK. It's OK."

Kazran jumped and turned around, angrily shouting, "What have you done? What is this?"

"Found it on an old drive. Sorry about the picture quality, had to recover the data using quantum enfolding and a paperclip," the Doctor stepped back as the twins joined him.

"Oh, I wouldn't bother calling your servants, they quit. Apparently they won the lottery at exactly the same time," Lena crossed her arms with an innocent smile, "Which is a bit lucky when you think about it."

"There isn't a lottery," Kazran pointed at her violently.

"Extra lucky," Avalon remarked as she plopped down in Kazran's chair.

"Who are you?"

Avalon smirked and looked at her sister and the Doctor, "I've always wanted to do this, eek," she took a breath and got into character before she leaned back on her chair, "Tonight, I am the Ghost Of Christmas Past," she dramatically waved her hands.

The Doctor playfully rolled his eyes at her, glad to see she was at least beginning to have some actual fun, "Did you ever get to see a fish back then, when you were a kid?" he asked Kazran who scoffed.

"What does that matter to you?"

"Look how it mattered to you," Lena softly said, gazing back at the projection where the young Kazran cried.

"I cried all night, and I learned life's most invaluable lesson," Kazran turned to her with a dark look in his eyes.

"Which is?"

"Nobody comes. Get out!" he startled them with his shouts, "Get out of my house!"

"Okay, okay, but we'll be back," the Doctor warned as he gathered his two companions and brought them behind him, "Way back, way, way back," they moved to the door where the projection played, the TARDIS waiting behind.

Kazran heard the wheezing sound of the TARDIS slowly leave his house...only to be heard again in his younger self's room...

~ 0 ~

The Doctor excitedly opened the window of young Kazran's bedroom, "See? Back!" he shouted to the recorder young Kazran had on his desk.

"Nice, Doctor, just enter a boy's room without greetings and introductions," Avalon came through the window next and helped Lena last.

"Who are you?" young Kazran asked them all, debating whether he should start calling for help.

"Right," the Doctor agreed with Avalon's statement and turned to the boy, "Hi, I'm the Doctor, that's Avalon and her sister Lena. We're your new babysitters."

"Where's Mrs Mantovani?"

"Oh, you'll never guess!" the Doctor hopped onto Kazran's bed and started jumping on it, "Clever old Mrs Manters, she only went and won the lottery!"

"There isn't any lottery," Kazran frowned and looked at the women.

"She got extra lucky," Avalon shrugged then looked at the Doctor with a sigh, "And so your dad got a babysitter that acts younger than you."

Lena laughed as the Doctor stopped jumping and let himself fall on the bed with a small bounce afterwards, "I would've liked one like that," she shrugged.

Kazran checked his open window and frowned, "If you're my babysitters, why were you climbing in the window?"

"That is a very good point," Avalon mused for an excuse and glanced at the Doctor, "Doctor?"

"Need saving again?" he smirked and raised an eyebrow, earning a mock-glare back, "The answer is simple, really," he turned to Kazran, the boy still expecting an answer, "Because if we were climbing out, we'd be going in the wrong direction. Pay attention."

"Smooth," Avalon rolled her eyes.

"Mrs Mantovani's always my babysitter," Kazran slowly said, still unsure they were actual babysitters.

"Times change," the Doctor peered into the camera, "Wouldn't you say? You see... Christmas Past."

"Who are you talking to?" Kazran frowned.

"You," the Doctor pointed, "Now, your past is going to change. That means your memories will too. Scary, but you'll get the hang of it."

"I don't understand," Kazran turned to the women again, wondering what kind of answer he'd be getting from them.

"I'll bet you don't! I wish I could see your face!" the Doctor exclaimed as he pointed between Kazran and the camera.

"And you're scaring him," Avalon pushed down his finger, "Quit it."

"Yeah, maybe we should focus on the plan," even Lena agreed that the boy looked a bit frightened and confused.

"Right then," the Doctor finally focused and looked around, "Your bedroom. Great! Let's see, you're 12 years old, so we'll stay away from under the bed. Cupboard! Big cupboard, I love a cupboard," he ran up to said cupboard and opened it up, poking his head inside.

"What've you been doing inside cupboards, Fairy Tale Man?" Avalon smirked, even making Lena giggle when the Doctor nearly slipped inside from her comment.

"Ava!" he turned around, a scowl on his face as the two sisters laugh.

"I don't get it," Kazran said to the Doctor, thinking it must have been a girl thing as the women kept laughing.

"Good," the Doctor pointed at him then sighed, "So what are we going to do? Eat crisps and talk about girls? I've never actually done that, but I bet it's easy. Girls! Yeah?"

"I'm not so sure you can do that," Avalon looked at Lena with another laugh wanting to slip out.

"Shut up!" he pointed at her.

"Are you really babysitters?" Kazran had to question again, "You keep arguing..."

"Bantering," Lena corrected with an amused smile.

"Wish it would stop," the Doctor shot Avalon a look before he pulled out his psychic paper and held it to Kazran, "I think you'll find I'm universally recognized as a mature and responsible adult."

Kazran looked at the paper and tilted his head, "It's just a lot of wavy lines."

The Doctor took a look and raised his eyebrows, "Hm, it's shorted out..." he looked up at Avalon who was biting her lip with a smile that was threatening to turn into another laugh. She was making the effort not to laugh but the psychic paper had really done it this time. "Oh alright, have at it!" the Doctor rolled his eyes, resigned to another round of bantering.

Avalon instantly burst into laughter that could probably be heard a mile off. "You shorted out a paper designed to lie to everyone about anything! This is too good!" She clutched her stomach, her face beginning to match the color of her hair from how much she was laughing.

The Doctor huffed after a few minutes. "Okay that's enough!" But Avalon kept going. Her legs almost buckled that she had to go near the bed to keep her footing. The Doctor followed her wobbly walk with another huff. "Ava, c'mon! Stop it!"

"I don't think she can..." Lena remarked, genuinely surprised to see that side of Avalon. She'd seen Avalon laugh, sure, but not even Rory had made her laugh that much, "...well done, big brother," she looked at him with a big grin.

"Welcome...sure..." the Doctor wasn't paying attention as he was focused on the ginger making fun of him, "I know someone who's getting coal for Christmas."

"I never get anything anyways," Avalon wiped some tears from her eyes, "Woah, that was a fun," she glanced at young Kazran, "Sorry about that, kid. Now then, you're right...pretty clear we're not real babysitters."

"That's an understatement," he crossed his arms.

"Oh, smart boy," she raised an eyebrow and straightened up, "Then I can tell you right now that we're gonna be much cooler than a regular babysitter who gives you a bedtime."

"And how are you going to do that?"

"Doctor," Avalon pointed at him, "You're going to show the kid the fish he wants to see."

"You don't have to point," he moved over and pushed her finger down, "But she's right," he nodded to Kazran, "It's going to be fish time!"

"Mind you, that's a bit strange," Lena thought about the creatures, "There's fish in the fog and the clouds..."

"My dad's invented a machine to control the cloud belt. Tame the sky, he says. The fish'll be able to come down, but only when we let them," Kazran said what he'd been told so many times, "We can charge whatever we like."

"Yeah, we've seen your dad's machine," the Doctor sighed, "Big, bad machine," he mumbled.

"Why would you charge, though?" Avalon asked, "Wouldn't it be fun to just let the fish down for everyone to enjoy? C'mon, fish? In the air?"

"Well technically," the Doctor began, "It's-" but he received Avalon's hand on his mouth.

"Like I was saying," she shot him an irritated look, no one needed to know the technicalities of the fish, "We can see a fish right now, and I won't charge you a thing for it," she tapped Kazran on the nose with her free hand.

Kazran raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you going to tell me it's dangerous?"

The Doctor pushed Avalon's hand down and looked at him, "The woman's been to jail many times, she's way past playing the goody too-shoes."

"He's right," Avalon agreed.

"But it's still dangerous," Lena had to remind as she moved closer.

"Dangerous!?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow and stepped beside Kazran, "We're boys," he put an arm around Kazran's shoulders, "And you know what boys say in the face of danger."

"What?" Lena looked at Avalon who already had a hand over her forehead, just knowing the Doctor would come up with something utterly stupid like...

"Mummy!" the Doctor grinned.

"And there we go," Avalon looked up and shook his head at them, "And then the girls-" she pointed at Lena and herself, "-will have to come and save your sorry behinds."

And so, the Doctor's screwdriver had a string tired around it and was hung in the center of Kazran's room, the string rigged up and going through the cupboard door where inside the Doctor held onto it. Kazran sat beside him while the twins across, the camera that would allow the older Kazran to see, being held by Lena.

"Are there any spiders in here?" Lena whispered to Avalon since she was deadly afraid of the creatures.

"No," she shushed her, for they had to be quiet.

"Are you afraid of spiders, baby sister?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Don't encourage it," Avalon sighed, "Why don't we ask Kazran why he likes the fish so much instead of poking at the fears of Lena?"

"I like that idea," Lena meekly nodded.

"Cos they're scary," Kazran went ahead and answered as he saw how pale the brunette woman looked just at the talks of spiders.

"That's a good answer," the Doctor pointed.

"What kind of tie is that?" Kazran looked at his bow-tie with a face that didn't exactly spell 'like'.

"A cool one," the Doctor tweaked his bow-tie.

"Why is it cool?"

"It's not," Avalon whispered, making the boy chuckle.

"Avalon," the Doctor sounded like he was pleading for her to stop.

The ginger playfully rolled her eyes, "So why are you really interested in fish?" she decided to give the man a break for the moment.

"My school. During the last fog belt, the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them, a whole shoal. No-one was hurt, but it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains."

"Were you scared?" Lena wondered, knowing she would probably be screaming about with terror if something like that happened.

"I wasn't there. I was off sick."

"Ooh, lucky you. Not lucky?" the Doctor observed the boy's disappointment.

"It's all anyone ever talks about now, the day the fish came. Everyone's got a story."

"But you don't," Avalon gave a small smile.

"Why are you recording this?" Kazran looked at Lena curiously.

"Do you pay attention at school, Kazran?" the Doctor asked.

"Sorry, what?"

"Cos you're not paying attention now," the Doctor's finger was tugged towards the door via the string, "Sh!" he quickly said as he stood up.

"Doctor, are you sure about that?" Kazran watched the man, debating whether he should stand or not.

"Trust me."

"Okay..."

"Oi! Eyes on the tie. Look at me. I wear it and I don't care. Trust me?"

"Yes," Kazran nodded and looked at the twins.

"That's why it's cool," the Doctor smirked to himself.

"It usually works out fine," Avalon gave a shrug, assuming what the boy was going to ask, "Just be ready to pull him back when he gets into trouble."

The Doctor had taken that as another sarcastic remark and was about to make a comeback...when he realized that had actually been something true. He shrugged and focused back on the doors, "Stay inside..."

"Now are you sure that's the best choice?" this time even Lena was hesitant to let him go out on his own.

"Listen to your sister, baby sister," the Doctor looked back, "And just be ready to pull me out when I get into trouble."

With that the Doctor slowly entered the bedroom and closed the cupboard, seeing the small fish repeatedly hitting his screwdriver, "Hello, fishy. Let's see. Interesting. Crystalline fog, eh? Maybe carrying a tiny electrical charge. Is that how you fly, little fishy?"

"What is it? What kind? Can I see?" Kazran gently knocked on the cupboard to be heard.

"Just stay there a moment."

"Is it big?"

"Nah, just a little one," the Doctor moved closer to the fish, about to try and touch it, "So, little fella, what do you eat?"

And then a shark zoomed into the room and swallowed whole the small fish along with part of the screwdriver.

"How little?" Kazran's voice was heard again.

"Erm..." the Doctor had jerked away from the shark.

"Is it time to pull you back inside, now?" Avalon inquired, the Doctor a bit surprised she'd pick up on the change of mood.

"No, no. Maybe just...wait there for a moment," he tried to play it 'cool' as he slowly made his way towards the cupboard.

"Don't think you can pull one over me, fairy tale man," Avalon warned.

"Yup, sorry," he swallowed and ran the rest of the way back to the cupboard, hastily leaning against the shut doors as the shark banged from the other side.

"What did you do!?" Avalon frowned and tried helping him keep the doors shut while Lena brought Kazran back with her.

"Well, concentrating on the plusses, Kazran's definitely got a story of his own now," the Doctor tried to smile but the shark was getting tougher and tougher, "Also, I got a good look at the fish, and I understand the fog, which'll help me land a spaceship in the future, and save a lot of lives. And I'll get some readings off my sonic screwdriver when I get it off the shark in the bedroom."

"There's a shark in my bedroom?" Kazran gaped, his eyes wide as could be.

"Oh, fine, focus on that part!" the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"It stopped," Avalon whispered and stood off the door.

"What's it doing, then?" Lena trembled with the eery silence that now laid around them.

"What do you call it if you don't have any feet, and you're taking a run-up?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, this is no time for-"

The Doctor didn't wait for the finish of Avalon's words as he grabbed her and pulled her to the others, both falling a bit too close to with each other, while Lena and Kazran had fallen beside them. They looked at each other with mesmerization, even forgetting about a pending danger literally in front of them. Avalon then recalled her newest dreams and blushed like mad.

"It's going to eat us!" came Lena's cry, startling them back to reality.

Avalon cleared her throat and shuffled to turn away from the Doctor and to her twin, "Not on my watch," she managed to say, "Is that your screwdriver, Doctor?"

"Hm?" the Doctor blinked and looked at the shark that was stuck in the doorway with its mouth open with a green glow inside, "Oh, look at that..."

"That looks in reach, right?"

"Are you actually going to stick your hand inside that shark?" Kazran had seen where the woman was headed with her words and gawked.

"Lesson number one, kid, girls are so much better than boys," Avalon shot him a smirk.

"Ah, you will not be doing any of that," the Doctor kept her back as soon as she tried moving forwards, "My screwdriver, my arms," he gestured.

"Fine, but after two goes it's my turn," she gestured to her own arms, "And then Lena...and then Kazran..."

"Get the screwdriver!" Lena cried again, horrified to think of putting her arms inside a shark. She now recalled why exactly she didn't want to keep traveling.

"Right then! OK. Geronimo! Open wide," the Doctor took a breath and moved for the shark.

~ 0 ~

After managing to get his screwdriver back, the Doctor had gotten the rest of the group out into the patio outside Kazran's bedroom, the shark seemingly weaker all of a sudden. It had tried to make a move on them again but after entering the patio, it had slowly fallen to the ground and remained there.

Worried, Kazran moved to its side along with Lena, while Avalon stayed behind them just in case the creature tried to do anything more.

Meanwhile, the Doctor stood a bit to the side, checking his meek piece of screwdriver, "What's the big fishy done to you? Swallowed half of you, that's what. Half a screwdriver, what use is that? Bad, big fishy."

"Doctor? I think she's dying," Kazran called quietly, not wanting to startle the shark.

"Half my screwdriver's still inside, but yeah, I think so," he turned around, "I doubt they can survive long outside the cloud belt. Just quick raiding trips on a foggy night."

"Can't we get it back up there?" Kazran began sniffling, "We were just going to stun it. I didn't want to kill it."

"She was trying to eat you, Kazran," Avalon pointed out the events that had led to the shark's demise, "All of us..."

"She was hungry," the boy defended.

"I'm sorry, Kazran. We can't save her," the Doctor walked over, "I could take her back up there, but she'd never survive the trip. We need a fully functioning life-support."

At that, Kazran looked up with new sudden hope, "You mean like an icebox? OK."

And that was how the trio found themselves chasing after the boy, running down the stairs while Kazran only grew farther away, now even carrying a lamp to lead the way.

On their way to wherever Kazran led there was a large, decorated Christmas tree where the Doctor had to stop and gawk at, "Ooh, a tree!"

"C'mon," Avalon rolled her eyes as she walked past him, yanking him by the arm after her.

Kazran had taken the group into the basement of the house where a large, metal door with a security keypad on the side blocked their way into a new room full of ice by the glimpse they got from a small window. As the Doctor took a better look he saw the room was covered in ice and full of chambers like the one he'd seen earlier.

"What is this?" he asked Kazran with curiosity.

"The surplus population. That's what my dad calls it."

"Well that's nice," Avalon blinked.

Kazran was trying to turn the wheel for the door to open, even Lena trying to help as she thought the boy would need some extra strength. Unfortunately, the wheel wouldn't work, "Oh, it's not turning! Oh, why won't it turn?" Kazran stepped back while the Doctor used his remnant of a screwdriver on the keypad.

"Ah, what's the number?" he saw the keypad asking for the security code.

Kazran shrugged, "I don't know!"

"This place is full of alarms, it's not just the door. I need the number!"

"I'm not allowed to know until I'm older."

The Doctor huffed and ran out without a word, leaving Kazran to call after him.

"He'll be back," Avalon assured as she moved up to the window to take a look.

Just like Avalon assured, the Doctor had come back running only a minute after he'd left, hollering, "7258!" repeatedly.

Lena hurried to the keypad and typed in the numbers, opening the doors for them. Together, they entered the cold room full of thicker fog, Kazran once again taking the lead and sprinting over to a specific chamber.

"Ah, there's fish down here, too," the Doctor looked around as small fishes swam around them.

"Yeah, but only tiny ones. The house is built on a fog lake. That's how Dad freezes the people," Kazran stopped in front of a chamber, "They're all full, but we could borrow one," he pointed at the chamber he stood by, "Yeah, this one."

The Doctor held up the lamp they'd carried in to the chamber's window and saw it was the woman the family had been arguing over, "Hello again," he whispered.

"You know her?" Kazran looked at them all, seeing the similar expressions on each of their faces.

"What is so important about her?" Avalon wondered and blinked, "Sorry, that came out completely wrong," she amended her error with embarrassment, "I meant why this specific chamber? What's the significance?"

"She won't mind. She loves the fish," Kazran quickly typed in a number into the woman's chamber's keypad, starting a holographic video on the window of the chamber for them.

"My name is Abigail Pettigrew, and I'm very grateful for Mr Sardick's kindness. My father..."

"She starts to talk about the fish in a minute," Kazran assured with excitement.

"…but I would not allow it. I could not have chosen this path were it not for the compassion and generosity of the great philanthropist and patron of the poor, Mr Elliot Sardick, but I'm also surrounded by the fish, the beautiful, iridescent, magical fish..."

While the video played, the Doctor took the lamp with him and made a small walk around the other chambers nearby, "Why are these people here? What's all this for?"

Kazran sighed, "My dad lends money. He always takes a family member as... He calls it security."

"Hard man to love, your dad," Lena made a face and looked down at the boy, "But I suppose you know that." She thanked the heavens she had been given the type of father she had. He never struck her nor her siblings and always gave the best he could for them all.

Kazran had pressed more buttons on Abigail's chamber and lighted it up, activating the defrosting, "What's wrong?" he looked over at the Doctor who had been tampering with his screwdriver again.

"Just my half a screwdriver trying to repair itself. It's signalling the other half..."

The twins looked at each other with concerned looks, the same looks slowly making its way onto Kazran's and the Doctor's faces.

"The other half's inside the shark," Avalon breathed.

"Yeah. Sounds like she's woken up," the Doctor nodded, "OK. So it's homing on the screwdriver..."

The shark reappeared with its mouth open for another attack. The group quickly dispersed and ran off as the shark tried to attack once more, some of the chambers were even knocked down with the attempts. While each of them had taken a position to hide in, a new voice had taken over the entire vault room, a singer. With the singing, the shark seemed to have retreated from its attacks and so the group was able to come out of hiding and go check what/who was singing.

It was Abigail, who'd come out of her chamber, and was now singing to the shark, the creature at her side in a complete calm manner.

"It's not really the singing, of course," the Doctor began once he'd rejoined the group, all standing several feet away from Abigail.

"Yes, it is," Lena observed the manner in which all the fishes seemed to grow close to Abigail.

"Nah, baby sister..."

"The fish love the singing, it's true," Kazran agreed.

"Nah. The notes resonate in the ice, causing a delta wave pattern in the fog," but the Doctor stopped with a slap on the back of his neck, "Ow! A fish bit me."

"Shut up, then," Avalon smirked, guessing the fish had meant for him to be quiet so they could hear what they wanted.

"Of course!" the Doctor didn't seem to capture the message, "That's how the machine controls the cloud belt. The clouds are ice crystals. If you vibrate them at the right frequency, you could align them..." he slapped the back of his neck again, "Ow! Why do they keep biting me?"

Kazran rolled his eyes and looked up at him, "Look, the fish like the singing, OK? Now shut up!"

"Okay," the Doctor grumbled and finally stayed quiet like everyone seemed to want.

~ 0 ~

Once the shark had been placed into Abigail's chamber, the group, now with Abigail, had gone into the TARDIS. Upon entering, Abigail and Kazran had fallen into shock of the dimensions of the box.

"It's bigger on the inside," Kazran turned around in a circle.

"Yeah, it's the colour. Really knocks the walls back," the Doctor tapped the chamber on the floor.

"I don't think that's what he meant," Avalon gave him a look.

"Anyways,"" he rolled his eyes, "Shark in a box, to go," he ran to the console to set the box in motion.

Abigail was taking several steps around the room to gaze at every detail of the bigger place, "This is...amazing!"

"Nah, this is transport," the Doctor played innocent, "I keep amazing...out here," he ran for the doors and flung them open to allow them the view of millions of fish swimming among the cloud belt.

"Now that's just showing off," Avalon shook her head but nonetheless ran for the doorway to look out.

"Point one: big brother," Lena congratulated the Doctor as he returned for the chamber, chuckling to herself as Avalon poked her head out the doorway along with Kazran and Abigail.

The Doctor smirked to himself as he punched in numbers on the chamber, "Come on, then, let's get this shark out."

It was only a couple minutes when the shark was finally able to return back to its home with the other fish.

"Hey, look at her go!" Kazran cheered and laughed.

As the Doctor went to close the chamber he saw a couple numbers on the front of it, not belonging to any security code, "Abigail, this number, what does it mean?" he assumed she would know best.

"It pertains to me, sir, not the fish," Abigail tried to keep the smile she'd had since she stepped out of the chamber as best she could.

"Yeah, but how?"

She stepped towards him, slightly sheepish, "You are a doctor, you say? Are you one of mine?"

"Do you need a doctor?"

The bell chiming at the console broke through the conversation and made the Doctor hurry back to to the console.

"Ah! Sorry! Time's up, kids!"

"Why?" Avalon looked back with genuine disappointment, only making the Doctor smirk again of triumph.

"It's nearly Christmas Day," he informed and looked away before he was caught.

~ 0 ~

Abigail and her chamber were brought back to the Ice Vault to resume her 'sleep'. Abigail gave a small, genuine smile at the group, "If you should ever wish to visit again..."

"Well, you know, we're ever in the neighborhood..." the Doctor began to say when Kazran cut in.

"They come every Christmas Eve. Yeah, they do, every time. They promise!"

"We do?" Lena looked over at the Doctor, confused.

"No, we don't..." the Doctor blinked, confused himself, as Kazran closed Abigail's chamber's door.

But it had already been decided, apparently, that he and the twins would come back every year on Christmas Eve for Kazran ans Abigail. The Doctor hoped that by doing this they would be able to help Amy and Rory in the future with Kazran now a good man. So, every year, Abigail was greeted by him, Kazran, and the twins and was taken out to celebrate Christmas Eve. Beginning with a shark - carriage flight throughout the sky and to the rest of time and space. Young Kazran ended up growing up with each visit the Doctor and the twins made, entering his early teens ans finding a new, shy, personality...and a bow-tie.

While Abigail and the older Kazran walked (slowly) towards the console, the Doctor and the twins were battling it out to see where exactly they would be headed for this Christmas.

"You've grown," Abigail tried to be as discreet as possible.

Kazran gave a small nod, "Yeah."

"And now you're blushing," Abigail chuckled.

"Sorry," Kazran looked away.

"That's OK," Abigail shrugged.

"So, Doctor, where this time?" Kazran quickly looked at rhe others in hopes of ending the awkward conversation.

"Weeell..." Avalon discreetly walked around the console, "I've got Hollywood in mind!" she beamed excitedly.

"And I just want a snowy place," Lena remarked.

"And I've got time and space," the Doctor smirked.

"Might I make a request?" Abigail sheepishly stepped up.

"Of course," the Doctor moved over to them.

"This one," Abigail nodded.

~ 0 ~

After Abigail made her request, the Doctor brought them to her sister's house, the family that had been pleading for Abigail's release in the future. The blonde stood in front of a window of her sister's house, wearing a cloak over her. Off to the side stood the rest of the group, watching her begin to quietly cry.

"Who are they?" Kazran didn't understand why they stood in a random street.

"Her family. The lady's her sister," the Doctor answered, "We met her once, when she was...older."

"Abigail's crying," Kazran whispered.

"I think we've noticed," Avalon crossed her arms.

"When girls are crying, are you supposed to talk to them?"

"I've learned it helps," the Doctor glanced at Avalon with a small smile.

She caught the words and shared a look with him, "Yeah, it does..." she whispered with her own smile.

Lena looked between them and assumed it must be something while she'd been 'dead'. She had to admit it was a bit odd to see them closer, even their bantering had changed. Still, she preferred them this way than the early days. She turned to Kazran, about to suggest he go and talk to Abigail when she realized he was already doing that, "Smart guy," she smiled and then gasped, "Do you know what we should do?"

"What did you have in mind, baby sister?" the Doctor wondered, seeing her overly excitedly about something.

"Christmas with the family! C'mon!" Lena took his hand and Avalon's, rushing them for Abigail's sister's house.

~ 0 ~

Christmas Eve had been moved to be celebrated with Abigail's family. Although it was a strange for Abigail sister, Isabel, to see her sister with Kazran and time travelers, she had accepted Abigail right away. And while the two sisters caught up, Kazran had taken to helping Isabel's husband with the house decorations while the Doctor and the twins entertained the children.

The Doctor held up playing cards for the son, "Pick a card, any card at all. Memorize the card, put it back in the deck. Don't let me see it," the son took a card and studied it for a minute then returned it to the deck. The Doctor then took a card out and held it for the boy to see, "The three of clubs."

"No," the boy shook his head.

"You sure? I'm very good at card tricks," the Doctor made a face at the card he'd pulled out.

"It wasn't the three of clubs."

"Well, of course it wasn't," the Doctor chucked the card to the side, "Because it was the seven of diamonds!"

"No," the boy looked at the card with amusement.

"Oi, stop it, you're doing it wrong," the Doctor set the cards down with a huff.

"It's not his fault you're a bad card player," Avalon took a seat beside the boy and picked up the deck.

"Oh, and you can do better?"

Avalon raised an eyebrow, accepting the challenge, "Tell you what, let's make this interesting," she motioned for the son to move over so she could take his place.

"How so?" the Doctor curiously asked as she shuffled the cards.

"I wouldn't do that, big brother," Lena came over as soon as she saw Avalon shuffling playing cards.

"You place your wager and I'll say mine," Avalon smirked.

"Anything I want?" the Doctor ignored Lena's warnings. This was sounding pretty interesting and he could never resist anything interesting.

"Anything," Avalon assured him, her smirk widening once she knew he was hooked. Sucks for him because I always win.

"Fine," the Doctor officially agreed. "If I win, you stop all your sarcastic remarks for the rest of Christmas Eve and Day. No making fun of me at all."

"Difficult, but manageable," Avalon nodded, "I'll take it. But if I win..." she eyed him for a minute as she thought of what she could possibly want from him. She soon noticed the watch on his wrist. He always wore that thing even when he barely looked at the time. "I get your watch."

The Doctor immediately held his wrist wearing the watch to his chest. It was his favorite watch. Yes, he didn't really use it but it was a really cool watch. Why would Avalon want that? To make me suffer that's why, he rolled his eyes.

"Don't do this, please," Lena bent down beside them, almost begging them to stop altogether. But if she was being honest, she knew that they were practically the same person. Both Avalon and the Doctor craved adventure even in the smallest of places...like a stupid card game with a bet.

"Well?" Avalon raised an eyebrow at the Doctor. "Scared of little ole me?"

The Doctor scoffed and lowered his hands to his lap. "It's a deal." He shook hands with Avalon, truly making it official.

"Guys..." Lena tried again but Avalon was already shuffling the cards.

"Same rules go for the game," Avalon warned the Doctor, "Pick a card and study it, put it back and I'll pick out that same card."

"I know how the game works," the Doctor rolled his eyes as he pulled out a card, showing it to Lena, "Lena will be our cheater detector."

"I'm not gonna cheat," Avalon shook her head and held the deck for him to return his card. She shuffled them again and took out a card, "Was this your card?"

The Doctor blinked when he saw his card being held in front of him. "How did...?" he snatched the card from her and turned it around. She couldn't have done it! It was impossible! "That...that is..."

"Hand over the watch, Fairy Tale Man," Avalon chuckled as she set down the deck between them. He was utterly shocked. It was too priceless! "I wish I had a camera right now!"

"That was...but...no!" the Doctor snapped, throwing his card to the side.

"I did warn you not to do it," Lena sighed. "She's a very good card player."

"How did you do that!?" the Doctor was narrowing his eyes on Avalon, searching for anything on her that would prove she hadn't played an honest game. You cheated!"

"Like I said, it's not our fault you don't know how to play," Avalon wiggled her fingers at him. "Watch, now, please."

"Lena!"

"I'm gonna go help decorate," Lena cautiously stood up and hurried away, preferring to stay out of it.

"Hand it over, fairy tale man," Avalon insisted.

"You cheated," the Doctor pointed at her.

"No, I'm just really good at cards!"

"How do you even know how to play!?"

"My Dad taught me," Avalon smirked. "So cough it up."

The Doctor glared for a minute before finally removing his watch from his wrist. A deal was a deal no matter how badly he wanted to take it back. Avalon held her left hand out and watched with giddy smile as he wrapped the watch around her wrist. He had to admit, it was nice to see her openly happy...even if it was because she was taking something of his.

"You like my new watch?" she bared a teethy smile at him as she raised her left hand.

"You are evil," he said flatly, making her laugh.

Isabel suddenly cleared her throat and stood up at the dinner table. "Tomorrow's dinner is cancelled, as my sister refuses to attend."

"Isabella..." Abigail tried to sit her back down.

"Instead...we'll have it tonight," Isabel smiled, surprising the others.

And within the hour, dinner had been set up for everyone to be a part of. They even had all the crackers to pull!

"Three! Two! One! Pull!"

Everyone cheered after seeing the gifts inside, although the little boy was more surprised to see a playing card inside his cracker, "How did you do that?" he looked at the Doctor with awe.

"Your card, I believe," the Doctor pointed, smirking, until...

"No!" the boy laughed and set the card down.

"Oh, shut up!" the Doctor gave up on the game altogether.

"Maybe I can teach you later," Avalon laughed, "And maybe even win your screwdriver this time!" The Doctor looked horrified at that and quickly shook his head, making Avalon laugh even more.

Kazran cleared his throat and raised his glass, "Er, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas!" the rest cheered.

~ 0 ~

Once more, Abigail was brought back to the Ice Vault, the blonde thanking the group for their gift, "Best Christmas Eve ever," she hugged the Doctor last.

"Ah! Till the next one," he stepped back.

"I look forward to it. Now I'd like to say good night to Kazran..."

"Of course," the Doctor nodded, "Well, on you go."

"You really are clueless," Avalon shook her head, "We'll be on our way," she waved at Abigail then took the Doctor back, with the help of Lena, towards the TARDIS.

"Wait!" Kazran rushed after them, "Doctor! I, er, I think she's going to kiss me."

"You are not asking him for advice, are you?" Avalon sighed.

"I can give good advice," the Doctor argued and pushed Kazran towards Abigail.

"I've never kissed anyone before. What do I do?" the teenage boy urgently asked.

"Well...try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky."

"Why?"

"You'll be like that anyway. Make it part of the plan!"

"That is the worst advice I have ever heard!" Avalon exclaimed, though not so surprised by it.

"Well, it's not that bad of an idea," Lena stepped forwards, "Just go for it, Kazran!"

"What, now? I kiss her now?" he blinked with wide eyes.

"Kazran," the Doctor put an arm around his shoulder, "It's this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Don't make my mistakes. Now, go!"

"I am so not gonna let that one go," Avalon pointed and walked off, laughing to herself. "Of course that's what you would do!" her laughter because like a howl all the way into the TARDIS.

"Oh c'mon!" the Doctor went after her, Lena scurrying behind them to try and stop their newest banter.

~ 0 ~

California, 1952.

The Doctor hurried through some bushes that led into the pool area of a lovely Hollywood party. He'd listened to Avalon's request to bring them to the era - that was his first mistake - and even got dressed for the occasion as Avalon suggested...that had been his second mistake.

The third mistake had been listening to her to make friends at the party.

Now, he was on the run to gather up his companions and get the hell out of there. He came to find Kazran and Abigail kissing by the pool, "Guys, we've really got to go quite quickly. I just accidentally got engaged to Marilyn Monroe!" he rambled but the pair did not break apart, "How do you keep going like that? Do you breathe out your ears? Hello? Sorry, hello? Guys, she's phoned a chapel, there's a car outside, this is happening now!"

"Yoo-hoo! Yoo-hoo!" he heard Marilyn Monroe calling for him.

"Twins," the Doctor blinked and dashed off, hoping to at least get them to help him...even if it meant hearing the nonstop laughter of Avalon once again.

~ 0 ~

Lena plopped down beside Avalon at a table, Lena a bit distressed, "I can't find any of our friends," she sighed.

Avalon had a plate of food in front of her, the fork already in her hand, "Who cares, Lena. Kazran and Abigail are probably snogging somewhere and the Doctor is probably getting himself into trouble. Let me eat!"

"What is that?" Lena crinkled her nose at the scent the food was giving off.

"No idea," Avalon shrugged, "Nice fella handed it to me, asked for a dance afterwards."

"Avalon!" Lena took the plate from her before Avalon dug her fork into it, "You can't accept things from strangers!"

"He's a celebrity!" Avalon took back from her plate.

"Oh yeah, who was he?" Lena pulled the plate again.

"Um..." Avalon thought for a moment and realized she didn't have the foggiest idea, "...well, he's a celebrity so everyone knows him! That's not a stranger! Now give me!" she pulled the plate again and finally sunk her fork into it.

"Do you even know what it is?" Lena raised an eyebrow.

"Nope!" the ginger toasted with her fork and was about to put it in her mouth when she heard the Doctor calling for them.

"Ava! Lena!" the Doctor rushed up to them in urgency.

"What happened to you, big brother?" Lena asked, making Avalon look up to see what her sister was talking about.

The Doctor had been dressed in a white evening jacket and black trousers, only now his face wore the smudges of someone's lips on his cheek.

"Who have you been snogging?" Avalon raised her eyebrows.

"Shut up! Help me!" he clapped his hands together.

"Let me eat," Avalon shifted back in her chair, waving him off.

"Oh, don't be so mean," Lena looked at the Doctor who seemed very desperate.

"I'm eating!" but then Avalon tasted a bit of the food and spit it back out. That was horrible. "Okay, what do you need?" she turned to the Doctor, pushing her plate away from her.

"Marilyn Monroe! Engaged! Marriage! Chapel! Help me!"

"Okay," Avalon stood up and took a sip of her drink to get rid of the awful taste, "This is what we're going to do. Lena, give me your bag," she held her hand out as Lena gave her purse.

"What are you going to do?" the Doctor frowned as the ginger pulled out a lipstick tube.

"Oh, I get it," Lena stood up as Avalon applied the lipstick.

"I don't! What's going on!?" the Doctor flapped his hands with urgency, "I don't have time!"

"No, no, it'll be fine. She's done this before and it worked perfectly!" Lena assured and received her purse back.

"What?" the Doctor waited impatiently.

Avalon moved over to the Doctor's side and grabbed his face, kissing the corner of his mouth and making sure her smudge stayed on.

"Wh-what are you doing?" the Doctor stiffened, thoroughly confused.

He was expecting some kind of teasing laughter instead of kisses! Avalon had kissed him on the other side of his face, also making sure that her smudge would stay. He could feel her breath on his skin and frankly it...hadn't felt so bad. He looked down at the wrong time, for her lips were dangerously close and for a split second he wondered what it might be to k...

"Don't forget the jacket!" Lena exclaimed, startling the Doctor from his thoughts.

He blinked and stepped away from them while he gathered himself. What had that been about? He shouldn't have those thoughts at all! It was Avalon, his baby sister's twin (or step-sister, but no one really knew that), the woman who laughed and teased him all the time! What was wrong with him?

"What about it?" Avalon looked back at Lena, sporting her own blush from her kisses.

"It's not gonna work if you don't mess that up too," Lena moved up to the Doctor, "Sorry big brother," she apologized before pulling his bow-tie undone and ruffling his hair, "There!" she stepped back.

"What is the point of all this?" the Doctor frowned moving to fix his hair when Lena smacked his hand, "Ow!"

"No woman wants to share her man, whether boyfriend or husband," Avalon remarked, "Duh. That's why you and Lena are going back to Marilyn where Lena's going to play your wife, or girlfriend, whatever you want. I'll act as the previous woman you've been engaged to."

"And this works?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, full of doubt.

"I've done it before with Mels and it is hilarious." Avalon crossed her arms, "Now go on! I bet Marilyn is getting frustrated!"

"I don't want to be his wife," Lena made a face.

"Thanks baby sister," the Doctor mock-glared at her.

"No, not like that," Lena chuckled, "You're my 'big brother', remember? I feel weird playing your wife..."

"Yoo-hoo!" they heard Marilyn calling.

"Well someone's got to do it or he'll be walking down that aisle in ten minutes," Avalon reminded.

"Yoo-hoo!"

"Ava please!" the Doctor hurried up to her, "Please! Please! Please!"

"Alright, alright," Avalon rolled her eyes, "Stole your watch and I keep making cheap remarks, least I could do is get you out of a marriage," she linked arms with him, "Let's go!"

Lena laughed as they all headed to get the Doctor out of his terrible mess, none of them aware of what was happening with Kazran and Abigail at the same time.

~ 0 ~

The group finally returned back to the Ice Vault to place Abigail back in her chamber, everyone alright and no one married. Abigail and Kazran asked for a moment to be alone before parting but when Kazran rejoined the group afterwards, there was an evident change in his mood and expression.

"There we go. Another day, another Christmas Eve. We'll see you in a minute, eh? I mean, a year," the Doctor clapped Kazran on the shoulder.

"Doctor... Listen, why don't we leave it?" Kazran quietly asked.

"Sorry, leave what?"

"Oh, you know. This. Every Christmas Eve, it's getting a bit old."

"Christmas never gets old," Lena frowned.

"Well, Christmas is for kids, isn't it?" Kazran countered, "I've got some work with my dad now, I'm going to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control."

"Did we bore you or something?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "Or is there something you don't want to tell us?"

"It's just times changing," Kazran shrugged and started walking away.

"Not as much as I'd hoped," the Doctor went after the teen, "Kazran," he handed his screwdriver to Kazran, "I'll be needing a new one, anyway. What the hell, Merry Christmas. And if you ever need me, just activate it. I'll hear you."

"I won't need you," Kazran took the screwdriver and mumbled.

"What's happened? What are you not telling me?" the Doctor eyed him suspiciously but Kazran walked off again, "What about Abigail?" he called.

"I know where to find her," Kazran shouted and disappeared through the chambers.

"Well that went well," Lena frowned, "What happens now?"

"I'll tell you what, the Ghost of Christmas Present happens now," Avalon stared at Abigail's chamber up ahead, "He won't tell us, fine. But he'll have to tell in the present," with that, she hurried back to the TARDIS, "Doctor! C'mon!" she called.

~ 0 ~

As Avalon directed, Amy took the role of the next 'ghost' and projected herself to the older, current Kazran in hopes of changing the man's mind and help the ship in the clouds. Once that didn't happen, Kazran was brought to the Ice Vault...in front of Abigail's chamber. It was there that Kazran explained the illness Abigail had before going into the chamber, the ice barely able to keep her alive. But with each Christmas Eve she spent out of it, her moments of life went down, hence the number in front of her chamber. None of them had realized it had went down to number '1'. She only had one more opportunity to go out before she would die, which was the reason Kazran had forgone the traditional Christmas Eve's.

"We're really sorry about Abigail," Lena had come towards the current Kazran, the Doctor and Avalon behind her, "We didn't know..."

"Because you didn't tell us," Avalon muttered, getting a look from the Doctor to get her be quiet. She was just upset that Kazran had left them to the side and then got angry with them for what happened to Abigail. It can't be their fault if they weren't even informed. But on requests of Lena and the Doctor, she was forced to say quiet about it.

"All my life, I've been called heartless. My other life, my real life, the one you rewrote. Now look at me," Kazran stood in front of Abigail's chamber with a heartbroken expression as he looked into the window.

"Better a broken heart than no heart at all," the Doctor tried to comfort the man.

"Oh, try it. You try it. Why are you here?"

"Have you even read A Christmas Carol?" Avalon huffed, "It's time for the Ghost of Christmas Future. The future's about to be shown!"

"Fine! Do it! Show me! I'll die cold, alone and afraid. Of course I will, we all do! What difference does showing me make? Do you know why I'm going to let those people die? It's not a plan. I don't get anything from it. It's just that I don't care. I'm not like you, any of you. I don't even want to be like you! I don't and never, ever will care!"

"And we don't believe that," the Doctor stood straight, looking the man in the eye.

"Then show me the future. Prove me wrong."

"We're showing you the future right now," Lena corrected, pointing past Kazran, "What do you think, sweetheart?" she called, "Is that who you want to become, Kazran?"

The current Kazran turned around and found his younger 12 year old self standing in front of him, "Dad?" young Kazran blinked.

The current Kazran dropped his cane and went for the boy, about to strike when he got the flashes of his father beating him then of himself trying to hurt Abigail's nephew. He came to a halt and realized the man he had become over the years, certainly not one he wanted to continue to be, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," he reached out to hug his younger self, "It's OK, don't be frightened. I'm...I'm so, so, so..."

"Kazran. We don't have much time," the Doctor reminded.

There was only a couple minutes until the ship above would come crashing down...

~ 0 ~

With Kazran now changed, the group hurried back to the control room to turn off the cloud belt...only to realize the controls wouldn't work anymore. The Doctor realized they had made a mistake in changing Kazran too much. The controls were programmed for a man like Kazran's father, and since Kazran wasn't like that anymore...the controls were useless. Another option had to be thought of and fast because the ship would be coming down soon. The option, when thought of one, hadn't been the happiest of choices but it was the only thing that was sure to work. That was how Abigail had gotten out of her chamber for the last time, to sing for the fishes up in the sky. She stood outside Kazran's house, singing into the Doctor's screwdriver that was wired to Kazran's machine inside.

"Well?" Kazran quietly turned to the Doctor frantically, wondering if it had been worth it to take Abigail's last moments of life.

"Well, the singing resonates in the crystals. It's feeding back and forth between the two halves of the screwdriver. One song, filling the sky. The crystals will align, I'll feed in a controlled phase loop, and the clouds will unlock."

"And in English...?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, young Kazran and Lena wondering the same thing.

"Something that hasn't happened in this town for a very long time now will happen right about..." the Doctor didn't finish when the first couple of snowflakes began falling from the sky.

"Snow!" Lena cheered, "Yes!"

With the snow falling, the other townsfolk started coming out of their houses to celebrate. While the ship did its clear landing, the Doctor and the twins went to return young Kazran to his own time...while leaving the current Kazran and Abigail a familiar gift: a carriage, a harness and a familiar shark swimming above.

~ 0 ~

Once Amy and Rory had been released from the ship, they had quickly went to find their friends, hoping they were alright after such events. They didn't have to do much searching when they heard the calls of Avalon and Lena, both nearly tackled with great, big hugs.

"You guys alright?" Avalon pulled Lena back with her.

"Yeah, yeah, nothing like a crashing ship for a honeymoon," Amy joked and laughed.

"The best, I hear," Avalon joined in with a small laugh.

"Ah, yes, you two! About time!" the Doctor joined them, immediately eyeing the clothing they wore, Amy with her Kissogram outfit and Rory dressed as a Centurion, "Why are you dressed like that?"

The twins chuckled, "You are way too clueless," Avalon mumbled to Lena.

"Ah, kind of lost our luggage. Kind of crash landed," Rory rubbed the side of his neck.

"Yeah, but why are you dressed like that at all?" the Doctor insisted, genuinely curious of the attire.

"They really love their snowmen around here," Amy desperately changed the topic and looked at a nearby snowman, "I've counted about 20."

"Yeah, I've been busy," the Doctor easily followed without noticing the blushes of either married human.

"Yeah, yeah, you have," Amy nodded and hugged him, "Thank you. "

"Pleasure. Right, come on, then, let's go!" the Doctor clapped his hands and headed for the TARDIS.

"Got any more honeymoon ideas?" Rory dared to ask as they followed.

"Careful what you ask for," Avalon put a hand on his shoulder.

"Is that...is that your watch?" Amy looked at the Doctor with confusion when she spotted the familiar watch on Avalon's wrist.

"She conned me out of it," the Doctor muttered.

"Did not!" Avalon exclaimed, "I won it fair and square and Lena is a witness!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Anyways, I do have another honeymoon idea, not sure if anyone's interested. There's a moon that's made of actual honey. Well, not actual honey. And it's not actually a moon. And technically, it's alive and a bit carnivorous, but there are some lovely views."

"Yeah, great, thanks," Rory shot Amy a look and mouthed 'no' to her before going inside the TARDIS with Avalon.

"Are you OK?" Amy looked between the Doctor and Lena.

"Course we're okay," the Doctor nodded and glanced at Lena for confirmation.

"Yeah," she agreed, "Just a bit sad that I'll be leaving."

"You can always stay, you know that," the Doctor pointed, Amy nodding in agreement.

"No, I just...I remember now why I was going to leave the first time around," Lena sighed, unaware of the questioning look Amy was now giving her, "I get scared easily and I become a burden. Plus, it's just not me," she shook her head, "Doesn't mean I don't want to take a trip here and then, it's always fun to be with my friends and sister. But, I think like Avalon, it's time I figure out who I want to be. I'm not going to stay as the 'sick girl' forever." She smiled and went inside.

"That was...wow," Amy didn't even know how to comment on that, "When was she going to leave?" she asked the Doctor quietly.

"Before she died'," the Doctor sighed, preferring not to remember that day.

"And let me guess, Avalon had no idea?"

"None whatsoever."

"Sounds right," Amy nodded and looked up to the clear sky, "It'll be their last day together, won't it?" she sighed when she thought of Kazran and Abigail.

"Everything has to end some time, otherwise nothing would ever get started."

Rory came back out with a concerned expression on his face, "Your phone was ringing. Someone called Marilyn. Actually sounds like the Marilyn. Avalon took the call and it sounds like it's not going so well..."

The Doctor blinked, "Right..." from now on, neither Avalon nor Lena were fans of Marilyn Monroe and vice versa. The blonde woman hadn't been too happy to hear that he had 'tricked' another woman (Lena) into marrying him while he was already 'married' (to Avalon).

"Doctor?" Amy smiled in amusement at his expression, "Something you want to tell us, maybe?"

"You may want to get Ava off the phone, I've learned her words are very colorful when she gets into her temper," the Doctor took a breath and shook his head.

"Yeah," Rory knew exactly how Avalon would get and so hurried back inside.

"Where are they, anyways? Kazran and Abigail?" Amy got over her chuckle from the Doctor.

"Off on a little trip, I should think."

"Where?"

"Christmas."

"Christmas?"

"Yeah, Christmas," the Doctor opened the door for her and let her go inside first. He glanced up with a small smile, "Halfway out of the dark," he went into the TARDIS a moment after.

~ 0 ~

"Oh my one, I'm so happy

That you've got so far

I know the good, the great

Is working you like a charm.

Oh my one, rushing away,

With a bag full of bones,

I know the place you left,

Still won't leave you alone.

The Doctor had come to a stop in the corridors of the TARDIS after hearing those melancholic words. He was looking for Lena since the brunette would be returning to her father and brother in a couple of minutes. She'd just excused herself to say goodbye to Avalon but was expected she'd taken slightly longer. The Doctor knew this would probably be the first time in their lives they would be apart, whether twins or step-sisters they loved each other sincerely. Of course, in his mind Avalon didn't know her status as a Reynolds was in question.

The Doctor had allowed Lena to spend as much time as she wanted in the TARDIS but after some time he was curious to see what the twins were up to. Now hearing the sound of a piano, he wondered if it had been wise for him to allow them the time together if they were going to be sad about it.

He stopped in front of the room the sounds were coming from and found Lena standing by a piano (one that he had no idea even existed in the box) where Avalon sat and played, and sang...sadly. He didn't like it, he didn't like it one bit for either of them to be sad. He strode into the room and cleared his throat, ending the music, which admittedly wasn't bad. He knew Avalon had a lovely singing voice, he just didn't know she had musical instrument talent as well.

"It's Christmas, why are we so sad?" he sighed as he came up beside Lena, giving her a side hug.

"I asked her the same thing," Lena agreed with a nod.

"I like the song, sue me," Avalon tried to defend herself, "I love its chords, the sounds, the lyrics..."

"Gloomy," the Doctor accused.

"I didn't force anyone to stay nor come," she pointed, "Sorry if I was bad."

"No, no, I think you were fantastic," the Doctor quickly clarified, "You're 'Ava Williams', of course you're fantastic!" she managed to smile at his words, "But perhaps your voice could do even better at joyful songs...Christmas songs."

"Hard to do so when you're not exactly in a cheery mood," she ran a finger down the piano's keyboard, "Christmas or no Christmas," she mumbled under her breath as her gaze fell down. "Everything's changing now. Lena's leaving and...I don't know what to do about that."

"Be happy," Lena gave her sister another side hug. "Plus, we've got our matching bracelets now, see?" she put her wrist and Avalon's side by side so the Doctor could see matching bracelets on their wrists. They were both pink and blue but one sister had a little charm with the letter 'L' and the other sister had the charm with the letter 'A'. "Thought they would be a nice gift."

"And they are," Avalon assured her. "Just doesn't mean it makes me any less sad."

"Baby sister, do you think you could give me a moment with Avalon?" the Doctor looked down at Lena, "I'll take you back home right afterwards, promise."

Lena nodded, "Sure," she moved over to Avalon and gave her a big hug, Avalon quickly retreating into it, "You take care, alright? And don't worry about me, you just have fun."

"It's impossible not to worry about you, Lena," Avalon pulled back, "Your my sister..." And she meant that with all of her heart, despite not knowing whether or not she was actually Lena's sister.

Lena felt that ping of guilt in her chest. She still didn't have the courage to tell Avalon the truth. "Yeah," she gave Avalon one last hug. She turned around and gave a nod to the Doctor, hoping that he could do something to help her sister when no one else had been able to.

"I don't need a pep talk, you know," Avalon spoke quietly as Lena left, her fingers playing with the piano keyboard.

"I'm not here to give you one," the Doctor took a seat beside her.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Then what do you want? No offence, but...yeah."

"I just want to know one thing," the Doctor turned to her, looking her in the eye, "One thing that I bet no one has asked you since the wedding..."

"What?"

"How do you feel?"

Avalon stiffened and looked away, "Why...why do you ask?"

"Because you got a strange letter warning you of danger and your sister - whom you've never been separated from - is leaving you. I think it's valid for someone to ask how you feel about that."

Avalon had to agree with that but wasn't going to openly agree, "It's...I don't know," she shrugged, "There's no words that come close to describing it, honestly."

"I get that, but maybe you can say something so it doesn't stay bottled up inside. You remember how that went the last time with your nightmares, right?" for some reason, he saw her blush and was going to ask about it when she spoke again.

She let out a big breath. "I mean, what do you want me to say? That maybe it scares me a little? What'd be the point?"

"Ava, you know it's never a good idea to keep things bottled inside. We've been over this," the Doctor sighed.

"Yeah, fine, maybe I am a little scared. And I'm sad because Lena is leaving but at the same time I'm thinking it's better for her to be away for whenever this thing comes for me..."

"Nothing is going to come for you, Ava, I promise," the Doctor placed a hand on her arm.

"We'll see, won't we?" Avalon gave a brief smirk that the Doctor knew was just meant to make him believe she was better.

"How's about a small gift, hmm?" he surprised her with instead.

"What?" she frowned in confusion. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a rectangular box wrapped in red and green wrapping paper. "What?" Avalon blinked as the gift was held between them, "But...I don't understand..."

"What's to understand?" the Doctor chuckled, "It's Christmas, it's a gift, and it's for you."

"You didn't even know it was going to be Christmas," she took the gift and turned it over, trying to learn what it was by shaking it. "Lena just stopped by a store before leaving, but you-"

"This is sort of something I've been working on for some time. Christmas just happened to complete it," the Doctor smiled, "Go ahead, open it."

Avalon studied the gift for another moment before she began unwrapping it. She found a white box underneath in the shape of a rectangle and took off its lid. Inside laid a silver journal with her initials 'A.H.R.' engraved on the bottom of the cover and a latch binding the journal shut, "It's a journal," she whispered as she took it out the box, "You got me a journal," she looked at the Doctor with blinking eyes.

"Well, yes, but there's more to it," the Doctor was now in complete smiles, nervous, but still smiles, and nervous. Why was he nervous? It was just a journal, "I know you said you didn't want to buy a new one because of the last one's special value to you, but this one might change your mind."

"Not to be rude or anything but I find that a bit difficult," Avalon admitted with a sad smile, "My mother, Emmalina, gave me that journal and it had this…" she swallowed hard, unable to finish her words anymore.

The Doctor set a hand on her shoulder, "I know…that's why I went ahead and did this…" he took the journal from her and kept it between them as he opened it up to the first page, making sure Avalon could see it.

Her eyes widened as she looked at the page that had writing on it, "Oh my god…"

"I didn't look, I just scanned and moved it," the Doctor quickly said before she jumped to conclusions, "I swear."

But Avalon had no doubt about it. Out of everyone of their group, only he and Rory had stayed away from all her writings in the past. She slowly took the journal from his hands and read the familiar words of the first page, "…these are my mother's words she wrote in my first journal. The ones that inspired me to write…" she looked up with teary eyes, "You did this?"

He nodded, "I know it's not the same as the original and that's okay, but this is a very special kind of journal that you'll never finish."

"Why do you say that?"

"Cause it's bigger on the inside," he whispered with pure excitement.

"What?" she frowned and turned the pages of the journal, "It seems ordinary to me…"

"It's like the TARDIS, it's infinitely endless," the Doctor declared, "You can keep writing in this thing forever and you will never run out of pages. It's the ultimate journal. Best of all is it contains all of your original journal's entries with your mother's writing in the beginning, see?" he made her flip to the first couple of pages, making sure to keep a look on the side so she wouldn't think he was looking at her writing, "You'll never have to buy another journal."

"This is…" Avalon bit her lip as she went through her old entries, "…there are no words to describe how perfect this is! It's truly fairytale like," she looked up with a happy smile, "I love it, thank you."

"Merry Christmas, Avalon," he smiled softly.

She hugged her journal with joy at the thought of writing again. Oh she had a lot of things to write about now and she finally could without feeling guilty, "Thank you," she looked at him and kiss his cheek.

As she pulled away, the Doctor had turned his head to kiss her cheek as well but accidentally found himself a bit too close to her lips. That was the second time something like that happened and it was really starting to take a toll on him. It made him feel...odd, not in a bad way but...odd. Avalon realized how close they were to each other and blushed as she looked away, a faint image of her dreams coming back and only making things worse.

"I, um...I think Lena is probably waiting," she finally said, her gaze locked on the piano's keyboard, "We should go take her."

"Um, yeah, yeah, don't worry," the Doctor quickly stood up, clearing his throat.

"Thank you, though," Avalon smiled softly as she gazed back at her new journal. "I won't forget this present ever, trust me."

She really wouldn't.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

To be continued in...Falling in Temptation! 

Thank you to everyone who's read, commented, liked and reblogged! I hope you guys continue onto the second story!

I thought it might be fun to include a couple fun facts about the story while I was drafting? If it was boring then let me know and I'll never do it again xD

Fun Facts:

1. Avalon's name was taken from the street name of my old college!

2. Lena was originally named 'Melina' but since I totally fell in love with the character ‘Lena Luthor’ from Supergirl, I had to make the switch!

3. Originally, I was going to make Avalon confess to her dad that she knew she was adopted - it was going to blow up into a whole argument! I decided against it in the end because I didn't want her to join the Doctor out of anger. This way she joined because she wanted to and she's also going to be safer with him!

4. I originally intended on bringing Avalon along right after the Eleventh Hour but I thought it would be better to introduce each OC separately, leaving Avalon for last since she's the main OC.

Once again, thanks for reading and see you in the next story!!

[umccall71]

Chapter 18

Characters: Prince Liam and MC Lady Saige

Rating:Mature content includes profanity, sexual content,talks about depression.

Word Count:3471

Disclaimer:All characters are property of Pixelberry except my OC Lady Saige. The use of these characters are for entertainment only and i am only borrowing them.

Summary:After a summer of a lifetime,Prince Liam thought he could have it all.He was carefree, free, and sharing time with the woman of his dreams.When life was easy, a balancing act between love and duty, he realizes his truths are lies, wrong is right, and decisions do have consequences. Lady Saige never imagined she would be one of his consequences.When an utter act horror throws her world into a tailspin.

Warning: This series contains subject matter of depression,pregnancy, violence, and sensitive sexual content.The story may trigger certain individuals. Please be advised. If you are reading this series you are acknowledging you are 18+.

A/N:Sorry for the long delay.Things have been hectic in my life for a bit.I had to take some time to focus on my health. Thanks for your understanding and support.

Song inspiration for this chapter is Adele, “To make you feel my Love”

@eadanga @ao719 @silviasutton1989 @rainbowsinthestorm @the-soot-sprite @jared2612 @sashatrr @jovialyouthmusic @smalltalk88 @custaroonie @kuladekiwi @whenyourheartskipsabeat @marietrinmimi @furiousherringoperatortoad @gibbles82 @choices97 @fantasy-of-fiction @romanticatheart-posts @drakesensworld @simsvetements @blackcoffee85 @3pawandme @indiacater @hopefulmoonobject @elles-choices @carabethpow

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LIam sat vigil by her bedside as she laid unconscious...connected to monitors… beeping in the background. Hours ticked on as his friends tried to convince him to rest , or eat, or to stretch his legs...the answer was always, “no, I'm not going anywhere.”

Olivia and Drake felt helpless in this time of need, watching what should be the happiest time in their friend’s lives, married, in love, expecting… they had a bright future ahead of them . THey had Cordonia eager to meet the queen and anticipating the royal heir.The couple spent the night curled up with Liv in Drake’s arms . They were so wrapped up in the moment that they had fallen asleep ,no thought to being discovered.This was the most at peace Olivia had been … in years. She allowed herself to lean on Drake in this time of need.

Liam was jolted from his spot early the next morning when the doctor had crept into check on the queen and to give an update. He carefully avoided giving a full prognosis upon liam's arrival. He had to be certain to give any hope, in what would be the first in many devastating days.

The doctor bowed when he noticed liam's weary ocean blue eyes meet his own chocolate specs. “Your majesty, I am sorry to disturb you. May I speak to you once again in private? I need to be sure that you are aware of where we stand and the next hours for the queen.``he seemed nervous as liam gestured toward the door leading to the hall.

King Liam, Liam Rys… who would best receive this news ? Would the solemn,stoic king allow the severity to pierce his armor? Would it be LIam, husband to Saige , an emotional being… listening to the fate of his family that up unto several months ago he never realized how badly he wanted it?

Liam nodded to acknowledge to the doctor to proceed with the news of what was expected. The doctor let out a deep breath, considering his words carefully, “sir, when your wife was bought in , she had swelling, bruising, and blood around her face and… down between her legs. WE ...we found that she had severe tearing around the entrance of her vagina , and traumatic rectal hematoma after she was.. Raped.”, he paused watching the king’s eyes stretch in horror.

“Sir… do you need a moment?”,he wanted to make sure that liam was open to hear everything that needed to be shared. “We can take a moment if needed.”

Liam shook his head as he fought to hide his heartbreak as he advised, “no… go on.”

“Your majesty, the trauma from the violent way she was entered and the act , caused her body to shut down. Upon her ultrasound we discovered that your wife had an empty amniotic sac and a viable embryo. Meaning that the queen was pregnant with twins, but for whatever reason the body rejected the second embryo. She is still carrying a single child.”,he breathed deeply.

Liam paused,wiped his face filled with shock and pain, “Are you telling me that we conceived twins, but only one child survived?”he felt a lump growing in his throat and his mind racing trying to process what he had just been told.

The doctor interjected, “sir, the next 48 hours after the ordeal your wife has been through are crucial...critical to her pregnancy. She lost a lot of blood and there’s the internal tear near her uterus and the area between her vaginal area and her rectum. She will need around the clock monitoring and care until we are certain… that she has made it over the hump.”

Liam bit his inner cheek trying to hold back the overwhelming emotions that were flooding his mind . He briskly shook his head in the direction of the doctor tapped to care for his queen, and learning there was a greater loss than he had imagined. The doctor offered a sympathetic smile as he patted the king on his shoulder and left him to deal with his inner turmoil.Liam leaned forward ,resting his hands on his knees trying to hold himself and accept that this was no dream, or nightmare. He internally tried to prepare himself, “I need to be strong for them, I cannot let her see me ...in any other state, than composed. He was interrupted from his thoughts by Bastien clearing his throat, making his presence known.

“Your majesty, I am trying to locate Travis to determine where he was during the attack and how he could allow anyone to enter the royal quarters. I have a locator out find him and have him deliver answers.”

Liam barked in a loud, kingly manner, “ I need more than answers! I trusted him to care for my wife, my family, and he failed on both fronts, “he seethed.” Bastien, no one gets any sleep until the animal that did this to my wife… is in my custody”,his nostrils flared and he clenched his jaw as he tried to pull himself together. ``there is no if, it had better be when we get this monster in custody… just go … handle it… now!” Bastien promptly bowed and took off toward the exit. Within mere moments, the door to the private waiting room flew open from observing the raised voice of the king.

“Li… what is going on?… we can hear you throughout this floor.``Drake walked over standing eye to eye with his best friend, eyes pleading for liam to open up… let him help. “What is it brother? I have rarely seen you get upset, let alone raise your voice.``Drake just stared allowing him time to share what was angering him.

Liam’s blue eyes became clouded with tearing on the brink of breaking free.Drake and Olivia ushered Liam into Saige’s room to speak in private. He shook his no to the location, when they turned and led him across the hall to the private waiting room. The room was colored in a sage green paint, faux greenery on the coffee tables, an off white lamp struggling to emit light, and a polyester couch. Drake closed the blinds to the hall to provide a sanctuary for his friend that was struggling to make sense of the events of the last 48 hours. Liam exhaled a labored breath that seemed to open pandora’s box. The tears slowly tracked down his face. “How… how do I help make sense of what happened , when I have no clue myself?”he spoke through broken sobs and a whisper. “I was just joking and laughing with her the night before she was found in … in our home.”,he became dizzy from the thoughts battling within. “Saige is my life, she is everything I never knew I needed. She epitomizes every possible dream. So why.. Why would someone hurt her so savagely?! We were counting the days until I got home.. Until I got back to them. She shared how she was exhausted and had an early dinner to turn in. She just needed to rest… she was looking forward to her appointment the next morning. She laughed about meeting you, and how you would never leave alone, ``he forced a small smile. “I had even mentioned asking if you would stay with her until I got home… she didn't want you to feel like you were babysitting. She told me you had a life of your own, a home of your own to take care of. She .. she didn't want anyone to feel that she was a burden.Guys she even turned me down from traveling to Italy so she could be a good mom from the start and keep her appointment, `` he rambled on. “Doesn't she know I could have had an army of doctors to travel with us. What is the use of being a king, if you can't protect your own damn family?!”, he turned and punched a hole in the sheetrock wall.

Olivia covered her mouth and turned away from Liam as she too fought back tears for her friend’s loss and expected pain.Drake subtly reached out to touch Olivia’s softly. That tender moment meant so much to her, she turned around, flashing a grateful smile before kneeling down in front of Liam. “Oh Liam… I'm so sorry for you both. You lost a child too, but you can be there for the other baby .”,she quietly spoke gaging his reaction.

“Thanks Liv… thank you both for being here . THis has shown me that you have to hold on tightly to the people that are important in your life. Once we weather this storm, Saige will not go a day without knowing how important she is in my life”,he sniffled. “ You two.. You need to cherish each other.” Olivia and Drake’s eyes both stretched and they launched into a denial . Liam cut them off , “I know that you two are involved… I have known for a few weeks, accidentally of course. I'm happy for you both, just enjoy whatever this is that developing between you.”, liam forced a smile and left the room to return to the bedside of the love of his life.

When liam re-entered he quietly approached the bed, studying the injuries of her face. Each mark telling a story of an abomination that no one should ever have to endure, especially in their home.He softly traced her porcelain skin, darkened by the pigment of the bruises and swelling. He took her left in his own, running his thumb over the set of diamond rings. He grimaced as his red rimmed eyes and heavy heart sat by silently chiding himself for ever subjecting her to this kind of pain. “My love… all I ever wanted was your happiness… hopefully that was with me. I wish that I can away all of your pain, all of the heartaches, all of feelings that I know you will take on. A soul as pure as yours , should never have to face the kind of….torment that you have. I know that what you did… you did for me Saige. If you had your way...you would have remained in the states. You are here...because of me. I want you to feel my love… feel everything we experienced on our wedding day.I don't want these impending nightmares to creep into the corners of your mind.”

Liam fished out his smart phone and thumbed to the playlist that he and Saige found strength in when things were rough trying to move forward. His finger landed on one of their favorite songs. He nodded and locked his eyes on her still form pressing play. The sound of Adele quietly filling the room ,drowning out the beeps of the monitors.

When the rain is blowing in your face

And the whole world is on your case

I could offer you a warm embrace

To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows and the stars appear

And there is no one there to dry your tears

I could hold you for a million years

To make you feel my love

I know you haven't made your mind up yet

But I will never do you wrong

I've known it from the moment that we met

No doubt in my mind where you belong

I'd go hungry; I'd go black and blue

I'd go crawling down the avenue

No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do

To make you feel my love

The storms are raging on the rolling sea

And on the highway of regret

The winds of change are blowing wild and free

You ain't seen nothing like me yet

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true

Nothing that I wouldn't do

Go to the ends of the Earth for you

To make you feel my love

To make you feel my love

As the melody came to an end, Liam gently pressed his lips to her hand that wore his rings..the symbols of his love and commitment. “Baby, please open your eyes and come back to me. I love you… I miss you so much”,his eyes glossed over as heard a soft knock on the door.

“Come in”. He whispered never removing his glance from her face.

“Liam, we came to check if there is any change.Has she regained consciousness yet?”,Olivia questioned . “It’s been a long time without her waking up. I wish we knew who did this to her. We all know she never deserved something like this to happen.”The anger was bubbling to the surface in scarlett duchess’s voice.

Bastien tapped on the door to alert his king that he was back. “Sir, still no word from Travis. It’s not like him to abandon his post without a word.”

Liam furrowed his brow and ran his hand through his blonde hair, “someone has got to know who did this , and why. Travis has to have answers as to how this transpired in our home ...against my wife.”,his words were stern, but low.

The monitors were low and steady when the silence was interrupted by a barely audible whisper.”He not only knows, he was there ...helping.”,soft whimpers and pained breaths were heard in that hospital room. Saige slowly opened her eyes as she focused on the bodies in her room. “Ow”,she flinched at the sudden awareness of her pain.

Liam turned his gaze back to her and every set of eyes landed on her battered face. “Love...did I hear you right, he was there? Travis was there while you were attacked? God I have never been so relieved to see your gorgeous eyes opened. Was Travis hurt too?”,Liam couldn't stop asking question after question.

Saige stared up at the ceiling as her eyes began to water ,dampening her swollen cheeks and eyes. “No Liam, he was there holding me down as I was being …”she trailed off.

“Love, do you remember what happened? Any detail no matter how small would help us to find who did this to you.”Liam’s eyes darted around the room from Bastien,to Drake,to Olivia, back to Saige..eagerly listening to her gather the courage to share her harrowing experience.

“Liam...you don't have to look very far..the person, the people that did this are in your palace.”,she started to become agitated. “He came back to finish what he started...I tried to stop him Liam.. I tried to fight him,but they held me..they slammed me on the floor.Travis and … and another guard held me down while he did this to me”,she fought through her tears to explain how she lost control that night. “When I hung up with you I tried to go to sleep, but I heard a noise coming from the living area. I thought nothing of it at first since I had said good night to the guard before turning in for the night”,she slowly shook her head in denial as recounted her nightmare. “I walked down the hall and decided to get a snack while I was up”, her breathing became labored as she spoke.

“Saige...you don't have to do this right now,''he tried to calm her down.

“Liam, i never wanted anything like this to happen. I tried, I swear I tried to stop him, but he…``.her hand flew up to her neck instinctively to the very spot that bared the darkened laceration around her throat. “I felt a hand , grab me by my throat in the darkness. I couldn't breathe… Liam.. the baby.. I , I tried so hard to keep him safe, `` her body began to shake.

Liam tried to move closer to console her,to comfort her…”Nooooo, no don't touch me!” The nurse dashed into the room to observe why her vitals were elevated.

“Your majesty... there are too many people in the room and it is causing her distress.”,she advised respectfully. Liam shook his head. “Of course,'' he gestured for the others to leave the room. Bastien and Drake left heading to the hall, Olivia found a dark corner in the room and sat down, cringing as she listened to her dear friend relive this nightmare.

“He hit me Liam.. he hit me and I can't tell you how many times exactly. It hurt so badly. I just wanted him to stop, but he covered my mouth as the guards held me down and spread my legs...I tried to lock my legs,but they were so rough and pinned me to the floor in our residence. He told them to move the top from me… I was wearing your shirt and they tore it from me Liam”,she fought to make him understand that she was by no means a willing participant.He ripped underwear and shorts off of me. Al i could smell was scotch and stale cigars. He scoffed at me as he said that i would feel a real man now… he forced himself into me and I felt a fire, it hurt so bad. He blamed me for your anger..for the state of your relationship.”

Liam’s mind was running a hundred miles aware, thinking who “he” was. He felt his chest tighten as he wanted nothing more than to take her pain away. “Saige, love… please baby, if you remember, please tell me who he is,he pleaded quietly trying to tamper his rage in front of her.

Saige tried to lift her head to look at him , but she turned away ,embarrassed as if she somehow failed him, failed her child ...failed herself. There was not a dry eye in the room as they listened intently,her eyes trained on the window…”your father...it was Constantine”was all she could say.

Olivia watched as Liam encased a fiery glare as he chewed his inner cheek. She recognized the same feeling in herself. She subtly gestured to him that she felt his pain. Olivia knew the internal battle that liam felt after his father had tried to hurt her before. Now..to know that he had succeeded in stealing something precious from her..from them. He had robbed Saige of peaceful nights for months, now... there was no peace to be shared for a long time to come.She stood up and dismissed herself to meet with Drake. She felt as if she were suffocating trying to tamper down her screams, her cries, her fury to rid this kingdom of this animal. Olivia’s emerald green eyes , locked with Drake’s chocolate eyes. She needn't say a word, she leaned into him and stifled her cries until he led her into the private waiting room. The words escaped her ass she wanted so desperately to express the pain, the personal hell that Saige was going through...had went through. She had no doubt that she would relive that hell over and over again. She hasn't learned the worst of it yet. Saige had no idea that she had lost a twin.

Drake wrapped her in his arms and felt days of worry, frustration, and anger flowing from her body as she dropped to the floor crying inconsolably.

**

Liam dipped down to make eye contact with his wife, “love… I'm here ... we are going to get through this together. I love you and you are so very brave. Your not alone.”, he wiped his tear stained face with the back of his hand. “Give me one moment, I need to speak with Bastien..very briefly.”he was met with silence as she continued to stare at the window. He rose and walked out to the hallway.

“Bastien, I want every available royal guard on this. I need Travis and the other guard picked up immediately! You need to deliver my father to the palace cell personally. I also want you to summon Queen mother Regina to this hospital, this is not my request… this is my command. I don't give a damn if she feels slighted, she will come here ...now.”

Liam promptly turned and went to join his queen back in her room...back in her private hell.

[dolsfeels]

Take Care - Colby Brock

AN: this isn’t Dolan twins related but enjoy if you want

Warnings: talk of abusive relationship, some cursing

Word count: 1,790

"So what's new?" My friend Colby ask with a large grin. I roll my eyes with a soft smile across my face. "Absolutely nothing. What about you mister LA boy." I tease. This earns a chuckle from him.

He's finally back home in Kansas. He tries to visit fairly often but his line of work keeps him busy I suppose.

"You still with josh?" He ask quickly. All I do is offer a nod as I grab my drink from the barista. My sleeve rides up slightly as I reach for the warm cup.

"What happened to your wrist?" Colby ask quickly. I glance down at my wrist to see the slight bruising. I quickly pull my sleeve down to cover it. 

"I don't know. I think it happened when I was sleeping. You know I toss and turn a lot." I say as convincingly as possible.

Never in a million years would I tell him the truth. He's been my best friend since second grade. He tends to be a little protective of me. So he'd flip his lid if he ever found out josh got a little too heated during one of our recent arguments.

I must've been convincing enough because he drops the subject as we find a seat.

"So what's this I hear about you and sam taking a break?" I ask tentatively. He nods as if he knew I'd ask that question.

"We've recently got into some legal trouble and on top of that we were put into a couple dangerous situations. We thought it'd be best to take a step back before we push our luck a little too much." He answers honestly. I nod. Him and Sam always seemed to do stupid shit.

He watches me closely as I take a sip of my hot coffee. It's a little chilly outside so the warm drink feels nice.

Our silence is interrupted by my phone ringing. "Don't worry about it." Colby says quickly but I ignore him as I take a glance at the text from josh.

Josh: where are you?

Me: I just grabbed some coffee with a friend

Josh: why don't you come over so we can talk

The last text makes my eyebrows furrow. What could there be to possibly talk about.

"Josh?" Colby ask as he looks down at his drink. He swallows hard as I sigh. "Let me guess. You gotta go." He says with pure disappointment.

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you I promise. You're still here for a couple of weeks." I ramble as I kiss him on the cheek in a friendly apologetic way.

"Text me later." He says sternly. "Yeah yeah." I say as I swing the door to the coffee shop open.

I shove my hands in my pockets as I make my way to my car. What could he want to talk about? He's so unpredictable these days. He never used to be that way.

I drive way faster than I should but I don't care. The anticipation is eating at me.

As soon as I get to our apartment I get this weird feeling. Something tells me this isn't going to be good and I should just leave but I shake it off.

As soon as I step into the apartment he's in front of me ready to talk.

"What friend were you out with?" He ask sternly.

"Colby." I say honestly. He knows about Colby. We've been best friends since second grade. There should be nothing to worry about.

"Why the fuck were you with him?" He ask raising his voice a little. This threw me off guard.

"He's been my friend for years!" I say, matching his volume.

"You shouldn't be out with other guys. Especially him. He totally has a thing for you." He says getting closer, waving his finger in my face.

"Oh fuck off." I roll my eyes at his stupidity.

My judgement is knocked loose when I feel a sharp sting on my cheek. It brings tears to my eyes instantly.

I grab my cheek as I look at him. There was not an ounce of remorse on his face and that saddened me even worse. This isn't the person I fell for. This past month has been a living hell.

I pick my keys back up from our small table and swing the door open without a second thought. He follows me out into the hallway.

"Where do you think you're going?" He ask as he grabs my wrist. Just like last time he's all too forceful. At this point the tears are falling freely down my face.

"Stop." I say as forcefully as I can but it all just sounds pathetic. His grip hurts so bad.

I do all I can think of and bring my knee straight into his groin. This without a doubt sets me free so I quickly put some distance between us as I make my way to the elevator.

I pull out my phone and call the one person I trust the most, Colby.

The elevators quiet but my breathing is so loud. My sobs catch on my breath every once in a while.

"Hello?" He says with curiosity. "Colby can I come over?" I ask with a wavering voice. He can tell I'm crying because he instantly gets ten times more serious.

"Yes of course. I'll come get you alright. I don't want you driving right now." He says as I hear him rustling around.

"Colby he's still here." I say with a soft voice as I reach the parking garage.

"Get in your car, move to another area in the parking garage,and lock your doors. Don't unlock them until you see me ok?"

"Yeah ok. I can do that." I sniffle.

"I'll be there as soon as possible alright." He says sympathetically. With that he ends the call.

I do exactly what he said to do and I just wait. I cry practically the whole time and I feel stupid for it. It makes me feel weak.

How can one person destroy my confidence like this?

It seems like forever before Colby comes to get me. It was about 45 minutes and he scares me when he taps on my window.

I unlock the door and he helps me out. "Come on. Let's get you to bed yeah?" He says softly as I grab his hand. I just nod.

As we get to his car he swings the passenger door open for me and I glance at his hands to see his knuckles are a little busted up. "Are you okay?" I ask with furrowed eyebrows.

"Don't worry about me right now." He says as he closes the car door behind me. I fasten myself in and he's quick to take off.

"Thank you Colby." I say sincerely as we make our way to his house. He just flashes me a soft smile. I'm sure he'll have me talk as soon as we get to his house.

Once we get to his house I'm almost as quick to get out of the car as he is. "Are you hungry. I can get you something." He gushes.

"No I'm fine. Thank you though." I answer as he leads me to his room I'm all too familiar with.

I sit on the edge of his bed as he squats in front of me so we're eye level. His thumb is soft against my cheek but it's tinder and he can see my discomfort.

"I'll get you some ice okay? Is there anywhere else?" He ask. I don't say anything I just lift my sleeve to show him my purple wrist and lower forearm. "Jesus. I'll be right back. Go ahead and grab something comfortable to change into. Anything's fine. The closet is yours sweetheart." He says with a soft smile. The small name makes me smile too.

As he leaves I jump up to search for one of his shirts. I pick a simple black one and begin to take all of my stuff off. I'm very mindful of my wrist when it comes to my jacket.

Colby comes back just as his shirt sits in middle of my thighs. He smiles at me.

"What?" I chuckle. "Nothing. I like it." He says simply. This makes my cheeks heat up slightly.

He sits in the center of his bed and pats the area in front of him. I reach up to pull my hair up into a bun before I sit next to him and his eyes drift to my thighs and then back up to my face but I don't mention it.

He's gentle when he places the ice to my cheek. "Is this ok?" He ask softly. I just nod.

We're silent for a while but my cheek feels so much better. I can't help but look down at my ugly wrist though.

"Colby?" I say breaking the silence. "Yes?" He answers.

"Did you go up to my apartment before you came and got me?" I ask as I look at him timidly. He swallows hard as he thinks before answering.

"No one hurts you like this and gets away with it. You know that." He says as he takes the ice off of my cheek and takes my wrist into his hands.

He's right. Any guy that's ever in anyway been a threat to me, he's always been there to take care of it and make sure it never happens again.

"Why do you do that for me?" I ask. He's careful about answering this one. In fact he takes a while.

"Because if you love someone they're always worth fighting for." He says as he keeps his eyes on my wrist and the ice. This makes me swallow hard. So josh was right.

How could everyone see it but me?

"I'd never hurt you." He says, breaking the silence. I don't know what to say.

"You're far too beautiful." He says as his free hand caresses my unharmed cheek. I swallow hard as his eyes glance down at my lips.

He leans in and I meet him half way. I'd be lying if I said I never thought of this.

His lips are soft. He makes sure the kiss is very gently given my current situation.

It's gentle but it still takes my breath away. As we pull away I breathe harshly.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that right now." He rambles with a nervous smile.

"No no. It's okay. It wasn't half bad." I smirk.

"Well in that case, you wouldn't mind another?" He asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Not at all." I send him an inviting smile.

[lanshappycorner]

I've got no art for yalls so I guess I'll just info dump on my Children 😌😌

Photography and Art are twins TM at AT FIRST they look like they're complete opposites but tbh they are similar in Some Aspects

Art is a vv rowdy dude who likes bright splashes of art and vivid colors. Photography is a quiet dude who like more toned down colors

Photography is into the gothic aesthetic and Art thinks that's rly cool, except he just Can't Relate

Art can rock pastel and neon colors and Photography wants to be able to do that but his confidence sucks ass so he doesn't try to pull it off

They both share one braincell and while Photography LOOKS smart, he's just as Dumbass as Art is. Photography would deadass ask Art what comes after 90, Art would reply in all seriousness 100, and Photography would nod and be like ok ur right

They help each other out and once Art jumped from a tree during sunset just so that Photography could take and Aesthetif photo. He sprained his arm but No Regrets (please don't do that)

Math and English aren't related lol but they're opposing subjects, as ppl who are good at math often suck at english and vice versa

You'd think their relationship might be terrible but it's actually pretty good. Most of the time English chatters on and Math just quietly nods. No one knows how he feels about it but he's not complaining so everyone lets them be

Math actually comes from a large family and all his siblings are vv chaotic (EX: his feral baby brother Geometry runs around karate chopping ppl screaming SOHCAHTOA, on the other hand, Stats is just dead inside)

English is a bit airheaded so sometimes when he does a lesson, he tends to ramble and go off topic and his students don't want to learn so they let him keep talking. This eventually stops when one of his siblings (either Literature or Language) come in from next door to tell him to shut up

Math actually has the best relationship with Art despite how much their personalities clash, so that would leave Photography and English. Except Photography is lowkey terrified of English, because he once witnessed English actually being angry and that caused permanent trauma

[thelastspeecher]

I've been thinking about the ficlet you posted and I can't decide what's better- Ford immediately trying to figure out how to talk to Stan bc /what the hell stan?!/ or Ford sitting on this until Fiddleford gets back and exploding with conversation over it and the pieces falling together that "oh my god Fiddleford is my brother in law and also ROYALTY and you know STAN TOO" and it's cracking me up. Ford short-circuting on "how did this HOW" is great

My thoughts after I posted the ficlet were along the lines of - 

Ford remembers Fiddleford is Lironian and, even though it’s a long shot, decides to call Fiddleford.  But before he can call, he sees Fiddleford on TV, because the attempted assassination is still being reported on, and he was stopping by the hospital to visit his wounded younger sister.  Ford then promptly calls Fiddleford and is like “?????? Please explain????”  And then Fiddleford gets Ford a first-class ticket to come visit his twin and bury the hatchet.

But the idea of Ford just sitting on everything, not making any connections at all, and then bursting the second Fiddleford walks through the door is great.  And I love it.

Ford only realizes that Fiddleford is related to Stan’s wife mid-rant.  He stopped rambling about Stan and started saying that he must have seen the queen on the news before, because she seemed really familiar and oh my god the reason she looks familiar is because she looks just like Fiddleford.  And then Fiddleford is like “…Yeah, she’s my baby sister.”

Fiddleford was well aware that he was research partners with Stan’s twin.  When Stan started staying at the castle, he was subjected to regular background checks for safety reasons.  So Fiddleford was pretty much just letting Ford stay oblivious to everything.  Partially because Stan didn’t want to contact his family (something he made very clear multiple times).  Partially because it was really entertaining.  Fiddleford dropped hints all the time that he was money, but Ford never picked up on them, because Fiddleford seemed relatively down-to-earth (relatively is the key word here; dude still builds killer robots for fun).

Ford needs a few drinks while he’s dealing with the flood of realizations he’s just had.  He just keeps repeating “how” over and over.

Once Ford recovers from the shock, he asks Fiddleford to take him to see Stan.  Sure, he’s still got some unresolved upset towards Stan at this point, but Stan’s wife (Ford’s sister-in-law he didn’t know he had) was the subject of an assassination attempt.  He wants to offer some support.  And Stan has kids.  Two daughters.  Ford wants to meet them.  He wants to meet them so badly.

Fiddleford eventually caves, naturally, and he and Ford fly to Lirone and Ford gets a chance to reunite with Stan, who is now royalty.