fractal_mirrors | Matters of the Heart 1/3 [Who/HOLiC/PotC; English]

Title: Matters of the Heart (part 1 of 3)
Rating: PG
Genre: Adventure / Humour
Characters: Ninth Doctor, Rose, Clow, Yuuko, Tia Dalma, Davy Jones
Pairings: Davy Jones/Tia Dalma, hints of Clow/Yuuko and Doctor/Rose
Words: 2589
Summary: The Doctor takes Rose on a vacation to the Caribbean, but they don't get to relax.
Notes: Written for

crossing_who's fic challenge.

Matters of the Heart

The TARDIS had a smooth landing, for a change. Rose decided to take that as a good sign. She didn't say it aloud, though; it was the kind of comment that the Doctor could turn, with no effort at all, into a neverending speech about humans and superstition and how she shouldn't call it a nice day until she opened the door and made sure there wasn't a giant lizard with lasers in its eyes waiting to eat her or something. If she then told him that she wasn't really taking it seriously, there'd be another speech coming. So it wouldn't hurt to wait before she cheered.

His expression, though, made it look like it was going to be a very nice day indeed.

“Where are we?” she asked him, curious. The Doctor just grinned at her.

“Well, go and find out.”

As she opened the door, a warm, salty breeze greeted her. She stepped out of the TARDIS and looked around in awe. They were on a gorgeous beach. The sand was almost white, and the sea was a clear, bright blue. There were a few palm trees near them, but no signs of people at all. She turned around to face the Doctor, laughing.

“Can't believe it... You brought me to the Caribbean?” she exclaimed. “Oh, Mum's gonna die of jealousy when she finds out. She's always wanted to come on vacation here –”

“Well, then, she can't complain,” he interrupted. “We're not here on vacation. We're here to save the world.”

“... what?”

“There's something we've got to do here, of course.”

“And when did you find out about that?”

“Right now,” he replied, and pointed at the sea.

Rose looked in that direction. There was a ship there, a huge, wooden ship that told her they'd arrived at some point of the Age of Sail. But it wouldn't be there for long. The giant tentacle that was wrapped around it cracked it in half and sunk with its remains.

She flinched at the sight, and tried not to think of all the people in there. It didn't work.

“Nasty,” she muttered. “So, d'you think that's an alien?”

“I don't know,” he admitted. “But I know someone who might know.”

* * *

Even if Rose would have liked to walk a bit and watch the gorgeous landscapes, the Doctor insisted on using the TARDIS to go and see that person he had mentioned.

“It's on a different island, then?”

“Yes. But that's not the only problem,” he said. “We better get right outside her house. I wouldn't want to walk around on that island, either.”

“Why not?”

“Cannibals,” he said cheerfully. “Lots of them, actually.”

“... oh. Right. The TARDIS it is.”

During the few moments that it took them to travel there, Rose managed to ask him if he had any idea of what was going on, or if he thought it could be yet another alien invasion. She really hoped it wasn't one, but as she had soon learned, one could never discard the possibility.

“Oh, I know there are aliens around here,” the Doctor told her, “but the ones I know have been here for ages. They definitely don't count as an invasion.”

“But they would notice it if there was one, right?”

“Right. That's why we're going to ask.”

Moments after he said that, the TARDIS landed. They arrived in the middle of a jungle so thick that they could barely open the TARDIS's door. There was also plenty of fog around them. Where they in some kind of swamp? Rose didn't have much time to look around. A small cabin caught her attention, almost hidden among the branches; but there was light inside, and she could hear several voices. The Doctor frowned.

“She's got visitors?” he muttered. “That's unusual.”

“Unusual as in fun, or unusual as in trouble?”

He didn't answer immediately, paying attention to the sounds. Then he grinned.

“If I know those voices well enough,” he said, “both.”

He made his way towards the cabin, Rose closely behind him. As he opened the door, three faces turned to look at them; none particularly surprised, she noticed. A woman stood up to greet them, smiling widely. Rose thought that she would have looked beautiful, if only she'd taken a bath in the last few years.

“Tia Dalma!” the Doctor exclaimed, cheerful. “Still in this planet, then?”

“Doctor,” she said, as if she was tasting the word, and approaching him in a way that Rose didn't like at all. “Wouldn't leave without saying good-bye to you, would I?”

“Somehow I don't think I'm the only reason you're here.”

“And how about us?” asked another woman, sitting a little apart from them next to a tall, bespectacled man. “Aren't you going to say hello?”

“Of course, Yuuko dear, I'd never risk being impolite to you of all people,” he said, grinning. “And Clow! Interesting how you're always around when there's trouble.”

“I could say the same about you,” he replied, but he didn't seem upset at all.

“You know each other?” asked Rose.

“Of course. We've been friends for ages,” said the Doctor. “But I haven't introduced you yet! Everyone, this is Rose Tyler. Say hello. And do stop staring at her in that fortune teller way of yours, all right? It's really obvious.”

Clow gave a little cough as he turned his eyes away, and Yuuko shook her head with a smile. Tia Dalma, however, kept staring at her with the same wide grin. Rose couldn't help feeling entranced by her.

“Fortune tellers?” she asked.

“You don't want to know,” the Doctor interrupted, suddenly very stern. “And they won't tell you anyway.”

“No,” Clow agreed softly, “we won't.”

“Is there something wrong?” she asked, nervous. “Because if there is something wrong, then this is even scarier than knowing.”

But the wizard smiled reassuringly at her.

“It's not that,” he said. “It's just that life is a lot more fun when you don't know what will happen next.”

Rose wasn't quite sure that she believed him – even if he was telling the truth, she had the feeling that it wasn't the only reason why they wouldn't tell her anything – but she knew the Doctor well enough to tell that he wouldn't let them say anything even if she insisted. She gave up for the moment, making a mental note to try to speak to one of them while the Doctor wasn't around instead.

“Now, the rest of the introductions!” he went on, as if nothing had happened. “This is Tia Dalma, as I said – she's the friend I was telling you about, Rose. Yuuko and Clow are old friends of mine too, we've saved the world a couple of times.”

“More than a couple,” Yuuko interrupted him. “And we also happen to be a witch and a wizard, but he will never say those words if he can help it. So someone else has to say them for him, clearly.”

“You two can call yourselves whatever you want, but don’t expect me to talk about magic. I’ve seen enough of what you do to know that all of it has perfectly good explanations.”

Rose vaguely wondered if those “perfectly good explanations” were of his usual kind, in which case he might as well say “it’s magic!” and get it over with. But she didn’t have time to ask it; Tia Dalma spoke first.

“Always so stubborn, Doctor,” she said, “seen so much, and still don’t believe there can be your science, and there can be our magic too.”

“I keep trying to tell him he should see both worlds can coexist,” Clow agreed with her, nodding slightly. “And then he says I’m projecting my own issues, can you believe that?”

“Can we please stop talking about me as if I wasn’t here?” the Doctor intervened.

He’d already made himself comfortable, and gestured for Rose to sit down, too. It didn’t seem anyone else would invite her to do so, so she sat next to him and said nothing. The conversation was amusing enough as it was. The Doctor continued arguing with Clow and Tia Dalma, while Yuuko turned to look at her with a knowing look.

“They’ll keep it up for some time,” she said, offering Rose a drink in a glass that, like everything else in the house, didn’t look very hygienic. The girl accepted it, but placed it on the table and hoped it wouldn’t be too noticeable if she didn’t take a single sip.

“Do you think so?”

“I know so,” Yuuko replied. “Clow loves to ramble, the Doctor might be the only person in the universe who can talk as fast as him, and if there’s something that Tia Dalma loves it’s stirring arguments. So why don’t you and I talk about something more interesting in the meantime, hmm?”

Rose couldn’t help but remember the Doctor’s words about “fortune teller looks”, but the witch didn’t have that attitude now. On the contrary, she seemed very friendly and trustworthy.

“Sure,” she replied with a grin. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I haven’t seen the Doctor in a very long time. What has he been up to? Saving the universe, as usual?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” Rose chuckled. “That and getting into more trouble than we can solve.”

“Ah, but no one can fix everything. Not even those two,” Yuuko said, oddly serious for an instant, and then she smiled again. “But as long as you can get out of that trouble, you should consider yourself lucky.”

“Oh, I do,” she admitted. It was strange; she didn’t know why she was talking so openly to a woman she had just met, but she couldn’t help it. She had the feeling that this was someone who understood everyone, someone who could always listen without judging…

“So!” the Doctor said, all of a sudden, and wearing that grin that never meant any good. “We really shouldn't intrude on Tia Dalma anymore. Why don't you come and stay in the TARDIS for the night? There's plenty of room.”

Clow and Yuuko didn't seem to find his attitude as weird as Rose did; or, if they did, they hid it well enough. They sounded perfectly normal when they agreed and stood up to leave. Tia Dalma gave them a strange sort of look, but smiled at them and let them do as they pleased.

“You didn’t ask her,” Rose whispered to the Doctor, as they walked the short distance that separated them from the TARDIS.

“No need,” he replied. “I’ve got even more reliable sources now.”

* * *

Yuuko and Clow made themselves comfortable in the TARDIS, with the ease of people who have been visiting a friend’s house regularly throughout the years. Rose wondered how had they met and if they’d ever traveled with him, but they started speaking to each other before she could ask. It wasn’t exactly that they were ignoring her, but she still felt somewhat left out; they acted like an old team of sorts, and talked about things and people she didn’t know.

“What happened this time?” Yuuko asked. “And if you don’t want Tia Dalma to hear it, why did you go to see her?”

“Because I didn’t know you two were around and she was my best guess,” the Doctor admitted. “I have no idea what’s going on, that’s just it. There’s a Kraken wrecking ships out there, did you know that? If it’s alien, Tia Dalma should know, but that doesn’t mean she’d want to help.”

“Mmm, yes, she can be too partial sometimes,” said Clow. “But the Kraken isn’t alien.”

“It’s still out of place, though,” Rose intervened. She felt a bit self-conscious when everyone turned to look at her, but then she noticed they weren’t looking down at her; they were truly interested. “I mean, I thought it was from Norse myths. What’s it doing in the Caribbean?”

“Excellent question! Anyone care to enlighten us?”

“Davy Jones,” Yuuko said simply, as if that answered every question. Rose frowned.

“Davy Jones as in Davy Jones’ Locker?” she asked.

“The very same. He rules over the sea, and he isn’t doing a very good job of it lately.”

“So that’s why you two were here?” the Doctor intervened.

“Not at all,” said Clow. “We were just having a nice, quiet vacation –”

“'Course you weren't,” said the Doctor. “You were keeping an eye on Sao Feng. The ship that the Kraken got today? It was definitely from Singapore. And I bet there are more of them around.”

Who’s Sao Feng? Rose mouthed in Yuuko’s general direction. She knew trying to interrupt was pointless, but she could still get an answer. Pirate captain, the witched mouthed back.

“The question is,” the Doctor went on, “what did you do that made you feel responsible enough to follow him around? Hmm?”

“Wait a moment, now” Clow sighed. “Are you going to tell me to stay out of other people's business? Right when you’re trying to meddle in them yourself?”

The Doctor just grinned at him.

“Too many cooks...”

“There's something you have to understand, though. I didn't do anything. Or say anything.”

“Really.”

“Really. The only reason why I'm here is that I just happen to know he got his hands on a map to the Fountain of Youth. And you'll have to agree that Sao Feng and eternal youth are a very bad combination.”

“Oh, not again!” the Doctor exclaimed. “You humans are far too obsessed with eternal life.”

“Easy to say for a nine hundred year old,” Rose muttered. Clow smiled at her.

“Thank you.”

The Doctor looked offended.

“Hey! Do you know how old he is?”

“Still younger than you, I'm afraid,” Clow said mildly.

“Now, there's something here you're not telling me yet,” the Doctor said, changing the subject. “How exactly did Sao Feng get that map? And why do you two just happen to know about it?”

Yuuko gave him a long, bored look. He shook his head.

“You've got to learn to say no, Yuuko.”

“Wait... what's going on here?” Rose asked. “Is there something I'm missing?”

“Sao Feng wished for eternal youth. I had the map,” Yuuko said simply, and then she turned to the Doctor. “You know the rules. I can't refuse anyone's wishes.”

“And whatever they do after that is not your responsibility either,” the Doctor finished for her, “so if that was it you shouldn't be here anyway.”

“Oh, but I can still play around,” Clow intervened. “She heard I was coming and joined me so she could visit Tia Dalma. I did tell you we were on vacation.”

“Spying on an insane pirate who wants eternal life is vacation,” Rose chimed in, grinning to herself, as her eyes wandered from Clow to the Doctor and back. “Have you guys been friends for long?”

“Far too long,” Yuuko sighed, but she was grinning too as she turned to the Doctor. “And now you should tell us why you are here. I'd say you just wanted to bring a pretty girl to the Caribbean, but you never relax, do you?”

The Doctor glared at her for a second, but he seemed to forget about her teasing as soon as he replied.

“I was trying to relax, but it’s clearly not happening,” he muttered. “So. Where do I find good old Davy? I haven’t seen him in ages and we need to have a talk.”

Part 2

Matters of the Heart 1/3 [Who/HOLiC/PotC; English]

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