ShinoTen Request Drabble: Heaven's Journey

Title: Heaven's Journey
Summary: Every so often, certain people are offered the chance to walk among the stars. This is Tenten's chance. Doctor Who AU.
Rated: K

X

“Come with me.” the man said and Tenten blinked looking at him, her eyes wide and mouth turned in a slightly confused frown.

“I’m sorry…could you repeat that please?” she asked, not quite sure she’d heard him right.

The man shifted slightly as if suddenly uncomfortable. He was exceedingly tall, with a brown hair that stuck up at all angles, his eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses and he wore a simple suit that looked like something one would wear for a business meeting. Not for saving the world. He called himself very simply, the Doctor.

“I… ahem.” he cleared his throat as if unsure what to say. “I was wondering if you would come with me? Why am I asking you that? Well it’s for a few reasons. I’ve often been told I shouldn’t travel alone, and you seem quite capable of handling yourself in dangerous situations, you’re resourceful and…”

“Wait. Hold on. Pause for a minute and let me…try to process this.” she put her hands to her head.

“I don’t believe pressure on your head will…” the Doctor started then stopped as Tenten shot him a glare from under her lashes.

“I know that! It’s just something humans do when they’re…well…this!” she didn’t even have words for what she was dealing with right now. In all her twenty three years of being alive she had never dealt with something like this before, or had this many conflicting thoughts and emotions racing through her head. Among the strongest were confusion, terror, anger and…more excitement and wonder than she’d ever thought it was possible for her to have.

Growing up the way she had, no parents, getting shifted from foster home to foster home, low grades, hardly any prospect of a future, she had learned not to expect much from life. That whatever she would get, she’d have to fight for harder than anyone around her, and even then, she only expected she’d just be scraping by. There were no jobs for people like her here, not stable ones at least. Tokyo had a reputation as being a beautiful city where everyone’s dreams could come true. But that wasn’t actually true for everyone. Just like every other big city, the reality of this place was rarely placed on postcards or in books. This was something so many took the time to point out to her as well; that she didn’t fit and would never amount to anything.

Yet in the past twenty-four hours, after meeting this incredibly strange man, her entire world had turned upside down. She’d fought both against and for aliens, she’d rescued people who had never showed her an ounce of respect before, she used alien technology to fly, learned what a sonic screwdriver was and that was just the beginning. Now she was being offered the chance to actually travel among the stars.

She looked around at the park in which they stood, taking in the sights that had become familiar, and dreary. Even the cities skyline that had once seemed so promising looked dim. There was something else that shone bright and blue and had nothing to do with this city.
Suddenly a smile lit her face and before the Doctor could blink, Tenten had whipped around and tackled him in a hug.

“Alright! You’re on, spaceman!” she beamed, then noticed how stiff he seemed to get when she hugged him, and the sudden gasp that escaped as she spoke. She instantly let go and stepped back. “Sorry, sorry. It’s…it’s a habit I picked up. Hugging people. Won’t happen again. But yes! I will go.” she stated again.

The Doctor shook his head slightly.

“No…no it’s fine. It’s…” he nodded almost to himself. “Hugging is fine…” a slight smile appeared on his face, and though she couldn’t see his eyes, it almost looked as if he were remembering something. “But now that I have your answer, I do believe it’s time we got going. Why do I believe we should be leaving? Because we have much to see and while we have unlimited time that doesn’t mean we should waste it. There are different planets, different times, whole new universes…”

“First you have to show me how this tiny little thing is going to carry the two of us. I’m starting to like you, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to be getting cozy anytime soon.” Tenten said a wry smirk as she followed him to the doors of the blue box and he started to unlock them. It would take awhile to get used to this man and his odd way of talking, and she knew people would think she’d lost her mind. But when he said they’d be going to those other planets and times, after what she’d seen today, she believed him. What she saw next only strengthened her belief.

“I think you’ll find this is quite roomy.” he said opening the doors and Tenten gasped as she stepped in. “This, Tenten, is the TARDIS. As you can tell, it’s…”
“Bigger on the inside!” her eyes were wide with wonder as she looked around.

“…I usually say that.” he muttered, more to himself than her as he headed towards the controls.

“This…is incredible! NO! Incredible isn’t the word for it! It’s…it’s…I don’t know! Is there a word?!”

“Well technically…”

“It was a rhetorical question.” she laughed, running around like a child let loose in a toy shop, looking at everything, unsure of whether she should touch something or not, and in the end moving on to something else before she could decide. At first glance it seemed somewhat cold, almost clinical, in tones of blue, gray and white. But upon further inspection there was much more to it. Lights seemed ready to spring to life, there were huge tables in certain parts that looked like little machines were being made, hundreds of books, new, old, indescribable lined the shelves of one part and there were several jars around as well. Tenten tilted her head slightly looking in, and if possible her smile widened further as she saw lightning bugs inside that looked like they had made a home in the small container. They glowed and hummed happily, and while she’d never been much of a fan of bugs, she had to admit these ones were kind of cute.

“Well, here’s a question that isn’t.” the Doctor interrupted her exploring as he twisted a few knobs and clicked a few switches, lighting up the inside even further. His shielded gaze now holding hers. “Where would you like to go first?” he asked.
There was a moment of silence as Tenten looked over at him, then around the TARDIS, trying to take everything in and part of her wondering when she’d wake up from this dream. It was no dream though. She knew this. Every second that passed only confirmed it more and suddenly a large smile lit her face.

“On an adventure.” she answered. “Wherever that is! Show me you and this…TARDIS, can really do and lets find another one!”

The Doctor nodded, a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth as he cocked his head slightly, as if studying her for a moment. Before she could speak, he began working at the controls again.

“I think I know just the place.”

Before anything more could be said, lights began whirling, bulbs began spinning, circuits started racing and the box came to life. Tenten could feel them both lifting off towards the stars and right now, looking around her and coming to stand next to the Doctor, for all she had gone through, and all she had been told, her future never looked brighter.

END