Clara stepped out of the TARDIS and onto an alien cobblestone road. It was a sweet little place they'd landed in, with old fashioned cars lining thin streets. Greenery was everywhere, and all of the houses had flower boxes in the windows and chimneys in the roofs. It reminded Clara of the Christmas village her parents and she had visited when she was little. Except, of course, for the lack of people and the lilac-colored sky.

The Doctor followed her out the door, and she spun around to give him a wide grin. "It's wonderful!"

He smiled proudly, looking from her bright eyes to the low wall surrounding the park beside them. "This is nothing. Wait til you try the fudge."

They started down the hill, heading for a row of shops. Only one place seemed to have their lights on; the store on the corner which had a wooden sign hanging just over the door. As they approached, Clara read 'Santa Fudge'. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she halted on the sidewalk.

"Doctor, you're sure we're on an alien planet? They've got fudge and Santa Claus."

He let out a small laugh as he read the sign, then pressed on toward the door. "No, no, no; that's just a glitch in the translation circuits. Their Santa is actually twenty feet tall and she leaves socks under the bed at New Year's."

Clara shook her head and hurried forward, then latched onto his arm. For once, he didn't protest. His smile actually seemed to brighten at her touch. Maybe those dream crabs had done him some good.

"I love exploring new planets."

He gazed down at her, eyes sparkling in the glow of the light in the sale window. Clara suddenly grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down toward herself. "What your head!"

The Doctor's skull narrowly missed whacking right into the sign above the door. They laughed it off, and then entered the shop, hearing the soft jingle of bells on the door.

The Doctor bent over slightly as they walked through the threshold. "This planet is smaller than I remember."

Clara turned up to him and stifled a laugh. He looked like Gandalf walking into a Hobbit's house, he was so tall. "Maybe you're just freakishly tall," she said, playfully nudging his shoulder. The Doctor smiled again and went to the counter, head tilted to avoid touching the ceiling.

Clara followed slowly after him, taking her time to smell every food-scented candle and look at all of the green and silver decorations tracing the walls and doorways. When she finally turned to the counter, she couldn't help but gasp. The short woman packing fudge into a neat little box was purple and had three eyes. Somehow, she reminded Clara a bit of her gran.

The Doctor met Clara's eye and motioned toward the wall of fudge behind the little old woman. He was already taking some out of his own box. Clara wrinkled her nose as she caught a strong whiff of banana smell. The Doctor swallowed and said, "It's better than pears."

Clara looked over the many flavors of fudge, finally choosing a blue one recommended by the Doctor. On taste, she guessed it was a kind of alien berry. She smiled again, ear to ear, as they left the little shop and walked back outside with their two bags in tow.

As soon as they were past the doorway, the Doctor reached into his jacket and pulled out a small metal device shaped like a phone of some kind. Clara swallowed her fudge and licked her fingers clean, then inquired, "What's that for?"

"It scans for alien life. Last time I was here, the streets were packed."

Clara looked around, noting the darkened windows and empty sidewalks. "Maybe they're on holiday?"

The Doctor shook his head, hitting a few buttons on his device with his thumb and then blowing into it with a creased brow. "Not likely. Not at this time of year, anyway."

Clara led them further down the hill as the Doctor tinkered with his alien tracker. It was a very nice day out, the sun shining just enough to make patterns through the trees without necessitating sunglasses. Maybe something really had happened to the people here, or else they'd all be out and about.

"Ah," the Doctor said, smiling and aiming his device toward the opposite street corner. "Finally a proper reading."

Clara turned to him, then looked back up at the trees as she heard the soft but indisputable sound of music begin to play somewhere in the distance. She backed up and looked toward the tops of the houses to the left, smiling faintly. "Doctor, do you hear that? Alien music."

The Doctor hardly heard her, ingrained as he was fiddling with his tracking device. As Clara's back was still turned, he stepped into the street, standing in between two parked cars. He cast an eye in each direction before proceeding across the street, staring at his device. As he neared the center of the street, it's point suddenly turned to his left. The Doctor shook his head. "Clara, I think this thing is broken."

Clara hardly heard him over the music, which had risen many decibels in the past few seconds. Suddenly, a car engine also joined the noise. It sounded like a racecar. A puzzled look came to Clara's face as she turned to the spot the Doctor had been standing in a few moments before, which was now empty.

Her eyes spotted him, standing encaptured by his tracker in the middle of the road, just as an old, speeding car skidded around the corner. By the zig-zagging way it raced, Clara guessed immediately that the driver was intoxicated. Then time slowed way down.

Her head turned toward the Doctor, whose head perked up only when the car was within a few meters of himself. It was speeding over the limit of most highways, nevertheless a village street. His eyes widened, and the bag of fudge dropped from his left hand as the alien tracker dropped from his right. They both hit the ground at the same time that two awful sounds entered Clara's ears. One was the screeching tires against the bumpy road. The other was the metal of the car's front crashing into the Doctor's middle.

"No," Clara said, her voice hardly above a whisper. Everything suddenly came speeding back into its proper time. The car charged forward, fleeing the scene. The Doctor fell, rolling twice over the cobblestones before coming to rest on his side, his back facing Clara. He was so still.

As she surged forward, Clara's mind went into overdrive, cranking out memories and anxieties. First came the memory of Danny Pink. Was she going to have to relive that awful day again? Why was it always stupid cars? There weren't even ambulances this time; no one else to help or to call for assistance. She had only just gotten back with the Doctor; had only just told him the truth about Danny. Was she going to have to add another five minute grieving period to her day?

Then the story of her parents' first meeting came buzzing through her head. She'd heard it as a bedtime story repeatedly throughout her childhood. Why couldn't Clara have been more like her mum? Why couldn't she ever save the one she loved; have the only token be a silly little leaf?