Make a Wish

Fountains, Coins, Rome

"If I knew you didn't like wine, I wouldn't have ordered a bottle for the table."

"I thought I did," the Doctor replied defensively with a shrug as he and Clara strolled along the streets of Rome after dinner.

Clara giggled and teetered a little to the side. The Doctor's eyes bulged as he struggled to right her before she fell over, and Clara clung to him with another giggle.

"I'm fine. I'm fine!" she insisted. "The cobblestones don't agree with my new shoes."

"Yeah," the Doctor replied with a frown of frustration. "If I knew you were going to spend an hour trying on shoes, I wouldn't have taken you shopping."

"You brought me to 1950s Rome, Doctor. Of course I'm going to buy shoes and eat pasta and drink wine!"

Clara broke free from the Doctor and did a little twirl, her arms stretched up to the sky. She stopped with a gasp of awe when she stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain.

"Doctor, look," she said in a hushed voice.

Grinning, the Doctor shoved his hands in his trouser pockets and walked up beside her.

"It's pretty," she said simply as she stared at the illuminated marble sculptures and the trails of water that made the light dance all around them.

The Doctor was tempted to wrap his arm around her, but instead he pulled his hand from his pocket and held out two coins.

Clara grinned and took one of the hexagonal coins from his hand. "What are these coins from? They're not Lira."

The Doctor held up the coin in his hand and squinted at it in the light. "Oh, huh. I don't know. Looks like it's from the Acteon Galaxy."

They exchanged a glance and then shrugged before stepping towards the edge of the fountain. The Doctor flipped the coin between his fingers a few times before flicking it into the flickering waters of the fountain. With a grin, he turned to Clara, who cradled her coin to her lips and kissed it before tossing it underhand into the fountain.

"What did you wish for?" the Doctor asked curiously, almost suspiciously.

Clara grinned broadly and reached up to straighten his bow tie. The Doctor couldn't help but notice her proximity and fidgeted slightly as Clara met his eyes.

"If I told you that, then it wouldn't come true."

Their gazes remained locked together and for a moment, the Doctor forgot all about time. He was brutally reminded when a scream sounded in the distance. They both turned towards the source and then exchanged a panicked look.

"Did you wish for that?" Clara asked.

"No," he assured her.

"Hoped not."

Despite the situation, the Doctor grinned manically and grabbed Clara's hand before dragging her towards danger. Clara scrambled after her, panting between strangled cries of, "Shoes, Doctor. Shoes!"