Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

"I really wish I was a ginger. You know what, Rose? I wish Time Lords could control their appearances when they regenerated. What good is having the power to regenerate if you never know what you'll end up looking like?"

Rose listened to the complaints with good grace. She and the Doctor had not yet left to resume their adventures around the universe, but she was wishing they had. Had they left, surely they wouldn't be sitting in Rose's living room talking about the Doctor being ginger.

"Do you know how upset I was, Rose, when you told me my hair is brown? I couldn't show it then." The Doctor paused and shrugged. "Well, I could have, but that wouldn't have been appropriate. That would have ruined everything. But now, with you…"

Rose wanted him to shut up. She liked it when he talked, really, but sometimes it got to be a bit too much. As she stared at the Doctor and nodded and pretended to listen, an idea formed in her head. They were still on Earth, and being still on Earth certain things were available to them…

"Doctor," Rose said, standing up. The Doctor looked up at her, shocked that she had interrupted. "Listen, I'll be right back. I have to go…get something."

"You're going to leave me alone with your mum?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes. It'll be fine." Before the Doctor could get in another word Rose was out the door.

"Your hair looks fine, dearie," Jackie reassured the man standing next to her, peering in the mirror. "It's such a lovely color, and you should be thankful you have hair at all. You didn't have a lot last time."

The Doctor leaned in closer to further examine his reflection. "It's messy and brown is really so plain. Everybody has brown hair!"

"Rose and I don't," Jackie pointed out.

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, everyone else. The point is, I'm the Doctor. I shouldn't look like everyone else. I should look distinguished."

"Oh, but you are distinguished," Jackie said.

"What are you two doing?"

Both Jackie and the Doctor turned to find Rose, looking highly amused, standing in the doorway.

The Doctor stepped away from the mirror. "Nothing."

"Is he still going on about his hair?"

Jackie nodded. "I tried to tell him that he looks good, but he's being thick-headed."

"Well, I think I have the solution." Rose held up a plastic bag and grinned. "In here is a box of hair dye." She paused as the Doctor's eyes grew wide. "Ginger hair dye."

"Are you serious?" The Doctor took the offered bag and pulled out the box of hair dye. Upon reading it, he smiled widely. "Rose, you're the best!"

"That's your Christmas present," Rose said. "Now we'll leave you alone, okay? Follow the directions on the box."

"Oh, I will. Thank you, Rose. Remind me next year to get you something brilliant for Christmas."

"Oh, I will." The Doctor barely noticed the two woman exit as he focused his attention on the box that would change his life.

"Oh, my…"

Rose stared at the man grinning like a maniac before her. It was the Doctor, her Doctor, but his hair was ginger. Very ginger.

"I have never felt so confident as I do now," the Doctor remarked. "And distinguished! I feel like I could save the universe!"

"You already do," Rose muttered, quite unable to adapt herself to the bright color of her Doctor's hair.

"That's true. But I could do it better! Rose, we are going to have so much fun! When people see me they'll just know that I'm brilliant because of this, right here." He gestured towards his hair. "I can't wait!"

As he fairly skipped out of the room Rose turned to her mother and sighed. "This should be interesting."

"Rose," came a voice from the hallway, "come here! I want you to take a picture! This is worth remembering!"

"Rose!"

Rose groaned and hoped that she was being pulled into a loud dream.

"ROSE!"

No such luck. She allowed herself another moan as she sat up in bed, shivering with the cool morning air and wondering why the hell someone was yelling her name.

"Rose, come quick!"

Rose's eyes flew open as she realized it was the Doctor who was shouting for her. She shook off the remnants of sleep and sprinted towards the sound of the Doctor's voice, only to find him standing in front of the bathroom mirror, a devastated expression on his face.

"What?" Rose cried, looking every-which-way for danger. "What is it? Has someone been kidnapped?"

The Doctor turned to face her, expression very serious. "My hair," he said, "is brown. Not ginger."

Rose felt annoyance rise as she set her eyes on the Doctor's hair and noticed that it was, indeed, brown.

"You woke me up to tell me this?" she snapped.

"It was ginger yesterday!" the Doctor moaned. "I thought…you would know what to do."

"I do not!" Rose cried. "I'm going back to bed!"

She stalked out the door, leaving behind a terribly heartbroken, brown-haired Doctor.

"I can't believe you."

"How was I supposed to know that hair dye and Time Lord hair were not compatible?"

"You should be thankful that it didn't make your hair fall out. And you're a Time Lord. You should know certain things about your species."

"I know that aspirin could kill me. I wonder why the Time Lords never invented hair dye…"

"None of them were mad enough to want to dye their hair!"

"…I'm not mad."

"Doctor…"

"Well…yeah. But you wouldn't love me if I wasn't, would you?"

"You wouldn't be my Doctor otherwise."