Nora bit her lip and smiled at the Doctor's rambling. The other woman seemed to be framed by light escaping from the door of the TARDIS, giving her a sort of ethereal appearance. It added to the offer in unbelievable ways. All of this was very enticing to her, and Nora knew she was half a second away from saying yes. The only thing that made her hesitate was the thought of her family. All of them were inside of the hotel right now, maybe waiting for her to come back inside or wondering where she had wandered off to. Could she really do it? Really just run off into time and space with this woman she barely knew? Without so much as an explanation or goodbye? But she reasoned that, if this box was a time machine, then no one would really have to know she'd ever been gone. Right?"

Her smile was spreading across her lip as she slowly stepped a bit closer to the woman and her box. "No, I love hot chocolate," Nora said, feeling a little mischievous about this whole thing. "It's definitely my thing. And...I like unexpected. Yeah, anything could happen, but it sounds a little...I don't know...fun?" She was very close to the box now and she gave it a look that might have been filled with longing before looking back at the Doctor. "But it's only one cup of cocoa, right?" Her smile widened. "Or maybe two. Or three."

The Doctor's hearts pounded as Nora debated. Someone to travel with! A huge grin spread across her face as Nora made it clear which choice she was going to make. "As many as you want." She pushed the doors the rest of the way open to let Nora into the TARDIS past her. Once Nora was inside the Doctor shut the doors and dashed up to the consul. "Hot chocolate on Beauwind! Best Hot coco's you could imagine. They're perfectly rich, not too much so that you get sick from the sweet, and the froth is like nothing seen on this world. Seriously not even the Aztex's had hot coco quite like this." A memory from long ago drifted into her mind of a very different face, one much older in appearance, but so young in the eyes. That face had made a cup of hot chocolate for a woman. A grin spread across her face, a near-wife long gone, a ghost of the Doctor's past.

"Beauwind, is an icy planet. They have these brilliant green houses that they grow everything you could imagine. The only part of Beauwind that isn't frozen is the equator. It originally wasn't inhabited, but a spaceship had to do an emergency landing there and since then the people have thrived." The Doctor explained as the engine of the TARDIS started up. The ship jerked and they were off to explore a different planet, to see stars impossible to see from Earth, to have the best coco in the universe (according to the Doctor).

Saying yes was almost completely worth it just for the Doctor's reaction. Nora felt herself match the Doctor's grin, and made herself walk calmly into the TARDIS, rather than scurry in with excitement like she really wanted to. Taking a moment to spin on the spot to take in the scenery once again, she saw the Doctor enter and she got one last look at the world before the doors closed. She saw the bench she had been sitting one, her heels left behind, and the rose bushes and the hotel behind it. Her mother, father, brother, sister-in-law, and little nephew were in there somewhere. But she knew that if she asked then they wouldn't get the chance to miss her or even know that she had left. "Goodbye," she said softly before the doors were closed and her world was left behind.

Excitement filled her and she didn't think she would be able to contain it. Nora turned and followed the Doctor to the control panel, and just barely stopped herself from accidentally knocking into a few buttons. Who knew what that might have caused. The Doctor started describing the hot chocolate they were going to go drink to her and she couldn't not smile. Just when she thought her smile couldn't get any bigger it did. Then the planet they were going to, Beauwind, was being described and the only thing that made her grin falter was the word icy. But before she had a chance to say anything the TARDIS jerked and she caught herself on the railing before she could fall. "A bit of a bumpy ride," she commented through a laugh, then she remembered what she had said about ice.

"Um, I'm not exactly dressed for cold weather," Nora commented once she got back onto her feel. She held her arms out as though to illustrate her point. The periwinkle colored dress was sleeveless and knee length, and made out of think silky material. Her shoes had been left on the garden bench, so she was barefooted. "Got a jumper I could borrow?" Nora asked wryly.

The TARDIS settled down, but they were still traveling. "Sorry about that. The ship is actually meant for 7 drivers, and we don't see eye to eye all the time." She points to the center of the panel.

When Nora asked if she could borrow a jumper the Doctor couldn't help but grin. "Sure thing, the third room on the right up the left staircase." She gestured up the stairway that would lead Nora into the dressing room. The Doctor had done some work in there recently to bring the female clothes to the front. The range of outfits was extreme. Outfits that were for hot weather or cold weather, and everything in between. Formal ware or clothes that were obviously meant for getting dirty in.

While Nora was changing the Doctor checked to make sure the coordinates were correct, she didn't want to be dressed for Beauwind and end up one Urian.

Nora peered up the staircase she had indicated and then glanced at the Doctor. "Mmmkay," she said as she started edging towards that direction. "Be back in a flash." She hopped up the steps and set off down the hallway, feeling a little apprehensive that the room wouldn't be as easy to locate as the Doctor had said it would be. However she was pleased to find a wardrobe room behind the third door on the right. Now all she had to do was sort through the absurd amount of clothes the Doctor's closet had to offer. "This could be harder than I thought," Nora muttered to herself as she tried to find pants in her size.

She wasn't sure how long it had taken her but she finally reappeared at the top of the staircase. Nora was wearing a pair of jeans, a comfy looking purple sweater underneath the black coat she had found, and a pair of black boots. In one hand she carried a gray knitted scarf and there was a pair of matching arm warmers stuffed into one of the coat pockets. She had manged to free her hair from the fancy bridesmaid up do, so the long brown locks fell in waves around her shoulders. Nora stopped by the control panel, close to the Doctor, and couldn't stop her smile. Excitement bubbled inside of her and she felt like she could float. "Are we there yet?" Despite her longing to go out and see an alien planet the question wasn't asked impatiently.

"Almost there." The Doctor was still smiling. She grabbed a heavy coat that was hanging from one of the strange pillars. The coat was a black pea coat, out of one of the pockets she pulled a knitted hat, that she secured over her ears. "And...." The Doctor added after a few seconds, "We've landed! Outside these doors is a frozen land with snow up to your knees!" The Doctor walked with Nora to the doors.

"Ready?" She asked her grinning and once Nora gave the go ahead the Doctor opened the doors to reveal a wall of white. "It's a bit deeper than last time." The Doctor pulled some of the snow down, bright light shone through the hole she made. "We'll have to dig out. I'll get us a couple shovels." The Doctor slid under the railing and opened a cupboard door and after some digging around pulled out two shovels. She handed one to Nora and started digging as well.

When the Doctor asked if she was ready Nora had a bit of an overwhelmed smile on her face. Another planet was on the other side of those doors. This was a situation that she had never, ever considered herself being in, yet here she was. She was excited and terrified at the same time. "As ready as I'll ever be," Nora replied, grinning back, and the Doctor opened the doors. Nora looked outside, and instead of a planet she saw a white wall of snow. She had been been expecting the snow. Just not this much.

Nora turned to watch the Doctor go and get the shovels and she took one when the other woman returned. She joined her at the doorway and started shoveling snow, attempting to make a pathway. With each shovelful of snow removed from the barrier more light from the planet's surface shone down onto her face. An alien sun... Despite the ache in her arms from all of the shoveling Nora smiled as the light shone onto her face. "Must be having a few flurries out there lately," she mused before pausing briefly to peer out of the door. "Are there cities out there? Like ice cities or something? I mean they have to make the hot chocolate somewhere." She dug through some more snow to clear the entire TARDIS doorway and admire the hole and pathway they had created with their shovels.

The Doctor smiled knowingly at her. "Just wait." She pointed just as the last bit blocking their view was shoveled out of the way. A city made of ice sparkling in the sun was before them. There were domes on top of nearly every building with greenery pressing it's way up toward the sun. The snow lay thickly around the entire city. The City wasn't quite. People were shoveling snow. Carts were driving through the streets collecting ice and snow from the people. In the center of the city was a castle.


The Doctor was beaming up at the city, that was less than a quarter of a mile away from them. The temperature was freezing, below freezing, obviously since they were standing in snow deeper than then they were tall. "Hope it doesn't snow again." The Doctor frowned at the buried TARDIS. "We shan't be long though. During the snow storms the people have tunnels underground that go between the major parts of the city." The Doctor explained, pulling her coat tighter around herself.

Nora felt her lips part in a surprised little, "Oh," as the last of the snow was dislodged from the doorway and she was able to see the city made of ice and snow. Her eyes widened slightly as she gazed at the domes on top of the buildings and the towers of the enormous ice castle, glimmering like diamond. It was so white that it was almost blinding, but she could see that it was absolutely breathtaking. "It's...so beautiful," she breathed, an awed smile flickering across her lips. "I never thought that anything like this could ever be possible."

The cold nipped at her skin and she slipped the warmers onto her arms and wrapped the scarf around her neck. It took her a moment to build up the courage to go outside of the TARDIS. And when she did, when her foot touched the ground of an alien planet for the first time, Nora felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She ventured a few steps further and turned on the spot, taking in the view while laughing breathlessly. "This is just so, so much. It's crazy. And amazing. I can't believe it!" She stop and smiled at the Doctor, not knowing how she could ever fully convey her gratitude. "So where's this hot chocolate that I've been hearing so much about?"

"In the city." The Doctor pulled two pairs of goggles out of her coat pocket and handed one to Nora. "To prevent snow blindness." She explained slipping her own pair over her eyes. From there the Doctor, after closing the TARDIS, led the way into the city. It was waking up from the night of snow. Kids were running about yelling and playing. Adults were cleaning up snow. Shops were opening. One of these shops is what the Doctor lead Nora into.

A small woman, no taller than 4'5" was sitting on a stool. "Good morning! Dug yourself out of the snow just fine I see. Quite a storm we had last night. What would ya like?" The shop itself was similar to a cafe Nora would be used to, tables and chairs and a bar. The only difference was as she looked at the writing on the board it seemed to be moving, shifting, before it finally settled and she could read it.

"Two hot cocos please. And toast, that was some heavy work. Would you like anything to eat?" The Doctor asked Nora.

Nora slipped the goggles on over her head when the Doctor handed them to her, and was instantly rewarded with clearer vision. She sighed in satisfaction then started after the Doctor. Walking though the most snow she had ever seen before in her life was difficult. She nearly fell twice, and it didn't help that she almost spinning on the spot to get a good look at everything in the city as they walked through it. She had to move around group of children running in her path, but she didn't appear annoyed. In fact Nora was completely elated.

She looked back at the Doctor in time to see her going into one of the shops and made an abrupt turn in order to follow her. Once inside she pulled the goggles away from her head and let them hold her hair away from her face, like a headband. Nora brushed some snow from her coat and pants and if she could see her reflection she would see her cheeks and nose were red from the chill. But the cold didn't bother her. She barely even noticed it. Nora was a bit busy looking around the shop, noticing that it looked very similar to what she was used to. Baby steps were probably better than jumping headfirst into the completely alien.

The woman in the shop spoke to them and the Doctor ordered them both their drinks and herself some toast. She asked if she wanted anything to eat and Nora looked at the boards with what she assumed would be the menu on it. She saw some undecipherable squiggles and gave up any hope she could make sense of the alien language. "Just the cocoa for me, thanks." Nora smiled and when her eyes went back to the menus she saw the words seem to shift around, the letters reform themselves, until they were in perfect English. She blinked in surprise and looked over at the Doctor. "Okay, how did the letters do that? The menu. It was all...alien and now it's English?" she asked quietly. Another thought came to her. "And the woman was speaking English, too."

"Ah yes, that is a gift from the TARDIS. It's the translation circuit. Written language sometimes takes a bit longer." The Doctor explained taking a seat. "It's a bit complicated to be honest. Sometimes doesn't work, sometimes does. If a language is really old, it can't translate it. The program also doesn't allow for my native language to be translated, as there is supposed to be no need for that."

Behind the counter the woman bustled about making the coco first. She brought the coco over to them with a grin. "Enjoy, let me know if you need anything else." She patted the Doctor gently on the shoulder before heading back to behind the counter to make her toast for her.

The Doctor took a big wiff of the steam rising from the cup. "It's been years since I've had a cup of this coco. She was ten." She gestured to the aged woman. The Doctor was smiling at the memory of the old woman just a child with her hair pulled into pigtails.

"Huh," Nora said thoughtfully as she took a seat beside the Doctor. she had pulled her arm warmers off and had stuck them in her coat pocket, and she leaned gently on her forearms, which were propped against the edge of the table. "So what is your native language, then? Since the TARDIS can't translate it...?"

The steaming cup of cocoa was placed in front of her and Nora inhaled the beautiful scent and let out a sigh. "Thank you so much," she told the woman gratefully before she moved off. The Doctor said that the last time she had been here to have this cocoa was when the woman had been ten years old and Nora laughed softly, amused, and said. "Yeah okay." Then she looked over at her and didn't see any trace of a joke on the other woman's face. "You're serious?" she asked, brow furrowing a little in confusion as her gaze shifted from the young looking woman beside her to the significantly older one making toast behind the counter. Nora blinked in confusion and her eyes returned to the Doctor. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you exactly?"

"Time Machine." The Doctor grinned at Nora, without actually giving her a response, before getting a mouthful of the foam floating on the top of the hot coco. Once the Doctor swallowed she said "I am over 900 years old, and my native language is Gallifreyan. I am from the planet Gallifrey, it is gone now, locked away and I can never return there." Anger and sadness filled the Doctor's face for a moment, and then the old woman came over with a plate and 'toast'. She handed the Doctor a fork and knife and a small cup of what appeared to be honey.

Nora had been about to take a sip of the hot chocolate, after blowing gently into the cup to cool it slightly. Luckily she hadn't swallowed anything or else she might have choked when the Doctor told her her age. "Nine hundred?" she asked, a little incredulously as she looked the woman up and down. After a moment of processing this information Nora seemed to accept it. Hell, why not? She was on an alien planet and she had come here in a time machine. "Looking pretty good for your age." Things got a bit awkward when the woman started talking about her home planet, a place she could apparently never go back to. Nora had almost asked why she couldn't, what had happened, but she stopped herself from asking the questions when she saw the expression on the Doctor's face.

Luckily the older woman returned, breaking the awkward silence. She was carrying a plate that had something Nora hadn't been expecting on it. it looked like some sort of dessert, not like the sort of toast she was used to. Nora watched the woman leave after setting the Doctor's order on the table, then looked at the "toast" again. "That, uh, looks amazing?" she said, and took a ssip of the hot chocolate. She swallowed some foam and wiped the foam mustache off of her lip with a napkin. "Why is it called 'toast'?"

The Doctor's grin returned. As she cut into the hard outer crust of the 'toast' her expression was reminiscent of a kid in a candy store. "This is why." She said as she turned the plate around to face Nora revealing rectangles of soft bread. The Doctor cut out one of the rectangles and passed it to Nora. "It will taste like french toast." She explained, before she popped one of the bananas into her mouth. "Bananas are great."

They were about halfway through their hot coco and the Doctor appeared to have demolished the 'toast', when a large bell started ringing from the castle. The Doctor looked up at the store keeper. "You'll have to return home,"

"Why?" The Doctor asked the old woman.

"That means a storm is coming." She paused and listened. "It'll be bigger than the last it seems." Outside the window the streets were clearing. The storm was just visible if they stepped outside and looked down the street that they had come up. Ther wasn't enough time to get back to the TARDIS.

Nora ate the rectangle of "toast" that the Doctor had given her, finding that it did in fact taste similar to french toast and that it was delicious. She suddenly wished that she had ordered one, as well. But she didn't complain. She just sipped at the cocoa, which was also delicious, and was taking a long look around the little cafe. Nora was taking in every detail as she could and a smile seemed permanently plastered on her face. Until the bell started to ring.

She looked at the Doctor initially, her mouth opened slightly as though she were about to ask a question, when the shop woman spoke. Nora looked between the two as the woman explained that there was a storm coming, then looked out of the shop window. She rose and moved over to the glass to get a better look. The streets were getting emptier by the minute. All of the children were running back to their parents, the people who had been collecting the snow had abandoned their work, and everyone was disappearing into buildings. Nora glanced back at the Doctor. "We walked for a while," she pointed out, worry lines appearing on her forehead. "Do you think we can make a run for it? Get back to the TARDIS before the storm hits? Or...do we try to find shelter in the city? Or something?"

"I don't think we'd make it back to the TARDIS." The Doctor turned to face the shop owner. "Is there a shelter near by that we can go to? Our house is too far away for us to make it before the storm hits." The woman nodded at the Doctor.

"You'll find one up the street a bit, on the left. There's a sign on it." The woman pointed the direction they would have to go, it was away from the oncoming storm.

"Thank you." The Doctor said and pulled her own gear back on. "Ready Nora?" When Nora was ready the Doctor lead the way out of the shop and up the street to the shelter. Several people were taking sanctuary there as well.

When the woman told them there was a shelter and pointed them in the right direction, Nora looked at the Doctor as she started to put her winter wear back on. She did the same, slipping the warmers on over her hands, shrugging the coat on, and wrapping the long scarf around her neck a couple of times. When her companion asked if she was ready Nora nodded and started following her out of the shop, slipping the goggles she had been given back over her eyes as she did so.

Nora pulled her coat more tightly around her and hugged herself with her arms. She had glanced behind them to see the storm in the distance, but it was moving fast. She shivered a little, from nerves and the chill, and looked ahead to speed up and catch up with the Doctor. They joined a small group of people who were also filing into the shelter, which had marked with a sign just as the woman had told them. Nora didn't speak until they had passed through the door and were moving along into a larger room. It was then that she lifted the goggles from her eyes and looked over at the Doctor with half a smile on her lips. "You were right," she told her. "You really never know what'll happen with you. Even for an innocent cup of hot chocolate." She shoved her hands in her pockets and glanced around the shelter. "How long do you think this storm will last?"

"I don't know." The Doctor smiled. They were directed to a set of cots. "It's a good shelter. They are well prepared." The Doctor's eyes were taking stock of the boxes that lined the walls. "Not too surprised though." The Doctor sat down on one of the cots. A small boy child sat on a cot across the isle from the one the Doctor took. He was watching the Doctor and Nora with wide eyes.

"Sorry that we're stuck here." The Doctor said with a small sigh. "Did you at least enjoy your hot chocolate?"