Doctor Who: Light, Sweet, and Yellow

by: jewel of athos

Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all of its characters and locations etc. belong to their respective owners. I own only my original storylines. No copyright infringement intended!

Summary: I always laugh when I think of it. My father, smelling like bananas…

Author's Note: ever since I saw "The Doctor's Daughter", I've wanted to write about Jenny. Last night, a friend of mine gave me a kind of challenge to write "senses" stories; taste, smell, touch, etc… This one was kind of inspired off of "smell". And I've been experimenting with/working on my first person POV lately, so this was fun for me. I hope you enjoy! (:.

Thanks to Jenn1984 for kicking me out of my writing slump! *hugs*

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I love traveling. I guess it's something I get from my father, the urge to explore, to see new worlds. I remember that's how and Donna described it. Traveling, saving people, defeating monsters, and running a lot. I always laugh when I remember his face when he said that; I guess the best word to describe it is "gleeful." Gleeful and young. He never told me quite how old he was, but I felt that he was almost as old as time itself. And yet he seemed almost childish in that moment, and I love that memory. It was also the first time that he hugged me; and I treasure that even more.

My travels have taken me far into the stars. New worlds, just like he promised me. I have seen so many new worlds since then, it's incredible. And so many people! Some alien, some human, but all of them bright and vibrant and alive. I'd never in my wildest dreams imagined that there could be so many colours in the universe when I first set out. And the tastes, and the smells… Like bananas. I love bananas; ever since I learned what they were.

I was on a fruit-farming world – an entire world devoted to fruit, can you imagine? – taking a break from running for a bit and stocking up on supplies, just in case my next trip took a while. It was a wonderful world, absolutely beautiful; everything was bright and hot and vibrant. The air was sticky, and so rich with the sweet smell of fruit that you could almost taste it. I had never been any place like it before, and I wandered around the groves in awe, trying to take everything in. That's when I smelled it.

There was a tan-skinned, gray-haired old woman working a few steps away from me, and I went over to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"What's that smell?" I asked, breathing deeply. It was the smell that had hung around my father, the whole time that we'd been on Messaline. I'd thought then that it was just as smell unique to him – some crazy Timelord thing – but this was definitely the same thing.

The little woman was looking at me like I was slightly crazy, myself.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, her wrinkled brows coming together in a frown.

"That smell! Don't you notice it? All sort of light and sweet and yellow…"

"Do you mean bananas?" she asked, pulling a long, curved yellow fruit out of a basket and handing it to me. Eagerly I held it to my nose and sucked in the scent of it.

"Yes, that's it! I've never seen fruit like this before; where did it come from?" And would I be able to find my dad there?

"You must be daft, love. Not knowing about bananas, really…" She clicked her tongue in disapproval as she walked away.

"Can I buy some, though?" I called after her. She turned back sharply.

"You want to buy some?"

I nodded, smiling my best innocent and convincing smile. "Yes. A whole bunch of them, please." She still eyed be strangely, until I showed her my money. Then she was all smiles and helpfulness. She got me a large bunch of bananas – do you know that they actually grow in bunches, upside down? – and I also ended up buying a bag of peaches. Those are wonderful, too, by the way. Almost as good as bananas. Needless to say, I left that world with my ship stocked with some of the best-smelling fruit that I could find.

The lady said a very strange thing to be before I left, too. She said, "You know, there's a tall man who comes here sometimes, who looks at the bananas just like you do. Crazy, you off-worlders. Who cares about bananas?" And she had wandered off muttering to herself.

I didn't think much of it at the time; after all, how could anyone not live in awe of bananas? But lately I wonder what she meant. Could it be that my father, who smelled of bananas and stardust and adventure, had come here too? Had we stood in the same spot, looking up at those same trees and breathing in the wonder of it all?

I always try to have bananas on my ship now. For one, they're delicious; and I know it sounds silly, but I almost feel as if they bring me somehow just a little bit closer to my father. It's something we both love, the smell of bananas; and they're a great source of potassium, too, from what I'm told.

I think, when I find my father, I want to go back there with him, to that planet; and we can buy bananas from the strange old lady in the groves and taste them in the air; because what a smell they have there…

fin.

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A/N: The ending is a little shakier than I would have liked to make it; but on the whole, I like how this one turned out. Jenny is fun to write; she's smart, but she's also childlike, and innocent. I think that she's the kind of girl who would find joy in the oddest, littlest of things, like the smell of bananas (:. Do let me know what you think about this one, and how I can write her better!

Cheers!