MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! :D

Now, as I had promised OptimisticLivvy a birthday fic which I totally forget to get around to doing, we agreed that I could combine it into a Christmas one. So, you have her to thank for this VERY fluffy, no angst (I know, am I ill or something?) Christmas-y Daliya oneshot.

This story can be read as a standalone fic. But for those who follow my series/story...

In terms of when this story is set:

This story is set during the 2nd installment of the Halfway Out of the Dark series, so in the future of what has currently been written. All that you need to know is that at this point, these two have sort of acknowledged that they have more than platonic feelings for each other, but haven't really admitted much verbally yet, because they've been through enough that they sort of need time to adjust to the idea of it before they take anything more than baby steps.

"Aliya! Aliya! Aliya!"

It took the woman being shouted at several seconds to realise that there was a hyperactive Doctor bouncing on the edge of her bed. He was brimming with visible excitement and upon seeing her wake up, grinned.

"Come on, Aliya, get up, get up!"

Aliya blearily rubbed at her eyes before staring at him questioningly. "Why?"

"Because I have a surprise for you!" He slid off the bed and grabbed her by the hand, yanking her out of bed. She stumbled for a moment and had to grab onto his clothes to steady herself, and it wasn't until she was upright that she noticed that it was flannel pyjamas under her hands and not tweed.

"Why are you wearing these?"

His eyes sparkled with his 'wouldn't you like to know' look. "You'll see soon enough. Now, come on." His hand slid properly into hers and pulled her out of her bedroom and into the direction of the console room, but just before they got there he stopped. Before she could ask why, he had sidled behind her and covered her eyes with his hands.

"Doctor, what-"

"Just relax. Trust me," He assured her, before slowly getting her to walk forward to the top of the stairs. "Alright, now you can look."

The hands covering her eyes disappeared and before her was the console room, decorated with strings of fairy lights and various colours of tinsel, rather manically draped in the way that she would expect of the Doctor. Though somehow, the whole arrangement was enchanting and charming nonetheless.

"Oh wow," Aliya breathed, as her eyes landed on the large Christmas tree that was situated in the floor space by the door. "Christmas."

"I know that it was sort of Christmas with Abigail and Kazran, but it was a whole bunch of Christmas Eves, we didn't celebrate Christmas Day, and I know you had one with Jack and the others at Torchwood, but…I thought we could have our first proper one today," The Doctor said slowly, watching her, clearly waiting for her reaction. Immediately she practically jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"It's perfect," She said.

He then led her by the hand down the two sets of stairs to the Christmas tree, which was laden with presents. "These are for you."

Her eyes widened as she counted at least seven presents under the tree. "But what about you?"

The Doctor shrugged, smiling gently. "I don't need anything."

"Nope, that's not fair!" Aliya insisted. "You don't get to buy me things without me getting to do the same!"

"Well it's too late now."

"No it bloody well isn't!" The blonde was hurrying back up the stairs, and pointed imposingly at him once she got to the top. "Stay right there." She was back in less than a minute, pulling a coat over her baggy t-shirt and sleeping shorts. "I am buying you presents right now." Her hands danced over the console while he just stared, unsure whether to laugh or be annoyed at how stubborn she was. "Alright. Middle of London, 2010, Christmas Eve. Come back in half an hour, this shouldn't take me long."

"But you don't even have money!" He reminded her, but she just grinned and pulled a wallet out of one of the coat's pockets.

"This is still in here from the last time I wore this," By then she was at the door.

"But you're not wearing shoes! Or visible pants!" At that she just laughed and walked out, and didn't hear him add, "And you still have bed hair."

Half an hour later, Aliya was patiently waiting in the snow with her arms full of eight gift-wrapped presents. When the blue box finally materialised she breathed a sigh of relief and hurried inside.

"You look cold," The Doctor noted the moment he looked up from the console.

"Snow tends to have that effect." She didn't admit that her toes were freezing, though it would only take a glance down for him to see how pink they were and figure it out for himself. "Anyway, presents!" As expected, at the mention of gifts, his entire face lit up as he joined her down the tree.

"Are those all for me?" When she nodded, he added, "Really?" At the second nod he laughed like a giddy child and sat down next to her. "Okay, let's each pick one." He took one from his pile of presents which were in blue wrapping paper with snowmen and sniffed it for a reason she didn't want to guess. She had just picked up one of her own presents – which were wrapped in red with snowflakes – when he saw what was inside his and made an excited noise. "A santa hat! That is so cool!" Immediately, he rammed it on his head while she laughed at him.

"Ooh, fluffy socks!" She exclaimed upon opening her own.

"Maybe put them on now, your toes are all pink and look very cold," His eyes flicked down to the body parts in question, eyeing them with concern until Aliya pulled the green fluffy socks over them. "Also, no coat, first rule of Christmas present opening is pyjamas only." Reluctantly, she shed the coat while eyeing his blue flannel pyjamas, which had dozens of badgers all over them. She smiled to herself as she sat back down, now back in her t-shirt and cotton shorts along with the socks.

"Open another one," She urged, and he took the smallest one while she grabbed her biggest, which was rather solid. His was a pack of cards, and while it was very simple he was just as delighted as ever.

"Now I already have playing cards, but I don't have any with dragons on the back! I'll never be using the other ones again, that's for sure," The Doctor grinned, and looked over to where she was examining her own second present, "Like them? You're not a real explorer of the universe until you have your own pair of wellingtons, that's for sure."

Aliya looked up the pink wellington boots in her hands and had to laugh. "For sure," She echoed dryly. "They're very pink."

"Pink is a brilliant colour!" He said enthusiastically. "Very happy and festive and cheerful, falling short only of yellow, but you already have a lot of yellow things. Also, they're for later."

"Later?"

"That's the next surprise. Presents are still first."

They kept opening them, the Doctor opening fluffy slippers, a model train track, a fake red nose, and a new bowtie, which he was utterly thrilled with. Meanwhile Aliya had a CD full of famous Earth Christmas songs which apparently she had to learn 'or else', marshmellow snowmen because he knew how much of a sweet tooth she had, and a galaxy poster to put on her ceiling in her bedroom so that she could wake up to it.

On her third to last present by then, Aliya opened up the other large one of hers while the Doctor opened his penultimate present. Both were surprised to see soft toys in their hands, a badger puppet in the Doctor's and a cuddly reindeer in Aliya's.

"A badger! They are my favourite animal ever, how did you know?" He asked, awed as he stared at the badger like it was a religious revelation.

"I took one look at your pyjamas and figured it was a safe guess," She chuckled. "The reindeer is very cute and very Christmas-y for sure. But what's this tiny thin one?"

A huge smirk appeared on his face and made Aliya lift an eyebrow at him. "Open it and see." She did so, and found a small homemade voucher booklet in her hands. She began to read aloud the contents. "Voucher for one cheesecake. Voucher for a batch of pancakes. Voucher for cupcakes…what is this?"

"Well, you like sweet things so much, but you can't cook them to save your life, so…these are vouchers to make me cook them for you," The Doctor explained, and her face lit up.

"That is utterly brilliant! Oh, I'll be taking advantage of these for sure," She hugged them close to her chest before putting them with the rest of the presents.

At that point they each had only one present left. Aliya's was another soft squishy one, while the Doctor's seemed to be…pointy?

The edges were revealed to be the points of a packet of glow-in-the-dark stars, with a sticky film on the back of them. His mouth opened and closed several times before he looked up at her with a look of awed disbelief.

"What are these for?"

She shrugged shyly under his gaze. "It's the same kind of idea as the poster you got for me…you love the stars so much, I thought you might want to have some for your ceiling above your bed, so you can always fall asleep under the stars." As his eyes warmed, looking between her and the stars, she smiled softly, glad that he liked the gift.

"Thank you," He said, his throat thick with unexpected emotion over how thoughtful the idea was. Then he shook his head a little and gestured to her still unopened final present. "Come on then, open it up!"

She did as he said, and a huge smile broke out on her face as the paper fell away from the woollen light grey beanie that was adorned with a sky blue pompom. "I thought you said these hats made me look silly and childish?"

"They do, but because I can be very silly and childish at times it only makes sense for you to be too," The Doctor rationalised, and then added, "Plus, those hats are very cute on you. Almost as cute as your bed hair."

With an expression of horror, her light olive hands flew into the fluffy mess that was her hair. "Oh lord, why didn't you say anything when I first got up?"

He looked at her with faux innocence and shrugged. "Because it's cute, and then you would have brushed it out."

"But…I – oh lord I went shopping like this!" She exclaimed, and at his smirk realised that he had known the entire time and not bothered to stop her. "You knew, you bloody bastard, you knew and didn't stop me!"

"Actually, if you recall, I did try and stop you -"

A ball of wrapping paper was thrown at his head, but he swatted away the pathetic attack that was no more than an incredibly minor inconvenience.

"Look, do you like the hat or not?" He asked as a way to divert the subject away from her bed hair. After a few moments of what was clearly deliberating, she let it go and smiled.

"Of course I do!" Her eyes were bright and grateful, which he had expected. She did love her warm hats, almost as much as he loved his cool ones. "It's perfect."

"Good," He beamed, and got up from the floor, "Now, the second part of the surprise involving us getting dressed and in your case, probably brushed hair."

"Thank the stars for that," Aliya commented as he pulled her up. "So should I meet you back in here in about ten minutes?"

"Yes, but wrap up in something warm, and wear your new hat, and your wellingtons," He instructed.

"Sure thing."

After finally getting to brush her hair, Aliya dressed in jeans and a warm puffer jacket, complete with her new hat and pink wellingtons. With a glance and smile at her reflection, she made for the console room. She wasn't surprised to find the Doctor waiting there in his usual tweed ensemble, but with his new bowtie, which was a bold red.

"Looking good," She said with a grin, and he returned it, doing a small spin for her.

"You think so?"

"Definitely."

He gave her a once over. "You're not so bad yourself, Lady Angel."

"Why thank you, my Lord Doctor," She linked her arm through his as she arrived next to him, "So where are we going?"

"To have some good old-fashioned Christmas fun!" He shifted so they were joined by hands rather than elbows, and yanked her towards and out the wooden door. It became apparent that he had moved the TARDIS while she was freshening up, because they were no longer next to a shopping centre, but instead in the middle of a public park laden with a thick blanket of snow.

"Oh," It was the only word that she managed to utter at the sight of the winter wonderland before her. Even if it was just a large park in many aspects, it was the first decent snowfall she had ever seen, and it took her breath away. "I mean Cardiff, and Sardicktown on Ember, those were quite nice but this…this is proper snow."

From behind her, he leant in to whisper, "Good enough?"

"It's gorgeous," She breathed, "Thank you." Then he took her by surprise and yanked her backwards so that they both fell back into the snow, and she yelped at the sudden cold on the back of her neck. "Doctor, what are you doing?" She was half on top of him, and incredibly confused as to what they were doing on the ground in the first place.

"Do you know what a snow angel is?" He rolled out from underneath her and watched as she frowned, thinking.

"I think Gwen might have mentioned it once. But no, not really."

He grinned and began to move his arms and legs in and out, pushing the snow away from him while she watched. "All you have to do is this, just move your arms and legs!"

Aliya did her best to copy him, and found that it seemed to be working. After a minute or two, the Doctor got up from his and looked down at his best friend, who was still lying in the snow and laughing at how juvenile their current activity was. Quickly, he pulled a camera from his jacket pocket and snapped a picture of her before she could stop or get up.

"What was that for?" She asked as he put the camera back.

"A snow Angel inside a snow angel, needed a picture of that," He explained, and it took her a few seconds to work it out, and then she let out a little laugh.

"Oh," She said, and leaned against his shoulder. As if he had heard her silent wish, his arm wrapped around her and hugged her close to him. "Your snow angel is very good though."

"I think I'll keep you instead, if that's alright," He mused, looking down at her, with her nose and cheeks pink from the cold, different coloured eyes both amused and slightly exasperated, mouth turned up in a reluctantly fond smile. As if that weren't endearing enough, she still had snow in her hair.

"But I don't have wings. Wouldn't you much rather have an angel with wings instead of one in a silly hat?"

"But you look so nice in it." They began to walk away from the snow angels.

"Nice?" Aliya lifted an eyebrow at the word. "Of all the adjectives that have come from my woollen hats, nice has not been one of them. But I suppose you look nice in your new bowtie."

"Nice? I think I look incredibly dashing," He straightened it with the hand that wasn't sitting at her waist.

The blonde Time Lady snorted. "Daft, more like." He shot her a look of disbelief, and she added, "And dashing."

"That's what I thought you meant," He turned her to face him, and tucked a strand out of her eyes and back under the hat, "Let me correct mine to…whichever takes your fancy out of cute, adorable, or gorgeous."

She grinned despite herself. "I think in my current state, gorgeous is far too much, and adorable is far too juvenile, so I'll take cute."

"What a delightfully logical answer, my Lady Angel," He chuckled, taking her hands and bringing his hand up her back, pulling her into a strange, slow dance.

"Are we dancing?" When he nodded, she frowned a little. "There's no music."

"Hum something then," He muttered offhandedly, more interested in the scent of her hair, as his nose was practically in it.

All of one note had been hummed before she seemed to change her mind. "No, this is fine." She leant her head against his tweed-covered shoulder, giving his hand a squeeze with her own. Her other arm crept around his waist to rest on his back.

For several minutes they just moved together, more focused on proximity than actually moving anywhere. Finally, he spoke again.

"So, as Christmases go, does this one pass?"

"I don't know how it could have been any better," She assured him, snuggling into him. He held her closer, smiling to himself at how it was certainly his best Christmas in years.

"You know, I was really hoping that you would say something like that," He said after another thirty seconds, and she glanced up at him, another questioning look in her eyes. "Close your eyes."

Obediently, she squeezed them shut, and didn't peek while he pulled something from his pocket. A few seconds later, he told her that she could open them. At first she saw nothing, until she realised his arm was coming down from lifting something up. Her head tilted back and in the lowest branch of the tree branches above them, was a rather small and out of place piece of mistletoe. Her eyes widened slightly but then she composed herself as she brought her gaze back down to the Doctor.

"Oh," She let out in a tiny breath, getting a little wry smile from him.

"So do you know about this tradition?" All she could do was nod, her mind and hearts were racing. Also, she decided it was best not to mention that the reason she knew the tradition was that Jack had made sure she got very accustomed to it. "Good." His hands took hers and entwined their fingers.

With that, he bent down and slowly, gently, kissed her. His lips were soft and somehow warm, and she tried not to think about cold hers almost definitely were. Regardless, a new warmth began to spread all through her, and it lingered even after he pulled away far too soon.

"I'm not really used to this whole kissing thing yet," She said breathlessly, "It could take a while."

He grinned, eyes full of fondness and affection. "We have time."

Aliya nodded and raised herself onto the tips of her toes to take his face in her hands, kissing him deeply. His arms wound around her lower back, pulling her to him. The kiss was sweet yet not-quite-chaste in a way that both relished, and powerful enough that they felt the beats of their hearts speed up, heat and warmth filling their bodies despite the snow falling around them.

Slowly, Aliya broke away, and exhaled a minute and slightly giddy laugh. Their eyes locked and they had to smile at each other. His hand came up to touch her face softly.

"Aliya-" His breath caught in his throat as he gazed at her. "Merry Christmas."

She smiled widely, eyes bright. "Merry Christmas, Doctor." Her arms wound around his neck as she hugged him tightly, and he soon was hugging her back, just glad to have her with him in any way. As long as she was his best friend, he didn't need anything else, even if he might want it. Not that they were ever just friends, exactly, something that had been recently acknowledged without being spoken about.

But time would tell, and they had all too much of that. Today it was Christmas, and being together was all that mattered.

Hopefully you lot enjoyed that! It's the least you Daliya shippers deserve considering what I'm putting you through in DS right now.

And for any new readers who enjoyed this as a standalone, feel free to check out the main story, which is Deafening Silence, and can be found on my profile. Make sure to review and tell me what you thought!

ALSO I REALLY NEEDED THIS TO TIDE ME OVER FOR THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL COS I HAVE TO WAIT FOR ABOUT 12 HOURS AFTER ENGLAND UNTIL IT AIRS HERE IN NZ SO HOPEFULLY THIS WILL HELP WITH YOUR GUYS WAIT TOO. I JUST WANT TO LOOK AT MATT SMITH'S FACE AND MEET CLARA, OKAY? :P

Merry Christmas again, and a Happy New Year!

-MayFairy :)