- c h a p t e r   e i g h t e e n -

Melody was nothing short of gleeful as she ran around Obbligato, finding herself giggling almost uncontrollably. After having such a long period of time where everything was dark and tragic, she was finally back to enjoying her adventure with the Doctor.

Clara and the Doctor were just as estatic to see Melody allowing herself to let loose and have fun again. It wasn't that reading books was a bad thing by any means, but her slow internalizing of everything couldn't be considered good. Now she was finally doing what she was supposed to do when she traveled with the Doctor-run free.

The trio rushed into the hustle and bustle of Obbligato, hearing various music from every angle. There was almost too much to see and hear, but that just made it all the more fascinating for them. Even the Doctor seemed to be heavily amused by all of it, despite having seen quite a bit of it before.

Their first goal was to just take in as much as they could by wandering around. It wasn't long before Clara and Melody had found themselves something of interest. Although they had assumed that everything around would be familiar due it being from the twentieth and twenty first centuries on Earth, they were pleasantly surprised to find an instrument that proved them wrong.

"That's a musical instrument," Melody stated, sounding completely in disbelief. "I can't believe that is a musical instrument."

"Where does the sound come out?" Clara chimed in. "It just looks like a bunch of...tubes and plates. I don't see how that would work."

"The sound doesn't come out, it's found everywhere," the Doctor laughed. "I learned how to play one of these a long time ago."

"What exactly is it, then?" Melody challenged.

The Doctor stared at her for a moment, trying desperately to grasp the information from somewhere in his mind. But no matter how many times he squinted and wrinkled his nose, he couldn't possibly find it.

"Doesn't matter!" he finally burst out. "All that matters is that I remember how to play it."

"And you can play twentieth and twenty first century music on there, Doctor?" Clara asked.

"I suppose I sort of have to, don't I?" he sighed.

"Come on, then, stop stalling!" Melody said. "Show us, show us!"

Melody and Clara huddled up with one another to watch the Doctor as he began to play the instrument. He sat down behind it almost as if it were some sort of drum set. He surveyed over its many parts several times before placing his hands on two of the "plates." His two companions looked on, anticipating whatever their Time Lord friend was going to do next.

"I thought I remembered how to play this," the Doctor said, glancing over the instrument again. "Maybe I lied, though."

"Doctor!" Melody scoffed, rolling her eyes. Despite this, she could hardly keep herself from laughing. Soon the other two joined her and all three of them were laughing together. She couldn't remember feeling so purely estatic in weeks.

Next, the group made a beeline towards a ninteen twenties section of the festival. The Doctor had struck the idea of them all doing the Charleston together, and the girls had responded to this with joyous applause. They couldn't resist something so simply fun, not in the mood they were in at the moment.

Melody couldn't help but think that in a way this was time traveling as well. It wasn't literal time traveling, of course, but in order to get to the twenties section they had to pass through the fifties, forties, and thirties. In every era were all varieties of species dressed up to match the time period. It was a bit strange to see a blue skinned alien wearing a poodle skirt, but that just added to the charm.

Soon they had reached the area, surrounded by the music and plenty of others who joined them in their dancing. Despite there being a dense amount of people around them, it never felt crowded or congested.

"I love this!" Melody squealed, clapping her hands together. "I can't believe I forgot just how relishable all of this was?"

"Relishable?" Clara laughed in response. "I guess that's what it is, then!"

After their dancing was done, the Doctor purchased each of them some food to eat. They sat themselves down in the center of the festival. Snippets of music leaked in from every direction, mixing together pleasingly.

"They're all playing in the same key!" Melody exclaimed, eating a spoonful of the ice cream-like substance the Doctor had bought for her. "Every single song is in the same key, which is why it doesn't sound bad together."

"Really?" Clara asked, scrunching up her nose. "That does make sense, though."

"That's how they do it here on Obbligato. It's all tuned to the key of the city as well. Remember the way the buildings made music? It's all centered around that."

"Why can't everything be so well thought through?" Melody asked, sighing happily. "Everyone working together to make beautiful music and doing it all well."

"So this is all coming for humans in the future, then?" Clara questioned, tilting her head at the Doctor.

"Well, yes," the Doctor responded. "There's been aliens on Earth in the past, time travelers as well...but it isn't for quite a few centuries before true contact is made and is public knowledge. I was there, I remember just how shocked everyone was. Ah, I'll have to take you there!"

Clara glanced up to the sky, seeing streaks of purple beginning to appear across it. All the smaller details that set this planet away from Earth were standing out to her more now. The blue of the sky was more indigo then the one she knew, and the purple only helped to make this pop.

"The sun is setting," she noted, scooting closer to the Doctor and Melody. "We're going to stay here for the sunset, yeah?"

"Every good day should end with a magnificent sunset, I think," the Doctor responded.

"How very symbolic of you," Melody laughed.

"I wasn't trying to be symbolic," the Doctor scoffed.

"But it worked out that way anyways," Clara added in. "You can't deny that, Doctor."

"Yes, yes," the Doctor replied. "And then everything dissolves into a beautiful night which will go on to become another gorgeous dawn. It's all very symbolic."

"And very happy," Melody added in. "It's the simple things that really make everything better, don't you think?"

The trio spent the rest of their time watching the sunset in silence. Obbligato's sun moved down the sky a tiny bit at a time, just like Earth's. Music filled their ears and souls, ever changing but constantly stunning.

It was true that the Doctor hadn't been intending to be symbolic with the sunset, but thoughts of this engulfed Melody's mind as she watched the sun sink down into the sky. It was an ending, yes, but it was far from a bad thing. She personally believed that it was sort of like a book. Even though it would always end at a back cover, the story still lived. It was still there.

The planet of Obbligato gradually dissolved into twilight, the sky still lit although there was no light being shed on the ground. The time travelers took this as their cue to leave, gathering up their things to go. Although the music festival was still going strong as wind whistled past the glass buildings, it was time for them to depart.

"Best. Day. Ever," Melody stated as they made their way through the crowds.

"Just wait until you see what I have planned for tomorrow!" the Doctor said, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"What we have planned," Clara corrected. "I helped to pick it out, even though he's not giving me any credit."

"Yes, yes, Clara helped as well," the Doctor said.

"Well, now you've gotten me excited. Don't let me down," Melody replied. "I have high standards now that you've taken me to be Obbligato."

"We're almost back to the piano road," Clara exclaimed.

"Should we try to play a song this time, the whole way back to the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked.

"Nah," Melody responded, shaking out her blonde hair. "It's too much work."

She made her way to the front of the pack, starting to lead the way back. Despite having such a full day, she still had energy to spare. It was probably because of how much time she had spent keeping herself locked up in the library with nothing but books to keep her company.

As Melody was walking her knees suddenly buckled, sending her to the ground. In a matter of moments, it felt as if she had been drained of everything keeping her together.

"Melody, Melody!" the Doctor cried out. Clara echoed him, saying, "Melody, what is it? What's wrong?"

It was as if every health problem she had been having in the past several days had been poured upon her all at once. Her head and stomach began to pang as her energy escaped her. She could feel herself falling as her world started to fuzz over. The worst part was that there was nothing she could do to stop it.

But the Doctor and Clara immediately sprung into action. Each gave support to Melody's weight and helped to bring her back to the TARDIS. They had to rush through crowds of creatures, but many cleared out of their way when they saw just how pale Melody was.

"Doctor, what are we going to do?" Clara cried out as they arrived at the front doors of the TARDIS. She had temporarily bear Melody's entire weight as the Doctor rushed to open up the doors and let them in. "You are the Doctor, so you can do something to fix this. Right?"

"I'm not really all that sure what the problem is," the Doctor said, fumbling around with his key to attempt to unlock the doors. When this ended up being too tedious, he just sighed and snapped his fingers. Sure enough, the TARDIS opened right up and presented itself.

Melody's eyes had fluttered shut to block out any exterior light. She was still fully conscious, but didn't feel like moving very much. When she was set down on the floor of the TARDIS, she allowed herself to sprawl out and rest.

"How are you feeling, Melody?" Clara asked, hovering over her anxiously.

"Extremely enfeebled," Melody pushed out in response. "But I'll live. I'll be just fine soon enough."

"Enfeebled, you say?" the Doctor said, pushing the TARDIS doors shut before scampering up to the controls. "Well, we're going to get you to a hospital straight away."

"Hospital," Melody repeated. "I don't think I've been in one of those since I was born. Always so...so careful."

"Doctor, are you sure you can't do anything now?" Clara asked. She positioned herself in close position to Melody in case anything happened to the girl and she had to spring into action. This way the Doctor could focus on piloting the TARDIS and getting them to their destination as quickly as was possible.

"I am doing something right now," the Doctor protested as he flipped a switch on the console. "I'm getting her to the hospital."

"You do know where we're going, right?" Clara asked, confronting the Doctor. "We're not flying wildly throughout time, hoping that we land at a hospital, yeah?"

"No, no, of course not!" the Doctor said, moving his arm as if he were waving away the very topic itself. "I know precisely where I'm going. The Sisters of the Infinite Schism! Otherwise known as the very best hospital in the universe. If they can't help her, then no one can." He paused before continuing, seeing just how bad that sounded.

"No, they'll most definitely be able to help Melody. She's not the first Melody they will have helped, then," the Doctor said, his voice decrescendoing towards the end. After this, the control room was devoid of voices.

Just a few minutes later, the TARDIS began to groan as it prepared to land. Melody's condition hadn't really changed. She had shut her eyes tightly to keep the light out and her face had become even more pale, but otherwise she was the same.

"We're here," the Doctor announced. "You're going to be okay, Melody. I promise."

Clara made her way over to fling open the doors, then rushing back over to Melody and the Doctor. They were attempting to pick the blonde girl off the ground, but she protested.

"No, no, I can walk," Melody sighed. "I just need to lean on you two. That's all."

The trio made their way into the hospital, people and aliens from all around staring wide eyed at the TARDIS that had just appeared in the middle of the floor. But as soon as the nurses spotted Melody, they jumped into action.

"The Doctor, yes?" one of the nurses asked.

"Yes, actually," he replied.

"You tend to get your friends into trouble, don't you?" she sighed. "I remember the last time you brought someone along...well, no matter of it now."

Soon Melody was whisked away, the hospital doing what they did best: healing people. Clara and the Doctor waited in chairs outside of her room anxiously. Each of them got rid of their excess energy in different ways, the Time Lord bouncing his knees as Clara took in deep breaths.

"Doctor?" a nurse said, coming out of Melody's room. He immediately popped up, his attention fully focused on her.

"You can come in and see her now," she said. "Just you, though. I think it's best if we do this one at a time."

The Doctor glanced over to Clara, who nodded her head for him to go on. He followed the nurse through the door to see Melody laying on a hospital bed. Even though she was fully awake, she made no response to his arrival.

She was staring at the ceiling blankly, only occassionally blinking. It was if she were in deep thought about something, deep enough that she didn't notice anything else that happened. Aside from this, she looked much better. The flush had returned to her cheeks and she was breathing normally.

"So, uh, Melody. Is she okay?" the Doctor turned to the nurse, hoping to get some answers.

"How can you call yourself a doctor if you don't even know what's wrong with her? If you could even call it wrong, really." The woman shook her head, staring at the Doctor.

"Well, I-" the Doctor said, beginning to explain but then realizing that that there were more important things going on. Something bad had happened to Melody. "What is wrong with her, anyways?" he said.

The woman sighed, and turned her head around slightly to glance at Melody lying on the bed. She took a deep breath as she turned back to the Doctor and said, "It was quite a shock to her, as you can see. The poor girl is pregnant."

A/N Sorry. Not sorry at all, actually. In case you're wondering, yes I have been planning that from the very beginning. This is kind of why I rated it PG-13. And enoguh explaining myself. I loved writing about Obbligato, really! I would love to go to some place like there...too bad it only exists inside of my imagination.