The Fires of Pompeii, part 1 -
Wearing a red tunic in the style of Ancient Rome (she had figured that after taking a look at the monitor and changed in under a minute), the Oracle stepped out of the Tardis behind Donna and the Doctor.
"Ancient Rome", the Doctor announced, "Well, not for them, obviously. To all intents and purposes, right now, this is brand new Rome. And you", he turned to to his wife, "Look lovely."
She gave him an appreciative smile while Donna did a spin, taking it all in.
"Oh, my god. It's, it's so Roman. This is fantastic!"
The Time Lords chuckled with bright grins at her excitement.
"I'm here, in Rome. Donna Noble in Rome. This is just weird. I mean, everyone here's dead."
"Yeah, maybe don't say that too loudly", the Oracle told her with a giggle.
"Hold on a minute. That sign over there's in English", she pointed to a sign by a barrow and looked at the Time Lords suspiciously, "Are you having me on? Are we in Epcot?"
"Oh, no. The Tardis is in your brain now. She translates everything for you. Well, most things. To these people here, you're speaking Latin", the Oracle explained.
"Seriously?"
The Doctor hummed.
"I just said 'seriously' in Latin."
"Oh yeah", the Doctor agreed while the Oracle kept giggling at their exchange.
"What if I said something in actual Latin, like veni, vidi, vici? My dad sad that when he came back from football. If I said veni, vidi, vici to that lot, what would it sound like?"
"I have literally never thought about that", the Oracle said with raised eyebrows while they kept walking.
"You have to think of difficult questions, don't you?", the Doctor agreed.
"I'm going to try it."
They looked after her as Donna went over to a vendor.
"Afternoon, sweetheart. What can I get you, my love?", he asked.
"Er, veni, vidi, vici."
"Huh? Sorry? Me no speak Celtic. No can do, missy", he told her with wild hand gestures.
The Time Lords raised their heads with grins like they'd just discovered something great and new.
"Yeah", Donna walked back over to them with a frown, "How does he mean, Celtic?"
"Welsh", the Doctor explained, "You sound Welsh."
"I learned something new today", the Oracle told them and he nodded at her with a bright smile.
Donna looked her up and down and realised something, "Why are you dressed up like that? Do our clothes look weird here?"
"Nah. Ancient Rome, anything goes. It's like Soho, but bigger", the Doctor told her.
"You've been here before then?"
"Yeah. Last time I got a comment actually so I got dressed up this time", the Oracle shrugged.
"Ages ago. Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with us. Well, a little bit. But I haven't got the chance to look around properly. Colosseum, Pantheon, Circus Maximus. You'd expect them to be looming by now. Where is everything? Try this way."
The Doctor led the way through and alley until they came out on a larger street and turned to see the Vesuvius volcano.
"Not an expert", Donna started, "But there's seven hills of Rome, aren't there? How come they've only got one?"
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To Be Loved
FanfictionThe Oracle and the Doctor found each other after years apart. While they're rebuilding their love mysteries unravel around them as they're trying to connect the dots around themselves. [Part 2 in the To Be Series]
