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fandomweekly2025-12-20 02:38 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in fandomweekly2025-12-20 02:38 pm
Entry tags:
[#284] Cardiff For Christmas (Torchwood)
Theme Prompt: #284 – Home For the Holidays
Title: Cardiff For Christmas
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Ianto is feeling nostalgic and homesick as Christmas approaches, but he can’t go back to the Cardiff he knew. Or can he?
Ianto had it all, more than he ever could have dreamed of having, possibly more than he ever would have thought he even wanted, because immortality had never been on his Christmas Wishes list. But he’d got it anyway, and so far, he was enjoying it. Mostly. The dying and resurrecting part was less fun, but the rest of it… He really couldn’t complain.
He got to go wherever and whenever he wanted, in a ship that could travel through time as easily as it could through space. He could experience the wonders of the universe first-hand instead of Jack telling him about them. He could witness significant historical events on any planet he chose. He even had a career of sorts, helping people, communities, and even whole planets in need, which made him feel he was doing something worthwhile with his long life, giving back to the universe at large. How many people could claim that kind of job satisfaction?
Above all, he had Jack, his husband and travelling companion. What more could he wish for?
Well, perhaps that he could return to earth and see the sights, hear the sounds, smell the smells of home at Christmastime, but that was off the table. Between the explosion that had destroyed the Hub and the one a few months later that had demolished the House of the Dead, there was a period of approximately a hundred and sixty years where earth was completely off limits to him. He couldn’t go back, even in disguise, to see the places he’d known, to walk along the barrage, stroll through Bute Park, visit the Christmas market, and see the decorations.
Ianto couldn’t spend Christmas with his family, even though they knew now that he was still alive, and had even visited him for a few weeks on another planet the previous year. He could have had Jack pick his sister, Johnny, and the kids up and bring them to the TARDIS for Christmas, but that wouldn’t have been the same. The kids would have worried about Santa being able to find them, and as fun as the visit might have been, in was a traditional earth Christmas he was craving.
He and Jack could spend Christmas on earth before 1962, or after 2123, but again, it wouldn’t be the world he’d known. He’d travelled to the early 60s before, and it had been interesting enough, but he’d felt more out of place then than he ever had further into the past, far in the future, or on an alien planet, simply because it was so nearly his world, just a few decades too soon.
It seemed silly to feel so sad over such a triviality when the rest of space and time were open to him. They could visit Zilchneb for Christmas, or the planet Yule, or New New Earth, or even New Cymru, but as fun as any of those destinations might be, they wouldn’t give him what he wanted. It was foolish, but he longed to stand on Roald Dahl Plas, by the water tower, looking across at the Millennium Centre, lean on the railings overlooking the bay, remember all the times he’d stood there with Jack, or with other members of the old team.
It made Ianto wonder if Jack ever felt nostalgic and homesick for the colony on the Boeshane Peninsula, where he’d grown up. Of course, Jack could go back there any time he wanted, as long as he was careful not to run into himself. Ianto didn’t have that option, and he was a little envious that Jack did, although he’d never tell his husband. He wouldn’t want to make Jack feel bad.
“You’re looking a bit gloomy, considering there’s less than a week until Christmas,” Jack said, joining his husband at one of the tables in their TARDIS’s console room. The TARDIS kept earth time within her walls, simply because that was what Ianto was used to, and she’d grown herself to suit him.
“Yes, sorry. I don’t mean to put a damper on things, I just… I miss Cardiff, I miss Christmas Day with my family, which is weird because I always tried to avoid going to Rhi’s for Christmas dinner. Now I just wish I could do that again. I haven’t even seen their new house except in the photos she sent us last time we were in earth orbit.”
“Well, if that’s all that’s bothering you, there might be a way around that.”
“I know, we could bring them to spend Christmas in the TARDIS, but it’s not just my family I miss. It’s… everything!”
“I ran into someone the other week, when we were on Inisharr for the Festival of the Trees. An old friend with a new face.”
“That’s nice for you. I don’t recall you mentioning it though.”
“Because I didn’t. Not for any nefarious reasons…” Jack hurriedly added when Ianto raised an eyebrow at him.
“Nefarious? You know what that means?” Ianto’s second eyebrow joined the first.
“Of course I know! I asked our TARDIS. Anyway, stop changing the subject. I asked him, and he thinks it might be possible to sneak us through the time bubble in his TARDIS. I didn’t want to say anything too soon, but he’s been working on the problem and he’s fairly sure it’ll work…”
A few days later, Jack, Ianto, and the fifteenth Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS on Roald Dahl Plas. It was Christmas Eve, 2011, a bitterly cold wind blowing in off the bay, and a dismal drizzle falling. Ianto thought he had never felt anything so wonderful in his life.
Rhi bustled up to him, throwing one arm around him while trying to keep her umbrella under control. “Ianto! I’m so glad you’re here!”
Ianto wrapped both arms around his sister. “So am I, Rhi. I never thought this would be possible.” He looked around the Plas, drinking in the sights, sounds, and smells of home. “Happy Christmas!”
The End
He got to go wherever and whenever he wanted, in a ship that could travel through time as easily as it could through space. He could experience the wonders of the universe first-hand instead of Jack telling him about them. He could witness significant historical events on any planet he chose. He even had a career of sorts, helping people, communities, and even whole planets in need, which made him feel he was doing something worthwhile with his long life, giving back to the universe at large. How many people could claim that kind of job satisfaction?
Above all, he had Jack, his husband and travelling companion. What more could he wish for?
Well, perhaps that he could return to earth and see the sights, hear the sounds, smell the smells of home at Christmastime, but that was off the table. Between the explosion that had destroyed the Hub and the one a few months later that had demolished the House of the Dead, there was a period of approximately a hundred and sixty years where earth was completely off limits to him. He couldn’t go back, even in disguise, to see the places he’d known, to walk along the barrage, stroll through Bute Park, visit the Christmas market, and see the decorations.
Ianto couldn’t spend Christmas with his family, even though they knew now that he was still alive, and had even visited him for a few weeks on another planet the previous year. He could have had Jack pick his sister, Johnny, and the kids up and bring them to the TARDIS for Christmas, but that wouldn’t have been the same. The kids would have worried about Santa being able to find them, and as fun as the visit might have been, in was a traditional earth Christmas he was craving.
He and Jack could spend Christmas on earth before 1962, or after 2123, but again, it wouldn’t be the world he’d known. He’d travelled to the early 60s before, and it had been interesting enough, but he’d felt more out of place then than he ever had further into the past, far in the future, or on an alien planet, simply because it was so nearly his world, just a few decades too soon.
It seemed silly to feel so sad over such a triviality when the rest of space and time were open to him. They could visit Zilchneb for Christmas, or the planet Yule, or New New Earth, or even New Cymru, but as fun as any of those destinations might be, they wouldn’t give him what he wanted. It was foolish, but he longed to stand on Roald Dahl Plas, by the water tower, looking across at the Millennium Centre, lean on the railings overlooking the bay, remember all the times he’d stood there with Jack, or with other members of the old team.
It made Ianto wonder if Jack ever felt nostalgic and homesick for the colony on the Boeshane Peninsula, where he’d grown up. Of course, Jack could go back there any time he wanted, as long as he was careful not to run into himself. Ianto didn’t have that option, and he was a little envious that Jack did, although he’d never tell his husband. He wouldn’t want to make Jack feel bad.
“You’re looking a bit gloomy, considering there’s less than a week until Christmas,” Jack said, joining his husband at one of the tables in their TARDIS’s console room. The TARDIS kept earth time within her walls, simply because that was what Ianto was used to, and she’d grown herself to suit him.
“Yes, sorry. I don’t mean to put a damper on things, I just… I miss Cardiff, I miss Christmas Day with my family, which is weird because I always tried to avoid going to Rhi’s for Christmas dinner. Now I just wish I could do that again. I haven’t even seen their new house except in the photos she sent us last time we were in earth orbit.”
“Well, if that’s all that’s bothering you, there might be a way around that.”
“I know, we could bring them to spend Christmas in the TARDIS, but it’s not just my family I miss. It’s… everything!”
“I ran into someone the other week, when we were on Inisharr for the Festival of the Trees. An old friend with a new face.”
“That’s nice for you. I don’t recall you mentioning it though.”
“Because I didn’t. Not for any nefarious reasons…” Jack hurriedly added when Ianto raised an eyebrow at him.
“Nefarious? You know what that means?” Ianto’s second eyebrow joined the first.
“Of course I know! I asked our TARDIS. Anyway, stop changing the subject. I asked him, and he thinks it might be possible to sneak us through the time bubble in his TARDIS. I didn’t want to say anything too soon, but he’s been working on the problem and he’s fairly sure it’ll work…”
A few days later, Jack, Ianto, and the fifteenth Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS on Roald Dahl Plas. It was Christmas Eve, 2011, a bitterly cold wind blowing in off the bay, and a dismal drizzle falling. Ianto thought he had never felt anything so wonderful in his life.
Rhi bustled up to him, throwing one arm around him while trying to keep her umbrella under control. “Ianto! I’m so glad you’re here!”
Ianto wrapped both arms around his sister. “So am I, Rhi. I never thought this would be possible.” He looked around the Plas, drinking in the sights, sounds, and smells of home. “Happy Christmas!”
The End
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