PARENTHOOD

Chapter Ninety Two

After they left, the Doctor left the TARDIS in the vortex for awhile so they could rest. He and Rain went to their bedroom so they could lie down for awhile and recover from the events of the day. While they lay in their bed, the Doctor let his thoughts drift for awhile. Rain studied him for awhile and then putting her hand to his cheek, she turned his face towards hers.

"What's wrong, Thete?" she said.

"Nothing. Just thinking back to before I met you," he said. "I did tell you about my time with Joan, yeah?"

"When you were human?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, you told me about that a long time ago."

"Did I tell you about the part where the fob watch showed me my future if I had chosen to stay human?"

"Yeah, I believe so."

"Did I ever show it to you?" the Doctor said.

"I don't think so, why?"

"Let me show you my memory of what I saw."

Rain nodded. She shifted to her side and the Doctor did the same, facing her. He put his fingertips to her temples and closed his eyes as he projected the memory into her mind. Rain smiled when she saw him marrying Joan, having her children, being a father and finally dying an old man. When he was finished he took his fingers away.

"I was just thinking that everything I saw that day has come true except for growing old and dying."

"Have to say I'm glad you don't age. Old age doesn't flatter ya," she teased.

"Yeah, I agree. I just think it's ironic that everything I could have had if I'd chosen to stay a human was given to me anyway. Life is funny sometimes. I just hope everything turned out for the best and she's happy now."

"Are you saying we should go visit her next?"

She giggled as the Doctor eyed her and patted his chest.

"No, unlike Frobisher, we didn't part on good terms. She told me she never wanted to see me again and I'm not about to show up on her doorstep and risk a beating. I'll just assume she had a good life."

"Were you in love with her?" Rain asked.

"Why do you ask? Jealous?" the Doctor teased.

"No, I know where your hearts lie, I'm just curious," Rain said.

"At the time I did love her but looking back on it, I have a feeling it would have been disastrous if we continued our relationship after I became myself."

"How so?"

"Well, because when I had the mentality of John Smith, I didn't realize how narrow minded Joan was because I shared the same worldview. But up until the end of our relationship she treated Martha badly and I have a feeling that she wouldn't have done well traveling with me and meeting alien species. I have a feeling I would have spent the bulk of my time explaining her behavior and saving her from fights. Maybe she would have become more open-minded with time but in the meantime she probably would have been snooty and possibly insulted everyone that wasn't like her. Not to mention I think that what really happened was I was still mourning Rose and I saw her in Joan and that's what I fell in love with. No, I think it was better that she did reject me and possibly found someone that was better suited for her."

"Well, I think the fact that she rejected you so quickly after changing back says it all, Thete. And I think you're right. Just the fact that you were an alien and not like her was what freaked her out and caused her to reject you. She was better off being with someone who was like her in her worldview."

"Well I'm just glad I changed back. I shudder when I think of how I acted when I was John Smith, towards Martha and Tim. I actually gave my consent for another boy to punish Tim because he was distracted during machine gun practice. Not to mention I actually stood by and watched children firing off machine guns and didn't bat an eyelid at it. What was I thinking?"

"Like you said, John Smith was the product of his times."

"I know and I'm glad I made the choice to become me again."

They looked over at the bedroom door when they heard raucous laughter coming from somewhere inside the TARDIS.

"Oh blimey, what is the rest of the family up to?" the Doctor said.

At that moment, the others were in the living room laughing hysterically. They were having some fun singing karaoke and Alan was doing his rendition of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, hamming it up to the delight of the others. Namid wasn't paying much attention though. She was still thinking about what happened to her outside the pub. Finally, she decided to go and seek some advice. She took her cane and walked out of the room. Once outside, she looked up at the ceiling.

"TARDIS, you know that room where Daddy's other heads are. Can you do your moving rooms thing so I can go there?"

The TARDIS grunted and moved the door leading to the room with the heads directly in front of her, then she telepathically told Namid to go forward while she opened the door for her. She guided Namid past the stone stairs to the seal of Rassilon, the moment she stepped on it, the heads came to life and looked around.

"Oh look," Eight said, "it's Namid."

"Hi!" Namid said, waving.

The heads gave her a cheerful hello.

"So," Four said. "What brings you here, little one?"

"Um...I wanted to talk to someone and I didn't know if I should tell my daddy so I thought I'd tell you."

"Yes?" Five said.

Namid explained what happened to her outside the pub. The heads glanced at each other.

"I'm afraid we don't know what we look like in our eleventh life if that's the reason you're in here," Five said. "We have no knowledge of what our incarnations look like past your current father."

"I know but...I just wondered why he was there. He didn't say why but he was just there all of a sudden."

"Yes," Three said, "it does seem strange that he just happened to be there on that particular day. I don't know this Frobisher chap but I would think your father would remember going there with all of you. Therefore, our future self would know enough to avoid that place and time...unless it was deliberate."

"Are you saying that he sought out Namid on purpose?" Two asked. "For what purpose?"

"How should I know?" Three said testily. "I'm just speculating! I'm merely saying it might not have been an accidental encounter."

"Our future self did say he was heading that way to peek inside the pub," Seven said. "You say that Alan found you outside, Namid?"

"Mm-hmm," Namid said, nodding.

"Then our tenth self probably knew she was out there so our future self would have known she would be there when he came to the pub at that particular time," Seven said.

"Perhaps he just wanted to make sure she was safe," Eight said. "We can't go attributing a sinister motive to his little visit."

"Then why tell her not to tell anyone?" Nine said. "Why would it matter if our current self knew he had visited her, wasn't like he was trying to kidnap her."

The heads fell silent while they pondered that.

"Do you think I should tell Daddy?" Namid said when no one said anything.

"That's up to you, sweetie," Eight said. "I don't see the harm in it. He's gone now and he didn't reveal anything to you about the future, he just said hello. For the life of me, I don't see why he should be so secretive about that."

Namid telepathically called to her father and told her where she was and that she wanted to talk to him. While she waited, the heads made small talk with her, asking how she was and what she'd been up to. After ten minutes, Ten strolled in.

"Yup, this is going to become your new hang out place, I can just tell," Ten teased as he came up beside her. "What did you need?"

The heads listened while Namid told him what happened. Ten frowned and shook his head when she finished her story.

"Odd that he told you not to tell anyone he'd said hello," Ten said.

"That's our feelings as well," Five said. "He didn't reveal anything of importance to her and she couldn't see him, so I don't understand why he should be so secretive."

"Perhaps he was on his way to stop something and thought Mi-mi might tell us and get us involved," Ten said, ruffling her hair. "At any rate, it's over now, he can't know that you told us and without knowing the reason why he was there, there's no use in worrying about it. Things like that usually have a way of revealing themselves eventually anyway."

"Well, thank you for listening to me, all of you," Namid said.

Ten smiled when the heads told her you're welcome and that they hoped she had a great evening.

"Now go and spend some time with your current father," Five said. "You don't wanna stay in here all night listening to a bunch of arguing heads."

"Exactly, we're tired anyway," One said. "We'd like to go back to sleep if it's all the same to you."

"Come on, Mi-mi, let's have some ice cream. I need to tell you what your Uncle Alan and I have in mind for your martial arts training," the Doctor said, putting his hand on her back.

"Martial arts training? Capital idea!" Three said. "All of them?"

"Yes," Ten said. "We're training all the young ones in Venusian aikido."

The heads murmured their approval at that and smiled when Namid waved at them and told them goodnight. They bid her goodnight and when she and her father stepped off the seal, their eyes closed and they went back to sleep. The Doctor took her hand as he closed the door and led her to the kitchen so they could have some ice cream.

Later on, after they ate and chatted and Namid went into the bedroom so she could talk to her mother for awhile, the Doctor headed towards the laboratory. On the way there, he told the TARDIS about the weapons with the sonar devices in them and asked if she could make something for Namid.

Of course I will do that, my beloved, she thought to him. But I also wish to tell you something.

Yes? The Doctor thought to her as he felt a privacy block going up around his mind.

You wish to know why your future self visited Namid?

Yes, the Doctor thought.

I will tell you because I know you will not play favorites with the children but Namid has a great destiny in store for her, greater than you can ever imagine, the TARDIS thought to him. You cannot know it yet but your future self does and I believe he came back to check on her and make sure she was safe, because eventually she will have a great part to play in the safety of the universe. Of course Sokanon and Chaska also will protect the universe along with the other children but Namid will become one of the most unique people in the entire universe and because of that, I and others are concerned about her safety and wish to keep her shielded from harm.

Great destiny? Like the DoctorDonna? The Doctor thought.

Something like that, the TARDIS thought back. Like Donna, she will become a being the universe has never seen before but she will go beyond even the Time Lords.

The Doctor was intrigued but he knew just from the way his ship was being vague that she would never tell him exactly what this great destiny was. Pride and relief flooded his hearts and mind knowing that Namid would be able to become a great Time Lady just like he imagined she would. He decided for the moment to keep this revelation for himself until he saw how it was going to play out. But as he headed to the laboratory, he was excited and couldn't wait to see what Namid's destiny would ultimately be.

Back                         Home                              Doctor Who Main Page                          Next

Your Name or Alias:      Your E-mail (optional):

Please type your review below. Only positive reviews and constructive criticism will be posted.