PARENTHOOD

Chapter One Hundred and Eighty Three

The Doctor sat in his library quietly reading an old Gallifreyan book. Since the destruction of his planet, he had gone back through the old books he had that had come from his planet and read through them, partly to absorb any information that he didn't know contained within them and partly for nostalgia. He was pleased to find that there was much he didn't know about his people and after reading those passages he made sure to commit them to memory. Of course, he felt it more urgent to do that when he was the last of his kind but he still liked to have knowledge of old Gallifrey that he could use to help out New Gallifrey and the next generation of Gallifreyans there.

As he read, he saw someone enter out of the corner of his eye and smiled when he turned his head and saw Hope enter the room. Hope walked over to him and paused as she stared at the book. She sighed when she saw it was written in old Gallifreyan.

"I don't like that I can't read this stuff," she said, pointing to it.

"Well, love, in fifteen more years you'll be able to fluently and they'll teach you some of it when you attend the Academy," the Doctor replied.

"What's it say?" Hope asked.

"Well, it talks about old Gallifrey, the Gallifrey I lived on when I was your age," the Doctor said.

"Like what? What does it say?"

"Just talks about the history of our people and the things that they did," the Doctor said.

"Are you in here?" Hope said, leaning in closer.

"Probably, I haven't gotten that far," the Doctor said. "But I've read a lot of old books from Gallifrey where sometimes it talks about me."

"Like what? I wanna know what it says, Daddy."

The Doctor smiled at her and his hearts ached as he wished he could take his daughter back to old Gallifrey and show it to her, show her the beauty and the grandeur of the planet before the war happened. But while he thought about it, he suddenly had an idea and clicked his fingers.

"I think I may be able to show you a second hand version of my planet, my treasure, if you're feeling adventurous, of course."

Hope nodded eagerly and the Doctor kissed her cheek.

"Come with me then," he said, getting up. "Let's see if your mum wants to tag along with us on this adventure."

"So, what are we doing?" Rain asked when the Doctor went back into the house and got her to come along with them.

"Well, Hope was telling me that she wished she could read some of the history of our people and I was wanting to show her old Gallifrey and was upset that I couldn't and then I remembered the simulation room, I can do the same thing I did long ago and show her some of my memories so she can see me when I was her age."

"Cool," Rain said as she followed them through the TARDIS to the Simulation Room.

When they reached the room, the Doctor told his wife and daughter to go inside while he uploaded some of his memories into the simulator. Rain opened the door and guided her daughter into the metal room. Hope looked around at the large, empty metal room as Rain closed the door behind them.

"What is this, Mummy?" she said to Rain.

"Well, in a moment, you're gonna see some of Daddy's memories but they'll be 3D and you can walk around and watch," Rain said.

"Ooo, I'm gonna see Daddy as a little baby?" Hope said.

"Um, maybe. Depends on what your daddy wants to show us," Rain said.

"There we go," the Doctor said, coming inside and shutting the door, "all ready. I just have to tell the TARDIS to begin."

"Are we gonna see you as a baby?" Hope said, walking up to him.

"Nah, you're gonna see me sleeping. Ten hours of me getting a good night's sleep, what ya think about that?"

Rain laughed when Hope headed for the door and she quickly turned her around and walked her back to her father's side.

"Nah, we're going to look at Gallifrey first so you can see its beauty. Go ahead, TARDIS, start the simulation."

The room was suddenly filled on all sides by the Gallifreyan landscape. Everyone looked around, looking at the burnt orange sky, red grass and trees with silver leaves glowing in the sun. Rain glanced at her husband and squeezed his hand when she noticed he was misty eyed. Hope was completely enchanted. She took a few tentative steps and then when she saw that she was still in the simulation, walked over to a nearby tree and stared at the leaves.

"Daddy!" she said in wonder as she pointed at them. "This is pretty!"

"Yes, they are," the Doctor said wistfully as they walked over to them. "I only wish we could have reproduced them on New Gallifrey but this particular species was native only to this planet. Still, I'm glad I could finally show them to you so you could see their beauty."

"Can...can we talk to people here?" Hope asked the Doctor.

"No. We can hear and see people in this simulation but they can't hear or see us. I could change it so they could interact with us but I'm not going to. I just want you to see certain things. So are you ready to see my house when I was a little boy?"

Hope nodded eagerly and the Doctor told the TARDIS to jump to the next memory. The scene shifted and they were inside a house that was made of a white coral material similar to the coral in the console room. In front of them was a little boy about Hope's age. He was thin and pale with short brown hair and fringe that came down just above his eyebrows. The scene was frozen and the boy was wearing a black robe with a thick white strip that ran down the middle like a penguin.

"This is me when I was five years old," he told Hope. "We're in my house on Gallifrey."

"Ooo," Hope said, walking over to his memory self.

She stared at him and looked at her father.

"How come he's not movin'?" she asked him.

"Because the memory's on pause at the moment, I have to ask the TARDIS to start it," the Doctor said. "I just wanted you to get a good look at me before we start."

"I can't talk to you?" Hope said sadly as she pointed at the child beside her.

"Nope, only watch. Are you ready?" the Doctor said.

Hope nodded and the Doctor asked the TARDIS to start the memory. The young Doctor walked through an arched door on his left side and everyone followed him. He was in a bedroom with a wooden bed that had a white cotton blanket on it and a fluffy down pillow. There was a wooden chest of drawers beside it and on the other side of the room was a full length mirror mounted on the wall. Beside the mirror was another arched door that led into a walk-in closet that was filled with clothes. Hope followed the young Doctor as he walked to the mirror. Hope looked around the room.

"You don't have toys, Daddy?" she asked her father.

"No. Not toys like you have. We had educational devices for children but nothing like legos or teddy bears, that's an Earth thing," the Doctor said. "I had things like rontgen blocks when I was in the nursery but by the age of five I was considered too old for them and other playthings like that."

"Mum, I hate this robe, it's itchy," the young Doctor said as he stared at himself in the mirror.

Rain snorted.

"I can see where Alan got that complaint from," she said to the Doctor who chuckled softly.

Clara came into his bedroom and Hope brightened when she saw her grandmother. The young Doctor turned and shook his head.

"Why do I have to wear this thing? It's absolute rubbish," the young Doctor said to her. "Why can't I wear my everyday robes?"

"Because this is a special event. Your father is making a speech tonight," Clara said. "You have to go because you're his son so you need to use the dress robes."

"Papaw? Is she talkin' 'bout Papaw John?" Hope said, walking over to her father.

"No...um...my father. She's talking about my father, not your mum's father," the Doctor said to her.

"Which papaw is he?" Hope asked him.

The Doctor and Rain shared a glance.

"You don't know him, love," the Doctor said. "He and I never got along and I left him behind on Gallifrey."

Hope gave him a confused look. She started to say something but the Doctor put a finger to his lips and pointed back to his younger self. Hope turned to watch and the Doctor put a hand on her shoulder while she watched Clara straighten the young Doctor's robes and make him look presentable.

"Mum, do I have to go to this?" the young Doctor said softly. "I don't wanna hear Dad's idiotic speech."

"Shhh, Merzet, just do this and don't complain, please?" Clara said nervously.

The young Doctor sighed angrily and nodded. Clara kissed his cheek and laid her hand on his head.

"Just do what he wants and it'll be done in a few hours," Clara said to him. "Yeah?"

The young Doctor nodded again and walked out of the room with Clara following him. Hope walked over to her father.

"You look weird," she said to him.

"Now see here, Miss Opinion," the Doctor said while Rain giggled. "I'll not have your cheek while I'm taking a trip down memory lane. You keep your sarky comments to yourself, yeah?"

"No."

The Doctor feigned anger while the women giggled. He smiled and patted her head fondly.

"Well...I suppose the next memory will be the speech I was forced to sit through. Want you to see my father and hear what he thought about Earthlings. TARDIS, next memory please."

The scene shifted to a large assembly hall. They were at the back beside the young Doctor who was sitting on a long wooden bench on the end. To his right were other children and a few mothers dressed in white, pink or light blue robes who had babies or small children with them. The children were dressed in the black and white robes. In front of the bench were more benches that held adult Time Lord and Ladies, all dressed in Time Lord robes and headgear. At the front of the assembly hall was a wooden stage. On the stage was a wooden podium and several wooden chairs to the right of it. There were more Time Lords sitting in the chairs, all of them middle aged or elderly looking and at the podium was a stern looking man of about middle age, he was wearing black robes with a gold skullcap and flair. On the robe centered in the front of it was a large gold embroidered Seal of Rassilon. The scene was frozen for the moment and the Doctor showed Hope and Rain a young boy sitting right next to the Doctor.

"You know Koschei, Amato's friend?" he said to Hope.

She nodded and he pointed to the boy.

"This is my Koschei, my friend," he said to her. "The difference is my Koschei grew up to be a bad person called the Master but at this moment, Koschei and I are best friends."

"This is before the Schism, right?" Rain said. "Before the so-called drums?"

"Correct. This is before Kosch went insane," the Doctor said to her. "At this time, we're just mates and actually..."

He pointed to a middle aged man sitting in the first chair.

"That's Kosch's father. He's quite wealthy and influential in the Time Lord community...or was, I mean," he said. "My father was a bit of a social climber which is how Kosch and I became friends. We met because our fathers were friends. But anyway, this is my dad's wonderful speech on the so-called lower life forms. TARDIS, if you will..."

The memory unfroze and the Doctor's father nodded to everyone.

"Thank you, fellow Time Lords and Ladies for that warm welcome," he said, looking around. "As you know, I am Parius and I have been asked by the Lord President to give a speech on Time Lords and their responsibility to the lower races..."

"Booooring," Koschei whispered to the young Doctor.

"I don't know how all of you feel about the lower races," Parius said. "I, for one, feel that a Time Lord should be like a parental figure to those who aren't as intelligent as we..."

"And by that, he means everyone who isn't a Time Lord," the Doctor muttered to Rain.

"A parent must be loving towards the child, but stern. They must expect the child to be both responsible and obedient and I see that as being the lower races role here. The Time Lords must set an example for the lower races and show them what a truly civilized species is."

The Doctor snorted at that along with his younger self.

"Blah, blah, blah, he likes to run his gob, don't he?" Kosch whispered to the young Doctor. "Your father is a big old windbag."

"Kosch, shut up," the young Doctor hissed at him. "You're gonna get us in trouble."

"However, I must make an exception here," Parius continued, "and that exception is Earth. I believe that Earthlings are best left to their own devices. They are ignorant, uncivilized and not fit to be counted among the other species of the universe. Any Time Lord who dares to observe them and is caught doing so has fighter planes sent after their TARDISes. The humans are fearful beasts who'll lash out at anything strange and foreign to them. That makes them dangerous and I recommend that all Time Lords keep away from them wherever they dwell in time and space."

"And what does the son do when he's old enough to travel?" Rain said. "Heads straight for Earth and all those troublemaking humans on it."

She and Hope giggled when the Doctor swiveled his head towards her and gave her a big cheesy grin while he nodded emphatically. While he was doing that, Hope noticed Kosch reach under his robes and bring out a small white rodent that resembled a shrew. She came up beside her young father and stared at it.

"That's a tafelshrew," the Doctor said as he and Rain walked up behind her. "And no, Kosch was not supposed to have it in the assembly hall as you can tell from my horrified expression."

"Kosch, put that back," the young Doctor hissed at him when he showed the rodent to him.

"No, this is much more interesting than your father," Kosch said softly as he stroked the fur on its back. "Found it outside just before we came in. I think I'll make it a pet and..."

He gasped when the tafelshrew bit his thumb and he jerked his hand in response. Both boys watched as the tafelshrew fell out of his hand and scurried under the bench in front of them. Both boys froze and Hope saw the worried look on her young father's face.

"Wait for it," the Doctor said.

Then they heard a scream two benches up and a Time Lady jumped up from her seat and bellowed that something had run across her shoe. Parius was shocked into silence when everyone except for the young Doctor and Koschei jumped up and began to look around, trying to find the rodent. Then the young Doctor watched as Koschei jumped up and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, let's get out of here before they find out it was us," he said to the young Doctor.

"Us? It was you that did it!"

"Yeah, yeah, come on!"

The young Doctor sighed, got up and the two of them quickly hurried out of the room.

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