THE GALLIFREY CHRONICLES, A NEW WAR

Author note Chapter 12 is up Thank you to Elmostroverde and toavoidconversation for helping/beta this chapter. Please review, it really helps me improve.

Disclaimer I dont own Doctor who, big finish nor the characters, but Emmaline is my character.

Slight mentions of events from big finish Gallifrey series

Emmaline had dreams, sometimes of a world that was not hers, but a world like Gallifrey -- except it was not Gallifrey. It was easily as beautiful as Gallifrey, though; the sky was a deep sapphire colour, twin moons that seemed to sparkle and shine as if they were diamonds. The stars in the night sky glittered and exploded in a million colours like an endless time loop and the city was hidden by a blue crystal dome.

Inside the city the streets were paved of gold and further in there were many rivers with beautiful, sparking clear water. In one dream she saw a beautiful waterfall so high that it almost reached the trees, pink water fell from it like a curtain of beauty and untold secrets.

And always, a wolf stood there guarding the city by night.

She would tell both Romana and Gander of the dreams, and after she mentioned it an uncomfortable silence would follow. Then her mother would tell her they were just dreams, and with that she ended every conversation concerning her dream world.

But what if this planet was real? Sometimes, her dreams would feel so real, it was almost as if she could simply jump in and touch it.

After these dreams, Emmaline would sit and wonder why she never really felt as if she belonged in Gallifrey. Maybe the Doctor's love of travelling had become part of her, seeing as he was her biological father. Or at least this was what she had always been told.

Emmaline wandered through the Citadel as the children from the Academy were heard singing in the city. In some ways she missed being in the Academy, and she was still at the age where she would be expected to return; still much a child in Gallifrean terms, but not yet an adult. In Earth terms she would probably be around 30 but she looked like a young teenager.

Her Time in the Academy had been a painful time for her, and she was singled out for the gift she had been forced to have from staring into the untemperered schism. Her tutors found her a mystery and the other children called her Dreamer because most of the time her head was in the clouds, dreaming of worlds she had never learnt about.

Finally she reached The Bureau of Ancient Records. Pushing open the door she stepped in.

"Can I help you, Miss?" the voice startled Emmaline, as she glanced up at Damon. Damon, her childhood friend, the one who had known her for her entire life. He had been a few years older so had graduated from the Academy before her. She glanced at him uncertainly, wondering if he would still be her friend after their paths had gone in so many different ways: she had disappeared from Gallifreyan life for many years and Damon had taken up an technician position in the records department after he had left the Academy.

"Damon." she said.

"Emmalinedvoratrelundar, Damon said, using her full name. "What brings you here? And I like the new regeneration." In her first incarnation she had looked natural, with dark black hair and dark eyes. She always seemed to have sad eyes and carried a moody expression that seemed to say 'save me', however in this new regeneration she seemed very different; her hair was strawberry blonde with fair skin, big brown eyes and a mass of freckles upon her face. She had ditched the tomboyish clothes she used to wear and instead she was wearing a plain white lace dress.

He didn't ask why she had regenerated at first, hardly anyone at Emmaline's age regenerated, so whatever had happened she must have been injured pretty badly for a regeneration to kick in, unless she had forced regenerated herself. Damon was still in his first regeneration, and all of a sudden his curiosity got the better of him. "Why did you regenerate?"

"I crashed my TARDIS and then I jumped through a glass window," she mumbled not looking at Damon.

Damon sighed "Why am I not surprised, you were always so good at getting yourself into scrapes. So why are you here?"

"Damon," she said standing in front of him. "Maybe I could get access to your records..."

Damon was already shaking his head. "I can't give you access. Maybe try the Academy" he suggested before curiosity kicked in again "What do you need it for?"

"I hate the Academy," Emmaline replied softly not answering his question

Damon shot Emmaline a curious look but didn't comment. "All right," he said thoughtfully. "What do you need?"

"I have this dream sometimes of a planet with twin moons, the sky is a bright sapphire colour...Do you know what planet it could be?"

"Oh." he sighed with an almost sad look in his eyes. "That must be the planet of the Guardians, it was called Bellona. Sadly it's gone now."

"Gone..." whispered Emmaline with a dismayed look on her face.

Damon's eyes were sad as he nodded. "Destroyed in the Time War.. and the Guardians are almost all dead anyway."

"Almost?" she asked with a hopeful look.

"Well, it might just be a legend but it's said there was a child taken from their home who escaped the war, but nobody knows if that is real or just a story."

She felt the room spinning beneath her feet as Damon's words echoed in her mind.

"It's said there was a child taken from their home who escaped the war but nobody knows if that is real or just a story."

Then the visions started to overtake her mind.

Battleships were flying everywhere before many awful creatures arrived, they were all metal, indestructible metal, they seemed so powerful and yet so void, so tragically alone. The creatures began destroying everything around them, the people below them and the sky above equally shattered, all this at the sound of EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" People fell down and she saw a pair of arms holding a child, comfort washed over her before the arms disappeared and the ground below started to crack and split.

The visions had a strong hold on Emmaline for she started to scream, her cries stabbing the air around her. She was not sure if she was screaming at the horror of the sight of a world destroying or if she was screaming for herself. All she knew was that those visions, past or future, were about her.

She didn't know how or why but she started running out of the room, through the long over stretched hallways. Damon caught up and got hold of her, holding her close but she continued to scream, barely aware of Damon or anything that she saw inside her mind, because the blinding headache pounding in her head overtook everything around her. She collapsed to the ground just before a large crowd gathered, having heard the screaming. All around were tuts and accusations.

"What happened here?" demanded Gander seeing Emmaline lying on the ground.

"I would have thought that was obvious." spat Bainbridge; his eyes were fixed on the figure of Emmaline on the ground. The blood seeped from her head started trickling down her face. She groaned as she put her hand to her head, then everything went black.

"Damon?" Gander asks.

"I don't know we were talking about planets and she just started freaking out and started screaming." Damon said still completely bewildered.

Gander suddenly looked deadly pale, and he tried to compose himself." What planets?" he demanded. Damon had no answer.

"Like I said it's obvious...she had an attack upon her conscious-" announced Bainbridge.

"Will you please just be quiet; she needs peace, rest and medical attention, which I will see to myself. Take her to the medical wing Damon," ordered Gander.

"Do you love Gander, Romana?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, he's a good father to Emmaline."

"That's not what I asked."

"Why are you doing this?" Romana whispered. She didn't want to have this conversation with the Doctor, but she knew she was going to have it.

"You forget I know you." He gently touched her face. As he stood looking at her she was so much more beautiful than he remembered, with her shiny black curled hair and her mesmerizing electric-blue eyes that he could stare at for hours. Any Time Lord would be lucky to have her, and that hurt him because he always found a way of losing Romana. She had been something so special that after he lost her, there had been no one else like her; nobody could compare to her or replace her, and he could never love anyone the way he loved his Romana.

"I-" Romana started, but the words wouldn't come. After all these years of wanting the Doctor to return to Gallifrey and now here he was, granted he wasn't the Doctor she remembered, he had regenerated since the last time they had seen each other, but he was still the Doctor nonetheless. She wanted to tell him but she could not allow herself more disappointment in her life.

"You are talking about tearing people's lives apart if you go down that route. Is that really what you want to do? Even you aren't that callous." The Doctor frowned.

"I want-" It was there even though she couldn't say the words. She knew it was the Doctor, it had always been the Doctor, but she couldn't let go of the fact the Doctor had been so unreliable in her and Emmaline's life's

"Tell me." he said softly. It was when he looked into her blue eyes that he sees it pain and disappointment that were caused by him.

"I want someone who is here, who is dependable and that isn't you, is it?"

"I want you and Emmaline, you are the only family I want or need."

"I really wish that was true..."

"I am here! I came back for you and for our daughter"

"So what? is that supposed to make everything all right? you left me here alone with a baby!" she screamed. "And she died..." the words fell out of her mouth.

Romana turned to try and run from the Doctor, but he took hold of her arm.

"What do you mean? Emmaline is-"

"Forget it." she turned away from the Doctor, but he held firmly to her arm.

"Tell me is Emmaline my daughter?" he insisted.

"She's not mine," Romana chocked back the tears. "I was gunned down by the Daleks she died instantly." Romana started to cry as she recalled that day.

"This is it.." groaned Romana She could deal with almost anything; the Doctor abandoning her, being exiled and removed from the Presidency by that snake Rassilion, but now she was going to lose everything that mattered to her... she ran as she screamed, as she tried to run clutching hold of her young child and that was it all it took, one moment when the sound of EXTERMINATE! Was heard...and Romana fell with her child, the blood pouring out of her own child. Romana shut her eyes tightly, holding her breath she heard them moving away. It was too late for her child, she was dead far too young to regenerate "Sorry," she whispered as tears stung the back of her eyes. She wanted to die too but she could feel the regeneration start to take a hold of her just as she managed to drag herself to safety.

The memory was slightly hazy, not remembering which Time War it was, there had been so many. She had been the last thing she had of the Doctor- their child- and now she was gone as well

Romana blinked back the tears, and taking a deep breath she began to speak. "There was a child, Gander found her; she had survived when everyone on Bellona perished... we took her in and I raised her as my own" she said as the tears streamed down her face. "She has no idea .For the first time in my life I lied to her."

That had always been the trouble with Romana, she had always found it impossible to lie especially to those whom she held dear and loved; maybe that's why she had always been so popular on Gallifrey.

Romana remembered the day when Emmaline came into her life. She had been in the presidency office buried in paper work. After losing her child she threw herself in work and nobody could reach her, she was pushing everyone away until one day it had being announced that slimy snake Rassilion was going to run against her but she was not going to give in, she would fight him and not let him win this had been the second time he had tried to push her from the presidency.

Gander walked in carrying the tot in his arm.

"What is the meaning of this." hissed Romana. "Bringing this alien to Gallifrey."

"Her race was all destroyed in the time war. "Thought you might want to-"

"Oh no you don't there is no way you are dumping that tot on me."

"You lost a child Romana , she lost her whole family good combination don't you think?"

And then he just walked out and left the child with her, an alien tot on Gallifrey, but somehow that child had healed her broken hearts and she had grown to love her and accepted her and raised her as a Gallifrean.

"Oh Romana, I'm so sorry."

The Doctor pulled Romana into his arms, wrapping his arms around her. It felt so right to be in his arms like she had been all those centuries ago, he kissed her softly and she felt like they had never been apart. Her hands entangled in his hair, she kissed him back.

"I'm sorry." whispered Romana as she buried herself in his shoulder, sobbing.

"Shhh... it's okay." He murmured, holding her close.

"I love you Doctor." Romana said through the tears. "It was never Gander... it was always you."

"I know, and I love you too, Romana. I should never have left you." the Doctor whispered kissing her again. "And I'm sorry, but I can't lose you again."

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