Where's That Girl Gone?

By Tenshi Chupip

*I do not own Doctor Who. Pardon me while I weep bitterly about that fact.

It was a beautiful day. Far to beautiful of a day for what about to take place.

Seven year old Evie clung to her great grandfather as she watched her dad and the other pole bearers lift a casket on to their shoulders. Next to her, her grandmother wept. A bouquet of daises and roses covered the lid. She didn't understand. Why was mummy gone? The mahogany box was lowered into the ground slowly and the minster spoke of Evie's mother as though he knew her. Evie wasn't sure she liked that. The greying man didn't know her mummy at all. A final prayer was said before the minister informed the guests there would be refreshments in the church's recreational room. Evie held her father's hand as he lead her to the church. There were lots of tables filled with food but she noticed the ginger snap cookies right away. They were Mummy's favorite.

There were lots of people here. Lots of people talking about her mummy. Evie didn't know and she wasn't sure she liked that either. They talked about the funny things she used to do or the things she used to like. They patted her on the head and told her how sorry they were that her mummy was gone. Evie really didn't like that. Her daddy talked about their wedding day and how beautiful she looked. Evie had always loved hearing the story of her parents wedding but today it couldn't make her smile. Her daddy offered a toast.

"To Donna," he said, tears streaming down his face. "To my beautiful wife, may you rest in peace and may you always look down at us all with that brilliant smile of yours."

"To Donna," echoed the crowd.

Evie hopped off her chair and tried to push her way through the people. She wanted to make it back to her daddy. He looked so sad that she knew he would need a hug. Evie was half way through when a pretty lady with dark skin and friendly eyes tapped her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me," she smiled. "But are you Evelyn Temple?"

"Evie," the young girl replied without thinking "Mummy called me Evie. I like it better."

"May I call you Evie as well?" the lady asked.

"I guess so..."

"I have a present for you," the pretty woman pulled a small box from her pocket and handed it to Evie.

The young girl opened the box curiously but wrinkled her nose in confusion. There was a key on a chain in the box. "What is it?" she asked.

"It belonged to your mum," the lady said. "She may never have known it, but she would have wanted you to have it."

Evie's ears perked up at the mention of it being her mummy's key, "Does it open anything?" she asked.

"Yes, it opens a box," the lady said, taking the makeshift necklace out of the box and putting it over Evie's head.

"What kind of box?"

"A box your mum loved almost as much as I'm sure she loved you," she said with a sad smile. "That key is special so if you ever feel scared or alone, just hold it tight, think of her and you'll feel better in no time."

"Thank you," Evie smiled shyly and tucked the key underneath her dress.

With that the pretty woman gave her another smile and walked away. Evie went back to trying to muscle her way through the crowd. Finally getting through, her brown eyes scanned the room for her daddy. They settled with a glare on a blond lady giving her daddy a very tight hug. That was the blond lady from work Mummy didn't really like. Evie ran over and attached herself to her father's leg. Her daddy looked down in surprise before picking her up and holding her close while stroking her long brown hair. He thanked the blond lady and said he'd let her know if he ever needed to talk. Evie wasn't sure what they needed to talk about. Daddy could talk to her couldn't he?

Later that night as her dad tucked her into bed Evie asked "Daddy, do you think mummy still loves us?"

"I know she does," he smiled sadly at her. "Just like we still love her."

"Will you always love mummy?" she asked.

"Always," he replied and kissed her on the head. "And nothing will ever change that."

But Evie began to notice changes. Much to her annoyance, the blond lady kept showing up to talk to her daddy. Month after month the blond lady would show up to spend time with her and her Daddy. Sometimes Daddy would go out for coffee with her to talk. Sometimes Grandmother or Grampapa Wilf would come over and put her to bed because Daddy wouldn't be home from talking to the blond lady till way past Evie's bed time. Evie didn't always mind so much, the blond lady was always very nice to her but she didn't like how the blond lady kept her daddy out past bed time. He wasn't tucking her in very much anymore and she did not like it. Did not like that one little bit.

One night Evie woke up to loud voices down stairs. She knew eavesdropping was wrong but that was only if you got caught. Grampapa taught her that. It was how he found out where grandmother kept hiding his special chocolate stash. If this was as important as chocolate, Evie knew she just had to find out what it was. She opened her bedroom door quietly then tip toed down the stairs to hear better. The voices belonged to her daddy and the blond lady.

"It's just a simple question, Shaun," the blond lady sounded angry. "Why can't you give a simple answer?"

"There is no simple answer, Naris," her daddy snapped back. "I don't know where this is going. It's been eight months since she died, six months since all this started, what do you expect?"

"I expect to know if I'm wasting my time or not," she replied. "You can't live in mourning forever, Donna would want you to move on, to be happy. Maybe even give Evie another mother if you could. Lord knows a little girl needs a mother's influence."

Evie felt her body go very stiff. She didn't need a mother. She had one. She certainly didn't want another. Evie peeked her head around the corner to look into the living room. The blond lady had her back to Evie and her daddy was pacing the room.

"It's just..." her father sounded sad. "I miss her so much."

"I know you do," the blond lady soothed Evie's daddy. "We all miss her, but think about what holding on to your grief is doing to you and to Evie."

"I know you're right," he said, pulling the blond lady into a hug. "Please be patient with me, Luv, I can only take so much right now."

"Take all the time you need," the blond lady smiled. Evie didn't like the smile. "I'll be right here."

And suddenly, in less than a second, Evie's world shattered. Her daddy leaned in and kissed the blond lady. Kissed her just as he had once kissed mummy. Evie couldn't stop herself as she let out a long terrible scream. Her daddy and the blond lady jumped apart.

"Evie?" he asked with panic in his voice.

Evie bolted up the stairs before her daddy could come after her. She ran fast to her room and slammed the door shut before locking it. She leaned against the door breathing heavily. There was a sudden and urgent pounding on her door.

"Evie?" came her daddy's voice. "Evie, darling, its Daddy. Please, sweetheart, open up the door so we can talk about this!"

"You kissed her!" Evie yelled. "You kissed her like you kissed mummy! You said only people in love kissed each other! You said you'd always love mummy! You lied! You're a liar!"

"Evie, sweetheart, you don't understand!"

"Evie, honey, open the door so we can all talk," the blond lady's voice appeared.

"NO!" Evie shouted, pacing her room. "You leave us alone! JUST LEAVE US ALONE!"

"Please, dear, hear us out," the blond lady said. "Your father and I care very much about each other. We want to talk about this with you in case maybe we could be a family someday..."

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Evie screamed at the door. "We're not a family and you're not my mother you horrible witch! YOU WILL NEVER BE MY MOTHER!"

"Evelyn Rose Temple, you either open this door right now or I'll take it off it's hinges!" her father thundered.

"Fine!" Evie bellowed back. "Take the stupid door off but I won't open it! I'll starve first!"

Evie heard her father yell in frustration before he started pounding on the door again but she didn't care. She went to her closet before digging out her coat and boots. The boots were brown and fuzzy with pretty flowers all over them. They were a birthday present from her mummy. She grabbed her piggy bank and put it in a back pack with her favorite doll and a flash light. Evie stuffed a small framed picture of her and her mommy into the bag as well. Taking one last look around her bedroom, Evie opened up her window. Her daddy had started to throw himself against the door as she climbed out onto the tree just outside of the window. Mummy had taught her climb up and down that tree loads of times to make sure she could get out safe just in case of a fire. Evie slid down the tree with ease. Her feet hit the ground just as she heard her father break the door and stumble into the room.

"Evie!" he exclaimed from the window. "Evie, wait!"

Evie wouldn't wait. She didn't want to see her daddy or that blond woman ever again so she did the only thing that made sense to her young mind. She ran.

TBC...

A/N: We're just going to pretend that the 10th Doctor didn't go anywhere, savvy?