WARNING: This is the fifth instalment in the "One Moment in Time" series, following on from "One Moment in Time", "Portal of Eternity", "So Many Things Should Have Been Different" and "Return to The Valiant". You will DEFINITELY need to read from the beginning to make sense of it all.
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything remotely related to it.
Author's Note: OK, after quite a few requests, I've decided to return for another trip on my "Ship of Dreams" - I hope you will join me! As always, I'm a little nervous about starting to post a new story, so any and all reviews would be greatly appreciated, so that I know if I'm on the right track. Big thanks to Omniac for our recent chat - your encouragement has inspired me to start this story!
Summary: The Master and Tejana have landed on the planet Mnemosyne, a strange, secret place where it's possible for things long ago forgotten to once again be remembered. To the Master's shock, he begins to realise that what he remembers of the Time War might not actually be what happened at all. Someone on Mnemosyne knows the truth. Someone wants the Master to remember. But there are some things that are much, much safer left forgotten...
CHAPTER ONE
Tejana didn't want to move, but she knew she was going to have to. She felt completely content, her body lethargic and boneless and absolutely satisfied. She could hear the Master's steady, even breathing in her ear, feel the hard, heated reality of his body curved protectively around hers as he slept beside her. Still floating on the aftermath of mind-melting pleasure, a tiny smile quirked her lips. She wasn't surprised he was tired. She would be exhausted herself, if not for the artron energy still surging through her body from her regeneration. The last couple of hours had certainly been very...physical, to say the least. The Master was nothing if not thorough. There wasn't a place on her new body that he hadn't touched and explored and ruthlessly claimed for his own. She gave an experimental wriggle and winced a little as her bruised muscles protested. He hadn't been at all tender or gentle in his single-minded and determined possession of her. But, caught up in her own overwhelming need, she hadn't expected or wanted anything different from him.
Turning her head on the pillow, she gazed at him almost curiously. He looked so much younger in his sleep – much less like the deadly predator he really was – his eyes closed and his handsome face relaxed, devoid of the harsh, wary alertness that usually characterised it.
Her mind drifted back over everything that had recently happened on The Valiant. "The Year That Never Was, That Never Was", as the Doctor had jokingly called it. It was ironic – now that the causal nexus had been restored, that small piece of Time no longer existed. It had been totally re-written, all the horrific events reversed and erased from the memory of nearly everyone involved. And yet, for Tejana, it would always be one of the most significant periods of her life. She would never forget a single thing that had happened. Incredibly, unbelievably, the Master had given her his true name. It was the ultimate commitment any Time Lord could make to another person, an absolute gesture of trust. She now held a part of him that no-one else in the Universe could ever claim, his essence, the key not only to his hearts but to his very soul. She knew now, without a shadow of a doubt, that he loved her.
Or, at least, he loves me as much as he could ever love anyone.
Tejana felt an unpleasant little shiver of apprehension trickling up her spine. She couldn't help remembering the savage pleasure on the Master's face when he realised that the outline of his hand was still branded on to her ankle, even after she had regenerated, marking her as his forever, no matter what happened. It was an inescapable truth, one she could not ignore, no matter how hard she tried - for the Master, love would always equate to possession. It was his fundamental nature, he didn't understand anything else. Ever since they had lain together in the Matrix, he had made no secret of the fact that he wanted to own her in every way possible. He had told her that there was nowhere in the Universe she could go that he wouldn't find her and bring her back. Going by the things he had whispered in her ear as he made love to her, giving him her true name had only intensified his obsession. When the Master said forever, he literally meant forever. Every inch of her, every breath she took, every heartbeat, he demanded it all. And she wasn't sure things would ever be any different between them.
But, as the Doctor had so succinctly pointed out, she had made her choice and there was no turning back. Oh, she didn't regret it, not for a second. As dangerous and unpredictable as the Master was, as impossible as it was to fully trust him, she still loved him unreservedly. In the end, she hadn't really even had a choice. She could never have walked away from him, even if she had wanted to. Even if he would have let her. It was much too late for that. Her need for him was burnt deep into her bones, right to the very marrow. He was in her blood, like an addiction, something she could not live without. Nonetheless, looking at his sleeping face, she couldn't help trembling as she thought about the enormity of what she had done.
The obvious solution to that is not to think about it then, she told herself ruefully. After all, what's done is done.
As if in agreement, her stomach rumbled loudly, immediately taking her mind away from everything else. Oh gods, she was so hungry! In this time-line, which now was the only one that physically counted, she hadn't had anything to eat for at least twenty-four hours. Since then, she had also regenerated, a process which always left her absolutely starving.
Carefully, she began to ease out from under the heavy weight of the Master's arm. He stirred, muttering her name irritably, until she deftly slipped a pillow into the crook of his elbow, which he pulled close before drifting back into a deep sleep. Pleased, Tejana smiled impishly and slid off the edge of the bed. She really hadn't wanted to wake him. As much as she had enjoyed the last few hours, she could do with some time to herself. Regeneration was always a difficult adjustment to make, for her at least, and she hadn't really had a chance to come to terms with it just yet. With a small stab of trepidation, she realised she hadn't even seen her own face. It was a weird, indescribably unsettling sensation, not to have any idea what she currently looked like. Padding across to her wardrobe, she opened the door and looked into the full-length mirror which hung inside. A small, naked, fragile-looking girl looked back at her, an uncombed mass of dark-copper hair falling past her waist in wild-looking waves. With a small frown, she examined her face more closely, noting the wide green eyes and the tiny sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Baring her teeth, she inspected them too, running her tongue over them several times, before pulling some experimental faces at herself in the mirror.
Could have been worse, she thought dubiously, trying to look on the bright side. I definitely looked more dignified before. I suppose it's a bit hard to look dignified when you're so bloody small.
Looking at her body, she figured she was now probably just over five feet tall, with small breasts, a flat stomach, narrow, boyish hips and slender legs. She sighed, somewhat disappointed in her lack of feminine curves. It definitely wasn't what she would have chosen, but she supposed she would get used to it in time. It had taken her a while to get used to her last regeneration too. She shot a quick look over her shoulder at the sleeping figure in the bed. At least the Master hadn't seemed to mind. If anything, he had appeared excited by the apparent fragility of her new form. He was not overly tall himself in his current regeneration – Tejana guessed that the fact that she was now so much smaller than him appealed to his dominant personality.
Reaching into the wardrobe, she sorted swiftly through her clothes, trying to find something that would fit. The process didn't take very long. Her previous self had never been the least bit interested in shopping or fashion. There were several pairs of jeans, some assorted shirts and cotton tops and a couple of jackets – that was pretty much it. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. What had she been thinking? It was definitely time for a style overhaul. In the end, she pulled out the white cotton dress she had worn on the Eye of Orion and put it on. It was much too long now, falling almost to her ankles, but it was better than wearing a pair of jeans that kept slipping down her legs. Grabbing a belt made out of silver links, she cinched it firmly around her small waist, holding the dress in place. The result was not perfect by any means, but it would do. The shoes on offer were all out of the question – they were much too large. With a shrug, she turned away from the wardrobe. She quite liked going barefoot anyway.
Moving quietly, she sneaked out of the bedroom and down into the console room, heading for the kitchen. On the stairs, she found the clothes she had been wearing when she had regenerated. Or the remnants of them, anyway. She remembered now that she hadn't quite reached the bedroom before the Master had caught up with her. He was much faster than he looked and patience had never been one of his strong points. Picking up her shirt, she saw that it was now not much more than a torn rag, the buttons scattered widely across the stairs. If he's going to keep ripping my clothes off like that, he'll just have to take me shopping for some new ones, she thought with amused determination. A wicked grin curved her lips as she imagined him trailing her around one of the huge inter-galactic shopping malls, carrying an armload of her shopping bags. Oh yes, that she had to see!
The TARDIS had gone into night-mode while they were in the bedroom and the lights in the beautiful console room had lowered to a dim glow. The glass platform felt cold under her bare feet as she walked across it and she could hear the comforting hum of the glass time rotor as it oscillated steadily back and forth. Led by the insistent demands of her stomach, she didn't linger but slipped through the lower door into the maze of corridors beyond, intent on reaching the kitchen. As a result, she failed to notice that, behind her, an unknown stream of data was scrolling lazily across the screen of the navigational terminal. Several levers on the console moved in a graceful dance, apparently of their own accord, as though invisible hands were controlling them. And in response, the time rotor shuddered briefly, almost imperceptibly, before resuming its previously smooth rise and fall.
In the kitchen, Tejana was ransacking the cupboards. To her extreme dismay, there was very little to eat at all. The best she could come up with was three large unopened boxes of Cheerios, which she examined with distaste. The Master had a bit of a thing for Cheerios. Tejana had never been quite sure why. In her opinion, they tasted like cardboard. Still, it wasn't as though there was anything else. And you never knew, maybe her preferences had changed since she regenerated. Crossing her fingers, she filled a large bowl to the brim with the cereal and added some milk from the refrigerator. Hopping up to sit on the kitchen counter, she tentatively put a spoonful in her mouth - and only just managed to refrain from spitting it out all over the floor. Oh stars, they were even worse than she remembered! She was so ravenously hungry, she managed to finish a few more mouthfuls, but then she gave up in revulsion.
Eggs! she thought longingly. What wouldn't she give for some eggs? Crispy fried on toast. Or scrambled. Or an omelette...oh yes, that was what she wanted, one of the Doctor's omelettes! Oddly enough, despite bizarre cooking methods that were as erratic as everything else he did, the Doctor could make the most amazing omelettes in the Universe. Just thinking about them made her mouth water and her stomach growl.
Just then, a subtle, familiar bump interrupted her day-dreaming. Tejana frowned. The TARDIS had materialised. The Master must have woken after all. She wondered where he had decided to land. Hopefully somewhere she could get some eggs!
Abandoning her cereal bowl, she leapt down from the counter and ran back to the console room, expecting to see the other Time Lord. To her surprise, the room was just as empty and silent as when she had passed through it earlier. But this time, the time rotor was not moving. They had definitely landed. Tejana's frown deepened. Perhaps the Master had put the TARDIS on auto-pilot, with a pre-programmed destination. That was unusual. As a rule, he disliked the auto-pilot function. He tended to be very particular about how the TARDIS was flown and generally preferred to operate the controls himself. And when had he found time to program the navigational computer?
Uneasily, she pressed the button to activate the large circular scanner on the wall. On the screen, she saw some beautiful rural countryside, basking in mid-afternoon sunshine. They had apparently landed in the the middle of a large field of wheat, the golden ears rippling into the distance as if stirred by a light, teasing breeze. Moving across to the navigational computer, Tejana punched in some commands. According to the terminal, this was the planet Mnemosyne, located in the constellation Canes Venatici. There was no other information available.
Tejana hesitated uncertainly, internally debating whether she should work this out herself or whether she should go and wake the Master. In her experience, the first thing the Doctor always did when he landed somewhere new and strange was to immediately charge out and investigate, regardless of the possible consequences. Of course, that did tend to get him into an inordinate amount of trouble most of the time. But surely it couldn't hurt just to look. At last, making a snap decision, she activated the door control. Then she descended to the entrance level of the TARDIS and stuck her head cautiously out the door. To her relief, everything seemed perfectly ordinary and peaceful, almost Earth-like in appearance. It was a gorgeous day, the gentle warmth of the sun falling across her face as she gazed up at the wispy clouds merrily scudding across a cerulean blue sky. Nearby, she could even hear the cheerful sound of a babbling brook talking to itself as it wound its way through the landscape. It was just the sort of day that lifted your hearts and made you want to run out into it and joyfully take it as your own.
Tejana glanced back over her shoulder into the dim interior of the TARDIS and then looked out of the doors again, eyeing the golden field of wheat speculatively. Cultivated fields usually meant a farm. And a farm often meant chickens. And chickens meant eggs. And she really, really wanted some eggs. She knew that the Master would be absolutely furious if she left the TARDIS without telling him, especially after she had just regenerated. But she felt fine...better than fine, actually, she felt perfect. She hadn't had a single after-shock for over an hour now. He hadn't been asleep for that long - if she hurried, she could probably get back with some eggs before he woke. She could serve him breakfast in bed – now that idea had all sorts of interesting possibilities.
For a moment, she fidgeted impatiently in the doorway, still torn by indecision. But then her stomach growled loudly again and that clinched it. She stepped out into the sunshine and closed the doors of the TARDIS behind her. With a smile, she realised that the exterior of the time machine was still in the shape of a blue police box. Obviously the Chameleon Circuit had found nothing large enough to replicate in this flat field and had defaulted to the most recently used shape. She guessed that the Master wasn't going to be too happy about that, but at least she wasn't going to have any difficulty finding it again upon her return.
Careful of her bare feet, she began to make her way through the waist-high stalks of wheat, heading for the road she could vaguely see in the distance, her copper hair shining like a flame in the light of the sun.
She would be back soon. After all, how much trouble could she possibly get into in this peaceful place?