The Lost Daughter

She decides it is time to see with her own eyes what the Doctor does. Travelling in time, is not new to her, nor is the stories of Daleks, nor the encounters with Cybermen. The Doctor she meets, however, is not the Doctor she secretly hoped she'd meet; time works that way, and she is all-together not that disappointed.

Chapter 1

We see the world around us, and see it as it is. No matter how hard we try, we cannot see what was or what could be. But there is someone who can: in this world, and another. This man had saved billions of humans

and aliens throughout the universe. As in a freak accident, he was cloned, but altered. The result: a Time lord with one heart. Human. He was left in a parallel world to ours; left to be able to love the woman he

loved. But the 'proper' Time Lord went on and changed. And years passed in both worlds, which both now had a man with the memory of a Time Lord. The 'other' Time Lord lived a full life as we know it: He worked,

he loved, he married his love, and they had one child. This child is what begins this story; the journey of a girl to find her Doctor.

"Are you sure, love?" Rose stroked her daughter's brown mane. "It might be devastating to the barrier-"

"It won't, mom. Dad and I did extensive research, remember? Even granddad helped find the proper location. For the last time: I'll. Be. Fine."

"I'm your mother; I should be allowed to worry. Especially knowing your dad…"

Lily heaved her bag and straightened her jacket. She looked into the mirror and saw her mother sitting restlessly on the bed. "Oh, why did I fall in love with a Time Lord?"

Lily grinned. "Wrong question; Why did you fall in love with this Time Lord?" Both laughed heartily.

"Are we ready?" Doctor John Smith popped his head round the door. "We should get going, you lot."

"Alright - geesh - hold on."

"Watch it, young lady." He gave his daughter a stern look. "I'll be strict with you as long you're still here."

"Fine, then. Hmpf. Er- Mom's not coming with."

"Thought so. It'll only take a little while, love."

"Yeah, who knows, maybe I'll be back in ten seconds. Who can tell?" She eyed her dad and exchanged smiles. Some fleeting good-byes and she followed John out of the house and into the night. After a few tense moments, she looked up from the pavement and spoke.

"Dad?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Are you jealous?"

"I think I can be a jealous man, yes."

"Not that, dad. You know what I mean."

"No."

"Just, 'no'? No explanation?"

"No, I'm not jealous because you want to meet him. No, I'm not jealous of your need for more out of life. After all, I'm the man that raised you. If anything, I fed your hunger for adventure and curiosities. I'm not jealous, I'm proud. We all are."

"Not just because I have degrees in Medicine, Physics and Chemistry?"

"Not just because of that, no."

"Okay! Are we there yet?"

"Not quite. Just a little longer."

John held out an elbow and she took it, walking up the street arm-in-arm. A few minutes later, they arrived at an abandoned factory parking lot. "Just in time. I'll let you through when you're ready."

She hugged her father intensely and planted a kiss on his cheek. "See you soon, dad." And she marched off, resolutely, to the parking space marked '10'. John held out his phone and pushed a side button. To het left, the air turned a slighter shade of opaque, and a gentle breeze lifted her hair.

"Remember", John yelled to her, "that when you return, plan for a longer stay!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, bla-bla. I'll promise not to make giant rips in the universe and cause both worlds to collide", she said in her dullest voice.

"Good girl. Now, off you go. Oh! Don't forget to have fun!" Lily looked at his small face and those sparkling brown eyes that she had inherited, and stepped through the veiled barrier into nothingness.

Chapter 2

An empty TARDIS, save for a man in a brown suit and bowtie spinning around in his chair, staring up at the ceiling of the gigantic interior. He was humming to himself, it sounded almost mockingly. Contemplating

how the sun would have swallowed that star if he hadn't been there, he smiled – almost beamed – and landed his precious TARDIS to pay a visit to his closest friends. For whom, he too was guilt-ridden, obviously. A

soft thud and the TARDIS had arrived. Suddenly, an alarm went off inside and the Doctor took hold of one of the many screens. It focused on a suburban street with a play yard surrounded by houses. There was a

young woman sitting on a bench with a bag propped beside her, and she was beaming right at the TARDIS with the brightest of smiles. The Doctor expected her to get up and run towards it, but he didn't know why.

He had never seen her before in his life. He pushed a few buttons and turned a few dials to inspect her more closely. The result shocked him to the core. It can't be. But the tests did not lie. Why did they let her go?

Behind the girl on the bench, a door opened and a red-haired woman came walking out. What looked like her husband, kept lingering on the doorstep. As the red woman passed, the girl stood up, her bag still resting on the bench. The Doctor walked toward the door and opened it, to greet Amy.

"Good to see you!"

"And you, Doctor! How long has it been for you?"

"I'd say twenty years? Give or take."

He glanced nervously at the brown-haired girl still looking at them. Rory, who was watching from the door, seemed to notice too. "Come inside, I'll put the kettle on. Or open a bottle, whatever you want," nodding slightly toward the girl who had her back still turned to him.

"It's been six months for us, Doctor," Amy went on as she steered him towards the house.

When they passed the girl, the Doctor looked her straight in the eye. "Amy," still looking straight at the brunette, "you don't mind me bringing my new companion, do you?"

Amy looked up in surprise and the girl with the bag for the first time.

"Er - no. Of course not. Please, follow us inside. We'll get you two all warmed up."

The girl took her bag and followed the pair quietly. Once they got inside, the girl closed the front door behind her and put her bag into the corner beside the door. She heard glasses chinking from the living room as she walked into the house.

"So, Doctor. Still a need for companions then, eh?"

"Well, you know how lonely it can be in the TARDIS."

"Well," Amy turned to the girl as she entered the room, "what's your story? What's your name? Where are you from?"

"Lily. Lily Smith, from London", the girl replied as she accepted a glass of white wine from Rory with a polite nod.

"Lily Smith, eh? I'm Amy and this is strapping bloke is my husband, Rory Williams." Rory gave an awkward wave of the hand to greet and nearly knocked over a glass in the process. Lily responded with an equally awkward wave and took a seat opposite him.

"So how long have you been travelling together?"

Lily kept swirling her glass, avoiding eye-contact with the Doctor. "We met not too long ago."

"It's great to meet another of the Doctor's companions. I don't believe I've ever met any of the others before. How about that! You're the first I meet!"

"Have you two travelled with the Doctor much?" Lily was rather excited to meet other companions too. And they didn't seem spoiled at all; could het dad be wrong about the Doctor?

"Oh, yes!" Amy laughed out loud, then put her glass on the table. "In fact, it was our honeymoon."

"Your… Honeymoon?" Lily put her glass down too. This would definitely be good. The Doctor remained silent and still, but looked at Lily fixedly. It wasn't until Rory spoke, that he broke his trance.

"If you ladies don't mind, I think I'll better take the Doctor out for a while so you two can gossip on end about wibbley-wobbley time travel." Rory took the bottle as they left.

Lily listened intently to Amy's stories of their journey as they fought not only Daleks, but fish-like vampire aliens, psychic prisons, and the infamous Stone Angels. All the while, Lily glanced outside through the window into the back garden and saw Rory talking animatedly with the Doctor. Their expressions weren't as care-free as Amy's was, and Lily's suspicions were assured when she caught Rory pointing towards the living-room.

Finally, the men came back. The Doctor smiled at Lily. "Come on. We best get going." Lily looked up in amazement, but stood up nonetheless.

"But you only just got here."

"Don't worry, we'll be back soon enough."

"You know, you need to go and see your wife from time to time."

Lily had a wild expression on her face, which Amy obviously misunderstood for disappointment. Lily continued to fetch her things from the hall and after several packed slices of marble cake and fleeting good-byes (a strangely firm handshake from Rory) and she was off with the Doctor.

Once inside the TARDIS, lily threw her bag into a corner and raced up and down the interior. He got an upgrade! Magnificent! She was actually out of breath by the time she returned and the Doctor was just finished preparing for departure. He pulled a lever and a slight tug under her feet told her they were off.

The Doctor sat down in a chair and sized her up.

"So… Lily Smith, eh?"

"Ye-"

"Why are you here?"

"You took me."

"I mean, why did you come here?"

"I wanted to."

"I'm not him, you know."

"I know." She sunk in a chair nearby and sighed heavily. "I know," she concluded.

"How long had you been waiting outside?"

"Five minutes, I guess. We're really accurate nowadays."

"And you were really trying to get to me?"

"Only you." The Doctor grinned a little at this. So did she.

"All right, then. Lily, is it? Nice name: Simple, enchanting name. Now, did they have any other inspiration or did he run out of any?"

Lily laughed. "You'll be pleased to know that they thwarted the idea that I should be named Jackie." Both laughed loud. "Can you imagine the look on her face when she heard they'd named me Lily instead?"

"Did you have a good life? With them?" The Doctor sounded rather more serious than before. He actually got up and started o fidget with the TARDIS' mainframe, as if he was sorry for asking such a personal question.

"I did." The fidgeting stopped. "We all went looking for adventure. The Cybermen are still there, though. Uncle Mickey took good care of them." The fidgeting started again. "peter managed to sort of hypnotise them and he keeps one as a servant in the house."

"He should be careful."

"That's what dad said-" They both stopped, and a long pause followed.

"You needn't worry," she finally said. "Look at me." She said the latter a bit too forceful.

He turned around and looked at her. Their eyes met and seemed to latch onto each other for as long as they possibly could, until Lily blinked.

"So," she said in her most airy voice, "am I welcome to join you, or do you want me out of your hair?"

The Doctor smiled and answered: "Lily Smith, you may well be my perfect companion. Welcome aboard the TARDIS."