A/N: This is not about Jenny. Sorry guys! It's Roxanne...I'll explain in the story :P Anyway, It's SOOO good to be back and writing again! I'm working on college and...eh, well. I'm transferring from BJU to a smaller college and working out a career development programme.. I can't find a major that seems right :( Besides this is cheaper..WAAAY cheaper.
OHH! Keep an eye out for the continuation of this story! I'll be updating soon ;) I'll also be working on my other stories as well as a brand new Doctor Who one! ElevenxRose as inspired by a deviation I saw - art/together-Eleven-and-Rose-198368054
Enjoy~!
~Andi Rose
P.S.-
I've forgotten to mention there are no real explanations for some of the scenes. You could say it might be told from the POV of someone observing the events, who knows the characters extremely well - say, your authoress ^.- Well, she, as well as the audience (you) doesn't know what's going on but is telling the story from what she can remember: the vital parts. This is done, mainly because I wanted to get the introduction done and move on to the rest of the story. Unfortunately, we may be ending our father-daughter story shortly after they set out on their journey...so I'll do some last minute explanations, interesting details - all of which have no real point but I wanted to add for the sake of it because the Doctor is teaching Roxanne about Gallifrey, their culture, language, their family, etc.
So, it's simply randomly placed key points. Sorry for any confusion! ^^;
It's also told from Ten's regeneration! NOT Nine's! I know, I know, Nine didn't regenerate until after he met Rose and all that. But it's MY STORY. I decide who I use and when they meet! It's also a bit of wibbly wobbly timey wimey...stuff ;)
~Andi Rose
The Doctor's Daughter
Years earlier…
A young girl sits by a tall, thin man. He wears an orange-brown trench coat, reaching toward the lower part of his legs. He is quite nerdy at times, but she likes him all the same. The girl pauses, glancing into his eyes as he works rapidly on a project – he hurriedly dismisses her, and tells her to go make ready to leave London for another time in history. With this, she runs off into her bedroom to gather her things. She has lived at this boarding school for her entire life, and acquired enough items for to prepare herself for the future – all in her little bedroom.
She grabs several large boxes, and begins to pile her clothes into one of them. Into another, she folds her bedspread, and takes down the curtains.
The man walks in, leaning against the door, he folds his arms while watching her pack everything she owns. He chuckles, "Listen, love, you won't get anywhere packing everything by hand." he pulls out a strange-looking sonic tool out of his coat pocket, and pressed a button on the little device. Immediately, all of the contents of her room are sucked into the little device.
"How'd it do that?" the girl walks up to the man with awe, and cautiously takes the instrument from his hand, examining it.
"It's similar to a sonic screwdriver, but with Time Lord technology – it can be used for anything you want it to be. It can store items in its enormous memory, undo, open, close, disintegrate…Anything your mind can imagine, it will do." he lays a hand on the girl's shoulder, hugging her, "All you have to do is think about what you want it to do, and it will do just that."
"Really?" the girl grins, examining the instrument over even more, now wondering again, where on Earth the contents of her home could have gone to.
"Yes, Roxie, and it's yours." with that, he was glomped by a tight hug. The two of them fell to the floor, the girl still hugging the man. They were both laughing.
"Thank you, Doctor! Thank you so very much!" she sits upright slightly, looking at the tool, then to the Doctor, "You're so very sweet, Doctor." she reaches up, kissing the Doctor while he just sits there – a small smile cracks on his face.
"You're…welcome, Roxie." the Doctor hesitantly hugs the girl back, "Are you ready to go back to the TARDIS, now, eh?"
"As ready as I'll ever be!" she smiles widely, and grasps the Doctor's hand as she leads him to the blue box, excited for another trip with her childhood imaginary friend, who was as real as the day they met. She glanced up at the Doctor, being dragged along behind her. Her big brown eyes watching the poor Doctor trying to keep up this time. Both were exceptionally happy to be leaving the boarding school, but Roxie wasn't as happy or grateful than the Doctor himself.
OOO
About four years later…
"Roxanne – my sweetheart-!" the Doctor runs up to the girl who had suffered from the shock wave of an explosion nearby. A young man struggling to keep up behind him, "I'm never letting that happen again. Ever." he hugs her, tightly.
"It's okay, Doctor. I'm fine, see?" she tries to stand up but drops right back to the ground clutching her lower stomach.
"Roxie, are you alright?" he cups her chin, lifting it up so he can see her face, only to discover that she is crying, "Love, is everything alright?"
"No…" she clutches his coat jacket tightly, coming and going to, "I can't lose…"
"You can't lose what, love?" he holds her head up slightly, "That blast was too far away to affect any of us…but why Roxanne..?" the Doctor gently strokes the girl's forehead before she finally faints from exhaustion, "Oy! Nathan, we need to go – now!" the Doctor lifts her in his arms, and carries her away from the area, leaving the poor boy to catch up once again.
XXX
Two blue doors open simultaneously, with Roxie in the Doctor's arms, the Doctor and Nathan step inside the police box. The Doctor walks across the large control room – much larger than the police box, by far – and walks down a few stairs, to the lower level of the TARDIS. The young boy stays behind, and locks up the outer doors.
The Doctor opens a door, and walks inside the room. It is a bedroom, Roxie's bedroom. He sits on the padded bench beside the window, which has a magnificent view of some distant cluster of stars, or whatever one might want to see, regardless of their time and space location.
"Roxie…" he holds the girl close to his chest in his arms, and rests his chin on the top of her head, closing his eyes in contentment that she was safe now, "I'm so sorry…I shouldn't put you in this kind of danger any longer. You're my little girl, and I want to protect you." little teardrops gently glide down his cheeks. He hugs her more tightly, now, humming an old Gallifreyan song which he sang to her the first time he ever held her in his arms when she was a baby,
(Gallifreyan Lullaby
Lyrics by: The Andromeda Rose; Music by: Murray Gold)
"When Gallifrey shall cease,
Stars will always shine down on you
And you are not alone,
Love will be there for you.
Though far, far from your home,
My child, Love will guide you there.
Not lost but you are found,
Safe in the arms of Love."
(*Song/Music is "The Mad Man with a Box, feat. The BBC National Orchestra," by: Murray Gold, and the BBC National Orchestra); ("Gallifreyan Lullaby" Lyrics by: The Andromeda Rose; Music by: Murray Gold)
XXX
Nathan cautiously glances out one of the openings in the doors, noticing the Stars floating starkly in the night sky, like nobody's business, then turns round to go to the downstairs on the TARDIS.
As he approaches the stairway, he hears soft humming, and softly creeps down the metal stairs, listening for the humming. It sounded like the Doctor, as the voice humming was low, and Roxanne was out cold by this time.
He looks down the hallway, noticing an open door on the right, he peeks into the room, and sees the Doctor with Roxanne in his arms, glancing down at her face every few minutes as he hummed to her. She moved a little toward the Doctor, grasping his woollen coat, and snuggling her face more into his shoulder.
The young man watches his loved one and the Doctor for a while. He noticed how the Doctor seemed to care for Roxie as her faint seemed to turn to a slumber. After a few moments, the young man went to his bedroom, staying there until late into the night before he would check on Roxanne again.
Much later, after midnight, the young man went back to Roxie's bedroom and peeked inside once again. He saw that the old Time Lord was still there, holding Roxie securely in his arms. He apparently had not left her side, as he had suspected. Nathan felt somewhat guilt for not being there earlier that night to help care for Roxie. He knew the old Time Lord loved Roxanne very much, even more so than he did the girl, and that the two companions were incredibly close to one another. It only made sense that the Doctor would still be there with Roxanne to care for her.
The boy stood there for a while, watching as the Doctor caressed the girl's face, and gently played with her hair. After several minutes had passed, Nathan heard the Doctor whisper something to the sleeping girl.
"I lost my family when Gallifrey was destroyed...including my daughter, love – your sister. I made a wrong choice…I left her during the war, and I lost her." he laid his hand on the side of the girl's chin, "I didn't want to do the same to you." he pauses, biting back a choke, but failed. By this time, more tears had begun streaming down the Doctor's cheeks, his voice trembling as he spoke to the sleeping girl, "But…I did the same to you as I did her, and I deeply regret it…I'm not ever doing that to you again." he pulled her close to his chest, nuzzling his face against hers, "I love you, Roxie, you're my little girl – and you always will be…" he glances away, realising something, "…if I ever told you, I know you'd never forgive me, or accept me as your father."
XXX
A sudden bang echoed throughout the TARDIS. The Doctor cringed hoping he hadn't woken Nathan or Roxie. His two hearts skipped a beat when he saw Nathan running up the stairs from the bedroom corridor.
"Doctor, is everything all right?" he stuttered.
"I'm so sorry, Nathan," the Doctor gave a sheepish smile, "I didn't mean to wake you…I hope Roxie hasn't woken either." he glanced to his feet, the poor Doctor seemed uncharacteristically insecure this morning.
"Are you orright, Doctor?" Nathan walked up to the old Time Lord's side.
"Please…" the Doctor turned away from the young boy, "I would like to work alone this morning, Nathan."
"Is it…Is it what happened last night…?" he asked softly. The Doctor glanced behind him, listening, "I overheard what you were telling Roxanne."
The Doctor stiffened, biting his lower lip, "What about it? What all did you hear?"
"That you…left her – your...daughter –" the boy watches the poor Time Lord's expression change slightly, "..you left, Roxanne during the Time War." the young man stepped toward the Doctor, "You said that Roxanne was your daughter, and that she'd never forgive you…or accept you…" he paused, looking at the Time Lord who fought back several chokes and tears, "She doesn't know, does she?"
"No…"
"But how do you know if you've never told her?"
"I have in a way." he turned to Nathan fully now, motioning for him to sit on the stairs beside him, "When I told her that I had to leave family behind during the Time War, and that they died because I left them in danger, she was very upset with me, and didn't speak to me for ages until she finally forgave me for what I had done. And I know that she still hasn't fully forgiven me for it…" he sighed heavily, "I have to tell her soon…I can't put this off any longer."
"Tell me what, Doctor? And what have I still not forgiven you for?" Roxie walks slowly up the steps from the corridors, "Doctor, you know I'll always forgive you if you upset me about something." she smiled pitying the Doctor. She loved the old Time Lord so much, and knew that he was a man who was hard to stay angry at.
"Oh! Roxie, I-" the Doctor stood up, stumbling over his words as the girl came toward him, watching him worriedly now.
"What is it?" she sat by the Doctor, squeezing his hands in her own.
"Love, I was speaking with Nathan about my family, about when I had to leave them during the Time…War…" he watched as Roxie's expression changed from worried, to saddened, "and that I'm still not sure if you really fully forgave me – you remember when you were so angry with me when I told you?"
She grabs her opposite arm with her hand, looking down, "Yes, I do remember that quite clearly."
"I still…think…that you're upset with me about it." he nervously rubbed the back of his neck.
"A little…" she added hesitantly, "But there wasn't really anything you could do."
"Uh…uhm, N-Nathan," the boy looked at the Doctor as if knowing what he was going to say next, "could you give us some time alone?"
"Sure…" the young man wandered off hesitantly, he wondered just exactly how this would end…
"N-now…Roxie…I…" Roxie watched as the Doctor nervously fiddled with his fingers as he tried to put words together, "I…I…I have f-five children. All daughters, now, love…and another child as well, but it died shortly after it was conceived." he looked toward Roxanne, noticing her shocked, and sympathetic expression, "I will tell you about that later, dear. Now…my first was born during the Time War…you remember I told you about my family, how I lost them in the war. I-I lost my blood-daughter then…" he paused, looking into Roxie's saddened eyes, "My second, my adoptive daughter was Miranda Dawkins,…Then, Ametra, my third, was born a few years after Adria, my first – both Ametra and Miranda were Time Lords…And, Jenny, my fourth, is still alive, as well as my youngest." he paused, remembering something, "Only Ametra lived long enough to have children, and grandchildren at that."
"Jenny was created by progenation, right?"
"Yes, and that is how you were created, as well, Roxanne."
"No, I wasn't, Doctor. I was born on Earth-" Roxie scooted away from the Doctor a little, watching him warily.
"No, love – Roxanne, my Roxanne…you were "born," so to speak, on Gallifrey, long after the Time War, after Jenny was born."
"No, I'm not…no –" she stood up, confused and taken aback by the Doctor, "I'm not a Gallifreyan! Have you lost your mind, Doctor?"
"Listen, Roxanne, please." he begged, beckoning her to sit again, "Before the Master opened the Time Lock on Gallifrey, for a short time, I lived there again. I attempted to make peace, but it failed. During that time, you were "born" through progenation like Jenny."
"Gallifrey is under Time Lock – it always has, and always will be." she reminded the old Time Lord.
"Unless you go to the time before the Time Lock and travel time with the TARDIS to a time during the Time War and find a somewhat peaceful place." he corrected, "Roxanne, please, listen to me. I'm your father, and your mother…oh, that sounds awkward." he grimaced, realising what he had just said.
"No, you're not! I have my parents somewhere on Earth – I just can't find them." she dropped her hands in exasperation.
"But that's why you can't find them, Roxanne. You never had Earth – human parents. That's why you could never find any records of any blood-related family."
"No, stop it! Stop it!" the girl turned away from the Doctor trembling, crying, "You're not my father! I have human parents! And they are real, they are out there somewhere and I will find them."
"Roxanne…" the Doctor laid his hands on the girl's shoulders, attempting to comfort her. She turned back to the Doctor, burying her face into his coat. Despite being angry and upset with the Doctor, she trusted him enough to comfort her, "I know you're upset, love, and this is difficult for both of us to accept…but it's true." the Doctor ran his fingers through the girl's soft hair. Both knew that at some point they would have to accept the fact that the Doctor was Roxanne's father, and Roxanne his daughter through progenation.
"I have my parents somewhere…I know they're out there…" her gasps were muffled through the Doctor's woollen coat as she spoke, "But they're not...are they?"
"I'm so sorry, Roxanne…I made you believe this lie since your birth and it completely backfired."
"But, Doctor, even if you are my father, why did you leave me on Earth at that boarding school?" she pleaded, "Why? Please tell me."
The Doctor looked at the girl with saddened eyes, knowing what he would say would anger her, "Because I thought it would be too dangerous for you to stay with me, and I wanted to protect you-"
"But why didn't you come back after everything was safe? You could have come back when I was a baby, but you left me there until you decided you want to come back!" she pulled away from the Doctor's embrace.
"Love, I didn't mean to leave you there for so long. I wanted to wait until you were older, and knowledge from your education before-"
"You could have taught me. You're so smart, and you know everything about history, mathematics, science – you're a Time Lord! Time Lords are a superior race!" she hugged herself, closing her eyes tightly, "But you left me!" she cried, "You left me! Your own daughter!"
"I came back for you. I swore I'd never leave you, Roxanne."
"Years later. And you never told me, after these last few years, that you're my father!"
"Roxanne, I'm so sorry." silent tears rolled down his cheeks, "I didn't know it'd affect you the way it is, and I was afraid after I told you about my family when I left them…you were so angry with me then. How could I have known how you'd react to me telling you I'm your father and that I left you?!"
"I would have loved you as my father if only you had told me shortly after we met."
"Roxanne...please forgive me."
"Why? After all the lies…why should I?"
"Because I love you, and I swear, I'm never leaving you again, and I'll never keep anything from you."
"How do I know you won't?"
"I'll do anything, love."
"Then…tell me your name." she watched as the Doctor slowly approached and knelt in front of her, softly speaking to her.
"Never, under any circumstances, communicate another living, robotic – any form of life, or any form at all in or out of the Universe, my name." he looked into her eyes, "You can even ask River to confirm it, love."
"I swear I won't." after a short pause, he whispered his Gallifreyan name in her ear.
After a moment of slight shock, tears started rolling down her cheeks, then she sprung forward, pushing the Doctor down in a tight embrace, "You're my father…my real father!"
"I love you, Roxanne, so very, very much." he hugged her tightly.
"Father…" she smiled when she called him by his new name, "You have a lot of girls for your children, you know."
"Yes, I know." he smiled sheepishly, "I think it's in my genes or something…"
"Father…another thing…"
"Yes, dear?" he smiled.
"I have something I need to tell you…" she broke their embrace, looking down at their feet, "Dad…I'm p-pregnant."
"I…already knew." he began hesitantly.
"B-but- how?" she looked at the Doctor once again with shock. A mixture of so many emotions had run through her body this morning, so this was nothing new to her.
"I ran a scan on you early this morning, while you were asleep." he began, "That was shortly before Nathan got up. I didn't tell him, though…I knew you would want to tell him first."
"Are you upset with us…?" she asked quietly, looking up at the Doctor hesitantly.
"No, love, I'm not upset with you. I love you too much to be so." he gently cupped her face in his hands, "But dear, I'm very upset with Nathan, and the possible results of this pregnancy."
"Wh-what do you mean?" she hurriedly asked.
"Love, there's something I need to tell both you and Nathan about this…But I want you to…tell him that you're pregnant, immediately."
"I will, Doctor." she watched the Doctor nervously as he turned, heading toward the corridor with Roxie.
"Roxanne, I want both of you come to my bedroom when you are through."
"Orright."
A half hour later, after Roxie had explained everything to Nathan, they met the Doctor in his bedroom, as he had asked them to.
"Doctor?" Roxie knocked on his bedroom door softly.
"Come in dear." came a muffled voice.
The girl opened the door to find the Doctor sitting on the edge of his bed, facing away from them, "What is it you wanted to talk to us about?"
"Both of you, sit on the bed." he turned, pulling both legs onto the bed, and crawled toward them, "Now, Roxie, Nathan got you pregnant, correct?"
"Yes…I did." the boy spoke up, "And I'm..I'm really sorry, Doctor…"
"You should be, Nathan." he snapped, then he sighed, saddened once again by what he had to tell them, "And I should be as well for not telling you both sooner about Roxie's heritage…"
"I don't understand, father, what's wrong?"
"Love, the child you are carrying is half Time Lord, half human. The child may be born, but it's very unlikely it will be born healthy and live." the Doctor bit his lower lip, watching the two's reaction, "Every known case of a Time Lord-human hybrid pregnancy has ended in a miscarriage, or the child was so severely deformed that it died because the human part of it could not handle the Time Lord DNA, regeneration, and vital life organs of a Time Lord." he paused, pointing to his chest, "Time Lords have two hearts, and tubular-shaped lungs, plus several other differences in our organs that make our bodies different from human bodies."
A saddened, and shocked silence passed before the Doctor continued, "Nathan, Roxanne, I'm sorry, but your child will not live."
"But Dad, that means I can't ever have children...unless it's with a Time Lord."
"Love, I'm sorry, but that is how our bodies are created. I tried having a child with a human before as well, but the child died." he pulled his daughter into his lap, hugging her tightly in a comforting grasp, remembering the pain he went through when he lost his own child, "You can still have children, but you'd have to adopt them." he tried suggesting, but it only made Roxie cry more, and Nathan simply sat there beside them, tears silently flowing down his cheeks as he soaked it all in. He didn't want this child, even though he now knew that Roxanne could not have children with a human, but only Time Lords.
"It's almost like being sterile…but I'm really not."
XXX
Two months later, Roxanne had a miscarriage, as the Doctor said what might happen. This brought her and the Doctor even closer to each other than before, but she and Nathan had started to slowly grow apart, eventually leading to the two parting their ways, leaving only the Doctor alone with his daughter as his companion for a very long time. Soon, a another new companion – Rose Tyler. The Doctor loved Rose Tyler, but he never said a word. He always kept it secret from her, because he didn't want to hurt her when they had to part ways… (- to be used in a later chapter, or story)
XXX
Another four years later…
Rose, Roxanne, and the Doctor stare down at what seemed like a pre-apocalypse of the Doctor's home planet. It had been hundreds of years since the Doctor had seen his home planet, but he remembered everything about it – his native culture, the language, the people, the natural beauty of the planet's nature and wildlife…the two Suns floating in the planet's sky.
The three step out of the TARDIS. The Doctor, being the first to venture out as usual, followed by his daughter, Roxanne, then Rose, who stared in disbelief as a few natives of the planet, ones who lived in rural village outside of the House of Lungbarrow, where Mt Lung and the Cadonflood River meet, trotted up to them, and began to lay fabrics, jewellery, and strange perfumes on the visitors.
Rose turned to the Doctor as he uttered his home planet's name, "Rose, Roxanne, welcome to the planet of Gallifrey, home of the Time Lords." he turned to Roxanne rather cheerfully, "And you, Roxanne, welcome home!" he smiled.
"And you say I was created after the Time War?"
"Yes, Roxie, you were."
The Doctor, followed by his two female companions, received a circular pendant – a Gallifreyan sentence – and gave him a cup of soup. The Doctor took it, holding the hot bowl carefully before he drank it, "Mut ju'ali jatem." he motioned to his daughter, "Ihe edn shukran hohou mersi."
"What did you say to him?" the girl asked, attempting to repeat what her father had said.
"I said "thank you," in Gallifreyan, dear." the Doctor smiled at his daughter's curiosity of his native language, "I also told them that you are my daughter. They understand now that you are a native as well because they remember, that, when I returned, you were born." he took the bowl of soup he had drunk from and gave it to his daughter, "This is a ceremonial welcoming soup."
"What is it for?" she smelled the soup as her father beckoned her to drink some of it.
"My people are welcoming you to our home."
Roxanne blinked several times, then looked up at her father confusedly in reaction to its strange odour before tasting, then sipping it more confidently like her father had done.
The Doctor laughed at her reaction to the introduction of the Gallifreyan soup, "You will learn much more about our culture, love – and the food as well." he tried to hide his large grin before continuing on, "The soup is called "dziakuy buyuran–" " their thoughts were soon interrupted when they heard the cracking of ceramic.
Apparently, another Gallifreyan native had attempted to give the blonde woman a cup of the strange smelling soup the Doctor and his daughter had drunk a few moments ago. The Gallifreyan beckoned her to drink with him, which, she bluntly refused by pushing the bowl away from her causing it to slip out of the Gallifreyan's grasp. She put her hand up to her mouth and nose, seeming utterly disgusted by the people – and soups – around her, "What are these people? Idiots?!" Rose stepped away from the people welcoming them, "Get it away from me! That's disgusting!"
"Rose," the Doctor begins, "they don't understand you yet. The TARDIS translates every language in the Universe, but it takes longer to translate Gallifreyan."
"But they're giving me this stuff that they call edible?!"
"Rose, it's soup – they're welcoming us with the traditional welcoming of Gallifrey's Time Lords."
"I don't care what they are! These Time Lord people are idiots!" she pauses for a moment, noticing the Doctor's hurt expression…she silently repeats what the Doctor had just said to her, "Oh…oh, my..Doctor, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean what I just said, I meant that…"
The Doctor raises his hand at Rose, causing her to stop mid-sentence. He turns away from her, before walking back toward the TARDIS, "I understood perfectly what you meant, Rose. That the Time Lords are idiots. Is that right, now, eh? I'm a Time Lord, too, Rose, and I'm NOT an idiot!"
"Doctor..I'm sorry. I really didn't mean that to you, personally. I only meant that the way some of them act, and their rituals are-"
"Unique to our culture? My culture. Unlike your own? Is it strange? Idiotic?!" he covers his face with his hands, attempting to stop the flow of tears flowing down his face, "Thank you, Rose, for showing such interest in idiots like me." he turns abruptly from his companion, and wanders down a trail, toward a path leading past a red cavern, leaving the welcoming party in slight sadness and shock.
"Oy, why she wouldn't like it if I did that to her home...being thrown into her culture so suddenly was bad enough when I first came here – no respect! No respect at all for my culture! She's disgraced my people – my family by what she has done!"
"Dad?" Roxie trails behind her father shortly after he leaves. She didn't realise that he had gone so far down the trail until she had to run to keep up with him.
The Doctor slows down to a stop, allowing Roxie to catch up with him. He glances partially behind him to see his daughter near his side, "…yes, dear?" he answered softly.
"Dad…" she bites her bottom lip, watching her father wipe away tears from his eyes, then she reached up, hugging her father tightly, "I love you." with this, she was greeted by an even tighter hug from the Doctor, which lasted for several seconds, "You know, Dad, you never have told me how to pronounce your real name." she tilts her head, watching her father's reaction change from saddened, to a curious.
"Well, dear, it is a Gallifreyan, name, you know." he tilts his head toward her ear, and whispered softy, "In English, it's Jay Bradford, but in Gallifreyan, it would be Riuek Auheiroie."
"Riuek…Auheir….roie?" she whispers back softly.
"Yes, dear, that's right." he wraps his arm around her, as they continue walking, and whispers in her ear, "Now that's for your ears only, dear. Tell no one."
"Yes, Daddy. I won't." she smiles, "I like your name…Jay, or Riuek. What would my name be in Gallifreyan?"
"Hmm…let me see." he lifts his hand up to his chin, rubbing it, "I believe your name would be Charles."
"Char-? Father! That's not it at all!" she laughs.
"Haha. Yes, yes. That is definitely not it." he cracks a small smile, "The name I gave you when you were born was Naoi."
"Naoi?"
"Yes. Naoi."
"Reminds me of the name Naomi."
"Somewhat, yes." the Doctor smiles, lifting his daughter up, onto his back, and starts down the trail again.
"What does my name mean?"
"Well, in Gallifreyan culture, dear, names have great meaning. A name is sometimes chosen by using the Stars alignments and the first thing one sees after the child's birth. It will also often predict the name's bearer's future." he glanced up to Roxanne, "Your name, Naoi, means "Gallifrey's lost rose." "
"Gallifrey's lost rose?"
"Yes...I think it suits you. You were once lost, not knowing about your Gallifreyan heritage, but now you are found."
"We are, to say, the last of the Time Lords, father." she poked him, "What does your name mean, eh?"
"My name?" he paused, whispering into her ear, "Why, dear, it means "lonely traveller." "
"Suits you." she grinned, pointing down for a flower by the path, "What sort of flower is this?"
"Gholsh."
"Gholsh?"
"Yes, dear, gholsh." he picks it from its home in the ground, and points to the vivid yellow and red colours on the petals, "It's named after its colours – yellow and red."
Roxanne looked up at her father curiously, "So "gholsh" means "yellow-red?" "
"Yes. The Gallifreyan words for these colours are "gho" and "kulrosh." "
"Ghokulrosh."
"Haha! Oh, no dear." the Doctor laughed at his daughter's combining of the two words.
"Do you think you could teach me the Gallifreyan language? I would like to learn it some day."
"I'd be happy, to, dear. For starters," the Doctor pointed to one of the silver trees along the path, "the word for "tree" is "khei." "
"Khei?"
"Yes. Grass is "lchata." "
"What?"
"Lchata. Like the Spanish word for "the." El-katah."
"Lll…katah? Lchata?"
"Perfect, Roxie! That's perfect!" he reaches up, squeezing her hand, "You're learning fast! Now what was "tree," again?"
"Khei."
"Good!"
"A question, Dad?"
"Yes, dear?"
"I was created like Jenny was created, right? Through progenation with your DNA?"
"Yes, love, you were. Why do you ask?"
"I was just wondering…" she glanced away, still thinking.
"Love, what's wrong?"
"I just…just wondered is all, if I'm like you." she stuttered.
"In what way? You mean my genes in you – being a Time Lord?"
"Yeah. If I have your genes and DNA and all…aren't I a full-blooded Time Lord? To regenerate and live as long as you?"
"Most definitely. Jenny's "regeneration" only repaired her body. Perhaps on will." he looked toward Roxie, anticipating her facial expression, "You can live to be thousands of years old!"
"Thousands?!"
"Haha! Yes, dear, thousands!" he chuckled, "Do you know how old you are?"
"...why? Am I seven hundred or something?"
"No, dear. You are simply nineteen years old."
The girl thought for a moment as a mischievous grin appeared on her face, "Is that in Gallifreyan years, or Earth years?"
"Roxie!"
"Sorry." she laughed, "Dad, are your five daughters your only children? Did you have any other children while you lived on Gallifrey?"
"Love, I…" he bites his lips, fidgeting with his fingers nervously, "Love, I think it best that we never speak of that."
"Why is that? Is there something that happened?" she grasped his hand, holding it as they walked, speaking rather timidly, "I remember you telling me about your daughters a few years ago, but you…don't talk much about them."
"Yes, dear, five…and it's…it's in the past now." he answered her rather quickly, attempting to avoid the subject. He knew he had not spoken about his family since the day he told Roxanne that he was her father, and he kinda wanted to keep it that way.
The two of them remain in an uncomfortable silence until they neared the location the Doctor wishes for Roxanne to see. The Doctor wonders whether he should tell Roxanne about his family, or if he should not. He never liked to speak about it, ever, for his family died during the Time War, and he was the only member of his family spared. He paused for a moment, letting Roxanne off his back, and onto the soft grass in the shade along the trail. He sits beside her, completely silent, and oblivious to his surroundings. Roxanne glances over to him for a moment, watching him worriedly, knowing that the Doctor would often hide his true feelings – and this was one of those times. She wondered if what she had said brought back painful memories.
"Dad...?"
"Yes, dear?"
"I'm sorry I asked about your family." she scoots closer to her father, "I didn't know it'd bother you so much." she hugs the Doctor and kisses his cheek.
"Dear, no, I'm sorry." he looks over to the girl sitting beside him, he grasps her hand in his, holding it firmly and lovingly as he spoke, "I love you very much, Roxie, and I shouldn't hold these back from you. You're my daughter, and part of my family – our family…" he pauses a moment, biting back sadness, "You should know about your family, love." he glances at Roxie, "The only child I had after Ametra, was Adriatkani, or Adria, as I always called her. Meieda was her mother, my mate."
"Adria..." she hesitated, worrying if she pronounced her sister's name wrong or not, "Was your first blood-daughter?"
"Yes. I had adopted both Miranda and Ametra before Adria..." he trailed off.
"How old was she, Dad? And...what was she like?" she smiled, hoping she could cheer him up.
"Well, she was about your age, a little younger, though – seventeen. And goodness was she stubborn." he let a half-hearted laugh escape from his breath, "She was like you in many ways. She always confided in me, and was always full of questions, wanting to absorb all sorts of new information."
"Is it orright if I ask what happened to Adri…kani and her mother?"
"Adriatkani?"
"I'm sorry…Adriatkani."
"It's okay, dear. Adria…didn't live long. She..." he hesitated, thinking about her death, "...she died when she was twenty-one, in a spacecraft accident during the Time War. They were travelling to a nearby planet as we were evacuating Gallifrey as it had become very dangerous for anyone to live there." he paused, speaking very softly, "A Dalek ship…the Daleks attacked the spacecraft Adria and Meieda were on."
"Oh…I guess it makes sense now." Roxanne now understood more as to why the Doctor hated the Daleks so much. They took everything, literally everything the Doctor ever loved.
"What does?"
"Why you hate the Daleks so."
The Doctor nodded silently in response.
"How old were you then? When you married and entered the military?"
"How'd you know that?"
"I've seen your uniform, father." she sticks her tongue out at him, "I know...my way around the TARDIS. Probably better than you do." she laughs a little as her father pursed his lips.
"Well, then...I guess you do know a little bit more than I." he thinks for a moment, adding and subtracting large numbers in his head, "I was barely forty-seven when my family died-"
"So you were twenty-six when you married?" she interrupted.
"My, you are clever." he smiled softly, "Yes, I was twenty-six." he continued, "I was twenty-three when I entered the military, married at twenty-six, fought for the duration of my daughter's lifetime, then I fought for nine more after my family passed. A total of thirty-two years fighting the Daleks in the Time War...and counting."
"Oh…I see." she scooted as close as she could to her father, "You were young when you married. I thought Time Lords married when they were three hundred or something." she giggled.
"No, no…it's common to marry young." he hugged his daughter from the side, "Which reminds me, when will you be marrying, eh, dear?"
"I'm not sure, Daddy." she laughed, but her laughter stopped rather quickly, "I don't even have a boyfriend…and besides, I can't have children after my miscarriage…and not with a human at least…"
"I know, sweetheart, I know." he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a compass of sorts, and allowed it to fix its direction to the North, "I want to make sure my daughter will have a good man she marries. A man who will protect her, and…" he paused, thinking about his daughter's future – that, and the Time Lords' race as well.
"And…?" she urged on.
He bit his lower lip, attempting to hide his half-hearted smile, "It's nothing dear, I have just forgotten what engagements are like…"
"Daddy, I know that expression. Something's wrong and you're not telling me."
"No, dear, I'm sorry. I…have forgotten some things." he turned toward the path they were walking, and grasped her hand, "Hang on tight, dear. I want to show you a place I used to go to when I first lived here as a boy."
"Orright." she watched her father's expression a moment as she ran, but was jerked from her thoughts when her father's hand tugged at her own, as if beckoning her to compete in a father-daughter race down the path.
Minutes later, the two stopped at the bottom of a hill, Roxie stared at the landscape with awe. The Gallifreyan grass was green up close, but at a short distance, it looked red as blood. There were purple and blue lilacs springing up all over the field, little yellow poppy-like flowers also scattered among them. In the distance, there were golden orange mountains with white snow capping all over their peaks, and the sky took on all the colours of a magnificent sunset like that of Earth's sunsets or sunrises on rare days. And, to their left, a sapphire blue river ran along the mountainous terrain toward an even bluer lake.
"That is the Cadonflood River, Roxie. And to the northeast is Mt Lung, and the House of Lungbarrow, where we just came from."
"It is broad daylight, and the sky is red and orange – and even hints blue and purple near the mountains–" she stopped, "Gallifrey is so much unlike Earth." she reached down, scooping some dry dirt in her hands, "Even the dirt is red." she laughed.
"It is Gallifrey, Roxie. There are some days when this planet is exactly like Earth, but that is very rare. Gallifrey is a very dry, but beautiful planet." he pointed to the sky, "See that copper moon? It is called Pazithi Gallifreya. And-and, you see those faint lines in the sky?"
"Yeah…?"
"Those are the rings of Gallifrey, my dear! Wonderful, beautiful rings that orbit the planet!" the Doctor smiled widely, "Then there is the planet Karn, and Solarfrey."
"Am I going to get an astronomy lesson?" she giggled, teasing her father. She knew he enjoyed teaching her all sorts of new things – especially about Gallifrey. He was so proud to be a native of this planet, and took in the beautiful surroundings with great pride.
"Yes, dear, you shall!" the Doctor took Roxanne by her hand and led her across the field as he told her about the solar system, "Karn is the closest to Gallifrey, while Solarfrey is three planets away."
"How many planets are around here?"
"Millions, love!" he said as he plopped onto the red grass and laying back to look at the sky, motioning for Roxanne to do the same.
Roxanne laughed at her father's eagerness to share about his home world, "Not possible, father!"
"Yes, my dear, you are right! In this solar system, there are only five planets."
"And what about the location, father? Of Gallifrey, and the solar system we are in?"
"The constellation of Kasterborous." he once again pointed to the sky, "There is an asteroid named Kasterborous the Fibster around here somewhere –" he sat up abruptly before shouting, "I haven't seen him in hundreds of years!"
"And to think that my heritage comes from here…and you." Roxanne stuck her tongue out at the old Doctor, happy to see the Doctor in a better mood than earlier this afternoon.
"Yes, dear, it does." the old Doctor smiled, pulling his daughter by the hand to stand beside him, "Come on, Roxie! Let's see if you can beat your old man to the lake!"
"Oy, Daddy. We both know that you like to cheat with your sonic screwdriver." she grimaced.
"I promise I won't cheat, love." he stepped in the direction of the lake, "Ready?"
"Ready I am..." she stuck her tongue out once more, "...to race my father who is 884 years older than I, and I still think I can beat him."
"Oy, mate! I'm not that old!"
"Well you are older than the average human."
"True, true." he folded his arms, "Orright, now, love – enough poppycock and more running."
"Orright, orright, father."
"Then go!" with that, the Doctor and his daughter had begun running toward the blue lake.
The lake, so it seemed, was closer than either had expected. The Doctor had forgotten just how close, because, after a few minutes of running toward the lake, he ran right off the edge of a tall, large bank, tumbling into the lake. Roxie, however, was still behind and saw what had happened. She stopped short of the lake's bank, leaning over it, laughing a little, "Are you okay?"
The Doctor spit out some of the bluish water, coughing, "Ough…Yes..yes. Thank you, Rox –"
"That's g…ood – Oh!" Roxanne let out a shout of surprise as the dirt bank started to collapse underneath her weight.
"–ie. Roxie–!" his voice's pitch upped a little in surprise as he attempted to move out of the way when he saw the dirt collapse under Roxanne's feet, causing her to slip into the water pushing the poor old Time Lord under with her.
When they surfaced the water, both were spitting out water from when it entered their mouths from the splash. Roxanne glanced over to the Doctor, but was greeted by several playful splashes.
"Hey!" she laughed, covering her face with her arms from the splashes, "What's the big idea?"
"You fell on top of me, love!" he teased his daughter.
"Sorry 'bout that!" she smacked the water, creating a mini-tsunami splash going toward the Doctor.
"Oy! That's not fair!" after the splash, the Doctor wiped an eye cautiously, and looked at Roxanne with one eye closed, dripping with water, the other eye, watching her for signs of another splash. A moment later, the Doctor swam up to the bank, and sat on it, taking his shoes and heavy jacket off. Roxie, too, did the same, and took of all her unneeded heavy clothing like the Doctor had done and laid them on a bush to dry.
A second after the Doctor did so, Roxanne dove back under the water, with her father following suit. Still under, Roxanne surfaced back up beside her father, and splashed him. In response, the Doctor splashed his daughter several times back, diving under like Roxie had done not long ago. The girl followed after he didn't come up again. She found the Doctor swimming near the bottom of the deep lake toward the middle, swimming toward him, he motioned for her to follow him. Roxanne complied, and swam after the Doctor, following him to what seemed like the opposite side of the lake. The Doctor swam on ahead of Roxie, he looked about him noticing the rocks to his right. He motioned to Roxie to be careful around this area as they passed.
A few minutes later, after their Time Lord lungs had taken a good exercise of holding their breath for several minutes, the Doctor surfaced the lake, and swam up to the sand bar, then to the waist-deep water nearer to the sandy shore which was on the opposite side of the lake. He stopped, noticing that there was no other sound of splashing water behind him. He turned, looking to see if Roxanne was near him, "Roxie?"
The Doctor turned round and round, searching for his daughter, but she was no where to be seen. Diving back under the water, the Doctor swam back to where they had came from, and found Roxanne near the area he had warned her to be careful around. She was caught between a fallen rock, and the bottom of the lake. He looked at her face for signs of life, but she didn't move much, mostly, she was struggling to get air – which was not there. Soon after, she lost all consciousness, which worried the Doctor, causing him to panic.
After several minutes of struggling, and panicking, the Doctor brought Roxanne back up to the surface to breathe, then swam with her back across the lake on the surface.
"Come on, Roxie," he pulled her onto the high bank, and patted her face to try to wake her from her unconsciousness, "wake up, love, wake up!" letting out an exasperated breath, the Doctor tried once more, this time, with some success, as Roxanne had partially woken, and was coughing a little water. After a few minutes, the Doctor scooped his daughter into his arms and began as fast as he could toward their camp.
XXX
The blonde-haired woman glanced down at her feet with embarrassment as several Time Lords glared at her, still very offended by what she did earlier. She looked at one of them, attempting to apologise despite their language-barrier, however, this only seemed to make it worse. She watched as one of the women across from her folded a cloak, then setting it aside in a basket. The woman suddenly glanced up, looking at Rose, then into the distance. Rose turned to see what was going on, then noticed the Doctor jogging up the path with Roxanne in his arms.
"Doctor!" Rose ran up to her friend, now, even wondering if they were still friends. She noticed that he was carrying a soaking wet Roxanne, "What happened to Roxie?"
"It's none of your business what happened to my daughter." he answered rather brashly, then continued to run toward the little house with several other Time Lords trailing behind him, all leaving a saddened Rose behind.
Rose followed them to a small, wooden hut – which was unlike the modern buildings in Citadel, which were lavish, and streamlined – where Roxanne was laid up in bed for several days. During this time, the Doctor refused to speak with Rose, and could always be found at Roxanne's side.
Evening, a few days after their arrival, and shortly after Roxanne was doing a little better, the Doctor took her back to the TARDIS. They still remained on Gallifrey, however.
Footsteps clinked against the metal floors as Rose wandered about the TARDIS. The clinking stopped when she reached the Doctor's bedroom. She cautiously opened the door to find the Doctor sitting on his bed with a sleeping Roxanne in his arms, gently stroking her hair, "Doctor?"
Brown eyes fluttered open, looking about the room, stopping only at the door and the lass standing behind it. He watched her, and barely cracked a smile. Rose know that the Doctor wasn't even bothering to hide his emotions – he was just...sad, "Doctor...I'm sorry about what happened a few days ago." she started, softly, approaching the bed before sitting on the opposite side of Roxanne. She reached for her forehead, her eyebrows furrowing when she noted how hot it was, "Is-is she orright? She has a fever."
He continued to look at the human girl for some time, then at Roxanne, "She has influenza. She should be fine in a few days."
"O-oh...I'm glad to hear that." she stuttered, before adding on rather quickly, "– that she'll be okay, that is."
"I am too." he watched as Rose started to slide off the bed rather nervously.
"I-I'll just...go..." she bit her lip as she made for the door.
"Rose, wait." he gently moved the sleeping Roxanne off his lap, getting up.
She stopped, only halfway to the door, and turned, listening intently, "Doctor?"
"Rose," he stepped toward her, "I'm sorry. I threw you into my customs completely random, and I didn't tell you a thing about my culture, how to act – the food...and you don't even know how to speak Gallifreyan if you were to try to tell the other Time Lords to hold off on the soup or..." he blushed, rubbed the back of his neck, rather ashamed of himself, "I should have told you all that before I thought you were deliberately offending me and my people." he cast his eyes toward the ground, "Look, Rose...I shouldn't have yelled at you or stormed off like I did. I want to ask your forgiveness."
"Doctor, it's only natural to react that way." she grasped his hand, squeezing it gently, "I forgive you, and I understand, now, that what one thing is okay to do in one culture, is not okay to do in another...I should have had more proper manners and asked you before I got upset, too..." she paused, rubbing her fingers together, "Do you forgive me, too?"
"Yes, Rose," he hugged her, kissing her forehead, which caused her to blush, too, "I forgive you."
A few days later, Roxanne's flu was finally leaving her, and she could resume her normal life with her father, and Rose, again.
"Roxie?" the Doctor wandered about his TARDIS searching for the brown-haired lass, "Roxie, where are you, dear?" he called out, somewhat exasperated. The poor old Time Lord was becoming more worried by the minute, and irritated with his daughter that she wouldn't answer. He rounded a corner in his massive library, he stopped, startled at the mess of books in one aisle in particular. And there was Roxanne...curled up by the farther bookcase reading one of her favourite books, "ROXANNE!"
The girl jerked her head up, eyes darting around the room until her vision landed on her furious father...she smiled sheepishly, biting her lip and hoping she wasn't in much trouble...
"Roxanne, I have been looking everywhere on this God-forsaken time machine!" he threw his hands upwards, then down sharply like an Italian, "Why haven't you answered me, Roxanne!"
"Dad, I've been in here all day. Reading."
"And you...didn't answer me?" the Doctor sighed realising their mistake, "Oh...I'm sorry, Roxanne. The TARDIS is so massive and so is this library.." at the word "library," the Doctor seemed to pronounce it in a Scottish accent, and as though it were a sickening word to say. His daughter couldn't figure out why he said it like that, but knew that the library was indeed massive, "One could get lost in here without a map! It's like – it's like the largest library in the universe. Do you remember that one, dea-?" he frowned, shaking his next thought from his head.
"What is it, father?" she grasped his hand, leading him away from the piles of books.
"Ri-" he stopped, wondering whether he should tell her...
"Yes?"
"Nothing, dear. Let's go." he stretched out his hand toward Roxanne, "I have something to show you, Roxie."
The two walked down the corridors of the massive TARDIS until they came to a little room filled with all sorts of supplies. He walks down several rows, and peers into one of the shelves, shakes his head and moves to the next row, and then the next until he reached one that he seemed to like. He walked down the row, running his hands along the rough wooden shelves as though he were a blind man, "Roxie?" with this, the girl trotted toward him, watching him with uttermost curiosity, and intensity of what he might do next. He motioned for her to pick up one of the objects on the shelf. Nodding, she did so, and carefully picked up a little book and backpack. Opening it, she found, at no surprise, that it was made with Time Lord technology – there were ropes, food, a tent, flashlights, and many other sorts of camping and backpacking equipment.
"Roxanne," he turned around and headed down another row and came back so quickly that she had barely time to round the corner before they collided with each other. "Oy! Time Lord traffick jam!" he laughed, then tossed her one of the fabric objects he held in his arms, "Put this on."
"What is it?" Roxie lifted the object, assuming it was a sort of outfit, and slowly unfolded it.
"Clothes!"
"For what?"
"Our journey." he smiled, "Me and you are going on a journey around Gallifrey."
"What about Rose?"
"I spoke with her about it. She didn't want to go, and besides, she's actually beginning to enjoy being with the Gallifreyans we met."
"Oh..how long will we be gone?"
"Four weeks, dear."
"Where are we going?"
"To my home. Well, rather my former home now." he grimaced.
"Why?"
"Who? What? When? How? Why? I suppose you're going to ask me "Doctor Who?" now."
"I could you know." she ducked from the oncoming pair of arms that were beginning to wrap themselves around her, "Oy!"
"Come on, love! Go get dressed. I'll be up in a few minutes. I need to pack some last minute supplies."
"Orright." she paused, glancing into the knapsack, "You might want to pack some more clothes. I don't think one set each will do for long."
"Oh, right dear." he stuffed a blanket into the knapsack, "I'll get that in a moment. Now shoo!" he playfully pushed her in the direction of the exit.
"Orright! Orright!" she giggled, then ran off up the set of stairs with her belongings.
The Doctor smiled, shaking his head as he watched his daughter scamper off, "My goodness, that girl." he turned toward the shelves, "Now...where was I? Oh yes! I need to get the books!"
"Hello, dear!"
"Doctor." Roxanne smiled as the Doctor trotted up to her.
"'allo Rosie!"
"My name's Rose, Doctor."
"Oy..." he shook his head, still smiling, "can't you take jokes anymore?"
"Aside the point."
"True." he turned to Roxanne, "I see you're ready, now. Here's your knapsack." he tossed her her backpack then turnedvto Rose once more, "Are you sure you'll be okay here in the TARDIS, Rose?"
"I have the Gallifreyan tribe to keep me company-"
"They're not tribes."
"Then what'd you call them when we first saw them...?"
"A village!" he replied.
"But...that's the same thing."
"Well, yes and no. The entire planet of Gallifrey is inhabited strictly by Gallifreyans. We're not indians."
"Then what do you call a darker skinned Gallifreyan? Or one from another continent?"
"A black Gallifreyan. Quite similar to an African of Earth. And yes, Gallifreyans from different continents are called by their continent-"
"And aren't there regions to the continents? Like countries?"
"Sort of. They're more divided into Houses rather than countries."
"Oy, orright." Roxanne interrupted the two before they started bickering again.
The two stopped mid-sentence, pursing their lips at Roxanne.
The father and daughter hiked for a few days, down trails leading to Lake Abydos lay, "Father, why are you and Rose arguing so much? You never used to argue before."
"Dear, I think some things have changed..."
"You mean between you and Rose?"
"Yes..." he paused, looking to his daughter, who bore the same brown eyes and brown hair as he did, "Rose has confirmed that she doesn't want to travel anymore. She will have already gone back to her own time when we return."
"Oh..."
"We've been bickering far too much, and I believe it's time we part."
"What about the TARDIS? Won't we have to travel back for it?"
"The TARDIS has been set to meet us at each of our locations when we arrive there. I've also set it to materialise at any given moment. Particularly, when we need her most."
"So we'll see it at Lake Abydos?"
"Yes, or sooner. It's following us right now."