Please Note: This fanfiction is written by two authors. Though we have both worked together on the content of most of these chapters, we vary on which one of us writes it. Also, for all Classic Who fans, anything referring to the Time War in this fic is slightly AU. It is presuming that the Time War happened before the very first episode of Doctor Who - while the Doctor was still in his first life - so because of this, he has always been the last of the Time Lords, and Izzy has always been the only one with him. This is important for their relationship later on in the story. But everything else in this fic is mostly factually correct with the series, though some of the chapters we'll be focusing on may be slightly more AU than others. We have loads of big surprises coming up and we hope you'll enjoy our story, review and stick around for the updates :)

The TARDIS is more than a time machine. It not only travels through time and space. It is more. It is alive.

First rule: The Doctor lies. And this one's about the heart of the TARDIS, the heart of a young girl.

"The Agony Rests, Dear Izzy Saunders."

Prologue:

Earth. Great Britain. England. London. 1963. July. Friday afternoon.

"You named it?"

"Yeah. Why not?"

"Well, it is…" Mia obviously did not find the right words for my weirdness so I gave her a hand.

"Strange", I said and could not hide my satisfied grin. I loved my car, thus it had a name. In my opinion that was not strange. It was love.

Mia watched me and I could almost feel her doubt physically. Maybe she was about to call the school psychologist or something.

My grin got even bigger and I pushed to the door open, suddenly blinking in the bright sunlight of the Friday afternoon. Oh, life was beautiful!

"Movie night is still on?" Mia asked, while she rummaged in her backpack. She was probably searching for a book, since the bus ride home took quite a while.

"Yeah", I said, putting my sunglasses on, scribbling a new advantage on my mental "Pro-Car-List": no bus rides. Check! "I'm gonna pick you up at 7.30. That okay?"

My best friend, clutching a huge book to her chest, watched me sceptically.

"You know… just try to avoid getting pregnant."

I laughed. "Sorry, M. But it's a 'she'."

"Right. Your car is a 'she' and my best friend has been stolen by aliens, replaced by a guy with breasts." She sighed.

"You", I grinned, pointing my finger at her, "are just jealous."

Mia gave me a death glare then started to laugh. "Yes, I am." When her bus arrived at the school parking lot, she waved goodbye. "Don't forget me tomorrow, alien-boy!"

"I'll try!"

With a smile and a song on my lips, I dodged around the few other students on the lot. Almost no one had lessons on a Friday afternoon, so when I got to the spot where Kristie parked, I was alone with my shiny new car.

I took a few moments to admire the black Pontiac and, in that moment, I was completely happy.

That was when I heard the strange sound.

First, I thought it came from the other parking lot, right on the other side of the school. But it sounded different, a mixture between a small airplane, about to land and… well, if machines could get a cold, I imagined this would be the sound of their cough.

It took me another moment to realize that the noise did not come from the parking lot next to me … but from right above me!

A blue box staggered from the sky, trundled like a drunken bird. I didn't have the time to scream. I didn't even have the time to ask myself what this weird thing was.

Because one second later the blue box crashed right into my car.

Metal screeched, glass broke and I covered my face with my arms, mostly to shield it, but also because I wasn't able to watch Kristie die.

The impact sounded like hell breaking loose, but it ended as fast as it started.

First, I couldn't believe it. Behind closed eyes, I could tell myself this was just a bad dream. A very bad dream with deathly consequences for the car and for me.

But the second the door of this weird "Police Box" opened, my disbelief and deny transformed into raw fury. An alien destroyed my birthday present!

I didn't give the man, practically falling out of the box, the chance to even orientate. I walked up to him, grabbed him and pulled him up, until we were face to face.

He was breathing heavily, sweating like he just got out of a sauna and bruised all over his body, but I was not in the mood for first aid. I was in the mood of making it worse.

"You got to be kidding me! Where the hell did you come from?"

The man tried to gulp some air, made a gesture towards his throat, but I didn't intend to loosen my grip.

Instead of releasing him, I looked back at my car, shredded and literally dead.

"You won't talk?" I growled. "Fine."

Two steps and I stood right in front of the blue box, compressing the rest of my car to the ground."This is for Kristie, you dopy thing!"

The man cried out "Noo! No, no, no, no! Stop it!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him waving his arms like a mad man. "She's still … sizzling. Don't…"

I kicked the blue box with all I've got.

And the pain started a second later.

"… touch it", finished the man and he looked utterly exhausted, his shoulders falling down as if they were too heavy to carry.

I couldn't move.

The pain felt like pure acid climbed up my leg and spread all over my body. At first, I thought I broke my leg as a result of kicking the box, but this was something different. Something worse.

I started to scream. I screamed so loud, my ears felt like they would burst. And then I sort of… vanished.

Much later, I could hear a voice. I couldn't see. I wasn't even sure I was still breathing, but his voice was loud and clear. Gentle and still sorry. It was the man, who climbed out of the TARDIS.

TARDIS. That's what he calls me. He says, that he's a Timelord and that he travels to different times, spaces and planets. He's the last of his kind and he is sorry, but I can never return to my normal life. Because the time vortex absorbed me, needed something to feed on.

Because the Blue Box needed a heart, a mind and a soul.

I am her.

"The Agony Rests, Dear Izzy Saunders", says the Doctor and I can feel his light touch.

I am the TARDIS.

And after almost 900 years, I finally found a way.

"Rose Tyler", I whisper to myself.

I'm about to break free.