Thanks to Mistykins06 for reading over this.
All mistakes are mine!
This is my first attempt at Outlander fanfiction. Any feedback would be welcome! It's Diana's original story, but with a few twists and turns along the way.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Present Day
Her steps echoed down the hall toward her waiting classroom. She was late...again. She hiked her bag higher on her shoulder and pressed on. If she took the shortcut up the stairs and through the library, she could be there in 3 minutes. If she ran. There were 2 things wrong with that solution: A. Stairs and B. Running. Oh, why was this University so big!
She watched her silhouette as she passed in front of the windows. Bag bouncing behind her, hair a bushy mess piled on top of her head, not even her shadow could hide her tousled appearance. Huffing, she gave up the pretense of power walking and ran to her classroom. She rushed up the stairs, pausing for breath at the top. She jerked open the door and rushed to the library. She slowed to a quick walk, dodging students as she went.
"Late again, Ms. MacKenzie?" the elderly librarian chuckled, looking at the figure rushing away from her. "Katie MacKenzie, you better not run in my library!"
"Can't talk, I'm late!" She ran out the door, nearly flailing as she went.
When she finally reached the classroom, she paused to collect herself. Hiking her bag up once again, and straightening her hair as best she could, she opened the door.
She was welcomed by the murmur of students who hadn't even noticed she had walked in. She settled her things on the desk up front. She walked to the front of the desk, leaned back against it, crossed her arms and waited. Eventually, they noticed.
"'Bout time you showed up, Professor, we were getting worried." Marcus, an athletic type said.
"I'm sure. Sorry about that guys. Technology these days. Anyway, where were we?" Her hybrid British/Scottish accent quieted the rest of the room.
"The '45 ma'am," answered Annette, the American exchange student.
"Ah yes, The Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. Such an interesting topic. Bonnie Prince Charlie and all of that. Hell, you're all Scottish, you know all of this by heart, I'm sure!"
"It's always interesting to hear the opinion of an ignorant sassenach." Marcus smirked.
"Well, this sassenach thinks that the Prince was a royal idiot, but we'll not go into that. Instead, I want to talk about fairy tales. Specifically, the ones based on true stories. Now, one can say that any story has its basis in reality, but there are those that just don't make logical sense. So what do we do with those? We tend to add giants, fairy godmothers, evil curses and whatnot. Right? That being said, we've all hear the story of Laird Broch Tuarach and his Missing Lady?"
She looked around and saw nodding heads.
"Didn't his wife disappear or something?" Marcus piped.
"Exactly! That wasn't the weird thing though. What was?"
"She came back 20 years later. With a daughter."
Katie smiled and walked around to the whiteboard and wrote 'James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser, Laird Broch Tuarach: Rose to power in 1738. Colum MacKenzie ruled as his regent until 1743.
She turned to the class. "Now, why did Colum rule in his stead for 3 years? Does anyone know?" When the silence turned awkward, Katie answered. "Simple, Fraser wasn't of age yet and Colum wanted the Fraser lands. Now, why was he regent?" She went to sit on the desk facing the class.
"He was the brother of Fraser's mother, Ellen. Colum had sent him off for his 'health' due to the death of his beloved father. The problem was that Fraser didn't come back until 1743." A voice from the back responded.
"Yes! Exactly right, Rob. All of this is fairly normal. James led for a bit and according to accounts, he was very likable. Tall, handsome, kind, and a natural born leader, then he met his wife and his world changed. He seemed to come into his own and everything he was was amplified. The pair of them were equally matched and everyone knew that theirs was a love match. Together, they led their tenants with a firm hand, but they were kind and fair. Then 1745 came. His Lady disappeared without a trace just before the Battle of , Fraser was one of the luckier Lairds. He stayed out of the battle. He took no sides and did his best to keep his tenants out of it. So, while the English didn't turn a blind eye to him and his tenants, they didn't take much from them. The Laird wasn't the same without his lady though. He kept to himself and never spoke of her. He continued to help his tenants within the realm of the rules the English set forth. Until 1763 when she came back with their daughter. According to records, her return wasn't really talked about. She was back and there it was. His world was back as it should be.
"Now, as historians, we don't accept that. Where was she? Why did she leave? Did she leave because she was pregnant? Did the Laird send her away? Was she supposed to come back? None of these have been answered. It been over 250 years and we know as much as their tenants did. Interesting, right?"
"No disrespect ma'am, but why are we talking about this?" Annette said.
"Because, Annette, I know what happened and I think it's about time that you guys did too."
"You know?" Marcus looked truly interested now.
She hopped off the desk and went back to the whiteboard and wrote 'Katherine Elizabeth Janet Fraser MacKenzie' This is me. You'll notice the last names. I'm a descendent of Laird Broch Tuarach and his lady and, as you know, stories are passed down through generations. Here's the thing though, once I tell you what happened, none of you will believe me. But sometime, be it next week or years later, one of you will think about this story again and at least one of you will come to believe me." She walked back to front of the desk and hopped on it once again. "In order to know the story of the Laird and his Lady, you first need to know them as the people they were, you need to know Jamie and Claire."