Disclaimer: It's the third story, guys. Gotta news flash. You're never gonna get it.

Ch. 2:

The Doctor sat in a chair next to Lily's sleeping form, although you wouldn't know it was Lily by looking at her.

The Lily everyone knew was tall with black hair and pale skin. She had always been thin, but a muscled. The girl on the bed had blonde hair and was much shorter. She was more shapely than before, but still fairly thin.

Also Lily had had one heart, and this girl had two.

The regeneration hadn't exactly worked out as planned. They were now entering day four of her coma and the Doctor was becoming worried. She had stopped expelling energy yesterday, but still showed no signs of awakening.

"No change?" a voice called.

He turned to see Donna Noble, Lily and his best friend, leaning in the doorway. Donna had been their traveling companion, but now she had the knowledge of the Time Lords lying dormant in her brain, effectively grounding her permanently.

"Nope." The Doctor replied.

"What's taking her so long?" Donna asked.

"I don't know." He replied. "While she's in a coma, I can't access her mind."

He sighed.

"There must be something going on in there." He said. "I just wish I knew what."

"Why should we let you be in charge?"

Lily groaned.

They had been at this forever. Take three personalities, jam them into one brain, watch them kill each other. Who ever had decided that this was how it had to work should have their god card revoked.

"Will you two stop it?" Lily demanded, looking at her counterparts.

On one side sat a beautiful blonde with grey eyes. Alyssy, the Time Lord. The perfect arrangement of their DNA. She was absolutely sure that it was her body first, so she should have first rights.

On the other sat the Phoenix. She was a brunette and built for protection. She came out of their connection to the Vortex. Her eyes burned gold. As the strongest she was claiming supremacy.

And in the middle sat Lily. Black haired and human. Eyes like the storm with gold flecks. All she wanted was a cure for her migraine.

"We've been at this for days." She told them. "I am so sick of this room, I could scream. Also, if we don't wake up soon, the Doctor's going to go off the deep end."

That was about the only thing they all agreed on. The Doctor was the most important person to them.

"Do we have any idea how long it'll take to fully integrate?" she asked.

"We're already starting to lose some of our uniqueness." Alyssy said. "But I would imagine it will take several more days. It's not like there's a rule book for this. It's the only time this has ever happened."

"Well, all I know is I want to wake up." Lily said. "Up until I showed up in this room, I thought I was just going to die. Now all I want to do is see the Doctor again."

"Well…" the Phoenix said slowly. "Perhaps you should take the lead."

"Really?" both Lily and Alyssy asked at the same time.

"You are the closest to a middle ground we have." She explained. "And when we're finished coming together, the end result would be someone close to how you are already, so it makes sense."

"And it took us four days to come to this conclusion, why?" Lily asked.

"But it's my body!" Alyssy protested.

"That's why." Lily muttered.

The other two started to fight, but Lily whistled loudly, stopping the argument in its tracks.

"Okay, here's how it's going to go." She told them. "Alyssy, I know it was your body first, but it's been mine for the last twenty one years, so shut up. Phoenix, I know you're the stronger of the three of us, but right now we need to heal, not fight."

She looked at them.

"I'm taking the lead." She told them. "If only because the Doctor is waiting for me to wake up. We have to ease him into the changes that are going to come from the three of us becoming one person, and I'm the best choice to do that. Agreed?"

The other two sulked.

"Agreed?" Lily pushed.

"Agreed." The Phoenix said.

"I guess." Alyssy grudgingly replied.

"Great." Lily said, getting up. "I will see you two suckers later."

With that, she got up and marched out the door.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" Donna asked the Doctor walking over to him. "I'll stay with her."

"I'm fine." He told her.

"Okay, I know your Mister Stoic Time Lord, but I doubt Lily wants to wake up and take care of your sick ass." Donna told him.

"I don't need to sleep." The Doctor told her. "When I do, I promise I will tell you."

Donna huffed.

"At least eat something." She told him. "My mum thinks your starving yourself."

They both stopped as they heard a noise come from the bed.

The Doctor leaned forward, taking Lily's hand. He watched as her eyes fluttered and finally opened to reveal swirling grey and gold.

"Lily?" he asked softly.

"Don't worry." She whispered, her voice rough. "Alyssy and the Phoenix are duking it out in the background for second place, but I get to have control."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, but I don't care." The Doctor said. "You have no idea how good it is to hear you."

"It's nice to be-" she broke off.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"Is that a southern drawl?" she asked, sounding horrified. "Did I go to sleep a New Yorker and wake up a Southerner?"

"At least you didn't turn British." He told her chuckling.

"There is that." She agreed. "How long was I out?"

"We're in day five." Donna said. "Nice to see you awake."

"How do I look?" Lily asked.

"You might want to take a moment." The Doctor told her.

"Why, am I horrible?" she asked.

"You're blonde." He replied.

He burst out laughing at her horrified expression.

"I'm southern and blonde?" she yelped.

"Are you hungry?" Donna asked as the Doctor laughed.

"Starving." Lily replied.

"I'll be right back." Donna told her, squeezing her arm before getting up and leaving.

Lily watched as she left before turning to the Doctor.

"Help me up?" she asked.

He nodded and reached down to take her hands and heaved her out and onto her feet.

Lily teetered for a second before getting her balance.

"I'm short!" she complained.

"Yes you are." The Doctor agreed.

She looked down at her feet, which were covered by the bottoms of her jeans. She pulled them up and walked over to the mirror.

Looking into it, she saw a shorter, blonde woman looking back. While her features had been sharp before, they now were soft. Her hair was shorter, falling to her shoulders instead of the small of her back.

"Well, at least I'm not Alyssy blonde." She muttered, fingering the honey blonde hair.

"What does that mean?" The Doctor questioned.

"I saw her in my head." She said. "Over the course of the last twenty one years, apparently The Phoenix, Alyssy, and I have grown into separate personalities. Now we're being forced into one body."

"Why are you in control and not one of them?" he asked. "No offence, but I would think you would be the least strong of the three."

"Thank you for not saying weak." She told him. "And I am. But we figured you would be waiting for me, so until we become one person again, we decided that I would take point. Coming to that decision took five excruciating days. We gave a whole new meaning to 'arguing with yourself'."

"So you'll eventually be one person and not three?" he asked.

"Yeah." Lily answered. "Alyssy thinks it will take a few more days."

"And the end result will be?" The Doctor asked.

"Someone fairly like me." She answered. "Some things will change, but we're pretty sure I was a pretty good middle ground to begin with."

"And…what about me?" The Doctor asked.

"What about you?" Lily asked with a slow smile.

He sighed.

"How do you…three…feel about me?" he asked.

She smiled.

"You were about the only thing we could all agree on." She told him softly. "We-I-love you. That hasn't changed and it won't."

"Good." He said smiling.

"Lunch is ready!" Donna called.

The Doctor held out his hand and Lily slipped hers into it. It still fit perfectly.

He smiled and led her out.

The Doctor and Lily stayed in the TARDIS outside Donna's house for the next four days as Lily got stronger.

About the third day she stopped referring to Alyssy and the Phoenix and they became I.

On the fourth afternoon, the Doctor found Lily sitting quietly on the ground in Donna's backyard. Donna and her family had gone to the store, leaving the two Time Lords with strict instructions not to break anything.

"Lily-girl?" he called.

She quickly wiped tears from her face.

He sat down next to her and saw that her eyes were red.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

The bond was still reasserting its self, so he really had no idea what was going on in her head.

"I remember everything." She told him softly. "I remember Gallifrey, I remember my family's rooms inside the House of Oakdown. I remember how much I loved playing in the fields around our lands. I remember my friends inside the Temple."

Her voice broke.

"I remember that it's all gone." She said, tears falling down her cheeks.

He wrapped his arm around her and she buried her face in his shoulder. They stayed that way for a while.

Finally, her sobs subsided and she sat up, wiping the tears from her face.

"I know you're bored." She said softly. "I know you'd rather be roaming, not stuck here on Earth."

"I don't mind." He told her.

"But I do." She replied.

She sighed and pulled away slightly.

"I need to figure out who I am." She told him. "And I can't do that with you here. And…I need to come to terms with what I did."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I destroyed the Daleks." She said. "I committed genocide. I need to see if I have it in me to forgive myself, if I have it in me to not hate myself. I can't ask you to forgive me until I know."

"You forgave me." He said. "You knew I committed genocide against our own people, but you didn't hate me."

"But I also know you hate yourself." She replied softly.

He was silent.

"I love you." She told him. "But I need to find my way without you."

"Do you have a time frame for this?" he asked softly.

She shook her head.

"I think it's more of a 'I'll know I'm done when I'm done' kind of thing." She replied.

He nodded.

"I'm going to go stay with Jack." She told him. "Maybe work with Torchwood for awhile. They need people now that Owen and Tosh are gone. He's already recruited Mickey, and Martha's about to leave UNIT, but I figure having a Time Lord on payroll will make him happy."

The Doctor nodded again, and she reached over and took his hand.

"I need to know that I can do this." She told him. "On my own, without you to protect me."

She got to her feet and reached down to him.

He hesitated a second before letting her pull him up.

"I love you." He told her. "And when you're ready, all you have to do is call, and I will be there. Not a second later."

"I know." She told him smiling. "And I love you too."

He leaned down and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She hesitated a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck and letting herself go.

"All you have to do is call." He whispered. "I'll be right there."

"I will." She replied.

He pulled away, gently touching her face, before turning and walking away.

She watched him leave without a word.

"Doctor?" Donna called as she walked in. "Lily?"

Lily came walking out of the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee.

"Where's the TARDIS?" Donna asked. "I thought you guys had left."

"The Doctor has." Lily replied.

"What?" Donna demanded.

"I sent him away." Lily told her.

"Why?" she asked.

"I need to find who I am away from him, and I can't ask him to wait around for me." Lily replied, shrugging. "Tomorrow, I'm going to Cardiff to stay with Jack. Do you want to come and help me get set up?"

"Sure." Donna told her. "Are you sure it was the right thing to do? Sending the Doctor away?"

Lily walked to the window and looked up at the night sky.

"Yeah." She said softly.

In the distance she saw a blue box flying off into the night.

A/N: First chapter of Someday. What do you guys think? Hit or miss?

Abbey