Wolf Signal
Chapter Eight: Curious Girl
by Lumendea
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.
The next day on Keribos was warm and bright as the yellow star shined down. Birds were signing outside with soft chirps that were similar to those on Earth, but just different enough to spur on curiosity. Hours of Rose insisting that she was strong enough to go with Jenny to the ship had paid off and she'd been released from the prison of bed rest.
Thankfully the argument of being separated from the only person who actually understood what she was saying had won the day. While Rose certainly wasn't afraid of being alone and was confident that she'd manage on her own she was loath to let Jenny out of her sight, especially after the realizations of the earlier night. She and Jenny had spoken only a little more of the Doctor before Rose gave into sleep.
The ship was gradually moving farther from being wreckage to being an actual ship capable of leaving the planet. Even Rose who had never seen such a design before was able to tell at first glance what the different parts of the ship were. Jenny had preened under her compliments of the scaffolding system she'd built around the ship and the clean design of her repairs. It had been enough to make Rose laugh brightly. Jenny explained the basics of how it worked and was clearly proud of her own additions to it over the last two years that she had been traveling in it. Unable to help with the tinkering, Rose had sat down on a rock and watched Jenny's progress while entertaining her with stories of the Doctor.
"Seriously," Jenny laughed from inside the cockpit. "He really just stuck his fingers into the jar right there in the kitchen?!"
"He's lucky Mrs. Webber was so distracted," Rose replied with a fond smile. "That habit never completely went away in my world. I remember when I was making Donna's first birthday cake; he just walked over and started eating the frosting while my back was turned. I had to make an entire new batch. When I started that batch he happily took over the original batch and licked it all up with me right there working on the cake. It was completely ridiculous."
"That was the clone right?"
"Yes, the Doctor has no knowledge of that life," Rose admitted, her smile falling away. She'd been trying to avoid thinking about that. "It's separate from his own."
"So I get the ship working, we fly to Earth and hope that we can find Dad," Jenny informed her gently, clearly having picked up on Rose's distress.
"We also hope that it isn't a bad year," Rose reminded her. "Provided we land after the 1970s, we'll probably be okay. The Doctor leaves a wide trail if you know how to look and I know enough about that era that we shouldn't have trouble." Rose frowned and nibbled at her lip in thought. "And hopefully we aren't too far into the future, my knowledge there is sporadic and would make it harder to find the Doctor."
"I'd rather find him," Jenny announced. "And we will Rose, just wait and see."
"I'd like to find him too. This is the second time I'll be tracing him," Rose agreed with a sigh as she leaned back against a sun warmed rock.
"When was the other time?" Jenny asked, poking her head out of the cockpit into view, reminding Rose of a merecat or her father when he tinkered underneath the TARDIS controls. Or John whenever he lost himself in some project at Torchwood. It made Rose's heart ache.
"Oh Jenny that's a long story," Rose told her, smiling sadly.
"I'm rewiring the central cooling system Rose," Jenny informed before ducking back out of view. "I've got time," she called out of the cockpit.
"Jenny, there's so much you don't know about your father," Rose told her shaking her head. "I'm not sure where to begin."
The girl lifted her head once again, coming up further where Rose could see her shrug and look down at the tools in her hand. For a moment the blonde girl looked a bit lost and the eager expression on her face faded. She looked so small and helpless that Rose almost stood up to go and hug her.
"I don't know much about him Rose," Jenny said softly. "We didn't spend much time together before… well you know."
"He told me," Rose told her gently. "John told me all about it when I told him that I was pregnant. He never really moved past it. Throughout his life he was always very aware of the children and protective. I wish he had known that you were alive."
"I'm sorry," Jenny apologized, lowering her eyes.
"Oh sweetie, it's not your fault," Rose insisted warmly.
"Why do you do that?" Jenny asked tilting her head.
"Do what?"
"Call me sweetie? I'm not your daughter," Jenny reminded her, shrugging again with her face flushing slightly.
"Not exactly," Rose admitted. "Can't help it I guess Jenny. I had three children and five grandchildren…" Rose trailed off and chuckled to herself, "It's a mother habit when confronted with a younger person you feel connected to. I can stop if you want. Well I'll try anyways, it isn't something I can just switch off, but-"
"No," Jenny interrupted quickly with a grin, "No I don't mind at all." There was a pause until Jenny added, "Tell me about Dad. Tell me anything you can about his world, he didn't talk about it with me even though for a moment I thought he was going to."
"It was called Gallifrey," Rose told her gently in a faraway voice. "His people were Gallifreians, but those who mastered an understanding of time or in your father's case managed to least pass the exams were Time Lords or Time Ladies." Rose chuckled and sighed softly, leaning back against the rock once more. "He wasn't very happy on the planet, complained that there were far too many rules and restrictions. The Time Lords were thinkers, but not the most creative people. Despite that… well your father misses them I suppose. It was a complicated relationship."
Jenny smiled as Rose recited off the appearance of Gallifrey. It sounded beautiful and she could tell that Rose was quoting her father's exact words. Even as Rose explained some of the basic history of the Gallifreians, Jenny could hear a note of sorrow in her voice, shared pain, but also some wistfulness for the planet's beauty. Reaching down, Jenny pulled another compartment open and set to work. Rose smiled from her seat and shook her head while speaking. It seemed like she was telling bedtime stories to her grand kids all over again.
Rose told Jenny about Gallifrey, the Doctor's theft, or borrowing as he insisted to call it, of the TARDIS to take his granddaughter Susan away from the planet for her own safety and his first real encounters with humans. She recalled the stories as John had described them to her over the years from his adventures with Susan, Ian and Barbara to his time with UNIT. Jenny wasn't impressed with the Time Lords when she learned that they'd forced the Doctor to regenerate from his second body into his third body, stating it sounded too much like an execution. Rose was inclined to agree with her on that point. While regeneration meant he wasn't dead forever, that personality was lost forever for a crime that Rose didn't think was a crime.
Rose had to stop talking over lunch and instead made Jenny tell her more about the planet they were current on. But as soon as lunch was past Jenny was begging for more stories. The day passed in a flash, testing Rose's stamina to talk all day and she was a little relived when the darkening of the sky made it necessary to call an end to Jenny's work.
"Come on Jenny," Rose called up to the ship with her voice cracking slightly. "You've done all you can for today and my throat is killing me." She reached for the canteen of water that was almost empty and slurped down the last few drops.
"I suppose," Jenny said with a sigh as she swung herself out of the cockpit onto the scaffolding. She leapt to the ground with a graceful jump and a smile. "I'm getting so close to being done," she announced as she rubbed her hands together eagerly.
"Don't rush too much," Rose warned her gently. "I'd rather spend an extra month here than have it explode in our faces."
"Don't you have faith in me?" Jenny asked with a raised eyebrow and a fake little pout.
"I know where your tinkering genes come from," Rose reminded her with a wide smile. She reached out and tapped Jenny's nose. "He may be brilliant at jiggery pokery, but he's had plenty of things blow up in his face, literally."
Jenny laughed and grabbed Rose's hand as they worked their way down the hills toward the village. They walked in companionable silence with Jenny swinging their joined hands. Rose enjoyed the quiet and breathed in the fresh air, still marveling at how strong she felt. The path to the ship was only a mild little hike, but before her rejuvenation it would have been a painful task to climb.
"So," Jenny asked slowly in an attempt to casual. "Are you excited about seeing him?"
"I'm not sure, Jenny. It will be strange seeing the Doctor again," Rose admitted after a moment of thought. "He looks just like the man I spent forty-eight years married to, but he won't have any of those memories and I'm not the same as he remembers me. No matter what it is going to be a bit awkward on both sides."
"Do you love Dad?" Jenny asked, her voice sounding very young and hopeful.
"It's complicated Jenny," Rose answered, not daring to look at Jenny and see the wide and hopeful eyes of a child who was thinking that she was to have a family. "But I promise that I'll do everything I can to help you find your father."
"Do you love him?" Jenny asked once more, a bit more insistently.
There was a long pause and Rose sighed, surrendering to the truth. "Yes," Rose admitted and rubbed her eyes with her free hand. "John and I loved each other very much and we were happy with our life and our family, but we never stopped worrying about him. I never wanted him to be alone and John always felt a little guilty knowing what he had and what the Doctor wouldn't let himself have. So yes even after all this time I do still love the Doctor."
"I wonder what brought your back here?" Jenny questioned, shifting the topic to a less painful one and taking her eyes away from Rose. "Maybe dying in a world different from the one you were born in triggers…" Jenny trailed off and shook her head. "No that's silly and Dad could have crossed through if that was the case cause that would mean that things remain connected," she declared with a small frown. Jenny looked over at Rose just as they reached the village, "Do you have any thoughts?"
"I have a few," Rose admitted softly, nodding slightly, "But nothing sure yet."
Rose didn't make any sign of sharing more information and wasn't planning on it. The words Bad Wolf were echoing through her head, but Jenny wouldn't know anything about that. Jenny was about to ask Rose what she thought might have caused her reappearance when Refiti walked up to them.
"Jenny," he greeted with a smile before looking at Rose. He said some words to Jenny that Rose could not understand and Jenny nodded.
"Rose," Jenny said turning to her. "The Elders would like to speak with you."
"I expected that," Rose told her before turning to Refiti, "Lead on."
