DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Doctor Who, unfortunately D: I own Odie's plot, and Odie's little settlement of immigrants. I am trying to make this story as accurate as possible, but when many sources contradict themselves, according to Doctor Who, I will ALMOST always take the TV-info as the correct. This chapter came remarkably quickly to me! :D The incentive to keep posting came back to me with my agreement x) Hope you enjoy it!
Susan, Barbara and Ian were waiting back in the TARDIS. They thought that there was a higher possibility of Mum Jackson giving in if it was only the Doctor and Odie who went to ask. The Doctor and Odie were walking down the streets of New Orleans, Odie staying close to the old man. The second they had stepped out from the TARDIS, Odie had felt that same pressuring feeling of not belonging. The Doctor found it very fascinating.
"I fail to see how it is so interesting, that I feel out of sorts here," Odie commented for the 18th time since the Doctor had first pointed it out to her. The old man smiled.
"It is very fascinating, Odie! Can you not see? Due to the social structure of your society, your body reacts with discomfort at being a place your mind tells you, that you shouldn't be! It is interesting how thoroughly mind and body are tied together in the Human species," he commented, his dark eyes glittering at the discovery. Odie felt like kicking his backside; he deserved it since his only reaction to her discomfort was becoming overjoyed.
But he was still an old man... Her Mum had taught her to respect those older than you, and The Doctor was most certainly older than her.
"How old are you now, Doctor?" she asked, determined to make his new title feel correct when talking to him. He would always be 'Theta' in her mind, but that was no reason not to let him become 'Doctor' as well. The man looked at her, blinking.
"Hm, how old is it again?" he murmured, and Odie giggled. The Doctor's wrinkled brow furrowed, creating even more wrinkles, and he looked at her with an indignant look in his eyes.
"I fail to see what's so funny, Odie," he pointed out, and Odie smiled.
"I guess a centuries-old man forgets to keep track, eh?" she asked, and Odie could swear the Doctor almost pouted. Odie would find it hilarious if he actually did so at one point. Her friend had always seemed far too serious for such a gesture, but she had heard that old people eventually became childlike again. The Doctor childlike? She wanted to see that.
"You're grinning, Odie."
Odie's thoughts returned to the city of New Orleans at this comment, and she blinked as innocently as possible at her friend.
"No I didn't." The Doctor was unconvinced.
"What were you thinking about in that crazy mind of yours, hm?" he asked with a penetrating stare in his eyes.
"Nothing I tell you. Oh, come on, Doctor, we mustn't linger!" she quickly changed subject, as she began pushing the old man towards the trams. And while he complained, insisting that she share what rude thought she had processed, they got into one of the trams; Odie paying for both their tickets. It was a fairly long ride to the settlement, in which Odie would continuously attempt to distract the Doctor from his enquiries.
Some of her attempts actually succeeded quite well, like when she asked how the Trams worked mechanically. The Doctor was eager to show his brilliance as he began explaining everything in meticulous detail; luckily Odie was actually fairly interesting, so she listened eagerly, coming with questions. But the Doctor apparently never forgot anything, besides his own age, and as such, he began pestering her again whenever he saw a chance to do so. He was acting quite child-like, Odie commented to herself.
But when the tram came to a halt, so did the Doctor's persistence, and he exited the Tram, holding a hand out for Odie to take when she got out as well. It was a strange sight for all at that moment. A respectable, old, white male behaving as a gentleman towards a young former slave.
Odie cared not. As her and her friend approached the settlement, her mind was on a different problem entirely. The problem presented by her family and their impending denial of her wish to go with the Doctor. They came to a halt at the top of the hill, and she took a deep breath.
"What'll we do if they say no?" she murmured, and the Doctor looked at her.
"Go anyway." Odie widened her eyes, staring incredulously at the Doctor. He shrugged.
"That's what I did when I left Gallifrey," he pointed out, and Odie sighed.
"How would you react if Susan left the TARDIS without telling you, and you didn't notice until you couldn't find her anywhere?" she asked patiently, and a frown instantly settled on the Doctor's face. And just as he was about to point out that his dear Susan would never do such a thing, it dawned on him. His face relaxed in realization and he looked at Odie. She nodded with a small smile.
"Exactly. Now, let's just hope we can convince Mum to let me go."
"Mum, I'm home," she called nervously, as she and the Doctor entered the cottage. A surprised sound came from the pantry.
"Odie? Thought you wouldn't be 'ome until evenin' servi-"
Her mum entered the room, wiping her hands in her apron, until she noticed the man next to her daughter. Her dark eyes widened, her lips splitting apart in a surprised look. Odie bit her own lip, scratching her headful of curly black hair.
"Mum, this is Theta. Theta, this is my Mum, Cherrie Jackson."
It was nerve-wrecking, nothing less. Odie and the Doctor sat in the couch, as her mum sat in the armchair, a stern look on her face. The Doctor explained, in a limited edition, why he had aged so quickly compared to last time Mum Jackson had seen him, and that he wanted her permission to have Odie accompany him on a trip he was making.
"Odie, you know you made me a promise." Mum Jackson's eyes were stern as she looked at her daughter, and she slowly nodded.
"I remember. I promised to always put family first. And I've kept that promise; last time the Doctor asked me to join him, I refused, saying I wanted to put you at ease first. But I none the less also gave him a promise; that I would travel with him, allowing him to show me the world from his eyes."
The two women looked eachother in the eyes, and Mum Jackson grinded her yellowing teeth together. She then turned her merciless eyes to the Doctor, who was looking at her with a thoughtful stare.
"Will it be dangerous for her?" The Doctor nodded.
"Exploration is always dangerous – but I will be there with her, and so will my companions."
Mum Jackson sighed, as she put her hands together in a thoughtful gesture. Odie grabbed the Doctor's one hand in hers, and he absentmindedly patted hers, calming her down.
"Mum, please. I won't be gone for very long – the Doctor made me that promise. And you always say that promises should be kept. I've kept my promise to you, and now I want to keep my promise to the Doctor. And he, in turn, will keep his promise to me."
Cherrie Jackson was in a bad position. On one hand, she didn't trust her daughter to be safe in the company of the strange man who had entered with her. She didn't trust the man either – his weird aging was just one of many reasons for him to be too strange. But she also wanted her daughter to do the right thing, just as she had taught her, and that involved always keeping her promises. The old woman sighed, looking at the Doctor.
"Odie may go with you, Doctor – on one condition."
Odie gripped the Doctor's hand tighter, wetting her lips with her tongue. She could almost smell the freedom; she wanted to go so badly. Mum Jackson looked at her daughter one last time, seeing the sudden energy in the dark eyes so like her own. She sighed, knowing that she could never deny Odie what she wanted when she looked like that. She looked back to the Doctor, nodding.
"You must make me a promise; promise me to protect my daughter and get her home to me in one piece."
The Doctor smiled, nodding in agreement.
"You have my word, Mrs. Jackson, that no harm will befall your daughter."
The woman sighed.
"Then she may go with you."
It was hard to believe. Odie had to blink a few times before her mother's words clearly came through. And then she jumped high into the air, throwing her arms around the old woman's neck in a hug.
"Thank you, Mum! Thank you, thank you!"
The old woman blinked away her tears, as she patted her daughter on the back. She looked at the Doctor, throwing him a leer that clearly stated he would be dead if Odie didn't come back. And he nodded. He had every intention of keeping his promise.
"Oh, I have to pack! And I have to tell Mr. Owens, and Red, and Jerry!"
Odie practically flew into her room as she rambled on all the things she needed to remember to do before they left. This left the two adults in the room alone, and Mum Jackson sighed, resting her face in her palms.
"You must understand, Doctor; Odie and her brother is all I have left." The Doctor rose from his seat, walking closer to the woman and patting her back.
"I understand perfectly, Mrs. Jackson. I care deeply for your daughter; she is one of few good friends I have left in this world. I would rather die than let her come to any harm," he promised, and this made the old woman lock her gaze with his. She searched for any lies in the dark eyes of the man who was about to take her daughter away from her watchful eyes, but she found none. She sighed, nodding.
"I will trust your word, Doctor. Odie is in your hands now," she said sadly.
Odie came back out into the room soon thereafter, a huge backpack on her back. She grinned at the Doctor.
"I don't think I can fit any more of my room into this bag, so let's get out before I try anyways." The Doctor laughed at this comment, and he nodded. He gave his hand to Mum Jackson.
"Goodbye Mrs. Jackson. I shall keep your daughter safe for you," he said, as he walked out the cottage, leaving the two women to say their own goodbyes. Odie slowly walked to her mum, two pairs of dark eyes conveying a thousand feelings they were both too proud to say out loud.
"Goodbye Mum." Odie's voice cracked with emotion halfway into the sentence, and the sound made her tears spill over. Her mum smiled through her own tears, nodding.
"I will see you soon, my dear. Be careful for your old ma," she asked, and Odie nodded as she hugged the older woman. She inhaled her scent, one she would probably recall on nights where she became too homesick to think of anything but her family.
"I will."
She joined the Doctor outside her cottage soon thereafter, doubting she could say goodbye to the cottage without breaking down in sobs. The Doctor put one arm around her shoulders, urging her along.
"Are you sure you're okay, dear?" he asked, petting her hair in a fatherly motion. Odie nodded, with a small smile.
"I'll be fine," she promised.
Every person they walked by wished Odie a good journey and swift return, and Odie didn't think she could handle it for much longer. Every face, every smile, they all made her want to move on as quickly as possible, but also never leave.
She wanted so badly to go, to see all that she had never seen before, but she also couldn't stand the thought of being away from all those wonderful people she had grown up with.
The worst blow was waiting for her on top of the hill. As soon as they got up there, Odie's eyes widened. This was too cruel.
Red and Jerry were standing in front of her, Red smiling and Jerry looking mighty disgruntled. Her tears began falling down her face in renewed strength, but she still smiled through them.
"I'm leaving, guys."
"We heard," Red said with a smile, walking to her. "Everyone's talking about it."
Jerry eyes the old man at Odie's side with annoyance, mostly because he was the one taking Odie away. But he also knew that he would never go against it, as their mother had already granted her acceptance to Odie's wish of going with him.
"We'll see you soon, baby sister," Jerry promised, choosing instead to rub Odie's hair. Odie could only nod, not trusting her voice to do the work for her. Red smiled, taking off one of her colorful bracelets.
"Here you go."
She clasped it around Odie's wrist instead, grinning.
"Now you'll always have a lil' piece of home with ya!"
Speechless, Odie embraced her best friends, and the three held each other as close as they possibly could; all conveying the same thing. That they would count the days 'till they saw each other again.
"Look after the buffoon for me, will you?" Odie asked Red when the three broke apart again, and Red grinned, nodding.
"It's a promise."
Odie nodded once more and walked together with the Doctor, who held out a hand for her. She looked over her shoulder one last time, seeing Red and Jerry wave after her. She wordlessly waved back, before turning her eyes forward. The Doctor squeezed her hand, looking at her with a worried look in his eyes.
When they went to talk to Mr. Owens, he surprised Odie by saying he had already expected the conversation. He gave Odie leave, and told her that her job would still be waiting for her when she came back. This earned him a large hug from Odie, before the pair left the bar.
The walk back to the TARDIS was shorter than Odie remembered – most likely due to the fact she was lost in thought. The Doctor knew better than to try and make her think of something else. She needed time to say goodbye to it all. He knew the feeling of saying goodbye to a home far too well – there were times when he still missed Gallifrey, and he knew it was healthy for Odie to remember what she left behind. This way, her joy at coming home again would be greater than the sadness at leaving it.
When they did arrive, the Doctor led Odie to a vacant room within the vast hallways of his ship. He chose one relatively close to the control room, in order to keep her from getting too lost within the TARDIS, and she smiled at him.
When they entered the room, she blinked. It was almost exactly like her room back home. The walls were wood, a large bed was situated beneath a window which showed the outside of the ship, and a dresser stood on the opposite side of the room. She slowly put her backpack down, smiling.
"How?" The Doctor grinned.
"The TARDIS is an amazing machine. I will explain the details to you some other time. You had better take a rest before we land, you might need it."
And as her friend left her to settle in her new room, Odie sat on her bed.
She was there. In the TARDIS. About to go on an adventure with the Doctor, his granddaughter and their friends. And she was determined to enjoy every minute of it, so she had some amazing stories to tell when she came home again.
EXCITEMENT! The Doctor and Odie's wonderful adventures will begin in the next chapter! Look forward to it! I know I am!