Chapter Thirty Seven

The Doctor and his family spent the night playing cards that Rose had brought while in the next hogan Jack and his team slept. They kept on playing by lantern light until the sky began to lighten outside and the sun began to come up. When they noticed the sun peeking above the horizon, they stopped their card game, tidied up the sleeping bags and put them in one corner. Once that was done, they went out the door and snuck over to the next hogan. They peeked inside and noticed everyone was asleep. With an evil grin, Alan tiptoed over to Jack and leaned down into his ear while everyone else watched from the opening.

"Toodle-loo, sleepyhead, this is the Navajo fairy telling you to get up now," he whispered in his ear.

"Go to hell, Alan," Jack muttered with his eyes closed.

Alan paused.

"How'd ya know it was me?"

"Because even the Doctor isn't capable of saying something that idiotic," he muttered.

"Oi," Alan said while his family giggled.

Jack smacked his lips and glanced around at his team.

"Up and at em, gang, the ones that never sleep feel it's time for us to join them," he said.

The rest of the team groaned and raised their heads.

"Five more minutes," Gwen muttered.

Alan rolled his eyes.

"You humans and your need to sleep," he said.

"I wouldn't talk if I were you, you were half human once," Jack muttered.

"Precisely, which is why I remedied that the first chance I got," he said, heading out the entrance.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jack muttered.

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After he and his team got up and fixed up the hogan, they joined the others for the walk back to the house. The sun was rising illuminating the desert. Jack pointed to the truck in the driveway.

"I see John's back now," he said to them.

"I see Amber is too," Alan said when they saw her looking through the kitchen window at them.

"Hello, Satan," Alan muttered while her family snickered.

"It's like Halloween when Michael Meyers is just standing around staring at their next victims," Awinita whispered to Mingxia.

They tried not to laugh while they followed the Doctor and Rain back to the house.

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"Well, I hope you had a nicer time in the hogans this time," John said to them.

"We did, yeah. No skinwalkers this time," Alan said.

"Good, I'm glad. Do you need me to make you breakfast?"

"No, that's not necessary. Rain wants to get some things from her room and we'll be on our way," the Doctor said.

John walked over to the chair and picked up the blanket, drum and belt.

"Dad, this isn't necessary. He didn't have to give these to me," Rain said.

"He wanted you to have them, Rainshower. He asked me to give them to you personally. I know you'll take care of them."

Rain nodded and accepted the gifts from him.

"I'm gonna go pack some more things before we leave," she said.

"Take your time, Rainshower."

"I'm gonna go to the loo," the Doctor whispered in her ear.

"And I'm gonna go to the necessary room after him," Alan whispered in her other ear.

"And I'm gonna stand outside and show off my body to all of Arizona," Jack whispered behind her head while everyone laughed.

"Okay, you go to the potty, you wait on my husband and you go strut for the rez. I'll be in my room," Rain said while they laughed harder.

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Rain pulled out an old suitcase and laid it on the bed. She rummaged through her dresser drawers pulling out as many shirts, trousers, socks and underwear as she could get. While she looked, she glanced outside and smiled when everyone except her husband and Alan were milling around in front of the TARDIS talking to one another. She looked up on the top of her dresser, grabbed a clown kachina doll and gently tucked it away on the side. She grabbed a small iron statue of kokopelli and laid it on top of a yellow t-shirt.

"So, you're leaving again, huh?"

She jerked her head up and saw her sister standing in the doorway glaring at her.

"Well, yes, I travel with them. My place is there," she said pointing out the window towards the TARDIS.

"What about college?"

Rain snorted.

"Amber, I'm a Time Lady. I have the knowledge of time and space. I don't think I need college anymore. If I went back, I'd ace everything in two seconds. My place is with my husband now."

Amber snorted.

"And how long do you think this alien will want you?"

"Um…for the rest of his lives, I expect. He tells me constantly that he loves me and I believe it. It might come as a surprise that there are some people out there who love and care for me in this universe. Now why don't you quit being jealous of me and go find someone of your own. No one's telling you to stay here, Amber. You can leave too, you know. I'm sure dad won't mind. I can't come back to this life now. I'm not even human anymore."

"What? Of course you are, Rain."

"No…I'm not. I'm a Time Lady. I'm like my husband now and so is Awinita and Mingxia and Donna and Rose and Jenny. We're Gallifreyan. You want proof? Go ask my husband if you can borrow his stethoscope and I'll let you listen to my two hearts. I don't belong here anymore. I just come for visits but if this is the reception I'm gonna get, I'll stop coming."

"You're completely irresponsible, Rain. You always have been," Amber said, walking over to her. "If you had any sense you would have stayed here and finished college."

Rain didn't flinch. She looked her sister dead in the eye and smirked when she noticed the surprise on her face.

"I'm not a fearful cowering little child anymore…sister," she spat out. "I've become a lot more confident and sure of myself and I'm not afraid of you. My husband and family helped me with that. So don't try this bullying bullshit with me, Amber, because I'm not gonna stand for it. I'm packing what I want and then I'm leaving in that blue box out there with those people and with the man I love and there's nothing you can do about it. You wanna throw a little fit, fine. Throw a jealous fit over what I have. I could possibly care less anymore."

She turned around and grunted when Amber grabbed hold of her shoulder and jerked her back around.

"Don't turn your back to me," Amber growled.

"No…don't turn your back to me."

Amber spun around and saw the Doctor and Alan step into the doorway, glaring at her.

"We've been just outside the door listening to this little sisterly exchange," the Doctor said to her. "I allowed it to go on for awhile because I wanted Rain to have her say but I won't let you lay your hands on my wife and get violent with her because she's going against your wishes."

They stepped into the room.

"I don't know you all that well. What I've heard I've heard mainly from my brother and my wife and I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt especially since you were civil to everyone at the meet and greet but you just confirmed the stories both people told me, Amber. My wife is right. She is no longer human and her place is no longer here. She made her decision to leave the last time my brother and his wife and sister stayed here and her father gave her his blessing and since he's the head of the household I expect his decision carries more weight around here than yours does. I'm very sorry for what happened to your mother but she isn't responsible for her death and I'm sick and tired of you blaming her for it and making her life hell with your petty anger and jealousy. She is a grown woman and has the right to do what she wants when she wants. If she doesn't want to go back to university, that's her business, not yours. And I can tell you that she was also right about not needing it any longer. She is far more intelligent now than she was as a human and human college courses will not only be too easy for her they will bore her to tears. Her place is with us now and I believe it's time for you to mind your own bloody business and leave her alone. Because if you don't…you'll have us to deal with, got that?"

Amber looked from one to the other in shock.

"You hear what my brother said, Amber? Piss…off," Alan snarled.

They rolled their eyes when she finally hurried past them and out the door.

"Told ya, one day it would happen," Alan said to him.

"Yup, I'm just glad we were in here when it did," the Doctor said, taking his wife around the waist.

He gave her a kiss.

"Just go ahead and pack your things. We'll be right here," the Doctor said.

Alan turned sideways and kept an eye on the door while Rain went back to packing. The Doctor picked up the clown kachina doll and smiled. He showed it to Alan.

"Where did you get this, Te'lesu?" he said to her.

"Mmm, the Hopi reservation several years ago and I don't know where kokopelli came from. I've had it since I was three."

Alan picked up the iron statue and stared at it. He looked down at her bed and noticed a Navajo blanket on it.

"What about this? Are you taking this?" he said to her.

Rain looked at where he was pointing.

"I thought about it. My grandmother gave it to me."

"Well, then it should go," Alan said, moving the suitcase.

Rain smiled when the Doctor and Alan grabbed both ends and carefully folded it for her into a neat little bundle. Once they were done, Alan put the suitcase back up on the bed and looked around. He noticed some dresses in the closet and pulled out one that was black with red designs on it.

"You need to take these," Alan said. "You'd look gorgeous in them."

"Yes, I agree," the Doctor said.

"There isn't room in the suitcase."

"Sod the suitcase, we have arms, Te'lesu," Alan said while he and the Doctor took the dresses down and laid them across their arm.

Rain finished cleaning out most of her dresser and looked around the room while the Doctor and Alan walked back over with the dresses on their arms. The Doctor looked through the window at Jack and banged on the glass. When Jack looked over he told him to come inside. Jack nodded and excused himself. He came in the room a moment later.

"Yes? Oh! Look at the dresses, you'll both look stunning in them," Jack said.

"Heh, heh, yeah, that's witty, Harkness," Alan said while Rain giggled. "Rain needs a bit of help with the suitcase here."

"Happy to help."

"And we have to tell you what happened with Siszilla. She went on a rampage when she thought we weren't around," the Doctor muttered to him.

Jack rolled his eyes. Rain finished packing after grabbing a black teddy bear and an Indian chief and Indian woman figurine. She zipped up the suitcase.

"Done?" the Doctor said.

She nodded.

"Okay, let's get out of here then before something else happens," he said to her.

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After hugging her father goodbye, Rain carried the blankets, drum and belt onto the TARDIS while the Doctor and Alan carried her dresses and Jack lugged in the suitcase. After they were in, the Doctor got back into the vortex and activated the void crosser. After they got Rain's things into their bedroom, they came back and told everyone what had happened between Rain and Amber. Rose seethed.

"Good thing I wasn't there. I would have given her a split lip," she said.

"Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later," the Doctor said. "Like I said, I'm glad we were there to defend her after we let her have her say."

"I don't think she'll be bothering her again anymore," Alan said. "Not after we stepped in."

"So I wouldn't let that stop you from seeing your dad. She won't make trouble again, I'm sure of it," the Doctor said to Rain. "I think she realized how pissed off your alien husband can get."

He glanced at the monitor.

"Besides, we're back over the void now so we're a universe away from her so everyone can rejoice now," he said with a grin.

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"Thanks again, Doc. I'm glad that Rain is alright, it wouldn't be the same without her smiling face around here," Jack said as he hugged the Doctor inside the Hub.

"Yup, her and her smiling face are definitely assets," he said.

"Well, if you think of something else fun for us to do, come back and get us," he said.

"Will do. Good luck defending Cardiff and the Earth."

"Same to you and the universe," Jack said.

He gave him one more hug; hugged Rain and they waved when everyone stepped inside and closed the door. As the TARDIS dematerialized, Jack and his team walked away and went back to work.