CHAPTER 35

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THE LOST TIME LADY

Just after River left while promising to visit again soon, Amy landed the TARDIS just outside of the chamber housing the Matrix which contained the biodata extract of almost every Time Lord in existence. As she and Rory started toward it, they immediately found themselves face to face with the current Keeper of the Matrix, the Doctor and Rose's son Nicolas. He had only recently been appointed to the job by the new President of Gallifrey, his sister Jenny.

Amy couldn't help but smile at all of the changes that had taken place since she had been busy with multiple Rivers and an infected Time Lady. Things were certainly never boring on Gallifrey these days as new regimes came and went at the drop of a hat.

She had a feeling that this one was going to stay though based on what Rose's future children had told her.

"Hello, Aunt Cliodna," Nicolas said as he greeted her with open arms.

Amy frowned at him and he said, "I know. I know. It's Aunt Amy now. I still haven't gotten used to that yet. It's almost as jarring to me as having my father calling my mother Rose."

"Well, that shouldn't be too much of a stretch since her original name means Rose. You should know that better than anyone though since you named your daughter after her," Amy said.

"And yet she wound up taking my mother's nickname for her instead and calling herself Susan. I like humans but I've never understood my parents' obsession with them. Maybe it's because they named me a human name too, and I took a lot of ribbing over it at the Academy. Well, if I'm being honest more than a lot. More like constant ribbing," Nicolas said.

"You don't have to tell me about children being cruel, Nick. I was made fun of as the mad little Scottish girl all my life because I claimed to be visited by the Raggedy Doctor when I was seven," Amy said with a sad look on her face.

"I hate it that you had to go through that too. I know what it's like being picked on for being different in some way. If it wasn't for Idunn, I would have been completely miserable at the Academy," Nicolas admitted.

Then he quickly went silent as Amy said, "I'm sorry, Nick. I didn't mean to make you think about her."

"You didn't. My mind just always seems to wander back to her all on its own for some reason no matter what I'm thinking or talking about. So why are you here? What can I help you with?" Nicolas asked as he eagerly tried to think of something else for a while.

"I came across a Time Lady who lost her memory recently, and I'm trying to check her biodata against what's in the Matrix. Maybe I can help her remember who she is," Amy explained.

Nicolas seemed to have a small flicker of hope at her words as he said, "You don't that she could be . . . ?"

Then he stopped himself as he said, "No, of course not."

Amy couldn't help but feel sorry for him because even now he was still looking for her. She knew how that felt. She had done it herself for centuries. Luckily for her though, the people she was looking for actually came back to her.

"Well, she does seem very familiar to me somehow but it's not Idunn," Amy said.

"Are you sure?" Nicolas asked.

"I'm sure I'd still remember her well enough to recognize her even after all of this time," Amy said.

"Could I see her?" Nicolas asked.

"Maybe later, Nick. She's asleep right now. She's been through a very traumatic experience that's taken its toll on her, and she needs to recover from it," Amy said.

"Of course. Well, maybe her biodata will tell us who she is. Go on in," Nicolas said as he let her into the Matrix.

Rory, who had been quiet up until now, finally decided to speak once he and Amy were in the Matrix alone together.

"So Idunn was his wife?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, and Susan's mother too. She was lost in the very beginning of the Time War. A Dalek weapon hit her TARDIS that destroyed its dimensional stabilizer and caused its internal dimension to go out of sync with its outer shell. They were no longer linked to each other," Amy said.

"So what happened to the interior?" Rory asked.

"No one knows. It could have been spun out into the Vortex and destroyed or it could have been sent to literally any time or place," Amy said sadly.

"And that's what happened to Idunn?" Rory asked sadly.

"Yeah, she was lost forever. No one ever saw her again," Amy said.

"Maybe this mystery woman that we found is her then," Rory said.

Amy shook her head as she said, "I'd love for that to be true, Rory, but it's not her. I'd know if it was. I knew her for a long time."

"Are you sure? Maybe it's been so long that you've forgotten what she was like," Rory said.

Amy smiled as she said, "You really are a romantic, aren't you? What am I saying? Of course you are. I'm talking to the man who waited for me for two thousand years!"

"It just seems a bit too much of a coincidence to me that she was lost in time somewhere, and then we find a Time Lady who doesn't remember who she is and who's been stuck in that warehouse for centuries. What if it really is her?" Rory asked.

"I really hope that you're right. I guess we'll know soon enough," Amy said hopefully as she began to compare the mystery Time Lady's biodata against all of the records in the Matrix.

While they eagerly waited on the results, Sirona numbly switched off the TARDIS' monitor as a feeling of absolute shock went all through her. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Selene and Julia picked that moment to enter the Console Room and found Sirona standing there with a stunned look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Julia asked.

"Nothing," Sirona said in a flat, lifeless voice.

"Really? You look like someone shot your favorite pet to me," Selene said.

"You should know," Sirona said in an accusatory tone.

Julia just looked at Selene in surprise as she said, "You didn't?"

"It's not as bad as it sounds. I was teaching myself how to use a staser that an old boyfriend of mine gave me, and I may have, uh, accidentally shot Sirona's pet cat with it," Selene said with a sheepish look on her face.

"Selene!" Julia said in disbelief.

"I didn't kill him. I just singed all of the hair off of him for a while. It all grew back. Eventually," Selene said.

"You also knocked him out for half an hour. I thought that you fried poor Mr. Frizzy," Sirona said.

"Mr. Frizzy?" Julia asked as she tried to repress a laugh.

"They definitely couldn't call him that afterwards," Selene joked causing Julia to burst out laughing.

Sirona glared at both of them as she said, "Fine. Go ahead and laugh at poor Mr. Frizzy. That'll make it even easier for me to leave if I know what jerks you both are."

"Leave? What do you mean leave?" Julia asked as she suddenly stopped laughing and became completely serious.

"Is that why you're in such a bad mood all of a sudden? What's going on? Why would you have to leave? Are you alright?" Selene asked in concern.

Sirona smiled at her and said, "I'm fine. It's not that. It's the senior members of the House of Brightshore. They just called me and told me that they want me to take over the official duties of running the house and all of its financial operations."

"What? I thought Mum was doing that," Julia asked.

"So did I. What's going on?" Selene asked.

"That's what I asked. They told me that Mum had just been given a vote of no-confidence by the senior members of the House, and they wanted me to take over. I told them no way, and they insisted that I come and explain why not. I told them that I was not stabbing Mum in the back like that, and they said if I didn't come that they'd kick Gran out of the House! What's going on?!" Sirona asked.

"I don't know but I'm going to find out. They're not getting away with this. Both of us are going there right now and tell them what's what. You stay here with Brian, Jules," Selene said in a furious voice.

"Shouldn't we tell Mum something?" Julia asked.

"No, not yet. She's got enough to worry about. Besides knowing her she'll want to give the whole thing up. She already doesn't care anything about running the place. She's been leaving it up to my mother who isn't exactly the greatest financial expert on the planet. That's probably why they want her out of there," Karen said as she and Oisin entered the room.

"So you're going too I take it?" Selene asked with a smile on her face.

"Yep. It'll be you and me together again. They'll never know what hit them. They're not taking anything away from Amy if I can help it. It sounds like they just want Sirona in there because they think that they can push her around. They're not pushing me around though. I'll show them who's really running things around here," Karen said.

"I almost pity them," Oisin whispered to Julia who laughed.

"I heard that," Karen said with a mischievous smile.

As the Time Lords all left on their sacred mission to give the senior members of the House of Brightshore a massive headache, Brian asked, "I wonder what that was all about? Who would want Amy kicked out like that?"

Julia smiled at that. She loved how Brian never talked down to her. He always talked to her like an adult which no one else in the family other than River ever did. That was one of the many reasons that she loved him so much.

"I'm not sure but I think that the House of Brightshore definitely won't be the same this time tomorrow. If it's even there at all that is. I think that Aunt Karen might just make them wish that they hadn't gotten out of bed this morning," Julia said laughing.

Brian nodded sagely as he said, "That'll be nothing compared to what will happen if our Amy finds out."

Julia winced as she said, "I don't even want to think about it. From what Sirona said though, they sound like they deserve every bit of what's coming to them."

During the commotion caused by all of this, a message that was left on Amy's phone in the TARDIS was ignored for the moment. Only a flashing light was left behind that Amy wouldn't see until much later.

The secretary behind the message reported to her immediate superior, "Sir, I've still been unable to contact her in order to get her to sign a contract. Should I keep trying?"

"Yes, keep trying as long as you have to until you actually get her on the phone. We have to have her written permission first before we can go ahead and print the book," The secretary's boss replied.

"I've been trying to get ahold of her for weeks now. She must be the busiest woman on Earth. Do you really think that this book will be that big of a hit to justify all of this trouble, sir?" The secretary asked.

"I know it will. Once this book is published it will change her life forever. I want her here in Manhattan right away as soon as possible to sign the deal," The secretary's boss said.

The secretary shook her head as she said, "Normally no one gets this much attention not to mention patience from a publisher. That woman must have some angels watching out for her to have this much luck."

"You could say that. In fact, I'd pretty much guarantee it," The secretary's boss suddenly said with a laugh that chilled her to her very soul.

Suddenly she was very, very glad that she wasn't Amy Pond.

Unaware of any of this, Amy and Rory were at that very moment receiving the results of the mystery Time Lady's comparison test against the stored biodata in the Matrix. They both stared in shock at what the test revealed.

"We're really going to need an explanation of this. I've got to contact the one person who might just know what's going on here," Amy said as she pulled out her cell phone and made a call.

"She's got a cell phone?" Rory asked in surprise.

"Of course I have a phone. Just because I'm literally older than dirt doesn't mean that I don't keep up with the times," The unmistakable voice of Lily Wright said over the speaker of Amy's phone.

"You didn't tell me that you had put it on speakerphone," Rory said with embarrassment.

"I like to keep you on your toes, Mr. Pond," Amy said with a sly smile as she gave him a tender kiss.

"You certainly do that," Rory agreed as he gave her a much more passionate kiss back.

They could both hear a groan over the phone as Lily said, "I can hear both of you sucking face, Cliodna. Are you two planning on making out the whole time or did you actually have a reason for calling me?"

"Tell me, Lily, does the name Atalanta mean anything to you?" Amy asked.

Lily went quiet for a second and then said, "What is this about, Amy?"

She then proceeded to tell her everything that she knew about the mysterious Time Lady including what they had just found out about her. Lily suddenly had a sharp intake of breath and said, "I'll be right there."

Amy then immediately called the phone in her TARDIS and was surprised when Julia answered it by saying, "What is it, Mum? Don't tell me that you found out already."

"Found out what?" Amy asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," Julia quickly said as Amy heard Brian whispering something to her in the background.

"I don't even want to know what you're keeping from me right now, Julia, but you can bet that I'll find out later. Don't even try to deny it," Amy said in an annoyed voice.

"The others told me not to tell you, Mum. I wanted to though," Julia said in a nervous voice.

"I know you did. From now on, you tell me everything that's going on no matter who tells you what. Got it?" Amy said in a gentler voice.

"Alright," Julia said with an audible sigh of relaxation.

"Julia, tell Brian to bring our mystery woman out here as soon as possible. Also tell him that I'll deal with him later," Amy said.

She smiled as she could hear Brian gulp in the background just before she ended the call.

"We both know that you won't do anything to my father. You love him almost as much as your own father," Rory said.

"I know that and you know that, but he doesn't have to know that especially if he's going to go along with Karen and keep things from me. That'll teach him to always tell me everything from now on," Amy said with an evil smile.

"How do you know it was Karen behind the whole thing?" Rory asked.

"Please. Who knows me better than me, Rory?" Amy said with a snort.

"I noticed that you went easy on Julia," Rory said with a small smile.

"I did not. I let her know what she did was wrong," Amy said defensively.

"You talked sweetly to her though. Well, sweetly for you anyway. You never let anyone off the hook that easily when you're mad at them not even your parents or Melody. In fact, I've been afraid Melody was going to shoot us a few times when you'd yell at her," Rory said.

"Oh, please. Melody's a sweetie pie," Amy said.

"I wouldn't let her hear me say that," Rory said.

"Okay. She's a sweetie pie when it comes to us. How about that?" Amy said with a grin.

"I still wouldn't say it to her face. You're changing the topic though. You're nicer to Julia than anyone else and you know it," Rory said.

"I am not," Amy protested.

"Yes, you are," Rory said with a warm smile.

"So what if I am? Do you have a problem with me being nice to my little girl, Stupid Face?" Amy asked him with a cold stare.

"No, I just like how it shows that you have a soft side after all," Rory said.

"You take that back," Amy said.

That was when Lily cleared her throat and said, "So I see you've gone from kissing to fighting now, eh? That must be a new record even for you."

"Shut it, Persephone," Amy said with an irritated look on her face.

Instead of being afraid like most people (including Rory) would be, Lily just laughed at her instead. Rory's opinion of her bravery definitely jumped up a few notches in that moment.

As if she could read his thoughts, Lily said, "Amy doesn't worry me. She's an old softy."

Amy groaned as she punched Rory in the arm and said, "Look at what you're doing to my reputation already!"

"I didn't do anything," Rory protested while Lily continued to laugh.

Then the mystery Time Lady suddenly ended all of this as she appeared and said, "Amy, Julia said that you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I do. I know who you are now, but I don't quite know what happened to you just yet. Maybe you could fill in the details on that, Lily," Amy said.

"It is her," Lily said in disbelief.

"How do you know that just by looking at her?" Amy asked intrigued.

"I didn't when I first saw her, but now that I know that it's her I can see it. It's like . . . It's almost like she's become a living perception filter as weird as that sounds," Lily said in amazement.

"Please tell me. Who am I?" The Time Lady asked in a pleading voice.

"I will eventually. We have to figure out some things first though. This is the person that you kept referring to as Atalanta when you were a Time Walker, isn't it?" Amy asked.

The Time Lady looked at Lily closely and said, "Yes, that's her. That's the name that the Time Walkers knew her by, but it isn't who I know her as. You're Persephone, aren't you? I remember now."

"That's right. I go by Lily these days though. In fact, a lot has changed since your day," Lily said.

"Please tell me what happened to me," the Time Lady said in tears.

"I will. Don't get upset," Lily said as she put a comforting arm around her.

Then she started her story as she said, "This all goes back to thousands of years ago when the Time Walkers attempted to take over Gallifrey. At first it seemed as though they were winning and were about to turn all of Gallifrey into their personal playground when I thankfully discovered their great weakness to salt. Who would have thought that it would be something so simple? It worked though and I was so close to completely wiping all of them out forever when suddenly a rip in time appeared behind the last of the Time Walkers as if on cue. At first I thought that she was behind it somehow, but she looked just as surprised as I did. Then you fell out of the rip as if you had just been shoved out of it by a tremendous explosion. I had no idea who you were then though because I hadn't met you yet. Before I could get to you to save you however, the last of the Time Walkers infected you and made you into one of them. I had no idea how to cure you, and I didn't want to kill you because I knew that you were innocent so I trapped you in the Time Lords' warehouse of forbidden things instead and told them never to let you back out again. I always hoped that someone would find a cure and save you, but then I never heard anything about you again. Now it seems that I knew you far better than I ever thought that I did."

"You keep saying things like that, but you won't tell me who I am! Please! Who am I? Do you know? Where's my daughter? I want to see her," the Time Lady said in a voice filled with anguish.

"Here I am," A very nervous voice said nearby.

The Time Lady turned to see Nicolas and Susan standing there looking at her hesitantly as Susan said, "Mother, is that you?"

"It doesn't look like her," Nicolas said.

"Concentrate very hard," Lily said.

They both did as she asked as the Time Lady stared at both of them in turn. They were all silent as they searched each other's faces for answers.

"I still don't understand where this perception filter effect came from. Explain," Amy said to Lily.

"I can't. The only thing that I can think of is that the Dalek attack on her somehow scrambled up her physiology and granted her one of the properties of the TARDIS while it sent her hurtling back through time or being a Time Walker left that behind as some sort of weird side effect. I just hope that it didn't do anything else to her," Lily said with worry.

"I still can't see if it's really her or not. Are you sure that she has the same biodata as Idunn?" Nicolas asked.

"Yes, she's an exact match," Amy said.

Finally after a long pause, the Time Lady said, "I'm sorry. I don't remember either of you. I remember Persephone, but I can't remember my own family? What's wrong with me?"

"It's probably the trauma of everything that's happened to you scrambling your brain. Don't worry about it," Amy said in a compassionate voice.

"That has been known to actually happen in cases of extreme trauma," Rory added.

"See? It's totally natural," Amy said as she tried to make her feel better.

"I . . . can't remember," the Time Lady said in an upset voice.

"Are you sure it's really her? Maybe we're all just seeing what we want to see about her," Nicolas said.

Amy sighed as she realized that he had continuously had his hopes dashed for so long that he was now afraid to believe that it could really be her. She had to admit though that she still had some slight doubts herself. Maybe they were only seeing her as a match to Idunn's biodata because of some weird quirk of the Time Lady's messed up biology.

"Could I just stay with you until I remember something, Amy? I don't want to give them hope and then take it away. That would be cruel for all of us," the Time Lady said.

"If that's what you want. Can't we just call you Idunn anyway though since we're sure that's who you are? Maybe it'll help to jog your memory," Amy said.

"I suppose so if that's alright with you two," Idunn said.

Both Nicolas and Susan nodded but still looked visibly upset by seeing her. Susan walked toward her and gave her a quick hug then she immediately moved away.

"Could we visit you again sometimes? Maybe we'll know for sure if we see you again," Susan asked.

"Of course you can. I really hope that I am her for your sake. You seem so sad," Idunn said as her hearts went out to Susan.

Susan said nothing. She just continued to look at her with an extremely upset look on her face.

"Well, this didn't turn out to quite be the happy reunion that I expected it to be," Amy said in an uncomfortable voice.

"Can you say awkward?" Lily said.

"It's very awkward," Rory agreed.

"I should go I think. I'm sorry for upsetting everyone. I really thought that this might work," Idunn said as she slowly backed away from the others.

"It's okay. Just go back to my TARDIS," Amy said.

Idunn turned around to leave at first and then she turned around and walked up to both Nicolas and Susan and kissed both of them on the cheek. She then left without saying another word.

"Maybe it is her," Susan said hopefully.

Nicolas looked skeptical though as he said nothing.

"I'll just let her stay with me and see what happens. You can always visit her whenever you want. Maybe she'll remember soon," Amy said.

Both father and daughter nodded and then they left. Lily left as well after expressing a wish that everything would turn out alright for all of them. Then Amy and Rory were left alone while Amy tried not to let whatever Julia wasn't telling her bother her for the moment.

"Rory, do you think that we could just stay here for a while before we get involved in any more trouble. I'll let Karen handle whatever it is for a while I think. I really need a little bit of a breather or I'll wind up like Mr. Frizzy," Amy said.

"Who?" Rory asked.

"It's a long story. It doesn't matter anyway. Let's just say that I wouldn't look good bald and leave it at that," Amy said.

"I really think that you would," Rory said with a sly grin as he stared at her head now picturing it.

"Uh uh. I'm not touching one hair on this head. Do you realize how long it would take to grow back? Besides that I did that once, and I'm never doing it again," Amy said.

"When you became an Ice Warrior," Rory said remembering her telling him about it before.

"What? No, I forgot about that actually. This was another time. Oh, don't get me wrong. It was no big deal really. I just lost my memory once on one of my trips with the Doctor before you went along. When I got it back, I found myself with a bald head and my skin dyed blue thinking that I was a pirate or something. Nothing really bad happened though," Amy said with a nonchalant attitude.

Rory began to smile as he pictured that in his head and Amy punched him in the arm as she said, "Don't even think about it!"

"It's too late now," Rory said with an evil grin.

"It's not going to happen so you can just let it go right now! Come on, Rory. Let's see what new mess that I've just found myself in. You know for someone who never looks for trouble I always seem to find myself hip deep in it lately. I'm getting just as bad as the Doctor and that makes me so depressed," Amy said with a sigh.

Then she looked at the huge smile on Rory's face and punched him in the arm again as she said, "IT'S. NOT. GOING. TO. HAPPEN!"

She immediately set off towards the TARDIS to find out what was going on while she dragged Rory after her. Rory didn't even mind the pain in his shoulder as he wondered if shaving her head in her sleep might be worth the pain that he would experience later on when she woke up.

He shook his head and decided against it. He didn't want to already lose a regeneration this soon. That would probably be breaking some kind of Time Lord record or something. He still couldn't stop smiling though until Amy finally let him have one right between the eyes.

He was definitely a lot easier to drag around then she mused with a grin.

Next: After Amy gets done doing her best River Song impression, she finds out exactly what the others have been keeping from her. Who is behind the attempt to kick her out of her own House and why? Also more on the publishing of Amy's book and what's really happening behind the scenes with that, and Idunn continues to struggle to remember her past while she wonders just what has happened to her.