As soon as they reached a flat section of the path, Iota pulled Tirin by his hand so that they reached her mother faster. Her speed while running had increased as the years progressed so that she now matched Tirin's. Both of them were still nowhere close to Nella.

Iota's mother held out her arms to welcome the children. "Iota!" Her smile dominated the two suns. "Introduce me to this friend of yours," she winked; it was clear she knew Tirin was more than a friend for Iota.

Iota and Tirin skid to a stop, both taking a few deep breaths from the run. Iota shifted so that her hand was on his shoulder, using him to support herself. She smiled up at her mother. "Mamma, this is Tirin. Tirin, this is Mamma."

Penelope gave Tirin a small bow of greeting. "Hello Tirin. I am Penelope." She pulled him into a quick hug. "I am so glad to finally meet you."

"I'm glad to meet you as well." Tirin smiled. "Iota has told me so much about you." Iota hadn't actually told him much about her. All he knew was that her mother's family worked at the TARDIS farms and that her mother was named Penelope. Iota wasn't even certain he had remembered her mother's name until the moment they were first introduced; she hadn't been able to tell if he was paying attention when she first told him.

"Really? She hasn't told me much about you." She gave Iota a look that, if one didn't know her, may have been interpreted as disappointment. "But it allows me a chance to get to know you myself, and that I am thankful for."

Ulysses clasped Iota on her shoulder. "Why don't you go find Theta and Koschei? We'll take care of Tirin."

Immediately, Tirin turned to face Iota. His eyes widened and he became even paler. 'Don't leave,' he begged.

She knew he wasn't attempting to be insulting. She wouldn't have wanted to be left alone with his parents either. But instead of staying with him, which is what she knew he would have done, Iota took a step away from the three.

'I'll be quick.' She shot a smile towards Tirin before turning back to Ulysses. "I'll just be a moment; I don't want them to have killed each other."

"That's a good thing to check." Ulysses nodded, morphing his face into one of seriousness. "It would be difficult to explain to Koschei's parents what happened."

'Call if you need me.' Iota gave Tirin one final wave between running away from the three. She paused after running for a few seconds to consider where Theta and Koschei were.

It was clear her parents didn't know. If they did they likely would have mentioned it. So they weren't in Theta's room. Still, Iota ran first to the estate and stood in the center of the entrance hall, closing her eyes and focusing on the skill she had developed when she was younger.

It took a few minutes for Iota to filter out the sounds of the servants, the natural wind and house noises until she was left with everything that was out of place. It was much more difficult them she remembered, but it made sense considering she hadn't tried it for over two hundred years. She was surprised she wasn't more rusty. She didn't know where the skill had come from. She had just found that one day she could just block off the things she didn't want to hear and instead focus on things that should have been impossible to hear otherwise. Now that she had heard Tirin's parents discussing their theory as to why her and Tirin's mental bond was so strong, she could help but wonder if that was a part of it...

The only sound she had left was coming from, if Iota remembered the map of the estate she had created correctly, one of the abandoned sitting rooms. Theta and Koschei must not have wanted to bother returning to their secret hideout in the cave. Iota liked to pretend they had forgotten where it was, but she didn't believe it. They wouldn't have forgotten something like that.

As Iota silently approached the room, the boys' voices echoed even louder through the halls.

"It's been there ever since I looked into the Schism, pounding away inside my head. I've been able to ignore it sometimes, but as time has passed it's gotten more difficult."

"How can you focus with that sound in your head?"

Koschei sighed. "You know, I don't actually know. Sometimes, it's quieter and I can pretend it's not there."

"What's it like right now?"

There was silence for a moment. "It's very quiet. But I know it's there. Like it's an itch on the back of my head."

"Do you think our mental bond would allow me to hear it?"

"You could try."

There was silence again. "Oh my Gallifrey," Theta whispered his words, but Iota was still able to hear it. "That's terrible."

"Imagine living with it every second."

Iota took a deep breath. She wanted to know what they were talking about, what sound Koschei was hearing, but she didn't want the boys to know she was listening. It was clear Koschei had wanted to keep the conversation secret. She stepped forwards and knocked on the door. The boys fell perfectly silent.

"Hello? It's Iota. I've come to make certain you haven't killed yourselves." She forced her voice to sound like she wasn't wondering about anything, pretending she hadn't heard their conversation.

There was a scuffling sound before the door slid open and Theta peered out. "Iota!" He pulled her into a hug. "However did you find us?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and escorted her into the room. Koschei was stretched out on one of the chairs, leaning on his side and holding himself up using his arm.

"Remember when we played hide and seek over two hundred years ago and I found both of you quicker than you expected?" Iota wasn't surprised to see that the boys looked completely confused. "I was able to separate the different sounds in the estate until I found you."

Koschei nodded. It looked extremely strange, considering his face was at an angle. "I remember now. It's an impressive skill." He flashed her a smile.

For some reason, Iota felt herself blushing. "Tirin is here."

"How was his house?" Theta asked, tapping Iota on her check. He still had his arm around her shoulder.

"Different than ours."

Koschei pushed himself up so that he was sitting straighter. He ran a hand through his hair, still smiling widely. "How much uninterrupted intimate time did you share with him? Do Theta and I need to go give him the talk about never hurting you...otherwise we'd kill him?"

"I'm surprised you haven't done that yet." Iota glanced up at Theta. "Remind me to do that if you ever get a girl to date you while at the Academy."

"I'll be warning her myself!" Theta rubbed Iota's head. "She does not want to face the wrath of Iota Xi!"

Iota looked towards Koschei. "Same goes for you. You don't have any siblings, so I shall be taking on the very important role of warning people against hurting you." It wasn't the role of a sibling though. It felt, for some reason, strange to think of Koschei as her brother now. He was a close friend, definitely, but not a brother.

"I am honored." As Koschei stood, he gave her a bow. "I have to inform my parents that there is no need for me to have a sibling now; Iota has filled the role." Even though he said nothing about it, Iota knew he meant the same role she did; not sibling, but friend.

Iota laughed. "Come on. I promised Tirin I wouldn't leave him alone with Mamma and Ulysses for that long."

Theta's eyes widened. "You left them alone? We have to hurry. We must save him!" He rushed past Iota into the hall.

Koschei came up beside Iota, wrapping his own arm around Iota's shoulder. "What did you do with Tirin yesterday?"

"We formed a mental bond. Already, it's apparently strong. We can easily hold conversations together without speaking."

"Now that is no fair. Do you know how long it took for Theta and I to reach that state? Lucky." Koschei pouted as they walked through the halls, a few steps behind Theta. "Can you listen in on his conversation right now?"

"Why on Gallifrey would I do that?" Iota turned to look at Koschei in surprise. He was looking ahead, though it was clear he was still speaking to Iota. There was a thoughtful look in his eyes. "It doesn't feel right."

"But could you, if you wanted to?"

"Why are you asking?"

Koschei sighed. "Theta and I are working on being able to do that. We've been trying since we've mastered speaking inside each other's heads."

"Well, I was able to see the world through his eyes as we walked here."

Theta spun around so that he was walking backwards. "How did you do that? I've been trying to do that in order to cheat off Koschei's exam papers."

"One, that's against the laws of the Academy. Two, you require the person who's mind you're entering to let you in. And I know for certain I wouldn't let you in during an exam."

Iota laughed. "I'm proud of you Koschei."

Theta looked upset. "I'm not." He spun back around so that he was walking normally again.

"You should have known I would never had let you cheat."

"It didn't hurt to hope."

Koschei and Iota, after exchanging a singular glance, burst out into laughter together. Theta looked back at them again with a glare.

By that time, they had reached the entrance of the estate. Tirin, Ulysses and Penelope had reached the door by that point and they stood there talking. When Tirin noticed Iota, Koschei and Theta approaching he hurried to point them out. "Hello Iota!"

Her parents turned around in surprise. "That was quick. It would have taken us all day," Ulysses laughed. "We were just telling Tirin how you, Iota, reacted when Theta and Koschei went away to the Academy for the first time."

Immediately Iota blushed again. "Please tell me you're not telling the truth." She looked towards Tirin. "Are they telling the truth?"

Instead of answering while speaking, Tirin's voice spoke in Iota's mind.
It was even stronger than it had been last time. 'They were just beginning the story. All I know is that you were six.'

'Thank Gallifrey.'

"What did I tell the two of you about speaking with your mental bond while in the middle of a conversation with someone else?" Ulysses crossed his arms.

"Sorry Papa." Iota glanced at Theta. He and Koschei were forcing back laughter. She would have to talk to them about that.

"Just don't do it again." Something sparkled in Ulysses' eyes, somehow letting Iota know he was joking. "You can practice when you're on your own."

Iota's mother came up and gave Iota a side hug. Both were standing in a section of the hall that caused their blonde hair to shine thanks to the light that spread from a window. "Why don't we give Tirin a tour of the most important rooms?"

Koschei gestured behind him. "I wish I could stay, but my mother wanted me to come home some point today. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. Tell her hello for me." Penelope smiled at Koschei.

The boy gave quick bows of leaving before spinning and rushing out of the hall, breaking into a sprint the moment he left the building. His robe whipped against his legs as he ran. Iota was surprised Koschei didn't fall.

"Where are we going to begin the tour?" Ulysses faced the three people remaining. Tirin was standing to the side, clearly feeling out of place. Iota separated from her mother in order to give him a quick hug.

"Let's start with the dining room." Iota flashed him a smile. 'You do love food.' She said the words so quickly that she was certain Ulysses didn't notice the exchange.

The tour took most of the day, with Theta tagging along in order to add stories from his and Iota's childhood. She continuously swatted his arm in order to try and get him to stop but it didn't seem to work.

Theta found it amusing to see Iota embarrassed. Tirin looked like he was finding Iota's reaction funnier than Theta's stories.

A/N: A very sweet chapter today, don't you think? Tirin meeting Iota's mother, Iota going to retrieve Theta and Koschei, the two boys' reaction to learning how strong her mental bond already was.

And something is changing about how Iota views Koschei...no longer a brother, but a friend. I wonder what that could mean for the future?

There's still one question left from the holiday gift. If I don't get a question submitted for this chapter, I'll write the oneshot suggested by Teddy bear 007 and post it with the next chapter! So if you have a question, now is your last chance to submit it!

Notes on reviews:

Lil Angel 927: I'm glad you thought so! :) It's a good thing Koschei is a possibility, then, isn't it?