As soon as the tour finished, the family arrived in the dining room for a meal. It was similar to when Iota had visited Tirin's family; the meal wasn't required, but it was considered polite. Tirin and Iota sat next to each other across from her parents, while Theta sat a few seats away. The boy continued to make amusing faces throughout the entire meal in an attempt to throw Iota off. Koschei hadn't reappeared for the rest of the day.

When the meal finished, Iota's parents allowed Tirin and her to remain on their own. Instead of going to her room, one of the rooms she had yet to show him, they walked through the abandoned sections of the estate hand in hand. Dust had collected in the halls thanks to no one ever entering them. Not even the servants; there was no point. Iota wasn't certain why they had all the extra rooms.

"Your house is nice," Tirin commented, looking at the hall around them. "I like it."

"I'm glad." Iota let their hands swing. "What do you want to do tonight?"

"Hm…" Tirin smiled. "Why don't you tell me what your reaction was to Theta and Koschei leaving for the Academy for the first time?"

The two burst out laughing before Iota pulled Tirin towards her room so that they could talk alone.

-I-

The exams that year were particularly difficult for Tirin. For some reason, he hadn't understood a single thing they were taught. Every time Nella attempted to help him, he just seemed to get more confused. Iota was forced to separate them in order to stop them from getting into a shouting match in the library.

Nella and Iota hated to discuss it, but they knew the likely possibility; Tirin was going to fail. There was only a very small chance he would score something that would allow him to remain at the Academy. And then they would never be allowed to talk about him again.

It was a terrible thought, but the girls had accepted the possibility. They only hoped they were wrong.

They never discussed it with Tirin, but they were certain he knew they were thinking about it.

-I-

On the last day of the Hunter's class, he had them sit in a circle again. This time, Iota was able to sit next to Tirin. The Hunter, who's personality had changed yet again, had them go around and give the word they were considering even stronger for their title and the class they had chosen to majorly study. They had already turned in their essays at the beginning of class, but the Hunter wanted them to share their choices for everyone, even though they were going to submit class choices for the exam.

Nella claimed the word she was considering was Karisse, the word for librarian in Funke. And though she had difficulties finally choosing, she declared the subject was Advanced Mathematics. The Hunter gave her a standing ovation for choosing it.

Tirin was before Iota that time. He chose the Possibility for his title. When the Hunter asked for an explanation, he refused to give one. The subject he decided on was 20th Century Earth Literature. He hadn't been able to decide for the longest time and had ended up picking randomly.

When it was Iota's turn, she surprised everyone by giving the same title she had given at the beginning of the year; the Singer. She couldn't think of a better word for herself. She had tried, under Nella's instruction, to look for words in other languages. But nothing had seemed to fit as good as the Singer. So she stuck with it.

She had started to sing more. With Nella's assistance, she had begun translating songs from other languages into Gallifreyan and then singing both versions. It was always in their room, but singing brought her joy like nothing else could.

The subject she chose was another that made the Hunter stand up and applaud. She chose Study of TARDISes.

Her mother and her had had a conversation about it the last of the Visiting Days, right before all the children returned to the Academy. Her mother was almost embarrassingly happy for her.

"My family will definitely adopt you now," she had laughed, giving Iota a tight hug. "You know, all the students who choose that are your family. You'll get to know a lot of your cousins."

"All of them?"

"All of them. I think even Percy is related to us through marriage. If I remember correctly, I think he's married to my aunt." Iota had laughed.

-I-

Tirin climbed up onto the platform on the day they received their exam scores, holding his head high. He was clearly trying to pretend nothing was wrong but Iota was able to hear his voice in her head. It wasn't intentional and she wanted to block it out, but her worry refused to let her mind to focus.

'Come on. Do it for her. Do it for her. You can't fail. You didn't fail. Please, don't have failed.'

Iota hated as she got the sense the 'her' he was discussing was her. It made her feel like she was about to burst into tears. She couldn't stand this. She didn't know what she was going to do if he was gone.

"Tirin, One Hundred Year Apprentice. You scored an average of fifty one on the exam. Congratulations. You are now a First Year Learner."

Iota did burst into tears then. She clutched a hand around her mouth, attempting to stifle it. But she couldn't help it. He had passed. Tirin wasn't going to get taken away. He was staying.

Tirin didn't show any visible emotional reaction. He just left the platform.

When it was Iota's turn, she almost missed her own score. It didn't seem important to her any more. All she wanted to do was rush back to where Tirin was and cry into his arms in thanks.

"Iota Xi, One Hundred Year Apprentice. You scored an average of eighty nine on the exam. Congratulations. You are now a First Year Learner."

She rushed back to the room where Tirin waited. He stood right in the doorway, clearly waiting for her as well. And she threw herself into his arms, relieved beyond belief that he was going to stay.

Tirin breathed into her hair, both of them shaking. They pulled away for a moment to look at each other's faces. Iota rested her hands on his cheeks, laughing as she cried. "You didn't fail," she whispered. "I was so scared."

He leaned closer down to her height with a relieved smile. "So was I."

The next action wasn't planned or expected. If they were caught, there was no telling the amount of trouble they would get into. But neither could help themselves.

Tirin and Iota kissed.

The kiss was filled with tears and shaking bodies, but it was a kiss none the less. Iota's entire body felt like it was glowing, with fire racing through her bones. At the beginning it felt wonderful, like how she imagined regeneration would feel. But then it turned to burning. It felt wrong to be kissing Tirin. Completely and utterly wrong.

It felt like there were hundreds of people shouting inside Iota's head, drowning out anything and everything else. They screamed and screamed and refused to stop. The voices forced her to shove Tirin away, moving to clutch her head as she began to cry tears of pain. The burning and the voices hurt. They hurt so much.

But the moment she was separated from Tirin the burning and voices began to fade away until Iota was back to normal. She still shook as she felt Nella rest her hand on her friend's back.

"Iota? Are you alright?" Nella whispered it, but every sound had begun to echo painfully inside Iota's head. She felt Nella escorting her to the wall so that she could sit on the floor and she heard Tirin's footsteps as he followed.

Iota was finally able to open her eyes again after the echoing sounds had faded. She clutched her legs and began to shake. Thankfully, the only people looking at her were Tirin and Nella; no one else seemed to have noticed the kiss or her reaction.

"What happened?" Nella asked carefully, resting her hand again on Iota's knee.

"I don't know," Iota's voice was shaking. She looked up at Tirin. "I'm sorry."

He moved to sit next to her. "It's fine. We rushed it and that was my fault. I'm so sorry it hurt you."

"Let's wait a few years until we try that again," Iota tried to laugh but it just came out like a sob. Tirin pulled her into a hug and she breathed into his robes. The hug calmed her.

Though she had said they could try kissing again after a few years, Iota couldn't help but wish it would be never. Years ago she had thought she was in love with Tirin. Years ago she would have jumped at a chance to kiss the boy. But now she was no longer certain.

It frightened her that she may have made a mistake; she didn't want to hurt Tirin, just like she knew he didn't want to hurt her.

'Maybe we could try moving slower.' She whispered in his mind.

'If that's what you want, I'll do it. I want you to be happy Iota.'

Iota smiled into his robes. Despite what had just happened, Tirin was as kind as he always had been. But it did make her feel even more terrible for shoving him away.

-I-

The first class of the next year was the class they had chosen to majorly study. Iota's Year was told that members from each subject they had chosen would be waiting to escort them to their class. As the Year entered the dining hall with their new gold sashes, they looked around for other students who looked like they could lead students through the halls.

Their questions were quickly answered. As soon as they entered, they were met with a row of almost twenty students with red sashes, staring straight ahead with their hands crossed behind them. They stepped forwards one at a time and stated the subject they would be leading people to.

Iota paid the most attention to the one who said they were from the Study of TARDISes. It was a boy who looked like a twenty year old human. He had dark brown hair similar to Theta's, but his looked like it would have reached his shoulders when it was hanging out of the small ponytail it was in then. He had tan skin with bright green eyes that looked like they were in the middle of calculating something.

The Year was allowed to eat breakfast like they normally did before returning to the student who had announced their subject of choice. Nella almost didn't want to eat, she was too excited to go to Advance Mathematics. Tirin was happy to eat. He didn't truly want to go to his subject of choice. Iota was caught halfway between wanting to eat and wanting to go to the class.

When it was finally time for them to go to class, Iota rushed to the boy who would be bringing her to her class. No one else from her Year was coming with her.

The boy smiled warmly at Iota. He held out his hand for her to shake. It had a few scars and looked like it had been recently burned. "I'm Locma."

She gave him a nervous smile. "Iota Xi. But call me Iota."

"Penelope's daughter?"

"Yes."

He gasped in amazement. "You're my cousin! I remember meeting you when you were younger and you came to the TARDIS farms for the first time. You were adorable." Quickly, he wrapped her in a hug before realizing she was slightly scared. He was much taller than her, taller even then Theta and Koschei. It was slightly terrifying. "Remember the Thorn?"

"Yes."

"I'm his brother."

Iota smiled. She hadn't truly believed her mother when she had told her that her family filled the Study of TARDISes class, but now it was difficult to deny. It couldn't be a coincidence that the one who came to bring her to her class was her cousin.

"My mother told me that our grandfather is joking you're replacing your mother with the TARDISes."

Iota laughed. "I hope I'll be a suitable replacement for her."

Locma clasped Iota on the shoulder. She could tell that other students around her were confused at their introduction. No one else knew the other classmate in any sense. "Ready to go to class?" She nodded. "Well, then let's go!" He helped them make their way through the crowd to the doors that lead to the exit of the dining hall.

"Where is the Study of TARDISes classroom?" Iota asked as they walked.

"Close to where they store the TARDISes here so we have easy access. We also have access to the TARDIS cradle if we want to study that. Basically every TARDIS related thing at the Academy we have access to."

Iota nodded. She had begun to slightly dread the class, as much as she hated to admit it. Though nothing had happened the last few times she was in a TARDIS, being around them as constantly as she would in Study of TARDISes might cause something to happen. And there was no telling what would happen after that. But there was the possibility that someone at the class would know exactly what was happening to her. And that was enough to make her keep walking.

"Do we ever go to visit the TARDIS farms?"

Locma shook his head. "Almost all of us already live at the TARDIS farms and visit them during Visiting Days. You're one of the first who isn't. It's possible, however, that you would be able to get a trip if you want it. They might make an exception for you." Iota laughed.

When they reached a door decorated with writing that declared it the class room for Study of TARDISes, Locma paused and spun to face Iota. He leaned against the door and smiled down at her. "Are you prepared to not only enter the classroom of the most amazing class in the world, but also see a small selection of family members you've likely meet before but probably didn't know existed?"

"Yes." Iota was vibrating with excitement.

"Welcome." And then, Locma let the door slide open.

A/N: I wonder what Study of TARDISes will be like, and who she'll meet there. But she does seem to have a large family; just like Ulysses said.

And what happened with the kiss? What was wrong with Iota? Who, exactly, was shouting?

So sorry there was no chapter yesterday; I was spending the night at a friend's house and ran out of time ahead of time. I'm planning on posting an extra chapter next week to make up for it, so hopefully look forward to that!

I haven't been able to write the oneshot yet; so sorry about that! But it will be coming! Hopefully with the next chapter.

And since this story now has over two hundred reviews (I can't believe it and am so thankful to every single person who has ever reviewed; I never thought I'd even get one hundred, let alone two!) there will be another gift as well! Again, either a question or a oneshot.

Thank you again so very much!

Notes on reviews:

Lil Angel 927: No! Of course not! I'm glad you thought it was cute. I'm not certain you'll want it to happen soon though...

I'msorrymylove: I'm glad you liked it! It's perfectly fine :)

Teddy bear 007: So sorry you have to wait another week for it!

TheDoctorsImpossibleGirl: I'm glad you liked it! Hope you liked this one as well :)

Sonic Key (Guest): Sorry :( But thank you! I'm glad you liked it. Thank you so much! That is such an amazing compliment! I hope you liked this chapter!