Chapter 52 Heritage

"Rose! It's her heritage! You can't stop her from being who she is." The Time Lord was adamant, but Rose was stubborn. "She's just a child, she doesn't know who she is. We should wait until she's old enough to decide for herself. Not thrust this on her without warning." The Time Lord growled. "Do you really think she doesn't know? She knew precisely who and what she was, by the time she could walk! You forget she's not human, Rose."

He ran his hand through his hair. His frustration was getting the better of him. He needed to calm down before he said something really stupid to her. "It's hard to understand. She looks like a normal 8-year-old child, but she is an adult on the inside, just as I was, just as we all are. We are born with an understanding of our people and our culture. The time vortex is part of who we are, right down to our DNA."

Rose was not going to go quietly under the umbrella of cultural identity. "You told me yourself, you didn't know how anyone could do this to a child. You said it was painful and cruel, and now you want to subject our daughter to it?" Rose's mark had bit deep and he had little defense to make. "I know what I said." He was contrite. "But this is her choice to make." He paused willing her to understand. "It's simple. If she doesn't look into the vortex she can never take her place as a Time Lord. Do you want to deprive her of that because you're afraid?"

Rose looked at him like she didn't know him. "I'm afraid? You're damn right I'm afraid. The question is, why aren't you? I know how this works. She will either come out of it, a prophet, in terror, or insane. Not my child you're not!" Rose held her belly as she felt her son react to the loud voices. The stress of being very pregnant and this conversation was not good for her or the child. She wondered what had possessed him to bring it up now.

Unseen, Alice had entered the room. She knew what was happening, and the struggle between her parents was at a deadlock. She hated when they argued about anything. That the argument was about her was near unbearable.

"Mother, father, please stop." Rose turned to see her daughter in the doorway. "Alice my angel." She went to the child, kneeling and kissing her cheek. Alice pulled away, "Mother please listen." Rose was hurt but did as requested. "You are arguing over my future and I think I should have a say in it."

She held herself with grace and an air of dignity, 8 going on 38. "Father's right mother, I know who and what I am, and I'm very proud of it." She looked up into her father's face. "Both sides." He was so very proud of her right now. "This choice is mine to make. Not true had I grown up on Gallifrey, where I would have been taken from you to do it."

Rose had tears in her eyes as Alice continued. "I love you both, and yes, I'm afraid, but I want to do this." She turned to her mother to try to make her understand. "The only way I can describe it to you mother, is that a part of me is, missing, or not as it should be. I know in my hearts this is what must happen. Please mother, don't fight it."

Rose saw Alice in a whole new way. Despite being 8 years old she was not a child anymore. She hadn't even used momma in a while. Rose looked at her husband, helpless against her daughter's wishes. Sick to her stomach, thinking of what would follow.

Alice felt she was prepared for what was to come. Her father had told her many times about the untempered schism and how it had affected him. She had even probed his mind and seen it happening to him, giving her knowledge of what was to come. Despite all that, her human half was very afraid and she had to control her emotions tightly.

Rose was not at all prepared, and her human whole was shaking like a leaf. Oh, she always knew it was a possibility, but hoped Alice would be spared this ordeal since the only access to the hellish thing was on Gallifrey. And Gallifrey was long gone. "How are you going to get access to it?" Rose asked him.

"We will have to go back before the time war, and I'm going to need help."

"Who on Gallifrey is going to help you do this to a half human child?

He smiled, "Only one person I know would be so bold. Me."

All she could get out with tears staining her cheeks was, "I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not." He growled. "You're too far along to make this trip. You know the delivery date is as unpredictable as Alice's. He could be born any time." She looked at him with cold flinty eyes. "You should have thought of that before you started this discussion. SO, you want to do this, instead of being here to welcome your son when he comes? You want me to have this child without you?" The look in his eyes told her she was being cruel.

"No, I don't want that! We could be there and back before you even knew we were gone. Time machine remember?" She cursed under her breath, "And I'm just supposed to trust that everything will go according to plan? Just how often does that happen on simple trips, let alone one with the complications this will have." Rose approached him angrily, "I had Alice in the Tardis, I can have David there too. We're going with you!"

He knew better than to argue with her further. She was a stubborn woman, and it was clear her mind was made up. He only hoped David would stay where he was until it was done. She was right in saying this would not be easy. Just getting to Gallifrey would be a challenge. They couldn't go in the Tardis, it would be spotted and challenged in a second. They would have to land and get transport to Gallifrey un-noticed, and they noticed everything.

They filed into the Tardis silently. Alice reached for Rose's hand and looked at her unsure at that instant. Rose grasped her small hand and smiled. "Your father is here with you. He would never let anything bad happen to us." Alice was reassured if not confident.

He was busy with the controls as they sat in the jump seat. "Are you ready?" He looked at Rose, his hearts pounding, partly from excitement, partly from concern. He wasn't at all sure he could pull this off. "Yes" was all she said.

The time rotor began to move and they were in flight in moments. The trip did not take as long as Rose expected. After twenty minutes the movement stopped and the Tardis engines shut down. He looked at the two of them, "Stay here, I need to arrange transport." "Where are we?" Rose said, concerned. "Karn" was his reply. "The sisters know we're here, and they know me, even like this.," pointing to his face, "I will talk with them and return soon."

He went to the door and stopped. Coming back to them he kissed Alice on the cheek, and gave his wife a proper kiss, and then his son. He turned and left them to wonder what he would find. Rose had heard stories of the Sisterhood of Karn. Not the most friendly sort. They tended to dislike company and have a dampening field around their planet that made things crash. The Time Lord had saved them on a few occasions so they let him come and go as he pleased.

Chapter 53 Karn