Author's Note: And the end! Let me know if you're interested in hearing a little more of that report. I may add another chapter for that. But this is the official end of the story.

Thank you for reading! I'll have to write the next one now.

The Doctor's letter arrived the next day.

At first, Zeera Kardeni didn't want to open it. In fact, she considered throwing it in the trash and pretending she'd never gotten anything. But eventually, curiosity got the better of her, and she opened it.

Two photos fell out.

For a moment she could only stare. One was of herself and her parents — when she was back in middle school. The other was of her when she was so much younger, alongside her two parents and a very familiar little girl in a matching dress.

"But that's...!" Zeera blinked. Rubbed her eyes. She had to be hallucinating, didn't she? Ashley wasn't real. She was sure Ashley wasn't real.

But there she was.

That was when Zeera finally took out the letter. It was dated three weeks before her parents died.

And finally, she understood the truth.

Dear Zeera,

I don't know when you'll receive this letter. The truth is, your father and I hoped never to have to write it. But we have run into a man who claims to be your friend, who has told us it is very important. So we decided to take his advice and write it all down. Where our knowledge is lacking, he has agreed to help us by explaining things a bit better.

When your father and I accepted faculty positions at Fruyan University, we and our only daughter, Ashley Victoria Stenner, moved to Liron-2 and made a life for ourselves. Due to frequent excursions and research trips, we had to leave Ashley at home with a baby sitter and she often complained of being lonely.

We found you, Zeera, on one of our research trips. While investigating a ruined Time Lord bunker from a battle field, we discovered a teleport signal suspended inside the cache data of one of the teleport pads. The data had been downloaded, but the pad had glitched and never recreated the person. We fixed it, of course — and there you were, just a child. You were so confused, so scared, so alone. We spoke to you in our garbled Gallifreyan. You didn't say much, but it was clear you had no one. Nothing. What else could we do but open our arms and our hearts to you and take you into our home?

Your friend is very adamant that we mention, here, that within the next few hours of our finding you, you became deathly ill and very nearly died. I'll allow him to explain.

Hello, Doctor here! Sorry to barge in on your parents' letter, but they wanted me to explain this bit. Far as I can tell based on your parents' descriptions, you were suffering regeneration sickness. At a guess, Bivazeer regenerated half-way through the transformation process. When Time Lords regenerate, we usually expel the extra energy over the next day or so. Because you were human, you couldn't do this.

As a result, your regeneration sickness appears to have come in two major waves over a period of about a year. Both times, you became physically ill and very nearly died before your body finally found a way to expel the energy.

I remember hearing, back on Gallifrey in my younger days, that when a Time Lord isn't able to expel the extra energy for a period of several months, it can cause confusion, hallucinations, and the resurgence of old trauma from previous lives. It was said that the moment the energy was expelled, these symptoms went away.

After you recovered from your illness, you seemed to shut yourself off from everyone. We were told it was some sort of post-traumatic stress. You barely ate. Didn't want to talk. And although your physiology was completely human, your dreams were plagued by memories of death and war and traumas no child should ever have to deal with. We tried our best to comfort you with our garbled, fractured Gallifreyan. But it didn't help.

Ashley changed all that. The moment she saw you, she knew you would be best friends. She called you her sister. Brought you through the worst of your trauma. You began talking. You began laughing. You became just a normal little girl. You even began to believe that the war was just a bad dream.

And then people started showing up on our doorstep, looking for a fob watch.

We never knew why they wanted it or what its importance was, but we knew that no such thing existed. When we informed them of that fact, they grew increasingly enraged and violent. They began threatening our safety, breaking into our university offices, ransacking our data files. We've always wondered if it was our faults for not taking them seriously or for shrugging off the importance of this supposed fob watch. But then Ashley died.

Poor little Ashley.

We've never forgotten her. She was such a treasure. Such a beautiful burst of goodness in a world filled with troubles. Not a day goes by when I don't think of her.

Ashley's death was hard on all of us — but I think it hit you the hardest. You had already been growing quite ill again. I believe your friend described it best in the section above. Of course, we didn't know about regeneration illness or the consequences of failing to dissipate the energy in a timely way. We didn't know what was happening to you. All we knew was what we saw.

We began to catch you talking to yourself and answering back like you were Ashley. When we took you to her graveside, you simply refused to believe that she was dead. You claimed she was right beside you. You began to behave more and more erratically. Your memories of her began to blend with memories from some former life, and it was as though you lost all sense of reality. You began digging up the graveyard because you believed that Ashley had regenerated and was trapped underground. The next day, you forgot about the graveyard and seemed to believe she was captured by Daleks. You told us horrible stories of Ashley suffering in Dalek torture camps. Some days, you knew she was gone and wanted to find her. Others, you believed she was there and spoke to yourself as if you were her. We found you about to skewer your own forehead, one day, because you had to get the Dalek nanogenes out of Ashley's head.

After that, we took you to the hospital. They treated you the best way they knew how. I know how much you hated their medicines. Then you began getting physically ill. Your father and I were awoken at three in the morning as they were rushing you into the emergency room with a high fever. We dropped everything and ran to the hospital. You very nearly died. But you pulled through.

After that, you appeared to be doing much better. Your father and I thought you were fully recovered, but the psychiatrists believed you still heard voices. We were a little ashamed to admit this all to your friend, but it seems he guessed most of it without us. I think perhaps he can explain it best.

Me, again! Yes, this appears to be a mistranslation error. You can blame the Oxford Gallifreyan to Standard Galactic dictionary.

You knew there was some strange singing inside your head. Didn't know what or why. But you knew the Gallifreyan word for it. So you asked about it.

I looked up the Gallifreyan term for 'singing sound the TARDIS makes inside your head' in that dictionary. Their definition is 'voices inside your head that tell you to do insane and irrational things'. They'd guessed the meaning based on a very silly Gallifreyan fairytale about an evil TARDIS. It's entirely incorrect.

In reality, the singing sound of a TARDIS actually improves mental health, rather than hindering it.

In the meantime, the violence and threats were growing worse and worse. Your father was kidnapped and tortured for information about the watch. I was held at gunpoint and nearly shot. And we both worried that — if this was happening to us, what might happen to you?

Time for another little aside. It appears that these fob watch hunters actually managed to draw so much attention to you, Zeera, that they inadvertently attracted some really nasty regeneration eaters. Your parents acted very bravely and managed to send them away and save your life.

Your father and I didn't know what to do. Since one of the fob watch hunters was a Time Agent, we dared not contact the authorities. We debated what to do for a long time, but the regeneration eaters finally made us realize that, for your sake, we needed to take drastic action.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Both to you and to Ashley.

We altered every record we could find to make it look like you and Ashley were the same person. We convinced all our friends to stay quiet about the truth — and then moved to a new neighborhood where we could pretend there never was an Ashley. That entire period of your regeneration recovery had grown distorted inside your memory, and Ashley's death had become strongly associated with the trauma of war. Gradually, with the help of some very good therapists and some drugs that we know you didn't like much, you were able to get past both the trauma of Ashley's death and the trauma of war.

Your friend has told us the truth about what these drugs were doing to you. We had no idea. We were told, over and over again, that if you didn't continue to take the medication, you would quickly relapse. We cannot express how sorry we are. We have already thrown out the rest of your medication and agreed that you never have to take it again.

Just wanted to add that although your brain scans as human, the TARDIS link and the regenerative energy wound up making your brain a bit more Time Lordy than it really should be. I gave a few tips about medications.

Well, for a while, our gamble appeared to have worked. Everyone assumed you were our natural born daughter. No one asked about any fob watches. We felt that you were safe.

And then, very suddenly, it all fell apart.

The fob watch hunters returned. Some were new. Some — the Time Agent included — were the same as when you were young. They demanded we turn over the fob watch to them. They shouted at us. Threatened us. We kept insisting to them that there was no fob watch, but they wouldn't listen.

The violence began again. We watched, in horror, as the people who knew you were threatened, killed, kidnapped, or burglarized. We watched as buildings were torched, records deleted, and our research torn to shreds. When our university was bombed, your father and I knew it was time to flee.

We left in the middle of the night. I'm sure you remember. I believe we told you something about how we got a discount for leaving at an odd time and carrying no luggage. You complained, of course. It was only natural, considering how we kept moving from planet to planet, never staying put for longer than a month or two. But it wasn't all bad. I was telling your friend earlier how you used to correct the Gallifreyan in our academic papers, and all the enthusiasm you had when we let you accompany us on our field excursions. We had some hard times, but we had some good times, too.

Doctor here, again! Your mum has been telling me many wonderful stories about you. In the midst of all this, I asked about that paper you mentioned on Mandazar.

The paper's not actually about Mandazar, is it? He gets a brief mention. That's all. Your mum said they included that mention for you. She said you'd been moved to tears when you read the fragments of his journal. You wanted to make sure Mandazar was never forgotten.

Your parents, by the way, have no idea what Mandazar looked like. Or how tall he was.

There was never any photo.

Eventually, we managed to get in touch with Jules, who had enough connections to allow us to hide here on Earth. And while your father and I miss the old academic life of tenured professors, we enjoy our work at the Lantern Archive very much and we love seeing your reaction to every new addition we get. After you have suffered with so much pain and trauma, it is such a pleasure to see you able to research and learn about the beautiful side of the Time Lords without any possibility of trauma.

Hopefully, by the time you receive this letter, it will be redundant. We are, of course, planning to tell you all of this in person. We always have been. We are simply trying to find the right time.

If you want to know the truth about who you are — or who you were — and where you came from, neither your father or I know for sure. Your friend, who asked us to write this letter, appears to know far more, so I advise you to speak to him. He has assured us that this letter will arrive in the correct hands at the proper time. For some reason, I really do believe him.

Your father wants me to stress how much we love you and how much our lives have been blessed because you are with us. And although we miss Ashley very much, we cannot imagine our lives without you and we thank the Lord every day that we found you. Remember that if you ever get into trouble, our arms are always open and our home is always yours.

With much love,

Mom and Dad

P.S. We have been asked to include a photo with this letter. We have attached two of our favorites — one of the three of us at the middle school, and that photo of that picnic on the banks of the Grand Canal, back when Ashley was still alive. Looking at you and Ashley together brings tears to my eyes. You both looked so cute in your little matching dresses.

Dear Zeera,

Well, seems I've been arrested by the Time Agency for having a cup of tea and a chat with your parents. They searched me for 'temporal contraband' on the way in. Good thing my pockets have secrets! I thought I'd just dash off this letter, since I'm in the right timezone anyways.

Your parents are lovely! And they make a mean pot of tea. Brilliant, both of them. And very brave.

I just wanted to add a few additional things. The first is that, when I asked them for photos, your mother brought out a biscuit tin full of paper photos (the digitals, she said, kept getting Re-Partitionered) that she wanted me to give to you. I'm leaving them for you in a special Time Lord container that will only unseal when the correct person is holding it. That way, I know they'll be safe.

Second, and more importantly, listening to your parents' discussions, I'm guessing your parents knew who these 'fob watch hunters' really were. I'm not convinced your parents ever really 'decided' to pretend you and Ashley were the same person, nor did they ever 'decide' to keep your origins a secret. They were clearly being threatened. Probably by your husband.

Also — quick side note, not sure if this helps — but your husband seems unusually preoccupied and disturbed by the fact that you used to be a bloke. And that you were a Time Lord. But mostly the bloke thing.

So, all in all, sorry I got involved again when you asked me not to. I just thought...

[Letter abruptly stops and is later continued using a different color pen.]

Sorry about that interruption. Also sorry for the bullet holes now present in your letter. Seems the Time Agency was right about people wanting to kill me. I believe I've just met your daughter Anna!

Anna also apologizes for putting bullet holes in your letter. She and I had a bit of a chat. And some tea. And maybe an adventure or two. Or five. Probably more like five. This is all part of a sort of plan-thing I came up with to save your children. So expect a lot more stories of adventures in the near-future!

At any rate, to get back to what I was saying before — sorry I got involved when you asked me not to. I just thought you might feel a bit better knowing the truth. You're not mad. Your parents really did speak Gallifreyan to you when you were young. Ashley was a real person. Everything you told me was true. Even the things you thought you made up! I met Mandazar. Your description was spot-on. So were your anecdotes. None of them were taken from your parents' research.

I'll swing by again to see you after I take Anna home. I found a Polaroid of Biv and Mandazar and thought you might want me to do some explaining.

Oh, I think Anna wants to write a few words. Enjoy the photos!

The Doctor

Hi Mom,

Sorry I shot your letter. Also, sorry I tried to kill your friend. He seems kind of cool with it though. So that's weird.

We went to a bunch of places and had adventures and stuff. It was pretty awesome. I kind of get why you like Time Lords so much. I'm not really sure why Dad was so convinced the Doctor was gonna kill you, but I'm pretty sure he's not. The Doctor actually seems kind of worried about you.

So get out of jail soon. And I'm sorry I burned down your house and threatened all your friends when you were a kid. Also, I borrowed a hundred credits from your wallet one time to buy some weed.

Anna Kardeni.

EXCERPT FROM THE REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE GALIA-4 PLATE CRACKING INCIDENT:

Volume II, Section II: The Investigation into Criminal Charges Incurred during the Hunt for Mrs. Zeera Kardeni's Fob Watch

Prosecution and Declination Decisions for Temporal Crimes

...Pursuant to our investigation's conclusion that Mr. Craig Kardeni was the instigator of the temporal crime to obtain the fob watch, additional indictments were brought against Mr. Craig Kardeni on November 30, 5276 for trans-temporal conspiracy, acquisition of illegal temporal equipment for the purposes of committing trans-temporal conspiracy, illegal temporal tampering, criminal conspiracy to time travel illegally with intent to commit violence, and the attempted temporal rewrite of Mrs. Zeera Kardeni's timeline.

These were added to the previous indictments of Craig Kardeni for non-temporal criminal violations explained earlier in the report, which included multiple instances of homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, violence, conspiracy, etc.

In addition, Craig Kardeni repeatedly lied to investigators about the extent of his illness, which he considers part of his 'alibi'. Our investigation has found no evidence of his illness confining him to the house or even hindering his ability to commit acts of extreme violence — as was made clear during his three separate attempts on the Doctor's life during the course of this investigation (see .G.5).

[...]

Regarding the legal action that Craig Kardeni has undertaken against his wife in an attempt to declare her mentally incompetent, our investigation has uncovered no evidence to support his accusation. In fact, our investigation into this aspect of Craig Kardeni and Andrew Lantro's conspiracy has uncovered an elaborate set-up to exonerate themselves while blaming much of their actions on Zeera Kardeni. This was further complicated by an ongoing love affair between Zeera Kardeni and Andrew Lantro, the latter of whom planned to double-cross Craig Kardeni the moment the watch was destroyed and run off with Zeera Kardeni (see Appendix I).

[...]

In terms of the Kardeni children, after great deliberation, we have decided not to recommend any further prosecutions. Likewise, we have decided not to recommend foster care for any of them. Our reasoning for this decision will become apparent below.

Likewise, our investigation recommends no prosecution of the Doctor — although he should be advised, in the strictest possible terms, that crossing a temporal quarantine is a criminal violation that normally incurs the full penalty of the law. And, no, there is no exception for "but it was just a cup of tea and some photos!"

The Doctor has proven a surprising element in this investigation. Initial concerns about his safety turned to outrage over his blatant violation of the temporal quarantine, then to alarm and even panic as he goaded the Kardeni children into attacking him. Yet somehow, every time one of the Kardeni children attacked him, the child would return quite changed, reformed, and even repentant. The arsenal located within the Kardeni household (see II.i.M.5) has now been completely dismantled and handed over to the authorities, and it has become clear that the children — unlike their father — have learned their lesson and no longer pose any danger to either society or to the Doctor in particular. In fact, they seem particularly fond of the Doctor. The youngest now believes the Doctor is Santa Claus, and the reason he brings her presents when it isn't Christmas is because his calendar is upside down.

In addition, the Doctor has been a tremendous help in locating and disabling all the Time War technology unearthed and sold by Stenman-Hoyer Co. In addition, he has somehow managed to bring a complete halt to the sale of black market TARDISes and has hauled in eight of the Agency's ten most wanted temporal criminals. There were many concerns about a conflict of interest, considering his clear desire to help Zeera Kardeni, and considering the clear feelings of her friends and family that they want him dead. Perhaps because of these two conflicting motives, the Doctor has proven a remarkably reliable source of information for the investigators — if a rather flighty and easily distractible one.

In terms of Mrs. Kardeni's friends and acquaintances who were also involved in the conspiracy […]

Thank you for sending a copy of the report. Dad insists he will read it in 'just a bit', when the snot monster of Valhidron finally gets tired of dangling him head-first over a vat of boiling acid and decides to 'give up and go to sleep'.

Give Zeera and the kids our love! And tell Craig Kardeni that while we are always happy to catch up with him, we would greatly prefer if he left the semi-automatic behind.

— Jenny

P.S. Seo here! Any chance you can send another copy of the report? Or, if not another full copy, just the bits with the exposition? I think some people are sort of mad at me.

The End

Second Author's Note: If this is your first story of mine (and if you enjoyed it), I'd recommend reading the following (I'm recommending mostly shorter stories here, by the way):

"A Scooby of Her Own" - Again, mostly independent characters. But it's a fun, snarky, and action-packed story in which Seo gets a new friend and saves a bunch of kids!

"Paradox: AKA Annoying and Destructive" - Please read the 2018 version of this story. I rewrote this story after a long hiatus, so it reintroduces, explains and summarizes many of the things in later stories, but does so more succinctly. It has very few of my own characters.

"88719" - this story is a mystery that just keeps turning and turning as you read. Little problems quickly escalate into big problems, and Torchwood scrambles to figure out what is going on.

"The Most Dangerous Alien You'll Ever Meet" - Another Torchwood story with Buffy and Seo. When I reread the series after my long hiatus, I was surprised by how much I loved this story.

"Headless Monks Armed With" - It's the battle of Demon's Run. Just told from a very weird perspective.

There are a lot of stories in here, by the way, that are fantastic... particularly the Jenny trilogy... but I'm trying to stick to stories where you don't need to read the whole series. A lot of the really wonderful stories here are part of the larger story arc. The Jenny trilogy stories all tie into one another and do eventually tie back into the larger story arc. If you're interested in reading a whole story arc, it's best to start with the beginning of a "season", as explained in more detail in my profile.

"Un-Minority Report" - it starts with an MIT piano drop and quickly turns into a Jenny adventure!

"Mirror Vision" - this is one of my absolute favorite stories, so I would be remiss if I didn't recommend it. It's lie Romeo and Juliet except with smart people and Juliet can kick people's butts. However, it does reference the story immediately before it a lot.

That should get you started!