Curristan had made sure Arcadia was settled before she made her way back to the console room. Arcadia had decided to stay out of the way and rest while getting used to being aboard the TARDIS. She wanted to finish a personal project which she promised to show Curristan once she was done.
As she walked around the console room her mind was currently fixed on where Romana could be. Her presence seemed to have disappeared and Curristan couldn't feel her in her mind. However, right now there was nothing she could do. It was though a good thing that she now had Arcadia in her care.
'Well here we go, time to see if I can be a decent guardian...I hope that I don't let the Doctor and Romana down...'
Coming out of her thoughts she idly pressed a few switches on the console, making sure that things were running smoothly. Then she heard footsteps as Arcadia returned.
"I am back, did you miss me?" she asked with a teasing lilt.
"Hahaha, I did notice there was a silence" Curristan teased back causing them both to laugh.
Curristan coughed. "Anyway we can go anywhere we want, anywhere you want to go or do you want to have a random trip?"
Arcadia adopted a wistful look before speaking. "I think I would like to visit somewhere in Earth history if that's alright?"
"Sure Arcadia, any particular place?"
"Go ahead, surprise me!"
Curristan moved to the console and began to set a new course. She decided that the nineteenth century would be perfect. 'I think we should go to Manchester, United Kingdom, Eighteen Fifty-Seven. The Art Treasures of Great Britain Exhibition.'
After several minutes the TARDIS materialised on a small street close to the Exhibition Buildings. Checking the main computer she found that it was May Twenty-Sixth, Eighteen Fifty-Seven, Manchester, United Kingdom. That pleased Curristan that she had managed to get it right.
Arcadia meanwhile had looked over her shoulder and was curious. "So why are we here?"
"Well, I decided to give you a taste of human history as a first trip. This is the Victorian era and it is The Art Treasures of Great Britain Exhibition which has many things from this great period of history."
Arcadia made a noise of agreement. "Well let's see what's there, I am sure I will find something interesting!"
"Right then let's go."
After a couple of hours walking around and Arcadia enjoying herself immensely, they returned back to the TARDIS. Curristan was pleased that Arcadia had given a positive reaction, which would definitely be good for her development.
"That was awesome Curristan thank you for taking me!"
Laughing Curristan patted Arcadia on her head. "That's okay, I want to make you enjoy these trips and learn things."
Arcadia in an uncharacteristic move hugged Curristan before she ran back to her room, Curristan continuing to feel joyous at her enthusiasm.
Setting new coordinates Curristan decided that she needed a much-needed rest. She would return in a few hours and they would move on to the next destination.
Arcadia meanwhile was looking at her photo album of her mother and herself back on Gallifrey. She felt really happy that she was now back with one of her own people, though she still missed the orange sky and shiny silver trees of her homeworld. However she knew that for now, she would be unable to return, but she had a feeling that one day she would find a new family and someone she would love.
'Oh, mother I wish that you could see me now...I am sure that you would be happy that I managed to find my way to Curristan, though I wonder what my future now holds. I am sure that I will find out my path eventually..'
She moved over to her side table and placed the album down with care.
'I shouldn't really dwell on the past too much, the future is always full of possibilities...'
She decided to get some rest, so after a quick clean up she climbed into bed and went to sleep.
In the console room, Curristan was tinkering with the console. She had found that the directional unit had needed recalibrating and the Defence Indefinite Time-Loop Option System which had failed some time ago. This was a useful system as it displaced a TARDIS out of the current time cone to prevent detection and theft. That had taken a couple of hours and she had yet to test it. She was now deciding on a new console theme as she was sick of using the default setting.
'Hmm, what is a good one to have. That will be a nice one.'
The console room immediately shimmered and now sported a victorian style wall design, a circle of comfy chairs around a stylish console and bookshelves off to one side. The lighting was also soft but not too dark. To Curristan it looked perfect.
Arcadia chose to reenter the console room at that point and Curristan looked up and smiled at her look of surprise. "What do you think of this new desktop theme? Decided to have a change from the default one."
Nodding in approval Arcadia laughed. "I love this, really homey and warm, also love those comfy chairs. I can relax and read a book easily there."
"Definitely, I will at some point too. Now shall we go onwards?"
"Absolutely."