Arkytior came to find them later, slipping onto the floor next to them and laying her head in their laps. Theta let out a slow breath, adjusting to the feeling.

"That was intense. Do we get any explanation?"

"I just got back from talking to your parents later in your lives. They reminded me of what was said here. I knew I had to come back and have a conversation with them." Arkytior sounded exhausted. Her mind was a mess of emotion that Koschei couldn't sort through. He ran his fingers through her hair.

"Something happened."

"Don't worry about it, my hearts. It's centuries away for you. Just enjoy what you have now. Let me deal with the ghosts of our future."

"Isn't that what you are, Arkytior? A ghost of our future?"

"Does that mean you two have to deal with me?" Arkytior was teasing them. Her mind was starting to clear up the cloud of emotion that had tainted the bright gold that usually prevailed.

"Not as often as we'd like."

"Theta, don't you go trying to butter me up because I can deal with your parents. I still prefer your brother to your parents."

"Brax? You prefer him?" Theta sounded scandalized. He had always gotten on terribly with his brother. Koschei had never met anyone who got along with Brax. Brax was just like Theta in ways. He didn't fit the mold of a Time Lord. Theta never had either, but they were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Braxiatel was brilliant. Koschei wasn't saying that Theta wasn't. Theta was brilliant too, but Brax decided to show it. He excelled in the Academy where Theta purposefully did the bare minimum. Braxiatel and Theta had been close in the beginning before Theta had realized the games Brax had to play in order to keep his position. Suddenly Theta's grades dropped and he started skipping class wherever possible. He would graduate, but only just.

"He was at my wedding. I was at his." Arkytior had a small smile on her face as she thought about the wedding.

"Arkytior, how long has it been for you? You seemed surprised that Theta had sisters the last you came. Now you talk about his family like they are old friends." Theta glanced at Koschei, kicking himself mentally for never putting together the breadcrumbs that Arkytior was leaving.

"Longer than you can ever imagine, my hearts. I wish you weren't so damned clever sometimes." Arkytior whispered. She sounded sad. She sat up quickly.

"I must be going. I have a husband to get back to. He gets into loads of trouble when I am gone." She started to walk away but Theta caught her hand.

"Is it me? The husband you have to get back to." Koschei shook his head. Theta couldn't handle the puzzle that was Arkytior going unsolved. He knew it was only a matter of time before he got impatient.

"It could be, or it could be Koschei." Arkytior looked amused at his question. It was so different from the way she had spoken in the beginning.

"You said you didn't want him to know." Koschei was so confused at why she had suddenly changed her tune.

"A very clever woman told me that she wouldn't trade our forever for the chance to have a choice. She assured me that neither would Theta. I'll see you both soon, my hearts. Sooner for me than for you." Arkytior moved forward to kiss both of them on the cheek and then slipped out the door before they could ask anymore questions.

"She really needs to stop leaving with more questions than answers." Theta glanced at Koschei and they both started laughing.

Arkytior showed up at their wedding and they had an amazing time. She spent most of the time after the handfasting talking to Braxiatel, which Theta got huffy over. Koschei kept his attention to keep his spirits up. Arkytior didn't show up again until the day they loomed their first child.

"You missed our graduation." Koschei sounded annoyed at Arkytior even as he handed her their new son. Arkytior was beaming down at the baby despite his words.

"I was there, but I got pulled away before I could congratulate you." Arkytior explained softly.

"Hello, little one. You never like me much, but I love you. I will love you through your entire life. One day soon you will understand." Arkytior kissed the top of their son's head and handed him back gently.

"I am not coming back for a while, my hearts. I can't tell you why. I can't tell you what happened. I can't even tell you that it is going to be okay, but I love you. It gets better." She looked sad as she kept running her hand over their son's head.

"You're leaving us? Why? After everything we have been through?" Koschei looked heartbroken at the thought they were losing her. Theta seemed to have shut down at the idea. They had gotten used to her popping in every so often telling them about amazing worlds that she had seen. The stories she told them made it a little easier to get through the monotony of their lives. They knew they would be having those adventures soon hand in hand. They didn't know that their forever wouldn't be quite what they were picturing.

"Braxaitel! I demand that you unhand me at once! You cannot just kidnap me while out for a stroll." The Doctor was infuriated. He couldn't believe that Brax was treating him like this.

"He brought you here for me. Unfortunately, I do not have good news." Arkytior was standing there in clothes he had never seen before. She was dressed in a blue jacket and dark pants that were all from Sol III.

"What do you mean? Arkytior you- you abandoned us. You said that- what is going on?" The Doctor got a shot of fear through his chest at the way she was standing. She looked devastated.

"I have just- I have just lost you, my Doctor. I will see you again soon, but not for a long, long time for me. I needed to see you one last time, I just wish it wasn't here." Arkytior wiped tears off her face. She was leaning heavily against Brax who looked shattered at Arkytior crying. The Doctor knew that Brax met up with future versions of himself. He knew that he knew his future better than anyone else. He had to know Arkytior.

"What is going on? Arkytior, you are not making any sense." The Doctor stepped closer to her but she stepped away, her body trembling in anguish.

"Don't touch me! Don't! I don't want you to feel this!" Arkytior shuddered and Braxiatel held her up looking uncomfortable at the contact.

"Sorry, my love. I hate to yell at you. But it's important. This is going to be the start. This is also going to hurt. It's going to hurt you. It's going to hurt Koschei. It's going to hurt Arkytior. My lovely girl. I need you to run away. You have been running all your life. Now it's time to start again. I need you to do something terrible. I need you to break Koschei's hearts."

"Why would I do that?" The Doctor's voice sounded foreign to his own ears. He couldn't believe that Arkytior was asking this of him. She loved Koschei just as much as he did. They had a bond that The Doctor couldn't explain.

"Because if you don't he is going to die. If you don't break his heart so badly that he doesn't go after you then you both die. Not just you two, but your children, your grandchildren. Everyone you love is erased from time." The Doctor's hearts shattered before she even finished talking. He looked over at Brax.

"I've been assigned to you? I am... to be erased?" The Doctor couldn't believe that he would make a big enough impact for him to matter that much. Whatever they had found out about his future had made them want him dead. The Doctor had to ruin his own marriage to save his family.

"You're going to steal a capsule and run away with Arkytior. I told you, Doctor. This is going to hurt. When you get there you will see a woman. She will tell you which capsule to take. Don't ask who she is. Don't ask why. Just take the capsule she tells you and run. Run far away. Run and don't look back." Arkytior stood up straighter.

"When I see you again, I won't remember this conversation. Don't speak of it. You must never tell me about it. When the time is right I will know to come here, but you can never tell anyone why you left. You can never tell Koschei why you hurt him. You can never explain yourself until the day Gallifrey falls." Arkytior's eyes glowed gold as she spoke. Time bent around her, their timelines lighting up in the corner of his eyes.

"You're asking too much of me." The Doctor couldn't believe that his Arkytior could ever ask this of him. This wasn't the woman he knew. This wasn't the woman who snuck up to the top of the library of Arcadia with them and told them stories of planets they had only heard of in books.

"I am asking you to do the right thing for our family. You can't fight this." Arkytior looked resigned, but The Doctor felt angry. Why was she putting this on his shoulders? Why was she doing this to him when she was supposed to love him?

"I don't want to see you again. I don't want to meet you ever! You are ruining my life!" The Doctor was lashing out and Arkytior knew it. The words made her frame tremble.

"I am saving our future. I am saving our family! After this I have to go back to you. I have to go back to a time with Koschei believing that you betrayed him. Do you think this is any easier for me? I have to live with this just as much as you do!" Arkytior was crying again and it broke both his hearts. She wiped her tears and shook her head.

"I have to go now. If you want your family to survive, you will do as I say. Irving Braxaitel, may you rot in hell." She said before turning around and disappearing in a swirl of gold. Brax seemed to take the words with only a slight wince. The Doctor did what he did best. He turned and ran. He knew what he had to do. He knew he couldn't make any other decision. He said the foulest things he could think of to Koschei. He called him broken and a freak. He told him that he could never love him the way that Koschei wanted him to and he ran. He took Susan and ran. When they found themselves in the capsule repair unit he took the capsule recommended to him. He did everything that Arkytior had said. It broke something in him that day.