Disclaimer: I don't even own the DVD's, just a good friend with patience and a Netflix-account.
Remembering
(Somewhere between S6 ep4/5)
The Lady Storyteller has a habbit of living in the past. Remebering something precious is not always bad.
-o0O0o-
Amy and Rory stumbled through the door, closed it behind them and threw themselves against it. "Doctor!"
"Yes, yes, yes, one second, there we go!"
Sighing in utter relief as the Timerotor started moving up and down, they collapsed to the floor.
"Phew," the young-old man ran his fingers through his hair, before straightening his Bowtie. "Well, that was interesting."
"If you say so."
Lady Storyteller's face was blank as ever as she fumbled with a key and the box, for which they just went through hell. Literally.
Amy pulled her husband up, before they climbed the stairs to the control. "So... what is it."
The Timelady, dressed in a now singed, simple but stylish anthracite blazer, skirt and fitting heels, raised one finger and continued fiddling. But the gleaming in her almond-shapes eyes told them, it was worth everything they had gone through. Amy got goosebumps. It was so rare to see the stone-faced women like that. Just what was in this box!
With a silent 'clack', the cover jumped open. Tella opened it carefully and smiled fondly at the content, pure love and joy in her eyes. Then she turned it, so the other three could catch a glimpse at well.
It wasn't anything Amy expected at all, even if the box was surprisingly bigger on the inside. Just a big metal egg, shaping itself at one end into a long slender hook. It wasn't even pretty with it's color of old chopper and all the dents and bumps in it.
But the Doctor apparently knew exactly what it was. "A Harp. A Harp! We just broke into the temple of one of the oldest, most vengeful empire of the Alpha-Centauri Galaxy, blackmailed the 6th Sonteran Army, brought down a century old dynasty and got ourselves banished from totally twelve planets, just for an old, dumpy Duodecaenharmonican E-Harp?"
"Exactly," answered she nonchalantly, completely ignoring his outburst. She smiled at Amy and Rory and stroked over the metallic surface. "Isn't she beautiful."
The Doctor gasped helpless. "Tella! "
Lady Storyteller snapped the box closed and steppled her hands on it, with the same dignified expression as ever. "You behave like a freshly loomed Timetodd. Don't tell me we both didn't get what we intended to with this little trip; it was an adventure after all. And again, the Name is Lady Storyteller. Now, Amelia, Roderick, would you two please help me to bring this into the libary? Doctor, I also need some cloth for polishing and some strings. Do you have strings in the workshop?"
"How should I know? Just ask her."
"I am asking you."
The Doctor sank onto the lonely chair by the stairs and rubbed his forehead in defeat. "Whatever! Probably?"
Tella claped her hand. "Splendid. I will fetch the needed tools. Do you want to help me bringing this deary back to it's former beauty?"
Rory and Amy changed a look. "Ehm, okay? Why not?"
"Wonderfull!" They never had seen her this happy before."Bring her to the libary and I will show you how. Maybe I will be even able to teach you how to play!"
She disapeared down into the depths of the ship.
Amy grinned. Even if Tella hated adventures, the rare occasions she joined them her sole presence in the TARDIS always was one. And all four of them knew both timelords enjoyed their time together, despite their constant bickering.
"So… a Harp," piped Rory carefully up.
The Doctor sighed, looking every single one of his years. "Yes. An old gallifeyan Harp. I should've expected something like that. It's Tella after all. This woman is just stuck in the past, with that old planet. If she asks you to help her finding a rare valuable artifact, it's always gallifeyan. Even if it's not this valuable at all, it's a harp for Rassilons sake. The most played instrument of the Timelords, it's basically the same as a recorder for the kids on earth. Everybody learned to play it but the fewest continued after the basics. It's a really complex Instrument. So maybe it is not like a recorder. More like a piano. Ah, no, no, just forget that."
"So… everybody tried to learn it, but nobody can actually play it," concluded Rory.
"No!" The Doctor jumped up. "Everybody can play it, but just a few can do it properly."
Rory shook his head. "I don't get it."
"Me neither, but that's ok." Amy padded her husband's shoulder.
The Doctor rubbed his hands. "Well maybe it is like a piano. Our Music is slightly different, you see, we don't have just one melody in a piece of music like you humans, we have much more different ones. And you are really able to play a harp, if you can play more than one melody and its backrounds. On the one we have found, a true master was able to play 12 different Melodies. Like the difference between being able to play with one finger, one hand, two hands and two hands and pedals on the Piano. If you want to see it like that."
This was another thing Amy liked when Tella was on the TARDIS. They actually learned something about the Doctor or his home. Maybe he talked about it because Tella (as her name indicated) loved to tell Stories of all kind, especially ones about Gallifrey and the most of them were truly embarrassing for him, or maybe because of the relief of another person beeing able to understand. She didn't know and she didn't care.
"Okay," Rory shrugged.
Amy sighted. "Look, this was a surprise, yes. But I've never seen ther that happy before. She nearly had laughted. I say we play long, and it sounds fun. And it seems she actualy knows how to play it. I always wanted to hear alien-music."
"It is not alien," the Doctor protested.
"Yes, yes it is."
-o0O0-
The next hour they spend in the libary. The Doctor showed his disaprovment by sitting ona couch reading a book and pretending to ignore them. The two humans and the Timelady on the other hand polished the metallic surface while Tella told them of a concert she once visited or showed them how to handle the instrument corectly. One had to be very carefull with the clothes because those strange bumbs and dents actualy were part of the instrument and whenever somebody rubbed over them they gave a little sound, starting to get clearer and louder with every ounce of rust and dust leaving the resonance body.
And slowly fine golden circular engravings staring to get visble on a plished chopper surface.
It truly was a beautifull Instrument, even more so when Tella finaly added the golden Strings. Now it realy looked like a harp and nobody definetly was able to mistake it for something else.
Tella carefully plucked every string then nodded in aproval. Then she started playing.
It was wrong to call the sound beautiful, but it definitely was enjoyable in it's own strange way, even in being sometimes a little disharmonic.
Amy's eyes found the Doctor's, who was completely frozen.
To be honest, it was breathtaking and now they knew why it was so difficult for the Doctor to describe how to play this Instrument.
The Timelady's hands glided in a very untypical way about the strings, not in the middle as you expected it but down, just a few inches above the fastenings, so her palms could stroke the en- and decrases, which created these ethereal, humming sounds. All while she was singing in a strange alien language with any words, filling the whole Library with an thick web sof lulling, comfortable sounds. Even as she finished, it needed a long time for them to actually die down.
"Wow," whispered Amy , not sure to disturb the few sounds still lingering between the bookshelves.
Tella smiled genuinely. "Thank you."
The Doctor smiled strangely. "Of cause you can play."
Tella stroke the instrument absentminded, leting some notes escape." It's tradition of our family, every female cousin is expected to reach at last level nine of the twelve. This harp was passed down from countless generation to generation. My mother learned to play it, I learned to play it, my daughter, granddaughter and her daughter and granddaughter played it."
Amy went pale. "This, one? This exact one? No wonder you went through such lengths to get it! "
She grinned. "I'm a sentimental old woman."
"No, you're not. Well, not today ," corrected the Doctor with a small voice. "I'm sorry for my outburst. Don't deny it, she told me you heard everything. "
"Did she? What a bad girl she is." The TARDIS around them made a noise, which caused Tella to smile.
"But, you are right. I am stuck in the past, standing still. I'm trying to hold the pieces of an old life together which the wheels of time separated long times ago, pretending that a long dead race still exists."
He shook his head. "No. no. You are.. simply a Timelady."
"Am I?"
"Yes"
"Althrough I clearly ignore the rules regarding detachment, especially to family members?"
Awkwardly he scratched his cheek, not sure how to continue the conversation. Simply holding her gaze, both staring what seemed an eternity into each others eyes.
Tella broke the moment by lowering her gaze and padded on the armrest of the couch next to her.
"Well then. Let's dwell in the past a little longer, shall we? Sit down here and listen, my boy. Come on, sit down, you foolish hyperactive Timetodd."
He scoffed but smiled. "Old, stuffy Timelady!"
"And proud of it!" finished Tella the ritual while plucking a scale.
They did as she told. Amy and Rory sank on another couch, the Doctor on the floor.
"So, deary, which song shall we teach our young fiends today. Oh, I knew just the one!"
And she started playing again. To Amy's and Rory's surprise the Doctor started laughing while tears formed in his Eyes.
Tella stopped surprised. "It seems I am now in need to apologise."
He shook his head and sniffed. "No, no, it's beautiful, I just wasn't expecting that. Dwelling in the past… Rassilon, you've no Idea." He laughed. "Please continue. Or wait. Could you… could you translate it and just play the first two melodies. So they can understand it to?"
"At the second time, maybe." she winked. "Otherwise they woun't be able to learn it anyway."
Amy's gaze wandered between them. "What's this song?"
Tella smiled. "Nothing, Amelia nothing at all. Just an old nursery rhyme."
And she started singing again. Rory pulled her closer and she snuggled herself at his chest as they listened to the ancient words of this wordless language. She closed her eyes, letting the massive cloud of sounds and calmness lull her in like a warm blanked, enjoying this moment with her husband and her friends. Sometimes, standing still and remembering the past wasn't that bad. Not at all.
-o0O0o-
Turn, turn wheel of time!
When the spheres come out to play
bright with joy the stars will shine
and turn and turn their wheeling way.
Orders rule both Time and Space
as they're dancing, as we roam,
step around in perfect pace
so every second has his home.
Music, laughter, joy and pain,
hope and love and shivering fear.
The years turn round the worlds again
and everything moves in its sphere.
Never stop, never still,
each moves within its wheeling wheel,
spins around in endless thrill
as do the ancient wanderers feel.
AN:
I'm sorry about the wrong music terms. I know lot of this stuff, just not the correct english terms. It's terrible if you can't express yourself :'-(
I admit I'm very proud of that poem at the ending, I thought long and hard about actually including it but I love it so much. In my opinion Timelords are fascinated by the concept of the idea how the universe works like one single well oiled machine, but I'm sure you have already noiticed that by reading my fic. They also love order and with their controling, even a litle bit to brainwashing tending lifestyle, I'm pretty sure they had a nursery rhyme like that.
The Doctor cries because this not only reminds him of his childhood but also of the flaws of the gallifreyan society he constantly was confonted with.
This orginally was the first oneshot I've posted in this collection but in changing its place I had to rewrite the most of it. I like this verion more, it's less an interducion of Tella with Amy pondering all her habbits and more the fluffy, calm scene it was meant to be.
What do you think?
As always, read and review.
Greetings
alkatie
05102016
Edid 19122016
Edid 04062017
