Note: If you came here from the notification, just letting you know, the prologue changed as well :)

Chapter 1: Stairway to Heaven

Do you know those days where you wake up and feel like something is going to happen? Something big? Something important? You just can't quite put your finger on it, it's an inexplicable yet unignorable sense of impending doom. Well, maybe not exactly 'doom', just something, something huge.

Today was definitely one of those days.

I felt it the moment I opened my eyes. It was a strange sensation, I've had it before in the past where I'd wake up and felt like something would happen, but it usually ended up being not a big deal. Like one time our car broke down, but we were still at home so there were no accidents, no one was in danger, and when the car mechanic came it was fixed in under ten minutes. Another time, we won 120 quid in the lottery. That was a nice extra bit of money, my mum and I used it to go to the movies and then dinner afterwards. I didn't sense it beforehand, I didn't 'see' the numbers or anything, since we bought the ticket two days prior, it was only on the morning of the results that I felt something would happen. And another time I woke up with that feeling, the electricity in our area went out and the school had to call everyone by cell phone that school was canceled that day. I still laugh at that.

See, it's like I said, usually no big deal, and I'm sure everyone has had something similar at least once in their lives as well. But today, it felt different. I don't know why, but I had the feeling the events which would occur on this day would be a big deal. I knew it wasn't any use to keep thinking about it, so I tried to shake it off, but that strange gut feeling I had wouldn't leave.

What if- "Jude! Are you getting up, love? I'm leaving in an hour."

My mother's voice boomed through the door and I groaned. I had been lying in my bed, wide awake for almost an hour now, just thinking. My mind wanders a lot, and once I get started, it's hard to snap out of it. So, in a way, I was glad mum interrupted my thinking.

She was going away for two weeks, off visiting auntie Kathleen in Malta. My mum's sister owned a B&B there, and we're welcome to stay with her whenever and as long as we like. Usually I would come with, but not this time, I just fancied staying on my own for a little while. An introvert's dream really, having the house all to yourself. Briefly I considered if my mother leaving had anything to do with that feeling I woke up with, but my gut tells me it's something else.

Sighing, I pushed back my duvet and got out of bed. I walked over to the door, with the small ray of sunlight that shone through the curtains as the only aid to see. In the hallway, I entered the bathroom. Switching on the light in the tiny room, I closed the door and locked it behind me. I know it was only me and my mum in this house, but I was very set at my privacy. I reached out to the tap in the shower and turned the water on, so it would be nice and warm once I got in. Then I turned to the mirror and saw the face of a 23-year-old stare back at me in the reflection. A round head with long hazelnut colored brown hair, big brown eyes and small lips. Overall, I was content with the way I looked. The spark of happiness that had been absent for the past few years had returned and it felt good to feel okay again.

I undressed myself and stepped under the hot beam of water. The first five minutes or so I just stood there, letting the heavenly warm water relax my still sleepy muscles. Then I shampooed my hair and washed my body, and after letting the water rinse it all away, I exited the shower. Quickly drying myself, I wrapped a towel around my now dry body and walked back into my room. I switched on the light and got ready.

Only ten minutes had passed when I walked through our flat towards the kitchen. My hair was still damp, and I was dressed in the nearest comfortable things I could find – grey sweatpants and a zip-up hoodie of the same color, a black batwing top, and my favorite black Converse on my feet. I wasn't planning on leaving the house today so I figured I shouldn't make an effort to look good, only choosing to wear shoes because I was going to help mum put her luggage in the trunk of the taxi, otherwise I wouldn't even have worn shoes this morning.

"Good morning, love," my mum greeted me, smiling, when I entered our small kitchen. She was sitting at the table, a cup of steaming tea in her hands.

Grabbing a cup of tea as well, I replied, "Morning mum." I opened the fridge looking for something to eat and noticed we didn't really have any decent food at that moment. So, I just closed it again, took my cup and joined my mother at the table, taking the seat on the opposite side.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence and us just sipping tea, she asked me, "Are you sure you're going to be fine on your own?"

I lifted my gaze from the tea in my hands to her and saw the concern in her eyes. Touched, I reached out and placed my hand over hers on the table and smiled. "I know you worry about me, but really, I'll be okay, I'm doing better now, you know that." She nodded and smiled back at me, putting her other hand over mine on hers. "You go have fun with auntie Kathleen, you haven't seen each other in forever. Just don't get into too much trouble," I said, grinning, knowing just as well as her what the two of them can get like when they go out clubbing together.

My mum grinned as well. "Can't promise anything," she winked, leaning back in her chair and drinking the last bit of her tea, after which she placed the cup upside down on the table.

"Bottoms up!", we yelled at the same time and burst out laughing, both undoubtedly thinking about that story involving auntie Kathleen and lots and lots of alcohol. Those sisters are wild when they're out, you can trust me on that.

At that moment, the bell rang. Mum's gaze flitted up to the clock on the wall. "Must be the taxi driver. He's early though." She stood up and headed for the door, answering the intercom, while I finished my tea as well and put both our cups in the sink.

Turns out it was indeed the driver, waiting downstairs to drive my mother to the airport. I helped her carry the two suitcases she was taking with her down the stairs – unfortunately no elevator in our building – and mentally wondered if she had packed rocks inside of them.

Once the cases were in the trunk and mum had double checked, and then triple checked that she had everything on her, she turned to me, cupping my face with her hands. "And now you listen, Judith Nova Evans, and you listen good. If there's something bothering you, doesn't matter what, you call me, okay?" she said, looking at me intently. "I'm only a few hours by plane away, I can come back whenever you need me to."

I smiled and nodded. "Sure, but that won't be necessary, I promise I'll be okay."

She patted my cheek and pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged her back just as hard. Oh, how I was going to miss her. "You give auntie Kathleen a great big hug from me alright?" I said, pulling her a little tighter against me one last time before letting go.

"I'll be sure to do that," she replied, while checking once again that she had her travel documents with her.

Rolling my eyes, I chuckled and said, "You already checked more than once, you have everything you need!"

She huffed and answered, "You can never be too sure!"

Behind us, it was clear the taxi driver was getting impatient now, as he honked his car. "Alright, time to leave I guess," she muttered.

"I guess so too," I laughed. "Bye mum, see you in two weeks!" I waved at her as she walked towards the vehicle.

"Bye Jude, I love you!", she waved back at me.

"I love you too!" I yelled after her, blowing her a kiss. She stepped into the car, the door slammed shut and off she went. I watched the taxi drive off, a weird thought creeping into the corners of my mind. A thought which said I wasn't going to see her for way longer than those two weeks.

Frowning, I headed back inside, choosing to ignore that thought. She'll be back in two weeks; my mum isn't the type to extend a holiday on a whim. If she had planned two weeks, then two weeks is as long as she'll stay.

Once back inside, I walked over to the kitchen in the intention to grab something to eat, my stomach gurgling since I hadn't eaten anything yet. But looking inside the fridge, I again realized there wasn't any food in our flat.

Sighing, I decided I had no other option than make a quick trip to the store to get some stuff to eat. Dammit, that meant I had to dress up to leave anyway, and I was so looking forward to just spending the day in my sweatpants and binge my favorite TV show. Sulky, I shuffled back to my room and got ready.

A little while later, I emerged with my hair now blow-dried and up in a sleek, high ponytail; wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a long-sleeved V-neck jumper of the same color. On my feet were the same trusty Converse I wore before. After pulling on my favorite grey Crombie coat, I grabbed my purse and a bag to put the groceries in and exited the flat on foot, knowing the nearest store was only a fifteen-minute walk away.

I popped in my earphones and started the mp3-player on my phone. Putting the shuffle on, I smiled when I heard the first tones of one of my favorite songs start playing, 'Panic Station' by Muse. They were one of my favorite bands and have been since I first discovered them at the age of fourteen.

Walking down the streets, I couldn't help but smile. The sun was shining, I was enjoying my tunes, and before I knew it, I arrived at our local supermarket. I picked up a basket at the entrance and started collecting items I would need for the next few days, deciding I would do the big shopping at another time.

Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven had just started playing and I was comparing two boxes of cereal, when I heard it for the first time that day.

'Jude.'

Someone calling out my name.

Pulling out one of my earbuds, I looked around, startled. But to my left, as well as to my right as behind me, there was no one to be seen. I was all alone in the aisle. I was certain it couldn't have come from another aisle, because it was said way too soft for that, and it had sounded very close, like it had been spoken right next to my ear. Baffled, I just shrugged it off as my imagination playing tricks on me and continued my shopping.

After about twenty minutes, I checked if I had everything – water, milk, bread, cereal, Nutella, eggs, rice, chicken, veggies… 'looks like I'm all set', I determined. I walked up to the counter and got in line, placing my things on the conveyor belt(?). When it was my turn, I pulled out both of my earbuds out of politeness towards the cashier.

'Jude.'

There it was again, that same male voice I thought I heard earlier. I looked up from putting away my groceries inside my bag towards the cashier, who was busy scanning my items. Now I thought of it, he didn't greet me before, I didn't hear his voice. Could it maybe be him…?

"Excuse me, did you say something?" I asked him, wanting to hear his voice, to see if it was the same one who had been calling out my name.

He looked at me, confused and maybe a tad bit irritated. "No…?" he scoffed and returned to his job.

"I'm sorry, I thought I heard something," I muttered quietly in response.

Clearly not the same voice. The cashiers voice was way deeper.

My insides grew cold. That was the second time today I heard someone saying my name, seemingly out of thin air. What was happening? Why am I hearing voices? Well it was only one voice, but still… Was I going crazy?

And then it hit me. My stomach churned as I realized, this is it, isn't it? The big thing I sensed was going to happen today. This has got to be part of it. It's either that or I'm actually losing it. But something told me it wasn't the latter.

"Miss?" the cashier snapped me out of my thoughts, now clearly annoyed, all my items scanned.

My head jerked up towards him, and his gaze softened a little in mild concern when he saw the distressed look in my eyes. "Miss are you alright?", he questioned, and I nodded, forcing a smile. Mumbling an apology, I paid, collected the rest of my items that I hadn't packed yet inside my bag and rushed out the store.

I paced back to our flat, almost cutting the travel time in half because of the speed I moved with, almost as if someone was chasing me. More than once I even glanced around me to make sure no one was actually pursuing me. When I reached home, I harshly put down the bag of groceries on the kitchen table. My heart racing, I pulled a hand through my hair, on edge, my breath trembling. I rummaged through the bag, pulled out a bottle of water and drank half of it, thirsty from the almost run here.

My legs wouldn't stop shaking as I stood there at the kitchen table, so I sat down on the chair closest to me, feeling like my legs would have given out if I had remained standing any longer. I decided then and there that I would do nothing but sit there and wait. If me hearing that voice was the big event that was supposed to happen today, then so be it. I'll wait for it to come again, and if it doesn't, well, then I can just write all of this off to an overly active imagination.

So, I just sat on the chair, and waited. My eyes were wide, staring ahead of me, my uneasy gaze fixed on nothing in particular. I waited for half an hour, which turned into an hour, and then into even more passed time. My behind was getting sore from sitting in the same position for so long, and my eyes were starting to droop. Eventually, as things were starting to grow darker and darker around me, my eyes closed, and I drifted off into a light slumber.

'Jude.'

'Come on, Jude, wake up.'

'Jude!'

'JUDITH!'

It was only the fourth time the voice called out to me that I shot up from laying on the table, wide awake. I looked around me, disorientated, when I saw that my surroundings had changed. I relaxed a bit when I saw I was still in our flat; it had just turned fully dark outside.

'Hey, Jude.'

A chill ran down my spine and my body became tense as the voice spoke up again, although he sang more than he spoke. He had said it the way that Beatles song goes, you know? Heeeey Juuude…

At that, I got slightly irritated, as if I hadn't heard that joke before. 'Someone thinks he's SO funny,' I thought.

'Of course I'm funny! You're always telling me that!'

I fell off my chair when I heard that voice reply cheerfully. Did he just respond to my thoughts?! Impossible. But on the other hand, I was completely alone in here. At least, that's what I thought. Maybe someone was playing some sort of sick joke on me…?

Getting up, I said out loud, "Okay, game's over, very funny," I paused and waited, but no answer came. "You can come out now," I said, my voice growing unsure. I looked around the flat, but it's a tiny place with not many spots to hide, so it didn't take me long to determine that I was indeed, all alone.

I sighed, feeling like I was losing it. But then again, this is what I had been waiting for, wasn't it? To find out once and for all what my gut had been telling me since I woke up today? To find out what it meant, me hearing that voice?

Alright, I decided, let's do this. Now how do I go about it… Earlier, he just answered to my thoughts, so maybe I should just think something, and he'll respond again…?

'Hello?' I thought loudly in my head.

'Jude! Hello there!' he immediately replied, and I could just hear him smile, for some reason. 'Finally, it seems the psychic link pulled through, took me a while to fine-tune it, sorry about that,' he continued.

'Erm, yes, hi…' I thought awkwardly. 'Who are you and why are you inside my head? And what's this link thing you mentioned?'

'A psychic link is what we've always had, you and me. A way to talk to each other without anyone else budging in. It only works if we're relatively close to each other though, but…' he trailed off. 'You should already know about that… Not a single version of you that I met didn't know about our psychic link… You said… you didn't know who I am? Is that true?' he asked me, sounding a bit sad for some reason.

'Yeah…' I answered. 'I have no idea who you are, but should I? You talk as if we know each other…' I continued, just choosing to ignore all that other strange stuff he talked about.

'We do… but you don't know about that, do you?' he asked softly.

'No, I don't,' I replied apologetically, wrapping my arms around my chest, uncomfortable.

I felt him sigh inside my head. 'I should have known; you sound and feel so young in your mind… I knew this day had to come someday, I just never expected it to be today…'

I was getting really uncomfortable now, and a little scared even, with all these weird things he was saying to me; us knowing each other – and for a long time too judging from the way he spoke, psychic links, me feeling young inside my MIND? It was all a bit too much for me. 'Look buddy, I have no idea what you're going on about. Could you please just, I don't know, leave?'

He was quiet for a moment. 'No, I can't leave,' he decided. 'If I'm right, and this is the time you meet me for the first time, then I can't leave at such an important time as this.'

'I didn't ask for this,' I muttered, sinking down to the floor, curling up into a ball. 'I don't want to meet you, just leave me alone.'

That hurt him. I could feel it, and I regretted what I said. Just a bit. But I wasn't going to take it back, I meant what I said, this is a situation I didn't want to be in. I was scared, all on my own, and, a bit embarrassing for someone in her twenties, I just wanted my mum.

'I know, Judith,' he said softly, sounding sad. 'I know you didn't want for this to happen, but there's nothing either of us can do about it, this is how things are meant to be. But hey,' he spoke, his voice taking a soothing tone. 'If it's any consolation, you're going on a hell of a journey. In the beginning, that journey will be hard, but I can promise you that eventually, your journey will become a beautiful one, and everything will fall into place. And you'll be happy.'

I scoffed at his words but didn't answer. I mulled them over, repeatedly, and I don't know what it was, but something in his voice actually managed to comfort me a little. It gave me some sort of reassurance that everything would be fine. I was still scared, but I also knew that this whole thing, meeting him or whatever, was unavoidable. I've known it since this morning, that what would happen today, would be big, unavoidable, and it would change my life forever.

'Jude?' he said after a little while, growing a bit concerned at my silence. 'Are you okay?'

I chuckled a bit, nervously. 'No, not really, no.'

'But you will be, won't you?' he asked, and strangely, I nodded in response, not that he could see it, though.

'Yeah,' I answered. He was right, even though I wasn't okay right now, I knew that I would be, a strange sense of serenity filled my mind, and I knew he could feel it, just as I felt him smile in response.

'Now, how about you come up and actually meet me? Properly?' he asked, and my face furrowed in confusion.

'Up? What do you mean, up?'

'The roof, Jude, I mean the roof. The roof of your building.'

'Why do you want me to go to the roof?'

'Please, Judith, just do it.' He sounded a little impatient, almost like a petulant child.

I must admit that made me smile, just a little. Doing as he said, I stood up from my position on the kitchen floor and exited our flat. I started climbing the stairs to the rooftop, sighing as I knew I still had quite a few stories to go. Briefly, I thought of the song that was playing when I heard his voice for the first time that day, 'Stairway to Heaven'. Oh, the irony.

As soon as the thought entered my mind, the song itself started playing inside my head. My mouth fell open in disbelief.

'Are you actually playing a song in my mind? Just what the hell are you?'

'Shhh… Just enjoy the song for now. We'll see each other soon.'

That was the only response he gave me, after that he was quiet. Freaked out, I continued my way up to the roof, my favorite song accompanying me as I climbed the stairs. Good thing it's such a long song, I thought, getting slightly out of breath.

The closer I got to the top, the more the music seemed to fade, until it completely stopped when I stepped through the door and unto the concrete top of my apartment building, leaving me in absolute silence as the door fell shut behind me.

I slowly crept forwards, shivering from the cold night air. I pulled my coat tighter around my body and looked around me. There was no one to be seen.

"Hello?" I called out. "Are you there?"

I waited for a few minutes, but when nothing happened, I turned around to leave, feeling cold, …and maybe just a tad bit disappointed as well. Busy cursing whoever it was whom had led me on, I almost missed it.

Almost.

A noise, a strange, wheezing noise, becoming louder and louder. I stopped dead in my tracks and turned back to the direction I had been facing earlier. I wondered what that sound could be, it wasn't like anything I had ever heard. If I had to compare it with something, the closest thing I could come up with was like an engine, or something along those lines.

My eyes widened to the size of saucers when I saw something materializing right in front of me. When it grew more and more solid, I could see it was a blue, square, wooden box, resembling… a small toolshed maybe? It had windows, behind which I could see light burning, a door, and a smaller door beside the big one, with a sign on it that read 'police telephone' and some other text I couldn't quite make out because it was still appearing. Above the door, in another sign, a lit-up one, I could read 'Police public call box'. What the… Just what is this thing?

When it was fully materialized, standing there in all its glory, the engine-like noise stopped.

I just stood there and kept staring at the odd box that appeared out of thin air. After a few moments had passed, I carefully tread over to it and looked up at it in awe. I had to admit, it was a pretty box, which happened to be coated in my favorite shade of blue. I walked around it, and gently stroked my hands over the surface, but pulled my hand back in shock and took a few steps back when I felt a hum from beneath my fingers. What was that?

My head jerked around when I heard the door on the front side of the box open. I remained standing there, not sure what to do now.

"Jude?" I heard the same voice from inside my head call out, but this time, it sounded real, and any doubt I may have still had about whether I had made everything up, was now gone. Because what I heard just now, was definitely a real person.

I backed away when I heard footsteps nearing me, walking around the odd blue box. Because I was walking backwards, I couldn't see what was going on behind me, and I yelped when I bumped my back into someone. And I knew it was a someone because he yelped in surprise at the same time as I did. I turned around, just like he did, and finally became face to face with the voice inside my head.

He wore a light brown tweed jacket, lace-up boots, suspenders and a maroon bow tie. The color of his floppy hair resembled my own, and he looked quite young, like he was not much older than me. He was quite tall, I couldn't really guess his height accurately, but compared to my 5'5", I had to peer up to look at his face. A face that smiled brightly when he saw me.

"Jude!" he exclaimed and pulled me into a very tight hug, and I felt something spark inside of me. I brushed it off, thinking it was just some static, you know, like when you grab something, and it just randomly shocks you.

I stiffened immediately, not liking how close this stranger was to me. I pulled myself free, pushing him away. It didn't matter that he knew me apparently, I didn't know him, and I do not like people I don't know just hugging me, thank you very much.

When he noticed my struggling, he let go of me and regarded me apprehensively, a glint of sadness in his bright green eyes.

"You really don't know me, do you?" he asked me softly.

I just shook my head at him. He already asked me that, my answer wasn't going to change from merely minutes ago, he should've known that.

"I knew it," he said miserably. "I just didn't want to believe it." He gave me a small smile, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry for that hug just now, I just got a bit excited, I always do when I see you."

Feeling awkward, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and said nothing, not knowing how to respond to that.

"Well then," he muttered. "If we're going to do this, we're going to do it properly."

Before I had the chance to ask him what he meant, he held out his hand to me and smiled.

"Hello Jude, I'm the Doctor. It's nice to meet you. Well, I already met you, but you didn't meet me, so I guess this is like a first meeting, at least for you it is," he rambled, and I just blinked a couple of times, processing what he said. Geesh, the guy talks fast.

My gaze wandered down to his hand, but I didn't shake it. "Doctor who?" I asked him.

When he saw I made no intentions to shake his hand, he dropped it awkwardly to his side again.

"It's just the Doctor, nothing else," he said, giving me a small smile.

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You do not have any real name? Only a title?"

"That title is my name, it's the only name that matters," he stated, straightening his bowtie.

I raised my eyebrow and stared at him for a few seconds, but eventually I just shrugged. "Alright then. Doctor." Who am I to judge anyone's name?

At my words, he beamed like I just made his day. In a way he reminded me a little of a puppy. At that moment, and don't ask me how I managed it, I recalled a picture in my head that I saw online recently, one of a chocolate brown puppy in a bowtie, and I couldn't help but laugh at it, comparing the man in front of me to the puppy in my head.

He interpreted my laughter wrong, because the next thing I know, he was pulling me against him again, laughing along with me. My chuckles faded out instantly though as I pushed him away again.

"Did I tell you to hug me? Why did you do that?!" I exclaimed.

"Well, I, you-," he looked baffled. "You were laughing, so I thought it was a good sign!"

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Do you want to know what I was laughing about?" He nodded. "You can read my mind, right?"

"It's not exactly like that, but in theory, yes," he pondered. "Why?"

Grinning, I said, "Have a look." Thinking hard about that picture and the comparison I just made, my laughter bubbled to the surface again as I saw his face change.

He looked so exasperated, and he sighed as he muttered, "Of course you would think of something like that." He sounded like he has had previous experiences. Good.

"An-y-way," he sighed again. "Back to the topic at hand, it's time to go," he said, placing an arm around my shoulders, steering me towards the door of that blue box.

I swatted his arm off. "Stop touching me!" I growled. "Are you thick or something? I've said it before that I didn't want you touching me and yet you still do it. Knock it off!"

He stared at me, apparently shocked at my outburst, before realization at something seemed to dawn upon him. "Right, young Jude," he muttered. Before I could question it, he spoke up again, "We still have to go, come on," still trying to get me inside of the box, but without touching me this time, his hands awkwardly hovering around.

"Oh, hell no! You can forget about that, 'Doctor'! I'm not going into a small place like that with someone I don't know. You know what I'm going to do?" I said, turning around. "I'm going to go back downstairs, into my flat, put on my pajamas and crawl into bed. Goodnight, Sir."

To make my words come true, I headed for the door to the stairs.

"What? No! Jude!" I heard him call out to me, his voice comically a few pitches higher, and then his footsteps were rushing after me.

"I said GOODNIGHT."

He placed his hand on my shoulder, trying to stop me. And it got me to stop, but only to glare at him.

"I swear to God, if you touch me one more time…," I trailed off, not finishing my threat.

"Alright! Alright! I'm sorry, I won't touch you again! Now would you please just come with me?!" he shouted.

I turned around to fully face him and glared suspiciously at him. "Why do you want me to come with you so badly? We don't know each other."

At that he gave me a small smile. "You don't know me yet, but I have known you for a very, very long time now."

My brow furrowed, and I shook my head stubbornly. "You keep saying that, that you 'know me', but I've never seen you before, how can you claim to know me?"

"I'm afraid that will be spoilers for now," he said, actually sounding a bit remorseful.

I sighed. "I really don't understand all of this, but that doesn't even matter. The point is, I'm not going to go with someone that shows up at random and claims to know me, despite me never seeing them before."

"But, Jude-!"

"No 'buts'!" I interrupted him. At that moment he looked so desperate, that I, god knows why, decided to humor him. Sighing, I said, "Alright, if you really do know me, like you claim, tell me something only someone who truly knows me would know."

He seemed to hesitate, and a minute passed before he just let down his gaze, choosing not to answer me. I exhaled loudly, and said, "Yeah. That's what I thought."

I turned around to leave again, and I only managed to take a few steps when he finally decided to speak up. He said something, a string of words that no other living soul but my own is supposed to know. I've always kept that to myself, not even my mum knows. I never wrote it down, never spoke about it… Yet here he was, saying it out loud.

I stopped walking, frozen in my spot. I took a few deep breaths and slowly faced him again. "How- how do you know about that…?", I asked, my voice barely louder than a whisper. My legs were growing weak below me, and I suddenly felt the need to sit down, so I did, the ground cold underneath my knees.

"I told you I know you," he muttered, looking at me with a soft expression. Then he gazed deep into my eyes, as if wanting to make a point, wanting me to believe his next words. "I know this, because you told me about it yourself."

I shook my head sharply. "No. I didn't, that's something I know for sure," I said, my breath shaky.

He sighed. "I know this is going to sound crazy to you right now, but a future you told me."

I stared at him. "A… a future me?" I asked him.

He just nodded, watching me apprehensively as I mulled it over. I'm not gonna lie, it sounded far-fetched to me and, well, impossible. How on earth could I, from the future, have told him about this…? Then again, he kept saying about how he knew me for a long time already… And I honestly couldn't think of any other way he could have known about it than me telling him about it myself…

My gaze fixed on him. He was patiently awaiting my reply. "A future me?" I asked him again, softly. I've watched enough sci-fi movies, maybe there was some truth to his words.

He walked up to me and crouched down to my level. "Yes," he said.

"But- But how does that work?" I asked, bewildered.

"You'll find out later, well it's probably going to be rather soon than later, but just wait for a little longer. Can you do that for me?" he asked, and I nodded softly.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, and he held out his hand.

I thought about it for a while. If I were honest, I now kinda had to. I mean, he knew about my best kept secret. Something no one knows about. He could only know if I told him about it myself, ergo a future version of me telling him about it, how crazy it may be, sounded like the most acceptable explanation. And if a future me trusted him enough to tell him that, it means that I can trust him as well.

I nodded and slowly reached out to take his hand. When our hands finally touched, just like before when he hugged me, I swore I felt something spark inside of me, which caused me to pull my hand free as soon as he had helped me stand up.

He walked over to his blue box, and I trailed behind him, taking small, slow steps. I regarded the box nervously. When he reached the door, he turned around to me. "I know you're scared, but I promise you, she's bigger on the inside," he said, holding open the door for me.

Stalling, I asked him, "She?"

He smiled. "Yes, she. Jude, meet the TARDIS."

"…TARDIS?"

"Time and relative dimension in space, in short, TARDIS."

I nodded, and he sighed.

"Come on, Jude. It will be okay, I promise."

I hesitated for a few more moments, before slowly heading towards the blue box. Stepping passed him, I entered the TARDIS, and gazed around in awe. I stood in a sort of control room and saw a lot of staircases leading to God knows where. He wasn't kidding, from the outside I never would have guessed there was so much space behind that door.

"It truly is bigger on the inside!" I exclaimed, my mouth agape, resisting the urge to run back outside to check if my eyes weren't fooling me. I've entered the sci-fi world now; I'll believe anything you throw at me. Then, I realized my mistake. "Sorry, she."

The area around me started humming, and I squeaked, startled.

"What was that?!" I asked the Doctor, whom had just walked in and closed the door behind us.

He smiled widely at me. "She just greeted you."

I looked at him, amazed. "Can she do that?! Is she, alive?"

His smile still as wide as it was before, he nodded his head at me.

I turned around and stroked one of the walls. "You're beautiful," I said softly. She hummed underneath my fingers, as if she was thanking me, and I smiled. Still looking around the TARDIS, I could feel a sudden headache coming up. I turned back to the Doctor, to find him standing there, just watching me with a very fond look on his face.

"So, what is this all about? What is the TARDIS? Who are you exactly?" I asked him. "What do I have got to do with you?" I had so many questions.

The headache was becoming increasingly more painful. I started rubbing my head, trying to ease the pain. But that didn't help, and my face reflexively scrunched up in agony. What was happening? I could tell this was no ordinary headache; it became more and more painful by the second.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but they will have to be answered later. Jude, I'm so sorry I couldn't explain anything, but it is time for you to go," he said, sad.

Between the gasps of pain, I managed to ask, "What? Where am I going?"

"You are going to another man. But I promise you, that man is me, just another version of me, and you can trust him," he answered as he crouched in front of the spot where I had to sit down, barely able to stay awake from the blinding pain in my head.

"Another - man – version, you- wha…?" I slurred, not able to form a comprehensive sentence.

He tried to cup my face, probably in an attempt to soothe me, but I swatted his hands away, still not very keen on him touching me.

"I am so sorry, Jude," I heard him mutter, before I was engulfed in a bright green light.

Doctor's POV

He stood there for a while after she left, staring at the exact place where she vanished, off to an earlier point in his timeline. He knew this because he had already lived it.

Only she hadn't yet.

She would pop up in the TARDIS of his previous regeneration, whom would have the shock of his life. He cringed and absentmindedly rubbed his jaw while thinking back to it, as if he was reliving it.

He shook his head, trying to clear it, and walked over to the TARDIS' console. He sighed heavily.

Jude's first jump.

She was in for a hell of a ride. Not only her, though, he was in for it as well. If he thought back to everything he had gone through with her, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

How many times had he almost lost his patience with her?

But he hadn't, though. The fact that a much younger regeneration of him had been the first to know her, made him know how things would turn out, and that helped him to keep going.

To not lose his patience.

Because eventually, she would cave in, and accept the feelings she felt inside of her heart.

And that was it, the first chapter – revisited! I ended up rewriting like most of it, and it has become around 2,000 words longer in the process. Let me know your thoughts! I'd appreciate the feedback :)

Just like before, the secret The Doctor tells Jude will be revealed later on in the story, much later, along with the explanation of why she reacts to things the way she does.

So, there you have it, the edited prologue and first chapter. I hope you enjoyed the read. And like I said before, I took down the old chapters, but they'll get back up as soon as I update them a bit :)

Thanks for reading!

-Nele

(No shout-outs here because I posted the prologue and this chapter at the same time and I did the shout-outs in the prologue)