The Doctor and Tegan Jovanka are property of the BBC – you know the drill. Kimoto Takita and most everybody else are my creations!
The Doctor, Tegan and Kim have been freed from the clutches of the wicked Chancellor Ashim – but what will happen now?
Part thirteen – an elongated epilogue
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"We've been lucky!"
The words, spoken with anything but happiness, were said by Tegan Jovanka as she came into the room in the TARDIS which she had lately, for lack of any better name for it, dubbed 'sick bay' in her mind.
"Yes, we have," the Doctor replied, absentmindedly as he stood bent over Kim's prone form on the bed, examining her via some Gallifreyan piece of incomprehensible medical equipment.
"Well, we made it this far. And everybody is still alive," Tegan muttered.
"Yes."
"Will she recover?"
"Hmmm," the Doctor murmured as he straightened up with a small frown on his brow. "Tegan, I am not sure exactly how to address that question."
"Is she… Well, it's a simple yes or no question," Tegan said, taken aback by the reply.
"Yes, I suppose it is," the Doctor nodded as he put the medical instrument on a table, just next to the bracelet that he had removed from her wrist a little earlier. "But the universe is rarely as simple as that."
"Stop playing games, Doc," Tegan spat angrily. "Hell's teeth, this is neither time nor place for games. Will she be all right or is she a vegetable as Ashim intended?"
"Neither time nor place," the Doctor tutted. "Hmmm, no. But as you may recall, I told you that this young lady does have a certain reputation in times to come."
"So she will recover then?"
"Not entirely, no," the Doctor sighed. "The recent treatments and the events of today have caused permanent damage and I am afraid that even I cannot do very much about it."
"She's… Is she…" Words, for once, failed Tegan Jovanka.
"No, she'll wake up, being the same Kim as you and I have gotten to know, but she will, from time to time, lapse into a state of mental illness. It will cause her life to take some turns every now and again, but there is very little that I can do about it. Sheerar-human hybrids are prone to this kind of mental instability and the treatments have affected her natural predisposition for this."
"What you are saying is that she's going to go nuts from time to time?" Tegan exclaimed.
"Ah, I would not have put it as crudely as that, but yes, in a sense."
"Does she know?"
"She probably does have an idea," the Doctor nodded as he went to pour a glass of water. "But that the drugs and electroshock therapy has pushed her towards it may be new to her. And quite frankly, I see no reason to tell her."
"Why ever not?" Tegan had immediately taken on her regular Tegan the she-wolf attitude as she came over to the bed. "If it was me, I'd bloody well want to know!"
"If it were you, yes," the Doctor agreed, also coming over. "But you must trust me on this one. I am, as they say, a bit in the know."
"Right, and I'm just a bit in the dark," Tegan grumbled.
"Hush now, there's a good girl."
Tegan never really knew if the Doctor was aware how much she detested being addressed like that, but as so many times before, she didn't say anything.
"Hello, Miss Takita?" The Doctor bent over Kim again and gently rubbed her arm as he tried to wake her up. "Hello?"
"Hello…" the coarse reply came as the feline gingerly opened her eyes and squinted at the two. Then she took in the surroundings and gave a start. "Where am I? Where are we? Ouch, my head hurts."
"Here, drink this," the Doctor proffered the glass. "It will do you good."
"What is it? Some kind of medication?"
"Water, actually," the Doctor said amiably. "The best remedy in this part of the universe."
Kim took the glass and drank down every last drop of the water before she looked quizzically at the two others.
"We're out of the palace," Tegan explained before Kim asked. "We're onboard the TARDIS and you should be safe here!"
"How did that come about?" Kim said, suddenly belching some, following it by a giggle. "How perfectly dignified, hmm?"
"Well, we were all in deep sh-"
"We were saved by another chancellor," the Doctor broke in. "Chancellor William, in fact. He apprehended Ashim and allowed us time to leave, bringing you."
"We passed by your chambers up here, and some of the gadgets requested by the Doctor had arrived, including the cable," Tegan added.
"So we went into the TARDIS, I installed the cable and we left Honshu II," the Doctor finished with a flourish.
"We're not on Honshu II anymore?" Kim asked, her eyes widening. "But where are we then?"
"In the vortex, actually," the Doctor replied.
"A sort of in between the real world," Tegan added helpfully. "Do accept that at face value, you'll only regret asking the Doctor as he'll give you a nine-hour lecture that will still leave you completely in the dark."
"A plane existing outside real-space?" Kim asked. "As opposed to hyper space, which is another parallel, rather than an alternate, right?"
"Almost spot on!" the Doctor beamed. "I was unaware that Honshu had any chronometric research worth speaking off."
"They don't," Kim replied with a grin. "I've read it in a sci-fi fanzine."
"A fanzine? I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage here," the Doctor frowned. Then he noticed the odd sound produced as Tegan fought very hard not to laugh out loud. As she spotted the Doctor's confused look, she gave up and howled with mirth.
"It is my distinct impression that you both have me at a disadvantage here," he noted with some consternation.
"In a moment, in a moment…" Kim joined Tegan.
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Somewhat later, Kim's headache had abated almost completely and they had told each other the rest of their remaining stories regarding the events at the imperial palace on Honshu II. Kim was still almost frantic about finally being out of the palace and as far away as this – relatively speaking – was.
More importantly, Tegan and Kim had explained about fanzines to a somewhat puzzled Doctor and Tegan had delivered the message from Chancellor William to Kim, who had taken the information and news about his attitude with quiet dignity.
"How does this match with that non-intervention policy of yours?" she asked the Doctor as she continued to study the steady rise and fall of the TARDIS' central column.
"I guess that this will bring an end to Ashim's role in politics as well as save you from the dullest wedding within twenty galaxies," Tegan added.
"No and yes," the Doctor said. "It will disrupt the wedding plans, but I am not so sure regarding Ashim's part in future politics. He is a very powerful man, and of imperial blood."
"Hah! That doesn't matter unless you're also high on testosterone," Kim growled. "Imperial blood is a boon to males and a bane to females."
"So what do you want to do now?" Tegan asked carefully. Somehow she just knew that Kim was really not the kind of person likely to stay onboard the TARDIS as a companion for long, but what else could she do…
"Hmmm, I may have a plan," Kim replied. "Hey, Doctor. You say this heap of junk can travel in both time and space, yeah?"
"This heap of junk, as you call it," the Doctor huffed, "is a type-40 TARDIS and she can travel to anywhere and anytime within the universe."
"Right, sorry," Kim said. "No offence."
"None taken," The Doctor assured her, not sounding entirely convincing.
"We left Honshu II approximately on Tuesday the 2nd, right?"
"Yes, we did."
"Could you bring me back to the palace on Wednesday the 17th then? Preferably early morning?"
"Why on earth would you want to go back there?" Tegan exclaimed.
"I need to be able to fend for myself," Kim explained. "I need to stand on my own two feet. I need to manage on my own, but I think that I deserve a head start. If I can be at the palace in the early hours on that day, I can leave in style and get the kind of head start that I would prefer."
"Do you have a plan?" Tegan enquired. "Or would you just wing it?"
"Yes and yes," Kim grinned. "So, can you do that, Doc?"
"Off course I can," the Doctor said in a gruff voice, obviously not having forgotten the insult made to his TARDIS just before. "How precisely do you want it?"
"Wednesday, about four in the morning, the south-west wing of the palace."
"I can do that," the Doctor said, nodding with a sudden realisation dawning in his features. He quickly went to the console and started punching keys, almost as if to cover for his reaction, but Tegan had noted his expression.
"So, what's your plan then?" she asked Kim, trying to distract the otherwise quite attentive feline.
"Oh, I think I can get my own vessel at that particular time and place," the sheerar replied, her tail twitching ever so lightly. "Then I too can travel the universe, see the sights and get a bit wiser as the years go by. Perhaps do my own small part in trying to save said universe from itself and other monstrosities. And should I fail, there's always seppuku. I am bound by the codes, after all."
"I've been meaning to ask," Tegan began. "What's –"
"That's it, we have arrived!" the Doctor announced, just as the central column stopped its familiar rhythm. "Wednesday the 17th, at precisely four in the morning, at the Imperial Viewing Suite in the south-west wing of the Imperial Palace."
"This is pretty amazing!" Tegan murmured to Kim, hoping for the Doctor not to hear her. "The Doctor usually has so much trouble getting to the right place and time!"
"Do I detect a hint of pride in your voice, Doctor?" Kim asked with a glint of mirth in her eyes. "Okay, I'm sorry that I called your craft a heap of junk. It is magnificent, really!"
"Thank you," the Doctor bowed his head just a notch, accepting her apology with honour.
"But if we have materialized in the view suite, we will be discovered soon," Kim observed.
"Yes, I am afraid that you do not have much time," the Doctor agreed.
"Oh…"
Suddenly, Kim was looking like a lost puppy – or kitten as it were – as she looked helplessly at the two others.
"I owe you two very much," she began awkwardly. "Tegan, you're great. And Doctor…"
"Hush with that now," the Doctor admonished. "You helped us as well, supplying the cable and a generous hospitality to boot."
"As for the rest," Tegan added lightly. "It's all in a day's job for a TARDIS-crew."
"Will I ever see you two again?" Kim asked quietly.
"Ah, yes," the Doctor admitted. "Yes, there is a distinct possibility that you will. Now, thank you for the cable and the flux coordinators, the crow-bar, the chocolate and the batteries that your engineer also supplied. But you really should be going before some of your father's more zealous guards notice the presence of a police box in the Imperial suite."
"It's been nice," Tegan offered, briefly shaking hands with Kim before being dragged into an embrace by the suddenly very insecure feline.
"It's not just been nice, Tegan," Kim muttered, her tail lashing. "It's been fabulous. Without you –"
"Ah, yes. Thank you," the Doctor broke in. "But in less than a minute, guards will enter this room, so if you don't mind…"
"Thank you," Kim said, letting go of Tegan. She briefly looked at the Doctor, who did not in any way invite to be hugged and so she didn't. "Thank you, both of you. I really hope that I'll meet you again. Keep an eye open for the Vañavara; that would be me, if this plan succeeds."
With that, she quickly went through the door and left the TARDIS, which immediately started to dematerialise.
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"I've never been much to goodbyes," Tegan grumbled as she looked at the Doctor, who was once again entangled in a heap of wires and cables. The TARDIS worked again, but there were still glitches to be fixed and errors to be corrected. "Is it something you know, when you said we would meet again?"
"Yes, off course it is," the Doctor huffed back. "Could you pass me the sonic screwdriver?"
"The Vañavara," Tegan continued as she passed the instrument. "What is that?"
"The prototype, I told you about," the Doctor replied, crawling in under the console again. "She got the idea about stealing the craft on her own, so I let her off where and when she wanted. I am sure she managed to steal it and get away without any serious problems."
"I sure hope so."
"It means the traveller," the Doctor explained from under the console, apparently being in an unusually talkative mood. "Vañavara, in the local interplanetary language. It's because she travels, having no home. Very poetic."
"Doctor?"
"Yes?"
"What is seppuku?"
"Why do you ask?" the Doctor popped back out from the console, studying his companion. "It's an old Japanese tradition, ritual suicide. With a sword. Part of the bushido-codes, also used on Honshu II."
"Oh…"
"Why do you ask?" the Doctor enquired again.
"William talked about allowing Ashim seppuku," Tegan explained. "And Kim talked about resolving to it, should her plans fail her."
"Ah, yes," the Doctor muttered, disentangling himself from the cables and coming over. "She despises the code, but will none the less stick to it, more and more, over the years. After all, it is all she has to bind her to her past, but I am not sure how much good it does her."
"What is it you know?" Tegan asked, going pale. "Is Kim going to do herself in? Is that it? Has all this been for allowing a self-serving suicide?"
"No, it's not that simple," the Doctor sighed. "It really never is, I think. But bushido will continue to play a part in her life, I am sure. And not only for the better."
"Does she or doesn't she?" Tegan demanded.
"To tell you the truth, I really don't know."
"Oh." Tegan seemed to deflate. "Well, what do you know then?"
"Far too much for my own good sometimes," the Doctor said with a slight smile. "And sometimes far too little for just the same good."
"You can be a real trial from time to time," Tegan muttered.
"Come now, Tegan; I may be a Time Lord, but I do not, as such, know the future any more than you do. I just happen to have a few more clues, that's all."
"But we'll meet her again, right?"
"Who knows," he replied lightly and patted her on the shoulder. "But for now, I think what we need is a nice cup of tea, don't you think?"
"And after that?"
"After that, my dear Tegan," the Doctor beamed. "After that, we're off to save the universe again."
It was a choice between scowling and smiling, and she knew how little effect the former could have.
With a smile, Tegan Jovanka followed the Doctor into the TARDIS corridors in the pursuit of tea.
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The End
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Author's notes:
First a huge thank you to Patrice J, who has taken the time to beta-read this entire story, addressing both grammatical issues and problems with the story and characters. Without her, there would be really bad grammar as I really am not a native-English speaker. I try my best, but I am not sure I would dare to publish this without her help and support.
Then another big thank you to everybody who has taken the time to actually read the entire story. I haven't written much fan fiction ever and this is my biggest such endeavour yet. The feed back is, as it is to most fan fiction writers, my best reward and I will seriously consider writing more.
Kimoto Takita is a 20-year old RPG-character who has taken on an entire life of her own and thus resurfaces from time to time in my writings. Truthfully, she may have started out as somewhat of a 'Mary Sue', which also explains my net-name, but that is a long time ago and I can assure the reader that she is anything but an author-insertion now. Amongst others, she is both younger, better looking and far more interesting than a plain teacher such as my humble self. But who would wish to read about the adventures of a teacher? ;-)
That was all for now.
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-KimotoCat, June, 2005.