A/N: Okay, you guys really are awesome. So on with the story.
Kari woke to someone gently knocking on the door to her bedroom. She had fallen asleep on her bed, mentally exhausted like she seemed to be most of the time these days. After a moment of being in a daze, she stumbled over to the door and slowly pulled it open.
"Hey, uh, I just wanted to come and make sure you were okay." Rory said, standing at the door nervously. "You disappeared pretty quickly last night, we're all worried about you."
Kari forced herself to smile at him, it was nice of him to actually come and check on her. "I'm fine. Just trying to pull myself together and sort a few things out in my head."
"Well, you know, you can always talk to me." Rory offered, making an effort to try and get to talk about what was wrong.
"Let's go grab some tea." She said, stepping out of her room and closing the door behind her. "I take it the Doctor is fixing something that isn't broke?"
Rory couldn't stop himself from smiling at her. "Yeah, and Amy is still trying to get him to take her to Rio."
"You know, I'm pretty sure I could get us there, but I somehow doubt the Doctor will let me pilot." Kari told him as they strolled towards the kitchen. "He's very protective of his beloved ship."
"He's pretty protective of you as well." Rory pointed out to her. "He's been really worried about you."
Kari let out a sigh as Rory put his hand on the handle, opening the door to the kitchen. "He worries too much. He always has and he always will. No matter what I do, he is always concerned."
"Yeah, but he only worries because he cares about you, Kari." Rory told her, turning the kettle on and grabbing two mugs out from the cupboard. "You know, when Amy told me about everything that you three had been up to before I tagged along, I thought I was going to have a heart attack." He admitted.
Kari chuckled a little. "Why? Because we met Churchill and a few Daleks? Almost got killed by statues, or maybe it was being fed to a Star Whale?" She asked, sounding rather amused. "The Doctor and I have been in much worse situations and came out of it alive."
"But that doesn't stop him from worrying." Rory told her, leaning against the counter as he waited for the water to boil. "I'm always worrying about Amy, and she worries about me as well, it's normal."
"Come on, Rory, what's the point you're trying to make here?" Kari asked, leaning back in the chair at the table. She knew there had to be some reason for him coming to her room and offering to listen to her.
Rory let out a sigh as he carried two steaming mugs of fresh brewed tea to the table. "Talk to him, he's worried about you. So much has happened recently, I think he just needs to have you around him."
"Is this that big secret that you're all keeping from me?" She asked him, picking up her tea and a sip of it. "You know, this one where the Doctor and I say nasty things."
"Amy and I know the pair of you will sort it out, but he doesn't. He's scared he is going to lose you, Kari."
"He's not going to lose me." Kari told him, letting out a sigh of her own. "We've had fights before, and we've both gotten over them. Sometimes I may need my space to just clear my head, but I'm not going to walk out on him, not again."
"Again?" Rory questioned, putting his mug down on the table.
Kari nodded at him. "Yeah, a long time ago, longer for him than it was for me. But anyway, we had a massive argument, and I mean it was so big that I called him a lot of things. We both lost our tempers, we both said some really horrible things to the other. Then I walked out on him."
"And he let you go? The Doctor let you walk out?" He seemed to be amazed at this new piece of information.
"Yeah, in fact, he was the one who dropped me off on Earth. I, er, had a friend come and pick me up." Kari told him. "But like I said, I'm not going to do that again, it will not happen." That was when Kari realised something, something just clicked at the back of her mind. "Wait, so that was why he was so nervous when he saw me. He thought I was packing up my things to leave."
"He was coming to find you, to talk to you. You must have been gone for not even an hour when he went to look for you." Rory told her, turning his attention back to his tea.
Kari looked up at him. "And what about the way you and Amy were acting?" She asked. "Is that because of what happened with me and the Doctor, or something completely unrelated?" His eyes suddenly shifted and he looked anywhere but at Kari. "Hmm, so it's something unrelated. Possibly what you, Amy and River witnessed at Lake Silencio?"
Rory took a deep breath before looking back up at her. "You already know what happens?" He asked her, already knowing the answer.
"Of course I know, Rory. The spaceman, the shooting, the death. So just be honest with me, Rory. Was that the reason you and Amy were acting so weird, or do I have something else to look forward to?"
There was a sad smile on his face now. "Spoilers."
"Great, something else I have to look forward to." Kari moaned, draining the rest of her tea. "Come on then, I suppose I had better go and show my face to the Doctor."
"Kari, everything will be okay."
She just smiled at him as she linked her arm through his. "I know they will, Rory. And you should know that everything will be okay as well. I know a lot has happened, and I know a lot is still to come, but whatever happens, the Doctor and I will sort it."
He just looked at her as they walked. "You know something more, don't you?"
"Spoilers." She whispered to him, just as the reached the console room.
As Kari suspected, he was in his little swing seat, fiddling with things that he really didn't need to be touching. Amy smiled at the pair as they walked in, not at all phased by the way Kari was hanging onto her husbands arm.
"You okay, Kari?" Amy asked, walking over to the pair.
She nodded at her. "Yeah, I'm good. How about you? Can't have been much fun having House playing with your mind. I know what he did to you, the things that you saw, Amy." Kari told her seriously. Amy had seen her husbands decaying corpse, and the word 'kill Amy', 'die', and 'hate' scrawled on the walls of the corridor.
"It wasn't much fun. But we got through it all okay." Amy replied, taking Rory's hand as Kari released him.
"How's Mr Grumpy been?" Kari decided to ask, nodding over to where the Doctor was still working away.
"Very grumpy. Something's wrong, but he won't talk to me. I can't get him to say anything, he just mumbles something and then carries on with what he is doing." Amy told her, glancing over at him, a concerned look on her face.
Kari let out a sigh. "I guess I had better go and talk to him then. You guys going to be okay if I drag him off and we disappear for a while?"
"Too much information." Amy cried, pulling a disgusted face.
Straight away, Kari turned red. "Shut up, Amelia. I do not mean anything like that. I can't talk to him in here, because he will keep finding something to distract himself." She protested, not liking having to explain herself to Amy, or anyone else.
"Kari, go and talk to the Doctor." Rory said, giving her a little nudge.
She simply rolled her eyes at him as she strolled down to where the Doctor was working. "Uh, hey." Kari mumbled, her eyes darting quickly to the ground.
He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. "Hi." The Doctor tilted his head, wondering why she wasn't able to look at him. "What's wrong?"
"Can we… can we talk?" Kari asked him nervously.
"Of course we can, you know that."
"Not here. We need to… can we go somewhere else? Just us?" The way she was acting was actually stating to worry the Doctor even more.
The Doctor was then quick to get out of his swing and took a tight hold of Kari's hand, twisting the finger on her ring a little as he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. He led her through the TARDIS, and stopped when they reached his room.
The two of them stepped inside, heading over to the worn leather sofa that Kari had never really noticed in there before. "Kari, what's wrong?" The Doctor asked her, the worry had still not left his face.
"You need to stop worrying about me so much." She told him, playing with her hands in her lap. "Whatever happens, and wherever I go, I will always come back to you."
"Where has this come from?" He seemed to be a little confused now, not really able to understand the point she was making.
Kari just let out a sigh. "Yes, I walked out on you once. I was angry, and so were you. Both of us said things that hurt the other, and I left." She explained, trying to make sense of everything she wanted to say herself. "When I leave you, it is never by choice. I have to go, I have to leave you in one place to find you in another."
"I know you don't have a choice, Kari, but there are so many times that I wish you did." He told her. "If only there was a way we could stop all this jumping. If only we could understand it better."
"It's never going to stop." She told him, taking a deep breath. "We both know that. Just always remember that I never plan to go anywhere, and I will always come back to you. I know that's what you're worried about, that I'm going to disappear and never come back."
He frowned at her. "How did you work that one out?"
Kari shrugged at him. "It wasn't too hard to work it out in the end. Rory helped me a little as well."
"So, is that all you wanted to talk about?"
She shook her head at him. "I have so many questions still, about who I am and how I came to be here. I know someone may have answered some of them." Kari said, getting a light hum from the ship. "But there are still so many more things that I just don't understand."
"There are always going to be things that we don't understand, that can't be explained." The Doctor told her, trying to just reassure her a little.
"Yeah, but after a while, it gets tiring and all I want is answers." Kari admitted. "Before I met you, I had a family, well, I had my dad. But now, I'm never going to see him again. He has no idea where I am, or what happened to me. I don't even know if he remembers me." That was when the tears started to build in her eyes.
"Karianne Conner has never existed. I know, because I looked. There is no record of you ever living on Earth, no parents, no home, nothing." The Doctor told her, putting his arm around her and trying to calm her down a little.
"But I have to have come from somewhere. Everyone has parents, we all come from somewhere. I mean, I may not be human, but I'm pretty sure I should have parents out there somewhere." She said, trying to keep herself in control and to stop the flood from breaking through.
The Doctor just pulled her closer to him and held her even tighter. "I know, Kari, I know. None of this has been easy for you, and I know it never will get any easier for you. But I understand, and I will be here for you every time that you feel you can't cope and want to break down."
That was all Kari needed to just release all the build up frustration that she had. After talking with the TARDIS, she was so much more confused now than she had been before. It was just a never ending cycle for her, the moment she felt happy, like she was finally forgetting her past life, something happened and just ripped it all apart.
"Do you promise that you will always be there?" Kari mumbled through her sobs.
The Doctor just reached out for her left hand and twisted the ring around that was on her finger. "Of course I promise. I promised you a long time ago that I would always be there for you, no matter what."
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Theta. I'm struggling to remember my life before you found me, and… I don't think I want to remember it."
"How old were you?" He asked her, making her look up and frown at him. "When I came to your garden, when you insisted that you were human."
"I… I don't remember. Uh, 26, I think. How can I not remember? How can I not remember my own birthday?" It was clear she was getting even more worked up now.
"Hey, come on, it's okay, Kari, it's okay. There is nothing wrong with not being able to remember, honestly, it's okay, it's nothing to worry about." The Doctor told her, cupping her face in his hands and brushing away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks with his thumb. "Please, don't cry Kari, I can't… I can't bear it when you cry."
She let out a soft chuckle through her sobs. "She said that as well."
"Who?" The Doctor wondered whom it was that she was talking about.
"Sexy. She told me that both of you hate to see me cry." Kari told him, remembering the words that had come from the TARDIS when she was trapped in that human body.
"Well, she's right. I do hate it. I know that sometimes you need to just let it out, but it doesn't stop my hearts from breaking at the sight of it." He told her honestly. "Now, is my beautiful, brilliant Kari ready to have some more adventures? Or does she want a day off?"
"You'd really take a day off? Just because I wanted to spend the day hanging around the TARDIS doing nothing much at all?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow at him.
He smiled softly at her. "Kari, I would do anything for you."
"Anything?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, a plot forming in her mind.
"Anything." The Doctor replied, kissing the top of her head.
A grin started to take over her face. "Well then, if that is the case, you can sit with me and watch a few musicals. Starting with the fabulous Oliver!"
The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle. "And why do you suddenly want to go and watch that?" He wondered.
"You said you'd do anything, and now I've got that stupid bloody song from that musical stuck in my head. The only way to get rid of it is to go and watch the film." She declared, giving herself a rather valid excuse.
He shook his head at her, not being able to stop himself from smiling. "Come on then, we can go and watch Oliver! If that is what you really want to do?" Kari just nodded at him. "Well, come on then. You know, most of it is pretty accurate, well, apart from the happy ending where he finds his family. That never happens."
Kari just frowned at him as they walked to the place she now called own, personal cinema. "And you would know this because…?"
The Doctor just rolled his eyes at her. "Time machine. Plus, we have met Charles Dickens, it was based off his book."
"I know that you moron." Kari replied, whacking his arm a little. "It was taken from his book 'Oliver Twist' and it's a pretty good book at that."
"Are we going to invite the Ponds to come join us?" The Doctor wondered. He loved spending time with Kari, and just her, but sometimes he felt like he was neglecting his human friends.
"We can ask them." Kari said. "Hey, Sexy? Would you mind sending the Ponds this way? I think it's quality family time." There was hum from the ship, which made Kari smile. "Thank you."
"Family time?" The Doctor asked her, giving her a strange look.
"Uh, yeah. We're all one big, happy, dysfunctional, time travelling family. Whether you like it or not." She said, before reaching up and giving him a peck on the lips.
A few minutes later, Amy and Rory came rushing into the room. "Is everything okay? We were kind of just told to come here." Amy asked as she looked at the Doctor and Kari in a bit of a panic. She thought something terrible had happened, when she saw the message on the scanner telling them to both head to the TV room.
"Everything's fine. We were just wondering if you wanted to sit down and watch a few films with us?" Kari asked, a grin on her face. "Starting with the epic musical that is Oliver!"
Both of the Ponds let out a breath. "Oh, okay. Yeah, why not." Amy said, letting a smile form on her face. "What do you say, Rory." She said, looking to her husband.
"Sounds great."
"Brilliant. Family movie day." Kari called, bouncing over to the large sofa and throwing herself down on it. "Well, come on! I need to get this stupid song out of my head, and as I explained to the Doctor, I can only get rid of it by watching the film."
Amy and Rory both chuckled at her, while the Doctor shook his head as he sat down next to her. Kari quickly shifted so that she was cuddled up to him while Amy and Rory took their place on the sofa beside them.
The Doctor was about to pull out his sonic screwdriver, ready to play the film, when the screen suddenly came on by itself. "Thank you, Sexy." Kari whispered, knowing that the ship had done it for them. As always, she received a light hum from the ship, making her smile just that little bit more.
They all managed to survive the first musical, even with Kari and Amy singing every single song that came on. They even got up and done some little dancing and acting during it as well. The Doctor couldn't help but smile and laugh, while Rory seemed a little bit more embarrassed at what his wife was doing.
"Right, what next?" Kari asked, looking directly at Amy and no one else. "And don't you dare say Grease." She warned. That was one musical that she did not want to sit and watch. She had seen it so many times already, she was sick to death of it.
"Okay, how about… The Wizard of Oz!" Amy called, getting rather excited.
A grin spread across Kari's face as both men let out a groan. "Amy, that is a perfect choice. You know all the songs to that one as well, I take it?"
Amy nodded. "Of course."
"Well then, that's decided. The Wizard of Oz, if you please, Sexy." The moment Kari had finished speaking, the screen flicked back on and the film started playing.
Kari had to admit, she was really enjoying herself. It was nice to spend some time with the people that she now called her family. It still hadn't really sunk in that she would never see her real family again, but she hadn't really thought about it much. She knew that she could never go back to the life she had before, or see the people she once knew. This was her life now, amongst the stars and with the Doctor.
"Who's hungry?" She called once their second musical had ended.
"Me." Rory said, straight away.
"What about you two?" She asked, looking over at Amy and then at the Doctor.
"Yeah, I could eat." Amy said, uncurling herself from her husband.
"What about you, mister? You're being awfully quiet." Kari said, looking at the Doctor with a frown on her face.
"Okay, where do we want to go?" He said, just kissing the top of her head and ignoring her comment about him being quiet. The truth of it was, he had been busy thinking, about so many different things. He had been thinking about Amy, and what had been going on with her recently as well as worrying about Kari.
"Actually, I was thinking I could cook for everyone." Kari told him, turning a little red. She liked cooking, and she missed doing it. The three of them just looked at her, clearly surprised by her suggestion. "But if you guys want to go somewhere for food then that's fine." She added quickly after seeing their faces.
"No, if you want to cook then you can. We might need to go and do a little bit of shopping first though." The Doctor said, giving her one of his best smiles.
"Right then, mind if we take a short trip to Earth, 21st century if you don't mind." Kari said, pulling herself away from the Doctor, only to fall straight back onto him when the TARDIS started to shake.
Everyone looked around in fear, wondering what had caused the sudden movement. "Uh, Doctor, what was that?" Rory asked, holding onto Amy tightly.
"Ah, I think the old girl is taking us exactly where Kari wanted to go." He said. "Maybe I had better go and check."
"Come on then, you lot." Kari called, pushing herself off the Doctor. "Let's find out what's going on and then go do some shopping. I'm sure there are more things we need to get, so let's do this." For some reason, she sounded really excited, and she felt it as well.
Over 2 hours later, the four of them returned to the TARDIS, arms full of bags. The TARDIS had indeed taken them to Earth, 2012, but not just to a supermarket so that Kari could get all the things she needed for dinner. They had ended up at a shopping centre, which meant that Kari and Amy got to do a little bit of extra shopping while they were there.
"Okay, I'll go and get started with dinner. I'll let you all know when it's ready." She said, taking the other food bags from the Doctor.
"Are you sure you don't need any help?" The Doctor asked her, watching her closely.
She couldn't stop her eyes from rolling at him. "I think I can manage to make a meal for all of us without getting anything wrong."
"Okay, you know where we are if you need anything." He said, kissing her cheek before letting her go to the kitchen.
Once she reached the kitchen, she dumped all the bags on the table and started emptying them out and putting everything away. The only thing she left out was the stuff she needed for dinner. "Uh, could I have some music on please?" She asked, grabbing a pan from one of the cupboards.
The room was soon filled with all the pop music from her time, and a smile crept across her face. "Thanks. I like a little bit of music while I'm cooking."
While Kari was doing her cooking, she was dancing and singing away to the tracks that the TARDIS was playing for her. It was less than an hour later when she had finally finished and was dishing everything up on to the plates. She was just getting ready to go and tell everyone that dinner was done when the door opened.
"How's it going in here?" The Doctor asked her, poking his head around the door.
"Perfect timing, it's ready." She told him, setting the plates down on the table. He opened the door all the way to reveal Amy and Rory standing there behind him. "Have you been spying on me?" Kari asked, frowning a little.
"Uh, no, that was the Doctor." Rory pointed out. "He was keeping check on you."
Kari just looked at the Doctor, giving him a very disapproving look. "Well, come on. Dinner is getting cold." She said, shaking her head and walking over to the table.
As they all started eating, Kari looked at them expectantly, waiting to find out what they thought of her cooking. It wasn't long before the first comment was made, from the Doctor. "Kari, this is lovely. Maybe I should get you to cook more often."
"You know, this is better than any spaghetti bolognese I have ever had." Rory said, shoving some more into his mouth.
Kari couldn't help but smile. "Thanks. Is yours okay, Amy?"
"It's lovely. You know, I love my Italian food."
A smirk formed on Kari's face. "Just how you like hot Italians. Good job you were a Roman for two thousand years, Rory."
Everyone at the table laughed and carried on eating. Kari was pleased that everyone seemed to be enjoying what she had made for them all. It was something she was always cooking at home, but it was always just for her a no one else. She thought it was nice to cook for other people for once.
By the time they had all finished, they were all stuffed and relaxed. Well, everyone except for Kari. She ran a hand through her hair, rubbing her head slightly and trying not to make it obvious what she was doing. Only the Doctor had spotted it. "Kari, what's wrong?"
She wanted to shake her head but knew that was a bad idea. "Nothing."
He let out a sigh. "You've got a headache coming on, haven't you?"
Kari closed her eyes and took a deep. "A bit, yeah." She should have seen this coming, she should have known that she was going to get a headache and end up jumping somewhere else.
"Come on." He said, getting up and holding out his hand for her.
As she got up and looking over at the Ponds. "Sorry guys. There's desert in the fridge, so help yourself. I'll see you guys later."
"We'll see you soon, Kari. Take it easy, yeah?" Amy said, coming over and giving her a quick hug.
Rory was next to hug her. "Try not to cause too much trouble." He whispered to her, before the Doctor led her out of the room.
She quickly found herself in the Doctor's room, and her head was spinning madly now. "Blimey, it's never been this bad before." She mumbled, gripping onto the Doctor tightly.
"I'll see you soon." He told her, pulling her closer and kissing her.
"Bye Doctor." She whispered, noticing the golden glow start to grow around her. She looked at him one last time before she was completely taken over and pulled away from one of the most normal days she had had in such a long time.
A/N: Thank you all so much for being so totally awesome. I love your reviews and that there are so many people out there reading and enjoying my story.
Now, quite a few of you have asked me when I'm going to be doing Doctors 1-8, the answer is… soon. I'm getting together a load of classic episodes, which is proving rather expensive, so that I can watch and write.
However, I don't think I will be posting those episodes in this story. I know there are a lot of people out there who haven't really seen Doctors 1-8, so I think it would be better to keep it as a separate story.
Let me know what you guys think on it. I will probably end up putting a poll up for it.
Also, to answer something else, the Doctor is soon going to meet Kari for the first time. This is one thing I have been working really hard on getting right.
Anyway, enough of my chatter, I have stories to write!
Pippa.