A/N: Another week, another chapter with a few possible errors, for which I do apologise. As you can see, we are moving on, but what surprises do I have in store for you all?
"Please let me be back in the TARDIS." Kari whispered to herself, waiting for her head to stop pounding so much. "Please, please, please, let me be back with the Doctor." That was all she wanted now, she wanted to be back in the TARDIS with her Doctor, she couldn't cope with seeing a young Doctor and Master together again, not yet. It wasn't that she didn't like them and didn't want to see them, it was just because she needed to sort her head out a little.
Suddenly she felt a pair of arms around her and she froze, not knowing who it was or where she was. And then she heard it, the humming coming from the magical and impossible ship, and she knew she was home. "Hello, Kari." The familiar voice of the Doctor whispered into her ear, before his lips pressed against her cheek.
In one swift movement, Kari twisted herself around and threw her arms around him, letting out a long sigh of relief as she did. "I've missed you so much, Doctor. I have missed you so, so much." She told him, holding onto him tightly. Although she had enjoyed her time with the young Doctor and Master, he hadn't been her Doctor, not yet at least.
The Doctor seemed a little surprised at her reaction, but tried to mask his slight confusion. "I've missed you as well. You know it's never the same when you're not here, no matter how long or short the time is."
Kari knew that he didn't understand why she was feeling like that, and she didn't really know if she could tell him either. She looked up at him, and she couldn't help but smile at him as she run her fingers through his rather amazing hair. "Totally missed this hair as well." At that point, the Doctor blushed, and Kari took that opportunity to crash her lips against his, just to surprise him even more.
"Oi, when are you going to find me a decent bloke?" A certain mouthy red head shouted a few minutes later, causing the pair to break apart.
While the Doctor tried to control the red tint on his cheeks, Kari just smiled at him. "Yeah, definitely missed that as well." She told him, before spinning around to face her friend. "How you doing, super temp?" Kari asked, wandering over to Donna and giving her a hug.
"Ah, not bad, same old really. What about you, what have you been up to?" Donna asked her, while the Doctor crept up behind Kari and wrapped his arms around her.
"Yes, where have you been and why were you pleading to be back in the TARDIS?" Of course the Doctor had heard her, and it made him curious as to where she had just been.
Kari had hoped that he wouldn't ask her that, because she really didn't know what to say to him. "I… uh, I've… been around." She told him, before realising what she still had hanging around her neck. Kari knew that the moment he saw that he would know exactly where she had been.
Unfortunately for her, the Doctor had seen it before she had time to tuck the locket under her top. "There's no point hiding it, I've already seen it." He told her, letting out a sigh as he dropped his arms from around her. "I know where you've been."
"I… I didn't have a choice, I didn't know where I was going or how long I was going to be there for." Kari told him in protest, not knowing if he was angry, upset, or just disappointed with her. "What was I meant to do?"
The Doctor just wandered around the console and flicked a few switches before pausing. "I know." He ended up saying quietly, Kari only just able to hear him.
But to Kari, it felt like he was disappointed with her. "Doctor, I know it was hundreds of years ago for you, but think back to that time, think about that time when you found me under that tree, when I was angry and upset." She hoped that he could remember it, that he could remember how upset she, because of how scared she was. "I just wanted to be back here, with you."
She watched as he let out another sigh, and she wondered what was going through his head. "Yeah, I do remember." He told her, before turning and facing her. "You were huddled up on the ground, crying. You didn't even notice when I walked over to you, you were too upset."
"I was scared, Doctor, I was really scared." Kari admitted to him, completely forgetting that Donna was in the room with them. "I had no idea how much damage I would do by being there, I still don't know. You were there, but you didn't know me, you had no idea who I really was, and then he was there, and you were friends, best friends. Neither of you knew who I was, and I couldn't say anything, I couldn't tell you that I knew you both so far in the future, that I knew exactly what would happen, that I knew exactly who you would both grow up to be. I had to hold it all in, I had to be careful with what I said, with what I done." She was starting to ramble now, and somewhere along the way, tears had begun to form in her eyes. "You were right there, right beside me, but it wasn't you."
The Doctor walked over to her and gently rested his hands on her shoulders. "Kari, just stop. Just stop, and breathe." He told her, trying to calm her down. "I know you were scared, and I know that you were upset when you realised you were back at that tree, again. But it's over now, Kari, you are back here." He was trying to reassure her, to get her to calm down, but he had said something that had completely messed that up.
"It's not over, Doctor, and you know it. I'm going to eventually go back there, this isn't all over and done with. One day I'm going to be pulled back there, and then what?" All of those things she had been worrying about when she had been there were just flooding back to her now. "What if I've already made things worse? What if it was me that made him that way?"
Even though she kept saying 'him' the Doctor knew exactly who she was referring to. "Kari, he could have been like that anyway. He went mad the moment he looked into the untempered schism."
But Kari simply shook her head at him. "He's not mad, he was never mad. That sound, that drumming, that has never been his fault. What if it was because of me? You remember what he was like in that year, you know what happened." That was the year that she was never going to forget, for many different reasons.
"Kari, it had nothing to do with you. He was always going to be like that, no matter what. In a way, you used to make him better, you never made things worse." The Doctor told her, hoping that he could get through to her. "Listen, I know you didn't have a choice in going there, and I'm sorry for the way I acted when I worked out where you had been. It's just…"
She looked up at him and gave him a sad smile. "Memories?" He nodded at her in return, before reaching up around the back of her neck to undo the clasp of the chain, only to be stopped by the Doctor.
"You don't have to take it off. I know that you don't hate him, and you never will hate him, because that just isn't who you are." He told her, pulling her hands back from around her neck and holding onto them in front of her. "Now, how about we try this again. Hello, Kari." The Doctor said, before lightly pressing his lips against hers. He hadn't meant for things to get tense in the TARDIS, and he hadn't meant to upset his Kari either.
"Uh… hi, Doctor." Kari managed to mumble in response, now with some rather red cheeks.
"Aww, you both kissed and made up." Donna said, grasping their attention. "Well, now that the drama is all out of the way, where are we going?" It was clear that she wanted to help the Doctor to change the mood that was lingering in the ship.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, before planting a quick kiss on the top of Kari's head before dashing around the console. 'Where do you want to go? Anywhere, anywhere, it is all right here. Actually, I know the perfect place to go." He said, before setting the coordinates into the console.
Kari bounced around the console, only stopping when she was standing right next to the Doctor. "And where might that be then, Doctor, dear?" She was curious, and excited as well. It was hard for her to determine how long she had been on Gallifrey for, it was even harder since she had been jumping around, and she was so ready for another adventure.
"Oh, you'll find out when we get there." The Doctor told her, beaming away at her like he always did. "Ready?" Kari nodded at him, a smile on her face, and he looked over at Donna. "Hold on tight." He called, before pulling down the lever and sending them hurtling through the time vortex.
Kari had to admit, it was definitely good to be back in the TARDIS, and to not be dragged through the vortex. She didn't care about the shaking and almost being thrown off her feet, she really didn't care that she had to hold on for dear life, she loved the TARDIS, and she always would.
A few moments later, and everything went still and silent. Both Kari and Donna were excited, and they just couldn't wait to get out there and see where they were. Kari's eyes were just filled with anticipation and excitement, and the Doctor couldn't help but smile at that. He was just glad to see that she was happy, and that she was able to get past everything that had just happened.
"Come on then, let's go see where we are." Kari ended up calling, dragging the Doctor towards the door and latching onto Donna along to way. "I'm warning you, Doctor, this better be totally amazing or I am going to be seriously unhappy."
All the Doctor could do was roll his eyes while Donna laughed a little as they were dragged out of the doors to the wooden blue box. Kari carried on pulling them out, barely giving Donna time to close to doors before the Doctor pulled away a large piece of cloth that was hanging and obscuring his view.
"Fish! Get your fresh fish!" A man shouted, while the Doctor just grinned madly.
"Ancient Rome!" He exclaimed, watching as both Kari and Donna seemed to be rather impressed. It was easy for him to see that Kari was happy, she was smiling away and her eyes were sparkling more than normal. "Well, not for them, obviously. To all intents and purposes, right now, this is brand new Rome." He rattled off, too excited to notice the way that Kari's smile faltered a little.
Even Donna was excited. "Oh, my God. It's… it's so Roman." The red head commented as they started walking through the street. They were in the middle of a market place, with people bustling around. "This is fantastic." She added, before pouncing on both Kari and the Doctor and hugging them both tightly.
The Doctor let out a slight laugh, while Kari forced a smile on her face. She knew exactly where they were, and she knew it wasn't good. "Well, of course it's fantastic, I always demand a minimum of fantastic for all of my friends, trust me." Kari ended up saying, hoping that neither of them would pick up on her nervousness that was starting to make an appearance.
"I'm here. In Rome." Donna said as they started walking again. "Donna Noble, in Rome! This is just weird. I mean, everyone here's dead." Kari couldn't help but let out a groan.
"Well, don't go telling them that." The Doctor said, taking a tight hold of Kari's hand and giving it a slight squeeze.
But that was when Donna noticed something over the Doctor's shoulder. "Hold on a minute. That sign over there is in English." She pointed over to one of the stalls and the sign that was clearly not written in Latin. "Are you having me on? Are we in Epcot?"
The disappointment was written all over her face, and all the excitement had completely left her. "No, no, no, that's the TARDIS translation circuits." The Doctor ended up explaining to her. Just makes it look like English. Speech as well."
"We're talking Latin right now." Kari said at exactly the same time as the Doctor, which resulting in him smiling at her even more while Donna let out a groan, but with a smile on her face as well.
"Seriously? I just said 'seriously' in Latin." Now all of her excitement was back and Kari was just waiting for her to start bouncing around again.
Even the Doctor seemed pleased with how excited Donna was getting again. "Oh, yeah." He assured her, before they once again started moving through the streets. They were still rather close to the TARDIS, but Kari couldn't help but glance around every now and again.
And then another idea came to Donna. "What if I said something in actual Latin? Like, 'veni, vidi, vici'? My dad said that when he came back from football. If I said veni, vidi, vici, to that lot, what would it sound like?" Only one person could come up with something like that, and it would have to be Kari's super temp.
Lucky for Kari, the Doctor was ready to make a comment instead, "I'm not sure. You have to think of difficult questions, don't you?"
All it did was fuel Donna's excitement. "I'm going to try it." She told the pair, before heading off to one of the vendors.
While she was gone, the Doctor took the chance to check on Kari. "Are you all right? You seem a little too quiet." There was a frown on his face as he spoke to her, because he really was worried. He knew that when she was quiet, it usually meant that either something was wrong, or she was thinking about something.
Kari looked up at him and smiled, doing her best to mask what was really going on inside her head. "I'm okay, just glad to be back with you." She told him, leaning against his arm slightly. "I didn't know how to handle being there, I never expected to go there."
The Doctor let go of Kari's hand and instead wrapped his arms around her. "I know, I'm sorry. I should have warned you where you were going, but I wasn't entirely sure back then. I had a feeling, but I didn't know if I was right. I'm sorry, Kari." She knew that he was sorry, there was no doubt about it, and of course she forgave him for it all.
"How's he mean, Celtic?" Donna asked, causing the pair to glance over at her.
"Welsh. You sound a little Welsh to him, Donna." Kari told her, knowing that was what the Doctor would have said.
The Doctor simply smiled. "There we are, learnt something."
"Anyway, come on, I want to explore a little, not stand around in a market all day long." She wanted to get moving, she wanted to get to the adventure part. Kari couldn't explain why, but she had really missed all the running, the rush of adrenalin when they were running for their lives. At one point she really didn't like it much, but now she did.
The trio began to walk away from the part of the market that they had arrived in, Kari basically taking the lead. At one point she turned her head and glanced backwards, noticing the woman with the painted face and the red cloak that was covering her. She was watching them, just like Kari knew she would, and the woman would soon follow them.
"Don't our clothes look a bit odd?" Donna soon pointed out, looking at the things that everyone else was wear and then looking down at her own clothing.
Kari actually looked down at her own clothes, and wished that she had changed before they had left the TARDIS. She had been wearing the same things for far too long in her opinion, and she could certainly do with a nice hot bath. "We're in Ancient Rome, and you're worried about our clothes?" Kari replied, knowing that their clothes were the least of their worried while they were there.
"Ancient Rome, anything goes. It's like Soho, but bigger." The Doctor added, still just smiling away. He had no idea that Kari was starting to worry, he hadn't noticed the way that her eyes kept flickering all over the place.
"Have you two been here before, then?" Donna wondered, due to the way the Doctor was casually strolling around like he knew the place like the back of his hand, and the way that Kari wasn't jumping around at the sight of everything.
Kari was just waiting for the Doctor to answer, because she knew exactly what he was going to say. "Hmm, ages ago. Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with us." He told her, before correcting himself. "Well, a little bit. But we never got the change to look around properly. Coliseum, Pantheon, Circus Maximus. You'd expect them to be looming by now. Where is everything?"
It was clear to see that he was a little baffled, and Kari was ready to take the lead. "Spoilers!" She sung, warning him that she hadn't been to Rome before. "Anyway, why don't we have a look this way?" She told the pair, tugging at the Doctor's arm and waiting for Donna to follow as well. She knew where to go and look, she knew what the Doctor needed to see.
After a few more turns around the corners of buildings, and dodging of local people, the three of them made it to the piazza where they had a much better view of their surroundings. Kari was the first to notice it, and Donna was quick to catch on as well. "I'm not an expert, but there's seven hills of Rome, aren't there?" She asked, looking at the huge mountain that they could see from where they were standing. "How come they've only got one?"
Before either Kari or the Doctor had a chance to answer, everything around them began to shake. The locals all seemed rather used to it, and they quickly got into positions, the traders and vendors protecting their stalls and the goods that they had, while everyone else tried to keep themselves standing.
"They haven't got one hill, Donna, they've got one mountain with smoke. If we put everything all together, we end up with…" Kari said, looking towards the Doctor, knowing from the wide eyes he had while staring up at the smoke billowing from the top of the mountain.
"Pompeii. We're in Pompeii." He breathed, unable to believe the mistake that he had made. "And it's volcano day." His grip on Kari's hand tightened, and she knew that he was about to start freaking out. "Come on, we need to get back to the TARDIS." Neither Kari nor Donna had the chance to reply, as the Doctor was already running, charging through the streets and taking Kari with him.
She didn't protest, there was nothing that she could do just yet anyway. All Kari could do was stick with the Doctor and wait until the time came for her to step in and make her mark. As soon as she realised where they were, she had started forming different plans in her head, not all that would work, but she was definitely trying.
They made it back to where they had left their magical blue box, and straight away the Doctor's face fell. "You're kidding." Donna managed to say, trying to catch her breath. "You're not telling me the TARDIS has gone." Just like the Doctor, she was staring at the spot where the blue box should have been waiting for them, only it was empty, there was nothing there at all.
"Okay." The Doctor told her, his eyes still fixed on the spot where the box had once been.
But Donna was actually waiting for an answer. "Where is it then?"
Kari just looked over at her innocently while the Doctor racked his brains, trying to figure out what could have happened. "You told him not to tell you."
"Oi! Don't get clever in Latin." Donna warned her, wagging a finger at her. "It's bad enough when he does it, don't you start as well."
Before Kari had a chance to respond, the Doctor was dragging her off and over to the vendor that Donna had spoken to earlier, the man selling mainly fruit and vegetables. "Excuse me! Excuse me, there was a box, big blue box, big blue wooden box, just over there." The Doctor told the man all in one breath. "Where's it gone?"
"Sold it, didn't I?" The vendor replied, a nice big grin on his dirty and sweaty face.
"But it wasn't yours to sell." Kari could see that the Doctor was starting to panic, but she remembered to stay calm, because she knew that they would get the TARDIS back, she knew that it wasn't far away.
"It was on my patch, weren't it? I got fifteen ses thirty for it. Lovely jubbly." It was clear by the way that he was rubbing his hands together that he was rather pleased with himself and how much he had gotten for the blue wooden box.
But the Doctor was less pleased. "Who'd you sell it to?" He needed to know, because he needed to go and get it back, otherwise they would be stuck there.
"Old Caecilius. Look, if you want to argue, why don't you take it out with him? He's on Foss Street, big villa, can't miss it." The man told them, before getting back to his goods.
The Doctor quickly said thanks before charging off, dragging Kari with him. "Stop dragging me around." She ended up moaning, knowing that he probably didn't realise how much he was pulling on her arm all of the time. She didn't mind if they were running for their lives, but they weren't, they were only hunting down the TARDIS.
The Doctor stopped suddenly, causing Kari to almost run into him and knock him over. "Sorry." He muttered to her, before lightly pressing his lips against hers. "Hang on, just a sec." She watched him dash back over to the vendor, and she knew what he was going to say next. "What'd he buy a big blue wooden box for?" The Doctor asked the man while Kari rolled her eyes.
"Doctor! Come on, we have to go now." She shouted at him, getting his attention. "Are you really sure you want me to find you a bloke, Donna? They are nothing but trouble." Kari told her friend while they waited for the Doctor to get back to them. "Take that my mad man for example, absolutely nothing but trouble."
"Right, Foss Street. Which way is Foss Street?" The Doctor asked as he came back, looking around him and trying to decide which way they should be going.
Donna was looking around as well, at all the people that were going about their normal day, and Kari knew what was going through her head. "Tell you what, we'd probably have more luck if we split up." The red head suggested, causing Kari to just look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Cover more ground. I'll go this way."
Kari opened her mouth before the Doctor could. "Okay, go for it. Stay out of trouble, meet you back here." She told her, before watching as her friend ran off. Kari knew that Donna wasn't going to find Foss Street, she was going to find something else, and that was a whole other situation that Kari was not looking forward to dealing with. "Come on, Doctor, no point standing here when we have a TARDIS to find." She told him, dragging him along for once.
"What was that all about with Donna?" He knew hi Kari, and he knew when something wasn't quite right.
"Nothing, I just have a feeling that she isn't entirely focused on finding the TARDIS right now." Kari admitted to him, but deliberately making it seem like she had no idea what was going on inside of Donna's head. "Anyway, that's not important, finding the TARDIS is."
The Doctor simply rolled his eyes, before latching onto Kari's hand tightly and giving her a gentle tug to get her to start moving. The pair of them ended up running through the streets of Pompeii, looking for a certain street and a certain villa. Kari wouldn't admit it, but she was actually rather excited, because there was a certain face that she as going to see.
"Doctor, there it is, Foss Street." She called to him, dragging him back with her a few steps so that he could take a look for himself.
A smile stretched across his face. "Oh, brilliant! Come on, we need to go and find Donna." It didn't take them long to get back to the spot where they had split up, and the made it there just as Donna came charging towards them. "Ha, I've got it. Well, We've got it, Kari found it. Foss Street's this way." The Doctor told her, ready to go back and get the TARDIS.
"No. Well, I've found this bog sort of amphitheatre thing." Donna explained, still trying to catch her breath. She had been running around just as much as the Doctor and Kari had. "We can start there. We can gather everyone together. Maybe they've got a great big bell or something we could ring. Have they invented bells yet?"
The Doctor just looked at her as if she had totally lost her mind. "What do you want a bell for?"
"To warn everyone. Start the evacuation. What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?" This was what Donna had been thinking about, the volcano erupting and all of those people who would be there when it happened.
The look on the Doctor's face quickly turned serious. "It's 79AD, twenty third of August, which makes volcano day tomorrow." Kari could tell by his tone that he wanted to be out of there by the time the volcano went off, he wanted to get out of there as soon as they found they TARDIS.
But, as always, Donna had other ideas. "Plenty of time. We could get everyone out easy." She said, looking at the Doctor and then Kari. Kari could only smile at her sadly, because she knew what was to come, and although she wanted to change it all, she didn't know how. She didn't want all of those people to die, but she knew that the Doctor would never listen to her.
"Yeah, except we're not going to." The Doctor said, grabbing a hold of Donna's wrist, not wanting to talk about the subject anymore.
Donna quickly stopped him, wrenching her hand free. "But that's why you do. You're the Doctor, you and Kari save people." Kari could see the disappointment in her friends eyes and she wished there was something that she could do.
"Not this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens." The Doctor tried to explain to her. "There is no stopping it."
Kari could feel the tension in the air, and it was making her feel rather uncomfortable. She knew what had to happened, she understood where the Doctor was coming from, but she also understood what Donna was saying and how she was feeling.
"Uh, says who?" Donna asked him, trying not to lose her temper.
The Doctor was quick to answer her, really not in the mood for an argument. He wanted to get them out of there as quickly as he could, he needed to get Kari out of there as quickly as he could. He knew they were in danger by being there, and he had to get her safe. That was his number one priority. "Says me."
It was plain to see that the red head was slightly shocked by his attitude. "What, and you're in charge?"
"TARDIS, Time Lord, yeah." Kari could only let out a sigh as the Doctor started to lose his temper a little. She knew that things were now going to go from bad to worse, because his attitude was going to set off Donna's.
"Donna, human, no." The red head replied, with even more attitude than the Doctor had given her. "I don't need your permission. I'll tell them myself."
The Doctor's grip on Kari's hand tightened a little as he took a step closer to Donna. "You stand in the market place announcing the end of the world, they'll just think you're a mad old soothsayer." He said, earning a whack around the head from Kari and a very firm glare.
"You two, stop it. Right now." She warned the both, knowing that they were being watched, knowing that someone had just heard what the Doctor had just said about soothsayers and them being mad. "This is not the time or the place to be having this conversation."
Her comment caused Donna to glare at her, and the Doctor smile. Neither of them knew that she was arguing with herself on the inside about what the right thing to do was. "Thank you, now come one. TARDIS, we are getting out of here." The Doctor said, turning on his heel and walking away form Donna with Kari right beside him.
"Well, I might just have something to say about that, Spaceman!" Donna shouted after them both before following after him, not noticing the woman in red that was crouched down on the steps, trying to hide from the trio.
"Oh, I bet you will!" The Doctor managed to call back to her, not bothering to stop or to even wait for her to catch up. His mind was set on getting the TARDIS and getting out of there.
The woman who had been following them, and watching them closely, stood up and covered her eyes with her hands, revealing the wide eyes that had been drawn on her hands. "The tall one, he calls us mad, and the golden haired girl defends us."
Inside one of the man temples, a woman had heard her, and she also had her hands covering her eyes. "Then they are strangers to Pompeii. Soon, he will learn." The woman said, before removing her hands as another woman spoke.
They were all dressed in red, and all of them had the same painted features on their faces and hands. "We have found it, Sister Spurrina, in the thirteenth book of the Sibylline Oracles. The blue box. A temple made of wood." The women gathered around and looked at the scroll that was being unravelled. "And yet the Sybil foretold that the box would appear at the time of storms, and fire, and betrayal."
"Sisters…" An old and weary womans voice called, grasping the attention of them all.
"Reverend Mother, you should sleep." The woman that had been called Sister Spurrina said to the woman hiding behind the curtains that surrounded what looked like a bed.
"The Sibylline Oracles are wrong."
Sister Spurrina seemed taken back by that comment. "But we have venerated her words for generations."
"This is a new age. Heed my words. I predict a future of prosperity and might. An endless empire of Pompeii, reaching out from this city to topple Rome itself and encompass the whole, wide world. If the disciples of the Blue Box defy this prophecy, their blood will run across the temple floor." As the Reverend Mother finished speaking, the whole temple began to shake and the sisters declared that the gods approved.
A/N: What is Kari going to do? How is she going to feel when she see's the Doctor's future face? Why am I asking so many questions when I alreayd know the answers?
I want to say a big hello and welcome to everyone who has favourited/followed the story recently, I hope you keep enjoying it. And for you very, very special people who take the time to leave a review, thank you all so much, they are awesome and so are you!
I shall keep this short and sweet, since I have now been up for a total of 27 hours and will probably pass out at some point in the near future. Goodnight to you all! Or good morning, or good afternoon.
Until the next time my dears...