They were once again walking along up the corridor and Jaime was explaining to Alexia how the TARDIS worked. "If ye want a certain room and dinnae want tae traipse halfway across the ship tae find it, all ye have tae dae is think 'bout it and she'll move the room closer tae ye!" Jaime said.
Alexia nodded, her eyes narrowed. "Right, I think I've got that." She uttered. She was still finding it hard to understand the strong Scottish accent her daughter was speaking.
"Like, if ye wanted the Library, all ye have tae dae is think of the Library." Jaime explained further, ignoring her mother's thoughts. "Or the Media Room, the Swimmin' Pool or even one of the many Garden Rooms. Watch this."
Alexia saw Jaime close her eyes and seconds after that a door appeared in the wall not too far away from them.
Jaime grinned. "There it is! C'mon." And she hurried over to the door, opening it and going inside.
Alexia sighed and followed her daughter into the room…and halted in her tracks at what she was seeing. It was as if they had walked onto a different planet. It was a meadow, but the sky and grass looked different to what she normally saw on Earth. In the distance she could see a herd of odd looking bird creatures.
"Where are we?" Alexia wondered as she looked around with wide eyes.
"Amanopia." Jaime said with a grin.
"Amanopia?" Why did that sound really familiar? She knew it wasn't anything she's seen on 'Doctor Who'. Unless… Alexia's eyes widened. "Amanopia!" She realised. "That was a made up planet on that episode of 'Tonight's the Night'. Are you telling me it's a real planet?"
Jaime shook her head. "Nae, it's no' real. Probably! The TARDIS created it for Bycky."
Alexia frowned. "Bycky? And what's that?" She asked and Jaime shook her head again.
"No' wha', who." She replied. "Bycky is a Krafayis." She pointed over at the herd of giant bird things. "She's with that herd of holographic Krafayis over there and she likes tae eat Speelfoxes."
Her mum's eyes were wide again. "You've got a Krafayis on the TARDIS? Does the Doctor know?" Alexia wondered if her daughter was keeping the giant bird creature as a pet? Jaime had always wanted a pet as a child, but it was a bad idea considering they moved around quite a bit.
"Aye, course he does," Jaime replied. "We rescued Bycky from certain death in the late 1800's France. And also 'cause she's blind!"
"Blind?" Then it all clicked into place for Alexia as she realised where the Krafayis came from "'Vincent and The Doctor'." She muttered before looking at her daughter. "You met Vincent Van Gogh?" Jaime nodded silently. "What was he like?" Alexia then asked.
To her surprise Jaime shook her head. "He was a nice fella but it was horrible tae be there. I'm extremely empathic and I even had all my shields up, but his emotions still bled through and they were jus' too much tae handle."
Frowning in thought, it made Alexia wonder how exactly these superpowers worked. "What do you mean?" She asked. "How do you mean 'it was too much'?"
But Jaime didn't provide an answer and instead turned away. "C'mon, I've got somethin' else tae show ye." She uttered, walking out of the planet-like garden.
Giving one last look at her surroundings, Alexia followed her daughter to another door and when they walked in she let out a snort of surprise. "It's Machu Picchu!" She exclaimed with a laugh.
Jaime nodded with a smile. "Aye, but tha's no' wha' I wanted tae show ye." She said and stood near the grassy cliff edge that overlooked the ancient Incan Citadel.
Alexia stared as Jaime began to squawk in an usual way. "What are you doing?" She asked her daughter, feeling very confused at this point.
"Jus' wait." Jaime replied and squawked again.
Feeling a tad uncomfortable over what her daughter was doing, Alexia looked around the garden and spotted several trees with purple-blue banana-like fruit growing off them. Whatever they were they certainly didn't look native to this garden.
"They're called Bayans. And they came from Metabelis 3." Jaime told her mother.
This only made Alexia angry and she was about to tell Jaime off for continuing to read her mind…until there was an almighty squawk. And it didn't come from her daughter. "What the hell was that?" She asked, eyes wide.
"Tha' was Falcor." Jaime replied.
In the distance she could see something red flying towards them.
"And what's Falcor?" Alexia asked, thinking of the dragon from 'The Never-ending Story'. Obviously, whatever it was, was another pet.
"Falcor is a Red Carnivorous Maw." Jaime replied.
The creature sounded familiar and Alexia remembered the Doctor saying he saved a world from a Maw in 'The End of Time'. And as it came closer she could see that it was huge. The Maw, Falcor, finally landed, and she could see that it's body was covered red feathers. It had a beak and wings, yet it's legs and tail were scaly like a dragon. It looked like a cross between a bird and a dragon.
She saw the Maw looking at her and took a nervous step back as Falcor pawed the ground in agitation, followed by an angry squawk aimed at her. But she watched as Jaime replied back with more squawks and she watched as it looked at her daughter, squawking back at her. Now she was fascinated and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Finally the Maw became less agitated, appeared to bow at her before sitting down. Jaime continued to pet and squawk at the Maw until she climbed up onto its back.
"So you can talk to animals?" Alexia checked, wondering why she hadn't noticed it before.
"Aye," Jaime replied while stroking the feathery head of Falcor. "I'm a Zoolinguist."
Alexia took a deep breath and shook her head. All this time! Soon she approached the Maw and stroked his feathery head.
Jaime sat up straight and her eyes widened as her mother interacted with Falcor, squawking at him. Then Falcor squawked back in reply. "Ma'!" She gasped in surprise. "Ye've got Zoolinguism as well!"
Her mum looked up with a faint smile. "Aye. You inherited it from me. I inherited it from your grandfather. He inherited it from his father, etc, etc. We come from a long line of zoolinguists going as far back as the 1600's." Alexia explained.
"But…ye've never really said anythin' 'bout havin' Zoolinguism. All this time and ye never said!"
A grim smile appeared on Alexia's face. "Because in the real world we're likely to be mocked and criticised. This ability to talk to animals is more like a burden than a help. Same thing with all your abilities."
Jaime shifted about on Falcor and jumped down to the ground. "Nae," she shook her head. "They've come in handy plenty of times, they make life easier and I know things faster." She shifted awkwardly on her feet. "Like how ye cannae understand wha' I'm sayin', no' tae mention ye hate the Scottish accent."
A gasp was heard from Alexia. "I don't hate your accent, Jaime. I know it's hard to understand but I certainly don't hate it."
Jaime snorted and rolled her eyes. "Tha's no' wha' ye said at Torchwood."
The woman groaned and turned away. "I didn't mean to say that. It's just something any old alcoholic would spout out," she looked back at her daughter who was now staring at her. "I didn't mean to say any of the things to you, the Doctors or anybody else!"
Jaime was still staring at her, looking shocked. "Since when have ye been an alcoholic?" She asked her mum.
Alexia frowned before going back over what she said. Then she smiled sadly once she realised what she'd said. "Ever since I gave birth to you." She answered her daughter's question and the look on her face made her feel guilty for saying so. "It wasn't easy bringing you up. It was hard, very hard. Especially with you having Brittle Bone disease at the time. I just couldn't handle it and I started drinking to feel better, to stop feeling so bloody useless all the time. Only it got out of hand and mum found herself looking after you around the clock.
Alexia sighed. She didn't mention that most of the drinking was because of her ex-boyfriend. The one that ran away at the mare mention of her being pregnant. "Finally dad had enough and he told me to pull myself together and if I didn't then he and mum would seek soul custody of you. I didn't much like the idea and it made me angry. Angry at myself for being so stupid and weak. But I had good parents and they helped me get better." A frustrated groan now came from Alexia. "Seventeen years I've been dry. I've never had a slip-up. Sure, there's been times I've wanted a drink but I didn't fall for the temptation. And then that goes arse-up with a couple of alcoholic bloody berries!"
Jaime had listened to all this whilst feeling all sorts of emotions. "Wow! I didn't realise I was such a burden tae ye!" She muttered bitterly and sat down on the ground with Falcor's warm feathery body against her back.
Alexia turned to her daughter with wide eyes. "No!" She said, shocked. "You were never a burden!"
"Doesnae feel like it!" Jaime muttered bitterly.
Alexia sat down next to her daughter and put her arm around her shoulders. "The only burden in this situation was alcohol addiction and Osteoperosis. You were the best thing to happen in my life and I wouldn't change a thing. I love you, you'll always be my Little Time Lady."
Jaime could feel her mum's love and that convinced her she was telling the truth. She smiled happily as she snuggled against her mother.
But she still had one thought on her mind. "If ye're really are havin' trouble understandin' me I can dial down the accent," Jaime offered. "What about this? How does this sound?" Her accent had softened to sound like somebody from Paisley.
Her mum smiled at this. "Yeah, that sounds good," she said. "Maybe you can do me a favour." She saw Jaime nod her head. "Can you not read my mind," Alexia requested. "Feel violated every time you do so."
Jaime's face turned red, embarrassed at such a request. "Okay, I won't." She replied. Though maybe she could figure out a way to keep her mum's mind protected.