"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked Tasha as we strutted through a quiet little neighborhood, which Tasha claimed she recognized as her own. "What if they don't let you leave with us?"

"Then, as much as I might not want to, I'll have to stay." She frowned. "As much fun as exploring galaxies sounds, I love my parents and trust their judgement. If they think it's best for me to stay here and finish school, then that's what I'll do."

I sighed. "Well, that kind of sucks. Caring parents are way too overrated."

"I would have to agree with that," Amy smiled.

"I can't wait to even begin to explain to them," Tasha said sarcastically. "'Oh, hey mom and dad, sorry I was gone. I ran off with a strange man and his friends. Hope you don't mind.'"

The Doctor overheard this. "You see, this is why I suggested a simple telephone call. It would be much easier."

"Words of a coward, Doctor," I looked at him sternly.

"Hm. I suppose you're right." He lifted his hands up in surrender. "Bigger person. Right thing. I get it."

I looked over at Tasha. We had halted suddenly to a stop, and I wondered why. She nodded up at a large, green Victorian house.

"This is it," she said.

"Why, it's lovely!" The Doctor exclaimed, stepping ahead, towards the door. "Very homey."

He lifted a hand and poised his index finger over the lit doorbell, and I watched as he pushed it. A loud (yet muffled), singsong ringing could be heard, coming from inside.

"Coming!" A female voice said as someone approached the door. We heard something unlatch, then the door swung open before us, revealing a woman of average height that was unmistakably Tasha's mother.

"Oh, hello," she said. "Who are you?"

Tasha stepped out from behind us to greet her parent. "Hi, mum."

Her mother, whose name I could not remember for the life of me, looked at her daughter with wide eyes.

"Natasha Soul, where have you been? I get a text to go to your school with no explanation except for that I needed to say I was the one that reported those poor, poor people in the cafeteria, and you don't so much as call? Do you know how worried I was about you?"

With that, the yelling stopped and she pulled Tasha in for a hug.

The her eyes turned back to us.

"Tell me, Tasha, did these people kidnap you?" Mrs. Soul demanded. "You can tell me, it will be alright."

"Mom, do you really think they would bring me back if they had abducted me?" Tasha laughed. "These are my friends, they stopped the people that were killing everyone."

"Oh," Mrs. Soul still sounded doubtful. "Do they have names?"

"Hello," the Doctor greeted her in reply. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Amy, Rory, and Lena."

"Pleasure," Mrs. Soul muttered.

Tasha looked at us apologetically. "Why don't you guys come in?"

We all stepped in to the house, following Tasha as she led us to the kitchen.

"I'll make some tea," she said.

"You better be able to multitask then, because you have some explaining to do," Mrs. Soul said as she sat down with us at the large kitchen table.

"Right," her daughter replied as she started to fill up a kettle. "You see, this lot showed up in my classroom this morning, asking questions about the disappearing people."

I blinked. That was only this morning? Time really does pass when you're traveling. Literally.

"I wanted to help them figure out the case," my friend continued. "So I followed them when they went to look for suspects. After that, it was really rather a blur."

"Un-blur it, please."

"Mother, I don't really see how it matters. The real thing we should be discussing is what these people are." Tasha waved her hand in our general direction.

"What d'ya mean, 'what they are'?"

"Get this, mum, they're time travelers."

Mrs. Soul looked at us briefly before busting out laughing.

"I'm serious!" Tasha stamped her foot.

"Of course you are, darling," her parent said, still chuckling.

"I am. We just got back from seeing the Marilyn Monroe."

This only made Mrs. Soul laugh harder.

"If you would just listen," Tasha said desperately. "When you got to the school, did you notice anything strange about the bodies?"

"Except for the fact that they're insides seemed to be vacuumed out?"

"That, and their foreheads," Tasha added.

Mrs. Soul looked confused. "Their foreheads?"

"They had zippers on them, mother, didn't you notice?"

She thought back. "Now that you mention it, I do seem to recall something being attached to the foreheads, which weren't attached to the top of their head. A zipper would be an accurate explanation, but how would that be possible?"

"Aliens used those bodies as their disguises, mother."

Mrs. Soul sighed. "First time travel, now aliens? This is getting a little old, Tasha."

"Aliens are just as real as time travel is, ma'am," I heard Amy say.

Tasha's mom looked to the redhead. "So you must be the one who set her up to this, then. Well, I have time, so please humor me."

"My name is Amelia Pond," Amy said. "When I was a little girl, I had an imaginary friend, and when I grew up, he came back. His name's the Doctor," her eyes glanced at said Doctor, "and he has a blue box called the TARDIS that can travel anywhere in time and space. We've run away with him, and we've been running ever since."

"A TARDIS?" Mrs. Soul exclaimed. "What in the world is that?"

"A sort of spaceship, if you will," Amy said. "It's outside, if you don't believe me."

Mrs. Soul walked over to the front door as Tasha handed us all a mug of tea.

"How much are we going to tell her?" I asked the Doctor.

"As much as we have to, I suppose. It doesn't bother me any."

"Well, in that case." I stood up and joined Mrs. Soul.

"Follow me, I'll show you the inside," I told her, leading her to the police box.

"I don't understand. When did this get here?" she asked.

I ignored the question and reached in my pocket for my key.

"Try not to say what I know you're going to say, if you don't mind." I told her as I unlocked the blue door and swung it open.

"Excuse me?"

We walked inside, and I waited patiently as I heard her gasp and watched her eyes go wide.

"W-What in the world is this?" she asked me, astounded.

"It's the TARDIS, like we said."

"But-but it's bigger on the inside! How is that possible?"

I sighed. "I asked you not to say that." I walked up to the controls, running my hand lightly over the buttons and switches. "Alien technology, I guess you could call it."

Mrs. Soul narrowed her eyes at me. "Are you saying that that man, the Doctor, is an alien?"

"Yes, he is."

The dark-haired woman put a hand to her head, trying to take it all in.

"And this can really take you anywhere in the universe?"

"Anywhere."

She looked at me. "Could you show me?"

"What?"

"Prove it. Take me somewhere in time."

"I don't think that would be a good idea."

"It doesn't have to be anywhere fancy, just take me back to breakfast last week or something."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I can't. I don't think the Doctor would like that."

Mrs. Soul nodded, disappointed, and we turned to leave.

I jumped when I saw the Doctor himself standing in the doorway to the TARDIS, smiling at me.

"Good call, Lena." He looked at Mrs. Soul. "Do you believe us now?"

She nodded.

"They always do after they see her." He patted the door, and the three of us walked back inside.

"So you see, mother, I will be home schooled, so it's not that big of a problem."

"Home schooled by who?" Mrs. Soul, who I had found out went by the first name Leah, asked.

"Um, well," Tasha glanced at me for help.

So, obviously we hadn't thought this through enough.

"I'm a teacher," Amy blurted out. "In the real world. I tutor Lena. I'm sure it won't be any trouble to have Tasha join us."

I covered my mouth with my hand, trying not to laugh at the lie. I looked over at Rory to see if he was doing the same, but oddly enough, he wasn't. He didn't seem to find this at all out of the ordinary, as if he actually believed what Amy was saying. Strange.

Mrs. Soul looked to her husband, who had joined us about half an hour ago. He shrugged and said, "Well, I don't see anything wrong with her going, for a little while."

Leah sighed. Finally, she came to a decision. "Fine. You may go. On one condition: you take your sister."

Tasha groaned. "Mom-"

"I have to object to this," The Doctor said. "This isn't a family resort."

"Only for a day," Leah continued. "Then she can come back."

We all stared at The Doctor. I thought his answer would be a definite no, so I was surprised when he said, "One trip. That is it. Then she comes back. The TARDIS is getting too crowded."

Leah smiled, then yelled, "Iva! Come here, please!"

"Do I get to go, mom, do I get to go?" A little girl with straight brown hair asked joyfully as she bounced into the kitchen.

"For a little bit, yes." Leah shot her eyes at her oldest daughter. "But you better take care of her."

"I will," Tasha said reluctantly.

Iva cheered, then gasped.

We all turned to see what the matter was, and I noticed she was looking at... me.

"Bella! I haven't seen you in forever!" she squealed.

Oh, shit.

I tried not to panic as I felt everyone except for Tasha and her sister turn to me with confused expressions.

Tasha grabbed Iva quickly. "That's not Bella. Bella had red hair, remember?"

"No she didn't, she had br- Ow! Don't step on my foot!"

"Sorry," Tasha apologized. "She was really little then, when I had a friend named Bella. She just can't remember what she really looked like."

I waited tensely for The Doctor's reaction. To my immense relief, he shrugged it off. "Well, let's get this little girl to a new planet, shall we?"