"Organize yourselves into a single file line immediately."

Professor Borusa's command was met with a wordless shuffling of feet as the students made haste to follow it with as little noise as possible. Insolence and misbehaviour were not tolerated at all by Borusa, something that everybody knew all too well.

Theta and Aliya purposefully positioned themselves next to each other, and exchanged a grin before facing the front and listening to their instructions.

Every fifty years, a field trip was organized by the Academy to take the students across the mountains in a scenic route. It was to achieve a number of things: discipline, establish trust between peers, learn the geography of the mountains first hand, take their own samples which they would use back in the Academy labs, and to serve as a chance to visit the secondary city on the other side of the planet, Arcadia. Naturally, to physically cross a planet took a long time, despite their going by advanced hover crafts, it would take them five weeks, as much of the time would be used for resting, eating, observing and sample-taking.

Every hover craft was on autopilot, and were more like hovering carriages than crafts. It was four students to a craft, with the teachers in the front hover crafts. There were always great stories about the field trips, because it was very rare that Gallifreyans of Time Lord bloodlines got the chance to go out of the cities and into the wilderness. To stand on the actual ground, breath in the fresh, unfiltered air.

There were always some who found it too overwhelming, who couldn't handle being outside of the carefully controlled environment of the capitol. But those who could deal with it always spoke of the experience with a kind of reverence.

Aliya had no doubt she and Theta would be the latter.


Theta and Aliya had made sure that they were in a hover craft with Ushas and Drax, two people who amused them endlessly. Ushas wasn't so pleased by the arrangement; Aliya suspected she had secretly been hoping to be put with Magnus, since he was one of the only people she could stand.

Theta and Aliya sat across from the two of their friends and laughed as Ushas was reluctantly pulled into a story that Drax was telling her. Aliya lent against Theta happily and felt his arm wrap around her. Her head fit perfectly into the crook of his neck and she sighed with contentment.

Ushas pretended to gag in the background, but they paid her no attention. How could anything detract from the fact that they had over five weeks together, most of which was completely out of sight from any authority figures?

"All I will say is this," Ushas said after three hours, "we have five weeks in this thing. I've no idea if your relationship is sexual or not, and don't care to, but you have sex in this carriage, please make sure it's left in the same condition you find it in."

Aliya and Theta's faces immediately turned the scarlet colour of grass and they both put a half metre of distance between themselves.

"That's….just uncalled for, Ushas," Aliya spluttered, "we obviously aren't going to do anything of the sort."

"With the way that you two tend to make eyes at each other, you absolutely cannot blame me for wanting to take precautions," Ushas retorted, arching an eyebrow at them. "But I'm glad to hear it."

With that, she went back to her book on Organic Chemistry. Theta and Aliya, meanwhile, struck up a conversation with Drax, who was just grinning at how embarrassed they both still were.

"If you ever do want to... you know," Drax said to them, "feel free to come to me for advice. Since it can be a bit awkward getting your hands on educational material about that sort of thing, trust me."

Drax's being open - at least amongst his friends - about being occasionally involved in sexual activities, while not a new thing, never failed to make Aliya feel a bit uncomfortable. It just wasn't something one spoke about with anyone who wasn't a potential partner, but Drax insisted there was little reason to hide it.

If she had his lack of reservations, she would tell him that they didn't need advice, because she was experienced enough. She didn't know of Theta's personal experience, but had a distinct feeling that he had none.

"I appreciate the offer, but we won't be requiring advice from you," Theta said to him, and it was rather satisfying to see Drax's mild annoyance at not being able to tell if he was declining due to having experience or due to having no interest in sex at all.

"But thank you anyway," Aliya added.

Drax smiled at her, annoyance gone. "Any time, Ali."


A few days into the mountains, snow was all around them and had forced all of the young Time Lords-to-be to bundle up in thick coats over top of their robes. They hopped out of the carriages, the hundreds of sturdy regulation boots hitting the snow with echoing thuds across the plain where all the vehicles had stopped. All hair was tied back and bundled into the warm hats they were forced to wear, from the back, it was hard to determine the gender of someone through guesswork.

After being ordered to set off with their collection kits to gather snow and dirt samples from the mountains, the students dispersed in various directions, social cliques forming at the same time. Aliya found her eye wandering and saw a sour-faced Koschei trudging in the opposite direction from her group, completely alone. Their eyes met for a second, and his flashed with disgust before he turned away.

"What are you looking at?" Theta asked vaguely as he tried to follow her line of sight and failed. Aliya broke out of her daze, and shrugged as she held her hand to her eyes in an attempt to deflect the sunlight which was joyously bouncing off the snow all around them.

"Nothing…it's just…this place is beautiful. We don't usually get to see much natural beauty around here, we're usually stuck in the Citadel. I've never even felt liquid precipitation on my skin or seen it without a dome of glass in-between. We barely touch the world we live in," Aliya said quietly, wistful melancholy in her voice. Theta frowned as her words sunk in.

"You've never felt the rain?" he repeated. Aliya shook her head slowly, eyes watching him. "Who am I kidding, of course you haven't. The Deca went out one time as a group, we all wanted to see what it was like for different reasons. It was... well, to use a primitive word for it, magical."

The longing in Aliya's eyes only grew at his words. "Describe it to me, what it looks like, how it feels," she whispered, and his hand covered her own before lifting it between them, eyes tender and enlightened.

"It's like the sky is crying…you look up and all you can see are red clouds, and it hits your skin. It's not gentle, but it doesn't hurt or tickle. I could show you, if you like," Theta said softly as the fingers of his left hand travelled up to her temple questioningly only for Aliya to shake her head.

"No, it's something I want to experience fully…not halfway through somebody else's memories," She said firmly.

"Aliyanadevoralundar, promptly return yourself and my brother to the duty you are supposed to be performing before I am forced to report you to Borusa," came a familiar voice from nearby. Aliya and Theta whipped around to see Braxiatel giving them a pointed gaze of reprimand. The two youngsters ducked their heads.

"Yes, Lord Braxiatel, at once, sir," the blonde girl called out before they both turned around and made to join Ushas, Drax, Magnus and Mortimus, who were all some distance away.

As they walked, Theta craned his neck upwards to study the clear orange sky that sprawled above them and Aliya followed his gaze.

"One day, Ali, one day soon…I'm going to take you out into the rain," he promised sincerely, and Aliya beamed at him, thanking him excitedly as her hand settled in his, as it so often did. They joined the others, and pretended to be busy while Ushas and Magnus did all the work, though they tried not to gape like fish when Magnus said something that made Ushas laugh. Not her usual smug snicker of amusement, but a full-on hearty laugh.

Ushas. Laughing. Two previously mutually exclusive ideas that were now meeting in a bizarre fashion. Her eyes sparkled with disconcerting happiness that made Theta and Aliya exchange a look of disbelief that wasn't unseen by Ushas. Immediately, she reverted back to her usual self.

"What are you two gaping at?" she snapped, and they quickly shook their heads and wandered off, though they could hear her laughing with Magnus again as they did so.

Aliya's eyes flicked back towards where the rest of their friends were kneeling in the snow. "She seems to really like him…it's strange, because I always imagined her as a person who wasn't compatible with people in, well, any way…but that's such a ridiculous thing to think."

Theta laughed and looped his arm around her shoulders. "No, it's actually just the way everybody thinks about her, only that no one has come out and said it that simply before."

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"Only a little, I promise." His words were serious, and made her frown at him indignantly, in a way that came across far more endearing than threatening. He lightly pinched her nose, which was reddened from the cold, and grinned when she glared at him. "You shouldn't try to be frightening or intimidating, Ali."

Her eyes narrowed but the overall effect was similar to that of a kitten attempting to scare someone; it only made them cuter. "Stop looking at me like that," she said, "you're giving me the same look you give your Flubble when she does something incredibly adorable."

"Exactly." He grinned before kissing her to make sure that she didn't try to argue with him anymore. Immediately she melted as his gloved hands caressed her cheek – warming them up in the process – and her arms dazedly looped around his neck. He lifted her off of her feet and swung her around for the fun of it. Their blissful moment was ruined all too soon by Ushas, however.

"To anyone nearby who happens to be sucking someone else's face off," she said loudly with a clear intent, "they would do well to stop, as Borusa is making his way over here."

The effect was instant. The two of them froze and broke apart immediately. Theta fixed Aliya's hat as they walked, as it had gone askew and several curls of hair had fallen out, which he quickly rectified. Because they were not going to be caught by Borusa and separated for the entirety of the trip, which would surely be the punishment they would get.


Several weeks later, after much mischief, fun, and mass lectures, there was only a few days until they arrived at Arcadia, and the rules being enforced on them seemed to have less and less threat as they went. So at their next stop, Theta decided to wreak havoc by grabbing a bit of snow and throwing it at Ushas's turned back. She didn't give him the satisfaction of retaliating, however.

"I am not getting involved in your childish game, Sigma…it's primitive to get enjoyment out of throwing frozen water particles at others." With that she walked off, and Aliya and Theta just smirked.

Of course, it only took seconds for a full-on war to bloom, as the two of them - plus Drax and Mortimus - began launching balls of the snow at each other. Naturally, Aliya and Theta were determined to pummel each other, so Theta immediately picked Mortimus for the young man's tactical prowess, leaving Aliya with Drax. She was not in any way disappointed, as Drax was the most easygoing person she'd ever met and tended to make her laugh very nearly as much as Theta.

"So, Blondie, what's the plan?" he asked as they hid behind a giant rock.

"You take Mortimus and I get Theta," she replied with a glint in her eyes.

Drax smiled. "You know, I don't know why I bothered to ask."

"Neither do I, Drax, neither do I…" she murmured with a grin, before the full frontal assault began.

The two teams charged at each other with battle cries, and Aliya found herself immediately being pelted by balls of snow which all seemed to be coming from Theta. He was an incredibly good shot. For a good ten minutes, she and Drax managed to hold their own against their opponents, but slowly they were being driven back. Appearing from the sky, Theta bounded over a hill and flung snow at her from mid-air before landing a few feet behind her. She squealed in surprise at the unexpectedness of the attack, and the cold of the snow, and glanced over her shoulder before trying to run from him.

It didn't occur to either of them to think about the absence of Drax and Mortimus. Why would they? All that mattered was beating the other in the childish game.

Her hand was caught by Theta, and she was forced to slow as he pulled her towards him with a pleased smirk on his face. Before she could decide how to react, however, it was raining snow over her. Aliya flicked her eyes up to spot his hand sprouting above their heads, sprinkling the white ice all over them. She couldn't help but giggle. Everything he did simply seemed incredibly endearing to her, albeit a little eccentric.

But she wasn't done by a long shot. Bending over quickly enough to take him by surprise, she sent a snowball straight into his bewildered face. Laughing, and oh so satisfied, she bent to form another, only to have him grab her from behind and pull her against him.

"Let…me…go!" she said, as she tried and failed to wriggle out of his grip, while doing her best not to laugh.

"Why would I do that…when I can do this?" Theta firmly held her torso as he lifted her into the air, her legs kicking out in front of them like a helpless insect. Again, she squealed loudly.

"Theta…put me down, it's not funny." Naturally, her words were less believable when they were said between giggles, so her attempts at negotiation had rather backward results. "I am so going to…get you for this! Put…me…down!"

Her voice had little to no authority, but the one that followed it did.

"Yes, Theta. Put. Her. Down."

Borusa's powerful tones caused them both to jump out of their skin - Aliya hit the ground with a thump, and she nearly lost her balance due to how quickly she'd been dropped. Theta shot her an apologetic look as he set her right on her feet, before reluctantly meeting Borusa's eyes.

"Sorry, Lord Borusa," he said with surprising calm and a gracious smile, "she had a Tafelshrew on her foot, I was trying to help her flick it off, you see, sir." Aliya was unsure of whether to be impressed at his quick thinking or apprehensive at the somewhat unconvincing statement, but either way she appreciated the effort.

Borusa, probably due to a standing history of putting up with Theta's various bullshit over the decades, looked upon them with a distinctly unimpressed expression. "Don't insult my intelligence by fabricating ridiculous tales, Sigma," he said flatly.

"But it's true, sir, it simply came up and attacked her, and-" Theta's tale - which was only digging him into a deeper hole – was cut short by Borusa's interruption.

"Enough, Sigma," Borusa said so forcefully that they both snapped to solemn attention. "I'll see you both in my carriage, now."

"Sorry, sir." Theta ducked his head, apparently knowing when he was beaten, immediately the picture of repentence as the two of them began to follow their professor back through the snow.

"Tafelshrew?" Aliya whispered with disbelief as they walked. "Really? Of all the things, you go for Tafelshrew? They aren't found anywhere near here…everyone knows that!"

"I didn't see you coming up with any better ideas," he muttered back, and she promptly said nothing else on the subject. She really did have a tendency to criticize other people's ideas when she had offered none, she needed to stop doing that.

When they were in Borusa's carriage – a highly luxurious and spacious place, they noted – their professor sat down in his heavily cushioned chair, while gesturing at the seats opposite him. They obediently sat down and guiltily waited for their punishment to be given.

Borusa watched them with that gaze of his, stoic and piercing in a way that made one want to look away, even if it certainly wasn't the wise move. Aliya couldn't stand to have his eyes boring into her for another moment, however, and dropped her own to her lap. Theta, emboldened by his previous run ins with Borusa over behaviour, seemed to have no problem holding Borusa's gaze.

"Now, you must realize that you are here for several reasons. The first being a failure to complete the work given to you. Secondly: disruptive behaviour through noisy and rowdy physical activity. And thirdly: inappropriate physical contact."

Aliya glanced up at him at the last part, to find him looking at her with disapproval, and she flushed and looked back down at her hands.

"Do you accept these accusations?" They both nodded, but Borusa was apparently not satisfied. "Aliyanadevoralundar, I expect you to look me in the eye when I am talking to you."

Her head snapped up immediately, colour in her cheeks. "I'm sorry, sir. Yes, I accept the accusations," she blurted.

"It would be foolish of you not to, and besides, this isn't a trial, simply discipline," Borusa said coolly. "Theta Sigma, do you?"

"Not much point denying it, like you say."

"The two of you are to be in separate carriages for the remainder of the journey." The two young students nodded, having expected what they were going to get. They were not prepared for what came after, however. "And I shall be sending messages to the Houses of Arpexia and Lungbarrow to inform them of your behavior."

Theta and Aliya felt themselves freeze at their superior's words. For all their speculation on punishment, the one he had just named had not even crossed their minds. And considering that it was the most frightening possibility, they realized that they really should have done so.

Finally, the younger of the two found her tongue again.

"With all due respect, Lord Borusa," she said, trying to stop her voice from wobbling in fear, "I don't think that your contacting our Houses is necessary, as we only-"

"Miss Aliyanadevoralundar, do not advise me on how to execute punishments, especially not your own. I imagine that you are intelligent enough to see the flaw in that?"

Aliya stayed very still, partly because she was afraid that she would show her fear or say something to him that would only land her in more trouble. But her cheeks held a twinge of pink at his somewhat insulting mockery.

"Sir, all I meant was-"

"You continue to butt into conversations where your contribution would be better silent," Borusa interrupted, "take that as a warning." Aliya said nothing and eyed the floor pointedly. "That's an improvement already. I never thought that I would say this, but you could certainly learn a lot from Sigma in situations such as this."

Aliya's and Borusa's eyes both flicked to Theta, who was calmly meeting Borusa's gaze, having remained silent the whole time. Perhaps Borusa had missed it, but Aliya could see that Theta's ears were bright red. Being his best friend, she knew that this meant he was angry, regardless how well he was hiding it.

"Now, Theta has learnt his lesson through decades of practice. I hope very much that you will learn much faster." Borusa lifted an eyebrow at Aliya, and she nodded stiffly. "I am going to inform your parents of this incident, as well as the fact that the two of you are rarely seen apart, which I am sure they will be interested to hear."

Theta's mouth sailed downward into a frown, while Aliya took in a large breath, sharply. She stood suddenly, her small hands lightly shaking as her different coloured eyes met Borusa's grey ones.

"Permission to leave, sir," she said with quiet and forced calm.

"Granted," he said, after considering it for several moments. "Return to your carriage, and Theta Sigma shall be substituted with Magnus. As of tomorrow, you are not to interact with each other for the remainder of the trip."

Aliya gave a brief curtsy of respect before leaving the carriage and stepping outside, where the sun had done down and left the camp in darkness. She waited for just under half of a minute until Theta emerged, and wordlessly began to head back to the student carriages.

"Are you okay?" Theta asked, and Aliya came to a halt, which he mimicked. Her brows were furrowed, and frown lines creased the forehead of her youthful face.

"I'm - I just - my father, he-" She inhaled rapidly, and tried to stop the shiver which was rocking her entire body, the shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. Theta grabbed her hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze. She looked up at him with troubled eyes. "I'm afraid of what he's going to do. What he'll say."

"It'll be fine, I promise," He told her earnestly.

"You can't know that! No one can! It's okay for you, your parents actually know what the word sympathy means-"

"-you've never met them."

"I don't have to have done so to know that they are nowhere near as bad as my father."

"Ali, that's the worst that could happen?" His attempt to calm her only resulted in her becoming more agitated. She stared at him with disbelief and threw her arms into the air.

"Do you hear yourself? This is Gallifrey!" Aliya yelled the word into the night air as if it were a curse. "Home of the pompously frigid and supposedly noble morons who think that they have dominion over whoever and whatever they want!"

Instead of being deterred by her words, Theta gaped at her with awe, and a cheeky yet flawless smile spread across his face. "I don't think I've ever been more attracted to you than I am right now." His eyes were burning with both amusement and a strange longing.

Aliya stared at him with disbelief. "You're impossible." She began to walk away, but his long legs had no problem keeping up with her.

"I mean it, Ali!" he said earnestly as he walked alongside her and marched her quick strides her and matched her quick strides. "A girl who calls Gallifreyan nobles 'pompously frigid morons' is a girl after my own heart."

"You can keep your heart for now," the blonde replied coolly, ignoring his question completely.

"Ali-"

"No, Theta, I'm serious! I'm not in the mood, I'm really not, so if you're not going to take this seriously, then just…" She trailed off and looked into the night. "I'll see you at the Citadel. Send Magnus our way, will you?"

With that, she stormed off into the cool Gallifrey night, considering that Ushas would probably favour the new arrangement.


It was the day after their arrival back at the primary Citadel, and Aliya heard the knock on her door that she had been expecting.

"Come in," she called out, and the door opened to reveal Theta. She wasn't surprised, it was hardly going to be anyone else. Her eyes flicked down to her hair, which was braiding while sitting on her bed. "Hello," she said quietly without looking at him.

"Hello," Aliya felt him sit down on the bed next to her. "You look nice."

"You always say that," she murmured, but finally let her gaze rise to watch him.

"Because I always think so," Theta retorted, "Can I do your hair?"

Aliya raised her eyebrows as if she didn't believe him, and then when it became apparent that he was serious, put her long but unfinished braid into his hands. She scooted around that her back was to him and he had better access. As his long fingers deftly navigated the strands of hair like an expert, Aliya couldn't help but get curious.

"How do you know how to braid hair?" she questioned, and heard him chuckle. "I thought you'd never really had it much longer than you do at the moment."

"I was forced to learn once."

"Why were you forced to learn how to braid hair?" It was such a strange concept, and she could imagine his amused smirk from behind her.

His voice was utterly serious when he replied. "It's a story I swore never to tell." There was a short silence before they both burst into fits of laughter. The tension between them lifted within seconds and his arms wrapped around her from behind. She sighed as she leaned into him and his nose buried itself into her hair, which he had hastily tied.

"I'm sorry," Aliya ventured after a while, and his arms paused in their gentle stroking of her arms.

"So am I," he replied after another few seconds.

"No, but really…I was so rude to you."

"But I wasn't taking you seriously. Let's both take the blame and leave it at that. I'm listening now…so you're scared. Elaborate." He gently kissed her neck while she began to talk.

"I'm scared of my father…you know that. When you went to him about Koschei, he threatened to move me to the Arcalian Academy." Her voice trembled but was silenced by the masculine hand that covered her lips.

"He can't do that. You're a Prydonian, you have to attend this Academy, you're not legally allowed to transfer," Theta assured her gently.

"Are you sure?"

"I took Gallifreyan Law for a few years. Worst mistake I ever made, but…"

"Thank you," Aliya whispered. "You always know the right thing to say."

Theta turned her around to face him and brushed a golden strand of hair out o her face. "Sometimes it's better to just not say anything at all."

With that he kissed her with the utmost tenderness, and her hands cupped his face. His kisses peppered her face and she giggled before letting a yawn slip out. He pulled away abruptly.

"You're exhausted," he remarked, and she shook her head decidedly.

"No, I'm fine," she protested, but his lips silenced her again. His arm slipped underneath her legs so that he could lift her up and put her up at the pillows of her bed.

"Sleep," he chided, and she shot him a resigned smile as she slipped underneath the covers of her bed. He tucked her in as if she were a child, and kissed her forehead. Her irritated expression couldn't hold, and she laughed before grabbing onto his hand.

"Stay," Aliya asked with a soft smile, which he mirrored without hesitating. She moved along so that he could slide in next to her, and he immediately wrapped his arms around her.

"Good night, Ali," Theta said.

"Good night, Theta."

They fell asleep in tandem, but it didn't stop Aliya from having an unsettling sleep plagued by dreams of her father, enraged. She shuddered in her sleep and feared what the morning might bring.