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Disclaimer: Trust me, if I owned either Inuyasha or Doctor Who, you would know.

—The Palace—

"So, let me get this straight," Kagome began as she strode alongside the Doctor on their way to the city's center. "We're going to the palace to do some investigating on what happened to Tarala, Misipia's true Queen?"

The Doctor simply nodded. "Yep."

She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I…" she trailed off, terribly confused.

"You're wondering why we're getting involved," the Doctor surmised, not pausing for a confirmation. "Tarala could be in serious trouble…" he pointed out and he eyed her speculatively, as if waiting. "She might need help, Kagome. Are you saying we should just stay out of it?"

Kagome stiffened, halting in place and snagging the Doctor's arm as she did so. He whirled around, his eyes widening in surprise. "Of course not!" she snapped, indignant. "I just…" She made a frustrated noise. "I'm just wondering, is this okay? I mean, it's not our time… we're not really supposed to be here, so who's to say this isn't supposed to happen, y'know? What if getting involved messes up something big in the future?"

"Oh," the Doctor muttered suddenly, blinking. "You're worried about the effects of us meddling?" he said with a touch of wonder. "Well, that's a switch."

Kagome only stared at him blankly, waiting for him to start making sense.

The Doctor chuckled and swooped low, grabbing Kagome by the shoulders. "You can relax, I'm a Time Lord—this is what I do! I know what I'm doing, so no need to worry so much."

Kagome rolled her eyes, scoffing in amusement. "So that's what being a Time Lord means? You're a professional meddler?"

The Doctor gave her a wide grin, one that was cheeky and full of teeth. "Pretty much!" he chirped, and he gave her shoulders a squeeze. "Shall we go save a queen-to-be then?"

Kagome couldn't help but return his grin with one of her own. "Why not?" she said, trying for nonchalance. "I'm on an alien planet billions of years into my future. Might as well go all out."

If it was even possible, the Doctor's grin widened and his eyes lit up. "Well then," he announced brightly as he released her shoulders. He reached out low, snagging her hand with his, and Kagome blinked in mild surprise as his long, slender fingers wrapped around her own and tugged her along. Her lips curled. "Allons-y!"

o.O.o

It didn't take them long to get an idea of what happened after a bit of questioning. After the Doctor smuggled them in with his psychic paper, claiming that they were the directors of the decoration crew, they had managed to find Tarala's younger sister in the palace gardens.

Farana, who was a sweetheart and rather young, was completely innocent in the matter of her older sister's disappearance. The only guilt she held was her own for taking her sister's place when Tarala was the one who deserved the crown.

What tipped off their suspicions was when Farana mentioned their uncle.

"Truly, I would be completely lost if it wasn't for Uncle. Tarala was always meant to become Queen—she's had all the training since she was named heir. She's had so many ideas in place, so many changes she wanted to bring to Seriza and Mispia as a whole…"

Farana let out a sad sigh. "Uncle was kind enough to step in and take the brunt of the responsibilities while I try to learn as much as I can as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, as much as I want to follow in Tarala's aspirations for Misipia, he said that the changes would be better put on hold because of the unrest my sister's disappearance has caused. Considering the changes are a bit radical, they wouldn't be well received from someone like me—someone so new and inexperienced."

"Your uncle," Kagome wondered idly, and the Doctor and Farana turned to her curiously. "Did he agree with the changes Tarala wanted to bring?"

Farana paused, biting her lip. Nervously, she tucked a stray strand of silver hair behind her ear. "Well," she murmured softly. "Not all of them," she admitted, and her voice dropped to a whisper, her purple eyes wide and round. "I love my Uncle," she told them honestly. "I never knew my father, not like Tarala, and he helped raised us since… But sometimes, I could hear them yelling from my room. I couldn't understand what they were fighting about, but I could only assume it was over the changes Tarala had planned."

At that, the Doctor's face had smoothed over to that of charming respect as he thanked Farana for her time, congratulated on her oncoming coronation, and extended his sympathies for her sister's disappearance and his hopes for her to be found soon safe and sound.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the Doctor asked Kagome as soon as they left the gardens, all but thrumming with excitement.

Kagome tried not to smile, but his excitement was contagious. "A certain someone wasn't happy with Tarala's plans and decided to replace her with someone more compliant?"

The Doctor nodded. "Exactly. Their uncle, Vincent, had been Tarala's regent since his sister had died, oh, about nearly a decade ago I believe."

Kagome shook her head, seeing where he was going with this. "Perhaps he's gotten a bit too cozy with ruling. It's a bit cliché but…" she trailed off and shrugged.

The Doctor snorted. "But it fits. And when he realized that Tarala wouldn't be agreeing with his views, he decided to replace her with Farana. Without Tarala's training, and the fact that he's raised her, of course she'd trust him implicitly with his guidance on how to rule!"

"But where could Tarala be?" Kagome wondered, and her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "You don't think Vincent killed her or something?"

The Doctor grimaced at the thought. "Maybe not—well," he amended, "Hopefully not anyway. I've heard that since their father's death, he's taken the princesses under his wing. He seems to care, so maybe he just spirited her away." The somber look passed as his eyes lit up. "And, well, this is a palace. I'd bet there's plenty of hidden nooks and crannies around here. Perhaps even a secret wing or two?" He waggled his eyebrows and nudged at her arm. "Care to do some snooping?"

Kagome rolled her eyes but nodded nonetheless.

o.O.o

The Doctor was right. The palace did have a lot of hidden nooks and crannies, and even a secret passage way that led to a hidden wing of rooms.

The palace had a secret dungeon as well, which they soon found out upon stumbling onto the kidnapped Princess Tarala.

The discovery would have been much more pleasant if not for the fact they also stumbled across Tarala's small contingent of guards.

"Does this happen often?" Kagome drawled, her tone witheringly dry. "Tossed into prison?"

The Doctor wouldn't meet her gaze; instead, he answered with a sheepish giggle. "Weeell," he drew out, "How often is often really?" he evaded.

Kagome snorted, shaking her head. "I'll take that as a yes, then." Crossing her arms, she leaned against the rough concrete wall. She could hear the man in the cell beside her fidget nervously, and she glanced over to see him staring at her, uncertain and waiting.

Her lips twitched and she bit her lip to refrain from smiling—the Doctor's body relax in response and his lips pursed.

Together, they broke out in grins and started sniggering.

"Oh my God," Kagome mumbled, breathless from laughing. "I'm in the year four billion, on an alien planet called Xecra, where the sky is gold and the dirt is blue, sitting in prison for trying to prevent a coup!" She shook her head, eyes alight with wonder. "This one's for the books, that's for sure."

The Doctor tried to fight a grin. "Well—"

His reply was cut short by the door swinging open, and in strode Misipia's regent and the princesses' uncle. The Doctor's grin faltered.

"Having fun?" the man drawled when he saw their grins, pausing before the cells. "Might as well," he mused with a shrug. Then, an oddly somber look crossed his face. "Don't worry," Vincent murmured, smiling sadly. "You won't have to stay for long. Just long enough for Farana to be crowned, and then, no one will ever know that you've been here."

Kagome stood. "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded, voice sharp.

"It means you never should have come here, asking questions and sneaking around where you don't belong," he snapped, straightening as his face took a hard edge. "I don't know how you got in, in the first place, but it just goes to show how weak we're becoming in the face of peace." Vincent let out a derisive scoff. "The kingdom's becoming soft and spoiled after all these years, and look how far our security has fallen. It's just a matter of time before someone takes advantage and starts another war."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "All this paranoia about a war, if one does come, you'll be the one to start it," he remarked darkly, lips turned down into a fierce frown. "Seems to me you're just getting ready to pull the trigger, and you'll be happy to do so when any little old reason comes on by."

The regent, Vincent, glared and opened his mouth but Kagome cut in before he could get another word in edgewise. "What's going to happen to Talara?" She stepped closer to the cell bars, staring hard at the man with her hands propped on her hips. "Are you going to kill her too, assuming that's what you're going to do to us once Farana's safely crowned?"

Vincent stiffened, shooting her an offended look. "Of course not!" he exclaimed. "Despite our disagreements, she's still my niece. She's still my sister's daughter. I would never lay hand on her."

"No, you'll just kidnap her and lock her up because she's acting out against your plans," the Doctor remarked snidely.

Vincent's lips thinned. "Yes," he said, with only a hint of shame and regret. "I do not like it, but the kingdom's safety is more important. She may not have a comfortable lifestyle, but she will have a life—outside Seriza and heavily guarded. It's not pleasant, but there's no other choice."

"There's always another choice!" the Doctor burst out, jumping to his feet. He strode right over to the cell door, stopping right before the regent, glaring down his nose at the other man with only the bars between them. "She's meant to lead this kingdom into prosperity and greatness! You'll be preventing the greatest era Misipia will have ever seen!"

"With her ideas, she'll only lead it into ruin!" Vincent shouted, a palm shooting out to slam against the cell door. It rattled loudly, making Kagome stiffen and fall back into a defensive stance out of reflex, but the Doctor was unfazed. The regent forcibly calmed himself, taking a step back, and he let out a weary sigh as he stared at them. "There's no point in arguing with those who have no understanding of what they are talking about. You two will stay in here until the end of the week."

Shaking his head, he stepped away and made to leave. Before he left however, he paused at the door to look back at them. "I do not believe in unnecessary cruelty, so you will be well-fed and allowed certain necessities. I wish this didn't have to end in death, but there is no other way."

And with that, the door slammed with a sound of finality that did not sit well with either of their stomachs.

o.O.o

Dum, dum, duuum, heehee. I feel the whole stealing the throne is kind of cliche, but I can't help myself. This was honestly really fun to write.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Tell me what you think!

Till next week,

RainLily^^

A big huge honking thanks to these awesome reviewers!

Lorelei evans, ArmyWife22079, Bunny.W.K, sverhei, fiernynightangel, SilverontheRose, Tenshi Kagome1312, MiniRoonie, Tigerluver13, sukeet