Notes: I am so sorry for the terribly long wait for this chapter! I got a bit stuck, but I think I've got it worked out now in my head and I hope the next part will come more quickly.

"Hello, mum! I'm with gran and granddad and they were wondering if you'd like to join us on a little trip," Clara told River from her mobile.

"Of course, sweetheart. Keep on the line and we'll lock onto you," her mother answered.

James and River docked their TARDIS inside the Doctor's and made their way to the console room.

"Jamie! It's so good to see you," Rose exclaimed and ran to give him a hug.

"Hi, mum, dad. I can see where you are with Clara at this point, but I have a feeling that you're also with Clara at a different point as well?" James prompted.

"Brilliant, Jamie, absolutely brilliant. Yes, other than this crossing, which seems to be rather fixed, as far as we knew Clara was about seven. Well, as close as we can ever keep track of these things," the Doctor informed him.

"So, you haven't gone to visit gran Jackie then?" he questioned.

"No," Rose admitted softly.

"In your own time, Rose. It'll be alright," River told her comfortingly.

"In the meantime, where are we heading, dad?" James asked brightly.

"Somewhere that I haven't been for a very long time. It made for a wonderful family outing last time, so I'm sure we'll have a marvellous time there," the Doctor rambled as he programmed their coordinates.

Jamie and River moved to help him pilot, while Rose showed Clara some of the basic controls.

"Welcome to the Rings of Akhaten," the Doctor announced as he led them all outside.

They found themselves standing on a small asteroid, overlooking a vast field of similar rocks. They varied in size, some large enough that there were hundreds of people and several buildings erected on them. All of them were circling a relatively close star.

"It's…" Clara gasped.

"Gorgeous," Rose filled in for her.

"It is. It so completely is," he agreed, putting an arm over each of their shoulders. "But wait, there is more."

"More what?" Clara wondered.

"Wait, wait, wait," the Doctor insisted as he checked his watch. It automatically adjusted to wherever they landed and he hoped that he had gotten them to exactly the right time. "In about five, four, three, two."

As he counted down, it became apparent just what they were waiting for. The asteroids around them shifted just enough to reveal a larger rock, almost the size of a moon. On it, there was a large, golden pyramid that shone brightly in the sunlight.

"Is the TARDIS extending the oxygen for us out here?" River questioned.

"Yes, only the larger, inhabited areas would have an atmospheric shell set up," James informed her.

"What is it?" Clara asked, still staring at the glistening pyramid.

"The Pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten. It's a holy site for the Sun Singers of Akhat," the Doctor explained.

"The who of what?" Clara asked.

"Goodness, Jamie, what kind of schooling did you give her growing up?" he chastised, but continued with his lesson as James and River rolled their eyes. "Seven worlds orbiting the same star. All of them sharing a belief that life in the universe originated here, on that planet."

"All life?" Clara questioned, knowing full well that almost every civilization in the universe had a creation myth that centred around their own world.

"In the universe," the Doctor concluded.

"Did it?" Clara questioned.

"Unlikely," James told her.

"Well, it's what they believe. It's a nice story," the Doctor admitted.

"Can we see it? Up close?" Clara pleaded.

"Of course we can, that's why we're here," Rose answered, leading everyone back into the TARDIS so that they could move closer to the action.

The TARDIS landed with a thump in the middle of a bustling bazaar. Around them, aliens of all types were excitedly buying and selling merchandise from all over that area of space.

"Where are they from?" Clara questioned enthusiastically as she took it all in.

"Oh, you know, the local system, mostly," the Doctor told her.

"What do I call them?" she asked.

"Well, let's see. Ah! There go some Panbabylonians. A Lugal-Irra-Kush. Some Lucanians. A Hooloovoo. Ah! Qom VoTivig," he listed as he pointed out the different races and exchanged greetings with several of them.

James and River strolled behind the Doctor and Rose as Clara darted around, exploring everything. They had been so disappointed to have to keep her relatively grounded as a child, but the Doctor had been adamant when he told them about her predetermined future. They had tried to keep their travels as safe as possible for a while, but that had proven useless, as she seemed to have her grandmother's propensity for wandering off and finding trouble. It meant finding things for her to do on Earth for the most part.

"That chap's a Terraberserker of the Kodion Belt. You don't see many of them around any more. Oh! That's an Ultramancer. Do you know, I forget how much I like it here. We should come here more often," the Doctor continued rambling.

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Rose agreed, looping her arm through his.

"You've been here before?" Clara asked him.

"Yes, yes, yes. I came here a long time ago with my first granddaughter, Susan," he told her. Rose and James both felt the sadness echoing through their link to him at the thought of his family from long ago. Rose squeezed his hand in support.

The Doctor squeezed back, but then resorted to his usual tactics and pushed the melancholy away with manic distraction. He ran through the crowd towards a fruit vendor's stall.

"Hang on!" Clara shouted as she raced after him. She didn't want to miss a thing.

He pulled a glowing blue ball from one of the baskets and scanned it with his sonic, just to be safe. "Exotic fruit of some description. Right. Non-toxic, non-hallucinogenic. High in free radicals and low in other stuff, I shouldn't wonder," he explained and handed it to Clara.

She made a bit of a face and passed the fruit along to Rose, who tasted it and offered it to James and River as well. No one seemed to care for it much, so the Doctor didn't buy any more of them.

"So, why is everyone here?" Clara wondered.

"Looks like some kind of festival to me," Rose commented.

"This is the Festival of Offerings. Takes place every thousand years or so, when the rings align. It's a vital ceremony to their culture," River told her.

"Archeologist," the Doctor grumbled under his breath. He hated when he wasn't allowed to show off on his own.

James smirked at his father's typical reaction to his wife's brilliance. "It was a great choice for a trip, dad."

"Oh! Er, granddad?" Clara called when she found herself face to face with an alien who seemed to be barking at her.

The Doctor proceeded to bark a response as he joined her quickly.

"What's happening? Why is it angry?" Clara questioned.

"And what is wrong with the translation circuit?" Rose added.

"This isn't an it, it's a she. I asked the TARDIS not to translate so that Clara could learn a few new languages on this trip. Dor'een, meet Clara. Clara, meet Dor'een," the Doctor explained as he introduced the barking alien to his granddaughter.

"Doreen?" Clara asked.

"You can ask the TARDIS to translate for me at least, please. I don't fancy offending anyone and getting carted off to the nearest prison, thanks," Rose insisted and the Doctor sighed.

The translation circuit did depend on his knowledge of the languages a bit and his constant connection to the ship in that respect meant that it only took a thought before it came back online for the travellers. He supposed that he would have to find other ways to teach Clara more alien languages. Rose was right of course, the wrong word could have them all in quite a bit of trouble.

"Loose translation. She sounds a bit grumpy but she's a total love actually, aren't you? Yes, you are. No, actually, she's just asking if we fancy renting a moped or two," he told her.

"So, how much does it cost?" Clara wondered.

"Not money. Something valuable. Sentimental value. A photograph, love letter, something like that. That's what's used for currency here. Psychometry. Objects psychically imprinted with their history. The more treasured they are, the more value they hold," he explained.

"That's horrible," Clara gasped.

"It really is. Those kinds of things could never be replaced and what value could they possibly hold to someone else?" Rose agreed.

"Better than using bits of paper," he argued.

"Then you pay," Clara insisted.

"With what?" he countered.

"You're a thousand years old. You must have something you care about."

"He never has money," Rose sighed as she pulled something from her pocket.

"No!" James, River, and the Doctor all shouted when they saw her holding a small pendant from her mother.

"Mum, please. I know that you're upset with her right now. But please, don't lose what you have left with gran. It will get better," James insisted, taking her hands in his and closing her fingers around the jewelry.

Clara watched sadly as her family pleaded with Rose to forgive great gran Jackie. She remembered seeing them together and happy when she was younger, but their timelines were a bit twisted for the time being. As she considered these things, she saw a young girl running fearfully around the corner. Seeing that her parents and grandparents were still busy, she ran after the young lady to help, if she could.

She walked through a dark, silent storage room, looking for the girl and called to her, "Are you okay?"

Two men in official looking uniforms stopped in front of her. "Have you seen her?" one of them demanded.

"Who?" she asked innocently.

"The Queen of Years," he clarified.

"Who?" Clara repeated. The idea of the little girl being a queen seemed odd and she didn't much like the thought of handing her over to these people while she was afraid. Maybe she could convince the girl to go willingly back to wherever she was supposed to be and walk her there herself.

The men split up to search the place and left Clara alone. Once they were out of earshot, she whispered, "Hello?" The was a sudden clang as something fell over and Clara turned to see the girl standing in front of her. "Hey. Are you okay? Are you lost?" she asked the frightened child. The girl ran away from her again, but was easily found.

"Are you alright? What are you doing?" Clara wondered.

"Hiding," she answered obviously.

"Oh. Why?"

"You don't know me?" the girl questioned, clearly used to everyone knowing who she was, and that it would be obvious why she would run away.

"Sorry. Actually not," Clara told her.

"So why did you follow me?"

"To help. You looked lost," Clara replied honestly.

"I don't believe you," the young girl said, looking like she might run off again in an instant.

"I've got no idea who you might be. I've never been here before. I just saw a little girl who looked like she needed help," Clara insisted.

"Really?"

"Really, really," Clara responded with a reassuring smile.

"Can you help me?" the girl wondered.

"That's why I'm still here."

"Because I need to hide," the girl said, the fear in her eyes returning as she remembered what she was running from and became less focussed on her new friend.

A terrifying whisper echoed through the darkness, "Merry. Where are you, Merry?"

"I know the perfect place," Clara told her and took the young girl's hand as she led her back outside toward the TARDIS.

"What's this?" she questioned as Clara huddled them behind the time ship.

"A space-shippy thing. But we don't have to go inside. We can stay right here," Clara assured her. "What's your name?"

"Merry," she replied softly.

"So, what's happening? Is someone trying to hurt you?" Clara asked.

"No. I'm just scared," Merry told her.

"Of what?"

"Getting it wrong," she explained, though it didn't really help Clara understand anymore than before.

"Okay. Can you pretend like I'm totally a space alien and explain?"

"I'm Merry Gejelh," she said.

"Really not local. Sorry," Clara repeated, getting a bit frustrated with the whole conversation.

"The Queen of Years? They chose me when I was a baby, the day the last Queen of Years died."

"Okay," prompted the girl to go on. Her mother would know what that meant and could probably explain the whole ceremony, but she hadn't studied the history of the entire universe while she was stuck on earth.

"I'm the vessel of our history. I know every chronicle, every poem, every legend, every song," Merry finally told her.

"Every single one? Blimey, that's a lot to remember," Clara replied.

"And now I have to sing a song in front of everyone. A special song. I have to sing it to a god. And I'm really scared," she admitted.

"Everyone's scared when they're little. I used to be terrified of the dark. Then there was this storm while I was staying with my Gran Amy. All the power was out in the middle of the night and I couldn't see anything. It wasn't even my own bedroom. My worst nightmare come true," Clara told the frightened young girl.

"What happened?"

"I screamed and screamed until my Grandpa Rory came to the rescue. He held me until I stopped crying. My gran brought me tea and candles, then she tucked me up and she told me a story," Clara explained.

"And you were never scared again?" Merry questioned.

"Oh, I was scared lots of times, but not of the dark anymore. So, this special song. What are you scared of, exactly?" Clara asked.

"Getting it wrong. Making Grandfather angry," she said, looking at the ground ashamedly.

"And do you think you'll get it wrong? Because I don't. I don't think you'll get it wrong. I think you, Merry Gejelh, will get it very, very right," Clara encouraged her.

The little girl hugged Clara and allowed her to walk her back to one of the men who were searching for her earlier.

"There you are! Wandering off again?" River called to Clara.

"What have you been doing?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"Exploring. Where are we going now?" Clara told them simply.

Rose winked at her, having seen the young girl that Clara had befriended. There was more to her little adventure, she was sure, but they could talk about it later.