CHAPTER 13
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Amy could see the shock on Rory's face, and she knew that he was still reeling from her announcement as he numbly walked out of the Console Room. Sirona noticed this as well.
"You need to go talk to him. I'm sure this is very hard on him. It's not bad enough that he finds out that you had another husband before him who's still around. Now you find me too. I'm sure that he feels like he's being replaced by us. Go tell him he's not, Mum," Sirona said.
"Are you sure you're alright? You've just been through a lot," Amy asked her in concern.
"I'm going to be fine, Mum. Go talk to Rory," Sirona insisted.
As Amy left, Julia walked up to Sirona hesitantly and finally said in a slightly frightened voice, "Are we still friends?"
Sirona smiled warmly at her while giving her a hug as she said, "We're more than friends, Julia. We're sisters. Don't worry about this changing anything. In fact, I think that we're going to be even closer than we were before."
Julia breathed out a sigh of relief, and Sirona could see the tension leaving her small frame even as she looked at her. She was glad that her feelings for the others hadn't changed. She remembered being afraid that opening the watch would change her and make her into someone else. So far though, she still felt exactly the same as she did as Amber.
"I'm glad that we're still close. I didn't want to lose you. You're fun to be around. I don't want to lose anyone else ever again,' Julia said.
"It's going to be okay. I'm not going anywhere if I can help it. I've been away long enough," Sirona said.
"What happened to you anyway?" Julia asked.
"I'd like to know that as well. Amy never got over you. Not really," Selene said.
"You call her Amy now?" Sirona asked in surprise.
"Yeah, it's a little strange at first, but you get used to it eventually when you realize that's who she is now. She's become Amelia Pond now instead of the person that we once knew. For better or worse, that's who she is," Selene said.
"She's still just like the mother that I remember," Sirona protested.
"Yes, she is but she's always the product of her human life as well. She's like a mixture of both of them now. She's more Amy than Cliodna though I'd suspect," Selene said.
"I like who she is. What's wrong with her?" Julia asked.
"Nothing, Jules. Absolutely nothing. I didn't say that anything was wrong. I just said that she was different than she was back at home and yet in many ways she's exactly the same," Selene said.
"Like you," Julia said.
"What do you mean?" Selene asked surprised.
"Do you know why I stopped calling you Francine? It wasn't just because I was trying to move away from the past. It's because you don't really act like her anymore at least not completely anyway. You did after you first changed, but as time passed you became more and more different. You no longer like the same things or act the same way as you did as her. Is that what you mean?"
"I didn't even realize that I was different. I'm sorry, Jules. I guess that regaining my memories did change me somewhat. I still love you though. That won't ever change. You're still my baby sister. You believe that, don't you?" Selene asked.
"Yeah, of course I do. I know you love me even if you do make fun of me sometimes. I know that you're just kidding around and don't mean anything by it," Julia said.
"Of course I don't, Julia. Of course I don't," Selene said as she began to get upset.
"I know you don't. I didn't mean to make you upset," Julia said as she hugged her.
"That's not what's upsetting me. It's the fact that I didn't realize that I was different. I didn't even know," Selene said.
Is that what's going to happen to me? Sirona asked herself with a shudder.
"Yet Amy is the exact opposite. Cliodna didn't grow stronger when she opened the watch. If anything did, it was her human side," Selene said.
"Maybe it's because she became human in order to get rid of her sorrow over what had happened to her life. She wanted to change and become someone else in order to be free of it. She embraced that change and even after she found out who she was again she found that she liked it. She liked being Amy Pond," Sirona said.
"What about you? Did you like being Amber?" Selene asked.
"Yeah, I did. It wasn't so bad really. I do need to work on not getting into so much trouble though," Sirona said with a small smile.
"I kind of liked that about you myself. You were never boring that's for sure. Maybe I changed because I didn't like being a kid. I didn't like being Francine. I always wanted to grow up and do things and being a kid was keeping me from doing that. I think that's why I didn't hold onto my old self because subconsciously I didn't want to. The only thing that I held onto from her was my love of Jules because that was all that I cared about from my old life. I think you'll be different though, Sirona. You'll still be as much Amber as you were before because you liked being her," Selene said.
"How did you know that was bothering me?" Sirona asked in surprise.
"I'm your aunt. It's my job to know," Selene said.
"Can you tell us what happened to you? You never did say," Julia prodded.
"I didn't really want to. I suppose I should. I'll wait until Mum's back though. She needs to hear this too," Sirona said.
The three of them went silent then as they waited for Amy to return. Oisin had been watching them this entire time. He had wanted to go to Sirona and say something to her. He couldn't work up the courage to, however. He wasn't sure how she would react. He suddenly felt more self-conscious of what he was now than he ever had. As he saw Sirona looking at him, he turned his gaze away from her in shame.
He felt another pair of eyes watching him now, and he turned to see Karen looking at him with anger in her eyes. He knew what she wanted. If she was anything at all like Cliodna, she wanted him to talk to his daughter right now. He wanted to. He really did. He was too ashamed to. Too ashamed of what he had become.
"Dad, it's okay," Sirona said next to him. He turned to see that she had her hand on his shoulder. He silently cursed his metal body because he couldn't even feel it and never would again.
"I - ," Oisin said but he wasn't sure what to say.
"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to say that I love you no matter what. I don't care about what you've become. I know that it's still you in there, and that's all that matters to me," Sirona said.
"I love you too," Oisin finally said.
Sirona kissed his metal cheek then and smiled at him as she went back to stand next to Selene. Karen smiled at Oisin as she whispered, "That's more like it. Now was that so hard?"
Oisin would have smiled if he could have. That was exactly what Cliodna would have said.
When they had first left the Console Room, Amy and Rory sat on the bed in their room in silence for a long time. Neither of them spoke to the other. Amy began to fear that maybe this was the beginning of the end of their marriage, and an icy chill gripped her hearts.
When Rory saw Amy starting to silently cry, he finally realized that he had her terrified. He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tender kiss to calm her down and relieve her fears.
"I'm sorry, Amy. I'm just kind of in a state of shock. Finding out that Amber was Sirona just really floored me. It's almost as if the universe is saying to me that it's time for me to go. It's giving you everything back from your old life now. With all of them here now, it's only a matter of time before you'll want to go back to your old life. You'll forget all about Amy. You'll just be Cliodna again, and I'll be all alone," Rory said.
"No way, Mr. Pond! There is no way that will ever happen. Let me show you why," Amy said as she began to kiss him passionately.
Rory began to relax and all of his fears and self-doubts were cast aside as Amy demonstrated just how much she truly loved him. By the time she was finished kissing him, there was no longer a doubt in his mind about where their relationship stood.
When they eventually came back to the Console Room, they found the others looking at them expectantly. They realized that everyone had been waiting on them to return for a while now. Apparently, they had lost track of time.
Selene started to smile at them. She was pretty sure that she knew what they had been up to while they were away. She felt assured in her own mind now that it was safe to say that Rory was okay with everything.
"I was waiting on you to return before I told everyone what happened to me. I remember everything now," Sirona said.
"I'm glad you waited. I've wanted to know this story for centuries now," Amy said.
"Well, you'll remember that I left to visit Earth for a vacation in your TARDIS. I had always wanted to go there because you loved it so much. In particular, I wanted to visit Scotland since that had always been your favorite area of Earth just as England had always been the favorite of the Doctor and Arkytior," Sirona started.
"Yes, I remember. I always cursed myself afterwards for putting that idea in your mind," Amy said.
"You didn't though. I went there to get closer to you. I wanted to see what it was about Scotland that you loved so much. When I got there, I finally did. I saw the people and the beauty of the land as I traveled across it. I fell in love with it just as you did. Then I traveled to Loch Ness to see the monster that everyone was always talking about everywhere that I went," Sirona said.
Amy started to remember a story that the Doctor had told her once about the Loch Ness Monster and what it really was. She started to wonder if that story had anything to do with what had happened to Sirona.
Sirona saw a look of realization come on her mother's face, and she was sure that she had already figured it out. She decided to continue with her story anyway. She felt that her mother deserved to hear the entire event in her own words especially after waiting so long for it.
"I came across a group of Zygons who were attempting to invade the Earth. They had apparently been there for centuries after their ship crashed there. They were destroying oil rigs and killing people when I first discovered them. They had found out that their home world had been destroyed, and they wanted to take over the Earth as a substitute for it. They were using a huge creature that they called the Skarasen to attack the people of the area. It had apparently been the inspiration for the stories of the Loch Ness Monster. When I saw it killing people, I had to try to stop it. I couldn't just stand by and watch them die!" Sirona said in an impassioned plea as if begging Amy's forgiveness.
Amy smiled at her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder as she silently urged her to continue. Sirona was glad that Amy wasn't angry at her for what had happened.
Sirona continued her story as she said, "I used the TARDIS to find and break into the Zygons' damaged ship. Once I got inside, I attempted to sabotage it and blow it up. Unfortunately, I was caught by one of the Zygons, and I was stung by one of them. The sting was fatal, and it would have killed me if I hadn't started to regenerate. Before I regenerated, I knocked the Zygon out and fled back to the TARDIS. Then I regenerated as soon as it dematerialized. Something went wrong though. My regeneration must have done something to my ship because it started attacking me. The last thing that I remember as Sirona was the TARDIS assaulting me through our telepathic link with each other. Its attack was overwhelming, and I quickly passed out. The next thing that I remember was being a human child as Amber. My human parents told me that I was adopted. They said that they found me with a fob watch on their doorstep and never knew who left me there. It must have been the TARDIS. It must have become confused somehow and become convinced that it needed to hide me from the Zygons for some reason. That's the only thing that I can figure out anyway."
"Something sounds wrong about that. I've never heard of a TARDIS doing anything like that before. It almost sounds like sabotage. Where did the TARDIS go anyway? I never did find any trace of it or you, and I had several groups of experts searching for months," Amy said suspiciously.
"It doesn't really matter now, does it? What matters is that Sirona's back, right?" Selene said.
"Yeah, you're right. That is what matters. Welcome back, sweetheart!" Amy said as she hugged her daughter.
Amy temporarily forgot her suspicions for a while as the newly reunited mother and daughter celebrated their reunion together at last with a huge cake that the TARDIS provided for them for the occasion from its food machine. It was during this impromptu celebration that Amy decided to take Sirona back to Gallifrey to reunite her with her family there. She knew that they would love to know that she was alive and well.
She made plans right away to take Sirona there and have her see her mother and the rest of her family. She decided to let Julia meet them too while she was at it. She had never taken her to see them since it seemed that there had just been one thing after enough coming up to keep her from returning to see her family ever since she had adopted her. She could show both of her daughters off at once that way.
When she told Rory about her plans, he went white as a sheet and said, "Do I have to go?"
"Yes, you do," Amy said as she started to get angry.
"Why? I've already met your mother once. As far as I'm concerned, once is enough," Rory said.
"You're going whether you like it or not," Amy said.
As Rory began to look terrified, Selene said to him with an evil grin, "Aren't you glad you two made up now?"
While Rory looked like he wanted to go hide in a deep hole somewhere, Amy couldn't help but think of her human parents not to mention Rory's father. She had never even told any of them that she was really a Time Lord much less about Sirona or Julia. She knew that she should have, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't want to have to face them about this. Not yet anyway.
Amy planned to return to Gallifrey the next day. That night Rory did everything he could to get her to change her mind. He begged, he pleaded, and he even promised to bring Amy breakfast in bed for a year. Unfortunately for him, nothing worked.
As Oisin stood against the wall in the Console Room that night as he usually did while everyone else slept, he could swear that he heard weeping coming from the direction of Amy and Rory's room. It must have been his auditory sensors acting up. He would have to see if Amy would have a look at them later. They were obviously starting to malfunction.
He ignored the violent weeping and started to become lost in his memories of when he had been a man. He replayed several memories of his marriage with Cliodna and of Sirona's childhood over and over again in his mind's eye until he thought that he would go insane. His own thoughts and memories were tormenting him now with what he could no longer have. A real body and a real life.
He ached to have his old life back or to even have a new life with Karen. He knew that he would never have either. He was doomed to be a hard, cold thing of steel for the rest of eternity. The only thing that made his dreary existence have any meaning at all was at least he could be around his family in at least some way even if it was in a very limited way.
"Feeling sorry for yourself, Oisin?" a woman's voice suddenly said.
"Who are you?" Oisin said in alarm as he saw a woman in a black hood and cloak standing next to him.
"Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt anyone. I'm here to see you. I've come to make you an offer," the woman in black said.
"What kind of offer?" Oisin asked.
"A chance at a new body. Are you interested?" the woman asked.
"I won't do anything against Cliodna in order to get it if that's what you're after," Oisin said.
"Oh, no! You've misjudged me entirely, my friend. Like I said before, I'm not here to hurt anyone. What I want in exchange for giving you a chance at a new life is something that won't hurt a fly. I promise you that no one will be hurt by your actions. You'll also get to have a real life again and finally have a relationship with that Ganger that you keep tormenting yourself about. What do you say, Oisin?" the woman asked with the beginnings of a wicked smile on her face.
"What are your terms?" Oisin asked.
A smile sprang upon the Black Guardian's face fully formed now. She knew that she had him!
Next: Amy takes Sirona and Julia to meet her mother on Gallifrey. Rory is still crying over this one! Also will Oisin go through with it or won't he? What is it that the Black Guardian wants him to do anyway?