CHAPTER 18

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AMY POND, LADY PRESIDENT?

As Amy was being fitted for her ceremonial robes for the swearing in ceremony later on that day, she complained the entire time. Rory smiled as the official tailor of the Time Lords or whatever his official title was started to look at Amy like he would like to throw her out of an airlock right then and there.

"That's too tight on my stomach. Can't you take that out just a little? You don't want me to throw up all over the High Council, do you?" Amy complained.

"No, Lady Cliodna," the tailor said.

"Can't you make this robe a little shorter?" Amy asked.

"Shorter?" the tailor asked.

"Well, I'd like for you to cut it off just above the knee," Amy said.

"Then your legs would be showing," the tailor said.

"I know. I like to show them off. They're one of my best features. If you can't shorten the robes, then maybe you could give me a mini skirt instead?" Amy asked with a wicked grin on her face.

"A mini skirt for the Lady President?!" the tailor asked in shock.

"Why not? I can pull it off. Like I said, I have nice legs," Amy said happily.

Rory started laughing at the look of horror on the tailor's face while Amy winked at him. Only his wife would want to wear a mini skirt to a presidential swearing in ceremony.

"It just isn't done, Lady Cliodna. Do you think that this is a joke?" the tailor asked in frustration.

"No, I don't. I just want to look my best for this thing. I mean if I'm going to be the new leader of the Time Lords then I might as well look good doing it," Amy said.

"You will wear the same ceremonial robes that every other Lord and Lady President before you has worn for millennia. If you wish to change this, then you will have to wait until you become Lady President and change it yourself. If the High Council allows it," the tailor said.

"I'll make that my first duty then. I'm going to get a mini skirt law passed and bring Gallifrey into modern times. You're all way too old fashioned for my tastes," Amy said.

"Yes, of course. As you wish, Lady Cliodna," the tailor said with a tone of disapproval in his voice.

"Oh, and stop with the Lady Cliodna stuff. My name's Amy Pond," Amy said defiantly.

"That may have been your human name, but your proper name is Lady Cliodna of the House of Brightshore. You are the head of your noble house, and you should act like it," the tailor said as he admonished her.

Then he realized what he had just done and looked at her in terror. He knew that even as the Lady President Elect that she could punish him severely for his words.

Amy noticed his terror right away and smiled at him as she said, "Don't worry about it. I like it when people speak their mind around me. That's the way that I try to be too. I want to be honest with everyone and not act like a phony. I'm sorry for not living up to your standards, but let's face it. I was never a conventional Time Lord even before I became human. All of those formal, stiff behaviors always made me bristle. If I'm going to be the new Lady President, then I want to be myself. Wearing short skirts and being proud of being Amy Pond is being true to myself. I don't want to be something that I'm not."

The tailor looked at her with newfound respect as he said, "I don't pretend to agree with your views on things, but I respect your courage in standing up for what you believe in. Maybe you are who we need to lead us after all."

He continued the rest of the fitting with a smile on his face, and Amy stopped complaining. She had decided to quit while she was ahead.

After the tailor had left and she was now wearing the robes, she looked at Rory with a frown as she said, "I look ridiculous, don't I?"

"No, you look absolutely beautiful. You'd look beautiful in a paper sack, Amy," Rory said.

"I feel like that's what I'm wearing. I always hated these things. They're so itchy. I really wanted that mini skirt too," Amy said with a mischievous smile.

"I would have loved to see you in it," Rory said as a huge grin came over his face just thinking about it.

"It would have been great. I think that everyone would have loved it. Oh, well. I guess someone else will have to drag the Time Lords kicking and screaming into the modern age. I think maybe I at least started something though. Maybe I'll go down in the history books as a trailblazer," Amy said.

Selene came into the room next and burst out laughing as soon as she saw Amy in her robes. Julia came running up behind her and smiled. She thought that her Mum looked great. She didn't see what was so funny. Sirona felt the same way when she entered the room next. She was proud of her.

"I'm sorry, Amy, but you just look so miserable in those robes that I can't help it," Selene said as she tried very hard to stop laughing.

Amy looked at her in shock as she said, "You called me Amy. You've never called me that before."

"I decided that I should start. That's who you are now," Selene said.

"I'm still your sister no matter what," Amy reassured her.

"I know. I just wanted to call you by your proper name now. I could see how you winced before whenever I called you Cliodna even when you were trying hard not to," Selene said.

"It's okay with me. You can still call me that if you want to," Amy said.

"I just want you to be happy. Being Amy makes you happy so who am I to call you anything else? I love you, Amy," Selene said as she hugged her.

Amy was shocked at first by her sister's unusual display of emotion, but then she smiled. This was how Selene used to be when she was younger. She was glad that for a while she could see a glimpse of her sister's old self once again. She knew that it wouldn't last long. She would be back to insulting her in no time, but she was going to enjoy this brief reappearance of the old Selene while it lasted.

Selene burst out laughing again as soon as she stopped hugging Amy while she said, "I'm sorry. I can't help it. It's just too funny."

"I think she looks wonderful," Julia said.

"Thanks, sweetie. I can always count on you," Amy said as she kissed Julia's forehead.

"I like that look on you too, Amy," Brian said as he came into the room.

"Thanks, Brian. Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a while," Amy said.

"I've been exploring Gallifrey. I mean it may be home to you, but to me it's a whole new world. It's just amazing out there," Brian said in astonishment.

"Sorry, Brian. It is just home to me, and it's not so amazing once you get to know it. It's kind of boring actually. I'll take Earth any day," Amy said.

"So would I but getting to go to an alien planet is still a new experience for me. I love getting to explore this place," Brian said in awe.

"It gets in your blood, doesn't it?" Rory asked with a grin.

"Yes, it does. I just want to learn everything that there is to know and see it all. To think that I never even knew that any of this existed. I was missing out on so much," Brian said.

"I know. That's why I could never let the Doctor go when I was a child. I had to believe that he was coming back and taking me to see all of this. Little did I know that I was actually a part of it! The girl who waited to see space all of her life is actually from space herself. The irony!" Amy said with a grin.

Heldrin entered the room now with some guards as he said, "I'm afraid that I'll have to go over the ceremony and what will happen during it in private with you now, Amy."

"That's okay. We'll just be right aside, Amy. Come on, everyone," Rory said.

As they all filed outside and left Amy alone with Heldrin and the guards, Rory immediately noticed that two of their crew was missing. He looked at Selene as he asked, "Where are Karen and Oisin?"

"They decided to go off alone together. They didn't want to hang around here for their first date. I can't imagine why," Selene said with a smile.

"I hope that they hit it off together. I think that they deserve one another," Rory said.

"Isn't it weird to see another version of Mum with someone else though?" Sirona asked out of curiosity.

"Surprisingly, no it isn't. I already have my Amy after all. I'm actually glad for Karen. I hope that he makes her happy," Rory said.

"You're just an old softy, aren't you?" Selene said as she hugged him affectionately.

As Brian smiled at her, he decided that he already liked Selene even though he hadn't known her that long. He had found that she was a lot like Amy in that she put up a hard, tough exterior but had a warm heart on the inside. Or hearts as the case may be Brian reminded himself.

Meanwhile Karen and Oisin were exploring Gallifrey together just as Brian had been doing earlier. Well, Karen was exploring it, and Oisin was acting as her unofficial tour guide. Karen had no memories at all of Gallifrey or at least not many. She did have a few fragmented ones here and there since she had started to remember a few things, but it wasn't enough to add up to anything. She still felt like a virtual stranger on this world.

"Do you remember any of this?" Oisin asked.

"Not much. I'm sorry that I can't remember more," Karen said.

"That's alright. I just hoped that seeing the Capitol might have triggered something," Oisin said.

"Sorry, no. I wish that I could remember. I feel like I'm incomplete somehow," Karen said.

"Maybe you'll remember someday. It doesn't matter to me even if you don't. I still care about you," Oisin said as he took her hand in his.

"I care about you too," Karen said as she smiled at him.

"Do you think that there could be a future for us?" Oisin asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I want to say yes, but I still don't know you well enough yet to say for sure. That's definitely not a no though so don't misunderstand me," Karen said.

"I understand. You need more time," Oisin said.

"Yeah. Is that alright?" Karen asked.

"Yes, take as much time as you want," Oisin said.

"Thank you for understanding," Karen said with a warm smile.

Oisin leaned in to kiss her, and she wondered whether she should allow him to or not. Part of her wanted to, and the other part wasn't sure yet. Then before she could come to a decision, her mind exploded with images; and she suddenly screamed in pain as she held her head in her hands.

"Karen, are you okay?" Oisin asked in concern after she stopped screaming.

"No. My head was flooding with memories for a moment there. There were too many of them. It was killing me. It was like it was burning me up for a minute," Karen said.

Oisin began to look at her with alarm now as he remembered what he had learned from the Doctor once about what had happened to a human Donna Noble who had been given the Doctor's memories. He didn't want to have Karen have to lose her memories of the Doctor and the Time Lords too in order to survive.

"I hope that it doesn't come to that either. I don't want that to happen to me," Karen said as she guessed from his face what he was thinking about.

"The Doctor told you about Donna too?" Oisin asked.

"No, River did before I knew who she was to me," Karen said.

"It won't come to that I'm sure. I'll find a way to help you, Karen. I won't let it happen to you too," Oisin said.

Karen smiled at him encouragingly, but she wasn't so sure that she believed him.

Back in the President's chambers, Heldrin was done going over everything with Amy; and he started to leave her alone again as he said, "The swearing in ceremony will begin in thirty minutes, Amy. Good luck."

"Thanks, Heldrin," Amy said as all of the guards but one left with him.

She looked at the remaining guard uncomfortably. She knew why he had to be there, but she would rather be alone at the moment. She was already nervous enough about the upcoming ceremony without a total stranger staring at her.

"So how does it feel to be about to become the President?" the guard asked.

Amy was surprised at his breach of protocol in speaking to her, but she didn't say anything about it. Who was she to give lectures about protocol to anyone?

"It feels great and yet terrifying at the same time. I'm not ashamed to admit that either," Amy said with a warm smile.

"I can help you with that," the guard said.

Amy looked at him in confusion as she asked, "What do you mean?"

"I can make sure that you're never nervous about anything ever again," the guard said as he pulled out his staser and pointed it at her.

"Goth!" Amy hissed in a combination of surprise and anger.

"The High Council did exactly as I wanted them to do, Cliodna. I knew that if I bragged about trying to destroy you that in their fear they would turn to you to save them from me. Then all I had to do was get close enough to you to carry out my ultimate plan to control them, and here I am," Goth said happily.

"It won't work. I won't let it. You're going down right here and now, Goth!" Amy said in a cold voice.

"No, my dear, you are," Goth said as he quickly stunned her with his staser before she could reach him.

Then he placed a small mind control device on Amy's neck just underneath the collar of her robe where no one could see it. He smiled at his new puppet even as he waited for her to wake up once more. As soon as she was declared Lady President, his mind control device would make her declare herself the Imperiatrix just as Pandora once did which would make her the absolute dictator of Gallifrey.

Her first duty in this new role would then be to appoint Goth as her replacement of course. Then he would set off a bomb to destroy the High Council chamber as he teleported away to safety making him the only remaining leader of Gallifrey. He could have carried out this plan with anyone in Amy's role, but it amused him to use her to take down the government since she was the one who had started the investigation that could have shut down the Celestial Intervention Agency so long ago.

His plan was completely ruined though when Rory came into the room to check on Amy and found her lying unconscious on the floor. Rory instantly realized what must have happened and punched Goth in the jaw as he took him by complete surprise. He briefly remembered punching a certain dictator the same way once with a fond smile on his face.

He moved over to check on Amy and as he checked her pulse on her neck he quickly found the mind control device there. After he removed it, he tried to wake Amy up but with no results. He tied Goth up and quickly ran to get some guards to take him away.

Heldrin soon came to see Amy after finding out what had happened as he too tried to wake Amy up. He had no more success than Rory at it.

"Is she going to be alright?" Rory asked him in concern.

"She's been stunned by a staser blast. She'll be alright eventually, but Goth set the blast too high. She won't wake up until it's too late. We'll have to reveal what happened and stop the ceremony. That will only throw things into further chaos once it's known that we can't even protect the President from the Celestial Intervention Agency," Heldrin said with a sigh.

"No one has to know anything. There is more than one Amy here you know," Rory said.

"Are you suggesting that we make a human the head of the Time Lords?" Heldrin asked in shock.

"It's only for the ceremony. Amy would take over later once she's feeling better," Rory said.

"I suppose that would be alright as long as no one found out. If they did, there would be a huge scandal that could do Goth's job for him and bring down the government," Heldrin said.

"We have to try something or Goth wins anyway," Rory said.

"Alright. Go find Karen," Heldrin said as Rory raced to get her.

Later on during the ceremony, it was an extremely nervous Karen in ceremonial robes who was given the Sash and Rod of Rassilon as a part of the swearing in. Then the Crown of Rassilon was placed on her head as the ceremony was completed. This was used to give the President direct access to the Matrix itself.

As soon as the Crown was placed on her head, Karen began to scream in agony as the Crown started to attack her mind. She tried to take it off, but it wouldn't budge. She screamed to Oisin for help even as it felt as if her mind was about to explode.

"What's happening to her?" Oisin screamed at Heldrin.

"The Matrix must be rejecting her. I didn't think that would happen though as long as she didn't try to use it. I had hoped that she was enough like Cliodna for this to work," Heldrin said with concern.

Rory and Oisin both raced onstage to help Karen take off the Crown, but before they could get there she began to glow with power. Both of her potential rescuers were blown backwards as energy began to pour out of Karen's arms and head!

"Is she regenerating?" Rory asked in shock.

"It appears so," Oisin said as he looked on in absolute disbelief.

Next: What's going on here? What will happen with the Presidency? You may be surprised at the answers to those questions.