Part Two:

Two hours later Luis had the whole story; his enigma was explained, the riddle solved. She was an endangered species, a hybrid of the legendary Gallifreyians and twenty-first century humans.

"I wanted ta make me own way," she explained, having dropped into her natural accent, "Not have everythin' given ta me 'cause of who me parents are yeah? Me Da's paying me way here but I wanna earn everythin' else on me own."

Luis blinked in surprise at her speech patterns.

"'m so sorry for lyin' ta ya," she finished contritely. He was still gaping, thoughts tumbling about his head.

Now he heard her true pulse, twinned beats of double hearts; they had been masked by the ring she had always worn but now she had discarded it and they were hammering at her breasts as she awaited his reaction. But she stood tall and proud, not cowering for fear of his judgment.

He smiled, "I understand, my lovely Enigma, from what I have read of your peoples I understand the need for secrecy…"

"Ya can't tell anyone," she repeated, "No one, not a soul, 'bout me. Got it? You dee an' people will get hurt. People will die…"

'Not a word," he agreed, nodding, "I shan't say a word…"

She gave him a beaming smile before frowning, "I don' think 'm gonna be in class taday…"

"Why?"

She sat down on her sofa, "We've a lot of pride, us Time Lords," her accent was more civilized now as she was calm, "if she gets something wrong or starts disparaging of my people I won't be held accountable for my response…" she looked up at him, brown eyes ancient and tired, accent slipping, "T' War will never end, an' me Da's actions ta save everythin' and everyone else'll fo'ever haunt us. T' shame o' what a once benevolent race devolved ta, o' what the sole survivor was forced ta dee will forever burn in our veins…Lava guilt eatin' us inside out if we let it. Tha's why we all dee as we dee. Me Da's always helped people, even against 'is people, but now he feels like he has ta make up for all the destruction he caused. Mum has done some thin's too tha' she's tryin' to make up for…I was born ta war, ta be a weapon, ta kill people…Me Da was disgusted wit' wha' I was, nearly disowned me on t' spot…but I learnt 'is beliefs, learnt why 'e's so much a pacifist in spirit if not in practice…" she took a breath or two.

"My brother," she continued, accent once again civilized, "Brion, was also born to battle and is now working to make up for that…and our youngest brother, Harry, he feels guilty, so guilty that his biological parents died to save him…" she closed her eyes, losing control again, "Me uncle's mad, bin mad for almost 'is entire life, t' soun' of drums, war drums fo'ever beating in 'is mind, we're a telepathic lot, Time Lords, so t' more 'ere are of us the better we can buffer t' soun' but there's only half a dozen of us right now and for a while it was only me Da' and 'im and Da' thought he was dead too…'bout the only undamaged one is me Aunt but she too is workin' off some bad karma," she sighed, switching back again, "We tend to joke that the Tine Lords have been cursed but it's not a joke, it's true…I won't let anyone add on to that, to talk trash about my family. I can't."

"Jenny," the name tumbled from Luis' lips, strange and familiar all at once, as he joined her, "Jenny, I'll be right next to you and we'll leave if it becomes too much for you."

She was tense, the Universe seemingly sitting on her shoulders and tugging at her hair; Luis realized distantly that perhaps the Universe was on her shoulders, or that it would be soon enough.

She was the stuff of legends after all, the daughter of the Oncoming Storm and the Bad Wolf.

Luis Mattiborough made a decision in that very moment. For as long as he lived he would take some of the burdens from her shoulders…

She shook her head when he told her so, a sad wistful smile, "Thanks Luis, but I'm grounded to my Dad's ship until he's convinced I can survive on my own. Besides, he has the only TARDIS in existence."

Luis frowned, "You can't build more?"

"Ya don' build a TARDIS," she laughed a sad laugh, "Ya grow 'em, every grown TARDIS can give off seedlin's, bits o' coral, tha' can grow inta new TARDISes—"

"So—" Luis began, not understanding without all the information.

"But ya need some Gallifreyian soil, to bury 'em in for the firs' fif'y years or so." Jenny continued.

"Gallifrey's gone isn't it?" Luis asked quietly.

"Yes."

Luis scowled, brows furrowing as he fought to figure out this puzzle, "Wait…You said your Dad and Uncle grew up there, on Gallifrey right?"

"Yeah. An' 'ey visited off an' on…"

"How long? How long did they live there?"

"Two hundred an' eigh'y years at leas'," she frowned, "Da' says 'e was barely an adult when 'e lef', Uncle lef' soon afta…"

Luis jumped up, pacing. His tail twitched and wagged as he moved.

"Time Lords, Gallifreyians were omnivores right? They ate fruits and vegetables grown on planet in their home soil yeah?" he demanded

"Course, 'ey were very much isola'ionis's." Jenny watched him guardedly.

"Oh…Oh, I need a notebook," Luis torn into his bag, pulling out a notebook and pen, starting to scribble frantically…

"And the TARDIS your dad drives, she was grown on Gallifrey itself right? Au Natural?"

"Yeah."

"And landed and opened her doors on Gallifrey multiple times right?"

"Yeah…Hundreds o' times at leas'…"

"Fantastic," he exclaimed maniacally, "brilliant, amazing!"

"Wha's goin' through yer head?" she demanded.

"Oh just you wait Jenny Smith, just you wait!" he laughed, "just you wait…To the library!" he tugged her up, a twinkle in his eyes as he led her out at a run…