"Amy Williams, it's time to stop waiting," the Doctor says, then the entire room explodes into white.
Gwyn's POV
I feel someone shaking me. Not opening my eyes, I groan and turn away.
"Come on, get up!" The person shouts and shakes harder. Suddenly I'm completely awake and I sit up from the ground. I look to my side and see that it's the Doctor who was trying to wake me. Past him, I can see we're no longer in the cheap motel but instead in a hologrid room. The illusion has shattered.
"Great, now that everyone is awake let's get everyone back home!" the Doctor exclaims, jumping up and heading into his Tardis. I slowly follow him in and sit down on one of the staircases. After we drop off Gibbis at his home planet, Tivoli, I'm the only survivor left - other than Amy and Rory, but they hardly count, as they probably live in the Tardis.
The Doctor turns to me, all skittish and nervous.
"So where are we dropping you off at?" he asks.
"London, England, 3:00pm October 18th, 2011, Saint Mary's Chapel," I say, not looking him in the face. I hear him punch in the coordinates, and as soon as I feel the Tardis shudder with the landing, I stand up and run out through those blue doors.
"GWYN!" I hear Uncle Jack and Tom call. I look up and see them running towards me from the church steps. All the events of the day catch up and I run away from the Tardis and go behind the church and further into the gardens. I couldn't care less at this moment. I just have to get away from it all.
Doctor's POV
As the Dragon - whose name, as I found, is actually Gwyn - runs away from the oncoming people, the Ponds and I step out of the Tardis. I am shocked to see Captain Jack Harkness running towards me, accompanied by another man. The other guy is very tall for this century, a little over 6 feet. His short brown hair is combed back and he is clean shaven. Both of them are dressed in tuxes, I'm guessing for the occasion. As they both come up to the Tardis Jack stops in front of me and shakes his head.
"Go get Gwyn. I can handle these loons," Jack tells the man with him, who nods before taking off in the direction of Drag- I mean Gwyn. Gathering my composure, I clap my hands together and grin.
"Well if it isn't the old Captain! Long time no see! You look like you haven't aged a bit!" I smile. Jack looks up at me and gives me that old Captain smirk.
"Wish I could say the same for you! Is it just me or do you keep getting younger?" Jack snickers. I pat the underside of my chin.
"Yes. New New New Doctor!" I exclaim. I feel Amy pull on my jacket trying to get my attention.
"Doctor, mind explaining what's going on?" she inquires.
"Oh, that's right! Ponds, this is Captain Jack Harkness, an old traveling companion of mine! Jack, these are the Ponds! My current traveling companions."
Jack adjusts his jacket and takes Amy's hand.
"Hello there," he flirts, and I let out a groan.
"Stop!" I roll my eyes. Jack takes a step back, lifting his hands in the air in retreat.
"Relax, Doctor! I'm a taken man now. But, now that you've returned little Gwyn to us, you can toddle off now because I know she won't take kindly to you being at her wedding. Off you go!" Jack's face loses all playfulness and becomes stern. I'm confused. Gwyn knows Jack? How -?
"Jack, what's going on here? There's something off," I say. Jack lets out a sigh of resignation and runs his hand through his hair.
"It's a long story. But, little Gwyn is Rosie's daughter," Jack admits. I feel all the color leave my face. Gwyn is….Rose's daughter? Wha- how? Why is she here? Rose is safe! She's in another universe, locked away!
"But Rose is in a parallel universe! HOW COULD SHE BE HERE?" I bellow. Jack doesn't flinch from my outburst, standing his ground. Confused, Amy and Rory stand to the side. I let out ragged breaths.
"Doctor, who's Rose?" Amy questions. I can't force the words out of my mouth. My mind is going a hundred miles a minute.
"Rose Tyler was a former companion of the Doctor," Jack explains. "She traveled with him for a little over two years. But something happened with a battle against both the Daleks and the Cybermen. Rose was trapped in a parallel universe, which was sealed away. Rose and the Doctor had a -"
"Don't. Just don't." I whimper. Amy looks like she wants more information but Rory holds back his wife.
"A while back, Rosie came knocking on the door of Torchwood. She was carrying Gwyn, three years old. For some reason all information and actions of you had disappeared. No one remembered you. It's like you never existed. At that point I was still waiting for your time stream to match up with mine. Rosie and I had a long talk. A younger Rose still lived on the Powell estate. We had no idea why an older Rose was there in 1986. But she was. We worked it out and she stayed in Cardiff for a while in hiding." Jack continues with the story. I gulp and force my voice out.
"So, where…where is Rose now?" I stammer. Jack's face falls and he looks down at his feet. No, not Rose. Rose can't be…she can't be dead. I feel tears start to build up in my eyes. She was supposed to be safe!
"Rose is…she's gone. When Gwyn was 12 someone powerful found Rose and Gwyn. I don't know who they were because I wasn't there. When Rose didn't show up at Torchwood that day I grew worried and went to their house to check on them. I found Gwyn sobbing in the safe room. Everything in their house was destroyed and Rose was gone. I raised Gwyn on my own after that. I won't say anything else because it isn't my story to share." Jack confesses, but I'm not listening any more.
Rose is….gone?
~The Doctor's Daughter ~
Gwyn's POV
I run until I find a place to just cry and sort myself out. I run until I find the room I had used for my wedding preparations, slamming the door behind me and grabbing my purse. Quickly dumping out its contents I grab the golden locket and open it. My hands start shaking as I look at the picture. It is of my mom and me on my 12th birthday. We were both smiling at the camera and wearing cheesy party hats. All my pent up emotions reach their breaking point and I begin to sob without restraint. I collapse on the floor and clutch the picture of Mom to my chest.
"Momma." I whimper. "Where are you?"
I didn't hear anyone come into the room until I feel familiar arms wrap themselves around me. I relax into Tom's embrace and continue crying. He just holds me and whispers comforting words into my ear. My mind is so muddled I don't know what he's saying but it is comforting nonetheless. I slowly calm down until my wailing quiets to soft hiccups. Tom doesn't let go of me.
"There now, care to talk about what happened?" Tom asks.
"Not really." I hiccup. He laughs, not unkindly. I slowly sit up and pull away from his arms. Rummaging through the chaos of my purse contents that still are lying out on the floor, I grab some tissues and begin wiping away my make up.
"Well, it's a good thing we planned two separate weddings huh?" Tom muses. I giggle through my tears and turn around. He is still lying on the ground with his arms holding his weight up. I can't suppress a smile.
"Yes. Well, the official wedding is this Saturday on the 22nd. I guess we planned right, something was bound to happen on our first try." I give him a watery smile, gathering my tossed contents and beginning to put them back in my purse. I feel Tom wrap his arms around my waist again and rest his chin on my right shoulder.
"Well, now that the Doctor's here and you have the Tardis, you could, I don't know, maybe try looking for your mum? It might be easier to find her. I'm just thinking about what you've told me. How the Tardis and your Mother are connected." Tom is talking to himself more than me, but I quickly turn my head and try to glare at him although it feels more like a pout than a glare. Tom merely raises his eyebrows. I release a sigh of resignation.
"Even if I did ask the Doctor to help me find mum, where am I gonna start? What am I gonna say? I've barely met him. Plus, what if he finds out? 'Oh yeah, forgot to mention I'm your daughter! Not to mention that I never had any intention of ever finding you or meeting you because honestly I hate your guts!'" I rant, getting up off the floor and sitting in front of the beauty stand to start removing the rest of my makeup properly.
"Well, maybe not go that far, but how about starting with dinner?" he suggests. I put my make up remover down and just stare at my reflection. "You can't avoid him forever. You must have known you would run into him sooner or later."
"Yes, but not this soon," I mumble. Tom obviously has a scheme in mind and I can't come up with a logical argument that doesn't consist of 'I don't want to.'
I sigh, knowing when I'm beaten. "Fine. Dinner tomorrow at 6:30 sharp at my house. Any questions he has about my family can be answered then. The Ponds are also invited because I refuse to have him alone in our house unaccompanied. Now, I'm going to get dressed back in my regular clothes and will be down in a bit. You go tell everyone about the wedding plan changes and let's hope that nothing happens while your friends and family are here."
Tom flashes me his cheesy grin he uses whenever he has won an argument, and rushes out the door. I huff and continue changing out of my wedding dress and back into my more casual wear. Tommorow is going to be a long night.
~ Doctor's Daughter ~
Doctor's POV
I am shocked, to say the least. Pushing thoughts of Rose out of my mind, I see the young man from earlier making his way towards us. Jack quickly focuses all his attention on the man.
"How is she?" Jack asks, obviously concerned. He has practically raised her after all.
"She's dealing with things how she usually deals with them," he responds, Jack shaking his head with a small smile.
"Brooding until it makes sense in her head and ignoring everything else?" Jack says. The man nods before turning his attention to us.
"Hello. Sorry that we weren't introduced earlier. My name is Tom Hiddleston, Gwyn's fiancé."
I shake his hand a bit too enthusiastically. "Pleasure to meet you! I'm the Doctor and these are the Ponds! We would love to stay but apparently the young lady isn't very fond of me so we'd best be going now." Letting go of his hand, I start my retreat back into the Tardis.
"Wait!" Tom calls. I face him again. He fidgets and looks very uncomfortable.
"About that, I'm sure you have a lot of questions. Would you like to come over to our place for dinner tomorrow night? You can ask your questions then. The Ponds are invited too, because...well..." Tom offers, and my mouth drops in surprise. A chance to get to know Rose's daughter? Over dinner? A domestic dinner?
"I'd- I'd love to, but won't that make your fiancée unhappy?" I stammer. Jack crosses his arms over his chest and is clearly also surprised at the offer.
"Yeah, how'd you swing that?" Jack retorts. Tom fidgets even more and scratches the back of his head in awkwardness.
"I made a logical argument," he says, almost apologetic. Jack looks satisfied with his answer before returning his gaze to me, waiting for my answer.
"Well then, Doctor? How about it?" Amy asks, giving my shoulder a slight nudge. I glance her way and see that grin. Oh, I'm in for some long, serious questions tonight. Amy is so stubborn sometimes! Always curious and won't let the matter drop, but that's what I love about her.
"What's the address then?" I say, and agree to meet for dinner. A little domesticity can't hurt.