Here's chapter 2! Thanks to everyone who read/followed/favorited/commented so far, it really does mean a lot. This chapter is an earlier version of both of them, but it's still after TWORS. I had some trouble writing this chapter, so I hope it's okay. Enjoy!

2: Roots- One's background

"So, where are we going?" River asked as she walked into the console room from the bedroom she and the Doctor shared.

"You have quite a lot of knowledge about Gallifrey," the Doctor responded as he put coordinates into the Tardis. "But you don't know much firsthand. You're part Time Lord, River. I want you too see things with your own eyes."

"Gallifrey is time locked. We can't go back."

"Gallifrey itself, sure, but that doesn't stop people from having knowledge of it. There's a Gallifrey Festival held every three hundred years on the planet Rowesia. I've always stayed away, thought it was best that way, but I want to take you. From what I've heard, it's all very accurate and detail oriented."

River was glad that he was taking her to something he knew she would enjoy. "Thank you, sweetie."

"It'll be fun."

She knew he meant it, saw the excitement on his face at showing her their heritage, their roots, but she also caught the hint of sadness in his eye. They were about to walk straight into what so resembled his homeland.

After giving his wife a quick kiss on the cheek, the Doctor took River's hand and led her out of the Tardis and onto the new planet. Right away the couple saw the impact that the festival had on the land. There were streamers and signs announcing the event everywhere, many of them with some random Gallifreyan symbols that had nothing to do with the festival, indicating that the Doctor and River really were the only two people who could read Gallifreyan; the planet was crowded with thousands of people, some researchers or professors and others merely tourists or enthusiasts. Most of them were wearing some kind of Gallifreyan clothing, including robes, gowns, and intricate headgear.

The Doctor, his hand entwined with his wife's only partly so that he didn't lose her in the crowd, walked over to a stand nearby. Telling her to wait there for a moment, he walked up to the stand and came back a moment later carrying two pieces of what appeared to be a cake.

"Here," he said, holding it up to River's mouth. "Try this, it's really good. Tastes just like it did at home."

"What is it?"

"Bluebell Cake, that's what we called it. It was made from a plant found only in the Bluebell forests, nowhere else in the universe."

She took a bite, only kind of trusting the Doctor's judgment. He did, after all, eat fish sticks with custard. As soon as she started chewing, however, her eyebrows shot up and her eyes got bright.

"This is good."

Told you you'd like it!" the Doctor exclaimed, looking pleased with himself. "What do you want to do next? Ooh, we should look at paintings!"

He pulled her over to an exhibit that had paintings of various different things. One painting was of a red planet, obviously Gallifrey. Another was of a deep red field covered in green flowers underneath an orange sky set with two suns.

"Nothing escaped the time lock," the Doctor explained. "No artifacts, no paintings. Nothing except for the things I owned, some of which they probably have here. Anyway, people had to create their own recreations and paintings from what they've read or heard about the planet. Some are quite precise while others don't even get close."

"Look, those are yours, sweetie," River pointed out, walking him over to yet another stand. This one read 'Real Gallifreyan Artifacts,' and the objects on the table were indeed his.

"Sonic reader, a book of alien species, early version of a failed sonic screwdriver. Those are definitely mine." The Doctor whispered the last bit so only River could hear.

The man running the exhibit stood up. "You seem to know quite a lot. What are your names?"

"Uh…"

"Mr. and Mrs. Song." River had answered for him. She knew that he didn't want anyone to know who he was, knew that no one here could find out that he was a Time Lord. She had used her quick wit to get them out of trouble once again, and he flashed her an appreciative smile.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Song, you should check out the stand about the Doctor. Some believe these artifacts belong to him, but I'm not so sure. They could have belonged to any Time Lord. But, if you want to know about the Doctor, I suggest visiting the stand," the man said.

"Will do, we're going right now," the Doctor answered, pulling River away. They walked right past the stand about him, and she understood why. He didn't want to know what they had to say about him, and besides, it might be dangerous if they recognized him. Holding hands, they walked instead to an isolated area of the festival. It was an archway with a plant she had never seen entwined through it.

"This is osterian seed, or a recreation of it, anyway. On Gallifrey, when you get married, you kiss under an osterian seed archway. That's the traditional way, but there weren't any archways in Egypt. I mean, this isn't real osterian seed, but it will have to do. We haven't kissed under the osterian seed yet, Mrs. Song. Would you do me the honors? Only if you want to, that is." He was nervous, she could tell. He said his last sentence rather quickly and he'd looked at the ground.

River smiled. "Of course, sweetie."

He smiled back as he kissed her, wrapping his hand around her shoulders. If River was going to see Gallifreyan customs firsthand, she had to experience the traditional way to kiss at a wedding. Why hadn't he thought of this before?