Chapter Twenty Two
Days passed, then weeks. Months later, Harry had almost convinced himself that it was all a dream.
Almost.
And then one night, it all changed.
...
When Christmas Day came around, he awoke inside of the Tardis.
He realized that this was the best Christmas Present he could ever have.
"Rissa!" He shouted, jumping up and hugging her. "Doctor!" He turned to him and embraced him as well.
"I missed you," he said as they pulled away.
"I'm sorry about the timing," the Doctor said.
"But I told you that we would come back," Rissa said. "And Christmas isn't too bad, is it?"
"Anyway," the Doctor said. "I was once twelve years late!" He clapped his hands and ran over to the Tardis. "So, Harry, where do you want to go?"
He smiled. "I want you guys to pick the places. I don't know that much about space and time anyway."
So they went everywhere. And after several adventures, they would drop Harry off at the Dursleys, who never seemed to notice a big blue box in their front hall. Then again, it was never there for long. There were some days that Rissa and the Doctor never missed. They were always there on Harry's Birthday, and they always came on Christmas.
Until the last day came. And then it was years before he saw them again.
...
The Doctor and I timed it perfectly. The night when we would say our goodbyes would be the night when Harry receives his first of many letters, sent in the mail.
I snuck out of the Tardis and quietly rapped on Harry's door. Harry peeked through the vent and saw who it was. He opened the door, beaming, and hugged me. He was ten years old now, and quite intelligent. He was quickly catching up to me, when it came to height, as I was very, very short.
"Ready for one last adventure?" I asked.
"Yes – wait, what?" Harry asked. "What do you mean, one last adventure?"
"I'll tell you when we're there." I took his hand, and we entered the Tardis.
...
We went to the moon. We parked the Tardis in the moon sand and sat within the Tardis's air bubble thing (the one that allowed Amy to fly halfway out of the Tardis).
We even brought a tiny table out, and had a tea party on the moon.
"Doctor, what year is it?" I asked.
"Why?" the Doctor asked.
"Because I think it is 69'." I pointed at Apollo 11.
"Oh." The Doctor said.
"That's it? Oh?" I asked, incredulous, as Apollo 11 opened and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked out.
"Oh, dear," The Doctor added.
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," Neil Armstrong said, as he stepped the first step on the moon – except not really.
Because he turned, and saw a big, blue box, and three people having a tea party, without any astronaut suits.
"Houston, we have a problem," Neil said.
"What?" Buzz asked, coming out. "What did I miss?"
Neil raised an arm (slowly) and pointed at the three of us, having a tea party.
Slowly, I raised an arm and gave a slight wave. "Hello," I called.
...
We were on the moon, in 69' having a tea party with Harry Potter, Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin.
"You can take your helmets off," I called, as they entered the air shield. "We're sort of in a bubble of air. How do you think we're breathing?"
They exchanged a look, (well, I think they did) and slowly took off their helmets.
"Who are you?" Buzz asked.
"Well, I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said. "This is Rissa," he gestured to me. "And this is Harry. Now I'm going to go get some more chairs for you two."
"How come we can move normally?" Neil asked.
"Because you're in our air bubble," I said. "It protects you. It's like being back home."
"So…" Buzz started. "You're not aliens?"
I laughed. "No, of course not. Well, Harry and I aren't. We're human. The Doctor, however…not so much. I'm American, and from the year 2013. Harry is British, and from the 1980s. I sort of lose track of what year it is with Harry, however."
"It's 1991," Harry said.
"Oh, yeah, cause you were born in 1980!" I said, remembering. "And you're almost eleven."
"Wait, you said the Doctor…is an alien?" Neil asked.
"Yes," I answered.
"Is he from here?" Buzz asked. "The moon, I mean."
"No. He's from a planet called Gallifrey, and it is far, far away. And that" I pointed the Tardis, "is his time travelling alien spaceship. And the Doctor is over 1200 years old."
"Wait, did you say time-travelling?" Neil asked.
I looked surprised. "Well, of course! How do you think Harry and I, two people from the future, got here, in 69'?"
"Here are the chairs!" the Doctor said, coming out with two folding chairs and placing them in the empty spaces around the table. "Do sit down," he told the astronauts.
They took a seat, and the Doctor returned to his chair.
"So," the Doctor said. "The 69' moon landing! Seems like just yesterday, I was in 69', helping build your spaceship. There were all of those damn people at NASA yelling at me for fixing your ship. I had to call Nixon to get them off my back."
"You know Nixon?" Buzz asked, incredulous.
"Of course," I said. "And he's met Charles Dickens, and Shakespeare, and Agatha Christie. He's met Van Gogh, and Queen Victoria. Elizabeth the First and Madame de Pompadour have fallen in love with him. Winston Churchill has the Doctor on speed dial."
The phone rang. The Doctor got up, grumbling, "That better not be him now, I'm busy."
"Yes?" he asked, picking up the phone. "Not now, UNIT, I'm busy." He paused while listening to the other end.
"What's UNIT?" Neil whispered.
"Part of the British Government," I whispered. "Stands for Unified Intelligence Taskforce. They deal with aliens."
"Listen, I HAVE A TIME MACHIENE. It might take me a while, but I will get there. Eventually."
I sighed. "UNIT is always having some sort of mishap. Technically, the Doctor works for them."
"The Doctor has a job?" Harry asked, curious.
"Sort of..."
The Doctor hung up and rejoined the group. "Alright then. Rissa, we're going to UNIT after we drop Harry off. Now," he said, clapping his hands together once and turning to me. "Why don't you take Harry inside and explain things to him. I'll have a little chat with our friends here."
I nodded to the Doctor, took Harry's hand, and we turned and went inside.