Hi all! Sorry about the delay in posting. I've moved these past 2 weeks, and started a new job. Those two major real life changes have caused me to have some major writer's block, not to mention less free time to write. I'm still settling into my new home, new job, new life, so I cannot guarantee how often I'll post. But I haven't forgotten my readers, honest! :) Not to sound like Nine or anything, but you all are fantastic! Thank you for all of the kind reviews I have received so far.

Doctor Who is still not mine, and I am just writing this for fun.

CHAPTER 16

The crew of the TARDIS, now numbering an unprecedented twenty individuals (but only twelve different people thanks to the multiple Doctors and Roses on board), bounded through the doors with great anticipation. They were ready for another adventure. They were greeted with a most beautiful sight. They had landed in the middle of a countryside of some sort. They were surrounded by thousands of trees whose silver leaves glimmered in the light of two suns in a bright orange sky. The grass was a gorgeous shade of red, and complimented the color of the sky perfectly. In the distance were some mountains whose snow covered peaks seemed to be holding up the sky. And directly in front of them was a city unlike any on Earth. It appeared to be on a large plateau and was surrounded by what appeared to be a bubble. At the center of the city was a building with a tower so tall that it appeared to poke through the bubble.

For awhile, it appeared that no one wanted to speak, so awed they were with the beauty of the planet. Finally, Amy cleared her throat. "Doctor, where are we?"

All five Doctors were stricken dumb and could not answer. Their Roses seemed to understand as each stepped forward and grabbed his hand, which he then held onto for dear life as each Doctor, even Twelve, choked back tears.

"It's not..." Rose 9 started.

"But it can't be!" Rose 10 gasped.

"It's impossible!" Rose 10.2 whispered.

"But it must be..." Rose 11 said matter of factually.

"Oh Doctor!" Rose 12 cried, tears forming in her own eyes.

"Oi! Human companions here! Who don't have a clue!" Donna retorted. Shaun tried in vain to calm her.

The Doctors still couldn't speak, so the Roses spoke for them, in unison. "Gallifrey."

The large group was heading down a road that led to the city, which was identified as Arcadia, the second largest on the planet. The companions were quietly chatting with one another and marveling at the beauty of the Doctor's home planet. They pretended not to notice that the Doctors remained very quiet, though it appeared that they were quiet for different reasons. Nine was filled with a silent rage; the pain and anger of the Time War was still fresh in his memory. Ten was trying in vain to appear emotionless: he had been so homesick, and never believed that he would ever see his home world again. Tentoo was afraid: meta crises were not exactly illegal on Gallifrey, but they weren't exactly welcomed either. Eleven was trying to contain his excitement: though he remembered that the planet was ultimately spared in the Time War, he hadn't yet returned home. Twelve just walked reverently: he had been gone from the planet for so long that it no longer felt like home, but he respected the world that had given him his remarkable life. Each Doctor clung tightly to his Rose who walked in silence next to him, occasionally giving him a smile or a small hand squeeze of support. Never in all of his lives was the Doctor so grateful for Rose Tyler as he was at this moment.

Eventually, they reached some outlying houses. They appeared to be very tiny huts that dotted the side of the road on the way to Arcadia. "I wonder if they're all bigger on the inside!" Mickey remarked, looking at the tiny huts in wonder. His suspicion was confirmed when from one tiny hut which appeared to be no larger than a telephone booth emerged no fewer than ten men. They all wore matching scarlet uniforms. Guards perhaps?

"Halt!" One of men shouted out towards the group. "Who goes there?"

"I am the Doctor!" Twelve called out. "And these are some of my past faces and companions."

"The Doctor?!" for a second it appeared that fear flashed across the guard's face, but it was gone in a flash. "And past versions of yourself are present as well? Join the club." He gestured to the other guards behind them. "I'm Thrift. And these are most of my past selves. Something's going wrong with the time vortex. All Time Lords are having the same problem. I used to be Rassilon's servant, but I was recently promoted to the Captain of the Guard, and now..." again he gestured to his past selves "I appear to be the entire guard." The many past faces of Thrift laughed like this was the funniest joke in the universe. "Oi!" the eldest Thrift said, scolding his past selves "We've got work to do!" Turning back to the group, he said "Doctor, all of you, come with me. Rassilon wishes for an audience with you. The rest of you" he said, gesturing to the tiny hut that he had emerged from "may make yourselves at home."

When the Doctors and Roses reluctantly dropped their hands and the Doctors turned to follow the Thrifts, the eldest Thrift raised an eyebrow at the Roses and asked "Quintuplets?" Their Doctors shot them a look, warning them not to tell the truth. "Yeah, we are!" Rose 12 thought quickly. "I'm Rose, and these are my sisters, err, uh, Lily, Daisy, Jasmine, and... Heather. Mum called us her flower girls." she said, smiling sweetly to try to appear innocent. The companions tried hard to stifle their laughter, while the Roses were mentally trying to decide if it was murder or suicide if they killed their future self. The Doctors' eyes just danced with amusement as they left with the Thrifts.

The Thrift's hut was indeed bigger on the inside, and had so many corridors and rooms that it seemed to go on forever. Amy briefly wondered if it was even bigger than the TARDIS, but then she realized that there were still rooms on that ship that she had not discovered yet even after years of travel and decided that Time Lord dwellings and ships were just obnoxiously bigger on the inside.

They found themselves in a comfortable sitting room with leather furniture, paintings on the walls, books on the tables, and a fire in the fireplace. Jack, not one to ever be shy, immediately ran off and found the kitchen. He returned to the sitting room with his arms heavy laden with the fruits of his labor. The others eyed him suspiciously. They had no idea who this Thrift person was. In any case, it is rude to eat someone else's food. "He said we could make ourselves at home!" he said, plopping down on a sofa and putting his feet up on the coffee table.

"It's your funeral." Danny remarked. Clearly, Clara had neglected to inform him that Jack would never have a funeral. Jack just grinned at Danny and started gnawing on what appeared to be a very large chicken leg. The others turned away from him in disgust.

The Ponds found a shelf of board games and called the others over to see. Soon, Rose 9, Rose 10, River, Mickey and Martha were playing Monopoly (it was a weird kind of Universe edition: the Roses were thrilled that Boardwalk was replaced with Raxacoricofallapatorius!). Rose 10.2, Donna, and Shaun were playing an unusual version of the popular train game Ticket to Ride, except that instead of trains you played with TARDISes, and instead of connecting cities, you connected planets. Rose 11, Rose 12, and Jack found a classic Barbie game from Earth in the 1950's: you had to get a boyfriend, find the perfect dress, get a job, and become a club president before you were eligible to win and be crowned prom queen. Except that Thrift had tinkered with it somehow, and each of the players actually turned into Barbie dolls for the duration of the game. (And no, Jack was not a Ken doll. He turned into Barbie. And he was ok with that! River was beginning to have second thoughts about him...) The Ponds, Clara, and Danny played several different games of cards including hearts, spades, rummy, and poker (Jack was disappointed that it wasn't strip poker - they used plastic chips instead). The cards seemed to be the only game that was exactly as it was on Earth.

The group was so occupied with their games that they didn't notice that the Doctors had been gone for several hours, and that the hut they were in wasn't really a hut but a TARDIS with a functioning chameleon circuit and a remote controlled console hidden in a back room. No one even suspected that they might not be on Gallifrey any longer.