A/N: In case you don't know, the Doctor's name was Theta Sigma when he was a child. And this is the epic two-chapters-in-a-row day! Yep! Let's begin! Starring an amnesic, de-aged Doctor!

Chapter 5

Vale Decem

A few minutes ago…

Theta Sigma was staring at the ceiling. He blinked slowly and slowly sat up. Dazed and sleepy, he puffed up his cheek and rubbed it with his small hand. The air was much too cold, too crisp, that it didn't feel like… like… Gallifrey. And the four-posted bed, that was different, and the ceiling was too new, the carpeted floor was unfamiliar to him—this room wasn't his Academy dormitory, and it wasn't his bedroom, either.

Now, where was he?

"A—a—achooo!" He sneezed loudly, once, twice, three times. Ow. He wasn't feeling good. It was too cold, the window was open—he rubbed his puffed-up eyes and tried to get out of the bed. Which, unfortunately…

CRASH!

…Ended up with him crashing down onto the floor, face-first, his legs hopelessly entangled with the white bed sheet.

"Owwww…" He winced, then pouted, sullenly gathering up the blankets and tugging it along. His ankles throbbed, his head ached—why couldn't he get anything right? He felt weird, downright weird. His body didn't feel familiar, like he was in someone else's; he carefully wriggled his fingers and toes. It seemed okay. He gingerly placed a foot on the floor, paused, and then pushed himself up to a standing position.

"Whoa—whoa!" He gasped, staggering. Poor Theta's head spun, and he absent-mindedly thought, the steering's a bit off. The gravity was—weaker than he expected. Or maybe not. He waited for a few seconds, adjusting to that feeling and waiting for the dizziness to go away; then he walked up to the window.

The glass window was higher up than he expected, too. Theta had to clamber up onto the stool, fumbling rather awkwardly. After some fruitless struggling, he managed to heave himself up, and grinned triumphantly. He stretched out a hand to close the window—

He gasped.

"What—?!" He stumbled, and the stool fell over, but he flailed his arms and clung onto the windowsill. Panting, Theta Sigma craned his neck to see the outside. His eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Nah, wait—this is impossible. No way."

In Gallifrey, there was an orange sky, snow-capped mountains, fields of red grass, and trees with silver leaves. When morning came, the sunlight would make the forest look like it's on fire. But this, this place… it was so green and blue. Theta simply gaped as his eyes took in the charming sight of the green leaves and grass rustling in the cool morning breeze, the sky blue as ever, the beautiful white clouds floating by, and the brown soil covered with sparkling beads of dew.

A different planet?

So he wasn't mistaken when he thought the temperature and gravity was a bit too off. It was an entirely different planet, all right! Could this be…? He breathed, awestricken, so immersed in the wonderful sight that he didn't notice his fingers slipping—causing his inevitable fall.

BANG!

"…Ow." A muffled voice groaned in pain from under a heap of thick white blankets. He poked his head out, wincing.

This wasn't going to be easy.

"Okay, easy things first," he muttered to himself. "I did ditch a lot of classes, but Extraterrestrial Studies was one of the few subjects that I liked. Let's see if I can see which planet this is—"

He sniffed, frowning in an effort to concentrate. Then he licked the wall, grimaced, and tilted his head, murmuring.

"Relatively high moisture, little or no metallic substance in the air. Green grass, wow, that's weird, blue sky, that's crazy—and humanoids. Wow. Humanoids with—one beating heart? I can only hear one. And quite sophisticated—" He hummed, racking his brains. Then his eyes lit up in delight.

"It's Earth!" He stood up, hopping in joy. Oh, this was unbelievable. Crazy, exciting, incredible, allons-y! He woke up from his sleep to discover that he was on a whole different planet! This couldn't be happening!

"It's real live Earth, with humans, that's crazy! So more exciting than the boring Academy classes! I ditch classes anyway, so it doesn't matter—but how did I end up here?"

Theta's bouncy emotions vanished as he realized that he had no idea how he ended up here. He frowned, scratching his head. Although it was exciting that he was, somehow, on Earth, thousands of light years from his homeland, but he did need to figure out why he was here, and how to get back. He couldn't stay here forever, unless, unless—he was kidnapped.

"Nah. No one is interested in me. Who would kidnap Theta Sigma?" He muttered, observing his body. White pajamas and blue slippers. That was new, too. "Maybe it is just a hallucination, maybe Koschei is playing pranks on me—no. He wasn't that smart. No, no, no, no, no way."

He took a step or two backwards, his brain spinning. This movement unintentionally put him in front of a mirror, and he looked. His eyes bulged.

This wasn't what he looked like.

Seriously? He stared at the mirror, assessing his new face. The crazy tufts of brown hair, new teeth, new legs, new fingers, new look and everything—ooh, new kidneys! That felt weird. So it wasn't wrong either when he felt that he was steering someone else's body. He had changed. Regenerated, perhaps? Did someone kill him overnight? Was that possible?

Oh, this day was getting weirder and weirder.

"Okay, I just went to bed, woke up in a non-Gallifrey-ish planet, and I can't feel any Time Lord psychic connection. And it looks like I've regenerated in my sleep. Great, just great! I'm clueless!" Freaking out, Theta felt about the body, his arms flailing in a rather awkward and comical manner.

"Kidneys. New kidneys. I like the color. Wait, what? No, no, no, I'm getting it all wrong. Something happened. Kidnappers? Maybe. That was the only logical answer that came to his mind. Calming down a bit at this possibility—he was bullied all the time at school, the kidnappers didn't scare him too much—and his initial excitement of getting his feet on the surface of another planet rearing its head again, he rubbed his hands together.

Theta glanced at the door; it wasn't locked. The window wasn't, either. Whoever put him here couldn't be a villain. Hmph. It didn't make any sense, but he wasn't getting anywhere in this room. He could hear someone talking and moving around, probably humans, downstairs; he decided to go and ask them if they knew anything.

Grinning at this new mystery that was waiting to be solved, he dashed out of the room.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

Back to the present…

"No, don't tell me that he's the Doctor." Amy rubbed her cheek, staring incredulously at the little boy. "This is… creepy."

"Actually, he is," Donna confirmed. "I saw him shrink with my very own eyes."

"Oh my god. I mean… oh, my, god." Amy was at a perfect loss for words. Rory looked equally dumbfounded, and it was River Song and Wilfred Mott who recovered from the initial wave of shock the fastest. River slowly approached the Doctor, who looked a little bit curious and scared at once, and crouched in front of him. After wordlessly staring into the boy's brown puppy eyes for a second, she gently reached out and took the boy's hand.

"Doctor? Do you remember any of us?"

The boy fidgeted, but seemed to feel relieved by her gentle attitude. (Mind you, it was a bit creepy when all these humans were staring at him as if he was the weirdest thing in the world. Which didn't make sense if they were the kidnappers.) His glance briefly rested on each of them, but no spark of recognition could be seen in his innocent eyes. He grinned nervously, shaking his head.

"Umm… should I? Have we met? I thought you—never mind. That was stupid." He hopped onto his left feet, and continued. "And why are you calling me the Doctor? Not that I'm upset or anything. Actually, that was the name I was going to choose at the Naming Ceremony. When I'm older, you know. But usually they call me Theta Sigma."

Theta Sigma. So that was his name, Martha mused, but she was still unable to connect the boy to her Doctor. On the other hand, River knew that Theta Sigma was the childhood name for the Doctor; if this was memory loss, then he must have gone a long way. A very long way. Her heart dropped—it was the Library all over again. The young Doctor couldn't recognize his own wife.

But she was not the lethargic, despairing type; she observed the Doctor, or Theta Sigma to be precise, and smiled at him.

"Okay. Can you tell me about yourself? How much do you remember?"

"Oh, okay. Um, I'm Theta, as I told you before; I go to Time Lord Academy in Gallifrey, and I'm ten years old. I'm not that smart, I fail tests every day." He grinned at them playfully. "I'm not boasting or anything. And, as far as I remember, I went to bed—and woke up like this. Am I on Earth?"

Mickey visibly paled at this. He leaned over to Martha and whispered frantically:

"What? He's not smart? The Doctor, not smart? What does that make us?"

"Mickey, shut up." Martha whispered back, not even looking at him. Mickey looked offended, and tried to protest.

"But—"

"Just shut up."

"…Okay." He slumped, defeated. River paid no attention to him, but was trying to think as fast as she could. So, it was like this. Fact 1: The Doctor had regressed into a child. A really, really cute child. No, that's not the point. Fact 2: His memory regressed at the same time, and he is clueless. Fact 3: Now she would have to explain to Theta that he was actually a grown-up, millennium-old Time Lord, last of his kind, and already on his last regeneration.

Shoot.

She really wanted to kill the Doctor. When he came back, of course. She couldn't bring herself to hate this innocent-looking kid. Luckily, Donna came to her rescue, seeing that River was now the one struggling to cope with her own emotions. She crouched beside River and gripped Theta's shoulders with both of her hands.

"Oi, Doctor, or Theta, whoever you are, listen." Yes, that was Donna, the ultimate straightforward ginger. Theta stared at her, frozen, but she went on nonetheless. "The reason why we call you the Doctor, and the reason your face changed, and the reason why on earth you are on Earth is all the same!"

A deep breath. A split moment of tense silence.

"It's because you were a grown-up, you chose the name Doctor, you traveled, and you loved Earth. You were our friend, we were your friends, we traveled together in the TARDIS. And then, on your Eleventh regeneration, you had an accident in the Time Vortex, making your body and mind regress. In short, you think you are Theta Sigma, but it's just that you hit your head pretty badly and lost most of your memory. Do you understand, Sunshine?"

"Oh," Theta said, stunned. He unconsciously rubbed his cheeks, deep in thought.

Silence.

Then he nodded, smiling again.

"Oh, okay."

"What? Aren't you the one who should be shocked?!" Martha gasped, dumbfounded at this unnaturally calm reaction from a ten-year-old child. The 'child' in question shrugged, grinning at her.

"Shock? Shock is boring. Elevated heart rated, dilated pupils, faster breathing, inability to move—what's the fun in that? Nah, I don't like being shocked. It was a perfectly logical explanation, although it wasn't the one I had been expecting, and I found out that you were my friends, not kidnappers. Human friends, that's cool! Fantastic!" He spun on the spot, and jumped onto the couch. He dangled upside down, a manic grin on his face. Being right beside Rory, Theta scanned him from head to toe and giggled.

"Wow, you have a big nose! It's like Rudolf the Reindeer from 'Santa and the Evil Nightmare Children from the Void.' Are all humans like you?"

"Oh, no. That's definitely the Doctor." Martha groaned, reality suddenly hitting her like a brick.

"Where would all that rudeness go? And here I was, thinking that he was all adorable…" Rory muttered, and Amy shrugged, smirking.

"Why? He is adorable."

"It's the first time we meet for him, and he called me a big-nosed Rudolf! And what on earth is the Santa and the Evil Nightmare Children from the Void?!"

"That's the Doctor for you, dad." River said, suddenly brightening up at this wonderful display of 'Doctor-ish rudeness' from Theta. He was always the same, after all. She smirked conspiringly at Theta and said, "Anything you want?"

"I'm hungry," the young boy pouted. The heavy atmosphere was suddenly lifted from the room and a new light of cheerfulness filled it instead. People started talking, smiling at this new Doctor, and bustling about. Just like a normal morning.

"Okay, then. I'll make breakfast for you, Doc." Wilfred Mott hurriedly stood up, heading for the kitchen, when Theta sprang up, a mischievous playfulness tinkling in his eyes.

"No, no, it's okay! I want to make it myself. I think my body remembers what I like to eat."

"Oh, really?" Donna asked eagerly, excitement filling her up. So there were some bits and pieces of Doctor left in Theta. Actually, a lot of bits and pieces, it seemed. And she was so glad that the Doctor was back, back into her life. She pulled the little boy along to the kitchen. "Come here, Spaceman, I'll show you the refrigerator. Let's see what you like."

But unlike her, Amy looked unimpressed.

"I don't think that's a good idea." She muttered under her breath, remembering something that she had seen when she met the Raggedy Man for the first time. If this child was really him, well… they would have to see. She just shrugged, and followed others into the kitchen.

Amused, River just raised one of her eyebrows, and merrily walked into the kitchen.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

A few minutes later…

Theta Sigma seemed to be enjoying his 'eccentric' breakfast.

Others weren't enjoying it too much. Actually, Mickey was visibly paling. Rory kept muttering something under his breath. Wilfred looked baffled. Donna was fighting the urge to slap the Doctor's back. Amy sighed and crossed her arms, as if saying, 'I knew this was going to happen'. River, Jack, Martha and Sarah Jane were the only ones that looked amused.

The Grand Recipe for this particular dish?

Fish fingers served with jelly babies and thinly chopped bananas, with a bowlful of custard cream on top.

"Wanna have some?" Theta asked innocently, holding up a fish finger dipped in custard cream. Mickey paled once more and shook his head fervently.

"Errr, thank you, Doctor, but no. I'm kind of full now."

"Oh. Really?" Theta shrugged, and took a huge bite.

….I don't think I can survive this much longer, Rory thought as the young boy happily drank the remaining portion of custard cream and sucked his fingers clean. He sighed and examined the boy's health instead of watching him eat; he looked healthy enough, with strong double pulse and seemingly unlimited bouncy energy.

"He looks cute," Jack commented without thinking, but Martha jabbed his side sharply.

"Don't you dare flirt with this child," she hissed. "That's crime!"

"I'm not flirting!" Jack protested, sounding extremely offended and incredulous. "I might be a flirter, but I'm not a pervert!"

"I certainly hope so," Martha shook her head. Jack spluttered indignantly.

Unaware of this banter, Theta looked up at River and grinned cheerfully.

"Thanks! It was really nice. I should have more of these."

"What?!" Donna cried out, but River smirked and simply said, "Anytime. What do you want to do now?"

"Welllll…" Theta wriggled his toes, uncertain if he was allowed to ask for this. Young Time Lords were prohibited from this, but they certainly looked like they were nice people, and they were his friends, he though, so why not give it a try? He looked up at them hopefully.

"You said that we traveled in the TARDIS, and the fact that we can understand each other means that there is a translation circuit nearby. If—if the TARDIS is here, can I… take a look?" He ducked his head sheepishly. But instead of chastising him for even thinking of sneaking into the TARDIS like the elder Time Lords used to do, his human friends merely exchanged glances and shrugged as if he was asking for nothing.

"Yes. Why not?"

"REALLY?" Theta jumped up and down in excitement, and they chuckled, amused. And so, after cleaning up the mess that resulted from the young Time Lord's 'feast', they all headed to the newly repaired TARDIS sitting in the beautiful lawn. The Doctor's companions walked leisurely, while Wilfred chuckled and held the hand of Theta, who was bouncing along happily.

None of them knew what was coming.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

"Wow," Theta breathed, looking around in awe. "You… you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life."

He gingerly put a hand on the blue surface of the TARDIS, listening to the quiet humming sound. Oh, he could feel it. The beauty of all the time and space it had traveled, the song of its heart. It was speaking to him, calling out to him. He closed his eyes, completely captivated, a soft smile on his lips.

"Theta! What are you doing? Here, come in and take a look! It's yours, after all!" Jack's head popped out and flashed a mischievous grin. Theta's eyes flashed open; he stared back at Jack, a bit dazed. All his friends had entered the familiar phone booth and were eagerly chattering away.

"Oh," he smiled. "Okay."

He ran into the TARDIS, excitement bubbling up inside him. He looked around, and ran to the console, letting his hand glide over all the levers and buttons, laughing in incredulous joy. All his. All this belonged to the Doctor—to him! How cool was that? And the Sonic Screwdriver, too! He scrunched his nose in confusion for a moment. Who would sonic a screwdriver? But still, it was cool. He had a sonic device, and a time traveling machine. He had all he would dream for.

"Can I touch these?" Theta called out, hardly daring to believe.

"As much as you like," came River's reply. His attention was immediately turned to the console, and he began tinkering with everything at the same time. Amy glanced at him, and leaned over to River, sounding a bit… worried.

"Is it okay? I mean, he doesn't know anything about TARDIS steering yet. Are you sure we aren't going to get stuck in the Dark Ages or something?"

"Mom, I've locked down most of the important stuff," River whispered back, revealing her 'secret'. Amy was speechless for a moment, stunned at her daughter's cleverness, and then began laughing. Of course. This was River, yes.

While others were having a nostalgic chat, touching the walls of the console room affectionately or going into the seemingly endless corridor to have a look at their previous rooms, Theta got bored playing with the (unworking) control panels. He looked around, and spotted a small radio. He picked it up, and began tinkering with it. He frowned. It was broken; it only made a faint clunking noise repeatedly.

"You said that it was broken, last time we met," Sarah Jane said, watching him with a motherly smile. She nodded to him in an encouraging manner. "Why don't you try and fix it? You used to do such a thing in a matter of seconds."

"Really? I didn't learn technology yet, but I do have a Sonic Screwdriver, so maybe—" Theta hummed, scanning the radio with his tube-like device. River came to his side and supplied him with an advice or two on using the Sonic—and finally, he managed to get it working. He scanned the radio once more, this time with a greenish beam.

"A-ha!" He cried out triumphantly, holding up the now working radio. "I fixed it!"

"Good job!" Rory said, nodding earnestly. Given that the boy didn't know a thing at first, he was quite an impressive fast-learner. The radio was now humming smoothly—completely fixed. He suggested to the boy, leaning back comfortably. "Why don't you play us some music?"

"Okay!"

Theta replied cheerfully, and pressed a button that said 'music'.

No one was expecting what happened next. It all came so fast.

A song flared up. A very familiar song.

Theta's eyes widened.

"No," he whispered stiffly, and took a step back. There was fear in his voice. "No, please, stop it."

He dropped the radio with a loud 'clank'. The music was still playing, over and over.

The music that happened to be 'Vale Decem'.

A/N: Wait…. NEXT CHAPTER COMING UP…., And also big thanks to Cure Eclipse, Angelic915, Shadowdragon1317, RandomW, and Anaika Skywalker! You faithful guys, you keep me going :) Please R&R if you appreciate my story and want more!