CHAPTER 76

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RUMBLINGS OF WAR

"So this is Earth. I didn't even know where I was when I was here before. I like it," Freya said as we stood outside of the secret entrance to the Torchwood Hub in Cardiff.

I had brought Jack back here to drop him off after our little trip to the past together, but Freya clearly wasn't a fan of that idea. She was holding onto his hand tightly and refused to let go of it as she looked around the entire area with a look of awe on her face. That is when she wasn't looking at Jack with a secret smile whenever he wasn't watching her.

She clearly had a huge crush on Jack, and she didn't seem to be about to let that go anytime soon.

"So, Jack, do you think that you could take me on a tour of your world? I'd love to see the sights and get to mingle with some of the people. I haven't been around too many humans yet, but I like what I see of them so far," Freya said as she smiled at Jack with a huge grin on her face.

Jack lightly rubbed the top of her head affectionately as he said, "Maybe later, Freya. Right now I have to go meet my wife. She'll kill me if I show up late because she went to a lot of trouble to get us into some fancy restaurant that she was just dying to go to where they have a waiting list a mile long just to get in, and then she'll kill me again just to make sure that I'm not late again the next time."

"You're married?" Freya asked with a devastated look on her face.

Jack looked at her sympathetically as he said, "I'm sorry. I guess I should have told you that sooner, huh? Don't feel so bad though, Freya. You'll grow up someday and find the right person for you. I know you will. Is it okay for us to still be friends? Will you be alright with that?"

Freya nodded with a sad look in her eyes as she said, "Yeah, that'll be fine. At least I can still get that tour of Cardiff right?"

"Right. We'll do it the next time that you're in town I promise," Jack said winking at her.

Freya started to smile again and I silently thanked Jack who nodded at me. What a charmer! I was so glad that he let her down easily.

As I watched Jack walk away and Freya watch him go with a sigh, I couldn't help but think how odd it was to be so much older than her now. She was still in the early years of being a teenager basically while I was literally older than the dirt of most worlds. Our relationship was going to be weird to say the least, but I didn't care as long as I had her back with me.

"So where do go next? Can you show me more of Earth?" Freya finally asked after Jack had entered the Hub and disappeared from her view.

"Oh, I definitely will if that's what you want. Earth is one of my favorite places, Freya. I'm sure that you'll learn to love it here too. Or would you rather go back home first and see what Gallifrey's like now?" I asked as I left the choice up to her.

"I don't know," Freya said in a sad voice as she looked down at the ground without looking at me.

"I'm sorry that it's all so different now. I'm going to do my best to make all of that up to you though I promise. I'm going to be the best little sister ever," I said in a gentle voice.

Freya smiled at that as she said, "Shouldn't you be calling me the little sister now?"

"No, you're always going to be my big sister. Nothing's ever going to change that. It's going to be alright, Freya. I know it's all a bit too much for you to take in right now, but we'll get through this together just like we did with everything else back in the old days," I said as I gave her a comforting hug.

"I'm sorry, Sekh. I'm trying to be strong and not show any emotion, but it's hard to stay that way all the time," Freya admitted.

"You don't have to do that. Not around me. I want you to always be honest with me. You don't ever have to hide anything from me. I want you to always feel like you can talk to me about anything," I said.

"That's part of the reason that I'm so upset. For me it was just a day ago that you were this little girl who was always doing all kinds of weird experiments and constantly getting herself into trouble, and now you're suddenly all grown-up and wise like Mum. It's a bit too much," Freya admitted.

Allison and Aishwana had been listening to this, and they both suddenly burst out laughing. I glared at them both as I said, "Do you think it's funny that your aunt is upset?"

Both girls immediately shook their heads as Aishwana said, "No, what's funny is that she thinks that you're a grown-up."

"Yeah, she doesn't realize that you're anything but mature," Allison added.

I began to laugh now too as I said to Freya, "They're right you know. I'm only acting mature because you're around. In my heart, I'm still very much that little girl that you knew, Freya. I may not do the weird experiments so much anymore, but I'm still constantly getting myself into plenty of trouble. I may also sometimes be described as just a little teensy weensy bit . . . eccentric."

"Oh, so you're still just as crazy as ever then?" Freya said as she began to giggle.

"Hey!" I said as I pretended to be offended even while I put my arm around her affectionately.

"I bet she's even crazier," Allison said.

"No, that's not possible. Nobody could be that mad," Freya said stubbornly.

"Wanna bet?" Aishwana challenged her.

"You're on," Freya said eagerly.

"What are you lot talking about?" Rose asked as she gently rubbed Freya's head.

"They say that Sekh is crazier than she was when she was a kid. That's just not possible. She created that machine of hers that she didn't know how to use properly and brought Jenna to us by accident. She could have killed her or us using that thing. That's pretty crazy right there, and that's just the start of what I can tell you about her,' Freya said.

"Really? I'm really going to have to listen to some of your stories sometime then, Aunt Freya. They'll give me ammunition to use against Mum whenever she says that I'm doing something crazy," Rose said with a wicked smile directed my way.

I shook my head at her as I said, "It was still crazier than anything that I've ever done or ever will do for you to marry the Doctor if you ask me."

"Please don't call me that," Freya said to Rose in a disturbed voice.

"What, honey?" Rose asked in confusion.

"Aunt. I don't like that. Just call me Freya," Freya said.

"I was just trying to be respectful to you," Rose said.

Freya smiled at her gently as she said, "I know but I'm only a kid. I'm not old enough to be anyone's aunt. Can all of you just call me Freya and just treat me like a friend? Please?"

"You're much more than a friend to us," I reminded her.

"I know that and I'm glad about that. I really am. I just . . . I just don't want to be somebody's aunt. I'm not ready for that yet. Maybe friend isn't the right word. Maybe you could all treat me like Sekh does: like a sister. Only much, much nicer than she does of course," Freya said grinning maliciously.

"Hey, I'm plenty nice to you," I said still acting offended when I really wasn't.

My three girls nodded in agreement to Freya's request as Allison said, "Sure. I have to admit that I already thought of you as a little sister anyway."

"Good. That's exactly what I want," Freya said nodding.

"You know how you were speaking about Jenna before. How would you like to see her again?" Rose said as she suddenly thought of something that might cheer Freya up.

"Huh? Do you mean that Jenna's here?" Freya asked as her eyes lit up.

Rose smiled as she said, "Of course she is and I know she'll love to see you again. Her real name is Clara by the way."

Freya wrinkled her nose as she said, "I like Jenna better."

"Oi! What's wrong with Clara? Clara's a cool name," Clara said as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Rose and I both started to laugh as Clara said, "Never ever tell the Doctor that I said that."

"Jenna!" Freya screamed as she rushed forward and hugged Clara tightly.

Clara looked stunned for a moment as Freya refused to let her go and began to cry in her arms. Then she quickly recovered and said, "It's alright, Freya. It's going to be alright."

"I brought Clara here to see her in order to give her something familiar to cling to. In a way, Clara's the last thing left from her old life that hasn't completely changed. She still looks the same as she did before," Rose said.

"Thank you, Rose. She's been so upset since I was reunited with her, and I don't really know what to do for her. I'm trying but so far I'm just making her happy for a little while, and then she goes right back to being all depressed again. I wish I knew what to do for her," I said in a sad voice.

"I don't really know what to do for her either. Clara seems to have a magic touch with children though so maybe she'll be able to do something for her. I hope so anyway," Rose said.

Suddenly she looked at me as if she wanted to say something and then looked away. I smiled as I knew what that meant. She'd been doing that to me and probably Jackie too all of her life. She wanted to tell me something, but she wasn't sure of how I'd react to it.

"Spill it, Rose. What's bothering you?" I said smiling at her.

"You might have heard that Belle was cured recently. She's not insane anymore," Rose said.

"Uh huh," I said wondering where she was going with this and not quite sure that I liked it.

"Belle's her normal self again but she's . . . she's very upset about all of the things that she did while she was the War Lord. She's ashamed of it and she wants to apologize to everyone that she's ever hurt. She needs to do that, Mum," Rose said.

"She wants to come here and apologize to Freya then?" I asked in an angry voice.

"Please. She needs this. She wants Freya to know that she's sorry. She wants you to know it too. Please," Rose pleaded.

"No. I'm not letting her anywhere near Freya. Freya's already been upset enough lately," I said in a firm voice.

"Belle's not like she was anymore. She's just like Jenny again, and I know how much that you love Jenny. I've always known that she was your favorite grandchild," Rose said as she tried to reach me.

"That's not true. I love all of my grandchildren equally, Rose. I'd also love to have more of them," I said changing the subject as I looked pointedly at an eavesdropping Allison, Aishwana, and Ron.

They all looked at me in anger while Isabella looked at me in surprise. My eyes widened as I began to wonder if that meant something.

Rose winked at me and my mouth dropped open in surprise. Then I began to smile as I wondered when Isabella was planning on telling the rest of us. Apparently she hadn't even told Ron yet.

"Don't you say a word, Mum. She should be the one to tell them," Rose said knowing instantly what I was thinking from the look on my face.

"I won't say anything if you drop this talk about Belle," I suddenly said surprising her.

"Why are you being like this? Belle's just as much my daughter as if I gave birth to her myself. I'm just trying to help her," Rose said.

My hearts began to soften because I knew that Rose was being hurt by this, and I never liked hurting Rose. I couldn't let Belle near Freya though. I couldn't take the chance that she might take her away from me again despite her supposedly being back to normal again.

"Tell her that I'm sorry but no. I have to protect my sister," I finally said with great reluctance.

"Fine, sure," Rose said in an unemotional voice.

She started to turn away from me with a heartbroken look on her face and I couldn't bear it. I immediately grabbed her and embraced her as I said, "I'm sorry. I know that you're just trying to help your daughter. I know that. I just can't do this to Freya, Rose. I can't. Please understand."

Rose nodded and gave me a small smile as she said, "I do understand. I just hope that someday that you'll change your mind about that. She's a good person once you get to know her, Mum."

"Maybe someday but not today," I conceded.

"I guess that'll have to be enough then for now. I'm going to take Clara and leave. I'll see you later to see how Freya's doing. I promise," Rose said.

We hugged each other tightly and then both she and Clara were gone. Freya's face fell immediately, and I was about to go to her when to my surprise Isabella beat me to it.

"Hello. We haven't really formally met before but my name's Isabella," Isabella said as she took Freya's hand.

"I'm Freya. Are you human?" Freya asked.

"Yes. How did you know that?" Isabella asked curiously.

"You're not telepathic and I can feel that you don't have two hearts," Freya said as she studied Isabella closely.

"Does that bother you?" Isabella asked hesitantly.

"No. Jen- I mean Clara is a good friend of mine and she's human. I like humans or at least I like the ones that I'm met so far," Freya said.

"I just came over here to tell you that if you ever needed someone to talk to about how you're feeling that it could be me. I'm a good listener because I never talk much, and I don't sit in judgment on anyone. I just want to help if I can," Isabella said.

Freya smiled as she said, "Thank you. Maybe I'll take you up on that sometime."

Then Isabella gave Freya a hug and Freya looked at her in surprise as she said, "Is that where a human's second heart is? In your stomach?"

"Humans don't have a second heart, Freya," I said as I tried to get her to shut up.

"She does. I heard a heartbeat in her stomach. It's very faint but it's there," Freya said.

"No, it's not," I said as I had to restrain myself from putting a hand over her mouth in order to get her to shut up.

It was already too late as Ron said, "Izzy, are you . . .?"

Isabelle smiled as she said, "Yes, I'm pregnant. I just found out not too long ago, and I was waiting for the right time to tell you."

"Well, I guess I spoiled that, huh? I'm sorry. I don't know anything about human anatomy," Freya apologized.

"No, it's okay," Isabella said.

Then Isabella and I both noticed at once that Ron was just staring at her without moving. She began to become concerned as she said, "Ron, are you okay?"

He then screamed, "I'm going to be a father!"

He grabbed ahold of Isabella and kissed her passionately as I smiled at both of them. I was elated that I was going to have another grandchild, and it was really nice after everything that had happened lately to have some good news to celebrate. Now if I could just find someone for Allison and Aishwana.

"You really have become like Mum haven't you?" Freya said in disbelief.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You're looking at them like you expect them to say that they're pregnant next," Freya said as she pointed at Allison and Aishwana.

"I suppose I am just a bit too much like her on occasion," I grudgingly admitted.

"A bit? Ha!" Freya said.

"At least I know how the birds and the bees work," I said defensively.

"The what? Oh, you mean that I didn't know that Isabella was pregnant. You talk so strangely these days. I don't understand half of what you mean. It seems like you talk more like a human now than a Gallifreyan to me. Not that there's anything wrong with that. How was I supposed to know that she was pregnant? Of course I don't know anything about human reproduction. For all I know they're all loomed," Freya said.

"Loomed?" Ron asked.

"It's something that my people do when they either can't have children or don't want to the natural way. It's not like childbirth at all though since the 'children' have no childhood whatsoever. They're created fully grown from a machine called a loom that uses genetic material from a certain House to create more members for that house. I never liked it myself. I prefer natural childbirth, and I had all my kids that way," I explained.

"So these loomed Time Lords are like Jenny then?" Ron asked.

"Exactly. They never had a childhood but that doesn't make them any less a real child," I said.

Then my hearts fell as I started to think about Belle. I quickly snapped myself out of it though. I couldn't take a chance on her snapping again and hurting Freya even if it was making me feel more and more like I was rejecting her.

"Mum, are you alright?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Congratulations, Ron, Isabella! I'm so happy for both of you," I said as I embraced both of them.

That was when Robin walked out of the TARDIS and said, "Oh, so you all finally know that she's pregnant. Good."

I looked at him in shock as I said, "How did you know that? I didn't even know that until just now."

"I can tell by the glow that Isabella's been having lately. I've trained myself to be a very observant person, my lady. I've had to be in order to survive as a wanted man in my own world," Robin said.

"I was trained to be observant as well during the war. Are you saying that I'm not anymore? Do you think that I've lost my edge?" I asked playfully.

"Not at all, Lily. I just think that you were too distracted by other things to notice," Robin said in a serious tone as he briefly looked at Freya.

"Maybe I still am," I admitted.

"Rose told me about Belle. I really think that you need to see her in order to let go of all of this trauma that you've built up around what she did to you and Freya," Robin suggested.

As I shook my head, Freya said, "Is she the one who hurt me?"

"Yes, but she won't ever get a chance to again," I promised her.

"She was sick and that's why she did those things to you but she's better now. She wants to apologize to you because what she did is killing her inside," Robin explained to her.

"Okay," Freya said.

"What? Aren't you afraid of her?" I asked surprised.

"Yes. If she's better now though, then I'll just have to get over that won't I? She is your granddaughter right? That means that I need to help her. Mum taught us to always help family no matter what," Freya said.

I looked at her with a small smile as I said, "You're right. You're absolutely right. Thanks, Freya."

"For what?" Freya asked.

"For helping me remember who I am," I said as I gave her a small hug while Robin smiled at me proudly.

Meanwhile my temporary rejection of Belle was going to produce a result that I never would have expected as she tried to search for a way to ingratiate herself to me. Belle was using her powers to spy invisibly on the War Lords in order to find out some of their secret plans. She hoped that if she exposed whatever it was that they were up to right now and put a stop to it that she could not only make up for what she had done as the War Lord but also be forgiven by me.

She was about to receive the shock of a lifetime as she stumbled upon their latest plan. She was secretly onboard her own former command ship, The Phobos, listening to General Cobb and the War Chief talking to one another when she heard the following conversation.

"I will have my daughter back one way or another. I don't care what I have to do," Cobb said.

Belle swallowed hard as he said this because she felt as if he were her second father. It hurt her to be rejected by him as Belle and only to be loved as a madwoman. Why couldn't he love her as she was?

"Then we are in agreement then," the War Chief said.

"Yes, activate the machine," General Cobb said.

The War Chief activated what Belle knew was a molecular reassembler, and she briefly wondered what they were trying to put back together and why. Then she saw to her complete horror that it wasn't a what. It was a who.

She had never seen the man who was being reassembled right in front of her before except in holograms on Jenny's TARDIS, but she still recognized him instantly. He was the most evil Time lord of all time, and the one person that I could truly say that I hated with every fiber of my being.

Rassilon.

After his body had been reassembled and he had been brought back to life once more, Rassilon flashed both men watching him an evil grin as he said to the War Chief, "My Lord Magnus, it seems that you have saved my life. Is there a specific reason for this or is it just some hidden loyalty towards me that you have never shown before up until this point?"

The War Chief smiled as he said, "We wish to overthrow the Time Lords and become the new rulers of time and space."

"Exactly what part am I supposed to play in this ambitious little plan of yours?" Rassilon asked in amusement.

"We need you to overthrow the corrupt leadership of Gallifrey and then join forces with us so that we can all rule time and space together," the War Chief said.

"What makes you think that I would ever agree to such a thing?" Rassilon asked with disdain.

"Well, you really have no choice do you? We purposely put you back together with a flaw in your genetic structure. You're dying and only we can save you. So if you want to stay alive you will do as we tell you or die horribly in a matter of months if not sooner. It's entirely up to you," the War Chief said with a smirk.

Rassilon glared at him with utter hatred in his eyes as he said, "What must I do?"

"You will lead us to victory over the current Lord President, and then you will take over Gallifrey yourself and aid us as necessary. I believe that you'll enjoy this particular battle anyway as the current President is the Master," the War Chief said with an evil grin knowing that he had the man now.

Rassilon became even more angry as he said, "Yes, I shall truly enjoy crushing him. Almost as much as I will enjoy destroying Arkytior. Oh, I will take great pleasure in her destruction. Great pleasure indeed."

Belle had to hold back a gasp as she could see even in that moment that the wheels were already turning in Rassilon's mind about what he was going to do to Rose. She knew right then and there that she had to tell not only Rose but me about what was going on here.

Belle quickly teleported off of the ship without ever being noticed just as she had gotten in since she had a way to jam all of its detection devices due to having helped design the ship herself. She was already on her way to come and see me and tell me what was going on.

Belle had no way of knowing what had just been started at that moment, but this was only the beginning of the War Lords' final plan. It was a plan that would lead to a massive invasion of Gallifrey, a titanic battle that would decide the ultimate fate of the Time Lords, the rebirth of a hero, and the most powerful Vortex user of all finally achieving their true destiny at last.

I know that I'm being cryptic but Prime told me not to give away too much. I have to admit that it is kind of fun keeping secrets from everyone. Don't worry. You'll all know everything in time.

I will say one thing though. This was going to be one of the greatest challenges of my life because I was going to be forced to fight someone that I loved in order to save the universe, and I was also going to finally come face to face with the man who ruined my life at long last.

Before all was said and done I would face Rassilon in battle, and the entire universe would tremble.

Next: Rassilon's insidious plan against Rose continues to be revealed even as Belle warns Lily about what she has seen. How will Lily and more importantly Freya respond to her? Also we'll find out more about Ron and Isabella's baby and what it will be. Finally there will be a shocking defection from within the ranks of the War Lords. Who will it be and why?