CHAPTER 60

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CLARA OSWALD REWRITTEN

"Clara? Hello? Clara Oswin Oswald, are you listening to me?" A voice that Oswin knew all too well said behind her.

"What? Is this another dream?" Oswin asked as she turned around to see her mother standing there with a look of irritation on her face.

That wasn't all that she was standing there with either. She was also holding a baby. She had absolutely no idea what that was about. As if seeing her mother there wasn't weird enough. This was definitely a crazy dream alright. A really crazy dream.

"Dream? No, daydreaming is what you were doing a second ago. Unfortunately for you, this is all too real. You didn't take the trash out like I asked you to, did you? I gave you one chore for today, and you couldn't even do that," Ellie Oswald said with a frown.

"Huh? What is this? This definitely isn't like my other hallucinations of you. This one is more like a memory. It's more like my entire childhood actually," Oswin said with a fond smile.

"What are you smiling about? I'm angry at you, Clara. You promised me a thousand times that you would actually do what I asked you to do today, and it's still right where it was this morning," Ellie said.

Oswin looked down at her body and then gasped in surprise to see that it was noticeably younger. She then took a good look around her and finally realized that she was in her parents' house instead of on Skaro.

"Oh my stars," Oswin said in a hushed tone with a completely befuddled look on her face.

"Clara? Are you alright?" Ellie said as her anger quickly changed to concern now at the way that her daughter was acting.

"I'm fine, Mum. What are you talking abo- ? Oh, you were talking to Ozzie. Sorry," A teenage Clara said as she stepped into the room.

"Clara, something's wrong with your sister. She's acting like she doesn't know where she is. I think that she may be having a seizure or something," Ellie said in an extremely upset voice.

"Sister? Well, there's a new one. This dream just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Next you're going to tell me that I have two other sisters named . . ." Oswin started to say.

"May, Nina, get in here. Ozzie's having a nervous breakdown or something," Clara shouted behind her.

"Oh, come on! What were we, quadruplets or something? This doesn't even make sense. I was an only child. This can't possibly be real," Oswin said in disbelief as a teenage Cydonia and Nina Montague came into the room with worried looks on their faces.

"Oswin, honey, it's going to be okay. I'm going to call a doctor, okay?" Ellie said as she started to move towards a phone.

"I need a doctor alright but not that kind. Where is the Old Man or Mr. Chin when you really need them? I'd even settle for Rainbow Man right now with that horrible coat of his. I could use a good laugh," Oswin said as she struggled to figure out what in the world was happening to her.

"Oh my lord! Now she's babbling incoherently. You're all going to have to take care of your little sister until I can get back from the doctor's office with Oswin. She's very sick," Ellie said as she began to cry.

That was when Oswin began to wonder if this wasn't all real somehow. In that moment, she decided that she really didn't care. She didn't like seeing her mother cry in any reality not even in a dream.

"I'm alright, Mum. Stop worrying so much. I was just a little out of it for a minute, yeah? I was caught in-between a daydream and reality. I'm back now though I promise," Oswin said with a reassuring smile.

"Are you sure?" Ellie asked in a hesitant voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll even take out the trash for you to prove it, okay?" Oswin said with a huge grin.

"Now I know Ozzie's sick. She's volunteering to do her chores," Clara said to her other sisters who quickly nodded in agreement.

"Very funny," Oswin said as she emptied the trash can and started out the door.

"I'm not sure whether to be happy or terrified," Ellie said as she watched Oswin go outside.

As soon as Oswin went outside, she heard a familiar voice say, "EMPRESS?"

She began to smile from ear to ear as she turned to see a partially invisible Epsilon standing there. He was actually hiding behind the shrubbery and acted almost afraid to be seen by her.

"Eppy! I've never been so happy to see someone in all of my lives," Oswin said as she rushed forward to hug the camouflaged Dalek.

"YOU RECOGNIZE ME THEN? I WAS AFRAID THAT I MIGHT FRIGHTEN YOU ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU'RE SO . . . YOUNG," Epsilon said in what almost sounded like a relieved voice.

"Why wouldn't I recognize you? What is going on here, Epsilon? Is my brain trapped in some kind of matrix or something? That's it, isn't it?" Oswin asked as she continued to hold onto her trusted friend like a lifeline.

"WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, EMPRESS, YOU ARE MISTAKEN. THIS IS ALL TOO REAL. WHAT IS THE LAST THING THAT YOU REMEMBER?" Epsilon asked with a clear tone of concern that made Oswin smile as soon as she heard it.

"You actually sound worried about me. I'll make you human yet, Eppy," Oswin said with a grin.

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR INSULTS, EMPRESS. PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTION. I MUST KNOW HOW MUCH YOU REMEMBER. WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME," Epsilon said.

Oswin frowned as she said, "Something's definitely wrong isn't it? Okay, I'll play along then. The last thing that I remember is all of us fighting that knock down drag out fight against the psycho Clara. She almost killed you, me, Clara, Cassiopeia, and Jenny even with the Doctor and Rose suddenly coming back from that other universe at the last minute to help us. She even took out several armies of Rose and the Doctor's friends at once in addition to an army of our boys. I have to admit that I never would have figured on the Matriarch being the one to finally kill her. She completely disintegrated her but was lethally wounded in the process. Then the manipulative witch took advantage of Cassiopeia's kind heart to steal the power of the Bad Wolf from her while she was healing her. She vanished right after that and then you and I went back to Skaro to see what damage that crazy Mentor left for us there."

"AND THAT IS YOUR LAST MEMORY?" Epsilon asked.

"Yeah, it was until I suddenly found myself inside my old house with my mother yelling at me. So you're saying that this is real? All of it? So . . . she's really alive again?" Oswin said as she started to smile.

"CLARA, I KNOW THAT YOU WANT TO GO BACK IN THERE AND SEE HER BUT THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE AT THE MOMENT. I'VE TRAPPED HER AND EVERYONE ELSE INSIDE THAT HOUSE IN A TEMPORARY TIME LOOP. I COULDN'T TAKE THE CHANCE OF BEING DISCOVERED BY THEM," Epsilon said.

"Of course I want to see her so you can just unfreeze her. She's back and this time maybe I can do something to keep her that way," Oswin said as she started back towards the house.

"ONE OF YOU ALREADY HAS ALONG WITH CHANGING SO MANY OTHER THINGS. THAT'S THE PROBLEM, EMPRESS. SHE'S CHANGED THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE TO KEEP YOU AND SO MANY OF YOUR FRIENDS HAPPY AND SAFE. SHE'S TAKEN YOUR NEED TO PROTECT THEM TO AN INSANE NEW LEVEL," Epsilon said.

Oswin nodded as she finally started to understand now and said, "The Matriarch did all of this with Rose's power. She brought Mum back and made the others think that they were my actual sisters. She even made me into a kid again. I know why she did though. This was definitely the last time that I was really truly happy."

"IT WAS?" Epsilon asked in what was unmistakably a hurt tone.

Oswin smiled and patted Epsilon's casing affectionately as she said, "Until now that is. Why do I still remember when Clara, Cydonia, and Nina don't though? For that matter, why do you still remember? I would have thought that the Matriarch would have made sure to make you and my other boys forget all about me."

"WE SUSPECT THAT YOUR STATUS AS A TEMPORAL ANOMALY PREVENTED THE MATRIARCH FROM COMPLETELY IMMERSING YOU IN HER NEW REALITY. IT MADE YOU RESISTANT TO HER CONTROL. SHE PROBABLY DID TRY TO ALTER OUR MEMORIES AS WELL, BUT WE HAVE MADE OURSELVES IMMUNE TO EVERY KNOWN TYPE OF TEMPORAL TAMPERING OR DISTORTION AFTER THE EVENTS OF THE TIME WAR. WE HAVE ALSO TAKEN EVERY STEP TO PREVENT OUR MEMORIES FROM BEING ALTERED OR ERASED AS WELL. THE DALEKS WILL NEVER HAVE EITHER OUR HISTORY OR OUR MEMORIES REWRITTEN AGAIN BY ANYONE," Epsilon said.

"Yeah, sorry about my part in all of that," Oswin said with a wince.

"OF COURSE I NEVER MEANT YOU, EMPRESS," Epsilon said.

"I was still guilty of it all the same, Eppy. That's not important right now though is it? I have a feeling that you're not here to say hello to my mother after all. What the Queen of the Control Freaks did to the Web of Time made an already fractured universe start coming apart didn't it?" Oswin guessed.

"YES, THE DAMAGE IS ALREADY STARTING TO SHOW EVEN THOUGH THE MATRIARCH DOESN'T SEEM TO NOTICE IT JUST YET. SHE ACTUALLY BELIEVES THAT SHE HAS EVERYTHING UNDER COMPLETE CONTROL," Epsilon explained.

"Let me guess. No one can convince her otherwise, right? Why am I not surprised by that?" Oswin said with a sigh.

"YOU CAN ADMIT THAT?" Epsilon asked.

"Sure. I can always admit my failings when it's not really me making them," Oswin said with a chuckle.

Then her eyes widened as she suddenly realized in a horrified voice, "The baby! I'm not pregnant anymore! She erased the baby!"

"NO, THE CHILD IS FINE," Epsilon reassured her.

"How can you say that? I'm not even showing anymore, and I didn't even realize it until just now. Why didn't I remember the baby?" Oswin asked in an emotional voice.

"YOU'RE NOT SHOWING BECAUSE IN THIS REALITY THE BABY HAS ALREADY BEEN BORN. THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WONDERED IF YOU KNEW ABOUT OR NOT. OBVIOUSLY YOU DIDN'T. SHE DID SUCCESSFULLY ERASE YOUR MEMORY OF THAT IT SEEMS IF ONLY FOR A SHORT TIME," Epsilon said.

"The baby has already been born? How can that be? Where is she? Where is my baby?" Oswin said in a panicked voice.

"SHE IS SAFE. SHE HAS BEEN MADE INTO YOUR NEWLY BORN LITTLE SISTER IN THIS REALITY. THE VERY ONE THAT YOUR MOTHER WAS HOLDING EARLIER. IT SEEMS THAT THE MATRIARCH DIDN'T HAVE THE HEART TO GET RID OF HER COMPLETELY," Epsilon said.

"How twisted is this? My daughter is my sister? I'm going to kill Evil Me when I find her!" Oswin said in a furious voice.

"Don't worry. We'll return everything to normal again, Ozzie. That is if the universe isn't completely wiped out soon of course. By the way, I'm really loving teenage you. It makes me so glad that I'm not that age again. I definitely don't miss acne that's for sure," An older Clara who actually looked her proper age said as she suddenly appeared in front of Oswin along with Jenny Tyler, Lily Wright, and Sarah Jane Smith.

"Let me guess. You're from the future, right? Future Rose protected that part of the timeline and then sent you back here to fix things didn't she?" Oswin asked the older Clara.

"You've got it, Ozzie. I'm here to clean up my own mess since I'm the version of Clara that the Matriarch came from in the first place," The future Clara said.

"Then maybe I should kill you first before I find her," Oswin said with a scowl.

"You can kill her later, Clara. Right now we need all of the Claras that we can get to help us against the Matriarch and that includes your three sisters in there. We especially need Cydonia since she's a Guardian now," Jenny said.

"They're not going to believe me, Jen. They thought that I was mad before when I started talking about none of this being real. They actually think that they're teenagers again," Oswin said.

"I think that they'll believe you now, Clara," Sarah Jane said as she pointed to the now open door of the house where the three Claras stood watching them in complete shock.

Oswin glared at Epsilon as she said, "I thought you said that you had them in a time loop."

"I SAID A TEMPORARY TIME LOOP, EMPRESS. I COULDN'T RISK KEEPING IT GOING FOR TOO LONG. THE WEB OF TIME IS ALREADY DAMAGED ENOUGH AS IT IS," Epsilon said.

"He's right, Clara. It is. Case in point," Lily said as she pointed to the three Claras.

Oswin watched with growing dread as they changed ages from teenagers to adults to children and then back to teenagers once again almost in the blink of an eye. Then they briefly shimmered out of existence entirely and returned once more causing the future Clara to breath out a sigh of relief.

"That was a close one. I actually felt myself starting to wink out along with past me," The future Clara said.

"It's only going to get worse too unless we stop the Matriarch soon. I can already feel that. What we saw just now were only the ripples of something much bigger that's still to come," Sarah Jane warned.

"Oswin?" The teenage Clara said in an uncertain voice.

"Welcome back, Clara. That sudden shifting through time knocked something loose in your memories didn't it? Do you remember everything now?" Oswin asked her with a smile.

"Sort of but I'm still a little fuzzy on certain things. How we suddenly became teenagers again being one of them," Clara said as she looked herself up and down with an incredulous glance.

"Don't worry about it right now, Clara. For now we have to concentrate on stopping the Matriarch and making her fix things back to normal before it's too late. Somehow I have a feeling that we don't have much time left to do that in either," Oswin said.

"Less than a day if things continue like they are now. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news," Sarah Jane confirmed.

"We need to find the Doctor and Rose then as soon as possible so that Rose can get her powers back," Oswin said.

"That's going to be easier said than done. One, Mum doesn't even remember the Matriarch and Two, the Matriarch already knows that we're going back to recruit her sooner or later and is going to be waiting for us," Jenny said.

"Yeah, and with a nice freshly planned ambush too I bet," Oswin said with a frown.

"Well, you'd know if anyone would, wouldn't you?" Lily said with a grin.

"Oswin? Or is it Clara?" Ellie's voice suddenly said from behind the three teenage Claras.

"We're all Clara actually, Mum, except for the baby. It's kind of hard to explain, but we're all the same person," Oswin said.

"Yes, and she's actually yours. I overheard you talking about it earlier. I'm still not quite sure that I understand it, but I do know that it feels true somehow," Ellie said as she handed the baby to Oswin.

Oswin smiled at little Clara Harkness as she said, "I'm bet I'm the first person to ever see her child before she was even born."

The future Clara cleared her throat loudly as she said, "Amy might beg to differ with you on that one, Ozzie."

"Let her try. Red's gotten enough mileage out of the whole Melody-Mels-River thing anyway. She should let someone else have the spotlight for a change," Oswin said with a smile as she kissed little Clara's forehead making her smile at her.

"Clara, I – I'm not around in the future am I? I can tell from the way that you all look at me as if you can't believe that I'm actually here. Please be honest with me," Ellie asked.

Oswin remained silent and so did the other Claras which only made Ellie nod sadly as she said, "That's what I thought. I'm so sorry, Clara. I would have been there for you if I possibly could have been. I always wanted to watch you become an adult. I can already tell that I would have been very proud of you."

Oswin smiled and immediately hugged her with one arm while holding onto the baby with the other one as she fought to hold back her tears. She wasn't successful.

By the time that all of the other Claras including the future one joined into a group hug with Ellie, they were all crying uncontrollably. They knew that it would be the last chance that they ever had to be with her.

After a few moments of this, Sarah Jane reluctantly said, "Clara, I really don't want to interrupt, but we don't have much time left."

Ellie slowly let the various versions of her daughter go after giving them all one last embrace and then said, "It's okay. I'll always be with you somehow. I can promise you that. If I possibly can, I'll find some way to come back to you."

"I believe you, Mum. I really do," Oswin said knowing that she still had no idea how her mother had been appearing to her and now John too so often lately.

She was almost tempted to mention it to her, but she knew that she wouldn't have a clue what she was talking about.

Oswin gave the baby back to her mother now as she said, "Here. She'll be safe with you until we can find a way to fix all of this. At least you actually had a chance to meet her even if you won't remember any of this. I'm so glad of that just like I'm glad that I had one last chance to see you again.

"Good bye, Mum. I love you," Oswin said as she kissed her cheek.

All of the other Claras did the same which only made Sarah Jane feel even guiltier about pulling them away from her. She knew that if they didn't stop the Matriarch soon though that none of them would be left to be upset about anything.

As the Claras all linked arms with the others and prepared to leave Ellie and the baby behind, Ellie called out to them, "Don't worry, Clara. If anyone can stop this, you can. I believe in you. All of you."

"It's definitely much easier than taking out the garbage you have to admit, Mum," Oswin joked.

"In a way, isn't that what we're about to do anyway though?" Lily asked with an evil smile.

"That's not funny, Immortal Girl. Not in the slightest," Oswin said as she gave her a dirty look.

Then suddenly they all vanished as they teleported to where they could feel that Rose and the Doctor currently were now. Oswin could only hope that they could convince them to join them before it was too late.

It was only then as she was leaving that a sudden thought occurred to Oswin that caused her to wonder what exactly what going on here. Her mother had looked straight at Epsilon. She knew that she had . . . and yet she hadn't been surprised or shocked by him.

Not in the slightest.

After the others had left, Ellie looked down at little Clara with a smile as she said, "Your mother does get into the most trouble of anyone that I've ever seen doesn't she? Even now I'm still not done saving her. Don't you worry though, sweetie. I'll always keep you all safe. A wolf always protects her cubs after all."

TO BE CONTINUED IN IT'S BETTER WITH TWO CHAPTER 51.

Next in this story: We'll see how the situation with the baby resolves itself next time once everything hopefully returns back to normal. Will little Clara still have already been born or will Oswin be pregnant with her once more? Either way the baby will definitely be making her long awaited arrival next time. Plus as if Oswin won't already have her hands full enough, a fighting mad Mentor and her Dalek armies will choose that moment to return and make both her and Angela pay for her rather unceremonious exit from Skaro recently. You didn't really think that the Mentor would be gotten rid of that easily did you?

As for what happens in the fight against the Matriarch, that will slowly take place across every chapter of my Guardian Who stories (except Time and Space and Tales of Gallifrey) for the next few weeks and have its grand finale (along with the final fate of the Matriarch) in Chapter 18 of The Thief of Time. If you don't follow the rest of my Guardian Who stories though, don't worry. You'll find out all about what happened right here next time.