"Look out!" A voice suddenly yelled.
Arthur hurriedly runs into the left side before getting hit by an ox. An Indian man steps outside the cart, walking into his.
"Are you okay?" He asked, checking his face before his eyebrow furrowed. "How did you get here?"
"I'm... lost," Arthur replied, looking around in confusion. Sometimes he wishes he could detect his location so people won't be suspicious of him. "W-Where am I?"
"Punjab, my dear boy," he answered, confused with his question. "Where are your parents?"
"No parents. Just my guardian. He/she should be around here to pick me up. We usually get separated first."
The man frowns but slowly nods. "Then why don't you come with me? You can stay at my place until tomorrow. I can get you to your guardian. It's not safe for you to be alone."
Arthur eyed the man carefully. He doesn't seem to have any bad intentions toward him. But he can be wrong. He should be careful and might use Venusian Aikido the Doctor taught him during a few stays in the Tardis. "Sure, Mr..."
"Prem. I'm Prem. Come, sit behind. My home's still far away"
With that, Arthur sits inside Prem's carriage as he moves the ox away. For a while, both of them make their conversation, although Arthur had to keep some of his to avoid any confusion. For a while, Arthur gets to know Prem little by little. Like how he had two brothers. One who died and one still around and soon will marry a woman calls Umbreen.
"Punjab's not safe lately," Prem mentioned. "With politics and... Hey! Get out the road."
"Really sorry, bit of a wobble," a familiar voice responded. Arthur turns around and gasps, finding the Doctor, Yasmin, Ryan, and Graham. The blonde woman also gasps. "Sunny!"
"Doctor!" Arthur steps from the carriage and run to her. "It's sooo nice to see you!"
"Miss you too, baby boy!" She beamed as she pulls off his hug. "How did you get here?"
"Just arrived. Prem kindly let me in the carriage."
The Doctor bows her head. "Thank you for finding him."
"Sorry, mate. Just getting our bearings. We're not from round here," Graham remarked.
"Yeah, no kidding. Your Punjabi's not bad for foreigners though. You need to be careful. Don't let your boy walks alone. These roads aren't safe right now," Prem denoted.
"We're actually looking for a woman by the name of Umbreen," Yasmin mentioned.
Both Prem and Arthur frown. "Right. Umbreen. What for?"
"We're family," Yasmin replied as Ryan answers, "We're friends."
"Family friends," Graham corrected.
"We're on our way to say hello," Yasmin added. "Bit of a surprise."
Prem looks at Arthur. "You didn't tell me your mother knows Umbreen."
"I genuinely don't," the blonde boy confessed. "And she's my guardian. Not my mother."
"But we agreed... Ah, okay, get in."
"Something's wrong?" Arthur asked, confused by the Doctor's face.
"You all right?" Yasmin inquired.
"I think so. Probably. Don't know. Like I intercepted something, in my brain," the Doctor remarked as they all get into the carriage.
"Like bad bad?" Arthur guessed.
The Doctor brushes his hair, not entirely sure.
"So what, are you a flower merchant?" Graham asked Prem.
"Pretty much, right now."
"Why isn't it safe on the roads?" The Doctor wondered.
"Running transport now, Prem?" An older Indian man asked from behind.
"Want to ride with us, Sadhu?" Prem offered. "I can take one more."
"What's wrong with your feet? You young people, always such a rush. Walking's served me all my life. I'll be there, don't you worry."
"We'll be ready," he said before mumbling. "I'm late. Umbreen's going to kill me."
Both Arthur and the Doctor look back at the holy man in the saffron robes as the cart moves away.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"So I stayed with Bennett. And then, poof! I was gone," Arthur finished his story.
"You really gave Bennett a heart attack," the Doctor recalled, smiles of that particular adventure. She helps Arthur step down from the carriage as they approach a young woman that's certainly Umbreen. "So, Yaz, you should probably explain who we are."
"Sorry. Yeah. Excited. Uncle Malik. You know... Uncle Malik."
"There are loads of Uncle Maliks," Umbreen remarked.
"Exactly," Yasmin agreed. "Well, the one from about 15 valleys over. I'm that Uncle Malik's third cousin's younger sister. Yaz. And these are my friends Ryan, Graham, Arthur, and the Doctor."
"Hi," the Doctor and Arthur called while Ryan greets with, "Hello."
"All the way from England," Graham added.
"You might want to keep that to yourself right now," Prem mentioned, picking some stuff from the carriage.
"Right, it's just... we weren't expecting you. Or anyone," Umbreen admitted. "Uncle Malik's not coming to the wedding as well, is he?"
Yasmin frowns. "There's a wedding?"
"Which is why we're here," the Doctor interjected quickly. "Bringing wedding best wishes. Er, when... when's the big day again?"
"Tomorrow."
"Amazing. I can't wait to meet the groom."
"You already have."
"Of course," Arthur commented quickly. "It's just... sorry. We weren't informed much about the wedding, you know. I don't even know myself until Prem mentioned it to me. I'm kinda slow myself."
Umbreen shook her head. "Don't be. I can understand why Uncle Malik won't tell any of you."
"A wedding in the Punjab. Bring it on," the Doctor mused. "We love a wedding, don't we, boys?"
"Oh, yeah, I could go to a wedding every day if I could," Ryan agreed.
"Do you need a singer? I know all the classics. Or latest hits, to you lot," Graham proposed.
"Don't ever let him sing."
"We won't be stay long anyway. Just wanted to convey our best wishes and then head off," the Doctor noted, looking at Yasmin with a serious gaze.
"Hi!" A young Indian man greeted. From his face, this must be Manish, Prem's younger brother. "Thought I saw people on the cart. Sorry about his driving."
"My baby brother thinks he can do everything better than me," Prem joked, hugging Manish's head to his chest.
After Prem lets go of his head, Manish introduces himself. "I'm Manish."
"Come, all of you. It's being announced!" An older woman, possibly Umbreen's mother, said.
"Coming, Mum!" Umbreen replied.
"Who're they?" She frowns.
"What's happening?" Yasmin inquired.
"Everyone's waiting for the announcement, but I've got advanced information," Manish simply said and enters the house.
"Okay. Number one. The man Umbreen is about to marry is not my grandad," Yasmin remarked.
Arthur turns his head on Yasmin's. "Umbreen's your grandma?" His eyebrow furrows. "But Prem's... he's not your grandpa?"
"Defo? Totally sure?" Graham asked.
"Yes," Yasmin asserted. "For starters, Prem's a Hindu name. We're Muslim. And he doesn't look anything like the photos. It's not him."
"And that Umbreen, she's your nan, right?" Ryan asked this time.
"Yeah. She does look like the photo."
"But Prem's wearing the watch your nani gave you in the future," the Doctor reminded.
"So what, she had a secret Hindu first husband?" Yasmin guessed.
"Er, Doc. I reckon that hour's nearly up, mate," Graham suggested.
"Yeah," Ryan agreed.
"Me too," Arthur added, somehow not liking what they might interfere with.
"We can't go," Yasmin disagreed. "I came here for answers. All I've got is more questions."
The Doctor growled. "I knew this would happen."
"Can anyone help me with this?" Manish asked.
"I'll help," Yasmin offered. "I'm Yaz."
"Great. Thanks, Yaz. Big moment. You won't forget this in a hurry."
Yasmin looks behind the group. "You're right there."
"We shouldn't have come. I'm too nice. This is what happens when you try to be nice," the Doctor huffed, remembering how many times Claudia and Clara use this tactic for convincing her into more adventures. "Who wants to know what they're listening to in there?" She looks at others.
"Yep," Arthur, Graham, and Ryan replied before entering the farmhouse.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
An announcer from a radio speaks. "After much delay, and amid escalating communal violence, Lord Mountbatten has finally released the specific details of the borders which will separate the two countries."
"What borders are they talking about?" Ryan asked.
"Pakistan," Umbreen's mom replied. "Today, India is officially cut into pieces."
"Oh no," Arthur whispered. "Today's 17th August 1947."
"And still you want to go ahead?" The older woman asked her daughter.
"Nothing changes, Mum. We knew this was coming."
"Partition," the Doctor announced, looking panicked. "We're in the middle of the Partition of India."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
They hurriedly meet Yasmin outside with Manish. "Yaz. Hi," the Doctor greeted. "Quick sidebar, August 1947. Partition. The borders have just been announced. It's not just the land that gets divided. Rioting in the cities, tens of millions of people about to be displaced, more than a million about to die."
"Doc, meanwhile, her nan's about to get married, but not to her grandad," Graham reminded.
"I'm thinking that hour's well up now," Ryan added.
"You can't know the borders. It's only just been announced," Umbreen's mom argued.
"The maps were leaked weeks ago. I got one from my sources," Manish insisted.
"Your sources must be wrong, because you've just put my house in Pakistan."
"With the other Muslims. What? You get a fresh start."
"Manish, you need to slow down," Prem alluded.
"Pakistan is somewhere for Muslims, if they want to go," Umbreen told him.
"I'm not saying you have to go," Manish said, "but Pakistan is being created for Muslims. Hindus have India. We both feel safe."
"Don't reduce it to that, brother. It's not that simple," Prem beseeched.
"But I get you have a hard decision, if you're married."
"The land belongs to everyone. Has done for centuries. One day doesn't change that."
"I love you, brother, but you're wrong."
Suddenly, Arthur's head is hit by a huge wave of distortion. He yelps, holding his forehead with a weird vision entering his mind. The Doctor also feels the same thing, but she quickly takes her sonic screwdriver and scans them.
"Look, demons!" Umbreen's mom shouted. From her gesture, Arthur spots two figures, standing at the tree line. "I told you this would happen. I told you these days were cursed."
The figures vanish.
"They've gone," Umbreen realized.
"Not far. We'll deal with this. Come on!" The Doctor suggested and Arthur follows her.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"Find the signal," the Doctor mumbled as Ryan, Graham, Yasmin, Prem, and Arthur followed. "They didn't go far."
"Ouch," Arthur said as he and others hear a loud, distorted voice inside their ears.
"Stay away," the alien declared while standing near Bakti.
Prem fires his rifle at the aliens, who vanish in mere seconds. "Did I get them?"
"I don't think so," the Doctor disagreed. "They moved faster than your bullet."
"What were they?" Ryan wondered.
"I think I've seen them before," Arthur noted. "But I don't remember their name."
"Bakti?" Prem shouted as they all approach the holy man. "They killed him."
"He was your man on the road," Graham remembered.
"He's a holy man, a Sadhu. Everyone knows him as Bakti. Umbreen and I asked him to bless our marriage. Why would they kill him?"
"I don't know. But what I also don't understand is," the Doctor gazes at Prem after scans Bakti, "you just saw something not of this world, and you took it right in your stride. Why's that, Prem?"
Prem sighs. "I've seen them before."
"Where have you seen them before?" Yasmin asked.
"Who are you?" Prem asked back, suspicious. "You say you're Umbreen's family but clearly you're not. And you ran at those demons like you didn't care."
They're not demons," Arthur clarified. "At least, that's what I think."
"How do you know that? And why should I trust what you think?"
"Because we've got experience with impossible creatures," the Doctor denoted, "and because we ask questions like, what is this substance on his body?"
A cloud of purple dust floated away around them.
"And things are getting even weirder," Ryan commented.
"You think that's what they used to kill him?" Graham guessed. "Some sort of fast-dissolving, poisonous dust?"
"Doesn't seem he was poisoned," the Doctor remarked after checking his body. "I don't understand."
"So what're we going to tell the others back there?" Yasmin wondered.
"They don't have to know," Prem addressed. "Hasna already thinks the marriage is cursed. Umbreen doesn't need anything else to worry about. And Manish... who knows what he thinks these days. I was away from him for too long, fighting in the war. By the time I got back, Manish wasn't my baby brother anymore."
"People grow up. We all have to find our own way."
"Some of us need more guidance than others."
"This fella needs to be laid to rest," Graham pointed out.
"Why don't we go and get the others to help?" Yasmin suggested. "But not let on what happened."
Graham nods as he and Yasmin go back.
"Ah! Accordian waves," the Doctor understood. "Which could mean a dormant octonic engine nearby."
Prem frowns. "What's she saying?"
"If I had to guess, I think we're going demon hunting," Ryan inclined.
"Gold star for Ryan," the Doctor chimed in. "Oh, wait. Was I awarding points? Oh, I forgot about the points."
"I'm coming with you," Prem offered.
"Prem, this is dangerous," Arthur told him, gripping his backpack, and taking some deep breaths.
"I know this forest. I can help. Besides, I can't let you or your caretaker do this alone."
The Doctor admits, Prem has a solid reason. "Okay. Yaz! Be careful what you say back there. The wrong word in the wrong moment, you could interfere yourself out of existence. Do you understand?"
"You know there are aliens here, right, in the Punjab during Partition, and you're worried about me being gobby?" Yasmin reminded her.
"Tread softly. You're treading on your own history."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"I don't like this," Prem admitted as the Doctor scanning the surrounding. "Traipsing through the forests alongside the British, looking for the enemy. I've done enough of that. Although maybe you're my enemy now, for the mess you've just made of my country. Carving it up slapdash, in six weeks. Going to run off home now, are you?"
"I'll make a note of your thoughts and pass them on to Mountbatten if I ever bump into him again," the Doctor denoted.
"Prem said he's seen them before," Arthur pointed out, clutching his backpack. "Do you think it might have any connection with what will happen?"
"I don't know, Sunny," the Doctor consoled. "But I need to find out."
"Then he's got one up on you if he's seen them before you," Ryan noted.
"What's your demon tracker saying?" Prem asked.
"It's saying..." she stops as they found something on the forest floor. "Hello!"
"What is that?"
"Is that a transmat doorwaaaaaaaohmywhat?" Arthur reacted when realizing they were not in the forest anymore but inside some sort of a spaceship.
"Nice. That was cool," Ryan complimented.
"What. Just. Happened?" Prem wondered. "We were in the forest and now we're... really not."
"Short answer," the Doctor tried to help, "we got dragged through a doorway, into..."
"A demons' lair."
"Wouldn't put it quite like that but you're getting the gist."
"Spaceship, though, right?"
"I can't get a read on anything," the Doctor said after scanning.
"It's beautiful," Prem remarked.
"It does," Arthur admitted, finding this lair as something to be amazed.
"Hey, do you think they're here?" Ryan asked.
The Doctor scanning again. "Not getting any life signals. Maybe they're out. Shopping. Catching a movie. Bowling. Some races like bowling. I'm talking to cover up my latent worry."
"I know. I've got that now. Even Arthur can see that."
Prem looks at Ryan. "Why does she keep saying Sunny at Arthur?"
"It's kinda his nickname."
"A weird one."
"Oh, come on," the Doctor mumbled, smacking her sonic. "One of these settings must unlock it."
Arthur touches the console. Suddenly, the central displays a hologram. "Oh, goodie!" He beamed.
"What is it?" Prem pondered.
"Exactly what I wanted. Craft spec, species data, bio-ID," she remarked before gasps.
"Oh no," Arthur realized as he looks around.
"What?" Ryan asked. "What've you seen, Doctor, Arthur?"
"This is a Thijarian Hive," the Doctor answered.
"Is that good thing or bad thing?"
"Very bad, Ryan," Arthur asserted. "Thijarians are assassins. One of many ancient species, evolved themselves into the deadliest assassins across universe."
The Doctor sonics up the console and an image of Bhakti appears.
"He was their target?" Ryan asked.
"Why, though?" The Doctor pondered. "Why would the Thijarians target a holy man in the 1940s?"
"Prem, please tell us," Arthur begged.
"I don't want to talk about that," Prem disagreed, sounding scared and defensive.
"It could be important," the Doctor added.
"I don't want any of this! I'm supposed to be married tomorrow."
"We know," Arthur addressed. "But to make sure your wedding with Umbreen goes well, we need to understand this situation better. In doing so, you have to trust us."
Prem goes silent. "In Singapore," he began. "Our section had found a boat to escape on. But I'd signed up with Kunal. I wasn't going to leave without him at my side. That's where I saw the demons. Standing over my older brother's dead body. I lost them in the haze as the evacuation sounded. Left his body there. I couldn't save him." He stares at the Doctor as he holds his necklace. "Why are they here? How did we bring demons on ourselves?"
"I don't know, but we'll find out, and we'll protect you," the Doctor promised. "All of you."
"What if you can't?"
A cylinder rises from the central console. "Whoa," Arthur muttered. "Doctor, the particles from before!"
"Oh, I'm taking a look at that," she takes it and the light goes red. "Over-keen. Should've thought about that. Er..."
Two Thijarians appear.
"They're here!" Prem realized.
"You have desecrated the Hive. The Hive is sacred," they warned, causing pain in the Doctor and Arthur's heads.
"Do you have to push your words into our heads like that, cos it really hurts," the Doctor complained as Prem brushes his head for comfort. "And no, we haven't actually. It's you who are desecrating this planet. I know who you are. I know what you do. And it's not happening here. Leave these people alone. They're under my protection now."
"You cannot prevent this."
"You just watch me."
She uses the sonic and they transport back to the forest. "Get out of the forest!"
Prem and Ryan run and vanish.
"How...?" Arthur gestures in front, confused. His eyes dart near a tree, into a small, blue-light device.
The aliens appear. The Doctor hides Arthur behind her. "Miniaturised transmat locks. Clever. Also, confiscated." She takes one. "See you! Come on, Sunny!"
They both keep running. On one occasion, they spot the small devices and take them all. Since the Doctor carrying the cylinder, Arthur puts those small devices inside his big backpack.
"Get to the barn!" The Doctor yelled, with Arthur running in front.
Graham frowns. "What?"
"Just do it!" Arthur responded.
"Sunny, get those devices out of your bag," the Doctor said, stopping the boy. He opens the zip and takes one. She sonics it and the light turns red. "That should do it. Keep going." She urged Arthur as they all inside the barn. The Doctor puts the device inside.
"Don't enter!" Arthur yelled at Umbreen and her mother, but too late. They all hear the painful noise as the Thijarans appear inside.
"You disrupt our work," the first Thijaran claimed.
"Good. Now who are you here for?" The Doctor demanded.
"We don't answer to you. You must leave or we will stand over your corpses."
"Nothing like getting to the point."
"Is it me?" Prem asked. "Are you here to kill me? Take me, and promise to leave the others."
Umbreen grabs his hand. "Prem, no. Not going to happen."
"Neither of us is going with them," Arthur denoted with conviction, staring at these aliens, afraid and tough.
"I've just nicked four of your transmat locks out of the forest. Good trick, by the way, forcing people back away from the boundary. Clever. So clever I'm using it myself, against you, locking you out of this farm." The Doctor sonics the final lock and the aliens vanish.
"You killed the demons," Prem amazed.
Arthur shook his head and quietly says, "No. She just kicked them."
The Doctor nods. "I've made a temporary transmat barrier around the farm. I'm hoping it'll keep them out for the next few hours. Enough time for you to get married and for us to keep everyone safe."
"Are you serious? After what's just happened?" Manish asked. "Can't you see what's happening? You bring demons to life."
"They're not demons," Arthur huffed.
"Maybe not for you, boy, but I do. I'm with Manish," Umbreen's mom remarked.
"How many hours?" Umbreen queried.
"Twelve?" The Doctor calculated. "Eighteen at a push. I can't be sure."
"Tonight we celebrate, and we marry first thing. And then if we have to fight them, we will. Come on!"
As Umbreen left with her mother, Prem, and his brother, Yasmin looks again at the Doctor. "Still not interfering, are we?"
"At any cost, Yasmin," Arthur insisted, looking down, remembering how they must stay silent about Rosa Park's injustice to make history goes precisely as the truth.
"The alien assassins started it," the Doctor reminded. "We can't leave now. If something happens to Umbreen, your whole timeline could be erased. No Yaz. We can't have a universe with no Yaz. Now, whatever's in here might tell us more. Nobody breathes too deeply." She takes the top off the cylinder and scans the contents. The sonic sparks startled them all. "Whoa! It's overloaded my sonic. Too many inputs. That's never happened before. Think. Have to go analogue. I need oil, water, tree bark, a saucepan, nine containers, an old newspaper, a touch of ox spit, a chicken poo and a biscuit."
"Bagsy not chicken poo," Ryan pointed out.
"Why a biscuit?" Graham asked.
"I love biscuits!" The Doctor answered.
Arthur smiles. "Luckily, you gave some biscuits to me," he said and takes one for the Doctor, who beams and gives a few pecks of a kiss on his face.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
It takes some hours before the machine's ready. Since the night is coming, Umbreen let them stay at her home. Of course, they separate each other's room to each gender. So right now, Arthur's sleeping on Graham's laps as he, Ryan, Prem, and Manish just gather around, playing cards.
"Bust. Again," Prem remarked. "You're cleaning me out, little brother."
"You know what they say, though, Prem. Unlucky at cards, lucky in love," Graham commented as he adjusted Ryan's jacket that covers his small body.
Manish stares at the older man. "You think he's lucky?"
"Yeah."
"I think he's lost his mind."
"Hey, mate, not on his stag night," Ryan nudged him. "And not in front of a sleeping child."
"You'll have to forgive him," Prem consoled. "He spends too much time reading pamphlets, listening to angry men on the radio."
"Do you love me, Prem?" Manish suddenly asked.
"Of course I love you. Even if sometimes I don't recognise the brother I left behind."
"Kunal would've understood. He said he was only fighting for you lot so he could get rid of you. And now it's happening," Manish laughs bitterly. "Don't marry tomorrow."
"Umbreen's a good woman."
"You can't live together here. India's not her home now."
"India's a home to all of us. We didn't change when a line was drawn."
"But we did," Manish insisted. He stares at Arthur and stands up. "I need air."
Arthur's eyes slowly open with some blinks. "I heard a shout..."
"Nothing important, Arthur," Prem kindly replied and closes his eyes with his palm. "Go back to sleep."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
A few hours later...
"This dust is the densest organic material you can imagine," the Doctor denoted, rubbing Arthur's scalp as she checks the machine. "It's sort of everything. Carbon, phosphorous, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, calcium. Billions of DNA fragments. And loads more."
The transmat lock quickly rattles. In a panic, the Doctor grabs the cylinder. "They're breaking the transmat locks!" She realized as a flashlight appears above her and Arthur.
In mere seconds, the Thijarians take both of them away. It takes time for the blonde boy to realise where he is.
"So what, is it me? You've come to assassinate me?" The Doctor asked, hiding Arthur behind her. "Is it Sunny?" Her eyes glare deadlier. "If you touch a single hair..."
"We are not assassins," they claimed.
"Firstly, I much prefer it when you're not making that threatening sound, so thanks for that at least. Secondly, don't lie to me. I know the stories of the Assassins of Thijar."
" We are changed."
Arthur frowns as he steps beside the Doctor. "I don't understand."
"Our past is no more. We are no longer assassins. Now we are witnesses."
"Now I don't understand," the Doctor commented.
"We honour the lost as we can not honour our own."
"You've lost something," Arthur immediately catches up.
"Indeed. As the assassins hunted, the Thijarian world was destroyed. We returned to find nothing." They touch the cylinder. "This is all that remains of our home. Our people. Every ancestor. All one dust."
They did the same gesture. One palm across the back of the other hand. The Doctor and Arthur copy that gesture. "I didn't know. I'm so sorry," the blonde woman apologized.
"They died unwitnessed, unsaved. We were too late to grieve or honour them. But we who returned gave up a hundred generations to sift, to remember the lost dead, the unmourned. In time, it was all we knew. And now we travel beyond, seeking the unacknowledged dead across all of Time and space. This is now the Thijarian mission, to bear witness to those alone. To see, to bear pain, honour life as it passes. As each one passes, we commemorate union."
"That's what Prem saw you do to Kunal, what you were doing to the holy man. But why here? Why now?"
"Millions will perish, unseen, unknown in the days to come here."
"Oh, God. The Partition," Arthur mumbled in horror. "So many people will die," he frowns. "But... why this place, to be exact?"
The Thijarians show them a holographic face. Someone they know. "Prem," the Doctor gasped. Arthur's eyes wide open as the child realizes what it means.
"His time is soon."
"How soon?" The Doctor asked. "Give him a day. Just give him this day, please."
"We are not gods. Events sit as they will. We only witness. The fixed force of Time cannot be stopped."
"I know," she mumbled sadly, clasping her hands around Arthur's. "We know," she added, "But if you didn't kill the holy man if you were only honouring his death, how did he die?"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
After that, they appear back.
"Where've you been?" Yasmin queried. "You've been gone hours."
"The Thijarians... they told us everything," Arthur implored. "They never want any harm. They're just witnessing events that will happen soon enough."
Ryan frowns. He knows Arthur for a small time, but he can read his expression. And right now, the boy doesn't look happy at all. "Which is?"
"Prem dies today," the Doctor shared.
"We can't let that happen," Yasmin disagreed, distraught.
"It has to. For Umbreen to become your nani, for you to exist, Prem has to die."
"Umbreen loses her husband on the day she marries. Of course, she never wants to talk about it."
"I'm sorry, Yaz. We should leave."
"No," Yasmin said otherwise. "I want to be sure she's safe, whatever happens. I want to look after my nani."
"I'm with Yaz," Ryan commented.
"Yeah, me, too," Graham agreed.
The Doctor nods, understanding. "We can't tell them what we know," she reminded them.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Prem is wearing his Army uniform, complete with turban. Graham places a garland around his neck as Arthur's holding a mirror he carries in his backpack so Prem can see his look.
"Well, the flowers don't help much. You still look like a schoolboy on manoeuvres," Graham admitted.
"These are the best clothes I have," he remarked.
"You look great."
"Fantastic, in fact," Arthur added with a wide smile, trying to hold this happy moment that will never last long.
"No Manish?" Ryan asked as Arthur puts his mirror back in his jacket's pocket.
"He was out early," Prem sadly answered. "He'll be here."
"Did you hear the noises in the valley during the night?"
"The violence is getting closer."
"Who's doing this stuff?"
"Ordinary people who've lived here all their lives, whipped into a frenzy to be part of a mob. Nothing worse than when normal people lose their minds," Prem gazes afar. "We've lived together for decades, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh, and now we're being told our differences are more important than what unites us. Like we learned nothing in the war. I don't know how we protect people, when hatred's coming from all sides."
"Well," Graham sighs, "all we can strive to be is good men. And you, Prem, are a good man." He gives Prem a good. Ryan and Arthur simply watch, holding their sadness.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
As Yasmin tucks a poppy at Arthur's earlobe, Prem stands by the orange flag, Umbreen by the green. Both hold each other's hands.
"This is the spot you choose?" Prem asked, surprised.
"I'm going to be the first woman married in Pakistan," Umbreen beamed.
"Of course you are."
"Are you all right, sweetheart?" Umbreen's mom asked Yasmin, who cries as she holds Arthur's back shoulders in front of her.
"I always cry at weddings," she assured the older woman.
The Doctor sonics the fence, and the rope falls into the water. She gives them a small wedding speech. "I know there aren't many certainties in any of our lives," she began, "but Umbreen, Prem, what I see you in you is the certainty you have in each other. Something I believe in my faith. Love, in all its forms, is the most powerful weapon we have, because love is a form of hope and, like hope," she glances at Arthur for brief seconds and stares at the couple again, "love abides in the face of everything. You both found love with each other. You believed in it, you fought for it, and you waited for it. And now, you're committing to it. Which makes you, right now, the two strongest people on this planet. Maybe in this universe. I am not sure how we formalise this."
"I am," Umbreen replied, picks the rope out of the water, and looks at Yasmin. "Will you?"
Stunned, Yasmin looks at her great-grandmother, who nods. She steps toward the couple. "That's a Hindu thing, isn't it?" She recalled. "Tying the hands together."
"Now it can be our thing," Umbreen said as Yasmin finishes wrapping the rope around their hands, "if we want it to be."
Arthur's smile fades as he senses something... no, someone else... watching this wedding. And if he makes a guess, they're not happy at all.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
"I'm not often lost for words but I never thought this day would come," Umbreen said as they all, including Manish, gather in. "It's been tough. People who I wish were here to celebrate..."
"They are, beti."
Umbreen nods at her mother. "The drought was nearly the end of us. But we get to have this day because of Manish. You were tireless. When there was hardly any food, you took none. When we doubted we'd make it through to summer, you kept on. Night and day, we worked those fields together. I'm proud to have been your neighbour but I'm even prouder now to call you my brother. You kept us fed, Manish." She holds out a small cake to him. "Will you let me feed you?"
Manish takes some steps. His face looks unhappy and somehow, scared Arthur as he leans closer to the Doctor.
"I didn't work this land for you, Umbreen," he declared. "I worked it for my brothers. One who didn't come back, and the other I wish hadn't."
"Enough, Manish," Umbreen's mom shushed him.
"No. Look at you all. Don't you understand what's coming? None of this will make a difference."
Manish leaves. Both the Doctor and Arthur nod at each other. "I'll talk to him," the Doctor told them while Arthur sits down. "Prem, your turn."
As the Doctor closes the door, Prem takes out his wristwatch. "Okay. So..."
"What are you doing?" Umbreen asked.
"You did a Hindu thing with the rope. Only right I do a Muslim thing too. This is your mahr. Yours to keep forever."
But it slips from their fingers and smashes on the hard floor.
"Prem!" Umbreen gasped.
"I'm sorry," Prem said.
"Cursed," Umbreen's mom muttered.
Umbreen picks it up again. "It's fine. It's perfect," she holds it tight. "This is us, forever. Our moment in time."
They kiss, lingering on their happy moment together.
A moment that shatters as the Doctor comes back in hurry. "Listen, all of you. There's armed men heading up the track. You have to leave now."
"They want the land," Umbreen realized.
"I'm not going anywhere," Umbreen's mom insisted. "This is my home. My husband and parents are buried here. I'm not going to abandon it to thugs."
Prem looks around. "Where's Manish?"
"He's leading them here. He killed the holy man with your rifle," the Doctor informed him.
"Of course," Prem muttered sadly.
"Mum's right. This is our home. We stay," Umbreen declared.
"But you all will die!" Arthur argued. "Please. You need to go!"
Prem sighs, staring at his wife and mother-in-law. "Go to the house. Get anything essential, and get back here."
"I'll help you," Yasmin offered to help.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Arthur had many moments in his life that he wish he can change, that he can stop more death in front of him. Such naive thinking, he knows. But he can't help it. He's just 10 years old. Can you blame him for wanting pain and loss to go away?
His tears keep coming out as he, the Doctor, Yasmin, Ryan, and Graham watch from the edge of the forest, witnessing Prem standing on the ground while her brother, Manish, and several men standing on another side. One pointing a rifle at Prem.
The Thijarians appear in front of them. "We will watch over him now," they told them.
"Come on," the Doctor urged others to go. She keeps holding Arthur at her side. Even when they hear a gunshot from behind, they keep walking away, letting pain and guilt of helplessness overwhelm their emotion.
Arthur looks behind for a while before entering the Tardis, wiping out his tears.
"It's not your fault," the Doctor looks at him, kneeling in front of the blonde boy. "Don't ever let your guilt cloud your judgement." She wraps her arms around his back. "Ever," she insisted.
He didn't say anything else, but he feels gratitude for her words as his arms hold her neck while tears shimmered in his blue eyes.