Recall
By Lumendea
Chapter Fifteen: Recalled by the First III
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material, and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
AN: Thank you for the lovely reviews. One is the hardest Doctor to write with Gaia thus far so the encouragement is much appreciated.
….
It was a warm day at least and not the least bit rainy though there were a few clouds in the smoggy sky of London. This certainly wasn't the era of the city at its best, though it also wasn't its worst. The Doctor swung his cane lazily as he followed along behind Susan and Gaia. Susan was holding her aunt's hand tightly as the traffic and population of London moved around them. Both of them had been on the move for almost two hours, dragging the Doctor onto public buses to travel between sites.
The girls didn't seem overly interested in anything in particular. They both were happy to simply take it all in. The Doctor had been stuck on a bus for over an hour with the girls just whispering to each other as they pointed out buildings and statues to each other or discussed the current fashions people were wearing. Gaia's energy had finally demanded that she get out and walk as the traffic increased at the end of the workday and they'd departed near Covent Garden. The Doctor had been grateful to get off the bus and dusted off his lapels before hurrying after Gaia and Susa.
"It's weird how little of London I've actually seen," Gaia said. She looked up to admire the banners hanging above them. "I've never been to Covent Garden before."
The Doctor couldn't help but note that statement. He looked around the busy market with a dispassionate gaze. There was no reason that a young Gallifreyan should expect to be in a place like this. He and Susan had visited markets before, but usually in connection with a celebration or to seek out items they needed. Covent Garden, while a staple of London, was hardly impressive enough to warrant a trip. Not unless one was seeking to observe a historical event here.
"I've only seen bits and pieces of the city," Susan said. She cast his gaze at him and gave him a teasing smile. "Grandfather usually insists on going someplace more interesting when I'm not in school."
"Earth has more interesting places than this building," the Doctor countered. He gestured behind them at the atrium they had just departed. Neither girl had bought anything and had seemed thrilled simply observing the wares and the other shoppers.
"Oh, I'm not arguing with you, Grandfather. But it is interesting that we've fallen into the trap of not visiting places in our own backyard."
The Doctor huffed. London was certainly not his backyard. It was just a city on a random simple planet. His attention was caught by a small family leaving one of the many restaurants and laughing. It occurred to him suddenly that he and his family were having a similar outing, and he blinked as an odd feeling hit him. It wasn't exactly happy, but it wasn't uncomfortable either. The Doctor wasn't sure what to make of it.
"Is there something you'd like to see in London?" Gaia asked. "The London Museum is fun, though Daddy doesn't like the Great Fire exhibit."
"Why not?" Susan asked.
"Oops, never mind," Gaia said quickly. "That's Daddy's future." She shook her head, and a few strands of ginger hair fell loose over her face. "It's a nice day, so maybe a park or a garden! Oh, maybe the London Eye."
The Doctor chuckled. "The London Eye is decades away from being built, my child."
Gaia blinked and gained a thoughtful expression before she giggled. "You're right, I forgot. This is too early." She looked around at the people. "It is neat to see the fashion of this era. It's… interesting."
Again, the Doctor couldn't help but note Gaia's slips. He shouldn't and knew that he should be trying to forget those statements. But Gaia was clearly more familiar with London in roughly fifty or so years. Her clothing potentially pointed to that era as well. Why would the child be familiar with that era? Was there some reason they spent time there? She had already revealed that she didn't take after her niece and attend school, so why bother?
Then again, he shouldn't know the answer. The Doctor knew that and firmly reminded himself of the importance of the First Law of Time. Except that it was more than even that. Gaia was… interesting. He liked her more than he wanted to admit. She was a clever thing, even if he didn't know the depths of her knowledge just yet. He was tempted to quiz her and see if he could get a sense of where she was in her preparation for the Academy. But again, who knows what might have changed back on Gallifrey between his point in time and Gaia's. She might reveal dangerous information without meaning to.
She'd already revealed accidentally that he had some connection to the Great Fire of London. A bad encounter, perhaps? That was easy to imagine in the chaos. Pushing that thought to the side, but also filing it away, he focused on observing Gaia. Her behaviour with Susan was warm and open. Gaia lacked the coolness and aloofness of a proper future Time Lady. They weren't born like that, of course. Even when you loomed a child, it still had some instincts and without proper training, did not know how to act according to the rules of its society. That was trained into them. That was a fact of societies and cultures all across the stars.
Gaia was not what he might have expected. She didn't behave as his family would have demanded and made Susan look formal. He couldn't help but keep circling back to that thought and trying to determine what he should make of it. The notion that he'd loomed another child was already almost impossible to wrap his head around. But he clearly wound. Now Gaia's very existence was a circular paradox. It didn't matter what he decided or wanted in the future; she had to be created.
"Are you alright, Grandfather?" Susan asked. He startled a little and felt a flash of irritation over how lost in his thoughts he had been.
"Yes, Susan."
"Gaia suggested that we have a picnic in one of the parks," Susan informed him. Her eyes were wide with excitement. It was such a little thing. "It's such a nice day and we've never done anything like that."
"It's very nice," Gaia informed her seriously. "Hyde Park is my favourite place in London for a picnic. There are a lot of little hidden places."
"They might not exist yet," the Doctor pointed out, remembering that Gaia's familiarity with London seemed to be focused in the future.
"Then we'll have to explore and find new ones." Gaia seemed pleased by the challenge. The Doctor felt his lips twitching. "Have you got local currency?"
"Oh yes," Susan assured her.
There was warm affection growing in Susan's eyes and the Doctor felt a twinge of sorrow that the two would have to say goodbye. Perhaps it wouldn't be a problem if he waited a bit before sending the message. As long as Gaia was careful and the Time Lords never found out… well, this wasn't an unpleasant way to spend the day.
He continued to follow his future daughter and granddaughter around the market. They had counted out the local currency that Susan was carrying and were browsing the various shops for food. In a bakery, they purchased some fresh rolls before finding a corner grocer. The Doctor contented himself with following them and keeping an eye on things. Susan seemed to have the situation well in hand as the older of the two with Gaia's familiarity with Earth markets coming through clearly. They picked out some sandwich meats, some canned drinks, and some fruits before paying. The last stop was a small shop where Gaia purchased a simple, but sturdy-looking blanket and declared them ready.
Not long after, the Doctor found himself on yet another bus, watching London roll by through the window. Somehow, Susan and Gaia had begun a conversation about classical literature. Gaia was gushing about Charles Dickens and how great his books and short stories were, but she also had an interest in Austen's satire as well. Susan happily told her about the Shakespeare plays she was currently studying in school. Gaia was less familiar with those, but listened to Susan's descriptions and commentary with serious attention. The pair got a few warm looks from the other passengers. The Doctor chuckled to himself. It was unlikely that anyone had realized that they were aunt and niece. From the outside, despite Susan's darker hair, he supposed they might appear to be sisters from their behaviour.
Susan had been loomed and raised on Gallifrey prior to their departure. It showed in her shyness and caution with regard to expressing her opinion though she was quickly outgrowing that. He had to admit that human school had done wonders for encouraging Susan to push her boundaries and embrace her curiosity. With some more time away from the rigid structure of Gallifrey, he could easily see Susan becoming a bold young woman. The notion was… a touch bittersweet. His own boldness had meant that he never quite fit in back on their homeworld. It seemed that Susan was likely to share in that fate.
And yet, he would expand their family in the future. His mind kept turning back to that thought. As they climbed off the bus once more to walk into Hyde Park, he smiled when Susan firmly took Gaia's hand and told the younger girl to stay close to her. Gaia looked over her shoulder to check that he was there, and he nodded in reassurance.
"Are you hungry?" Susan asked her aunt. "We can wander for a bit and see some of the park or focus first on finding a place to eat."
"I'm still good from tea," Gaia answered. "I think we should enjoy the nicer afternoon weather first. When we see a good place for our picnic, we can worry about food then."
It wasn't so much the afternoon any longer, the Doctor considered. Susan had come straight to the TARDIS after her classes, but they'd burned through a couple of hours in their shopping and early wanderings. Still, early evening or not, they still had several hours of daylight. And if it exhausted Gaia and made her fall asleep quicker when they returned to the TARDIS then that was a benefit.
Would the TARDIS be able to provide her with a room, he suddenly questioned? Likely, he decided a moment later. The ship had already organized the kitchen to give Gaia bananas. He doubted that he needed to worry. Was there anything else that he needed to be concerned with? She'd have a safe place to sleep and she'd been fed. Surely a five-year-old could handle their own hygiene. He tried to remember when he'd been young, but it was difficult to pin any details firmly down. At least he had Susan here to help.
The Doctor was content to allow the girls to lead him deeper into the park. There are both locals and tourists on the paths with plenty of children being set loose to run around and play. The Doctor chuckled as two boys launched themselves toward the ducks walking along the water. Gaia giggled at the ducks only to scurry back when a ground came looking for food. Susan laughed and pulled her aunt further from the water and the wild animals.
They passed a group of people intently focused on a pair of squirrels. Gaia and Susan shared a chuckle at their amazement but kept on the move. Flowers were planted along the paths and the Doctor took them in with a slight smile while keeping an eye on his offspring.
After walking for ten minutes, the girls found a spot near a large willow tree that created a large shaded patch. It was far enough away from the water not to be swarmed with ducks. Gaia tugged on Susan's hand and the pair spread out the blanket and laid out the food with surprising effeciency.
"This is nice." Susan stretched out on the blanket, pillowing her head in her hands behind her. "Peaceful."
"I'm not sure about the smell," the Doctor said. But he chuckled and turned to watch the way the leaves of a nearby tree rustled in the wind. "But it is a pleasant change. I do rather like the human instinct to give themselves green spaces."
"I knew you'd enjoy it," Gaia cheered. The girl grinned widely at them both.
Were picnics of all things an aspect of his future? The Doctor didn't mind that idea so much. A rather pleasant image of himself when he was physically younger playing with Gaia in the red grasses of Gallifrey played out in his mind. He assumed that he'd regenerate physically younger in the future. Given Gaia's cheery energy, he'd need to in order to keep up with the girl.
"Well, come on then," Gaia said. She reached for their food. "It'll be a bit messy, but we can make ourselves up some sandwiches for supper."
Susan sat up and reached for the bag of rolls. "It's surprising how delicious that sounds right now."
"Daddy says that sometimes location can improve the taste of things."
"Will I now?" the Doctor asked. "Well, I suppose you were correct about the bananas, so I should believe that you know what you're talking about."
Gaia's blue eyes twinkled in pleasure. The Doctor accepted a roll from her and tore it in half with his hands. He normally wasn't one to use his hands instead of utensils, but under the circumstances, it was simply part of the experience. They all used the sliced meats and cheeses to make themselves sandwiches and started to eat. Susan turned her attention toward a group of teenagers playing with a flying disk near the lake.
"They seem to be playing a game," Susan observed. "Rather than just throwing it around."
"I've heard of that!" Gaia jumped a little in her excitement. "I think the goal is to make the disk land on a certain spot. Bit like getting the golf ball into a hole. Sometimes they set up whole courses for it."
"Perhaps they will let you join them," the Doctor said gently. "After you eat."
Children needed food. Gaia was very young and had a lot of growing to do. She beamed at him, clearly pleased by his insistence. He supposed that it was a rather parental thing and seeing him act as such would be reassuring to the child. The Doctor ate his own little meal and enjoyed the gentle breeze carrying the smell of grass and flowers to them. It wasn't enough to totally erase the smells of London, but it did make for a nice change.
In no time at all, both Gaia and Susan had devoured two of their sandwiches and looked at him eagerly. Seeing no reason to deny them, the Doctor waved them off to enjoy the sunlight. The Doctor stayed in their small picnic area on the blanket and watched the girls join the small game. Humans were rather interesting and charming creatures, he concluded with a hint of warmth. Too primitive for his taste in this era, but it was nice to see how eagerly the other children accepted Susan and Gaia into their game. Susan stayed close to Gaia as they played with the flying disk and laughed happily at things the others were saying.
It was nice. Odd and not what he had expected to happen this evening when he'd sent Susan off to her school. But still… yes, it was rather nice. He watched Gaia intently, taking in her features and happy smile. Affection filled his mind, but this time he knew that it wasn't from Gaia. His future daughter paused in her play and turned to look at him with a brilliant smile on her face. The Doctor despite himself, couldn't help but return the expression with a gentle smile of his own.