Things had changed. It took a while to find out where to actually go, since the address wasn't correct anymore. Some years ago they had moved into another village near another town.

The Master borrowed a car and it surprised me that he could drive, but then he told me more about the times he had been trapped on earth. New stories I had never heard before. It kept my anxious mind busy during the hour-long drive.

The buildings of the city came into view slowly. I had never been there before. Or so I thought. Suddenly I wasn't quite so sure anymore what was real and what wasn't. There was a faint memory emerging, of my little sister calling me to tell about the disappearance of our mother. There had been a search and missing-person posters. I remembered the guilt that had washed over me for feeling relieved instead of worry. I remembered the burning hope that she might never return. And still I had never visited. Still I hadn't kept much contact with my relatives. There had still been my then-boyfriend who had done his best to isolate me from everyone so he could manipulate every last part of me. With success. And later I never had the money to visit. I didn't even have the address or a phone number. For years I had no contact information for any of my family. And I had felt too anxious to reach out on social media or other means to find my sisters again.

"How come I have two sets of memories now?" I asked quietly, watching the buildings rush by. "I remember what happened after I changed things, but I also still have the memories of how it used to be."

That Master tapped his rhythm of four against the steering wheel. He was a surprisingly steady driver and didn't break too many rules. For convenience, he had assured me with a cheeky grin.

"You're outside of your own timeline. So to speak," he said after a while. "You've been exposed to atron energy and to the time vortex and also to the void. Let's just say, it does things to you." He smiled. "Nothing bad though. You'll be fine."

We found the right road soon and the Master smoothly parked in a tiny gap between two other cars. I envied him a little. I never had the chance to learn to drive.

I glared at the house next to us and felt anxiety rise up. They had moved, yes, but that didn't mean…

"Come on. You won't find out by staring a hole in the wall." The Master exited the car and walked to my side, knocking on my window with a grin.

I waited for a moment and then opened the door as suddenly as I could, hoping it would hit him right in the stupid grin. But he evaded with a snicker. He waited for me to climb out, only to reach out his hand towards me. I blinked at it, then at him.

"You're not going alone. Whatever waits there for you, you're not alone. Remember that."

I snorted. "Few months back and you'd have rather knocked all your teeth out than saying that."

A grimace spread on his face, but the hand stayed. An offer for me to take. "I'm not good at this," he said. "Never been. Each time I allowed anyone to get close to me it ended in more pain than it was worth it."

"What makes you think it will be different now?" I slipped my hand in his and stared at them for a while.

He drew me closer and his gaze burned into me, a small psychic wave underlining his seriousness. "Because of the moment I thought you were really going to vanish. That hurt. I don't want that. And if my only choice is to lose or to keep you… Well, I made my choice. And this is all for selfish reasons, mind you. That you benefit from it all is a mere lucky coincidence. And also," he leaned down to peck a kiss on my forehead, "you're stalling."

I huffed. "Yeah, I am. Still wanted to know."

"You felt it in my mind, little one. Can't get more true than that. Now come."

Hand in hand we walked to the house. It was so unassuming, a house like every other. Three stories tall, one flat on each. Normal windows with normal curtains and plants in them. There was nothing special. Nothing at all. Not a single thing about this building allowed its importance to me. Even the door looked like every other I knew, as did the letterboxes, the bell buttons. My heart skipped a beat when I found my last name on it.

Yes, I wasn't alone. I squeezed the Master's hand tighter and rang.

Several seconds of silence stretched into an agonising eternity. Then. A crackling. A voice. Nina's voice.

"Yeah? Who's there?"

"The Easter Bunny," I said, my voice almost faltering. The joke rang in my head like the echo it was.

"Lucy?"

I laughed. It was exactly like the last time. "Yep, the one. Can I come up?"

"Oh, yes, of course."

The buzzer rang and I pushed the door open, slowly ascending the stairs to the first floor where Nina greeted me with a puzzled smile. "I didn't expect to see you again," she said. "Maya said she had no contact information from you and we didn't hear anything for years!"

"I… yeah, I found out. Just wanted to see… have a look. I…"

I faltered, not knowing what to actually say. My eyes caught some movement, almost outside of my vision. A shadow near the door. A tall figure that slipped into view, leaning his head through the frame. The same tousled brown hair I remembered, the same clear blue eyes, the same funny moustache he would never get rid off. "Who is… Lucy?"

I froze, tears welled up in my eyes. Without a word I shoved past my sister and wrapped my arms around my father, burying my face in his shirt so hard I feared for a second my glasses might bend. But I didn't care. Nothing was important anymore. "You're here," I muttered, feeling tears roll down my face. "You're really here. And well and… and…" I couldn't talk, could only hold onto him and cry.

It had worked! It had truly worked! He was still alive! I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that fate had allowed me to truly see him again, hug him again.

"Oh, Lucy. Did you miss me so much?" His tone was teasing, but so so warm and when he wrapped his strong arms around me I stopped caring about anything else. He didn't say more, he had never been a man of many words. He only held me, rocked me back and forth as if I were a child again.

"You were d… lost," I managed to mutter. "I thought I would never see you again."

My dad hummed, never stopping to hug me. "I'm right here."

"We moved," said Nina. "But no one knew where you've been, so we couldn't give you the new address. Sorry."

Somehow I managed to calm down and gently pushed myself away, turning to also give my sister a hug. "It's okay. Not your fault." Sniffing, I wiped a sleeve over my face. "I've been through some stuff. Can't tell you anything, but… I wanted to find you, so…"

"I dug out some contacts of mine," said the Master. "And helped along a little to find the address."

I nodded, confirming. "How are you two? I heard about… the disappearance."

"Yeah, that was wild," said Nina. "She's way too lazy to just run off, so everyone is convinced she got kidnapped. But I don't know… who would do that? There never was a note or a demand for money or anything."

"And my old workplace closed down. So we moved over here," added my Dad. He looked at the Master. "Want to introduce me?"

Right, I should. But I wouldn't get the opportunity. The Time Lord in question already stepped forward, grinning wide. "I am the Master."

There was a groan from Nina, my Dad looked a little puzzled for a second, but then just laughed a little. "Alright then. Come in, Master. Oh and are you two hungry? I was just about to make stew, it should be ready by now."

"Yeah, of course!" I said. "Your stew is the best. And no one around to forbid you the pepper."

My Dad smiled and vanished into the kitchen. A small one, but it had definitely enough space for his experiments.

"Hasn't changed, has he?" said Nina. "I thought with mom gone he would… I don't know. Thomas comes over sometimes, a colleague from his workplace. But he's mostly on his own still. Sometimes we go on a hike. And I got a job too now, so…"

"He looks happy," I murmured as I followed her into the living room. "Last time…" No, this hadn't happened. "But yeah, still him."

Dad came back moments later, bringing coffee for me. "What do you want?" he asked the Master. "Tea? Coffee? Oh, you know what, come into the kitchen. I've got quite the collection."

"Just Black tea with two sugars and a sip of milk," said the Master, eyeing the man up and down. "And make it good."

Dad smiled and shook his head. "See, that's part of the problem. Got too many black teas. No need to be shy, have a look. You can have whatever you like."

The Master rose, he was a little smaller, but the threat in his aura was still palpable. "Whatever I want? Even your daughter?"

The room fell silent. Nina shot me a questioning look and I was about to get up too. Why was he acting like that now? There were enough aliens in the universe to threaten, he didn't need to-

My Dad stepped closer to the Master and his face was suddenly as serious as I had seldom seen it. "You don't need to ask me that. Ask her. Ask Lucy if she wants you."

Now I shot up from the sofa, just to slap the Master's arm. "What the heck're you doing?"

"Oi!" He shot me a mean look. "Isn't that custom with hu… people from that area? To ask, I mean."

I blinked. All tension left the room and a soft laugh made its way up. "Only if you want to get married. But not if you just want to whisk away someone to travel the sta… world."

"No?"

"Travel the world, huh?" Dad chuckled. "You always wanted to do that. And now that you know where we are, come by once in a while, yeah? Your boyfriend can come too, seems like he needs to learn more about our culture."

"He's not my…"

"Sure, I'll drop her off whenever she wants." The Master grinned. "Now about your tea collection. That did sound rather intriguing."

The two left and I was alone with Nina, dropping on the sofa with a groan. "Bugger."

"Seems like a huge prick," she dead-panned. "But travelling the world sounds cool. I'd stick around with an arse too if I could do that."

I shot her a scowl and she stuck her tongue out at me. Why could that idiot never behave? I let out a grunt. "We're not together. It's… complicated."

"Well, as long as he isn't such a dick as your last one. I mean… he sure seems to be, but another kind of dick, you know."

"Ninaaaaaa. He's not my boyfriend!"

"Rude." The Master came back in, cradling a tea cup in his hands. He carefully sat it down on the table and added some sugar. "Both of you."

My own mug still sat on the table and I picked it up again, huffing. My Dad returned too, now wearing a towel over his shoulder. "I forgot to say," he started and looked me up and down, "That new look suits you. Actually, you look good in general, happy. Haven't seen you so happy since… hm… actually, I can't remember." His look wandered into the distance. "You weren't a happy child. And not a happy teenager."

"Yeah… No wonder." I sipped some coffee and decided to ask. "Dad… did you know?" My voice almost faltered, getting smaller with every word. But I wanted to hear it. "What… what she did to us?"

He walked into the living room and sat down in the armchair opposite to me. His hands were folded in front of him, his head lowered slightly. "Not all of it. You remember Grandma. She was rather strict. I mean, you experienced it yourself often enough, she could be a little rough."

I smiled. Yeah, I remembered her well and also fondly. Grandma could be quite the frightening person if we missbehaved, but she had never been unfair and never unkind.

"What I want to say is… it wasn't unusual for me to see your mum being strict with you. But I didn't know that she beat you and Maya without a reason. I didn't know she hit until you bled. And no, I didn't know she never let you leave the house." He swallowed and glanced at his feet. "It feels like I should have."

"It's… I don't blame you," I muttered. "She hid it well when you were home."

"You tried to tell me."

"Yeah… No one ever believes children." I laughed softly and shook my head. "I can forgive all of it. But say… Now that no one pushes you anymore… What's with your stupid religion? I always suspected you only tagged along because she made you."

Dad grumbled and looked away. "I thought I believed it," he admitted. "But I stopped going there just some months later. I know there is a god, there has to be one. But I think no human should tell me what he wants from me and what not. I just want to live without regrets."

"Never met any gods," said the Master. He sat leaned back and still cradled the tea cup, occasionally taking a swig. "I met a few who claimed to be one. But they all turned out to be very… mortal… in the end." His last words were accompanied by a smug smile that told me had made sure of it himself.

Nina and Dad shared a look, quite as if they didn't know what to make of those words. They would never know. I could never tell them. But it didn't matter. I was only glad that they were both alive and apparently well.

"So, family reunion done," announced the Master. He sat his cup down on the table. "We still have to be places."

"Not staying for dinner?" asked Dad.

"Can we?" I gave the Master a pleading look. "You don't have to stay here. Just pick me up later."

"Oh, I wouldn't stay if I were you." He winked at me. "If all goes as planned, you'll need an empty stomach for the evening."

I raised a brow, but didn't question it further. And somehow… somehow I too wanted to leave. As much as I loved knowing my plan successful, I also knew I had no permanent place here any longer. My job here was done. For now.

So I said farewell to both and hugged my Dad for an extra long moment. It still felt strange. Impossible and like a dream. But it was real.

"Come back anytime." He let go of me and smiled. "You can bring your boyfriend too. Maybe he can learn more about how we handle things around these parts of the world. Where are you from anyway?"

"He's not my boyfriend," I groaned.

"I'm a long, long way from home," answered the Master. "You wouldn't know the place." He nudged me playfully and stretched out his bent elbow. "Shall we?"

"One more thing, Master, or whatever your actual name ist." Dad didn't move, but he didn't need to. The slight change of tone and the piercing look he could sometimes give one were enough. It usually meant I was in trouble. "I don't like you."

The Master nodded his head. "Noted."

"But I see that you do Lucy good. So keep that up. You have my blessing. Take care of my daughter."

My mouth dropped open. He had never before even commented on my choice of people I hung around with. Well, a snarky remark here and there maybe, but nothing more.

The Master glared at the other man for a while and then, to my surprise, he placed a hand over his hearts and bowed his head a little. "You have my word."

Even Dad seemed a little surprised by that reaction and we shared a quick look. The Master then nudged me once more, his smile inviting. I took the offer and waved back at them, walking side by side with the Master until we were out of sight enough to teleport. I smiled while we walked, my heart aching a little because I had to say goodbye so soon already. But I knew there was a place now where I could always return to.