-0-

"We've just detected a TT capsule approaching New Gallifrey, Romana," Narvin reported.

Romana frowned, looking up from the reports. The building of the New Gallifrey colony was going well, but what else could you expect from robot drones? The last few months of their arrival had been fraught with issues such as arranging a time-space sensor array to monitor the whole of the vortex.

At first Romana and Narvin along with the others had planned to just simply use one of the Time Station TARDISes as a new homeworld while they searched for a place to set down roots, but a Time Station was not the right place for children. Romana was in two minds about that, since living on the Time Station would not only keep them safe, but being in the vortex would ensure their protection and give them food and water forever.

At the same time, Romana knew that there was no way for anyone to live.

And…then there were the refugees; while many people were grateful to be alive, that didn't mean they wanted to be chained to the Time Lords forever. Many of them had been scared the Time Lords, being the pretentious and self-entitled species they were, would enslave them, despite their assurances. They weren't trusted, and Romana could not blame them.

Rassilon's rampage through the Time War and his pretentious beliefs had caused more damage than they had expected or hoped.

"What kind is it?" Romana stood up.

"We don't know," Narvin replied. "We only know it's a TT Capsule. We just don't know which type, and its origins."

"That is a problem, Narvin. Have everyone on full alert, just to be on the safe side. There are only two TT capsules in the universe that came from Gallifrey," Romana said thoughtfully as they walked out of the room of the prefabricated office and through the corridors of the complex. The robot drones were still working on the construction of the city, and it was a duplicate of the citadel of Gallifrey, only more advanced and simpler. "Jenny's and the Doctors."

With a wheezing, groaning sound, the TARDIS appeared in the shape of a police telephone box. Its light flashed repeatedly as the TARDIS solidified until it clunked to a halt.

Romana sighed, "It's him. I wondered when he would appear."

The doors of the TARDIS opened, revealing the Doctor. He had regenerated since the last time Narvin and Romana had last seen him. He was a tall, thin man in his late thirties with messy, spiky brown hair with sideburns, and he wore a tight brown suit underneath a large beige overcoat. Romana rewound the image in her mind and saw he had regenerated three times since they'd last seen him.

"Romana!" The Doctor gasped in awe. "Narvin! You're alive!"

Joyfully the Doctor scooped them up in a hug, and Romana clung on to him when he started to cry.

-0-

"Is it just me or are some of the people here not happy to see me?" The Doctor asked.

"What else did you expect when you refused to fight in the war?" Romana countered with a sad look. "I don't blame you for refusing to fight, Doctor, especially after what happened with Ysalus and the Valeyard, but did you really think you could stick your head in the sands forever?"

"Fair point," the Doctor replied, sounding regretful; in truth, he didn't have any real excuse for his avoidance of entering the Time War, except that he knew his Eighth incarnation had desperately wanted to avoid it. War was something that he had never liked, but looking back, the Doctor knew it was inevitable he would be taken into the war, either voluntarily or not.

But looking around him, the Doctor could see the mix of awe, shock, fear, anger, and dread being displayed by the Time Lords.

"How did you all get here?" He asked.

"We jumped time tracks; don't worry," Narvin added when he saw the Doctor's look of sudden alarm. "We made sure to cover our tracks."

"We've been shuttling Time Lords and other refugees out of the war for a while, and we've only just taken down the psychic shield which masked our presence," Romana said.

"You were hiding from me?"

"We had to, when we learnt from Jenny you thought we were all gone and you were the last," Romana retorted.

"Jenny? I….remember," the Doctor whispered, his face lost in thought. "I heard rumours that my daughter was fighting on the front lines of the Time War. I didn't believe it at first. I mean they were all dead by that point, or I thought Rassilon was trying to lure me in, but when I saw a picture of her, I had recognised her from somewhere. My fifth self had, and so did my eighth when I went through the degeneration crisis. I couldn't believe it, but I knew I had to protect her…instead, she knocked me out."

"She was wiser than you, and she knew there was no escaping the Time War," Romana said.

The Doctor glared at her sharply, but what struck him the most was not only how right Romana was, but how her words mirrored Ohila, the High Priestess of Karn, who'd ushered in his regeneration into the War Doctor. His eighth self had been a romantic, born in the shadows of a manipulative version of himself. He was a wanderer, an adventurer who only got involved when dropped into a situation at the time, not a soldier.

And it wasn't until Cass's death he'd had enough, he had seen so much pointless cruelty. He had always known he would end up fighting sooner or later; oh, sure he had gotten involved a handful of times, but he'd always done what he'd done best in the aftermath.

Run away.

Like the coward he was.

The Doctor wondered how Jenny would react when they saw each other next.

-0-

"This book is fascinating!" Noah said for like the ninth time.

Jenny spared him a look and shook her head, a smirk on her lips. She had set the controls to random which was her preference, as you got to see more of the universe if you travelled around blindfolded. Besides it had worked for her long before they'd fallen into the Time War. "You've been saying that since you got hold of it," she said. "Why are you so interested in the TARDIS manual?"

"Because I'm in a TARDIS, the pinnacle of temporal engineering; you should read it yourself, and learn more about this ship," Noah commented.

Jenny smirked. "What makes you think I haven't?"

"You're having me on!" Noah said.

"Am not. How do you think I got so good at modifying the chameleon circuit and the dimensional stabilisers?" Jenny countered.

"Good point."

"Actually, I'm kidding, I haven't read it," Jenny smirked again, making Noah groan and facepalm. "Or have I?"

"Jenny!"

"Noah!"

As the two friends bickered, the TARDIS spun through the Time Vortex. Next stop…anywhere.