Summary: To most Erixians, the Daughter of Time was a god, a figure of immense power straight out of the histories, who had once saved their doomed people. Thaella never imagined that this fearsome, otherworldly entity was really a small blonde human by the name of Rose, nor that one day she'd come stumbling into their home looking for help.
Thaella sighed and rolled her shoulders to shift the ache that had taken up residence there. It had been a long day – a very long day. This latest commission was painstaking in both the complexity of the mechanism and the detail of the artistic design required by her customer. What a creation though. She leant back to look at the clock in greater detail, inspecting the casing for any flaws or errors that needed to be corrected, and grinned in delight at the overall effect. It wasn't often she got to create a long case clock, let alone one of this calibre and intricacy, and it had been a joy to be asked to work on the project.
It was just as she was closely inspecting one of the tableaus through a magnifying lens that she heard the bell sound, signifying either a visitor or, more likely, another delivery of books for her lifemate.
From down the hall, she could hear the sound of Gheheris shuffling her way to the door, clearly still distracted by whatever she was reading. The bell sounded again. This time with a sharper, more urgent ring to it. Thaella's amusement grew. Her lifemate was a wonderful woman, but also an easily distracted one – especially when reading – and she often considered all other aspects of life a distant second when she was in the midst of one of her histories.
The bell rang for a third time, this time accompanied by an irritable, "yes, yes, I am coming," from her beloved. "It's not like this revisionist history of the great invasion is time sensitive." There was the familiar creak of the door and then a high pitched sound she'd never her wife make before that sent her catapulting from her chair and towards the corridor.
"My lady," she heard Gheheris exclaim, voice pitched high in panic, "you're hurt! Thaella! Thaella you must come, it is The Lady and she is injured most severely!"
Thaella didn't even pause, she bolted, her work smock flapping around her as she pelted through the door of her workroom and down the corridor towards the commotion.
What she found there stole her breath from her. Shock rushed through her, heavy and sickening. Gheheris was on her knees, cradling a blonde humanoid female in her arms, trails of sticky red liquid running down her arms.
"What is wrong?" Thaella demanded, crashing to her knees beside the prone humanoid.
"That I do not know. Our Lady collapsed in my arms when I opened the door. Help me get her to the lounge, we must find the source of the bleeding."
Thaella nodded, shifting to take the strangers legs on auto-pilot, before Gheheris' words sunk in and she froze. "The Lady?" she enquired hesitantly, almost afraid to touch the blonde. "as in Our Lady?"
Her wife glared at her, orange eyes dark with panic. "Use your senses, Thaella," she growled, "of course I mean Our Lady. Which other lady would I mean."
It was a fair point, even if the delivery was gruffer than Thaella would like. Still, if this was the Daughter of Time, then her lifemate's panic was entirely reasonable and warranted and they had a sacred duty to assist her. Her senses prickled like static electricity running over her nerves when her fingers wrapped around their visitor's slender legs, lending credence to Gheheris' words, but Thaella remained confused. What was the Daughter doing at their home?
To most Erixians, the Daughter of Time was a god, a figure of immense power straight out of the histories. Their beloved saviour. There was still a daily prayer offered up to the universe for her health and wellbeing and rooms kept always ready at the Great Temple in case she ever returned.
Thaella never imagined though that she would one day actually meet this fearsome, otherworldly entity; nor that their saviour was really a small blonde humanoid who her lifemate had seemingly met before.
~*o0o*~
Carrying a deadweight through their house was not an easy task. For a small humanoid female, their guest was a lot heavier than she first appeared.
"How do you know this is the Daughter?" Thaella couldn't help but ask as they huffed their way down one corridor and through a doorway.
Gheheris snorted. "Can you not feel it, my love," she asked with a huff.
"Yes," Thaella agreed, cautiously. "But I am not sure what my senses are telling me, yet you are certain. Why?
Gheheris sighed, "I know her. I was young when she first came, but I remember her still. After the Talpian forces were crushed, she stayed for a while and became close with my mother. For a while we were family. She carried such fire and such sadness. My mother later told me that she travelled the stars searching for the lifemate she had been separated from; helping where she could in honour of his memory as she walked her lonely path."
Thaella stared down at the unconscious blonde, compassion welling within her. To her the Daughter had always been a semi-mythological figure; a symbol of resistance rather than an actual living being. Yet here she was, and with each word her lifemate told her she became more real… and more relatable.
As she'd been speaking, Gheheris had almost robotically stripped their visitor of the battered blue jacket she was wearing, hands steady despite the tremble in her voice. Once removed, the source of the bleeding was easy to spot; on the back of her shoulder was a jagged wound that looked like it had been caused by a blade of some sort. Yet, the strange thing was it looked like it was already healing. Given the pool of blood by their front door, Thaella had expected the injury to be much worse, but the blood was already clotting and before her eyes the skin seemed to be knitting itself back together.
She flinched back, startled. Filled with uncertainty, she glanced at her wife only to find her looking back with a calm sadness. "It is one of our Lady's gifts," she explained softly and stood to rummage through the medical kit that lived in the dresser, setting out sponges and antiseptic to clean the already healing injury.
"She will wake soon, though the pain will linger," she warned Thaella, gently cleaning the dried blood from around the wound.
Gheheris was proved right once again as not three minutes later their visitor groaned, the smooth lines of her face contorting with pain as she arched and trembled.
"Peace, Sashna," Gheheris soothed, stroking the blonde hair as a mother would an upset child. Thaella couldn't help but grin at the affectionate pet name; little wolf. It was appropriate, she thought, taking the time now that the immediate crisis was over to stretch her senses out to study their visitor. There was something of the wolf about their guest. A lupine quality wound through with Time.
A groan pulled Thaella out of her mind with a jolt. With a start her orange eyes flew open to be met with a pair of alert golden ones.
"My Lady?" her lifemate asked, thankfully drawing that wolfish attention off Thaella, who slowly let out the breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. There was power in those eyes, a power beyond her understanding; a power that was ancient and forever.
"Gheheris," the blonde murmured, warmth coating the quiet words. "How many times have I told you that 'm name is Rose. You don't need to keep on with this Lady stuff."
Her lifemate huffed, brows beetling with displeasure. "and you know what my answer will be." She retorted, in what was clearly a longstanding difference of opinion. For a moment Thaella's heart stuttered in fear at her wife's insolence, but their Lady only grinned in fond amusement. Lying on their sofa she looked so young, despite the lines of pain etched around her eyes and mouth. Not at all like the god and saviour that the priests at the Temple of Time described her as.
The newly named Rose slowly pushed herself up on trembling arms into a seated position. "I'm sorry old friend, not exactly the entrance I intended to make." Her eyes flickered to where Thaella stood, silent and forgotten by Gheheris' side.
Gheheris smiled, bright and joyful at the prospect of finally introducing the two most important people in her life to each other. "May I introduce my Thaella, my beloved," she said with a loving smile directed at her lifemate.
"I'm so happy for you both." Rose said warmly, clearly delighted by the news, stretching her hand out to shake first Gheheris' hand and then Thaella's. "I'm Rose."
Thaella's eyes dropped to the thick carpet, suddenly feeling unaccountably shy. "You need no introduction, my Lady," she almost whispered, uncertain what to do or how to behave. She'd had an expensive – and expansive – education, but it was abruptly becoming clear that her educators had missed a vital lesson in the curriculum; what to do when one meets a god.
Should she bow? Should she offer refreshment? She ought to call the High Priestess; Ghaladria would know what to do and would surely be able to help their injured saviour more than she and Gheheris could. Her fingers itched to open her communicator, but something stayed her hand.
There was a vulnerability to Rose that made her hesitate. She ought to call the High Priestess, but with that would come a lot of pomp and pageantry, and some instinct told her that this was the last thing her guest needed, or indeed, wanted. The blonde was pale and drawn, not just from pain but also exhaustion. Like all Erixians, Thaella had received comprehensive training in the mind arts. She was an accomplished telepath and she could feel the emotional distress emanating from the young humanoid.
Acting on instinct, Thaella knelt to rummage in the medical kit for the scanner. While her attention was fixed on scrolling through the medical information the scanner was telling her she was vaguely aware of the conversation continuing around her.
"Now, if you would turn around I will check your wound."
"Leave it," Rose said dismissively, "it'll heal soon enough on its own, you know that."
Gheheris only scowled. "I will not," she corrected sternly, "simply because your body will heal itself is not sufficient reason to deny you comfort and guest rights. My mother would never have allowed such nonsense, so I fail to see why you think it would work on me." The Erixian sniffed, clearly put out.
Rose twisted around, ignoring the agony that flared across her back at such an ill judged movement, to grasp her friend's wrist. "Forgive me," she pleaded, time flecked eyes large with apology. "I didn't mean it as an insult. I'm just… tired."
"Exhausted, more like it," Thealla interjected as she looked up from the health scanner. Your blood pressure is worryingly low. When was the last time you ate or drank something."
Their guest grinned tiredly. "On Plontoosh. About three jumps ago." Never mind the High Priestess, if they didn't get some fluids and sugar into their guest she was in danger of keeling over.
Both Erixians scowled in tandem, their grey skin turning purple with vexation. "That was foolish," Gheheris replied, turning her patient with gentle hands so she could once again reach the bloody mess that was Rose's shoulder. "Even for you that is a dangerous stretch. No wonder you are exhausted and your healing is so slow. You need sleep, Sashna."
At the familiar pet name Rose relaxed, her grin turning cheeky. "But then I'd have to wait to see you, old friend."
"What prompted such foolishness?" Thaella asked, eyeing her purple cheeked lifemate like you would an unexploded bomb.
Rose grimaced, "Run in with some Mirninnans, they're time sensitive as well," she winced at a particularly forceful press of the sponge from the resolutely tight-lipped Gheheris. "One of the Consul's decided he wanted to add me to his collection and wouldn't take no for an answer. I was aiming for Erix prime, but the cannon isn't always the most accurate. Bloody thing landed me three galaxies away, right in the middle of the Consulate's annual get together."
"They sought to keep you knowing who you are?" Gheheris hissed in outrage, cheeks now a vibrant fuchsia as Thaella attempted to press a glass of cassavan juice into her patient's uninjured hand.
"Yes," Rose answered, taking a long sip of the drink. "Though only one decided to use force when I rejected his oh so wonderful proposal to be his sixth wife. The others accepted my first answer and let me leave."
"Outrageous!" Thaella growled, giving Rose another thorough scan as if convinced she must be hiding more injuries.
"I escaped, but not before one of the guards got me with a spear. Was just luck that the canon dropped me near here."
Whether it was luck or Mother Time looking out for her Daughter was a question best left to the theologians. Thaella was just relieved that Rose had made it to their home in mostly one piece.
Though, that did beg the question though of why she had been trying to get to them in the first place.
Thaella glanced at her lifemate and saw the same question that was puzzling her had also occurred to her wife.
Gheheris frowned, studying her friend intently. "Then it was no accident that brought you here?" she asked. The blonde shook her head, looking troubled.
"Then why?" Gheheris couldn't help but ask. "You are always welcome," she quickly added, "but it has been some years since last you visited. You must have some purpose to come now." Especially to have pushed herself so foolishly, Thaella silently thought to herself.
"I don't know what to do," Rose answered after a long moment, tone uncharacteristically uncertain and young.
"Then tell us, and we can help you. A problem shared is a problem halved." Thealla added sensibly.
Rose was visibly hesitant at first, but then the whole story poured out of her.
How she'd met and fallen in love with the last of the Time Lords. How she'd become Badwolf to protect him, thereby unknowingly fulfilling an eons old prophecy about the Daughter of Time. How she'd been separated from him, trapped in a strange parallel universe with her mother and a parallel replica of the father she'd lost as a baby. She told them of the tortured goodbye on a beach with her name on it and how she'd known in her heart it was a message to lead herself home. How she'd worked tirelessly for years building the dimension canon, how it has started working when the stars began to disappear, and how she'd finally got the green light to try it out once they realised that all of reality was at stake.
Then came what was clearly the hardest bit for her to tell them; how she'd accidentally met a future version of the man she loved and the horrifying tale he told her was awaiting her in the near future.
Gheheris inhaled sharply, the sharp scales than ran down her fingers biting into Rose's hands with the force of her grip. "Surely he would not," she exclaimed angrily. "Surely he would not be so foolish as to leave you in that place. You who are not aging. Surely he could not have been so stupid."
"He said he didn't know," Rose explained quietly, biting her lip.
Thaella hissed, as displeased as her lifemate. "He is a Time Lord, he should have known," Gheheris almost shouted in her anger. "That he did not either means he is a fool of the highest order or else he could not be bothered to use his vaunted higher senses and look. Either way, he does not deserve you."
"He said regeneration scrambled his brain and then once he'd recovered enough to worry it had been several months. As I seemed fine he left it at that."
Idiot male, Thaella thought grumpily. He looked but did not see, and because he did not see he assumed. Truly, this man was an imbecile. The Priests at the Temple of Time would be furious.
"But what about when you returned, surely he must have thought it odd that you appeared no older," Gheheris pressed.
Rose shook her head. "Future him said it didn't occur to him. He assumed it had only been a year or two for me, like it had been for him. He didn't realise it had been a decade."
"But surely he sensed you were different?" Thealla nodded in support. "I knew within minutes of meeting you who you were."
The blonde looked away uncomfortably. "He said the metacrisis scrambled his senses. He thought the strangeness he could feel was from the Doctor-Donna. It never occurred to him that it could be me. Not until he met me in the future."
"Useless male," Gheheris exclaimed, throwing the bloody pads in her hands on the table in disgust. "I do not understand what you see in him. Are you certain this is the lifemate you want. There are many others who would go to the ends of the universe for you."
Rose leaned forward to grasp her friend's hands, stilling the angry gesticulations. "So would he," she said gently. "He made a mistake-"
"Many, I would say," Gheheris interrupted with a dark scowl, though Thaella noticed her lips twitching at the grin her comment provoked from the blonde.
"- but he's also going to great lengths to fix it. He's rewriting Time, erasing a huge swathe of his own time line."
"Yet it is you who is tasked with actually doing the fixing." Thealla pointed out in the interest of fairness.
Rose grimaced, "and that's the bit I'm stuck on. See, he wants me to go find a younger him at a specific point in his Timeline to change his mind. That him will then go and teach younger me what I need to know so that I can come back and find him quicker, so we can bond before he gets distracted by the whole River Song thing and gets entangled in that paradox."
Gheheris considered this for a moment, "it is a reasonable plan," she declared. Which was high praise indeed, Thaella mused, considering her antipathy towards the plan's creator. "Then what is the problem. It seem you have this well in hand." She paused to study the unhappy blonde.
Rose stared resolutely at the floor, her posture screaming her discomfort and uncertainty. "The future Doctor, he wanted me to be the one to talk to his younger self, to persuade him to change his past… but it doesn't feel right. If I'm there then he won't really have a choice, will he? Everything will come out and he'll know," she waved an expressive hand at herself, then frowned thoughtfully, "come to think of it, that's probably what Himself was counting on when he came up with this crazy plan – otherwise he could have been the one to do it. It's not like he hasn't met himself before on his travels." Rose signed heavily, "It would be just like him to try and stack the deck, especially if it means past him doesn't get a real choice…" she trailed off, looking troubled.
"Forgive me. Sashna, but I do not understand." Gheheris pressed, her voice laden with the concerned worry of a friend. "If you think your presence would sway him then surely that is a vote in favour of you doing as his future-self asked."
Rose shook her head and looked away, blinking back tears. "Because I need to know." She said softly, and realisation slammed into Thaella like a hammer to the head. The poor dear, of course. This man - fool that he undoubtedly was - had sent her away too many times. Fear might have been driving his stupidity, but such actions still left scars. Rose needed to know that he chose her: willingly, freely. She wanted to know that she was wanted. That he loved her and was not choosing this out of guilt because of who she had become or from fear of a future he'd seen a glimpse of and decided he didn't want.
There was another reason though for Rose's resolve, Thaella suspected.
"and I won't trap him the way River Song did. If he chooses this I want him to choose it with eyes wide open."
And there it was. The paradox that was at the heart of the mistake the Doctor would shortly make. The paradox his future-self desperately wanted to avoid. Was it any wonder that the poor girl felt this way; that she needed this reassurance.
Rose needed to know that she was loved; that he chose this path because he loves her and not because she is the Daughter of Time. As much as this plan was about giving the last of the Time Lords a second chance it was also a test. A test Thaella desperately hoped he would not fail again.
Gheheris sighed softly. "I can see why you fear, dear one," she said gently. "But if you cannot be there why not write a letter or leave him a message. You say his future self has told you where and when his younger self will be.
Both were sensible suggestions, but Rose only shook her head balefully. "I wish it was that simple." She took a deep, fortifying breath and slowly let it out. "I thought about a leaving him a letter, but the risk is too high that someone else could get their hands on it. At this point in his timeline, the Church is after him. The risk of future information getting into the wrong hands is far too high, and that's assuming he believes it – which I doubt. Why would he? As far as The Doctor knows, I'm happy living in the other universe with Mum and his sort of clone. He'd probably think it was a trap by the Church."
"And asking someone to pass a message on to him would carry the same risks," Gheheris murmured thoughtfully, her brow creased in concentration. "I see the dilemma, Sashna." Thaella saw it as well, only too clearly. The only way Rose could guarantee both the integrity of what she needed to tell the Doctor and him believing it was for her to be the one to tell him. Doing so though would also put the poor, unfortunate girl in exactly the position she was seeking to avoid: that of not knowing whether the Doctor chose her because he truly wished a life with her or if it was guilt at realising who and what she had become that persuaded him.
Of course, there was a third option, wasn't there. Here they were, three capable telepaths. If Rose was to leave a message embedded in one of their mind's that only the Doctor could unlock that would take care of the security concerns - and would give the man the proof he would understandably need that this was indeed a message from his beloved. It was not without risk and would require them to stay on Shan Shen for a while, but… then again, she'd always wanted to travel and have the chance to show off her creations to a wider market. Perhaps it was time for her and Gheheris to venture beyond the safety of Erix Prime.
Thaella's eyes met her lifemate's. A whole conversation passed in the blink of an eye, ending with Gheheris giving her a tiny nod. They were in agreement. They would help their Lady one last time.
"Then we will go," Gheheris offered in a tone that suggested any opposition would be completely futile. "You will record a message for your lifemate in my mind, presenting to him the choice to change his past, but no more. The rest you should leave in a letter we will guard and only give to him should he choose you. This will ensure, Sashna, that he has the freedom you need to be sure of his decision."
It was a good plan, a solid plan, yet it was clear to both Erixians that Rose remained unconvinced.
"There is something more," Gheheris stated, staring intently at the subdued blonde. "Some other matter that makes you hesitate where normally you are decisive."
"Your family taught me so much," Rose admitted after a long pause, her lips quivering with suppressed emotion. "About myself, how to sense Time, telepathy. I don't know what I'd have done without you or your people. I… I guess I'm afraid if the Doctor does choose to change his past what the changes will mean: what will happen. What if I never come here and you remain enslaved by the Talpians? Is it really okay to risk that for my own selfish gain? What if changing things makes things worse instead of better."
Gheheris smiled sadly, patting her friend's hand consolingly. "Do not fret so, Sashna. I do not believe it is selfish to strive for a future with your beloved, nor that what you are planning is wrong. The future you described for Time's Champion is bleak indeed; one full of loss and pain. One where he falls further and further from who Time and the Universe need him to be. You must be strong. What you are embarking on is not easy and no one knows what the future will bring. For myself, I am driven by the knowledge that we would lose you anyway when that foolish Lord leaves you in the other universe. But I have faith. I believe you will find us again," she said simply. "Time brought you to us once, I have faith the Mother will do so again."
It was a moving speech, and one that left all three of them with damp, glistening eyes. Hearing the young woman's worries touched Thaella's heart deeply as it showed both the depth of affection between Rose and Gheheris, and just how remarkable their Lady really was. It made her even more certain of their decision to go to Shan Shen.
"Then we are agreed," Gheheris stated, sounding pleased, only to frown when Rose shook her head. "No, it's too much. This is my problem. I can't ask you to give up so much to help me."
This time it was Thaella's turn to shake her head, pressing Rose's hand affectionately. "You do not ask this of us – we offer this to you freely and without reserve. You once gave us our future back. Let us return the gift to you."
For several long moments Rose studied both of them carefully as if trying to determine if there was any hesitation or doubt about what they would be taking on. Finally, seeing their conviction and determination, she gave a cautious nod.
Gheheris grinned at the blonde, teeth sharp and pointed, and held out her hand for Rose to take. "Then come, you have a letter to write and a message to leave."
~*o0o*~
Far away, in a different galaxy to Erix Prime, and several hundred years before they were even born, Thaella poked her head out from behind the cunningly hidden service door. "Did we have a visitor?" She asked curiously.
Gheheris nodded, her eyes still fixed on the recently closed door as if half expecting them to return. Thaella took in the casual destruction of some of her artwork and wince. She stepped into the room, taking in the usual clutter of their temporary home and the signs of tea having been served. Oh, it was him, then. The man they'd been waiting for.
A few more steps and Thaella wrapped her arms around her lifemate.
"It's done then?" she asked quietly, sensing her love's conflicted emotions.
Gheheris wove their fingers together, pressing them affectionately. "Yes, my love. Our part is done. It is over to him now."
"What did he choose?"
Gheheris smiled beatifically.
In the hush that had fallen over Shan Shen their sensitive hearing could just pick out a distinct wheezing-whooshing noise.
It sounded like hope.
Happy Christmas everyone! I hope you all enjoy this early present in the form of a bonus chapter. Even better, I've also posted the first chapter of Circles in the Sand.