A/N: At some point in the chapter, there are lyrics to the Chris Daughtry song "Call Your Name." Of course, all credit goes to him. If you haven't heard the song before, check it out.

Also, brief spoilers for Doctor Who episode "Let's Kill Hitler."

Chapter 9: The Truth Revealed/Confirmed

Unfortunately, I didn't see the blue box over the next two years. I had searched high and low for any signs of its appearance, both in public and online. I had even had the courage to speak to a handful of neighbors about whether or not they'd seen the blue box, and nothing. I briefly wondered if the person who was responsible for deleting any and all information on the mysterious 'Doctor' was responsible for deleting anything to do with the box as well. If that was the case, I hoped to find whoever was responsible so I could get him/her to return everything about them back online, but something in the back of my mind told me this was going to be a longshot. If I couldn't find anything on the blue box, how was I going to find my bio-parents? Apparently, jerks like these never make it easy, which was the unfortunate truth. I eventually shrugged the idea off, thinking that the blue box will just show up whenever it shows up, which could happen at any time.

Why does everything have to be so mysterious? I thought dismally, and why do I always have to wait to find out stuff? I hate being patient. Patience is for wimps.

It wasn't until graduation finally came that things started to make more sense, but at the same time, other things were starting to get more complicated, particularly my own true identity.

Of course, graduation was one of the best times of my life. I graduated with the highest GPA of every graduating Senior, and because of that, I was chosen as the Valedictorian for the graduating class of 2015, which was a huge honor. With my cap and gown, I was given a gold medal to wear at the graduation ceremony, and I was also responsible for giving the closing speech at the end (which I had to write all on my own), which set my nerves on edge, as speaking in front of a large crowd of over a thousand people was not my strong suit, but it surprisingly went very well. After my closing speech, I joined the school choir for the last time to sing our school's alma mater, with me as the lead singer (no surprise there). As if being under the spotlight wasn't enough to set my hearts into overdrive.

When the ceremony was finally over, we left the auditorium and rejoined all of our friends and families, as well as received our proper print-out diplomas (when the Board announced our names, we were given an empty folder that would hold our diplomas).

"Can you believe it, Syd?" Hazel cried excitedly as she tackled me in a ginormous hug. "We're high school graduates! Finally!"

"I know, right?" I agreed with equal excitement. "Freedom, here we come!" Of course, in the real world, you'd get more freedom to do what you want, whenever you want, and not be told otherwise, which wasn't a privilege we were given in high school; even in your free time, there were still some strict rules you had to follow.

"Ha! Couldn't have said it better myself," Hazel sniggered. "Also, if I might add…no more crappy cafeteria food."

I laughed as well. "Yeah, that's true too. Apparently, cafeterias don't have the word 'freshness' as part of their vocabulary." Need I have said more?

Hazel laughed again, then murmured, "By the way, excellent job on that closing speech. You sure inspired a lot of people to 'learn to accept change and embrace it like an old friend.' I bet you were thinking about your 'secret' when you wrote that in your paper."

That was true. When I wrote that bit in my paper, I suddenly wondered if this was—is—what Time Lords had to think about when it came time for them to regenerate. I imagined it would be difficult to accept a new body right away, whether one was originally ready to regenerate or not. I wondered if my bio-parents dealt with this sort of thing. Somehow, I knew I would in the years to come.

I nodded. "To be honest, I was thinking about it. Of course, no one would've figured that out…" I paused. "No one except you…and my guardians, of course." I then sighed heavily. "I'm also surprised that I didn't pass out. Public Speaking is so not my forte."

Hazel shook her head. "That may be so, but you made a tremendous impact on a lot of people's lives. I could tell some people got all teary-eyed, even Jacob Macdonald, who never gets emotional."

I chuckled, thinking better. "Huh. If I can make even Spock emotional, then maybe I do have a way with words, after all."

Throughout high school, Jacob Macdonald was known as Spock, simply because he often seemed to have absolutely no emotion, as well as having pointy ears, much like the Vulcans in Star Trek. I never understood why he always seemed to have no time for fun, but one thing that was funny about Jacob was that he hated Star Trek, despite being called Spock for four years straight.

"I should think so," Hazel agreed. "I'd definitely vote you as 'The Girl Who Makes the Most Inspirational Speeches.'"

I smiled. "Aw, thanks, Haze. I'd definitely vote you as 'The Girl Who Always Knows What to Say to Make Humans and Non-Humans Happy.'" She smiled as well.

As I wrapped my arms around her in an even tighter hug, I suddenly got the sense that I was being watched. More than that, I was being watched by someone that was just like me—someone who was another Time Lord; although, how I knew that, I had no idea. I glanced over, and I saw a familiar man in a tweed jacket and bow tie standing with an even more familiar curly-haired woman at his side. The woman had one hand on her male counterpart's shoulder and the other hand on his chest, presumably over one of his hearts, if he had two, like me. They both smiled warmly at me.

A part of me wanted to take Hazel and walk away from them, as they were complete strangers to me, but another part of me wanted to stay, knowing this couple wasn't dangerous. I mean, if they were dangerous, they would've tried attacking us, right?

Suddenly, something unexpected happened. A male voice spoke to me in my head, and somehow I knew it was the voice that belonged to the man in the bow tie, and it was also one I'd recognized from my dream. What was even stranger was that when he spoke, his mouth was not moving; he was speaking telepathically.

'Congratulations, Nova,' he said in a British, but also one that sounded incredibly ancient for his age, accent, sounding like he was standing right next to me and not twenty feet away from me. 'We are so proud of you, and we love you 'til the end of Time.'

Feeling a bit creeped out, I responded in my head as a question, 'Thank you?' I refrained from saying that I loved them back, since I didn't know who these strangers were; how could I love someone I didn't even know? A large crowd of high school graduates and families alike walked past the mysterious man and woman, blocking them from my vision, and when the crowd completely past, the man and woman were gone.

Typical, I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"What is it, Syd?" Hazel asked with concern in her young voice, unlike the man's.

I frowned, deciding whether or not to follow to see where they went, but I ultimately decided not to; what would be the point if they disappeared, like the woman often did whenever I tried talking to her? "Nothing. I just…" I turned back to Hazel slowly. "I thought I saw them. My biological mother, River Song, and that 'Doctor.'" I decided to call him 'Doctor,' since I was still unsure whether he was my bio-father or not.

"Where?" Hazel asked as she looked around, puzzled.

I pointed in the general direction of where I saw them. "They were over there, but they disappeared with a large crowd." I sighed. "Of course they did; no doubt my mother got him into the whole 'disappearing act' as well. I really wish they'd stop doing that. They're not exactly putting on a good first impression; if anything, it's a creepy one."

Hazel shrugged. "I'm sure they don't mean to be creepy," she said in an assuring tone. "You once said that they were avoiding you simply because it wasn't yet the right time to talk. Obviously, now isn't that time, since they left."

I sighed again. "Yeah, well I really wish it was the time to talk. I need to know who they are, especially if they might be dangerous." I then murmured in Hazel's ear, "I mean, the man said in my dream that he gave me up to protect me from himself, but I just saw him standing right over there. Why would he appear to me if he wants to keep me from himself? It doesn't make sense." I then paused, realizing something. "Then again, if he truly was dangerous, why would he congratulate me and tell me he loves me?"

That in itself didn't make any sense. As far as I knew, dangerous people typically didn't care about anyone; they certainly wouldn't love anyone. The more I thought about it, the greater the mystery that seemed to be surrounding this tweed-clad Doctor and his curly-haired companion, whose faces looked much like my own.

"What?" Hazel asked, puzzled, and I then realized that she obviously didn't hear the man's voice; only I did, possibly because it was meant for only Time Lord ears to hear. Either that, or only strong telepathic minds—like mine, apparently—could hear his message.

I abruptly shook my head, believing the whole 'telepathy' thing to be ridiculous. "Never mind, let's just find our parents. Our true parents, I mean."

We were able to find both of our parents, and along the way I was congratulated by many of my former classmates and their families on a job well done on becoming the Valedictorian of our class, as well as succeeding in presenting my farewell speech at the ceremony. I even was congratulated by Sam Davies, which was a huge surprise, what with how self-absorbed he was, but in the end I didn't care; at least he was genuinely proud of me and less of himself. Once we found our families, we stayed a little while longer and then went our separate ways; although, I was definitely going to see Hazel again many more times over the summer before college.

Even long before graduation, I had applied for many colleges across the country, as well as a few in The United Kingdom, as I was thinking of studying abroad there even for my first year (as well as finding my bio-parents, of course, since I had a theory that they lived there); and even long before I found out I was going to be the Valedictorian of my graduating class, I got accepted into the majority of them (as well as being offered a few legit scholarships from some), mainly because of my already-high GPA. Now, I'd most likely be accepted into any college I wanted, especially as the Valedictorian. Most colleges only chose the smartest students to attend, but I personally wasn't worried, what with my big Einstein brain.

The big question was: would they be willing to accept a Time Lord into their university, especially if they needed proof of my identity?

I then shook my head. You're overthinking things again, Sydney, I sighed to myself. They're not going to need any medical information from you to allow you to attend. All they care about is general grades and ACT scores. They don't care what species you are, as long as you're responsible and smart. This thought sent a wave of relief down my spine, because, luckily for me, I was both.

By a week after graduation, I had applied to almost every university in both America and England, and I had been accepted into almost all of them. Now, it was just a matter of choosing which university to attend, which would determine my immediate future.

Although, how far would I go before everyone found out I wasn't human, and they would send me to Area 51 (or wherever they took illegal aliens) to be needlessly experimented on for the rest of my life, or at least until I ran out of regenerations? I honestly couldn't imagine anything worse.

However, it wasn't until later that same day, when my life had turned completely upside down.

I was in my room, taking a break from applying for more colleges by practicing my guitar-playing. A few years earlier, I had learned to write my own songs, and now I was practicing a new song I had written for my guardians.

"Can you hear me…when I call your name…" I sang as I strummed along on my guitar, but then I was interrupted by an abrupt knock on my bedroom door.

"Nov—Sydney, sweetheart?" I heard my mother's voice as she slowly opened the door. "Can we talk to you?"

I immediately stopped playing and looked over to see both of my parents entering my room. "Yeah, I'm just practicing." As I set my guitar aside, I noticed the nervous looks on both my parents' faces, and a massive chill ran down my spine. "What's up?" I asked, feeling a bit concerned.

Mom closed my door and sat on my bedside. "Your father and I have something we need to discuss with you," she said with a slight shake to her voice, "and it's something we know you've been waiting your whole life to talk about."

In that moment, I knew exactly what she meant. Oh, boy…this is it, isn't it? I thought with a shudder. They're about to confirm I was never human. I had been both anxious for and dreading this moment for at least fifteen years, and now it was finally happening.

"And now that you're eighteen and have graduated," Dad continued, "we think it's time to tell you the truth about where you really come from."

Yup, I thought, my anxiety increasing, this is definitely it.

But I couldn't take it. "Which isn't Earth," I admitted before I could stop myself.

Mom suddenly paused, glancing uncertainly at Dad. "Um…what, honey?"

"That's the truth, isn't it?" I asked, my anxiety now reaching its peak. "I'm not really from Earth; in fact, I was never born on this planet. I was actually born elsewhere, which makes me not human. That would explain my regenerative powers and the fact my IQ is much higher than the average human of my age."

My parents continued glancing at each other. "How do you know all this?" Dad asked with a frown.

I shook my head. "I didn't. I was just waiting for you to confirm it all. But I can tell you where I got all my theories from. You wanna know how I found out?"

They looked almost terrified now, like I had suddenly become a true alien with tentacles, or horns, or whatever they were picturing my physical form with. It was highly disturbing, but it was like something else had taken over my mouth and made me say all these things, and I had no control.

"How?" Mom asked, looking more terrified than ever.

I sighed as I explained everything. "The truth is, I found out right after my first regeneration, which was Sign #1, when you guys told me it was normal for me but not for other humans, since completely rewriting one's DNA into someone else's is impossible for a regular human to do. Sign #2: I grew in an extra heart, which is, again, something completely impossible for a human. For years, you told me to keep my powers secret from the rest of the world, and if I were human, this wouldn't have been a problem; not to mention, not a single human has a secret like this. This was Sign #3. Sign #4: my IQ is obviously much higher than the average human of my age, maybe even higher than Albert Einstein's at this point. And Sign #5: I'm adopted, which should've been the second obvious sign behind Regeneration. I could possibly go on, but there are at least five obvious signs that I'm not human."

"Six actually," Dad immediately corrected me.

I frowned, puzzled. "Six?"

He glanced to Mom and then back to me. "Your name isn't really Sydney Elise," he confessed. "That was just a name we gave you because your bio-parents didn't want us using your real name in case you met with the wrong people."

"That, and if we were able to have a real daughter, we would've named her Sydney Elise," Mom added. "So that worked out for us, needless to say."

"By 'wrong people,' you mean my bio-parents' enemies that want me dead?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Dad nodded. "Yes. If we used your real name, they would've most likely found you a lot sooner, and who knows where you'd be now."

Probably being trained as an assassin, I thought, suddenly feeling disturbed, or tortured, or killed. I wondered if this was exactly what the school intruder, and possibly the Sontaran, wanted to do with the mysterious Nova as well. Suddenly thinking of her, I asked out loud, "So who's Nova Susan Song? Is she my sister? Where does she fit into all of this?"

Mom glanced to Dad again and sighed, "That is what we were about to tell you—who she really is."

"Okay, so who is she?" I asked a little impatiently. The growing anxiety was becoming too much to handle, but I also couldn't help thinking in my head, please don't be me, please don't be me, please don't be me…

Mom sighed again. "She is not your sister…" she confessed. After a short pause, she said, "She is you. Nova Susan Song is your real name."

I felt like both of my hearts had stopped in that moment. "She…she's me?" I asked in shock, barely getting a word out. "Are you saying…the school intruder back in Second Grade…was after me this whole time?"

She couldn't be serious! She just couldn't! I glanced to Dad, but he just nodded.

"Yes," Mom nodded. "That was why we immediately called the school to make sure you were alright and to have you brought home. We were so worried that he'd caught you and taken you away from us forever."

"But he didn't," I said, shaking my head. "He was stopped by my mother." I then paused. "Or who I think was my mother. She was even at the arcade after the Sontaran attacked us a few years ago. I assumed she got rid of him with my dad, who was the man in the bow tie she was with. I saw the footage online but didn't meet them in person. They came in a blue police box, which had to be alien—excuse me, Time Lord, which is also what I am. I assume that was another thing you were gonna tell me?" There was no doubt that was the main secret they were going to spill, but I had known about it for a while now. However, I hoped they would know more about the history of the Time Lords, including where they were from.

"Yes," Dad nodded to answer my question, but the rest of his answer wasn't what I had hoped. "Although, I'm sorry to say we don't know much about the Time Lords; only that that is what you are, as are your parents, mostly your dad. Your mom is half-and-half."

"half-and-half?" I asked, puzzled. "You mean she's part-Time Lord?"

Dad nodded again and continued, "And part-human; although, mostly human now. She gave up all her Time Lord powers once upon a time to save your father's life. Unfortunately, she didn't tell us any details."

I suddenly remembered the blue box and asked, "And…what about the blue box? Surely you've seen it?"

It was Mom's turn to nod now. "Yes, we've seen it. It was there on the night we adopted you. It appeared out of nowhere with a great wheezing sound, and it disappeared in the same way after your mother handed you over to us. It was unlike anything I've ever seen."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say it looked bigger on the inside," Dad said with a slight chuckle, "but that's ridiculous."

"River said that box was a spaceship as well as a time-machine," Mom shrugged in agreement. "Nothing's more ridiculous than that."

These words hit me like a stab to both hearts simultaneously. "Oh, great," I groaned, distressed. "I come from a family of mad people. That's what you're saying, isn't it?" How could they do this to me, especially after years of saying they loved me?

Mom abruptly shook her head. "No, sweetie, that's not what we're saying at all. We just never thought we'd be in a situation like this. Not that raising you was a bad thing. It was a very good thing; it was the best thing that's ever happened to us. We always told you, you were special, and we truly meant it."

"What your mother means is that eighteen years ago, we never imagined we'd be raising someone's child that wasn't human," Dad explained; "and it wasn't until you opened your beautiful emerald eyes and smiled up at us for the first time that we realized that we made the right decision to raise you, whether you were human or not. In that moment, I knew you were my daughter…that you had become my daughter. We were never going to give you up, like your parents did. Of course, they did it for a good reason, but we weren't going to be like them, no matter what happened to us. I would never let anything keep us apart."

I was speechless in that moment. My dad's words were like music to my ears, but I couldn't help but fear about the safety of my guardians if my bio-parents' enemies found them while on their search for me. If the enemies had found us, they would probably do anything to get to me and would more than likely kill my guardians to do it. Just this thought sent a shiver down my spine that I feared I would never get rid of.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" my mother-guardian asked, noticing my disturbed silence.

"I want to be alone," I said, suddenly feeling guilty and struggling to fight back tears. "This is…this is too much to process. I need to be alone for a few hours, maybe even the rest of the night." Even though I said this, I figured it was going to take a lot longer to accept this new—though not entirely new—information. In that moment, now that everything had been revealed/confirmed (I couldn't imagine there not being a slash between the two words, because my guardians had both revealed and confirmed the terrible truth of my identity), my whole universe was turned completely upside down, and there was no way of fixing it right-side-up…not ever again.

Seeming somewhat concerned, my mother-guardian nodded. "Of course, honey. We'll leave you alone for as long as you need." As she and my father-guardian prepared to leave my bedroom (although they seemed reluctant to do so), she suddenly paused. "Oh, I almost forgot. This is for you." She lifted up a skinny navy-blue box that I never realized she was carrying when they first entered my room. The box had a silver ribbon that was tied in a neat bow. "It's from your bio-parents. They wanted us to give you this when you came of age."

As a response, I could only nod. She then placed the box on my bedside and left the room without another word, closing the door behind her.

Immediately after my guardians left, I buried my face in my pillow and cried, both hearts now completely broken.

A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!