Dr Who : "To Forgive..."

Summary: On her (hopefully) redemption arc, Blissy meets her first challenge.

"On the Road Again..." Part XIII...

"Here we are, Auntie's Trenzalore lab…" Zoa, grandly waving to show off the area to Mila and Blissy. "Not exactly the Prime Temporal Mechanics Institute on Gallifrey, but a home away from home."

"Wouldn't it be more efficient to work on your Tardis, with its facilities." Mila noted. "This doesn't seem the place to do temporal mechanics studies."

"I keep my Tardis parked in orbit just within the force shield. No Tardis or other large scale temporal manipulation device is permitted outside the designated landing zone and no large-scale temporal experimentation is allowed on Trenzalore within the Papal Mainframe's force shield. Too much chance someone would want to monkey around with things here, next thing you know we're Time-locked and who knows what happens next." Zoa noted. "We can observe and compile data on planet and this is sufficient for both but nothing more. However…" shrug. We are allowed to maintain single small time bubbles in the middle of the labs to run quick tests on materials from the tower. There." She pointed to a basketball sized bubble floating in the center of the lab.

"But you've only recovered temporal residue, traces and bits from when the Crack was created up to when the Doctor fought the siege?" Blissy noted.

"Correct. Almost like fossilized ripples in Time from the point the Doctor's Tardis exploded, sending a signal to Gallifrey that we all assumed was an indication our return to normal space might be possible, and so the Question was sent." Zoa nodded.

"May I see…? If you think it's safe for me to?" Blissy asked.

"Can't wait to see your boyfriend's daring-do, eh? Well, you do know the explosion began with River Song on the Tardis?" Zoa eyed her.

"Yes…And that's fine." Blissy shrugged.

Mila eyed her…Then Zoa. "Are you sure, Koschei? We can't always be sure how we'll react to these things."

"Mama, I know the story of River and the Doctor. I've told you so. It's fine. I want to see what Aunt Zoa's got. Can't be much use here if I don't view the data." Blissy noted.

Zoa putting up a hand. "She'll be fine, Mila. It's just traces and a story she's acquainted with."

"One thing to hear about it, another to see it unfold." Mila sighed.

"It's alright, Mama." Blissy smiled and went to stand by the bubble.

"You can't fully immerse, of course." Zoa noted. "But put your hands in and it will do the rest."

"Yes." Blissy nodded…A bit nervous. "Mama?" she turned to Mila. "Please do it with me. I'm fine, but…"

"It's alright, dear. I will." Mila nodded, stepping by her. Each thrusting both hands into the bubble.

"Oh, my…" Blissy, blinking…A vague smile as she viewed different fragments. "I never met him in this form. I knew what he looked like from the holograms and pictures, but…"

The holograms and pictures all over the town square, in the restaurant last night, in the lobby of our hotel…Mila thought.

I do agree the twelfth with the eyebrows was the one to go for…A bit of maturity, but still some buried playfulness…Though…I would not have said no to Numbers ten and fourteen. And fifteen does seem to have a bit more of a sense of…

"Of course I prefer my twelve with the eyebrows…" Blissy smiled. "But isn't he handsome, Mama?"

"He improved with age." Mila noted, dryly. Yes, you made the right choice…Twelve. Maybe a visit from fifteen once in a while to liven things up?

Hmmn…That River Song is rather…She thought.

Why the Black Guardian did she have to come in? Slight frown, sympathetic look to Blissy now carefully viewing different time fragments. Pausing to eye several held in place momentarily.

"He came knowing he'd likely die here. Stayed. That's my Doctor." She beamed.

"I could wish he'd…"Mila began but stopped.

"He did, Mama. He's spent centuries trying. But in the end, as you said.." Blissy eyed her through the various distortions and fragments of the bubble… "Only I could really keep me on this course, free myself. And I know he's there for me, if I ever need him. He never gave up on me, no matter what I did, how horrible I was. But I'm also thankful Father didn't either." She smiled at Mila.

"And there goes the Dalek fleet…Now that's a regeneration. My…No wonder the survivors signed the Trenzalore treaty." She pulled her hands out as did Mila.

Paling suddenly…Hand to head.

"Are you allright?" Zoa asked, Mila anxious look.

"Yes…Just a little headache. Temporal distortion I think." Blissy noted. "I think the bubble triggered a fragment memory. I'm all right, Mama."

"A memory? An evil one? Koschei?!" Mila, nervously twisting hands.

"Just a fragment. They surface now and then, Mama. Past lives, it happens. I'm fine."

Zoa eyeing her carefully. "You're sure? It may have been a mistake to expose you to the bubble fragments."

"I'm really just fine. Truth field, you know." Blissy smiled. "Just not the nicest thing to be confronted with a bit of the monstet you once were. But I've learned to cushion it off…And I did so want to see this. See what happened."

And confirm what I feared was true…She did not say.

The Fragment is no nightmare or false memory. It's simply the Truth. Just have to hope the Truth can set one free without…She hesitated, seeing the two women looking at her as she stood lost in though.

"Well, that was amazing. Thanks, Auntie." She smiled. "What else have you got?"

The Outcome's what matters…Not what he/I did or tried to do, she thought.

Only question is who knows besides me and my Doctor?

"Well, here's a summary of the combined readings, by all parties, of the residual time pulses since the siege ended…" Zoa noted. "As you can see…" they eyed a holodisplay above their heads… "The pulses at first stretched far out into the Galaxy but quickly faded and now barely reach the upper atmosphere, though they remain on the same cycle. With the exception of first this one powerful blip…But…"

"This didn't originate here." Blissy noted. "It reached to here…" she paused, eyeing the data flow. "From where Gallifrey was after its return to the distant future."

And I don't need to check to know it came from the moment I and my renegade Cybermen attacked.

"Then a jumble of fast-fading signals…And then, this wide distribution of pulses, but from no single source…In fact from all over the Universe, as if…" Zoa began.

"As if someone had called the entire Universe back into life." Blissy nodded.

That's my guy…Well, our guy, Dr. S. I did say I'd gladly share consciousness if he and you were game.

…