~April 1996, Leadworth~
"The Lonely God is coming...he will awaken what has been hidden…"
Raelyn's hands tightened on her book as the whispered words filtered over to her.
"The Impossible Girl will emerge…"
The brunette glanced over at her friend hoping she'd heard them this time. But she clearly hadn't, for she was still praying to Santa for help with the crack. The crack...her uniquely coloured eyes flickered back over to it.
"She will be his light…"
That crack was the source of all her...no sorry...all their troubles. She wasn't the only one affected by it. Her best friend Amelia Pond was as well. While the Scottish ginger may not be hounded by the near constant hushed voices that emanated from the crack, she had admitted to having strange dreams.
"His ray of hope…"
The girl never went into too much detail but it was clearly enough to be praying to Father Christmas...at Easter of all times...for help.
"She will -" the whispers where cut off when there was a loud crash outside. The two girls darted over the window, gaping as they peered out to see a blue police box laying on its side in the garden.
"Thank you Santa", Amelia breathed, believing that it was the jolly white bearded man who'd answered her prayers.
"The Lonely God has arrived…"
"I want you to wait here", Raelyn ordered to the younger girl, the whispers having put her on edge.
"What? Why?" the brunette didn't answer her "Rae!" Amelia called, running after her "Rae wait!" she grabbed her friend's arm, stopping her at the top of the stairs "why do you want me to stay?"
"It could be dangerous", the violet eyed girl stated "now please, Mia…as my friend, I'm asking you to stay here until I know its safe". The 7 year old sighed and reluctantly nodded. Raelyn hurried down the stairs and out into the garden.
She slowly approached the police box, echoes of the whispers ringing in her ears. However, she no longer felt wary of the strange, wooden object. In fact the closer she was to it, the more she got a sense that its owner, whomever he/she/it was, they'd be able to help with the crack that was currently plaguing herself and her best friend. "Rae?" the ginger tentatively called from the backdoor.
"Its ok, Mia", she responded, casting a glance at the girl "its safe" she turned back to the blue box "at least I hope so", she murmured. She would never forgive herself if her initial instincts were in fact the right ones and Amelia got hurt in the process.
The Scottish girl joined her, now clothed in a red cardigan and matching wellies. "How are you not cold?" she questioned "and…where are your shoes?" she added, noting Raelyn was barefoot.
The violet eyed girl rolled her eyes. She was the older one out of the two of them and yet…her best friend acted like the 'big sister' out of them. "You know me, Mia. Don't really feel the cold. Plus…I was more interested in finding out whether this thing was dangerous, than protecting my feet".
Amelia opened her mouth to say something when the doors to the police box was suddenly flung open, startling them both. The girls watched at a grappling hook was thrown out. Moments later a soaking wet man with floppy brown hair popped up "Could I have an apple?" he asked, with a British accent "All I can think about. Apples. I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving? That's new. Never had cravings before" he partially climbed out of the box, sitting on the edge, looking down "Whoa" he gaped "Look at that".
"Are you alright?" Amelia enquired, concerned for the man.
"Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library. Hell of a climb back up", the brunet answered.
Raelyn frowned "You're soaking wet", she stated.
"I was in the swimming pool", the man said, as a-matter-of-factly.
"You said you were in the library", the ginger haired girl piped up, confused.
"So was the swimming pool", the floppy haired man countered.
"Are you a policeman?" Amelia asked.
"Why?" the man questioned, leaning forward a bit, eyeing her "Did you call a policeman?"
"Did you come about the crack in my wall?" Amelia enquired, half hoping that was the reason he was here.
"What cra…?" he broke off, falling off the edge of the box, crying out in pain "Argh!"
Raelyn hurried forward and crouched down "Are you alright?" she asked, looking at the man worriedly wondering if there was anything she could do to help.
The floppy haired man smiled at her, touched by her concern. There was something about her though, something awfully familiar. "No, I'm fine. It's okay", he assured the girl as he sat up slightly into a kneeling position "This is all perfectly norm…" he broke off, a wisp of golden light escaping from his mouth. Raelyn waved the wisp of golden light away as it drifted over to her, not noticing some of it seep into her skin.
"Who are you?" Amelia questioned, eyeing the man with mild curiosity.
"I don't know yet" the man replied looking at his hands which briefly shimmered with the same golden light "I'm still cooking" he glanced between the girls "Does it scare you two?"
The violet eyed girl shook her head "nope", she replied. None of what was happening so far scared her. Weird? Yes. Scary? Definitely not. In fact she was more concerned for the newcomer's wellbeing than anything else.
"Me neither", Amelia agreed "it just looks a bit weird".
"No, no, no. The crack in your wall", the man said, elaborating what he meant "Does it scare you?"
"Yes", the girls chorused.
The man jumped to his feet "Well then, no time to lose. I'm the Doctor. Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off" he strode away and very nearly walked into a tree if it wasn't for a hand grasping the back of his shirt, pulling on it.
The Doctor glanced behind him to see Raelyn holding the tattered fabric "You were about to walk into the tree", she stated.
"Thank you", the Time Lord said. The whole her stopping him from walking into a tree brought up some memories of an impossible young lady who often did the same thing: Raelyn Smith. Come to think of it, this child had eyes identical to hers. Could it be…? "What's your name?" the Doctor asked.
"Raelyn Smith", the girl replied, letting go of his shirt "why?"
"Nothing. It's a good name, you should keep it", the Time Lord said, his hearts soaring at the knowledge that this WAS the girl who was going to one day grow up to be the beautiful, clever and impossible woman that he'd fallen in love with.
He felt an ache in his chest, his twin hearts twisting as the memory of how he'd left things with her after Mars. Time Lord Victorious…yeah I really screwed up royally. He needed to make amends. Proper amends this time, not that poor excuse for an apology he'd given. Admittedly they were busy trying to save the Earth for the nth time. He gave himself a mental smack. It was still no excuse. She deserved better. If it means going on hands and knees to beg for her forgiveness then that is what he'd do. There was literally no lengths he would go to in order to make it up to her.
"Uh…I plan to", the brunette said, a little confused by his words.
The Doctor nodded "good", he said before walking off and he then promptly tripped over. Somehow he managed to spin himself around so he ended up on his back rather than on his front. Raelyn and Amelia exchanged amused looks at that although the former was rather surprised he'd seemingly tripped over nothing. She couldn't explain how she knew that he was going to walk into the tree she just…reacted.
Amelia resisted the urge to laugh as she looked down at the Time Lord "Are you all right?" she asked.
"Early days" the Time Lord replied lying on the ground looking up at the girls "Steering's a bit off".
~Kitchen~
"If you're a doctor, why does your box say 'Police'?" Amelia questioned picking up an apple from the fruit bowl. She gave it to the Doctor who took a bite before spitting it out.
"That's disgusting. What is that?" he coughed.
"An apple", the ginger replied.
"Apple's rubbish. I hate apples", the Time Lord said, tossing the apple behind him.
"You said you loved them", Raelyn said with a frown on her face. Had he or had he not declared that he loved apples the moment he popped out of his box? Whats with the 180?
"No, no, no", the Doctor shook his head "I love yoghurt. Yoghurt's my favourite. Give me yoghurt". Amelia ran to the fridge, picked up a small yoghurt pot and went back over to the Time Lord. He took the pot, opening it and poured the contents into his mouth. That too was spat out.
"I hate yoghurt. It's just stuff with bits in", the Time Lord said, disgusted.
"You said it was your favourite", Amelia said, getting confused by him. Why would he be asking for both the yoghurt and the apple if he didn't like them? It didn't make sense. Raelyn considered the soaked alien. She might not know what food he needed but she knew something else he needed. A towel. Wordlessly she slipped away, going unnoticed by the other two.
"New mouth. New rules" the Doctor explained wiped the back of his hand across his mouth "It's like eating after cleaning your teeth. Everything tastes wro-Argh!" Amelia watched with concern as he twitched violently on the spot, slapping himself on the forehead in the process.
"What is it?" the 7 year old asked, now getting really worried about the man "What's wrong with you?"
The Time Lord frowned at her "Wrong with me?" he scoffed "It's not my fault. Why can't you give me any decent food? You're Scottish. Fry something". He then turned to Raelyn to ask her if there was a towel he could borrow when he saw she wasn't there. "Where's Rae?" he asked, his hearts quickening at the absence of the girl.
Amelia shrugged "no idea. She does that sometimes", she replied. The Scottish girl was used to her just wandering off without warning. The brunette always came back though hence why she wasn't too worried. The 7 year old can remember one particular time at school where she'd somehow misplaced her jacket. They'd searched for about 10 minutes when Raelyn suddenly took off. She came back moments later, jacket in hand. If the ginger had to guess, she'd probably gone off to get the Doctor a towel. "Well, she shouldn't", the Time Lord in question stated, striding toward the door, calling her name "Rae! Rae where are you!"
The pair heard footsteps running above them "hold your horses!" Raelyn shouted. The Time Lord took off for the stairs, reaching the bottom as the brunette appeared, hands clutched around a towel. He let out a relieved breath. "I was getting you a towel", she explained descending the carpeted steps.
"Thank you", the Doctor said, taking it from her when she joined him "but do not run off like that again", he added in a harsher tone than he meant to.
The brunette gave him a scowl "you're not my dad so don't act like it", she snapped.
"Sorry, I…" the Time Lord took a breath "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come across that way. I was just worried", he admitted. He couldn't help it. It was just knowing what she was going to mean to him when she grew up…he HAD to protect her.
"Worried?" Raelyn asked, brows raised "this is my best friend's house. I've spent so much time here that its practically my second home. Bad, crack aside, I couldn't be more safe".
"I know. I just…" the Doctor started.
"Let's go back to Mia. Probably wondering what we're talking about", the 10 year old interrupted and went back into the kitchen without waiting on a response from him.
"Everything ok?" Amelia questioned as she walked in with the Time Lord behind her, rubbing his hair dry with the towel.
"Yep", Raelyn replied. The Scottish girl nodded and turned back to the stove where she was cooking bacon.
"Ah, bacon!" The Doctor said happily, sitting down at the table when Amelia finally dished it up minutes later. He only tried a mouthful before spitting that out too "Bacon. That's bacon", he stated with disgust "Are you trying to poison me?"
"Of course she's not trying to poison you", the brunette scolded "We need your help so it wouldn't make sense to poison you now would it?"
"I suppose not", the Time Lord reluctantly agreed.
"Good", Raelyn said she turned back to her best friend, eyes widening when she saw her opening a can of beans "No!" she shouted rushing over, stopping her from pouring the frankly nasty mixture into a pan "beans are evil", she stated screwing her nose up in disgust.
"You may not like beans but the Doctor might", Amelia said and continued on.
The violet eyed girl glanced back at the Doctor "Don't say I didn't warn you", she said.
When the beans were heated up, the 7 year old popped them onto a plate. Once again the Doctor spat that out, into the sink this time "you're right", he said looking at the brunette girl "they are evil. Bad, bad beans".
Raelyn looked at Amelia "told you", she said in a sing song voice. The ginger just ignored her and reached for the bread.
The Time Lord didn't seem to like that either. The two girls watched as he walked to the front door with the plate and tossed it out "And stay out!"
"We've got some carrots", Amelia told him when he came back into the kitchen.
"Carrots? Are you insane?" he asked staring at the girl as if she was crazy. He walked over to the fridge/freezer "No, wait, hang on. I know what I need…I need…I need…I need…" he looked in both "I need…"
"Fish fingers and custard", Raelyn spoke up earning a strange look from her best friend.
The Doctor glanced back at her "you sure?" he asked.
The girl nodded "Yep. Something savoury and something sweet. Exactly what you need", Raelyn said, confidently.
"Alright then", the Time Lord said, trusting her completely. And why wouldn't he? This was the younger version of his Impossible Girl after all. Her older-self had never steered him wrong so why should the 10 year old be version any different?
"Fish fingers and custard?" Amelia quietly repeated and her best friend just shrugged. She didn't know why she suggested it, as weird as it was…it sounded like something he needed.