The girl with two hearts

Chapter 8

"You should take her somewhere, you know. It might make her feel better."
"Ashie?"
"Mhm. Apart from that visit to Rose's memorial place, you've kept us in the time vortex the entire time."
"That is sort of the point, you know."
"Point? Point of what, exactly?"

The Doctor hasn't got a good answer for that, so he just shakes his head. Donna's watching him with her arms crossed as he walks out of the kitchen.

Ashie's sitting on the counter, eating a banana and swinging her legs in the air. Donna walks over to her.
"What do you say, don't you wanna go anywhere?"
Ashie seems confused.
"What do you mean?"
"You know, just... Go somewhere. Rose did tell you this thing's a spaceship, didn't she?"
Ashie nods, swallowing down some banana and taking another bite of it.
"I'm happy here", she says simply.
"Yes, but it's a spaceship! And a time machine, you know. Just pick a time and a place and the Doctor will take you there. It would probably make you feel better, take your mind off... Things... I think it would do your dad some good, to. Take things back to normal."
The little girl nods.
"Give it a thought, yeah? I think you would enjoy it."

And with that, Donna's out the kitchen.

Ashie pauses her banana-eating, her eyes following Donna as she walks down the corridor. She could use some sort of distraction, she's sure of that. Her Mummy used to tell her all these amazing stories about the blue box her Daddy travels in, and how that box would take them to see so many wonderful things. So far the TARDIS has only taken her to one place, and it wasn't pleasant at all. Sure, her Mummy's still alive in the other world, but seeing that grave-thing only reminded her she would never see her again.

But there was something else Donna said... She said going somewhere would make her Daddy happy. And her Daddy really wasn't happy after the visit to the grave-thing. He was sad. And Ashie doesn't want her Daddy to be sad. Her Mummy told her all about how he used to defeat bad guys and save the world, and you can't do all that if you're not happy. Also, her Daddy's the most amazing man in the entire universe and he simply deserves to be happy.

Donna did said it would take things back normal for her Daddy. That part really confuses Ashie. What did she mean with normal? Before Ashie got there? Was he happier back then? Is that what she meant by that? Is that why they hasn't traveled anywhere except for the grave-thing? Because her Daddy's unhappy?

Having made her decision, Ashie finishes her banana and jumps down from the counter.

***

The Doctor adjusts his glasses, licking the tip of his finger before turning the book he's reading to the next page.

The library's quiet. Really quiet. And lonely.

He's reading a really old legend from Gallifrey, about a mortal who fell in love with a god. The god came down from the sky and the two of them made love, creating what some believes was the first Timelord.

Nothing in the story really happened. Obviously. The Timelord evolved over time to eventually become what they are today, just like any specie. What they were. Still, it's sort of fun trying to see things from other people's perspective. And he can't deny how intresting it is that some Timelords imagined their ancestors as mighty gods. Says a lot about the race itself, actually. And why he never liked them: they saw themselfs as gods, powerful and cruel.

"Daddy?"
He looks up from the book. His young daughter's entering the library, looking around at all the books.
"Can we go somewhere?" she asks, walking over to the couch where he's sitting, crawling up onto it.
He smiles a little.

"Go?" the Timelord wonders, confused.
"Yes! The TARDIS could take us anywhere!"
The Doctor looks at her over his glasses, putting the book down.
"Well, not exactly anywhere, but..."
"Can we go? I wanna see dinosaurs!" Ashie says in a high-pitched, excited voice.
The Doctor sighs.
"Did Donna tell you to say that?"
Ashie shakes her head, giggling a little.
"Nope!"
"Are you sure?" the Doctor teases.
He leans forward and tickles her in the side, making her shierk with laughter.

Then he turns serious again, taking off his glasses and putting them in one of his pockets.
"Ashie, love, I don't think that's such a good idea. I mean, dinosaurs are very big and dangerous creatures."
Ashie nods, slowly, taking the information in.
"What about puppies? Alien puppies?"
The Doctor laughs softly.
"Yeah... I guess...."

***

With the help of the TARDIS, the Doctor finds a destination that's perfect for any little kid: a small moon that's basically an entire huge theme park. The moon's in orbit around a bigger planet - a home to an entire civilazation - and there's several space capsules transporting aliens between the moon and the main planet several times a day.

Donna enters the console room juas he's setting the coordinates.
"Is this alright for the weather?" she asks, and he looks up at her T-shirt and jeans.
"Yeah, it won't rain or anything. Hopefully."
"Hopefully?"
"Well, yes. I can choose the date, I can't choose the weather."
"Yeah..."

Ashie joins the two of them, bouncing over to the console.
"What's the suprise, Daddy?"
"You'll see", the Doctor says softly, pulling the handbreak.

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