The Doctor's Daughter (#Wattys 2014)

Transported Back in Time

Melody's POV

I was running, looking for Dad when I ran into someone and knocked them down. I recognized the curly hair at once. "River?" 

"Ow, Melody, that hurt," River grumbled, getting to her feet. "What's wrong?"

"Well, my friend Emily was touched by Angels and I can't find Dad anywhere," I said.

"Well, I can't help you with that," River shrugged.

"River, please, I've literally checked everywhere. The grounds, everything. I don't know where he could've gone. The TARDIS is still here, so he didn't just leave us..."

"Gone without a trace in a place with Weeping Angels," she muttered to herself. I realized what she was saying. "You're not suggesting that he was touched!"

"It's only a thought," River said. 

 I went back to the TARDIS and looked at the screen. "She's saying that Emily and Dad are in the same place. Great." I looked at the console. "I'm not sure how to fly her. I've flown her before, but the console was different and Dad was helping me."

"It's easy." River went around the console and the TARDIS shuddered. "Okay, we're off!" I said, grabbing onto the console as the TARDIS shook violently. I was watching the little screen and realized, "We're not going to where Dad is!"

River looked over at me. "Where are we going?"

I looked at the screen and recognized the coordinates. "No!"

"Melody, where are we going?" River asked.

"Someplace I swore I'd never go back to," the TARDIS shuddered, then stopped moving. "We've landed," River announced.

"Where's that noise it always makes?" I asked.

"It's not suppose to make that noise. Your father leaves the brakes on," River said.

"I like that noise," I said stubbornly. River rolled her eyes. I went over and opened the doors.

"What happened here?" River asked, peering over my shoulder. I stared at the scorched remains of the house. I had sworn I'd never return to the house on it's cliff and look at it's burnt ruins.

I didn't answer River's question. Instead, I muttered, "There's nothing important here. Let's leave," and shut the TARDIS doors.

"Melody, what happened there?" River asked. I looked back at her. I was shaking. "I don't want to talk about it. Really. It was terrible and I-I just don't want to talk about it."

I sat down in the jump seat and put my head in my hands. "Please don't tell Dad what I'm about to tell you."

"Alright," River sat down next to me. I looked over at her. "I did that, River. I set fire to that house.

"It was my friend's house. We were there alone, and she had found some beers and was drinking. After a while, she was offering me a cigarette, which I had refused, since the smell of cigarette smoke makes me sick to my stomach, and so does alcohol, but that's not important. She kept forcing me, kept pressuring me, until I snapped. I led her to her room and locked her inside. I took the cigarette lighter she had and...I set fire to the house, River. I killed my friend just because she was pressuring me. 

"That's not even the worst part. I was laughing as the house was burning, and I could hear her screams, but at that moment, I didn't care. I felt like she deserved it. I never lost sleep over it, even after two years."

River was quiet. I had hid my eyes in the palm of my hands, and now my hands were wet. I hid this by going over to the console. River followed me, still not saying anything. Then she said, "I can understand why you don't want the Doctor knowing."

I nodded. "I don't know why I did it, River. It was like a darker side of me had taken over. She was one of my best friends, too, on top of it. I've kept that secret for two years, and it's been hard."

"Well, I suppose keeping a secret like that would be heavy, especially for someone as young as you," River shook her head. "Are we going in the right direction?"

"What? Oh, yeah," I wasn't really paying attention. The TARDIS went still again and I peered out the door. We were in the right place. River was by my side. "They should be here, or is the TARDIS forcing you to go down further down memory lane?"

"No, I've never been here," I said, scanning the faces of people, looking for a girl with boyish black hair and a Sleeping With the Sirens shirts and black jeans and a man with a bow-tie. River and I walked around a bit, until she said, "I haven't seen them anywhere. Do you think they're here?"

"Well, knowing the TARDIS, she wouldn't take us anywhere else than her precious Doctor unless it was an emergency," I said sourly. "Wait...who's that, over there?"

River saw them too and we both ran to Dad and Emily. Emily was leaning against a wall and Dad...well, he was being Dad. "It took you long enough. River Song! Melody, where did you find her?"

I shrugged and Dad hugged me. "Ow, ow, you're crushing me," I complained, muffled against Dad's chest. I pulled away from Dad and stood next to Emily. "At least it took you guys, let's say, a week to find us," Emily said. I rolled my eyes. "The TARDIS takes her sweet time. Besides, she made a stop."

"Where?" Dad asked.

"It's nothing important. Is there something between you and River?" I asked.

"Um..." River gave him an elbow. "You really haven't told her?"

"Alright, alright," Dad mumbled, then muttered into my ear, "River and I are, well, married."

"And now you tell me," I accused. "Out of all of time we've spent together, and now you tell me?" 

"It doesn't matter, Melody, it really doesn't."

"It matters! My dad goes and gets hitched while I'm sitting on Ella's couch, watching Spongebob and wondering if you'd ever come back!"

He sighed. "You are so stubborn and get annoyed over the smallest of things. Anyways, Emily and I are bored of being here."

"Doctor, it's more like you're bored of being here since you can never stay in one place for long," River pointed out. I nodded.

Dad grumbled, "If I'm stuck with my wife and my daughter, I'll scream."

"And me!" Emily added. "So, what are we gonna do now?"

"Time travel!" Dad said and went into the TARDIS. Emily, River, and I followed him.

Emily had never been inside the TARDIS and she was amazed by the sheer size of the inside. "It's bigger on the inside! Is this an-an illusion?"

I laughed. "Nope-and if you think the console room is too big to fit into the police box, then you haven't really been in here. I haven't been to every bit of this place, and I wander through these halls everyday!"

"That's not possible," Emily said, but Dad said, "Melody, why don't you show Emily your room? Just don't bother her with frog facts."

"Okay!" I said, pulling Emily to my room.

Doctor's POV

Once their laughter faded away, I said to River, "Where was this stop you guys made?"

"It's nothing," River said.

"If it's nothing, then why can't you tell me?" I asked. River sighed. "It's not so much as 'nothing', but it's...it's a place that Melody had been to and she doesn't like talking about it, okay?"

"Alright," but I had already decided that I was going to ask Melody.