When The Doctor Met Ally

Who Are You

She was tiny and he knew that it was only because she was young but, still, he couldn't figure it out. Being able to see all of time and space; seeing all that was, is, and all that could be, he wondered why this little girl was so important to his life. He wondered why all of her lines were intertwined with his. It just didn't make any sense.

All he had to do was look at her and he knew that she was important to him. There was a glow about her but he didn't understand it.

His granddaughter was off shopping – she wanted to take a break from their crazy travels so she had landed them on Earth – while he was left to his own devices. So he had walked, not really interested in the apes around him. But, when he entered the bookstore – he loved books, all the possibilities and knowledge he could learn – he spotted her sitting on the floor with a rather big book. She was no more than maybe seven or eight years old but he couldn't help the sudden protective feeling that came over him.

He made his way over to her and sat down in the chair next to her, "Hello there."

She looked up at him and smiled, "Hello." She had an accent that didn't belong – they were in England and her accent made him wonder where she was from but he hadn't been to Earth too many times yet so he couldn't place it.

"What book are you reading?" He smiled at her and she looked down at the book's cover as if to remind her of the title though he knew, for some reason, that she knew what it was she was just hiding her blush.

"David Copperfield," she looked back up at him, "I just started."

"Ah, yes; a Charles Dickens novel." He smiled kindly at her and she returned the gesture, "Aren't you a little young to understand the story?"

She shook her head, "My mom says I was born in my mid-thirties and I get older every day." She blushed at her little outburst, "I'm sorry." She returned her attention to the book and he heard her softly say, "I like Charles Dickens."

"That's understandable; a lot of people do. In fact," he leaned forward and she looked up at him with quiet admiration, "I'm a big fan, too."

"Really?" she gushed and he chuckled. She looked back down at the book in her lap before softly saying, "I had a friend who liked him, too." She looked to her left, "Well, he wasn't really a friend but he was nice to me and," she looked up at the man in the chair with similarly mischievous eyes to the man she met a year ago before saying, "like you, I trusted him."

He knew that he had just heard about his future self but wouldn't press too much because it wasn't good to know too much about the future. "You trust me," she nodded her head, "well, I trust you." She smiled up at him and he nodded his head, "It's true," he leaned in closer to her and asked, "You're not from around here, are you?"

She shook her head, "My daddy is but he met my mom and he never looked back – well, except for family reunions."

"Where are you from then?"

"Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii," she smiled wistfully as she took on a dreamy expression, "It's beautiful there," she looked up at the man sitting in the chair, "I think you'd like it." She wrung her hands together nervously as she said, "Sometimes, I pretend that I'm travelling and stumble upon it as if it were another world."

"Well, maybe you'll see a new world for yourself one day," she looked up at him in both uncertainty and wonder. "Just promise me that you will keep your mind open to all sorts of possibilities." She promised him right as her mother came over and thanked him for watching her daughter before leaving.

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He remembered every time he met her.