Dedicated to @biscuitcucumberpatch's doggo Amber, who left too soon. She was the goodest, most derpy dog ever, and will be greatly missed. <3
"Hey, Lyssa?"
Lyssa looked up from her book, smiling when she saw Bria standing hesitantly in the doorway of the kitchen. "Hi, Bria. Are you looking for something?"
"Do you know anything about plants?" Bria asked shyly, hands carefully tucked behind her back.
Lyssa hummed. "Maybe? Depends on what you're asking. Bare minimum of survival, yes. Anything else, probably not. I've never exactly had a green thumb."
"I don't think humans are supposed to have green thumbs. Wouldn't that mean they needed a doctor if they did?" the blonde frowned, brow furrowing in confusion. "Doesn't it mean infection?"
Lyssa hid a smile behind her mug as she lifted it up for a drink. "It's an expression that means someone is good at helping plants grow," she explained once she was sure she had her expression under control, not wanting Bria to think she was laughing at her. "Why do you ask? Did you have a question about one?"
Bria nodded. "Can you help this one?" she asked, pulling a small pot from behind her back and thrusting it at Lyssa. "I don't think it's growing right."
Lyssa set down her mug and took the pot, looking it over. It was filled with dirt and had the withered remains of a pitiful-looking plant wilted inside. Brown leaves were scattered across the container, curled up around the edges and looking like they'd crumble at the touch.
"Yeah, I don't think this is growing much at all," Lyssa muttered, carefully patting the dirt and discovering it was bone dry. "Ah. I might have found the problem."
"Did I water it too much?" Bria fretted, twisting her fingers together nervously. "I know you have to water Earth plants, so I watered this one, but now it doesn't look right anymore. It looked fine yesterday!"
"You watered it yesterday?" Lyssa repeated, eyeing the dry dirt in confusion. "And this is an Earth plant?"
Bria nodded. "I wanted a plant for my room, and the TARDIS recommended this one. I looked it up in a book to make sure I could take care of it, but now it's sick!" she mourned.
"Well, I'm not sure if there's much we can do for this one, unless there's a bit of life left in the roots and stem," Lyssa frowned, to find a hint of green amidst all the brown. "We can try, I guess." She drained the rest of her mug, rinsed it out, and left it in the sink for later. "Maybe if we plant it in one of the gardens the TARDIS can coax it back to life."
She reached for her bond with the ship automatically, and got a faint hum of acknowledgement in return, but nothing else. She frowned. The TARDIS had been more withdrawn recently, mistletoe pranks aside, though she would still get comforting nudges and hums when distressed. Either the ship was planning something, or something was coming and the TARDIS was trying to prepare.
Neither was a comforting thought.
She sighed, trailing a hand lightly over the wall before leaving the kitchen, plant in hand, followed by a quiet Bria. It was easy enough to find the garden for Earth plants, and an incredibly handy device that she had no idea how it worked was able to not only tell them the name of the plant - Adenium, aka Desert Rose - and its care, but also where it should be planted in the garden. As in, which climate it needed - which further proved the awesomeness of the TARDIS, as there were entirely different climates all contained in one - admittedly massive - room.
Lyssa helped Bria plant the struggling roots and stem in a small hole in the right climate, then carefully watered the plant and stepped back to survey their work. It was hardly noticeable amidst all the other beautiful plants growing big and strong, but hopefully it would join them in time.
"I think it'll grow better here, but I wish I could have something for my room," Bria said softly, sitting down on the ground to watch her plant. "I never got to see any green plants around the house where I grew up. Do you think it'll grow better quickly?" she asked hopefully.
"I'm not sure how long it'll take. It might never get as strong as it used to be, or it might never get better at all," Lyssa said honestly, crouching down beside the blonde. "But you can visit it every day, see how it's doing. And if you want something green in your room but are worried about live plants, you could always get fake plants! I know I've seen some that look totally lifelike," she offered.
"Really?" Bria turned to her with wide eyes. "I think I'd like that," she said, ducking her head with a small smile. "That way I don't have to worry about hurting them again."
"You didn't hurt this one, Bria," Lyssa objected. "You said yourself that you watered it yesterday. I don't know what happened to make it look like it did, but maybe a bug got in it, or a virus or something, I don't know. Some plants just don't make it no matter what you do, and some plants will come back no matter what you do."
"Oh." Bria was quiet for a minute. "Thank you. I think I want to stay here for a bit to watch, but maybe we can look for one later?" She glanced at Lyssa out of the corner of her eye hopefully, looking like she expected to be told no.
"Of course," Lyssa smiled. A flashing light caught her eye, and she looked down to see the little charm on her bracelet blinking a pale blue. "Oh. Uh, I need to take this," she muttered, scrambling to her feet. "I'll talk to you later, come find me when you're ready to look for those succulents." She shot the confused blonde a smile and hurried towards the door.
"Take what? You're not holding anything!" the poor girl called after her.
Lyssa winced, turning to her with an apologetic grimace. "It's a long story. I'll tell you later," she promised, hastily waving goodbye before darting out of the room, easily mapping the twists and turns of the TARDIS until she ended up in her bedroom. She quickly settled into the chair by her desk, made sure her journal was nearby for notes if need be, and pressed her charm, trying to slow her breathing as the now-familiar screen popped up.
Vina appeared on screen, red hair piled into a messy bun and wearing a long-sleeved shirt that gently swelled over her stomach. She waved when she saw Lyssa, but her expression was serious. "Hey, snowflake girl. How've things been?"
"Hi, Vina," Lyssa offered a quick smile. "Thing's have been fine on our end. I've been with the Twelfth Doctor for about two months now and we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Well. Ordinary for the Doctor. I was with the Tenth Doctor before that, and things went fine there, too." A crystal clear memory of exactly how things had gone with Ten popped into her head and she could feel her cheeks turn bright red. "Great, in fact. Totally normal." Her voice was a little too high-pitched to be believable and she hastily hurried on, trying to distract from the fact. "I mean, slightly crazy, but that's normal, too. Nothing out of the ordinary for us happened."
Aside from that one small incident that really didn't need to be brought up right now.
Vina's eyebrows went up. "Well, now I'm suspicious. We can come back to that blush later." She grinned wickedly at Lyssa's scowl then sobered. "But alas, work must come before play. I'm glad things haven't changed over there. That means the effects haven't reached your universe yet. I'm thinking they'll get there quickly, though. Things have been... bad over here. There's an entire planet that's gone missing. As in, wiped from existence, not just taken or hidden. Some people remember it, some people don't. And that's not even mentioning how Time has been impacted."
Lyssa rubbed her arms for warmth as goosebumps broke out. "We haven't heard anything like that over here, although I might just be missing it because I'm bouncing around the timeline instead of sticking in one spot like you." She paused, recalling her talk with Eleven after the TARDIS had exploded. "Although several of my Doctors have already completed this adventure, so that could be why they're not picking up anything."
Vina tapped her lips with a fingernail. "That's definitely possible," she admitted thoughtfully. "Ripple effects can work both ways, good and bad. I'd like to say that it's nice to know they stop the problem and also somehow survive, but Time is constantly changing, so who knows what's going to happen when it's our turn."
Lyssa nodded. "If I jump to an earlier Doctor I'll be sure to keep an eye out," she promised. "We already know something shady went on with Atrellian, and the whole assassination attempt thing on Beltura a while back that the Master may or may not have been involved in."
Vina sighed. "Okay, onto the next bit of business. I haven't heard from Elektra in several weeks. As far as I know, she's not trying to deal with the crack at the center of the Ulto-451 galaxy, so I don't have a clue where she is or what she's doing. But the sudden radio silence is kind of worrying, given how often she was pestering me before. Have you heard from Tirdis recently?"
Lyssa shook her head. "Not since we met up with you in your galaxy however long ago." She frowned. "Although I've only talked to her three or four times in total since I first came to this universe, so I don't know if this is out of the ordinary or not. I think we can only talk under specific circumstances." She paused, recalling her attempts to reach the TARDIS earlier. "Actually, the TARDIS in general has been hard to reach. Usually we can sort-of chat through our bond, but she's been unusually distant. I wonder if that's connected."
"It could be," Vina agreed. "The TARDIS isn't like us, she exists across Time and Space. While the Doctor may not be affected because he's already experienced an event, she might still be preparing to face it, while at the same time experiencing it, and also having it in the past behind her. Maybe she's preparing for it."
Lyssa pursed her lips, unwilling to admit she'd had the same thought earlier.
"But enough of the doom and gloom," Vina decided, shifting a cushion so it sat more comfortably behind her back. "Onto lighter news, your future niece or nephew is moving around more and more, and has decided that digging their adorable little foot into my organs is their favorite pastime."
Lyssa winced in sympathy, trying to restrain a smile. "At least you know they're growing healthy?" she tried.
The redhead scowled. "If I wasn't convinced by this, the regular scans the Doctor subjects me to would have done it already. I'm glad they're okay, I just wish they'd do it somewhere else," she grumbled. "I'm not sure if this comes from your side of the family, or the Doctor's."
"You know, in a normal world I'd say it's almost definitely the Doctor's, but in this one..." Lyssa trailed off. "Who knows?" she laughed. "Maybe it is my fault, and if so, I apologize."
Vina sniffed haughtily. "It doesn't help my squished kidney, but I appreciate your apology. Now." Her eyes gleamed wickedly and Lyssa shifted nervously. "Let's talk about that blush." Naturally, as soon as she'd said it, the stupid thing appeared once more. "Hey, there it is!" she crowed triumphantly. "So." She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "Anything you want to tell me?" she coaxed. "Naturally, anything you tell me would remain in the strictest of confidences." She paused, dropping the dramatic act. "Literally. I have no one to talk to besides the Doctor, and if you don't want me to tell him I won't."
Lyssa opened her mouth to immediately deny anything had happened, then paused as Vina's last words sank in. She still hadn't processed the ki- what had happened with Ten, possibly due to her refusal to think about it. So it might actually be helpful to talk about it with someone who was at least partially objective.
As much as she loved the TARDIS, the ship couldn't exactly offer advice, just a listening ear. Also, she was definitely biased - Lyssa had not forgotten the mistletoe incident, and she was absolutely planning revenge, just as soon as she figured out how to get back at a sentient Time-and-Space-ship.
The Doctor was out for obvious reasons.
Lyssa didn't know Bria that well, and doubted the blonde could even begin to understand the issue - through no fault of her own, of course, but she likely wouldn't be able to help either way. Same with most of the other companions, even if Lyssa did have a way to contact them. She could reach Jack, but he was also out for a variety of reasons.
The main one being that he was, well, Jack.
She did know Vina fairly well, and she would likely understand the issue far better than most given her relationship with the alternate Doctor. And like the redhead had said, it wasn't exactly like she could go around spilling the beans.
She sighed. "If I do tell you, this needs to remain a secret, all right? Just for the record."
"Oh, you're actually gonna talk about it, all right." Vina straightened in surprise. "Very well," she nodded seriously. "Anything you say stays between us unless I believe you're in imminent danger and it's relevant. Which means it probably won't come up at all, but given current circumstances, I just want to cover our bases."
Lyssa nodded, figuring that was both fair and extremely unlikely to ever occur. She scrunched up her nose, trying to figure out where to start. "Okay. So... there was this... incident... with the Doctor a short while back. It's... forced me to acknowledge a few things I was perfectly content to ignore, which is probably healthy or something, but now it's really hard to look him in the eyes whenever I'm reminded of it, which is basically every time I look at him." She huffed. "And that's pretty much it. Nothing scandalous, sorry."
Vina narrowed her eyes at her. "That told me nothing, but I am oddly intrigued. Go on."
Lyssa groaned, scrubbing her hands over her face. "He was saving my life! That's all it was, but now I'm having feelings, and I kinda freaked out, and.... yeah." She spread her hands helplessly in the air. "I kinda avoided him as much as possible until I jumped again. Which, I feel kinda bad about, but after what I told him..." She blushed beet red at the memory, both of what she had told him and Ten's reaction to figuring out it was him. She had gone to some... creative lengths at times, although thankfully the Doctor seemed to be understanding enough and not hurt by her awkwardness. It had probably helped that she'd jumped shortly afterwards.
"Okay, I'm gonna need you to tell me exactly what happened," Vina requested, leaning forward in her seat. "You're obviously torn up about this, and I can't help you if I don't know what the problem is."
Lyssa slouched in her chair and unwillingly gave into her fate. "Long story short, I got poisoned. We were trying to solve a murder mystery and the killer slipped cyanide into our drinks. I was the first one to take a sip, and apparently my... altered biology ensured I didn't die immediately. I would die if I didn't get treatment soon, though, and we didn't have access to the TARDIS, so the Doctor had to act fast. So, he, uh... hekissedmetopulloutthepoison," she blurted out in a rush, hoping the redhead would understand it and she wouldn't have to repeat herself.
No such luck. Vina stared at her blankly. "You're gonna have to repeat that last part. You got poisoned, and he did what to save you?"
Her cheeks burned as she averted her gaze and cursed her luck. "The Doctor kissed me to pull out the poison. He asked me permission to help before he did anything, which I gave even though I didn't know what he was going to do, because I trust him, and I still trust him, but things are awkward now, and yeah, I've kind of been avoiding him as much as possible?" She winced. "And I may or may not have avoided telling Twelve exactly where I came from before I jumped to him."
Vina sucked in a deep breath through her nose and held up a finger. "Give me a minute," she requested in a tone of forced calm. She stared blankly off into the distance long enough that Lyssa started to get concerned. She snapped back before Lyssa could start calling her name, however, and drew in another long, deep breath. "Let me get this straight. The Doctor... the Tenth Doctor, right?" she checked, carrying on when Lyssa reluctantly nodded. "Okay. You were poisoned, and the Doctor kissed you to pull out the poison. Given your alive status, the poison is obviously gone. So... what exactly is your issue here? Is it that he saved your life? Is it that he kissed you? Is it something else?"
"The problem?" Lyssa repeated faintly, laughing bitterly. "The Doctor kissed me!" She lowered her face into her hands. "And I have a crush on him. I mean, I sort of did before, but this kind of made me realize it, and now I can't just ignore it anymore."
Vina pursed her lips for a moment then shook her head. "Nope. Still not seeing the problem," she admitted.
Lyssa dropped her hands to stare at the other girl in misery. "The problem is that I can't have a crush on him! Not like this! It'll ruin everything! It was okay when I could just ignore it, but I can't do that now. Not after what happened. Now I'm all awkward around him whenever I remember it, and I don't want to be awkward around him. He's my best friend," she said plaintively. "I don't want to lose my friend."
Vina's eyes grew suspiciously shiny before she swiped at them, muttering something about hormones. She sighed, folding her hands up together in front of her mouth and focusing her attention on Lyssa, gaze solemn. "Lyssa... You know you're allowed to have feelings, right? About anything and everything?"
Lyssa faltered, caught off guard. "I don't... what?" she frowned.
"You're allowed to feel any which way you like, particularly about things that happen to you," Vina explained patiently. "It's more about how you act that's the important bit. You're allowed to like it. You're also allowed to hate it. You're even allowed to write a twelve-page paper on it, although that seems a tad excessive. You said he did it with your permission to save your life, so if you don't want it to go any further, it doesn't have to. It can literally end right here, right now, if that's what you want. We both know the Doctor will do whatever it takes for you to be happy."
Lyssa looked away. "Whether or not that's true, the point still stands. I can't like the Doctor that way."
Vina looked taken aback for the first time. "Why not?"
Lyssa laughed without humor. "Well, for one, like I said earlier, I don't want to lose my friendship with him," she started, ticking off on her fingers as she went. "I don't want to make things awkward between us, or make him feel like he has to choose, especially knowing that whatever decision he makes he'll still be stuck seeing me for the next thousand years or however many times I jump to him, and something tells me it's a lot."
She shook her head. "I just... I don't know how to handle this. I've never had a crush this strong before, and I've never been around a crush this much before. Usually they barely know my name and I would only see them a couple times a week, max. I don't - I don't know what to do. What if he finds out?"
The redhead was quiet for a minute. "Your points are all valid," she said at last. "And it's totally fine if you're not ready for this to go anywhere beyond a hidden crush. But I also don't want you to be worrying about something that might not be an issue at all. You and the Doctor are really close. Even if he does find out, I don't see something like this being enough for you to lose your friendship. It might be awkward for a bit, but you'd get over it. Your friendship would survive. It's strong and healthy, and neither of you would try to hurt each other over something like this."
She started to tick off on her fingers like Lyssa had. "Next, the Doctor, no matter how childish he acts at times, is actually an adult, and has been for some time. He's not going to be forced into anything he doesn't want, even if he doesn't want to hurt you. He might hate himself for it, but he'll be honest with you over something like this, especially when lying would only hurt you more in the end."
Lyssa thought back to the awkward conversation with Eleven after the situation with Winston Churchill and the Daleks. It had been unpleasant for both of them, but he hadn't refrained from raising his concerns with what she had done - or attempted to do, as the case had been. And it definitely hadn't been the last time - or even the first time - that had happened. "True," she agreed with a sigh.
Vina sighed in turn. "Obviously, you don't have to do anything you don't want to, or don't feel ready to do. I just want you to know that whatever you decide to try, it's okay. Does that make sense?"
Lyssa tugged nervously at one of her loose curls. The other girl remained quiet as she thought, letting her process, which she appreciated. "I... logically, it makes sense," she said at last. "But... I think it might take a bit for it to sink in. I know we've talked about this a bit before, but my mother... she really messed me up," she admitted quietly, dredging up fears she'd secretly harbored long before she even thought of running away.
Her shoulders sagged. "I... I feel like anyone, let alone the Doctor, would deserve better than someone like me. I mean, what if I end up like my mother? She was fine at first, but I think my dad is what kind of held her together. And when he died..." She shrugged helplessly. "She fell apart and I took the brunt of it. I don't want to act like her. To become her. You fall back on what you know, right? And... I spent most of my life with her. She's what I know."
"You also know good people, though," Vina pointed out. "You know how to not act like that. You don't want to act like her? Then choose not to. Wake up every day and make a choice not to act like her, no matter how tempting it is. And it's probably not tempting at all. I mean, my own mother shipped me off to Earth and ignored me for decades, if not longer. I'm sure as heck not doing that to my own child. I'm going to smother them in my love and affection. Not that or anything else my mother did. Not to mention I can't see you acting like her no matter what. Do you really think that's what you're going to do? Is that what you want to do? To treat others like your mother treated you?"
Lyssa shook her head immediately, feeling tears - of shame, relief, gratitude - prickling her eyes. "No. No, I don't. And..." she took a deep breath, feeling ashamed for even thinking it but knowing it was true. "And even before everything changed, my mother... had her faults. Acted in ways I don't act, or want to act. I... I don't think I would truly act like her in the same circumstances. I think... I think I just needed to hear someone else say that," she admitted, rubbing her arms for comfort.
"Good." Vina nodded her head in agreement. "Given what I've heard, I'd say you've got a lot more of your dad in you than your mother. So I don't think you need to worry on that front, and I'm sure the Doctor would agree with me. And he definitely knows you better than me."
She paused, lowering her voice to be gentle but firm. "Regarding what you said about the Doctor deserving better... I know you weren't thinking of anyone in particular, but no one 'deserves' anyone. No one has a right to another person. The only thing anyone actually deserves in a relationship is someone who genuinely loves them, and wants them to be the best person that they can be. Real love isn't possessive, it's freeing. Empowering."
She chuckled bashfully, pink dusting her cheeks. "I'm going to sound like a total cliche here, but being with the Doctor - my Doctor - it makes me feel like I can do anything. Because he believes in me, and I believe in him. I can go out knowing that when I come back, he'll be waiting for me, and vice versa. We're always there for the other. We can trust the other with anything." She paused. "Except for maybe fashion choices. I'm still not sure what some of his past selves were thinking."
Lyssa softened. "That's really sweet. I'm glad you have a relationship like that. I... hope I have one like it someday. I don't know if I love the Doctor like that, not romantically, but I do love him as my best friend and want the best for him. Maybe I will feel that way about him someday, but right now..." She shrugged uncertainly. "I've never really been in love, never experienced anything besides crushes that never went anywhere. I have no idea what it feels like."
"And that is totally fine," Vina told her. "The important thing here is that you know it's okay to have a crush on the Doctor, no matter what you decide to do with that. Your feelings are valid, and you have just as much of a right to be happy as anyone else. No one's guaranteed happiness, but you are allowed to be happy." She softened. "Whatever else you decide to do, please remember that."
Lyssa searched the older girl's gaze, finding nothing but genuine care and desire to help. She looked away. "You... made some points I hadn't considered before," she admitted. "I think what I really needed was just someone to talk to so I could verbally process it, but what you said helped. I can't promise I'll do anything with what we talked about, but I will consider it," she promised. "And Vina... thanks for listening."
"Of course! I'd be happy to listen any time you need to talk. That's what friends are for," Vina said immediately. "And... I know you already said you wouldn't make any promises, but please don't feel like you have to do anything. I want to see you happy, and if ignoring this situation completely is what genuinely makes you happy, then by all means do so."
Lyssa ducked her head, smiling a little. "No, I know. But I'm really glad that you care enough to say something. I didn't have that much growing up, so I really appreciate you being willing to do that. And the same goes for you! If you ever need someone to talk to, please feel free to call me anytime."
"Understood," Vina grinned, then shifted, placing a hand on her side and grimacing with discomfort. "Annnnd baby's just planted their tiny little foot firmly into my bladder. Talk later?"
Lyssa winced in sympathy. "That is absolutely fine. Sorry you have to deal with that."
"It'll be worth it in the end," Vina said firmly, rubbing her stomach fondly as she stood up, bracing one hand on the back of her chair. "Don't be a stranger!"
"Same to you," Lyssa called, waving as the screen minimized, then disappeared entirely. She sat back in her chair, blowing out a long breath. "Well, that was a lot covered in less than thirty minutes." She scrubbed her hands over her face, grimacing at the start of a headache - probably from the wild roller coaster of emotions she'd just cycled through in said short period of time - and reached for her journal. Flipping to the section designated for Vina, she quickly scribbled down what the other girl had mentioned about the alternate universe and its complications. Not sure yet what to do with the latter half of their conversation, she scribbled down what Vina had said on a loose sheet of paper and stuffed it haphazardly into her journal.
"Anything you want to add?" she asked, glancing up at the ceiling. "Helpful hints, vague riddles, words of advice?" She huffed when the ship remained silent. "Yeah, that's what I figured," she muttered, frowning at the likely reasons why the ship was so withdrawn. Carefully prodding at her bond with the ship, she withdrew when she didn't sense any pain like when the TARDIS had exploded back with Eleven. Still, she jotted it down with the rest of her notes, underlining it carefully. Whatever was going on had to be big if it was distracting a sentient ship that could travel through time and was bigger on the inside.
She really didn't have a good feeling about this.
Actually, she didn't feel good, period. Her head was throbbing in time with her heartbeat, or maybe it had just gotten so loud that she could suddenly hear it. Hoping water would help, she stood up from her chair and immediately stumbled when the room swam around her. Staggering to the side, she reached a hand out to catch herself on her bedpost. She must have misjudged the distance because she ended up falling to her hands and knees.
She winced. This was beyond a need for water - she needed to find the Doctor. She gathered her strength and pushed herself to her feet. A sharp nudge through her bond with the TARDIS made her look up sharply.
"Oh, now you want to talk to me?" she grumbled, swaying slightly. The nudge grew more pressing, and she sighed, turning her aching head to the ceiling. "What's so urgent? You were barely there five minutes ago." She slowly turned to look around the room, head pounding with each movement. The ship hummed urgently as her gaze fell upon her desk and she scrunched up her nose but moved closer. "My journal?" she guessed half-heartedly, reaching for the closed book.
The ship hummed affirmatively, a strong sense of urgency accompanying it, and she tucked it into her pocket with a frown. "You've never been this insistent that I have my journal before. Is... should I be worried?"
The hum took on an anticipatory note, along with a hint of mischief - and still that sense of urgency.
"I'm getting mixed messages here," she grumbled. "Don't know why I needed that when I'm just looking for the Doctor, but all right," she muttered, turning to leave. She reached for the door and stopped when she realized that her hand was glowing a bright gold. "Oh." She stared at it dumbly for a moment, just processing it. "Am I going to wake up with no memory again?" she frowned. "Because I really don't want to deal with that right now."
The ship didn't respond to her either way, but she must have been paying some sort of attention to her, because when her hand went through the handle the TARDIS popped the door open for her. She sent a grateful nudge through their bond and stumbled out into the hallway, gold now swirling around both her arms and legs.
"Lyssa? Why are you gold?"
Lyssa turned around at the voice and found Bria staring at her with wide eyes. "Bria! At least someone is here," she sighed gratefully. "The gold means I'm jumping somewhere else. You'll have to tell the Doctor goodbye for me." At the rate the gold was spreading up her limbs, she'd probably be gone within the minute.
"Why do I have to say goodbye?" Bria frowned, wrapping her arms around herself. "Am I leaving? Do I have to go somewhere? I didn't do anything bad, I promise! I was careful!"
"What? No! Bria, you're absolutely fine, I promise," Lyssa hastened to assure her, struggling to stay upright. "You can stay here as long as you like! I meant that you'd have to tell the Doctor that I left, because I'll be pulled away soon."
Bria stepped closer, the gold swirling around Lyssa reflecting in the blonde's eyes, giving them an unearthly quality as if she were the one leaving instead of Lyssa. "Will you be all right?"
Lyssa sent the younger girl a smile, ignoring how her legs threatened to give way beneath her. "I'll be fine." The TARDIS hallways started to fade around her, giving way to spiraling galaxies against an inky backdrop. She hurried to wave to the increasingly confused Bria. "I'll see you later, Bria. Tell the Doctor I said goodbye?" she asked.
The blonde nodded slowly. "Bye, Lyssa," she said hesitantly, waving slowly.
Gold washed over her vision, then faded, taking her headache with it. Glancing around, she saw only endless stars slowly passing by and the familiar gold of the Time Vortex swirling around her. "It's been a while since I was here for more than a few seconds," she murmured, rubbing her hands over her arms for warmth. "And it's definitely gotten colder. The Time Vortex could do with a space heater." She realized what she had just said and snorted. "I've been doing this for job for too long."
A slim tendril reached out from the twirling tunnel and danced around her, twining itself through her fingers and sending a pleasant tingling up her arms.
"What's this about?" she tilted her head to the side curiously. "Not that I mind it, just wondering." She let the little strand play with her hands, winding it back and forth and creating spirals with it. It was only when it started to fade away that she realized she was no longer cold, and she raised her eyebrows. "The Doctor wasn't kidding when he said the Time Vortex would try to repair me. Well, uh, thanks? I guess?"
There was, as expected, no response, and she sighed. "I should really invest in adding a Sudoku section to my journal, or something. Maybe some crossword puzzles. Something to pass the time, at least." She scrubbed a hand over her face and settled herself as much as she could, preparing for several hours of boredom.
Eventually she grew tired of just staring aimlessly and decided to take a nap. The air current - or whatever it was she was floating on - was solid enough, if unnervingly invisible, for her to sort of lay down on, crossing her arms underneath her head for a pillow. The current seemed to solidify slightly beneath her as she did so, cushioning her form and easily lulling her into a dreamless sleep.
xXx
She jerked awake with a start with a start when a door slammed. She pushed herself upright, realizing she had officially landed and was laying on the floor of the TARDIS, just outside the console room. She was with either Nine or Ten by the looks of it, and she scrambled to her feet as the ship began to groan and wheeze, indicating they were taking off. It was a rough trip, and she nearly slammed into one of the walls several times as she staggered towards the console room, her bond with the TARDIS humming with the ship's distress.
"What's going on, old girl?" she whispered in concern, resting a hand against one of the walls and looking up at the flickering lights in the ceiling. The ship just hummed with increased urgency, and she stepped up her pace, stumbling into the console room right as the console erupted in a shower of sparks.
The Tenth Doctor bounced into a standing position on the other side of the console, hair flying wildly and wearing an expression of urgency that matched the ship's as he bent down and helped someone up. "Did they see you?"
"I don't know!" Martha exclaimed as she appeared, gripping onto the console for support.
"Did they see you?" he repeated urgently, swinging the monitor around to face him and rapidly typing in commands.
"I don't know, I was too busy running!" Martha defended herself, shoving a loose strand of hair out of her face.
The Doctor stopped and turned to face her, gripping her shoulders. "Martha, it's important... Did they see your face?" he said once more, stressing each word.
The med student closed her eyes and took a deep breath, thinking it through before opening her eyes once more, looking settled. "No, they couldn't have," she shook her head.
"Right." The Doctor nodded once, then turned back to the console, hands flying over the controls. "Then off we go!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: As stated at the start, this chapter is dedicated to @biscuitcucumberpatch's doggo Amber, who left too soon. Puppers are a precious gift, and I am so sorry for your loss.
Some of you may have recognized the ending of this chapter as the start of a certain episode, and yes. After 3ish years of teasing (or somewhere around there) we are finally there. Annnnnd only a few adventures away from the end of this book. ;)
Brain: So how many times did you rewrite this chapter?
Me: None. It was absolutely perfect the first time I wrote it, and I finished it all in about five minutes. *twitch* No editing needed.
But seriously - I think I've edited this chapter into something resembling coherency, I apologize if I've missed something and there's a paragraph floating around that doesn't make sense. Please let me know and I'll try to fix it. :)
I do apologize for how long this took to come out, most of the wait time was due to editing (of which there was much). I do have a bit more clear outline for the next chapter, so hopefully it won't take as long to come out!
On an unrelated note, I spilled tea on my laptop while writing this, and let me tell you, I have not known true fear until that moment. (Well, aside from the time I found a hideously hairy centipede in my room at 2am and took out the lights to my half of the house trying to kill it). Thankfully, I was able to clean it up, and my computer seems to be working just fiiiiiiiii9p9pi[9i[p
Special thanks to everyone who's voted and followed, and shout-out to all my reviewers! You guys kept me going when I was stuck in the midst of heavy (very heavy) editing, and I can't thank you enough.
Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)
General Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, just Lyssa and Bria. Vina belongs to @AllOfTimeNSpace.