The plan was simple. We split up the boys and the girls, so that the Doctor and Mickey could search the ship for the correct Time Window, while Rose and I would find one before hand in order to warn Reinette of what was coming.
The window we found was Five years before her thirty-seventh birthday, and when we found her, she was standing alone in her bedroom, staring at the clock, which had long since been repaired.
"Madame de Pompadour," Rose said, causing her to gasp and turn around rather quickly, "Please don't scream or anything, we haven't got a lot of time."
"Mary," She said, rushing over to me, "Who is this girl?"
"Rose Tyler, she's also a friend of the Doctor's." I explained. "Look, we've got to be quick, I can't be sure how much time we've got."
"We've come to warn you that they'll be here in five years." Rose told her, sitting down on the piano bench that was nearby.
"Five years?"
"Sometime after your Thirty-Seventh Birthday." She clarified. "We can't give you an exact date, its a bit random...but they're coming. Its gonna happen. In a way, for us its already happening. I'm sorry, its hard to explain. The Doctor does this better."
"Then be exact and I will be attentive."
"There isn't time."
"There are five years." Reinette reasoend.
"For you, we ain't got five minutes."
"Its ok, Rose. She's incredibly smart, she'll understand," I told her, "Basically Reinette, there's this ship-this vessel, and in it are all of these windows of time...doorways to different moments of your life, all mixed up and out of order."
"There is a vessel in your world," She repeated, "Where the days of my life are pressed together like the chapters of a book, so that he and you may step from one to the other without increase of age, while I, weary traveller, must always take the slower path."
"You were rright about her." Rose told me. I nodded.
"So in five years, these creatures will return. What can be done?"
"THe best plan we've got now is for you to keep them talking," I explained, "They're programmed to answer you and have been since you were a child. Its not enough to stop them, but it might be enough to buy us some time."
"For?" She asked.
"For the Doctor to get there."
"He's coming then?"
"He promises." Rose told her.
"But he cannot make his promises in person?" She looked down, and I could hear the disappointment in her voice.
"He'll be there when you need him," Rose explained, "That's the way its gotta be."
"Its the way its always been. The monsters and the Doctor. It seems you cannot have one without the other."
"Tell me about it." Rose laughed. "The thing is...you weren't supposed to have either. Those creatures are messing with history. None of this was ever supposed to happen to you."
"Supposed to happen?" She asked. "What does that mean? It happened, child. And I would not have it any other way. One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel." She stood up, crossing over to stand in front of the fireplace.
"Rose? Mary!" We heard Mickey shout. The three of us crossed over into the next room just as Mickey pulled back the tapestry, exposing the window to the ship. "The time window, when she's Thirty-Seven. We've found it, right under our noses."
Reinette ran past us, ducking into the ship.
"No, Reinette!" I called, following after her.
"No, you can't go in there, the Doctor will go mad!" We followed her inside and watched as she stared around the high-tech corridor in shock.
"So this is his world?" She asked. Suddenly, the sounds of screaming came echoing down the hall. She turned to face us. "What was that?"
"The time window," Mickey answered, "The Doctor fixed an audio link."
"Those screams. Is that my future?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Rose told her.
"Then I must take the slower path." I stepped forward, grabbing her hand.
"We will be right behind you, I promise." I said, squeezing lightly. "I swear to you, we will protect you. We did it when you were a little girl, and we'll do it now-"
She cut me off, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into a hug, and I suddenly rememberd only hours earlier when I had sat in her bed and wrapped my arms around her as a trembling little girl.
"Are you there?" Her voice called from somewhere else, "Can you hear me? I need you now, you promised. The clock on the mantel is broken! It is time!"
She pulled away from me, looking in the direction of the voice.
"That's my voice." She said tearfully.
"Girls, come on, we've got to go, th-there's a problem!" Mickey prompted.
"Give me a moment." He ran off and Rose stepped up beside me, looking at Reinette. "You ok?"
"No," She said, shaking her head, "I am very afraid. But you and I both know, don't we Rose...The Doctor is worth the monsters."
I smiled sadly, putting a hand on her face. She placed hers over it, leaning against it for a long moment before stepping back through the tapestry. I sighed, turning to face Rose.
"Is he?" I asked, causing her to meet my eyes. "Is he worth the Monsters?"
"I think soo, yeah." She said. I nodded.
"And what if I am one?" I questioned. "I mean, what does that mean for me? If the Doctor always stops the monsters, then-"
"Hey," She put her hand son my shoulders, cutting me off, "The Doctor always gives them a chance to change first. You haven't done anything wrong, and...to be completely honest, I have a hard time believing that you could be a monster." I smiled, placing my hand over hers. "Now come on."
We took off running in the direction Mickey had gone. We ran down the hallway, coming into a room with another set of monitors and a large window, displaying a ballroom full of screaming people.
"You've found it then?" Rose asked.
"They knew we were coming, they've blocked it off." The Doctor answered, running around and fiddling with he monitors."
"I don't get it, how come they got in there?"
"They teleported; you saw them. As long as the ship and the ballroom are linked, their short range teleports will do the trick."
"Then we'll go in the TARDIS!"
"We can't use the TARDIS, we're part of events now."
"Well, can't we just smash through?" Mickey asked.
"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We'd need a truck!"
"Or a horse." I said, looking at him. He paused, turning to look at me. I shrugged with a silent suggestion.
"But no, we can't do that, smash the glass, smash the time window, there'd be no way back."
"Doctor, I promised her," I said, stepping up beside him, "I promised her you would protect her, that we would protect her, and I don't know about you, but I'm not prone to breaking my promises."
"Could everyone please just calm down!" Reinette called, standing in the center of the ballroom. "Please, such a commotion, such distressing noise! Kindly remember that this is Versailles. This is the Royal Court, and we are French."
"Doctor," He turned to look at me, "I made that girl in there a promise, and I am not going to break it. I'm going to find Arthur, and I'm busting through that window with or without you." I turned around, clicking my tongue.
"Arthur! Come here, boy!" I walked down the hallway in search of the horse.
"Mary, don't you understand?" He asked. "If you go in there, I can't promise that I'll be able to get you out again. You could be stuck in 18th Century France for the rest of your life, and if that happens, you will never ever find the answers you're looking for!"
Finally, Arthur came into view, stopping right beside us. I stepped up onto a nearby crate, swinging my leg over him.
"No Doctor, this is what I understand," I told him, "Finding out where I came from and why I can't remember doesn't mean anything If I can't be a good person the way that I am now. I don't know who I truly am, but what I do know is that I am a person who keeps their promises, and I am not going to be able to live with myself if I let that girl die after promising that I'd try and protect her. My word means something to me...does yours?"
As he met my eyes, I knew that he could tell I was challenging him...and I knew that the words he'd said to me back on Earth were ringing in his head just as loudly as they were in mine.
"I don't know," He replied honestly, "But if you will accept my help, the second we finish up with the Krillitanes, I will find out. I promise you that, Mary Perdita."
"I promised you that when this was all over, I'd find out what you are, didn't I promise that?" I nodded. "And you said you trust me, right?"
"Yes...I don't know why, but yes, I trust you."
"Then hold it together until we get to the bottom of this. I need you."
He shook his head, groaning in frustration before stepping up onto the horse and climbing on behind me. I nodded, digging my heels into Arthur's sides. He got the hint, taking off galloping down the hallway towards the mirror.
He busted through, leaping over the fireplace and sending an ocean of shattered glass raining down around us as he landed on the ground. From there, he galloped into the center of the room while Reinette looked on in amazement. I smiled and the Doctor shot her a wink.
Arthur reared up on his hind legs before the Doctor jumped off of him, grabbing my waist and helping me down as well.
"Madame de Pompedour," He greeted, "You look younger every day."
She smiled, sitting on her knees in the center of the ballroom as one of the droids began lowering its blade to her neck.
"What the hell is going on?" The King asked.
"Oh, this is my lover, the King of France."
"Yeah?" The Doctor asked. "Well I'm the Lord of Time." He strutted over, taking the mask off of one of the droids standing beside Reinette. "And I'm here to fix the clock." It brought its blade up to his face.
"Oh heaven's sake, stop with all that." I said, walking up and shoving it away for him. "Its over."
"For you and for us," The Doctor added, looking up at the mirror, which now only had a brick wall behind it, "Talk about seven years' bad luck...try three thousand."
The droid's hand flew to its opposite arm, hitting the teleport button to no avail.
"We broke the link to your ship when we jumped through the window. You have no way back to it." I stated, putting my hands on my hips.
"You don't have the parts." The Doctor added. "How many ticks left in that clockwork heart, huh? A day? An hour? Its over, accept that. I'm not winding you up."
"Now is not the time for puns, Doctor." I said dryly as the droid finally wound down, taking its friends with it. Most of them simply bent over and powered down, while one of them fell to the floor and shattered its glass dome, sending gears and levers sliding across the floor. The Doctor held a hand out to Reinette.
"You alright?" He asked. She nodded, taking his hand and allowing him to help her to her feet.
"What's happened to them?" She questioned.
"They've stopped," He told her, "They have no purpose now."
She turned her head to look at me.
"You kept your promise, Mary," She said, "You protected me. Protected all of us." I shrugged.
"Without my word, I have nothing," I said, looking down at the shattered drone, "Quite literally."
~~~
The Doctor and I stood together in the palace later the night. He had a wine glass in his hand and we both stood in front of the window, looking up at the stars. I had a feeling, even from where we were, he knew exactly where in the sky Rose and Mickey were now.
"I'm sorry," I said quietly, "I know...I forced you to abandon them. Perhaps, in hindsight, I should've just come alone."
"No...you were right," He said, "Even if this wasn't about promises though, there's no telling what impact it would have on the timeline if Madame de Pompedour died before her time. At the end of the day...this had to be done for the greater good. I just wish I had dragged them into it."
"I don't think you 'dragged them' into anything," I said, prompting him to look at me, "As Reinette said before...'one would tolerate a world full of demons for the sake of an angel'."
"I'm no angel." He turned back to the window. I shrugged.
"Maybe not but...the affect you have on people...the way simply knowing you, even for a day, influences their lives its...its really special, Doctor." He looked at me again.
"I can't keep my promise to you now." He pointed out. I shrugged.
"Well...that's not totally true." He raised his eyebrows. "Before...you looked into Reinette's mind, you...you said that you could reawaken old memories."
"Mary-"
"Please, Doctor," I said quietly, taking his glass and setting it on the table, "I...if you can't then, I will gladly accept that I traded my answers for Reinette's life but...what if there's still a chance? I mean...what if you can keep another promise?" He sighed, shaking his head.
"I have no idea what it might do to you." I nodded, looking down at my feet.
"You're the expert," I said, turning to the window once again, "Reinette's alive and the droids were defeated so...that's all that matters. I can be happy with that."
We stood in silence for a long moment, when suddenly the Doctor's fingers grasped my chin, turning my head towards him. I gasped slightly, the funny feeling I always had overwhelming my body as I turned to face me, placing his hands on either side of my face.
"Thank you." I whispered, placing my hands over his. I squeezed my eyes shut, taking a moment to simply feel his warmth against my skin. "Thank you, Doctor."
He closed his eyes too, but before we could go any further, Reinette came into the room, standing beside us.
"I do hope I'm not interrupting." She said. I shook my head, lightly pushing his hands off of my face and returning to the window. He did the same, picking up his wine glass once again. She followed, standing between us. "You know all their names, don't you? I saw that in your mind. The name of every star."
"What's in a name?" He asked. "Maybe its just titles, titles don't tell you anything."
"Like 'The Doctor'?" She asked dramatically.
"Like 'Madame de Pompadour'." She giggled as he took a sip from his glass. She looked out the window again.
"I have often wished to see those stars a little closer," She said, "Just as you have, I think."
"From time to time."
"In saving me, you trapped yourselves," She noted, "Did you know that would happen?"
"Hmm, pretty much." He said, glancing at me. I glanced at him, but kept my eyes focused on the window.
"Yet still you came."
"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" He said, glancing between us both, "Catch me doing that again."
"There were many doors between my world and the other," She pointed out, "Can you not use one of the others?"
"When the mirror broke, the shock would've severed all the links with the ship," He answered, "They'll be a few more broken mirrors and torn tapestries around here I'm afraid, wherever there was a time window. I'll-I'll pay for any damage. That's a thought, I'm gonna need money. I've always been a bit vague about money. Where do you get money?"
"So here you are," Reinette said softly, "My lonely angel, stuck on the slow path with me and...his beautiful mystery."
"Sorry, His what?"
"My what?" We asked in unison. She smiled.
"Its what you call her in your head," She answered, "Your beautiful mystery."
"Beautiful, eh?" I asked, taking his wine glass and taking a sip.
"Oh, shut up." I smiled, handing it back.
"At least you have each other," Reinette stated, "I didn't have to walk among your thoughts to know that the two of you share a connection that many will never understand."
"Us included." I told her. "But we've got plenty of time to figure it out, here on the slow path."
"Its a pity...I think I would have enjoyed the slow path." Reinette said.
"Well, we're not going anywhere." The Doctor pointed out.
"Oh, aren't you?" We both exchanged a look, furrowing our eyebrows. "Take my hand."
She held each of them out to us, and we both took one of them, letting her lead us out of the room. We walked through the corridors until we came to a bedroom. The bed was neatly made with lavish bedding and rose petals sprinkled over the surface, no doubt intended for Reinette and the King after the ball had finished.
But the thing that really caught our attention was the fireplace on the far wall. The original time window.
"Its not a copy. Its the original." She said, voicing my thoughts, "I had it moved here and was exact in every detail."
"The fireplace," The Doctor said, as we both let go of her hands and began walking towards it, "The fireplace from your bedroom. When did you do this?"
"Many years ago," She answered, "In the hopes that a door once opened may someday open again."
I dropped to my knees, looking through to see that, rather than a wall on the other side, as there should have been, was one of the many hallways that could be found in the spaceship.
"One never knows when one will need one's Doctor," She continued, "It appears undamaged. Do you think it will still work?"
"The ship can still be seen from this side." I pointed out, standing up to look at them both.
"You broke the link with the ship when you moved it, which means it was off-line when the mirror broke. That's what saved it." The Doctor stated. "But...the link is basically physical and its still physically here. It might just mean if I'm lucky," I walked over, standing beside him in front of it as he bent down, knocking on the mantle, "If I'm very, very, very, very, very lucky..." He stopped, knocking at one area, "Ha!"
"What?" Reinette asked.
"Loose connection!" He took his screwdriver out of his pocket, scanning it. It made a whiring sound, signalling that he might've been able to restore the link."Need to get a man in. Wish us luck."
He stood beside it and I clung to the front of the mantle.
"No." She answered. Both of our smiles fell as the fireplace turned, depositing us both back on the ship.
"Madame de Pompadour!" The Doctor called, crouching down to peer through it once again. She appeared on the other side, just as she had as a little girl. "Still wanna see those stars?"
"More than anything."
"Give me two minutes. Pack a bag."
"Am I going somewhere?" She asked.
"Go to the window. Pick a star, any star." She rushed off and we stood up, running through the ship to find Rose, Mickey, and the TARDIS.
The minute we got back, Rose crushed the Doctor in a hug, and Mickey ran over and hugged me.
"How long did you wait?" The Doctor asked.
"Five and a half hours." Rose laughed as we all pulled away from our hugs.
"Great. Always wait five and a half hours." The Doctor and I switched, and he and Mickey shook hands while Rose, to my surprise, hugged me as well.
"Where have you been?" She asked, looking between us.
"Explain later. Into the TARDIS, with you in a sec!" They both walked into the TARDIS as the Doctor ran back to the fireplace. It was at this moment however...that I was struck with a sickening realization.
The fireplace has a loose connection...the first time we had gone through was months after first meeting Reinette and the second...
The Fireplace came back around, and the Doctor's excited smile was gone. I walked over to meet him.
"Loose connection..." I said sadly, "She...she's gone, isn't she?"
He nodded.
"Doctor I'm so sorry..." He ignored this, walking past me into the TARDIS. I nodded, blowing out a breath as I followed him. He walked up to the console, both Mickey and Rose shooting him concerned looks.
"Why her?" Rose questioned. "Why did they think they could repair the ship with the head of Madame de Pompadour?"
"We'll probably never know," The Doctor answered, "There's massive damage in the computer memory decks, probably got confused. The TARDIS can close down the time windows now the droids are gone. Should stop it causing anymore trouble."
"You alright?" Rose questioned. He turned his attention from the console, looking over at them.
"I'm always alright." He said.
"Come on, Rose," Mickey said, taking the hint, "Its time you showed Mary and me 'round the rest of this place." I nodded, following after them as they led us deeper into the TARDIS.
Little did I know, that it was at that moment, the Doctor chose to read the letter that Reinette left behind before her death at only Forty-Two years old. The loose connection sent the Doctor through five years after we'd left. In that letter, she wrote:
My dear Doctor,
The path has never seemed more slow and yet I fear I am nearing its end. Reason tells me that you and I are unlikely to meet again, but I think I shall not listen to reason. I have seen the world inside your head and know that all things are possible.
But it is because of this belief, and what I have seen in your mind, that I know your true feelings regarding Mary Perdita. Despite having only just met the girl you have realized that you are starting to fall in love with her, even if you do not understand how or why.
So if I do not see you again than I beseech you, my lonely angel, to ignore reason as I have and cure your loneliness with that beautiful mystery...for it is not a mystery, at least to me, that the two of you are a perfect match.
With love,
Reinette