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Victoria found herself in a strange, but all too familiar place. She slowly looked around, unsure of what to expect. It had been a good decade since she left him, so why the sudden reappearance.
“Is this the TARDIS?”
“Oh don’t be stupid, the TARDIS looks nothing like this!”
She whipped her head around, a tiny bit nervous to see where those two voices came from. A man and a woman, it seemed. The TARDIS? it couldn’t be! It was far too cluttered to be his one, though she recalled that he liked to change a lot.
“How strange…ow my head…”
Another voice. A younger woman. Victoria looked around, once more. She called out.
“Hello? Who’s there?” She said with a little more fear than she’d liked. She’d gotten a lot braver since then. That came with age she guessed. She stepped forward, hearing a gasp, then footsteps. Then from a little crevice, a girl whipped her head around. She looked around the same age as Victoria, with short brown hair that curled under her chin.
“Hi! You must be one of The Doctor's other companions. That is. If you’re not the Doctor yourself.” The girl said, walking towards her with a smile on her face. “Wait, how did I remember that..”
“Well I’m not the Doctor.” Victoria replied. “I’m Victoria, Victoria Waterfield.”
“I’m Zoe Heriot! I do remember you being mentioned.” Zoe answered. The two girls shook hands. “Do you know where we are?”
Victoria shook her head. “I only just got here myself. Though I overheard another two people saying it might be the TARDIS.”
“One of those people doesn't happen to be Scottish, do they?” Zoe then asked. If Victoria was right, she knew who she was referring to. She shook her head again.
“I don’t think so, apologies. He sounded rather cockney. There was a lady with him too.” Victoria then said, she turned around to any other crevices. “If you heard me call out then…”
“See Pol, I’m not hearing voices! There’s two girls here!” Said a boy as he ran into the room, behind him he held onto a girl. They all seemed about the same age again. “Oh, ‘scuse us.”
“Oh it’s no problem. You are?” Zoe asked.
The boy nodded his head and held his other hand out. “I’m Ben, this is-“
“Polly, Polly Jackson, it’s a pleasure.” The girl appeared next to him, letting go of his hand.
“Ben and Polly- I remember you two being mentioned!” Victoria said. “We’ve all travelled with the Doctor then?”
All four of them looked at each other. Though Zoe was holding onto her head. She stepped back a second, but held her hand out to stop anyone from approaching her. “Oh my goodness, are you alright?” Victoria asked. Zoe nodded.
“Yes, I’m fine. My memories sort of got erased when I left the Doctor so my heads coping with them all returning is all.”
“I’m sorry, your memories were erased?” Ben asked.
“It wasn’t his fault! It was the time lords, he couldn’t do anything.” She shook her head and returned to standing. “Anyway, this can’t be all of us right?”
“Yeah, we’re missing someone!” Polly replied. She looked at Ben, then at the other two. “Someone pretty close to the Doctor.”
Victoria nodded. “We’re all thinking of the same boy aren’t we?”
Suddenly the TARDIS doors seemed to open. They didn’t even realise this TARDIS had proper doors, considering how cluttered it was. And in stepped a silhouette that nobody could see until the doors shut. But when they did, everyone’s faces lit up.
“Jamie!” Zoe yelled, followed by the chorus of the others echoing his name. Jamie seemed dizzy, grabbing his head and stumbling forward. Zoe ran forward and grabbed onto him to keep him steady.
“Zoe?” He looked up at her, then up at the other three. “Ben! Polly! Victoria!” He replied, regaining his balance.
“Your head also hurt? Don’t worry, it’ll go away soon.” Zoe said. Jamie smiled, giving her a hug. Victoria ran forward, joining the hug, and soon Polly did too. Ben was a little too prideful for cuddle piles, though he had mellowed out a bit in the time they’d left. He got a handshake after the pile disbanded.
“Where are we? This can’t be a TARDIS, can it?” Jamie asked.
“That’s what we’ve been trying to figure out. And how did we all get here?” Ben replied.
“And if this is a TARDIS, where’s the Doctor?” Victoria then asked.
Jamie paused. He felt along a shelf, letting his memories flood his head. He’d remembered all he learnt about the Doctor and his people.
“Och, He’ll be about, somewhere in space.” Jamie then replied. “This is a TARDIS, just not his.” This garnered looks from Ben, Polly and Victoria. But Zoe nodded in agreement. She knew of the time lords too after all.
“How can this not be his? There’s other TARDIS-es?” Then asked Polly. She reached over and found The Doctors giant hat behind a chest.
“Oh there’s so many.” Zoe said. “But honestly, that’s enough questions about our situation. This TARDIS brought us here for a reason.” She added. She and Jamie exchanged a look. A smile. The Doctor was probably alright. He wasn’t needed here.
“Aye. It can’t have just kidnapped us without a reason. Not after all this time when so much has changed.” Jamie replied. He gave his next sentence a little bit of thought, but quickly disregarded any doubts. “I’m a father now. Got a wee lass at home.”
Everyone lit up. Lots of cheers were heard too. Jamie was a little red in response. He almost forgot how much he loved his friends. And that there were so many. So many ‘really?’s and so much support.
But he noticed another thing. “The two of you have matching rings!” He pointed at Ben and Polly’s hands. The two of them lifted their hands to show the golden bands off. So pretty, so nice.
Ben smiled. “Yeah.” He nodded. “We got married!”
“Took a bit of time though.” Polly added with a little giggle. “But I suppose that’s true for all of us.”
“Aye. Now Victoria? Zoe?” Jamie continued.
“I studied for a few years at university and now I’m trying to make my way in the world. Not much compared to you all.” Victoria replied, though that last sentence made Zoe grab her by the shoulders.
“I think that’s great!” Zoe grinned, before turning back to the others. “I’ve been working my way up the Wheel, second in command now I think? But I’m going back to earth soon.”
“I guess this means we’ve all gotten on well without the Doctor.” Victoria then said. “But I still miss him very much.”
“We all do Victoria. We all do.” Zoe replied.
“Didn’t the Doctor say something to you on Telos?” Jamie then said. “What was it?”
“Yes. Our lives are different to anybody else’s. Nobody else can do what we’re doing. I think that’s what he said.”
“And he’s right.” Ben said, “I mean, who else can say they’ve travelled in time and space?”
Then Ben had a realisation. “Maybe that’s why we’re here. We all travelled with him. That’s probably what this TARDIS is for.”
The group fell quiet. Ben was exactly right. Jamie had gone on adventures with all of them, and though they didn’t know each other, they all were connected through him. Through the Doctor. And technically Jamie.
“What I don’t understand is…Jamie and I had our memories taken away.” Zoe said.
“Well, however it works, we’re here now. We remember.” Jamie replied. “And I think we have to cherish that.”
Suddenly the doors opened once again. The TARDIS fell silent. It had landed. Zoe took one of Jamie’s hands, and Victoria the other. They peered through the doors. A field. A long, grassy field.
“Only one way to go from here.” Polly said, taking her husband's hand and walking towards the doors. The trio followed behind, and stood in a line as they looked to the horizon. All five of them. Connected by one thing. So many memories flooding and scattering at each passing moment. Their lives intertwined this once. They thought of the Doctor. Their Doctor. That small man with clothes just slightly too big, the choppy haircut, and his ever so expressive face.
And there it was. A sun, rising slowly over the horizon. Its warmth and light almost blinding them. But it brings a sense of comfort. Polly took hold of Victoria's free hand, and gave her another smile. A brand new day. “Thank you.” Victoria said, not to anything or anyone in particular. She was grateful for it all. And everyone here.
Victoria saw Zoe fade away. She looked around for a minute, then waved everyone goodbye.
“Guess we haven’t got long.” Polly said. “It was great meeting you. I hope we can meet again.” She added. Then she faded away too. Ben saluted the two of them, Jamie saluting back. Then he faded away.
Victoria hugged Jamie the hardest she could. She looked up at him through a tear.
“Don’t be sad. It’s okay.” Jamie said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Then he faded away too.
Victoria looked at the sun one last time as it rose. She took a deep breath, then shut her eyes.
She found herself back in her house. Like nothing had happened. She looked around. What exactly had happened? She held her forehead. She had a slight headache. What was she even doing? She fixed her hair, and moved on.
That little encounter was now locked in the back of her mind. Unable to be retrieved until the time was right. And right now wasn’t the right time yet.