The secret life

The secret life. chapter 50. A blast to the past of Gallifrey

   It was Monday the Doctor  was having  a heart warming  chat with his sister Alayla. My aunt. Then she asked him a question  for him to help her remember  her past.   She asks  "oh and Doctor. I have a question  for you. I somehow don't really  remember my personal life outside of office walls of being a doctor back in Gallifrey. Can you tell me?" The Doctor  thinks for a moment  then continues "We grew up together. You were always older but didn't look it. We played in the halls. Got yelled at many times for it." Alayla  laughs. The Doctor  continued  "I got bullied a few times by too arrogant timelords and you came and kicked thier butts."

"Okay. I still do that to this day."

           "Yes you do. Uh.. When we went to the academy you sort of were separated from me. But we still saw each other between  classes" Alayla  asks "did we become  distant?" "We talked and caught up on things between the classes. You told me you were doing well in training to be a Doctor. Which by then I wanted that too. But I was training to be a teacher. Ended up doing  both. We did get a bit distant from the work in our classes but you came back at the end of the semester.

Graduated together then went our separate ways for a little bit. You went to work in the Doctors office and I was called to teaching. Then you know what happened next. you getting caught by Rani then the timewar and me going off to fight in it. At some point you came to me and said you were running off. Getting away from Gallifrey and I let you go. Then didn't see you again till ten"

              Alayla  asks  "Hmm. I didn't have any other family?" "You had a few sisters  and one brother  who annoyed you many times." The Doctor smiles remembering it. Alayla  replies  "Was it you?" The Doctor  answers  smiling  by shyly "a few times yeah... I wasn't big on annoying you." Alayla  continues  "Did I just spend my life at the office?" He answers "You went to the coffee shop on your days off. Or hiked in the mountains. Sometimes taking katrina with you. Other times we all went. Me you and katrina" Alayla  replies  "that's nice. It sounds like a really nice life that we all led..."  "yes It was very nice" the Doctor  paused for a moment  remembering the beautiful  memories  he had there and my memories  I had back came to mind too. We missed it. We thought  to where we were then and then came back to where we were now. I thought to myself. That sounded  like such a beautiful  place we both lived once and now... Alayla  continued Interupted our thoughts  "wow... and it's all gone." Alaylas  words were true but they pierced  right through  our hearts. We knew it was true but we didn't  want to think about it we kept the memory  in our mind. The Doctors childhood.

               "It is... what I was thinking about for the past few moments" the Doctor  admitted "But not all of it. We both know that." Alayla  adds.

He continues "Our beautiful home. Gone. Misplaced. Someday we will find it again. Once all this is over. Once we find it again and everyone is safe here." Alayla  strays away from that talk and asks another question  curious  "Hmm. I didn't really like anyone. Did I?"  He answers "you didn't like most of your sisters  they were quite  arrogant. Only one you liked syria I believe her name was" he paused for a moment  remembering  the name and image of her. Silver is hair in that light, sweet ,fun, I remember  seeing the image of her and the name. But still it felt so forien to me. Like it was a whole different  life a whole  different  place,that I remembered  but not fully. But I wanted to. 

                 The Doctor  continued facing  the reality  of it "Though she's gone now... died in the timewar. I meant to tell you. But I didn't see you for a long time and it was too late. the other two were speaking to be part of the Council. Don't know if they got in or not. No I believe  they became tech scientists."

Alayla  comments "we had such a bright future" the Doctor  Continues  "We did. The timewar destroyed everything. And all that."
                  "We actually  hiked many times it was so much fun. I remember laughing and smiling and one time you pushed me down a hill. Got all dirty. But I couldn't stop laughing. Katrina  helped me up" I paused  as the Doctor  was describing the beautiful  memory  of our fun we had on Gallifrey  our childhood home. It was my true home and I could  hardly remember  it. But I saw my old home through  the memories of my dad. When he saw it and remembered I remembered  too. It was beautiful. Alayla  commented on it seeming to remember  that memory too. "Wow. It was so beautiful" he continued  "you also rolled down"

"Did you push me?" "No. Katrina  did" he finishes smiling  almost giggling. Alayla  adds "payback"

"Yep. It was all out of fun" I smile at the memory  that was so forien  but so familiar  at the same time. It was a beautiful memory and in my hearts I hoped someday we could  have that life again. Fun and laughter  and being safe without danger all the time being exactly  where we belonged. That was my dream  as well as all the timelords. Our dream to go home. Where we've  always  been going. Home the long way round.