Time Lord and His Lady

Chapter Two: If I Could Find a Way

It was a whole other beast teaching John about the present-day, but I was truly in my element, given my dual love for history and teaching. All of John's questions were posed with a sense of wonder, and he didn't sneer at my answers, although, sometimes, my answers did lead to more questions. That first night, I made him a roast dinner, as promised, and John was pleased that such things didn't fall out of fashion. As time went on, however, logic seemed to fly out the window completely, due to the notion that time travel, was, in fact, possible.

"Remember," I told him, as days had turned into weeks, as we sat in the living room one evening after a particular hellish day at work, "despite leaving it at such a young age, my biological father, adopted father, and adopted mother were all born and raised in England."

"And your biological mother?" John wanted to know.

"Scotland," I replied, and smiled to himself as John raised his eyebrows. "She was actually a member of Clan Morrison."

"So, you are English and Scottish?" John asked, leaning back into the rather comfortable couch my living room boasted.

I nodded at him. "Yes. I also speak Gaelic, I'll have you know."

John smiled. "We were only taught English, Latin, and French," he put in.

I colored as I lowered my eyes. "I know those languages as well," I whispered, my fingers knotting together ever so slightly, altogether quite used to being made fun of for all the languages I spoke.

"I think that's lovely," John said quietly. "Do you speak anything else?"

"In high school, I took German. They call it secondary school now in England... Well, it's actually the United Kingdom now," I explained, peeking up in time to see John raising his perfect eyebrows. "Ireland is independent of it now, and Scotland is its own little area, with no king or queen."

"Fascinating," John whispered as I looked up at him. "Any other languages, or have you finished impressing me?" he asked, but he was smiling.

"Spanish," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "You needed a language credit and it was the only other language on offer that I hadn't taken yet."

John stared across the couch at me. "You are truly intriguing," he replied, and I found myself utterly believing him, based on the sincerity dripping from his tone. "May I ask what your students are learning now?"

"We are doing our Revolutionary War unit, as a matter of fact," I told him, and John perked up; I had gone over various wars and eras with him the past two weeks, and he was quite a fast learner when it came right down to it. "Each year, there are requirements that we have to go over when it comes to our history."

John nodded his head. "When I had to learn history as a boy, it was very much the same," he said, a small smile encroaching upon his lips at the memory. "The significant events that readily pop up into my head are the Magna Carta, the Disillusion of the Monasteries, the East India Company, and when King Charles the First was executed, thus rendering the Cromwell family as Lord Protectors of the Realm."

I returned John's smile. "Of course, while I am fully aware of all those events, we don't cover them in our history courses," I explained, and John leaned forward at that. "We, of course, do mention England as a whole here and there, such as when Pocahontas is discussed, it really is regulated to the background, save for the Mayflower crossing, or the Revolutionary War." I hesitate for a moment. "I suppose you believe that America shouldn't exist, given where it is you come from."

John hesitated. "I may be a redcoat, Alexandra, and serve His Majesty King George, but I do not stand for unfair treatment," he said softly. "The notion of slavery, to me, at the very least, is a disgusting one..." He sighed. "When does it become illegal in England?"