An Unexpected Guest (Blue Peter/Doctor Who)

Part 9 - Lily Smith

Lily thought for a moment and decided that these were her friends. The time was right for The Doctor to know the truth. She sat down on the floor in front of the sofa and started to tell her story.

"My grandmother's name was Rose Tyler." She began. The Doctor's eyes widened in shock, but he decided to let her finish before speaking. "Many years ago, she travelled with a man in a blue police box, and without him knowing kept a secret diary of her adventures with him. At the end of an adventure which for once ended in tears rather than laughter, she found herself stuck on a parallel Earth, with her family around her." Upon hearing this, The Doctor's memories of Rose came flooding back, and he was overwhelmed with sadness, happiness, and pride at his brilliant companion who he now knew had made a life in the parallel Earth. "As you know, she came back to our Earth later, to help you to fight and defeat the Daleks, but she couldn't stay here. She loved you, you know? So you gave her a different you, a human you. She called him John Smith. And... well, he is my grandfather."

The Doctor was stunned into silence. Lily was the granddaughter of the Meta-Crisis Doctor and Rose. The revelation of who she really was, it was so unexpected. Lindsey remembered watching the Doctor's adventures on TV, including the ones which Lily had just described, and her jaw fell open. Radzi leapt up from his seat and started to jump up and down with excitement "This is so cool! Everything we saw on TV, everything we thought was just a story. All of it, it's all true! It's all real and these people are living it right in front of us!" He started to do his happy dance again. Barney was now in a brilliant mood, having heard the exciting story which Lily had to tell, so he jumped up and joined in.

Lily and The Doctor didn't know what to think. To them, this was just their life and not really much to be excited about. The Doctor looked at Lily. "But if you're their granddaughter, surely you'd have been born much later than now?" Lily nodded "But John and Rose thought of that. The blueprint for the vortex manipulator, it must have been theirs! When Rose found out that she was going to have my dad, John could sense me coming, like an echo through time. He knew that the Earth was going downhill, and so wanted me to be born in this time rather than later.That vortex manipulator is what they used to go back in time for me. They somehow managed to get back to our Earth, and once they'd finished the journey they smashed up the device, but kept the blueprint hidden just in case. My mum and dad know nothing about this, Rose and John wanted them to think we were a normal family. But Rose told me the stories from her diary as I was growing up. I grew up hearing about you, you were a legend. I was told that you would always be there to save me." She smiled at The Doctor. "Kid's stuff really, I suppose. But I always knew, somehow that you were more than a story."

The Doctor smiled back "That's why when you saw the TARDIS you knew I could help you. This is brilliant! Can we meet them? I'd love to catch up on old times". Lily hesitated, unsure whether to share the bad news. "Doctor, Rose and John were very happy together. They had many years together, they were the perfect couple." The tension was high in the room, and somehow everyone knew that this story's end would be less than happy. Lily placed a delicate hand on The Doctor's shoulder. "They passed away together, a year ago now. I was 9." She said, and closed her eyes sadly.

"Rose Tyler, the girl who saved the world more times than I can remember. The girl working in a shop, which I blew up. The girl who travelled the universe with me. The girl who I think we both knew was more than a friend to me." The Doctor bowed his head, overcome with emotion.

"Her memory lives on forever" Barney said proudly. "Never forgotten" Lindsey agreed.

The Doctor gradually regained his composure, but still had a sinking feeling in his chest. He was confused about one more thing. "When you first met me, you didn't seem at all shocked that my face was totally different to John's. Why?"

"Rose told me about regeneration. But John was human, so I won't be able to do it."

The Doctor pondered for a moment "Would you like to?" He asked carefully. Lily shrugged "It doesn't matter. I can't." The Doctor delved into his jacket pocket and pulled out what looked like an old remote control, like the type that are used on toys. "If I press this button." He said solemnly, indicating a big red button in the centre of the remote "If I press this button, you will become able to regenerate. This remote contains the extracted abilities of a Time Lord. Should I press it?"