The Story of the TARDIS

Chapter 19

The Doctor and Talya were walking for a while along the ancient looking catacombs without seeing any Angels. The sonic was giving them a bit of light, but there were soft-glowing candles along the walls. Talya guessed that they--whoever they is--had nothing to do with the Weeping Angels. Suddenly, the Doctor pressed himself up against a wall.

"Uhh... Doctor? What're you doing?" Talya asked.

"Writing," is all he said. Talya followed his gaze and saw that he was right. There were ancient runes on the walls, and on the ceiling.

"Do you know what they say?" Talya put her hand on the wall and felt the writing. It was carved in, not painted on.

"Not really. But I recognize it," said the Doctor. "Mesopotamian."

"But that's... It's that ancient? You're not implying that they're still alive, right?" Talya questioned. She and the Doctor started to walk and talk.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Remember the Rhizomians? Centuries old. Maybe they're mutant now. Different than before. The Mutant Mesopotamians. The MM's. What about me? I'm veeeeeeerrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy old. More than 900 years of traveling through time and space," said the Doctor quickly, as if they had no time to talk. It was a habit of his.

"Mmmmhhmmmm," said Talya, deep in thought.

"What're you thinking about?" The Doctor asked, seeing Talya's expression.

"Just about stuff... How did you know I was thinking?"

"Because you have that face on, that 'I'm thinking so you should be quiet now' face," said the Doctor.

"This is my regular face."

"Because you're always thinking," he said.

Talya smiled a little. "I dunno... I just... Thinking. What else do I do?"

"Talk? Maybe?" The Doctor chuckled. "We're talking about talking and thinking."

Talya laughed a little. "What else to do in a Mutant Mesopotamian hallway?"

The Doctor looked over at her and their gazes met. Slowly, he was thinking about the reason why she'd become his TARDIS. But the thing that's strange for him, is the reason why he'd let her. Because, no matter how hard he tried to deny it in his intricate mind, he loved her. Of course, Talya was the TARDIS. He loved the TARDIS, no wonder he loved Talya too. Perhaps that was what she was thinking about.

All of a sudden, something lit up in her upper right arm, something implanted inside her flesh. Talya's gaze immediately shifted towards it. It blinked twice, then stopped. "Oh no," she murmured.

"Talya... What is it?" The Doctor asked, staring at her arm.

She looked at him, her expression filled with worry. "My planet is at war."

"What? But how, with whom--"

"I can't tell the details, keep walking," she started to walk with a much faster pace. The Doctor followed along, trying to step in time with her. "All I know is that they're at war, and they need me."

"What was that blinky-thing that lit up? Was--"

"Yes, implanted inside of my arm when I became a soldier. If I'm away, then my planet can signal me if I'm needed. Two blinks means they're at war and need me as soon as possible. One means they need me for whatever reason, but it's not imperative that I come quickly," finished Talya.

"So you're going to go to your planet? After this is over?" The Doctor didn't want to believe it, but he didn't want to let go of Talya. He cared for her too much.

"Well, we're at full-scale war, so yeah, probably. I lead my squadron, and right now, they have no one to take orders from. But I know someone must be filling in for me though. But it can't hold on forever, I have to get there as fast as I can," she was speaking quickly, as if every second spent away from her planet was another second wasted.

"But Talya," said the Doctor, reaching a realization. He stopped in his tracks, and Talya, clearly looking annoyed, also stopped walking and looked back at him. "What if this is how you die?"

Talya's shoulders slouched a little. "How does my soul get in the blue police box then?" Talya asked. "If my soul goes in the TARDIS, then that means that I'll die near a police box. Don't know how, but that's what I've got."

The Doctor wanted, more than anything, to believe that. He wanted to believe that if he just kept her away from any blue police boxes, she'd be safe. But no. He knew that somehow, she would be led there, and she would die there. And plus, he needed his TARDIS. But he also needed Talya.

"Talya. Somehow you'll be there. I dunno how, but somehow, if you even start dying on your planet, somehow you'll end up being near a police box," said the Doctor.

"But Doctor, my planet is far from Earth. And in my time, Earth is destroyed. So that means I'd have to travel backwards in time to when Earth was inhabited by humans and police boxes. Nothing on my planet can do that, except for the--"

"Vortex Manipulator," finished the Doctor. He held it up in his hands. "Which I have. Talya, what if I accidentally lead you there? To the place where you die?"

Talya sighed impatiently and walked up to the Doctor. She held both his hands in hers and looked into his green eyes, usually alight with wonder and hope and excitement. But now, all she could see was fear. He was afraid that he would somehow lead her to her deathbed. "Doctor. Remember, you promised that you'd let me die when I had to die. You eventually have to have your TARDIS, you can't just go traveling without it. Think of all those 900+ years of time and space being rewritten because you didn't have your TARDIS."

"But I don't want to waste another life because of me. Too many people have died because of me Talya. I can't let you take the fall too," he said, looking away from her.

Her hands moved and now she was holding the Doctor's head so that he was forced to look into her eyes. Her bluer-than-blue eyes, sparkling with sadness and a little bit of hope. "My life isn't going to be wasted. At least I'll die a soldier's death." She kissed the Doctor's forehead.

Suddenly, the Doctor noticed that his hands were placed on her waist. He felt very self-conscious at that moment, and he could see Talya moving forward, towards him, her eyes closed. As much as he wanted to, he had to separate. He had to. He couldn't make leaving her even harder for him than it was already. So he coughed awkwardly and pulled away. "Ummm... We should keep going," said the Doctor, trying not to look at Talya's hurt expression.

"Yeah," said Talya, shaking her head. "We're using up time." She started to walk faster, but this time the Doctor kept up with her. They continued walking, until they saw a light at the end.