Doctor Who Oneshots and Prompts

Comment Challenge Six

"Radmishla?" The Doctor looked at me, slightly confused. "Why do you want to go there?"

I sighed, trying to word this right. "Well, when it was a part of Austria-Poland, I had family that lived there. My great grandmother's family. Well, the lived there until at least until the late 1920s. I love history, and I just thought that it would be nice to experience my family's history first hand."

"You know the dangers of going back right, Chloe?" The Doctor asked me nervously, "and the fact that you want to go to see your family history would make it especially risky."

I tittered awkwardly, realizing that she was right. "Yeah...I genuinely don't want to be responsible for the time-apocalypse...it would be cool, though. Just to know my roots..."

An awkward silence filled up the console room.
"You know," the Doctor started to say. "We could go just for a bit to Radmishla during the time your family was there. You won't cause an apocalypse just by being there, or even saying hi."

I relaxed a bit as she said that. "That's honestly a relief. Thank you so much, Doctor!"

The Doctor shrugged. "No problem. Now what years did your family live in Radmishla?"

After quite a few estimates, the Doctor and I stepped out of the TARDIS to see Austria-Poland in early 1922. Immediately feeling the cold, I pulled my jacket tight, but I still looked around, mesmerized. "I still can't believe that this is real!" I exclaimed.

"I know." The Doctor smiled at me. "So, do you know who you're looking for?" The two of us started walking down the streets, looking for my family members. We just walked, looking around for a while, but I saw no sign of a familiar face from photographs.

"Maybe we came to the wrong place, or the wrong year," I sighed looking around, after what seemed like ages.
"We can still go back no matter what," the Doctor responded, trying to make me feel better. "The TARDIS is a time machine after all."
I showed a small smile, but before I could respond, we heard someone.

"Excuse me?"
The Doctor and I turned around to see a woman and a girl who looked about 10 years old. "We saw you looking around and walking in circles," the woman continued, "Are you two lost?"

"Kind of," the Doctor replied. "We're looking for family, but we got very vague directions, right Chloe?"

"Huh?! Oh! Yeah! We are looking for people!" I exclaimed. I must have zoned out for a few seconds.

"Well, maybe we can help," the woman suggested. "I'm Rachel and this is my daughter, Esther."

That's when I had realized why I zoned out. Esther, the little girl, looked just like my great-grandmother in the photos I saw of her at that age. I must have zoned out again, when the Doctor formally introduced the two of us, because soon, I felt her grab my hand as we walked.

"Are you okay?" She asked me quietly. "You keep freezing."
"Yeah..." I whispered back nodding. "It's just that the people helping us-Rachel and Esther, are my great-great-grandmother and my great-grandmother."

Her eyes widened. "Oh! You should at least say something to them. You wanted to learn your family history, right?"

"Right! But I can't say that I'm from the future. I can only imagine what would happen." I was getting nervous now.

"Chloe," the Doctor looked right at me. "I know and trust you. You haven't accidentally done that before, so I don't think you will do it now. Just take a breath and if you can, talk to them."

I nodded slowly before sighing. I looked to the front to see that Esther and Rachel had stopped to wait for us. We caught up to them and walked.

"Are you okay?" Esther asked me.
"Yeah," I replied, "this place is still pretty new to me, so I'm a bit nervous. How is it here?"

Esther shrugged. "It's not always good. There's a lot of things my mom and I can't do, but soon, we'll be meeting my dad in America."

I nodded. "I've heard things about it. Where are you planning on going?"

"New York, I think," she replied. "Where are you visiting family from?"

I paused to choose words carefully. "Somewhere far," I responded. "I actually don't think they know that I'm even here!"
"Then it could be a surprise." Esther smiled at me. "I think they'd like it."

"Yeah..." I smiled back. "I think they would."

We got to a stop and saw Rachel and the Doctor talking about many things, including the trip to America and Esther and myself. They turned to look at us as we finished talking.

"I've heard great things about you, Chloe," Rachel said to me. "You seem like you will be such a great force. I bet whoever you're seeing can see that."

I awkwardly laughed again, not wanting to tell the half-truth I had told Esther. That's when I realized our surroundings. We had basically walked in a circle and I could see the TARDIS in my periphery. The Doctor and glanced at each other. We both knew that it was time to go.

"This area seems pretty familiar," the Doctor said. "Thanks for getting us here."

"You're very welcome," Rachel replied, smiling at us.

I felt like I had to say something before leaving. "I know it's redundant, but thanks so much. I really, really appreciate that you helped us." That made Esther smile as well.

"I hope we get to see you again," she said.
"I hope so too," I replied, a hint of sadness tinted my voice, but it was overruled by the fact that I was so glad to be there. With that, our paths diverged again and the Doctor and I headed back to the TARDIS.

"How do you feel after that?" She asked me as we left.
I thought for a bit. "I got to see where part of my family came from, and I got to talk with my ancestors," I replied. "I think I feel pretty good now."