Chapter Twenty-two

"What just happened?" Maia asked, blinking.

"I don't know," Zoe said, walking to the doors. Going outside, they saw the riders and dragons and Kennalar walked to Zoe.

"Where is the Doctor?" Kennalar asked while the Doctor, Jamie, the Drago, Droo and the small dragons walked closer.

"I'm right here," the Doctor said, making them turn around and Zoe smiled.

"Doctor, what was that light?" Zoe asked.

"That was the dimensional shifter," the Doctor said, explaining what the dimensional shifter was and how it worked.

"You moved the entire planet?" Kennalar asked.

"Well, the machine did most of the work, but, yes, the entire planet has moved two systems to the right."

"And we helped!" Scorch said, hold its head high.

"Yes, you all were a big help," the Doctor said, patting Scorch's head.

"What about the hunters? Will they return?" Maia asked.

"No, you have seen the last of them."

"But, if they could find us once, they could again," Kennalar said.

"Ah, now that's the thing. Not only has the dimensional shifter moved your world, it has cloaked it so that anyone approaching will see a dead, uninhabitable planet."

"Amazing!" the Drago said as the Doctor walked to the TARDIS and opened the doors.

"Where are you going?" Maia asked.

"I'm afraid we have to leave," the Doctor said when Scratcher and Spike scampered to him and gently pushed him away from the TARDIS. "Now, see here…!"

"No leaving!" Scratcher said while the others gathered around Jamie and Zoe and gently moved them back from the TARDIS.

"Jamie, don't go!" Peek-a-boo said as Jamie smiled and held his hands up.

"Now, I know what it's like tae have tae say good-bye tae friends but we have tae go," Jamie said, looking at twelve sad faces.

'But who will play with us?" Goldie asked, tears trickled down its cheeks.

"I will play with you," Auroraalla said.

"Who will take us on outings?" Boomer asked.

"I will," Maia said.

"Who will play music so we can go to sleep?" Spitfire asked.

"I'm sure we can find someone," Kennalar said.

"An' I'm sure that the Doctor will bring us back for visits. Right, Doctor?" Jamie asked, giving the Doctor a stern look.

"Ah, well, yes, yes, we will come back," the Doctor said, nodding.

"Now, you wee beasties, come here an' give me a hug!" Jamie said as the small dragons gathered around him and he hugged them one at a time. Looking at Auroraalla, he walked to it and it lowered its head. "I think I'm going tae miss you most of all."

""I will always be your dragon," Auroraalla said as he stroked the soft scales and sadly smiled.

"Well, we really have to go!" the Doctor said, waving for Zoe and Jamie to follow him and walked inside the TARDIS. Zoe followed him when Maia stood in front of Jamie and twirled some of her hair in her fingers.

"You sure that you don't want to stay?" Maia asked, stroking his cheek. Jamie's face turned bright red while his heart slammed in his chest and he shyly smiled.

"A-aye," Jamie said, watching her move closer. She placed her arms around his neck as she kissed his lips and moved her fingers through his hair. Moving back, she smiled and walked away. He watched her going inside the cave while the Doctor came into the doorway of the TARDIS and frowned.

"Jamie?" the Doctor asked.

"Coming," Jamie said as he walked to the TARDIS and they walked inside while the doors closed. The soft sound of the engines filled the air while the TARDIS started to vanish and the small dragons gasped.

"Wow!" the small dragons said as TARDIS vanished and the Drago smiled.

The engines hummed while the Doctor looked at the screens and pushed the buttons. Zoe and Jamie had gone to bed hours ago and the Doctor was enjoying the quiet. Suddenly he felt the TARDIS poking his mind when he walked to the door and it hissed opened. Going down the hallway, he walked toward the door to Zoe's room and opened the door enough to peek inside. Zoe was sleeping peacefully as he closed the door and frowned, placing a finger to his lips. Walking down the hallway, he stood in front of the door to Jamie's room and the door was open a crack. Opening the door, he walked inside the room and heard the soft sound of bagpipes. Walking to the bed, the Doctor looked down when he saw Jamie sleeping on his left side and was holding onto the pillow.

"Grr," a soft voice growled and the Doctor saw the red eyes glowing at him. He watched while something crawled onto Jamie's side and Droo glared at the Doctor.

"My word, where did you come from?" the Doctor whispered.

'It snuck on board while you were saying good-bye,' the TARDIS whisperedand the Doctor looked at the ceiling.

"Oh, dear, dear, dear, this is going to be unpleasant."

'What do you mean?'

"Well, I can't let him keep it!"

'Why not?'

"For one thing, it's…a dragon!"

'Only a very small one. I did take the liberty in acquiring some of its native food stuff and can replicate it. And Jamie is responsible enough to take care of it.'

"Like he did with that lizard?"

'The lizard escaped on its own.'

"We both know that but Zoe beat it to death with her boot. She is not going to happy once she finds out that I let him keep Droo."

'Then what are you going to do?'

"You both could go away an' let me sleep," Jamie grumbled, half opening his eyes and the Doctor looked at him.

"Oh, sorry, dear boy, I didn't mean to wake you."

"That's all right. Are you going tae let me keep Droo?"

"Of course I am but you have to promise to keep a close eye on it. I don't want any surprises in my shoes or little "gifts" left in the control room after it goes hunting," the Doctor said, giving them a stern look. Droo stood up on its hind legs as it crossed a claw over its heart and nodded.

"I promise, too," Jamie grumbled, closing his eyes and went back to sleep. The Doctor patted Jamie's head as Droo settled on Jamie's hip and Jamie sighed. Smiling, the Doctor walked to the door, walked out of the room and shook his head. Walking down the hallway, he headed for the library and walked to the bookcase. Looking at the books, he picked one off the shelf and walked to the overstuffed chair. He sat down when he opened the book and started reading. Suddenly he had the feeling he was being watched as he slowly looked up and Droo was perched on the top of the chair. Wiggling a finger, the Doctor watched while Droo crawled down the chair onto his lap, turned around three times and plopped down, closing its eyes. The Doctor went back to reading the book as he stroked the soft scales every now and then and Droo softly purred.

The End….