I KNOW I KNOW ITS SO LATE I'M SORRY

*ahem* In other news, my senior year of college starts today. When WSITW started, I was a freshman. ...Whew, right?

In the end, Amelia stayed about fourteen days, thirteen more than she was supposed to. She never once asked to go home. Why would she? She'd loved every minute of it and it wasn't like she missed her aunt. It was a bit weird not seeing Rory for so long but he probably wouldn't like the TARDIS like she did. He wasn't brave enough.

She would've stayed forever, for the rest of her life, if they had let her.

But then the Doctor took them to a ball. She'd always wanted to go to a ball. At Rose's request, the TARDIS laid out outfits for them to choose from that would suit the times and culture where they were going. This was very important because wearing the wrong thing would make it obvious they did not belong. Blending in was key in high society—at least, that's what Rose told her, Amelia didn't personally see the point. So she wore red, Rose wore gold, and the Doctor wore black. The three were complimentary colors, according to him, and such was the custom for families at fancy events in this time.

It wasn't like a royal ball from a fairytale but it sure was something. It was held at a grand building called the Isogen, where apparently many high-class functions were held. The Doctor got them in by flashing his psychic paper and tonight they were a duke, duchess, and their daughter. Amelia didn't see many kids her age there and those she did eyed her a bit speculatively and spoke in very posh tones that she couldn't emulate, which only served to make the older children frown at her and their younger relatives took their cues from them.

She ended up making friends with a serving boy that looked entirely human except for pale blue skin and his deep purple hair and looked about three or four years older than her, but if she'd learned anything these last few weeks, it was that you couldn't judge someone's age by how they looked. He said his name was Lichie and he called her Lady Amelia. He wore a purple uniform, the same colors as in all the party decorations and napkins, which he explained was to help him blend in to the background.

When a senior staff member came to scold him for shirking his duties, Amelia immediately jumped to his defense and informed the older man quite loudly that he was being extremely rude and that it was not Lichie's fault. Nobility or not, she was here under the guise of a Lady and, as such, he was in no place to rebuke her—or so she hoped as she informed of her status haughtily. Then she told him he wasn't to punish her new friend in any way or she would see the same done to him.

Lichie clapped the moment his boss was out of earshot. "Ooooh, I've been waiting ages for someone to tell him off. Thinks he's all high an' mighty 'cos he isn't bound to service like most of us."

"He was being a poopy head," she said blithely.

Lichie's eyes went round and he laughed again. "You're strange, m'lady."

She glanced around then admitted in a hushed giggle that she was no sort of noble at all, just an ordinary kid who had friends in high places. They hadn't even been invited at all! He grinned like a loon and laughed once more.

She made a comment about his blue skin being unusual and he told her on his home world, everyone was blue, which made her think of that one funny song she'd found in the 1990s section of the music room a few days ago. She told him it was an Earth Classic. She was singing the chorus ("I'm blue, da ba dee, da ba die!") and he was trying to stifle his laughter when Rose found them.

"Y'know, when they made that song, I don't think they knew there were actual blue people," Rose commented as she approached.

His giggles ceased and he immediately bowed to her.

"No, don't bother with that," Amelia told him, nudging him back upright. "She's one my friends."

"Oh. I still need to show respect," he replied, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Don't worry, I won't keep you." Rose assured Lichie. "I just came to see where you'd wandered off to, Amelia. Are you having a good time?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "This is Lichie. He works here…uh, if you couldn't tell."

"I could. I hope you're not getting into trouble, Lichie."

"Well…"

"His boss came over but I told him off," Amelia said smugly.

Rose's expression tightened. "Oh, no. You might've cost him his job…"

Lichie shook his head. "No worries, m'lady. I'm indentured. Don't think they'd let me off that easy."

Amelia didn't know what that meant but Rose clearly did. She pressed her lips together briefly. "I see. Well…um you two have fun, okay? The Doctor and I will come find you when it's time to go."

"Okay," Amelia said. She watched Rose weave through the crowd then turned to Lichie. "So, I bet you know around this place."

"We do events here sometimes but I never have the chance to explore."

She grinned and less than two minutes later they were making their grand escape out the back door. Outside of the designated party area, the building was just as grand. Lichie told her there could be up to five sizeable parties going at once, though that would never happen because no one of breeding would dare allow five events to occur on the same night. It was unthinkable. And the staff would be so overworked.

They must've spent an hour exploring the place. They went down every hall, opened every door that was unlocked, and even discovered a servants access tunnel that lead them back to the kitchens were Lichie had been working. They high tailed it right back out of there before anyone spotted them. Out of everything she'd done so far, this was the best in its own way. Just her and another kid having fun, even if that kid was another species and wouldn't be born until hundreds and hundreds of years in her future. She wondered if this was surreal for him, running through a fancy place he had only been in to work with a girl dressed like a noble but just as lowborn as he.

But Amelia knew she'd probably been gone long enough for Rose and the Doctor to worry. It was probably time for them to be heading back. She told him that and he agreed with a sigh. He really did need to get back to work soon or it'd be his mother after him.

They were en route for the ballroom when she and Lichie suddenly heard sounds from ahead. Screams of fear, even louder screams of anger, and whirring noises that made Lichie go rigid with fear.

"Oh, Kessar!" he yelped, eyes wide with panic. "Gun! Guns!"

"Those don't sound like guns!"

He spun around, grabbing Amelia's hand, and bolted. She stumbled over her skirts and used her free hand to hitch them up as they ran. "Where are we going?"

"We have to hide!"

"B-but the Doctor and Rose are in there! I can't leave them!"

Lichie slowed, casting a fearful look over his shoulder. He glanced between her and the direction of the ballroom then stamped his foot. He let out a long whine that sounded suspiciously like a dog's and Amelia cocked her head to the side, momentarily bemused despite the seriousness of their situation. "Fine. Okay. Um. You hide. I'll go back for them."

Wait? What?! "N-no way! I'm not staying behind!" she protested. "Besides, you could get hurt."

He shook his head. "Maybe not. Why would someone attack a party? For the people attending, obviously. You're dressed like a guest so if someone bad sees you, they'll probably grab you. They're not gonna care about me."

He had a point but that didn't mean she was gonna go hide while he ran into danger. "You got any more of those clothes you're wearing lying around?"

Lichie's mouth opened in surprise. "Yeah, just in case we spill something or—"

"I think yours would fit me."

Lichie let out an exasperated sound and smacked his forehead with his hand. Then his eyes flew open. "Wait!" he hissed. "We can get help!"

Amelia nearly smacked herself in the face. Oh, duh! Whoever had the guns probably thought they had everyone rounded up in there since there were no other events tonight. No way they'd have expected two kids to have been missed…assuming, of course, their respective adults didn't raise a fuss about them being missing.

"But how do we get out of here?" Amelia fretted. "The front door probably will be blocked."

"There's a servants entrance!" Lichie grabbed her hand again and they sprinted off. Amelia stumbled a bit then used her free hand to hitch up the front of her skirt so she wouldn't trip.

He lead her to a very beautiful, grand set of doors that she remembered from earlier. They through the door into a fancy room three times smaller than the one the ball was happening in. It was empty except for stacks of chairs and tables in the back. Lichie shut the door behind them and ran across the room to the other wall and pressed a small button she hadn't noticed until then. A line appeared in the wall then expanded as a hidden door slid open. They ran through it and into staff corridors like the ones they had found earlier. The walls were simple and the floors inelegant and nothing like the rest of the building. Doors leading off to other ballrooms and storage cupboards and kitchens were spaced periodically throughout the corridors.

"But who can we go to?" she panted as they ran.

"The police, of course." Lichie replied like she was stupid. "Don't they got police where you're from?"

"Yes!" she retorted. "I didn't know if you did! How far?"

"Not too far, I think."

They barreled out of a door labeled 'EXIT' and it hit the wall with a resounding BANG that made them both flinch. Lucky for them there was no one around to hear it. They were in a dimly lit alley with smooth white cobblestones under their feet. Amelia whipped her head back and forth, expecting masked villains to descend any second. Lichie hissed her name, beckoning to her with his hand, and they raced out of the alley.

She'd only glimpsed a little of the city on their way in but, looking around now, she kinda thought it looked like Rome when they'd visited it the other day. Towering columns, shining buildings, elegant statues everywhere. Any other time she would've been in awe. Right now she was so scared the buildings might as well have been made of cardboard.

The moment people came into sight about a block away, Amelia let out a hair-raising scream to get their attention. If there was one thing she knew got grownups attention that was it. Then Lichie did the same. Briefly, she thought it was funny the way his shrieks seemed to carry a hiss with them, like a snake.

"HELP!" she screamed and he echoed her. "HELP! HELP US!"

People immediately took notice. Two kids screaming for their lives tended to have that effect on people. By the time they reached the people, quite a crowd had stopped to see what the commotion was. A number of them seemed to be on the offensive, looking intently over the children's heads for any sign of danger. A few of the adults broke off from the crowd then there were hands on Amelia's arms and back, ushering her around, bodies placed protectively between them and the direction from which they'd come.

Concerned voices overlapped, each demanding to know what had happened, were they hurt, what were they running from? Amelia didn't quite know how to explain. "There's…bad people!" She gasped, thoroughly winded from running so hard. "M-my f—my mum and dad—"

"In the Isogen," Lichie elaborated shakily. "W-we heard guns and screaming!"

"People are probably dead!"

"You gotta get the police, the king!"

Chaos ensued after that. There was a lot of shouting and yelling and people running away in all directions, some away from the danger and others towards it. Amelia clung to Lichie's arm and refused to let go as the strange adults herded the two of them into a nearby building. Some sort of lobby, from what she could tell. They were ushered over to a sitting area with thick brown furniture and they sat down on a couch together. The adrenaline that had been coursing through her body was finally beginning to fade, leaving her feeling light, hollow, and trembling. She thought Lichie might've been shaking too but it was difficult to say.

A blue woman with evergreen hair in a business suit with a nametag that read Syss asked their names. Lichie glanced at Amelia expectantly and she wondered if there was some rule that meant she was supposed to tell them that. But couldn't quite get her voice to work properly and all that came out was a tiny whimper.

Lichie sat up straighter. "I'm Lichie, indebted to the Nosthi. This is Lady Amelia of Leadworth. S-she was one of the guests at the party."

The woman looked between them oddly. "The police are on their way. I'm sure some of them are going to want to talk to you."

"What about the Isogen?" Lichie asked.

"I don't know." Syss frowned out the window. "Most of the nobility from in the quadrant are in there tonight, aren't they?"

Lichie nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

They were each offered a warm drink. Lichie accepted his but Amelia shook her head at it. She was too worried to even think about drinking. The Doctor and Rose were somewhere back there with no idea what happened to her. Were they worried? Were they looking for her? Would…they leave without her?

Amelia cast her eyes around the room. Aliens. Nothing but aliens. No one's skin was the same tone as hers, the one head of red hair she saw was like the red of her dress or an apple, not like the gingery red of her own hair. There wasn't a human in sight and probably not for miles, except for Rose. There probably weren't any on this planet at all. No one spoke English, she was sure of it. If the translator thingy in the TARDIS suddenly stopped working she'd be completely lost in alone.

She was scared.

Suddenly, and for the first time ever…. "I want to go home," she whispered.

Lichie looked at her. "Huh?"

"I want to go home," she repeated, drawing her knees up to her chest. Her lip quivered and she felt tears begin to well in her eyes. "I want to go home right now."

When the police arrived, Syss introduced them as Giov and Kinok and then the officers knelt in front of them and asked all sorts of questions: their names, parents' names, and Lichie's masters' names, what they'd seen and heard, and so on. Lichie did most of the talking.

"Why did they do it?" Amelia asked. "How comes those people want to hurt everyone at the party?"

"They're terrorists," the officer on the left, Kinok, a man who could probably pass as human if not for his red eyes, answered honestly. "And they think hurting people like your parents will get them what they want."

"That's stupid."

He nodded. "I agree. But don't worry. Everything will turn out okay. Now, I'll tell you what, why don't you come with us back to the station where you'll be safe."

"I've got a tag on me." Lichie said. Amelia's brow furrowed in confusion and he elaborated. "There's this thing that keeps me from going too far away from where I'm supposed to be. I can't go much further from where we were or…" He trailed off into silence and made a face.

She balked. "B-but that's horrible! Why would anyone do that?"

"To make sure he doesn't run away," Giov, a blue man, replied. "He owes a debt and it must be paid."

"But that's stupid! What if something happens like this and he needs to run far away so he'll be safe? It's rubbish, that's what," she seethed. "I'm not goin' if he can't go."

"You should. It'll be safer, probably," Lichie whispered.

"I'm not leavingyou behind, dummy," she snapped. "Either you find a way to get him there safely or I'm not movin' an inch." And she folded her arms to emphasize her point.

The officers looked at each other and she could tell they were annoyed but that only made her angrier. She had half a mind to take Lichie with her when they left just to get him away from all this nonsense. But he'd probably miss his mum lots and he wouldn't exactly fit in on Earth. Still, she could ask. Maybe they could take him and his mum somewhere else, somewhere better where they didn't have to be…like this.

"We might as well just stay," the blue one said. "This will probably all be over before we could even get a deactivation clearance."

"Yeah," the other agreed gruffly. He frowned at Amelia and Lichie for a moment. "But we're staying with you and you two are not to leave this couch without our permission. Understood?"

Both children nodded.

"Good. Giov, see if you can't get us some java. I gotta feeling this is gonna be a long night."

Giov went off to do just that and Kinok decided to drag one of the other chairs in the room closer to the couch. When he was out of earshot, Lichie leaned close to Amelia's ear. "You're either really brave or stupid."

"You're my friend," she whispered back. "And I'm scared. So I think it's both."

He laughed and scooted closer, his arm pressing against hers. Aside from him grabbing her hand, that was the first time he'd touched her. Human children were always touching each other, pats on the back, pokes, hugs, or any number of things, but Lichie had kept a respectful distance from her until right now. It was weird. Maybe because she said they were friends?

"Thanks for taking me exploring," he said. "If you hadn't, I'd probably be…in there. Y'know."

"Me too," she agreed. "I dunno which is worse, though."

Giov returned with two steaming cups and handed one to Kinok then sat down on the other end of the couch. The two grownups talked quietly to each other and Amelia tried her best to tune them out, her mind wandering back to that ballroom. The bodies on the floor. The gunshots. The Doctor and Rose's worried expressions. Then Rory's worried face from weeks back when she'd scuffed her knee on the sidewalk. He'd probably be crying right now if he were here.

"You really don't know much about how this whole…thing works, do you?" Lichie murmured.

"What thing?" she whispered back.

"The…servants," he elaborated. "My tag."

She shook her head. "You said something about 'indentured' earlier. I don't know what it means."

"My parents are in debt to the Nosthi and since I'm their son, when they became servants, I either had to go live in a home for orphans, or I could serve with them and work off their debt. We're not prisoners. We're working to pay back what we owe. The tags are because not everyone is willing to work off their debts and some try to run off. They got no way to tell who's honest and who isn't so we all get tagged. And it's not forever. As soon as we're all paid up we can go back to our lives as normal. It's not so bad, really, honest."

"I don't like it."

"Me neither. But what can you do?" He shrugged. "That's the way things are."

"Not where I come from," she grumbled, then sighed. "Don't suppose it'll matter for much longer. As soon as the Doctor and Rose find me, we're never coming back."

His eyes widened. "B-but…you…I mean, we won't be friends anymore then?"

She sighed again. "I mean, we can be friends, but I'm from a long time ago."

Lichie shook his head and scrunched up his nose. "What?"

Amelia glanced at the alien police officers. They seemed completely caught up in their own conversation and not paying any mind to the whispers of the children. Now she just had to think of how to explain this to Lichie. Would he understand what a time machine even was? Would he think she was lying? She decided not to chance it. Why even bother? She'd never see him again, anyway.

The night seemed to stretch on endlessly. They received no further word on what was happening at the Isogen and their guards largely ignored them. After what felt like hours, Amelia started yawning. Beside her, Lichie did the same and it sounded a lot like a snake hiss. If circumstances were different she might have laughed. The officers asked if they were getting tired and if they'd like blankets, which both children adamantly refused. They weren't sleeping until they had their parents back.

Apparently that didn't quite go as planned because at one point, after a hazy period of darkness and flashes of color and sound, Amelia realized she was slumped sideways and her head was resting on Lichie's shoulder and a blanket draped over them. She heard his quiet, steady breathing near her ear. With an inward shrug, she shut her eyes and let the weird dreamless state pull her back under. She remained there for a long time.

The next time she opened her eyes she found two pairs of brown human ones staring back at her. She stared at them and the faces they belonged to for a few moments, trying to place them, the background, and what she was laying on. The Doctor and Rose she identified immediately but the rest was slow in coming.

"Hi," she mumbled sleepily.

"Hi," they repeated quietly and the Doctor nodded to someone next to her. "Who's your friend?"

Amelia's brow furrowed in confusion and she realized someone was breathing near her ear. She turned her head slightly and saw blue skin and purple hair. …Lichie!

She gasped as the memories from the night before asserted themselves and she sat up, the blanket falling from her shoulders, which unfortunately sent Lichie plummeting forward and his face smashed into the space between her back and the couch. He inhaled sharply and let out a startled, but decidedly groggy yelp.

"You're okay!" she wailed to her surrogate parents and launched herself at them, throwing her arms around their necks. They both wobbled a bit and the Doctor placed a hand on her back to steady her before they both put an arm around her. She hugged them tightly, relieved that they were safe and had found her. Then she noticed a woman with blue skin and purple hair in the remnants of what must have been a firm bun, wearing a larger version of the Lichie wore, standing just behind them. Lichie saw her, too.

"Mummy!" he cried, scrambling off the couch and into the arms of his mother. Amelia's heart clenched and at that moment, despite her relief at the Doctor and Rose being there and okay, she very much wanted her own mum.

"Where were you?" Rose demanded. "We were lookin' everywhere for you. We thought—"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she apologized over and over, her lip quivering, tears welling in her eyes. "We were just exploring, s'all. Then we heard the…and we ran…and…"

"It's alright. We're glad you got away." The Doctor released her and eased her away from them and Amelia allowed herself to be pushed. "You ready to go back now?"

Amelia nodded, sniffled. What did he mean by back, though? To the TARDIS or home? She wasn't sure which she wanted at that moment. She knew she wanted her Mum, but the Doctor had told her that was something he couldn't give her and Rose had agreed with a sadness Amelia couldn't understand in her eyes.

"Amelia?" Lichie asked from a few feet away. His upper body was twisted around in his mother's grip and he was staring at her. "Are you leaving now?"

Amelia sniffed and wiped her eye with the back of her hand then nodded. He nodded, too, resigned. "Are you ever gonna let her come back?" he asked the adults with her. "She's my friend."

"Lichie," his mother reprimanded under her breath.

"It's perfectly fine," Rose reassured the woman. "But…probably not."

"But…" he started to protest but his mother cut him off with a sharp hiss.

Lichie let out a sad sigh and nodded. Something in his posture changed, then. He ducked his head, straightening his shoulders, and he looked like he had when Amelia had first met him: he a kid serving at a party and she one of the esteemed guests. She wanted to hug him goodbye but something told her that it wouldn't help or even be a good thing. His mother was watching the three of them warily, as if she expected something bad to happen. Amelia remembered what Lichie had said about the conditions of being a servant and guessed that a rich person from their world might have done something bad to him for talking back.

But Rose, wonderful motherly Rose, noticed the change as well and decided things wouldn't end on that note. "We shouldn't," Rose clarified. "It's not safe for us here—especially Amelia. Not after last night."

"Those people that attacked had a vendetta against off-worlders in particular," the Doctor continued, kneeling down to Lichie's level. "And, well, obviously, that includes us."

"Yes, sir, she told me you were from somewhere else." Lichie said.

"But those people weren't alone in their thinking." He glanced up at Lichie's mother. "Your mother can explain it to you, if she wants. At the very least, we should stay away until these sentiments have passed. You don't want to put Amelia at risk just for a bit of fun, do you?"

Lichie shook his head. "No, sir. I understand."

The Doctor smiled. "But, I am to understand that we owe you a debt of gratitude. The men we spoke to informed us that you helped keep her out of harms way and that it was your idea to alert the authorities."

"I—" Lichie glanced in Amelia's direction and she simply lifted her eyebrows and nodded encouragingly. He turned his gaze back to the Doctor and cleared his throat. "I did. Yes."

"Lichie, right? Well, then, Lichie, you're the hero of the hour, believe it or not. Everyone who walked away from this ordeal owes you their lives. But it's not my place to thank you for everyone else, so I'll just thank you for the life of my wife and Amelia."

"I—I—" Lichie stammered, utterly taken aback by the sudden turn of events. Clearly the thought of being a hero hadn't crossed his mind all night and neither had it crossed Amelia's. The two of them glanced at each other and she grinned, giving him a big thumbs up.

Let's see them treat you badly after this, Amelia thought triumphantly.

Lichie looked up at his mother who, like her son, seemed utterly flabbergasted. The Doctor rose to his feet and smiled warmly at her. "I take it you haven't heard? I suspect you will soon enough…but the authorities are hailing your son as a hero. The brave lad who risked his life to protect a noble girl and raised the alarm."

"B-but I…" Lichie shook his head slowly. "I didn't…I mean I wasn't trying to be a hero."

"That makes all the difference, you know." The Doctor told him seriously. "A true hero is one who acts to protect others and not bolster his own reputation."

Amelia hopped off the couch. Under normal circumstances she would be pretty mad she wasn't getting any credit for saving the day but there wasn't a point this time. She didn't live here and Lichie would probably be better off getting all the credit. Maybe he wouldn't have to be a servant anymore, either! It was that thought that kept her happy as she said goodbye to him (though she was sad it was probably forever) and they made their way back to the TARDIS.

The closer they got to their destination, however, the more her delight began to wane. What would happen now? Nothing like this had ever happened on any of their trips. Was she going to be in trouble? Were they going to take her home? …Did she want to go home? The last few weeks had been amazing, a fairytale befitting the girl with a fairytale name, and she hadn't ever wanted it to end. But the story had gotten dark in a way she hadn't expected and she wasn't sure she wanted to be a part of it any longer.

The Doctor unlocked the door to the TARDIS then ushered Amelia and Rose inside, shutting the door behind him. He strode over to the console wordlessly and began to hit the series of controls that would make them disappear. Rose leaned against the console and Amelia hovered nervously near the jumpseat, fingers clenching and unclenching around the edge of the seat. The ship shuddered once and Amelia knew they'd left behind Lichie's planet and were in the…that place where they could move through time. The Vortex, or something like that.

The Doctor sighed loudly and turned around. Rose stood and went to stand at the Doctor's shoulder, both of them watching her with unreadable expressions. She looked between them for a moment before ducking her head and beginning to fidget nervously. They were having one of those conversations in their heads again, she just knew it, and there was no way it was good.

"Amelia Pond," the Doctor began and then sighed heavily. "Little Red."

Amelia glanced up. The Doctor sighed again then held out his hand. She hesitated, glancing between his hand and his face, before warily accepting it. The Doctor lead her out of the console room and down the halls, taking the familiar route towards their rooms. Rose followed just a few paces behind. No one spoke. Instead of going to their rooms, they stopped at the kitchen instead.

"Am I in trouble?" Amelia asked as he released her hand and walked towards the cabinets.

"If we were your parents, definitely," Rose answered as she passed. The blonde woman took her usual seat at the table and patted the spot where Amelia sat with her hand. Amelia slowly crossed the room and sat down in the chair, trying to make as little noise as possible, sure in her gut that too much noise would be the trigger that started the yelling.

The Doctor was pulling cartons of milk from the fridge, chocolate and banana, and began to pour them each a glass.

"But we're just as much to blame as you are," Rose went on. "We should've kept a better eye on you. But we really can't get mad at you for wanting to explore—we've done exactly what you did countless times."

The Doctor hummed an affirmative as he set a glass of chocolate milk in front of Amelia, which she took a drink from immediately, only just becoming aware of how hungry and thirsty she was. He set the other glass in front of Rose then went back for his own before finally taking his seat at the table.

Rose held the glass between her hands but didn't take a drink. "And it was a very good thing you did, getting out like that. Hiding might have only made things worse. But…"

"But?" Amelia repeated after a moment.

Rose looked at the Doctor for a moment and made a face. "But we're upset you had to be in that position to begin with. We're angry at you for leaving without telling us, we're angry at those people for what they did, but mostly we're angry at ourselves. Because we knew this could happen. We tried so very hard to make sure nothing like that happened but, of course, it was bound to happen eventually."

"Last night, what happened at the party, is…well… I don't want to say normal, 'cos it's not, but stuff like that happens a lot and more often than not we get caught up in it." Rose finally took a drink of her milk.

Amelia's own drink suddenly seemed very unappetizing as the butterflies in her stomach overtook the hunger pains.

"Our life isn't a fairytale, Little Red." The Doctor explained quietly, but firmly. "It can be fun sometimes but other times it's dangerous. Very dangerous. …Far too dangerous for a child."

She took a deep breath and exhaled softly. "I'm going home, aren't I?"

The Doctor and Rose nodded. "It's for the best, we think," the latter confirmed.

Amelia nodded.

"It's not that you did anything wrong," the Doctor assured her. "We don't want anything bad to happen to you and we agree it's time to quit while we're ahead. Who's to say the next time we get into a bind you'll be able to make it out unhurt?"

She nodded again. She understood, she really did. Honestly, after last night she could do with a bit of normalcy. She missed being surrounded by her own kind and by people who could speak her language. She missed Rory, her aunt, and even boring Leadworth. But, even still, the thought of leaving this magical box and its inhabitants was a bit much.

"It was only supposed to be one trip to begin with, remember? We've been meaning to take you back for days now, but you were having so much fun, and we've enjoyed having you around." He smiled at her. "You're a wonderful little girl, Amelia."

She beamed at the praise but sobered almost immediately. "Will you come and visit me?"

"Ah, that's…probably not such a good idea," the Doctor said quickly. "We don't regularly make stops at Leadworth, or the 1990s, for that matter. And how would we explain ourselves to your friends and family?"

"You mean we can't just tell them the truth?"

The adults glanced at each other quickly and Rose cleared her throat, taking a drink. "Yeaaahhh," the Doctor drawled. "Best not."

"So…I won't ever see you again?" Tears began to well in Amelia's eyes.

"Now, we didn't say that," Rose interjected quickly. "I'm sure we will. It just…probably won't be for a while. But when you're older, definitely."

"And, I tell you what." The Doctor leaned forward with a smile on his face. "When you're all grown up and finished with school, if you still want to come with us, then you can. You can spend years and years with us if you want but until then, even if you see us, you can't come with us. Does that sound fair?"

Amelia thought about it. Growing up was going to take a long time. She still had years and years of school left, and even more if she sat her A-levels and went to university. She wasn't sure she wanted to wait that long. But what other choice did she have? They'd made it quite clear she couldn't stay now and that being a kid wasn't safe with them. The promise of years and years travelling was appealing. "Promise?"

"Cross my hearts and hope to die," the Doctor swore, making an 'X' on each side of his chest.

Amelia cracked a smile. "Stick a needle through your eye?"

"Oh, definitely."

They decided to feed her breakfast before taking her home. It had been in the middle of the night when they'd picked her up and nothing was worse than going to bed hungry. Not that she was sure she'd be able to sleep when she got home but if she was going to have to sit up in her room all night until her aunt woke up then she definitely didn't want to do it hungry. Her last meal on the TARDIS was hotcakes and oatmeal with some delicious fruit juice from another planet to wash it all down. The Doctor and Rose tried to keep the mood light but what was coming weighed heavily on Amelia and she couldn't quite have a good time.

Much to her displeasure, Amelia wasn't allowed to take anything with her. Not any of the clothes or toys or art supplies she'd been given. How would she be able to explain them, the Doctor pointed out, since no time will have passed when she got home? She would leave exactly as she came. She had to change back into the clothes she'd come aboard in, from her nighty to her socks.

She was going back to the night of her birthday, two weeks older. Wow, that meant from now on, her birthday was actually two weeks before it was actually celebrated! That was going to be funny to think about when it came time. She wondered if Rory would believe her if she told him. Her aunt definitely wouldn't.

When the three of them gathered in the console room again to take her home, Rose had on a t-shirt and track pants, the latter of which she took to mean they wouldn't be going anywhere after this today except probably to sleep. She wondered if they'd gotten any last night at all.

Of course, Amelia couldn't help but cry. She wanted to go home but at the same time she didn't want to leave, knowing it would be years and years before she could come back. It wasn't fair. She wanted both. Home and the Doctor and Rose. Who cares if people think it's weird?

"Please will you visit?" she pleaded. "I don't wanna say goodbye."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Rose asked her. "You know part of you is always going to be expecting us to show up at any time. I don't want you to waste your life waiting for us. …I know what it can do to a person." she said honestly.

Amelia sniffled.

"She's right," the Doctor agreed as he messed with the keyboard on the console. "I have a friend named Sarah who used to travel with me. I had to leave her behind when we were both much younger. A few years ago, quite by accident, we met again. She'd been waiting for me to come back all that time." He sounded pained. He took a step away from the console and turned around, kneeling down to her eye level. Who knows all the things she gave up because she was always expecting me to come back for her? I don't want you to do that, too. You're young. You've got so much ahead of you between now and being a grown up. I want you to do everything you want to do without worrying you'll miss one of our visits. I don't want you to get all upset if we accidentally miss a visit, either, because that'd probably happen. So I'm adding to our deal just a little.

"You grow up, and you have a fantastic life. Do great in school if you can and if you can't, because not everyone is meant for school, that's okay, too. Just make sure you do your best in everything you do and have a great time. Then, when you're older, you come with us if you want to. You might not want to."

"Oh, I will," she said without a doubt, reaching up to wipe her tears.

The Doctor bobbed his head to the side. "Well, then. There you are. We might check in on you every now and then to see how you're doing but don't expect visits. Just make us proud."

"Okay!" she agreed with enthusiasm. She could do that, she was sure of it.

The Doctor tapped the tip of her nose and stood up. He flipped a switch on the console and Amelia felt the ship fly through time. The ride seemed a bit bumpier than usual but Rose held onto her tightly and neither of them fell. The ship touched down with scarcely more than a bump.

"Here we are. Same night you left." The Doctor announced. "Maybe, ooh, and hour so off. Bit difficult landing in close proximity to a past version of the TARDIS but I did me best. At most it's closer to dawn than anything. Aand…" his voice lowered, the enthusiasm fading. "This is where we leave you, Miss Amelia Pond."

She gulped and looked at the doors across the room that would lead her back to her real life. She wondered what would happen if she ran through the other set of doors. Would she be able to hide or would the ship keep her from leaving? Would they catch her and drag her back out? She decided she didn't want to find out. The Doctor might take back his deal.

"I'm gonna miss you," she sniffled.

"And we'll miss you, too," Rose said, kneeling down, and enveloped her in a warm hug. "But it is time."

Amelia entered the TARDIS alone but she left it with both its occupants on either side, holding her hands. They opened the doors for her and Amelia felt the cool night air hit her in the face and she inhaled, filling her lungs with proper Earth air for the first time in a while. She gazed around at her garden, with its shed, fences, plants, and swing. She looked up at the house. All the lights were off, her aunt slumbering within completely unaware of what had transpired.

Amelia sighed heavily. This was her home, however much she didn't like it. She could at least appreciate it a little more, though. But at the same time…how could she ever view boring old Leadworth as anything but dull now that she'd seen what lied beyond the sky?

"Thank you." The words left her mouth before she'd even really considered them but they felt right.

"It was our pleasure," the Doctor replied.

Amelia looked up at him, then at Rose who smiled, squeezed her hand, and let go. "Be careful," she said. "And good luck."

"Yeah. You too," Amelia said seriously.

She inhaled through her nose, exhaled through her mouth, then took off at a run out of the TARDIS, through the garden, towards her house. She thought she heard the TARDIS doors close behind her. And when she reached her back door she heard something she hadn't since the very first night the TARDIS had arrived in her garden. It started off loudly, a wheezing, grating sound that she now knew to be the sound of the rotor at work, mixed with whirling whooshes and other cosmic sounds. Turning around, she saw the big blue box flickering in and out of existence before finally fading away all together and the sound of its departure disappeared in the wind.

Her next inhale was shaky but she forced herself not to cry again. They'd be back. They'd promised.

Amelia reached for the door and as she shifted, she noticed a weight in her sweater that she hadn't before. Reaching inside, she pulled out the rainbow slinky she'd taken from the slinky room when she'd first arrived. Eyes widening, she looked at the place where the TARDIS had disappeared, and without thinking, shouted out, "WAIT! Doctor! Rose! Come back! I forgot your slinky!"

Of course, they didn't rematerialize. Instead a light turned on up stairs and Amelia groaned under her breath. Oh, great, now she'd done it. There was no way she was getting back to her bed now. She sighed and prepared herself for the worst, tucking the slinky back in her pocket, then opened the back door and stepped inside.

The thing about the Doctor is that to a young child like Amelia he's only a few pegs down from being a god. To innocent, imaginative eyes, he is a magic man, a genius, and a miracle worker. He has Santa Status, maybe higher. Amelia trusted the Doctor completely, took everything he said as truth, so of course she had no way of knowing, hadn't even bothered to consider that he might not have gotten her back when he'd said he would.

So Amelia was entirely unprepared to learn she had been missing for three whole days.

END OF PART 1

Oh, I wonder what's next...