Prologue

XXXX

I swung my feet back and forth while I coloured at the table, looking up to smile at my mom. She smiled back at me before she winked and slid a cookie to me.

"Thank you," I said before I took a big bite.

"You're welcome Emma," Mom replied.

"I thought we agreed that she wasn't allowed to have sweets." Dad said from the kitchen and Mom frowned. I swallowed quickly and took another big bite because if I ate it then they couldn't take it away. Dad sounded mad and Mom was frowning, and that combination was never good.

"It's a cookie. Under no definition is a cookie defined as a sweet," Mom stated as she ran a hand over my head. Her hand was a little shaky like it always got when she was trying not to yell back.

"Oh, so that's going to be how we do this now, is it? By making rules with loopholes built-in?!" Dad started waving his arms around as he talked and Mom frowned harder before she stood up, left the table and headed into the kitchen. I knew that this wasn't going to go very well so I waited a few seconds before I wrote them a note and slipped out the door. I ran to my special place in the park at the end of my street, a small group of trees that made a small circle. It was far enough away from my house to not hear the shouting, but still close enough that Mom and Dad could find me.

Today was different because just as I reached my place I heard a strange groaning noise and saw a blue box appear out of thin air. A man in a suit poked his head out the door. His hair was very spiky, like a pineapple. I thought it was cool.

"Excuse me sir," I piped up and he turned his head to look at me. He looked as if he'd been crying, but I decided it would probably be rude to ask.

"Yes?" He asked as he straightened his suit. It was all wrinkly and made me wonder about what was inside the box.

"Is your box supposed to make that noise?" I asked and the man made a strange noise, almost like a laugh, but as if he choked in the process. His gaze shifted to my dress.

"What on Earth are you wearing?" I sighed as he changed the subject. It wasn't fair that grown-ups could do that. I glared down at my pink puffy dress.

"My Mom made me," I replied and crossed my arms over my chest. I still wasn't happy about that. I didn't like pink. Or puffiness. Or dresses.

"Why?" He asked in confusion. It suddenly dawned on me that I was talking to a stranger and I wasn't allowed to do that. But I didn't want to stop talking to this strange man who had appeared out of thin air.

"My name's Emma Bradley," I blurted out and the man gave me a weird look.

"What!?" He replied while he frowned at me.

"You have to tell me your name now," I stated.

"What!?" He repeated, looking more confused now.

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers. But you're weird and I like weird, so if we introduce ourselves we won't be strangers. Grownups do it all the time," I explained and he laughed.

"I'm the Doctor. Just call me Doctor. Nice to meet you Emma Bradley," He introduced himself and was even nice enough to shake my hand like a grown up would.

"I'm wearing this dress because it's my sixth birthday and Mom thinks that means I need to start dressing like a little lady," The Doctor hit himself on the forehead and dashed back inside his box. Before I could call after him he reappeared with a picnic basket hanging off his arm. He spread out a blanket on the ground and helped me to sit down.

"Do you always keep a picnic ready to go in your box?" I asked curiously as he handed me a peanut butter and honey sandwich, which just happened to be my favourite.

"Not always. And my box is called the TARDIS. It's a time and space machine," He answered and I gasped in excitement.

"Really!? Can you go anywhere!?" The Doctor laughed at my enthusiasm and nodded.

"Anywhere, anytime. Now I believe I owe you a story," The Doctor announced and I looked at him in confusion.

"You do?" I asked. He winced before he leaned forward, placing his finger on his lips. I leaned towards him as well.

"I'm from the future. Your future," He whispered, grinning when I gasped in delight, before he continued. "And you made me promise to tell you a story when the time came."

"I did? But how will I know when to tell you the story about telling you a story?" I asked.

"You'll know," the Doctor replied as he smiled softly, like Mom and Dad did sometimes when they knew something I didn't.

"Now are you ready for your story?" He asked and I nodded enthusiastically before I took a very big bite of my sandwich so that I wouldn't be tempted to ask him more questions and gave him big smile. He smiled and smoothed down my hair before he leaned back on his hands and began telling me about a girl named Rose Tyler and how she, the Doctor and a woman named Harriet Jones saved the world from a race of aliens called the Slitheen by blowing up Downing Street. As the Doctor finished his story he looked sad, like Mom when we talked about Grandma.

"What happened to Rose?" I asked gently as I placed my hand on top of his. The corner of the Doctor's lips quirked up in surprise.

"You seem very grown up for a six-year-old," He changed the subject and I frowned. It really wasn't fair that grownups could do that. But since Mom wasn't here maybe I could get away with doing the same.

"Can I come with you? I'm very small, so I can fit in the TARDIS," I blurted out and the Doctor laughed. I waited for a moment because I wasn't sure why he was laughing. It wasn't the kind of laugh adults did before they said 'maybe when you're older' but it wasn't quite a 'yes' either.

"Not yet. But one day," He paused and pulled out his pocket watch and glancing at it before he jumped up suddenly. "Anyways, you should probably be getting back to your birthday party." The Doctor lifted me up off the blanket and spun me around before he set me on my feet. He quickly packed up the picnic and was about to dash into the TARDIS when a thought occurred to me.

"Do you promise!?" My words made him pause and he stepped out of the TARDIS fully. I took a deep breath before I continued. "Adults always make promises that they don't keep," I finished and the Doctor smiled before kneeling in front of me.

"Well, Emma Bradley, you forgot that I'm from the future. You and I meet again on your twenty-sixth birthday." I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest again.

"But that's so far away!" I protested. "Will you even remember me?" The Doctor laughed again.

"That's the funny thing about time travel, next time you see me I won't have any idea who you are." At this he took my hand and drew a funny little circle on my palm with his finger. I scrunched up my nose because it tickled slightly.

"Why don't you know me?" I questioned and the Doctor looked up at the sky and sighed slightly.

"Wibbly wobbly timey wimey," He replied.

"If you don't know me why do you let me travel with you?" I asked, because Mom and Dad always said to never go anywhere with someone you don't know.

"I don't know why, but I do know that I couldn't imagine travelling without you. So, you and I will have a great many adventures. And that is a promise Emma," The Doctor finished and I threw my arms around him in thanks. He made another funny little noise as he patted my back gently. When I let go he stood up and headed back to his TARDIS.

"How do you fit in your TARDIS?" I asked after I realized how small the box actually was. He gave me a big smile and winked at me over his shoulder before he turned all the way around.

"It's bigger on the inside," He answered. I scrunched up my nose because that didn't make sense, but decided not to ask him about it.

"Okay then. See you later!" I shouted and waved at him. He waved back.

"It will be a great pleasure to meet you!" He closed the door and the strange noise followed behind me as I ran home. I stopped on the porch to look back towards the park. I was going to wave again, but my Mom came out before I could.

"Oh, there you are! What have you been up to?" Mom asked as she gave me a hug. Mom and Dad must have figured out what they were shouting about. Or had 'put a pin in it for now' as Dad said sometimes.

"I met the Doctor. He has a box that goes through space and time and he promised that we'd meet again on my twenty-sixth birthday and then we're going to have adventures," I answered. Mom laughed and smoothed down my hair before she hugged me.

"You certainly do have an impressive imagination," Mom replied as she led me into the house. I sighed dejectedly. I knew they weren't going to believe me.

XXXXXX

Well there we go!

So, in case any of you missed it, this is in fact an Alternate Universe with the Tenth Doctor and an OC companion. This takes place during the specials, but Emma will only appear in three of the canon episodes. Every other adventure has been designed by me, using both canon and made up monsters/villains. Also, be prepared for the fact that the Doctor and Emma will be falling in love, but not for a good long while. This is going to be a really slow burn.

Also, I thought that everyone might be interested to know that I'm going to be updating this weekly, so you can expect the next chapter next week. Hope to see you then!