11
As the moon rose high in the sky, a new festival began. Everything left from the Day of Colors was unpacked again, and more. Flowers poured into the Fertile City, bright banners went up on every wall. Laughter reigned in every house. Even those in mourning joined the celebration, commemorating their loved ones.
Decorations for every festival mixed together; illuminators from the Day of Light were hung high, shining below the glittering globes of Star Night, levitating in the air. The brightest costumes were unpacked, even for the children who would only get them dirty. It didn't matter.
Music sprang up, slow and sporadic at first, but soon becoming a constant stream as more and more bands pulled out their instruments. Dancing followed quickly, swirling into every corner of the city. Bells and rattles stirred in the music, jangling as they moved on the legs of the Havi. Gold and bronze suns hung from the ears of the Fanti, glinting as they danced. Scented scarves moved like wings, tied to the arms of dancers.
In one corner of the city, the dancers moved to a strange and beautiful new music. Something called Three-dog-night.
The Doctor spun Rose round and round, then danced a jig with a Sar half his height. He leaped into the air. Relief. Joy. Love. Pride. It coursed through the air; he breathed it in, savoring the notes of emotion as he did the music. Oh what a night! What a night!
A Havi grabbed the Doctor's shirt in its teeth, and lifted him up, putting him on its back. He laughed, balancing like a trick-rider. The skin of his arms tingled with swirls of paint and bright blooms of color. Even his hair had stripes of paint in it, like the Fanti around him, who looked like they'd been dipped in a child's set of colors. He spotted the Walker spinning through the crowd, and made a leap from his mount.
"Hey, little Walker!"
A rainbow of colors had been streaked through her hair like the tail of a comet. Stars and suns had been painted on her face, her hands, swirling up her arms and melding with the bright, nebula-hued dress she wore. She laughed, her dark eyes alight and shining.
"Oh Grandfather! Grandfather!"
"I know!!" There were no words for the beauty of the moment. They laughed together, their minds open to one another and the world. How good it felt. How very right. The Doctor had heard the stories of heaven. Stories from many cultures. Well, in his book, this was it.
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The Walker and the Doctor had helped Rose sync her IPod to their TARDISs, who worked in perfect harmony to blaze the sound into the warm air. Cascada, Katy Perry, Leona Lewis and Pink, Billy Joel and Pat Benetar; everything upbeat, full of joy. The Sar were amazing musicians, and they joined into the music, though the melodies were something they had never heard anything like. Flute and drum blended with impossible perfection into electric guitar and synthesizer. The warbling voices of the Fanti rose in song.
Rose had bells on her feet. She had paint in her hair. And she was dancing like a prat. But in a good way; the dress she'd been given shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow as she moved. A Sar took her hand, and they danced something between be-bop and the waltz.
See that man all dressed in green
Iko Iko Inay
He's not a man he's a loving machine!
They spun like separate planets.
Hey now
Hey Now
Iko Iko Unday!
The music changed again, speeding the dance. Rose laughed. She'd danced to this in her ninth year! The music spun out.
Callin' out around the world
Are
you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer's here and the time is
right
For dancin' in the streets
They're dancin' in
Chicago
Down in New Orleans
Up in New York City
And they were dancing on Fanti-Havi!
All we need is music, sweet music
There'll be music
everywhere
There'll be swingin', swayin' and records playin'
And
dancin' in the streets
"Dancing in the street is right!"
And there was the Doctor, done up like a circus-man. He was stripped to the waist, and every inch of him, chest, face, arms and back had been painted, starting with a great design of a water droplet sending out ripples, plastered over his pectorals.
"Nice bucket of paint!"
He looked down, then back at her, grinning like a kid.
"Their symbol for a doctor. Nice, aye?"
She laughed until her sides were sore.
"Don't you dare wash until I get a picture of you!"
"Walker said she would! She'll give us copies. Oh!" He jumped into the air as the next song started.
"I love this one Rose! Come on!"
The dancing went on for untold hours. When revelers could dance no longer they sat together, telling tales and singing. The Doctor and the Walker were welcome everywhere, with their wondrous tales to tell. Even Rose was begged to imitate Scottish brogue and tell about werewolves and strange sea-creatures. And the music. It carried them all, weaving them together.
The sun had risen high in the sky before the Doctor made his way back to his TARDIS. He stepped gingerly around sleeping friends, splayed out without a care in the galaxy. He breathed deep, savoring the flowers and spices, endorphins and baking odors. Reaching the door, he paused a moment, and looked out on a world radiant with joy. He sighed happily. He often saved planets. But very rarely did he celebrate the victory.
In the distance, another band began to play. The Doctor shook his head. Where did they get the energy?
Still grinning, he walked inside and flopped down in the console chair. Bits of paint flaked in every direction. He leaned his head back, breathing deep. The hum of the TARDIS enveloped him. She was just as happy as he was, old girl, and overjoyed to be parked next to another of her own kind, someone else to talk to properly. The Walker's TARDIS had taken to her famously. Which, he supposed, made a lot of sense. He listened to her chuckles and deep internal burbling. How he'd missed her when he'd been sick. He sent his emotions out, and the central column glowed bright. She'd missed him, too.
The door creaked open, and the Walker came in, Rose in her arms.
"Found her sleeping on Thak; Havi friend of mine. Where should I put her?"
"Let's go and sit in my room, shall we? I'll carry her."
"I have it."
"And you've got to tell me why everyone knows you here. From the Triune down. You're like a legend. Did you just put up a banner saying 'Hello, Walker here'?"
She laughed at the joke in his voice.
"I'm no legend. Just a friend. I enjoy being here. And they accept me. Part of the charm of this planet. Havi respond to strange things with interest, Sar have a deep need to learn. And the Fanti-well, you've met them. They'll be friends with anyone who lets them talk. I didn't have to hide anything here."
"I can see why you like it. Nice lot, they are. This'd happened on Earth, there would have been a real mess."
"I can imagine. Comes from growing out of primates. Curiosity is the driving force here."
"Well, that can be a problem too."
The Walker laughed.
"I said curiosity, Grandfather. Not your brand of madness."
He grinned, shrugging. Curiosity had always been his weakness. Even when he was her age.
The music followed them down the hall. The door to his room was unusually close to the console room. Nice of the old girl. He opened it, holding it for his granddaughter.
"Go ahead and set her on my sleep mat. "
She did, and he grabbed his lovely brown coat, draping it over Rose. Looking at the sleeping figure, the Time Lords smiled.
"She looks so young." The Walker murmured.
The Doctor chuckled.
"She's about your age. Relatively speaking."
The Walker nodded.
"But I think I fit a bit more in." She looked at her grandfather, and smiled.
In the background, a new song began in a wail of harmonica.
He met her eyes, smiling in return. But his emotions shifted from the pure joy she had felt.
"What is it?"
He cocked his head.
"Am I that transparent?"
She smiled.
"You've been around humans too long. Your emotions are wide open."
He nodded. His smile was small now, quiet.
Billy Joel sang.
Everybody
wants to hear the secrets But you swore to yourself a long time ago
That you never told a soul before
And
it's not that strange
Because it wouldn't change
what happened
anyhow
There were
some things that people never needed to know
Guess there's one
that you keep
That you bury so deep
No one can tear it out
"You've got our sigil on your forehead. Just noticed."
Startled, the Walker peered at herself in the chrome of the Doctor's sleep shelf. He was right. Amidst the stars on her skin, in deep blue, shone the double spiral of Infinity. Sigil of Time Lords. She moved a hand to it.
And
you can't talk about it
Because you're following a code of
silence
You're never gonna to lose the anger
You just deal with
it a different way
"Someone
must have seen it on my ship."
"Don't-" He stopped her
restless hand.
"Don't rub it off. It's-rather nice to see,
really. And you're old enough to wear it properly."
She nodded. Silence fell.
And
you still have a rage inside you But you've been through it once So you can't talk about it
That you carry with a certain
pride
In the only part of the broken heart
That you could ever
save
You know how it
ends
You don't see the point
Of going through it again
And
this ain't the place
And this ain't the time
And neither's any
other day
Because you're
following a code of silence
You're never gonna to lose the
anger
You just deal with it a different way
The Walker met her grandfather's eyes. She had to tell him, had to explain why she hadn't been there when she should have been.
"I tried to get home, Grandfather. But every which way I turned, I was blocked. We were. Just kept fighting, and fighting and…."
His eyes were turned inward, watching memories. "Something like that on my end. Everyone had a brilliant plan. Most worked. There were just…too many fronts to fight on. Back. Forwards. In space."
"If I'd tried…"
I
know you well enough to tell you've got your reasons
That's not
the kind of code you're inclined to break
Some things unknown are
best left alone forever
And if a vow is what it takes
Haven't
you paid for your mistakesNo. Her mistakes
would never be paid for. People had died because she was too young
and stupid to save them. Her planet was gone. And she hadn't
been there to defend it.
Her grandfather gave her a small smirk.
"Oh, one half-grown kid would have changed the whole battle? Don't think like that, Suzz. I did. For ten years. Near drove me mad. We did what we had to do."
She could see it. His pain. His shock. It had literally killed him; he'd let himself die just after the destruction. But the memory of the end itself was blocked from her. Probably blocked from himself. Tears pricked her eyes. Damn, she hated to cry.
And
it's hard to believe after all these years But you can't
talk about it
That it still gives you
pain and it still brings tears
And you feel like a fool
Because
in spite of your rules
You've got a memory
Because you're following a code of silence
You're
never gonna to lose the anger
You just deal with it a different
way
She
swallowed against the lump in her throat.
"For a young people, humans do have a tendency to hit the nail on the head. Code of silence. That's us."
Her grandfather listened to the music.
"Yeah. Suppose they do. Thirty years. And I still…"
But
you can't talk about it
And isn't that a kind of madness
To be
living by a code of silence
When you've really got a lot to say
The Walker breathed deep. She needed her voice to be steady.
"There's so much I don't…understand. Especially in that…..that last year."
He smiled ruefully.
"Yes. I was there. And some of it I can't make sense of myself."
He turned, meeting her eyes and mind.
"Like why I'm alive. I should have died, Suzz."
She nodded. Her fingers bunched in the red grass, releasing a scent she had missed so much.
"So should I. When… when I got home, I thought I would. I wished I would, Grandfather."
The music had ceased.
Folding in on herself, his granddaughter rested her chin on her knee, as she had three hundred years ago, a child waiting for a story. But now she had stories too. He could see the battles in her mind, hear the death. She had fought as well. He wished he could have kept her from it. But he hadn't been able to keep anyone safe. Not in the end. They'd told him to protect the universe. He'd been ordered, and he'd been asked. And he had acted.
So had she. He could see it.
Slowly, carefully, two minds shared memories. A child held tight to her grandfather. Two hearts would surely crack with the pain. But maybe four hearts, beating together, would last.
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Three days had passed, and the Festival of Joy was just winding down. It seemed that the three of them had spent every second together. Or, at least, every second Rose wasn't sleeping. Though the Time Lords' eyes been red the morning after the victory, when Rose woke, they'd been laughing together as they removed the program blocking their senses from the Walker's TARDIS. They'd traded quite a lot back and forth; books got copied, including all of the Walker's All Creatures Great and Small series, and Marnal Gates's books. The Doctor gave his granddaughter cuttings of all his Gallifreyan plants, helping her install them in a hydroponic room that her TARDIS suddenly had on hand. The Walker got Rose to help her carry spare parts over to the Doctor's ship. She even offered him a spare chameleon circuit to replace the TARDIS's, which, of course, the Doctor refused.
"The phone-box look is good! I've grown rather attached to it."
They traded memory cubes as well, copying pictures of family and friends, landscapes and adventures. They even ended up dragging out the cricket gear, which meant that now several bats had tooth marks where Havi had held them in their mouths to play.
And they talked. Long and sometimes loud. Where they'd been. What they'd seen. Favorite places were recommended, and danger zones were traded. Best ways to move the ship. The Doctor insisted the Walker still had a lot to learn on that front. She had broke the tie by asking how often the Doctor got his dates wrong.
"Below the belt!" he'd said.
It had been wonderful.
But there came a time when they embraced in farwell.
"You sure you won't come with us?" the Doctor asked.
"My ol' girl has plenty of space for yours inside."
She smiled and shook her head, her dark hair bobbing.
"I'm the Walker. I choose my own path. And I still have quite a lot to do here."
The Doctor smiled, his scruffy hair blown in the warm breeze.
"You really do love it here."
The Walker nodded.
"Earth is your special place. Fanti-Havi is mine."
She smiled again. Then she buried her face in the pinstripe of his suit.
The Doctor smiled awkwardly at Rose, patting the Walker's shoulder.
"Oof! Careful, you'll crack a rib."
The Walker giggled, pulling away.
"And you'll come again. Soon!"
"Course! And you track me down some time! No more than ten years between visits, tops!"
"Yes Grandfather."
She stepped back, smiling.
"Well, cheerio, then! Isn't that what they say on Earth? Or have I got it wrong?"
Rose and the Doctor exchanged a smile and a shake of the head. Together, they walked into the TARDIS. The Walker waved until dematerialization was complete.
The Doctor leaned against the console, a small smile on his face. He ran a hand down the central column. Then he bounced around, and grinned at Rose.
"Right! Where to?"
Rose shrugged.
"Your choice."
The Doctor's deep eyes sparkled.
"Then I know the ticket. We'll
go see Billy Joel. In concert. America or Russia?"
Rose sat up.
"Billy Joel as in the singer?"
"Who else? Should be loads of fun."
"Just don't land us in Cheronobyl."
He gave her his manic grin, and took off around the console. Off to another time, another place. But in all the time streams, he could now sense one tiny spark. Like an ember. Like a candle. It made the universe a slightly less lonely place.
It made his hearts expand.
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Years and parsects away, the Walker tidied her TARDIS. All the guests had left the place a shambles. She used the front of her shirt as a basket, picking up misplaced objects and putting them where they belonged when she got there. The TARDIS had cleaned any messes, but she wasn't particular about object placement. The Walker was.
Finally, she was near done. Walking down a wide cream corridor, she felt for her own room. The door opened on to the plush carpet she loved so. Humming, the Walker set trinkets back where they had wandered from.
Pulling three cubes from the folds of her shirt, she set them on a long, low shelf with others of their kind. Some were permanently on, displaying handsome vistas. Others were dark, filled with things she'd rather not see each day.
She patted the last cube, then caressed the surface with two fingers. Her smooth face was lit by the white brilliance of its wake sequence for a moment. It was good to know that, on another ship, these same images rested with many others. She watched the three brightly painted figures dancing in a circle, two girls and a thin man covered in color. She smiled, humming along to Three Dog Night's 'Road to Shambala'. Still smiling, she crossed the room, and closed the door.
And the dance went on.