Vairë sat, her legs crossed at the ankles and her elbows over her knees, and watched the flowers sway in the gentle breeze. The day before, she’d overseen the initiation of another several dozen Time Wardens and Watchers. The system used on Galliterra was very different from the one used on Gallifrey. Instead of taking children who were eight years old and forcing them to look down the Untempered Schism, all children were enrolled in school at ten years of age. They did general courses until they were twenty-five when they were permitted to leave school if they desired or to pursue higher studies at one of the many Academies. There were various levels of degrees to obtain in many disciplines – the arts, the humanities, mathematics, the sciences, law, politics, and business to name a few. Upon reaching the completion of what Terrans would call their “Master’s degree” (a name that amused Koschei to no end), those who were prepared to take on the duties that came with being a Time Warden or Watcher were tested and screened. Only those who passed that phase were initiated by gazing into the Untempered Schism. Only one out of a hundred of them went mad and Vairë, with the assistance of the Silver Fang Sisterhood, cared for them, helping them to regain their sanity. They were then tested again to see if they were suitable for either order if they so desired. Then, they were allowed to live out their lives as they pleased. Many went on to become doctors or to join the Silver Fang Sisterhood.
She had accomplished much. And yet, she had never felt so alone before in her life. Maggie stood near her home and she spent many hours each day sitting in the console room, communing with her sister. The last TARDIS to be born on Gallifrey was a mother and a grandmother many times over now and she rejoiced in her descendants. Vairë visited Koschei and Lucy and their children frequently. Her nieces and nephews loved it when she told them stories of her travels or of Terra where she had been born. But when she tried to wander the streets of Galliterra, she caused a ruckus. “Mother of the Multitude” was one of the titles she bore now. Her lectures at the Academy were always well-attended but no one dared argue with her. No one dared contradict her. Even when she said something that was blatantly wrong. It was driving her absolutely spare. So, she kept herself apart.
She was also struggling to ignore the itching in her feet. She wanted to move again. She wanted to travel. To explore. To find herself neck-deep in trouble with only her wits to pull her out of the boiling kettle. She wanted to find the Doctor and throw herself at him and beg him to hold her so she wouldn’t be so alone. She wanted to find Martha and travel with her again. She wanted to return to London and be able to see her mum. To get slapped for being out too late. She wanted to play video games with Mickey. She wanted…she wanted to be normal again. Just Vairë. Not some mythic maternal figure near-worshipped by her own people. Not some legendary savior. Just plain Vairë.
Sighing gustily, she stood up from the padded bench and walked out of the tree-ringed glade. There would be no more initiations for a year. No one from this group had gone mad. There were a few guests on the island but the Sisters and the doctors had them well in hand. Aside from the very rare funeral where a Galliterran had chosen not to use one of their ten regenerations (Time Wardens and Watchers had an additional ten granted them due to the hazards of their lifestyles), Vairë had nothing to do other than immerse herself in her own studies, weave yet more tapestries, visit with her family, and spend her time in solitude.
“Enough is enough,” she muttered to herself, surprised to find her voice somewhat hoarse and low-pitched. How long had it been since she’d spoken to someone? Three months? Four? “I am getting back out there. I’m going to find trouble again and throw myself at it. If I keep sitting around here, I’m going to go absolutely mental.”
Decision made, she went to consult with Maggie. The TARDIS could hover herself and let Vairë push her to the boat that would take them to the shore of the main continent. Travel to and from the Tol Eressëa was by boat only – the TARDIS garden and the Untempered Schism made landing a TARDIS there chancy at best. She would pay a visit to Koschei and his family to let them know where she was going and then she’d be off. Vairë Carter, the Mother of the Multitude, in the TARDIS once more.
~*~*~*~
“No, I understand,” Vairë said, injecting happiness into her voice. “Tell me when you’ve got the date set. I’d love to crash your wedding, Martha. And you must let me take you and Tom on a honeymoon. There’s this great luxury planet called Midnight. You’d love it.”
She and her friend chatted amiably a few minutes more before Martha begged off to go to work. She was working for UNIT now and quite happy with her job. She was engaged to be married. Her family had reconciled and were acting better than they ever had before. Martha was no longer trapped in the middle of their arguments. Vairë was happy for her. Martha had built a life for herself and was not willing to leave it. Vairë could understand that even if it did leave her short a companion and no desire to travel alone. Sighing, she tried to think of what she could do. Make yet another attempt to visit old France? No, that would be useless. Over the years, she and her brother had made it an annual habit to try right after the Winter Night festival. They were up to seventy-two attempts without a single success. She was still particularly upset about the most recent attempt when they’d wound up crashing into a spaceship called the Titanic and she’d had to watch as several innocent people died in a bid to attempt a madman’s scheme. However, she had met a man named Alonso which made her think that she should use “Allons-y” as a call sign. “Allons-y, Alonso” had just sounded so ridiculous she couldn’t keep herself from saying it, even if it was French.
“Bolshoi,” she grunted. Russian wasn’t her favorite language but it and German had a certain…pithiness to them that she found comforting when she was upset. Scanning the time lines, she grinned. Something was going wonky on Earth in London, 2009. She intended to be there. Maybe there she could find someone to fill the void in her life and travel with her for a bit until she figured out how to find the Doctor.
~*~*~*~
“I’m waving at fat,” Donna said incredulously.
“Actually, as a diet plan, it sort of works,” Vairë grinned. She’d set out to simply stop Adipose Industries and keep them from interfering on Earth. The Shadow Proclamation was going to be pissed when word got back to them about what the Adipose had done. Regardless of how they had lost their own breeding planet – Adipose III – seeding and harvesting from a Level Five world was strictly prohibited. At the moment, though, Vairë was more worried about Matron Foster than anything else.
“There she is,” Vairë whispered as she ran over to the edge of the roof. “Matron Corfelia, listen to me!” she called out.
“Oh, I don’t think so, Miss Carter. And if I never see you again, it will be too soon,” the blonde super nanny said contemptuously.
“Oh, why does no one ever listen? I’m trying to help! Just get across to the roof. Can you shift the levitation beam?” Vairë shouted. The instructions she’d seen on the monitor earlier did not bode well for Miss Foster or Matron Corfelia or whatever she wanted to call herself.
“What, so that you can arrest me?” Miss Foster laughed.
“Just listen. I saw the Adiposian instructions – they know it’s a crime, breeding on Earth. So what’s the one thing they want to get rid of? Their accomplice!” Vairë explained as Donna watched on in amazement. She would give the nanny this chance. She always gave them a chance.
“I’m far more than that. I’m nanny to all these children.”
“Exactly! Mum and Dad have got the kids now, they don’t need the nanny anymore!” Vairë shouted. Please, please, please let her listen. Let her be saved! Don’t let me lose another person! Not another Astrid or Bannakaffalatta or Morvin and Foon Van Hoff! Not another innocent life ending because I couldn’t save them! Vairë pleaded to any deity who might be listening. It seemed that none were, though. The blue levitation light winked out and Miss Foster plummeted to the concrete street below. Donna buried her face in her hands but Vairë forced herself to look down over the side of the building and to memorize the horrific sight. When she returned home, she would commend the woman’s spirit. “Go well on your journey, Matron Corfelia. May we meet again in the West and sing the Song,” she added in Galliterran.
In silence, Vairë and Donna made their way down to the TARDIS. Vairë looked on with a mix of sorrow and bemusement as Donna pulled suitcases out of her car. This time it seemed that the older woman wanted to travel.
“You know,” Vairë said quietly, “it’s a funny old life, in the TARDIS…”
“Do you not want me to come?” Donna asked sadly.
“No, I’d love you to come. It just…it can get a bit intense.”
“I don’t mind.”
“Then come on. Give me your bags. What are you going to do about your car, though? Can’t just leave it here.”
“Oh, I’ll ring my mum and have her come pick it up. Just a moment?”
“I’ll get your bags packed away,” Vairë promised. She was ready to have a companion again. Something about Donna reminded her of herself so many centuries ago.
Donna walked out of the alleyway while she told her mother where to find the keys to the car. She dumped them in a bin and scanned the crowd. A tall, skinny, brown-haired streak of nothing was standing with his arms hanging over the police barricade. Donna tapped him on the shoulder. “‘Scuse me,” she said. “Listen, there is this woman that’s going to come along, a tall blond woman called Sylvia, tell her that bin there. Right, it’ll all make sense. That bin there.”
“Right,” he muttered, sounding irritated. Donna hurried back to the TARDIS and ran inside. Her bags were stowed around the console and Vairë stood, her hands on her hips.
“So, whole wide universe, where do you want to go?” she asked with a smile.
“Oh, I know exactly the place. Two and a half miles that way,” Donna pointed.
The TARDIS flew over the place where Donna’s grandfather, Wilf, sat with his telescope. He saw it and began waving. That was his granddaughter, his Donna, up there in the sky. Exactly where she belonged.