Chapter Text
It was the three day holiday of Otherstide when they arrived, Sanjiandrovanri could tell by the fluttering bunting in the TT Capsule arrival bays and the coloured stickers on the passageways. She looked out of the scanner with a sigh, and picked up her bag. Teddy and Doggie would be pleased to be home, she hoped, but what would Tatty Bear, Bunny, and Dolly make of the new planet? Poor Dolly had already had one culture shock, England was different enough from India to be a struggle for one poor little rag doll. She wanted to go home, although what she meant by home, she did not know, but she felt a longing and a yearning that hurt her tummy and head and made her hearts feel like leaden stones in her chest, breathing hurt. All she could see was grey and pink, despite the jolly bunting, and felt empty. She knew it was just a TT Capsule materialisation bay, and not Gallifrey, but it still felt alien. She wanted her space under her lab bench with her train set, or curled up with an Earth children’s book in the little truckle bed at the end of Father’s in his room in the TARDIS. She wanted to sit by Carol Bell while she tracked the skies of Britain, or sit in the guardroom with Alan, Gary, and Steve, learning to play poker and eating the cakes that Alan’s Mum baked and sent in the post. She wanted to be taken to tea by Uncle Alistair, his warm brown eyes smiling over his stern, bristling, moustache.
Or did she want to be human? If Papa had not come to the vast TV mast by the Jones’ house, she would never have been dangerously curious, and she would never leaked out into Cassandra Jones at all, and Papa would not have made her open that horrible watch! Yes, with Cassandra’s Granddad life had not been perfect as a human child, but she had had nine years with a Mummy and Daddy, and Aunts and Uncles, to say nothing of a little brother and a pet dog, all who loved her. Or loved Cassandra, at least. In seven years on Gallifrey she had never had that.
So, she had been seven, and now she was nine, was she? Or eight? If Uncle Braxiatel had not put her through the Chameleon Arch she would never have left, and would be – what 250? 300? How far forward was she? Time Travel was forbidden in the Transduction Barrier, and of course, the wrong incarnation of both fathers and uncle has responded to her on Earth, and the High Council refused to let her back in her own time stream. Everyone she knew was now an adult. Maybe that was not so bad, her Father had grown increasingly odd, muttering and talking to himself and tripping over words, that the other Tots laughed at him behind his back, some even repeated words from their parents, like corrupted DNA, and not really graduated, and not very bright, but what can you expect?
With both parents exiled for centuries, and her Papa even erased from the Records and the Matrix, perhaps it would be a fresh start?
She felt sick. Sanjiandrovanri and Cassandra both liked school and teachers, just both didn’t get on with other children.
She tipped up her head, and heard Father in her mind say, ‘You own the place, act like you own the place, always works for me!’
The time rotor stopped with a terribly final ping, and,
“Well. Here we are. Must dash. Have your bag, dear niece? Good good,” and with that, Uncle Braxiatel kissed his fingertips, and then pressed them to the tip of Sanji’s nose, and ushered them hurriedly out of the door, slamming the capsule's doors behind them. She and the Coordinator had barely made two steps away when the sound of dematerialisation started.
Coordinator Aris sighed with irritation. “Wouldn't surprise me if your uncle was involved with the CIA, the way he pops here and there, in and out of the transduction barrier without a by your leave,” he said, unguardedly.
“I wouldn’t know, Coordinator.”
“Aris, my dear, we have known each other a long while, well, a long while for a Tot like you. Might I carry your bag?”
Sanjiandrovanri shook her head forcefully, before picking it up and putting it on her back.
“What an ingenious design. Still, I suppose humans are an inventive, productive species, not taking very long from standing upright and banging rocks together to covering five galaxies with their rather prolific offspring! I mean no disrespect, my dear,” he added, patting her on her shoulder.
It took the little girl a moment, she usually forgot she was technically one quarter human, although she felt any human DNA had been extracted by her loom. Her sisters usually said so, if the subject arose. It was a long time since they had all sat together. Beyond memory, almost, the Otherstide before Father threw Papa out of their apartments – before Papa had hit her! Hypatia was full of Susan’s first day at the Academy, after the holiday – or Larn Arkytior as Hypatia had called her daughter until Susan chose a new name, as some did when attended the Academy.
Apart from shortening her name to Sanji or Sanji-Anna, Sanjiandrovanri had no idea how she would change her name. They had all made the effort to use Susan the following Otherstide, although both her sisters had not liked it, nor Papa, and Father was hurt by it. Susan said she was embracing her ancestry, and Father had hugged her rather a lot and muttered and mumbled about bullies and bullying and cruel idiots! Portia had hugged little Damon and whispered fiercely how he would never choose to change his name.
Papa had laughed his nastiest laugh and pointed out her sisters’ names were the same as Susan’s just because they waited almost a century until they graduated, it made no difference.
“Well, my name goes with my career, it has dignity and education and culture in its choice, Susan is an Earth Sheboygan name,” Hypatia had replied, or rather screamed in Papa’s face.
Susan had stormed off, and Father stood up and threw a dish of marinated fish tongues at Papa and screamed at him to get out. Portia had not even come for the meal, merely popped by with presents, before she had gone to her husband’s family for the day. Hypatia and Susan had only supposed to pop in too, but Father forced them at least to stay for food, as Hypatia’s husband had been off world. She had sat under the table with her hands over her ears until her nurse found her, and lost her temper, and had been sacked on the spot! The housebot tried to clean up all the dishes Father had thrown, and he yelled at it to drown itself. It had very literal, simplistic, programming, so the poor thing did just that.
That had been her last Otherstide in her family home, it ended with Father and her and a huge mess, everyone else left. She never saw Hypatia until That Day, the day Papa had been arrested and Father stole Susan and a TARDIS and no one had seemed to know what to do with her. It had only been a matter of a few more weeks into Other Term before That Day!
Ushas had no time for simplistic rituals and festivities ‘designed to appease the Technical and Service classes’, and she had no idea ‘why Time Lords must insist on such a Plebeian activity’. For Uncle Brax, it meant reading books about the Mysteries of the Other, and discussions on whether The Other was really an aid to Rassilon, like Omega, or in fact, his enemy, and ‘You are fond of myth and legend, dear girl, do you think he threw himself into the First Great Loom, and if so, what does that mean for us on a metaphorical level?’
Sanji hadn’t known or cared, she had wanted new shiny, glittery robes, presents, cakes and sweets and fruits, and a huge meal, like all the other Time Tots at Kindergarten.
“You must have family, Lord Aris?” she asked, politely, as they walked the bridge from the TT Capsule main park across to the main tower of the Capitol. Before them were many miles of the city structures, the sky filtered through the dome into an iridescent pink this close to the top of it. She looked down the glass floor and felt sick. Cassandra had no fear of heights, climbing trees, but Sanjiandrovanri was not as brave as her human avatar, that she knew.
“I have my husband and mothers in our country house. They will save some of the feast and treats for me, do not worry. Now, hopefully your sisters will have done the same for you.”
“I am to go to Hypatia or Portia? I thought you said…?”
“Surely they will take you for the holiday, the Academy will not open until after the Third Day.”
Aris had been a Kindergarten teacher, then Principle, and now Young Children’s Coordinator for many centuries, millennia even, but he crossed his fingers behind his back, hoping the small girl would not notice.
*
The transduction station in Arcadia was almost empty, but a friendly autokart beeped politely, and they instructed it with Hypatia’s address and rode the near empty streets, the buildings lit with Otherstide lights and gay with colourful bunting.
The Great Seal Mystery of the Other, along with the Seal of Rassilon, hung above the door of Hypatia’s new house. Aris smoothed down his hair and fiddled with his collar in what seemed rather like a nervous gesture, before he lifted the ornate, large, doorbell cord of plaited copper and silver.
“Who is it?” an invisible intercom asked, with a male voice.
Did she have a brother?
“Aris, the Children’s Coordinator of the Capitol. I have the Lady Sanjiandrovanri in need of a home for three days of Otherstide, before the First Term begins.”
“Hold.”
“Well, that was not very polite,” Aris said unguardedly, smiling down at the little girl, frowning with worry.
They waited for quite a while, long enough for Sanji to remember the letter from her Father written in pictographic and algebraic Gallifreyan in his neat handwriting.
Eventually the door opened, and Hypatia stood there, still wearing her loom body, although it was wearing a little thin, as she was rather wrinkled, and her black hair was now snow white.
“I’m afraid I made it plain to the previous Coordinator some centuries previous, there is no room for her here.”
“My Lady, what do you suggest I do with her?”
“I’m afraid that is your problem,” and she made to slam the door. Aris caught it with his foot, preventing its closure.
“She is your family.”
“She is no family of mine. I belong to the House of White Blossom. I understand she has no House.”
“My Lady...” Aris began again, taken aback.
“Please remove your foot, or I will ask the House to call the Arcadian Guard.”
“My Lady Hypatia,” Sanjiandrovanri began softly. “I bear a letter for you,” she continued as her sister ignored her.
“I believe it to be from the Doctor,” added Aris.
“We do not mention that one here, please. In fact, I believe he does not exist anymore.”
What did Father do to hurt you? wondered Sanji, wanting to cry. She surely had had a much worst time from their fathers? “It is about Susan,” she said, holding it up.
Hypatia snatched it, then stamped on Aris’ foot and slammed the door.
“Sometimes, you can tell exactly who her parents are,” Aris sighed.
Were Father and Papa rude?
Well, Father was, his rudeness sometimes hurt Uncle Alistair deeply, although he hid it inside him, as was the Earth human male custom regarding feelings. And Father had been horrible to her nurses and the housebots, but Papa was always charming, even if it was only to manipulate beings into doing his will. Perhaps Coordinator Koschei had been rude? She was too young to remember.
*
It was night on the other side of the planet, as they transducted into Prydonia. A young Technician was waiting for them with a note. He did not look happy at being called away from his family and one of the few days free from duties people of his caste had.
It was, of course, from the Lady Portia of the House of Green Roofs, denying she had any duty to the child of No House, of expunged parents.
“They have illustrious positions and husbands and adopted Houses to protect, my dear. Please don’t hate them,” Aris said, patting her shoulder gently.
Sanjiandrovanri had expected nothing but this, and it had not crossed her mind to hate them. Did you not have to know someone to hate them? They were mere concepts, concepts which did not disappoint.
“What will happen now?” she asked, hugging herself. “Can I go to the Academy now?” She assumed she would still, at least, be in the Prydonian Chapter and the Children’s Halls would be here, somewhere in this city.
I don’t know, Aris thought rather too loudly and unguardedly. This incarnation was more open and approachable that the one she had known at Kindergarten.
He put on a rather fake smile, beaming too widely, “Well, my dear, I think you shall come home with me for today, and we shall partake in the seasonal feast, and I will contact the First Year Bursar at the Prydonian college and see if you can go a couple of days early.” He raised his gloved hand to speak into his Disc of Connection.
*
Aris’s Mother had just had her Eight regeneration, and looked like a rather glamorous human 20 something, in a shimmering tunic with matching trousers, with a huge chunky pendant bearing the Mysterious Seal, where his Mama, although younger than her spouse, looked much older, at a human ideal of 60. She wore a loose robe of flowery, flowing silk and had her short hair covered with a cap. They welcomed her with kindness, immediately offering her sweets and a drink. Aris’ husband she did not immediately meet, he was in the kitchen with the housebot, preparing the Meal.
The two Ladies took her into the Room for Living, and she curled up on a soft couch and fell asleep, hand still clutching the sweets, backpack still on her back. It had been a long day for her, she was time-lagged, it had been bedtime when they had arrived on Earth to take her away home, and she had been crossing the planet since she had arrived. She was exhausted, emotional and mentally, as well as physically.
She slept a long while.