- c h a p t e r   t w e n t y   t w o -

Often people say that time heals everything, and the Doctor couldn't help but agree with that somewhat. As a Time Lord, he did think about it a different way - for him, it was more of time travel healed everything. Some things also got harmed by time, but in the end it would be helpful. All he had to do was look around his TARDIS to see that.

Melody's baby bump began to show just a matter of days after she had experienced her panic attack. This visual of being with child actually helped to lighten her spirits for the next several days, much to the Doctor and Clara's delight. They had been bracing themselves for massive mood swings, but not a panic attack. Seeing her happy made them happy - it was as simple as that.

Once again they were doing what they did best - traveling. Clara requested that they go to Earth in the future some time, and the Doctor gladly obliged. Melody was excited to head out again as she had been pushed to rest after having the panic attack.

Things seemed to be getting much more comfortable in the TARDIS. Melody still felt the nagging sensation of fear in the back of her mind, but it wasn't enough to disrupt her day. The Doctor was pleased to see that everything was going well with both of his companions.

Melody, however, did have something rather important stuck on her mind. It would be best if she just went ahead and said it then. She had been putting it back for a while, and that had only made things more twisted inside.

"So, you know a long time ago, when I mentioned that I was a physics major in college?" Melody said, clasping her hands in front of her.

"Er..." the Doctor replied. "It sounds familiar, but I can't really say I remember it."

"I don't blame you," Melody replied. "It was months ago."

"Then why exactly are you bringing it up now?" Clara asked, raising her eyebrows. Melody's eyes tracked up to meet hers and then flitted back down again. The girl needed to be prompted if she was going to say much of anything.

"You don't want us to take you back there, do you?" Clara asked. Now this seemed to send a jolt through Melody. She was going to talk now.

"No!" she burst out, thrusting her hands out in front of her. "No," she continued, this time more calmly and levelheaded. She inhaled a steady breath and then began to explain herself. Melody didn't check to see if the Doctor and Clara were listening - she was almost hoping they weren't - but she had snagged their full attention.

"You see, it's as simple as this, really - I'm not actually a physics major."

"Oh," the Doctor replied, somewhat confused as to why this was so important.

"I'm not a physics major, I'm a music major in college," Melody continued, seeing that it was necessary to explain herself further. "I lied because I wanted to seem impressive. No one ever has faith in music majors any more."

"A music major named Melody," Clara noted, the Doctor nodding behind her.

"You ... aren't upset with me for lying?" Melody asked, her eyes flickered between the companion and the Doctor.

"Trust me, Melody," the Doctor replied. "I've been through my fair share of lies in the past, some of them by me, some of them by others. But this one is a lie that I don't see hurting anyone."

Melody bit her lip, glancing down to her stomach and placing a hand protectively on top. What she said next was not something she planned to say before, but now it seemed necessary.

"It's not the only thing I've lied about," Melody said. "I have trouble with lies, I always seem to just spit them out whenever my mind thinks it's right for the situation."

"I see," the Doctor responded, stepping closer to her. His question was already hanging in the air, so he didn't have to ask it: What exactly had she lied about in the past, with them?

"You two both remember how much I wanted to spend time in the library," Melody began, trying to force herself to make eye contact.

"Of course," the Doctor said. "What about it?"

"I wasn't just going to the library. I mean, that's what it was at the beginning, but after a while I just ended up wandering the halls of the TARDIS. I found other places in the halls -"

"And?" Clara prompted.

"The TARDIS showed me things. Simple as that, really," Melody replied, clamming up. She was starting to regret ever bringing up the subject in the first place. It had been a bad idea, she was now sure of it.

The Doctor saw that there was little use in trying to pry the information from Melody. She might give bits and pieces of information here and there, but there wasn't a chance she'd tell them everything at once. Clara looked as if she were about to ask something more, but she spotted the Time Lord shaking his head and stopped herself.

"Don't get angry at me about it, please," Melody pleaded. "I've had more than enough people get angry at me for lying in the past, I don't want it to happen again."

"Just be careful with your lies, Melody," the Doctor sighed. "Sometimes you have to lie."

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to say that, Doctor," Clara said, surprised.

"Never mind any of that," the Doctor said, waving the subject away with a flick of his hand. "We're traveling for a reason, and we are going to enjoy ourselves. All four of us."

"Four?" Clara asked. But then it processed in her mind, and she said, "Oh, four! You, me, Melody, and the baby."

"Right on the nose, Clara!" the Doctor said, laughing.

"I'm sure we will," Melody chimed in, putting a smile on her face. "How much longer do you think it'll be, Doctor?"

"Ah, just a few minutes. It's hard to tell with the time vortex, though."

"That's good," Melody replied. "A few minutes is just enough to close my eyes and relax ..." She did just that, her eyelids fluttering shut as she took in a cleansing breath. She was doing her best to clear out her mind, but this didn't quite work out. Nevertheless, when she opened her eyes again to the sounds of the TARDIS landing, she felt very invigorated and ready to go.

"Here we are now!" the Doctor said, clapping his hands together. "See, I told you it wouldn't be too long."

"When are we, then?" Clara asked. She looked around the TARDIS console for the scanner so that she could see outside and examine their surroundings, but was unable to find anything for the moment.

"2085," the Doctor replied. "We're going to witness what happened after the first successful piloting of a lightspeed ship. This is the day that sparks the human race to spread throughout the universe."

"Only in 2085?" Melody said, her mouth gaping open slightly. "That's only about seventy years after where Clara and I are from!"

"Well, think of this - in less than seventy years, the human race went from creating the first airplane to putting the first man on the moon. Who's to say they couldn't have created a lightspeed ship in seventy years? Besides, I know my history."

"I'd hope you would," Clara said. "A time traveler who doesn't know his history? That sounds like a disaster in the making."

"Everything we do is a disaster in the making," Melody replied. "It just doesn't really matter, because it's not always deleterious disasters. Instead, we end up in good situations. Well, good in the end. Overall."

Clara and the Doctor shared a quick look between one another, both of them thinking the exact same thing. Melody certainly seemed to be acting more positive than she had in a while. They could only hope that this would persist as they made their way out into 2085.

The Doctor then hopped over to the doors of the TARDIS and flung them open. He didn't even bother looking behind himself to see if Melody and Clara were coming after him - he was sure that they were. The moment he stepped outside, he took in an exaggerated breath of the air.

"Ah, Earth in the autumn! With all the pollution being pushed away, it's even better!" he said, spinning around happily.

"All the pollution being pushed away?" Clara echoed.

"Well, of course," the Doctor said. "Something had to be done, so the people of the Earth worked together to help eliminate pollution. By this point, they did quite a good job. Just breathe it in!"

Clara and Melody both giggled at this, but they did as the Doctor said nevertheless. Sure enough, everything felt fresh and clear as they inhaled the air around them.

"So this is 2085," Melody stated, glancing around. "It looks simultaneously completely different and exactly the same. It's sort of nice, really."

"That tends to happen when you travel," the Doctor said.

"We would know," Clara responded, laughing slightly.

Melody continued scanning around the area, trying to see what the main part of attention was. Soon, she spotted it: A large group of people crowded around a giant floating projection that played a live news report.

"I'm guessing that's where we're heading, then," Clara said.

"Is there anywhere else we could really go?" the Doctor replied, giving a laugh.

"Oh, lots of people," Melody murmured to herself. She placed a hand on her stomach as if this sudden increase of bodies around her could somehow affect her baby. "That is a lot of people."

"Something wrong, Melody?" the Doctor asked.

"No, no," she answered, waving the question away. "Everything's good, the baby and I are just fine."

"Good," the Doctor replied, nodding. "But if you need anything, just tell us."

Melody nodded in response to him, but she couldn't help but feel that she could hear some sort of subtext hidden underneath his words. She felt as if he didn't trust her quite as much after he had found out that she tended to lie. In her mind, he had just told her to strip away the extra layers of whatever she planned to say and just say it straight out so that she would tell the truth.

But she kept this to herself, continuing to hang a hand on top of her baby bump. She followed the Doctor and Clara into the crowd, always making sure to keep an eye on the back of their heads. The last thing she could deal with at the moment would be to lose them inside of the group of people. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to find them again if that were to happen.

Soon the Time Lord guided his two companions to a good viewing spot in the center of the crowd that allowed them to be in the middle of all the action. They didn't have to lift their heads at all in order to see the projection, and no one was really in their way.

"Oh, it's getting close!" the Doctor said, close to squealing. "Come on, let's watch and listen."

Up on the enormous screen, a somewhat flustered looking reporter spoke into the camera. On the side of the screen, a clock counted down second by second. There was only about four minutes left before it would run out.

"Susie Fontana Brooke and her crew have made their way into space. Here on Earth, we have a steady connection so that we constantly know what is going on. Everything is up to the moment - in just a few minutes, they are going to attempt lightspeed travel."

"Oh, this is almost nerve wracking for me!" Clara exclaimed. "It shouldn't be, because I know how it's going to turn out, but -"

"No, I totally understand," Melody said, cutting in. "It's like a dramatic part of a movie that you've already seen. You already know what's going to happen, but that doesn't stop your heart from racing and adrenaline from coursing through you."

"You two," the Doctor laughed. "This is pretty much what I have to go through every single day!"

"But you still find yourself in plenty of new circumstances," Clara said. "You can't really deny that, can you?"

"Not for a moment, Clara."

"Oh, three minutes," Melody murmured excitedly.

The reporter cleared their throat and then said, "We are now switching to the spaceship itself. While we expect to lose contact once they attempt lightspeed travel, we will get an inside view of what everyone in the crew is feeling."

The screen switched to an image of the inside of a spaceship with many crew members strapping themselves into chairs. One blonde woman had yet to do such, and the cameras focused in on her.

"My name is Susie Fontana Brooke," she said, a proud smile on her face. "I am the pilot of this ship and I'm preparing for our first attempt at lightspeed travel."

On the other side of the camera, a reporter asked, "How do you feel at the moment?"

"Honestly, I'm quite anxious," she said, biting her lip. "Since no one's ever done this before, we don't know what's going to happen. But it's also rather exciting - and if we're successful, then I can hardly wait for the thrill and the celebrations."

"Why are you doing this?" the reporter asked. "What is your inspiration for this?"

"Well, this is a question that seems to come up in every interview I'm in," Susie replied, laughing slightly. "But the real inspiration for me has to be my grandmother, Adelaide Brooke, who was on the mission to make a colony on Mars. Even though it ended in disaster, she's always been the driving force for me to do these things. I wouldn't be here without her."

"Fascinating!" the reporter replied. "Now, how much time do we have left before you test lightspeed out for the first time?"

"Less than a minute," Susie said. "Which means you better sit down and strap yourself in."

Back on Earth, the crowd of people watched the scene play out on the enormous screen in awe. The Doctor, Clara, and Melody all shared a collective look of excitement. Each one's smile only helped to invigorate the others even further.

Susie turned her back away from the camera as she went to go strap herself into a chair. As the pilot, she had to be sure that everything was ready to go. The view shook slightly as the reporter did the same for them-self, but the view never left the pilot for a moment.

"And we're going to activate lightspeed in ten...nine..." Susie said, her voice quivering as she placed her hand on the lever that she was to use to pilot the ship.

The crowd watching the entire scene on their screen joined in the countdown. Even though there were many unique voices, they all joined in unison to create one complete voice. The time travelers felt their own voices blend into the group's, getting lost in the moment.

"Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

A/N Cliffhanger! Ish! I really actually enjoyed making this idea - I think that it worked out quite well and also tied in to the canon of Doctor Who. As you might know, using preexisting parts of canon in my fanfiction as jumping points is my favorite thing. *cough* The Child's Mistakes *cough* the Library *cough* Miss Evangelista *cough* Arkytior *cough* Sorry. I think I'm getting sick...