DISCLAIMER: Nope don't own them..the BBC and Rob Tapert do. I'm just taking them on a spin through time!
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.

Adventures in Time
By Elfcat255

 

Part 2

Stepping into the dark doorway, Melinda felt a sense of deja vu for a moment, shaking it off she continued into the TARDIS.

"Jan? Where are you?" she called out.

Suddenly Janice appeared before her. "Mel! You won't believe this! Come on!" Janice grabbed hold of Melinda's arm, dragging her through the doorway.

"Oh….my?!" came the startled exclamation from Melinda. She looked around the spacious room with wide eyes. "Th-thi," she stuttered, "this is not possible." The statement finally came out.

She looked at Janice but all she was doing was standing there with a huge grin on her face.

"Ladies, welcome to my home." This came from the Doctor, who was standing next to an odd shaped console. "Now that you have seen, let me explain. The term TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space," he began, and then he noticed Melinda's confused expression. "In layman's terms, it means it's bigger on the inside than on the outside."

At this remark, Leela let out a laugh, "Doctor, you have explained this same thing to me many times; I believe the ladies would understand the more," she paused for a moment trying to think of the word. "Technical," she grinned at remembering the term, "words you use."

"Well…yes they probably would, but do we really want to spend all day bantering about dimensional pockets, time circuits, and whatnot," he said, waving his hand towards Janice and Melinda.

The two women in question just looked at the Doctor with stunned expressions.

"Time circuits?" Melinda squeaked out.

"Dimensional pockets?" The almost same sounding remark came from Janice.

"Wait… did he say time circuits?" Janice looked at Mel, "He called us Xena and Gabrielle out in the tomb, didn't he?"

"Yes… he did," Melinda answered.

Walking up to him and getting right in the Doctors' face, Janice looked him straight in the eyes as best she could, there was a bit of a height difference after all, "What do you know about Xena and Gabrielle?" She growled out.

"I know quite a few things actually," he smiled, "Why? What do you know about them?"

Melinda in the meantime had begun to pace back and forth, muttering to herself and toying with her glasses, pulling them off then putting them back on repeatedly.

Leela walked over to her, "Are you alright, Melinda?" she asked, looking back towards the Doctor and Janice.

Janice whipped around; ignoring the Doctor, she rushed back to Melinda's side.

"Mel? Mel?!" When that failed to get Melinda's attention, she grabbed the woman in a hug, stopping her pacing. Looking up into her partner's eyes Janice said softly, "Mel, honey what's wrong? Why are so upset all of a sudden?"

Melinda stopped her muttering and stood for a moment in Janice's arms; taking a deep breath, she said, "Jan, I've been here before."

Looking confused, Janice asked "What? How?"


Melinda took a deep breath then let it out and replied "Well not exactly me, more like Xena has been here before. I can just feel that she has. It's a vague sense of déjà vu; I felt it when I first stepped through the doorway." Melinda let her forehead rest on her partners' shoulder and groaned, "I'm so confused."

While this was happening, Leela had returned to the Doctor's side. "Doctor? What is wrong?" she asked him.

"Nothing is wrong, Leela; in fact it's what is right that's happening." She just gave him a look of confusion.

"All in good time young lady; all in good time," he said with a mischievous grin.

Leela just sighed and turned to watch the two women as they talked.

The Doctor leaned against the console as he watched the interaction between the two.

Thinking to himself, 'It's happened again. Their souls have been reborn, but with a slight twist it seems. Melinda, the scholar, awkward, and timid as a mouse, so unlike the soul she possesses. And Janice, he grinned at the little spitfire, the strong one, the protector of her soul mate. How so unlike but like the soul she carried. I wonder if they really understand the depth of those two souls.' Shaking himself from his thoughts, he asked Leela if she would fetch some refreshments for them.

"Of course, Doctor; would the tea you showed me how to prepare be alright?" she asked.

He just nodded. She was happy to do something other than watch the two women as they now appeared to be sharing something personal. On her world, it was considered rude to observe such personal moments between mates and in her eyes these two were such a pair. 'Was it not obvious?' she thought to herself. She turned away and went through the only other door in the control room.


Across the room from the Doctor and Leela, Janice had succeeded in calming Melinda down.

"Hey," she said, cupping her hands around Mel's face. "Look at me, Mel."

Melinda brought her eyes up until blue met green and let a small smile appear on her face.

Janice pulled her closer and said, "We will figure this out together, ok? I won't let anything bad happen to you, or me for that matter; believe me. Ok?" She ended that statement with a light kiss to Mel's lips. Leaning back, she saw the blush that always appeared pop up.

Clearing her throat, Melinda said softly, "Thank you, what would I ever do without you in my life?"

Engulfing Melinda in a tight hug, Janice whispered in her ear, "Be some old maid in a huge mansion, surrounded by old books and cats, instead of living a life of adventure?" That earned Janice a loud laugh and a slap on the arm, "You little imp, you!" Melinda said, still laughing as she returned the hug. Just then the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard. Pulling apart, the two turned to the source of the sound.

Melinda lowered her head blushing; she had forgotten in her distress, that they weren't alone.

Janice on the other hand just glared at the Doctor. "Do you have a problem?"

"No… no problem at all, Janice. It's beautiful to see two souls that have found each other again." the Doctor answered.

"Souls? What do you know about our souls?" Melinda suddenly found herself asking.

"Patience, young lady; patience," he said as he walked to the other door in the room. "I shall be right back with some seats for us. I think we need to be comfortable before we approach that subject," he said as he disappeared out the door, only to appear right away carrying some stacked chairs and dragging a table he had tied his scarf to.

"Now make yourselves comfortable and as soon as Leela comes back with our tea, I shall attempt to answer any questions you may have about Xena, Gabrielle, and souls." Sitting in one of the chairs, he just smiled his broad smile and twiddled his thumbs.

Part 3

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