Counting with Fairies Ch 13

Chapter 13

"Sally, Sally, wake up."

Sally's eyes opened.  Standing in front of her was the Doctor, his blue eyes twinkled and his grin was ear to ear.  "Ah, Sally!  Hello," he said excitedly.  "I've got some amazing things to show you."

Sally blinked her eyes several times.  It took her a few moments to wake up and remember where she was.  She was still sitting in the wheel chair.  All around the room, Sally saw the Poikyo. They were all watching her and Sally started to squirm uncomfortably in her chair.

"Hello Sally.  I'm glad to see you awake and well.  I am Queen Bai, of the Poikyo and I wish to apologize on behalf of my people for our treatment towards you in the cave."

"Queen Bai?"  Sally asked.  "You aren't the queen I met."

"No, I'm not.  Our queen was killed in the battle and I am the new queen."

"My apologies and my condolences," Sally said.  She wasn't sure she meant it and she wasn't sure it was the appropriate thing to say, but her head was feeling very fuzzy.

"Accepted," the queen said very matter-of-factly, "and do you accept our apologies?"

"Yes, of course I do," Sally said, "and really, it wasn't such a bad way to be captured.  I enjoyed the sensation of flying or floating in the air."

Queen Bai laughed and when she did it sounded like tiny silver bells, "I have never heard of anyone saying anything like that before."  She flew up to Sally's face.  "Would you like to fly again?"

"May I?" Sally asked.

Queen Bai flew over Sally's head.  Columbine flew over the Doctor's head.  They started to sprinkle blue dust over their heads and the next thing Sally and they Doctor knew was they were floating in the air in the console room.

Sally looked at the Doctor and laughed,  "Bet you can't catch me, Doctor!"  She threw out her arms and her body moved forward.  She flew to the other side of the console's time rotor.  She laughed as the Doctor tried to catch her.  They clumsily flew about the room, laughing loudly.  The Poikyo were all laughing too and they did their best to stay out of the way of the two large humanoids trying to fly.  After several moments, Sally seemed to understand how to control herself as she flew.  She dashed down the corridor and the Doctor followed.

When he caught up with her, he took her hand and held it.  "Come with me," he said and he pulled her as he flew down several more corridors.  He arrived at a door, opened it and they flew in together.

Sally's breath was blown away, "Butterflies!"

"Yes," he smiled at her, "Haven't you ever wanted to fly with butterflies?"

Hand in hand they flew to the top of the room and slowly floated around, looking at the butterflies that flew all around them.

"I feel like Wendy and you're Peter Pan with all your fairy friends and you are showing me all the wonders of Neverland."  Sally said.

"Yes, Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn't grow up and fights off the bad guys.  I think we have a lot in common," the Doctor thoughtfully said.

"Is he real, Doctor?" Sally asked.  "You've told me mermaids are real and I've seen firsthand that fairies are real, so is Peter Pan real?"

The Doctor smiled, "That, my dear, is not for you to know.  There are some questions best left unanswered and some magic that should never be understood.  If I told you whether he was real or not, it would take away that magic and I would never want to take that from you."  The floated in silence for a few more moments.  Sally watched the butterflies.  "Ready to go back to the console room?  I think the Poikyo are ready to go to their new home."

Sally nodded.  The left the butterfly room and flew back to the console room.  The Doctor helped Sally position herself near the wheelchair.  "Now, when they release us, try to land on your good foot.  We don't need to injure that ankle again."

"I had almost forgotten.  Being weightless sure makes you forget about sprained ankles."  Sally said.  The Doctor positioned himself next to her and held onto her arm.

"Ready," Queen Bai asked, then she snapped her fingers and the Doctor and Sally fell back to the ground of  the TARDIS.  Sally did her best to land on her good foot, but she waivered when she hit the ground.  The Doctor's strong grip on her arm kept Sally from falling.  He helped her into the chair. 

The Doctor went to the console and looked at the scanner.  Everything seemed to be right.  They were on Lisi, a nice forested location, good weather, twilight.  Perfect.  He threw one final lever on the console and TARDIS doors opened.  "Welcome to Lisi," he said.

The Poikyo flew to the door and waited for their queen.  She flew out the doors first, followed by Columbine.  The rest of the Poikyo followed and flew out into the fragrant evening air of their new home.  The Doctor pushed Sally's wheelchair to the door, he helped her to stand up and then he picked her up and carried her out of the TARDIS.  He set her down in the grass and then he sat down next to her.

"Where are we?" Sally asked.  The grass seemed purple and the trees were unlike anything Sally had ever seen.

"Lisi, a small planet several million light years away from Earth.  It's a really beautiful place.  There's a small human population here."

"Another planet?  And humans living on it?  You're kidding me, Doctor," Sally said.

"I'm not," the Doctor replied.

Several Poikyo flew past the Doctor and Sally, each shouting a thank you to him in their bell-like voices.  Queen Bai came over to where the Doctor and Sally were sitting, "Thank you for bringing us here.  This is beautiful and it will be a perfect home."

"You are most welcome," he replied.

"Would you like to see something very special?  Something that no one but Fai-kind has ever seen before?"  Queen Bai asked.  When the Doctor and Sally nodded, Bai said, "Wait here."

She and a group of Poikyo disappeared.  The Doctor and Sally sat in silence for several moments.  Sally's stomach growled a deep growl.

"Sorry," she apologized, rubbing her stomach.

"Don't be silly," the Doctor said getting up.  "You haven't had anything to eat since we started our little adventure and that was quite a while ago.  I'll be right back."  He went into the TARDIS.

Sally leaned back against the blue box and looked up into the trees.  It was a beautiful night.  A breeze ruffled the leaves of the trees above her.  She could see the blue lights of Poikyo darting about in the treetops.  She wondered what they were doing.  Perhaps scouting out for a place to build their homes.  It was several minutes later that the Doctor reappeared from the TARDIS.  He carried a picnic basket and a teapot.

"Night time picnic," he announced and sat down next to Sally.  He opened the basket and began to pull food out.  "I didn't know what you liked, so I brought a variety."  There were sandwiches and hot fish and chips.  There was lots of fruit, most of it Sally recognized, but some she didn't.  And last was a plate of cheese.  He pulled out two china tea cups and poured the steaming tea from the pot.

Sally picked up one of the sandwiches and began to eat.  She was hungrier than she realized and had a second sandwich.  The Doctor picked a banana for his meal and ate it.  He laid back in the grass and watched the blue lights darting around in the trees.

They ate in silence, enjoying each other's company, the food and the warm night.  Sally picked up an unusual fruit.  It looked a like a pear, but it was silver.

"Doctor, what is this?"  she held it up for him to see.  He sat up and looked at the fruit.

"It's a piorra, native fruit to Gallifrey."

"Your home world?" Sally asked.

"The Doctor nodded and leaned back, propping himself on his elbow.  He took his tea cup into his hand. "It's good.  Texture like an apple and taste like a banana.  Personally, I just prefer bananas."

Sally looked at the fruit, "Does it have to be peeled?"

"Nope, you eat it just like you would an apple."  He sipped his tea. 

Sally bit into the silver fruit.  He was right, it did taste a bit like a banana, but different.  Sally couldn't quite describe the taste, but she loved it.  "It's wonderful.  Better than a banana!"  She took another bite.

The Doctor laughed, "Well isn't that the way it goes?  You like the fruit from my home world and I prefer the one from your home."

"The grass is always greener," Sally started, "or purple," she laughed indicating the grass she sat in.

"Or silver," chuckled the Doctor.

They noticed Queen Bai and her group returning.  The Doctor quickly packed up the picnic.  Queen Bai and her royal entourage approached them. In her hands was a small glowing orb.

"Watch now," the queen whispered.  She held the orb out and it floated just inches above the ground.  The Poikyo surrounded it and formed a circle with the orb in the middle.  "When the first baby laughed for the first time," Queen Bai said, "it's laugh went skipping about and that was the beginning of Fai.  Now on this world of Lisi, the first baby laugh that has happened here since our arrival has been captured.  It is here and it will be the first of our kind on Lisi."

Queen Bai, the Poikyo and Lady Columbine kissed their fingers and blew their kisses at the orb.  The orb began to glow a bright golden light, reaching a brightness so intense, Sally almost closed her eyes.   Just at that moment, the light burst and floating in its place was a tiny blue fairy, no bigger than Sally's little finger.  Queen Bai stepped forward and took the infant in her arms.  "She is Lissi and being the first Fai born on this planet, she is to be my daughter and heir to the Queen of the Poikyo."

"Princess Lissi!" the others all shouted.

Queen Bai held the baby up for Sally and the Doctor to see.  Sally leaned in and looked at the tiny child.  "She is beautiful." 

"Thank you for sharing her creation with us," the Doctor said.

A Poikyo descended from the trees above the TARDIS.  "My queen," she said, "a home for you and the princess has been prepared."

"Thank you Mae," the queen said.  The Poikyo messanger bowed and flew back up into the trees.

"Doctor, I wish to thank you for bringing us here," Bai said.  "I wish Shai had listened to you when you first offered to help us.  More of our kind would still be alive, but then, I never would have known Columbine, who has become my dear friend."

"I am honored to have helped.  Take care of your new home and your people," he picked up the picnic basket and placed it in the TARDIS.  He returned to Sally, who was struggling to get up on her own, and he lifted her into his arms.  "Goodbye," he said.

"Goodbye!" Sally called as he carried her into the blue box.  Sally heard hundreds of bell-like voices calling goodbye to her. 

The Doctor placed her back into the wheelchair and went to the controls.  "Now Sally," he said with a half-smile, "If I remember correctly, we were on our way to see the Pascaline."  He turned a few knobs and threw a lever and the blue bars in the central time rotor began to move.

Chapter 14