2| Mirror mirror Read online

  "I don't know. I didn't move.", Rose said.

  "We're on the other side.", the Doctor said.

  "Yes you two switched places.", Rose remarked.

  "The other side of the mirror, Rose.", the Doctor said.

  "Really? Wow!", Rose said enthusiastically.

  "Well, it doesn't look any different.", Mickey remarked.

  "It is exactly the same but left and right are opposite.", the Doctor said as he moved his hand left to right to envision his theory.

  "Yeah, you're right. My watch is on my right wrist now.", Rose said.

  "No. It is still on your left but it looks like your right. As if you were looking in the mirror.", the Doctor explained, but it only added to the confusion.

  "Oh, how confusing.", Rose remarked with a sigh.

  "Yes, confusing, isn't it? You get used to it after a while.", the Doctor's image said who had joined them all of a sudden. "The others did.", he added with a smirk.

  "It's him!", Rose said amazed.

  "You!", the Doctor discontentedly greeted his image.

  "Yes me. I am him, he is me. Right is left here and left is right.", the Image summed jestingly.

  "And what about right and wrong? You could use a lesson in that.", the Doctor said agitatedly.

  "Oh, that is still the same here. Right is right?or left, but wrong is still wrong.", the Image replied gloatingly.

  "So you're saying that sucking people into your mirror world is a right thing to do?", the Doctor asked angrily.

  "Well, yes. Of course.", the Image replied innocently.

  "Liar! You know what you are doing is wrong just as much as the next person.", Rose called out in anger.

  "A mirror doesn't lie, Rose. Neither can I.", the Image said retaining his frightening calmness.

  "I am making your world a better place. Only people who do not deserve to live there are taken to the other side. Those who abide to the rules, have nothing to fear.", the Image explained.

  "Oh, I see now. The restaurant bill, the littered can; all against the rules and regulations. So you are planning to take every person that breaks the rules of society, through the mirror or any other reflecting surface, into your mirror world. Won't it get a bit crowded with criminals here, then?", the Doctor asked disapprovingly.

  "No. Of course, a small sacrifice has to be made, but without an original the reflections here will slowly fade away. Making the world a better place, on both sides. Problem solved.", the Image said, convinced of his righteousness.

  "Dissolved, is more like it.", Mickey commented.

  "Look here. What you are doing is ridiculous. We have our own ways of punishing people who don't respect the law. This is none of your business, so bring those people back, or?", Rose lashed out at the Image.

  "Or what? You'd come over and punch me? Ha! I'd love you try that, so I can see your face when you discover that your precious Doctor will get the full blow. The tricks you can do with a mirror, huh? Fantastic.", the Image gloated.

  "I'll find another way to knock some sense in to you.", Rose threatened.

  "Back off, girl!", the Image said and raised his sonic screwdriver at her.

  "Don't make him angry.", the Doctor advised sternly, because he knew how things could get dangerously out of hand if he got really angry.

  A young little girl entering the restroom caught the Doctor's eye. The others seemed not to have noticed her. She had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. It was the same girl he saw in the glass when he was caught in the Torchwood basement. She calmly walked up to the mirror, where she stood staring out in front of her.

  The Doctor got a suspicious feeling about the girl when he noticed she didn't have a reflection in the restroom on his side of the mirror.

  "Erm, isn't everyone on that side supposed to have a reflection on this side as well?", he asked his Image.

  "Yes, but they can't see us.", the Image said, who was still focussed on keeping Rose at bay.

  "Then where is her Image and where is she looking at?", the Doctor wondered aloud.

  "Who? I don't see anyone.", Rose said.

  "Her. That six year old girl dressed in purple.", the Doctor replied, but Rose nor Mickey could see her.

  "Oh, her. I have seen her many times before. She keeps haunting me, popping up everywhere I go, but always on the other side of the mirrors. She will vanish after a while.", the Image explained annoyed.

  "Who is she?", the Doctor asked his Image.

  "I had hoped you might know. I certainly don't have the foggiest. She might be a ghost or something. Anyway, she doesn't have a reflection so I just ignore her.", the Image said carelessly, but the Doctor was drawn to the mystery shrouding the unknown girl. He was intrigued by the fact that she didn't have a reflection and he was beginning to wonder whether she really existed or not.

  He approached the mirror and put his hand on it again to travel back to the normal world. But the Image prevented that. He used his sonic screwdriver on the glass and blocked the possibility to return.

  "Did you really think, I would let you go?", the Image threatened, but the Doctor didn't take heed.

  The Doctor could only watch how the little girl ran away. The sound of little footsteps and laughter could be heard even after she had gone.

  "Wait?Hang on. She is the girl of my dreams!", the Doctor said.

  "Come now, Doctor. Isn't a five year old a bit young for you?", Rose remarked.

  The Doctor didn't appreciate the joke. He was determinate to get through the mirror to find out who the girl was. He took his own sonic screwdriver and used it to undo the Image's block.

  But immediately the Image reacted and both men were pushing their screwdrivers to the limit of their abilities. With a loud clang the limit was reached and the mirror broke into a thousand pieces, which disappeared before they hit the ground.

  The girl in the purple dress

  "Ha! That won't stop me.", the Image said. He was somewhat aggravated though. "I will find another mirror to take people through.", he said confidently.

  "And we will find another to escape through. It is your choice. Will you keep us imprisoned here or is snatching people more important to you? You are back to where you started; stuck with me!", the Doctor replied determinately.

  "We can't stay here. Remember what he said about people that were taken here? We will fade if we stay here too long.", Rose warned them anxiously.

  "Ha. You see I only have to hold you here for a while and I will be disposed of you altogether.", the Image said happily.

  "But when I fade, you will have no one left to image. No original to be the reflection of. You will cease to exist as well.", the Doctor warned the Image. It was clear the Image had not thought of this complication yet.

  "All right then. I will let you out. There is no stopping me anyway. Not as long as you are on that side.", he said and led the way to the nearest mirror, in the men's room.

  The Doctor put his hand to the mirror like before and Rose and Mickey followed his example. The Doctor faded from beside Rose and reappeared on the other side of the glass. Rose expected to be there soon after, but the Image quickly used his sonic screwdriver again. Mickey and Rose's hands pulled back in shock.

  "Hey, where did you do that for?", Rose said angrily to the Image.

  "I don't need you two. I only needed him to survive. It makes a perfect way to punish him too.", the Image said and smirked.

  "What do you mean?", Mickey asked.

  "He has broken quite some laws in his exciting life, you know. He should never have left Gallifrey. That was his first and biggest mistake.", the Image explained gravely.

  "I am tired of the constant threat of malicious people causing nothing but harm and destruction. If I rid the universe of all who disobey the rules, I will never be bothered with them again.", the Image explained.

  "What kind of a frustrated copy of a person are you. You have some serious problems. If I were you I would leave the people on Earth alone and start to look at yourself. It sounds like you detest yourself more than the criminals you are trying to punish.", Rose said angrily.

  "As for you Rose, you have grown accustomed to breaking the rules too much. He should never have invited you along. You are a bad influence on him.", the Image said to her. It hurt Rose very much to hear that from the man who looked exactly like the Doctor, but she shook it off her quickly.

  "I knew it as soon as I saw you. You are nothing like the Doctor. You might look like him but everything else about you is wrong!", she said to him.

  She was so angry that she took the chair next to the door and smashed it into the mirror.

  "No! What are you doing?!", the Image yelled. Mickey looked frightened by Roses anger too.

  "You might have stopped us from getting back to the normal side, but now I am stopping you. I won't let you take any more people to this side of the mirror.", Rose yelled at him and ran out of the restroom. Mickey followed her as fast as he could.

  The Image was full of anger as he ran after the two. He had to prevent her breaking any more mirrors, because that was where he got his strength from. He knocked over chairs, tables and even people on his way out of the restaurant, while Rose destroyed all big glass panes and mirrors she saw in her path.

  Mickey was quite taken aback by the rage Rose was letting out. He never imagined her to have this in her. He feared she was getting out of control and he had to do something about it.

  "This way, Rose!", he said and took her down the large street towards the Atomium. Meanwhile Rose still smashed every reflecting surface she saw and the Image was still in hot pursuit, yelling as he ran along. "Back to the TARDIS.", Mickey said and took her up in the elevator and into the blue police box. Once there he was able to calm her down.

  "What are you going to do? Smash all the mirrors and all the glass in the world?!", he said to her fiercely. Rose was slowly coming back to her senses and she was clearly ashamed of what she had done.

  "I-, I was-", she said but she didn't finish what she wanted to say. Mickey understood she was angry. It was hard to see the man she loved say such horrible things, but she had to understand it was not the Doctor but only his Image gone bad.

  Now Rose had herself back under control, they were startled by a sound. It sounded like someone was at the door.

  "What's that?", Mickey asked startled, looking at the door. "It's him!", Rose said afraid.

  "Not yet.", Lynne said, who came walking into the control room. She had come through another door from within the TARDIS.

  "You are awake?!", Rose and Mickey both exclaimed with disbelief.

  *

  The Doctor had reappeared on the other side of the glass. He was back in the normal world again and he had expected Rose and Mickey to follow shortly. He looked in the mirror and saw Rose and Mickey were still on the other side. He banged on the glass a few times, but it was clear they would not be getting out of there anytime soon. So the Doctor decided to go looking for the girl in the purple dress.

  He left the gentlemen's restroom and marched through the restaurant. He was back outside on the dark streets of the Expo but he had no idea which way to turn. The girl could have gone in any direction and he didn't see any trace of her anywhere. At that moment, the laughter sounded again, followed by the quick little footsteps. The Doctor didn't see the girl in the purple dress but he decided to follow the sound.

  It led him back to the big street and back to the Atomium. Once inside the lobby of the Atomium everything was quiet. No laughter, no footsteps. The door to the service elevator was left open a crack, so the Doctor proceeded through. At that moment the elevator came down and after the 'ping', the elevator doors opened. It was as if that was his cue to step in and so he did. Rather jubilantly, he pressed the top button and the elevator took him up to the sphere where the TARDIS was parked.

  Once there, he heard a sound coming from inside the blue police box. It was the laughter of the girl in the purple dress. Carefully he approached his ship and opened the door gently. To his amazement, the little girl was standing in the middle of the room. Quickly he stepped inside and approached her. He had expected her to run off, but she remained where she was.

  "Who are you?", the Doctor asked her calmly.

  "Can you remember?", the girl asked him back.

  "Have I met you before?", he wondered.

  "Can you remember?", the girl repeated the question.

  "What? Remember what?", he asked frustrated.

  "Please remember.", the girl pleated.

  "I don't have time for this.", the Doctor said agitatedly. He did know what he was supposed to remember and he didn't know who the girl was. He had met so many people in his long life. He could not possibly remember them all.

  The girl held out her hand. "Come. Come with me. I'll make you remember.", she said, tempting the Doctor to take her hand.

  *

  "He has to remember.", Lynne said.

  "Why?", Rose asked.

  "Because all this frustration the Image is feeling comes from a long time ago. He has been through some very traumatic times in his life and a part of him has now had enough of the misery. This side of him had grown strong enough now that it has the power to break free. It did so in his reflection.", Lynne explained.

  "But what does that have to do with him remembering. What is he supposed to remember anyway", Rose asked puzzled.

  The Image and the Doctor are still the same person. If the Doctor remembers, then the Image will too. If the Image remembers the times when he was young, when these frustrations started and why, only then will he be able to understand that what he is doing is wrong.", Lynne said.

  "So he really believes that what he is doing is right?", Mickey asked with disbelief.

  "Yes. If he would only remember?", Lynne said sadly. "It is all he has to do."

  One

  The Doctor looked in the girl's eyes. There was something about her. Something familiar but he could not place it. He stretched his arm out and slowly took the girl's hand.

  He was whisked away into a dream world where he saw a girl playing in a garden. It was the girl in the purple dress. There was someone with her; a boy. He was somewhat older than the girl and they were playing. The Doctor could see they were having really a lot of fun together. He observed the surroundings a bit better.

  They were in a garden enclosed by buildings, homes.

  He recognised the houses. They were Gallifreyan houses. He remembered he used to live there. His mother and father lived in the bluish looking house on the left. An eerie feeling got over him. He didn't know whether he should be happy that he was given back a memory of his home or whether he should feel sad that he would never be able to return there. His eyes began to water and he looked away from the house. It recalled too many memories in him.

  He looked at the two children again. They were still playing. He realised he must have known the girl if this is where she lived too. It was his neighbour, he remembered. He used to play all day with the girl that lived opposite to him. It was a time without worries, a time filled with only joy. A time when life looked simple and everything was easy. He knew that time wouldn't last long; he knew the boy who was playing there so innocently would have to face turbulent times. He would have to say goodbye so suddenly to the girl he was playing with. He knew the boy would never see her again, and would hurt him deeply. It would leave a scar that he would carry around forever.

  That was when it struck him. He remembered the name of the girl in the purple dress. It was Lynne. Was the Lynne he found wandering around his TARDIS a few days ago the same Lynne he used to play with as a boy? He remembered now and as he did, he let a tear run down his cheek.

  He had found the girl who he was separated from so violently so many years ago. He never fully understood why their parents did this, but he was intently happy they were together again. She had changed and he had changed, but at least she was genuinely of his kind. Finally someone who knew what it was to be a Time Lord.

  The girl stood up from playing with the boy and came walking up to the Doctor. She took his hand again. "You remember.", she said and smiled.

  Then the Doctor found himself back in the TARDIS, but the girl was no longer there. He went up to the wardrobe, because that was where the only mirror in the TARDIS stood. The Doctor wanted to see if he could get back to the other side somehow.

  When he stood in front of the mirror in the room large wardrobe, he saw his image was still gone. There was no reflection of him in the mirror. He put his hand on the mirror but all remained still. The Doctor let his hand slide off the glass slowly, as he stood silently contemplating.

  *

  That what Rose and Mickey were afraid of happened after all. The TARDIS door swung open and the Doctor's Image menacingly stepped into the control room. Rose, Mickey and Lynne stood petrified; they had no way to turn.

  "You annoying little girl!", the Image said wrathfully. "Don't you understand that what I am doing is for the better. It will make the universe a better place, starting here. But now you are trying to stop me. You are between me and my purpose. You leave me no choice, I will have to-", the Image said with anger.