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“We often wander down many paths as we make our way through the forest. Finding the true road may be a hardship, a task of many lifetimes, and yet... with our eyes set on the road ahead, how are we to see the little things like the blossoms the wind has thrown at our feet? And what is the point of the trek if we do not stop to take in the beauty of the forest?”
“Mistress?”
“I am sorry K-9,” Leela broke off with a laugh, reaching down to pat the top of his head-plate. “I do not mean to prattle on so. All these years among your Lords and Ladies and politicians have made a windbag of me.”
“Searching this unit’s databanks for relevant information concerning the term: windbag. A person-”
“That is all right, K-9. I was only speaking my thoughts aloud.”
The muffled sound of footsteps outside the TARDIS doors was all Leela needed to warn her of an unbidden arrival. Her senses still felt so keen and new after the hound transformation, that she wondered if she would ever grow used to their sharpness. But she relished those moments in the heat of battle when she could hear her blood sing in her veins... for that alone, it was worth it.
Romana opened the door and peered through. “Leela, what are you still doing in here? Come on, we’ve got everything just about set up, and I think Narvin might launch an inquiry into your whereabouts if we take any longer.”
“I am ready. But Romana...” she paused, the words tasting clumsy and hesitant on her tongue. “Narvin. How is he?”
With a heavy sigh, Romana stepped through the door and let it close behind her. She strode over to Leela's side at the console, tread sure and steady as always, yet when Leela met her eyes she sensed a kindred concern behind them too.
“I’m not certain. We didn’t exactly sit down for a hearts-to-hearts after he... well. After what he did.”
“Then you have not found it in yourself to forgive him?”
Romana made a frustrated noise behind her teeth. “It’s not a matter of my forgiveness, Leela! What he did could incite a catastrophic temporal war across every planet of every system in the universe... a war that I’m afraid Gallifrey may inevitably lose. And he didn’t afford the consequences of his actions so much as a second thought!”
“It was not the consequences that he spared no thought, I think. It was the other path, that Narvin could not abide.”
A familiar frown-line graced Romana’s brow, the one that always made Leela want to smooth it away with a touch. “I’m sorry, I don’t follow.”
“We thought you were gone, lost to us forever... after all we had faced together, it seemed like the cruelest of fates,” Leela said, turning to stare down at the buttons and dials on the console, willing her hands to rest still at her sides. “And Narvin could not stand to walk down that road.”
She was so caught up in staring into the console that she almost missed the whisper of fabric when Romana raised her arm to gently cup Leela’s jaw and tilt her face back towards her. “And you?”
Leela dropped her gaze to avoid the searching glance Romana levelled at her, but couldn’t help leaning into the touch. “I am only ashamed that I could not find another course that would have saved you, even though you did not need it in the end,” she murmured, bringing her hands up at last to gently cradle Romana's between her own. “I can not fault Narvin for what he did.”
When she finally met Romana’s eyes, they were crinkled in fond, if bittersweet, amusement. “No, I suppose not. It’s a... delicate situation we’ve landed ourselves in, Leela, to say the least. But perhaps you’re right. What’s done is done and now we simply have to deal with whatever is coming. Casting blame, no matter how rightly deserved...” Romana’s voice rose in irritation, but just as quickly deflated. “Well, casting blame will do none of us any good.”
Leela felt a lightness in her chest and she leaned forward to press her forehead against Romana’s in a silent gesture of thanks. They stood like that for a moment, savouring the contact, until K-9 wheeled over to them with a high-pitched whine.
"Mistresses, past precedent indicates that any further delay will result in-"
"Yes, yes, K-9. Any further delay will result in Narvin's head imploding, I'm sure."
Leela pulled back and released Romana’s hand as they walked back towards the TARDIS doors, the familiar excitement that came with discovering a new world rising in her throat. “So, tell me what planet you have brought us to, Romana. I heard the name of it once before, and yet I can feel in my bones that I have never set foot on such a place.”
“It’s called the Eye of Orion. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Doctor mentioned it during your travels with him, he always was inordinately fond of it. One of the most calming and restorative travel-destinations in the universe, if its reputation is to be believed. It's just... well, if you'll forgive the phrase, it's just what the Doctor ordered, I should think.”
"I have never known you to take orders from anyone, let alone the Doctor," Leela teased.
Romana pulled the door open with a laugh, a rare sound these days, and held out a hand to Leela expectantly. “Shall we?”
Leela took her hand.