A/N: *speaks into megaphone*

HELLOOOOO!!!!!

Guess who's back?!?! 😃

That's right! It's me! 😁

Oh how I've missed this story! ❤️

I haven't written anything for this story since... August, I think. 😊 Life seriously got in the way. I live in South-East Texas and life sorta got derailed after Hurricane Harvey hit at the end of August and caused very widespread flood damage. Just about everyone I know either had damage to their homes, lost their cars. Just... a lot happened. Luckily materialistic things can be replaced. I'm just happy that everyone came out of the storm alive. 🙌

Anyway, I'm happy to be getting back to writing this story and running around through time and space with the Doctor and our glorious Lexi Pond. 💕 And also seeing how things go with our new companions: Clara and Lucas. 💙❤️

I hope that y'all still will enjoy this story 'cause I'm definitely not gonna give up on it. I mean, after this episode we only have 6 episodes to get through before we get to... "The Day of the Doctor"!!! 🎉

I seriously cannot wait for that! I rewatched it the other day and it just made me even more excited for when I get to write it. It is definitely going to be fun. 😁

Alright, well, I suppose I won't keep y'all any longer and just let you get on with reading the episode.

Oh! One more thing...

THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE READ THIS BOOK AND HELPED IT GET TO (and now over) 10,000 READS!!! ❤️

Now, without further ado, let us read... "The Rings of Akhaten"!!! 🎉

Enjoy! 😘

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Inside, Maitland House, Front Hall, Day...

Miss Clara Oswald sat on the stairs as she held one of her most valued possessions in hand, the book '101 Places to See', close to her chest while her finger nervously tapped the spine.

Just then, the front door swung open.

"Sorry I'm late!" Mr. Lucas Harper exclaimed as he entered the front hall, shutting the door behind him before discarding his messenger bag by the coat rack.

"You're not late, don't worry." Clara giggled as Lucas came and sat on the stairs with her. "They're not even here yet."

"Good." Lucas sighed as he leaned back. "Staff meeting ran late at school. Trust me, Clara, if you ever become a teacher, you're going to hate staff meetings. Everyone does."

Clara laughed and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the sound of the TARDIS materializing outside.

Clara and Lucas shared a look and grinned before the sound of the doorbell ringing was heard, making them quickly stand up and run for the front door.

Inside, TARDIS...

"So we're moving through actual time?" Lucas enquired as he and Clara walked around the console in excitement, the Doctor watching them with a smile.

"Is it made of anything? You know, time?" Clara chimed in as she walked past Lexi, said woman sitting in a jump-seat as she looked down at something in her small black leather pocketbook/wallet. "I mean, if you can just rotor through it, it must be made of something. You know, stuff like jams made of strawberries. So what's it made of?"

"Not strawberries, that's for sure." Lexi snickered, closing her small pocketbook and putting it in an inside pocket of her long emerald green waterfall Duster coat before crossing her arms as she watched the two companions take in the whole room with unwavering fascination. "I mean, time can't just be made out of strawberries. That'd be unacceptable."

Lucas poked his head into view from the other side of the console, raising an eyebrow in question. "And we can go anywhere?"

"Within reason." The Doctor chuckled as he walked up to stand right beside the console.

"Which it usually is never reasonable." Lexi commented, getting up from the jump-seat she was sitting in to come and stand next to the Doctor.

Clara quickly rushed around the console to stand directly in front of the Doctor and Lexi. "So, basically what you're saying is that we could go anywhere? Like... backwards in time?"

"And space. Yes." The Doctor nodded.

"And forwards in time?" Lucas questioned, now standing directly behind the Doctor and Lexi and making them whirl around to face him.

"And space. Totally." The Doctor nodded at him before twirling around again to press a few buttons on the console.

"Now," Lexi began, a grin spreading across her face as she took a couple steps back to get a better view of Lucas and Clara. "the Doctor and I were not kidding when we said you could go anywhere you'd like. So, where do you want to go and what would you like to see?"

"I have absolutely no idea." Clara suddenly realized, quickly making her look over to Lucas. "Lucas, it's like someone's asking you your favorite book and suddenly you forget every book you've ever read."

"I've never experienced that." Lexi commented, walking in between Clara and Lucas to join the Doctor at the console.

"I think I get it." Lucas said, ignoring Lexi's comment. "I mean, how can you pick somewhere to go when you literally have the whole of time and space at your fingertips?"

"Exactly!" Clara exclaimed, snapping and pointing at her friend.

"Hello!" The Doctor spoke up again, getting their attention. "Back to the question."

"Right." Clara nodded at him before grabbing Lucas's hand bringing him into a huddle so they could talk more privately.

"They really are a pair, aren't they?" Lexi giggled quietly as she and the Doctor watched them.

"Definitely." He agreed with a chuckle before Clara and Lucas suddenly whirled around to face them.

"So, decided?" Lexi questioned, an amused smile on her face.

"It's difficult to make a decision like this." Lucas began. "But, we think we've figured out a term that might just help figure out a place to go and see something we'd like to see."

"And that would be?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

Lucas and Clara shared a look before looking back to the Doctor and Lexi.

"Something awesome."

The Doctor and Lexi grinned at them, snapping their fingers before putting the TARDIS in motion.

Outside, Space...

The Doctor excitedly opened the TARDIS doors before holding Clara by the shoulders and ushering her outside as Lexi held onto Lucas's arm while carefully guiding him outside as well.

"Can you both feel the light on your eyelids?" Lexi enquired before shutting the TARDIS door.

"Mm-hm." Clara and Lucas both nodded as they kept their eyes closed.

"Well, that's the light of an alien sun." The Doctor informed softly, positioning Clara as Lexi did the same with Lucas. "Just forward a couple of steps."

"Are you ready, Lucas?" Lexi whispered to him.

"I don't think I'd ever be ready for something like this." He replied. "But let's have a look anyway."

"That's the spirit." The Doctor chuckled. "Now, both of you... open your eyes."

Clara giggled excitedly before she and Lucas slowly opened their eyes.

"Woah..." Lucas whispered, taking in the sight that was before them.

The quartet were standing on a large chunk of rock – possible asteroid – that was part of a set of rings circling a large sun. One asteroid was larger and looked to have been settled with what looked like a city.

"Lucas Harper and Clara Oswald..." Lexi began as she came to stand in between the two friends. "welcome to the Rings of Akhaten."

"It's..." Clara trailed off, eyes wide at the sheer beauty of it all.

"It is. It so completely is." The Doctor agreed when he saw the look on Clara's face. "But wait! There's more."

"More what?" She enquired.

"Wait, wait, wait." He said quickly, checking his watch. "In about five, four, three, two..."

Just then, the asteroids passed and revealed another asteroid that had a large pyramid that shined as the light from the sun hit it.

"What is that?" Lucas asked, awed at the sight.

"It's called The Pyramid of the Rings of Akhaten." Lexi explained. "It's a holy site for the Sun-singers of Akhet."

"The who of the what?" Clara asked, smiling slightly as she glanced at Lexi.

"Seven worlds orbiting the same star, Miss Oswald." Lexi smiled, glancing at Clara before looking back towards the Pyramid. "Dear, would you like to explain? I feel like I'm doing all the talking."

"Don't mind if I do." The Doctor chuckled, rubbing his hands together before pointing towards the asteroid the Pyramid was on. "All the seven worlds share the belief that life in the universe originated there on that planet."

"All life?" Lucas tilted his head, not taking his eyes off the Pyramid.

"In the universe." The Doctor nodded in confirmation.

"Did it?"

"Well, it's what they believe." The Doctor shrugged. "It is a nice story."

"Can we see it?" Clara asked. "You know, up close?"

"We wouldn't have brought you both out here if we couldn't." Lexi grinned as she held out her hand, Lucas taking ahold of it as Clara did the same with the Doctor before they all rushed back to the TARDIS.

Outside, Marketplace...

The TARDIS materialized, hidden behind some stalls off the main avenue of the marketplace.

The Doctor and Lexi hurried out of the TARDIS excitedly, their hands still linked with their companions.

The Doctor and Lexi were smiling with glee as Clara and Lucas both stopped short when they saw all the alien races walking about. The two friends walked a little ahead of the Doctor and Lexi, eyes darting around in wonder at the sheer amazingness of the whole place.

Lexi herself stopped at a stall, looking over the various exotic fruit that was laid out as the Doctor peered over her shoulder before reaching around her and picking up what looked like some sort of rainbow miniature pineapple.

"That looks... delicious?" Lexi giggled as the Doctor turned the fruit over in his hands while still keeping his arms around her. "I wonder how it tastes."

"Hopefully better than it looks." He told her quietly making her giggle as Clara and Lucas made their way back over to them as they continued to look at all the aliens races.

"Where are all these species from exactly?" Lucas questioned.

"Oh, you know, the local system mostly." The Doctor replied as he set the little rainbow pineapple back down before taking his arms from around Lexi and turning around.

"Well, what do you call them?" Clara asked curiously.

"Oh, so many different things." Lexi said as she turned around as well before pointing in the direction of a particular alien couple. "There go some Panbabylonians."

"Ooh, a Lugal-Irra-Kush and some Lucanians." The Doctor grinned as he, too, pointed in the direction of a couple different species walking alongside each other. "Oh, And there's a Hooloovoo. Ah! Qom VoTivig." He explained before sharing a special greeting with said alien.

"Oh, and if you look just over there," Lexi began as she came up in between Lucas and Clara, said companions looking in the direction Lexi was pointing and seeing some sort of alien standing at a stall as it chatted with the vendor. "that chap is a Terraberserker of the Kodion Belt. I remember the Doctor telling me you don't really see many of them around anymore." She then pointed to another alien a couple stalls down. "That's an Ultramancer. You know, Doctor, I forget how much I liked it here."

"We should come back here more often, shouldn't we?" The Doctor mused as he came to stand directly behind her.

"Wait, you two have been here before?" Clara asked, glancing back at the Doctor before looking to Lexi.

"Oh, yeah." Lexi grinned at her before grabbing the Doctor's hand and walking a little ahead of Clara and Lucas. "A while back the Doctor brought me and my sister here once for our birthday."

"What, hang on!" Lucas quickly said as he and Clara ran after the Doctor and Lexi before bumping into a couple of tall aliens, one of the aliens being even taller than Lucas.

The duo stared at them before continuing on, the two aliens merely shaking their heads.

Lucas and Clara soon found the Doctor and Lexi at a booth where they were both beaming over glowing blue spheres in a bowl.

"Exotic fruits of some description." The Doctor noted as he and Lexi scanned the fruit with their sonics.

"Also non-toxic, which is good." Lexi commented. "As well as non-hallucinogenic."

"High in free radicals." The Doctor continued as he and Lexi each handed Clara and Lucas a glowing-blue-sphere-fruit. "And low in other stuff, I shouldn't wonder."

The Couple of Time watched as their companions both cautiously took a bite of the fruits before making faces.

Lexi raised an eyebrow. "So, it's a no on the luminous fruit? You know, if that actually is a fruit. I'm not even too sure."

"Nah." Lucas shook his head before the four of them all began walking alongside each other down the avenue of the marketplace. "So, why is everyone here?"

"Oh, you're both gonna love this." The Doctor grinned. "It's for what is called the Festival of Offerings. It takes place every thousand years or so, when the rings align."

"It's actually quite a beautiful concept." Lexi commented. "And it's a pretty big thing, locally."

"Like Pancake Tuesday." The Doctor chimed in, a small smile planted on his face.

"Not really the same thing." Lexi sighed, rolling her eyes playfully as she and the Doctor went ahead again.

Clara and Lucas then turned around, only to come face-to-face with an alien that seemed to have a dog-like face.

"Whoa!" Clara exclaimed, her and Lucas's eyes widening as the alien barked and snarled at them.

Lucas leaned slightly back from the alien. "Erm, Doctor? Glorious?"

"What's happening?" Clara asked quickly as the Doctor and Lexi arrived, the Doctor then yapping back at the alien. "Why's it angry?"

"This isn't an it, it's a she." The Doctor informed before gesturing at Lexi, Clara and Lucas. "Dor'een, meet my wife: the Glorious. And this is Clara and Lucas. Lex, Clara, Lucas, meet Dor'een."

Lexi smiled brightly, giving the alien a small wave. "Hello, Dor'een."

"Doreen?" Clara tilted her head in question at the name.

"Loose translation." The Doctor explained. "She sounds a bit grumpy but she's a total love, actually, aren't you?" He tickled Dor'een under her chin. "Yes, you are. She's just asking if we fancy renting a moped."

Dor'een then backed out of the way to show the quartet two mopeds that were ready for use.

Lucas barked and Dor'een barked in return.

Lucas then glanced at Lexi. "How much do they cost?"

"Ooh, that's one thing I could never forget about this place." Lexi replied, a fond smile on her face. "It's not money that you pay with for things around here. It has to be something... valuable. Something that holds sentimental value. You know, like a photograph or a love letter, something like that. It's what's used for their currency."

"Psychometry, it's called." The Doctor nodding in agreement with Lexi as they faced their companions. "Objects psychically imprinted with their history. The more treasured they are, the more value they hold."

Clara frowned. "That's horrible."

"Better than using bits of paper." The Doctor shrugged.

"Then you pay."

"With what?" He questioned.

"You're a thousand years old." She reminded him. "You must have something you care about."

The Doctor glanced at Lexi, said woman giving him a pointed look as Clara and Lucas began looking around again.

The Doctor sighed, reaching into his pocket, pulling out his sonic. He stared at it for a moment before just shaking his head and putting it back in his inside coat pocket. He then looked to Lexi, raising an eyebrow.

Lexi bit her bottom lip in thought for a moment before feeling around in her coat pockets, her hand coming in contacts with her sonic screwdriver. True, that did mean a lot to her. It was the Doctor's wedding/Christmas gift to her after they were married. You know, the day she had told him she was pregnant with the twins. Lexi's sonic did mean a lot to her, but not as much as the Doctor's sonic did to him. Lexi then let her hand go to her other coat pocket, her hand coming into contact with her small black leather pocketbook.

Nope.

Lexi sighed, looking back at the Doctor and shaking her head.

The Doctor just sighed himself before grabbing Lexi's hand and leading her away to some other part of the marketplace.

Unknown to them, Clara and Lucas were now on their own.

Clara laughed at something Lucas had said before they both glanced back, realizing that the Doctor and Lexi were no longer there.

"Doctor? Glorious?" Clara called out as she and Lucas began looking for them.

"Glorious, Doctor, where are you?" Lucas called out as he and Clara continued to look for the two time and space travelers just as a young girl almost ran into them, looking a bit scared.

Clara frowned slightly as she tilted her head at the little girl. "Are you okay?"

The girl then quickly ran in between her and Lucas just before two men dressed similarly to the girl came around the corner.

"Have you seen her?" One of the men asked, looking directly at Lucas.

"Who?" Lucas asked, confused as to what/whom the man could be talking about.

"The Queen of Years." He replied.

"I don't know who you're talking about, mate." Lucas frowned slightly.

The two men shared a look before then just brushing past Lucas and Clara and continuing their search for the girl.

Lucas then glanced at Clara, raising an eyebrow in question.

Clara quickly nodded before the two of them looked around and went to find the girl themselves.