Romana was never entirely sure what prompted her to ask Leela to be her bodyguard. Maybe it was that they’d both travelled with the Doctor and having her nearby made that time (and him) seem less far away. Maybe she’d done it because she was afraid that rather than changing Gallifrey, Gallifrey would change her and she hoped Leela would somehow be able to stop that. Which was perfectly ridiculous, of course, as Leela barely knew her and she barely knew Leela. As if it were a bodyguard's place to criticize the Madam President’s behaviour.
Honestly. She’d probably done it simply to annoy Narvin. She was over-thinking the whole thing. Which wasn’t like her at all. The only thing she was sure of was that it hadn’t been because she really needed a bodyguard. Though if that were true she could probably, no, definitely trust Leela more than any member of the Chancellery Guard Braxiatel might appoint to the task.
*
She finds, after a frighteningly short while, that Gallifrey is changing her. She feels as if Gallifrey were a priceless piece of amber that is cooling around her, freezing her with it as it does. As though the more she tries to shape it, the more it shapes her. She had hoped that she could change things, do some good with all she had learnt. But Gallifrey is so old now, stiff and brittle, unbending, like old wood that could be snapped by the wind of too much change, too fast. She finds herself hardening as she freezes and as she hardens it feels as though parts of her are cracking. Her novel lies abandoned somewhere in K9's memory banks. She cannot seem to find time for such things any more. And it is when she finds these things that she is glad to have asked (begged?) Leela to stay because only with Leela does she find that she is able to soften, even a little. It is Leela's arms she finds herself in at the end of most days, Leela's kisses that smooth over the cracks a little.
And even though not such a long time ago she found the idea so ridiculous she realises that just by her presence alone (never mind how important she has become to her), Leela does help her to remember why she has chosen to do this and who she truly is. She is not sure what she would do without that.
*
If she were to choose one moment when it all began to change (never mind how, as a Time Lord, she knows exactly how silly and counter-productive such an exercise is) it would be after the incident at the decoy summit. She found herself at Leela’s door. Even though, like everything else about this, it made no sense that she, the Lady President of Gallifrey (…and all her dominions…) should be paying a visit to her own bodyguard on as weak a pretext as that of checking on her K9 unit. Still. K9 is a girl’s best friend. She recalls the instant the door shut behind her, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. As though the Lady President was a part she must play, as if all her time was a long series of automated holograms recorded for a long series of staged summits. It’s very very silly but when there’s only Leela she feels as if all that falls away, along with the weight.
Requests: Romana/Braxiatel, Romana/Mickey, Romana/Nyssa (whichever regeneration strikes your fancy in each case but slight preference for II!
Romana II/Leela
Honestly. She’d probably done it simply to annoy Narvin. She was over-thinking the whole thing. Which wasn’t like her at all. The only thing she was sure of was that it hadn’t been because she really needed a bodyguard. Though if that were true she could probably, no, definitely trust Leela more than any member of the Chancellery Guard Braxiatel might appoint to the task.
*
She finds, after a frighteningly short while, that Gallifrey is changing her. She feels as if Gallifrey were a priceless piece of amber that is cooling around her, freezing her with it as it does. As though the more she tries to shape it, the more it shapes her. She had hoped that she could change things, do some good with all she had learnt. But Gallifrey is so old now, stiff and brittle, unbending, like old wood that could be snapped by the wind of too much change, too fast. She finds herself hardening as she freezes and as she hardens it feels as though parts of her are cracking. Her novel lies abandoned somewhere in K9's memory banks. She cannot seem to find time for such things any more. And it is when she finds these things that she is glad to have asked (begged?) Leela to stay because only with Leela does she find that she is able to soften, even a little. It is Leela's arms she finds herself in at the end of most days, Leela's kisses that smooth over the cracks a little.
And even though not such a long time ago she found the idea so ridiculous she realises that just by her presence alone (never mind how important she has become to her), Leela does help her to remember why she has chosen to do this and who she truly is. She is not sure what she would do without that.
*
If she were to choose one moment when it all began to change (never mind how, as a Time Lord, she knows exactly how silly and counter-productive such an exercise is) it would be after the incident at the decoy summit. She found herself at Leela’s door. Even though, like everything else about this, it made no sense that she, the Lady President of Gallifrey (…and all her dominions…) should be paying a visit to her own bodyguard on as weak a pretext as that of checking on her K9 unit. Still. K9 is a girl’s best friend. She recalls the instant the door shut behind her, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. As though the Lady President was a part she must play, as if all her time was a long series of automated holograms recorded for a long series of staged summits. It’s very very silly but when there’s only Leela she feels as if all that falls away, along with the weight.
Requests: Romana/Braxiatel, Romana/Mickey, Romana/Nyssa (whichever regeneration strikes your fancy in each case but slight preference for II!