The Power of Names (Rain and the Doctor)

In a playground, what looked like a young boy no older than eight stood alone, peering up through tears at the nearby jungle gym. In one hand he held a jumprope, which he had borrowed from his sister, and in the other hand he held a hastily scribbled note. He wore a bow in his hair, and a plain dress he had fashioned out of an old window curtain. He walked slowly toward the gym and began to climb, still whimpering softly.

In the distance stood two people: a tall, light-skinned man in a purple coat, grey vest, black trousers and boots, with a purple bowtie around his neck, and floppy black hair done in a quiff.
Beside him stood a girl in her mid-twenties, she had long brown hair that cascaded down her back, and wore a simple red dress with a jacket and tights, and boots.

The man touched her shoulder lightly and pointed to the boy on the playground, speaking quietly. “Do you see that boy there? He’s the source of the distress signal. Listen… can you hear him crying?”

The girl shook her head, “No… he doesn’t look happy though.”

The man nodded. “He’s crying silently. I mean, children cry because they want attention, because they're hurt or afraid. But when they cry silently, it's because they just can't stop. Any parent knows that.”

The girl blinked, and looked toward him. “Are you a parent?”

The man chuckled. “Almost.” His smile faded when he saw what the boy was about to do, and what he was carrying. The boy had the rope looped around a bar of the jungle gym, and was preparing to slide his head around it.

Thinking quickly the man in the purple coat ran down the hill toward the playground, stopping in a whirl of limbs, and shouted “Hello! You look like you need some help!”

The boy blinked and looked toward the man, too surprised to move. “Who… who are you?”

The man smiled and walked over, his boots crunching in the gravel, “I’m the Doctor… this is my friend Clara. What’s your name?”

The boy stopped, and frowned. Which name to use? These two didn’t look familiar, so they might not laugh… not like what Kellen and Aiken had done. He swallowed, and said in a soft voice “Rain… my name is Rain. Rain Flaherty.”

The Doctor nodded, holding a hand out for Rain to take, which she did, “Come with me, Rain… leave the jump rope behind, you won’t be needing it. Unless, you know, you think you might. For jumping rope. Girls like that, don’t they? Jumping rope?” He looked puzzled.

Rain smiled, a true smile. Finally, someone had used her name, and the right gender term! She gladly took the Doctor’s hand and let go of the rope. It slid down to the ground and landed just as Rain’s feet touched the ground.

The Doctor, meanwhile, crouched down to sit at her level. “Would you mind telling me what you were trying to do, Rain?” he asked, voice soft and caring.

Rain paused, trying to think of how best to explain the situation, and settled for gesturing to herself. “I didn’t want… I didn’t want to have boy parts anymore, so… I was gonna jump, and hope.”

“Hope for what?” wondered Clara.

Rain sighed, and decided the truth was the best option, “That I was gonna become a girl when I woke up.”

The Doctor sighed, and spoke again. “It’s a good thing you didn’t, Rain… let me explain why.” He paused a moment, thinking of words, then continued. “Do you mind if I tell you a story? One you might not have heard? All the elements in your body were forged many, many millions of years ago, in the heart of a far away star that exploded and died. That explosion scattered those elements across the desolations of deep space. After so, so many millions of years, these elements came together to form new stars and new planets. And on and on it went. The elements came together and burst apart, forming shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings. Until eventually, they came together to make you.” The Doctor stared right into Rain’s eyes, and she stared back, captivated. “You are unique in the universe. There is only one Rain Flaherty. And there will never be another.”

Rain paused to consider the man’s words, and said after a few moments “You said you’re a doctor… can you fix me? Make me a real girl, like my sister?”

The Doctor shook his head, “No, I’m not that kind of doctor… but I’ll show you what I can do.” He took Rain’s hand again and smiled, “Come along, Rain.”
***
The three of them ran over the hill, Rain’s dress flapping in the breeze, toward a bright blue box perched at the very top. Across the top of the box were the words “POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX” in white lettering, and on one of the sides were some instructions, written into a door panel: “Police Telephone, Free for Use of Public. Advice and Assistance Obtainable Immediately. Officers & Cars Respond to All Calls. Pull to Open.”

Rain frowned. “If you’re a doctor, why does your box say police?”

The Doctor shrugged, “I dunno, I’ve been meaning to check.” He grinned again, “Get ready for this.” Then he snapped his fingers, and the doors opened inwards by themselves.

Rain peeked, and stared into the well-lit room beyond: it was absolutely impossible. A tall, hexagonal console stood in the center, accessed by a small ramp, with a great big tube reaching high into the ceiling. Lights and smaller consoles decorated the circular space, it looked like a great big machine, crammed into a small box! She stepped through, and was immediately enveloped by a sense of home. This place felt safe. “What is this place?” she asked, after a moment of looking around. "It's bigger on the inside!"

The Doctor walked over to the control console and stood in front of it, arms outstretched. “It’s called the TARDIS. It can travel anywhere in time and space. And it’s mine.” He smiled at Rain, “Where shall we go?”

Rain blinked again, her eyes widening in surprise, “Oh! Well… I dunno. I’ve never been in a time machine before…” She thought for a little bit, “How about the future?”

The Doctor nodded, “Right, the future! Come over here!” He gestured to a section of the console that looked like it was filled with lots of squidgy goo. “This is the TARDIS telepathic interface. Place your fingers in here, and she’ll extrapolate your entire timeline, from the moment of your birth to the moment of your death. Won’t hurt a bit!”

Rain nodded and placed her fingers where she was supposed to, marveling. "It's like putty... lots of putty!" All around her the ship groaned and wheezed before abruptly landing with a dull thump. "Where are we?"

The Doctor pulled over a monitor and looked at the readout. "St. Hallvard High School, the year is 2013, the month... January. You're eight now, so this is nine years in your future." He presses a button on the side of the monitor, and the date reading switched to a local camera feed, showing a cafeteria. Zooming in a bit revealed a girl of about 17 with her hair in a long braid, talking animatedly to a group of people about something as they ate their lunches.

Rain couldn't hear what they were saying, but knew the girl in the middle must be her. The Doctor smiled. "See that girl? She's an important girl... a brave a girl. A girl who chooses to live as herself, even when the surrounding circumstances could get her into terrible trouble. A girl who reconnects with an old friend, and meets some new ones. A girl who's just starting out on her very long journey to full femininity. The road ahead will be long, and full of good things and bad things... every life is. But that girl will grow. She will become a force for change. And in another ten years, everyone will know her name, because she will be famous. And do you know what her name is?"

"Rain," said she, staring transfixed at the sight before her. "Rain Flaherty."