(no subject)
Title: Almost
Rating: PG
Characters: Ten, Rose
Spoilers: Doomsday spoilers - kinda also slight speculation for end of Series 4.
Disclaimer: I wish it was mine...sadly, that dream will never happen.
Summary:
‘I guess this is it, then,’ she whispers, her toes scrunching inside her shoes, wishing that they could scrunch into the sand beneath her feet. He nods, simply.
He almost can’t let her go. The wind is bitter as it rushes past them, catching their breaths. Time passes, but it seems slower now than ever before.
She tries to smile, but it’s hopeless. Tears roll down her face, leaving paths in the ash. Her hair whips around her face, and she can almost pretend that it’s only their first goodbye, and she’ll see him again. Almost.
With the hand that’s not holding his, she sweeps her hair behind her ear, and tries to wipe her tears. He smiles at her, with a half-smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and holds her hand a little tighter.
She doesn’t want him to go, even though she’d decided to stay. As she looks up at him again, she sees the distant stars in his eyes, and all the places that she’ll never go to. She sees them all, and almost changes her mind. Almost.
‘I guess this is it, then,’ she whispers, her toes scrunching inside her shoes, wishing that they could scrunch into the sand beneath her feet. He nods, simply.
She withdraws her hand, but his arm still stays in place, as if he’s still holding it, for a second or two. There’s nothing more to say. They’ve said it all earlier. Pete, Jackie, Mickey and even her sister will be waiting for her. Somehow, however, she’s frozen, and can’t move.
He indicates the TARDIS, with a hand gesture. ‘Better get going. Donna will be waiting for me, and we can’t stay here for too long.’
She nods, but neither of them move. She chokes on her tears as they spring from her eyes. He laughs at the awkwardness of it all and she finds that it hurts even more the second time around.
Running her hands through her hair, she makes to leave, but he catches her hand, and holds it again, without really knowing what he’s doing. She looks at it for a second, then back at him, with curiosity.
‘Stay,’ he asks her, desperately, already knowing the answer. She shakes her head, and a lone tear drifts towards the ground. She wants him. She needs him. She wants to leave everything all behind, but her family, everyone, everything is here now.
‘I can’t,’ she tells him, firmly. ‘I’ve got to stay and tidy up all this mess. I have to.’
She’s persistent enough to make him let go again, and return to the TARDIS. She doesn’t turn to look at it, until she hears the click of the door. Looking any earlier would mean being tempted any further.
The blue box slowly fades away, and she cries until her eyes are dry. With a heavy heart, she leaves the memories there, beside the water, and walks to the jeep, which is further than it was last time, but the walk seems better for being longer.
Just as she’s about to open the door, she hears a faint whirring sound, but convinces herself that it’s her imagination. The door clicks behind her, and they’re off, but not before she almost hears a faint shout of ‘Rose!’. Almost.
He watches the paths that her footprints have left and realises that whatever he thought before, he really could let her go. That’s not to say that it didn’t hurt, though.