One Moment
Normally I'm not one for writing due to the passing of an actor, but the news of Lis Sladen's death was something of a shock and she was a part of something I've come to hold quite dear, so this piece just sort of happened..
Fandom: Doctor Who/Sarah Jane Adventures
Summary: Luke visits his mother.
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His feet carried him down the path in a more sure manner than his eyes ever could. Luke has no idea if he could describe the way to anyone, having no directions other than the ones he felt. He scratched at the growth of stubble on his chin and attempted to straighten his rumpled clothes. There really hadn't been time to jump in the shower and change. He could already imagine the expression on her face if she saw him- thin lipped, raised eyebrow, unwilling to criticize his appearance but wanting an explanation all the same. As he had taken up pointing out how unchanging she was, Sarah Jane had done her best to avoid the topic of appearances, or -a smile quirked the corner of his lip- blame a specific someone.
Sarah tugged at a lock of her hair, slowly growing lighter but still definitely auburn after all the years. “I swear,” she muttered, “the Doctor puts something in my tea. I think he's more afraid of me with gray hair than I am.”
Luke's body reached his destination before his mind, but the words come easily once it caught up.
“Hi mum, sorry 'bout the smell. Couldn't find time to get in the shower.. Rani went into labor last night and I had to drive her and Clyde.” He smirked, recalling the phone call he had received from his best mate, “and well Clyde was too.. happy or panicked, I'm actually not sure which- to drive. They still hadn't decided whether or not to name the girls 'Sarah' and 'Jane'. I told them they ought to be careful.. anyone with your namesake is bound to be trouble.”
Luke could remember when they had brought the idea to him, and he had been shocked that they seemed to almost be asking permission. She had been as much a part of their lives as she had been his, it hadn't felt quite right that they had decided to ask. He supposed they just wanted to defer to him, and get a second party's opinion on whether or not they were crazy for thinking of doing it.
“Maria sends her love,” he continued. “Couldn't make it, has to watch Matthew at the hospital. He keeps wondering what all the fuss is about.. I suppose he was too young to remember Ben being born. Who's staying at his dad's by the way- didn't want to crowd new mum and dad too soon, especially if they've got twins to worry about, and their parents worrying about them. Gita's going to go spare that she was out of town when it happened, but I think Haresh needed to break as much as Rani did. And they've got a big party of well-wishers on call, waiting to flood the hospital.”
A whole contingent of friends and family, himself included, were plotting a welcoming party for the couple's new additions once they were out of the hospital. Even if the exhausted parents barely attended the celebrations would carry on for quite a while. It had become a bit of a tradition for whenever someone was born, or- as the whole idea had stemmed from, when someone passed.
He wouldn't call it a tragedy, that felt wrong somehow. It was the closing of a book, the soft sound of pages pressing together as the cover closed before it was placed alongside all his other memories. Luke grieved, but he had learned too much to let sadness be the one thing that came from her passing.
So he opened the doors of 13 Bannerman Road and welcomed all who came to them.
Friends, colleagues, aliens, humans and more than a few strange men who came and vanished in an inexplicable temporal wind. They shared tears, laughter and stories.
They celebrated the life of Sarah Jane Smith for a week.
Because time moved ever forward for everyone, but that didn't mean it was all that there was to remember. It was something she had explained to him very early on, in the days for him when absolutely everything was new.
“Everything has it's time.. everything ends, everything.. dies. It's a fact of living that one day you'll be gone, but that doesn't make it any more important than any other part of being alive.”
Luke reached forward to trace the grooves of the stone with his hand. She wasn't here, in this place, she was scattered across the world and in the stars but this was where he chose to speak to her. Out in the future was her past, just like the light of an old star still falling on the earth, and somewhere in the past her future had wandered around before she was born. This was just the one moment he could reach, because some when and everywhere she was still alive.
“I'll pass along your congratulations, alright? And I'll be back to tell you once they settle on names.. though if they get yours, I think you'd know before me.” He settled his hands into his pockets, always a little unsure of how to end the conversation- because that's what it was, even if her reply wasn't coming back to him in words. “Bye mum.”
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Fandom: Doctor Who/Sarah Jane Adventures
Summary: Luke visits his mother.
--
His feet carried him down the path in a more sure manner than his eyes ever could. Luke has no idea if he could describe the way to anyone, having no directions other than the ones he felt. He scratched at the growth of stubble on his chin and attempted to straighten his rumpled clothes. There really hadn't been time to jump in the shower and change. He could already imagine the expression on her face if she saw him- thin lipped, raised eyebrow, unwilling to criticize his appearance but wanting an explanation all the same. As he had taken up pointing out how unchanging she was, Sarah Jane had done her best to avoid the topic of appearances, or -a smile quirked the corner of his lip- blame a specific someone.
Sarah tugged at a lock of her hair, slowly growing lighter but still definitely auburn after all the years. “I swear,” she muttered, “the Doctor puts something in my tea. I think he's more afraid of me with gray hair than I am.”
Luke's body reached his destination before his mind, but the words come easily once it caught up.
“Hi mum, sorry 'bout the smell. Couldn't find time to get in the shower.. Rani went into labor last night and I had to drive her and Clyde.” He smirked, recalling the phone call he had received from his best mate, “and well Clyde was too.. happy or panicked, I'm actually not sure which- to drive. They still hadn't decided whether or not to name the girls 'Sarah' and 'Jane'. I told them they ought to be careful.. anyone with your namesake is bound to be trouble.”
Luke could remember when they had brought the idea to him, and he had been shocked that they seemed to almost be asking permission. She had been as much a part of their lives as she had been his, it hadn't felt quite right that they had decided to ask. He supposed they just wanted to defer to him, and get a second party's opinion on whether or not they were crazy for thinking of doing it.
“Maria sends her love,” he continued. “Couldn't make it, has to watch Matthew at the hospital. He keeps wondering what all the fuss is about.. I suppose he was too young to remember Ben being born. Who's staying at his dad's by the way- didn't want to crowd new mum and dad too soon, especially if they've got twins to worry about, and their parents worrying about them. Gita's going to go spare that she was out of town when it happened, but I think Haresh needed to break as much as Rani did. And they've got a big party of well-wishers on call, waiting to flood the hospital.”
A whole contingent of friends and family, himself included, were plotting a welcoming party for the couple's new additions once they were out of the hospital. Even if the exhausted parents barely attended the celebrations would carry on for quite a while. It had become a bit of a tradition for whenever someone was born, or- as the whole idea had stemmed from, when someone passed.
He wouldn't call it a tragedy, that felt wrong somehow. It was the closing of a book, the soft sound of pages pressing together as the cover closed before it was placed alongside all his other memories. Luke grieved, but he had learned too much to let sadness be the one thing that came from her passing.
So he opened the doors of 13 Bannerman Road and welcomed all who came to them.
Friends, colleagues, aliens, humans and more than a few strange men who came and vanished in an inexplicable temporal wind. They shared tears, laughter and stories.
They celebrated the life of Sarah Jane Smith for a week.
Because time moved ever forward for everyone, but that didn't mean it was all that there was to remember. It was something she had explained to him very early on, in the days for him when absolutely everything was new.
“Everything has it's time.. everything ends, everything.. dies. It's a fact of living that one day you'll be gone, but that doesn't make it any more important than any other part of being alive.”
Luke reached forward to trace the grooves of the stone with his hand. She wasn't here, in this place, she was scattered across the world and in the stars but this was where he chose to speak to her. Out in the future was her past, just like the light of an old star still falling on the earth, and somewhere in the past her future had wandered around before she was born. This was just the one moment he could reach, because some when and everywhere she was still alive.
“I'll pass along your congratulations, alright? And I'll be back to tell you once they settle on names.. though if they get yours, I think you'd know before me.” He settled his hands into his pockets, always a little unsure of how to end the conversation- because that's what it was, even if her reply wasn't coming back to him in words. “Bye mum.”
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