Stargazing [Open]

[unearthlysusan]

Susan Foreman was lying on her back and staring up at the black evening sky. The garden was submerged in shadows. If her mind had been on Earth with the rest of her, Susan might have wondered who actually owned it, now that that version of Sarah Jane had gone. She might even have wondered where that version of Sarah Jane had gone

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[unit_girl]

Jo came over and sat beside the girl. She didn't know who she was but that never stopped Jo from chatting to anyone.

Looking up at the sky, she could see what the girl was looking at. Or wasn't.

She sighed at the sight and said, "It doesn't look right at all."

[unearthlysusan]

Susan smiled softly at that comment, since it was exactly how she was feeling, and it was a bit of a surprise to hear it articulated so easily. She'd been lying here for a while now, looking up, but she'd never been able to bring herself to say the words.

"It looks so much bigger than it did," she commented, "And so much colder somehow."

She hoped that made sense to someone else.

[unit_girl]

Jo considered that. "I think it looks smaller. The universe used to be full of so many worlds and now it's black and empty and it's just us."

She shivered, but she was glad the Doctor had assured her there was more out there than just us, and Cliff was still where she'd left him.

[unearthlysusan]

Susan nodded. There was a point to that. She thought it looked larger because there now seemed to be endless empty spaces instead of familiar planets and suns.

"We can fix it, though," she said, with confidence she didn't necessarily, "I'm sure something can be done. Otherwise..."

Otherwise what? What was the point?

[unit_girl]

"Oh, of course we can." Jo felt and sounded confident. With all these Doctors here, how could they fail?

"And then we can all go home," she said, wistfully.

[unearthlysusan]

"Where is your home?" Susan asked curiously. She wasn't a Time Lord, Susan knew that much, but there was still no guarantee that she was human. "Earth?"

She wasn't actually sure where she'd go herself when all this was over. She'd check on David and her family, certainly, but she couldn't stay there for too long. She couldn't stand watching them age. But she did like having somewhere safe and solid to call home, even if, as a Time Lord, it could never be home forever.

[unit_girl]

She nodded. "I can't really be more specific than that." The Amazon wasn't home, London wasn't home any more and nowhere in Wales was home yet. "Except it's where Cliff is." Which wasn't here. At least, not in this time.

[unearthlysusan]

"Earth is my home, too," said Susan with a wide smile. Of course, it wasn't 'officially', but she didn't think there was any rule saying that your home had to be the planet you were born on.

(Even if there was, she would have ignored it.)

"Is Cliff your..?" She paused. She didn't want to upset her, or pry into things that obviously weren't her business.

[unit_girl]

"I like Earth. Going to all these other planet was great, but I definitely like Earth the best." It was home, so that did have a lot to do with it.

"Cliff's my husband." She smiled, thinking of him.

[unearthlysusan]

Susan nodded enthusiastically at that. She'd never quite fathomed why she and her Grandfather seemed so drawn to such a little, insignificant planet. It wasn't particularly special. It wasn't particularly well known. Humans - although admittedly indomitable - were never going to be the dominant species in any galaxy. It made no sense at all.

"I've spent a lot of time on Earth," she said, "My husband was a human."

[unit_girl]

She didn't look alien, but then Jo had met quite a few people who didn't look alien. "Was? Oh, I'm sorry." It could be that he wasn't human any more, rather than was dead, but it didn't sound like a good thing either way.

[unearthlysusan]

"Well, he still is," Susan amended with an affectionate smile, "Although he hasn't been born in this time..."

She hadn't realised that comment revealed that her own nature was less than human, but, as she wasn't on her guard anyway, it probably didn't matter very much.

"It's rather confusing, isn't it?" she added with another smile.

[unit_girl]

"It is," she agreed. "In this time Cliff is old and we're divorced." She sighed at that. She still hoped that now she knew about it she could do something in the past to stop it happening.

[unearthlysusan]

Susan looked a little upset herself when Jo sighed and explained that. She couldn't begin to imagine how terrible something like that must be. The knowledge alone must be painful to have.

"I don't think anything is set in stone any more," she said, as helpfully as possible, "Time is in flux, and, I suppose, so is the universe. When we fix things, there's no telling what might turn out differently. We'll all have been changed by the experience, after all."

She hoped Jo understood what she was insinuating, even if she probably wasn't supposed to say it.

[unit_girl]

"Oh, do you really think so?" Jo sat up straighter and tried not to sound too hopeful. It was pretty much the only thing she knew about her future and she knew she wanted to change it.

Unless... "I wouldn't want to make things worse, though. I wouldn't want anything to happen to Cliff or us not to meet or something." She bit her lip before giving Susan an encouraging smile. "Or make it so your husband is never born."

[unearthlysusan]

Susan nodded. Jo had obviously understood her, then, and she seemed rather happy to hear it, too. Of course, Susan couldn't make any guarantees. But it was clearly a possibility. The universe was being shaken to it's very foundations. Why shouldn't they take advantage of that?

"Well, I don't know about that," she said, with a smile, "You'd have to ask my Grandfather. He knows more about it than I do."