What's To Come Is Still Unsure (16/17)
Title: What's to Come is still Unsure (16/17)
Author: lorelaisquared
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: TenII/Rose
Word Count: 3437
Beta: The incredible cookie2697
Warning: Some angsty sections
Summary: Part One in an epic love story spanning time and space: When the Doctor abandons Rose in Pete's world with his counterpart, they must learn to live without him. Slowly they build a life together that is filled with love, adventure, danger, and more surprises than either had ever thought possible.
Author's Note:
As always, thank you to the people who helped me bring this story to life: cookie2697, tardismate, gioiamia, rumpelsnorcack, meremoon and earlgreytea68 *massive hugs to you all*
The title of this story comes from a line of a song in Shakespeares "Twelfth Night" commonly called "O Mistress Mine".
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15
Chapter 16
"Daddy!" Viola yelled, rushing forward and throwing herself on top of him. She buried her face in his chest and started to sob. "Daddy, please, please be okay. No, Daddy, I need you."
Rose fell to her knees beside them and gathered her husband's head into her lap. "Doctor, Doctor, please," she pleaded, tears streaming from her eyes.
As Viola and Rose knelt over the Doctor, neither noticed that the Daleks contained them again and floated toward the TARDIS.
"Doctor," Rose cried again, the word coming out in a choked gulp.
His eyes fluttered open and he gasped for air. "Rose..." he moaned, locking his eyes on hers, "Rose... I love you."
He winced as he turned to look at Viola's tear-stained face. "Viola... I..." He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them again and tried to sing. "Rashae --" He choked and spluttered.
Viola sniffled and caressed his face. "I'll sing for you, Daddy," she said bravely. Then, in a soft tone filled with emotion she sang to him. "Rashae'Yer, Ohn'Relue, Nakina'Eusa, Shantet'Naquet."
When she finished, the Doctor ran his hand through her curls. "Take care of each other," he wheezed. Then, with one last loving look at Rose, he shuddered and his body fell still and silent once more.
"Noooooo..." Rose's shoulders shook with heaving sobs and she leaned over her husband, tears dripping onto his cheeks.
Viola grabbed her arm. "Mummy," she said frantically.
Rose looked up, startled by the name for her that Viola hadn't used in years. Viola looked like she was in physical pain. "Mummy, the TARDIS, they're hurting her. You have to do something. She's screaming, I can hear her in my brain." Viola covered her ears.
Rose glanced down at the Doctor one last time. She kissed him tenderly - his eyelids first, then his nose, and finally his lips. As her last tears landed on his cooling skin they began to glow white. Rose stood up, her eyes fixed on the TARDIS, their TARDIS, the one that had grown from their love. It was surrounded by Daleks. They appeared to be trying to drill into her, to get at her core.
Anger rose up within her, overtaking her pain and grief. It was all so pointless. The Daleks only wanted to get back to help Davros and Davros had already been destroyed. They'd killed her husband and now they were trying to destroy the TARDIS. She couldn't let them take it from her too. Rose closed her eyes and for the first time she deliberately called upon that part of herself that was the Bad Wolf. She felt the power and relaxed, allowing it to flow through her body until her skin was tingling with energy and light began to radiate from her.
*****
Viola stared at her mother in shock. She was glowing, her mother was glowing all white and gold and her eyes were bright with power. Viola didn't know what to think. She watched in astonishment as her Mum waved her hand and the force field around them dissolved.
Rose walked toward the TARDIS. "I command you to stop," she said, her voice lighter and more ethereal than Viola had ever heard it before.
One of the Daleks turned to look at her. "Abomination!"
Another Dalek came forward. "Exterminate!"
"You have used this species for your own games, therefore, now you will become the dirt beneath their feet. The Ood will use you now, to revitalize their planet. You are not important. I return you to the earth where you can be useful." Rose made a fist and the Daleks began to crumble into minuscule particles until they were nothing more than piles of dust on the ground. Viola watched in awe as her mother waved her hand again and the remaining Daleks disintegrated. The TARDIS stopped shrieking and Viola uncovered her ears, watching her mother cautiously.
Rose walked around the wreckage of the battle, gently touching each Ood on the head as she passed them. They awoke, eyes returned to normal, peaceful creatures once more. "I return you to yourselves, and gift you the rebirth of your civilization." She waved her hand toward the village and all evidence of the Dalek invasion disappeared.
Rose circled back to the Doctor, staring down at his lifeless form. The sadness in her eyes made Viola want to hug her. Suddenly Viola's eyes widened and she realized she could hear her mother's thoughts: Oh, Doctor, this is wrong, we should have more time together. This isnot the natural order of things. But I can fix it, just as I brought Jack back to life all those years ago, I could bring you back, too. We could live together forever.
Viola gaped at Rose in horror. She had no idea who Jack was, but she knew, without a doubt that whatever her mother had done to him was wrong. Just as she knew, with every fibre of her Time Lord being that resurrecting her father was the wrong thing to do. She missed her father terribly, and she would give anything to be able to crawl into the safety of his arms again and read with him or hear him sing the lullaby, but she knew that the natural order of things could not be messed with. Her father was dead and she had to accept it. She couldn't let her mother do it, she just couldn't.
"Mum," Viola said, pulling desperately on Roses sleeve. "Mum, listen to me." Rose glanced down at Viola. "You can't do this. Daddy's gone, you can't bring him back no matter how much we miss him; it goes against the laws of time."
Rose caressed her daughter's face. "My Viola, so young, so very, very, young for so much pain."
"No, Mum, please. Let it go, you have to. His death is permanent, fixed. We can't change it. It would be wrong." Rose hesitated, her glow beginning to dim slightly. "What would Daddy say about this? What would he tell you?"
More of the light dissipated. "He would say that saving one man could change the course of history. That it's the most important thing in the universe." The rest of the light faded and Rose collapsed against the Doctor's body. "Oh, Doctor, you are the most important thing in myuniverse, how will I ever go on without you?"
Viola knelt beside Rose and rested her hand on Rose's back, rubbing in gentle, concentric circles. "It's okay, Mum," Viola said softly. "You've still got me and we'll get through this together, I promise." Rose hugged Viola then and together they mourned for one of the most amazing beings ever to travel the universe.
*****
The Ood graciously offered to give the Doctor a majestic funeral, but Rose declined. She wanted to take the Doctor back to Earth. She knew he would want to be buried on the planet of the species that he most admired and was so fascinated with. So instead, the entire colony of Ood came out and gathered around the TARDIS to bid them farewell. As Viola and Rose sombrely carried the Doctor onto the TARDIS the Ood began to sing. It was a haunting and sad song and yet the melody fit the Doctor so well that it brought a smile to Rose's lips. As the eerie sound floated around them, Rose and Viola laid the Doctor on the elongated jump-seat. Viola took a nervous and shaky breath before stepping onto the stool her father had made for her and beginning to flip controls in preparation for the journey to London.
Before they left, one of the Ood came to the TARDIS door, silently offering them the Dimension Cannon which had fallen to the ground during the battle. Rose nodded, accepting it gratefully and waving to the assembled Ood before closing the door, setting the device on the floor and taking her place by her husband's side.
The flight was incredibly smooth despite Viola's inexperience at flying the TARDIS solo. Apart from the night of her regeneration, she had only ever flown with her father's assistance. The landing was a bit rough, but overall Viola was rather proud of how well she'd done it. They opened the door, stepping into the Tyler living room where Jackie and Pete were standing together, staring at them.
Pete rushed forward. "We were just about to call you - the Dimension Cannon has gone missing again."
Jackie peered at her daughter closely. "What's wrong."
"The Doctor..." Rose managed to choke out, gesturing to the TARDIS before dissolving into tears.
Jackie glanced at the TARDIS and frowned. "What about the Doctor, where is he?"
"He died," Viola whispered, her eyes wide as she watched her mother struggle for control.
"No!" Jackie gasped. "I don't believe it."
Rose took a deep breath, gasped Jackie's hand and led her into the TARDIS, stopping in front of the jump seat.
Jackie stared down at the lifeless form of the Doctor in horror and immediately gathered her daughter into her arms. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry."
Pete came over and picked up Viola who had followed them into the TARDIS. She had been staring at her father, an uncertain and worried expression on her face. She bit her lip as Pete wrapped his arms around her. She didn't want to cry, not now when her mother needed her, but her own pain was beginning to surface and her head felt so empty without his gentle presence there. The TARDIS had tried to compensate by speaking more loudly inside her brain but it didn't work. Viola knew that her father was gone, and never again would she hear the dulcet tones of his voice as he sang to her, or his ringing laugh, or the perfect voices that he used whenever he read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Overcome with emotion, Viola buried her face in Pete's neck and let the silent tears trickle from her eyes.
*****
With Jackie and Pete's help they gave the Doctor a send-off fit for a king. He was buried in a nearby cemetery and Rose visited him every day. Sometimes Viola came with her, and other days Rose went alone. The silent graveyard always brought her a sense of peace and she would spend hours there, sitting next to the Doctor's tombstone just talking to him.
One morning, about two weeks after their run in with the Daleks, Rose and Viola were kneeling beside his grave. Viola had picked some wildflowers for him and was obsessively arranging and rearranging them in the small baby food jar she'd brought to serve as a vase.
Something cracked on the ground nearby and Rose looked up from her deep thoughts to see the source of the sound. Rose gasped and rubbed her eyes, convinced that she was seeing things. When she opened her eyes again, her heart suddenly lifted. It wasn't a dream, the Doctor really was standing beneath a tree several feet away. She frowned and looked from him to the grave and back to him again. What? How could it be the Doctor? He was human, he had died. Rose pressed her hand to her forehead. She was imagining things, she had to be.
"Daddy!" Viola yelled happily. She sprang to her feet and sprinted over to him, hurdling herself into his arms. "Daddy, you came back!"
The Doctor smiled wanly and hugged his daughter. "So I did. In a manner of speaking, anyway."
He set her down and Viola eyed him carefully. "Oh, you're not... You're... Oh, I see..." Viola trailed off, looking at him in confusion for a moment. She shuffled her feet back and forth as she stared at him. Rose watched as several different emotions passed over Viola's face: sadness, discomfort, confusion, love.
"You're wrong," she whispered finally, blinking furiously as her bright blue eyes bore into his. "Why couldn't you be right?"
His face fell. "Viola..."
"You shouldn't be here," she said sadly.
"I know," the Doctor agreed.
"You're still my Daddy, though?" Her bottom lip quivered slightly.
"Always."
Viola nodded and swallowed determinedly before launching herself into his arms and hugging him tightly.
Rose stood and walked toward them, her legs shaking.
Viola glanced at her briefly before kissing the Doctor's cheek and murmuring. "Mum really needs you."
He looked at Rose then, his eyes locking on hers as he set Viola on the grass and the little girl darted back to the flowers on her father's grave.
"Doctor?" Rose stepped forward and rested her hand against his cheek. "You have the same face."
"I do," he said plainly.
She studied him for a moment and her face fell. "You didn't regenerate." She looked away, hoping he wouldn't see the pain in her eyes.
"No."
"You're from the past, aren't you?" She looked at him again, her eyes watering slightly. She saw the lines on his face, the lovable tufts of gray peeking through his hair. Not too far in the past then.
He nodded. "I am."
Rose gasped as the pieces suddenly clicked into place. "The day you disappeared, just after Viola regenerated and we took her to see my Mum. This is where you came, isn't it?"
The Doctor nodded again. "When I leave here, I'll return to you there."
"You knew. All this time, you knew you were going to die? And you didn't tell me?"
He shook his head and gently reached out to touch her face. "I couldn't tell you, Rose. It's already bad enough that I know and that I'm here. I really shouldn't be. But I had no choice. I had to come. I needed to know that you and Viola were all right."
"We're okay. We miss you though." Rose took his hand from her face and squeezed it gently. "Viola especially. She hasn't been the same since the d-"
He placed his fingertips over her mouth. "You can't tell me. All I know is that I'm gone. I can't know details. It could change the future."
"But, Doctor, if you knew then it could have been prevented, none of this would have --" she choked on a sob and wiped furiously at her eyes.
"No, Rose, listen to me. I'm not here to change things. We can't undo what's been done. My death is a fixed point in time. You know that."
Rose nodded. "But --"
"No. No spoilers."
"Okay." She stared at him for a moment. "How long?" she asked.
"How long?"
"How long have you known? How did you find out?"
The Doctor tugged on her hand and pulled her into a sitting position at the base of the tree. He sat with his back resting against the trunk and his legs open. Rose settled in between and he held her. She nearly cried as she realized just how much she'd missed this; how much she'd missed being in his arms.
"Do you remember the Calirusian Invasion?" He began softly.
"Yes, of course, how could I forget? Viola was only three." She smiled fondly at the memory.
"Yes, that's right. It was before the regeneration. Anyway, do you remember how I did an errand after we sorted everything out?"
"Vaguely. I assumed you were getting something for the TARDIS."
The Doctor shook his head. "No. I went to meet Jake."
"Jake?" Rose sat up and twisted her torso so she could see him better. "Why?"
"I noticed that people were giving us looks all throughout the experience and when Jake showed up and looked just as shocked as the rest of them, I realized that something must have happened." He pulled her back into his arms and hugged her tightly. "I had to know Rose. I had to know what happened. I needed to know that you and Viola were all right." The anguish in his voice melted her heart and she gently kissed his hand.
"We are okay."
"No, you're not," he said, tracing a tearstain on her cheek. "But you will be. First though, let me tell you exactly what happened."
He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes, remembering the day as clearly as though it had happened that morning.
The pub was crowded and noisy. The Doctor spotted Jake sitting at a small table in the corner and he quickly made his way over to him.
"We're gone, aren't we? Me and Rose?" he murmured as he sat down. Jake nodded, concern written plainly on his honest face. "Not a word to Rose," the Doctor said. He switched to the matter at hand. "Tell me everything you know."
Jake took out his phone, pressed a few buttons and slid it across the table to the Doctor. The Doctor picked it up, his heart beating wildly. He knew should leave it alone. Time Lords never researched their own deaths. But Rose… Viola... He couldn't let it be. Fighting against what he knew was right, he glanced down at the screen and what he saw made his whole body go cold.
John Smith: dead, March 21, 2030.
Rose Tyler, and Viola Tyler: missing and presumed dead, April 4, 2030.
The Doctor frowned. Missing. He needed to know more. He slid the phone back to Jake.
"I'm dead," the Doctor said quietly. "Rose and Viola are missing. Do I need to do anything here?"
Jake looked more startled than ever. "No! At least, I don't think so… Pete and Jackie - they said Rose and Viola and the TARDIS disappeared soon after that and never came back."
The Doctor nodded, thinking it over.
"They won't say anything to her, though. The agents. Torchwood's always had a legend going on about you two maybe still being out there, travelin' somewhere. They'll just figure they were right and leave it alone. You two are the stuff of legends, you know."
"Yeah, so it's been said," the Doctor said solemnly. "Pete's retired?"
"Yeah," Jake confirmed. "But you can bet he'll have heard by now that you're here. Surprised he and Jackie haven't shown up."
"They can't see Rose," the Doctor was firm. "She can't know her future. We'll be leaving now. Tell them I'm sorry I couldn't bring her by. Pete will understand. He's a good man."
"Jackie'll kill ya if she gets her hands on you." Jake grinned.
"Yeah, I reckon she will at that." The Doctor grinned back. "All the more reason for us to get moving."
"Missing?" Rose asked when he'd finished relaying the tale. "But we're not. We're right here."
"What's the date today, Rose?"
"April 4, 2030 - Oh!" Realization dawned and she started at him. "Today. We go missing today?"
"It appears so."
"But how? Where do we go?"
"Well, you see, I've been wondering that ever since I found out. It wasn't until Viola regenerated that I put the pieces together. It's brilliant really. Don't know why I didn't think of it sooner."
"Think of what sooner?"
"How to ensure that Viola gets the guidance she needs after I'm gone."
"I've been worried about that. Ever since..." she trailed off and brushed at her eyes, willing herself not to cry. This was the closest she'd ever get to seeing her husband again and she wasn't going to ruin it with tears. She tried again. "I'm just not equipped to deal with it all, Doctor. I'm not a Time Lord, how can I teach her how to interpret what she sees in her head when I don't have a clue myself? She needs you Doctor."
"I know." He looked over at Viola who was rearranging the flowers for the seventh time since they'd arrived. Her lips were moving and he strained to hear what she was saying.
What he heard broke his heart. "Rashae'Yer, Ohn'Relue, Nakina'Eusa, Shantet'Naquet."
He swallowed hard. "She's singing the lullaby."
Rose nodded. "She has done, every day since it happened. I think it's her way of keeping you alive in her head."
The Doctor blinked furiously and gulped. He wanted to go to Viola and hold her in his arms, to tell her that everything would be okay, but he knew instinctively that she wouldn't let him, not yet.
"How can she get the guidance she needs then?" Rose asked, breaking him from his thoughts.
He sighed. It was now or never. "I'm sending you back."
Rose frowned. "Back? Back where?"
"To him. To the Doctor."
Final Chapter
Author's Note: *dabs eyes and hands out tissues and hugs*
Author: lorelaisquared
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: TenII/Rose
Word Count: 3437
Beta: The incredible cookie2697
Warning: Some angsty sections
Summary: Part One in an epic love story spanning time and space: When the Doctor abandons Rose in Pete's world with his counterpart, they must learn to live without him. Slowly they build a life together that is filled with love, adventure, danger, and more surprises than either had ever thought possible.
Author's Note:
As always, thank you to the people who helped me bring this story to life: cookie2697, tardismate, gioiamia, rumpelsnorcack, meremoon and earlgreytea68 *massive hugs to you all*
The title of this story comes from a line of a song in Shakespeares "Twelfth Night" commonly called "O Mistress Mine".
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15
Chapter 16
"Daddy!" Viola yelled, rushing forward and throwing herself on top of him. She buried her face in his chest and started to sob. "Daddy, please, please be okay. No, Daddy, I need you."
Rose fell to her knees beside them and gathered her husband's head into her lap. "Doctor, Doctor, please," she pleaded, tears streaming from her eyes.
As Viola and Rose knelt over the Doctor, neither noticed that the Daleks contained them again and floated toward the TARDIS.
"Doctor," Rose cried again, the word coming out in a choked gulp.
His eyes fluttered open and he gasped for air. "Rose..." he moaned, locking his eyes on hers, "Rose... I love you."
He winced as he turned to look at Viola's tear-stained face. "Viola... I..." He closed his eyes for a moment then opened them again and tried to sing. "Rashae --" He choked and spluttered.
Viola sniffled and caressed his face. "I'll sing for you, Daddy," she said bravely. Then, in a soft tone filled with emotion she sang to him. "Rashae'Yer, Ohn'Relue, Nakina'Eusa, Shantet'Naquet."
When she finished, the Doctor ran his hand through her curls. "Take care of each other," he wheezed. Then, with one last loving look at Rose, he shuddered and his body fell still and silent once more.
"Noooooo..." Rose's shoulders shook with heaving sobs and she leaned over her husband, tears dripping onto his cheeks.
Viola grabbed her arm. "Mummy," she said frantically.
Rose looked up, startled by the name for her that Viola hadn't used in years. Viola looked like she was in physical pain. "Mummy, the TARDIS, they're hurting her. You have to do something. She's screaming, I can hear her in my brain." Viola covered her ears.
Rose glanced down at the Doctor one last time. She kissed him tenderly - his eyelids first, then his nose, and finally his lips. As her last tears landed on his cooling skin they began to glow white. Rose stood up, her eyes fixed on the TARDIS, their TARDIS, the one that had grown from their love. It was surrounded by Daleks. They appeared to be trying to drill into her, to get at her core.
Anger rose up within her, overtaking her pain and grief. It was all so pointless. The Daleks only wanted to get back to help Davros and Davros had already been destroyed. They'd killed her husband and now they were trying to destroy the TARDIS. She couldn't let them take it from her too. Rose closed her eyes and for the first time she deliberately called upon that part of herself that was the Bad Wolf. She felt the power and relaxed, allowing it to flow through her body until her skin was tingling with energy and light began to radiate from her.
*****
Viola stared at her mother in shock. She was glowing, her mother was glowing all white and gold and her eyes were bright with power. Viola didn't know what to think. She watched in astonishment as her Mum waved her hand and the force field around them dissolved.
Rose walked toward the TARDIS. "I command you to stop," she said, her voice lighter and more ethereal than Viola had ever heard it before.
One of the Daleks turned to look at her. "Abomination!"
Another Dalek came forward. "Exterminate!"
"You have used this species for your own games, therefore, now you will become the dirt beneath their feet. The Ood will use you now, to revitalize their planet. You are not important. I return you to the earth where you can be useful." Rose made a fist and the Daleks began to crumble into minuscule particles until they were nothing more than piles of dust on the ground. Viola watched in awe as her mother waved her hand again and the remaining Daleks disintegrated. The TARDIS stopped shrieking and Viola uncovered her ears, watching her mother cautiously.
Rose walked around the wreckage of the battle, gently touching each Ood on the head as she passed them. They awoke, eyes returned to normal, peaceful creatures once more. "I return you to yourselves, and gift you the rebirth of your civilization." She waved her hand toward the village and all evidence of the Dalek invasion disappeared.
Rose circled back to the Doctor, staring down at his lifeless form. The sadness in her eyes made Viola want to hug her. Suddenly Viola's eyes widened and she realized she could hear her mother's thoughts: Oh, Doctor, this is wrong, we should have more time together. This isnot the natural order of things. But I can fix it, just as I brought Jack back to life all those years ago, I could bring you back, too. We could live together forever.
Viola gaped at Rose in horror. She had no idea who Jack was, but she knew, without a doubt that whatever her mother had done to him was wrong. Just as she knew, with every fibre of her Time Lord being that resurrecting her father was the wrong thing to do. She missed her father terribly, and she would give anything to be able to crawl into the safety of his arms again and read with him or hear him sing the lullaby, but she knew that the natural order of things could not be messed with. Her father was dead and she had to accept it. She couldn't let her mother do it, she just couldn't.
"Mum," Viola said, pulling desperately on Roses sleeve. "Mum, listen to me." Rose glanced down at Viola. "You can't do this. Daddy's gone, you can't bring him back no matter how much we miss him; it goes against the laws of time."
Rose caressed her daughter's face. "My Viola, so young, so very, very, young for so much pain."
"No, Mum, please. Let it go, you have to. His death is permanent, fixed. We can't change it. It would be wrong." Rose hesitated, her glow beginning to dim slightly. "What would Daddy say about this? What would he tell you?"
More of the light dissipated. "He would say that saving one man could change the course of history. That it's the most important thing in the universe." The rest of the light faded and Rose collapsed against the Doctor's body. "Oh, Doctor, you are the most important thing in myuniverse, how will I ever go on without you?"
Viola knelt beside Rose and rested her hand on Rose's back, rubbing in gentle, concentric circles. "It's okay, Mum," Viola said softly. "You've still got me and we'll get through this together, I promise." Rose hugged Viola then and together they mourned for one of the most amazing beings ever to travel the universe.
*****
The Ood graciously offered to give the Doctor a majestic funeral, but Rose declined. She wanted to take the Doctor back to Earth. She knew he would want to be buried on the planet of the species that he most admired and was so fascinated with. So instead, the entire colony of Ood came out and gathered around the TARDIS to bid them farewell. As Viola and Rose sombrely carried the Doctor onto the TARDIS the Ood began to sing. It was a haunting and sad song and yet the melody fit the Doctor so well that it brought a smile to Rose's lips. As the eerie sound floated around them, Rose and Viola laid the Doctor on the elongated jump-seat. Viola took a nervous and shaky breath before stepping onto the stool her father had made for her and beginning to flip controls in preparation for the journey to London.
Before they left, one of the Ood came to the TARDIS door, silently offering them the Dimension Cannon which had fallen to the ground during the battle. Rose nodded, accepting it gratefully and waving to the assembled Ood before closing the door, setting the device on the floor and taking her place by her husband's side.
The flight was incredibly smooth despite Viola's inexperience at flying the TARDIS solo. Apart from the night of her regeneration, she had only ever flown with her father's assistance. The landing was a bit rough, but overall Viola was rather proud of how well she'd done it. They opened the door, stepping into the Tyler living room where Jackie and Pete were standing together, staring at them.
Pete rushed forward. "We were just about to call you - the Dimension Cannon has gone missing again."
Jackie peered at her daughter closely. "What's wrong."
"The Doctor..." Rose managed to choke out, gesturing to the TARDIS before dissolving into tears.
Jackie glanced at the TARDIS and frowned. "What about the Doctor, where is he?"
"He died," Viola whispered, her eyes wide as she watched her mother struggle for control.
"No!" Jackie gasped. "I don't believe it."
Rose took a deep breath, gasped Jackie's hand and led her into the TARDIS, stopping in front of the jump seat.
Jackie stared down at the lifeless form of the Doctor in horror and immediately gathered her daughter into her arms. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry."
Pete came over and picked up Viola who had followed them into the TARDIS. She had been staring at her father, an uncertain and worried expression on her face. She bit her lip as Pete wrapped his arms around her. She didn't want to cry, not now when her mother needed her, but her own pain was beginning to surface and her head felt so empty without his gentle presence there. The TARDIS had tried to compensate by speaking more loudly inside her brain but it didn't work. Viola knew that her father was gone, and never again would she hear the dulcet tones of his voice as he sang to her, or his ringing laugh, or the perfect voices that he used whenever he read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Overcome with emotion, Viola buried her face in Pete's neck and let the silent tears trickle from her eyes.
*****
With Jackie and Pete's help they gave the Doctor a send-off fit for a king. He was buried in a nearby cemetery and Rose visited him every day. Sometimes Viola came with her, and other days Rose went alone. The silent graveyard always brought her a sense of peace and she would spend hours there, sitting next to the Doctor's tombstone just talking to him.
One morning, about two weeks after their run in with the Daleks, Rose and Viola were kneeling beside his grave. Viola had picked some wildflowers for him and was obsessively arranging and rearranging them in the small baby food jar she'd brought to serve as a vase.
Something cracked on the ground nearby and Rose looked up from her deep thoughts to see the source of the sound. Rose gasped and rubbed her eyes, convinced that she was seeing things. When she opened her eyes again, her heart suddenly lifted. It wasn't a dream, the Doctor really was standing beneath a tree several feet away. She frowned and looked from him to the grave and back to him again. What? How could it be the Doctor? He was human, he had died. Rose pressed her hand to her forehead. She was imagining things, she had to be.
"Daddy!" Viola yelled happily. She sprang to her feet and sprinted over to him, hurdling herself into his arms. "Daddy, you came back!"
The Doctor smiled wanly and hugged his daughter. "So I did. In a manner of speaking, anyway."
He set her down and Viola eyed him carefully. "Oh, you're not... You're... Oh, I see..." Viola trailed off, looking at him in confusion for a moment. She shuffled her feet back and forth as she stared at him. Rose watched as several different emotions passed over Viola's face: sadness, discomfort, confusion, love.
"You're wrong," she whispered finally, blinking furiously as her bright blue eyes bore into his. "Why couldn't you be right?"
His face fell. "Viola..."
"You shouldn't be here," she said sadly.
"I know," the Doctor agreed.
"You're still my Daddy, though?" Her bottom lip quivered slightly.
"Always."
Viola nodded and swallowed determinedly before launching herself into his arms and hugging him tightly.
Rose stood and walked toward them, her legs shaking.
Viola glanced at her briefly before kissing the Doctor's cheek and murmuring. "Mum really needs you."
He looked at Rose then, his eyes locking on hers as he set Viola on the grass and the little girl darted back to the flowers on her father's grave.
"Doctor?" Rose stepped forward and rested her hand against his cheek. "You have the same face."
"I do," he said plainly.
She studied him for a moment and her face fell. "You didn't regenerate." She looked away, hoping he wouldn't see the pain in her eyes.
"No."
"You're from the past, aren't you?" She looked at him again, her eyes watering slightly. She saw the lines on his face, the lovable tufts of gray peeking through his hair. Not too far in the past then.
He nodded. "I am."
Rose gasped as the pieces suddenly clicked into place. "The day you disappeared, just after Viola regenerated and we took her to see my Mum. This is where you came, isn't it?"
The Doctor nodded again. "When I leave here, I'll return to you there."
"You knew. All this time, you knew you were going to die? And you didn't tell me?"
He shook his head and gently reached out to touch her face. "I couldn't tell you, Rose. It's already bad enough that I know and that I'm here. I really shouldn't be. But I had no choice. I had to come. I needed to know that you and Viola were all right."
"We're okay. We miss you though." Rose took his hand from her face and squeezed it gently. "Viola especially. She hasn't been the same since the d-"
He placed his fingertips over her mouth. "You can't tell me. All I know is that I'm gone. I can't know details. It could change the future."
"But, Doctor, if you knew then it could have been prevented, none of this would have --" she choked on a sob and wiped furiously at her eyes.
"No, Rose, listen to me. I'm not here to change things. We can't undo what's been done. My death is a fixed point in time. You know that."
Rose nodded. "But --"
"No. No spoilers."
"Okay." She stared at him for a moment. "How long?" she asked.
"How long?"
"How long have you known? How did you find out?"
The Doctor tugged on her hand and pulled her into a sitting position at the base of the tree. He sat with his back resting against the trunk and his legs open. Rose settled in between and he held her. She nearly cried as she realized just how much she'd missed this; how much she'd missed being in his arms.
"Do you remember the Calirusian Invasion?" He began softly.
"Yes, of course, how could I forget? Viola was only three." She smiled fondly at the memory.
"Yes, that's right. It was before the regeneration. Anyway, do you remember how I did an errand after we sorted everything out?"
"Vaguely. I assumed you were getting something for the TARDIS."
The Doctor shook his head. "No. I went to meet Jake."
"Jake?" Rose sat up and twisted her torso so she could see him better. "Why?"
"I noticed that people were giving us looks all throughout the experience and when Jake showed up and looked just as shocked as the rest of them, I realized that something must have happened." He pulled her back into his arms and hugged her tightly. "I had to know Rose. I had to know what happened. I needed to know that you and Viola were all right." The anguish in his voice melted her heart and she gently kissed his hand.
"We are okay."
"No, you're not," he said, tracing a tearstain on her cheek. "But you will be. First though, let me tell you exactly what happened."
He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes, remembering the day as clearly as though it had happened that morning.
The pub was crowded and noisy. The Doctor spotted Jake sitting at a small table in the corner and he quickly made his way over to him.
"We're gone, aren't we? Me and Rose?" he murmured as he sat down. Jake nodded, concern written plainly on his honest face. "Not a word to Rose," the Doctor said. He switched to the matter at hand. "Tell me everything you know."
Jake took out his phone, pressed a few buttons and slid it across the table to the Doctor. The Doctor picked it up, his heart beating wildly. He knew should leave it alone. Time Lords never researched their own deaths. But Rose… Viola... He couldn't let it be. Fighting against what he knew was right, he glanced down at the screen and what he saw made his whole body go cold.
John Smith: dead, March 21, 2030.
Rose Tyler, and Viola Tyler: missing and presumed dead, April 4, 2030.
The Doctor frowned. Missing. He needed to know more. He slid the phone back to Jake.
"I'm dead," the Doctor said quietly. "Rose and Viola are missing. Do I need to do anything here?"
Jake looked more startled than ever. "No! At least, I don't think so… Pete and Jackie - they said Rose and Viola and the TARDIS disappeared soon after that and never came back."
The Doctor nodded, thinking it over.
"They won't say anything to her, though. The agents. Torchwood's always had a legend going on about you two maybe still being out there, travelin' somewhere. They'll just figure they were right and leave it alone. You two are the stuff of legends, you know."
"Yeah, so it's been said," the Doctor said solemnly. "Pete's retired?"
"Yeah," Jake confirmed. "But you can bet he'll have heard by now that you're here. Surprised he and Jackie haven't shown up."
"They can't see Rose," the Doctor was firm. "She can't know her future. We'll be leaving now. Tell them I'm sorry I couldn't bring her by. Pete will understand. He's a good man."
"Jackie'll kill ya if she gets her hands on you." Jake grinned.
"Yeah, I reckon she will at that." The Doctor grinned back. "All the more reason for us to get moving."
"Missing?" Rose asked when he'd finished relaying the tale. "But we're not. We're right here."
"What's the date today, Rose?"
"April 4, 2030 - Oh!" Realization dawned and she started at him. "Today. We go missing today?"
"It appears so."
"But how? Where do we go?"
"Well, you see, I've been wondering that ever since I found out. It wasn't until Viola regenerated that I put the pieces together. It's brilliant really. Don't know why I didn't think of it sooner."
"Think of what sooner?"
"How to ensure that Viola gets the guidance she needs after I'm gone."
"I've been worried about that. Ever since..." she trailed off and brushed at her eyes, willing herself not to cry. This was the closest she'd ever get to seeing her husband again and she wasn't going to ruin it with tears. She tried again. "I'm just not equipped to deal with it all, Doctor. I'm not a Time Lord, how can I teach her how to interpret what she sees in her head when I don't have a clue myself? She needs you Doctor."
"I know." He looked over at Viola who was rearranging the flowers for the seventh time since they'd arrived. Her lips were moving and he strained to hear what she was saying.
What he heard broke his heart. "Rashae'Yer, Ohn'Relue, Nakina'Eusa, Shantet'Naquet."
He swallowed hard. "She's singing the lullaby."
Rose nodded. "She has done, every day since it happened. I think it's her way of keeping you alive in her head."
The Doctor blinked furiously and gulped. He wanted to go to Viola and hold her in his arms, to tell her that everything would be okay, but he knew instinctively that she wouldn't let him, not yet.
"How can she get the guidance she needs then?" Rose asked, breaking him from his thoughts.
He sighed. It was now or never. "I'm sending you back."
Rose frowned. "Back? Back where?"
"To him. To the Doctor."
Final Chapter
Author's Note: *dabs eyes and hands out tissues and hugs*