[On the Run] Exit Stage Left

[nevermindtherunning]

It took three days to return back to the TARDIS, right where they had left it by the Great Wall. News hadn't arrived of the emperor, and to that, the Doctor was relieved. They were able to give a poor villager the horse and anonymously go their own way back on foot to the TARDIS.

He and Donna looked a little worn, but it was to be expected given what they had been through and their mutual determination to move as quickly as possible back to the TARDIS. Once unlocked and inside, he closed the door and placed his forehead against the cool door. Without a word, he stayed there, palm on door, just breathing slowly in and out.

And a moment later, he spun on his feet, looking up at the coral struts and the control console. It was over, wasn't it? Everything was over? They caught the time vortex and were sent back to their time, hadn't they? And now it was just Donna and himself.

"All of time and space, anywhere in the entire universe and you want to go to the beach." He offers Donna a smile as he walked up to the console, slowly pressing buttons and locking onto coordinates. "The blue moons of Xerxes VI, the most beautiful flowers you can imagine in infinite colors on Matapooshta, the longest waterfall in the galaxy is on Scwetzguld; you can't even see the bottom from the top or the top from the bottom! And you want to go to the beach." There's something endearing in his tone of voice.

Comments

[noblexcompanion]

"Now you listen to me, Doctor. You're nearly a thousand years old, that's a lot of years of helping people. There's no way you could go that long and not lose a few people along the way. You've saved so many lives. You've saved Earth more times than they'll ever know. And you saved me from being fed to a giant alien spider on my wedding day."

She wiped a few more stray tears from his cheeks. "I can't even begin to imagine what the Time War was like, and I can't pretend to know how it feels to lose as much as you've lost. But there is so much good and light in you, and that's what matters."

She leaned in again, this time pressing a kiss to his lips. Soft, tender, chaste.

[nevermindtherunning]

He doesn't know how or why, but before she pulls away, he returns the kiss. A simple, innocent reply before tucking himself into her.

"I'm sorry." He mutters finally, feeling rightly pathetic as he closed his eyes, "I'm all out of sorts."

[noblexcompanion]

"Shh, just get some sleep. Everything will look brighter when you'v had some rest." She would've said 'in the morning' but morning and night were kind of irrelevant on the TARDIS. She usually found herself wishing him goodnight before she slept though, mostly out of habit.

She curled an arm around him, almost cocooning him in her embrace and in the warmth of the blankets. The TARDIS dimmed the lights almost completely and hummed softly.

"You're exhausted, that's all. Even Time Lords need to sleep sometimes, Spaceman."

[nevermindtherunning]

And as if he had been waiting for that permission, he does fall asleep. Thankfully a completely dreamless sleep, and barely moved on top of that. If she had left or moved, he had no idea and was completely unaware of his surroundings.

He doesn't know how much time passes, a great deal, that much he is aware of, and blinks his eyes open. A hazy confused state lingers for a moment before his eyes adjust and he finally sits up. It took him a moment to recognize the room as well, until he picked up on a perfume on the sheets he only associated with Donna.

A slow inhale as he sat up and scrubbed at his face and mussed up his hair.

[noblexcompanion]

Donna had stayed with him, holding him for hours until she started to get cramp in her legs and back. She hated leaving him, but she had only ventured as far as the kitchen to stretch her legs and get a mug of tea.

She leaned against the door frame watching him stir from his sleep. She had a sleepy half-smile on her lips. "You had me worried for awhile there. Thought you might've slipped into one of those weirdy healing coma things. How're you feeling?"

[nevermindtherunning]

"I might have." He admitted, voice thick with sleep.

Blinking open his eyes and looking over to her, "Alright, actually. You?"

[noblexcompanion]

Donna nodded, curling her fingers around her mug. "Yeah, I'm alright. Always alright."

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "So, there's supposed to be this place where you can see like a cascade of stars or sommat. I thought... maybe we could go see it instead of the beach. Bit more memorable... I mean I can pop to a beach any time..."

[nevermindtherunning]

"Are you sure?" He's watching her closely, "You've been begging to go to the beach for ages. And that's almost literally given what we've just been through."

He finally slips out of bed and stretches his long limbs. Walking over, he leans against the opposite side of her. "We can do whatever you'd like."