Anniversary Visit-Five years later
by
Sabrina Lonewalker
It was time, time for him to go back and visit her. He had promised he would once a year and he had kept his word. It had been five years since he had lost her and the pain was as fresh as if it had happened yesterday. He stood at the control console, staring into nothingness but seeing her again in his minds eye.
She would walk into the control room, she never ran towards him except for one time, that last time. He shook his head, trying to clear that memory, it hurt too much. He was a different man in so many ways from the man Grace Holloway had met and fallen in love with. She probably wouldn't have recognized him if she could see him now but, she couldn't. She lay buried in a churchyard on an alien planet, a last victim of the Time War.
He set the coordinates and the TARDIS vanished. Then, it landed and he stepped out. It was late afternoon and he knew that few people would be around. He closed the door and walked over to the tree she was lying under. He managed a half smile, she had loved tress so much, the life they represented, the preseverance against all odds.
He looked at the headstone he had helped make and smiled when he read it again. He wondered what others thought when they saw the word 'wife' on her headstone. He didn't care. She was his wife in every way that mattered and he would always consider her to be that. He sat down on the ground next to the headstone and leaned against the smooth, cold marble.
"Hello, my angel. I told you I would be back. I miss you, more that you'll ever know. I miss everything about you. I miss waking up next to you, my bed and my life are so empty now without you." Tears began creeping down his face as he talked. It was so calm, so peaceful here. He could relax, something he didn't do much anymore.
He sat there until well after dark, just talking to her, telling her about his adventures so far, the races he had run into. "I still have your medical bag in our room, just where you left it setting. It's so hard to look around and not see you there. Sometimes, it's as if I see a shadow but, it's not you. I miss you so much." It was harder and harder, every year he came. Leaving her behind over and over again but, he needed to come here, needed to be with her. She had understood him better than any other companion except for, perhaps Susan but, she was gone too. He was tired, very tired but, Grace would not want him to give up living, not want him to give up on love. It was going to be hard but, he would keep that promise to her.
He let himself indulge in the luxury of tears again, something he definitely did not do often. Finally, he stood up, leaned down to kiss the top of the headstone. "I'll see you again in a year, my angel." He then walked slowly back to the TARDIS and retrieved a massive bouquet of deep, purple orchids. They had always been Grace's favorite flower. He laid them on the grave, smiled sadly and walked into the TARDIS. There was a familiar engine whine and he was gone, off in the universe again, until next year.
End