Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Shocker. I do own Frea though.

A/N: Here's my Doctor Who Vignette, called Inheritance; I hope you enjoy it! Please review it for me if you have the time.

Chapter 1: The Daughter Of Time

Roof tiles were still falling from the sky. Cracks were still appearing in pavements. Cities were still being destroyed. But lives were no longer being lost, for there were no more lives in Europe. The Everlasting Storm, people were calling it. They had no idea. The whole of Europe, wiped out, because of one reckless creature. The Doctor stood silent, and watched the great city of London collapse in front of him. He did not smile, or frown, or cry, but just stood, looking out over the demolition.

Suddenly he turned, and retreated into the TARDIS. Donna sat behind the mechanism, shocked and shaking. It was just forty-something years into her future. She'd still be alive when this happened. Neither of the travellers said a word, and the Doctor was about to enter co-ordinates to escape the disaster when,

'Doctor!' Donna gasped, pointing at the door with a shaking hand. The Doctor looked. A girl, no older than eleven, was stood at the door, peering into the TARDIS. She looked terrified of the ruins outside, but seemed to have enough strength to let her jaw drop as she stared in through the window.

'Impossible...' the Doctor muttered, pacing slowly towards the door.

'I thought you said everyone would have been killed?' Donna asked quietly.

'I did.' the Doctor murmured, as he opened the door and turned to the girl. 'So how did you survive?' He stood back and motioned for her to come in, and she did so silently. She had a rucksack slung over her shoulder, which she dropped on the floor softly. Donna walked round to the front of the TARDIS and smiled at her. She smiled back weakly, and looked to the Doctor, then Donna, in turn.

'So, there's a massive war, wiping out the whole of Europe, and the only survivor is... well, you.' the Doctor clarified, talking to himself more than anything, but the girl nodded.

'What's your name?' Donna asked kindly.

'Frea.' the girl replied, and before Donna could ask her next question, she said 'I'm 10.'

The Doctor was looking at Frea with utmost amazement, whilst rummaging around in his pocket. He soon pulled out the metal sonic device of his, and moved it over her body, frowning. 'But how?' he asked her, and Donna frowned at him.

'Doctor, don't ask her that; she doesn't know!' she hissed at him over Frea's head. 'She's probably terrified!'

'Did you say "Doctor"?' The travellers turned to look at the child, and the Doctor nodded. Frea grinned and bent down to open her rucksack. The Doctor and Donna looked at each other confusedly and a couple of seconds later, Frea emerged from the bag holding a letter.

'I believe you know my grandmother.' she said shortly.

'Sorry?' the Doctor asked, and Donna frowned at him.

'You want to know how I survived that thing?' Frea asked. 'I'm a Timelord, or Timelady, whatever we're called these days, just like you.'

The Doctor's eyes widened. 'What?'

'Well, okay, I'm quarter Timelord, but it's in my blood so don't even -'

'What? You don't know what you're talking about.' the Doctor spat, and Frea sighed.

'She said you wouldn't believe me, so -'

'Who said that?' the Doctor asked.

'My grandmother.' Frea replied quickly, and then continued, so as not to let him interrupt again. 'Anyway, she said you'd argue about it, so she gave my mother this. And now I have it.' Frea held out an old, faded envelope and the Doctor took it with slightly shaking hands. 'It's for you.' she added.

The doctor turned the envelope over. On the front, it read 'Doctor'in a familiar writing, but the Doctor couldn't place whose it was. Looking up at Frea for encouragement, she nodded.

With a million thoughts flying round his head about Frea and the letter, he ripped open the aged envelope and scanned the letter. It began 'Dearest Doctor' and ended 'All my love,' - no... it couldn't be...

'Rose...' the Doctor whispered softly, and the two girls looked up at him. His eyes were watery for a moment, then he looked up from the letter and glared at Frea.

'Is this a joke?' he asked tentatively. He had not lost his love to be taunted by a child. Frea shook her head frantically, but it didn't convince the Doctor. 'Is this supposed to be funny?' he spat. Donna looked at the Doctor sadly, and gave him a 'what-are-you-doing?' look, but Frea didn't seem too bothered. She reached for a necklace around her neck, and pulled it off, handing it to the Doctor.

'You gave this to my grandmother.' she sniffed, sliding an golden ring encasing an emerald green gem from the chain. 'And she gave it to my mother, who gave it to me.' She held out the ring for the Doctor, holding back a tear.

The Doctor reached out and took the ring, astounded. A solitary tear slid down his rosy cheeks. He remembered the time he had selected the ring in secret, planning to give it to Rose, as nothing more than an act of friendship. She had gone on and on about how beautiful it was, but after the purchase was made, whenever the thought had occurred of actually giving it to her, he had cast it away. And that very same ring was still lost in his inner pocket - wait… the Doctor felt a sudden surge of heat near his cheat, and a quick pat on the pocket told him the original ring had by some means vanished. The work of a Paradox. So what did this mean? Would he, someday, give this ring to Rose? He closed his hand around the smooth gold, closing his eyes and allowing himself a moment of weakness. A teardrop fell down onto the letter, and the Doctor turned back to it.

'My dearest Doctor,

I cannot be sure when you will receive this letter, but I know that the girl who gives it to you will be called Frea, named after her mother. It's short for Gallifrea, as you might have guessed. I never wanted to forget you, and named our daughter after that far away place that you used call home, so that I might remember the times when we shared one. That's right, you have a daughter, and a granddaughter!

You're probably wondering how this all happened, but there's no time for me to explain all of that in this letter, so you'll have to wait for the finer details. You see, for you, it may have been years and years since we last met on the beach, but for me, that was only 5 months ago, though since then a lot has happened. That was still too long to be away from you, so I was out of my mind with excitement when the rift... well, it doesn't matter for the moment.

You need to meet me on New Year's Day, the first day of 2008, on the Powell Estate. Don't ask Frea about it, she won't know why. Just be there. Take care of Frea; she's all I have left, since our daughter (her mother) is now gone, and I want her safe. She can't come back to 2008, because of timelines and so on, but you've told me of the war in Europe, and I don't want her there. My little sister, Frea's great-aunt, lives in America and I've enclosed co-ordinates that should take you there. They're expecting you.

Here you come now, telling me to hurry up writing! We're having Christmas a bit late this year, and the turkey's getting cold, apparently.
Oh, and while I've got the chance to say it, please remember not to mention the terrible cooking of my mum, like you so tactfully did last time.

Don't be late. All my love,
Rose xxx'

The Doctor read through the letter a couple of times before he understood it even a little.

'How?' he asked Frea, ignoring the letter's instructions. She shrugged, as Rose had warned him she would, and the Doctor looked about breathlessly, as if thinking he'd find an answer in the room.

'Wait,' he told himself, and re-read the last lines. 'Here you come now,' she'd written. So... of course! It didn't matter how Rose got there, what was important was that it was real! He could go to the place, find Rose, and tell her to pass a letter and the emerald ring down through the generations, so that he could find her, and tell her what to do! It was brilliant!

And another thing... the rift... Obviously! Jack had mentioned the rift a while ago... he'd opened it and things had started flooding in from all sorts of places! So... say the void had opened, but it only opened long enough for things to flood through, then closed back up, and when Jack reversed it, those things couldn't get back! Rose would have been sucked straight through when it opened, because of travelling in time before, so... Yes, it had to be!

Donna and Frea were sitting together now, whispering about something unimportant, and they glanced up when the Doctor ran round with a grin on his face.

'Finally!' Donna smiled. 'I've been waiting for you to smile like that for God knows how long!'
The Doctor sighed at Frea disbelievingly, and almost regretted saying 'Right, Gallifrea! To America we go!'

'What?' Frea asked. 'Why America?'

The Doctor sighed again. He hated this. 'Frea, you've got to stay in America now. With some relatives.'

Frea's face faltered. 'But... I wanted to come with you!'

'I know.' the Doctor replied, crouching down to lower himself to her height. 'Your grandmother was Rose, yes?' Frea nodded. 'Well, she says that your great-aunt's expecting you.'

'Auntie Simone?' she asked, her eyes lighting up.

'Uh, yeah.' the Doctor assumed. 'Yeah, auntie Simone's waiting for you.'

'Okay.' Frea held on to the side to the chair, sensing that the Doctor's driving wouldn't be too good. She looked a little happier, but Donna couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

'What happened to your mum?' she asked Frea softly.

'She died when I was three and I inherited the ring and that letter. I've lived with Grandma Rose for as long as I can remember.' Frea replied even quieter, and Donna gave her apologies.

The Doctor rammed in some co-ordinates he'd found on a piece of paper in the envelope, and whacked some buttons according to the instructions. He felt giddy with excitement, and picked Frea up, spinning round and round with her while she laughed like a child. Then the TARDIS began to shake and the Doctor stood Frea on the floor as they both lunged for something to hold on to.

The Doctor pulled open the TARDIS doors to show Frea her future home in America. Her eyes widened, and Donna smiled as she stepped outside into the sunny morning.

A couple of minutes later, Frea and her great-aunt were waving good-bye to a smiling Donna and a hastily retreating Doctor. As soon as the door closed, the Doctor turned and ran into the TARDIS, wasting no time.

'Right,' he muttered, as he pushed in co-ordinates that he'd memorised years before. 'Powell Estate... 2008... here we go.'

As if in doubt, he hung onto a bar on the TARDIS and waited. Sure enough, a mighty crash came, followed by a gulp from the eager time traveller and a nervous glance from his companion.

After a pause, the Doctor glanced back to Donna, and urgently bounded outside.

'Doctor…?'

The Doctor turned. Before he saw her, a tear emerged in his eye, recognising that sweet voice with unbelievable happiness. Relief washed over his mind as he ran forwards to her, picking her up in his arms and laughing heartily with joy. It seemed so much like a dream. He didn't ask why or how, as his usual self would have done, but instead ran round the street with his love, not letting her escape his embrace.

He became vaguely aware that there was a couple standing behind Rose, and as he spun her around, he noticed a second figure, and a child, but no Donna. Noticing but not caring, he laughed and cried and hugged Rose closer to his body. He couldn't believe it; he could feel her soft hands on his neck, smell her sweet perfume and hear her joyous cries, so clearly now. He could never let it end.

After what seemed like hours, they parted, and looked into each other's eyes in a dream-like state. The Doctor managed to stutter out 'H-how?' to her, before she laughed and wrapped her arms around him once more. Realising that for the moment, he didn't care one bit, he returned to his important job of spinning Rose round with glee.

As they parted once more, a thought occurred to him, and he was sure he would forget it if he didn't mention it now, so he broke apart from Rose with sadness.

'I need you to write me a letter...' he began softly.

Yay! I hope you didn't find that a total waste of time, but if whether you did or didn't, please let me know! Was it fluffy enough/too fluffy? Did I ramble on too much?