"One day, you'll count them. One terrible night."
–The Moment, to the War Doctor, about the number of children on Gallifrey at the end of the Time War.
11:23pm
"Well, goodnight, Doctor," Rose offers, stifling a yawn as she stands up, dropping the book she was reading onto the seat of the armchair she had just vacated. They had spent the day relaxing in the TARDIS library, but now she was tired. She would finish it tomorrow.
…Two billion, four hundred sixty-nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred eighty-eight… he thinks to himself before replying, "Goodnight, Rose," without looking up, hoping he would appear to her to be deeply absorbed in his own book.
She pauses, however, musing that his voice sounded a little strange just then; sort of strained, like maybe he had a sore throat or something. She had never known him to get sick, but why else…? Coming to a sudden realization, she quickly turns to look closely at him, surprised and a little concerned. Could he possibly be… crying? When she cried, her throat would get tight and her voice would be thick, congested – the same as when she had a cold.
"Rose? Something wrong?" His question startles her, snapping her out of her uneasy thoughts.
"No, it's nothing. I'm fine." She smiles at him and he smiles back. His voice was chipper as always. She must have been imagining it. "G'night."
The Doctor nods in acknowledgement and watches her leave the room, his eyes bright and cheery until his companion is out of sight, but then he blinks and they become heavy once more. He had spent the day counting in his head, but now he was finished. "Arkytior," he mumbles; it is the Gallifreyan word for rose and the given name of a dozen of them (and his own granddaughter's, too). He had saved that one for last. "That makes 2,470,000,000 – two-point-four-seven billion children – killed by my hand."
Overcome with grief, the Doctor cries for 2 hours 28 minutes and 12 seconds before falling asleep wrapped in the telepathic embrace of his beloved TARDIS, whom he had not allowed to witness the biggest regret of his life and a moment which he vowed to never forget.
A/N: Ouch. That one really hurt. T^T So I re-watched the 50th anniversary special recently and, when the Moment said that line at the top, a little baby plot bunny was born and I had to write this. And I do mean "write" as in "on paper". Anyway, for those of you who are wondering where that 2 hours 28 minutes and 12 seconds came from, it's 2.47 hours; I did the calculation longhand in the margin right before I wrote the last paragraph. ^.^; What? I love math! So, leave a review, let me know what you think – questions/comments/complaints/compliments – and I wonder how many of you can tell me what the significance is of what time it is at the beginning of this fic…