She's there again. I've been having very strange dreams for some time now. A week? A month? Can't remember. Dreams of fantastic things. Things that could never be real but which seem far more real than the waking world. Clockwork people. Tin men. Creatures made of strange substances and living in ceilings. Other worlds where life is more complicated but much, much simpler.
I'm standing on a strange surface of ice. Ice that isn't cold. It crunches beneath my shoes as I shuffle my feet, enjoying the sound and the feeling of it shattering in tiny cracks. It's night. But it isn't. Here the night is endless. Night without day is not night. It simply is. This place doesn't have a sun, just millions upon millions of stars far away. Every star is reflected in the surface of the ice that isn't ice. Somehow the world is blanketed in warmth. A gentle breeze blows. I close my eyes and love the feeling of it pushing through my hair. A hand touches my elbow and slides slowly along my forearm down to grasp my hand. I smile.
My fingers are threaded gently through hers. I breathe in deeply. The air is full of scents I can't place. Something like vanilla but clearer and sharper. She hugs my arm to her body and presses her head against my shoulder. We stand like that for a long time. A minute? Hours? Time doesn't matter. It's just us and this marvelous place.
I shift a little and look down at her to find her watching me. The stars are shining from her eyes and the breeze skims across her hair. She straightens up, her eyes never leaving mine. She grins at me. I can read every emotion she's feeling in those eyes. Thrill, joy, peace, excitement and, above all, love. Love so intense and echoed in me that I think it should burn us both.
"My Doctor." She pulls away from me a little. A glimmer of sadness settles across her face. She slides her hands from mine and takes another small step backwards. A horrible feeling begins to rise within me. Panic. Fear. The smile falls from my face. "I love you." She smiles sadly the stars now shimmering in her wet eyes.
I reach out for her. "Rose, I…" In that moment my hands pass through air where her head should be. She fades from my sight and I'm left standing, my hands outstretched to where she should be. A tear escapes my horrified eyes. Daylight reaches in through the window. I am awake. My heart aches with the loss of someone I can't quite remember.
There's a loud scuffle at my door and I brush the single tear from my face hurriedly with my sheet. And in comes Martha with the breakfast. Toast and tea. She's a good girl, Martha. Don't know what I'd do without her.