Summary: "Back home you're dead". Post DD, the Doctor visits her grave.
Ghosts Of Sunshine
It was the same day every year for the past fifty years. The sun would always blaze for weeks before, the July sun tanning the skin of youths as they basked in the sun. But not this day – always on this day darkness heaved over the land. Clouds bruised the sky and the sun dared not show its' head for grief. It was this day the gates man had come to dread work, the deathly silence, even the birds silenced in respect…or fear – he could never decided.
It was always the same, so precise it could be recited like a nightmare. The pale drawn face at the gates, a companion waiting at the gates fearing intrusion – one by one they left, ever changing, but he always remained the same. The trees cast shadows over the path enshrouding the gave yard in silence, the trees so full of life all seemed to wither on this day, their green hues dimming with knowledge. Even the rabbits feared to show their heads, the heaviness of the sky hung over them, thick as though promising rain – it never fell though, nor did the strangers tears.
Today was no different, he drew darkness to him like a vortex, the gentle whiteness of the clouds recoiling into fists of softness. He always walked alone, one hand clutching nineteen roses, one for each year of her life, his other hand hanging loose as though reaching out. The gravel crunched heavily under his shoes, the sound was always so heavy echoing through the grave yard and settling heavily in the gate keeper's heart. He never made eye contact; he only stared at the object of interest, the grave he was visiting.
The gates man always made himself scarce, he always felt as though he were intruding a private ceremony. He watched as the flowers were placed upon the grave and as the ran ran his fingers along the name as though he was still touching her in slight disbelief that she were gone.
The gates man had researched this lost girl, her death was never recorded for her body never found, only 'missing', but he knew missing and lost were different things. Standing in the shadows he watched the man, he'd never aged, not even a day, just a odd line here and there, not from smiling though.
Then as silently as he came, the man would leave, the sun wouldn't rise for the rest of the day but from then onward it would return to the normal peace. Normally he left the flowers, let them rot into the ground, but today was different, he knelt before the grave with 'Rose Tyler' set in stone, silently he read the card, his fingers rough against the soft paper. There were just a few simple words which he read silently, 'Sunshine passed behind a cloud'. Like a ghost the man was instantly behind him, the gates man almost stumbled as he looked up, then he saw the emotion clouding his eyes.
'Who was she?' he asked softly for fear of breaking the spell.
'My sunshine' he choked, the gates man watched his eyes cloud
'My sunshine passed behind a cloud'.
And as quickly as he arrived he was gone. The gates man silently walked away from the flowers knowing he was not to be involved. This was between a man and a woman – a spell for him not to break. Little did he know it was the greatest love of all time, that of a Time Lord and his Goddess. And as quickly as day had came, it left – sunshine truly passed behind a cloud.