The Almost-Gods – Ten + Rose
"Do you know why I ran, Rose?"
Rose slowly made her way around the console to face him.
"Ran from what?," she replied curiously.
"Everything, my home, my family, the Timelords." He looked down.
She could see this was eating him up inside, she couldn't bear to see him in this much pain, her Doctor.
"I know why...the Timewar..," she said slowly. He flinched at its mention.
"You were terrified, your planet was being destroyed..." "No one blames you, it wasn't your fault."
The Doctor raised his head and looked at Rose for the first time, he took in her whole demeanour, that strong stance but a gentle hand on his arm, that adamantly defiant sparkle in her eyes. His Rose Tyler. She was so sure, such a strong human, she understood when to stand up and take on the world, when no one else would she would be there and he loved her for it.
He nodded but remained motionless.
"I tried to stop them...," he said almost inaudibly.
Rose looked confused.
He took on her defiant gaze and went on.
"I tried to stop the Timelords, it would be counted as treason by the Old High Senate of Gallifrey but they had gone too far."
Rose threaded her fingers in to his.
"Go on," she said quietly.
"The Timelords believed they owned the universe, that all of time and space was theirs to control. That's why so many races resented their power and intelligence. For a highly intelligent race they could be incredibly blind. They saw themselves and the almost-gods. The Senate decided that the human race was becoming too violent and out of control. Constant wars, famines, deaths, your planet was ripping itself apart before it had even been born. But they couldn't see it, what I see, the potential, the human race standing up and striding across the stars, carving out their own path in this universe, the Gallifreyans were blind and stupid. The Old High Senate ruled for the complete destruction of the human race and planet Earth so as to protect the rest of the universe from mad, savage humans."
He paused for a long time.
"I tried to stop them." "I argued with the senators, they accused me of not being a true Timelord, of not caring for our planet and way of life, of being too...human and kind." "And I was banished, I was put on trial for treason but I ran, I took any Tardis and I ran as far as I could."
He finished and hung his head. Rose pulled him in to a tight hug.
"It's okay," she whispered in his ear. "No one blames you, without you we...I probably wouldn't be here."
She looked him in the eye.
"You saved us all. You saved me before you even knew me, that is courage."
He sighed.
"It's just I believed in our race as peaceful and forgiving, our job was to cultivate new races, to maintain a balance within the universe." "We became old and greedy and we failed."
"They failed...," she replied. "You are not them, you are so much more than them."