A Man; A Name; A Legacy
Summary: What's in a Name? Well, with a name like "The Doctor", as it turns out, pretty much EVERYTHING.
Disclaimer: Does it need saying?
Everyone is born with a name.
A name is just a name, really.
Or is it?
What's in a name?
What importance does it play in who you are as a person?
For most people, it's just something that your parents or guardians called you when you were born.
You weren't given a choice in the matter at all.
Usually, its only purpose is to differentiate you from your other siblings or cousins or relatives and all the other people out there in the big, wide universe.
And so many of them are the same, or dull or boring...with only slight spelling changes that tend to cause teachers major headaches when taking role call.
If you're lucky (or cursed, depending on your perspective) you have a unique one.
A name that no one else has.
That name would probably make one feel special, wouldn't it?
You could get very attached to certain names, couldn't you?
Now, the world is filled to brim with names and titles...
But what if you could choose a different name?
A name you create for yourself?
What might that name be and why would you choose it?
What purpose does it play?
Do you become your name or does it become you?
And as you evolve over time, what might it come to mean?
For one man, his original name would become lost, forgotten...
It served no purpose.
It had no meaning.
It meant nothing to him.
And so, it was replaced by a new one that he fashioned for himself.
And this name was a promise.
It was a question.
It served a purpose.
It had weight & mass & depth.
It possessed great power & authority.
It became a legend, and held within it, an even greater legacy.
It brought hope to the innocent & fear to the evil & corrupt.
And it was just two words.
Two simple words that when brought together formed an entity that solidified into an identity.
An identity, an alias, a persona that said nothing and everything at the same time.
A name, a title that would echo & ripple across all of time & space, for all eternity.
And quite possibly, almost definitely, it was the most important name in all of existence:
The Doctor.
A word that universally meant "to fix" or "to heal".
Another word for a shaman, or wise man.
A word that meant he would fight for all life & creation;
To protect all that was good and growing...at any cost.
He chose his name well.
He fixed all that was broken, except his own two hearts.
He protected as much as he could, to the detriment of his own soul.
He healed others wounds, but bore the scars proudly on his own bodies.
He fought fiercely for life, again & again...all the while sacrificing his various lives.
He could be the bravest, cleverest, the most wonderful, the most loving, and the most caring man you could ever hope to meet in your lifetime.
But he was also the saddest, the loneliest, the most dangerous, and possibly, even the oldest being in the universe.
And so, when I hear that word, that name, "Doctor", I will always think of him & all that he has done.
The most endearing thing about this man was that he didn't have to do these things.
But he did them anyway.
Because he could.
In my mind, and in the minds of millions of people, creatures, cultures, and planets,
He has more than lived up to its meaning.
He kept his promise.
He gave it all he had & more.
And he continues to do so...
And to me, that is worth everything.
So thank you, Doctor.
Thank you for the memories, the adventures, the fun, the thrills, everything that you stand for.
Thank you for being alive.
But most of all, thank you for being you, whoever that might really be...
Have your secrets, Doctor.
Let them ask their question.
Take your original name to the grave.
I don't care.
It doesn't have any bearing or hold on you.
For in the end, it's not the name that is important, after all...
It's what you do with that name that truly matters.
You are who you are.
And you are, and always will be...
...The Doctor.
-Fin.-
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A/N: Just watched "Time of the Doctor" last night. Managed to hold off the tears until now. I am an absolute wreck today... :,o( But I -needed- to write something, anything to get some of my feelings across about my love of this character and this show that has changed my life.
This is the end result of that, the culmination of everything that I think makes the show so great.
And to Matt Smith, if you ever read this: I will freely admit that although you did not start out as -my- Doctor...you have earned my complete & utter respect, love, & admiration for what you brought to the Eleventh Doctor...Raggedy Bow-Tie Man With the Big Chin, you will -never-, EVER be forgotten. I promise.