My Life on Canvass

The soft humming of the TARDIS didn't break his mood as the Doctor walked down the hallway and went around the corner. Rose was gone and he was the reason she was now trapped in a world not her own. It was that familiar sense of nostalgia that led him into the gallery as he walked by the portraits then stopped at the large mural of Gallifrey and softly sighed. He had painted each and every painting and portrait hanging on the walls as a reminder of places he had been, people he had known, his family and those who shared all his adventures with him. Now he felt like going to the control room and delete them. Sighing, he walked to the first portrait as Susan smiled at him and he placed his hand on the gold frame.

"Really, Grandfather, I can come with you?!" Susan asked as the Doctor softly laughed and placed his hands on the top of his cane.

"Yes, My Dear," he had said and she ran in the TARDIS without even looking back.

Walking by portraits of Ian, Barbara, Vicki, Sara, Katarina, Steven, Dodo, Ben, Polly and Victoria, the Doctor stopped at the painting of Jamie and Zoe sitting on a bench and they were arm in arm, big smiles on their faces.

"Oh, Doctor, you just can't leave him," Polly had said after Jamie had helped them get away from the redcoats.

"Och, dinnae worry aboot me, I can take care of myself," Jamie had said, but she had convinced the Doctor to let him come along and Jamie was so shocked the first time he saw the inside of the TARDIS.

"And what did it get him…and Zoe? They ended up mind wiped and sent home," the Doctor said as he walked by the other portraits and paintings when he stopped at the statue he had made of Rose as Fortuna and the tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Oi, turn off the water works!" a voice said inside his head as the Doctor looked around then walked to the section of the gallery where the portraits of his lives hung on the wall and he walked to the portrait of the ninth Doctor.

"No, this is silly. Portraits can't talk," he said and shook his head.

"No they certainly cannot, Dear Fellow, but it doesn't mean we can't," a voice said as he walked to the portrait of the first Doctor and frowned, tilting his head to one side.

"Do you think you are the only one with regrets?" a voice asked as he walked to the portrait of the eighth Doctor and saw the sadness in his eyes.

"Yes, we have all had our share of grief," the voice said as the Doctor walked to the portrait of the fifth Doctor and softly smiled.

"Oh, stop babying him, will you?!" a voice said and he softly smiled while glancing over at the portrait of the sixth Doctor.

"Well, at least some of us had fashion sense!" the voice said as he walked to the portrait of the seventh Doctor and the Doctor cupped his mouth to stop from laughing.

"How dare you!" the sixth Doctor said as their voices started fighting in his head and the Doctor sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Gentlemen, please, we are going off track," the voice said as he walked to the portrait of the third Doctor and sighed, looking down at his feet.

"What we are trying to get you to understand is something you already know. People, be they human or alien, will come and go in your life. It doesn't matter for how long. You just have to enjoy the time you have with them," the voice said and he walked to the portrait of the fourth Doctor and sighed.

"They always break my heart," he said softly and blinked the tears out of his eyes.

"Yes, and they always will."

"But it's not fair."

"That is the curse of the Time Lord."

"Well, this is it! I'm DONE with companions! From now on, I travel ALONE!"

"That sounds a bit extreme," the voice said as he walked to the portrait of the second Doctor and sighed, brushing some hair from his eyes. "You really don't understand, do you?"

"What?"

"Oh my, he really doesn't know, does he?"

"No, he doesn't. Think about it. Are you truly alone?" the voice asked as the Doctor walked to the portrait of TARDIS and listened to the soft humming coming all around him. Standing perfectly still for a few moments, he started to understand as a small smile crossed his face and he patted the wall. Turning on his heels, he walked out of the room as the lights dimmed and his footsteps echoed down the hallway.