A/N: Written for Prompt #59 'desolate' on Taming the Muse. Beta'd by the lovely raynedanser.
The two moons were beautiful, the multitude of stars above her could only be described as dazzling, but the most appropriate word Rose could find to describe the dark grey land which she was standing on was desolate.
It was rather like she imagined the moon to be; rough ground, many drab shades of grey, and utterly lonely. There was no hint of colour in the landscape, and the bright white of the moon and stars above her only made the sky seem darker. The air was still, and the silence was almost unbearable; she wanted to shout out, just to break it, but somehow she didn't quite dare.
There was something that just seemed wrong about this planet. It wasn't that it felt evil, like some of the places she'd visited; it just felt heartbreakingly sad. Everything about it seemed to tell a tale of a terrible loss; it was as if the land before her was simply a shell of its past self.
Even as the thought occurred to her, the land seemed to change in front of her eyes. She felt as if she were standing still whilst the world moved past her at a phenomenal rate - but backwards. She saw ashes appear on the ground before her, turning into dying embers, and then fully fledged fire; she heard screams of pain and grief as the flames burned all around her, consuming everything they touched.
And then the flames disappeared, and before her was a golden city, and she realized that what she had taken to be moons in the dark sky were in fact suns, shining brightly and casting a vivid orange light over the landscape.
It was beautiful.
But the desolate view that she had seen only moments before stayed with her, and the beauty of the new scene could not stop the tears that were running slowly down her face.
----
When she awoke, her cheeks were still damp, and a deep sadness seemed to have settled over her. She felt the soothing hum of the TARDIS, comforting her, and suddenly she understood, and she realised that the dream had been no accident. She had seen the Doctor's home, destroyed by fire in the horror of the Time War, and she found that she knew its name. Gallifrey. And for the first time, she found that she could understand the musical tones of the TARDIS, forming words in her mind where before there had only been feelings.
Heal him, my Rose. He suffers. His pain is great. You must not tell him, must not show him what you know, but you must heal him. Together, we will heal him. He must go on.
And as the tears ran down her face once more, her heart breaking for the Doctor she loved, she knew that was what she would do.
----
She must know.
She must never tell him, but she must help him to recover.
One day soon she will join with me, and together we will end the Time War as it should end, with the destruction of the enemy and the giving of life, because we will love him, as one.
One day my Rose will be gone, and with her will go part of me, but she must leave him whole.