PROLOGUE
A/N: This is another one of those books, like Reunion, that I am posting in the hopes that encouraging reviews will help me to finish it... since it's been sitting on my hard drive unfinished forever. So please review. Special thanks to thagrrrl79 for her assistance in cowriting/exploring 11 and River.
"Let me tell you a story."
Weak with hunger, eyes burning from the ash and dust that swirled over the surface of the devastated, desolate planet, the dark haired child smiled nonetheless as she lay her head on her thin, bony arm. "Is there a princess in it, grandmother?" she asked, her voice scratchy with prolonged thirst.
"No, there's not a princess. Not this time."
"A king, then?"
The woman settled her old, frail body against the rough, hard surface of the broken wall behind her. They were safe from the elements here - from the acid rain and the scorching wind. It was no home, but it was a place to sleep. The last place to sleep, the old woman thought, near the last meager supply of polluted, deadly water. But she couldn't tell that to the little girl. How could you tell a child - an innocent and good child - that death was coming for them?
"Is he a brave king with lots of loyal subjects?"
The woman chuckled softly and shook her head. "No, not a king. He was only a man."
"What sort of man? Was he handsome?"
"Perhaps he was handsome," the woman answered softly. "In a way. But make no mistake, his appearance was that of an ordinary man - tall and thin with light brown hair. He was somebody you wouldn't think twice about passing on a crowded street, an ordinary young man in an ordinary coat and a bow tie - nothing special. Nothing unusual."
The woman winced as she stretched her legs out in front of her, gingerly allowing the sores on the back of her calves to rest in the dust. Then she took a deep breath, forced a smile, and continued in her best storytelling voice.
"But appearances can be deceiving. For this man was much older than he appeared - over a thousand years old, in fact. And if you looked closely, if he let you study the green eyes of his ordinary face, you could see the stars there. You could feel the adventures he'd lived, across all the galaxies of the universe. And only then would you realize that this ordinary-looking man was in fact the bravest man who ever lived."
The little girl smiled and she leaned in a bit, not interrupting. Instead, she eagerly awaited the continuation of the story, brushing her pesky hair away from her eyes. Most of it was too matted to move. But what could seemed like it was always falling in her face.
"He was also a very good man. A man who helped people in need, who saved people who were hurt or in danger. A man with two hearts and no home. A man who was the last of his kind."
"Like me, grandmother?"
"Yes, I suppose so." The woman reached a bony, gnarled hand to brush the girl's hair back for her as it fell forward again.
"And was his planet broken like this one?"
"Yes."
"But he escaped, didn't he? Like we will, someday?"
"Oh, yes, he escaped," the old woman said, hiding her sadness behind a soft smile.
"How did he?"
"My dear child, that is a story for another time. The story I want to tell you now is a story of one particular adventure. An adventure he never meant to have, but one that would change his life forever."
"Is there a dragon in it?"
"Shh..."
The girl smiled, but quieted.
"You see, this man was a traveler. He traveled all over the universe in his special ship. But not only could he go any place he wanted, but any time as well. His special ship was a time machine. And being very old and very clever, he knew of all the most exciting places and times in the universe - the places and times he wanted to see.
"Now, because he was a very good man, he helped people wherever he went. Sometimes, his special ship took him to planets he'd not meant to visit because someone needed help and had wished very hard. Sometimes it was purely by accident that he found himself surrounded by monsters or invading armies. And sometimes, it was for the sake of a friend. Once such time, he fought off an entire army to save his very best friend from the bad people, and what was more... He did it all without ever once firing a shot. Another time, he saved the planet Earth from an invasion of the evil Daleks."
The little girl's smile grew as she shivered dramatically, and the old woman smiled back.
"He could stop a war with the power of his mind. And once, he even saved a little boy from the scary monsters in his closet."
"What was his name, Grandmother?"
"His name... was the Doctor."