Disclaimer: Naturally, I do not own Doctor Who, nor any of the associated characters. However, Aryna is my own character. :-)
A/N: I liked the End of Time, and have enjoyed the tenth Doctor immensely. Still, I always love it when our favorite Time Lord regenerates, and I look forward to the adventures of the eleventh Doctor! I DID have to write a fic where the Doctor pays a last visit to Aryna. ;-)
She walked in quiet contemplation, her companion keeping pace with her, and occasionally making some comment about their recent adventure. But her mind was not focused on the young man's comments, but upon a moment earlier in the day. For several minutes, an eternity for a Time Lady, the whole of time and space had shuddered around her. She could feel the strain on time itself, as if everything was about to be torn apart. The pressure increased, and she was gripped with terror. Never, in over eight hundred years had she ever experienced anything like this. Her knees were about to buckle, and she was sure that time must be about to end. Then suddenly, like a heavy weight lifted from her, it was gone. She would have thought about it more at the time, but something urgent had distracted her. Once the crisis was averted and things put to right, she pondered what she had sensed. She couldn't come to any solid conclusions, and her thoughts were interrupted by a question.
"Is it always like this?" he asked.
"Not always," the young-looking red head assured her companion, "But most of the time anyway," she added after considering it for a moment.
"Definitely most of the time, and pretty close to always if you ask me!" he laughed.
They paused by a red Police box.
"Are you sure you still want to travel with me, Alistair? Say the word and I'll take you home."
He grinned widely as he replied, "No, I haven't seen nearly enough of the universe yet!"
Aryna returned his smile and slipped her key into the lock on the door of the odd box. Turning it, she said with a grin, "Then what are we standing here for?"
The Time Lady gave the door a little push, and it creaked open, but something in the air made her hesitate. There was a swirl in the air, and her senses tingled just a fraction of a second before she heard the unmistakable otherworldly churning of a TARDIS.
Alistair did something of a double-take when the blue Police Box appeared out of nowhere.
"Aryna?" he questioned.
"It's alright Alistair, you go ahead, I'll be along in a minute," Aryna replied, never taking her eyes off the familiar sight.
"Alright," her companion replied uncertainly before disappearing through the red doors of Aryna's own TARDIS.
She waited, anxious, for a glimpse of her friend. The air was heavy, and she felt the slight charge of energy, coupled with the overwhelming urge to outrun the press of time. It made very little sense, but she dismissed it all the moment the door moved, and the Doctor stepped out of his TARDIS. He walked towards her, but seemed to lose his balance and stumble slightly.
"Doctor!" she cried with alarm as she rushed to steady him. Her hand brushed his and the spark of raw energy startled her. She knew exactly what it meant.
"What happened?" she asked quietly.
"Radiation," his voice sounded strained, "I thought that I'd cheated death again… but…"
"Shhhh, it's alright," she spoke softly, keeping an arm around his waist for support, "Just rest. It will be over soon."
"No. I have to see them… say good-bye," he pulled away from her a bit too quickly and once again lost his balance. Aryna reached out and grasped his arm firmly to keep him from landing on the ground.
"OK then, and you wanted to say good-bye to me as well?"
"I came," he began slowly, "Because I had to tell you the truth. I owe you that much at least…" his voice broke slightly before he continued, "They came back Aryna, the Time Lords came back, but I couldn't let them…"
"No, the War is time locked. How could they return?" she tried to maintain a soothing tone of voice, "Everything must seem muddled now, but once your regeneration stabilizes…"
"You don't understand!" he shouted.
The Doctor hadn't intended to sound quite that gruff, he looked at Aryna, eyes pleading for her to understand, and an unspoken question passed between them. She nodded in answer. Taking a breath she slid her cool fingertips along the sides of his face and closed her eyes, waiting for him to show her what he so desperately wanted her to know.
The face of another friend from long ago burned across her mind. The Master… But he was only the beginning. Rassilon… the High Council… what they intended to do was so horrifying, that she could hardly take it in. She relived the choice the Doctor had made, feeling every second of the agony, the indecision, and then the resolve. She noticed the Master's half-smile as he realized what the Doctor intended to do. Then one last time, the Master became the Time Lord they had once known, saving the life of his friend. Then, the ripple of astonishment the Doctor had felt, all because he was still alive. Tap, tap, tap, tap… Four knocks… Not the Master, not Rassilon himself even… The Doctor's undoing would be a mere human… A brilliant human… It was all so, so unfair… She gasped at the memory of his pain as he absorbed the impossible flood of radiation… too much for even him.
Aryna wavered slightly as the contact was broken, but she regained her footing, and reached out to steady the Doctor. The mental strain had weakened him considerably, and he leaned heavily on her. She blinked back the tears that hadn't streaked down her cheeks, and took several deep breaths before speaking.
"I'm sorry. I just…" she shrugged helplessly, "I'm just sorry for everything."
"I know," he nodded, "I have to go. So many good-byes…"
Aryna drew his arm across her shoulder and helped him to the door of his TARDIS.
"Oh Aryna," he sighed with regret, "Don't ever change."
Shaking her head sadly she replied, "I can't promise that any more than you can. We call ourselves Time Lords, as if we've somehow mastered time. We may see the flow of time, and we may even be able to travel through it, but time still stalks us. Death finds us, the same as anyone else. Except… except most of them only have to die once."
"The curse of the Time Lords," he said miserably, "One of many…"
She pushed open the door to the blue Police Box, and stood back as he entered, then turned to face her.
"Take care, old friend," she whispered.
He pulled her close and held her tightly for several moments.
"Good-bye, Aryna."
She returned the embrace, and answered in kind, "Good-bye, Doctor… Theta… find me again."
"I will," he promised. He turned without another word, and shut the door behind him.
Aryna waited until the last sound of his TARDIS had faded completely before returning to her own. Her thoughts were still with the Doctor, and she desperately hoped that she would see him again soon. She wanted more than anything to know that he was alright. Time would tell… it always did.