Flames licked at the air, blurring their surroundings into nothingness. The tendrils of smoke curled into the sky, fading before they could touch the stars. Huddled around and acting as a human wall, people stood, watching, the bittersweet heat from the fire numbing them to the bone. Some hugged, held hands, some buried their faces into shoulders of their fellow villagers, just trying to block out the image of burning. Others just stared on, allowing the unified loss to wash over them, knowing they were together.
The Doctor swallowed, his mouth dry. Though with his best efforts he tried to stay focused upon the scene playing out before him, every attempt seemed futile. He would become absorbed in the flames, finally, as he knew he should, but then from the corner of his eye he would see her wipe a track from her cheek, her hear sniff back her tears in defiance. When he saw her, he couldn't bring himself to turn away. She stayed the same, she always stayed the same. Her hair was still the blonde that Earth girls died for, still bobbing by her shoulders so angelically, her eyes shining in the sliver of the moon, her breathing shaky. She was just the same. Just the way he liked her. Perfect.
She brushed the back of her hand across her face, smearing the mascara track that was slowly progressing. He watched her jaw tense as she tried not to cry, her teeth linked in place, not daring to allow out another tear. The Doctor felt his throat tighten and his stomach churn as he watched her cry. What was he supposed to do?
He shuffled closer to her, their arms almost touching. She didn't break her gaze and showed no other recognition of The Doctor's movements other than straightening her back, stiffening all over. Another tear rolled down her cheek as she sniffed, tilting her head so she looked down her nose at the fire - all to hide the fact she was upset from him.
He dared move his hand closer to hers, relief flowing through him as she allowed his fingers to wrap around hers. He brushed a thumb across the back of her hand, her skin smooth beneath his touch. Even so, her body stayed rigid, still she continued to mask her crying.
"It's okay, you know." He whispered, his voice just audible over the hiss of the fire. "It's okay if you're crying."
There was a momentary silence as she became even more tense. For the briefest of seconds the Doctor thought she was going to pull away from him all together.
"I don't understand why." She said after a while, completely loosening up into him as she allowed herself to be pulled into his chest. "This is their lifework, their history."
He wrapped his arms around her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her hair. He almost felt guilty for feeling so at home. "They had to."
"Couldn't they just take it with them? Couldn't we take it? The TARDIS, it has infinite space. We could take it."
"We can't. It's a fixed point in time. This is the year the Volumen people drop out of records. They have to. We can't interfere."
He wondered if some words of objection stirred in her throat, but she did not speak. All he could do in comfort was pull her in a little tighter.
"They were all so clever. All so worth it." She wiped her face against his shoulder, tears seeping into his shirt. "And no one will ever know."
The Doctor just smiled, not out of amusement or agreement. It was slight, his lips curling ever so slightly upwards and his eyes closing ever so gently, allowing a tear of his own to roll down his cheek.
She would never know he saw her.
She was so clever. So worth it. And no one would ever know.