She waited for him to finish, otherwise he wouldn't have listened, although she knew inside he would always listen to her not that he would have admitted it. "Well who else is it going to be?" Clara blurted out quickly as she stood up. The Doctor, turned his head and looked into Clara's eyes. She knew this look, the your right but I have a duty of care, worried face. He may look older, but his compassion for the people he cared about never grew old. She ignored the fact that the other people in the room we all staring at her too. She breathed in and he mind started to race with how she could defend her point, and have the Doctor approve. "Face it, we all know I can hold my breath longer than any of you, which gives me the ultimate advantage, if it does run out of oxygen" she stated. "Clara, no I can't let you". "But Doctor I'll be fine, I always am, please I want to help and you know I'm the only one who has the best chance of surviving this". The Doctor put his hand on her back and gently pushed her to the side. His head was low and his voice was quiet "but Clara... What if you don't..." Clara opened her mouth to talk but the Doctor rose his head and she saw the water over flowing in his eyes. "Doctor... I... I can do this? Trust me, I wouldn't say it otherwise" she raised her hand to his face and wiped his tear falling from his right eye. "Clara, the thing is, you have to die sometime, they always do, wether I'm there or not, if not they always leave, but I don't think I can do it anymore, I can't loose anymore people, especially you". "Oh Doctor" she looked at him and standing on her tip toes, she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Please don't worry Doctor, we can, and we will get through this". That was it, he let her go. He did the one thing that made him vulnerable, he put his trust in someone other than himself, he was no longer in control.
Clara sat by the water tank. The Doctor paced the room. "Will you stop pacing, other wise you're going to create your own tide" she smiled and a slight laugh came out. He couldn't help but stop and look at her and try not to grin, she always was able to make his thoughts stop for a moment and let him just be in the moment. "Okay, ready Clara?" Jasper called over, giving an anxious nod. "As I'll ever be!" She placed the mask over her face. The Doctor and Clara checked their head pieces worked. "Knock,knock"
"Who's there"
"I know"
"I know who?"
"I know who you are"
Clara stared at him slightly confused and didn't know if she should ask but she did. "Uh, Doctor... wasn't that supposed to be funny?"
"No Clara, I meant it as in, I know who you are"
"And who's that then?" She was intrigued by his response.
"You are Clara, my impossible girl, now go and be impossible"
Clara smiled a smile of remembrance to the man she once knew and the man he had become. "See you in a moment" she nodded and then she was submerged under the water.
'A moment...' the Doctor thought, 'ninety seconds, humans can hold their breath for approximately... No' he had to stop thinking, stop focusing on what could go wrong, have faith, she can do this.
Clara swam further and further down,deeper and closer towards the electricity box. The Doctor held his arms wrapped around himself trying not to pace, not blinking, constantly watching the screen. She grabbed the box and pulled herself closer, she opened the box. She used the torch to try and see the wires clearly. "Okay Clara, quickly, like I said, purple to green, yellow to brown and finally blue to red." Clara tucked her feet under the box for stability. She followed his orders.
Suddenly the lights back at the base began to flicker and beep. The automated protocol played "could all personnel please leave the cockpit, emergency 29"
"29 what does that mean?" The Doctor proclaimed he's hearts began to beat a fraction faster, inside he knew, it was going wrong this was the moment, this was it.
"Um um 29... Electrical faults, whatever wiring Clara's done, it's not worked. She needs to come back, we need to leave Doctor we tried, we can't save them, we have to save ourselves" the Doctor glared at Jasper, he instantly decided to ignore him, he wasn't going to give up.
"Clara I need you to take off your goggles and jam them into the electrical box between the blue and the red to break it and stop the electrical flow"
"Okay" she knew she had to work fast, there wasn't much oxygen in the tank. She reached up to take the goggles off.
"Wait Clara"
"What's wrong" she immediately asked. Her breathing began to intensify.
"Im not sure this is safe, don't do it come back up, please"
"Doctor don't be daft! It's fine, I told you I can do this"
"Clara, don't" but she had already began to hit the electrical box. The screen began to flicker and all they could see was flashes of light. The Doctor for once wasn't sure what was happening, wether the screen was in fact flashing or the room was. The Doctor herd a crackle and a faint scream. The bleeping stopped, the automated protocol voice stopped. The lights dimmed and there was silence...
"Clara"
"Clara answer me"
More silence, not even feedback from the Mic, there was nothing.
The Doctor ran over to the tank where Clara has made her way down to the electric box. He shined his torched and the light shined and danced between the waves. He couldn't see a thing. Then he saw a shadow, slowly drifting up to the surface. Clara could see the light beaming from the torch getting brighter as she grew closer to her entrance. She shut her eyes.
He stood up with relief, turned to Jasper and the others, he couldn't quite believe it, they had actually done it, everyone was safe... or so he thought. There was a quiet splash as Clara's body slowly resurfaced, she was small after all, so tiny and fragile. The Doctor turned and he wasn't sure what disappeared first, he's happiness or his smile. He frantically reached for Clara, he wasn't even sure if he was saying anything, he just pulled her up and turned her body over so that he could see her face. He sat on the floor, his hands cupping her face. "Clara... Clara please... breathe". Jasper ripped the empty oxygen tank off of her back and placed it on the edge of the water tank. The Doctors eyes examined her, her hands were burnt black with electricity burns, her skin was colder than normal, her wet hair drooped around her, and her wet body began to soak the floor. Clara's eyes tightened, her body wretched forwards and water began to force its way out her mouth. She coughed and breathed heavily. The Doctor propped her up onto him and began to slowly talk to her. All he could feel was what was probably the biggest relief of his life. He smiled "Don't you ever leave me hanging like that again". Clara tried to smile and raise her hand but she couldn't, she could barely feel her body, despite the burns, she felt nothing, like her body was calm. Her eyes became heavy as she started to drift away. "Clara, CLARA NO DONT YOU DARE LEAVE ME STAY AWAKE CLARA PLEASE I CANT LOOSE YOU".
"The cards" she spoke softly and quietly.
"What?"
"Look at the Cards"
He proceeded to take the cards out of his pocket.
"Go to the last one"
He took the last one out of his pack of what Clara called the 'what you should say and do cards'. He read it and looked at Clara in disbelief.
"I wrote it in case I never make it one time, I didn't think you'd have to use that one this soon, I'm sorry, so sorry, I really thought I was going to be able to do this you know, I really did" tears started to fall down her face, despite the card the Doctor didn't know what to do. "Doctor, I'm scared, I know I'm dying, I can tell"
"You weren't supposed to die like this, I thought it would be like your echoes, I thought you'd die saving me..."
"But that's the thing Doctor, I am saving you"
The Doctor didn't know what to do, he began to scan her with the sonic, it was just as he feared, technically her body was still drowning, she always had good lungs, but not good enough, they were just simply filled up with too much water. That was the thing with humans and there body's, always spectacular, but not always good enough. The Doctor carefully picked her up and rushed to the Tardis and kicked the doors open, he placed her on the floor. The fear built up in her eyes, her breathing became heavier. "Doctor..."
"Clara"
"I'm frightened"
"Clara... Please don't be... Wait I can fix that". The Doctor put his hand inside his pocket and took out the sonic glasses and carefully placed them over her face. He knew what was going to happen and it was inevitable, no matter how much he didn't want it to happen. Clara began to choke.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm giving you a memory that probably should have been if I hadn't of been in the way"
"You were never in the way, not to me"
*Clara found herself in a park, sitting on a bench next to her gran, they were watching Dave and Ellie play with a small child on the swing*
The Doctor could see tears falling down Clara's face. The Tardis began to make its usual magical and whimsical noise, it was such a beautiful noise... to die too.
*"Clara! Come and give us a hand with these ice creams" a familiar voice shouted from behind her. Was it really him? Not only was her mother there, but him too, this was all to perfect to her, too perfect. She immediately stood up and smiled, not a sad smile, a smile of overflowing happiness *
Clara took one last deep breath and began to speak, one finale name "D-" but it was abruptly interrupted by her body violently choking up what could only be described as a tidal wave. Clara's body throbbed, she felt like she was being ripped apart by fire and turning into smoke. The Doctor tried to hold her body to keep her calm but it naturally calmed itself, her breathing steadied and then got slower, slower and harsher, until it didn't exist. One moment there was a breath and then the next there wasn't, it just stopped, she was no longer alive, her story had ended. As Clara stopped breathing, so did the Doctor momentarily. The Doctor could hear nothing except for in the distance the oxygen tank falling into the water and like the tank the Doctors hearts sank. He looked at her face and took off the glasses, her eyes were open, she looked human, but not alive. Clara had always had such large wonderful eyes, but now they looked empty. The Doctor raised his hand and shut her eyes. The Doctor couldn't cry, he felt inside his hearts physically aching and he couldn't even let out a scream. He just carefully lifted her body closer to him and tightly hugged her. "I love you Clara Oswald".
Eventually he moved, he had to take her back to Earth, back to what was her time. He started to fly the Tardis, Clara's body was laying peacefully on the floor. The Doctor stood with his hands on the console leaning against it. His eyes kept drifting to Clara but he couldn't look at her. His mind was just filled with memories of her and then there would be a sudden crash of distraught that would overfill him. He walked out of the Tardis wincing at the corpse laying on the floor. He shut the doors and lent against the Tardis, his hands raised to his face and he wiped his tears. He proceeded to the door and knocked. He didn't know how to say it so he used the cards. "I'm sorry for your loss, I'll do whatever I can to solve he death of your family member"
"I'm sorry but what?" Dave stared at the Doctor in slight disbelieve and confusion. The Doctor didn't know how to actually say it, how could he say it. Eventually after a lot of panicking from Dave the Doctor just simply asked Dave to come with him. He took I'm to the Tardis and sighed as he opened the doors. He led Dave in and stood outside. Dave instantly let out a cry of distress and heartbreak, he ran to his daughter, he crashed to the floor and cradled her like she was a baby once more. The Doctor stood outside for an hour whilst Dave constantly cried, morning his child, when he walked back in he wasn't sure if the water around Clara was from her being under the water or from his tears.
The Doctor stood over her grave.
Clara Oswald
23rd November 1986 - 22nd November 2015
Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love-Jane Austen
He placed down a red flower onto the mud. Her grave was overfilled with notes and flowers from friends, students and a few messages from her tiny family.
"Clara, my precious little Clara, I miss you terribly, like I do your mother, one day we will all be together again, until then my brightest star, love Dad" this note was attached to the book. The Doctor picked it up. 101 places to see. The Doctor looked at the card one final time, in fact the first time since it happened. It read - "run, run you clever boy and remember me" -love Clara x
The Doctor placed the card down on her grave along with note off of the book and placed it next to Clara's grans card and flowers. He straightens his body and began to walk away with the book in his hand. He turned back "Clara, my Clara, watch me run" and made his way back to the Tardis, starring at the ground as the leaves crunched under his feet.
They say stories end but that's the thing Clara Oswald's story will never end. She started in this world on a falling leaf, she is still falling though time, living and dying, and she is remembered in all our hearts. Expect in one specific Time Lord, she is remembered in both of his hearts.