On and On and On
A Doctor Who Fanfiction by After the Silence
Based off the song "On and On and On" by Wilco
Summary: "Please don't cry, we were designed to die/You can't deny even the gentlest tide." A 10/Rose drabble-dialogue based on the song "On and On and On," by Wilco. Set after "The Satan Pit."
Word Count: 1875
Notes: Just a bit of dialogue I thought up when I heard the song "On and On and On" by Wilco, which is gorgeous, by the way. It's set just after "The Satan Pit," and I imagine the Doctor and Rose curled up in the library, or something, Rose obviously troubled by what she's just been told about dying soon. Apologies for messing with the Classic series. In this story, I use the "Doctor leaves Gallifrey" story as it happened in the alternate timeline presented in the audio drama "Disassembled." Personally, I think it's a heck of a lot more interesting story than "I was bored, and there were battles to be fought, so I left Gallifrey, ta very much!". Besides, they never exactly said what made the Doctor leave in the first place, really, so it could have been very similar to that other timeline. Thanks to the crew, and enjoy.
Disclaimer: Yo no lo posee. Or something. (Hey, don't look at me! I took two weeks of Spanish in the 6th grade!)
"Doctor?"
"Mm?"
"Could you…"
"Could I what, Rose?"
"I dunno… Could you tell me a story, or something? Someplace you've been?"
"Rose…"
"Please, Doctor?"
"…"
"…Doctor?"
"…Oh, alright. You've twisted my arm."
"Good."
"Well… A story for my Rose… What sort of story do you want?"
"I dunno. Something happy, I guess."
"Yeah, I guess that'd be for the best… Hmm…"
"Doctor?"
"Aha! I've got just the one!"
"Well, alright. Get on with it, then."
"Oi! Don't rush it! Well, let's see…"
"…"
"Once upon a time -"
"Seriously, Doctor?"
"What? Perfectly good way to start a story!"
"Whatever."
"Rose Tyler, are you rolling your eyes at me?"
"No…"
"Never mess with a classic, Rose! What's that saying… Ah: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it!'"
"Oh my God, Doctor, did you seriously just…"
"What?"
"Well, with the accent… thing."
"Oi! It's a perfectly good American accent!"
"Sure."
"Rose Tyler… Ah! But I promised you a story!"
"Yeah, you did at that."
"Alright. No more interruptions!"
"Okay. Get on with it, then."
"Well, once upon a time - don't you dare interrupt! - there was a man -"
"Was he human, this man?"
"Oh, no, of course not! Honestly, you humans, always thinking the world revolves around you…"
"Alright, so if he wasn't human, what was he?"
"Time Lord, of course. Anyway, he didn't really fit in where he came from. The other Time Lords were boring and stuffy and… and practical."
"Do I detect a hint of resentment there, Doctor?"
"'Course not. Anyway, this particular Time Lord was a bit different from the rest. He was always on the lookout for adventure, which got him into more than a bit of trouble at the Academy -"
"Academy?"
"Yeah, The Academy, the definite article, I suppose. Where Gallifreyans go to train to be Time Lords."
"…Sorry, 'Gallifreyan'?"
"Gallifreyan, from Gallifrey. That's the name of my planet, did I ever tell you that?"
"…No. 'S beautiful."
"…Yeah. Yeah, it was. Anyway, Time Lord's just a title, means you've gone through a bit of rubbish training and what, gives you special privileges. So, where was I?"
"Trouble at the Academy."
"Ah, yes! Well, he was always getting into trouble at the Academy, and once he'd left, he only got into more trouble. One day, he got himself in a particularly large amount of trouble, bit of rubbish with 'disrupting the natural flow of Time,' or what. Time Lords, you see, had what they called a 'non-interference policy.' No matter what happened, they wouldn't interfere with events outside of their own planet, no matter how much help they could've been."
"Why's that, then?"
"Oh, you know. Time Lord history is boring, but suffice to say they weren't always as pleasant as they were at the end - and calling them 'pleasant' would've been a stretch, even then. They were warmongers, Rose, using their superior technology to dominate lesser species. Then along came Rassilon, the greatest of the Time Lords. He set things to rights, gave the Time Lords a set of rules. Met him a few times; nice enough, I suppose. He was the one who decided on the non-interference policy. Made things easier, I suppose."
"And so, this Time Lord, he didn't like the policy?"
"Nah, thought he could do better helping out the people of the multiverse."
"Oh, is that all?"
"Yep! Always trying to help out, this fellow. So he got into a bit of trouble, and the other Time Lords, they were going to erase him from history. One of them, though, this Time Lord's… well, his brother -"
"What?!"
"Yeah. Time Lords didn't really have familial connections, but that's about the closest you could really come to describing the relationship in human terms. Anyway, the Time Lord's… brother, had a talk with him first, and the Time Lord told him about how there were evils that needed to be fought and noble causes and such out in the multiverse, and the… brother, gave him a chance to escape. So he stole a TARDIS and got the hell out o' dodge!"
"Oh, did he now?"
"Yeah, I mean… what?"
"Steal a TARDIS?"
"Oh. Well, borrowed. He borrowed a TARDIS."
"Borrowed, huh?"
"Rose…"
"Nothing, nothing…"
"I meant to return it!"
"You meant to return it? I thought we were talking about some other Time Lord!"
"Yeah, well, he meant to return it, but things kept… coming up. Anyway, he borrowed a TARDIS and flew off, and he spent more centuries than he'd like to think about out among the stars, saving planets and the like."
"Alone?"
"Oh, not always! In fact, he was quite often accompanied by one or a few of a strange sort of species called 'humans,' from a planet called 'Earth' which seemed almost constantly in need of saving. Rather exhausting, actually, when you think about it…"
"Hey!"
"You can't deny it! How many times have we saved the earth, specifically, in all our travels?"
"…Point taken."
"Good. So, he was traveling among the stars, with his companions - sometimes human, sometimes not - and they came and went, and he loved them all, really, and was very sad when they left him, which they always would, in the end. It's the way of things, though, so he just kept moving on until, one day, he couldn't. Something… well, something absolutely terrible happened, and it was all his fault and, quite suddenly, he found himself completely and utterly alone in the universe."
"Doctor…"
"Oh, I'm alright. Don't bother. Focusing on the story. Anyway, so he couldn't just move on anymore, and he was convinced he'd have to be alone for the rest of his existence, since it was just… well, he didn't deserve companionship, not anymore, with all the things he'd done…"
"...And then?"
"Oh, and then, there's always an and then. In this case, he was convinced he'd have to live out the rest of his regenerations on his lonesome, and then… he met this girl."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. She was brilliant. Just a human, like so many he'd picked up over the years, but the most human human of all. All she ever did was because her heart told her to - incredibly compassionate, this one. She saved his lives in a million, billion different ways, and she didn't even know it, because she was so convinced that she was just a London shopgirl off the Estate who wasn't worth a thing. But she was worth a thing. In fact, she was worth a whole universe full of things!"
"…Thanks for that."
"You're welcome. It's all true, you know. And she and this Time Lord traveled around the stars, saving planets like he used to, before the horrible thing happened, and they were incredibly happy."
"Were they?"
"Of course they were! And no matter what the universe threw at them, they could take it. They were quite a team, you know, and it seemed like no one could possibly split them up, not ever."
"…But?"
"Hm?"
"But? You said it seemed like they were gonna be together forever, so what's the but?"
"But… they couldn't, see, not really. Not the way they wished they could. They promised 'forever,' but their forevers didn't match. Humans are incredibly fragile, and their lives are very short, but Time Lords… Time Lords live a very long time - millennia - and even though this Time Lord was going through his regenerations far more quickly than he should, he still knew that someday, maybe a very long way off in the future, relatively speaking, he was going to have to live without his pink and yellow human. She was going to go… well, I dunno, off into the great beyond, or something, a lot sooner than he ever would, and he'd have to go on without her. That's… well, that's how the world works."
"…I thought you said this was a happy story."
"…Yeah. Well, it is! Just… just wait for it, okay? Because even though she disappeared one day, even though she couldn't stay for his forever, she never left him, not really. He always thought of her, even when she was long gone. You know how you humans say you 'keep them alive in your memory'? Well, that's exactly what this Time Lord did. He kept her in his memory, and she was there with him every step of the way. He always heard her voice, telling him what to do, or making a sarcastic remark - even yelling at him, when he'd done something stupid. He always saw her, in the corner of his eye, smiling and laughing at his brilliant jokes -"
"Oi, watch it, mister!"
"Yes, sorry. But they are brilliant."
"'Course they are."
"By Jove, I think she's got it!"
"…It's a nice sentiment, though. I think she would've liked being alive for him, that way."
"Yeah, I thought as much."
"Didn't his companions think he was mad, though?
"What?"
"His companions after the girl. He couldn't just go around alone! She wouldn't've liked that at all."
"Oh! Yeah, of course! Wouldn't want to make her unhappy… Yeah, mad. Absolutely bonkers. Completely off his head! But they stayed with him, I suppose, for as long as they wanted."
"He better've not held conversations with her while they were in the room."
"'Course not! Only in private. What do you take me for, Rose Tyler?"
"Him for."
"Yeah, 'course. Him."
"…Is that it, then?"
"What?"
"Is that the end of the story?"
"Not quite yet. No, he went on with his life, with her always with him, and his… his other companions, and they had adventures and saved the universe, just like he'd always done. And then, one day, it was his day to leave, too, to follow his precious girl."
"Does he, though? Leave?"
"'Course he does. Time Lords aren't immortal, Rose. Twelve regenerations, thirteen lives, and then that's it - kaput! Done! Fini!"
"Which are you on, then?"
"Tenth life. Not much longer for me, relatively speaking."
"Oh…"
"What?"
"It's just… your ninth regeneration, that was because…"
"Completely worth it, Rose Tyler, and don't you ever doubt it! Had to happen sometime."
"I suppose…"
"Look what you've done! Got me off track again! Anyway, he had to go and meet her. He looked forward to it, I suppose, in the end. It'd been a good life, and he was happy. His last thought was for her, last thing he saw was her face, or as good as, and then… then they faded."
"Together."
"Yeah, together…"
"Together sounds nice."
"Really? Think we should do it?"
"Sounds worthwhile, in the long run."
"Alright, then, Rose Tyler, I think I'll take you up on that offer. Together it is, then."
"Together it is, then."
One day we'll disappear together in a dream
However short or long our lives are going to be
I will live in you or you will live in me
Until we disappear together in a dream
Please don't cry, we're designed to die
You can't deny even the gentlest tide
On and on and on we'll be together yeah
On and on and on
On and on and on
We're going to try
Well, that's that, then. My sister attacked me with hugs and giggles when I read it to her (thus the slightly uneditedness - there's a certain level of enthusiasm where I have to put a story up ASAP), so I hope you had a similar reaction. Review, if you please. :