Diclaimer: Doctor Who is not mine.

Author's note: This story is very much inspired by Darren Hayes's 'Maybe'. If you don't know the song, go listen to it. Do it now please. The timing of this story may not be quite what it appears at first glance, but I'll leave the rest up to you.

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Gone

One by one they became aware that something was missing from the world. The blue of the sky seemed a little less bright and the shadows just a fraction darker than before. The Earth seemed to be nursing a wound that could not quite be located. But somehow, without anyone noticing until it was much too late, the world had changed for the worse.

The companions compared notes to find when they each had last seen him and they realised that it had been on the same day, in different parts of the globe. There had been a certain finality to those encounters, as if the Doctor had wanted to say goodbye to each of them. This time, they all thought that the farewells were for good. The Doctor was gone.

They used all their resources both on Earth and in space to try to locate him. They scanned video footage across the globe to catch even a glimpse of a blue wooden box and they bribed various aliens to give them any news of the Time Lord. Everywhere the answer was same – no one had seen the Doctor or his TARDIS in months. There were no rumours that he had died, nor any indication of where he might have gone. He had simply vanished.

Then came the first real threat to Earth and they had no Doctor to turn to. Torchwood and the UNIT stepped up to the challenge and defused the situation. They had been taught well by the Doctor and chose to use brains rather than brawn to minimise people getting hurt. Together the institutions remained vigilant and guarded the Earth unseen. The planet was defended.

Eventually, the companions began to forget. They could no longer remember the blue of the sky as it used to be in the part, nor could they quite recall the exact hum of the TARDIS engines. But they never forgot the wisdom in the Doctor's eyes, nor the love he had given them. Their encounters with the Time Lord had made them better individuals and that was the legacy they wanted to pass on. The goodness of the Doctor would not be forgotten.

The companions never did find out what happened to the Doctor, nor what had caused him to disappear so suddenly. They often looked up at the stars and wondered whether he was still out there, travelling alone through the vast empty space. He had sacrificed all of himself for so long, unnoticed by most, that perhaps he had lost himself. No one could truly understand him, except one person. Deep within them, the companions fervently hoped that the Doctor had finally gone home.

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Elsewhere, in a different time and universe, the Doctor was running. His wild hair was ruffled by the wind and his great coat was billowing behind him. His feet were barely touching the ground, his pace as light as his hearts. His eyes were focused straight ahead and he was grinning wildly. Running towards him was a blond woman who had haunted his dreams and memories for so long. She too was grinning as her feet carried her towards him, her eyes shining with love that may have been lost, but never forgotten. As they flew into each other's arms, they both had finally found their way home.