Title: New, New, New Doctor
Author: Chocolatequeen
Summary: A double-drabble (exactly 200 words) looking at Ten's regeneration into Eleven.
Author's note at the end
She watched him stumble through her doors. He was… oh, what did he call it? Regenerating, that was the word. Time energy coursed through him, interacting with the time vortex at her heart, and she knew her thief was changing.
"I don't want to go," he almost sobbed.
Her thief was the true heart of the TARDIS, and he was broken. Sorrow had lined his face as one by one, those he loved were taken from him. He'd lost so much in this body, because he'd had more to lose than ever before, and she'd watched the weariness age him until every one of his 906 years showed in his eyes.
But with all of time at her heart, she knew how she would save him—was saving him—had saved him. She saw a new thief, gangly and awkward, exploring the galaxy with all the enthusiasm of a boy, and she smiled.
Make him young, she whispered through the time vortex, just as the golden energy shot out of his body in bright beams.
He faced her a moment later, a new, younger thief. He was ready for anything, and it was a good thing, because they were crashing!
AN: This was inspired by a Twitter friend asking why Eleven is so awkward in human situations when both Nine and Ten were able to blend in easily. My off-the-cuff answer was, "Perils of regeneration, I suppose," but then I started thinking about it-and here's the result.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC, et. al.
