Disclaimer: I own nothing. Anything you recognize belongs to the BBC

Warnings/Spoilers: JE if you haven't seen it and technically all of S4

A/N: I really was not going to post this as I am not completely happy with it. This is not my first time writing these characters, but it is my first time posting something I wrote. As I previously said, I am not really satisfied with this one. But then again, I'm never completely happy with anything I write. Anyways, let me know what you think. Love it? Hate it? It was alright? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you

-GoldenHeart92

Ignore the pain

It will soon end

All things must end

That was what she had always done before she met the Doctor. Ignore the problem until it went away. But this time, she knew it wasn't going to work. Even as she shoved the searing pain in her head aside and babbled on about a planet they could visit, she knew that her tactic was doomed to failure.

Besides, even if she did ignore what was happening, the Doctor would not.

This was it. Her travels with the Doctor were over. She had told him forever, but Donna Noble was no fool. She knew that it wouldn't last forever, that it would eventually come to an end.

She just hadn't expected it to end so soon, and in such a horrible manner. Having ones memories ripped away sounded like a fate worse than death to Donna. But here it was, about to happen to her.

To say she was scared would be an understatement. She was terrified.

Terrified of forgetting all her wonderful adventures with the Doctor

Terrified of returning to that shallow woman she once was

Terrified of leaving him on his own again

But one thing she was not scared of was dying. That was the alternative to having her memories wiped, and by God that was the one she would choose.

If she had a choice

But she didn't

He was going to choose for her

She had the Doctor's mind inside her and was well aware of what was about to happen. Was aware of it from the moment the Time Lord energy inside of her had been activated. He was going to make her forget her time with him.

Well to hell with that!

Seething hot anger temporarily replaced the icy grip of fear

"I want to stay." She demanded, though the firmness of the statement was undercut by the tremor beginning to creep into her voice.

She was ready to physically push him away if that was what it came to. She would do whatever it took to keep her memories.

But that was before she looked at him. Really looked at him for the first time since leaving Bad Wolf Bay and returning to the TARDIS.

The look plastered on his face could have made a Dalek cry. Sadness mixed with guilt marred his features. But beneath those emotions she saw something else: the grim determination of the Oncoming Storm. The look he wore when he was about to do something that would essentially break his hearts but was necessary.

She felt the light weight of his hands resting on her shoulders and, still refusing to accept the inevitable, she made one last attempt to persuade him.

"I can't go back! Please don't make me go back!"

Even as she spoke the words, she knew they had fallen on deaf ears. His mind was already made up. He would never even consider the option of watching her die in front of him and a small, rational, part of her couldn't blame him. She knew that were the roles reversed, she would do the same.

"Donna. Oh, Donna Noble. I am so, so sorry. But we had the best of times… the best."

She wanted to hate him. She wanted to scream and yell and refuse to let him do this, but in the face of his woeful expression the only thing she felt was sadness. Letting that feeling wash over her, she let herself do the thing she had refused to do up until this moment.

She let herself cry

Let the tears she had been desperately holding back finally spill over and slide down her face.

Tears for what was

Tears for what is

Tears for what could be

Tears for what must not

Finally accepting her fate, she did not fight him, even as she felt the presence of his mind invading hers. Running through her memories and stripping them away.

Instead she focused all of her remaining energy into memorizing his face in the hopes that somehow she could remember him.

Visually traced the outline of his lips, remembering how they had felt pressed against hers.

Meeting Agatha Christie, fighting a giant wasp, kissing the Doctor to save his life: erased.

She took in every freckle dotting his facial features.

Landing on an alien planet, hearing the song of the Ood, Freeing them from their slavery: gone.

Memorized the angle and shape of his hair, its form as unpredictable as the actions of its owner.

Ancient Rome, destroying Pompeii, saving a family: purged.

Stared into his deep, soulful eyes; Eyes that had seen so much and conveyed so many emotions.

TARDIS, time travel, giant spiders: deleted

The darkness was quickly overtaking her senses. The last thing she was aware of was a single tear sliding down his cheek as he gathered her limp form to himself. And the last thought she had was that she would have given anything to see him smile one last time.

The Doctor: forgotten