A/N: If you don't like the plot or characters in this story, then don't read. AU.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Doctor Who, that privilege belongs to the BBC.

WORD COUNT: 2, 510

Chapter 1:

The Heart

Heart.

That's the name she chose back on Gallifrey.

Like her darling Doctor, her name was a secret to everyone but her family, not even her friends knew.

Heart. A funny title to be called.

But the meaning behind it was a vow to herself.

To never turn a blind eye, to always be compassionate, be kind. Protect those who mean the most, safeguard those who you love with every fiber in your being. Never be selfish, be as pure as the day you started to live. To always be open to those who deserve it. Sacrifice what you need for those you love, and battle those who determine to break the hearts of those you love.

That was what her name stood for, everything she represented.

And now, she was aboard the TARDIS with her husband clinging to her, his regeneration only consisted of reversing the aging process from his long, adventurous life on Christmas.

She had spiraled deep into his timeline, seeing all of his regenerations and their adventures, all of the hardships and losses he had to face alone, despite the companions he had. Even the companions he had fallen in love with and the women he married. Every single body he regenerated into, yet on Gallifrey, before he regenerated the first time, his body was like this: young and full of life, even a little childish.

Then the war happened and he changed.

They all did.

The Doctor suddenly ripped away from her and walked around the console, opposite Heart, studying her shrewdly. "You can't be her. . I didn't speak my name. Silence remained! How can you be here? Are you a Dalek? A Zygon? Capturing the form of my wife?! Because I can tell you right now, I will destroy you for this, for staining her memory!" The Doctor roared, his temper wearing thin with every flying thought passing through his head, his hands gripping the TARDIS controls, with Clara sitting on the steps, looking at him in fear and shock.

Heart took a deep breath and what passed her lips next almost brought the Doctor to his knees and made Clara's eyes water from the pure emotion.

What the Time Lady sang was an ancient Gallifreyan lullaby that she sang to her children and her grandchildren when they were restless, it would make them fall straight to sleep. Heart's voice was considered the most beautiful in all of Gallifrey, her soft, emotional and melodious tones would bring all people to their knees in tears just by the sheer power.

It was something that no Zygon, shape-shifting creature or any of the aliens of the world could replicate, no matter how hard and that proved to the Doctor that she was real.

"But. .Heart, how?" He whispered once she finished, taking slow steps to her, his hand reaching out, his fingertips brushed the soft skin of her cheek. "I never spoke my name."

"I fought my way through the crack, pushed my way in and came out the other end. It felt as if my entire body was being ripped into tiny pieces and sewed back on at an agonizing pace, I fell through and while you regenerated, I saw your timeline, every moment." Heart pulled the Doctor closer and touched his cheek. "You have seen so much, yet everything still surprises you. So much heartbreak and loss, confusion, happiness, defeat and victory. Hopelessness and hope. Even falling in love drew its course in your path, and getting married, but no children. And alone. Always, so alone." Heart's voice trembled as the tears in her eyes rolled down her cheeks and leaned in closer, her full rosy lips brushing against his. "Oh, Theta. ." She whispered for his ears only, before their lips met in a searing passionate kiss.

Two thousand years he had been without his Heart, and now, they were reunited, by her sheer determination and endless love for him. She returned to him after all these years and he loved her just as much as he had when they first met in University.

The Doctor kissed her back, pouring every single emotion that his Time Lord being could manage into the long-awaited kiss to symbolize their reunion.

"I have missed you so much, my darling. Oh my sweet, sweet Heart." The Doctor whispered in Gallifreyan, to which Heart simply awarded him with a beaming beautiful smile, her violet eyes shining with tears of love and wonder, her raven black hair cropped, the wavy tresses caressed her jawline, her hair always looking in a state. Her pale, milky complexion suited her beautifully.

The Doctor drank in every detail: a heart-shaped face, her rosy cheeks, full lips, pert nose, big almond shaped eyes, framed with long black lashes, her figure was curvy, unlike that of human models, who starved themselves, Heart had six children and she wasn't perfect, she had stretch marks and large hips and chunky thighs, and her stomach rounded slightly, but all Theta saw was perfect imperfection.

Heart was garbed in the Gallifreyan battle attire, which was ripped and covered in dirt and ash, as well as her skin, her hair was even more wild than normal and she looked as if she had gone five rounds, mud wrestling a Judoon.

"Well, I think I'm ready to head off. You two need your time alone and I won't impose any more than I have. G'night!" Clara spoke up, heading for the door. "See you when I see you." Before the Doctor could reply, Clara walked out of the TARDIS doors with a smile and they snapped shut behind her, courtesy of the old girl.

The Doctor chuckled before turning back to his wife. "Well then, would you like a bath?" He asked, holding his hand out to her, which she took without hesitation.

"Yes, I would. Thank you very much." Heart smiled before the Doctor lead her to one of the many rooms that the TARDIS had made which was an Amazonian rain-forest with a clear, enormous and beautiful waterfall right in the center, to which there was a small floating platform with all sorts of different cleaning products atop it.

Heart gasped and placed her dainty hand to her mouth in awe, looking upon the majesty that the TARDIS could conjure at one mere thought of her brilliant, brilliant matrix.

"She's missed you." The Doctor whispered in his wife's ear as they both walked further into the room, and Heart strode straight to the corner of the river and bent, testing the water against her skin.

"As I have missed her, I forgot how considerate she was." Heart smiled, before turning to the Doctor, wringing her hands together and he smiled nostalgically, it was the same thing he did. He had adopted it from her. She raised her hands up and fixed his bow tie, smiling. "I thought you found bow tie quite the hassle? That's what you said to me back home, when I wore them in my hair."

"Two thousand years, 12 regenerations, my tastes have changed quite a lot." The Doctor smiled, before wringing his hands together and she looked at them.

"Or just copied me as it seems. Bow tie, mannerisms." Heart smiled, before holding his hands in hers. "You wanted to remember me."

"I realized, near the end of my tenth incarnation, in the TARDIS, that I hadn't thought of you as much as I should have. I never properly mourned you. I wanted something physical to remember you by, so as my regeneration cycle started, I added a few little tweaks to my habits and likes and dislikes. Even my physical appearance loosely mirrored that of my original body, before I regenerated the first time." The Doctor explained, lifting one hand to rest it against her cheek, before he pulled away. "I'll leave you to it, Heart." The Doctor said, before walking out of the room, to which the Time Lady sighed and pulled off her battle weary clothes until she was completely naked and waded her way into the adjoining lake, letting the lukewarm water lap at her submerging body, soothing her aching muscles and wounds.

Heart sighed in relief, before dipping lower and lower until she was completely underwater and swam toward the waterfall, standing straight, the waterline encircling her hips as she stretched her body and let the waterfall rain down on her, the platform floating toward her and she wasted no time in washing all the dirt, grime and blood away, before giving the same treatment to her hair.

(..)

20 MINUTES LATER

The Heart emerged from the lake, squeaky clean, plucking two towels from a branch of a large tree that the TARDIS had so thoughtfully placed. Heart dried herself off before went in search of clothes. "Darling girl, is it possible that you may have left some clothes for me?" Heart asked softly, speaking directly to the TARDIS, who hummed in affirmation, before folded nightwear appeared on the ground of the forest and she smiled. "Thank you, darling." She whispered out loud, before changing.

She set about putting on the lacy pearl white panties that the TARDIS had provided and then slipped on the silky white nightgown, which hugged the Heart's every curve and fell straight down to her slender ankles and she slid on the matching robe and slid it over her shoulders, before toeing into the silk ballet slippers and the Time Lady grinned, knowing what the girl was up to. "You're a naughty TARDIS." She waggled her finger as she looked up at the simulated sky and she swore she could hear a sound that seemed as if the TARDIS was laughing in agreement.

The Heart walked out of the room, wandering around before she found her way back to the control room, where the Doctor was looking at the monitor in deep concentration.

"Ahem," Heart cleared her throat loudly, to get her husband's attention.

The Doctor jumped in surprise, before turning. "Ah, Heart, how was you baa-" As soon as his eyes fell to her form, and her beautiful nightgown and the way it clung, he misjudged where the console was and he fell on his side, sending the bowl of fish-fingers and custard all over his suit.

Before she could even act, he jumped back up and started licking the custard off his clothes, determined not to let it all go to waste. "A-are you alright?" Heart asked, worriedly.

"I'm good! Thanks." His light blue-green eyes met hers and he grinned cheekily. "I am certain, I will install an armrest so that never happens again, ooh-ooh, or maybe one large trampoline as the floor? Yes, I quite like that idea, change the walls into pillows so we don't get boo-boo's when we bounce into the walls! Oh, that'd be tremendous fun!" The Doctor looked like an excited little boy who got exactly what he wanted for Christmas.

The TARDIS groaned and the entire ship shook in disagreement with his proposal and the Old Girl threw down a few levers as good measure to get her point across.

"Oi! Don't give me attitude, missy! Besides, I was only thinkin' it!" The Doctor defended himself, pouting as he realized that his TARDIS was far from joining the bandwagon of being a fun, bouncy TARDIS-castle.

"Come now, Theta, it might be better if you rest, or anymore of your proposals may make her a teensy bit more annoyed with you." Heart spoke in her most calming tone, which automatically had its effect on the Doctor, who looked up at her and nodded in defeat.

"You're right. I'll do it tomorrow." He grinned and she chuckled at his stubbornness, before helping her husband to his feet and he directed her to the bedroom he had occupied for his entire time-travelling life on the Old Girl. "Sexy is being difficult." He said and Heart giggled at the nickname for the TARDIS and she watched from the doorway as he sat on the edge of the large bed, it would have taken up an entire bedroom and en-suite, if his bedroom wasn't much, much larger than it is now.

The Doctor smiled and patted the space beside him, to which Heart grinned and made her way toward the bed and sat next to him, taking his hand in hers. "I do realize that my return was not foretold, nor thought of. And we also know that I shouldn't have seen your entire timeline, so something is coming." Heart explained as he nodded, serious now.

"I know," the Doctor agreed, "if it was from my timeline, then something will happen. I've learnt that from living for two thousand years. But, whatever happens, I'm not letting you go again, Heart. I promise I will protect you. I will not fail." He vowed, looking deep into her eyes.

She had been careful during the war, only fighting when absolutely necessary and she had only regenerated once. All that changed was the colour of her hair and eyes, what was once blonde and blue was now what he saw and he loved every second of it, he didn't want her hurt.

"I'm not going anywhere." Heart whispered, before leaning in and resting her head underneath his neck, feeling loved and warm, safe. She hadn't felt that in years.

The Doctor wrapped his arm around her shoulders, curling his wrist so his hand splayed into her hair, tangling his fingers in the wavy tresses, before placing random kisses upon her forehead.

Heart sniffed. "You smell like custard and fish." She remarked, making her husband laugh.

"Oh, yeah, I better change my suit." The Doctor muses, picking at the chain dangling from his vest pocket.

The Gallifreyan couple laughed together, forgetting about all their troubles and worries and wonders. They were glad to be with each other.

SOMEWHERE IN THE PAST:

"Where next?" The Doctor asked, looking at his companion with a grin.

"I dunno! Wherever!" A young blonde girl said, grinning from ear-to-ear, a nineteen-year-old girl who absorbed the Time Vortex and called herself: 'Bad Wolf'.

He laughed and flung himself around the console of the TARDIS. "I know the perfect place! Allons-y!" He cried out as he threw down the switch and the ship started to fly, but what they didn't know is that they were flying into a time fissure, a place of uncertainty and randomness.

"Let's see where the old girl, takes us, eh Rose?" The Doctor asked, smiling brilliantly at her.