Broken Aesop

By TwinEnigma

Warnings: Angst, Fairy Tale parallels, spoilers for Journey's End

Characters: Rose Tyler, Ten II (Handy, MetaTen, 10.5, 10.2, whatever)


Once upon a time, there was a girl who was sweet and innocent as ever there was. One day, her mother sent her to market on the other side of the great forest and told her to hurry back or the bandits would rob her and the wolves would eat her.

The girl promised thus and so set out to market, but the way back was long and soon it became dark. Frightened, the girl ran and ran, until at last she could run no more.

Then a great and terrible beast appeared and saved her from the bandits and the wolves. He took her back to his castle and there she stayed for a long time. At first she was afraid of him, for it seemed he was cruel and kind in equal measure, but he was lonely and soon warmed to her. He gave her everything she desired and more, so it came to be that in time she did not think she was in the company of a beast and grew fond of him.

But soon the girl remembered her mother and grew sad. She humbly begged to see her mother once more and, at last, the beast relented. He gave her a ring that she might know if he were ill and bade her return after seven days time.

Her mother was overjoyed for her daughter's return, but she did not believe the girl when she told her where she had been and all that she had seen. The seven days flew by and on the morning of the eighth, the girl looked at her ring and noticed that it had changed. She fled back to the castle and found it dark. She searched high and low but could not find the beast anywhere within. She searched and searched, but could not find him.

Finally, she found him in the garden, but he would not move no matter how she called his name or shook his body. He had died of grief.

Pain invaded her breast and she wept for the poor beast who was both terrible and kind. But her tears had scarcely started to flow when the beast was transformed into a handsome man and leapt up, alive once more.

He was a prince, cursed to be the very beast that was his nature until one who could love him in spite of his appearance wept for him.

They were married and lived happily for a long time.

Rose Tyler frowned at the book, her brow furrowed. "I wish it were that easy."

"Wish what were that easy?" a familiar voice asked from the doorway.

It was him. The other Doctor. The not-Proper Doctor.

"Nothing," she said, putting the book back.

It was awkward being around him, to say the least. He wasn't her Doctor, no matter what he'd said on the beach. Her Doctor would never have said that he loved her – he never did, always avoided the subject like he was thirteen and not ages older – and he definitely wouldn't even try to do domestic.

This one was different, half-human, too human.

And here she was, stuck with him.

"You've been quiet," he said, entering the room.

"So have you," she answered, maybe a little sharper than she intended.

"Got a lot to think about," he said moodily. "Things have changed. You've changed."

She sighed, turning away. This was the last thing she wanted to be doing right now. "We've both changed."

There was a moment of painful silence. Then, he spoke up, "Rose, why won't you speak to me?"

She didn't answer.

"Tell me what's wrong, please. You know m-"

"No, I don't and that's the problem!" she shouted, startling even herself with the force and the volume of her shout. And, as if a stopper had been pulled, it all exploded out of her in a litany of words she knew would hurt him, even if she'd regret it later, but she just didn't care right now. "You're not him! You're not! He'd never settle for any of this! Not like you! And... And I fought so long and so hard to get back to him and what do I get for it? He leaves me behind with a consolation prize! Some stupid defective copy he expects me to treat like he's the same thing when he's not! Am I supposed to be all right with that?"

She finished, nostrils flaring as she caught her breath, and she glared at him, daring him to speak.

He was quiet, eerily so, since she could see he had tensed and his eyes were dark, stormy, and, for a moment, he seemed completely inhuman, alien and ancient and furious.

"Did you really expect this to be some fairy tale?" he asked quietly, the words harsh, and took the book from the shelf. "Did you really think it would be that easy?"

He tossed the book at her feet and she jumped.

"What's the matter?" he asked, snarling, "Does the Beast no longer hold interest for you now that he's human?"

She stood, frozen in place and reeling. She'd never seen the Doctor this angry and, frankly, this was terrifying.

"Let me tell you a secret, naïve little Beauty," he said, moving to stand in front of her, "Since you've failed to learn the Aesop of this tale."

His arms raised, one on either side of her head, and she couldn't help moving back, starting when she realized the only thing behind her was the wall and she was trapped. His face hovered inches from hers, every line harsh and unforgiving, and she was suddenly afraid. Had he always had such a temper? How had she missed this?

She stared back at him defiantly, trying not to tremble.

"The Beast may have changed his shape, but he is still the Beast where it counts," he told her, eyes blazing with ancient, alien knowledge and all the fury of a storm.

And then he was gone, halfway to the doorway by the time she even gathered her wits enough to realize he'd moved.

He lingered a moment, his face torn between fury and sorrow. "You were once kind enough to look past what I was and love me for who I am. I can only hope you will one day realize I still am that man."

Then he was gone.

Almost mockingly, the illustration of the beast with the ring stared up at her from the book, the line beneath it like a lance in the heart: "I shall wait here loyally for-ever."

Slowly, Rose sank down against the wall until she could go no further and then, curling in on herself, she began to weep.

AN: Beauty and the Beast has such a broken Aesop. You're supposed to take away that you should be "looking past appearances" and that "changing oneself for the better brings a relief to suffering" (for Beauty and the Beast each, respectively). (I did actually write a much extended version of the fairy tale with much more direct allusion to the Doctor and Rose, where the beast is an angry old man and temporal warping occurs, but for now I'm just hanging onto that.)

Part of the sucky thing about liking Ten/Rose & Ten II/Rose is that that's how it's treated: like Beauty and the Beast with aliens.

So yes, I went there. From the very start, I had the image of Ten II telling Rose off for pulling the "Beast changed, now he sucks" card. Turnabout is fair play with how it's overused.

And man, some anvils NEED to be dropped.