Summary: Everybody makes one mistake, and she was his.
You Are Who You Love
He'd had hundreds of bodies. Taken hundreds of lives. Seen thousands of wars. He'd had thirteen bodies and twelve chances. But they were all gone. Everything was gone.
As the coldest drop of blood ran through the final vein he knew what would happen. From the moment the Tardis had landed on this deserted planet, from the moment his companion – young, sweet, fresh faced and blonde; they always were – had begged him to leave, he knew what would happen. He didn't fear it. He longed for it.
He'd gone through two bodies in two years. Like an anniversary. Each year without her he celebrated…with death. With a new face, a new companion, a new identity to hide what was broken. Only it never worked. It never masked him.
He knew he could never hide from it, he knew he could never escape it and he knew he could never forget it. Or her. What they were together haunted him day in and day out – through the day with his memories, and through the night with his dreams.
So when the time finally came, he opened his arms. He let a smile rest upon his face. He let himself walk into danger hoping for it to come. He was old. Old and alone, and twisted and bitter – everything he had never wanted to become, everything he had fought so hard against. And he knew whose fault it was.
He had loved her – there was no denying that. And he still did. But he no longer pined for her, he no longer wept for her, he no longer forgot her. He waited for her.
He lay down on the ground to die – and then he smiled. The most beautiful smile that reached from ear to ear, it reached his eyes and caused them to sparkle, and with that smile he could light the entire universe.
He let out a world weary sigh, and with it one word
'Rose'
And then he was gone.
Everybody makes one mistake, and she was his. But she was the best mistake of his life – all thirteen of them.