Title: Hearts
Summary: She holds three hearts in hands and she was never any good at juggling. Something had to fall. Spoilers for Journeys End.
Word Count: 342
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and I make no money from this.
A/N: I came up with this today and wrote it in about twenty minutes. It's my first Doctor Who fic. Please review or I'm afraid the Daleks will ex-ter-min-ate you.
Hearts
She holds three hearts in her hands, all belonging to the same man but not.
Unfortunately her hands are small and she was never any good at juggling. She is faced with an impossible choice. Whose heart does she return? Or hearts?
Does she choose to touch the stars like before, with the man who will stay the same as she withers and decays until eventually, inevitably she dies? His hearts will break on that not so far off day but she thinks their fantastic life will be worth the pain.
Or does she choose an earthbound existence with a mortal man? Same memories, same feelings, same personality but with only one heart. They could have a forever that will match. If they wanted, they could have a family. The one adventure he could never have is suddenly a reality. She promised him forever. And she always keeps her promises.
But why should the choice be hers alone? She asks a question, a simple question with what should be a simple answer. It isn't. The Doctor evades. She is devastated but unsurprised.
The metacrisis whispers his answer in her ear. And she has waited so long to hear those words and the look on his face is so reminiscent of that Christmas after he regenerated, holding out his hand, fingers wiggling, eyes begging for her to accept him, to never leave him. So she kisses him, forgetting this isn't the same man from that Christmas. Yes he has the memory of that night but he wasn't there.
And with a sudden wheeze and a flashing light, any semblance of this ever actually being her choice vanishes. The metacrisis takes her hand, leaving only one free.
She was never any good at juggling and something had to fall. She holds his heart in her hand. Three hearts lay at her feet. Two belonged to The Doctor. One belongs to Rose Tyler. One day she will have to pick up her heart, dust it off and go on living. Today is not that day.