Disclaimer: If you really think that I own Dr. Who or any of the characters, then I've underestimated your intelligence. ;-) Aryna, however is my own character, if you want to use her in a story please ask first. Thanks for taking the time to read my story!
Her TARDIS shuddered violently. Neither of them were likely to survive this battle. But it was far worse than simply losing one battle. There was no hope. The war would be lost. The Time Lords would end their chapter of history. Aryna could only hope that somehow, they would bring about the end of the Daleks as well. Surely their sacrifice could at least buy that.
Alarms sounded in her TARDIS as a most unusual Dalek appeared in the control room. She audibly gasped when she realized that this Dalek was one of the fabled Cult of Skaro. She had devoted years of her life to finding them, and now, one appeared right in front of her.
"The Doctor is coming!" it giggled madly. "And one of them will die!" The high pitched laughter of insanity rand in her ears. No, it was more than that… he was in her mind! She saw in the space of one hearts beat, the madness, the past, the future, all of time, every planet, every person, every moment. All of it at her very fingertips, there to be changed and manipulated to suit her whims. The enormity of it was terrifying and thrilling. Then, she saw something bone-chilling, she saw what this Dalek Caan meant to do, and she was powerless to stop him.
"No!" she screamed as he disappeared as suddenly as he had come, one last mad giggle ringing in her mind. She was immediately thrown to the floor as her TARDIS was caught in a temporal rip-tide of sorts and flung through time and space at a break-neck speed. Circuits beneath her exploded into sparks. She could feel massive amounts of temporal energy coursing through her, at the same time, the electricity from the shorted out circuits was wreaking havoc with her hearts. The two combined were more than even a Time Lord could survive, and she knew it. She felt the TARDIS land, and struggled to the door, there wasn't much time…
??????????????
Christmas dinner with Jackson and his family and friends had been enjoyable, but had left the Doctor a little more than depressed. The joy on their faces reminded him of when he was in the TARDIS, surrounded by his friends. The Daleks had called them the Children of Time. It was accurate in a way. They truly were like a family to him, the only family he had left now. For one brilliant moment, he hadn't really felt alone anymore. The numbing pain that he had become accustomed to had eased for a brief time. How he wished that it was in his power to freeze time and live in that moment forever. Alas, even a Lord of Time had his limits. Back on Earth, they had said their good-byes, and one by one, they left him alone once again. It tore him apart, at Bad Wolf Bay, seeing Rose kissing his meta-crisis. He hoped that that part of him could find some peace and enjoy a normal life with Rose, something that he could never do. And then there was Donna. As soon as he realized what had happened, he had also known how it must end. Donna was gone forever, dead to him. In truth, it had been nearly more than he could bear, being the one to take it all away from her. She would never know that she was one of the most remarkable women he had ever met.
The Doctor sighed and set the TARDIS coordinates for the Eye of Orion. He could do with a bit of a rest. He was beginning to feel old, so very, very old.
??????????????
The Doctor was standing outside of the TARDIS, gazing off into the horizon when he heard the unmistakable churn of a TARDIS materializing. He was immediately on guard assuming that it must be the Master. How did he always survive? Come to think of it, where did he get his hands on a TARDIS?
The woman who stumbled through the door was definitely not the Master, but she was a Time Lady. She looked at the Doctor with an expression of recognition, and fear.
She moved towards him slowly, her eyes never leaving his face. "The Oncoming Storm," she spoke softly.
He looked back at her with astonishment, "What?"
"The Destroyer of Worlds."
His breath caught, "What did you call me?"
She stopped directly in front of him and whispered just one word, "Doctor?" Then, she slipped into unconsciousness.
Despite the shock he felt, the Doctor managed to catch her as she fell, and gently eased her to the ground. Her skin began to glow and she was quickly engulfed in a shimmering golden glow. The Doctor stepped back and watched as the regenerative energy swirled around her altering her appearance and repairing whatever unseen damage had been done to her body to trigger this. The light faded, but she remained on the ground with her eyes closed. He fumbled in his pockets for his stethoscope and listened to her hearts. Both were beating at a fairly steady rate, and her respiration was within the limits of what you would expect immediately following regeneration. She showed no sign of waking, so he assumed that whatever had started her regeneration had been traumatic. Deciding that the positive ions outside would do her some good during her recovery; he spread his coat over her like a makeshift blanket. There was nothing for him to do but wait now. He sat on the ground nearby and pulled out a book. Nothing left but for him to be patient. That was not going to be easy…
??????????????
Aryna woke and discovered that she was on the ground. She winced at the dull ache in her shoulder. She wasn't as young as she used to be, and these regenerations seemed to get harder as time wore on. She blinked at the bright sky, and her eye was drawn to the face of a man sitting close by. She recognized him as the Doctor, and instantly her mind was flooded with images and memories. She closed her eyes and gasped as she tried to make sense of all that she was seeing. When she opened her eyes a moment later, he was hovering over her.
"Are you alright?" the Doctor asked tentatively.
She sat upright and waited a moment for the dizziness to subside. "Yes, yes, I'm quite alright, thank-you," she replied.
"I'm the…"
"The Doctor, yes, I know," she interrupted
The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "You seem to have me at a disadvantage. That doesn't happen often."
Aryna took the hand that he offered and stood to her feet. With a laugh she answered, "Often enough, Doctor. No matter, you do know me, even though you do not recognize me. Aryna, of Gallifrey. Any idea what I'm doing here?"
He ran his hands through his already wild hair and sighed, "I don't know. You shouldn't be her, not now anyway. Wait just a minute! How did you even recognize me? I've regenerated twice since I last saw you. And what you called me earlier, where did you hear that name?"
"Of course I recognize you; I've seen you this way before. I was there when Davros called you the Destroyer of Worlds. I saw all of it. Everything that Dalek Caan saw, all of time unfolding, I saw it too…" She had a faraway look in her eyes as she stared unseeing into the distance. Quite suddenly, she snapped back to reality. "My TARDIS! I have to see if she's alright!"
The Doctor quickly collected his coat from where she had dropped it on the ground in her haste, and ran after her. He was still trying to piece together what was going on. Aryna wasn't making much sense. It was certainly possible that she was still sorting through the upheaval of a difficult regeneration. He had experienced enough of that himself to be more than sympathetic. But considering the wibbley-wobbly nature of time, she could also be making perfect sense. Not that she had ever made much sense, but still… He followed her through the door of a red police box. The irony was not lost on him. The universe was a strange place, and tended to irony more of the time than he cared for.
Aryna fiddled with several buttons and knobs, all the while murmuring soothingly to her TARDIS, as one would comfort a hurt child.
"There now, it's alright. I'm here. We've been through worse than this and come out haven't we?" She ran her hand gently across the console and smiled, "You're going to be just fine."
The Doctor, growing impatient, cleared his throat, "Everything in order then?"
Aryna looked slightly startled to see him standing there, but composed her expression quickly, "Yes, she's fine. Just some bumps and bangs from that last trip of ours. Most of the destructive temporal energies were just conducted into me. I wasn't quite so lucky, as you see."
The Doctor smiled ever so slightly, "A temporal lightning rod."
Aryna considered that for a moment and then nodded, "Of sorts. Bit of a simplistic explanation, but fairly accurate. In any case, that combined with the electrical shock to my system was more than my hearts could take. Oh, that is not the best way to go, believe me. That's what started my regeneration. Still, that doesn't explain why I'm here, or what that Dalek was doing inside my TARDIS."
"In your TARDIS? Dalek Caan was inside your TARDIS?" the Doctor stepped closer to Aryna, anxious to hear the rest of the story.
"Not just that, but inside my head too. That shouldn't have been possible, since they aren't particularly telepathic, but I could see everything that he had seen, and would see. It was just… insane…" she got that faraway look in her eyes once again.
"Well, no doubt, but…"
The Doctor's voice once again snapped her back to reality, "No, really. It was literally mad. Seeing time the way we see it, only… magnified exponentially, was more than he could handle. He just… went mad…" There was that look again.
The Doctor was growing more impatient with her confused explanations, "What do you mean, 'the way we see it, only magnified'?"
Aryna turned from the console, folded her arms and leaned back against it, "When you look at people, places, events, Doctor, what do you see?"
"Well, that depends. Sometimes what I see is fixed, unchangeable. Other times, I see possibilities. The way things could unfold. Endless possibilities."
Aryna nodded, "And that's the way that every Time Lord sees it. For a moment, just imagine seeing everything in the universe, every time, from beginning to end, in the space of only one breath. Not just seeing it though, but for just a moment, being part of it, able to manipulate all of time and space, with just a single thought. The enormity of it… absolutely unfathomable…" she seemed to be staring right through the Doctor for a minute. Suddenly, she focused on him and shrugged before continuing, "Still, it was more than poor Dalek Caan could cope with, and he went quite mad."
The Doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Just him?"
Aryna looked at him sharply and spun back around to poke more buttons on the console, "I am perfectly sane. As much as I ever have been anyway. There's always been a bit of a debate on that account among most Time Lords," she turned and leaned against the console once again, "I still can't figure out how I fit into this picture. I know why you were there, but I seem to be late to the party."
This cryptic comment intrigued the Doctor and he questioned, "What do you mean by 'why I was there'?"
"At the Medusa Cascade. Caan had seen the Time War in its entirety. He saw you end it. He knew that you were the only one who would put an end to the Daleks and Davros. Well, the other you. You were a bit harsh with him in Norway, you know."
The Doctor's expression darkened and he stepped closer to Aryna, "He committed genocide! All things considered, I think that I was more than fair!"
Aryna's temper flared and she straightened and stood toe to toe with the Doctor, not in the least intimidated by the anger radiating from him, "Don't for one moment forget that we are talking about the Daleks here! They started the war. They are the reason that Gallifrey and the entire Time Lord race are gone now! Countless worlds, all destroyed because of them. How many people have died at their hands? And how often have they shown even a hint of remorse, anything at all but hatred? They were poised to unravel the very fabric of time and space! How many times Doctor? How many times could you have put a stop to all of it, yet you chose to show them mercy? Did it ever do any good? 'No second chances' you said. That's the kind of man you are. They had more than just a second chance, they had countless chances! They deserved to die!"
"That's one line you don't cross, not ever," the Doctor broke in; "The one time I did it killed me. Do you understand, Aryna? It literally killed me to make that choice. And do you know why? Because I don't have the right. None of us do…" The last sentence was spoken quietly, in a voice barely above a whisper, but one wracked with raw guilt and regret.
A single tear glistened in her eye and her face softened slightly, "But someone had to do it. You had no choice Doctor."
"No," he shook his head sadly, "We always have a choice. I'll forever be haunted by mine." His demeanor had changed from that of a man angered to one of sheer defeat.
The weight of what he had done started to settle on Aryna. As much hatred and fear as she harbored for the Daleks, who were the Time Lords, to decree that they had not the right to exist? She had often criticized them for being pompous and arrogant, but she was beginning to realize how dangerous those faults were. Perhaps the Time Lords had been wise to refrain from interfering for all of those millennia. When they finally decided to intervene, the results had been catastrophic. Not just for the Time Lords and Daleks. Many other people had paid the price for their actions as well. Her anger died as quickly as it had flared.
The Doctor had been looking at his feet for the last few minutes. Aryna felt a wave of compassion for him. Awkwardly, she reached out and interlaced her hand with his. Physical contact wasn't exactly commonplace on Gallifrey. They were a solitary race, and even though she was rather a rebel among her people, some things still came harder to her. But the need to at least try to comfort her friend overcame her renitence. The Doctor looked up at her, surprised at the contact.
"I'm sorry," she spoke softly, "Really, I'm sorry. It's not my place to judge you. I… I have enough blood on my hands as well, Doctor. You're right. None of us have the right. I let my own emotions get the better of me. I'm just sorry that you had to make that decision. I really am, so, so sorry."
Neither one spoke. What more could either of them say?
It was then that Aryna realized how quiet it was. True, she had been a bit of a renegade according to some, but she had always found a measure of reassurance in the constant hum of her people that echoed in her mind. It was barely discernable, but it was still there. It had been, anyway. Cautiously, she relaxed her mental barriers, listening for the familiar echo of the Time Lords. All was silent, deathly so. Panic rose up in her. Her eyes slid shut while her mind frantically reached out for what was no longer there. Her hands shook uncontrollably. Her composure slipped and tears streamed, unchecked, down her face. She grasped just how alone she really was now.
'You are not alone.'
One sentence crystallized in her mind. She met the Doctor's gaze suddenly, quite surprised to hear his thoughts so clearly. The Doctor pulled her close enough for him to wrap his arms around her. Aryna clung to him as if she was afraid he would disappear at any moment. They stayed that way for several minutes, both drawing strength and comfort from the sheer existence of the other.
Finally, Aryna drew a shaky breath and stepped back, "Well, look at us. Last of the Time Lords and here we are standing around in an old TARDIS crying on each other's shoulder."
The Doctor laughed, "We never did fit the typical mold."
"All too true, much to the dismay of most of our instructors back at the Academy. Still, I don't think that either of us turned out too badly," she smiled up at him and then glanced down at her now too-long coat, "Well, I think that I could use a trip to the wardrobe."
"Bit shorter now are we?" he grinned.
"Says the skinny guy with the goofy hair!" she shot back.
"Oy! I like this hair! What's wrong with my hair?" He cried indignantly.
Aryna pressed her lips together and squinted slightly at him before answering, "I'm just wondering, does your hair normally look that bad, or do you have to work to get it that way?"
For a rare moment, the Doctor just stared at her, speechless.
"Well now," she laughed, "That certainly doesn't happen often! I'm going to go change and you can find the kitchen and brew us a good cup of tea." She turned and left the control room with the Doctor still looking at her incredulously.
"Most women like this hair," he mumbled as he made his way to the kitchen. A cup of tea was always a good idea after regenerating.
??????????????
The Doctor was calmly sipping a cup of tea in the kitchen when Aryna found him. She had swapped the long coat for a denim jacket, paired with jeans and a turtleneck sweater. The boots she wore had a substantial heel since the difference between the height of her current and previous regeneration was fairly large. She didn't like being short. She preferred to be taller than the majority of the megalomaniacs she faced. The short, red hair would take some getting used to. She was used to having much longer tresses, but the color wasn't half bad. She'd never been a redhead before.
The Doctor looked over her outfit and paused meaningfully on her shoes, "Making up for something, eh?"
Aryna's face had a pink tinge to it and she stared at him speechless.
He laughed, pleased to have returned the favor, "Still, late 20th century Earth. It's a good look for this you. And you're ginger," he sighed wistfully, "I've always wanted to be ginger."
"Yes, well, if we could please keep the short jokes to a minimum I'll pretend that there is nothing wrong with your hair, alright?" she asked with an eyebrow raised and arms folded across her chest.
"Well, just because the next time you run into the Sontarans you'll be able to look them straight in the eye, is no reason to…"
"Doctor!" she warned loudly.
He threw his hands in the air, "All right, all right! I don't know what you don't like about my hair though, most of the ladies rather like it," he remarked with a grin.
"And would they be adolescents or roughly on par with your age?" she inquired archly.
"Well, if I calculate it correctly, you aren't exactly on par with my age anymore either. What is it about three century's difference now?"
Aryna's eyes widened. She hadn't considered that. When she had last seen the Doctor she had still been 4 months older than him. A very slight difference in the scheme of centuries, but when they were children it had seemed much more significant. Something she used to tease him about frequently.
She stared at him for a long moment, squinting slightly, before asking, "Alright, how old are you now? I'd guess on the high side of 800 maybe…"
He smiled, "Close, just over 900 at this point. You're still in your early 800's?"
She closed her eyes and spoke softly, "Tea."
The Doctor shook his head slightly, "I'm sorry?"
Aryna sighed heavily and dropped into the chair adjacent to his, "I need a cup of tea." She poured herself one and took a long sip. Setting the cup in the saucer and placing them both on the table, she finally answered, "821 to be exact. It never even occurred to me that there would be such a difference now. But then, temporal timelines was never my best subject."
"I always found that puzzling considering the type of work you did."
"I've done many kinds of work in my lifetime," she paused to sip her tea, "Student, doctor, mother, outcast, wanderer, soldier… I liked that one the least I think. Still, I have a good grasp of temporal mechanics, and most of the theory doesn't really apply to what I do. The theory is still too unproven to be applicable most of the time."
The Doctor smiled at her, "Dr. Aryna…" he began.
"No," she interrupted, "Not anymore, just Aryna now. I left the rest behind a long time ago."
"Maybe not all of it. You're still a doctor. Nothing will change that."
"A doctor perhaps, but not THE Doctor." She drained the last of her tea and set the cup down, "How have you been, really? Not this face that you show to the rest of the universe. You seem, so much older now, then when I last saw you. Even then, you looked like you carried the weight of the cosmos on your shoulders."
He sighed and raised an eyebrow, "You never were one to waste too much time on small talk. That hasn't changed now, has it?"
"You're the same as well. Answer a question with another question to avoid answering. Doctor, my old friend, you talk all of the time, but you very rarely say anything."
The Doctor turned his head slightly and narrowed his eyes, "That is almost exactly what Donna said to me once. Just how much of my timeline did you see?"
Aryna leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands. Smiling enigmatically she replied, "Enough."
He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest, "Since you seem to know the story, I won't bore you with the details."
"I said enough, not all."
He jumped to his feet gesturing wildly with his hands out of sheer frustration, "Aryna! Just… leave it alone."
She nodded slightly, "Alright."
"What?! Just like that? I say 'Leave it alone,' and you actually do?!"
"I've mellowed," she shot back flatly.
"Well now, that's a change."
She moved to stand in front of him. She was still irritated that she had to tip her head so far just to make eye contact, but she dismissed that thought and turned her mind back to the conversation at hand, "Still, if you ever do need a friend, then you know how to find me."
He regarded her seriously for a moment, "Lady Aryna of Gallifrey," she opened her mouth to protest the use of her old title, but he quieted her by placing a hand on her shoulder and continuing, "You have been a friend to me through, oh, so many lifetimes. One person in the universe, who I could always count on, was you. I've never taken that lightly, my dear, and I never will. Rest assured, if I am in need of a friend, I will look you up."
"I appreciate that, Theta," she responded, choosing to address him by his nickname from their academy days, "There have only ever been two Time Lords who stood by me through everything, and you are one of them. That has always meant a great deal to me."
Noticing the tears gathering in her eyes he put an arm around her and asked gently, "You still miss him deeply don't you?"
"Beyond belief," she whispered, "He promised to love me until the end of time. I never imagined that I would live so many lifetimes without him." She brushed away the tears and stepped back, "Well, isn't this ridiculous. We must be getting overly sentimental in our old age."
The Doctor grinned his maniacal grin, "Nah. Just blame it on the regeneration! That's good for excusing at least 72 hours of ridiculous behavior."
Aryna laughed, "Fine, I'll blame it on my re-stabilizing brain patterns. I'll think up a different excuse in a couple of days."
???????????????
They wandered back to her control room and she turned to him with a slightly sad smile, "As much as I appreciate your help, and as much as I enjoy your company, I think it's about time that we parted ways."
"Well," he began, and stuffed his hands in his pockets, avoiding eye contact, "We don't have to go our separate ways. You could always…"
She smiled gently and finished, "Go with you? No, Doctor, I can't." She placed a hand on the console beside her and looked up at her TARDIS, "I couldn't travel without her. And besides, neither TARDIS would be able to stand having the both of us on board for very long!"
"No, I suppose not," he said with a crooked half-grin, "But it would have been nice to have some company along the way just the same."
She took both of his hands in hers, "You do need someone, just not me."
He shook his head sadly, "I can't stand to lose another friend, Aryna. It's best if I just travel alone now."
"I know that losing someone you care about breaks both of these hearts," she began, placing a hand over one of his hearts, "Believe me, I know that feeling too. But if I've learned one thing in a little over eight hundred years, it's that it really is better to have loved and lost. The reason is, you never really lose them. They remain forever in your memories. That makes us better for having known them. As deep as the pain is, it truly is worth it." She returned her attention to her control panel, "Now, it is about time that I move on. Time for me to see what's out there!"
The Doctor turned back just before he reached the door, "Just promise me this, Aryna. Heed your own advice. Perhaps neither of us should travel alone."
"I'll think on it. Have a safe journey, Doctor. We'll meet again. I'm sure of it," she said with a genuine smile.
"Oh, definitely," he replied with a grin and then stepped out of her TARDIS. He watched for a moment as the red Police Box faded from sight and turned to his own beloved blue box.
Striding inside, he tossed his coat over a column of coral and began poking buttons and fiddling with dials, "Well, old girl, where should we go today?" He pulled a lever and the blue Police Box dematerialized to once again wander space and time.