A/N: Please read this first. Okay, I have not watched all the Doctor Who episodes yet, and I haven't seen any of the Classic Who. Some facts will be wrong. This is just my current interpretations of the Doctor's story. If I get things wrong, I'm sorry. Please don't flame me.

There once was a boy, who grew up on a planet called Gallifrey.

With freckles, ginger hair, and a crooked smile, the boy was well loved by his friends and family.

But that wasn't enough. It never is.

One day, after a particularly nasty fight with his parents, he decided to run away. He grabbed his sonic screwdriver, pulled on an old brown coat that was a bit too large, stole a TARDIS and fled into the stars.

The boy grew into a teen, and as he got older and wiser his adventures became more and more dangerous. The action was always exciting and fun in his young eyes, except for when the battles were won and the wars were over. Almost always after those moments, he'd catch a glimpse of a family.

A mother and a father, maybe a little boy and a little girl, sometimes even more. Reunited after whatever calamity the boy had saved them from, and perfectly happy.

At those times a small pout would cross the boy's handsome face, and he'd feel a little tug at his heart and a small voice saying he should go back. Back to his Mommy and Daddy, and to his friend and his life and his world.

But always the boy would catch himself, and half-run to the TARDIS and go on another adventure.

He convinced himself he didn't need family. They would just slow him down. He was young, free, and almost happy. He convinced himself he didn't need to go back.

But one day, he got into a fight with a fearsome alien race. He barely escaped with his life, and he swore that he thought he was going to die. He barely made it to the TARDIS and escaped when he did, in fact, die.

But he came back.

He looked different. His hair was no longer it's trademark ginger, his freckles were gone, and his smile was straighter. He looked older, too, more like a teen rather than the young boy he said he'd be forever.

Life moved on.

He got into more and more scrapes, each one more vicious than the last. He couldn't fight off the loneliness anymore, and took on companions. Just ordinary people, mostly from the planet Earth, and he would show them the stars. But they always left in the end. Weather they felt homesick, or they died, or they suffered to a fate worse than death, they all left the boy alone.

The boy loved, he lost, he grew older, he knew sadness, he was hurt, and he acted like he was fine. Any time he was alone he'd just throw his cares to the wind, and try to convince himself that he was fine. He never was, but he ignored that and carried on.

But then the boy, now a man, faced one of the most fearsome enemies in the history of the Universe. The Daleks.

The Daleks didn't look imposing on the outside, sort of like a pepper shaker with a whisk and a plunger, but things are always so much more than they look. The Daleks focused only on one thing, exterminating everything that wasn't a Dalek.

The man barely escaped the Daleks with his life, but he managed to rush into the TARDIS and close the doors. The odd part was that before he could even take a step towards the controls the time machine started on its own, and took him to a safe place.

The safest place for any grown up little boy.

Home.

It was his own home, looking a lot alike the day he left. It was a little more weathered and patched up in some places, but for the most part it was the same.

He entered, with the key he had clung too all those years, and found his family, who were obviously shocked to see him. It took much convincing, but they soon realized it was him, their lost little boy, and he was home. He was then welcomed with open arms, and for the first time in a long time, a genuine smile crossed his face.

But all happiness is short lived. Especially for that man in particular.

The Daleks soon found where the man had fled to, and decided to wage war on the Time Lords, the inhabitants of Gallifrey.

The war was long, it was violent, and there were far too many casualties on both sides. Many were forced to watch as their family and homes were destroyed in front of their eyes. The Time Lords fought bravely and fiercely but in the end it was a loosing battle.

But there was one way.

One little thing the man could do.

It would end the Time War, the ongoing battle between the Time Lords and the Daleks.

But it would end the Time Lords themselves.

As the man watched the fight rage on and the battle grounds grow bloodier, the man knew he didn't have a choice.

With a deep breath and a mountain of regret, he ended it.

The Daleks were wiped out, the Time Lords fell, and Gallefrey was lost.

It was over.

And the worst part was that the man survived.

Like all other battles and wars he went into, he cam out alive. But this time he was alone.

His smile was permanently gone now, he no longer took companions, but he still traveled through time, fixing things were they went wrong. He never want anyone to go through what he went through. Ever.

So life went on. The man swore never to love anyone again. It was too much trouble.

But then one night happened. He was on Earth, and he saved a girl. Grabbed her hand and told her to run, and she decided she wanted to go with him.

He showed her the stars, and the smile returned.

He never was able to fully forget the time wasted without his family, or the horrible deed he had done to rid the Universe of the Daleks, but he was able to ignore it for the most part. And though the girl was lost, and any others he took with him were lost, he still tried to keep a smile planted on his face and his head held high.

He would help the universe, or die trying.