He came to Earth, once it was all over. The fires had extinguished, the screams had silenced. But the memory lingered, a fresh wound in his empty mind. He sat in the sand, closed his eyes, longed for a peaceful moment.
Not that he deserved it. Not after what he'd done.
The sand was damp and heavy at the edge of the shore, like the uncomfortable weight of the guilt on his shoulders. It grated against his new skin as he shifted. The calm waves brushed against his legs and soaked his torn clothing. He watched his bare toes dig into the ground beneath the water.
He tried not to think. Tried not to feel. Failed miserably.
"Hello."
The voice startled him out of his thoughts, dragging his attention to the large, seaweed-covered rock that sat several meters to his left. His head tilted to look at her, laid out on the smooth surface. His eyes followed the curve of her body, from the long blonde hair that fell over her shoulders in wet waves to the tip of her golden pink tail.
The thought crossed his mind that he'd never seen a mermaid, before.
He looked away. Said nothing.
She didn't take the hint, though, and kept talking.
"We don't get many visitors around here," she said. "I don't know if we've ever had visitors at all, actually. Other than crabs and birds."
He looked back at her and met her eyes – a warm shade of brown, wide with curiosity. He wondered what color his eyes had turned out, this time around.
"The island is uninhabited," he said. He paused, surprised by the gruffness of his own voice. He hadn't heard himself speak, yet.
A hopeful smile crossed her face once she'd grabbed his attention.
"I thought so," she said, biting her lip, suddenly seeming shy. "I've never spoken to a human before."
He didn't correct her. Stayed quiet.
"Are you alone?"
The word felt like a blow to the chest, a brutal reminder of everything he was running away from. The tightness in his chest made it difficult to breathe for a moment. The emptiness in his mind was almost unbearable. He swallowed.
"Yeah."
He fell silent again, and looked out over the water. The waves crashed gently against the shore. He focused on the sound of them, the relaxing, repetitive motion, and dug his feet deeper into the sand.
"My name's Rose," she said, when he didn't continue. "My mum says I'm named after a plant. A beautiful one, from the land, that comes in lots of colors. But I've never seen one."
It suited her, he thought, glancing back. Rose. She was watching him, a whirlwind of emotions swirling in her eyes, and he couldn't pin it down – curiosity, pity. Probably both.
"What's your name?" she asked, hesitant. She wasn't going to give up, he knew, not until he properly spoke to her.
"I'm the Doctor."
"Doctor," she repeated. "That's a person that helps people, isn't it? When they get hurt, or sick?"
"Yeah," he said, vaguely surprised. "You sure do know a lot about life outside the sea. For someone who lives under the water, near an empty island."
Rose flushed, glancing down at the tip of her tail, dipping just below the surface. She swished it around in the shallow water. His eyes trailed the movement, watching the light of the late afternoon glint off of her metallic scales.
"I like to learn about it," she says. "My mum says I shouldn't. She doesn't like it when I go exploring ship wrecks, or come up to the surface like this. But I like to look at the sky. It's gorgeous, don't you think? All the different colors."
She gestured at the sun on the horizon, just beginning to set. The sky was still bright, yellows fading into oranges, oranges fading into reds. It reminded him of Gallifrey. He turned away from it. Looked back at Rose.
"And even when the sun sets," she continued, "the stars look so beautiful at night. Like little pearls in the sky."
"They're even more beautiful up close," he told her, though he didn't know why. Perhaps he was grateful for the distraction, or inspired by her curiosity. Maybe he just didn't want to be alone, right now.
"What, you mean – you've seen them?"
"I like to travel."
"You travel through the stars?" she asked, her voice hushed with excitement. He nodded.
"Bit of a wanderer."
"That sounds wonderful," she gushed. "Like a dream."
They fell silent again, the sun sinking further past the edge of the sea. It was getting colder and darker.
"Where are you from?" she asked him, and he shook his head.
"Nowhere."
"Nowhere?"
"My planet's gone," he said, his voice dangerously low.
His eyes met hers, filled with sadness and sympathy he didn't deserve. He allowed it to soothe him anyway.
"What happened?" she asked him quietly.
"It's dead. It burned. There was a war, and we lost."
"What about your people?"
"They're gone," he said. "They're all gone. I was the only survivor. The last of the Time Lords. There's no one else."
She hesitated for a just a moment before she responded.
"There's me," she said, offering him a tiny smile.
The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
"You don't know anything about me, Rose."
She shrugged.
"I know you're alone," she said. "And you shouldn't be. No one should be alone."
"I'm not – I'm not a good man," he said, burying his face in his hands. "I've done terrible things."
Silence fell again, and she attempted to change the subject.
"I feel like I'm alone sometimes, too. No one back home understands. My mum, or my best mate Mickey. They tell me I'm wasting my time, coming up here every night to sit on this rock and watch the sunset and see the stars. The they're just lights in the sky, and what's the point?"
He lifted his face, turned his head. Her brow was furrowed, eyes looking upward. She was frowning. Doubting.
"They're wrong," he told her firmly. "There's so much out there. So many places to see, and people to meet."
Rose smiled, then, widely, and he knew he'd piqued her interest. Slowly, he stood up and brushed the wet sand from his legs. When he pulled himself atop the rock to sit beside her, she shifted closer to him. He pointed up at the sky, just over her head.
"Over that way, millions of miles away, there's a planet called Cyllia. It's like Earth, except the whole planet is covered in foliage – like a giant garden. There's a whole island, about the size of this one, entirely dedicated to roses. They grow them in bulk, cultivating bushes of all different colors, and ship them out to other planets. They're the most sought-after flower in the galaxy."
"Wow," she breathed. "It must be so beautiful."
When he glanced down at her, her eyes were wide with wonder, and an excited giggle escaped her. He grinned back at her, wide and genuine, and his hearts felt a little bit lighter.
She laid a hand on his arm. Her touch radiated warmth. It was the first time anyone had touched this body.
"My ship can take me there," he said.
"A ship? Like a boat, with sailors?"
"No. A spaceship," he said. "It can take me anywhere."
"You should go see it. That planet," she said. Her smile was sad.
"I want you to come with me," he said. He didn't realize how true the words were until he'd said them. She let out a watery laugh.
"I wish I could," she said wistfully, staring down at her tail, dangling in the water below. "Maybe one day."
She leaned her head on his shoulder, hugged his arm, and he found that he didn't mind. He didn't deserve her comfort, he knew, but god, he was craving it, more than anything.
"Doctor?" Rose asked.
"Hmm?"
"Will you bring one back for me? A rose, I mean."
"I think I can manage that," he said. Her hand trailed up his arm, and she leaned closer. Pressed a kiss to his cheek. His breath caught in his throat. He titled his head to look at her properly.
"You've got beautiful eyes," she said softly. "Like the afternoon sky."
They were blue, then. He smiled. The darkness had settled around them, the stars just beginning to twinkle in the sky. He didn't want to go, but he knew he needed to. She sensed it, too – their time was coming to a close.
"I should probably get home," she said, watching the dark water with disdain. But then she turned to him and smiled. "You should go, too. See all the stars for me, yeah?"
He didn't speak. Nodded.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He watched her dive back into the water and shifted off the rock, landing with a dull thud in the wet sand. She started to swim away, her tail glimmering with every movement.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. Turned around.
He spun back when she called his name.
"Don't be alone," she reminded him, and she dove beneath the surface.
He walked back to the TARDIS, leaving footprints in the sand.