A/N: So, this is just a sweet little oneshot that I wrote because I was bored. Please read and enjoy!
The Doctor sat staring at the TARDIS console. Over thousands years of adventures, running, friendship, and love meant nothing to the cold, heartless hands of death. He took one last lingering look and stepped outside to say good-bye to his old friend.
"Are you okay Doctor?" The Doctor whipped around to face a middle-aged woman.
She looked startlingly familiar, yet he could not quite place who she was. The woman was wearing a somewhat raggedy dress which looked like it had been sewed together by someone who had absolutely no idea how to sew. Her brown hair was bunched up into a messy bun with loose ringlets trailing down around her face.
She took a step towards The Doctor, "Losing a loved one can be very hard. I would know, I've seen all the losses in the world. I've seen all the anguish they cause, all the grief they bring, and all of the weeping, " She paused and cocked her head in thought, "The weeping is the worst and the longest. People tend to cry buckets and buckets without ever stopping. Would you do that Doctor? Would you cry and cry and cry for such a dear friend?"
"Who, exactly, are you?" The Doctor asked in a strained voice.
The lady tutted and shook her head, "My dear Doctor, my thief, how do you not remember me? I've been everywhere with you. We've flown across the infinite skies, we've seen supernova's, and been to the furthest reaches of all of time and space. I've been with you even when you lost your precious strays. I'm that comforting silence, that loving hand. I've always been there, and somehow you don't remember me."
The Doctor's eyes widened as it finally dawned on him, "You're my TARDIS."
She frowned a little, "I prefer it when you call me Sexy. TARDIS is too mundane, your friends can call me that, but not you."
The Doctor knitted his eyebrows in confusion, "How is that possible? That body that you are in collapsed, it died over a hundred years ago. You're stuck in that ship," The Doctor pointed towards his dying TARDIS, "you can't get out."
The TARDIS grinned, "Doctor, have you ever seen a TARDIS die?"
The Doctor thought back to all his years on Gallifrey, and all of his travels. Not once had he ever seen a TARDIS collapse or die.
"No," he said slowly, "No I haven't."
"Well," The TARDIS said matter of factly, " Once a TARDIS dies she, or he, will inhabit some other vessel. Since I have already been in this body, it was the clear choice. When I was in it I made a bond with the cells, so once I knew I was dying I sent out a message and Whoosh! I'm in the body once more."
"So," The Doctor said, "Since you're the TARDIS's soul, you can live past once the ship dies?"
The TARDIS nodded, "That's correct."
"But can you still travel through time and space?"
The TARDIS smiled again, "Well, of course. We TARDIS' can always fly, no matter what vessel we're in."
The Doctor frowned, "When we were on that rock called House why didn't you just fly us out instead of making that makeshift console?"
"My other vessel was still in being," The TARDIS said simply.
The Doctor shook his head, "That makes no sense. You're saying that when you die only the shell dies? " the TARDIS nodded, "Then what happens when your vessel dies?"
The TARDIS had no need to respond because at that exact moment the was a great BANG! from behind The Doctor. He turned around to see a smoking crater where the blue police box was just seconds ago. The TARDIS had died.
The Doctor spun on his heel to see his best friend in the whole cosmos staring right at him. He held out his hand to her, "Ready to go, Sexy?"
She grabbed his hand and grinned, "Always, my thief."
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, they are property of BBC's Doctor Who written by Stephen Moffat 2006
