11. After the Name of the Doctor [2]

[This is set before my other piece on the Name of the Doctor]

After getting them both out of his timestream, the Doctor had carried Clara all the way back to the Tardis. He refused help from Vastra, Jenny and Strax. This was something he needed to do by himself so although he was grateful for all that they did, he sent them back to Victorian London.

The Doctor then devoted himself to looking after his impossible girl. Physically, she was fine except that she was in a deep sleep. Clara had just experienced many lifetimes in a short amount of time so it was understandable that her mind needed time to adjust and accept what had happened. If sleep was the solution to this then so be it. This didn't stop the Doctor from worrying though. Or he would have if he hadn't felt exhausted and mentally drained too. He fell on the bed in a heap next to Clara and was soon asleep himself.

A few days later, after they had both sufficiently recovered, they sat entwined in each other's arms on a sofa in the library talking about it all. They were close anyway but Trenzalore had made them closer than they thought possible.

The Doctor was recounting all the times he had actually taken notice of an echo of Clara. Oswin, Victorian Clara and the Clara sitting next to him.

"Four times." Clara corrected him.

"Four?"

Clara turned to face him as she explained. "There was a version of me on Gallifrey. I spoke to you right at the start for you. You looked so old and yet you were so young. Wanting to see the universe and needing a way to get there. I just gave you some guidance."

The Doctor's face lit up as he realised what Clara was telling him. "Oh, my Clara. You helped me find my Tardis?"

"Yes. I think that's why the Tardis took a dislike to me at first because I came into your life the same time she had. Or possibly I transferred too much of my personality to her as I was fixing her. It was weird; I didn't really plan on helping you like that. I was walking past the Tardis and then she was communicating with me in my mind a need to travel and see the universe. Then, you were there with that same need. I just gave you both a nudge in the right direction."

The Doctor smiled and nodded. And they could feel the Tardis accepting Clara's words. Perhaps now, the Old Girl would be nicer to Clara.

"Do you remember that?" Clara asked quietly.

"No," the Doctor said sadly. "I have vague flashes of that moment but nothing concrete. I was concentrating more on getting away from Gallifrey. Plus you have to remember I have lived so long and so many different lives. After a while, my memories blur and I don't want to but I forget."

"I know." Clara reached up to him and put her hands either side of his face. She closed her eyes as she opened her mind to him.

"How-" the Doctor began.

"Shhh!"

A door opened in Clara's mind as she allowed the Doctor to view a memory.

A man looked around as he heard a female voice call "Doctor."

"Yes? What is it? What do you want?" He said a little abruptly.

"Sorry but you're about to make a very big mistake. Don't steal that one. Steal this one" She said with a smug grin as she leaned against a Tardis. "The navigation system's knackered but you'll have much more fun."

Clara opened her eyes to find the Doctor beaming at her. He kissed her hungrily as he whispered again and again, "I remember you."

After a while, the Doctor asked the question he had begun earlier, "How did you do that?"

"Er, hello, impossible girl" She gestured to herself.

The Doctor chuckled slightly but he wasn't entirely satisfied with that answer. Clara could tell.

"I don't really know." Clara admitted. "I think that parts of my other lives seep into my subconscious and I become them in a way when I think of them. I mean, looking into minds is a Timelord trick, right?"

The Doctor nodded. He wanted to question Clara further about her life on Gallifrey but could sense that she was beginning to distance herself from the subject. He knew she wasn't doing it deliberately; it had been a lot to take in over the last few days. Besides, the Doctor was getting quite distracted by a sudden urge to kiss Clara again. He wanted to thank her for saving him and this was the only way he could think of at the moment to do so.