At long last she finally started crying against his chest. The hot chocolate had been half drank, with a lot of encouragement, when she finally seemed to come back to the world.
And now his shirt was soaked but at least she was doing something. Anything that let him know that she was broken but not beyond repair, and that gave him hope that with time she could be fixed.
"Oh, love," he whispered to her hair. "Let it out."
And she did, Jack and Donna sitting there watching and waiting in case they were needed.
"Mom," came the muffled voice, and she pulled her head out.
Donna rose up from her chair at once, ready to be needed. She was always ready to be needed.
"I'm here, Grace," she moved to sit beside the Doctor and rubbed Grace's back.
"I wanna go to bed, Mom," Grace told her, the tears slowing and exhaustion setting in.
"Okay," she agreed, and the Doctor released Grace and she put her feet on the ground, and Donna held her hand and they left the two men there alone.
"How are you, Doctor," Jack asked him, his face sincere.
"I'm okay," the Doctor told him. "It's been a long day."
"Yes, it has," said Jack. "You think she is going to be okay?"
"Yes," the Doctor told him after a moment of thought.
He was sure that she would, no matter his worry. She was strong, so young, but strong. And it might take a little time, but she would have a support system. He had done it without one. He knew the pain of carrying the weight alone and he could promise to the end of time that she would never have to do that.
He was her father, and it was his job.
DW
Grace was tired, so very tired. But the tears were gone, and her mother was humming softly to her while she stroked her hair. Grace wasn't big on being coddled but she let it happen now. Her mother needed it as much as Grace did herself.
"Mom," she spoke softly, not wanting to break the moment but needing to.
"Yes?" The humming stopped but the gently movement didn't.
"I'm sorry," she admitted softly.
She was sorry that she had done it, so sorry that it had to be done but that wasn't what she meant. She was sorry that she had been weak, that she had thought about changing it. And she was sorry that she wasn't who she ought to be.
Donna was so strong, and she didn't back down. Grace knew in her hearts that she didn't deserve to carry the name of Time Lord. She was just a two hearted failure. And those hearts just left her room to feel it all the more.
"Sorry for what?" Donna asked her.
"Maybe you should leave me on Earth."
Surprise flashed in Donnas' eyes. "Why would we do that, Grace? Is that what you want?"
"It's what I deserve."
Grace knew she was making Earth sound like a punishment, but that wasn't what she meant. She meant being stuck in one place was one. She was born to travel but that didn't mean that she deserved it.
"What do you mean, honey?" Donna seemed at a loss.
"Nothing," Grace finally mumbled.
She couldn't tell her mother what she had almost done, but she was sure that her father would. He had known, but he hadn't lectured her about it yet. But that was only because she had been so upset.
"No," Donna moved her hand to Grace's chin and made her face her. "Not nothing. You tell me what's wrong Grace."
Grace was good at stubborn. She had learned from the best. But she just didn't have the energy to fight about this.
"I could have changed it all, Mom," she spoke, her voice more broken than she would have liked. "If I had the time, I could have, and I knew what would happen."
"It's only natural to want to save them," Donna told her, her expression softening.
"Fifty eight planets," Grace told her, knowing that she didn't need to explain. She rolled over and her mother didn't fight her.
Grace would rest, and then she would pack. She would walk away before she made a mistake, before she let her desire rule her responsibility. And maybe somewhere deep inside, she just didn't want to be a Time Lord anymore.
DW
Donna waited until her breathing evened out, and she could hear her heartbeats slow at last, before she moved from her bed. Fifty eight planets, Grace had said, and those words were all it took to bring her back to that day.
Her hands on a lever, over those of a man she barely knew, and it was Pompeii or the world. There was never an option, but she had fought for there to be one.
And when she had finally settled into her room, and washed away the evidence that clung to her hair and body, she had cried. She had known that it would be a scar that she couldn't rid her soul of no matter the wish.
And when she regenerated, it was still there. Something so deep but it served a purpose also. It reminded Donna to remember, and to always try to help. Especially when there was nothing you could do.
The Doctor had come to her that night, and they had chased away the pain together. And when Grace woke she would have a little army fighting to chase it away with her.
They wouldn't take her to Earth; she wouldn't let Grace do this to herself. Self imposed punishments was something she had finally forced the Doctor out of, and she wasn't going to allow it with her child either.
There wasn't a trial, but she was her own judge. And Grace had found herself guilty.
