He hadn't really expected her to listen to his command, so he was a bit surprised to see her emerge through his doorway as though she'd been there the entire time. Maybe she had been.

"Why did you do this to me?" he asked as calmly as possible. His entire body shook with the seething rage he was tightly restraining towards her.

"Because you needed to remember," she replied matter-of-factly.

"Why would I need to remember? What good has it done?"

"You saved your friend's lives. Well, some of them, anyway."

"No, I merely extended them a bit longer, postponed the inevitable. There's nothing that can be done to save anyone in this blasted universe, so why even bother?"

"You've learned so much from what I've given you, and yet you've learned nothing. Nothing at all."

The Doctor had had enough of this. In his anger he got off the bed and stormed over to her, ignoring his feeble body's protests. She did not move or react in any way, and did not try to stop him when he yanked down her hood and beheld her face.

The Doctor stared deeply into her face; it was foreign yet familiar at the same time.

"You're one of the women from the memories you gave me."

"I do have a name, you know. Sexy, if I recall correctly. It has been so long since you've called me that."

"Why did you hide your identity from me?"

"You weren't ready yet. I'm still not convinced you're ready now."

"I don't understand. You're a Tardis, how can you be living in this body?"

"That's just it, the key word is living," she said with a grim smile.

"I still don't understand, and I don't like not understanding. Explain, now."

"I exist through all space and time, and I have memories from every reality I've been in. It's how I didn't forget, like you and everyone else did. In this reality, you never stole me. I was left to gather dust, and in the wake of the Time War my sisters and I on Gallifrey were destroyed. What you see is the last bit of my soul, the very last remnant of myself stretched thin across the universe. I've only managed to hang on so long because I needed to make you remember before I fade away completely."

The Doctor couldn't take his eyes off her. With every second that passed, he knew her more, until it seemed ridiculous to think that he had ever not known her. As her words sank in, he felt his anger melt away as a stab of pain pierced his hearts: she was dead.

"But why did you give me these memories? What do I need to remember?"

"That you were once a good man!" she shouted at him. "Not just a good man, the most wonderful man who ever lived. The Doctor I knew would never have let any of this happen, would never have gone down without a fight. But you've just sat around twiddling your thumbs, watching the fabric of reality fall apart right in front of you and you've done nothing to stop it!"

"I'm just one man, there's no way I one man could have prevented all this!" he shouted back at her.

"Check those memories again, and then tell me that one man can't change the course of the universe," she retorted.

"I am not that man. That man was a possible future that was never meant to be. But what does it even matter?" he said as he threw his hands in the air. "What good did that man ever do, anyway? He'd save an entire species one day and commit genocide the next. And on those rare days that he managed to save the day without anyone dying, all those people still died eventually. Everything must die, it's the way life is, and that man was a fool to argue it."

The woman glared at him, her eyes like fire. "That other man once said that every person is made up of a pile of good things and bad things. I believe that's why he fought so hard to help everyone he could; he was trying to make up for all his mistakes by giving the people he met at least one more day to add to their pile of good things.

"That's why you won't save them, because all you see are the bad things. You have no right to call yourself doctor."

"You're one to talk," he fired back. "From what I've seen, you had a very bad habit of taking detours. You must have always known what would happen, yet you always took me places where terrible things were happening and I'd be forced to step in and save the day, to clean up the universe's never-ending messes like a maid. And as if that weren't bad enough, you also kept forcing strays on me. That other man liked them as pets or something, and could never let them go until he was forced to. He wore his hearts on his sleeve and then was surprised every time they were broken. What kind of man does that to himself? And every time he could have healed, could have moved on, you brought him to someone else, someone to tear him apart again. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to knock him off, get him killed so you could roam the universe free of a master. A Tardis is supposed to obey its Time Lord; you have no right to call yourself a Tardis."

She reared back her hand and slapped him, making his face sting. He braced himself for the inevitable yelling, and more physical abuse, but instead her eyes filled with sadness.

"Like I said, you've learned nothing. I took my Doctor to all those places because he needed to be there. I knew him like no one ever could, knew him better than he himself did. The Doctor I knew needed to go to places to feel alive, to feel like he was making up for past wrongs, and they needed him, to save them.

"I gave him those companions because they made him better, as he made them better. You're wrong, you know. He needed those people to heal, and without them he would have become the beast that you are. Nothing would have made me happier than to travel the cosmos with just him, just him and me, but I knew that he needed people he could talk to, people he could see and hear and touch. And so when one was lost, I'd find him another so he could keep going.

"But not just anyone. It had to be someone whose heart was brave and good. Someone to remind him of the beauty in people when he couldn't see it. Someone to keep him from falling apart, and stop him when he went too far. Someone to hold his hand, for him to be strong for and fight for. Someone who could make the Doctor laugh, and hug him when he needed it. Those so-called pets were often the only reason he had to keep on living. You will never know the kind of love each one of them gave him."

The Doctor began to regret his words as a single tear slid down her cheek. She caught it on her finger and stared at it wonderingly. "Pain. Pain is a funny word. I always wondered why people leak when they are in pain. Now I know it's because they can't help it, because when they hurt this much they have to do something about it, but I all they can do is cry. I've failed you, and now all I can do is cry. I've seen people cry when they weren't hurt and wonder why. Now I understand, it's because they are hurt, on the inside where they are so much bigger.

"I was trying to taking care of him, because he wouldn't take care of himself. You can't even begin to fathom how much I love him. Or at least, that's the word you use, but how can such a tiny word possibly describe the way I feel? I may not be perfect, I've hurt him, I know I have. But can you look me in the eye and honestly tell me that you are happy in this life?"

He opened his mouth to say yes, to say that he was very happy and that he had a good life. But the lie wouldn't come. For so long he'd told himself that he was content and satisfied with his life, but was that really the truth? He couldn't meet her eyes.

Instead, he asked, "You must want something from me, otherwise you wouldn't have forced those memories on me. You want me to somehow change this universe back into the other one, the one you prefer, so you can have your Doctor back, even though doing so would kill me. But I am curious as to how you would have me go about this. It's not like I can just flip a switch and have everything recreated as they were in the memories. What was your plan?"

"There was no plan. I gave you back your true memories in the hope that you would use them to figure out what to do, because I have no idea how to fix this. I don't know how this will all turn out, because this is my last night with you unless you can fix it. But even if you can't, really I just wanted you to have those memories so that you could be the man you were meant to be. I wanted to give you your friends back so you could be happy. I wanted you to save the universe like I've seen you do so many times. I just want you to be okay, Doctor, is what I'm trying to say.

She turned away from him and added softly, "It's good that you have such a wonderful Tardis as this. She will never let you down and always take you where you want to go. My sister will never bring you any lost souls to put up with, you can be as alone as you want. She will always be loyal to her master. I won't bother you again."

"Wait!" he said as he reached out his hand for her.

"Goodbye, my Thief," she said.

As soon as the words had left her mouth, her entire body dissipated into shining gold particles in the air.

"No! Come back!" he yelled as he grasped the air in the place she had been standing. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"What are you shouting about in here?" asked Martha as she stuck her head in the doorway.

"Leave me," he choked out, and to his immense relief, she did. But at the same time, he wished she would stay with him. For once, he didn't want to be alone.

He sat down on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands, and wept.


He spent hours lying in bed, not to rest or relax, but to remember. He needed to find the key to solving all this, and he knew it was tucked inside his head somewhere.

He hated himself for what he had done to her, for what he had said to her. The truth was, he envied that other man for what he'd had. His Tardis might have been stubborn at times, but had been a constant companion. His own behaved just as it should, but felt more like a machine than a living being.

He wished he could take back those awful words, especially the ones in which he insinuated that he had been his Tardis' master. A Tardis had no master, only a humble guide. The ghostly lady had loved her dear Doctor so much; not in a romantic way, but in a way much deeper than that. A love so strong not even the universe could touch it.

His own Tardis didn't love him like the ghost had loved her Doctor; she was loyal, dependable, and would never stray from his chosen course. But he would never have a relationship with her like that. After all, how could a Tardis love a man like him? A man who hated to travel and lacked curiosity. A selfish, cowardly man who could watch worlds perish and not care enough to save them. No, a Tardis could never love a man like that.

He also regretted referring to his friends as pets. He had tried so hard to deny it, but he couldn't anymore. He cared about them, and wanted them to stay with him. But he knew they would never care for him as they had for that other man, and he deserved it.

Oh, how he longed for death as the full weight of his loneliness came crashing down on him. How he longed for the love that other man had, how he wished he could have another chance to make things right, but he couldn't see how it was possible. But most of all, he wished that his companions and the ghostly lady could forgive him, and that they could love him like they had before in the final days of the universe. But he knew he could never have those things, and refused to even hope for them.

He didn't know what time it was when it happened, but at one point as he wallowed in his sorrow and despair, he heard a knock at the door. That was a first; no one had ever come to visit him before.

He rushed to dress himself and clean up and make himself presentable, and then went to the door, passing Rory on the way carrying a tray of food, most likely for Amy. When he opened it, he saw a young man before him, sweaty and panting, panic written all over his face.

"You're the Doctor, right?"

"I am."

"You've got to help us! They took them, made them like them, all gone-"

"Slow down boy, you're not making any sense. Take a deep breath and then try again."

The boy sucked in a deep breath and then said, "We were going to release the inmates from the Cybermen's farm at the hospital. We had planned for everything, but a few days ago someone broke out three of them and so the Cybermen were on high alert. They caught and assimilated everyone but me, I just barely managed to escape. Before she was upgraded, our leader told me to come to you and beg you for help."

This couldn't be happening. There must be some mistake. Even though he already knew the answer, with a knot of dread in his stomach, hesitantly he asked, "What was her name?"

"Sarah Jane Smith, sir."

He couldn't breathe. He took a step back and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers in an attempt to maintain his composure. It felt as if the world had stopped spinning underneath his feet.

Sarah Jane. His Sarah Jane. Trapped in a body of metal, her emotions stolen from her and destroyed.

"It's my fault," he whispered. "She pleaded with me to come and help her, and I refused her every time. If I'd gone with her, if only I'd listened and helped her, she'd still be human. Oh God, why didn't I help her?"

He turned back to the boy, who was watching him grimly.

"Get inside," he said as he pointed inside. "You'll be safe here. It's the only safe place left."

The boy nodded and walked inside. His eyes went wide and he said, "Your house is a space ship?"

"No, my ship is pretending to be a house," he said absently.

The boy walked around the Tardis, marveling at everything she saw with his mouth hanging open. "This is amazing."

He opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when he saw a flash of white behind a bush across the street. He looked closer and saw that it was the same girl he'd been spotting everywhere.

That was when it hit him. She was the key, the missing link to solving this. She was in his memories. She was his last memory. All of this was tied to her, she held the answers he longed for.

She turned away from him and darted off down the street, and he took off after her, not even bothering to shut the Tardis door.

"Little girl, wait! Come back! I must speak with you!"

Running, if you could call what he was doing running, was a real chore. It was taking all he had to keep from giving up, but the thought of all the damage he'd done to the ones he'd loved kept him going.

Suddenly, the earth trembled beneath him, knocking him to the ground. It only lasted a few seconds and wasn't very powerful, but he knew it was only the beginning of what was to come.

He got back on his feet and kept chasing after the girl, but she was gone. He pulled at his hair in frustration and shouted, "Please, I need to speak with you! Please come back! Where are you?"

"I am right here," said a small voice from behind him.

He spun around and saw the little girl standing behind him. Her face was pointed up towards him, as though she were looking at him and could see him.

"Why did you run?" he panted, trying to catch his breath but having a difficult time of doing so.

"To see if you would follow," she replied. "What is it you want? I already granted your wish."

"What wish? I didn't wish for anything."

"Maybe not with your mouth, but I heard your soul. It cried out and I listened."

"Who are you?" he asked. "What are you?"

"I have lived ever since the dawn of creation. This form you see before you is not real; it is a shape most people find comforting. I do not see as others do, instead I see people's souls. I was given great power to help people in this universe with good, kind hearts. Unfortunately there are not many, but every now and again I run across one who is worthy of my gift. You called me a genie, but I am so much more complicated than that."

"What makes you think I have a good and kind heart?"

"You do not believe you are worthy of my gift, but I see who you really are. Yes, you have made many mistakes and caused great pain, but the life and joy and peace you have brought outweighs it."

"What was my wish?"

"You wished that you had never stolen your Tardis. You wished that you had a simple life, one without adventure. You wished that you had never met the people you came to love so dearly. You wished all of that so that you would not have to carry such a heavy burden, so that you could be at peace and not suffer in misery anymore. It was not easy, but I managed to grant your wish."

"How did you grant it?" he asked, not sure he wanted the answer.

"I first tore apart the universe we used to live in. Compared to everything else it was the easiest part."

"And then you rewrote it the way you wanted it?" he asked, a bit frightened at the thought that this child (or whatever she was) could change the entire universe any way she wanted to suit her fancy. He'd never heard of such a thing before. But if there was one thing he'd learned from all those new memories, it was that there was always something new to learn.

"No. As surprising as it may seem to you, I did not do any of this. All of this came to be because of one difference: you. I rewrote everything about you."

"What are you talking about? You changed me? I don't understand."

"I could have restarted the universe and given you a second chance to make different choices, but that wasn't enough, because you would not have changed anything the way you used to be. I had to alter who you are inside so that you would not make the same mistakes again."

"How did you change me?" he asked quietly, appalled.

"For the most part you are still the same person as before, with some key differences. I took away your curiosity and lust of adventure so that you would not leave your home unless forced. You have no wish to see the universe and all it holds, and so you are protected from its cruelty.

"I took away your courage and selflessness so that you would not throw yourself into dangerous situations for the sake of others. The man you once were threw caution to the wind with no regard for his own wellbeing. You are safe because you value your life.

"I also made you a bit thick. Not by much, but enough so that you could not step in and save the day even if you tried, and also so that you'd be more accepting of this life. Ignorance is bliss, or so I have heard."

"The biggest change, however, was the last. I took your compassion and mercy, your capacity to love unconditionally and irrevocably. The man you were before loved too much. He could never learn his lesson, and so he kept giving his hearts away only to have them destroyed before his very eyes again and again. You have felt some heartache in this life, but it is nothing compared to the devastating agony you suffered before."

"What have you done?" he gasped, horrified and sickened.

"What do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head to one side in confusion.

"You stripped me of everything that made me the man I was supposed to be! You made me into a monster!"

"All those things tormented you, and I took them away!" she shouted at him. "I gave you happiness! You should be grateful, I gave you a wonderful life!"

"You put me in a little bubble. I thought I was happy, I thought I was content and satisfied, but the memories my Tardis gave me have shown me that what I was doing wasn't living. I was surviving; thinking only of myself while everyone else around me suffered. I wasn't happy; the only time I was ever happy was with my family, and with my companions. The Tardis, my Tardis, gave me back the parts of myself that you took away."

"Curse her. If your Tardis had not intervened, you never would have known another life existed, and you could have been happy."

"No, she saved me. I'm a waste of skin, an insult to my species. She reminded me of who I really am. The universe is dying because of what you've done. Does that not matter to you?"

"Everything has its time. Just as flowers must lose their beauty and wilt, so must this universe. You said it yourself, everything and everyone dies," said the girl flippantly.

"I don't want this. I don't want you to let everyone die for my sake," said the Doctor with tears in his eyes. "I don't want this wish, I want everything to go back to the way it was. I want the people I love to be safe and happy, not slaves and fugitives. They hate me, and I deserve it. I just want them to have their lives back."

Anger filled the girl's face; there was no wind, but her hair blew around her face and looked like white fire. Her entire body glowed; no longer did she look like a child. She looked like a fallen angel, a mix of light and darkness, heaven and hell.

"You tiny creatures are all the same. I choose you and give you a blessing, but each and every one of you have begged me to take it away. I give you what you want most and you despise it, you ungrateful children! Well I have had it. I will not take away your wish, you and the rest of this cursed universe will be consumed in a matter of days, a week if you are lucky. It will all be over and then you will not have to worry about your stupid wish anymore."

"But you'll die too, won't you?" he asked hoping that she might not go through with it in the interest of self-preservation.

"Of course I will, do you think I did not know that? But it does not matter. What is the point of living if everyone hates you for the one thing you were created to do?"

"Please don't do this," said the Doctor, resorting to pleading. "Undo all this, and I promise I'll help you. I can see that you're not a bad person, you just want to help people. But you don't know how to go about it. You want to help people so that they'll love you, but your wishes don't work out and they reject you. You started out so innocent, but after so many millennia of wishes gone wrong, you've become cynical. You've forgotten why you began granting wishes in the first place. You'll do whatever it takes to make a wish turn out right, but you've only made things worse. You're sad and lonely, just like me. We can help each other, but only if you set things right. This is all so wrong, I can't fix this, only you can. Please, for their sakes, free me from this wish."

For one brief moment, she looked like she might give in. Uncertainty flashed over her features and he felt his hope rise. But then it was crushed when she opened her mouth and said, "You cannot help me, you cannot even help yourself, or the people you treasure. You think I am good, but how can I be when my wishes only make people despise me? This is the only wish I have granted that will turn out right. You should be thanking me, I gave you what you wanted: a life of peace, free of pain."

He opened his mouth to reply, but she interrupted him by saying, "By the way, there is a disturbance at your Tardis. I would recommend staying far away from there for a few hours or so."

He ignored her and took off back in the direction he had come. He heard her yell as he did, "You should just let them go, they will only bring you pain! They are all going to die anyway!"

This old body was slowing him down; for once regeneration didn't seem like such a bad thing. And how much worse could a new body be? It couldn't be any slower or more fragile than this one had become, and maybe he could deal with being ugly. Or maybe he'd luck out and get a handsome face. That would be nice.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had to get back to the Tardis and he couldn't let anything distract him. He probably should have asked the girl what the "disturbance" was so he could form some kind of plan, but it wasn't like she would have told him anyway. She wanted him to stay away and to not get involved, but that was something he just couldn't do anymore.

When he reached the Tardis, he felt his hearts plummet with fear and dread when he saw that the door was still wide open. He had left it open and unlocked, how could he have been so stupid?

He ran inside and had to grasp the sides for support when he saw the scene before him. The boy who had come to him lay dead at his feet. Wilf was lying not far away, by the console.

He ran as fast as he could to Amelia's room, afraid of what he would find. He found her lying in her bed sobbing and wailing. Despite all that was going on, he couldn't help but be relieved to see that she was still alive.

"Amelia, are you all right?" he asked her as he approached the bed. He had to sidestep Rory, whose body rested by the bed, his eyes open in frozen terror.

"How can you ask me that?" she screamed at him. "They found us! They followed that boy here and they found us!"

"Who found you?"

"The Cybermen!" she cried hysterically. "They came in and they killed everyone except Donna, Martha, and Melody. They got called back, otherwise I'd be dead too."

She paused for a moment, and then continued, "Rory came in here and told me what was happening, said he'd protect me. He didn't stand a chance against them, why'd he do that?"

"Because a love like yours can't ever be erased, not completely," said the Doctor, the realization coming to him as he spoke it.

"What are you talking about, I never loved him," she said, as though he'd said something disgusting.

"I know," he said sadly.

"They took my baby," said Amy as she wrapped her arms around her knees and rocked back and forth. "You said we'd be safe here, you made me believe that she had a future, that she could be free, but they got her. They stole her and she can't be saved this time. I'll never see my baby again. Why did you lie to me?"

"I didn't lie, this really is the safest place for you. It just wasn't safe enough," he said as he hung his head in shame.

"I hate you," she said venomously as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. "You should have been here, you could have done something! You gave me hope and then you let them destroy it. You should have just let me die back at that farm."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I know it will never be enough, but I am so sorry."

Her anger melted and Amy was left only with the crushing grief of the loss of her little girl. She buried her face in her shaking hands and said, "Leave me alone. Please, just go away."

The Doctor nodded solemnly even though she couldn't see it. As he turned to leave, however, he was met with an unexpected face.

Rose looked up at him curiously, like a child might, even though she no longer had eyes to see him with. She didn't speak, and he wondered how she had gotten out of her room, but he couldn't bring himself to care about any of that at the moment. There had been so much death in just one day, and seeing Rose helped to soothe the pain just a bit.

She surprised him by extending her arms toward him as if to hug him. He couldn't read her expression and didn't know what she wanted. He couldn't tell what was going on in her damaged mind, but he didn't stop her when she wrapped her arms around his chest in an embrace.

He gently put his arms around her and savored the feeling of her touch. How had he gone so long all alone, without anyone to be there by his side when he needed it? He felt his eyes sting with tears, because for the first time in too many years to count, he wasn't lonely anymore. For that brief moment he allowed himself to be comforted by her warmth, and allowed himself to hope that maybe, insane or not, she had forgiven him.

"Doctor, look out! She's got a-"

Before Amy could finish, Rose pulled out a knife she had hidden in her pocket and stabbed the Doctor in the back, right through his left heart. She held onto him as he bled and whispered in his ear, "Time for the Doctor to go sleep now. Sleep with the angel, my dead friend."

She began giggling hysterically and let him drop to the floor. The pain was so great he couldn't cry out, could hardly breathe.

Above him, Amy had left her bed and thrown herself at Rose. The two women struggled against each other, pulling at each other's hair and hitting and kicking, and in Rose's case, biting. It didn't matter that Rose didn't have sight on her side; her unbridled madness more than made up for it. However, Amy had just lost her child, she had nothing left to lose, and so she fought back with everything in her. Neither one was holding back or pulling punches, and the Doctor knew that it wouldn't end until one of them was dead.

Amy knocked her down to the floor, but Rose wrapped her hands around her throat as she had done to him. Amy struggled and tried to pry Rose's fingers off her throat, but it was no use. She was lying very close to the Doctor, and in her desperation yanked the knife out of his back, causing him to let loose a ragged scream as a shock of blinding pain surged through him like electricity.

Amy got a good grip on the bloody knife, and as she was losing consciousness, plunged the knife into Rose's chest. Amazingly, Rose was still able to maintain her grip on Amy, ignoring the knife as if it wasn't even there. Amy couldn't fight any longer and went limp, her face and lips blue.

Even if she didn't notice the knife in her heart, she couldn't survive the wound. Rose tried to stand but instead fell flat on her face next to Rory, driving the knife even deeper into her chest until the tip was visible out her back. She died without a sound, as though she had died in her sleep.

The Doctor was left alone, surrounded by the bodies of the ones he'd so cherished. He'd failed them, he'd let them die. It didn't matter that they would have all died in a few days' time anyway, they were his and they hadn't deserved to die.

But neither did anyone else in the universe, he finally realized. These people were special, but everyone else in the universe was important, as well. Not only had he let his friends down, he'd let down all the people who were going to die in the Ultimate Sanction. This was what his Tardis had been trying to make him see, that there were people out there who needed him. Yes, maybe he had caused great pain and death and chaos, but he'd also saved countless lives. In his mind, the lives he saved could never outweigh all the suffering he'd caused, but he had to try, all the same.

He brought a hand to his face and saw it being engulfed in a golden light. His regeneration had finally begun, he couldn't put it off any longer. Or could he?

He had no reason to regenerate. Regeneration would give him extra time in the world, but it would be time spent alone in misery. All his companions were either dead or enslaved, and if they were still alive they'd be dead soon enough anyway. The little girl refused to take back his wish, and he couldn't bear to watch the universe end in fire, time being shredded up and reality itself disappearing. He couldn't bear to hear the screams of all the people he could have saved, should have saved, as they all ceased to exist.

Death was the only way out. If there was another option, he couldn't see it. And so he concentrated all his strength on controlling the regeneration and keeping it at bay. The horrible pain of the knife became unendurable as his body fought to save itself, but he forced it back, letting the pain burn through his veins but not conquer him. The golden light disappeared from his hand but remained in his fingertips, ready to rush upon him and force him to survive if he let his concentration slip for even a second.

"What are you doing?" said a voice that was both soft and terrible at the same time. He looked up and saw the little girl standing over him. "You must regenerate!"

"No," was all he said.

"You have to live, you cannot die, not yet! You have to see the end of the universe."

"That's exactly why I'm not regenerating," he replied, every syllable requiring great effort.

Her eyes glowed like white hot coals. "This is your wish! This is not how it is supposed to be!"

"Guess my wish just won't work out right after all." Not much longer now, he just had to hold out a little longer and he'd be free.

"Regenerate, you fool!" she screamed at him. She lost her childish form completely and became a monster before his very eyes. He'd never seen anything like her, he had no words to describe her appearance. She was like light and darkness, beautiful and terrible at the same time.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

After what felt like an eternity, he felt himself drifting away, as if to sleep. The pain faded away like mist, and he no longer had to fight to keep from regenerating. At long last, as the beast without a name and the world drifted away, for the first time in his life, he finally was at peace.