OK, quick challenge for you - read these last three chapters, and let me know what you think of the changes I've made.
Enjoy!
The Passing of the Storm
"Get out of the way!" ordered the Doctor, trying to clue his fellow Renegades in to the fact that he wasn't aiming for him.
Hearing these words, Romana realised what her friend-turned-fiancé was up to – the White Point Star that served as the establishing factor in the link to the Time War. Knock that out of the Beacon, and the link would collapse, and no one who didn't have to die would die. And however mad the Master could be sometimes, Romana knew he wasn't completely unable to learn from mistakes – he wouldn't be trying this again any time soon.
The Master seemed to realise this as well – he gave a slight smirk that told them that he knew what was about to transpire. Now privy to the on-the-spot plan the Doctor had adopted, he threw himself down to the floor. Not a moment after this happened, the crack of a gunshot rang out, and the White Point Star was knocked out of the Beacon, severing the link with final – and fatal – results…
"THE LINK IS BROKEN!" bellowed the Doctor, swerving around to face the megalomaniac who engineered this entire nightmare. "BACK INTO THE TIME WAR, RASSILON – BACK INTO HELL!"
"GET READY TO FACE THE INFERNO, OLD MAN!" yelled Romana, knowing that she and her fiancé had condemned their entire race to die with the Daleks in the fires of the Galaxy-Eater. "IT'S TIME TO DIE!"
"GALLIFREY FALLING!" howled the voice of the Visionary, reverberating throughout all of Time, both the Counsellor and Penelope covering their eyes once again. "GALLIFREY FALLS!"
"YOU'LL DIE WITH ME, DOCTOR!" roared Rassilon, enraged beyond any Human imagining at the destruction of his final measure to ensure his salvation. All his work to get Gallifrey to the point it reached during the beginning of its current Era – all of it was for naught, burning down because of the work of one Renegade…
"I know," said the aforementioned Renegade, seeming almost resigned to the inevitable. This reaction infuriated Rassilon further, whilst making Romana's hearts seize with fear. He could hear her soul as their enemy raised his Gauntlet to kill, begging him not to die…but he knew that it would do no good. There was no regeneration to be had against a device of such power – he would be naught but atoms before he could even trigger the process at the point where it would serve any useful purpose…
"Get out of the way!" ordered the Master – and when he turned around, the Doctor saw him clasping his hands together. So too did Romana, and she realised what the Doctor's best enemy was about to do…
"GET DOWN!" she screamed, pulling her Doctor down to the floor. Both of them out of the way, the Master made his move. A stream of life energy erupted from his right hand, impacting the area between Rassilon's twisted hearts…
"YOU DID THIS TO ME!" bellowed the Master, letting out the entirety of his rage-filled vengeance upon the Founder of the Time Lords. "ALL OF MY LIFE!" He threw his left hand forward, and another stream of energy leapt from his palm, hitting the pained Rassilon in the chest for the second time. "YOU MADE ME!" His next four words were each punctuated by another bolt of energy from alternating hands. "ONE. TWO. THREE. FOUR!" The last word was a roar of unworldly, furious hatred, and the force of the blast had his manipulator kneeling in agony as the Light from the Time Corridor engulfed both the Master and the Time Lords, closing forever as it took them back into the Time War…
*DW* Romana's POV… *DW*
When she looked up, both the Master and the Time Lords were gone, trapped for the rest of Eternity inside the Last Great Time War, where they would meet their fate. Once again, the Universe had been saved from total destruction, but there was a sense of hollowness about the victory. One part of her was relieved, for whether by the fires of the Moment, or the hands of the Master, Rassilon would die, never to rise again. But the other…
Romana was painfully aware that she'd lost another family member forever, both her mother and son already dead during the course of the War. Her mother had died in the time before the Doctor had asked for her hand in Union – this had been the prime factor in her father requesting that he keep her away from the fires of insanity, and she'd only learnt of it when she actually joined the fight. Her son, she'd lost to the Daleks, and she was immensely thankful the Daleks were also gone forever. Now, her father had joined them in whatever the next world would transpire to be – the only one she had left now was her Theta…
Speaking of the Doctor, her fiancé was now starting to lift his head from the floor. Once they were face-to-face, the man who was once again the Last Time Lord in the Universe had a look of relief that complimented her own elation that he was still alive. He was also completely uncomprehending, scarcely able to believe the reality of it…
"I'm alive," he breathed, smiling wanly at her…
"Yes, you are," replied the Last Time Lady, returning his smile with her own enthusiastic one. "Sometimes, you just need a little faith in the idea that you'll survive." She pulled him into a crushing hug, letting her love falling into his considerably less burdened soul. Then, it happened – and she wished it hadn't unequivocally…
Knock, knock, knock, knock, rang out the dreaded noise, punctuating the queer humming of the Nuclear Bolt. Both Time Lords knew exactly what that sound was supposed to infer, and Romana felt her binary hearts seize in terror, overwhelmed by the sheer power of that same terror. Knock, knock, knock, knock, it rang out again, and any relief either of them had drained out of the both of their souls…
Please, no, cried the Time Lady, begging for this to just be a sick joke. No…not now, please…
Knock, knock, knock, knock, persisted the sound, almost insistent on bestowing this fate upon her Doctor. Knock, knock, knock, knock, it announced one final time. And when both of them looked towards the Vinvocci Glass upon which it was being made to ring out, the Doctor was completely deflated in defeat as they saw him – Wilfred Mott, still trapped in the locked Booth, waiting to be let out…
"They're gone, then?" he asked, still in a state of shock as to what had just occurred right before his very eyes. "Yeah, good-o…if you could, er…let me out?"
"Yeah," breathed the Doctor, sounding more defeated than ever before in this doomed incarnation of his. Romana snapped her head to stare at him, her eyes demanding to knowing what he meant, and realising with horror, what was going to happen. But how could it have been any other way? It was almost the norm for the Doctor's regenerations to begin in this manner…
"Only, this thing seems to be making a bit of a noise," Wilf commented, eyeing the Booth around him with a wary gaze, having a bad feeling as to what was about to occur.
"When the Master left," began Romana, her breathing constricted by the situation she could see playing out, "the Nuclear Bolt was left to run. His modifications damaged the Bolt – now, it's gone into overload."
"And that's bad, is it?"
"Only if you're in one of those Booths," she said, trying to keep herself from losing whatever little control she had left. "The Vinvocci Glass will contain the vented Radiation inside whichever Booth is locked – all five hundred thousand Rads of the filthy stuff…"
"Except…it's gone critical," the Doctor cut in, standing as he approached the point of breaking down at a speed indeterminable to any Human. Such was the unreadable nature of Time Lords – even ones as vulnerable as this version of the Doctor. "Touch one Control, and it floods…"
"Even the Sonic Screwdriver would trigger an instant overload," said Romana, starting to feel a bit petulant about the entire affair. Why? Why did it have to be this way, of all ways? A turn of the head from the Doctor told her that he heard her – a glimpse into his soul saw just how close to breaking point he was.
*DW* Wilf's POV… *DW*
"I'm sorry," sighed Wilf, kicking himself for how foolish he'd been. He thought the 16-year-old him was a skinny little idiot – looked like he never stopped being one. "Look, just leave me," he begged, not wanting the Doctor to take Death's lethal dose for him. But he was completely unable to predict the severity of what happened next…
The Time Lord walked over to the nearby paper-covered table, placed his hands on it, leant forward into it…and began hyperventilating, all control gone as he just inhaled and exhaled at the most stressful rate he'd ever seen. He could only watch as the hyperventilation continued, overwhelming his ability to speak, or even look at him. It was one of the most pitiable things he'd ever seen – it was right up there with dying Soldiers, begging to be permitted to live on by their God. He was almost glad when the only other one of the Doctor's race left present in the waking world cut into his train of thought…
*DW* the Doctor's POV… *DW*
He wanted to rage, wanted to scream in petulant anger over the sheer unfairness of being led to believe it was over, only for the Universe to say 'tough luck, old boy' and get him into this mess. If the prior circumstances leading up to this had been any different, he might well have done so. But he had to force himself to hold back from such behaviour, reminding himself of just how lucky he'd been to get back his once-lost love – that, and the fact that he couldn't consider a man who did that in these circumstances worthy of this wonderful Time Lady.
To this end, he settled for hyperventilating his frustration away, and, to his astonishment, he found that it actually helped to siphon away his rage. Already, he could feel it being extracted from him with the hot exhaled breath. However, he hadn't foreseen another taking up the torch for complaint with the mercilessness of the Universe's sense of twisted humour…
*DW* Romana's POV… *DW*
"Why?" demanded Romana, her vitriol directed at the Universe in general, rather than Wilfred in particular. She was finally losing all restraint and collapsing under the weight of what were her only two remaining darkest dreads – the death of the Doctor, spiritually or absolutely. "Why must I lose everything that matters to me?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Wilf, more than bewildered by this sudden outburst.
"Exactly that!" she snapped, furious at the sheer injustice of it all. Her words were nothing short of a vicious ramble, raging at the Universe and Timelines around her. "First my mother, killed by Daleks! Then my son, also by Daleks! Only moments ago, my father, sucked back into the infernal Time War to die by fire!" Her voice had been rising with each sentence, alarming both the Doctor and Wilfred. Finally, it reached the point of shouting, and the sight of her frustration terrified both of them. "AND NOW, MY FIANCÉ! HAVE I NOT LOST ENOUGH? AM I REALLY SUPPOSED TO HAVE NO LIMITS TO THE PAIN I CAN CARRY?"
Wilf, having only really seen how the Doctor shouldered the crushing pain he bore in his hearts, obviously had no idea what to expect from Romana. But he'd clearly not expected this of her, even when one took into account how different she was from both those grand imposing figures in the Gate and her own fiancé, as well as the vulnerability anyone could see in her eyes.
"Really, just leave me," pleaded Wilf, not wanting to put any more wounds into this woman's spirit than she'd already endured. She needed the Doctor, and he knew it – it was clear as day, and he'd seen her conviction to make sure the Doctor lived through this, even if it had meant killing the Master. He couldn't bear to be responsible for the death of the only loved one who was still with her. "I'm an old man – I've had my Time."
"You're still not getting it!" she raged, banging her fists on the table and upsetting a few papers in the process. "You heard what he said about regeneration, Wilfred Mott! But he didn't tell you it was twelve times only! He's done it eleven times already – this one will be the last he has! After that, it'll be actual death!"
"Romana…" tried the Doctor, only to be cut off by more enraged shouting.
"AND THAT'S NOT EVEN THE WORST OF IT!" bellowed Romana, banging her fists some more, the impacts even more powerful than before, almost breaking the table. "THE WORST PART IS THAT I'VE SEEN SOMETHING WORSE THAN SEEING HIM DIE! AND I'M NOT GOING TO STAND BY AND WATCH IT HAPPEN!" She wasn't even in the right state of mind to hold from inferring that terrible dark caricature that she faced in the Time War – she was just too far-gone in her fear and rage. "I CAN'T, DAMMIT! I JUST CAN'T!" The final six words were a poignant scream of hysteria that completely exhausted her voice, and she collapsed onto the floor, becoming a sobbing wreck of a woman. It was a truly pitiable sight that no sane person would ever wish to behold…
*DW* the Doctor's POV… *DW*
The awful sight of his Romana sobbing in such a poignant way was simply too much to bear…and if he didn't do something soon, Wilf would be the one meeting his end. He'd dragged the poor man into this awful business, and the least he could do was make sure he'd come out alive. Donna had already lost her godmother, who'd ultimately chosen to embrace her original identity as Romanadvoratrelundar – and though he was thankful for his fiancé's return, it shouldn't have had to come at such a price. It was times like these that he cursed the title of Time Lord – they lived for centuries, with no true compassion for the Universe around them. Either that, or they were just too afraid of death…
But this was different – this was a woman being faced with the possibility of her worst fears coming to pass. But if he did nothing, he'd end up leaving someone to die – the one thing he could never do and then call himself 'Doctor'. He could never forget the collision between his TARDIS and that of his 5th self – he'd had the rare opportunity to look at the incarnation of which his current one was almost a complete reincarnation. He'd loved being that one – and it was now that he truly realised why…
The 5th Doctor had gone through Hell and back on Androzani just to save the life of his companion from Spectrox Toxaemia – that one, more than any other, was the Doctor personified. Why had he done that? One – because after the death of Adric, he just couldn't stand losing another companion. Two – because it was the right thing to do. He'd been stuck in a world that had no use for the Doctor, and there was only one life he could save in the inhumane monstrosity of chaos that was Androzani, a world that happily pursued the material benefits of the refined Spectrox at any cost, including everything that made them decent Human beings.
He'd almost died regenerating that day…until he remembered the one thing he needed to remember in the moment he was assaulted by the vision of the Master. He remembered that there was still evil out there, and that the Universe still needed the Doctor…just as the Universe needed the Doctor now…just as his Universe needed the Doctor now. Romana now needed the Doctor, and the Doctor could never leave a man to perish before his time. With that decided in less than five seconds, he gathered whatever resolve remained to him…
"Romana," he whispered in their native tongue, and when she looked up, he saw her terrible fear blazing in her beautiful reddish-brown eyes. "I'm sorry, my love…there's no other way…"
"But…I can't lose you, Theta," she gasped, fighting back the tears to be able to speak even haltingly. "I need you…you're my Doctor, and I need you with me…"
"Exactly," he said, and she began to realise what he meant before he even explained. "You still need your Doctor…and your Doctor can't ever leave a friend to die, or he isn't your Doctor." He then said that only thing he could think of that would console her. "Have faith that I'll survive, my Romanadvoratrelundar…"
"I'll try…my Theta," she choked, as he began moving toward the empty Booth, inside which he'd be able to release their friend.
"No…no, no, please, please don't," pleaded Wilf. But as he watched the Doctor draw closer to the Cabinet, he knew what was going to happen before it actually did. "No, don't! PLEASE, DON'T! PLEASE…!" But once he reached the entrance to the vacant Booth, he knew there was no stopping it. However, there was no way for him to anticipate what the Time Lord said next…
"Wilfred," said the Doctor, smiling at the man he would be proud to call his father, the Soldier that never ended the life of any man, "…it's my honour." The words almost broke him completely, but Wilf was quickly thrust into action when he finally made the choice that would spell his doom. "Better be quick!" announced the Time Lord, rushing into the Cabinet and pressing the button, Wilf taking the chance to rush out before the inevitable took place…
*DW* Romana's POV… *DW*
She could only watch in horror as the Radiation flooded the Booth inside which her fiancé was now trapped, her Doctor curling up as he absorbed all five hundred thousand Rads of the lethal power. Every nerve of his body was aflame, and she could have sworn he thought he would die from the sheer agony of it as every cell was irrevocably damaged. It was all she could do to stop herself from running into the Booth Wilfred had just vacated and taking the Radiation herself – she was all too aware that such an action would only result in her regeneration as well. Utterly powerless to help her Theta, Romana could only force herself to look away, when…
The Gate stopped running, and ceased to vent the Radiation into the Booth, relenting in its attack upon the Doctor's cellular structure. The agony was over, and he managed to rise to his feet, albeit in a staggering manner. Understandable, given what he'd just been through…
"Doctor?" she asked, her tone one of inquiry into how well he was feeling, immediately kicking herself for it. Of course he wasn't fine – he'd just absorbed five hundred thousand Rads of lethal energy into his body.
"Hi," he replied, his voice sounding like a gasp of air. Don't kick yourself for it – you were worried.
Someone has to be, shot back Romana, trying to sound playful – and failing miserably.
"Still with us?" breathed Wilf, not believing the sight before his eyes.
"The System's dead – I absorbed it all," answered the Doctor. "Whole thing's kaput." He moved to open the Booth, and decided to throw in some barbed humour for added measure. "Oh, now it opens, yeah." With that, he was out, and quickly swept into a crushing hug by his fiancé. "Romana…please, my spine…"
"Never do that to me again," she whispered, pleading with him to swear to it, her use of their native tongue telling him how serious she was.
"Not even for a friend?" he asked, replied in the same Gallifreyan tongue to match the seriousness Romana was exuding.
"Except for friends," allowed the Time Lady, loosening her hug a bit as she leant her head into his chest…
"Well, there we are, then," said Wilf, feeling like he was intruding on something sacred by speaking up. "Safe and sound. Mind you, he's in Hell of a state, Romana – he's got some battle scars there." She pulled away from the Doctor as he raised his hands to his head…and Wilf was utterly awed by the spectacle of him rubbing his face clean of the scratches and scars that formed from crashing through the glass. "But they've…your face…how did you do that?"
"It's coming," said Romana, feeling her hearts tugged painfully by the knowledge that the one she'd imprinted on was about to leave so soon. She pulled her future husband closer for another hug, and felt Wilf join in the familial embrace. "Come on…let's go help Donna…"
*DW* Sylvia's POV… *DW*
It didn't take long for the TARDIS to arrive outside the Nobles' home in Chiswick. When they did arrive, what alarmed the Doctor was the fact that Sylvia Noble was smiling in their direction – he even made a tiny joke about it. But what alarmed Sylvia was that when she rushed to greet her daughter's godmother, she noticed something off about her…
"Fred?" she asked, her voice featuring a thin veneer of worry, mixed with an unnerved curiosity. "You look…younger?" Indeed, the ginger woman looked as young as the day they first met – what was going on here?
"I'll explain in a bit, Sylvia," the younger-looking Fred replied, swearing to the promise by crossing her heart. She had no idea that the woman only did it once to stop Sylvia form becoming unnerved further. "May I see Donna?"
"Course, yeah," replied Sylvia – though still a little unsure as to what was going on, she was never one to stop Donna from being blessed with the presence of her godmother. She turned to face her father, who was looking like someone had died. Suddenly, all wariness of her friend's apparent new youth became almost a background detail on this strange day…
*DW* Romana's POV… *DW*
The Time Lady walked into the Nobles' lounge to see Shaun and Donna in the room – Shaun holding a cup of tea, unaware that he'd ever become a Master Clone for a day, and Donna gossiping away about the fact that she'd missed something for the umpteenth time. At least, this was what they were doing before they caught sight of her – once they did, they were both smiling, though a little bewildered by her apparent youth…
"Auntie Fred?" said Donna. Her eyebrows were juxtaposed against her smile in a frown of worry, making her face form a brand of half-frown, half-smile. When Romana gave a hesitant nod by way of reply, the worry increased within her mind. "You alright? You look…I don't know…young, I suppose. What's happened?"
"A fair bit, Donna," answered Romana, bracing herself for what she was about to do. She reminded herself that this was Fred's last request before joining with her – she couldn't toss that aside and play it safe. "I'll be happy to tell you, but I'd like a little privacy in doing so, if that's OK with Shaun…"
"Alright," said Fred's goddaughter, turning to Shaun to ask for some one-to-one Time with the woman she still believed was her godmother. "Could you give us a minute, Shaun?"
"Sure, the tea's done anyway," he replied, complying with her request to be given some privacy. "See you in a bit, Donna." With that, he left the room, leaving Romana to retrieve the tea from the nearby desk and hand it to Donna. Taking a sip from the mug, she watched as the Human ginger prepared to ask her questions…
"OK, then. Gimme," she pressed, waiting for her to elaborate. But she was a little surprised when the woman she believed to be her godmother raised her hands to her temple, pressing in and sending what she could only describe as a shock throughout her mind…
*DW* Donna's POV… *DW*
When Donna's vision refocused, she found that she wasn't in any of the rooms of the Noble residence. In fact, she was certain she wasn't even in Chiswick. She was about to ask Fred where they were, but her godmother beat her to it, answering before the question even left her mouth…
"To put it simply, Donna," began Fred, "we're inside your mind." For some reason, the way the words were delivered sounded odd – or rather, odder than was expected from her. It was this that led Donna to believe something weird was going on. "You're not wrong – we're still exactly where we were, or our bodies are."
"Are you telling me we're in some kinda Vulcan mind-meld?" demanded Donna, more than a little alarmed at what had just happened.
"I'm afraid it gets stranger than that, Donna," replied her godmother, smiling a sad smile that spoke unreadable volumes of a certain something. It was then that something incredibly weird began happening – her brain felt like someone was pulling something off of it, something she didn't know she had. As a matter of fact, it felt like two things coming off…and once they were gone, she realised what they were, as everything came flooding back…
"Where is that bloody Spaceman?!" growled one furious Donna Noble. "Where the Hell does he get off wiping my bloody mind?!"
"How about trying to save your life in the belief that while there's life, there's hope?" riposted Fred, who, needless to say, was a little taken aback by Donna's explosive reaction. The problem was, although the words she employed were expectable of her godmother…the manner in which she delivered them wasn't. Something really strange had happened…
"Alright, well…how about explaining this trick?" asked the best friend of the 10th Doctor, almost sure that something had happened to Fred. How else would she be able to just walk into her mind? As far as Donna knew, it was something only someone like the Doctor could do…her mind stopped in its tracks – someone like the Doctor. That was the only thing she could think of, but the idea of Fred being a Time Lord – or Lady, she supposed – was utterly ridiculous. Then again, the Temp might not have been the only one to forget something. "Auntie Fred…did you have things in your head you couldn't remember?"
"Things I couldn't remember, yes. Things in my head, no," replied the strange woman. "Donna…did you ever hear of a Chameleon Arch when you travelled with the Doctor? Watches where a Time Lord can put themselves as they become a Human?"
"Martha told me after we dealt with ATMOS," said Donna, smiling fondly at what she could now remember. Thankfully, none of the Spaceman gobbledegook was stuck in her mind – she didn't fancy forgetting again. "We swapped a few stories before the TARDIS shot off for…reasons. Why?"
"You remember that I had an antique watch with weird markings?" she reminded. Donna thought about it for a moment…and complete shock washed over her the moment the realisation hit her. The familiar stranger saw her eyes, and somehow, knew immediately that she was cottoning on…
"You mean…" choked Donna, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Are you tellin' me my own godmother wasn't-?"
"Wasn't what, Donna? Wasn't real?" cut in the strange woman that looked like her Auntie Fred. There was a slight edge to her response to whatever the Temp had been about to say – an edge the Human couldn't quite place. "I don't believe that, and I know you don't either." When she wasn't able to think of anything to say to that, the woman continued. "Look at it this way – these Human identities we Time Lords can make for ourselves have to come from somewhere. I'd like to believe that Fred was created from me, as a life I could have lived had I been born Human, made into a living, breathing, real person by the Chameleon Arch."
For a few moments, Donna was left completely dumbfounded. Everything she thought she knew about her own honorary aunt turned out to be a mask so good that the one who created it almost completely forgot herself. But the way this strange woman explain it somehow made it a little more acceptable – Fred was created from a part of this stranger, and became part of this stranger again, memories clearly still there, as their conversation would suggest. But there was one thing that prevented her from accepting this fully…
"Why?" whispered Donna, wanting to know why this stranger created her artificial Human identity in the first place – she wanted to know why she made Fred.
"There are beings out there in the Universe who can track down Time Lords like nobody's business, Donna Noble," said the Time Lady, hoping that what she said would help her understand. "If I knew who and what I was, there's a chance they would as well. It would have been made all the easier by the state of near-extinction the Time Lords have reached, and I didn't fancy being caught by creatures like the Family of Blood."
"Who are you?" questioned the Human.
"I'm Romana," replied the Time Lady. "I've lived for over 300 years. I'm the fiancé of your best friend, the Doctor, and your Auntie Fred is the one who released me so I could save his life and soul, so that he would save the Universe yet again. Does that help?"
"Does make it a little easier to bear," admitted Donna. If her godmother had given her individuality to help Romana save her best friend's soul…then at least it wasn't for nothing. And if this woman were anything like him – she had to be, considering the kind of woman the Doctor would need to keep him from getting out of hand – she would do her absolute best to honour her memory. "Can't speak for Mum, though. She'll be gutted…"
"Could you explain it to her?" asked Romana, and Donna could have sworn she detected an anxious, fearful tone in her voice. "It's just that…I don't feel brave enough. I thought she might understand it coming from you, as she knows you've travelled with the Doctor, and knows almost nothing about me…"
"Alright, I understand," said Donna. To be honest, she didn't blame Romana one bit – Sylvia Noble could be more than a handful when it came to womanly ferocity, and she'd known that since she was a teenager. Besides, the Doctor and Romana had both waited long enough to be fully reunited – who was she to keep them apart? "Will you be there…at the wedding? For Auntie Fred?"
"Of course. Anything for Fred's goddaughter…and the Doctor's best friend. Yes, he actually said that," answered Romana, grinning in fondness for the words Frederica Shepherd had heard the Doctor say in front of his best enemy. "But for now, Donna, I have to go. The Doctor's regenerating, for the final time, and I don't think I could forgive myself if I'm not there when he needs me…"
"Alright, Romana. You take care of him, you hear?" said the Human, fixing her with a stare that wouldn't accept 'no' for an answer on this one. Romana nodded, and Donna knew that she could no longer keep her from a proper reunion with her future husband. "Now, go be there for him…"
*DW* Romana's POV… *DW*
Complying with Donna's request, she pulled them both out of the mental interface. Soon, they found themselves back in the room where the contact had been initiated. Now that she'd done what she came here to do, it was time to say goodbye for the Present. Right now, there was a waiting fiancé who needed her with him for the Future, and she found him waiting patiently outside the Nobles' home. While Donna settled for an indecipherable wave to the Doctor, Romana rushed up and pulled him into a crushing hug…
"Done, then?" whispered the Time Lord, being cryptic so as to avoid arousing Sylvia's suspicion until Donna was ready. Indeed, she was looking at them both with a curious expression as it was, and he was thankful enough when Romana gave her silent confirmation. Sending his immense gratitude through their bond, he turned to his other companion for this debacle. "Don't go thinking this is goodbye, Wilf. I'll see you again, one more time."
"What do you mean? When's that?" asked Wilf, a little confused to what the Doctor was talking about.
"Just keep looking. I'll be there," replied the Doctor, deliberately using 'I'll' instead of 'we'll' to continue keeping Sylvia unaware until the circumstances were ideal for Donna to reveal them to her.
"Where you are going?" Wilf tried once more. He ended up waiting for a few second for a reply to this…and the answer was still as cryptic as ever expectable from the Doctor as he and Romana headed into the TARDIS.
"To get my reward," he simply said, a small smile forming on his face. With that, they entered the TARDIS Console Room, Romana shutting the Door behind her. "Well, Romana? What do you think? How does she look?"
"Honestly, Doctor," she returned with a half-smile, "I don't know what to say about the Coral, other than the fact that it reminds me too much of…" She trailed off, letting her fiancé complete the sentence without any spoken words.
*DW* the Doctor's POV… *DW*
"Eh, hadn't thought of it that way," answered the Time Lord, actually stopping to think about it. If he was going to make a new future with her, then hanging onto one Desktop Theme wasn't going to cut it. So, what was going to replace this admittedly depressing Theme? After a few moments, he decided he'd leave it until after the regeneration, and allow the new Doctor to decide what was best. Putting all attention to his fiancé, he changed the topic. "So what about your sense of style?"
"Well, let's be honest – it is in tatters," answered Romana. "Do you want me to find something else?"
"As long as it'll wear well," teased the Doctor, flipping the Demat Lever, setting the Time Rotor to work.
"Oh, shut up," riposted the Time Lady, giving him a frustrated grin as the TARDIS rejoined the Time Vortex…
*DW* Donna's POV… *DW*
"Is someone going to tell me what's going on?" demanded a very bewildered Sylvia Noble, not wanting to be kept out of the loop by Wilfred. But an unexpected reply from Donna had her spinning around to face her daughter, and when she saw her, Donna was smiling like never she'd seen.
"Have I got a story to tell you, Mum," she declared, relishing being able to remember the things she did across the Universe with her best friend, and needing to explain what was going on…