Chapter 10

I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more ...

A Thousand Years, Christina Perri

The days passed by.

Ace soon discovered Selena had been wrong about her prediction – Ed was recovering quickly, at least, recovering from the laser bolt wound...

His memory seemed to be mostly wiped out, she had tried many times to talk of his days in other lifetimes, but every time she did it he just looked at her with a bewildered expression and asked, "What's regeneration?"

Ace quickly became used to her new life.

Ed's memory was damaged, but the damage was limited to recalling the past, and as she recalled how he had once told her he wished he could forget everything but her, she guessed in a way he had got what he longed for – he was now free from the memories of his many lifetimes as the Doctor, he did not recall the battles, the losses, the many fights against the vast amount of evil that lurked in many guises through out the twelve galaxies. Nor did he remember the great battle for the earth, or the death of his wife and his closest friend.

It was all gone.

He was no longer haunted by the past...

To Ace, that was an outcome she could not feel sad about at all, but she did wish he could remember something, even if he just recalled that he was a Time Lord, and remembered exactly what that meant...

Within a week of the Tardis redesigning and returning to Earth, Ed was out of bed and keen to explore the house and the gardens that surrounded it. Ace took her time showing him all around the place, and as she did so, she still thought it was incredible to think the whole of the place was the Tardis, redesigned yet again...

But as they stood in the middle of the lawn in the back of the garden, Ed looked at her sadly.

"It's gone," he said quietly.

"What has?" Ace asked him.

"The maze. I remember the maze, every single part of it, but now it's gone."

"I know," she replied, and they walked hand in hand back towards the house.

The Tardis was drifting through space.

The Seventh Doctor was looking thoughtfully out at the blackness that stretched on to forever scattered with tiny glowing stars.

"It's such a long way back to Earth," he said thoughtfully.

"But we're going back in a few days to see how Ace and the Doctor are getting on."

"No," he replied, "It's best for me if I don't go back there. And he's not the Doctor any more. I remember, the Tardis said, Goodbye Doctor."

"When he was disconnected from the power core," Selena said.

The Doctor gave her a knowing look.

"The Tardis knew his memories of being the Doctor – his memories of his previous regenerations – had just been wiped out. The Tardis wasn't confirming the contact had been broken. It was saying goodbye to Ed as the Doctor."

She looked at him in surprise.

"I didn't think of it that way. But don't you want to go back to make sure he's okay? And what about Ace, surely you want to say goodbye to her?"

He smiled.

In his heart, he already knew the circle in time had been sealed:

It had been sealed the minute he had returned to the Tardis, missed her painfully and then made a silent vow to see her again some day – and some day, many lifetimes from now, he would, when he was in his final life and he called himself Ed...

It would be a long time until he saw Ace McShane again, but when he did, when he met with her many years from now, he would be the last Doctor, and the rest was history already made complete...

"I'll see her again one day," he told her, "She's worth waiting for."

And Selena looked a little confused, but had no time to ask questions as the Doctor smiled and spoke up again, his mood instantly brightening.

"So, did you want to carry on with your holiday, or go back to Earth and your new job – or would you like to put it on hold for a while and come travelling with me?"

She started to smile.

"You want to show me the universe?"

"I'm just curious to see how many times I can actually impress you!" he exclaimed, "I'm sure I can manage it."

She laughed as she nodded.

"Go for it, Doctor," she said, "I can't wait to see what you've got in mind!"

And the Doctor activated the space-time controls on the console, and the Tardis flew onwards through a galaxy filled with stars.

"I wish I could remember who I am," Ed said as he lay back on a sofa in the front room as Ace sat beside him.

"I'm sure it will come back," Ace told him, "At least you still remember me."

He put his arm around her and pulled her closer, giving her a lingering kiss.

"Your name is Ace McShane and I love you," he said, "And we met a short while ago...when the maze was...where was the maze?"

"Somewhere," she replied, "Even I can't find it now."

And for a moment she just sat beside him, looking into his eyes as she felt thankful the man she loved had survived separation from the energy core – it didn't matter so much that he had forgotten all his other life times, like he had said before his hologram had vanished for the last time, what mattered was the life he had now, this last one – and he wanted to live it , and at least now that was possible.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him, and he shifted his hand to his side and cautiously felt the fading bruising beneath his clothing.

"I'm healing very fast considering I fractured my ribs," he said to her, "And the bruising has almost gone."

Ace smiled.

"That's because you're special," she told him, and she leaned closer and gave him a lingering kiss.

"I still feel tired, though," he remarked, and he closed his eyes and Ace watched as he slid into a relaxed and easy sleep, but as Ace got up from the sofa, Ed opened his eyes again.

"Did I fall asleep?"

"Only for a minute."

"Don't let me sleep in the daytime, I've been so lazy lately!"

"That's because you can't remember what you've been through," she said to him.

Ed looked at her, and for a moment he seemed slightly confused.

"I can't remember what I've been through," he replied.

"I'll make some tea for us," she said to him, and then she left the room.

As Ace walked out into the kitchen, she paused to look out of the window at the wide green lawn that led to the bottom of the garden, where shady trees made the old wall behind it seem cast in shadow.

It was a warm summer day and the sun was high in the sky and as the kettle boiled Ace opened the back door, and then she made the tea and left it on the kitchen table.

And on hearing the familiar mewing of a cat, she turned towards the back door, looking in surprise to see the black cat with bright green eyes standing on the doorstep.

"Starbuck?" she exclaimed, and the cat turned away and ran up the garden path.

Ace followed, hurrying up the path to see Starbuck had waited for her, standing between the trees at the back of the garden.

She half expected the cat to jump up and climb one of those old trees, but instead it ran up to the brick wall, looked back at Ace and then darted through a gap and disappeared.

"Starbuck?" she said again, and she followed the path to the end of the garden, ran her hand across the cracked brickwork, and gave a gasp as she caught sight of a hidden panel.

"No way!" she exclaimed, and she hit a button and the wall slid back.

Ace saw a small flight of steps, and she heard Starbuck mewing again, so she went down the stairway, and then she stopped and looked around, and then she realised she was in the upper hallway in the heart of the SS Atlantis, and she looked down into a carpeted area where walls reflected water, where Starbuck was now curled up comfortably on a sofa in the level below.

Ace started to smile as she looked around again.

"The Maze is still here!" she said, "The Tardis just moved it..."

And she looked up around the high ceiling.

"Barbara?" she called out, "Are you still here?"

"Tardis voice function now operates in the capacity of maze computer," said Barbara, "Yes, I am still here."

Ace laughed.

"This is great! Why did you save the maze, Tardis?"

"Because Edward still recalls the maze," the voice replied.

Ace took another look around the new entrance to the maze and her eyes shone with joy.

"I'm going to fetch Ed!" she said excitedly, and she turned to leave, saw something small and glowing on the floor, snatched it up and ran back up the steps and out to the garden.

Ed was almost at the point of dozing off on the sofa again when Ace ran into the room.

She grabbed him by the hand.

"Get up, you've got to come with me, I need to show you something!"

He got up slowly, placing a hand on his sore ribs.

"What is it, Ace?"

And she opened up her closed hand and his gaze fell on the crystal that glowed in her palm.

"Where did you find it?" he asked in surprise.

"Come on," she said, "I'll show you."

Ace led him from the house and up the path to the back of the garden where the hidden door was still open.

"It's still here," she said to him.

He stared at her.

"The maze?"

Ace smiled as she nodded.

"The maze is still here, it just moved and now I've found it again!"

And he let go of her hand and hurried down the steps, and Ace followed.

As they stood together in the upper hallway of the SS Atlantis, Ed 's eyes lit up with excitement as he looked around, then looked again just to be sure it wasn't a dream.

"It's still here!"

"I know!"

They hugged as they stood there, embracing in the place that had brought them together, a place they had both thought lost forever.

"I can't wait to explore!" Ed said to her, "I bet it's all changed around again...it does change sometimes...I think Barbara does it?"

"That's right," Ace said, blinking back tears of joy as she saw the man she loved becoming just as he used to be, just as she remembered him, and it was happening instantly as he recalled the maze, as if the place had the ability to heal him, wiping out all he had been through.

And then recognition sparked in his blue eyes and he put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her closer.

"I remember!" he told her, "I know who I am!"

"Tell me who you are," Ace said, as she waited for his answer.

He smiled and his eyes sparkled.

"I'm the maze master!" he exclaimed, "That's who I am...I think it's who I've always been!"

And Ace laughed softly as she embraced him.

"That's good enough for me," she said, and then she kissed him.

"You're right, Ed. You are the maze master. You're the best maze master in the twelve galaxies!"

He turned back to the maze.

"Let's go and explore!"

"Not yet, let's wait until you're feeling stronger," she said, "I'm sure you'll be up to it in a couple of days...the maze isn't going to disappear again, it's here to stay."

"You're right," he agreed, "I'm not quite ready for this – but I will be very soon!"

"I know you will!"

Ace kept hold of his hand as they went back up the stairway, and then as they reached the garden once more she hit the button and closed the hidden doorway.

Then they turned back and began to walk down the path towards the house.

"I feel as if I'm so much more than a maze master," he said to her, "When I looked around the maze I almost felt as if I was about to travel through time and space."

And Ace smiled as she gave his hand a squeeze and she looked at him.

"Did you know," she said, "That somewhere in another time, there's a man who took on two warring nations in his time machine, and he won the battle to save the Earth."

They were almost at the end of the path. Ed stopped walking and turned to her.

"Really? What happened after that?"

Her eyes shone with love as she looked at him.

"And then he slept for a hundred years, and somewhere in another time and place, his true love is beside him as he wakes, but he will never remember being a hero, because he forgets."

"Interesting story," he remarked, "I'm not sure I understand it, but what else is out there, Ace?"

She laughed softly.

"I don't know, but I do know that right now, we need to go back in the kitchen."

"Why?" he asked her.

"Because it's been on the table for ten minutes," she said fondly, "Come on, Ed...the tea's getting cold."

And then she kissed him, and they went back inside the house together.

End

Author Note:

Book TWO in this series continues with The Last Doctor: Legend of the Maze Master Book 2 : Past Lives.