Chapter 21:

Wilf and Sylvia led the way down for The Doctor to follow them back to where Donna lay. His rested mind and nursed body made it easier for him to think and help Donna; he was already forming a plan to do for her what her family had done for him. Her sleep was more peaceful now with just The Doctor's presence easing her again but the extra murmurs of her chest and breath showed signs of inner chaos within her mind. He knew it would take time to get to her in her mind.

He sat down by her side, gently dropping to his knees as he found a comfortable position. Before he got to work he turned to see Donna's family still watching over him intently as though waiting for an instant cure or change. "It'll take time remember. I need her to trust me again, bring back some order to her mind. Give me half an hour, then I'll come back and update you."

The Doctor made it seem as though he was set for some long journey into the unknown yet he was never even going to leave the room. Sylvia turned to Wilf for support whose nod assured her enough to join him at the kitchen table, though she kept an eye on The Doctor at all times.

Taking a breath, he placed a finger on her head and prepared himself to go back to her mind. He focused on clearing his mind, drowning out the dull endless pain that troubled him as he made sure there was nothing in his head that would exacerbate Donna's condition. With her Timelord half active he knew there was a slight chance she would find comfort inside of his mind as opposed to her own cluttered head. He took another moment and then placed his fingers on her temple, entering her mind with a practised grace and ease.

The Doctor found his way to the surface of her mind again. The burnt orange sky clearer now as the dark clouds had dispersed, but the wind still kept up its unchanging force against his movements. He knew Donna's mind was signalling him to stay put as her memories needed to be straightened out first before he could get to her and that's just what he planned to do. He took a seat on the ground, a strange warmth emanating from the virtual floor reminding him of where he really was. He marvelled in the detail Donna's mind had put into her world, the pastel orange grass glimmered with a silvery tint reminding him of his home. He began to set about his working, filing through her memories as they flew past him, gathering the leaves together. He separated the reality from fantasy, her farfetched dreams from her touchable aspirations, the heart filled memories and the missed adventures. Each leaf was thin and coloured, flashes over Donna's memories cast inside them like glassy screens into her wildest imaginations and happiest moments. It seemed there was less chaos that he expected, her mind has colour coded her memories. Dark red leaves contained the nightmares. Fears of loneliness, surrounded by death and misfortune ran through the veins of the crimson coloured vegetation. He found nightmares of her grandfather's death, a vision of her future self old and alone all mixed in with her true fears in reality; her suppressed memories of when she was with The Doctor and the adrenaline rush from the near death experience. As he sorted through the leaves he found a particularly dark one containing the one piece of reality he hadn't wanted to come across so soon- the memory of when he wiped her memory. He could vividly remember the fear in her eyes, the tears rolling down cheeks as she wondered what kind of a person she'd become, but he was seeing her view of it. He saw himself through her eyes, standing over her as she collapsed into his arms; giving her no choice to change her inevitable fate. His own eyes were moist as he held back the tears.

He quickly placed that aside wanting to move on to something else. He changed colours and picked out some amber leaves. These contained aspirations; dreams to travel, to be a detective and even be married and have children. They contained her hopes, both new and old, everything from her childhood wishes to see her grandmother again to the time she prayed Sylvia's voice would be lost so that she didn't have hear her constant nagging.

He laughed and smiled as he found happier memories in the lighter yellow tinted leaves. He was happy to see she had made some recent memories since he'd last seen, slowing moving on with Shaun now in her life. A childish grin filled his face as he relieving their adventures from her perspective, from saving planet s and the awful lot of running around they did to darker moments she'd brought him through. He searched around quickly to find what other set of memories he would have to sort through and quickly pied up several clusters of glassy transparent leaves filled the general facts and experiences of life Donna had encountered.

He continued his work for what felt like an hour, occasionally checking a pocket watch he'd imagined to help keep track on time in the real world. As time passed he noticed the humidity in her mind and how warm it seemed, added to the work he was doing the heat tired him out quicker than he'd expected and he was nearing his half hour time limit. He stood up to see the work he'd done. The ground was clearer now, and he began to see a path to distance building beyond the fading mist. There were subtle changes in his surroundings too; trees were now splashed with both dark and light green leaves. They were more earth like and familiar to the Donna he knew. These were the oldest memories, ones she had formed before The Doctor had entered her life. They were the last stable foundations of her mind remaining on the trees and reminding her of who she was.

He could see there was so much more to do and there would definitely be gaps in his knowledge on where each of Donna's thoughts would be placed. The colour system was part of Donna's way of remembering everything, categorising all she'd seen but all of it was blurry too. The dreams turned reality and false hopes were harder to differentiate and as were the smaller trivial memories from her childhood and the time she'd lived apart from him.

He took once last glance round again as he prepared to leave her mind again, not just to meet his deadline and avoid a scolding from Sylvia which was something he really could do without but he was genuinely exhausted again. The shear amount of mental effort it took to sustain this link and do his work was taxing on his own self too, especially as he still felt the strong breeze push against his every movement. He knew Donna was going to fight against any ideas he had of another suppression but he was yet to find a solution to that and she seems to sense that in him. The glints of sadness in The Doctor's face were easy to distinguish when he thought he wasn't being watched as he looked through their memories together.

All he could do was hope the wind wouldn't sweep away all the progress he made while he was away but he had no real choice but to leave.

"Donna... Just give me some time, I'll be there soon." The Doctor's words were but whispers to the empty wind but he knew Donna would hear them. She'd sense his presence, the order he'd restored and hopefully hear the words he had to say too.

The Doctor closed his eyes returning back to his world, his hands trembled away from Donna's temple as he did so. The last half hour had taken more of toll on him than he expected and he found himself resting against the side of the couch breathing deeply as the Noble family waited for his promised update.

"Well...how is she?" Wilf raised eyebrows questioned his Timelord friend with tepid fear, even he could see the exhaustion on The Doctor's face but they'd spent too long just watching him fixed in a trance like state with their Donna. He watched as The Doctor stumbled over towards them taking a seat in the empty chair besides him.

"We're making progress. It'll take me a few days to find her but I for know I'm helping her reorganised her memories and dreams." His assured them of a hopeful outlook of which he truthfully had no real control on but that was what he would aim for. The longer he let Donna go on like this the harder it would be to save her.

"So you can get her back?" Sylvia was the first to drop the question that was hanging over them since the day had begun, "You can make her better?"

"Theoretically yes, but this Donna with a half a Timelord mind. She's stronger now..."

"She was always strong." Sylvia interjected, forever feeling the needed to defend her sleeping daughter. The Doctor nodded agreeing as he remembered their time in Pompeii amongst other journeys.

"But now she could kick me out of her mind and keep me out, too. The closer I get to her, the stronger she'll be able to push me out. She has to accept me in, last time it was different. Her mind had just changed, now it's had time to harness more strength."

Wilf made an audible swallow as he heard how Donna had changed inside, he wondered if she was still the granddaughter he once had who'd come still with on the hillside and stare up at the night sky. The last time The Doctor had left Donna was a shell of her former self; stripped of all her courage and buzzing energy. She'd come so far since then that he couldn't bear to see her go back to that.

"I'm having one problem with helping Donna." The Doctor paused as he let them refocus on his next question, "I haven't been around for her whole life. I'm going to need a bit of help filling in the gaps-her childhood, growing up and everything in between." He'd have to get to know all her personal and most precious moments if he was to set her memories straight.

"Well we've got photo albums and I can help you go through them." Wilf suggested quickly, turning round and heading to the nearby side cabinet. He pulled out several photo books filled with the exact things The Doctor would need.