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The Day of the Doctor – Part Five

The War Room of Gallifrey was in shambles; barely organised chaos reigned, and to top it all off, they had just received another message. "Are you sure the message is from him?" the General demanded, and Androgar replied with certainty, "Oh, yes".

"Why would he do that?" the General wondered as they stared at the message, 'Gallifrey Stands' , "What's the mad fool talking about now?" To his surprise, a holographic monitor appeared above the table. "Hello, hello, Gallifrey High Command, this is the Doctor speaking" Eleven introduced himself. Then another holo-monitor blinked into existence. "Hello! Also the Doctor. Can you hear me?" Ten asked, before a third screen popped up. "Also the Doctor, standing ready" the War Doctor announced.

The General stared at them in dismay. "Dear God, three of them. All my worst nightmares at once" he lamented. Ten informed him, "General, we have a plan". Eleven interrupted to say "We should point out, at this moment, it is a fairly terrible plan"-

"And almost certainly won't work".

"I was happy with fairly terrible".

"They're not going to have much confidence in the plan if you talk about it like that, dear" said an unfamiliar female voice off screen. "Who's that?" the General demanded, and Eleven moved aside to gesture to a Time Lady working at the console behind him. "My wife, Romanadvotrelundar – oh, and our daughter Emeya" he added, lifting a little girl up to the 'camera'. She waved enthusiastically at them before her father put her back down. "We're flying our three TARDISes into your lower atmosphere" he explained.

"We're positioned at equidistant intervals around the globe" Ten continued, adding to himself, "Equidistant, so grown up".

"We're just about ready to do it" added the War Doctor, and the General questioned, "Ready to do what?"

"We're going to freeze Gallifrey".

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Using our TARDISes, we're going to freeze Gallifrey in a single moment in time" Ten elucidated, and the War Doctor added, "You know, like those stasis cubes? A single moment in time, held in a parallel pocket universe" –

"Except we're going to do it to a whole planet" –

"And everyone on it".

The General couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What? Even if that were possible, which it isn't, why would you do such a thing?" he questioned. Eleven fixed him with a serious stare and replied, "Because the alternative is burning".

"And I've seen that".

"And I never want to see it again".

"We'd be lost in another universe, frozen in a single moment. We'd have nothing" the General insisted. Romana stepped up beside her husband and told him, "That's not true, General. You would have hope". Eleven nodded in agreement and added, "Yes, and right now, that is exactly what you don't have".

"It's delusional" the General protested, "The calculations alone would take hundreds of years!"

"Oh, hundreds and hundreds" Eleven agreed, and then Ten continued, "But don't worry, I started a very long time ago". Another screen appeared, this one with the first incarnation of the renegade. "Calling the War Council of Gallifrey. This is the Doctor".

"You might say I've been doing this all my lives" Eleven grinned as more and more holo-monitors blinked into being above the table; the second, third, fourth, eighth, fifth, seventh, sixth and ninth Doctors.

"Good luck"

"Standing by"

"Ready"

"Commencing calculations"

"Soon be there"

"Across the boundaries that divide one universe from another"

"Just got to lock on to his coordinates"

"And for my next trick"

The expression on the General's face had shifted from dismay to outright horror. "I didn't know when I was well off. All twelve of them!" he complained. Androgar's eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "No sir, all thirteen!", as another hologram appeared. The room trembled as the battle outside raged on. "Sir! The Daleks know that something is happening. They're increasing their fire power" Androgar warned the General, who struggled with his decision for a moment. "Do it, Doctor. Just do it" he ordered at last, "Just do it".

Eleven nodded to him, and turned to his console. "Okay" he said solemnly, "Gentlemen, we're ready. Geronimo!"

"Allons-y!"

The War Doctor rolled his eyes, "Oh, for God's sake. Gallifrey stands!" he announced proudly. Thirteen TARDISes raced towards Gallifrey, surrounded it, and then – whiteout.

/

In a private room in the National Gallery, seven Gallifreyans and one human observed the 'Gallifrey Falls' painting. Eleven stood on one side of the painting, his arm around Romana's shoulders as she held a mug of tea; Ten stood on the other side, next to the Corsair. Clara sat on a nearby bench between Flavia and the War Doctor, whilst Emily stood in front of her parents, slurping a Capri-Sun.

"I don't suppose we'll know if we actually succeeded" the War Doctor commented, "But at worst, we failed doing the right thing, as opposed to succeeding in doing the wrong" he finished. Clara raised an eyebrow at him and commented jokingly, "Life and soul, you are". Emily took the straw from her mouth to say, "I bet you saved Gallifrey; we've just gotta find it again", she looked up at her father and asked, "If we do find it, can we invite your other selves and their friends to a big 'Hooray We Found Our Home Planet Again' party?"

Eleven chuckled and ruffled her hair fondly. "I think all of them might be a bit of a stretch, sweetheart, but we'll see" he replied. Satisfied, Emily went back to her juice. Ten gestured to the painting and wondered aloud, "What is it actually called?"

"Well, there's some debate. Either 'No More' or 'Gallifrey Falls'"

"Not very encouraging" the War Doctor commented. Eleven shrugged. "How did it get here?" asked Ten.

"No idea".

"There's always something we don't know, isn't there?"

"One should certainly hope so" said the War Doctor as he got to his feet, "Well, gentlemen, it has been an honour and a privilege" he told his future selves, who nodded and smiled.

"Likewise"

"Doctor"

The War Doctor nodded to Flavia and the Corsair, the latter throwing him a salute. He kissed Romana's hand like a gentlemen, and turned to Clara. "And if I grow to be half the man that you are, Clara Oswald, I shall be happy indeed" he added to his future companion, who grinned and nodded. "That's right, aim high" she agreed. Emily stepped up to give him a hug goodbye; as he hugged her back, the War Doctor looked at his future selves and asked, "I won't remember this, will I?"

"The time streams are out of sync. You can't retain it, no" Eleven informed him. The War Doctor sighed, and let Emily go. "So I won't remember that I tried to save Gallifrey rather than burn it, or that I won't be as alone as I'll believe. I'll have to live with that. But for now, for this moment, I am the Doctor again. Thank you" he smiled gratefully, before turning to the three TARDISes parked against the wall. "Which one is mine? Ha!" he laughed, stepping into the most battered TARDIS.

Ten looked at Romana, who smiled at him, and stepped forward to hug him. "Don't look so sad. This isn't goodbye, Doctor. It's just, 'see you later'" she reminded Ten; he chuckled and replied, "I look forward to it". He shook the Corsair's and Flavia's hands, and Emily hugged him once more. "It was nice meeting you" she smiled shyly. "The pleasure's all mine, Emily" he replied, before straightening up and turning to his future-self. "It's good to know my future is in safe hands. See you later, Clara".

"See you later, Doctor" she answered. Ten stepped into the TARDIS without the St John Ambulance sticker, and dematerialised. "He'll be fine" the Doctor said confidently, "after all, it won't be long until he's me, and then he'll be one step closer to seeing you again" he added tenderly to Romana, who smiled at him and stroked his cheek. The Gallifreyans looked at 'Gallifrey Falls' once more. "Need a moment alone with your painting?" asked Clara with a knowing smile.

Romana nodded. "Thank you, Clara" she told her honorary sister, and then Flavia added, "Yes, thank you – for everything". Clara smiled at them all, and moved towards the TARDIS. Before stepping inside, she paused and said, "Oh, by the way, there was an old man looking for you. I think it was the curator". Then she went inside the time machine.

The Doctor sat down with Emily on his lap. "I could be a curator" he suggested; Romana's lips twitched in amusement. "Hey, don't laugh. I'd be great at curating. I'd be the Great Curator. I could retire and do that. I could retire and be the curator of this place" he mused thoughtfully. Then a familiar, yet impossible voice remarked, "You know, I really think you might".

Romana could hardly believe her eyes; the elderly man who entered the room looked so much like the fourth Doctor, but it couldn't be…could it? "Do I know you?" she asked curiously, and the curator smiled at her. "I don't believe so, but you might one day, my dear", he winked, and then gestured to the painting. "You were curious about this painting, I think. I acquired it in remarkable circumstances. What do you make of the title?" he asked the Doctor.

"Which title? There's two. No More or Gallifrey Falls" the Doctor replied, but then the curator explained, "Oh, you see, that's where everybody's wrong. It's all one title. 'Gallifrey Falls No More'. Now, what would you think that means, eh?" he inquired. The Time Lords looked at one another in dawning comprehension and excitement. "That Gallifrey didn't fall" the Doctor guessed, "It worked. It's still out there".

The curator simply said, "I'm only a humble curator. I'm sure I wouldn't know"; but there was a definite twinkle in his eyes. "I wonder where it could be" Emily speculated, and the curator chuckled. "Where is it indeed? Lost, shh...perhaps; things do get lost, you know. And now you must excuse me. Oh, you all have a lot to do" he told the Time Quintet. "Really?" inquired Romana. The Doctor smiled eagerly and asked, "Is that what we're supposed to do now? Go looking for Gallifrey?"

"Oh, it's entirely up to you. Your choice, eh? I can only tell you what I would do if I were you. Oh, if I were you. Oh, perhaps I was you, of course. Or perhaps you are me. Congratulations" the curator rambled. The Doctor beamed. "Thank you very much".

"Or perhaps it doesn't matter either way. Who knows, eh? Who knows?" He tapped his nose, and then left them alone. The five of them looked at one another, and grinned slowly. It wasn't over yet; they might have saved their planet from destruction, and now they could go looking for it, bring it back to its place amongst the stars. They went back into the TARDIS, where Clara was waiting for them. Look out Gallifrey the Doctor thought happily as they dematerialised, here we come.

/

Clara sometimes asks us if we dream. Of course we dream, we tell her; everybody dreams. "But what do you all dream about?" she'll ask. The same thing everybody dreams about, we tell her. We dream about where we're going. She always laughs at that. "But you're not going anywhere, you're just wandering about".

Twelve Time Lords, and three Time Ladies, stood gazing out amongst the stars. The fourteenth joined them, standing beside his wife, one of each of their hands resting on their daughter's shoulders.

That's not true. Not anymore. We have a new destination. Our journey is the same as yours, the same as anyone's. It's taken us so many years, so many lifetimes, but at last we know where we are going.

On his left stood Flavia, and his tenth, ninth, seventh, fifth and third incarnations. On his right stood Romana, the Corsair, the War Doctor, and his eighth, sixth, fourth, and second incarnations. His first stood right behind them, and all of them looked up at a large golden planet, rich with possibilities, hanging in the sky.

Where we've always been going. Home, the long way round.