Chapter 69: Epilogue
The Doctor felt ecstatic. For the first time in centuries, he was filled with hope. Hope for the future. Hope for life. Hope for, well, just about everything. His whole body buzzed with energy. Quite literally, too. His body had returned back into a younger face. The young face he had when he had first regenerated into his Eleventh self. Well, technically not his official Eleventh self, but . . . No, none of that mattered now. All that mattered was he had been given a brand new cycle of regenerations. From miracles of miracles (not that he ever believed in such a thing) he had been given a whole new life to live. The Time Lords had given him that from a crack they had managed to open up in the sky over Trenzalore. Does this mean they were coming back? Does this mean that all he had sacrificed had meant something?
At the moment, none of that mattered to him. All that mattered, all that was set in his mind now, was to get to his Wanderer. As fast as he could, he needed to get to his wife. He did not bother to look back into the tower that was below his feet. Instead, he jumped over the side of the building and landed with almost a bounce on the ground below. In the past that would have hurt him in some way. But with regeneration buzzing through him, nothing would hurt him in the slightest. Not for a few long hours, at least. So, he just bounced right up from the ground and ran over to his ship. Though he briefly glanced around the destruction his blast of regeneration energy had caused. Ah. Well . . . he could always come back later and fix that for the people of Christmas. Or maybe send some people to fix it for him. Yes, that seemed more agreeable.
The Doctor bounded to the TARDIS, snapping his fingers for the ship to open. But she did not budge her doors for him. This made him frown and pause just outside her. He shrugged this off, thinking maybe she was just tired from the years of being parked on the planet. So, instead, he swiftly pulled out his key, shoving it into the lock to open the doors this way. Again, nothing.
"Come on. I know she's inside so let me in," he grumbled at his ship, shaking the doors. He backed up a bit then made a motion to slam against the doors. But they suddenly opened, making him practically fall to the floor within. He hurriedly bounced back to his feet, brushing himself off and adjusting his bow tie while giving the old girl a stern look. Closing the doors swiftly behind him, he ran into the control room.
Would she be in their room? Was Clara still trying to drag her down the corridors to the room? How far away were they? Did he have enough time to—
The Time Lord halted in his tracks, freezing to the spot by the console. His eyes grew wide as he stared at the female across from him on the other side of the console. Brown eyes met green as the young woman across from him looked up swiftly from where she stood. She had been gazing at the controls in a stupor. But now she blinked at him, looking almost for a loss of words. He felt about the same, not knowing what to say.
"Aleena?" he finally managed to blurt out in his confusion. The girl slowly smiled.
"Hey, dad. Long time no see, eh?"
To be continued in The Aleena Chronicles.