Author's Note:
15.02.17: YES, I KNOW IT'S BEEN FOREVER, PLEASE DON'T YELL AT ME.
I started this chapter God knows when, and finished it while on a train journey a couple days ago. A little re-reading and fine-tuning later, and TA-DA! Here is my tribute to the late, great Elisabeth Sladen, the sadly titled chapter "The Funeral of Sarah Jane Smith." This will most likely be the only chapter with a title, as it fits with the naming convention of some episodes of the Sarah Jane Adventures.
Time for me to do some Reviewer Replies!
Grac3: Thank you! I'm glad you've liked the story.
shadowstar2000: I'm sorry I made you wait for this chapter, please forgive me.
N.E. .1: Again, sorry for making you wait. Hope you like this update.
The 1st question: I felt like making Merlin my first attempt at a cross-over because it was another BBC prime-time show, but I will admit, I'm not as huge a Merlin-buff as I am a Doctor Who-buff. I guess this can be considered my second attempt? I hope you like this one better. And my upcoming cross-over attempt will hopefully be better too... but you'll have to wait and see what that one is.
Guest: Awh, thank you so much! That's very sweet of you, and I'm glad you've enjoyed the story. I hope you continue to enjoy it, despite my incredibly crappy update times...
Guest: HERE BE MORE.
deadbod1222: Awh, that's very kind of you to say, thank you.
Guest: I'm glad you've enjoyed the story. In my eyes, I've kind of always seen Rory as bisexual. It's less of the Doctor turning Rory and making him want men, and more Rory realising the Doctor has always been there for him and the potential of what could be.
And without further ado, I give you my ode to Elisabeth Sladen. Please, enjoy.
Chapter 14 - The Funeral of Sarah Jane Smith
When Rory awoke, he was unsurprised to find he was alone. Since his relationship with the Doctor had grown, he was now quite used to going to sleep with the Time Lord and waking up without him. Not needing as much sleep as his human boyfriend, the Doctor was often awake hours before Rory, and was usually found tinkering around in the control room of the TARDIS, be it adding some new buttons and switches to the console or performing some under-the-floor maintenance to the old girl.
Reflexively, Rory turned to look for a clock sitting atop a bedside table, and rolled his eyes when he didn't find one. The habit of living to a clock was a hard one to break when your home was a time machine. What good was a clock when it could be any time of day once those blue doors opened? Taking a few moments to collect himself, Rory eventually rose from the bed, and pulled on some long pyjama bottoms and a ratty oversized shirt, and started to make his way out of the bedroom and towards the control room.
But when Rory got there, he didn't find the Doctor animatedly moving around the console, sparks flying from the machine. Instead, the Time Lord was sat down on the stairs to the outer doors, elbows on his knees and head in his hands. Having known the Doctor for so long now, Rory did not take this as a good sign.
"Doctor?" he asked softly as he stepped down towards the console and came up behind his boyfriend. He placed a hand gently on his shoulder as he dropped to sit next to him. "You feeling alright?" To begin with, the other man didn't answer, just continued looking down to the floor. A moment later, he let out a heavy sigh.
"No, Rory," The Doctor murmured, turning his head to look at Rory with a tear-streaked face. "I am definitely not alright." Rory's hand immediately moved around to the Doctor's other shoulder, and gave him, what he hoped was, a comforting squeeze.
"What's happened?" Rory asked, overwhelmed with worry and concern for the Doctor. In all the time he'd known him, he couldn't remember ever seeing him like this. And man, did it hurt to see him this way.
For a while, the Doctor just stammered, unable to form the words he needed to convey the problem to Rory. In the end, he just sighed again, and with his thumb, pointed back over his shoulder to the monitor that would swivel around the TARDIS' time rotor. "Play the video," he mumbled.
Rory nodded, quickly kissing the Doctor's cheek before getting to his feet and walking to the monitor. While the Doctor had been steadily showing him how the TARDIS console worked, and he certainly wasn't capable of flying her single-handedly yet, he knew how to work the monitor. Pulling it around to him, he twisted the dial anti-clockwise, and flipped a switch on the console in front of him.
The monitor buzzed with static for a moment before the video began, and the image of a young man appeared. He looked to be around 18, and had short-ish brown hair and similarly coloured eyes. He was wearing a black plaid neckscarf, and a red plaid shirt over a plain grey t-shirt. Behind him, he could see a desk with open boxes on, and the now bare walls looked as if they had recently been covered with photos and other knick-knacks.
"Secure connection with the TARDIS has been established, Luke," a disembodied voice said. The boy's mouth hadn't moved, so Rory assumed that he was the Luke in question.
"Thanks, Mr Smith," Luke replied, looking a little off to the side before staring directly at the camera. Rory already had questions: who was this Luke boy, who was Mr Smith, how did they know the Doctor, and how did they have the ability to contact the TARDIS?
"Hello Doctor," Luke started, giving the camera a small wave. "I'm not sure when this is going to reach you, but Mr Smith is confident that it's not been too long since you were last here. He refreshed his data on the TARDIS after you landed in the attic after that business with the Shansheeth." Shansheeth? Rory had never heard of them before. But the TARDIS had been in that attic, so they must be friends of the Doctor.
"I just wish it were under better circumstances," Luke sighed. He was quiet for a moment, and Rory noticed that the boy looked tired. He had dark circles around his eyes, and he looked a little pale, though that could be entirely normal for him.
"It's mum," he started, finding his words again. "She was ill. I don't know if you knew or not, none of us did. Cancer. She hadn't told us. Swore Mr Smith to secrecy." He looked down, taking a deep breath, before looking back up to the camera. "She's gone. Last week, she..." He stopped, stammering slightly. He exhaled sharply, and Rory noticed tears starting to drip down his face. "She went in her sleep. Peacefully, at least."
Rory looked back over his shoulder to the Doctor's hunched form. Luke's mum must've been very special to him if her death had done this to him. Looking back to the monitor, Luke carried on talking.
"We wanted to get hold of you sooner, but between organising things and Mr Smith tracking you down, it's been tough. Mr Smith has encoded the time, date and location of the funeral in this video, and we'd be honoured if you could come. And she'd want you there. I think she'd come back to haunt you if you didn't go," he joked, his laugh sounding hollow and forced. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this. But please, do come." Luke leant forward, hands out of view, and the video stopped.
Rory stayed at the monitor for a moment before walking back and sitting down again beside the Doctor. He placed his arm around the Time Lord's shoulders and pulled him close.
"Who was she?" he asked softly, resting his head atop the Doctor's. The Doctor took a deep, very shaky breath.
"Sarah Jane Smith. She was... my Sarah Jane..." With that, The Doctor broke down, turning his body against Rory's as messy, noisy sobs wracked through his body.
Rory was pretty sure he hadn't been to a funeral since his mum's, and he'd only been six years old then. He looked in the mirror, and saw himself in a black suit jacket with a white shirt and a black tie, black trousers and black shoes. He felt strange. As a nurse, he'd known plenty of people who died in hospital, and he had been forced to learn how to stop letting death affect him so much. It helped that he hadn't been to a funeral in almost two decades, but now, he needed to be strong for the Doctor, to help him through his mourning for a woman Rory had never met.
Since watching the video, the Doctor had told him about Sarah Jane Smith. That she was a journalist and that once upon a time, long ago, she had travelled with the Doctor. And then when they had to part ways, they found each other again, years later. They'd blown up a school together, fought off a creature that thrived on chaos, and the last time they'd met, it had been at a faux-funeral for the Doctor.
And now they were going to a real funeral for Sarah Jane.
Another quick glance in the mirror, he flattened out his suit and headed into the control room. The Doctor was stood at the console, pressing buttons and switches without his usual exuberance. The time rotor in the central column was thrumming away, and as he stepped down to the console, it stopped. The TARDIS didn't even rumble as it landed. Perhaps the time machine was in mourning too, Rory thought.
"Hey," Rory said quietly, reaching up to the Doctor's shoulder to squeeze him. The Time Lord was dressed in his usual tweed jacket, suspenders, shirt and trousers. The only difference was that his bow tie was black. The man didn't meet Rory's eyes. "It's going to be okay," he said, trying to reassure him.
"I don't know if I can do this," The Doctor said, one hand still on the large silver handle that could set the TARDIS off again.
"You'll regret it forever if you don't," Rory replied. He put his hand over the Doctor's, and gently pulled it off of the handle. "You can do this. You're the man who reset the universe." He lifted his hands to cup the Doctor's cheeks. "You have to do this. Be there for her. And I'll be there for you."
A sad smile grew on the Doctor's face, and he lifted a hand to rest over Rory's. "Thank you," he whispered, before placing a soft kiss on his boyfriend's lips. Hands returning to his sides, he turned and looked at the doors. "If I don't do this now, I won't ever do it. Let's go." He grabbed Rory's hand, lacing their fingers together, and the two walked out of the TARDIS.
Stepping out of the doors, Rory found that they had landed the TARDIS in what looked like a driveway. And it wasn't just the mint-green Nissan parked not far away that clued him in. The driveway was attached to a red-bricked three-storey house.
The sun glinted off the windows, and Rory was surprised that it was actually a nice day. It seemed almost wrong for there to be nice weather on the day of a funeral. Like the world was spiting those in mourning.
"Where are we?" Rory asked, looking to the Doctor who was walking towards the white door of the house.
"13 Bannerman Road, Ealing," the Doctor answered, not looking at Rory but at the car instead. He realised it must've been Sarah Jane's. Looking away, the Doctor reached the door and rung the bell, Rory moving next to him as they waited for an answer.
Eventually, a small blonde girl in a black dress answered. "Hello?" she said, looking up at the two men. Rory had no idea who this girl was, and going by the look on the Doctor's face, neither did he.
"I'm sorry," the Doctor started, trying to cover his surprise. "I'm the Doctor, and this is-"
"The Doctor?!" the girl repeated loudly, a smile breaking out on her face. "I hoped I'd get to meet you! Luke!" she shouted over her shoulder. "Luke, the Doctor's here!"
There were some hurried footsteps, and soon the boy from the video, Luke, was rushing down the stairs two at a time, a little out of breath as he reached the door. He was dressed similarly to Rory; a black suit, white shirt, black tie and trousers. "Doctor," he said softly, giving the Time Lord a warm smile. "You came." He stretched out a hand towards the Doctor.
"I wouldn't have missed it for anything," he said, taking Luke's hand and gently pulling him into a hug. "I'm so sorry," he whispered to the young man, who happily embraced the Doctor.
"Thank you," Luke nodded, stepping back from the Doctor. "It would've meant a lot to her." Luke quickly looked at the younger girl, who had tugged gently on his arm. "Oh, yeah, this is my sister, Sky." Luke put his arm around the girl's shoulders and smiled proudly.
"A recent addition to the family, I'm guessing," the Doctor said, extending a hand to Sky, who shook it eagerly.
"I've heard a lot about you, but I never thought I'd get to actually meet you," she smiled. Letting go of the Doctor's hand, her attention turned to Rory. The look on Sky's face made Rory realise that neither her nor her brother had met him before.
"Hi," Rory started, clearing his throat. "I'm Rory, I'm the Doctor's-"
"Boyfriend," the Time Lord finished. "Rory is my boyfriend." Rory could feel the heat in his cheeks at the Doctor's words. Since hearing him say it the first time in Camelot, Rory still found himself getting embarrassed when the Doctor said that word.
"Yeah," Rory added meekly, rubbing the back of his neck. Luckily, both Luke and Sky didn't show any shock or surprise that the Doctor had a boyfriend.
"Won't you come in," Luke offered, stepping aside to allow them to pass. Sky turned and walked into the living room, and Rory and the Doctor stepped into the house, following her. "The hearse will be here soon," Luke said behind them as he went to shut the door. Suddenly, a cry of "WAIT!" startled everyone
Everyone turned to look at the door, and saw a dark-skinned, dark-haired boy in a black suit at the door, with a tall tan girl in a black dress behind him. "We saw the TARDIS outside and-" The boy stopped, looking from Luke to the Doctor, and a wide smile appeared on both his and the girl's face.
"Clyde, Rani," the Doctor smiled, and the two came over, Clyde shaking the Doctor's hand, and Rani hugging him and kissing his cheek.
"All right, mate," Clyde said to Rory, extending a hand to him. "I'm Clyde, Luke's mate, and this is our other friend, Rani." Rory shook Clyde's hand and smiled at both him and Rani.
"I'm Rory, the Doctor's boyfriend." Now these two did look surprised.
"Wow, okay," Clyde said, before receiving a slap on the arm from Rani.
"Don't be so rude, Clyde. I think it's lovely that the Doctor's got someone. The guy with the time machine's got to be a hard one to hang on to." Rani laughed lightly. "It's nice to meet you Rory," she said, shaking his hand.
"You too," he smiled. Luke then ushered everyone into the living room, and a few minutes later, everyone was sat down, a mug in hand, and grilling the Doctor and Rory.
"So how did you two meet?" Rani asked, leaning forward as she held her mug of tea in both hands.
The Doctor smiled, setting his mug on the coffee table. "It wasn't long after I last regenerated and-"
"He used my mobile phone to help an alien jailer find its prisoner. They left, but then the Doctor called them back, just so he could tell them off for threatening to incinerate the planet." Rory answered, in a much less flowery and more succinct way than he imagined the Doctor would have.
"Sounds like him," Clyde said with a laugh, leaning back on the sofa.
"But I didn't really start to travel with him until I got married. He flew my wife around for a while before I got into the TARDIS too."
"Wife?" Rani asked, looking confused. "So you left her for the Doctor?"
"No, nothing like that. She left me actually. And I didn't take it well, at all." Rory gave a nervous laugh. "The Doctor helped me, and things… happened." He smiled towards the Time Lord.
"That's so cute," Rani cooed, smiling at the two men. "A proper little love story. I bet Sarah Jane would've loved to meet you," he said, a sad smile on her face.
"I think she would have too," the Doctor mused quietly, meeting his boyfriend's gaze.
Luke appeared in the doorway, having gone to answer his phone in the hall. "They're here. It's time." With that announcement, a dark mood fell over the group. They each gradually stood and made their way into the hall.
"Excuse me, Master Luke," a robotic voice called from the bottom of the stairs. Everyone turned to see a boxy, 80s looking robot dog, its satellite dish ears turning slowly. "I would also like to say goodbye to Mistress."
"Of course, c'mon boy," Luke said, patting his knee. The dog whirred forward, trundling across the floor towards the group.
"Hello K-9," the Doctor said, crouching as the dog wheeled close and patting it gently once it was within reach.
"Greetings, Master," K-9 said, dish-ears twitching. "It is… pleasing, to see you." Despite it being a robot, even Rory could tell it sounded sad.
"It's good to see you too," the Time Lord murmured.
As they walked outside and the Doctor saw the hearse for the first time, he froze. Seeing the coffin through the windows of the vehicle made it all so final. Up until now, he could've imagined he was dreaming it all, or that this was just a parallel universe he'd been sucked into.
But now it was real.
This was happening.
And he was never going to see Sarah Jane Smith again.
A strangled noise rose in his throat, and he covered his mouth with his hand. His other hand was squeezed by Rory. He wanted to say something, anything, to try and help the Doctor, but he had no idea what. Instead, he said nothing, and guided him towards the two cars behind the hearse.
Luke, Sky, The Doctor and Rory went in the first car, with Clyde, Rani and K-9 in the second. Noticing the driver of the car wearing a UNIT uniform, Luke explained to the Doctor that UNIT had offered to oversee the funeral. After the hassle of the Doctor's faked funeral, they wanted to make things right, and saw no better way than ensuring this funeral went off without a hitch. She was even going to be buried next to the Brigadier.
During the service, the Doctor couldn't have been more glad that Rory had encouraged him to go, and also that he was there with him. Rory held his hand through the whole thing, and was the Doctor's rock.
There were plenty of people recounting stories of working with Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde did a reading, Sky and Rani read poems, and the Doctor was so proud of them. Despite this, he felt a little guilty that he hadn't said anything himself. But if he were honest with himself, he didn't think he'd be able to. There were so many things he could say, but all of them would bring him to tears.
He couldn't even bring himself to say anything as he watched Luke, Sky, Clyde and Rani slowly lower the coffin into the ground. He had always wanted something to render him speechless. But not this. Never this.
Some left for the wake, but the Doctor, Rory, the kids and K-9 stayed at the graveside until it was filled. Each of the kids said very tearful, emotional goodbyes.
Luke and Sky thanked her for taking them in and showing them love and what it meant to be loved.
Clyde thanked her for opening his heart to friends and to his passions, and promised that when he was a famous comic artist that he would name a character after her.
Rani thanked her for showing her how wonderful the world is, and for giving her advice in pursuing journalism.
K-9 said a heartfelt goodbye to his mistress, grateful for her looking after him.
Just Rory and the Doctor remained. "Could I…" The Doctor started, looking to Rory. He understood immediately, nodding. "Of course, as long as you need. I'll see you back at the house." He placed a kiss to the Doctor's cheek before leaving him alone at the grave.
The Doctor crouched at the foot of the grave, eyes reading the tombstone in front of him.
In Loving Memory of
Sarah Jane Smith
Born 17th May 1951, Died 19th April 2011
Devoted mother and defender of Earth.
"The Universe is full of adventure, but don't forget that there's just as much adventure to be had here on Earth."
"Why didn't you tell me?" the Doctor thought aloud. "I could've helped." He blinked back tears, taking a shaky breath. "I'll make sure Luke and Sky are well off. I'll see they keep the house. Given all the extra-terrestrial gadgetry in that attic of yours, it's best it stays with them instead of going on the market." He laughed despite the situation.
He laid his hand flat on the upturned earth. "I will never stop missing you." Tears began to roll down his cheeks. "Goodbye, my Sarah Jane."
He rose to his feet, and walked away from the grave, completely oblivious to the three men who were standing a few feet away.
One, an older man with white hair, a purple suit with a black cape. Next to him stood a slightly younger man in a brown coat with a long multi-coloured scarf wrapped around his neck and shoulders. The third, much younger man wore a long brown trenchcoat over a blue suit, his usually spiked hair hanging sad and limp over his forehead. All three of them wore sad looks as they looked out towards the grave.
Sarah Jane's house, which now belonged to Luke and Sky, was now full of mourners. Some were Sarah Jane's old journalist contacts, while others were colleagues from UNIT. Luke, Sky, Clyde and Rani were amongst the crowd, as were Clyde's mother, Carla Langer, and Rani's parents, Haresh and Gita Chandra.
Everyone was talking, whether it was about fond memories of Sarah Jane, catching up with people not seen for years, or asking the kids about their education. Luke, particularly, was feeling a little lost in that regard now. With one year of university left, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to finish it immediately. He couldn't leave Sky to live on her own, so was thinking he would either defer the year or try to transfer to a closer university so he could complete his degree while living at home. It was a lot to think about for the 17-year-old boy.
Rory was in the kitchen, a plate in each hand, gathering some nibbles for himself and the Doctor. He'd been brave during the funeral, Rory thought, though he had never seen the Doctor grieving before. For all he knew, Time Lords grieved differently. But walking back into the living room and seeing the Time Lord talking to K-9 about some strange alien the three had faced together in the past, Rory could almost have mistaken the Doctor for human.
"Here," he said, walking over to stand next to the Doctor and handing him one of the plates. "Tried to pick stuff you'd like."
"Thanks," the Doctor replied with a small smile, taking the plate. He scooped a sandwich off the plate and took a bite, and Rory was surprised by the smile that appeared on the Doctor's face. "This is delicious, who made them?"
"Clyde and Carla. Though Clyde says it was mostly him," he answered, chuckling slightly as he dropped down to sit beside the Doctor. "Have you two been catching up?" Rory asked, looking between the Doctor and the robotic dog.
"K-9's been telling me how Luke's been getting on at university. Bet you didn't miss Mr Smith at all while you were there, did you boy?" he teased, stroking a finger under K-9's chin. His ears immediately started twisting.
"Speaking of the other computer, he would like a moment with you, Master. He would not tell me why." His head drooped slightly. "I would guess that it is to do with the Mistress."
"I shouldn't keep him waiting then." The Doctor quickly scarfed down the rest of the sandwich as well as a couple sausage rolls before getting to his feet. He gave Rory's shoulder a squeeze and left the two to talk, leaving the living room and heading for the stairs.
Once in the attic, the Doctor was hit with an overwhelming wave of sadness. Despite Luke's and the others attempts to start to tidy the attic, it was still very Sarah Jane. He took a deep breath, and he could vividly remember the two times he'd been here before. Once, after Sarah Jane's wedding the Trickster had schemed up, and again after her and Jo Grant had stopped the Shansheeth from stealing the TARDIS.
He walked over to the desk, which had large brown boxes open on it. One was full of what could've been on the desk had the boxes not been there – stationary, books, even a laptop computer. The other box, the Doctor knew, was filled with various alien paraphernalia. He assumed they must either be gathering it for UNIT, or for their own safekeeping. There was probably plenty here that UNIT didn't know they'd had, and wouldn't be pleased to find out it had been kept from them.
Remembering why he had come up here, the Doctor turned from the desk, and walked down the couple steps to where Sarah Jane's Xylok computer, Mr Smith, was hidden behind the wall. It seemed the computer didn't know he was there, otherwise he would've opened the wall and appeared.
"Mr Smith, I-" the Doctor started, but before he could finish, several blasts of air came from the wall. The top section of the wall raised up, revealing Mr Smith's screen underneath with its colourful blob-like screensaver, and the bottom section splitting apart in the middle and opening out to the sides to reveal Mr Smith's console, adorned with a wide variety of buttons and levers, not unlike the TARDIS console.
"Sarah Jane, I… Oh," Mr Smith paused, realising who had called on him. "Doctor. I'm sorry. I had thought… it has been difficult getting used to how things are now." While most could've mistaken Mr Smith for a super-computer, the Doctor knew the Xylok was really a super intelligent and sentient alien. And the Doctor could tell he too was grieving.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Mr Smith," the Doctor said quietly, smiling sadly at him.
"And I yours, Doctor." The two were quiet for a moment, sharing in their grief. "Thank you for coming, Doctor. It would've meant a lot to her. She even left a message for you in the event of your attendance."
The Doctor's mouth felt dry. "She… she did?"
"Yes," the computer confirmed. "It's a video. Would you like me to play it for you?"
"Please," the Doctor said with a nod.
A large rectangle of static grew from the centre of Mr Smith's screen, remaining unintelligible for a moment, before Sarah Jane appeared on the screen, looking as fresh-faced and healthy as the last time he had seen her. Her hair was styled in its usual manner, and she was dressed in a white waistcoat over a sky-blue blouse. Her eyes were bright, lips cherry-red, and the Doctor couldn't believe that the woman he was watching filmed this knowing she would soon be gone.
For a moment, Sarah Jane just looked out of the screen, not saying a word. She opened her mouth several times as if to start talking, but nothing came out.
"This is harder than I thought it'd be, Mr Smith," she said, a nervous laugh escaping her.
"I'm sorry Sarah Jane. Is there any way I can help?" he asked her, concern in his computerised voice.
"No, I just…" She took a deep breath, paced side to side for a moment, before stopping back in front of the camera.
"Doctor. If you're seeing this, then… No that's a terrible start, I can't-"
"Sarah Jane," Mr Smith cut her off. "Just tell him."
The woman sighed. "Yes, you're right." She took another moment to compose herself before starting again.
"Doctor. If you're seeing this video, then that means I'm not around anymore. It means I'm… dead. But you know that already, and you probably know how it happened too. A couple months ago, Mr Smith was just running some normal scans, when he picked something up on me. He wasn't sure what it was to start with, but when he ran a deep scan, he found an incredibly aggressive form of cancer. It's already terminal. Mr Smith's said I've got weeks. But I look fine, don't I? Mr Smith says it's something to do with all the alien activity around here that's made it so aggressive. My own fault, really, I guess. Now I know what you're thinking. Why didn't I get a hold of you as soon as I knew, that you could've taken me to the most advanced medical facility in all of reality, they could have cured me."
Finally stopping for a moment, Sarah Jane let out a somewhat shaky breath and walked back towards the stairs. She turned back to Mr Smith, and sat down on the stairs, in pretty much the same spot that the Doctor was sat watching the video from. He could see now that she also had dark blue jeans on, and brown leather knee-high boots.
"I've had the most amazing life, Doctor. Truly, without you, I don't know what kind of person I'd be now. But thanks to you, I'm the best person I could ever be. I have done so much, helped so many, and after you left, I thought I'd never have that again. But then we just… found each other. Of all the people in the world, I found you again. And you did so much for me. You showed me that just because I was here on Earth didn't mean I couldn't keep doing any of the things I'd done while I travelled with you. And that was my life, and I loved it. And then I found Luke, and I loved my life so much more. Then there was Maria, and Clyde, and Rani, and now Sky too. My life will never get better than this. So I'm completely at peace if this is where it ends."
The Doctor could hear something in Sarah Jane's voice, that entirely convinced him that she was being honest.
"So here's what I want from you. Please. If you ever loved me, then let me go. Let this be my end. Luke and Sky will be okay. Once I've gone, Mr Smith is programmed to automatically send my will to UNIT, which specifies that they are to periodically check in on Luke and Sky. I'm leaving the house to them, and I've left them enough money to keep them comfortable for a long time after I'm gone. And I already know that you've decided to look in on them from time to time too. And for that, I thank you. I know you'll look after them well. They'll have K-9 and Mr Smith here too."
Sarah Jane rose back to her feet, and walked back towards Mr Smith.
"What I'm basically trying to say, is that I love you, and thank you. For everything. I could never thank you enough. But don't try and stop this. Please. Let this be the end, and-"
Sarah Jane paused, frozen mid-sentence. Very quietly, the Doctor could hear something else on the tape. A gentle, familiar thrumming whirring noise. The Doctor leapt to his feet and ran to Mr Smith's console as he watched Sarah Jane turn around to look behind her and see the TARDIS materialising in the attic.
"No, you stupid, stupid man!" Sarah Jane cried, staggering backwards slightly. "I told you don't!" The door creaked open, and out stepped the Doctor, dressed in exactly the same clothes he was wearing now as he watched the video.
"Doctor, you can't! I won't let you, get back in that box and GO!" She stomped forward, pointing angrily at the TARDIS.
"Sarah-" The Doctor in the video started, but Sarah Jane cut him off.
"NO! You get back in your bloody box and you leave!" The Doctor watching the video had never seen her this angry before. "I don't want you to save me!"
"I'm not here to save you," the video-Doctor answered as calmly as he could. Sarah Jane lowered her arm.
"Then… why are you here?" she asked, shaking slightly.
"Did you really think for a second that I could let you go without saying goodbye?" The video-Doctor asked her.
Sarah Jane stood still in place for a moment. "Oh," she whimpered. "Oh, Doctor…" With that, she threw herself up the steps and into the Doctor's arms, crying as she and the Doctor held onto each other.
For the next hour after the video-Doctor and Sarah Jane had calmed down, the real Doctor watched as the two sat together, talking about old times and reliving all their adventures. When it finally came time for the video-Doctor to leave, he was stopped in the doorway of the TARDIS.
"I'll never forget you, Sarah Jane. Never."
Sarah Jane smiled sadly at the Time Lord. "Goodbye, Doctor."
"Goodbye, my Sarah Jane." The Doctor's gaze lingered on her for a moment, before he stepped fully into the TARDIS, door closing behind him. A moment later, the engine was blaring to life, and the TARDIS slowly vanished into thin air.
Sarah Jane stood looking at the spot where the TARDIS had been for a moment before turning back to Mr Smith, a big sad smile on her face. Which vanished for a look of surprise when she realised that Mr Smith had recorded the whole thing.
"Oh, that's still going?" she asked as she stepped to the console, reached out, and the screen went back to static. The static screen lingered for a moment before it also vanished away, Mr Smith's blobby screen coming back into view.
"She tried to delete the video, but I thought that you should see it," Mr Smith told the Doctor.
The Doctor had been speechless as he watched the video, but he eventually managed to murmur a thank you. The next instant, he had turned on his heel and barrelled through the door. He ran down the stairs, taking them three at a time, and shot past the living room, which now had slightly fewer people, and outside to the driveway.
Rory caught sight of the blur that was the Doctor as he passed, and quickly apologised to the person he was talking to, before following the Doctor. He caught the Time Lord as he was half-way into the TARDIS. "Doctor!"
The man stopped suddenly, pulling back slightly and looking out to Rory. "What did Mr Smith say?" Rory asked. He then finally took in the sight of the Doctor getting into the TARDIS. "Where are you going?"
"I'll be back. I just have to say goodbye to a friend."
Author's Note:
15.02.17: I hope that wasn't too sad. It made me sad to write it. I miss dear Elisabeth. I remember being gutted when I found out she had passed. Please, if you don't want to leave a review (but y'know, I'd really like you to because they make me happy), share your favourite memory of Sarah Jane Smith.
Thank you for reading, and hopefully the next chapter will come soon.
~Ryan