A/N: I'm aiming to finish this little collection this year, hence the reason I've started writing them now. I have a lot of fics that need writing for various challenges in other fandoms, so...

Thank you to PhoenixWytch for reviewing Just Plain Weirdness.

x tromana

Title: Loss
Author: tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Romana II, Nyssa
Summary: Nobody celebrates holidays the way they do on Traken, not even the humans on Earth.
Disclaimer: I wouldn't even want to try and make claim...
Notes: Song: White Christmas. Set in the 'verse where Romana remained in E-Space during the Time War...

Loss

Nyssa recognises the look on the girl's features.

It's loss.

And not just any old loss; the loss of everything you've ever loved and understood.

She understands it because it's what she sees in her own face every single time she looks in the mirror. Nyssa can still feel Traken calling for her, even after all these years. Right down to her very core, she's still proud of her heritage, proud of where she comes from. However, knowing that you are the single survivor of said heritage is something that's hard to cope with.

Sometimes you wish, crave for just something. Another relic, another memory. Just something to remind you that it was really real, once upon a time, even if it exists no longer.

What she misses most, are the festivities. Nobody celebrates holidays the way they do on Traken, not even the humans on Earth. The grand meals, the beautiful decorations, the spirit and goodwill amongst her kind. What she wouldn't give just to celebrate properly once more, instead of relying on memories in order to keep the traditions alive.

The world around them is white, snow, and tentatively, Nyssa sits beside the blonde woman. Gently, she covers her hand and surreptitiously feels for a pulse. Instinctively, she knows that she isn't human. She knows who - or at least, what - she is.

Time Lord.

Nyssa had loved another Time Lord, once upon a time. Still does, if she's entirely honest. If it wasn't for the Doctor, she wouldn't still be here today. She would have suffered the same fate as the rest of her kind. Thanks to him, she can still live, love and learn. It's also thanks to him that she's become a living relic.

And this woman, she too is a living relic.

Of Gallifrey.

Nyssa heard of the Time War and was grateful that she managed to keep out of it unscathed. But she had also heard of the loss, the devastation, the suffering inflicted on not just Gallifrey, but the planets surrounding the Time Lords' home planet. That's what you get for messing around with something as fragile as time itself. It's happened before and inevitably, it will happen again. It's why she's here, clearing up after the mass destruction. Things are getting better, but it's a slow, painful recovery.

She initially hadn't thought, hadn't believed, that any Time Lords could possibly have survived. Nyssa hasn't even heard from the Doctor. Instead, she's simply had to assume he's gone down with his planet. Though, if any have survived, as she now knows is the case, then there's hope. The Doctor has an uncanny ability to wriggle out of even the most dire of situations.

Nyssa turns to face the woman; she's older than she looks. That's not surprising, she is a Time Lord, after all. She could look like a teenager and literally be thousands of years old. She goes to speak, but changes her mind. Maybe later, she can offer her a little comfort in the form of words.

For now, she sits and dreams of the celebrations she once shared with her father.

That way, they'll never end.

end