Seeing Donna again just makes the pain worse. Makes the memories more vivid.
I knew what must have happened to Donna after the parallel worlds closed off from each other; I knew the Doctor – the other Doctor – would erase her memories. It was that or let her die. And Donna would have understood it all exactly, just before he took it all away again. All the newly-acquired Time Lord knowledge, all the recently-discovered human self-confidence. All her best and worst experiences. Almost all of what mattered to her most.
I wonder what it would have been like, to do that to your best friend. I don't know who was worse off: me or him. He had to wipe her mind, and I didn't get to say goodbye.
Between the two of us, there are three hearts to ache.
He recounted this meeting to Rose that night, who was rather amused by his repeated exclamations that she was "so Donna", and soon after, he began to find out as much as he could about this Donna. "She even lives in the same house!" he told Rose, one day when he got back from work an hour late, having taken a detour through Chiswick. "She works as a temp, just like my Donna did, and she lives with her mother and grandfather in Chiswick!"
"So what did you say to her?" Rose asked, handing him a cup of tea and snuggling up to him.
"Well..." he said slowly in that way of his, running a hand through his amazing hair. "I..."
"You didn't, did you," she realised. "Oh my God, you didn't say a word to her!"
"Well not exactly, but –"
His pathetic excuse was drowned out by her laughter, and after a few seconds, realising neither his look of indignant embarrassment or his cry of "Mrs Smith!" were doing anything, he saw no choice but to pick her up a carry her off to bed, still laughing.
This is short, I know, the chapters are going to be pretty uneven, but i've already written the next and I will upload it soon.
Please please please review!