Sarah Jane had to listen to the silence that the Doctor projected on the way from the factory to the TARDIS. This silence had much in common with silences that lived in the frozen South Pole. Only angrier and lacking penguins.
She'd endured his silence as they collected K-9. She endured his silence when they found they couldn't turn him back on. She endured his silence as he hotwired a stolen car.
And now in the TARDIS she couldn't take the cold.
"Doctor," she began.
He whirled on her, "She hit me! Rose hit me! That master of hers is going to regret the day he ever met me." The Doctor was beyond furious. And yet none of his anger was directed at Rose. It was at himself for losing her in the first place; it was at the blasted Jedi, and that Force thing. Never at her.
He had managed to get the shuttles signature before it had carried Rose off he fed it into the computer and waited impatiently.
"There we are," The Doctor said. "Aren't you a beauty?" The sleek dark warship was parked on the dark side of the moon. Dark side. It was like a visual pun. He stoically punched in the coordinates.
Sarah Jane prudently decided not to say anything else. Let him erupt at the bad guy. The Doctor's anger wasn't something she wanted to be in front of.
They found Rose, Razzle and Razzle's master in the shuttle bay.
Rose looked startled. She really hadn't been expecting them so soon. The Doctor's eyes caught hers. She fought the urge to cringe.
The Sith Lord looked from Rose to the Doctor in fascination. Demonium wondered if the Doctor knew he was bound to the girl. There were faint ties between the Eternal Man and the older woman but the ties binding him to the Unknown Jedi were of Mandalorian Steel.
"Rose," The Doctor said softly.
The girl smiled sadly at him, "I have a duty. And that's more important than anything. Even being your companion."
A part of the Doctor that wasn't banging itself against a wall in frustration wondered 'Where does she find them? Even her enemies are pretty boys'.
Rose reached into her jacket and pulled out what looked like a large fancy torch. She looked at the Sith who also had one at hand.
Razzle quickly moved himself to a safer position. He knew what was coming even if the other two didn't.
"One warning. One chance. Leave my world and I won't kill you," Rose said flatly.
Darth Demonium smiled. She a charming little thing, too bad she couldn't be turned. He had to destroy her before she was done becoming.
They both settled into combat crouches. "Let's see if you are named truly."
There was a sharp whooshing and the smell of ozone and the two faced each other lightsabers at the ready.
Sarah Jane stared opened mouthed at the shining blades. This was different.
The Doctor's brown eyes were wide as he gazed at Rose. She looked magnificent and dangerous and altogether beautiful as she readied to battle for her world.
Rose had designed her lightsaber hilt after her masters. They were virtually alike— a plain utilitarian design save for the golden electrum finish…which she had added just so it would be pretty. This was Rose after all.
The lightsaber had three focusing crystals Rose had chosen carefully; a 'Pontite' Adegan crystal which had among other abilities had an aura that cooled tempers (hers had a tendency to get away from her), a synth-crystal she herself had forged imbued with all her fierce love of and for life, and the last was a small Kaiburr crystal, although this was a crystal that could increase her Force abilities a thousand fold, she kept it in reserve—just in case.
Rose's lightsaber glowed with the same shimmery blue-green, green-blue light the Earth seemed to cast. It let off white hot sparks as it met Demonium's red blade.
Cue Star Wars fight music.
It was an old dance, a battle that had been going when life had first come forth from the void, an argument between two powers that now had taken the form of a dark warrior who had given himself over to hate and a valiant child who'd once held all of time and space under fragile skin.
The Doctor's anger and fear for Rose melted under the sheer wonder of the ballet of blades. He barely noticed Demonium, his focus was on his Companion. She was moving all to fast for the eye to see, the human eye at least. Not so the Doctor. He could see every smooth, studied movement.
Sarah Jane was remembering the stories her grandfather had told about the knights of old. Rose had called herself a knight. What was that code…A knight is sworn to valor…
The combatants clashed together again and again silver sparks spun in the air. Demonium was good. Rose had to admit it. He was a master of Form V: Djem So, The Perseverance Form or as it was more familiarly known as the Way of the Krayt Dragon. An aggressive style that emphasized strength, power and action. Always forward motion was this approach. He was much more experience than she.
Rose was trained in Djem So—any student of Luke Skywalker was inevitably taught the form. She was okay in Djem So but she excelled in Form IV: Ataru, Way of the Hawk-Bat. An aggressive combat form relying on a combination of power, speed, and grace. She may have taken to Aturu because of her background as a bronze medal gymnast…she would have had a shot at the gold had she not discovered boys.
She ducked under the angry red blade. And considered. She would have been toast if she just had Djem So and Ataru to depend on. Luckily those aren't the only tricks she had up her sleeve…when on a learning binge you never stick to just one disciple. Learn anything from anyone who is willing to teach. Learn Alderaanian martial arts from a princess, how to brawl from a pirate, learn how to turn your body into a weapon from a assassin. Blend them all into a seamless dance that flowed one movement into the next without pause relentless as the golden flow of time.
The Doctor bit his lip as Rose somersaulted over the Sith and parried a scarlet blow.
Sarah Jane shot the Doctor a confused look as he chucked without humor.
"What is it?" She ventured.
He ran a hand through brown hair and pulled hard, "She'll never be able to stay. Rose can never go home…not for good anyway. I can see it clearly left to her own devises tyrants will fall, hostages will be rescued, wrongs righted. She won't be able to help it. And the timeline will unravel around her."
Sarah Jane regarded the Time Lord's pale face and guilty eyes.
"I never meant for Rose to lose her home." His eyes widened as another thought accorded to him. "Her mum's gonna kill me!"
Darth Demonium was getting…not worried. He didn't get worried. Perhaps apprehensive. The Jedi was still young and relatively untried so she couldn't be lasting so long against him. A spinning kick followed by a roundhouse jarred him backwards. He was moving backwards? He pulled on his anger, his rage and shoved Rose back with the Force and she stumbled to a stop.
"Such a strong little girl," He said with false admiration. "But Jedi consider…you'll not defeat me. The legends are as all legends. Lies."
Rose rolled her eyes. The Dun Möch. Basically, a Force backed version of trash talking designed to make a Jedi doubt themselves. Please. Rose had attended a public high school.
Darth Demonium circled thinking her frown a sign of weakness. "No, matter what the stories say you're just a pretty little girl. You can't stop me." He swooshed forward. Rose mechanically raised her blade to block him. "You can't make a differece," He flooded his words with despair.
The Doctor saw Rose blink uncertainly and stepped forward. "Rose," He called.
She shifted her face towards him and their eyes met and held, "Rose, listen to me. You make a difference. You can do anything."
A slow smile lit her features from within, "Anything?"
The Doctor grinned at her, "Anything."
Rose turned once more to the Sith Lord, "Shall we dance?"
Darth Demonium was pushed back by her blade that sang as it slashed at him. He had meant to install doubt into the girl but instead he could feel his confidence leaving him as the Jedi attacked with joyous vigor.
Rose spun into the Falling Leaf maneuver that she'd learnt from a Force Ghost on Ruusan, "I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
He countered with the Spinning Attack. Rose responded by kicking him somewhere he didn't want to be kicked and then punching him in the face. That she learned from Han.
He was Sith so he didn't let the intense pain stop him and jumped up. The Dark Side lapped at his rage eagerly. He gripped his lightsaber in one hand and spun in a 360-degree turn called a Shun that knocked Rose's weapon out of her hands. It clicked off and rolled a few feet away. She stepped backwards her hands in the air.
Demonium smiled as he raised his blade.
The Doctor didn't even stop to think, the sonic screwdriver was out of his pocket and leveled it at the Sith lord. An orange flash and the Sith's blade was also out of his hands.
The Sith was amused, "Do you think that will stop me?" His blue eyes filled with a sickly yellow light. He flexed his fingers that had clenched up as if he were suddenly afflicted with arthritis.
Kriff! Rose thought.
Demonium reached out a hand towards Rose and unleashed blue lightning.
The Doctor was a Time Lord. This meant more than thirteen lives. It meant more than TARDISES. The ability to manipulate time came before his people had figured out space travel.
So he slowed time. And as he walked forward to get Rose out of the line of fire, she moved.
It was in slow motion and she should not have been able to do it. It was an impossibility. And yet Rose's hand moved forward in the classic 'stop' position. In front of her outstretched hand a gold mist began to spill into the air.
The Doctor looked from the blue lightning to the gold mist and smiled. His girl had picked up a few things it appeared.
Time in!
Rose's hand shot up and a golden shield appeared between her and the Sith lord. "I don't suppose it ever accursed to you, given that while you get power fast and dirty in a relatively easy way from the Dark Side, there's something to be said for the hard road? Ya know the one that requires a clear head?"
If possible the Sith's expression went even darker and he let lose yet more lightning that she blocked with her shield.
She had learned patience. Rose was content to wait him out. You couldn't keep channeling something like that without it costing something. She just hoped his exhaustion point came before hers.
Demonium needed someway to break her concentration…and he had it. The Eternal Man stood vulnerable. He spun and lashed out lighting towards the Doctor.
Rose dropped her shield and grabbed and ignited her lightsaber in one flowing movement. She blurred and was before the Sith. A flash of blue-green light and she had pierced his heart.
The Sith lord fell with a sickening thud.
Sarah Jane's hand covered her mouth in shock. 'Her wrath undoes the wicked.'
Rose disengaged her lightsaber and pocketed it. Her hands became fisted with white knuckles. Killing came a bit too easily for the Jedi's liking. In an x-wing it was easier because you didn't see your victims. And as for face to face battle…
"You know why lightsabers are the Jedi's weapon Doctor? It's so we can see our enemies' eyes when we kill them."
"A wolf kills without hesitation or remorse. We kill to protect what is ours," whispered the Wolf to the Jedi.
"Rose," the Doctor said softly as if she were some frightened wild thing. He ran his fingers down the side of her pale face, and tipped her chin upwards so she could see into his eyes.
He was all too familiar with the fallout of making a choice, taking responsibility for something. Rose had taken responsibility for her world and had chosen the consequences of that choice. And now comes the fallout. At least Rose wouldn't have to go through it alone.
He rubbed a thumb along her jaw and pulled her into his arms. "Brave heart, Rose."
She clung to him with unshed tears pooling in her eyes. Her body trembled in his arms and her frantically beating heart slowed until its rate for beat was exactly between the Doctor's heart rates.
The Doctor kissed her forehead. "It'll get better. I'm with you," He said into her hair.
Sarah Jane was acutely uncomfortable. The embrace between Time Lord and Jedi was the most intimate thing she had ever seen.
She had been hugged by the Doctor but never had been pulled so close. They look like there going to melt into each other. He had always been protective of his companions. But this…warm all encompassing possessiveness was new.
Unbeknownst, to the three people caught up in their little production a thin red line of pulsating light slithered to Demonium's fallen lightsaber and merged with the metal.
Razzle was in shock. His master was dead. Killed by that girl. It was inconceivable. The newly master less learner scooped up the fallen lightsaber and ran for the lift.
"Hey!" Sarah Jane called out as the boy disappeared from view.
Rose reluctantly detangled herself from the Doctor's arms and shook her head. "Let him go. He's going get into an escape pod and get as far away from Earth as he can."
"How do you know?" Sarah Jane asked.
"His master had just been killed, so he's going to want as much distance possible between him and me," She shrugged. "Also, it's what I would do."
Rose smiled sadly at the Doctor, "Want to help blow up a ship?"
He ignored that in favor of capturing one of her hands in his. "Are you alright?" Immediately afterwards he cursed himself for asking an idiotic question. Of course she wasn't alright.
"It will mend."