Doctor Who: Firework (part 3)

by: domina tempore (formerly "jewel of athos")

Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all of its characters and locations etc. belong to their respective owners; they just LIVE in my heart. But no copyright infringement intended!

Summary: Everybody knows that everybody dies, and nobody knows it like the Doctor. But I do think that all the skies of all the worlds might just turn dark if he ever, for one moment, accepts it…and he won't for Sarah Jane. A tribute to Elisabeth Sladen.

Author's Note: I don't cry. Finding out that Lis had died and reading/watching the tributes for her was an exception to this rule. But really, I hardly ever cry. …And yet I cried writing this. It might not make as much sense as I would have liked, in some of the dialogue; but in this situation, I really don't think that anyone would make a whole lot of sense.

I still can't believe she's gone…):

*~_|"|_~*

The TARDIS landed with a soft jolt, at the bottom of a hill. The Doctor poked his head out of the door and looked around briefly, checking their position. Huh, he'd actually landed them in the right place for once. Brilliant. With a small sound of satisfaction, he closed the door and turned back to Sarah Jane, who was struggling into a coat that he'd asked her to put on.

"Alright, you'll have to forgive the weather; it's a bit gray and cool out there at the moment. Very foggy earlier, and some of it is still sticking around. The world was weeping today, I think. And you're going to have to put the hood up, I'm afraid." He reached forward, and after two or three false starts he was able to awkwardly arrange the hood over her hair so that her face was in shadow. She gave a nervous grin.

"Why am I suddenly afraid of where we are?" she asked, rubbing her hands together. The Doctor winced. "Should I be afraid, Doctor?"

"…I've taken you to your funeral," he admitted, the words bursting out without permission. He cringed back. "But it's not to be morbid or awful or to mock you, I swear! You won't see your body or anything like that/"

"Why would you do this?"

"But it's not…I just… Trust me, Sarah. Please? There are some things that should be known, and I won't have you dying before you see it. What about it, Sarah Jane Smith? Do you trust me?"

She sighed heavily, and nodded. "You know I do," she told him. "That's something you never have to ask of me."

"Thank you." He opened the TARDIS door again, and offered her his arm to lean on as they walked out together.

When Sarah Jane saw the crowd of people filling the cemetery, she froze. One hand fluttered up to cover her mouth, and the Doctor felt her pulse quicken. He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Doctor…?" she whispered, looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Sarah Jane?"

"What…who are all these people?"

"They are just a fraction of the people whose lives you have touched."

"But just look at them all… It's all the kids; Clyde and Rani and their families, and Maria back from the States! Oh, and Martha and Mickey over there… Jack and his team… And Donna Noble, bless her. And the man from the hill. Wilf!"

"That's her grandfather," the Doctor explained. "And her mother is standing with them, and her husband. And there's Martha's whole family, and a good bit of UNIT over to the right. Only people missing are the Tylers, and that's only because they're stuck in an alternate reality and can't get back here. And look at all of these other people, Sarah Jane. Hundreds of them, from all over this world and a few others besides. You are loved, Sarah Jane Smith. And all of these people are here to stand tribute to the great good that you have done. Your legacy is going to go on forever; you will never be forgotten.

Sarah Jane nodded, her mouth opening and closing as she tried unsuccessfully to speak. The Doctor waited patiently, allowing the full extent of her own power to sink in. She blinked back tears.

"Thank you," she said finally, her voice shaking. "I don't even know what to… Thank you."

"Oh, but there's one more thing, Sarah Jane."

"No, really, Doctor. You've done more than enough for me already."

"Come with me." Paying exactly no attention to her weak protests, the Doctor led her around the edge of the crowd until they reached the one figure who was standing apart still. The Doctor tapped him on the shoulder, and Sarah Jane gasped as he looked straight into her eyes.

"Luke?"

"Mum?" he whispered.

The Doctor stood back as they embraced; keeping a subtle eye on the crowd to make sure none of them noticed the exchange. He allowed Sarah Jane and her son to have their moment uninterrupted.

"Mum, I can't believe it," Luke was whispering, holding onto her like he'd never let go. "You're really here! The day that you… Well, the last day, you told me I'd see you again. But I thought you meant, well, heaven; I didn't realize that you would do this!"

"I have no doubt I'll see you in heaven, too," she whispered, holding onto him just as tightly. "Oh, Luke…I am so, so sorry. I don't want to leave you this soon; I don't want to leave you when I've had so little time to be with you. You'll be left on your own, and this time there won't be a daft old lady to take care of you…" she cried into his shoulder. "Luke, I love you so much, and I am so sorry…"

"Mum, I'll be alright," Luke promised, fighting tears himself. "Losing you is the worst thing that has ever happened to me, but I'll keep on, for you. Clyde and Mr. Smith and K9 and Rani and Maria and I, we'll keep going, doing what you taught us to do. To help and protect and to care for, be the best we can be; to make a stand and never give up, eh? It'll be hard, but we're going to keep doing our best to protect the world, for you. Everything we do from now on is in your name, Mum. You've told us before that the Doctor left you a legacy, and now we're taking on yours. I don't want you to be gone, but… I'll make sure that you're never forgotten. I love you, Mum." Luke had mostly been able to hold off his tears as he was talking; but his voice broke with those last words and he buried his face in her shoulder. They held each other and cried.

Finally, Sarah Jane pulled back enough to look into her son's face. She smoothed back his hair.

"Oh, Luke Smith," she said softly. "My son. I love you so much more than you can ever imagine; and it has been my privilege and my honor to watch you grow into a handsome, brave, strong, and good man. You have already done amazing things for this world, and you are going to do many more, Luke. I know that you are going to change the world. I love you."

"I love you too, Mum," he answered, as if they couldn't say it enough. "And you really have been the very best mum that I could ever ask for. I wouldn't go back and change even one second of it. Ever."

Loathing himself for interrupting their last moment together, but well aware that time was running dangerously short, the Doctor tapped Sarah Jane on the shoulder. She took one look at him and knew it was the end. Desperately, wanting to hold on for just a moment longer, she wrapped her arms around Luke again.

"Tell everyone else I said goodbye, and thank you," she whispered to him.

Luke nodded. "I will, Mum," he promised.

"And thank you, Luke Smith. Thank you for being the best son that I could ever have hoped for. And goodbye…until I see you again."

"Goodbye, Mum."

It was a tremendous effort for both of them to pull away, but finally they did. The Doctor took Sarah Jane's hand, and with one final look back into the eyes of her son, she allowed him to lead her away, back to the TARDIS. He closed the door very gently behind them. When he turned to Sarah Jane, there were tears on her face, but she seemed perfectly composed and serene. She took a deep breath.

"I'm ready now," she said softly, "to go home."

*~_|"|_~*

A/N: I thought that I was going to be able to get through this in three chapters, but I guess that one more is necessary.