High time for an update, don't you think?
Still combating the Ten/Rose out there with some Ten/Martha.
Thanks for the reviews, you're all such great people! Even if ur adding it as a favorite to ur story lists, I would like to thank you!
As for adding me...well...lets just say that it involves cyberhugs.
But anyway, I digress.
I'm sure you came here to read the story and not my babble.
Read on!
CHAPTER 5:- Black Hearts
The TARDIS sent out a telepathic wave when she was done and all four occupants of the sentient ship gathered in the Console room.
Both Martha and the Doctor looked drawn and exhausted but neither spoke to each other. They didn't even look at each other.
The Doctor quickly set about making the final adjustments.
It took him barely a minute, before he cleared his throat and stood up straight.
"Alright then, I've got you locked on. I can transmit you back to the attic, which is where you were," The Doctor said, his voice perfectly steady but his false feelings betrayed by the broken gleam of his eyes.
Maia nodded and Malikai sighed.
"Thank you very much," the Doctor's son said.
Tugging at an ear, the Time Lord shook his head.
"My duty…nothing more. No need to thank me…" he said.
They all then lapsed into silence, not knowing what to say to each other.
"Well then, I suppose that it's time for you…to go home," Martha finally piped up, her voice as steady and normal as the Doctor's yet her eyes were the same as his.
It was remarkable how neither of them even looked at each other to recognize that fact.
Maia, not the one for long goodbyes, stepped up to her mother and wrapped her arms around her as tight as she could.
"Good bye Mum," she whispered.
Martha returned the hug without any sort of hesitation as she embraced her child just as tightly.
"Take good care of yourself and tell me that too," Martha said softly.
The teenager laughed, but said nothing.
She wasn't even sure she'd ever get to see her real mother again.
Meanwhile, Malikai was standing before his father.
"I suppose that this means goodbye?" Malikai said.
The Doctor nodded, but shrugged.
"Only for a little while, for me, it'll be a lot longer but I'm willing to wait." He replied.
With a nervous cough, Malikai held his hand out for a hand shake.
"Sir," he said.
At first the Doctor didn't move, he observed the outstretched hand with a raised eyebrow, before he moved forward and bypassed the hand by encircling the teenager in an embrace.
Malikai returned it, hoping that this would not be the last time he would ever get to hold his father.
"Keep studying. I'll be thrilled if you ever become a Time Lord, Malikai. I really will be impressed and there is nothing wrong with books…never let your sister tell you otherwise," The Doctor murmured in his ear.
It was a task for either of the siblings not to get too upset; they knew that where they were going was not likely to exist anymore. All they could do was hope.
Martha finally pulled back from Maia with teary eyes and nodded to the Doctor without actually looking at him.
"Go and say goodbye to your father." She said.
Maia nodded, but didn't move for a moment.
She ducked her head slightly.
"I love you, Mum…you do know that right?" she asked sheepishly.
There was no visible reaction from Martha, who simply nodded and gave her a gentle push towards the Time Lord.
"I know," she breathed.
Malikai let his father go and the doctor watched as his son pulled away.
"Be careful. I want you safe and sound when you see me next. If not, I'll punish you," he said threateningly, but the small smile on his face told that he was joking.
With a salute, Malikai nodded.
"Yes, sir," he said.
"Good. Now go and tell your mother that you love her. Don't make her feel left out," the Doctor said, his smile dropping into a look of blankness.
Grinning at his father, Malikai turned from him and walked to his mother, while Maia approached her father.
"Dad?" She murmured sadly.
The Doctor knelt down, and smiled at her.
"Hello there." He said softly.
The young teenager stopped before him, staring at him with baleful eyes that spoke volumes about her sadness.
"You and Mum are going to be alright…yeah?" she asked uncertainly.
Wincing slightly, the Doctor threw a quick glance at Martha, before looking back to his daughter.
"I…I honestly don't know Maia but…it'll all turn out right. I know that much." The Doctor responded.
His daughter seemed to accept her father's words and threw her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder and sobbing.
All the Doctor could do to stop himself from crying like her was close his eyes and hold her against him; feel the beat of her heart and hope that it wasn't just a dream.
Malikai and his mother were in a similar embrace.
"I'm sorry about all this," the young teen said.
"Don't be, it's been a pleasure to meet my own son. You really are something special Malikai…you and your sister. You're both the best things I have ever been told about. I really hope that I'll get to hold you again…I really do," Martha sighed, stroking the back of her son's head.
Slowly, the farewells drew to an end and the time came.
The two siblings that had come in a flurry twenty four hours before, stood before their parents, hand in hand.
"Good luck," Martha called.
In response the children smiled, just as the Doctor pressed the final buttons.
With a flash of white light and a thrum of increased energy, they were gone.
For a while, neither the Doctor nor Martha moved.
They stared at the spot their children had once been in, contemplating all that had happened in the past twenty four long hours.
It hadn't been easy and there had been more than enough pain.
But after it all, Martha and the Doctor found that they had not wanted the children to go…that they very much wanted them to stay.
But it didn't work like that.
With a shuddering sigh, Martha Jones turned and walked out of the TARDIS.
Leaving the Doctor alone once again.
He was left alone in the cavernous interior of the TARDIS, never feeling lonelier than he was now.
It had been a hectic day, an emotional rollercoaster.
He'd gone to the church for Martha's wedding to a human, but had ended the day alone, after seeing both his kids for what he felt was the last time and breaking all sort of connections with Martha Jones.
Not to mention the way he'd broken his own heart with Martha, making a fool out of himself and ruining her day…
It had been stupid of him to even think that he could waltz up to Martha and demand that she come back to him like that. What on earth had he been thinking?!
His craving for her company had been steadily getting worse and worse and worse; until he had taken action. Which had resulted in this situation.
Now he'd ruined everything in an uncontrollable fit of rage at her resistance.
Sighing heavily, he raised his heavy head and checked that he truly was alone.
Nothing more than the sympathetic hum of the TARDIS surrounded him, seeming to enhance his loneliness.
With a forlorn glance at the TARDIS doors; he slumped down against the console and drew his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his shins.
"How can it be, that the only thing I thought to be right without a shadow of a doubt, turns out to be so wrong…" he murmured sadly to himself.
From somewhere in his head he heard Martha's voice.
"I don't know…it just is."
Sniffing and blinking quickly, he shook his head and rested his forehead against his knees.
Perhaps, the TARDIS had some sort of heartbreak cure for him…something hidden deeply away in her stores that she would tell him about.
If not…perhaps she could end this sorry existence of this incarnation and start afresh with another; with all these painful feelings nothing more than mere memories.
A mirthless chuckle rose up inside of him.
Ironic. He was considering something so very human…something that he never would have thought of not too long ago.
Nothing seemed to be painless anymore.
Rushing memories of Gallifrey burning filled his mind, along with embracing his son and daughter for the first and only time, barely five minutes ago. His fights with Martha, loosing his beloved Rose, leaving Jack behind on Satellite Five, finding out about The Dalek Emperor still being alive, the Cybermen, and everyone who had died because of him.
His entire existence was nothing more than an unending series of painful events; each one designed to rip his heart from him piece by piece.
He was so sure now, that there was nothing left to give.
Inside he felt hollow and cold; he knew he was still alive, but he was sure his hearts had stopped beating when Martha had walked out that door.
There was nothing left for him to do, other than sit there and contemplate his existence and if it really was worth continuing after all this.
Martha Jones walked quickly down the pavement, her white shoes clacking annoyingly.
Her hair was a mess, her makeup had run from her tears, her dress was crumpled and creased and she was in no mood for a wedding.
Today was not the best day of her life…as it had planned to be.
It had been the worst day of her life, to date; and she was almost one hundred percent certain that nothing could top this day. She'd met her children and lost them…she'd realized her feelings for the Doctor after tearing his hearts out and throwing them on the floor.
It was ironic that her perfectly planned day had been ruined by the one thing that she had aimed to control.
The Doctor.
The kids, she could deal with but the Doctor and his demands and his confessions had been the straw that broke the camel's back.
As she walked quickly toward the church, her mind wandered back to the children.
Bright eyed Maia and Sharp Minded Malikai.
Her simple human heart clenched painfully when she realized that those children would never come into existence if she continued down the path she was on now.
If she married Tom, like she intended to, she would never have Maia or Malikai. She may have children with the same names but they would not be the same.
In each of them had been an element of the Doctor and an element of her.
That grin…those eyes…that intelligence…the wit…all of it.
Tom couldn't give her those children whom she had become so attached to over the past twenty four hours.
She loved them completely and utterly, more than she ever had thought possible.
And she'd never have them.
A hiccupping sob stopped her in her tracks.
Her mind whirred with all the things that had happened and the answer to her dilemma was amazingly clear.
"Go back to him."
The Doctor.
She loved him, every inch of him.
She loved their children, every inch of them.
So why was she running away?
What was self respect when she was causing this much pain to herself, let alone him.
The Doctor; the Last of the Time Lords, had one shot at this.
He had seen his own children and from the way he'd looked at them, he loved them just as much she did.
If anyone deserved those children, it was him.
What was her honest reason for running away from him?
In those children, she had seen a happy life; a life in which she was a good mother, she loved her husband and she was safe.
By this time, the cold had well and truly sunk into her skin and she shuddered.
From both the temperature, and the realization that she was doing the wrong thing.
She was being selfish, being petty by running away from the man she loved to marry someone that she didn't.
Slowly, she turned away from the church and looked back the way she came.
Maybe there was enough time…maybe he hadn't left yet.
Perhaps she could go back and talk...they could sort it out…
Yeah…she'd like that…
But even as she walked back, she knew she had to show some back bone, she knew that she had to come off strong and independent.
Walk in there angry, she knew.
Make a statement and see what he did.
Depending on how things went, Martha Jones was feeling a little more optimistic.
Perhaps there was some hope for them after all.
Done!
There we are. I hope it was worth the wait. We're getting closer to the end now. I think...
But review and we shall see what happens next time.
I love hearing from you all, it's a good thing. Thanks for the support and the love.
Cyberhugs to you all and don't forget the review button!