Sorry for the delay! Star Wars consumed my brain for a whole week leading up to the premiere and right after but I'm good now. Which means this chapter is here and it's going to really pull on your heartstrings, hopefully.
Thanks for all the feedback so far! Enjoy!
I'm not afraid of dying, there's too much to miss in life
But I can't begin to even imagine, you not by my side
I'm not afraid of tomorrow, tomorrow, I'm afraid, will change.
And if we're consumed by counting each hour, what's left of today?
If this was our last dance, I'd wait in the rain,
Just to see your face.
If this was our last chance, I'd ask you to stay,
For one last dance.
Last Dance - Camera Can't Lie
"Did you actually want Carly to come with us?"
The TARDIS had just landed at Torchwood, and the Doctor looked up from the scanner upon hearing Aliya's question.
"Maybe," he answered, frowning a little, "I don't know. It wouldn't have been a good idea, for the same reason we made Jenny leave. It just sort of came out before I thought about it."
"It's good that she said no," Aliya said, nodding.
"Yeah."
They left the box and came out into the Torchwood Hub. The person they had been missing for the equivalent of two decades was standing only a few metres away and talking to Rex while trying to hand him some files. It seemed like she was deliberately not looking at them.
"Jenny."
"I'm busy," she said stiffly, shoving the files into Rex's chest before turning away from them and heading back to her desk. They followed her. She glanced up at them, and the Doctor could see some of her resolve crumble when she did. "You're lucky Mari isn't here. She'd kick both of your butts for even showing your faces."
"Called it," Aliya murmured.
"Where is she?" The Doctor asked.
"Out for lunch with Esther."
"Oh."
"We were just popping in to see if you wanted to go and get some ice cream."
"Give me one good reason why I should, after you pushing me away like you did," Jenny said, scowling at him.
"We were stuck in a Time Loop for twenty years and we really, really missed you," Aliya told her simply, and that was all it took for Jenny's hostility to drop.
"What?"
"Coming to see you was the first thing we've done since getting out," the Doctor added, "After finally getting some sleep, that is."
"...I missed you too, and it's only been three weeks," Jenny said, getting up from her chair and hugging him, "I can't even imagine twenty years. That's five times as long as I've been alive."
He held her to him tightly, pressing his face into her golden hair and relishing the feeling of her in his arms. "I forget how young you are, sometimes."
"Could have fooled me."
Jenny moved to hug Aliya afterwards, for almost as long, and it made the Doctor smile to see them reunited. There was a good chance that once he was dead, they would be each other's main source of comfort.
"So, ice cream?"
Aliya nodded and grinned. "Good idea?"
"Great idea."
"We were going to ask Mari too," the Doctor said awkwardly.
"Like I said. Lunch with the girlfriend. Don't know when they'll be back," Jenny told them, shrugging, "Don't think she'd want to come anyway."
"No, I suppose not," he agreed with a small sigh. "Come on then. Do you need to tell Jack you're stepping out?"
Jenny bent to scribble on a post-it note and then stuck it on her computer monitor.
Out with D + A, back soon - J
They took the lift up to the pass and found the nearest ice cream parlor. The Doctor ordered a double scoop of banana while Jenny went for chocolate, and Aliya got a horrific concoction of Jaffa Cake and blueberry ripple that she was delighted with.
"You know, this is the ice cream place Mari and Esther went on their first date," Jenny said thoughtfully as they walked back towards the waterfront with their purchases. "We come here on Sundays."
"Sounds like a nice tradition," the Doctor remarked, smiling at the thought of his daughters spending time together. Even if he wasn't in the picture, it was nice to know his family - what an abstract thought that still was, his family - weren't entirely estranged from each other. Just not all together yet.
"How are you eating that?" Jenny asked Aliya skeptically, eyeing the ice cream that was topped with sprinkles and chocolate chips as well.
"What?" The Time Lady asked. "It's nice."
"Doubtful," the Doctor snorted, "Combining anything that happens to be incredibly sweet doesn't automatically make it good."
"Maybe not for your taste buds, but mine aren't as difficult to satisfy."
"Clearly."
"So twenty years in a Time Loop? What was that like?" Jenny asked them. "How long was the loop? I know Jack and Hart were in one that went for two weeks, but it was five years overall."
"Ours was three hours," the Doctor said, making a face, "Fifty seven thousand eight hundred and nine loops."
"Oh my god."
"Yeah," Aliya said, biting into her ice cream, "And we were stuck in there with three humans it's safe to say we drove entirely nuts."
"Stuck with you two for twenty years straight, yeah, I can imagine," Jenny laughed, earning a poke in the ribs from her adopted mother.
"Watch it, princess," she said with a large grin, "We know that we're annoying and hard work, but it's still rude to say so."
"Besides, we've got Mari for that," the Doctor pointed out, and the two blondes made faces of agreement, "Jenny, at least mention to her that we were thinking of her too."
Jenny smiled. "I will."
"And remind her that we'll still be going to that spot in the hope that she's there, if she hasn't gone already."
"She hasn't. Or, Esther's pretty sure she hasn't."
"And she would know? Together a lot, are they?"
Jenny snorted. "They've not quite been together for a month and a half yet. The others say that they're still in the honeymoon phase. Which once it was explained made sense enough."
The Doctor glanced at Aliya, who was giving him a wide smile, her eyes dancing. "I think I can remember what that's like."
"Yeah, I remember hearing about your honeymoon phase and don't need to be reminded, thanks," Jenny muttered while Aliya and the Doctor went red but still managed to laugh at her.
They walked in silence for a while, a rarity for three people so fond of talking. The wind ruffled their hair and the sounds of humans passing all around them in their daily routines filled their ears.
"So that thing you couldn't tell me," Jenny began, "The reason I had to leave. Can you tell me yet?"
"No, not yet," Aliya said apologetically, putting her free arm around her, "But we're hoping soon."
"It's complicated," the Doctor added.
Jenny just sighed. "Isn't it always?"
"With your dad? Yes. It's a real joy."
"That's sarcasm."
"Really? How did you know?"
It turned out that looking for alternative solutions for Silencio wasn't as simple as Aliya had made it sound.
Which the Doctor had been expecting, of course, but it pained him to see her so disheartened.
"There has to be something," she kept insisting, as they came up with one idea after another only to scrap them. Each one was less plausible than the next, but he had made a promise and so he humoured her.
"There will be," he said every time, even though it was half a lie. He didn't necessarily believe there was a way out of it, and he certainly still saw his death at Silencio as a legitimate possibility for the future. But there was no way to tell her that. She would never accept it.
It was a relief when he was able to convince her to pause the search to go on some adventures and see some sights. After all, if he was going to go, he wasn't going to go without one hell of a farewell tour, and there was so much, so much to see.
The TARDIS landed outside the small medieval cottage with its usual wheezing, and the sound brought one of the cottage's occupants running outside to stare at the box.
"That's her alright," the Doctor said from inside it as he and Aliya watched the human on the scanner. "After you."
Aliya led the way out of the police box and grinned at the shock on the face of the girl standing in front of it.
"Hello, Laura."
Laura beamed, her eyes alight with elation. "Aliya! John. You're back."
"Thought we'd check in on you," the Doctor said, smiling at her, "How'd that husband work out for you?"
She grinned. "He's wonderful. If you stay for supper, you can meet him."
"Lovely."
"You're still wearing my necklace," the girl noticed, smiling softly, "After all this time."
"Of course," Aliya said, smiling back, "Always."
That was when the Doctor realised something rather significant and leaned in towards Aliya. "She's holding a baby."
"Yes, Doctor. I had noticed." Aliya moved forward to give Laura a hug as tight as was practical when one of the two people involved was carrying an infant. "So how long has it been since we last saw you?"
"Almost two summers," Laura answered, "But you must know that."
"...of course. So who's this?" Aliya reached out to stroke the cheek of the chubby cheeked baby gurgling at her.
"This is John," the teenager told them, grinning at the Doctor who was rather floored by her words before directing her gaze back to her baby. It was obvious that her son was her whole world just by the way she smiled. "Named after the man who saved my family of course. Our little Jack."
"With those names, expect trouble," Aliya said seriously, but had to smile at the baby because she was physically incapable of doing anything else.
"I'd forgotten how bad you get baby-face," the Doctor remarked, chuckling at her.
"Please, come inside," Laura told them, and they followed her into the kitchen of her small home, "Now, I must ask. What are you wearing? You look so strange." The Time Lords took proper looks at their attire. They had forgotten to change into period appropriate clothing.
"This is what people wear where we come from," Aliya said, shrugging, "Does it bother you?"
"Not particularly, it's just odd, and Simon will likely think so, but I've told him of you and I'm sure it will not matter."
"Simon's your husband?"
"Yes. He works at the mill, but he'll be home soon." Laura noticed the way that Aliya was eyeing baby Jack. "Would you like to hold him?"
Aliya grinned. "Yes please." She was handed the baby and the Time Lady settled him into the crook of her arm with automatic ease. "Hello there, Jack. We have a friend called Jack, you know. And if you turn out to be half as fantastic as him then you'll be doing alright."
"You're a natural mother," Laura commented, sadly, "It's a shame God hasn't given you another chance at it."
"Well, actually I adopted-"
"We had a baby," the Doctor said, cutting her off. Aliya's face fell while Laura's eyes lit up. "It shouldn't have been possible, but we did."
"But that's wonderful!" The human said, grabbing his hands and squeezing them as she laughed. "I am so happy for you both. Where is he? Or she?"
"She's with friends," he replied, smiling.
"But it's complicated," Aliya said stonily, holding baby Jack a little closer to her, "And I'd rather not talk about it."
Laura stared at her. "Why?"
"Because it's complicated in ways we could never explain."
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."
The Doctor sighed. "I couldn't not mention it, Aliya. Seeing you now...with the baby...it just reminded me of when we had Mari like that. How happy you were to be holding her."
"Before everything went wrong," Aliya whispered, shutting her eyes for a moment, "I know. It's all I can think of too."
"I don't understand, but I'm sorry for the sadness that seems to have found you," Laura told them, her expression incredibly sympathetic.
"Thank you, Laura, but things are getting better," the Doctor said, patting her shoulder, "It's all going to come right. Just a matter of time."
Laura smiled. "I'm glad."
The Doctor came to sit next to Aliya so that he could offer Jack his finger to play with. The baby eagerly grabbed it, making the Time Lord smile.
"You're a lucky one," he told the tiny human, "You have a nice little house, a dad with a job, and a brilliant Mum who I can tell loves you a lot, who stood up to monsters before you were even born. And a whole world for the taking. You're going to be amazing."
Laura smiled so widely it looked like it had to be hurting her face.
"And she would never let anyone hurt you or take you away from her," Aliya whispered, "You are going to be loved." The Doctor glanced up from Jack's face to see tears shining on Aliya's cheeks.
"Hey," he whispered, stroking a thumb across her skin to wipe the wetness away. She just smiled, and he put an arm around her shoulders so that she could lean into him and rest her head in the crook of his neck.
They kept watch on the baby together while Laura finished preparing supper. It wasn't too long before a young man with abundant ginger curls strode in only to be very clearly taken aback by two strangers in his house holding his child.
"Laura?"
She turned around and hurried to embrace him. "Simon! These are the two I've told you of, John and Aliya Middleton."
Simon's surprise gave way into ease and gave them a quick smile. "Oh, I see. Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. I see you're taking good care of my son."
"Well, Aliya's been doing most of the work," the Doctor said, getting to his feet and shaking Simon's hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Simon. We had to come back and made sure that our Laura only had the best."
Laura turned pink. Simon just laughed and wrapped an arm around her waist so that he could pull her in for a quick peck. He was a head taller that her, meaning she had to get up on her tip toes and crane her neck up at him. "Well, dearest, am I the best?"
"You're fair close," she said, grinning before pushing away from him so that she could bring the food to the table, "I'm sure they approve."
"Yeah, you'll do," Aliya said to Simon, who laughed again as he sat down next to her so that he could tickle his son's cheeks, "Do you want him?"
"Yes, I'll take him." He lifted Jack from her arms and settled him against his shoulder. "So why are your clothes so strange?"
"We're from rather far away."
"Well, yes, but a woman in breeches?" Simon glanced at Aliya's jeans skeptically.
Aliya grinned. "Far from the strangest thing you'd find where we are from, I promise you. I'd just worry about your dinner for the moment."
He grinned back and was more than happy to do just that.
After excursions to Mars, the Horsehead Nebula, Florana, and a number of other delightful places (as well as a number of less savoury ones that landed them in some serious trouble), the Time Lords mentally prepared themselves and landed in the spot where they hoped that Mari would be waiting.
Sure enough, the moment they opened the door they were exposed to a redheaded fury, but the Doctor was so relieved that she'd actually turned up that he wasn't initially too concerned.
"Just when I thought I had seen the worst of you two, you evict your own daughter!" She shouted. "I got a phone call of her crying and asking if she could come to see us. What the hell is wrong with you?! I thought the one thing you wouldn't be able to fuck up was looking after Jenny, but apparently I was wrong!"
As always, the swear word sounded incredibly wrong when said with her eloquent voice.
"We had a reason," Aliya said stiffly, lifting her chin.
Mari scoffed. "Yes, this apparently very good reason that's also a secret. I don't imagine I'll be hearing it. No? Then it doesn't work as an excuse."
"Take a second to comprehend that maybe it's a very good reason involving things you haven't thought to consider," Aliya retorted, "And we were also trying to keep her safe. Do you know how close she came to dying, on that last adventure? Did she actually tell you what would have happened? The creature would have drained her of everything that she was but left her breathing!"
The other woman faltered, her tongue wetting her lips as she considered the words. "No. She didn't mention that."
"Her faith and reliance on me came so close to getting her killed, Mari," the Doctor said solemnly, "We had to shatter it in whatever way we could."
Mari crossed her arms, her hazel eyes unsure as she seemed to be considering their words. "You came and took her out for ice cream."
"Yes. Planned on asking you too, but you weren't there."
Her eyebrow lifted. "Jenny didn't mention that either. That...isn't today's plan, is it? Going for ice cream?"
The Doctor chuckled. "Not unless you want it to be. I was thinking something a little more exciting."
"How exciting?"
He went to the console, got the controls going, and threw her a grin. "Did I say exciting? I meant amazing. Let's try for amazing." The ship shook as it dematerialised, and the two women clutched the railing for support until it came to land with a wheeze.
"Does it truly have to make that noise every time?" Mari asked, making a face.
The Doctor gaped, offended. "Yes!"
"No," Aliya said, rolling her eyes, "But he's nostalgic and stubborn. Still, it grows on you and you start going along with it."
"...right," Mari said, her eyebrow back up. "So where are we?"
"Take a look and see," the Doctor told her, smiling at her until she cautiously turned around and went to open the doors.
"Oh," came the barely audible reaction.
He grabbed the picnic basket he'd prepared - or more accurately, that the TARDIS had prepared - and made to follow, with Aliya behind him. They stepped out of the box to find Mari staring at the landscape around them.
Slopes of violet grass stretched into the distance to meet a cloudless teal sky, with triplet suns that hung low above the horizon along with the looming outline of a very nearby planet. The Doctor inhaled the warm air that tasted similar to honeysuckle and smiled into the faint wind that was ruffling his hair.
"Mari, Aliya, welcome to the moon of Vestala," he said, spreading his arms, picnic basket and all.
"It's beautiful," Mari said softly, her expression otherwise guarded but her arms no longer crossed. "How far from Earth is it?"
"Far enough that texting your girlfriend definitely won't work. Though, that's actually easily fixed." The Doctor took a quick look around and decided on the optimum hill. "Up there. Lovely."
They followed him wordlessly, but only Aliya helped him unfold the picnic blanket and unpack the basket of food. Mari's hands were in the pockets of her charcoal coat and she was eyeing the picnic setup dubiously.
"A picnic."
"Yes." The Doctor gingerly set down a plate of colourful cupcakes and nodded towards the free half of the blanket. "Go on, make yourself comfortable."
"I'm not sure that's possible," Mari said, frowning, but moved to sit down and stretch her legs out all the same. She eyed the dirt encrusted heels of her stilettos and sighed.
Aliya sat down too and helped herself to one of the cupcakes. "This place really is stunning, Doctor. Thank you for bringing us here."
"You think it's stunning now, just you wait," he told her, grinning, "Will you try the food, Mari? It really is good, I promise." He held out the plate of sandwiches and while her unfathomable gaze didn't shift in any way, she grabbed one of the bacon ones and started taking small bites out of it.
"Good cupcakes," Aliya said, having already managed to get frosting around her mouth.
It was an alright attempt at conversation but it didn't stop them from lapsing into a very awkward silence. It involved Mari pointedly not looking at either of them and focusing very hard on picking at the crust of her sandwich with her perfectly manicured but short-nailed fingers. Aliya had taken up a similar interest in her cupcake.
The Doctor sighed. "This is weird, isn't it?"
An audible breath of relief was let out of the lungs of both women.
"Yes," Mari said simply.
"Super weird," Aliya agreed.
The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "I know, I know, I'm sorry, but...I don't know what else to do. I'm trying here. I'm really trying, but there isn't a manual for this!"
Mari shook her head. "You don't need to apologise."
"It feels like I do," he admitted.
More words had been planned, but they were paused in his mind when he noticed how hazel irises had locked onto something other than the bacon sandwich. One of the knives lying next to the basket. Her entire body had gone deadly still with the exception of her hand which was twitching.
The Doctor's hand closed around Mari's wrist in the second before her fingers touched the metal of the cutlery.
Mari's head snapped towards him, her eyes meeting his properly for the first time in far too long. Conflict ruled them, the same conflict within herself that had been there last time. Wrestling with the instincts to kill him.
"You okay?" He asked softly. She gave a stiff nod and yanked her hand out of his grip before he could consciously release it.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, folding her hands in her lap and not moving her eyes from them.
The Doctor smiled even though she wasn't looking. "You said once that you wouldn't apologise for who you are. Hold true to that. It's not your fault."
That made Mari look up, a strange sort of confusion in her face as she eyed him. She seemed like she wanted to say something, but her mouth never opened more than a fraction before shutting again.
"How are things with Esther?" Aliya asked after discarding her discomfort over their brief exchange.
It was a safe topic, and Mari actually smiled, though minutely and not at her directly. "Good. Incredibly good, actually. It so often feels like a dream."
"And Torchwood? I just realised, we don't know what you've done there. Do they have any idea?"
Mari let out a tiny chuckle. "Oh, they know. We had a lot of fun with it, Jenny and Esther and I. You should have seen their faces. Harkness especially. Hart actually worked it out."
"Really?"
"After I sent a graphic threat his way, all it took was a look at my shoes and my reaction to Esther and he knew exactly who I was. He's annoyingly observant."
An odd look crossed Aliya's face. "Wait. Does this mean that Rex knows he had sex with an alien?"
Mari grinned. "Oh, yes. It is permanently ingrained in my memory and the day it stops being funny is the day I'm dead." Much to the Doctor's surprise, they both laughed rather genuinely at that, but they realised what they were doing and abruptly stopped.
The redhead took one of the bottles of water and uncapped it. "He also doesn't like how we keep teasing him about how he turned me gay."
"Turned you gay?" Aliya repeated, confused. "How on earth would that work?"
"Humans of his time, especially from his country, don't tend to view these things sensibly, Aliya," the Doctor explained, "It's an insult of sorts."
"Oh." Her frown suggested she still didn't understand.
Mari rolled her eyes. "Never mind."
The awkward silence came back, but it wasn't as thick as the first. This time it had already been acknowledged, and there was something oddly comforting in knowing that they were all uncomfortable.
"The suns are setting," Mari said, her gaze fixed on the horizon, where various shades of cyan were streaking the sky.
"Which means it's time for a walk," the Doctor told them, getting to his feet, "We'll just pop all this back in the TARDIS and then...can you see that sort of shadow at the foot of that hill down there?"
Aliya followed where his finger pointed, down the valley. "Yes."
"That's where we're going."
"Okay. I'll meet you two there."
"What?"
The blonde started packing up the food back into the basket. "I'll pack all of this up and put it back, you two go on and I'll catch up."
The Doctor frowned at her. "Are you sure?"
She gave him a tiny smile. "Yes. Go on."
He shifted his gaze to Mari, who as per usual was impossible to read and had her arms crossed her chest, having stood after he did. "Alright then. Come on, Mari, it's not too far."
They began to walk down the hill, leaving Aliya at the top. Once again, he was impressed by Mari's ability to navigate inclines while wearing high heels, and even more so at how it was a skill that had transcended her regeneration.
"Why are you staring at my shoes?" She asked.
"Oh. Just impressed by your ability to walk in them on this terrain," he said, scratching his cheek and offering her a sheepish smile, "I was never much good in them myself."
That made her give him a strange look, like she wasn't sure if he was joking or not, but if he wasn't mistaken there was a hint of amusement in her eyes.
"Well, not everything can be genetic," she replied after a few seconds, her eyes still focused on the ground.
He chuckled. "No, I suppose not. Nothing to do with me, probably just a product of your own brilliance."
Her head snapped up to look at him, her eyebrows furrowed together in a deep frown. "Please don't."
"Don't what?"
She just sighed and didn't answer, and he chose to not press the matter. They had made it onto the flat ground, and their destination - a tunnel mouth - was in sight. Above them, the sky was almost finished turning dark. The planet the moon orbited was even more visible, its lilac light illuminating a curved path through the sky.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Mari followed his gaze up above their heads. "Yes. It is."
"We're almost there."
"But where is there?"
"You'll have to wait and see. It's a surprise. I don't suppose I could cover your eyes to make a proper show of it?"
Sure enough, a glare came his way. "No."
"Yeah, long shot, but you never know if you don't try," he said awkwardly, "Besides, it's only sunset now, so we might get lucky."
"I hope you realise I have no idea what you mean."
"I'm counting on it." Finally they reached the mouth of the tunnel, just as darkness finished falling and they had become not much more than silhouettes to each other. The Doctor just held an arm out. "After you."
Mari stepped inside and he followed, walking through the passage until they came into the cavern that formed an almost perfect circle a good seventy metres in diameter. On the high ceiling, several dozen feet above them, a multitude of tiny lights shone.
"Fireflies," Mari said, keeping her eyes on them as she continued to walk forward, "They're pretty, Doctor, but if this was the surprise, I'm not overly impressed."
The Doctor just grinned. "Look down, Mari. In front of you."
She did, and her eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Is that water? It's hard to tell with so little light."
"Yes, it's water."
She was only about five metres from the edge, and apparently realising how easily she could have kept walking and fallen in. "What is this place, some kind of oasis?"
"You could call it that. But you haven't seen anything yet. Just wait. Any second now."
Hazel eyes glanced his way, unsure. But then the entire cavern was lit within seconds as the underwater flora began to glow, revealing bioluminescence. The different shades and colours of vibrant light shone through the surface of the water and rippled across it.
"Oh," Mari whispered, her mouth having dropped open.
The Doctor smiled and moved to kneel by the water's edge, scooping up one of the white flowers floating on the surface that had also started glowing. The moment he lifted it out of the water, it floated into the air out of his hands, twirling and dancing in front of them like it had a mind of its own. Immediately, the other flowers did the same of their own accord, rising from the water and floating through the air instead, like dozens of floating stars or sprites.
When he looked at Mari, her eyes were wide as she took in the sight, something more alive in her eyes than he had ever seen in her. Her arm stretched out towards the nearest flower, and it settled on her fingers like an obedient bird or butterfly. Another did the same, and then another, until she had almost a dozen covering her arms and hands and many more in the immediate air around her.
There was wonder and softness in her expression as she lifted her eyes from the flowers to meet his gaze.
As the Doctor looked at her in that moment, he finally saw more in her than the wary adult who had lived through a great many hardships. He could see in her the child that they had both lost, the one taken from him and the one she had not been allowed to be.
It was beautiful. His hearts swelled at seeing the side of her normally overshadowed by her tough, disdainful exterior. This was his daughter. As she was meant to be.
He smiled at her, and tentatively, she smiled back. Then, after another look at the bioluminescent flowers around her, she started laughing, a small but genuine laugh that transformed her face and made her look at least ten years younger.
Finally the flowers left their perch and dispersed, spreading through the space over the water and around the two people standing in the cavern. Only the very first flower remained, and Mari brought the hand closer to her chest, tracing her other fingers across the glowing beauty.
"I...don't think there are words," she murmured, without looking up.
"You don't have to say anything."
"I went to that meeting point expecting to not be doing much more today than yelling at you and maybe kicking your arse," Mari added, still not looking at him, "Possibly killing you by accident. Just because...I know I could and a small part of me still thinks the idea of Aliya crying is funny. I never expected you to be...reasonable."
"Or that I had access to such fantastic bacon sandwiches?"
Her lips curled with amusement and her eyes finally came to meet his, less guarded than usual but still hesitant. "You never do what I expect."
"That's because you don't actually know me very well yet," he said simply, "I think, Mari, sometimes you forget that you were told a lot of lies about me, but haven't had the chance to learn a lot of truths."
Mari stroked the flower on her hand absently. "I don't deserve any of this."
"Rubbish, you deserve all of it," the Doctor said with a shake of his head, taking the flower from her and gingerly placing it in her hair, where the tendrils at the bottom curled around a strand of their own accord to stay in place.
Her eyes remained fixed on him as he did this, steady but quietly wary of his proximity. To her credit, though, she didn't flinch away, and only half looked as though she wanted to.
"Right down to the bacon sandwiches," he added, to lighten the moment, smiling at her.
Instead of it having the effect he had hoped for - making her laugh, perhaps, or at least smile again - something shifted in her face. It darkened and made her entire body tense.
"Please stop looking at me like that," she muttered, once more looking away from him.
The Doctor tilted his head, not understanding what he'd done but knowing he had be delicate in handling it. "Like what?"
Her hands pulled the flower out of her hair, and a twitch in her fingers made him think she was fighting at least a mild urge to crush it just because he was the one that had put it there. But they only closed enough to touch all the shining petals, in what was almost a caress, her expression meanwhile back to the disconcerting neutral mask that was apparently her default.
Or perhaps it was only the default when she was around him and Aliya.
She lifted her hand to let the flower float back up to join its counterparts, then crossed her arms, her entire body looking like it wanted to fold in on itself.
"Mari, I can't stop doing something if I don't know what I'm doing," he said gently, "And if I'm making you uncomfortable somehow, believe me, I don't want to be."
Her gaze was calculated, deliberating. Then she just sighed. "Forget I said anything."
Before he could argue, Aliya came into the cavern. "Oh, wow. Now this is something." She approached them, touching a few of the floating flowers as she walked. When she got a proper view of the water and the fauna within, her eyes shone with delight.
"Alright?" The Doctor asked, happy enough to move his attention to her and give Mari some probably needed space.
Aliya grinned. "You know it's far more than that."
Beside them, Mari got their attention by discarding her coat and slipping out of her shoes, leaving her in her dark blouse and jeans, her bare feet wiggling in the grass.
"Uh, Mari, what are you doing?"
The redhead just smirked at him. "I'd have thought it was obvious." With that, she dove into the pool with a single expert motion and surfaced a moment later, her curls plastered to her head. "One doesn't see water like this and not try it out."
The Doctor grinned at her. "Well, when you put it like that." He kicked off his own shoes and bent to peel off his socks. "Coming, Aliya?"
"No, I don't think so," the blonde replied, making a face, "The water looks a bit deep for a swimmer of my calibre."
"What, you can't swim?" Mari asked, frowning at her as she treaded water with ease.
Aliya shook her head. "Not well."
After throwing his coat and bowtie onto the grass, the Doctor jumped into the water as well, shirt and all, making a colossal splash that hit the other occupant of the water full blast.
"I should have known an elegant entrance would be far above you," Mari remarked, rolling her eyes.
"Snob," he retorted, before splashing her. It was a bit of a risky move, given that she wasn't really the playful type as far as he knew. But she grinned, albeit wolfishly, and had no qualms about immediately splashing him back.
"I'd be a snob over a dandy any day."
"Dandy?" He repeated, highly offended. "Have you heard yourself talk?"
She snorted. "I only speak like one."
"She's not wrong," Aliya commented from where she had removed her shoes and rolled her jeans up so she could sit on the bank and let her feet rest in the warm water. "If dandy idiot was an aesthetic, you'd be it."
"I'm ignoring both of you," he said haughtily, and dove down under the water to more closely examine some of the fauna. A glance sideways showed Mari doing something similar, likely to avoid having to make one on one conversation with Aliya.
Still, when he eventually returned to the surface, he found her doing just that.
"So, that time when you came back from a school reunion with a split lip-"
"Got a lovely visit from Kovarian, to check on my progress. The dozens of men she set on me as a test barely laid a finger on me, but afterwards she sat me down for a chat."
Aliya frowned. "She did that to you?"
"I said a few things she didn't like, and she was wearing a ring," Mari said, shrugging, "Mentioning my intentions and enthusiasm for killing both of you redeemed me some." Then she made a face. "It occurs to me that I'm now far from in her good books, having failed in both circumstances."
"There's always time," Aliya muttered.
"Don't tempt me by saying such idiotic things as that," the ginger said sharply, "You know perfectly well my intentions are far from what they once were."
"Do you think Kovarian will be angry with you, Mari?" The Doctor asked his daughter worriedly. "Because there are things we can do to protect-"
She frowned. "I can handle myself, Doctor."
"I was also thinking of Esther."
"I believe I'm more than capable of protecting my unkillable girlfriend, thank you." Mari hauled herself out of the water and squeezed the water out of her hair before sitting down on the grass. It was near Aliya but far enough away to give them both their own space. "Well, that was certainly a better swim than anywhere in Britain."
"Is that a particularly difficult achievement?" Aliya asked.
Mari smirked. "No."
The Doctor also got out of the water, and made sure to sit by Aliya and give her a large hug that left her damp and scowling at him. He just chuckled.
"Was that really necessary?" She said crossly.
He beamed at her, and bopped her on the nose. "Completely." While behind her Mari was smothering a tiny smirk of amusement, the Doctor could see a smile tugging at Aliya's lips despite her annoyance.
"You're an idiot."
"Always." He took one of the flowers from the air, cupped it in his hands, and held it out in front of her. Her face lit up, and she touched it ever so lightly. He put it in her hair just as he had done with Mari, only this time he got a wide smile in return for the gesture.
The redhead was watching them, specifically the move with the flower. It was still impossible to know what she was thinking but he thought he saw her jaw tense.
"This place is so beautiful," Aliya said, shifting her gaze from him to the rest of the flowers that danced through the air above the surface of the water. "Even more than Florana. It's like a hidden pocket of...well, I don't know, that's the best part, I suppose. It's so beautiful it's almost impossible to describe it or compare it to anything else."
"Well, you know me, I don't do boring," the Doctor replied.
"No," she agreed. Her fingers came up to comb through the front of his dripping hair. "You're all wet."
"Yes, I am a bit, and so is Mari. What do you think, back to the TARDIS?"
"Wait," Mari said, so abruptly that it made them turn around with surprise, "I just…" She went to her coat, pulled it on, and took her iPhone out of one of the pockets. "This place. I want to get a quick video to show Esther. As you say, a description couldn't do it justice. I'm not even sure a camera will, but it's the best I have."
"Oh, yeah, no, go for it," the Doctor said quickly, and so she lifted the phone and tilted it up to capture the pirouetting flowers for about ten seconds, then brought it down to show the bioluminescent aquatic life and what their light did to the water. "Do you want me to take it, so you're in the shot?"
"No, what the hell would I need to be in it for?"
"I don't know, I thought she might like to see you in-"
"She sees me all the time," Mari said sharply, "It's hardly necessary." She ended the video and pocketed the phone before slipping her shoes on. "Let's go. I need to dry off and so do you."
He privately thought back to the moment when the flowers had been covering her, to that look on her face that had struck him so completely. What he wouldn't have given to have been able to capture it, to share with Aliya and Esther and perhaps Jenny.
They made their way back to the TARDIS in relative silence, with Aliya's lamp from her jacket lighting the way through the dark as they walked through the grass and up the hill. Once back in the TARDIS, the Doctor touched Mari lightly on the shoulder.
"This way," he said, and indicated for her to follow him up the stairs. They walked through the corridor until they came to the full body dryer room.
It took her by surprise when it activated, which amused him, but he could see she was impressed by its efficiency. The room was small enough that her hair blew in his face a fair bit, but he decided against commenting on it.
She stopped at the nearest bathroom on the way back to the console room. "Dear lord, I look like a mess; my makeup is everywhere. Why didn't you say anything?"
"I honestly didn't notice," he said truthfully, though now that he looked, he could see the smears of black around her eyes that she was dabbing at with wipes she'd apparently found under the sink. When she was done, her face looked a little softer with lessened eyeliner and mascara. He had to wonder if her cosmetics were part of the front she put up or whether she just liked how they made her look. Or if it was both.
It occurred to him while they walked out back into the corridor that all the reasons she had that front in the first place came back to him and all the horrors and burdens she had endured because of him. Guilt festered in his chest as he stole glances at her, this woman who was so much harder and stronger than she should ever have had to be.
"I'm sorry, Mari," he found himself saying.
She looked at him curiously. "For what?"
"For what was done to you. It made you who you are, and that means I'd never want it undone, unless you did, but I am sorry."
Mari came to a stop, and he stopped too. "Oh."
The Doctor didn't really expect her to say that he was forgiven, and looking at her it was impossible to tell if he was, only that she had no intentions of saying so either way. He smiled at her again to let her know that that was okay.
Unfortunately it did the opposite of calm her. The same look that had been on her face back in the cavern returned, that frown of uncomfortable confusion.
"Stop it."
"Stop what?"
Mari bit her tongue, something more genuine and less hostile visible in flashes behind her mask. There was a long pause. Then, "Why?"
He wasn't sure exactly what she was asking, and so didn't reply. Instead he waited until she finally looked back up at him.
"Why do you care?" Mari asked, frowning even more deeply and shaking her head. "I tried to kill you, I still do, and you act like it means nothing. I'm a monster and a murderer and you haven't even tried to make me apologise for any of it."
"Mari, it's okay, that wasn't-"
"Stop it!" She shouted, and he was shocked to see a raw desperation in her that was entirely new or else had been well hidden until now. "Why do you look at me like that?! I can't take it, I don't know how, it's not in my damned programming so just stop it!"
The Doctor could only stare at this woman, his daughter, who was normally so closed off and composed. She was now a mess of shining hazel eyes that held a plea he didn't yet understand, her shaking hands pushing her unruly ginger curls back behind her ears where they had fallen in her face.
"How am I looking at you?" He asked, very quietly and with genuine confusion.
Mari swallowed very deliberately. "Like you care," she whispered, her face twisting, "Like I'm wanted and valued and all that other nonsense that's for other people but not me."
The Doctor could feel a lump in his throat. "Why isn't it for you?"
"Because it's never been! Only Esther looks at me like that, and that's a miracle in itself and with you it's even worse!"
He tried to reach out to hold her shoulders, to offer something that might bring her down from the dangerous hysteria that was threatening to surface. But sure enough, she flinched away from him before he could get even close to touching her.
"Define worse," he said slowly instead of trying again.
"You make me feel something I've never felt, something ridiculous that makes absolutely no sense," she replied, shaking her head and looking so much younger in her distress, "It scares me more than anything, more than monsters or Kovarian. You look at me like that and - and you terrify me."
The Doctor frowned at her, his lips parted in surprise. "What could possibly scare you that much?"
There was a hesitation, where her face twisted as she wrestled with whether to answer. Her whole body was shaking as she held his gaze.
"You make me feel safe," she whispered.
His hearts stopped, for a whole second. He stared, processing, and blinked away a few tears that had sprung to his eyes. "Oh, Mari…"
He reached a hand out to her, and for the first time she didn't move away. His fingertips brushed across her cheek, pushing another rogue curl of hair behind her ear with the utmost gentleness. Her eyes never left his, shining with unshed tears. He offered her a smile through his own wet eyes, his most gentle one yet.
For a second she smiled back, but then it was like something snapped in her. She jerked away from him, every single one of her walls being built up before the Doctor's very eyes in the space of a second.
"Mari?" He tested, warily.
She did not respond. Her arms were around her middle, the only indicator left of her cracked composure. Her eyes were on the floor and held none of the warmth or emotion he had just witnessed.
The Doctor sighed, and then for the first time noticed Aliya standing at the end of the corridor, watching them both with a troubled lack of understanding.
"How long have you been standing there?" He asked her, with no idea what he wanted the answer to be. Mari's head snapped up to look at Aliya, the quickness of the movement the only thing betraying what had to be shock and curiosity as to how much of their exchange she had witnessed.
"A while," Aliya replied, her expression also giving little away. Mari went back to looking at the floor, her eyes as dead as before. The Doctor knew he had to give her space. Regardless of what she was doing now, she had just bared her soul to him. Or at least, a piece of it. That was no small thing.
"Mari, I'm sorry. I forget how all of this is...a lot...for you. I thought that acting like this was the best way, but it's not that simple, and I see that now. I could try to be, er, meaner, if you'd like?" When she still didn't reply, he sighed. "I mean, is that what you want?"
"I don't know what I want," Mari snapped, scowling, "I keep telling you that, but you're apparently too thick to retain it." She took a deep breath. "I know I'm difficult and ungrateful and defensive but I'm sorry, I don't know how to be any other way or how to deal with people that are."
She walked away from him back in the direction of the console room, pushing past Aliya in her hurry to distance herself from them both.
"Was she...crying?" Aliya asked once she was gone.
"Very nearly," he said, staring down the corridor, "I didn't know something as simple as kindness or forgiveness could offset her like that. But with the life she's had...I suppose it shouldn't be so surprising."
She thought it over. "You're incredibly gentle with her. I don't imagine anyone else is or has ever been, not even Esther. You can see how it would unsettle her."
"So, what, I should just-"
"You shouldn't change anything," Aliya interrupted firmly, "You're doing what a part of me wishes I could. The right thing." She frowned and bit her lip. "She'll just...have to get used to it."
"I'll offer to take her home," he said quietly, "That's the best way to give her space right now, isn't it?"
"I should think so."
He nodded and they returned to the console room, where Mari was sitting on the jump seat with her legs crossed and her eyes shut.
"So, Cardiff, then?" He asked, making sure to keep his tone casual, letting her know that he didn't mind which answer she gave.
Her eyes opened and she looked at him for a moment before nodding and getting to her feet. "Go to the 16th of February, eight o'clock in the evening. The night after I left."
"Is the pass alright?"
She shook her head and gave a street location that Aliya entered into the controls. "The team are having drinks at Gwen's favourite bar," she said, and there was a pause before she added, "You should come."
Aliya looked up, her eyes filled with the same skepticism that the Doctor felt. "You want us to come?"
"I could hardly care one way or the other," Mari answered without missing a beat, and the Doctor had to wonder if it was a lie, and if so in which direction, "But they're your friends too."
"We can make a brief stop," the Doctor said, smiling, "But I don't think we'll linger."
Mari just nodded and the ship landed less than half a minute later. To the Doctor's surprise, Aliya took the flower from her hair and immediately approached Mari.
"I wasn't sure if it would want to leave its family, but it didn't fly away, so I suppose maybe it wanted adventure," she said as she held it in her cupped palms, "But I was thinking you might want to give it to Esther."
Mari blinked. "Oh. That's...yes. She'd love it."
Aliya gave her a smile, albeit a small somewhat tight one, and placed the flower into Mari's hands, which then transferred it into her coat pocket.
"Thank you."
"...you're welcome."
The trio stepped out into the chilly evening air and headed into the establishment they had landed right outside. Sure enough, at a back table, sat the whole Torchwood team along with a man that he was informed by Aliya as they approached the table was Gwen's husband Rhys.
"Dad!" Jenny exclaimed upon seeing them, and she jumped out of her seat to hug him as fiercely as ever, and he was more than happy to return the gesture.
"Hey, Eyecandy," Hart greeted, winking at Aliya, who just rolled her eyes.
Esther had also gotten up from her seat at their arrival, and the Doctor realised that neither he nor Aliya had seen her since everything involving Mari had come to light. And while he had expected that seeing Mari with Esther would bring out a different side in the redhead, he hadn't expected it to be quite so noticeable.
Mari was smiling with genuine happiness for the first time that he and Aliya had ever seen - the moment with the flowers in the cavern excluded. She hugged Esther tightly, and although it only lasted a moment their hands lingered on each other's upper arms upon pulling away.
"Hey," Esther said to her, grinning, "Where did you end up going?"
"Some far off moon," Mari replied, still smiling herself, though more quietly, "Pretty, but lacking in certain immortal blondes. I have a little video to show you later, though."
"Ooh, okay."
"Can I see too?" Jenny asked, coming to give her sister a hug as well.
Mari smiled at her too. "Of course."
"So you're this Doctor bloke everyone's always going on about?" Rhys asked the Doctor, tearing his attention from his daughters.
"Er, yes, that'd be me," the Time Lord said, giving him a big smile and leaning over the table to shaking his hand, "Rhys Cooper, I take it."
Rhys frowned at him, but then chuckled good-naturedly. "No, that's not quite how it works, mate. Rhys Williams. She's Gwen Williams these days."
"Are you sure?" The Doctor asked him.
"Fairly sure, yeah."
"Oh." He brightened. "But Williams, you said? I know a fellow called Williams, Rory, he's brilliant, completely brilliant. I'm sure you are too."
"I do my best," Rhys said, grinning.
"Been keeping in trouble, Doc?" Jack asked his old friend with a shit-eating grin.
"I resent that statement," the Doctor said mildly, only to grin back at him a moment later. "What do you think, Captain? Am I capable of anything else?"
"Of course not, especially not with Alibear encouraging you."
Aliya huffed. "I do not encourage him."
"You're really insisting on calling a thousand year old alien Alibear?" Gwen asked Jack, who just smirked. "Suppose I shouldn't really be surprised at this shit anymore."
"He'd call a fucking space rhino Delilah if he thought it meant he could get in its pants," Rex muttered before taking another gulp of his beer.
"Well, you'd know all about getting in the pants of delightful alien females, wouldn't you, Rex?" Jack retorted, making the black man scowl at him.
"Go suck a dick, Harkness."
"I intend to, but it can wait a few hours."
Gwen choked on her drink as she started laughing, and Hart grinned with far too much satisfaction for Jack's meaning to be anything but crystal clear. The Time Lords both turned scarlet.
"I think that's our cue to leave," the Doctor said awkwardly.
Aliya couldn't nod fast enough. "Agreed. Jenny, we'll see you soon."
"Okay, sounds good."
The Doctor looked back to Mari, who was showing the glowing alien flower to an awestruck Esther. "Mari." She looked up, her face slightly illuminated by the flower in the bar's dimmer lighting. "Thank you for, you know, today."
"Thank you for the very same," she replied, the guard back up the second she had looked away from Esther but some of the ease in her demeanour remaining. Her gaze shifted to Aliya, whom she gave a cordial nod. Aliya returned the gesture.
"Dear god, is it always this awkward between you three?" Hart remarked with distaste as he watched them.
"Shut it, Hart," Aliya snapped at the same time Mari snarled at him to fuck off. When their eyes met a moment later, a ghost of a smile was on the younger of the two's lips, and Aliya echoed it, her eyes a fraction warmer than before. "See you all later," the Time Lady told the group, and with that and another smile from the Doctor, the two of them left the bar and headed back to the TARDIS.
"How can a man be so likeable and insufferable at the same time?!"
"Sounds familiar," the Doctor said to her with a grin, and she considered that before laughing.
"You have a point there."
"You realise how many alternatives we've looked at."
"Yes."
"Aliya, I'm tired. I don't want to keep searching for something, I want to enjoy what time I have. I want to run from this but make a real go of it, see all the things I haven't yet but couldn't bear to miss."
He expected her to explode with fury, like she had on the space station when stuck in the loop. But she just looked at him with a sort of pained resignation. "That's what we've been doing already, isn't it? All these places, and people…"
"Yes, but I want to do it properly, with you," he said, placing his hand over where hers rested on the console, "There is so much left to see, and it's going to take probably a good century and a half at least to do it all, and for all we know, we might run into a solution while we're doing it, but if not, then I'm going out with a bang."
Tears filled her eyes, as he had expected, but to his surprise she just nodded. "A century and a half. That's much longer than what we've had together since the Time War, so it sounds pretty good to me," she whispered, "But I will keep looking."
"I wouldn't expect anything else."
So they ran, for over a hundred and fifty years. They saw thousands of wondrous things and intermittently dropped into Torchwood to visit Jenny (Mari made it clear she wasn't interested in interacting with them any more yet other than a few stilted hellos when they encountered her at Torchwood). They saw Sarah Jane and her gang and Reyna and the Ponds, as well as getting into more adventures than they could count.
Their glory days. Their last, very long, run.
"So are you going to explain why you told me to pick out a dress and then blindfolded me?"
"We're almost there. Come on."
"This is to do with how you made me promise to not be mad at you for a whole 24 hours, isn't it?
"Oh, definitely."
As the Doctor's farewell tour had come to a close, they had done one more vigorous search for a Silencio loophole. Upon not finding one, the Doctor maintained that he was still going to go, and that they were only going to make a few more stops before the end of the line.
Aliya hadn't taken it well. She had been still keeping that hope in her, more quietly, but with no less determination than before. There had been more shouting, though only on her end and it had ceased when she realised he had no intentions of retaliating this time.
It had morphed into a near perpetual bad mood and a lot of bitter remarks sent his way. The only way he had even gotten the promise of a brief reprieve from that was pointing out that if they were nearing the end of their time together, he didn't want to be only seeing her bad side.
That had mellowed her out very quickly.
Now, the Doctor led her by the hand through the twisting hedges of the gardens, knowing by his infallible sense of direction that they were almost at the center courtyard. He was excited; he had spent several hours preparing this the last time she had been asleep.
"I feel like I recognise some of these smells," Aliya said, "Have we been here before?"
"I took you here once, a very long time ago," he said as they finally reached the courtyard. He removed the blindfold and relished the awed look on her face as she took in their surroundings.
"Metrina," she breathed. A place he had brought her fourth self, not too long before she'd asked to be taken back to Gallifrey and knowingly crushed his hearts. But they had come during the day, and now it was night with stars shining above them and strings of lights decorating the edges of the courtyard. Her eyes landed on the record player nearby. "Did you do all this?"
"No, I know some fairies," he joked, making her smile. Her eyes then scanned over him.
"You're wearing a proper suit."
He spread his arms out. "Yeah. What do you think?"
"You look beautiful," she said, her eyes warm and her smile widening.
"Well, that makes two of us then."
A blush crept up her cheeks as she took another glance down at her dress, which was white and off the shoulder with gold embroidery on the bodice, and a flared skirt that came to just below her knee. Her black flats and lack of makeup or styled hair didn't quite match the fancy dress, but the Doctor liked that better.
It was more her. Not quite right, not quite how she was meant to be. Instead, how she wanted to be. That was Aliya in a nutshell.
He made sure to memorise every detail about the way her skin flushed in that moment, locking it away with all the other tiny things he had been savouring for the last century and a half. They weren't all details about her, far from it, but given that she'd been the one constant in all that time other than the TARDIS, a fair few were.
Then he grinned at her before bouncing over to the record player and moving the needle into place so that the beautiful, swelling instrumental came through loud and clear.
He held his hand out to her, making a big theatrical gesture of it.
"May I have this dance, my Lady Angel?"
Her eyebrow went up and she crossed her arms. He coughed into the hand that wasn't outstretched and tried again.
"Aliya," he said, more softly, "May I have this dance?"
Aliya's derision melted away and she smiled, taking his hand and letting him use it to pull her in. His other arm wound around her back and likewise her other hand came to rest on his shoulder.
They began to step in circles, as in sync as ever. Dancing remained the only thing both of them were particularly gifted at in terms of anything to do with physical co-ordination, and even then they only truly excelled when dancing with each other. They had been fairly good before, but since their mental connection, their synchronicity had become almost completely automatic.
For the first time in years, the Doctor felt calm. They had been so busy just doing and seeing everything they possibly could, that there had been no time for calm. And the last few weeks Aliya had been so angry with him that it had been impossible to relax.
But now, moving in gentle, soothing circles, he was able to hold her close to him and just be. A luxury he rarely afforded himself, but this close to the end of his life wanted to savour.
"I'm sorry," she said, quietly.
"For what?"
"For being awful. I mean, I'm not, because I stand by everything I've been saying, but I'm...sorry." She frowned up at him. "Does that make sense?"
"Maybe," he said, smiling and shrugging. It was a half lie; he understood what she meant perfectly. "It's alright."
"Really?"
The scepticism in her voice made him laugh.
"I think you forget, Ali, that your temper is one of my favourite things about you. Or at least, the passion behind it. What was it Caleb said that one time? Watching me try to argue with you was like watching someone try to argue with the sun."
She smiled as she remembered that particular loop. "I'm still not sure how to feel about that particular comparison. It's not as if a star tends to argues with anyone, let alone to the degree that I do."
The Doctor laughed again. Her Time Lord logic came out at the most unexpected of times. "Well, you might have a point there. Never met a particularly talkative star personally. Except for this one that liked to sing Alcaxian arias…"
She snorted into his suit. "I never know if you're joking."
"I'll have you know that I'm a very serious and mature person."
That made her laugh properly, her head resting completely on his shoulder for support while her body shook. "You actually managed to say that with a straight face, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"Wow."
He twirled her around then, because he wanted to be able to see her face as she continued to chuckle, and sure enough being spun around made her grin all the more. Her eyes sparkled as he pulled her back in.
"You think you're really smooth, don't you?"
He smirked. "Maybe."
"Well you're right, you are," she said, and he was nearly sure he had misheard her because that had actually sounded like a compliment to his character. "And no, I'm never repeating that."
The Doctor grinned. "You don't need to. I won't be forgetting that in a hurry."
Her eyes went to their surroundings, the twinkling lights around the garden columns as well as the gorgeous alien flora, and then to them with their fancy outfits.
"I mean it, though. This is lovely. Thank you."
"Well, I had to make sure that our last dance was a good one, didn't I?" He asked. Unsurprisingly, and rather unavoidably, her eyes filled with tears. He took his hand from hers so that he could cup her face with it. "Hey, hey, none of that. I'm being very romantic here and you're crying. That's not how it's supposed to go."
She laughed, despite the tears running down her face. "Sorry."
He kissed her forehead and let his thumb brush away the tears on one side. "Don't apologise. Never, ever apologise."
"Not even for eating all your jammy dodgers?"
"Not even - wait, did you really?"
Another laugh escaped her upon seeing his immediate frown, but this one was more choked by her emotion. "No."
He tightened his hold on her, embracing her tightly even as they continued to step in time. "Well, good, because we could have had a real problem there. That sort of thing can't be forgiven, you know. Did I ever tell you how I once held off Daleks with only a jammy dodger?"
"No." Her arms secured themselves around his waist, fingers curling into the fabric of his jacket at the small of his back. Meanwhile, her head rested on his chest, eyes shut. "Tell me."
So he told her about Churchill and Amy and the 'Ironsides' and Bracewell. And then he told her about taking Amy to the museum with the homebox, and how River Song had summoned him only to knock him to the floor, much to the redhead's bemusement. And then how they had been pulled into a dangerous encounter with Weeping Angels.
"You told me that one already," she said when he got to River being teleported away on the beach.
"Why didn't you say?"
"I liked hearing it again. I like imagining your face when River was being River and you had no idea how to handle her. I bet it was really something."
"Amy and River both seemed to think so."
"And I trust their judgement."
There was a pause.
"River's going to be at Silencio," Aliya said, her voice very quiet and shaking ever so slightly, "You'll get to see her again. I'm jealous, even if you deserve it. I'd give almost anything to see her again."
"I know. It's been so long now. Two hundred years since River Song, more or less." He kissed the top of her head. "Thank you pulling me out of myself and making them two of the best centuries of my life."
She lifted her chin to meet his eyes, and seemed surprised to see that his too were wet.
"Thank you for letting me," she replied, smiling even though it was obvious her hearts were breaking, "And for being the best friend anyone could ask for."
Her hands left his back and came up to take his face so that she could pull his head down and kiss him softly. It was lingering and tasted of tears. The beginning of their goodbyes.
"I love you. Always will."
The Doctor hugged her tightly as physically possible. "I know. Thank you."
It was so good to write Mari again, I miss her when she's not around.
Hopefully this chapter got you all in the feels. Let me know what you thought! Closing Time AU next chapter (aka even more Daliya with babies), and then we're into the finale shitstorm. (That can't actually be called the Wedding of River Song given that her only involvement is being on the beach, lol, so you'll have to hang in there for the alternative title.)
Love you guys, let me know your thoughts,
-MayFairy :)
p.s. The Force Awakens is amazing and BB8 is the actual cutest. That is all I will say.
p.p.s. I've started up a blog for Doctor Who LGBT+ headcanons! Check it out on tumblr at doctorwholgbtheadcanons :D
Guest Review Replies:
EvenEth13 - yeah, it's funny that Heaven Sent ended up doing something similar when I'd had this Time Loop thing planned for ages, but HS wasn't quite a loop either. And hey, you have to remember that the Doctor didn't plan for the Teselecta, it was something that cropped up at the last second. With all my deviation from canon already, some things have to stay the same. ;) Thanks so much! And never apologise for being too invested in this story, welcome to the club. :P