Foreword:

This story is my feeble attempt to honor Sir Terry Pratchett, who passed away on the 12th of March of this year, 2015. I was only introduced to his work a little over six years ago, but in the time since I started reading Discworld in 2010 I have fallen in love with this world and its colorful cast of characters. Pratchett's work has had an influence on my own, showing that even apparently ridiculous concepts could and should be done well, leading not just to my reboot of one of my earliest fanfic works (Undiscovered Frontier) but playing a major influence in my approach to this story and its premise.

I cannot hope to replicate Sir Terry's remarkable wit, so I'm not going to try. I'm just going to try to be myself, and present a story set in his world in a way that I hope can come close to being as funny and enjoyable as his own works were.

It also gives me the chance to give a few other Discworld characters some spotlight in this story before I end it, and to show that like me, the SI Doctor has a special place in his heart(s!) for the Disc and its inhabitants.

Special Discworld Tribute Story - A World of Wondrous, Impossible Magic

We were finishing an enjoyable week exploring ruins on the Moons of Drikiri when I received an automated beacon signal on the TARDIS.

The shudder of the TARDIS told me where the beacon had led me to even before I stepped out and into the familiar smell... well, stench, honestly. Katara made a face at the smell. Liara had been here before and refrained from that. "Where are we?", Katara asked.

"Ankh-Morpork," I answered. "Rather nice district, not far from Sator Square and the University. Renters' houses and such."

I gave a nod to a passing dwarf Watchman and looked to my sonic. "The beacon signal is coming from inside this building." I stepped up to the door and found it opened. The boarding house stairway led up to the rooms for the renters while doors barred the way into the owner's main living spaces. A young dwarf lady - the ribbons in the beard were a dead giveaway - stood at the bottom of the stairs. "Hello sir," she said, her accent very Morporkian. "You're the Doctor?" She blinked at me.

"I am," I answered.

"Your patient is upstairs, Room 3," she answered. "Is there anything you need to carry?" She seemed rather intrigued that I didn't have a bag.

"I'm quite well." I nodded to her and reached into my pocket. I pulled out a nondescript gold coin. "I have a standing rate with the Chairman of the Royal Bank for those. Do tell Mister Lipwig that I expect him to be generous."

She looked mystified. "And you are Doctor... who?"

I smiled widely at that and nodded. "Just the Doctor. Mister Lipwig will understand."

That seemed to satisfy her. She pocketed the coin and went on to other duties.

We ascended the stairs to the third floor, where Room 3 was present. I knocked and announced my presence. The door opened, but there no one on the inside who had done so. We stepped into a plainly furnished living area. A pantry was off to one side. The windows showed a fine view of the Tower of Art rising in the distance and, in the not-so-far distance, the fine structure of the Patrician's Palace. Undoubtedly Lord Vetinari was already being informed by someone of my arrival in his city. He was always quite interested in my comings and goings in Ankh-Morpork.

I followed the signal into the bedroom. Also plainly furnished. But it was not devoid of life.

In the bed was someone in a plain robe, a woman of exceptional age given the state of her skin and the white-gray color of her hair. She turned her eyes toward me and I saw a familiar glint in them.

A very familiar one.

"Esk?" I blinked. "Esk, what...?"

Eskarina Smith, who looked decades older than she should, was smiling at me. "Hello Doctor," she said. Her voice was scratchy with age, but still had that familiar warmth to it.

I was still stunned. At that age, for her to manage a temporal shift with the magic she knew...

The explanation for that came when the other figure at the far table turned. An older woman in midnight black, complete with a pointy hat, with flowing gray locks and the look of a woman in her sixties who had the face of a sixteen year old. Spiritually anyway. An amulet of a golden hare was hanging from her neck. "Hello Doctor," said Tiffany Aching. She looked to my Companions. "Liara, a pleasure to see you again. And this would be...?"

Katara answered with her name and looked to Esk. "Do you need a healer?", she asked.

"You've got great talent with that water magic of yours," Esk answered, "but I'm afraid this is simply the case of an old woman who's gotten too old."

Tiffany shook her head and sighed. "I still think you should have called him from our time."

Esk nodded. "Perhaps. But I wanted to make sure I called him at the right time. Before he... well, that would be spoilers, wouldn't it?" Her eyes twinkled as she looked toward me. I was already scanning her body. "I believe you will find my body is shutting down. It's out of the energy of life, you might say. Soon, it will have none left."

I swallowed and nodded. "Shouldn't you be having a final party with your fellow wizards?"

"Ah. Well, I did. Archchancellor Stibbons insisted..." She gave me a look. "And that's not a spoiler, I think you'll agree."

"Indeed. Not surprising at all."

"Well, now you are here," Esk said. "And I would like to give you something." She looked to Tiffany and nodded. Tiffany picked up an item on the shelf and handed it to Esk, who showed it to me.

It was a blue book. Clearly meant to be a journal. And I soon recognized it. "This is your diary of our adventures," I remarked.

"The start of it, yes," Esk explained. "I'd like you to give it to my younger self when you see her next."

"How much younger?"

"Young. Fairly young. You'll know when to give it." Esk swallowed and closed her eyes for a moment. "We've been through so much, you and I."

"Yes," I agreed. "It seems that whenever I come to the Disc for adventure, we run into each other."

"Just never in the right order." Esk opened her eyes again. "Do you remember that party in Bhangbhangduc?"

I laughed. "How could I forget?"

Having the business end of a pointy stick an inch from your face can be an unnerving experience.

"You really shouldn't have said that," Esk sighed.

"Oh, you're going to blame me, eh?", I countered.

"She did warn you that things were tense, Doctor," Katherine pointed out. She was facing a similar stick. As was Esk.

The soldiers surrounding us held back for a moment at the clapping of hands. The various other guests and serving ladies all stared in bewilderment, with the exception of a couple who were already unconscious. Spilled glasses and untouched plates of food abounded.

Lord Sriraha glared down at us from his throne. "Outsiders, I have had men boiled in oil for the offense you have given me this night."

"Is it offensive if it is true?", I countered. "I mean, I called you a scheming wretch, and you are indeed wretchedly scheming against your ruler to seize power for yourself. I'm only speaking the truth."

"Doctor!", Esk hissed.

I felt my sonic disruptor under my jacket. "And drugging your guests to turn them into hostages? Poor form, sir. Very poor form."

Sriraha's eyes focused on me intently. "Yet it does not affect you."

"Oh, yes." I raised a finger. "Counter-agent. Well, it probably wouldn't have worked on me anyway, since I'm a Time Lord and all. But the counter-agent did protect my friends from the effects."

"How brilliant of you," Sriraha observed. "How did you know about my plans?"

I chuckled. "Well, sir, you are a vizier. It does seem to be the position most prone to these sorts of power plays. The excess of certain herbs in your kitchens was the other clue."

"Evil viziers and chancellors are overplayed if you ask me," Katherine added.

"I see." Sriraha steppled his hands together in that "plotting bastard" kind of way. "I may have uses for you. Your friends shall have to be hostages to your behavior, of course."

"We're wizards, you know," I pointed out. "We could turn you into a newt."

"I don't turn people into newts," Esk protested. "It's far too difficult with the mass disparity."

"It can't be that difficult. If not a newt, maybe something like a, I don't know, a monkey? Just not an orangutan. The Librarian would be furious if we took away his distinction."

Esk harrumphed. "I'd like to see you try to alter body shapes and types so easily..."

"Silence!," Sriraha thundered. "Surrender now and you will be spared to be my personal alchemist and wizards! Otherwise..."

"Doctor, look," Katherine whispered.

I nodded. I noticed the figure in dumpy clothes already entering the room on the other end. An elderly man, actually looking quite old, ambled in and started sweeping the floor in a direction to carry him to the nearest guard. I smirked. Right on time, obviously.

"How about a counter-offer?", I asked. "Everybody leaves and in return we don't tell your ruler what you are planning."

Sriraha stared at us for a moment. And then he started laughing. "I have you at my mercy, why would I..."

There was the sound of a thud. Eyes turned to see where one guard had fallen, and to where another was already taking a broomstick to the side of his face.

In the moment's confusion that resulted, Esk and I acted. Esk brought her staff up and summoned arcane energy that swept through the guards facing in her direction. I had the sonic disruptor leveled and ready for a quick Setting 21 pulse that debilitated the guards facing me. I swept it about to catch those facing Katherine as well. They all collapsed with several letting out short cries.

"Attack them!", Sriraha shouted. "Kill them all!"

The guards weren't in the best state to fulfill that command, fortunately for us. The situation was chaotic and we were adding to that with our implements of self-defense. Several guards simply fled at seeing Esk and I making short work on them, joining the fleeing guests and servants for even more chaos. Katherine, not to be outdone, picked up a McSweeney Dynasty vase and slammed it over the head of one of the sergeants trying to rally his men. "Such a waste," she sighed, surveying the shattered porcelain. "Mother would be cross."

Sriraha jumped from his throne to flee. He made it two steps before a blur moved across his path and tripped him up. He struggled back up and found himself facing all four of us. Our sweeper friend had taken his place at our side.

"Cutting it close, Lu Tze?", Esk asked.

"The dust in this palace is atrocious," Lu Tze responded, holding up his broom. "I need to show Lord Sriraha here how proper sweeping should be done. After the Prince finds out what he's been planning, he'll find my teachings quite useful."

We had a good laugh at that, and at Sriraha's expression.

"He made Sriraha sweep his entire palace!", Esk laughed. She started to cough afterward.

Tiffany made a disapproving sound. "You know better than to get that excited," she sighed. But she was smiling regardless.

"At my age, I get to do what I want."

I chuckled at that. "That you do." For a moment I was quiet, allowing Esk to recover. Seeing her like that was... painful. More than I expected. Eskarina and I had not traveled off the Discworld proper, sure, but we had worked together on several occasions, and she was one of the few beings I knew who understood what it was like to be a Time Lord. I held her journal close. It didn't have the wrinkled paper and old faded look that I was familiar with; the cover was still fresh TARDIS blue, and the inside paper had her name written in fine flowing script.

"You still miss Katherine," Esk said softly.

"I do," I admitted.

Esk extended her hand and I took it. "So do I," she said. "She was brilliant."

"Yes." I felt a tear on my face. "And I guess I'm losing you now."

"This day had to come eventually, Doctor," Esk said quietly. "But I didn't call you here to mourn it. I called you to share the memories of our adventures." She smiled thinly. "The memories that aren't spoilers, anyway."

I nodded slowly at that. "Yes, I suppose."

"Liara?" Esk looked past me to where Liara was watching quietly. "Have you met Cohen yet?"

Liara, at that, actually giggled. "Oh. That time."

Katara blinked in confusion. Tiffany crossed her arms. "As in Cohen the Barbarian? Ghenghiz Cohen, former Emperor of Agatea?"

"The one and the same," I said. My cheeks started to burn from a blush.

"The Doctor got into a sword fight with him," Liara explained.

"And it was quite humiliating," Esk added while I shook my head.

"Quite, yes. It all happened in that dirty little trading post village in Turnwise Klatch..."

The crowd around us were cheering and screaming and simply carrying on. For the locals and travelers alike, not much like this happened at all.

For me, it was depressingly more common.

It started innocently enough. I ran into Esk on a time travel mission of her's to secure a jeweled Muntab artifact that was considered lost. A favor for a friend of her's, I was told. Liara got dragged along as always.

Now she and Esk were being held prisoner by a couple of very tall, very stout fellows and I... I was facing off with their boss. A loincloth-wearing, dark-bearded, and too-clever-by-half sword-fighter who wasn't wearing any armor. Even my enchanted vest was better protection than his fur cloak.

My Time Lord reflexes allowed me to more than keep up with him in the resulting swordplay. Clang clang clang. "Fencing lessons with La Maupin really come in handy," I declared, mostly to Liara.

"Never heard of 'im," the barbarian fellow answered. "Ain't heard of you either!"

"Well, I'm not from around here," I replied. "But you can call me the Doctor." He went for a jab and I parried it. I swung at him and he dodged, causing my sword to split open a basket of fruits. I got into the moment by bringing up the split orange still stuck to my sword and eating a bite off of it. My adversary actually grinned and stood back on the defensive while I finished chewing. He attacked afterward, of course, and I parried again. "Now, if it's gold you want, I can pay you for that totem."

He didn't even look toward the totem, tied to a surly camel behind us. "Think I'm just in it for the gold, huh? No fame in just gettin' gold for things. Not when I can take 'em!"

Fighting this fellow was not easy. It wasn't that he had any superb swordfighting style. He just tended to not be where my sword ended up. And I, distressingly, ended up with a few cuts despite my reflexes and speed and that general Time Lord ability to see the future (to certain degrees).

But I gradually put him on the ropes. Superior endurance and all that. He backed his way into one corner of the market. "I'll ask again, sir. Yield, and I'll give you gold for that item."

Puffing from being winded, the barbarian lowered his sword. "You mean it?"

"My word of honor," I pledged. "Mister...?"

"Me?" He smiled. "I'm called Cohen the Barbarian, Doctor."

I admit my eyes widened at that. Especially when I realized I'd been duped.

The next thing I knew, he was moving again. I brought up the sword I'd borrowed from a nearby stand to block him, but he wasn't aiming for me.

Rather, the cart of barrels beside me.

His sword cut cleanly through the rope securing the barrels. The cart jostled and the barrels rolled off. And all on top of me.

Even worse... they were manure barrels.

"Bloody hell!", I shouted as the barrels broke on top of me, burying me in dung and filth. The stench was overpowering. Seriously, I don't want to tell you how much effort it took to get it out of the vest I got from the Carpenters, which was the only article of clothing I kept from that incident.

By the time I pulled myself free of the debris Cohen and his followers were already riding away with our prize. I had to sling some of the liquid waste from my eyes to see Esk and Liara standing beside their former captors. Liara was starting to crack up with laughter. Esk had the most amused smile on her face. "The legendary Cohen the Barbarian. When he was young." Esk shook her head. "You really should ask for names first..."

"Oh, don't even...", I sighed.

Katara and Liara were roaring with laughter at the recounting of how that battle ended. Tiffany shook her head with a wide grin on her face. "And here I thought Time Lords never lost."

"We got the totem in the end," I insisted. I was still blushing fiercely.

"Only after Cohen sold it," Esk pointed out, smiling widely. "But yes, we did. And I think the encounter was good for you."

"Things like that keep him honest," Liara agreed.

"Oi, don't you start," I sighed, smirking.

"What was so important about this totem, anyway?", Katara asked.

"It was a rare artifact from Muntab," Esk explained. "And the gemstones included eight natural octarine gems. In the wrong hands it could cause a lot of magical mischief."

"Could even in the right hands," I sighed. "Silly Humans, always making dangerous things like that."

"But for all you grumble about us silly Humans, you can't help but be around us," Esk pointed out.

I nodded and let my smile come back. "Quite true, Eskarina. Quite true." I looked out the window briefly. A carriage containing a certain familiar item to the people of Ankh-Morpork was going down the street. "Ha. Do you remember the last adventure we had in Ankh-Morpork itself? I mean, the last one from my perspective?"

"Was it the one about the Nuggan cultists?"

"Well, no... wait, what?"

Esk put a finger to her lips. "Spoilers," she reminded me.

"Oh, yes." I smirked. "Yes, quite. Well, all right. It was the time I had Korra and Asami with me."

"Oh, that one," Esk said. "The Dark Empire's Arcane Secrets, right?"

"The same," I said.

Someone had done the unthinkable.

They had stolen a book from the Unseen University Library.

And as a guest lecturer and wizard in good standing with the University, the Librarian had insisted upon my participation in the effort to reclaim University property.

I agreed. Especially after Esk informed me of what it was.

Oi, Humans. You and your silly arcane tomes of evil power. This was one penned by a top sorcerer of the Dark Empire in Uberwald, or so it was said, and contained some of the nastier magical theories and spells that the Empire had employed in its time.

The Watch was on the case, of course, but I had means that Sir Samuel and his fine gentlebeings in chainmail did not. On the Disc, such books are alive in various ways. This one in particular gave off steady energy readings. Dark, nasty stuff, but energy readings... that I could track with my sonic screwdriver.

And so here we were on the top floor of a rental house at the edge of the Shades, with a gang of toughs from said Shades surrounding us. One charged and took a gust of air from Korra for his trouble. The nasty looking woman beside him got outmaneuvered by Asami, who brought her down with a single touch of the electric glove.

"We don't have time for this," Esk insisted. She called up a magic spell that turned one of the toughs into a bunny rabbit. No, I kid you not, a bunny. It was rather amusing. "Oh, don't complain. I could have made you a rat," she said as the bunny twisted its nose toward her in confusion.

The others got the hint. They ran.

Unfortunately, they'd done their work. I looked out the window and saw the thief, still wearing a dark robe and everything, hijacking a horse-drawn cart with cargo hidden under a tarp. An accomplice of his was already getting into the other seat on the cart.

Well, we were low on time. I blasted out the window with the sonic disruptor and jumped as he urged the cart into motion. "Doctor!", I heard Esk call after me. As we moved away Korra whistled into the air.

Of course, by this point I had other problems. The dark-robed figure noticed me landing on the tarp and brought out a very wicked-looking knife. He - or she I suppose - left their partner to drive before coming at me. I brought up my sonic disruptor to parry a stab while my feet struggled to find purchase in whatever cargo was beneath the tarp.

And let me tell you, fighting on the back of a cart? Not fun. Not easy. Pain in the arse, all around. The cobbled streets of Ankh-Morpork jostled us the entire way.

We came up to a turn and the cart banked hard. We slammed against a cart at the side of the road carrying fish. A fishmonger beside it shouted obscenities at us in true Morporkian fashion. The impact jostled us both and made us lose our footing. I fell back onto the tarp while my attacker landed in his seat. My hands flailed to find a grip on the cart so I could stand up.

Just as I began to we turned another street. I was thrown to the side and fell out of the cart. I would have hit the road if I hadn't wrapped my leg up in the tarp's securing rope. This meant, of course, that I was now dangling upside down from the side of the tarp. The street-facing side, at least.

I looked "up" in time to see that help was on the way, in the form of Korra, Asami, and Esk riding Naga. "Oh bugger," I muttered. I could just see the mess that a polar bear dog could make in the streets of Ankh-Morpork. I suspected that I was going to face Patrician-scale irony when this was all over with.

My arms flailed about as I tried to reach for the rim of the cart. We were on one of the major thoroughfares of the city, and during a quiet enough time that the driver could weave through traffic instead of being stopped (in general Ankh-Morpork's streets don't leave much room for exciting cart chases). Pain shot through my hand when it slammed into a passing cart, knocking the sonic disruptor from my grip. It flew backward and into a powerful burst of wind created by Korra, with Asami effortlessly grabbing it from the air.

I finally found purchase with my fingers, just as the thief was in the back of the cart again, bringing his knife to the rope. He was going to cut me loose. I swung my other foot up and kicked at him. My first attack went wide, but my second caught him in the forearm and knocked the knife loose. It fell into the street. "You maniac!", I shouted. "That book's dangerous!"

"An' that's why I'm bein' paid a fortune fer it!", the thief retorted. He reached into his belt and pulled out a smaller knife to resume his work in cutting me free.

But I already had a grip on the side of the cart. I kicked him again, knocking him back, and pulled myself back into the cart.

However, I was still incredibly vulnerable to an angry thief with a knife, and he lunged at me again. I had to twist and turn to avoid getting stabbed, and because of my bad footing and position, he ended up on top of me, pinning me down and trying to drive the knife into my neck.

There was a shout from Esk. Magical energy surged toward us and enveloped the knife. It turned into a goose feather. The thief stared at it in bewilderment, giving me the chance to kick him off of me.

This proved a good thing.

As it turned out, there was another chaser, this one coming across the rooftops. And the driver was most stunned to see a blur of red and orange as three hundred pounds of very irritated ape landed squarely beside him. He screamed as the Librarian started to make his displeasure known, in such a way that the driver actually jumped from the cart.

Which meant our cart no longer had a driver.

Just as we were approaching an intersection. Which, of course, had another cart crossing it.

The resulting collision was quite destructive. There was even a lone wheel running along when it was all over, as was required by the Discworld's laws of Narrativium.

It was also quite painful.

...even more painful when Korra was unable to stop Naga in time. All three of the polar bear dog's riders cried out in surprise as they plowed head first into the mess of wood and vegetable that now stood in the center of the crossroads.

After we all ended up thrown about, I forced myself to my feet. Everything hurt. Before me, a single hand with a dark robe's sleeve ending on its wrist was hanging limply out of the mess of debris. I reached into the leafy, wooden pile and pulled up the thief. His robe fell open and the aforementioned tome was secure in a harness. I pulled it loose and handed it to the waiting Librarian. A thankful "Ook!" was my reward.

I looked around and saw Esk already standing free of the mess. Korra and Asami were still getting up. Naga whimpered from her place at the side of the road, evidently hurt and covered in green leafy stuff.

The driver of the cart we had plowed into had been the only one to not be thrown into the debris pile. He had managed to stay in his seat, which was now lacking a cart. He looked at the mess and the sunburned man put his hands to his head in shock and horror. In retrospect, I should have seen his cry of dismay coming a mile away.

"OI, ME CABBAGES!"

As it turned out, both carts had been loaded down with the staple crop of the Sto Plains, and that produce was now scattered about the intersection.

Discworld Narrativium Irony at its best, ladies and gentlemen.

Korra was wincing. "So... it's over? We got the book back?"

"We got the book back."

Asami and Esk were standing beside the Librarian, who was studiously checking the tome for damage. "I've never seen something like this one," Asami said. "What kind of mon..."

I yelped, but it was Esk who prevented Asami from making a horrible mistake, clamping her hand over Asami's mouth. "Don't use that 'M' word around the Librarian," Esk urged. And indeed, our red-and-orange furred friend was suddenly looking quite alert. "He is an orangutan. That's all you should call him." Esk released her.

"Orangutan," Asami repeated, looking a bit confused and irritated at Esk. "Right."

I turned my head and looked at two very serious trolls with truncheons and Watch badges, coming our way. "But it's not quite over yet." I sighed. "It's a good thing I keep that expense account at the Royal Bank..."

"Didn't Vetinari make you pay double the expenses?", Esk asked with a smile.

"Triple," I sighed. "I had to give Lipwig more gold to refill the account. And if not for the Librarian's Special Constable status, I think Vimes would have jailed us for the evening out of principle."

Katara was recovering from a giggle fit and Liara had been chuckled through most of the story. "This world has left you pretty bruised, Doctor," Liara said. "It's a wonder you like it so much."

"She gives and she takes," I admit. "But the Disc is such an extraordinary world, I can't help but love it."

"You could never bring yourself to stop coming back," Esk said. "And I hope you continue to do so."

Esk coughed and I looked to her with worry. It was clear she was not going to last much longer. As she had said, the energy of life was simply... leaving her. It was the natural occurrence of death.

"Do you have any more stories?", Katara asked.

"Many," Esk said. Her breathing was more labored. "So many more. And I wish I could tell them all to you, Katara. It's a shame that so many of them have spoilers. And the time..." She swallowed and smiled sadly. "My time is running out."

A PITY. THE STORIES HAVE BEEN QUITE AMUSING, a new voice said. I PARTICULARLY LIKED THE ONE ABOUT THE CART CHASE.

The voice drowned out other noise in the room. We all started to turn and face the origin of it. Even my Companions, undoubtedly aided by the TARDIS in expanding their senses, had noticed it.

"Hello there," Esk said to the newcomer. "It's time already?"

Two blue lights focused on Esk, functioning as eyes as usual. A bony hand pulled out an hourglass, or rather an hourglass that had been shaped by someone who thought hourglasses should be looped a few times. Only the last few grains had yet to go through. YES. IT IS TIME WE WALKED TOGETHER, ESKARINA SMITH, Death answered.

"Through the door? Hrm. I had hoped for a little while longer." Eskarina sighed and turned her weathered face to me. "Doctor, thank you. I have enjoyed seeing you again at this time of your life."

I nodded. "Thank you for the invitation." I was trying to hold back the tears that I felt ready to flow. "I wish..."

"...that I had accepted some way to avoid this day. Oh, my dear Doctor..." Esk took my hand. "This isn't the end. Not for you. We're not done yet. Our greatest adventure is still in your future. So many adventures..."

"I see." I felt the tears form in my eyes. "I'll make sure you enjoy them."

"I know I will." Despite the fact she was moments from death, Eskarina's eyes sparkled happily. "Now go on, Doctor. You've got an awful lot of running to do." She looked to Death. In the glass, the final grains were falling to the bottom.

I watched as Eskarina Smith closed her eyes and passed away peacefully.

Thanks to my Time Lord senses, I watched as Death cut her soul free from her body with the scythe in his other hand. Her soul form was translucent and quiet as it rose to stand beside him. They waited as the door materialized. It opened to show a black desert under a starless sky. She looked back to us, smiled at me, and gave a nod.

And Esk followed Death into the desert, and toward what came next.

I'm not sure how long we waited before we spoke again. "I'm sorry, Doctor," Liara said to me. Her hand settled on my left shoulder as I felt hot tears flow down my face. My hand clasped the book she'd handed to me. The TARDIS blue book. I opened it again. The only words in it were her name, written in her own hand, and a message to her younger self.

You'll need every page, Esk. And you'll love every moment of it.

And remember, no spoilers!

I chuckled at that. I closed the book and studied the plain cover for a moment. One of my tears dripped from my face and landed on it. I blinked, trying to get the tears out of my eyes, and wiped my tear from the book.

"I'll see to her," Tiffany promised. "I can get her back to our time."

"What about a funeral?", Liara asked.

At that, Tiffany shook her head. "This was her wake. The wizards have already done their arrangements. Her family has other plans." Tiffany stepped around the bed and up to me. "Your part in this is done. You don't need to stay. In fact, I don't think you should. Remember..." Tiffany leaned in and looked at me, eye to eye, face to face. "She's still waiting for you. Her past, your future. That's what you should be thinking about. Don't wallow about here."

I nodded. "Yes. You're right about that. Quite right." I stood from the chair. I took Esk's hands and laid them on her chest carefully. "I'll see you soon, Esk. And we'll run. I promise you, we'll run."

I turned to the others and nodded wordlessly. They answered with the same. And we left.

I stood at the doorway to the TARDIS and looked out into the void of space. The light from a distant star was blotted out only by the greater light from the Discworld's small yellow sun, rotating over and under the Disc as usual. The four elephants continued to stand as always, bearing an entire world upon their backs, steady upon the shell of Great A'tuin as the space turtle continued her (or was it his?) solitary journey.

"How can something like that exist?", Katara asked in wonder.

I could have answered as I once did to Liara. I could have talked about quantum variability fields and fluxes in the fabric of reality. I could have talked about the science of this impossible thing.

But I didn't. So my reply was simple. "Magic," I said. "Wondrous, unbelievable, impossible magic."

"It is truly extraordinary," Liara agreed.

"It's ridiculous. Beyond words," I said. I felt tears come back to my cheeks as I breathed in and announced, with a smile, "And I love it. I love every bit of it. I love the ridiculousness, the way the light flows like water, like nothing else in all Creation. I love the stench of Ankh-Morpork, the silly insanity of the Faculty of the University, Vetinari's constant moving of pieces, Vimes' stubbornness... I love it all."

Once upon a time, I had believed this world to be fictional. At this point I knew that only in the sense that a lot of the places I had seen were fictional to other places I had seen. But to know, as I do now, that the Discworld existed...

...well, actually, hold that thought. Because it always existed. It existed in the hearts of those who loved it like I have loved it. In those who could imagine standing in Sator Square looking up at the Tower of Art. The imagination thinking of clacks towers stretching across the snow-capped Ramtops while old ladies in midnight zipped about on broomsticks. An orangutan caring for a library full of magical books. Crusty old Mustrum Ridcully and reliable Ponder Stibbons.

This world had so many magical wonders, it could be easy to forget that the greatest wonders it held were the people. Those colorful beings, be they Human or Dwarf or Troll or Vampire, who populated this world and helped to make the magic of it truly special. Brave Polly Perks out in Borogravia, Nutt the Orc, Father Oats and Glenda Sugerbean and Lobsang Ludd and Trevor Likely and Tiffany Aching... I could go on, couldn't I?

I looked down to the blue book in my hands. "It's not over yet," I said. "Not for you. And not for your world."

I looked back out at the Discworld and smiled. Whatever happened... it wasn't going away. It'd be here for me whenever I wanted or needed to see it, in all of its silly ridiculous glory.

And that's the way it should be.