Epilogue
-Toronto Airport: June, 2015-
"We love you!" His mom yelled at him as he started to walk onto the plane with Shelly and Joel. Smiling slightly, he turned around.
"I love you!" Finally. He was finally able to say that, after a year of hell.
It was strange. All Andrew had to do was walk through the doors of the TARDIS, and he was suddenly blinking in the middle of the airport. Of course, he was surprised. But relieved. Everybody was acting perfectly normal, and it was easy for him to join into the conversation. The memories of the airport were so vivid, and now to relive them...
Without Hishtus, obviously.
The plane never ended up exploding in this timeline, and for that Andrew was grateful. He had an amazing time in Paris with Shelly and Joel, and he almost forgot that he had seen them die before. But that was gone. Never happened. It was erased from existence.
But... he felt like it ended up bittersweet anyway. Shelly eventually broke up with him to pursue another man, and he and Joel had slowly drifted apart. Perhaps, if he had been there for the whole time... maybe then it would've been different? Being away for a year changed him. Shelly and Joel certainly noticed the changes.
"What's wrong?" Was a usual question for Andrew in the months after, and he usually tried to sidestep the question completely. It wasn't like anybody would believe him anyways.
Chelsea, though... he had been able to compose himself within the TARDIS, but as soon as he was alone, he finally cried.
He cried, for the first time in a while, he cried. She did exist in his universe, except... she never knew him. She just simply went on her camping trip and got married to her man. A happy ending.
It was depressing, really. To have been away a whole year and come back just for everything to decline anyways. Obviously he didn't expect trumpets and music when he returned, but he expected it to be a lot happier. A lot more jovial.
Instead he got his same old life.
But it was alright, to Andrew. It was much better than scouring farmland for food in an alternate universe, and it was also better than being hunted down.
At least he was safe. And, he supposed... that was the way of life. Perhaps his experiences with the Doctor was the highlight of his life? He couldn't tell for sure. He still had so much more to live for.
The Doctor had explained to him that they would never be able to meet again, after he closed the hole in time. Andrew, at the time, had readily agreed. It also gave him a sense of closure, in a sense. It wouldn't do to have the Doctor popping in on a universe where he was practically famous.
It wouldn't do at all.
A decade after the experience, Andrew finally published his first work of fiction. And, quite ironically, he got fan-mail from a certain fan in the United Kingdom. A certain Chelsea Berbrook had liked his work quite a lot, and had written him mail expressing how much she enjoyed it.
Andrew had felt blessed at that moment. Time often works in mysterious ways, timelines interweaving with each other. Perhaps he and Chelsea were... fated to have theirs linked?
Many times through his long life, Andrew had questioned his sanity. He decided to not dwell on the fact, and just accept it as it was. He wouldn't obssess, he wouldn't focus any of his attention on his past, nor his future.
It was... that moment. That one moment in time. That was when Andrew realized. He had to live in the present, enjoy the moment. Live in the moment. Enjoy it for what it's worth. He had spent too many years trapped in depression, living in his past. It was time to move on.
It was time to live.
It was also in that moment, that he realized every person he met had influenced him in some way. He carried a piece of each of their souls, in a sense. Chelsea had given him hope. The Doctor had taught him how to forgive. Even Hishtus had taught him something. What darkness and abandonment would do to you. And that was really what it was, in the end. Darkness. But also, forgiveness.
They were always travelling towards death, that dark and foreign place. Forbidden to talk of, tragic to even think about. Always going towards the dark. It was inevitable. Completely inevitable. And Andrew... he wasn't afraid anymore. He wasn't afraid of death anymore. Because he knew, that even the smallest action could have the biggest effect. Rippling through time, changing peoples thoughts and attitudes.
Andrew knew what he needed now. He didn't need unconditional love, oh no. All he needed was that contact with other people. That contact was all he needed.
And he already had that contact. Everywhere, every atom, and every person. Even his animals. They were all alive. And so complex.
And, he supposed, it was time to finally just sit back, and...
Relax.
The End.
A/N: Oooh, it finished! Wow, hard to believe I started that back in August. Time sure flies. And now, I can start to work on my next Doctor Who fanfiction! Woo.
Andrew's story has finally come to a close, but fear not, for another character's is fast approaching!
Like I explained last chapter, this new fanfiction will be somewhat of an inversion of this concept. I'm not going to spoil it too much, but the mystery is much more deeper than this one. I've already decided the name for the fanfiction (after furiously writing down notes in my journal). The name for it will be...:
"When The Storm Comes"
TA-DAH! Also, it is going to be a longer story than this one. Also much more organized. And much better grammar. Basically, better everything!
Though, I can't leave you hanging for too long, I suppose. Here is the rough description of the fanfiction for you guys (meaning not the final description that will be on the actual story.)
Ethan Mesdale had always considered himself a calm sort of man; collected, reserved, competent. That resolve was shattered the day he got the letter in his mail. What if Doctor Who did exist, somewhere, somewhen? Intrigued by the cryptic content of the letter, Ethan sets out on a journey of mystery and contemplation, and uncovers a universe-shattering truth that could change reality as he knows it.
Have a fun week, guys! I'll try to have the first chapter of that posted either this month, or next month. Some time. I'll have to work on it, and edit it. Ughh. Anyways, byee! ~soultrain21