Well guys, this is it. The final chapter of A Whovian and a Time Lord. The regeneration. It's a long one, so bear with me and don't forget that there will be a sequel. I want to thank everyone for their support, advice, likes, etc, including my friends and family. This first fic will turn into others, I'm sure ^_^. On another note: I'm 18! Yay! In Australia, that means I'm legal ^_^. Flashed my i.d. today in a bottle shop, it was awesome! Enjoy this chapter. WARNING: Will be emotional.

Chapter 32: Goodbye

"What!?" My cry of protest echoed throughout the entire console room. The TARDIS seemed to hum in agreement with me.

The Doctor didn't react to the volume of my voice, only trying to look as calm as possible as he went around the console, presumably setting the course for home.

"Y-you can't drop me off! I have to come with you! I know what happens." I snapped.

"No. The fact that you know what will happen is the reason why you can't come." He replied. "Whatever is coming has to play out exactly as it does in the series. It's the only way to repair time."

"So you're taking the word of a Dalek." I stated, following him around the console. "What if it was lying?"

"I'm taking the word of a Dalek that used to be a human." He retorted. "The Daleks might hate every other race but the one thing that will concern them is fear for their own species. They wouldn't lie about that."

I didn't have an argument for that. However, I did have one as to why I shouldn't be dumped at home.

"How do you know it will play out so differently from the series?" I asked.

"Because I know that you will try to stop me from regenerating."

His blunt comment hurt, but, like his previous one, couldn't be denied.

Unable to retort, I stormed off to my room. Shutting and locking the door behind me, I felt the tremor as the TARDIS landed. I stared around the area I had come to call my second home.

The walls held the same coral pattern as the console room. I knew that would change soon after the regeneration. The funny thing was, I preferred Matt Smith's console desktop…but what came along with it…

"Talia!"

Everything told me not to answer his call. I seriously considered just keeping the door locked and staying in here until he could be bothered to come and unlock the door with the sonic.

Eventually, after making him wait for about five minutes, I decided that I may as well go out.

His whole aura reminded me of how he was during the End of Time; defeated and scared. I hated seeing him like that, which was exactly why I didn't want him to be alone.

"Doctor." I stated, making my voice sound both pleading and understanding.

He closed his eyes and looked away, staring blankly at the TARDIS' central column, moving rhythmically up and down. "I called your mother."

"What?"

Before I had any chance to react to that, Mum opened the TARDIS door. We had landed back home.

"Talia, you've got to come with me." She said in a slightly uncertain voice, walking over and taking my hand.

I looked at her in shock, before turning back to the Doctor. "You're using my mother to blackmail me into staying!"

"It's for your own safety. I don't know what will happen but I want you as far away as possible." His voice remained flat and monotone; a clear sign that he was trying to hold back his feelings.

That was really annoying.

"I'll be safe. I guarantee it." I insisted. "What happens will not affect me. But it will affect you and I want to be there for you."

"You will. Afterwards." He stated.

"When? After you regenerate?" I demanded, stalking right up to him in the hope of getting some response. "So the next time I see you, you'll have a different face?"

"It won't be different." He answered, avoiding the first question. "You know what it'll look like."

Mum spoke up again. "Talia, he explained to me that you have to stay here. Please, he made me promise to keep you here until he returns."

"Why did you agree?" I rounded on her next. "You've seen the last two episodes of the Tenth Doctor! You know what's going to happen just as much as I do? And you're agreeing with him!"

"Calm down!"

The Doctor finally broke out of his reverie, his voice cracking like a whip through my anger.

My expression turned from rage to surprise to sadness as I looked up at him. "You can't do this."

"Please." He whispered. "I will come back."

He nodded at my Mum, who firmly but reluctantly took my arm and led me towards the door while I was still stunned by his sudden mood changes.

As my feet hit the grass, however, I started struggling to get back in. Mum's grip on my arm tightened as the doors shut with a snap.

"No! No, you can't!" I screamed loud enough for him to hear me as the TARDIS began to fade with the familiar wheezing sound. "He had better come back." I hissed fiercely into the air as it vanished completely.

"He will, don't worry. He always does." Mum reminded me, pulling me into a hug that went a fair way in reassuring me. Then she pulled back and frowned. "But…you mentioned his last two episodes; does that mean what I think it does? With the Master?"

I nodded, the realisation suddenly hitting me as well. "Yes. I'll be fine, because of the Time Lord energy…but you and Dad and everyone else will…"

The thought was too creepy. We ambled inside the house and I made myself a cup of tea, turned on the news and waited.

Days passed. Of course, I knew it would all start on Christmas Eve.

Three days to go.

Not to say that I didn't do anything in those three days. I watched both episodes again, with my parents, so they knew what was coming, too. I rang Martha, to tell her not to worry at whatever might happen. I did simple things like cleaning my room and packing some new clothes, for I knew that whether he returned the same or different, I would still travel with him.

I considered that for about half an hour each day; allowing myself only that or else the depression would overwhelm me. I knew I could never have the same connection with the Eleventh Doctor as I did with my Doctor, but that we would easily become the best of friends. I just hoped, for both our sakes, that his feelings changed also with regeneration.

And if he came back the same? Well, then I would have to witness the change.

I didn't know which would be worse.

On the morning of December 25th, because, of course, Australia experienced everything a day late, rumours started appearing on the news and the internet about Harold Saxon's return. Martha called again and I explained a bit more about what was going on. She was shocked at the Master plan, as I expected her to be, and was equally terrified. I told her not to worry, that the Doctor would take care of it all.

She asked why I wasn't with him. I gave her the same reason he gave me. She wasn't convinced.

The moment came when my parents were transformed into copies of the Master. It was even freakier than in the episode. While the process was still underway, I escaped the house and hid in the shed, so they wouldn't know that I was still myself.

That was about when Donna called.

"Talia, Talia is that you? I wondered if, because we're similar, you'd still be you."

"It's me, Donna. Find somewhere safe. Your family will be fine, trust me."

"Is the Doctor with you?"

"No."

"Are you alright?"

"Yes."

"That sounds like the Doctor's 'yes'."

She knew me and him too well.

"Stay safe, Donna."

I hung up.

When Gallifrey appeared in the sky; its size making it visible even here, I knew it was close. I returned inside ten minutes later, knowing that my parents would be back to normal now. They had many questions, all of which I answered to the best of my knowledge, all the while waiting and wondering how much longer it would be until I heard the TARDIS.

It wasn't long at all. A mere twenty minutes after Gallifrey vanished back into the Time War, the familiar sound of the familiar blue box reached my ears and I ran outside.

Anxiety filled me as I waited for the doors to open. Whose face would it be?

"It's nearly time. I'm sorry. I'm so so…OW!"

My palm had connected quite solidly with the side of his face. And it was the face I was used to.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" I snapped, raising an eyebrow at his exaggerated rubbing of his cheek.

"I said I'm sorry!" he retorted. We stared at each other, before he pulled me into a tight embrace.

"I do understand, it was just a bit of a shock." I said quietly. "I'm glad you came back before…"

I trailed off and we silently walked into the TARDIS.

"I wanted to…to go and visit people that, well, meant a lot to me, well, to this face, anyway." His usually unstoppable gob was becoming weak. I gripped his hand.

"I know. That's a good idea. But maybe, instead of just letting them see you, actually say goodbye." I suggested.

He made a face. "It won't be fair on them. They won't be able to accept that I'm regenerating."

"Yes they will."

I was right. Martha, Mickey, Sarah-Jane and Donna all accepted and thanked him for saying goodbye and saving their lives. Donna was shocked once she realised that the lotto ticket came from him, but became quite emotional when told that this regeneration would be permanent.

"Now, you look after him, no matter how he looks afterwards, okay?" she ordered me.

I smiled slightly. "Course I will, Donna. How could you ever think otherwise?"

Even Jack, after saluting the Doctor and I, showed that he cared by shaking the Doctor's hand and saying, "It was an honour to know two of you, Doctor."

Every time we got back in the TARDIS he looked more and more haggard. I noticed him wince several times and knew that he was barely keeping the regeneration at bay.

I let him see Joan's granddaughter alone, knowing that my presence there would just complicate things. He appreciated that, and then, of course, it was time for Rose.

I stayed in the TARDIS then, too, but this time I watched with the door half open. I knew exactly when he would stumble and fall.

The exchange between him and Rose was too far away for me to hear, but, of course, I knew all the lines. I was glad that Rose was a good enough person to smile and wish him a happy New Year, even though she didn't yet know him.

Then came the hard part.

Every step was hard, for both of us, but for him worse. When he did fall, I went to him and helped him to his feet as the Ood announced the song. When Vale Decem started playing from some hidden place, the tears that I had been holding back fell and I didn't try to stop them.

Together, with me supporting the Doctor's heavier-than-expected weight, we walked step by step to the TARDIS. I opened the door with my key, but once we were inside he indicated that he didn't want the support anymore.

I released him, understanding in a deep way why. He threw his coat over one of the pillars, and I knew he would never wear it again. I waited patiently while he set the TARDIS into space, knowing that we'd just crash back down to Earth anyway.

Breathing hard, he stopped and I knew it was nearly time. I couldn't help the panic that seized me as I truly realised how foolish I had been; to fall in love with a man who wouldn't stay the same, when I knew that I wouldn't love the man he would turn into in the same way.

I approached him and saw his own tears that he finally let show. He took my hand in his.

"Thank you for being there, Talia." He said quietly, his voice thick. "I turned into something horrible after Mars, something desperate and wrong. You repaired that. I owe my ninth life to Rose, and this one to you. Thank you."

"I wouldn't have had it any other way. Thank you for letting me come with you." I replied softly. "And know that I won't ever abandon you. I'll be here after you regenerate and I'll never leave."

He smiled sadly. "That is why I never deserved you."

He pulled me in for one last kiss, then pushed me away gently. I stared up at his face, remembering it, knowing that it was only seconds away.

He stared back and I had a feeling that similar thoughts were going through his mind.

He shook his head sadly. "I don't want to go."

He had to, didn't he? He just…had to.

The regeneration was just as it was in the series; explosive and destructive. I quickly went and took cover behind a pillar, knowing that the regenerative confusion and noise of the TARDIS' protests would drown out the last few sobs. When it was over, I stood up, red-but-dry-eyed.

"Legs, I've still got legs, good. Arms, hands, ooh, fingers, lots of fingers. Ears, yes, eyes too. Nose, I've had worse. Chin…blimey. Hair..."

I couldn't help but chuckle at his rambling, especially when he thought that he was a girl. I stepped out from behind the pillar as he glared at me.

"You could've warned me about this!" he accused, staring stubbornly at a lock of hair. "I'm still not ginger!"

"Nope." I agreed. "And still rude."

He opened his mouth to protest but another part of the TARDIS suddenly exploded. "We're…we're…oh, what am I missing?"

"Crashing?" I suggested somewhat glumly.

"That's it!" he crowed. "We're crashing!" a delighted laugh escaped him as I felt the TARDIS begin to plummet.

He yelled, "Geronimo!"

I whispered. "Allons-y." for the last time.

Now, you all have to decide and PM me as soon as you can as to whether or not you want a teaser for the sequel at the end of this chapter. I've got my final exams of school (in Australia they're called HSCs) in October so I won't start the sequel until after they're done. However, you decide whether it'll be worse to wait and wonder or worse to get a teaser and then be left possibly on a cliffy for almost two months. Review and PM please and thanks again to everyone: whovianpower, Argetaie, Aka-Baka-Hoshi, GeronimoDoctor3, FangirlCupcakes99 and all the rest!