Transcendent | 11th Doctor

Chapter Ten

The power of dreams

Nora wasn't sure what had happened first, her feet moving or her mind catching up. It was always in her nature to run. Something in her mind always told her to run from It. And whatever It was, she had been running since birth.

This life wasn't hers. It was never meant to be hers. Just some weird screwed up version of herself that happened to be happy. She was kidding herself if she ever thought that could be her. No, this Nora ran away. Like she always had, microchipped into her brain to leave at the first sign of trouble.

Her breath fled her lungs with each next step. It was as if her mind and body were fighting, one begging for her to leave and another asking her to stay. Nora hated feeling split in half. This was all because of the Doctor. Normally Time would have taken her by now! Why had it suddenly changed? When she finally needed it to work in her favour. Not during an exam or kissing the boy she fancied in school. Nora wasn't even sure what she was running from, or where she was going. She just knew she had to leave before she became more entangled in this stupid timeline.

All she had to do was wait Time out. Eventually it would take her away once more. Away from this stupid town, in this stupid county, in this stupid country. God why couldn't she think straight! Nora skidded to a stop, gasping for breath as her vision cleared. There in front of her, standing proudly in royal blue, was the TARDIS.

"You have got to be kidding me!" She screamed, fist slamming against the wooden door in a fit of frustration. She needed a minute to think. How could she get out of this mess?

"I thought you said she disappears all the time!" Amy asked as the pair followed a harried Doctor through the streets of leadworth. He was becoming frantic, hair strewn and alien invasion long forgotten.

"You don't understand. Last time she went... last time she..." the Doctor glanced back at Amy as he stumbled on his words. For the first time Amy saw The Doctor worry. He had a sad sheen in his eye, smile suddenly downturned into a permanent grimace. Whatever had happened he wasn't ready to say.

"I just- I haven't seen her in a long time okay. And she can't just leave now. Not when I finally have her back..." He mumbled, shaking off whatever had glazed over him whilst thinking back to their past. They didn't speak for some time, instead shouting her name in hopes she'd respond. As the rounded the corner back to Amy's house, the trio faltered at the gate.

There she was. Nora Wallace. Her hair dishevelled, her eyes wide and panicked as she paced back and forth. She was muttering to herself, fingertips gnawed against her reddening lips. The Doctor took off without warning, leaping towards her until she was safely wrapped in his arms.

"Don't ever do that again." The Doctor demanded as he breathed her in. She was here. Safe. Nora had frozen at the touch, a deer caught in headlights. She didn't soften to his embrace. or return it. She simply stood as still as possible.

"Please get off of me." She whispered, voice barely audible. The Doctor obliged, begrudgingly, a new pain evident in his gaze.

"I'm sorry. But you can't just leave. You need to tell me where you're going so I know you're okay." He responded softly, as if afraid to frighten her more. She nodded although reluctant to agree. Something was clearly dragging her towards The Doctor and his blue box even if she didn't want it to.

"Are you okay?" He asked, hands hovering over her body in an invisible hold.

"No." Nora answered honestly, compelled to be open to the man in front of her.

"Do you think you will be okay?" The doctor continued, his tone hesitant. That question made her pause.

Will she? If Time rips her apart piece by piece, will she survive it? Will she learn to rebuild what is broken, or survive its fate. She hopes one day she will be okay. She hopes one day she will no longer be a servant to Time and its whims. Whatever they are. Nora smiled weakly at the doctor, "maybe."

Nora Wallace had always dreamt of being inside a TARDIS. When she was little she would fall asleep and hope one would swoop in and pick her up. She dreamt of witnessing the stars as they flew across galaxies. Of reaching out to touch a comet as it soared beside them. She dreamt of the console room. Of driving through space and time, finally being the one to control where it was she ended up. But it was never meant to happen. Time would never have been so kind to her as to give her the one thing she had always wanted. It was almost phantom like as the doors creaked open, as Nora finally took her first step towards her fate.

"It's..." she whispered in awe, eyes wide as she crossed towards the console. The Doctor appeared giddily beside her waiting for his favourite part. The big reveal...

"Bigger on the inside?" He grinned in excitement, too impatient to wait for an answer. Nora shook her head. No, that wasn't it.

"It's... just how I dreamt it would be." Her fingers trailed across the railings, tracing each and every dent and curve. Implanting it in her memory just as her dreams had been.

"You've dreamt of this before?" The Doctor asked curiously. A spark of hope quietly lit inside him, pleading for a sign that Nora knew. That she understood her importance. But she simply smiled back, glancing back up toward him with a doe eyed expression of warmth.

"Oh all the time. I thought of all the adventures I would go on, of all the people who I would get to meet." Nora almost drifted away with the reminder of her childish dreams. She could see them still so clearly.

"Who joined you?" The Doctor had crept closer, concentration sown onto his features as he listened to each and every word as if it were gospel.

"Too many to count."

She thought of the young blonde, so full of wonder and hope. Of the woman who kept yelling about Martians. She could see their faces, although too blurred to recognise. They were her family. Even if she had made them all up in her sleep. They were all she had as Time took her away from her home.

Nora hadn't noticed the Doctor until his toes were almost touching hers. He looked so genuinely happy, tears hiding behind his green eyes. Breathing felt impossible as his hands grazed her cheeks, brushing away loose strands of hair until her face was clear.

"Oh Nora. Beautiful, brilliant, Nora." The Doctor whispered, the pad of his thumb gently rubbing away her shock. She let him hold her. Afraid to break whatever solitude had covered them. Nora wasn't sure what she had said to make him marvel at her like some shooting star. But In that moment she felt powerful. She felt like the most important being in the universe.

"I never knew you dreamt of it. You never told me that you knew!" Happiness was encasing him now, a new sort of excitement Nora couldn't match. She stared at him dumbly, waiting for him to reveal it was all a prank. Some elaborate gimmick he had made to embarrass her.

"How could I? I've only just met you." She hummed in confusion. All those dreams from her past were just that. Her childish imagination running wild after bed time stories. They weren't real.

"Time is a magnificent thing, Miss Wallace. You've only just met me, but oh I've met you so many times before."

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Sorry for the delay x