The girl with two hearts

Chapter 2

"Doctor? Doctor!"

The Doctor's staring down at his reflection in the metal surface of the console. He tenses up as Donna calls his name.

"Doctor? The girl... You know her, don't you? I mean, she sure seems to know you. She's got pictures of you and everything! ...Doctor? What's wrong?"
He takes a deep breath, turning around. Donna opens her mouth in a silent question as she sees the tears running down his cheeks.
"She knows me, but I don't know her. Not as well as I should, anyway."
"But who is she?"
"She's- Well, she's- She's my daughter."

Donna's mouth actually falls open. She closes it again, clearing her throat.
"But, I don't get it. They're all gone. Aren't they?"
The Doctor doesn't need to ask who she's refering to.
"Yes. Yes, they are", he says softly.
"But then... I mean... I don't know much about alien biology, but don't you need a partner of the other sex to create a baby? Or is that just us humans?"
He shakes his head.
"No, you're right. But, well, the mother isn't exactly alien."
"Who is it?"
"It's Rose."

Donna has heard many stories about the "friend" the Doctor lost. Okay, it's mostly been him mentioning what planets he's taken her to, but Donna's always noticed the face he makes when he talks about her. That sad, heartbroken face. She thinks she's always been sure Rose was more than a friend to him, but now she's got a confirmation. A confirmation in the form of a little, blonde girl.

A girl that's currently peering at them from the corridor.

The Doctor has already noticed she's there, sending a sweet smile in her direction.
"Come here, darling", he calls softly.
Ashie slowly leaves her hiding place, coming closer. It doesn't take many minutes until she stops being carefull, instead running into the Doctor's arms. He bends down to catch her in his arms, lifting her into the air. She lets out a high-pitched little laugh, her arms coming up to wrap around his neck.

"Daddy", she says softly.
The Doctor doesn't know what to say, so he stays quiet. He does, however, hug her close to his chest. Close enough to feel the beating of her two hearts.

Something inside of him hurts.

***

The three of them goes through the content of Ashie's backpack. There's not much other than the letter: a stuffed bunny, a children's book with fairytales and a few photographs.

The first photo the Doctor picks up shows Rose laying in an hospital bed. She looks exhausted and it's obvious that she's been crying, but there's a huge smile on her face. She's holding a newborn little baby in her arms. That must be Ashie, the Doctor realizes. Somehow it's hard to believe that the girl who's now looking at the photo with such understanding eyes has been so tiny once. But, then again, he was a baby once too.

He holds the photo closer, looking at Rose's face. She looks happy. So very, very happy. He just wish he could've been there. He would've held her hand as she cried through the pain of child birth, and then he would've cried as their daughter took her first breath in this world. Now, he never gets to experience any of that. All he has is a silent photograph to look at.

Ashie climbs onto the couch and crawls closer to him.
"Mummy loves you", she says softly.
He nods, blinking away the tears.
"I love her very much, too", he tells the girl.
"She told me I'm just like you."
"Did she, now? In what way?"
"She said I'm smart and beautiful."
He smiles.
"She was right."

They go through the rest of the photographs together, Donna observing them quietly. The majority of the photos are of Ashie: Rose has apparently made sure to document her daughter as she grew up. Probably cause the Doctor wasn't there to see it. He likes to belive she took all those photos so she could show him them someday. Before the stars started going out, and she made the decision to send their young daughter throught a small crack between the universes. To him. She wrote she wanted Ashie safe, and then she sent her to him.

He couldn't even keep Rose safe, and now she expects him to look after a toddler who's got both of their genes. How can she even begin to think that was a good idea?

Ashie pulls the stuffed bunny into her lap and starts chewing on the tip of one of its ears. The knocked state of the light gray, synthetic fur tells the Doctor that is a habit she's been having for a long time. It's way better than sucking on your thumb, and he honestly finds it cute.

"Did your mum use to read these to you?" Donna asks her, taking the fairytale book from the table to look at it.
"Yes", Ashie says, her voice a bit muffled by the bunny ear still in her mouth.
Donna flips throught the pages of the book until she finds something she thinks the girl'll like, holding it up so she can see. The picture shows the classical fairytale scene: a princess looking out from a high tower and a prince standing on the ground, ready to rescue her.

Ashie shakes her head, removing the bunny's ear from her mouth so they'll hear what she's saying without any problem.
"I don't like that one", she says.
"Why not?"
"The princess have to be rescued. Mummy always told it the other way around."
"How?"
"The princess rescuing the prince", the Doctor guesses.
"Exactly!"
Donna smiles.
"I think I like that version better too", she says.
Ashie's smiling brightly. At least for a moment, before her face falls and her eyes gets filled with tears.

The Doctor panics. Was it something he said? Did he do something to hurt her? It wouldn't suprise him, he always seem to end up hurting the people he loves.
"I will never see Mummy again, will I?" she asks, so very quietly.
Both of the Doctor's hearts break at that. He takes her in his arms, pulling her into his lap.

There's nothing he can say. Nothing at all. All he can really do is hug Ashie close as she cries, hoping it won't show how close to tears he actually is.

How will he ever be able to protect this beautiful, pure, unique little girl?

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