The girl with two hearts

Chapter 15

After returning the stolen children - and Ezmeralda -, the Doctor politely declines the offer from the Abruvilians to stay for celebratory feast. The citizens of the planet they just helped accepts the rejection, despite their not to subtle disappointment.

The Doctor sends them into the vortex, and then he leaves the console room without a word.

The TARDIS has done a good job at hiding the Timelord's room from any uninvited visitor, but the Doctor himself knows the way there like he knows his own pocket.

The room opens up into a large, round space with a ceiling full of stars and planets and comets and super novas. There's a single bed in the middle. Hardly used, of course. Timelord's got better things to do than sleep.

The Doctor closes the door behind him, walking over to the bed. Removing the pillow, he picks up the photo album he's kept hidden there. It's a black book made of soft leather. Nothing fancy. Still, it holds so much meaning to him. So many memories. And so much pain.

If he was wise, he probably would've burned the album in the library's fireplace. It would save him so many unwanted thoughts and emotions and memories. Still, here it is. In his hands.

The first page has a pretty old picture. He was still his previous self back then. He and Rose are standing outside the TARDIS. She's beaming at the camera, but he's not. He's just looking, his mouth pressed into a thin line. He wasn't really happy back then. But Rose helped him. She made him happy. She made him better.

The next photo in the album is of Rose. She's got his favorite smile on her face, and she looks so happy. So very happy. The Doctor runs his fingertips over the picture, like he could feel her skin beneath his fingers. Like he could touch her. Which is, of course, impossible. But he likes the thought. The thought of holding her close again.

Ashie is standing in the doorway, silently looking at him. He didn't even hear the door opening. The little girl is hugging her stuffed bunny close, the one she named after Jack.

"I found him on the floor", she says simply.
The Doctor nods.
"Yeah... How did you find this room?"
"The TARDIS showed me."
"The TARDIS..."
"Am I not allowed in here?"

So very young, and yet so clever. The Doctor smiles, finding himself shaking his head.
"No, it's fine."
Ashie seems to see that as an invitation: she walks right into the room, over to the bed where he's sitting. Her brown eyes lands on the photo album in his hands. And especially the photo on the page that's open.

"Mummy", she says softly.
"Yeah", the Doctor confirms.
Her tiny fingers reaches for the picture. The Doctor pulls it out from the transparent pocket, giving it to her. She holds it close to her face, studying it. Like she's looking for something special. Maybe a sign that the woman in the photograph is her mum. If the Doctor got the timelines right, and he usually does, the Rose in that picture is several years younger than the one Ashie knows as her mum. Still, the girl seems to recognize her like it was the most obvious thing.

"What's this, Daddy?"
Ashie's pointing to one of the top corners of the album page. The small formation of circles is in a glittering, gold color.

"It's your mother's name", the Doctor explains.
"It's a bunch of circles!" Ashie protests.
He laughts softly, pulling her into a one-armed hug.
"Yeah, it is. It's Gallifreyian."
Ashie tilts her had to the side, confusion written all over her face. It's actually pretty adorable.
"What?"
"Gallifreyian, the language of my planet."
"You've got an entire planet?"
"Well-"
"Tell me!"

Clever and stubborn, apperantly. Not that the Doctor's really suprised. His daughter has proved to be so much like her mother already, something like this shouldn't suprise him. He smiles.

And then he tells her. Tells her about his planet, about his people. About how they only cared about their own well-being. Why he left. How he stole the TARDIS.

He chooses the skip the part about the war, though. He might tell her about all that later. When she's older.