Amy pulled us into the room, but before she could close the door all the way the Krafayis jammed its foot in the door to stop her from closing it, so Vincent stamps on it and shut the door. "
"Right. Okay. Here's the plan. Amy, Rory, Juno." the Doctor said.
"Who?"
"Sorry. Er, Vincent." the Doctor corrected. "What is the plan?" Amy questioned. "I don't know, actually. My only definite plan is that in future I'm definitely just using this screwdriver for screwing in screws." he frowned. "Give me a second. I'll be back." Vincent walked off. "I suppose we could try talking to him." I said. "Talking to him?" Amy asked. "Well, yes. Could be interesting to know his side of the story. Though maybe he's not really in the mood for conversation right at this precise moment." I shrugged. The beast banged on the door.
"Well, no harm trying." the Doctor walked up to the door. "Listen. Listen! I know you can understand me, even though I know you won't understand why you can understand me. I also know that no one's talked to you for a pretty long stretch, but please, listen. I also don't belong on this world. I'm the second to last of my kind. If you trust me, I'm sure we can come to some kind of, you know, understanding. And then, and then, who knows?" the Doctor bargained. Behind us, a window was broken in. "Over here, mate!" Vincent yelled. We quickly hid behind a stone monument while Vincent had his easel and was bashing the beast with the three pointed feet.
"What's it up to now?" I asked. "It's moving round the room. Feeling its way around." Vincent described. "What?" I questioned. "It's like it's trapped. It's moving round the edges of the room." he explained. "I can't see a thing." Amy spoke up. "Oh. I am really stupid."
"Oh, get a grip! This is not a moment to re-evaluate your self-esteem." Amy bashed. "No, I am really stupid, I'm starting to grow old. Why does it attack but never eat its victims? And why was it abandoned by its pack and left here to die? And why is it feeling its way helplessly around the walls of the room? It can't see. It's blind. Yes, and that explains why it has such perfect hearing!" I concluded. "Oh that's brilliant Juno!" the Doctor smiled at me. "Which unfortunately also explains why it is now turning around and heading straight for us." Vincent said.
"Vincent. Vincent, what's happening?" the Doctor called. "It's charging now. Get back. Get back!" the Krafayis stabbed itself onto the easel and lifted Vincent into the air. It then fell to the floor, mortally wounded. "He wasn't without mercy at all. He was without sight. I didn't mean that to happen. I only meant to wound it, I never meant to-"
At that moment, I felt like I could understand it. "He's trying to say something." I said, walking over to the beast. "What is it?" Vincent asked. "I'm having trouble making it out, but I think he's saying, I'm afraid. I'm afraid." I grazed the beast. "There, there. Shush, shush. It's okay, it's okay. You'll be fine. Shush." It was dead. "He was frightened, and he lashed out. Like humans who lash out when they're frightened. Like the villagers who scream at me. Like the children who throw stones at me."
"Sometimes winning, winning is no fun at all."
<—————>
We had been lying on the ground and looked up at the night sky. "Hold my hand, Doctor. Try to see what I see. We are so lucky we are still alive to see this beautiful world. Look at the sky. It's not dark and black and without character. The black is in fact deep blue. And over there, lighter blue. And blowing through the blueness and the blackness, the wind swirling through the air and then, shining, burning, bursting through, the stars. Can you see how they roar their light? Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes." Vincent explained. "I've seen many things, my friend. But you're right. Nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see."
"I will miss you terribly."
<—————>
"I only wish I had something of real value to give you." Vincent handed me the famed self-portrait of him in a straw hat. "Oh, no, no, no. I could never accept such an extraordinary gift." I shook my head. "Very well. You're not the first to decline the offer. Amy, the blessed, the wonderful." he kissed Amy's hand. "Be good to yourself, and be kind to yourself." Amy said. "I'll try my best." Vincent smiled. "And maybe give the beard a little trim before you next kiss someone."
"I will, I will. And if you tire of this Doctor of yours, return, and we will have children by the dozen." Vincent exclaimed. "Eek." Amy coughed. "Doctor, my friend. We have fought monsters together and we have won. On my own, I fear I may not do as well." Vincent shook the Doctor's hand. "And lovely Juno, how beautiful you are. They will sing songs of you." Vincent kissed my hand. "Ah, I see what you mean by the beard needing a trim."
We walked out to the courtyard, leaving Vincent in his home. I turned to the Doctor, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked. "I was thinking I may need some food or something before we leave." Amy shrugged. "Well, no, you're not thinking exactly what I'm thinking." I said. "Vincent! I've got something I'd like to show you. Maybe just tidy yourself up a bit first." I yelled out.
We walked to the tardis, which had been covered in advertising posters. "Now, you know you and the Doctor had quite a few chats about the possibility there might be more to life than normal people imagine?" I quizzed. "Yes." Vincent nodded. "Well, brace yourself, Vinny." I opened the tardis doors, letting Vincent walk in. "How come I'm the crazy one, and you two have stayed sane?" he questioned.
Vincent was looking around the console, "What do these things all do?" he asked. "Oh, a huge variety of things. This one here, for instance, plays soothing music. While this one makes a huge amount of noise. And this one makes everything go absolutely tonto." the Doctor explained. The tardis jerked into flight. "And this one?" Vincent pointed. "That's a friction contrafibulator!" I exclaimed. "And this?"
"That's ketchup. And that one's mustard."
"Mmm, nice. Come on, back to the cafe and you can tell me about all the wonders of the universe." Vincent licked his lips. "Good idea. Although, actually, there's a little something I'd like to show you first."
We were outside the Musée. "Where are we?" Vincent asked. "Paris, 2010 AD. And this is the mighty Musée D'Orsay, home to many of the greatest paintings in history." I informed. "Oh, that's wonderful." Two people walked by listening to the radio. "Ignore that. I've got something more important to show you." the Doctor pulled Vincent up the stairs.
We took Vincent into the van Gogh exhibition. "Doctor Black, we met a few days ago. I asked you about the church at Auvers." I shook his hand. "Oh, yes. Glad to be of help." he looked to the Doctor. "You were nice about my tie." he pointed "Yes. And today is another cracker if I may say so. But I just wondered, between you and me, in a hundred words, where do you think Van Gogh rates in the history of art?" the Doctor asked.
"Well, big question, but to me, Van Gogh is the finest painter of them all. Certainly, the most popular great painter of all time. The most beloved. His command of colour, the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world. No one had ever done it before. Perhaps no one ever will again. To my mind, that strange, wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not only the world's greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived." Doctor Black finished his answer. With that, Vincent bursted into tears. "Oh, Vincent. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Is it too much?" I asked.
"No. They are tears of joy." Vincent smiled and walked over to Doctor Black. "Thank you, sir. Thank you." Vincent gave him a kiss on both of his cheeks and hugged him. "You're welcome. You're welcome." Black patted Vincent's back. "Sorry about the beard." Vincent apologized, then turned towards us.
<—————>
"This changes everything. I'll step out tomorrow with my easel on my back a different man. I still can't believe that one of the haystacks was in the museum. How embarrassing." Vincent covered his mouth. "It's been a great adventure and a great honour." the Doctor bowed. "You've turned out to be the first doctor ever actually to make a difference to my life." Vincent chuckled. "I'm delighted. I won't ever forget you."
"And you are sure marriage is out of the question?" Vincent asked Amy. "This time. I'm not really the marrying kind." Amy gave a sad smile. "Come on. Let's go back to the gallery right now." Amy took my hand and we walked back to the tardis.
"Time can be re-written. I know it can. Come on! Oh, the long life of Vincent Van Gogh. There'll be hundreds of new paintings." Amy said as she dragged me up the stairs. The Doctor followed close behind. "I'm not sure there will."
"Come on!" she pulled me into the Van Gogh exhibit. "We have here the last work of Vincent Van Gogh, who committed suicide at only thirty seven. He is now acknowledged to be one of the foremost artists of all time. If you follow me now-"
"So you were right. No new paintings. We didn't make a difference at all." Amy said, defeated. "I mean, I wouldn't say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things." I explained. "Hey. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant. And we definitely added to his pile of good things. And, if you look carefully, maybe we did indeed make a couple of little changes." the Doctor walked to the painting of the church. "No Krafayis."
"No Krafayis." I smiled. Amy walked over to the still life with twelve sunflowers. On the vase, Vincent had written "For Amy". "If we had got married, our kids would have had very, very red hair." she said. "The ultimate ginger."
"The ultimate ginge. Brighter than sunflowers."