Koschei sighed at Clara Oswin's insistence for an explanation. He was still shaken by seeing Clara, and he really didn't want to explain it. "I ran into someone from my past, and if we ran into her again or her companion, then we'd be in big trouble, and the space time continuum might utterly fall apart," he said, hoping that would be enough.

"Excuse me, what?" Clara Oswin asked, confused.

"I-I can't afford for them to see me."

"You can't afford for who to see you? I don't understand. Who are you hiding from?"

He was silent for a few moments, trying to figure out how to talk himself out of this, when he realized that maybe he shouldn't try to to talk himself out of it at all. "I have to tell you something."

She nodded, realizing how serious he looked. "Sure." Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach.

"This is big. Let's go talk somewhere else.. In the library maybe?"

"Sure," she said again.

He took her hand, and they walked in silence down the halls of the TARDIS until they reached the library, which was magnificent but not nearly as magnificent as the one in the Snogbox. He sighed again at the thought.

They sat down awkwardly on the sofa by the entrance, and Koschei glanced away, not sure how to do it. How do you tell the girl you're in love with that she's the echo of someone you lost, the girl you originally fell in love with? How do you even begin to explain it? He was beginning to regret deciding to tell her. He wished he could just make up a lie, tell her something else, something that might actually make sense to her.

"Koschei … what's going on? Who did you run into on Akhet?"

"It's hard to explain. I don't where to start."

"Start from the beginning," she said softly.

Koschei couldn't help but smile, thinking of that first day with the feisty girl named Clara Oswald and how she'd shown him so much sass and contempt he couldn't help but fall in love with her. "It's a long story. I can't really tell you who it is without telling you this history, the story of how we met."

"Is it a good story?" asked Clara Oswin, calmed a little by the smile on his lips.

"It is the best of stories," he spoke. "It's a love story … ours actually. Sort of. It's going to be confusing. Very confusing. So bear with me?"

"Okay," she said gently, leaning in to give him a peck on the cheek. "Take your time."

"First, you should remember what I told you about my past. I'm not a good man. I'm a very bad man, actually, from your standards. I've been around for a long, long time, and I've caused a lot of harm. I met someone though. Well, actually, I kidnapped her to try to lure the Doctor into a trap. She hated me at first, naturally. Although I have to say we had a lot of chemistry right from the start."

Clara Oswin nodded, the news of his former villainy having been something they had already discussed.

"She saved me. She's the girl I told you about after church that one day. She has also saved the Doctor many, many times. Just like you saved him from getting hit by a car once."

Clara Oswin tried not to sigh. Yet again, she felt overshadowed by that other woman, the woman he had lost. She bit her lip, looking at him uncertainly. He was about to tell her that she didn't measure up, wasn't he? She felt she was about to learn that, despite his trying not to compare them, the other girl would always come out on top in his heart, and that running into her had simply confirmed it for him.

Koschei watched her changing expressions, wondering what she was thinking. It couldn't be good by the likes of it. "Uhm. This girl, her name … her name was Clara Oswald."

Clara Oswin raised her eyebrows, incredulous. "Excuse me? This famous, so amazing girl you lost shares a name with me?"

He coughed awkwardly. "She shares more than just a name with you."

"What does that even mean?"

"She … okay, remember how I'm a time traveler?"

She laughed a little bit. "How could I forget?" Pausing, something occurred to her. "Wait a minute. Is she like, my great-great granddaughter or something? Or maybe my great-great grandmother? Some distant ancestor or descendant?" Clara Oswin gaped at him, feeling slightly disgusted. She continued speaking before he could correct her. "You lost her. So you used your time-traveling abilities to seek out a relative who reminded you of her and happened to share a name and a history with the Doctor? Is that it?" She turned her face away, tears gathering in her eyes. "I'm like a replacement. An echo of the girl you really want."

Koschei's hearts beat at double the pace, curse words coursing through his mind. He hated seeing her in pain, but he couldn't help but feel there was some truth to what she had just said. She wasn't the descendant or ancestor of Clara Oswald, but she was an echo, just like she'd said. He swallowed heavily. She was also so much more than that.

Placing a hand on her cheek, he gently guided her head back toward his. "You're partly correct. Gosh, I hate to say it. But it wasn't intentional, and you aren't Clara Oswald's ancestor or descendant. Clara is a companion of the Doctor, and in a time of dire crisis, she stepped into his time stream, and divided herself into who knows how many pieces, scattered across the realm of time and space, with one goal—to save the Doctor."

"You do realize that everything you just said literally makes no sense, right?" she asked, her tears drying a little as the feeling of confusion set in.

He nodded, allowing a half smile to come to his face. "Yeah, I know. I barely understand it myself."

Clara Oswin gave a small chuckle, glad she wasn't quite alone in the boat of lack of understanding. A moment of silence passed between them before she spoke again. "What do you mean she divided herself? Is that how she died? You, her, and the Doctor were traveling together, and she gave up her life to save him? Man, that must have hurt."

Koschei shook his head. "No, no. I didn't meet her until after that happened. She didn't die from it. Maybe … maybe divided wasn't the best word. It's not like she was physically split apart. She was … multiplied, I guess? Different, autonomous versions of her were scattered across time and space. She told me she could retrieve some of their memories if she tried hard enough, and she occasionally had nightmares about them. Some of her echoes didn't live the best lives. A whole lot of them actually died saving the Doctor."

And then it clicked. "Not all of them died though. At least one of them survived, pushing him out of the way of a passing car," she said, her voice monotone as her eyes slightly glazed over, her thoughts turning inward as she began to question her life.

"Yeah," he breathed, taking her limp hand in his, watching the uncomfortable understanding wash over her.

"Am I even real?" she asked, her focus snapping back to him, and the kind look in his eyes.

Koschei snorted. "Of course you are! You're flesh and blood, aren't you? You're just as real as me. You're just as real as the original Clara Oswald. You were born, and you have lived. How could you not be real?"

"I'm just an echo," she spoke faintly. "I'm a pale copy of the real thing. My whole existence is based off of a need to save the Doctor's life. I've done that. I'm of no value anymore."

"No." The fierceness in his voice caught her off guard. The words flowed from his hearts, himself having been thinking all of it over in his head since the day he ran into the original Clara on Akhaten. "You, Clara Oswin Oswald, are most certainly of value, and not just because I am in love with you. And no, I don't just love you because you're an echo of Clara Oswald. You're similar to her, yes, but you do have differences. And honest to God, I am in love with those differences. Clara Oswin Oswald, you are an amazing, beautiful, spectacular person all on your own. And yes, maybe I did fall faster because I fell for her first, but you know what? If I had never met Clara Oswald and had met you instead, I would have fallen all the same. I love you. Sure, I miss her sometimes and probably always will, but if I had the chance to be reunited with her right now and leave you behind, I wouldn't do it. Seeing her, having the slightest chance of going off with her again, it just confirmed it. I'd choose you, any day or time or place in space. Always."

Clara Oswin Oswald had no choice but to burst into tears, and he wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed into his chest, peace and contentment, joy and relief flooding through her system. When the weeping had died down a bit, she looked up at him, and he gently wiped the tears from her eyes as she smiled at the fact that his eyes were gushing as well.

"I love you too, Koschei. I choose you too. Always and forever."

And they lived happily ever after, even though it wasn't truly forever. And on that day when she passed from this life, he held her hand and kissed it as she spoke her last, bidding him forward with his life. "Run, you clever boy, and remember me."

The End

A/N: Thank you so much for reading the sequel to Lunatic! I hope you enjoyed it. I apologize for the erratic updating, my life has gotten pretty busy, and although I had the story finished since the summer, I sort of just kept forgetting to update. Lunatic meant a lot to me, and while the sequel isn't as dear to me, I hope that you enjoyed it nonetheless.

I was greatly saddened by the infrequency of reviews for this story though. Reviews inspire me, and I didn't get the kind of feedback for this story that I did for Lunatic, which honestly sapped me of a lot of my motivation for it. To the few of you who have reviewed and consistently reviewed, thank you. You mean the world to me.

A special special thanks to Eleni, who doesn't have an account here (and thus can not be PMed) but found my story through pinterest and always leaves the sweetest reviews.

Thank you to Dogwin, for always leaving the most detailed reviews, every single chapter. You're my best friend IRL, and without you reminding me to update a few times, I may not have updated at all. Also, it was funny that one time you were borrowing my computer and accidentally reviewed my story using my account. Whoops. xD

Thank you to LadyLini, for beta-reading the first ten chapters of this story back when I was writing around two years ago. I hope that one day you get back online and like how I wound up finishing this.

To those of you who have never reviewed, I thank you for at least reading my story, and it would mean so so much to me if you would at least review this last chapter. It would probably make my week if you reviewed. The favorites and the follows I appreciate, but nothing makes me happier than a review, even the smallest comment on my story.

Farewell, dear reader, until we meet again.