Chapter One: Golden Slumbers

Donna stepped out of the dark glow of the TARDIS and found herself bathed in light.

Plains of long, golden grass lay before her, stretching out as far as she could see, and in the distance she spotted glittering peaks reaching upwards to touch the sky. The mountains seemed to glow and shimmer, and as she watched in bewilderment she realized that they were reflecting the sunlight. Giving an excited grin, she stepped out of the TARDIS, slowly lowering a bare foot to the ground, and felt a surge of delight as warm, tan-coloured soil slipped between her toes.

She closed the TARDIS' doors behind her and beamed, suddenly feeling aware of the empty space beside her. She rarely left the TARDIS without the Doctor at her side, and while she loved traveling with him, Donna reveled in this feeling; the sheer nervousness and excitement of stepping out on to an alien planet by herself. This was her, Donna Noble, a lowly temp from Chiswick, adventuring out into the wilderness by herself. Anything could happen, anything, and for once she was about to experience just what that anything was all by herself.

Unable to resist anymore, Donna began to stride forward confidently, but stopped when something brushed against her ear. After raising a hand to feel, and realizing there was nothing there, she twisted around to see what it was, and for the first moment since her arrival, she let her eyes travel upwards. Across the golden plain, specks of yellow fell lightly from the sky. She stared, intrigued, her ever-inquisitive mind wondering if it could be snow. Donna reached out, and managed to grab hold of one as it drifted by. She stared at it in fascination as it lay in the palm of her hand. It was a petal. She looked back across the field, gazing in wonder as the golden petals floated down from no where like yellow cherry blossoms. Above her, not even a cloud penetrated the crisp blue sky. Where were they coming from? After staring at the spectacle for a few seconds she decided to just be happy she was there to see it. She let the petal in her hand go, and watched as the soft wind blew it out of sight before she began walking away from the TARDIS, ready to explore this gorgeous, alien world.

For a while Donna waded waist deep through the tall grass, stopping every now and then to glance back at the TARDIS. Fortunately, the ship's bright blue exterior stood out for miles against the gold of the grass, so Donna knew the possibility of getting lost was tiny. While she walked her fingers skimmed the grass-tops, but it didn't itch, merely soothed her fingertips as she brushed past. As she drifted across the glen, Donna reminded herself of why she was here, and what she was looking for.

That morning, when Donna had awoken, the Doctor had been gone. Not missing, just gone. In fact, that had been his exact words on the post-it he'd stuck to her bedroom door. "Gone out" written in messy writing with a jelly baby stuck to what little space was left on the paper with an extravagant amount of sellotape. After gobbling the snack up and mentally thanking the Doctor for being so concerned about her diet, Donna had decided to go find the Time Lord. He hadn't told her not to come, so it couldn't be too dangerous-or so she hoped, since her ginger hair probably stood out in the golden landscape more than the TARDIS-and one jelly baby hadn't caused nearly enough of a sugar high to cure her boredom. After changing out of her pajamas Donna had slipped out through the ship's doors, and had found herself...here.

Donna continued walking for a few minutes, and was beginning to worry when she spotted the object of her search. Through the golden strands she could see the Doctor coat, which had been unceremoniously deposited on the ground in a messy heap. Beside it lay the Time Lord himself, eyes closed as he breathed gently. Donna felt her stomach drop in dread as her as it occurred to her that he could be unconscious, or worse.

"Doctor?" she called out, voice wavering with fear. He didn't reply, but instead shifted slightly, craning his neck and angling his face upwards, as if seeking the sun's warmth. Donna could see his eyes moving slowly under their lids. Above, the sunlight flickered down, running across his pale, freckled skin in a mix of gold and white. Donna felt her fear ease slightly as it dawned on her; he was sleeping.

The human smiled affectionately, glad he was safe, but mentally chided herself. She should have seen this coming. After their visit to Midnight he'd been both physically and mentally exhausted, and she'd known he'd have to crash sooner or later, Time Lord or not. If she closed her eyes...she could still remember it clearly. The look on his face as he'd returned to the resort, the ghostly eyes which had looked right through her, yet consented as she'd pulled him close, and he'd pulled her closer.

By now Donna had realized her true purpose as a companion. She wasn't there for company, however much he might enjoy hers when he had time, or to hold down levers and push buttons when he was busy. No, she was there to be a lifeline; something the Doctor could hold on to, that he could use to help him get back on his feet whenever he fell. She knew that this lonely, fun, slightly mad alien needed something to keep him grounded, and couldn't imagine what would happen if he didn't have that something with him.

Her eyes drifted to his sides, and her smile faded when she saw that his fingers were curled tightly around a stray strand of grass; he was holding himself in place, as if he was afraid he might fall away from the ground if he didn't. Donna lowered herself to the ground and, after gently prying the golden strand from his grip and entwining her own fingers with his, she waited for the Time Lord to wake.

Brushing a stray lock of ginger hair out of her eyes, Donna let her mind wander, thoughts following the same trail as they had before. She remembered Martha, and how she'd mistaken the Doctor desperately holding on to her as something else, and the disappointment that had soon followed. And thinking back further...Donna let herself remember the image of this alien, standing in the doorway of his TARDIS, and choking out the name of the woman who had been ripped away from him. The woman who had stolen the Doctor's heart long before Donna had even known he existed, who had disappeared so mysteriously from the his life, and who now only existed as a ghost that haunted the TARDIS' hallways, her face unseen and her name tabooed...

"Hello," came a small voice. Donna jumped slightly, and looked down to where the Doctor lay, both eyes now open and staring up at her. She smiled back, trying not to envy the fact that while she was usually incapable of placing one foot in front of the other within the first hour of waking up, he didn't even look groggy, and could have easily fought off an entire battalion of Sontarans, or whatever other alien he'd managed to anger today.

"Good morning Sunshine." she replied, using one of her kinder nicknames for him. "Nice sleep?"

"Mhmm, lovely." His eyes drifted down to their joined hands, and Donna quickly snatched hers away, cheeks turning scarlet as she did so. She leaned back, avoiding eye contact and instead surveyed the golden world that lay before them.

"This place is beautiful! What's it called?" She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and gave a small, relieved smile when she felt the Doctor take her hand back and hold it loosely in his.

"Nothing. Doesn't have a name. At least, not anymore." She turned back to look at him, and saw that he was staring at the planet with the same look that often entered his eyes at the mention of his home, or Ro...her. A small bubble of anger inside her popped, as it often did when he wouldn't explain things properly, making her feel so...insignificant. So unneeded.

"Well if you're not going to answer-"

"No," he interrupted. "Sorry Donna." He made eye contact. "Sorry. I'm just trying to think of how to explain this to you. It's like...it's like on the Ood Sphere. Well, not exactly like it, but similar. Your people branched out from Earth, settling on different planets, and the Ood Sphere was one of the worlds they colonized. My people did the same sort of thing; they found worlds similar to theirs, and tried to expand their civilization by colonizing."

"And this was one of those worlds?" He nodded, and Donna frowned. "But it's...Doctor, it doesn't look like anyone's ever lived here."

He looked away again, the ghostly look in his eyes returning. "The Time War. It wiped them out. Made it so they never existed. Now they never came here." There was a small silence, and Donna could feel him drifting away from her...

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He sniffed, snapping out of the memory and gave a cheery smile. "Nah, it's fine. Didn't come here to tell you ghost stories anyway." He jumped up, pulling her to her feet as he did so, and pointed at one of the glittering mountains in the distance. "That's why we're here. TARDIS was picking up some odd readings coming from this planet, from those mountains in particular, and I thought we should have a look."

"And you thought you'd steal a nap while you were here?" Donna asked, already feeling irritated by his sudden change of subject, and the fact that he'd referred to his race as a 'ghost story'. Was that honestly what he thought of them?

"Yup!" he replied, popping the 'p'. "Needed a bit of a rest, and this is the closest thing I have to-" He cut himself off, face dropping as his smile disappeared; being on this planet was causing him to let down his usually impenetrable emotional barriers, and bringing back memories Donna could tell he didn't want to remember. He looked down at the ground for a moment, quickly trying to compose himself and Donna reached out to touch his arm. He jerked away slightly, and she felt the sting of rejection as anger surged up within her once again. He always did this, never let her come too close. Sure, maybe she'd come closer than others, but if he was going to hold on to her then he needed to let himself go sometimes. Accept a comforting hug from time to time, or tell someone what was bothering him. But he never did and it drove her mad.

After a moment or two her friend snapped back from his gloom and looked back at her, smiling once again. "Anyway, off we go then, allons-OW!" He rubbed the spot where his companion had just hit him. "What was that for?"

Donna crossed her arms. "For pretending you don't need anyone." It was all she needed to say.

The Doctor stared at her for a second, lips tightening in defiance. "I don't." There was a tense moment of silence between the two of them, and Donna considered slapping him again, but he stooped down to pick up his coat and began to walk towards the glittering mountains before she could move. As he walked away Donna closed her eyes and breathed in softly, trying to sort through the waves of anger and frustration that raged inside of her, that made her want to shake this stupid spaceman, make him tell her everything...because she could make it better, she just knew she could.

But as he pushed her away, she could feel her confidence dwindle; falling lower and lower each time he rejected her. Somewhere, in between the far away glances, and the mournful eyes that stared right passed her, past the cheerful smiles and funny catchphrases used to drag the Doctor's loneliness out of sight, Donna was losing the ability to stand her ground.

And so she slowly followed, leaving her stronghold amongst the grass as she let him lead her towards the mountains. Step by step. Day by day. Lie after lie after lie.

Ginger hair wafted across the golden glen, standing out for miles against the long grasses that swayed ever-mournfully in the light wind as Donna Noble followed in the footsteps of a lonely god.

Forever.

Once there was a way to get back homeward
Once there was a way to get back home
Sleep pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby

Golden slumbers fill your eyes
Smiles awake you when you rise
Sleep pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby

~Golden Slumbers, The Beatles