Chapter Eleven

The Doctor parked the TARDIS a safe distance from Wilf and Sylvia's house in Chiswick just in case Donna still did live at home with them. He told everyone to wait on him and taking the manila envelope with him; he stepped out the door and walked about a block to their house. He sighed, knowing that since he had seen his friend, he had gotten a new body and he hoped that Wilf wouldn't be too upset since he had been convinced that he wasn't going to regenerate. On the other hand, he knew that if Donna were home she wouldn't recognize this body and it wouldn't trigger any flashbacks that might endanger her.

He walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. To his horror, Donna opened the door and for a moment, his hearts ached as he stared at his old friend.

"Yeah?" Donna said.

Again, thankful that he had changed bodies since she last saw him, he smiled warmly.

"Hi, I'm looking for Wilfred Mott? I'm a friend of his," he said.

"Yeah, he's here, wait a tic," Donna said. "Can I ask your name?"

The Doctor thought for a moment, trying to think of something besides John Smith.

"Robert Samuels," he said.

"Hold on," Donna said before she closed the door.

The Doctor's hearts lurched as he wondered if Wilf would even come to the door or tell Donna that he didn't even know him and if he did, would he be able to give him the bracelet without Donna seeing it and asking questions. To his relief, Wilf came to the door, opened it and gave him a confused look.

"Um…I'm sorry; mate, but you must have the wrong house. I don't know any Robert Samuels," he said.

"Wilf, it's me, the Doctor. I regenerated," the Doctor said, leaning in close and whispering.

Wilf's eyes bulged. He leaned out and looked for the TARDIS.

"I parked it down the street, just in case," the Doctor said softly. "Is there somewhere where we can talk privately?"

"Yeah, just a moment, I have to tell Sylvia what's going on and then we can go for a walk," Wilf said. "Just wait here."

The Doctor nodded and Wilf closed the door. A few minutes later, Wilf opened it and he and Sylvia stepped outside.

"You have changed," Sylvia said after Wilf closed the door behind him.

The Doctor nodded and gestured to the street. He began to walk away and Wilf and Sylvia followed him. They waited until they were out of earshot before the Doctor spoke.

"Donna still lives at home, after I gave her the lottery ticket?" he said in disbelief.

"No, she's just visiting. Shawn's at work and she popped by. They have a house about a mile away from here," Wilf said. "So…I was wrong about you. You did change."

"Yeah, but don't worry, I'm still basically the same man on the inside," the Doctor said. "But…I don't know if you know her but I have a friend that just died and she met Donna when we towed the Earth back to its orbit and she was upset when I told her that there was no way she could be present for her death, but…she bequeathed a bracelet to Donna and wanted her to have it. She told me to tell you to pretend it was from you lot so there would be no danger of Donna remembering. Just as long as she got it, that's all that mattered to her."

He reached into the envelope and gave the bracelet to Sylvia.

"This is beautiful," Sylvia said as she and Wilf examined it.

"Yes, it is. Is there a way you can give it to her and have it be convincing?" the Doctor said.

"As a matter of fact, their two year anniversary is nearly here," Wilf said. "We'll tell her it's our anniversary gift to her."

"Thank you," the Doctor said. "Sarah was a good friend and I want to honor her last wishes."

"Sarah? The woman that was in the lower corner of that web cam conversation? The one with the little boy at her side?"

"Yes, that's right," the Doctor said, pleased. "I'm glad you got to see her, even if you didn't meet her."

"What happened to her? Was she killed by Daleks or something like that?" Sylvia said.

"Um…no, it was cancer," the Doctor said.

"Oh, my Lord," Wilf said as Sylvia shook her head sadly. "Is there somewhere where she's buried, where we can visit?"

"Actually, she just died. We wrapped her body and we're going to cremate her and give the ashes to her son," the Doctor said. "She's onboard the TARDIS if you'd like to see her."

Wilf and Sylvia nodded and the Doctor led them back to the TARDIS. When he stepped inside, he didn't see anyone and he waited a moment for Wilf to adjust to the revamped TARDIS and for Sylvia just to adjust before he led them back to the room where Sarah's body lay. When they reached the room, the Doctor closed the door, untied the cords around her head and shoulders and carefully peeled back the shroud so they could see her.

"Oh my, poor girl," Wilf said as he and Sylvia gazed at her. "So young, how old was she?"

"Sixty three," the Doctor said.

"That's way too young," Sylvia said while Wilf nodded in agreement.

"I agree," the Doctor said.

"Where are you taking her for cremation?" Wilf asked.

"Haven't decided yet. I'm going to ask the TARDIS to take us to a location where we can make a funeral pyre and have privacy. I want to do a Gallifreyan funeral for her."

"Do you mind if I come with you?" Wilf said. "I'd like to represent Donna at the funeral."

"And I would like to as well," Sylvia said.

"I would love that," the Doctor said with a smile. "And I think Sarah would love it as well."

Wilf and Sylvia helped him rewrap and tie the cords around Sarah Jane's body before all of them walked out. The Doctor asked the TARDIS to take them to where everyone was and she led them to the kitchen where everyone was having tea and biscuits while they chatted. The Doctor introduced Wilf and Sylvia and left them there to get acquainted with everyone after telling them they were coming with them. He then headed up to the console room.

"Okay, girl, let's find a nice place to hold the funeral, eh?" the Doctor said to his ship.

There was a moment's silence and then the rotor came to life. The Doctor patted the rim of the console before he hurried to the wardrobe room to change into his robes.

"Yeah, ha, ha," the Doctor said when he appeared in the kitchen a half hour later dressed in his robes.

Everyone was giggling when they saw him in his scarlet robe, skullcap and frill. The Doctor gave them an annoyed look.

"Is everyone going to finish laughing soon or are we going to stay in the vortex until you stop?" he asked them.

"I'm sorry," Amy said. "But this…this beats even the fez for general weirdness."

"I liked that fez," the Doctor said, annoyed. "I'm going to buy another one if I ever get enough money for it."

"Jack, buy him a fez now so he can shut up about it," Rory said to Jack.

"Rory…" the Doctor said to him.

"Actually, I might, I'm curious to see what you'd look like wearing a fez," Jack said.

"Yeah, I bet," the Doctor said. "Anyway, I believe the TARDIS has landed and I need people to chop wood and people to help me with Sarah's body."

"Wait, why don't you be a wood chopper," Amy teased. "Let other people handle the body while you chop wood."

"Because I'm in charge and I'm dressed in my finest robes so I'm afraid I have to give the wood chopping a miss. Now, who's going to do what?"

Jack, Rory and Mickey volunteered to chop wood while Rory, Wilf and Luke volunteered to help him carry Sarah Jane. The wood chopping team walked with the Doctor to the front door and the Doctor opened it and peeked outside. They were in a grassy field next to a forest on a warm moonlit night. In the distance were several rolling hills and not a house, car or road in sight. On the hills and in the field were several types of flowers, yellow, purple and red.

"Very picturesque," Jack said. "Earth?"

"I believe so, out in the English countryside somewhere. I don't see any nearby houses so I assume no one will notice the fire. I'll put some petrol on the wood so it burns faster and hopefully no one will be around to see the blaze," the Doctor said.

The three men went out to chop some wood while the Doctor ducked back inside. He waited in the console room until Jack came in to tell them they were finished. The Doctor went back outside and helped the men arrange the pile of wood into a small square pyre. Then they went back inside. The Doctor, Rory, Wilf and Luke walked back to the room where Sarah Jane's body lay. The Doctor and Rory got on her right side and Wilf and Luke got on her left. They put their arms under her body and lifted her up, carefully taking her out of the room. The TARDIS moved the console room door to the room and the Doctor thanked her as they slowly took her through the console room and outside. Everyone else followed along behind them. The four men carried the corpse to the pyre and once they had it in position on top of the pyre, the Doctor went back in for a can of petrol. He came out five minutes later with it; the liquid sloshing around inside the red gas can as he walked to the pyre. He set the gas can down by the wood and stepped back. Everyone clustered around the pyre and fell silent, waiting for the Doctor to begin. The Doctor cleared his throat and everyone listened in silent wonder while he began to speak in Gallifreyan in a high lilting voice.

"Whoa," Amy whispered to Rory as he chanted, "if that's the Doctor's language, it's beautiful."

Everyone listened spellbound while he continued his chant. Around them, the wind blew slightly and fireflies winked on and off as they flew around the field. In the distance, they could hear crickets chirping while the Doctor continued his chant.

After ten minutes, the Doctor fell silent.

"What did you just say?" Martha asked.

"Just wishing Sarah Jane farewell and blessing her and telling her to have a safe journey and that we will think of her always. Anyone have anything to add before I light the pyre?"

"I just want to say goodbye to Mum and I'm glad she chose me as her son. She was the greatest mum in the whole universe," Luke said.

"And she was a great friend," Rani said. "She was so awesome, especially since she took a bunch of teenagers and used them to help her fight evil instead of just dismissing us as hoodie wearing ASBOs."

"Yeah," Clyde said. "I really didn't respect many adults but Sarah Jane was one of those I did respect and it's because she respected me and treated me as an equal and she trusted us to help her carry out her mission of making the world better and not just making us carry around equipment."

"And I'm sorry that my dad and I had to leave after I only knew her one year," Maria said. "But that one year was ace and it was the best time of my life and I learned so much from her and I'll miss you so much, Sarah Jane. You were one of the greatest people I've ever known. Rest in peace now."

"As I said before, she was a classy lady," Jack said. "I only wish I could have known her better and judging from most of the people here, they feel the same way. Everyone except the kids and K9 and the Doctor knew Sarah Jane intimately, the rest of us knew her a little bit or barely knew her at all and I feel angry that something as simple as cancer took her from us and robbed us of the chance to know her better and listen to her stories and her wisdom. I'll cherish the time I spent with her but it was tragically not enough time for me," he said as everyone nodded in agreement.

"I didn't know her at all," Wilf said. "Sylvia and I saw her as we watched the computer over Rose's shoulder. But Donna knew her and Sylvia and I are here because Donna can't be and I know that Donna would have loved to be here with all of you."

Everyone fell silent and the Doctor asked if anyone else wanted to say anything. Everyone shook their heads and the Doctor picked up the can of petrol, opened it and spread it on the logs. Then he set the can far away from the pyre and reached into his trouser pocket for a box of matches. He struck the match on the side of the match box and put it on top of the pyre. As the petrol caught fire, he lit four more matches and put them around Sarah Jane's body. Then he stood back and everyone stood quietly, watching while the wood ignited and Sarah Jane's body began to burn.

After the cremation was done and the ashes cooled, the Doctor went out and searched for the bag. He found it in a pile of ashes. The shroud had been reduced to a bag that fit in the palm of his hand. He tried to get as much of the ash off the bag as he could and when he couldn't get anymore off the bag, he stood and stared at it for a moment.

"There you are, all ready for your final resting place," he said to the bag. "The TARDIS made a lovely urn for you as well, TARDIS blue with gold trim. I know you'll be safe with Luke. Farewell, my beloved, rest in peace now."

"Doctor."

The Doctor jerked his head up when he heard a voice whispering to him on the night wind. He looked around but couldn't see anyone and he chuckled softly.

"I see you're going to stick to that promise of keeping an eye on us, eh?" he said aloud. "Well, you're more than welcome to ride with me, Sarah, just as long as you don't play any practical jokes that are too intrusive."

He paused a moment and swore he could hear Sarah's laughter on the wind. He wondered if he had heard it or maybe just imagined it. Then he decided that he had heard it and smiling to himself, he held the bag against his chest while he headed back indoors.

THE END.