Life, Love and Death through Time and Space

Epilogue

by

Sabrina Lonewalker

It seemed like it was taking forever for the regeneration to take place, maybe because he had been so badly injured but, finally, it was done. He checked the mirror automatically and saw he was taller, not so lean and his hair was cut very close to his head. He saw the ears and frowned. His nose was larger too. Then, he looked around.

Funny, she was here when this started then, he saw her lying on the floor, motionless. "GRACE!" He screamed as he flew to her side but as he pulled her into his arms, he knew, he knew it was too late. Her eyes, those beautiful, intelligent green eyes were sightless and staring at only she knew what. He saw the injuries and realized what she had done. He reached up and gently closed her eyes, the tears falling from his.

He sat down with her in his lap, her body limp and turning cold, so cold. He wanted her to be warm again, like she had been the last time they made love, her eyes sparkling and happy that he loved her. He looked up at the ceiling screaming, "NO! Why? Why now, when this damned war is over?" There was no answer, just his voice echoing through the TARDIS. His angel, his Grace was gone. He held her tightly against him, crying, thinking back.

Their meeting, not an auspicious one given the circumstances, but their relationship had grown. She had showed him he could love again and he had loved her with every fiber of his being. She had made him the happiest man in the universe when she agreed to come with him. She had made him even happier when she agreed to marry him. Their travels had been wonderful, she had been so loving and willing to laugh. She loved life as much as he had.

She had helped him rediscover his capacity to love again. She had reached into his soul and found he could love and she pulled that out for him to see. He stroked her hair, kissed her face and neck and his hand moved down to her abdomen and he stopped. He looked, closed his eyes and wept anew, swearing in a language no one would have recognized. He had found the child she had planned to tell him about, their child and now, it too was gone, another victim of this damned Dalek war.

His hatred for that race grew and now, he was angry, grieving and in pain. That would define him now but, for her sake, he would try not to let that anger show. The Daleks had taken the most precious things in this universe from him, his planet, his race, the woman he had loved and his child that would never be born.

He sat there for the longest, holding her lifeless body against him as he cried and railed against fate, against his 'curse' of living almost forever and yet, his chances for happiness were snatched away again and again. He knew he had to take her home but, she had told him, there was no one back on Earth to care about her, no family, no really close friends to miss her then, he had an idea. He remembered an old friend, one from a long time ago, perhaps he could help.

He laid her down carefully and reluctantly, he didn't want to let her go for a second and went to the control console. Once the coordinates were set, he punched the button and they took off, one last trip with his beloved angel. The TARDIS stopped and he stepped out into the courtyard of an old, old cathedral. It was in England but in another time, a time much earlier than when Grace had been born. An aged priest came out to meet him and smiled, "Doctor, it has been a long time, my friend, what brings you to me?" Then, he looked at his old friend's face. "What has happened my friend?"

The Doctor went back into the TARDIS and came back out with Grace's body in his arms. "She died protecting me, Father. May she be laid to rest here?" The Priest nodded, "Of course, my son, you loved her." The Doctor nodded, "Yes, and her me." The Priest nodded, "Come, we will take her to the Sisters and they will prepare her. While they do, we will talk."

In the old Priest's rooms, he let the Doctor talk about Grace, their meeting, his coming back for her, their marriage, everything. He cried, he railed, he paced all the while, his hearts breaking. Finally, he slumped in the chair and the old Priest looked at him. "She meant the world to you, didn't she?" The Doctor looked at him, his eyes sad and tired. "She showed me I could love again, Father. She looked into my soul and found the capacity for love was still there and she drew it out."

The old Priest nodded. "It is hard to lose the one who taught you how to love. What have you not told me, my son?" The Doctor leaned forward, his face in his hands and at last, he looked up, his eyes hollow and tears streaming down his cheeks. "She was carrying our child, Father. Things had been so busy she hadn't been able to tell me but, she was three months along." The Priest nodded, tears in his own eyes seeing how grief stricken his friends was.

Three hours later, there was a simple funeral mass. The Doctor looked at Grace in her coffin. The Sisters had made her look so beautiful, so like an angel and it broke both hearts to see her this way. The Priest came and laid a hand on his shoulder. "We are ready." The Doctor nodded and the mass began. He managed to find some comfort in the words spoken but, all he could see was Grace, alive, laughing, her eyes shining with love for him.

He had insisted on picking out and creating the headstone himself and he made sure of what he wanted it to say. It had her name, Grace Holloway, and the years she was born and died. Then, The Doctor carved this into the stone. "Wife, Physician and friend, my companion through everything. You are forever Loved, My Angel." He stood there, almost like a statue and the grave diggers lowered her coffin into the ground. The Doctor leaned over and tossed two deep red roses into the grave. He stood there as the grave was filled in, every shovel of dirt hitting the coffin like a knife in his hearts. He stayed there until well after the sun had set.

Later, he walked back to the TARDIS and looked back to where his Grace would forever sleep. Part of him did not to leave her side, ever but, he knew he couldn't stay. He knew he would come back, come back to sit beside her and talk. She would want to know how he was and she would know, somehow he knew that. Finally, he stepped inside, closed the doors and with the usual noise, the TARDIS faded from view, leaving a piece of himself behind, forever buried in the grave of the woman who helped him find himself again, His Grace, His Angel.

The End