Shed No Tear

[preserved_ginger]

Title: Shed No Tear
Rating: PG
Character(s): The Tenth Doctor
Pairing: Ten/Rose
Beta: glory_jean
Spoilers: Turn Left, technically.
Warnings: Character Death
Notes: The title and the quote at the beginning of this fic are from Faery Songs by John Keats.
Summary: He can’t breathe.

Shed no tear — O shed no tear!
The flower will bloom another year.

He can’t breathe.

He discovers his respiratory bypass isn’t helping, and realises that he – well, this body, at least – is dying.

He’s not alone – somebody’s holding him. Smoothing back his hair, telling him not to panic. Telling him that “everything’s gonna be all right”.

His grasp on reality is growing increasingly slender, but that voice and its inflection — no, he’s hallucinating. He has to be, that voice belongs to someone lost to a parallel world for a hundred years and more.

He can feel the energy coursing through him, knows that the peace of the healing fire of regeneration cannot be far away. Just before he loses consciousness, he feels a hand slide into his – a hand that his was born to fit – and thread its fingers through his in a gesture so familiar he could weep at it. He clutches convulsively at it. It cannot be, he knows it cannot be.

He is almost past all conscious thought, the flame ripples just beneath the skin. And yet, despite the fact there is no hope, still he chooses to believe. He gasps and stutters over his words, wanting desperately for her to hear them.

He’s waited centuries for this chance.

“Rose? Rose, is that you? I ... I’m sorry. I’m so, so sor—”

And the all-consuming flame finally takes hold. The woman who has been holding him stays long enough to see the living roman candle burn out, and the new Doctor appear like a phoenix from the ashes of the old, before walking away several steps and then simply vanishing into thin air ...

Comments

[thistwilight.livejournal.com]

Aw, this is so sad.

[bananasandroses.livejournal.com]

I know :(

[humansrsuperior.livejournal.com]

Ohh... that was beautiful. And he didn't even get to really say that one final thing... *sighhh* I adore it. I'm keeping. ♥

[bananasandroses.livejournal.com]

And he didn't even get to really say that one final thing...

She heard him, though, and she knows. She always knew, despite RTD’s attempt at a character hatchet-job in JE.

[glory_jean]

That is so Rose.

*whispers* She shoulda stayed though. ;-)

[bananasandroses.livejournal.com]

That is so Rose.

**nods**

*whispers* She shoulda stayed though. ;-)

Aye, maybe she should have.

But that would screw with the timelines a little too much, and if there’s one thing we Do Not Want, it’s Reapers – yes?

[maniacalshen.livejournal.com]

Oh, now that's depressing. And intriguing, for that matter. Is this the Turn Left Rose wandering too far into the Doctor's personal future while trying to contact his Donna-accompanied self?

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

That's a lovely idea!

[bananasandroses.livejournal.com]

That's a lovely idea!

Isn’t it just ;)

(Love the icon, by the way)

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

Love the icon...

It's beautiful, isn't it? deedeedee123 does lovely work. Here's another one :)

[bananasandroses.livejournal.com]

Here's another one :)

Ten looks lovely in that one (and I’m even quite liking Jack in it, which doesn’t happen all that often.)

[bananasandroses.livejournal.com]

Oh, now that's depressing.

He’s dying — it’s not gonna be a particularly happy scene, now, is it? ;)

Is this the Turn Left Rose wandering too far into the Doctor's personal future while trying to contact his Donna-accompanied self?

That’s what I was aiming for, yes. The fact you’re mentioning it suggests it worked.

[rose-cat.livejournal.com]

Beautiful. *sniffle* Someone in one of the comms suggested that, in line with the show's history of end-of-season "Ten-torture," Ten might end up dying alone. I could see Rose somehow finding out about that and (presumably being unable to prevent it) finding a way to be there for him at the end.

[bananasandroses.livejournal.com]

Beautiful.

Thank you.

Someone in one of the comms suggested that, in line with the show's history of end-of-season "Ten-torture," Ten might end up dying alone. I could see Rose somehow finding out about that and (presumably being unable to prevent it) finding a way to be there for him at the end.

I, too, think it’s likely that they’ll have Ten dying alone; this is my attempt to think of a way around that that won’t devastate us all.

[helygen.livejournal.com]

Perfect. Heartbreaking (I'm crying) but perfect. I need Rose to be there for him when it finally happens, and you've described a beautiful possibility here.

[bananasandroses.livejournal.com]

It certainly explains her reaction to the ‘regeneration’ in Journey’s End, doesn’t it?

I thought the Keats was particularly appropriate here; it talks of the flower that blooms another year, which could be a metaphor for Rose (who returns to be with Ten for a short time at the end of Season Four) or a literal description of Ten, turned into Eleven.

I need Rose to be there for him when it finally happens, and you've described a beautiful possibility here.

I wouldn’t discount it, and it will fit into canon beautifully if they did it this way.

[helygen.livejournal.com]

"It certainly explains her reaction to the ‘regeneration’ in Journey’s End, doesn’t it?"
Oh wow, yes it does!




I'm keeping this, just in case they decide to rip our hearts out and have him die alone :'(