preserved_ginger

Title: I Glimpse Eternity
Pairing: Ten/Rose
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Thirteen, Romana, Susan, Rose
Spoilers: 4X13 Warning: Character death.
Disclaimer: The BBC's, not mine.
A/N: An unkillable reunion!fic, because I refuse to believe that 4X13 is the last time Ten will see the woman he loves. This is marked as Ten/Rose because although it's Thirteen who is dying, the Rose he sees is the one Ten remembers and is haunted by. The title and the quote below the cut both come from the song You Raise Me Up by Secret Garden. This is not not-Ten!fic.
Summary: He is close – so, so close – to eternity; he can almost touch and taste it.

There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

It’s the end of days; he is close, at last, to eternity. Funnily enough, it’s more of a relief than he ever could have imagined to be near the end of his existence. He can hear voices - people long-since gone - Romana’s wry amusement, Susan’s laugh (as impish as everything about her); people he’s loved for all his lives. But there is still someone missing, and his hearts hurt, still, to remember.

Breathing is difficult, suddenly; what breaths he takes are shallow.

And at long, long last, she’s there – tongue poking through teeth, grinning, eyes dancing. He gave her the best of him, and oh how much he’s missed her since that second good-bye on that beach. He’d always hated beaches, after that.

He wonders how long it’s been for her, but stops thinking about anything but the feel of her when she enfolds him in a tender embrace and finally, finally he lets himself whisper – on his last breath – exactly what she knows he feels for her. He is dying; he doesn’t have to stop himself, not any more. He feels her arms tighten around him and he lets his adoration of her swallow him whole, knowing that this time – this time – he never has to let her go ...

The Doctor enters eternity, in the arms of his Rose.