DOCTOR WHO: The Way Things End

[find_rightbrain]

Title: The Way Things End
Characters/Pairing: The Doctor and Donna, mention of Martha and Rose
Word Count: 490
Rating: PG
Summary: The Doctor hates telling Donna the way things end. There are reasons.
Notes: Written for justprompts, originally posted on the Doctor's journal (thatsortofaman).
Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all characters belong to the BBC. I am not affiliated with the BBC, and am not making any money from this.

The Doctor hated to tell Donna the way things would end. Rose and Martha would just accept it when he said that this was Fact, this world would end and those people would die and there was nothing to be done. Donna wasn't like that. Donna always wanted to change things, fix them...

Donna wouldn't ever take no for an answer.

They helped start a revolution on a planet called Fluvana. He didn't tell Donna that he remembered the history of this place, and that after they won, after all was said and done, the ringleader Donna had been so fond of, a charming, charismatic, brilliant girl only a little more than half her age, would be executed for nothing more than questioning the new government as much as she had the old.

They visited a planet without a name, met a few individuals of a species of bright legs and slender, delicate legs and wings, who communicated in colors flashing over their smooth skin. They were fascinated by the Doctor and Donna, and Donna had beamed as a pair of them bounced around her, flashing blue and chartreuse and indigo, which seemed like good colors somehow. The Doctor didn't tell her that in a century, maybe less, they'd be all but entirely wiped out when humans moved to the planet, expanding their reach in the universe.

He didn't tell Donna that saying "forever" couldn't possibly make it true, and how all things had to end, with him.

He met a little girl in London, years and years before he should have. He wouldn't have noticed, even, but for the flash of red hair, and the determination in her stride. It was impressive, for a child her size. He stopped, and turned back to look at her. She couldn't have been older than six, but doing a quick calculation in his head, he realized she would have been about...

It only took a couple strides to catch up with her – no matter how quickly she walked, she did have legs much shorter than his. He fell into step easily beside her. When he asked where she was going, she answered proudly that she was going on holiday, without the slightest hesitation about talking to a stranger. He couldn't help but think, with a smile, that she hadn't changed a bit, but he didn't say it. Or that he was almost certain he had heard this story before.

All he did say aloud was good luck, before watching her continue right on to the bus, marching on as like it was exactly where she belonged. He could tell her that the bus was going to Strathclyde, that she'd be noticed and returned to her parents before she got out of the city, that he knew already exactly how this would end, but he couldn't see the point. Donna never would believe the way the story would end anyway.

Comments

[chewysun.livejournal.com]

That was *absolutely* adorable - well, the part at the end when she says she's going on holiday. The other parts with the bad endings.. sad. But this little piece was a work of brilliant, and I loved it :)
Cheers

[allfireburns.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

Oh Donna, that was brilliant! Loved the memory of the trip to Strathclyde.

[find-rightbrain.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[helygen.livejournal.com]

Oh this is a lovely tribute to Donna :)

[allfireburns.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. I love Donna. Can hardly ever write her, but she's such a wonderful character.

[shining-moment.livejournal.com]

Oh this was a lovely little piece- I could completely picture young Donna marching down the street towards that bus :)

Fantastic.

[allfireburns.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[panda-pooka.livejournal.com]

*sweet, sad smile* Ouch, my heart. Beautifully done.

[mylenn.livejournal.com]

This was a lovely look at Donna and the Doctor. sad, but right.

[allfireburns.livejournal.com]

Thank you!