13 Novella 3

War

You are thrown from blackness immediately into fire; a burning planet with children clad in long crimson garments screaming and cowering.

You watch a girl, maybe seven years old, with bright ginger hair standing screaming, shaking the almost severed hand of a woman; presumably her mother.

You feel your chest tighten and run over to her in that annoying slow motion way, trying to staunch the flow, but every time you try to touch her your hand goes right through.

"Run!" You scream at the girl but she isn't moving.

You hear a powerful blast behind you and see a huge concrete wall being shot at. You scream but it stands steady- actually letters are forming on the way from the blasts. Ground shaking, you feel the girl weep beside you. You want her to run, to find shelter, but it's clear she can't move. She speaks in a strange ethereal language, but the pain is easily translatable.

You glance at the wall again and read the words that have been blasted in.

No more.

You have no idea what that means, but as the deafening crescendo of battle assaults your ears, you find the wall is blasted completely open, showering you with debris.

You feel it hit you without the impact, and standing in the ruins is a lone man with a goatee wearing a worn brown leather jacket.

"No more!" He shouts up at the sky, and you tilt your head to see hover ships and strange metal aliens shooting red and white lights. The noise is deafening but you can hear him clearly.

"Gallifrey will fall no more!" He shouts, and you stumble at the next round of explosions, only now it had significance. This is Gallifrey. This is The Doctor's and Missy's home. And this is what happened.

You knew there was a war- the time war, The Doctor had called it all those years ago -but this, you think, gazing with tears in your eyes at the terrified Gallifreyans and burning landscape, this was something else. War was an understatement. This was torture just to watch.

You look up again at the man but he is walking away. Walking away as though defeated. But you know he isn't.

No more.

Those words meant something more to him than they did to you. You cover your head as another explosion sends you to the ground where you lie until you feel the scene dissolve sickeningly before you.

"(Y/n)! (Y/n) wake up!" Someone calls and you feel energy radiating though you as you snap your eyes open, jumping instantly to your feet.

You sense rather a long time has passed, a thought backed up by the setting sun in the window.

"(Y/n) it's ok, we're in a hospital, you're safe." Says Missy, approaching you, but you step away, feeling sick.

"No more" you say and they both freeze. "No more" you repeat a little louder.

"What-? (Y/n) what?" Says The Doctor lowly and you meet her eyes, never having expected her to understand so quickly.

"Gallifrey will fall no more. That's what he said. And your planet, that war. Doctor how did it end?" You say, voice breaking as tears roll down your cheek.

"(Y/n) how do you know all this?" Missy asks in fear and you shake your head, looking away, trying to stop shaking.

"She heard it from me. Of course. I must have been thinking about it exactly when you woke up." Replies The Doctor and you retch and cough drily.

"What does that mean? What did he mean?" You say, anxiety adding up.

"(Y/n) calm down, it was along time ago, it's gone. Who is this man?" Asks Missy and you try to unclench your tense muscles.

"That man, he wrote those words on a wall with a gun, then he left. Oh god he left" you say,
Pulling at your blue hair.

The Doctor looks like a she's seen a ghost.

She swallows and exchanges glances with Missy who nods in encouragement.

"(Y/n), breathe and listen." She says and you make an effort to comply.

"The man, he was wearing a brown leather jacket-yes?" She says and you nod breathlessly. She looks like she was hoping you would say no.

"I change my face (Y/n), you remember?" She starts and you nod, too anxious to make any connections.
"That was me (Y/n). One of my old faces. Very old actually. He's the one who-" she stops and breathes in some air, looking up. "He's the one who burned Gallifrey." She finishes and you pause.

"You said Gallifrey was gone, that it was destroyed." You say blankly and she smiles without humour.

"Yes. I destroyed it. It was my planet or the universe." She says solemnly and you look at her truly for the first time since you've woken up.

"She was out of options" says Missy quietly, and it is a mark of the seriousness of the situation that she wasn't taking advantage of The Doctor's dismay.

"You did that?" You whisper in disbelief. "You burned your planet for the rest of the universe?" You say and she nods sadly. She is clearly miserable and ashamed, which makes you angry.

"Doctor, I've known you a while now, but I could never imagine you could do something quite so brave and selfless." You say quietly and she snaps her head up.

"I'm sorry you had to see it (Y/n)" she says sadly and you shake your head, closing the distance between you and pulling her in for a proper hug, probably the first one you've ever shared with the Time Lady on your own terms. She stiffens then relaxes.

"And I'm sorry you had to live it" you mutter into her shoulder and she squeezes you comfortably.

"You too Missy" you add, "come here" you say, face buried in The Doctor's shoulder.

"Ah I'm not a big hugger" she says but you both seize her and pull her in. She struggles for a moment then squeezes you too, before stepping away and brushing off her dress.

You break away from The Doctor too and see she has tears in her eyes.

Looking at her sadly, you give her the only small comfort you can.

You take her head and close your eyes while ignoring her confused expression, then proceed to give her image after image of all the things she has grown to love.

There's plenty of Yaz in there, laughing and smiling and simply gazing at her when The Doctor didn't know she was looking. There's Jenny, in all her faces, laughing and throwing about her head of curls or blonde ponytail, and finally yourself, smiling at how grateful you were that she had saved your life all those years ago. She relaxes and smiles properly.

"Thank you" she whispers, tears rolling down her cheeks and you squeeze her hand, the pictures doing all the talking.