Crimson: A Doctor Who Fiction

Crimson

The first sun broke the horizon. I stared at it, hard, till my pupils burned with the desire to hide behind my eyelids.

The war was drawing to a close. I could feel it. And I knew what I had to do. I knew my duty.

A small voice calling my name caught my ear. I turned and smiled at the child running towards me through the tall red grass. I dropped to my knees and enveloped her in a hug.

"Hello, sunshine!" I greeted her, holding her tight to my chest. She giggled and wrapped her little arms right around my neck.

"Which sun, Father?" she asked, pulling back to look in my face. Her eyes sparkled with so much life and vivacity. I felt a tightness in my chest as I remembered what had to be done.

"The second sun, of course," I replied, kissing her forehead. I got to my feet and swung her up into my arms, earning a delighted squeal. "You'll always be my second sunshine."

"And who is your first?" I looked up to see the speaker, a young woman with sad eyes and a gentle smile, approaching. I reached out and took her hand as she drew near.

"Who else but you, sweetheart?" I answered, kissing the back of her hand. Her sad eyes regarded me warmly. I'd be losing those eyes as well.

I kept up my charade of cheerfulness, slipping an arm around the woman's waist and tugging her close. "I've got my two sunshines right here. What else does a man need, after all? Bring on the Time War, I could fight forever!" I cried with much more bravado than I felt.

"Don't talk like that," the young woman whispered. Her gaze fell to the grass and her body tensed with fear. "This isn't something we can just laugh at."

I kissed her cheek, feeling remorseful. "Didn't mean it, love. I was just trying to make you laugh."

She frowned. "How can I laugh when our people are dying?"

I sighed, unable to answer. The child stirred in my arms, agitated by the frightening change of mood. "Father, are we going to die?" she queried in a small voice.

"Of course not, sunshine. You've got me to protect you," I lied jovially. The grin reappeared on her tiny pink lip and a pang of guilt shot through my heart. I was a monster. "Let's go home," I suggested. I didn't receive any objections.

}{}{}{

Night fell. The child and the young woman had fallen asleep. It was time. It was time to run away.

I did it without hesitation, without a single moment of doubt, without even looking back. I shed no tears. I was cold and I was alone when I stole that damned box and flew off, abandoning my home, my people, my family, the red grass and the blazing suns.

I left to go have a lark to take my mind off the fact that I was leaving them to die.

And you know what?

It worked.