The girl with two hearts

Chapter 5

Ashie starts calming down, fewer and fewer tears falling. Despite not needing to, the Doctor's still holding her close. There's something about the feeling of her double heartbeat, something he doesn't want to lose the feeling of.

The movie has been turned off, leaving the media room in silence.
"He never died when I saw it with Mummy", Ashie says, looking up at the Doctor with her brown eyes all confused.
"Are you sure?" Donna asks from where she's still sitting on the couch.
Despite the situation, the Doctor can't help but smile a little. He finds it pretty adorable that someone can get this upset over the death of a cartoon lion. But then again, she is four years old.

He's forced to let Ashie go as he feels her trying to get out of his arms. She walks over to the table where Donna put the DVD case, picking it up in her small hands. She holds it close to her eyes, like she's inspecting it or something.
"Ashie?" the Doctor asks softly, moving closer to her.
She flinches, looking up at him.
"The cover is different. This is the wrong movie, Daddy!" she cries, looking at him displeased.
"No love, it isn't. As far as I know there's only one The Lion King in the TARDIS' movie collection, and it's the one you're holding", he assures her gently.
He's just about to take the DVD from her hands to show her when she lets out a high-pitched yell, throwing the plastic casing on the floor with a strength he didn't think such a small person could have.

The case breaks in half as it hits the floor with a thump. The Doctor can hear Donna gasp somewhere behind him, but he's completely frozen. He's staring at little Ashie, his mouth partly open in shock. This sweet, innocent and completely harmless-looking girl just broke something. She threw it on the floor and then it broke. In half. There was even a noise as the plastic cracked.

He feels like he should be mad, like he should yell at her. He's the parent now, and that makes it his job to dicipline her. It makes it his duty. He should be mad, yell and then made her apologize for what she did. Toddlers have tantrums, everyone knows that. There's nothing odd about it, and she won't hate him simply because he tells her what she did was wrong. No, of course not. She'll probably feel a little bad about it, but she won't hate him. Yeah, he probably should lecture her.

Still, he doesn't. He's frozen in one spot, the only thing on his mind being Ashie's tear stained face. She's upset. She's crying. She did something wrong, he shouldn't feel bad for her. That's just silly! But still...

Then she's running out the media room, down one of the corridors.

"Ashie!" the Doctor calls after her, but she's already out of hearing range.
Or she just isn't listening. That's also a possibility.

He sighs, sitting down right there on the floor and crossing his legs. He leans his head in his hands, grabbing his hair in frustration.
"I'm a horrible father", he mumbles.
Donna rises from the couch at that.
"Stop it right now, you! Parenting is never known to be easy, especially not when the child is part alien! And you cannot sit there and tell yourself how worthless you are! Do you hear me? This little girl needs you, do you understand that? And there's no way you are going to be able to take care of her if you treat yourself like shit! Do you hear what I'm saying!?"

When Donna's yelling comes to a stop he looks up.
"Donna Noble... What would I even do without you?" he wonders, giving her a tiny smile.
"Probably not very well", his companion replies, reaching out a hand to help him up.
"You've got a point there", he says as he stands up, his smile growing.
"That's the spirit, Spaceman! Now go after your daughter!"
"But she-"
"She needs you, Doctor!"

She's right, she's always right. And the Doctor's very aware of that. Ashie needs him, and he should go after her to make sure she's alright. After all, it is his job to care for her now. And of course she would be upset, she spent the first years of her life in a different universe! Everything must be so wierd for her here.

"That's it!" the Doctor shouts.
"What's what?"
"Ashie's never been in this universe, she just got here."
"So?"
"The Lion King she used to watch with Rose was the version from that universe! No wonder she was so upset about it, she grew up watching a complete different story!"
"Oh", is all Donna gets out.
"Yes!"
"Well then go! Explain to her!"
"Bu-"
"She needs you!"

***

The Doctor finds Ashie in a room he's never seen before. It looks a bit like a typical child's bedroom, but it's space themed: there's a night sky full of star in the ceiling and the entire room is dominated by the colors dark blue, black and gold. It's honestly beautiful. The TARDIS must've added it especially for the little girl.

Ashie's laying in the middle of the big bed, hugging her stuffed bunny and chewing on its ear. She tenses up when she hears the Doctor entering the room, but doesn't look at him.

He walks over to the bed in the middle of the room, sitting down next to where Ashie's legs are.
"Ashie? Love?"
She rolls over, looking at him with tears shining in her eyes.
"I miss Mummy", she whimpers, holding her bunny tighter.
"I know. I miss her too", the Doctor says, lifting his daughter into his lap.

Ashie grabs his shirt in her fist, like she's trying to keep him there. He's not going anywhere, though. He cuddles her close to his chest, kissing her temple.
"Shh, shh, shh", he whispers, not really knowing if it's helping.
She takes a shaky breath through a sob, reaching for her bunny. The Doctor feels a little bad that she'd rather be comforted by an stuffed animal than by her dad.

Still, he grabs the bunny and gives it to her. She holds it in her arms.
"Mummy gave him to me", she says, holding it up so the Doctor can see.
"What's his name?"
"Jack. Mummy said you met someone called Jack. She said he was very brave."
There's a jab of emotion in the Doctor's hearts as it sinks in that his daughter named her stuffed animal after one of his companions.

He kisses her forehead multiple times, holding her impossibly closer.
"He was very brave indeed, love. He helped saving the world several times, you know."
Ashie smiles.
"That's good. I like brave people, like Mummy. Mummy was brave, wasn't she?"
The Doctor beams at her.
"Your mom, Ashie Tyler, was the bravest woman I have ever had the pleasure of meeting."

She smiles weakly, more tears falling.
"I miss her", she says again, no longer sobbing but still crying.
"I know", he says softly, rubbing her back.
The little girl in his arms presses even closer to him.

Suddenly, a thought pops into the Doctor's brain.

"Do you want to talk to Mummy?" he asks her.

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