A Girl Named Willow *The Adventures of the Tenth Doctor/COMPLETE*

Chapter Nineteen

"I ran back to the TARDIS after that," the Doctor shivered. "I hoped and prayed that the universe would give me a chance… a chance at saving you."

His fingers tightened around the staff. "And it did. Keep in mind, this rarely ever happens, so I swear by my hand you will always be safe when you're with me, Willow."

Willow rolled her eyes unconsciously at the fact that the Doctor sounded a lot like Talcone at the moment. 

"The way you were sitting there. You looked… dead. I couldn't face you like that," his face crumpled a bit. "I thought I lost you."

Willow's face softened and she went up to him. She gingerly caressed his face and looked into his eyes.

"Doctor," she whispered before smiling. "You didn't lose me, I'm standing right in front of you. The person that you saw in that old castle never and will never exist. Okay?"

Slowly the Doctor nodded before clenching his jaw when he glanced at Talcone. 

"Eyes on me, Doc," Willow said when she noticed where the Doctor was staring. Surprisingly, the Doctor did as he was told. "You've never thought about killing anyone during this entire disaster of a trip, no matter how annoying Talcone has been," she turned and mouthed sorry to a still weeping Talcone. "Deep down in my heart, I know that you're better than this. I'm sure of it, even if we only met a few days ago, which by the way still blows my mind." 

Willow somberly tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before reaching out to the Doctor's hand that held the staff. She kept her eyes on his as she wrapped her fingers around the center of it before giving it a light tug. "Your name's the Doctor for Christ's sake," she whispered with a smile. "Help me out here." The Doctor pursed his lips before relaxing his fingers on the staff. Slowly, Willow took the staff from the Doctor's weak grasp and tossed it to the side, making it land with a loud clatter. Talcone stayed on the ground, still trembling, but not crying. He hiccuped something about cursing the Doctor for sparing him before going silent again. 

After a big sigh of relief, Willow rose onto her toes and placed a small kiss on the Doctor's cheek. 

"Thank you," she murmured into his ear, making the Doctor turn a bright pink. 

Willow stepped away from him and clasped her hands together. The sound lazily bounced along the walls and made everything seem almost serene in an eerie way. "Okay then," she said in a voice that was louder than she had liked it to be. "Let's get outta here."  

The walk to the TARDIS was long and awkward. Of course, there was the occasional ducking and diving that had to be done to avoid the guards since Talcone hadn't officially called off the hunt, but besides that, everything was painfully silent. Willow and the Doctor said nothing to each other, even as they reached the exit of the castle and continued their journey through the sands under the setting sun of the Rotarian empire. Beads of sweat dotted Willow's head, and it didn't help that her tangled hair was drooping down the nape of her neck, so she pushed it out of the way as often as she could before giving up on the task. 

"Here," the Doctor said out of nowhere. His eyes were surveying her curls as he reached into his pants' pocket. A long yellow ribbon from the wedding ceremony's decor emerged from his pocket and was handed over to Willow. She lifted an eyebrow at the ribbon. "What's this for?"

"Oh! Um," the Doctor motioned to her hair. "I just looked over and noticed you were having a little struggle with your…"

"Ah, thanks," she said before attempting to tie up the tangled mess. "Mi cabello es un desastre, alfileres estúpidos," she muttered under her breath.