How the Doctor cries.

Donna Noble

Summary:

"Help me."

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He had to let her go.
It was, literally, a matter of life or death.
The look on her face was enough to make him cry in itself, but then she begged.
Begged him not to let her leave.
Begged to keep her amazing memories.
But the Doctor couldn't.
The Doctor-Donna isn't a thing that's supposed to happen.
She'd burn up and die.
That wasn't an option for him.

Then he had to break it to the family.
Wilfred had run to the door, excited to see his perfect granddaughter.
The Doctor was crying in the rain, Donna on his lap- unconscious.
"Help me." he'd asked. It meant so much.
Help me, help me.
It was a cry... because he was alone again.
He'd lost so many people, for so many years.
His gut ached with sadness.
Pure, raw, agony.

It was worse when she came downstairs.
She was back to her old self.
Donna who misses it.
Donna who doesn't know.

Yet around the rest of the universe, she's still the hero, the goddess.
Donna who's empathetic and modest.
Donna who is kind, who is knowledgeable and experienced.

She's gone now, hidden under a surface.
She can't remember, she can't.

Now the Doctor has no one.
No one will help because no one can.
It's just him.
And it makes him cry.
Soft sobs, fast tears.
He teaches himself to move on.
He can do it.
He hopes.

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Word Count: 205