𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐏 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 , doctor who

xiii. february 29th, 1560

The Doctor slammed the doors of the TARDIS open with a flurry of emotion, causing a young girl to let out a shout of surprise. She pressed her back against the dresser behind her and clutched the skirt of her beautifully woven dress, as if already preparing to run.

Papers were scattered on the wooden floor below her, some still floating about in air from when she had dropped them in fear.

Why a madman was in her home, she didn't know. His disheveled suit and frizzy hair was not that of a noble she might live with. The big box sitting on the nice rug was nothing like she had ever seen.

"W–Who are you?!" She cried. She swiped a dark brown curl from out of her face, her light brown hands shaking immensely. "Leave this place, before I have you shot for trespassing!"

"Where is Abraham?" The Doctor questioned firmly, eyes darting around wildly. This was his room, the same as it had been for decades. He was always here, prepared to meet The Doctor.

"Abraham?" The girl repeated in shock.

"Yes, Abraham! He should be turning 28 today, I was supposed to meet him!" Maybe the papers weren't right. Maybe they were a mistake.

She stared at him, the room turning cold as all energy faded off into the afternoon sun. Her shoulders sagged and she knelt to the floor to began picking up the papers covered in black ink. The fireplace behind her was unlit, old ashes sitting idly.

"You must be The Doctor." When she spoke it was soft. His memory was fragile to her.

"Yes," he nodded. "Now will you tell me where he is?" The alien walked closer to her, hands wringing nervously. He couldn't accept it.

"I am his daughter, Glen," she smiled. That smile was familiar. Just like Jesabele. "You last had this mask when I was two. Apologies I didn't recognize it at first."

The Doctor thought hard and long. She should only be six right now. She should not be a young teen, wearing the wedding band of a mature noble.

"Papa meant to hold out until today," Glen continued. She stood with every single paper in her grasp, glancing down at the handwriting lovingly before handing the stack over to the man before her. "He said he deserved to see you at least one more time. But you missed him by a fortnight."

"I..." The Doctor suddenly felt sick. He had messed with the locked doors of time and this is what happened. "I left him alone for that long?"

"Of course not," Glen chuckled. "You hurried here for a reason. You were worried someone took your place." She reached out to him and grabbed his hand. It was so odd that a girl this young could be wise enough to comfort a man as old as him. "You still showed up."

"I don't understand," he whispered. Glen looked at his glazed expression, the water filling his eyes. She squeezed his hand in order to gain his fleeting attention.

"I miss him. It is a shame he only passed now, considering I am only fourteen. Most girls have their fathers a few years later than that." The Doctor thought of Jesabele, of Horatio, of Kasey. All the people Abraham had left behind. "I know he will likely be forgotten by time, as will I. As will my mother, and the maids who clean this room, and the kings who rule our land. You're the only person who time refuses to forget."

The Doctor blinked, the statement freezing him in place and stopping his heart. He didn't want to be remembered, not if all of his loved ones were lost to the watery graves of the universe.

"He wrote this for you, a few days before it happened." She tapped the papers that she had passed to The Doctor. "He told our family that this was the last year we would ever see you, and that it was of the utmost importance you received it."

"Last year?" The Doctor mumbled. He slowly looked to the ruffled papers in his right hand. They felt heavy to him, as if Abraham wrote down all of humanity's sins and struggles. Glen drew her own hand away, and stepped back as the stranger before her began to scan over the shaky ink scribbles.

At first it was a simple farewell. An ode to all they had done for each other. The Doctor had seen and gone through more several dozen of them in his never ending days. He hated each of them the same.

Why humans were so insistent on getting in a final word, he would never understand.

Eventually the note shifted to a final request. One favor for an old friend, Abraham had written. Try to stay away from my family. It will not do anyperson, including yourself, any goodwill if you linger.

The Doctor refused to let his hands shake. Even if out of sadness or fury or confusion, he would not slip up while a child stood in front of him. Even if she had already lived half of her life, even if she was already married, even if she was planning to become pregnant in the coming months, he would not let himself mourn in front of a creature this innocent.

So he simply nodded and shielded his eyes from her.

"Doctor?" Glen hummed. She reached out, placing a slender hand on the side of his arm. Her silver band glinted in the orange sunlight and her motherly touch exuded the love that every human thrived on. "If I may be so bold... God made this leap day a tempting fruit for the universe, but one we should not touch either way. You have been deceiving Him for years. It was only time before He found out."

He knew she was right. February 29th's and the people belonging to it were blocked off from the universe for a reason. He should have never thought himself above it.

"But God is gracious," Glen continued. "I am certain he would not mind if you visit your friend once in awhile."

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed. Stay away... but don't? Oh. "Then... where is he buried?"

Glen smiled, her eyes shining with a fresh coat of tears. She ran to her family once that blue box disappeared, and engulfed them into her embrace as she explained the good news.

Abraham would never be alone on his birthday. Even when their bodies lay decaying next to him, a man would kneel before his friend once a quadrennial with a fresh offering to keep him at peace. Some years it would be a woman.

It didn't matter what they looked like, every mask held the same love.

And so the leap year was no longer was a tactic to balance out a calendar, but instead the symbol of the bond between a simple short lived man and Time himself.

( author's note. )
lolll its over thx for sticking with it. and sorry for spamming it with updates the past few days but happy leap day!!!!

i also just noticed how many god awful typos there are so i'll fix those real quick

much love<<3