LOSS AND HEALING
Chapter Twenty Four After returning home from the cinema, Eleven thanked Dan and Ruth and Alicia and Tom by giving them more Ambrosia pies. "We're just going to have to keep coming since you keep rewarding us with these," Alicia joked when he presented it to her. She and Ruth kissed him goodbye before moving on to the others. Dan and Tom shook Eleven's hand and wished him good luck and told him to come back soon. After they were gone, Lori told them that Michelle wanted to wait to open her gifts from her relatives in the morning because she was tired and needed to rest. Ten told them that he needed to be going and he would take Sarah Jane, Martha and Jack home. The children groaned but Ten was firm about leaving so they hugged and kissed them and wished them goodbye. Michelle held on extra tight to Ten when she got to him and Ten returned the tight hug. "You've made a difference in my life, little one," he said as he hugged her. "If I don't see you again, you'll know where I went to." "Be careful, I love you," she whispred to him. Ten nodded and hugged her tighter. Michelle's eyes got misty and she and the others escorted them down to his TARDIS where they said a final goodbye and watched them get inside the TARDIS. They stood back and watched while it disappeared. Then they looked at Eleven and River. "Do you want to stay?" River said to her husband. They smiled when the children begged them. "I suppose we could stay the night and leave in the morning after they go to school," Eleven said with a shrug while the children cheered. Lori and Jim allowed them to bring their bedding down and Eleven decided to bring down the crystal as well so they could talk to Amy and Rory. He went upstairs, followed by Rex and came back down with the children. "Are you going to talk to Donna?" Brittany said when they walked into the den. "I think so," Eleven said. "I'm going to attempt it though since I doubt Donna knows me as well as my other self. But that'll be after I leave here. And I will let you know if I'm successful and I'll bring her back if this whole plan works. Now…let's see if we can find the Ponds." He turned it on and saw Amy and Rory sitting nearby. "Yeah, we're here, we followed you there and followed you back," Amy said. "Hey!" Michelle said, "Look!" They looked over at the unfinished room and saw an elderly Native American man was standing in the doorway, glowering at them. "Is he in Heaven too?" Mandy said while everyone walked over to look at him. "No, he's a ghost, he's on the Earth plane," Rory said, pointing to the Indian's feet as he stood at the same level as the living occupants of the room. "Wait, is this the source of the creepy feeling we get when we come downstairs?" Brittany said. "We keep feeling like someone is watching us." "I felt it as well," Amy said. "And Lori said she felt it too," Eleven said. "Who are you?" he said to the Indian while Michelle raced up the stairs to get her parents. "I am Mankiller," the Indian said gruffly. "You are on my land, get out!" "No, mate, you're dead and this house belongs to the Stevens family," Eleven said to him. "This is my land. Get out!" the Indian said. "See?" Michelle said, coming down the steps with Lori, Jim and Rex. "See, I told you I felt like someone was there," Lori said to her husband while Rex barked furiously at Mankiller and raced down the stairs. "You are on my land, get out!" Mankiller said angrily while Rex stood several feet from him and barked. "Rex, Reggie, stop that!" Eleven said while Jim, Lori and Michelle came down the stairs. Rory glanced at his wife and got up. Mankiller glared at him when he moved towards him. "You're dead, mate, you're not where you've supposed to be. Go towards the light," Rory said, pointing off to Mankiller's right. "See that light beside you? Go into it." "You are on my land, get out!" Mankiller said. "He's not listening to anyone," Lori said. "Is he going to hurt us?" "Just wait a tic, everyone, I'll sort this out," Amy said, getting up. She closed her eyes and vanished from sight. "Where'd she go?" Michelle said to Rory. "Thought herself somewhere else, going to get help, I imagine," Rory said. A moment later, Amy appeared again. "Okay, got help," she said to everyone. Everyone watched while three golden human sized lights suddenly surrounded Mankiller. Mankiller looked at them, terrified while the lights hemmed him in. "What's going on?" Lori said. "They're angels," Amy said. "They're surrounding him and leading him to the light. It's an intervention of sorts." They heard Mankiller protesting, yelling that this was his land but the angels slowly moved him right and eventually the lights and Mankiller's voice faded and there was only darkness again inside the room. "There, he's been led into the light," Amy said. "He's here so he won't trouble you again." "Good work, Ponds," Eleven said while the family thanked them. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX The Doctor lay with River on the sofa, staring at the fire that Jim had built earlier. The children slept around him while Amy and Rory sat by the window and watched over them. "It'll be hard to leave them in the morning but at least I'm giving them a better life where they won't have to worry about money any longer," Eleven said to River. "You'll be back," River said. "I know, I wish you were coming with me though, as a companion." "I told you, sweetie, I can't travel with you full time. But you'll find others," River said, stroking his cheek. "I suppose," the Doctor sighed. "It's too bad I can't make the Ponds work for me anymore." "P'eh, I'm on holiday now," Amy teased him. "Holiday, schmoliday, you'll be bored soon enough, both of you and then...it's back to work." "He's delusional sometimes, you notice that?" Rory said to his wife. XOXOXOXOXOXOX In the morning, the Doctor rose as soon as he heard movement upstairs. He waited for Jim and hugged him as he was leaving for work. "Take care and come back whenever you want," Jim said to him. The Doctor thanked him and saw him out. It was the same with Lori and the children, although all of them were subdued and had heavy hearts. By now, River had woken up and she hugged and kissed the children, promising to come back and see them someday. Lori and the children had tears in their eyes but Lori finally told the three eldest ones to go and wait for the bus. "Come back soon," Michelle said as they walked out the door. When it was only Lori, Mandy and Rex, they headed downstairs and the Doctor told them he'd better take the crystal with him. "Just in case," he said. "I don't want it falling into the wrong hands." "We will watch over you though," Amy said to them. "We can go back and forth between the Doctor and you so don't worry, we'll be around and we'll hear you if you ever want to talk to us." The Doctor let them say their goodbyes to the Ponds before he turned off the crystal. River held Mandy in her arms while she wept and they walked towards the storage room. River sat Mandy down and hugged her tightly. Mandy begged them not to go but Lori told her daughter they had to do it and Mandy finally hugged and kissed them while the Doctor hugged Lori and told her he would return someday. He then hugged Rex and patted his head, asking his friend to protect his family. Lori took Mandy's hand and they stood back and watched while the Doctor and River got into the TARDIS. "Bye bye," Mandy said, waving with her mother while the TARDIS began to wheeze and slowly disappear. XOXOXOXOXOXOXO (Two weeks later…) The children giggled while they raced around the den. Their parents had won the lottery and had spoken to a lawyer before finally going public as the winners. They had been on all the news stations and the newspapers had interviewed them. Now they were talking about going to London. While they played, they froze when they heard the wheezing of the TARDIS and they whooped and hollered as they raced towards it. They opened the door, expecting Eleven and River, instead they saw Ten emerging from his TARDIS. "Hey! You came back," Michelle said while the children crowded around him. "I did. But this is the last time I'll ever see you in this body," he said to them. "It happened. I absorbed heaps of radiation and I'm about to regenerate but I'm going to live long enough to say goodbye to everyone I love so I came here to see all of you." Brittany raced up the stairs, calling for her mother and father to come while the children hugged Ten. Michelle noticed he had a pained look on his face even though he was smiling. "Did it hurt?" Michelle asked him. "It does a bit but I'll be alright," Ten said, putting his hand on her head. "But this is it for me; this is the final visit in this body." Michelle hugged him and Ten smiled and hugged her tightly. "Thank you for all the good and the silly times we had together," he said to her. "You're welcome," Michelle whispered as her family came downstairs. Ten spent several minutes with each of them, hugging and saying goodbye. His hearts was in his throat when the children wept but he urged them to be brave and told them he'd see them again, just not in this body. Finally, he reluctantly told them he had to go and with one more round of hugs, the children stepped back and waved goodbye, watching while Ten closed the door and the TARDIS started up and vanished from view. THE END.
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