PAST LIFE, PAST LOVE
Chapter Two "Gallifreyan? She knows your language?" Jackie said. "No, she doesn't. I never taught her my language past a few words and phrases. I keep my language private so there's no way she could know it," the Doctor said. "So this past life stuff is true then?" Jackie said. "I…I don't know," the Doctor said, calming himself down as he sat back down in his chair. By now Rose had fallen silent and the Doctor asked her to talk about her past life and asked her to speak in English. "Where are you?" the Doctor asked while Jackie leaned forward in her chair. "I'm near my house, looking up at the sky. The heavens and earth are on fire and it's coming towards me. There is no escape for me now." Jackie noticed the Doctor was going pale again. She had heard the Doctor speak about the destruction of his home world before. "She's on Gallifrey as it's being destroyed?" Jackie said. "Yes," the Doctor said. "That's true, isn't it? You're on Gallifrey?" "Yes," Rose said in a distant voice. "It is the last day for my planet. It is being consumed and in a few seconds I will be consumed as well." "Oh God," Jackie said, putting her hand to her mouth. "She died that day." The Doctor was stunned into silence. He tried to think of a rational explanation for her memories of Gallifrey but it was hard to explain away the fact that she had just spoken in perfect high Gallifreyan. Had someone from his planet reincarnated and was traveling with him now. He always did marvel at how easily Rose absorbed the words he taught her. There were several times when she would speak to him in Gallifreyan, simple conversations but he had always been impressed on how well she spoke the language, nearly like a native. Had he merely refreshed her memories from a past life? What she had spoken before had been an old Gallifreyan prayer for deliverance, far beyond the simple phrases he had taught her. "What is your name?" the Doctor asked Rose. "Arella." Again, Jackie watched while the Doctor jumped out of the seat with a stricken look on his face. "Now what? Do you know her?" "Yes, only too well," the Doctor said, clutching the back of the chair with one hand while he stared at Rose. "Who is she then?" Jackie said. The Doctor swallowed hard. "My wife, my ex-wife, I should say." Jackie was now stunned while the Doctor took a couple of deep breaths to get his emotions back under control. "Ex-wife?" Jackie said. The Doctor nodded and Jackie rose when she noticed how ashen he'd become. She walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe there's another woman with the name, Arella," she said. "What is your full name, Arella?" the Doctor asked Rose. "Arellahydoniazaphellazenon." "It's her, people might have similar nicknames but not many people share the same formal name and Rose wouldn't know this off the top of her head. Not to mention I never spoke of Arella to her. That and the fact that she spoke fluent Gallifreyan seems to confirm that she did have a past life…as my ex-wife." "You left your ex-wife to burn on Gallifrey?" Jackie said angrily. She gasped when the Doctor spun around and glowered at her. "I mean, didn't she mean anything to you?" Jackie said. "She meant everything to me," the Doctor said in a terse voice. "Why'd ya get divorced then?" Jackie said. "It's complicated," the Doctor said. "She didn't love you? Arella, I mean," Jackie said. "She did. But an old friend got between us and she ended up suffering and nearly dying because of his jealousy and she decided to leave me. But we never stopped loving each other. I tried to get her to come with me on my travels but she didn't want to leave the planet. She hated traveling and couldn't understand why I did it but I did it in part to keep myself from thinking of her. When Gallifrey was in danger, I tried to get her to come with me then but she still wouldn't do it. I don't force people to travel with me and I didn't force her either. She died and…I killed her. " Jackie's heart went out to him and she walked over and put her hand on his shoulder. "No, you didn't. She made her choice to stay on Gallifrey. You didn't force her to come with you and I think that was the right decision." "Then what's she doing here then?" the Doctor said, pointing to Rose. "If this is Arella's current life, is she here to be a constant reminder of what I did?" "No, I think if all this is true, she's here to make up for not traveling with you before," Jackie said gently. The Doctor considered that. Rose had been hesitant to travel when he first asked her and she even refused before he came back to get her. He and Rose had always had a deep rapport though, a bond that went deeper than other companions and he had always been amazed how quickly and deeply he had fallen in love with her. Could the answer be this? His ex-wife had reincarnated and returned as his current lover. As he looked at Rose, he decided to bring her out of the trance. He told Rose he was going to count to three and snap his fingers. When he did it, Rose opened his eyes and looked at him. "Doctor, I saw Gallifrey burn," she said. "I couldn't have been on Gallifrey, could I?" The Doctor and Jackie shared a glance and the Doctor forced himself to keep calm while he told her what he knew. Rose's eyes bulged when he told her Arella was his ex-wife and she sat up on the sofa. "Are you sure about this?" Rose said. "Rose, you spoke a Gallifreyan prayer of deliverance that I have never taught you before and you told me Arella's full name and no human could get a complicated name like that right off the top of her head. It's insane but I can't deny what you said while you were under hypnosis. Unless you somehow managed to channel Arella's spirit while you were under hypnosis but other than that, I can't understand how you could know all that information." "But who is she? How did you meet her? Why did you divorce her? Please tell us," Rose said, eager to hear more about Arella. "Rose, it might be too painful for him to talk about it," Jackie chided her. "No, actually, I think it might help to speak about it," the Doctor said. "There are a lot of past hurts that might heal if I told you about Arella. But I want this kept confidential between the three of us." "Who would I tell it to?" Jackie said. "I don't think I'd stay out of the insane asylum if I went down to the shops and started telling them my daughter's past life was an alien woman." "You know I wouldn't tell anyone anything you wanted kept secret," Rose said. "Okay, I'll tell you about her then," the Doctor said. "Wait, love, I'll make you some tea and get you some biscuits," Jackie said. The Doctor thanked her and settled back in the chair. When Jackie finally came back with cups of tea and a plate of chocolate chip biscuits, the Doctor took one of the cups and a biscuit and gathered his thoughts before he started telling his story.
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