Pic Prompt Fic: Unforgettable 1/1
Story: Unforgettable
Authors:
christn7 and
wendymr
Characters: Tenth Doctor, mentions of Rose
Rated: G
Disclaimer: DW's been on our Christmas lists for the last few years, but no-one's listening...
Summary: He sees her face everywhere.
Ficlet for the November pic prompt challenge, picture 29. We both contributed, but most of this belongs to
christn7- he's just kindly allowed me to be associated with it ;)
Unforgettable
He sees her face everywhere.
In the clouds over Esmeraldas, on the Ecuadorean coast. In the pitting and scarring of a cliff-face on Preacara Magna. In the entirely coincidental arrangement of petals and stamens in a flowerbed in Kew Gardens. In the eyes of a wolf, staring out of a forest at him for a long, still moment before turning and vanishing back into the dark.
And in his dreams, the nightmares that come on the rare times he succumbs to sleep. Then, the face he sees is twisted, tormented, pupils dilated with pain and rage as she accuses him of abandoning her to her fate, of not caring - needing - enough to save her.
She’s etched in his mind, just as everyone is who went before her. Zoe, Victoria, Jamie; their faces are as clear to him as those of Ace, Fitz and the one he’s been running away from ever since Satellite Five. Few days go past when the face of a stranger doesn’t remind him of someone he’s lost, or left behind, or even sacrificed for the sake of a planet, a people, a universe.
It’s only her face, though, that haunts him through his travels. He needs her, of course he does, but it hurts less to pretend that he doesn’t know why.
It’s not always bad, the flicker of Rose in the flowers, her face in the sand, the twist of her lips in the sky. Especially not when she’s smiling at him, her eyes alight with happiness, just as he likes to remember her. Some times, though, she’s frowning at him and he imagines that she knows of everything he’s done since she left.
Sometimes she’s talking to him and, while her words are indecipherable as they’re captured by the fall of the leaves or the pattern in the sand, he rather enjoys trying to listen.
Once, he saw her laughing and there was a skip in his step for the rest of the day.
Sometimes, though, when the universe is being particularly cruel, the wind whispers in the wrong way, her smile turns to a frown and he’s reminded of rainy, windswept beaches and words left unsaid.
He thinks it’s a trick of the light, a yearning of the mind, he really does. One of the universe’s cruel jokes, maybe. Despite everything he’s done, everything he’s seen, it never crosses his mind that it could be more.
Until, of course, it does.
He sees her face everywhere and it never crosses his mind until, one day, he decides to follow the wolf into the forest. Until, one day, he follows the wind as it whips and the clouds as they disappear and he’s left with more and, this time, it doesn’t hurt nearly as much when she cries, since he can’t see her tears through his own.
It’s a message, a sign to lead myself back.
end
Authors:
christn7 and
wendymr
Characters: Tenth Doctor, mentions of Rose
Rated: G
Disclaimer: DW's been on our Christmas lists for the last few years, but no-one's listening...
Summary: He sees her face everywhere.
Ficlet for the November pic prompt challenge, picture 29. We both contributed, but most of this belongs to
christn7- he's just kindly allowed me to be associated with it ;)
Unforgettable
He sees her face everywhere.
In the clouds over Esmeraldas, on the Ecuadorean coast. In the pitting and scarring of a cliff-face on Preacara Magna. In the entirely coincidental arrangement of petals and stamens in a flowerbed in Kew Gardens. In the eyes of a wolf, staring out of a forest at him for a long, still moment before turning and vanishing back into the dark.
And in his dreams, the nightmares that come on the rare times he succumbs to sleep. Then, the face he sees is twisted, tormented, pupils dilated with pain and rage as she accuses him of abandoning her to her fate, of not caring - needing - enough to save her.
She’s etched in his mind, just as everyone is who went before her. Zoe, Victoria, Jamie; their faces are as clear to him as those of Ace, Fitz and the one he’s been running away from ever since Satellite Five. Few days go past when the face of a stranger doesn’t remind him of someone he’s lost, or left behind, or even sacrificed for the sake of a planet, a people, a universe.
It’s only her face, though, that haunts him through his travels. He needs her, of course he does, but it hurts less to pretend that he doesn’t know why.
It’s not always bad, the flicker of Rose in the flowers, her face in the sand, the twist of her lips in the sky. Especially not when she’s smiling at him, her eyes alight with happiness, just as he likes to remember her. Some times, though, she’s frowning at him and he imagines that she knows of everything he’s done since she left.
Sometimes she’s talking to him and, while her words are indecipherable as they’re captured by the fall of the leaves or the pattern in the sand, he rather enjoys trying to listen.
Once, he saw her laughing and there was a skip in his step for the rest of the day.
Sometimes, though, when the universe is being particularly cruel, the wind whispers in the wrong way, her smile turns to a frown and he’s reminded of rainy, windswept beaches and words left unsaid.
He thinks it’s a trick of the light, a yearning of the mind, he really does. One of the universe’s cruel jokes, maybe. Despite everything he’s done, everything he’s seen, it never crosses his mind that it could be more.
Until, of course, it does.
He sees her face everywhere and it never crosses his mind until, one day, he decides to follow the wolf into the forest. Until, one day, he follows the wind as it whips and the clouds as they disappear and he’s left with more and, this time, it doesn’t hurt nearly as much when she cries, since he can’t see her tears through his own.
It’s a message, a sign to lead myself back.
end