#impcssibly

        THEY are a thing of the past, he wants to tell her. they are lying dead in their hallways, in their testing laboratories. all who hadn’t stood in his way had run - a wise choice, once he’d seen what they’d done to her. he’d expected to find her worse condition than he does, but he’s glad she’s alive. that’s a good start.  the fact she’s talking is another good sign. it worries him that she’s more concerned about him, but he shakes it off and looks her over. checking her for any OBVIOUS injuries.

       he can’t see any, but she’s weak. tired--- and he’s pretty sure she won’t make it to his TARDIS alone. he leans down,  scooping her up into his arms and securing her there. he doesn’t want her to see what he’s done, but it’s inevitable. she will see how far he’s gone ( again ) and he wonders if she’ll be afraid of him like josie was.

       through the halls they go, him stepping over and around bodies of soldiers -- guards that had been STUPID enough to step in his way while he went after her. they reach the TARDIS and he navigates around the clutter that litters the floor,, kicking some books off one of the chairs so he can sit her in it. they’re getting away physically, but there’s a long way to go before she’s away from here mentally.

             She was still fresh faced to the school - barely in through the door before she’d been whisked off on an eager tour. Harper barely realized her luggage had been taken out of her hands until they were exploring the sleek lower levels, laying eyes on an exquisite medical bay that her, even with a utter lack of medical knowledge, can be impressed by. They’d walked the whole way around, but by the time Harper was finally shown her room - and finally discovered where her belongings had disappeared to - she was actually red in the cheeks. Trying not to seem rude, she’d suggested she set up her room before going on any further with the tour. Which was why she was rather quick to reply to the knock on her open door.

           “Oh no no, Charles, maybe a few more-”

          she did not know how long it took, she did not know if she lived or died as the pain finally began to ease.  her body more alive than ever,  her mind racing as it reached for the sweet connection it craved.  she remembered everything now.  she remembered her doctor,  she remembered the tardis in her mind...   she remembered the promise she’d made the tardis,  that she would never forget.  but what good had remembering done her?   life it seems was not to be the same as it was,  no longer was she in the world she’d known.  she lay upon the ground  --  staring up into the familiarly unfamiliar sky.  it was not her own memories that made it seem almost like home,  it was the living tardis that had shared her mind all those years ago. sitting bolt upright  ---  hands dug into the sandy soil,  bring it to her lap....    ‘    red... ‘  everything vibrant and beautiful shades of reds and oranges, gold splashing across the sky.  and just past her --  trees with glimmering silver leaves.  gallifrey.

      yet rose tyler did not belong here,  she had heard this place long gone,  listened as the doctor told the story of his terrible choice..  and then she saw the future she would make,  to be the moment,  the voice that was there when he was most alone and most unsure.  she would save her doctor again.  she would save his home.  and so she stood then,  and began to walk.  every step she took leading her further from the life she’d known -- and closer to the eternity she would begin. did she walk for hours? days? weeks? 

      time seemed not to matter as she stopped her trek finally.  just outside of the city.  and there she sat.  somehow instinct leading her to wait.  a knowledge of a woman who would come.  not her doctor.  but someone who would need her.  someone who would understand.  someone who had been left behind by the beautiful madman,  someone who had been forgotten.  time was again insignificant as she awaited the woman,  eyes on the road in front of her,   when she finally saw a figure approach  ---- her hand raised to wave.  

                             ‘       are you late?  what is late,  you can’t be late because you didn’t know you’d come here.  but i knew you’d come.  i think i was waiting.  i’m rose.  ‘   the words felt unfamiliar in her throat,  to her surprise... the voice was the same,  yet the words felt different. as if drawn from a different mind,  from a different place.   ‘   clara oswald. i was waiting for you.  i know that now.  ‘  recognition of the woman came as rose lowered her resistance to the flood of thoughts that filled her mind.  this was ---  certainly going to be interesting.