Chapter Twenty

For Eternity, or Bust

When getting changed inside the TARDIS, the Doctor had a call from his home planet, demanding that he returns, immediately. The Doctor sighed at the console. Harry came back wearing his usual navy blue blazer, grey trousers and a blue shirt. He saw the sad look on the Doctor’s face.

“I say, Doctor, are you alright? You look a good thousand miles away.” He asked.

“The Time Lords want me back home, Harry. I knew they were going to get me, sooner or later.” The Doctor shrugged. “But, we’ve got more important things to attend to first.”

“Exactly, Sarah will wonder where we are. And it would be ever so rude of us to leave her with saying cheerio.” Harry walked out of the TARDIS; the Doctor followed him, stuffing two books into his pocket.

The snow was still heavy from outside, the Doctor wrapped his scarf around his mouth, and Harry covered his eyes to hide away from the virgin snow. They made it back to the palace, only to be awaited by a lady and a royal gentleman.

Celesto and Sarah waited for the Time Lord and the human man by the door of the palace. The Doctor grinned, wiping some of the snow from his body. “I’m sorry we can’t stay long, got a call from home. And they don’t sound so welcoming.”

“I understand.” Celesto said, gently nodding his head.

“Oh, I’ve got you a wedding gift.” The Doctor pulled out two books from his pocket. He handed them over to the King. “It’s just something to start your collection. I’ve only have extra copies on board the TARDIS.”

“What are these?” He looked at the title of each book, already they interested him.

“Books from Earth – and if you like mystery, you’ll enjoy reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I’m sure.” He beamed brightly.

“Earth,” Celesto was surprised. “Hmm... The Lord of the Rings, I’ll might read this first. It sounds interesting.” He looked at the Doctor. “This is brilliant, Doctor. I can’t thank you enough.”

The Doctor smiled and shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

“I’m going to miss you a lot, old girl.” Harry said, giving Sarah a hug. “It won’t be the same.”

Sarah sniffed her tears. “Promise me you’ll drop by and visit us.”

“I’ll hold onto that promise, old thing.”

The Doctor looked at Sarah, then at Celesto. “Could I have a word with Sarah, just for a few seconds?”

“Be my guest.” Celesto handed his lady over to the Doctor.

The Doctor and Sarah walked on a bit from Celesto and Harry, who were now chatting about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sarah looked up at him with tearful glares. “I’m going to miss you the most, Doctor.”

“It’s alright, Sarah. I just want you to be happy, enjoy yourself, and let the King do all the cleaning and cooking.”

Sarah chuckled, licking her lips. “You will come back and see me again, will you?”

The Doctor lowered his head a little. “I don’t know, maybe or maybe not, depends if the TARDIS is being good to me.” He curled his fingers and lifted her chin up gently with it. “I love you, Sarah. But it’s best that you stay with someone that’s less likely to get you killed.”

“It was a chance I had to take.” Sarah crackled. “It was life.”

“And now you’ve got someone that you could love even more. You don’t need this silly old bohemian hanging on your shoulders like a dead parrot.” He said softly. “You’ve got a good man with you, don’t let him go.”

“But I had you.”

“I’m death wearing a multicoloured scarf.” He said sadly. “It’s fact, Sarah. I’m always dreading that you might die someone in our travels. Now that you’re safe with someone who is ten times better than I could ever be. I could never spend the rest of my life with you; it’s a curse every Time Lord has. I just have to live with it.”

Sarah began to cry. The Doctor hugged her gently against him. “I’ll always love you, Sarah. No one could replace that.” Then he pulled her back slightly. “You’re King will be waiting.”

“Doctor...” Sarah gasped.

“Yes, Sarah.” The Doctor crackled his throat.

“You’re crying. I’ve never seen you cry before.”

The Doctor quickly dried away his tears. “If you tell Celesto or Harry that I am, I’ll bite your nose.”

Sarah just laughed, the Doctor sniffed and then taking Sarah back to the King.

“Well, we must be going. Can’t stay any longer.” The Doctor said. “Come on, Harry.”

“Bye, old thing.” Harry waved and walked out the door.

“Bye, Harry.” She waved to him back. Sarah placed her head against the King’s chest; he wrapped an arm around her and held her close.

Back inside the TARDIS...

The Doctor began fiddling with the controls until he noticed Harry had changed again. He was wearing a leather brown jacket, blue jeans, a white shirt and brown boots. Harry waited by the console, looking at the Doctor.

“I guess I’ll be taking you back home, Harry. Time Lords don’t accept humans – or, in fact, any other species.” The Doctor told him.

“Xenophobic lot, I see.” Harry crossed his arms. He looked at the Doctor. The Doctor was looking to thin air for a short while, shaking his head, he looked at Harry.

“Apparently, they’re not-so-xenophobic after all.” The Doctor said. “They also want you to come along. Why you, I’ll never know.”

Harry kept looking at the Doctor. “Oh jolly good, because I wasn’t planning on leaving you anyway.”

“What?”

“I said I wasn’t planning on leaving you anyway.” Harry said gently. “Doctor, you need someone to guard your back, you need a right hand man to take whatever is necessary.” He smiled. “I’ve missed a lot of things and I regretted in leaving you two. I missed the thrill of danger. When I was on Earth again... nothing had changed and I was annoyed. I couldn’t stand being in the same position any longer, I wanted to move on.”

The Doctor licked his lips. “Are you sure you know what you’re saying, Harry.”

“I can see why Sarah didn’t want to leave you. You’re just... fantastic, and I wouldn’t miss the universe for anything.” Harry said with a grin. “I’m staying right here, Doctor. And that’s my final decision – even if I have to cement my feet to the floor.”

The Doctor grinned. “You’re not going to be much good then if you do that, apart from being another hat stand, which I desperately need.”

“Hay, whatever happened to Celesto’s beastly mother?” Harry wondered.

“She was mentally unstable. So I placed her in a mental hospital. Best place for her really, keep out of trouble, and less likely for Celesto to go and kill her.” He explained. “You didn’t tell me as to why you wanted to change your clothes.”

“I don’t know, probably wanted to save the universe in style.” Harry said. “Off to Gallifrey and into eternity then.”

“Or bust!” The Doctor said gaily and hit the last switch on the console. Harry laughed.

THE END