She was dreaming again, the Doctor thought to himself as Willow mumbled while sleeping next to him. 

The Doctor never usually slept, only when he wanted to. He's spent too much time counting the stars but nothing really changed as they floated in endless sleep. When you're a time traveller, you don't really grasp when day or night is, you only go to sleep when you're tired after all the adventures you've had.

He never thought, in a whole universe, that he would find love again. The Doctor never thought he'd find her in a spot that wasn't even shown on a map of England unless you looked hard enough. Before he chose to live this life, he was a husband, a father and a grandfather. Once, he had lost his family, he left with Susan to see the universe.

At first, he had hoped that it would be a chance to somewhat die in peace but then he made friends and grew a new family out of those who stumbled onto his ship. Now, after ten different lives, he was still here. Without Rose and Willow supporting him after the destruction of Gallifrey, the Doctor would have probably chosen to have given up in the end.

Now, just look at him, happily by the side of a woman he's fallen in love with. Something about her fascinated him. Willow brought him back out of his shell and showed him kindness while he showed her love.

One day, she'd be gone though, like the rest before. She'll lose her in the end, and by the time the end began, she would be simply another echo of time that would eventually fade away. He wanted to make the time he had with her worth it. The Doctor wouldn't dare waste a second of not admiring Willow's beautiful blue eyes and her strawberry-blonde hair. Though others believed it was indeed ginger, he disagreed as it only looked like that in the darkness. In the light, her hair would be beautifully shining. Perhaps he pays her too much attention to her.

Abruptly, he straightened up, remembering something the Wire had said as they were removing their faces. 

"Power!" 

What did she mean by power? What power?

"She's powerful and clever! Withdraw! Withdraw!"

After that, the Wire stopped, only taking Bishop's face and not the others. Why?

Willow didn't have any ability to stop her, she couldn't have. The only time she had the potential to do anything was when she was the Bad Wolf, but he took all of the energy from the Time Vortex out of her. He knows he did because it killed him in the end.

Before he could continue with his interesting theories, Willow started speaking again but loud enough for him to hear what she was saying. His thoughts were surely interrupted as his focus was once again on his girlfriend. 

She had started breathing a little faster and her forehead began to sweat as if she had a fever. Whilst listening to her speech, the Doctor, firstly, thought that she was speaking gibberish. It sounded familiar though but he couldn't exactly place his finger on it since the language he used regularly was English.

Then, he finally realised the truth. She wasn't speaking English, she was speaking Gallifreyan, the lost language. 

No one could possibly know that, not even Willow. Yet there she was, speaking it fluently. Since it was his first language, the Doctor could easily understand each phrase and word she spoke.

"Father," She muttered. "Why can't I attend the academy like the other kids?"

From the looks of it, he was only listening to one side of the conversation. What was she talking about? The Doctor instinctively remembered Willow and Rose talking about how they went to school together. 

"But Koschei's allowed to go, why can't I?"

The Doctor backed away upon hearing the name of an old friend, stunned. There was no way she could have known him unless she was a- 

But this is Willow Hughes, a girl that has lived over twenty-four years on Earth and was raised by humans. He met her when she was a little girl for christ's sake. Yet, she was adopted, the Doctor could recall. She said that her parents told her she was left on their doorstep, that couldn't have been an accident.

No one could have escaped the Time War, he'd feel it. However, the Doctor felt drawn to Willow like she was somehow special, the most important girl on the Earth. That's why he asked her to come with him.

Abruptly, Willow let out a loud scream as she awoke in a panic. Instantaneously, the Doctor jumped back onto the bed and embraced her, trying to calm her down. "Willow, it's fine. It was just a dream. You're awake now."

He felt her heartbeat slow as she gazed up at him, shedding a small smile from her lips. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologise for." said the Doctor. "No one should apologise for dreaming."

"I probably woke you up though." She mentioned.

He shook his head, denying her claims. "No, it's fine, I wasn't really sleeping at all anyway. I usually dream when I'm awake."

Willow sighed, releasing herself from his grasp and getting out bed. "I'm just going to get some water. 

In the corner of his eye, he perceived a small silver bracelet with an orange gem embedded within it. His eyes widened in surprise. "Do you usually wear that bracelet to bed?"

She looked down at her wrist, shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I've never really thought to take it off. I think it was given to me for my birthday... or something like that..." She evoked, quickly dismissing it.

Once she was out of sight, the Doctor was left to his individual thoughts. She couldn't be her, the one HE told her about. The one HE was in love with. Could he have just fallen for the girl his friend was infatuated with? The inventor's daughter?

So many questions, so little time. 

If he told her, the Doctor could end her suffering but also her life as a human. He wouldn't be the last of the Timelords anymore and she could be with him until his lives were over. But what about Rose, what would she think about all this?

If he reveals who she really is, it will either end in heartbreak or joy. Could he really risk that?

***

I'm not saying anything except that I surprisingly finished this within an hour.

'The Impossible Planet' is up next, a two-parter that I've had to think a lot about. 

Things are about to change, are you ready for it?

- Alice ❤