It would be over 700 years before he saw Theta again, and by that time Gallifrey was war-torn and burnt. He had broken free of Rassilon's grasp, but, as a final act of horribleness against him, he had a mental lock on his drumbeat. Every second of every hour of every day he would have to hear that endless cycle of 1, 2, 3, 4. He stayed and fought the Daleks and usually took the patrol route down to the lush fields where he and Theta used to talk.
Koschei had never figured out who the woman with the umbrella was. He just guessed it was a figment of his imagination, fuelled by the stories of the Hybrid. But she did visit him sometimes, without all her big speech about prophecies and Cybermen, only saying one word: Doctor.
He was looking over the cliffside, facing the fields, when there, just under the oak tree they used to climb, materialised a police box? Yes, a police box. The doors opened swiftly and out stepped a man with grey hair and wearing a brown, leather coat. "My Theta?" Koschei whispered to himself. "My Theta has come home?"
The man noticed her on top of the cliff and waved, smiling. Koschei had a glowering feeling of glee at her friend's return, but also an overhanging feeling of anger. "I waited", Koschei shouted down at him. "I waited for you. And now you're here, at the end of everything. When I don't need you".
And after a few moments, he grinned, looking back at the oak tree.
"So business as normal then?"