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Link to Chapter 11
http://amythest-n-ice.livejournal.com/49446.html
Link to Chapter 13
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Jack was cooking dinner when Rose and Mickey arrived back at the TARDIS that evening, and Rose frowned when she saw him.
“Jack, are you all right? You’re looking pale again.”
“He’s fine Rose, we just ran into an old acquaintance of his while we were out, and it got a little tense,” the Doctor said, coming into the kitchen behind them. His hands were covered in grease that he was busy wiping off, and she realized he must have been under the console when they came in, they hadn’t noticed him.
“What? He didn’t hurt either of you did he?”
“No, he threatened, but he didn’t manage it. And he’ll not threaten Jack again if he has any sense, assuming he remembers who Jack is.”
“You get everything fitted?” Jack asked, leaning into the Doctor as he came up beside him.
“Yep, all installed and ready to fly. Any preferences on where we go when we leave here?”
“Yes, actually.
“Why?” the Doctor asked, tensing slightly with an irrational fear that Jack was going to leave him.
“That’s the day I was born, there was a meteor shower that night, and I always wanted to see it,” Jack said with a small smile.
“You were born during a meteor shower?”
“Yes, right at the height of it too, according to my parents. When I was very small, I was always staring at the stars, they used to tease me that it was because I was a meteor baby and I was yearning for home.”
The Doctor chucked and kissed Jack’s temple lightly.
“I think we can arrange that,” he smiled.
“Um, if it’s a meteor shower, is that safe? We won’t get splatted by one will we?” Rose asked.
“Not unless we’re sitting in the Alikani desert, we won’t. Only three meteors made it through the atmosphere without burning up, and every one of them impacted the desert.” Jack said with a grin.
“Note to self, when setting course, avoid desert,” the Doctor murmured, making the others laugh.
Jack dished up the food and they all sat down to eat, Jack’s color much better now that he wasn’t thinking about the incident this afternoon anymore. Once they were done eating, Rose and Mickey took dish duty as Jack had cooked, and Jack and the Doctor headed to the console room to get them underway.
xxx
It was dark when they landed, and the first faint streaks of the leading meteors were starting to dart across the sky as they stepped out on the warm grassy hillside. A couple of miles away from them, they could see the lights of a city in the darkness, but here, there was only the moon and the stars, and the faint glow from the windows of the TARDIS to light the way as they spread a couple of blankets on the grass and sat down to wait for the show to start.
“What is that city over there?” Mickey asked.
“Alexandris, named after the ancient city of
“It doesn’t matter Mickey, I have no memory of life there, it doesn’t hurt to think about that, it’s already history to me. I never even heard the whispers growing up, first I heard about the city I was born in was at the Academy.”
More streaks were glittering across the sky now, coming thicker, faster, and conversation ended as they lay back on their blankets to watch. A flaming ball, trailed by smoke, roared across the sky and Rose cried out in alarm.
“Relax Rose, that’s the first meteor that’s going to land in the desert, it’s further away than it looks,” Jack reassured her.
Sure enough, it was more than five minutes before they heard a faint, low, rumbling boom of the impact on the distant sands.
The sky was filled with brilliant flashes now, bathing the hillside in their cold light. Another flaming ball roared over their heads, following on the heels of the one that had gone over an hour before it. Jack surprised the Doctor by opening up his vortex manipulator, watching this time for the moment of impact.
“That’s it, somewhere in that city over there, I just took my first breath,” Jack said softly, turning his head to look at the Doctor as he spoke, closing his manipulator and allowing his arm to fall back to the blanket.
The Doctor took his hand, twining their fingers together, but remained silent, waiting for Jack to verbalize whatever it was he was thinking.
“I thought it fitting symbolism, born and reborn, here under the rain of fire, an event that won’t ever be repeated on this particular world. My past is gone, burned away, and we can go forward from here with unencumbered hearts. You and me, the baby I’m carrying, the TARDIS and our friends. The past no longer has any hold, all that matters is the future,” Jack said, his voice pitched too low for Rose and Mickey to hear, this wasn’t for them.
Recognizing a level of ritual in the words, the Doctor stared deep into Jack’s eyes, formulating a response to him that would be equally meaningful.
“I’ll let you into a secret, my Jack, there was a meteor shower on the day I was born too, the elders always shook their heads and muttered about portents, a Time Lord born not loomed, on the one day in every 10,000 years when the sky burned. I don’t know if they were right, in saying my path would be forever jinxed, but for the first time in a lot of life times, I can fully believe they were wrong. I can’t claim that the past is gone from me now, for a Time Lord, past, present and future will always be irrevocably entwined, but let this rain of fire burn away the doubt, the uncertainty, the fear that forever plagued me that if I allowed myself to be happy, the universe would punish me for it. I have you in my life now, and the child you carry, and the TARDIS and our friends. All that matters is the future.”
Jack grinned, ignoring the tears he could feel pricking his eyes; he could see that the Doctor’s eyes were just as bright anyway.
“We’re star babies, you and I, fated to be together. And our paths may well always be dogged by trouble, but now we walk them together,” Jack whispered, leaning closer.
“Fated,” the Doctor agreed, leaning forward to meet Jack half way in a light, gentle, sweet kiss.
The serious mood was broken by the sound of Mickey making fake gagging noises from the other blanket, and they both looked over.
“Sorry, but you two are so damn sappy it makes a body sick,” Mickey mocked.
Jack laughed, and they all settled back to watch the rest of the meteor shower.
tbc
Oh Goddess, the sap, it burns, it burns, and not even a cliff hanger to dull the pain!
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thanks for this lovely bit and can't wait for the next installment!
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