who_contest | Only Stand and Wait ('Sun' entry)

Title: Only Stand and Wait
Rating: PG
Genre: Missing Scene
Word Count: 415
Pairings or Characters: The Eleventh Doctor, Barnable
Warnings: None.
Summary: The Doctor stays for Christmas.
AN: Title is filched from Milton.

Up on the tower the fire was burning low. The wood was damp from the rain, and an occasional spark leapt up to catch at the Doctor’s coat sleeves. More and more often, it seemed, he was quiet like this, with no toy or scheme to animate him in the pause between each battle. He turned at the sound of footsteps, and his face recast itself into a smile. Recognition followed a moment later.

“Barnable. No, my mistake- Barnable plus guest. Well. This is an honour.”

The child gave a small cry as she stirred, raising her head from Barnable’s shoulder. He lowered her to the ground and she tottered there, still mute with sleep. The climb had left him almost as unsteady, sweat prickling along the collar of his winter coat, and he resolved to bring a helper next time. One of the older boys, perhaps. “You remember Elsie?”

The Doctor reached for the girl’s hand and shook it, once, gravely. “Ah. You made another one.”

Barnable felt the breath catch in his own throat. “My granddaughter, Doctor. We came for the dawn.”

“Of course. Best view in all of Christmas.”

In years past whole generations had huddled around the bell to see in each new day. Now rainwater collected in the grooves worn into the stonework by the pressure of so many chairs. Barnable crouched next to Elsie and whispered of Draconians and Hooloovoos when she began to fret. It was from the Doctor that he had first learnt the precious mutability of truth. A box could be both big and little at the same time; a story beyond ancient, yet brand new at each retelling. Things that could not be the case on Trenzalore were true on other worlds, in different eras, and so they might be spoken of aloud. Elsie was not yet old enough to recognise that there were limits on what was possible; his secret hope was that she never would.

Perhaps because they were waiting for it, the light seemed slow to break that morning. The mountains felt the change first, the snow yielding into a thin line of gold along their ridges. Then the mist began to lift from the valley. One by one, the windows in each house were set ablaze.

The two old men had forgotten each other. The tightness was back in Barnable’s chest, and he gripped at the parapet for support.

Beside him Elsie laughed, and stretched out her arms towards the sun.

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From:

scripsi.livejournal.com

Oh how sweet! Lovely!

templeremus.livejournal.com

<3 Thank you. One of the aspects of the finale I thought worked very well was seeing how the people of Christmas changed the Doctor; how he grew more frail, but also more accepting. He realised that waiting is what brave people sometimes have to do.

Yes, I agree. When you can always run from things you may miss out of growing, and in Christmas the Doctor had to stay. In the long run I think he will be better for it. :)

eve11

I loved this, especially the mutability of truth. Imagination would be a difficult thing to cultivate amongst a truth field. Unless one knew just how many impossible things were true.

Thank you. The truth field is one of the most intriguing aspects to the plot in that episode, imo. Lying is, as Twelve rightly points out, a vital survival skill; hope and inspiration often require some kind of merciful lie. Eleven has to work his way around that through story and sheer ingenuity, and it makes his path towards acceptance much more affecting.

Agreed. I wrote a piece that explored some of that too, for Fandom Stocking after the special aired: here.

Edited Date: 2015-06-30 08:11 pm (UTC)

Ohh, gorgeous. Thank you. <3

Thanks :) I was happy to find the similar theme in your story as well.

but_can_i_be_trusted

Lovely and somehow heartbreaking (but I just finished reading 'Tales of Trenzalore', so that might be affecting me).

Thank you. Matt did a great job with those scenes, imo. You got a palpable sense of how much the years had changed him whenever the plot swung back towards Trenzalore.
(Don't know the book. One for the holiday reading list, maybe?)

It's a short book of four stories, doesn't take long to read at all. I liked it a lot.

If you like the episode (which I admittedly don't), then you'll like it (which I'm afraid I didn't, but everyone has their own taste).

a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com

Oh honey...lovely and yet, haunting all at once. You always do know how to tug my heart and yet make me smile all anyway. Thank you.

*HUGS*

Edited Date: 2015-07-04 06:36 am (UTC)

<3 Thank you. While I had my issues with Eleven's farewell, I did think it was very fitting that his end should come through waiting. The decision that he makes on Trenzalore- to stay, after all those years of running, and face whatever consequences come his way - brings him a sort of peace.
He learns patience, which he once thought was for wimps, and his willingness to find joy and hope in any situation- though tested to the absolute limit - is eventually rewarded.

This is well said and very much covers my own thoughts here: Eleven's run was very much about Irony. And for all those who waited before, he got a taste of waiting, himself. And he learned what they all know - sometimes the slow path, while painful in many ways - is a beautiful path. I may not have been crashingly in love with how Eleven regenerated (but then, no matter how he left, it would never have been good enough), but I was proud of him. Fiercely so.

flowsoffire.livejournal.com

This is just utterly gorgeous ♥ No surprise there. I love your take on the Doctor and Barnable, the writing as always, and little Elsie. The part about the variability of truth was just gorgeous and fascinating, and the description of the sunrise was stunning ♥ I love the ending, perfect closure. Very well done!

<3 Thank you. One of the traits that immediately endeared Eleven to me was how he understood that the small things in the Universe are really the important things. He looks out for those who are too often overlooked, and fights for the precious moments that matter in a life - like a shared meal, or a sunrise, or a chance just to be safe with the people one cares about.
So of course he'd stay for the citizens of Christmas- every single one of them.

Edited Date: 2015-07-06 07:46 pm (UTC)

♥ Yes, and that is so lovely. Out of all the wide, wide universe, it's the little things that make it all worth it, the small wonders.

alltimeandspace.livejournal.com

Gosh, this is gorgeous.

<3 Thank you. The quiet scenes in Christmas are definitely the most affecting moments of this episode, imo. The viewer gets a clear sense of why the Doctor (especially Matt's Doctor, who'd seen and lost so much by this point and yet still wasn't ready to give up on hope) found it a place worth fighting for.

paynesgrey.livejournal.com

Aww this was so adorable. I love how it's also sort of bittersweet at the same time. Wonderful job.

Thank you. The poignancy of Eleven's farewell, to me, lay in its happiness. He finds a place to settle down, and yes it's incredibly hard for him both physically and psychologically; but he still manages to have a life worth living, with enough victories both big and small and enough love to sustain him.