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Once upon a time, there was a shop girl who lived on an estate with her mum. She led a simple, uninspired life and her one attempt to escape that life failed miserably. Broke and broken, she returned to her mum with less confidence and a heavy load of self doubt. There was a boy, her best mate who loved her no matter her mistakes or lack of education, and she loved him, but it was not an all consuming love. She lived a life day after day feeling like there had to be something more, but unable to see beyond her life on the estate. Her mother warned her about thinking too big and having airs and graces just because she worked at a fancy shop.
So, this girl trudged on, still dreaming but unable to believe she would ever achieve those dreams. That is, until one day it all changed. She met a mad man in a blue box who blew up her job, showed her aliens do exist and offered her not only a way out but a way to adventure. At first, she shied away from the tantalizing offer and immediately regretted her refusal, but the man, the Time Lord came back and offered again. Not many people got second chances so she grabbed on with both hands. All of time and space became not just her playground but her tutor, an education the likes of which one could only dream. In the process of this madcap life, she fell in love with her alien tour guide and best mate. She thought nothing would tear him away from her. She was wrong.
He loved her too and could never put her in harm's way, so he sent her away to keep her safe. She was devastated and could not accept this. Something within her which had been struggling to break free suddenly blossomed. The shop girl from the estate was gone and in her place was a woman who would not let someone else dictate her destiny. Bursting with love and devotion for her Time Lord, she found a way to return to him and save not only him, but an entire planet. But, with all things there is a cost. For her, it was to a lose a part of him. As she had transformed from an unsure shop girl into a savior of her Doctor and the Earth, he transformed from one man into another.
This was not the end of their story. They continued on adventure after adventure, facing everything from morally ambiguous cat nuns to a werewolf, to a face eating alien and a demon in a pit on an impossible planet. Throughout all of this adventure, they tested each other, struggled and grew so close it was like they were inextricably connected. She promised him forever and he accepted it even if he knew that his forever would never match hers. She was his savior, partner and what he believed in most when he never thought he would believe in anything or anyone ever again. He wanted to believe he would never lose her. He was wrong.
She was wrenched away from him in the worst possible way. It was as if the ghost of the Time War had been waiting for him to find that one bright spot of happiness and then swept in to steal it away in a manner that would cause him the most pain. His only solace was even if he couldn’t have her with him, she was still alive. On a lonely, cold beach, unable to touch and separated by the cruel nothingness of the Void, they spent one final intimate moment. She finally spoke the words she felt in her heart and before her Time Lord could find the courage to finally admit what he tried to convey to her every second they were together, the universe snatched the moment from him.
Once again, the former shop girl transformed herself into not only a Defender of the Earth but Traveler of the Void and soon Defender of the Multiverse. Driven by her love for her Doctor and of the life they led, she worked hard and assembled a team of brilliant like minded people, her own posse of companions. Shooting herself across the Void, she saw many terrible and inspiring things all in her journey to find the Doctor and save the mulitverse. It should come as no surprise that she was successful and did find her Doctor. They saved the universe but at a cost.
In the end, this was no fairy tale. She was no princess and he no prince. Her Doctor, the last of the Time Lords did something impossible. One became two. How could she choose when she loved them both? The time lines were clear to him and he knew what he had to do. He would guide her to the best possible time line for her and knew that eventually she would come to embrace that fantastic life he saw for her. This meant one Doctor continued on bearing the weight of the universe alone, always running, never stopping, while one Doctor claimed his reward, a hand to hold, a heart to love and a forever to keep.