SPACEMAN AND THE MOON ― doctor who

seventeen ; moments

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chapter seventeen ; moments

LUNA LEANED HER BACK AGAINST THE DOORS OF THE TARDIS after they'd all gone inside, finishing up with the Olympics. After the whole Isolus/Chloe fiasco, they joined in and had more fun than Luna could remember in a while.

"Luna?"

Luna glanced up, a small smile on her face when her eyes connected with the Doctor's. "You alright? I think today hit you a bit harder than usual and I just--"

She nodded, cutting him off. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. Rose seemed happy to have you back."

He shrugged it off, moving across from her and leaning against the console. "Yeah, well, you know...you didn't seem upset. In Chloe's room. I saw her and I saw you, and you were collected. Why?"

Luna let out a small laugh. "I learned something, Doc. When you fell into that pit and I thought you died," her voice choked and she cleared her throat. "You came back. You always come back. You always save the day. You're completely reckless doing it but...you always come back."

He nodded, quiet for a moment. "It's easy when I have something to come back to. Less of a fight, I suppose."

Luna's face softened and she moved closer despite herself, heart taking the lead. "You can't say things like that," she told him gently.

A small smile played on his lips. "No? Why not?"

She sighed. "You're gonna make me do things I made rules against doing."

"Well," he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "You know what I always say, eh? Rules are meant to be broken."

Her heart beat heavily in her chest as he leaned down and she moved, pulling him into a hug. "I can't," she whispered, suddenly feeling very small. "I can't, I'm sorry."

The Doctor pulled her tightly against him, running a hand along her back as her arms wrapped around his waist. "Hey, shh, Luna, it's alright, I've got you, love. It's okay."

At his words, her resolve collapsed and she broke down into tears, sobbing into his chest. He tightened his grip, clutching the back of her head and whispering words to soothe her, trying to console her. She took a shaky breath, pulling back.

"I'm sorry," she said after a moment. "I just--Chloe's dad brought back feelings and I'm beginning to have these dreams, these strange, vivid dreams and I want to be with you but I can't and everything is just so complicated."

He moved his hands, resting them on his cheeks as he searched her eyes. "No, stop it, don't ever apologize. I am always here, okay?" She nodded, sniffling. "What sort of dreams?"

"I don't know, they're weird," she stepped back to explain, her hands moving around nervously. "Last night I had one about this pepper-shaker looking thing, with big circles all over it and a plunger. And a whisk! It had a whisk, that was so weird."

She looked up at him again, frowning when his face changed.

"How do you--Luna, where did you see that? Did you read about it in a book?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, I read a lot."

"What else happened in the dream?" His voice was firm, demanding, almost and she took a step back. The suspicious look returned to his face. "Luna, answer me."

"Doctor, why are you looking at me like that? It was just a dream."

He slammed his hand down on the console and she jumped. "No, it wasn't. It never is with you. You knew which piece to give me for the device today. You sensed it was cold before I did. You felt the ionic energy long before Rose could. You..." he closed his eyes, a troubled look crossing his face. "You weren't dead after no air in space. How could you have possibly survived that?"