Starlight ★ TENTH DOCTOR

When The Truth Comes Flooding

"Chérie, your grandfather was a Timelord."

Time had seemingly stopped. No one said another word. At least that's what Elizabeth thought. The only thing she could hear was ringing from the singular heartbeat in her ears. She felt dizzy looking right past her grandmother and at the family picture hanging on her kitchen wall. 

The happy faces of her mom and dad in the picture started to mix into a whirlpool of yellows, reds and pinks. She closed her eyes and shakily took a deep breath.

"Lizzie?" A hand softly brushing her shoulder brought her back to Earth. Back to her home. Elizabeth snapped her distressed gaze to a pair of familiar brown eyes that looked at her with concern and a hint of wonder. The Doctor didn't know what else to say, afraid to push too far. But she couldn't keep looking at him for too long. She felt sick.

"I...I need to go..." Elizabeth whispered, running out the door leading to the backyard. The Doctor made a move to follow her but Rose stopped him.

"Give her some space." She softly told him from the kitchen doorway she was still standing in. 

The tension in the room was so thick Marie could barely breathe. She looked past David's questioning eyes and out through the kitchen window, where she could see Elizabeth in the rain, sitting on the muddy green grass. 

"Does that mean she's a Timelord?" Rose asked Marie, taking a single step forward.

"Leave." 

Marie didn't turn around. Her voice was stern but it had a slight shake to it. 

"I am not telling you anything. You have ruined this enough as it is. Leave and take your Tardis out of this house." 

The Doctor stood a second longer just staring at the back of Marie's head. He was fighting the decision of whether or not to keep pushing for answers. But he respected Elizabeth too much.

The wheezing of the Tardis could be heard from the backyard, but accompanied by the pounding of the rain on her shaking body, Elizabeth was too preoccupied with her thoughts to notice. 

★★★★

Marie left but David stayed staring out the kitchen window at his best friend. Even half an hour later she was still sitting in the same position. The rain had stopped but dark clouds still hovered over them. Thunder could be heard on the other side of town. 

The last time Elizabeth felt this numb was when her parents died. Her body felt heavy, she didn't know whether to cry or to scream. Her whole life was a lie. She used to know who she was but now she wasn't so sure. Her granny never much liked to talk about the past, but this was a new kind of secretive.  A kind that defines the whole purpose of someone's life. 

She didn't know how long it's been since he came out to sit with her, but the warmth of David's jacket seemed to slowly bring her out of her head. 

"I'm here." He murmured, picking at the wet grass with his fingers "You don't have to talk to me but I'm here." 

She knew this. Elizabeth sighed as she put her head on her best friend's shoulder. David has always been there for her and most likely always will be. He used to be her only real friend before she met the Doctor and Rose.

The Doctor

The last person she expected to have more in common than just their love for space and adventure.

"Nothing makes sense anymore," Elizabeth whispered.

"You have to go talk to her." David tried to help. He himself didn't really know how to react to this news. All those months while they were waiting for her to come back, not knowing whether she was alright or not, Marie never told him a thing. He was surprised that she was never mad at him for letting her go. But he did blame himself for weeks.  He even stayed over and crashed on the couch most nights. Wishing for her to come back to him in his dreams.