'Farewell, Sarah Jane' Epilogue Shorts

Luke

Luke Smith pulled the car into the drive and got out, tears still in his eyes. As he walked towards the front door, it opened, and Sanjay ran out to hug him. They stood there for a few minutes, Luke’s tears falling onto the back of his husband’s shirt. Tentatively, Sanjay pulled away and looked Luke in the eyes, “Should we go inside?”

Luke nodded, tears running down his cheeks. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t, so he just nodded and followed Sanjay inside.

 

Luke sat at the kitchen table, and Sanjay sat across from him, holding his hand across the table. Sanjay hadn’t been able to go to the funeral. He hadn’t been feeling well, so he’d decided to stay home. It had been a while since the funeral had finished, and Luke’s tears didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon, and all Sanjay could do was be there for him.

He had only known Sarah Jane Smith for eight years, but he still owed her a bigger debt than he owed anyone else in the world. A debt he felt he could never repay. As he sat across from Luke, he squeezed his hand slightly. Luke looked up at him. He hadn’t said a word since he’d gotten home, but the look he was giving Sanjay told him everything he wanted to say. “I love you too,” Sanjay said, before extracting his hand from Luke’s, going around the table, and kissing him. When Sanjay pulled away, he wiped Luke’s eyes.

“Thank you…” Luke said. “I… I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Sanjay smiled. “You’d figure it out though,” he said, “You’re clever like that.”

Luke chuckled slightly, before smiling at Sanjay and leaning in for another kiss.

When they pulled apart, they moved from the kitchen to the living room, where they sat together on the sofa and cuddled.

 

It was an hour later that Luke heard it. The Groaning sound coming from outside. To the untrained ear, it sounded like an unusually strong wind. But Luke knew better. He slowly extracted himself from Sanjay’s embrace and went to the door. He opened it and looked out. Across the street, he saw it. The blue box.

When the door opened a woman with blonde hair stepped out and turned towards him. She waved. He waved back. She closed the door behind her and walked towards the house.

When she reached him, she said: “Hello, Luke.”

 

When he saw her face up close, he noticed the tears in her eyes. She smiled half-heartedly, and tears began to fall down her cheeks.

“You came…” he said, eventually as tears stung his eyes.

“Of course, I did.” She told him, “I just couldn’t be there”

“I understand…” Luke said, tears beginning to fall as he remembered what Jo had said after the funeral service. “You’ve changed again…” he told her.

“Yeah… what do you think?” she asked.

“If you don’t mind me saying so… I think you looked better before,” Luke said. At this, Sanjay walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around Luke’s waist.

“Who’s this?” Sanjay asked.

“An old friend of mum’s…” Luke told him, then turned back to the Doctor, “Do you want to come in?”

“I think I will…” she said, smiling.

 

Sanjay had heard about the Doctor. Luke had explained his and his mother’s complicated lives before they got married, he had wanted to be completely honest with his husband. He was an alien who travelled through time and space in a blue box. Luke’s mother had travelled with him for a time, a long time ago, before Luke was even made.

However, Sanjay had never expected to be sat across from this Doctor (who happened to be a woman now and not a man anymore?) as she talked with his husband and drank a cup of tea. He had also never expected for the Doctor to sound like he, ‘sorry, she’ was from Yorkshire. To say the least, Sanjay was confused, and he was most definitely not following their conversation.

 

The pair talked and talked and laughed and cried, they occasionally took sips from their cups of tea.

“I went to see Rani and Clyde first.” The Doctor confessed.

“Oh?” asked Luke.

“I just…” A tear fell from her eye. “I just couldn’t come straight to you…” the tears continued to fall. “You’re her son after all… I- I knew that if I came straight to you… I’d break down, so I had to, uh… practice.” She looked down at the cup of tea in her hands as the tears rolled down her face and some fell into the cup.

Luke’s tears began to fall too as he watched this person that he always knew to be strong and dependable, begin to cry in front of him. Wiping his eyes, he put his cup down before gently removing hers from her hands and pulling her into a hug. She hugged him back. “Thank you…” she said.

Sanjay picked the cups up off the table and poured what was left down the sink. As the Doctor and Luke pulled apart, she stood up and walked over to Sanjay. “Thank you too,” she said to him

“What for?”

“Looking after him.” She pointed a thumb over her shoulder to indicate Luke. “He’s strong but he needs you…” she said.
Sanjay looked at her and nodded, “I’ll always be there,” he told her.

She smiled and nodded back, “I know you will,” she hugged him awkwardly, then let go, a look of melancholy passing over her face. “Anyway… I’ve got to go,” she said, then smiled through the dried tears on her face, “but… if you need me, Luke… for anything, give me a call… you remember the number, right?” He nodded, smiling, as she headed towards the door. Before she got there, however, she stopped, “Good luck Mr and Mr Smith,” she said before opening the door, waving, and stepping out.

Luke turned towards Sanjay. “I think she likes you… Mum did too. I must have made a good choice.”

“Yeah? Your mum still needed to let you know though. You may be clever Luke, but you’re shockingly oblivious.” He went over to Luke and sat down next to him. “Anyway, I’ve been thinking… If we’re… going to adopt, we’ll need a name. And, I think I have the perfect one... for a girl anyway.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Sarah Jane,” Sanjay said, holding Luke’s hand in his.

Luke looked his husband in the eye and a tear rolled down his face. Almost immediately, he enveloped Sanjay in a hug. “I love you.” He said, into his shoulder.

“I love you too…”