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The mist blurred the reddish air of sunset, letting the landscape blend in a carmine-grey shade. She was walking down a lane covered in autumn-coloured leaves, among tall and thin trees. A big country house was in the distance, and she was reaching it at a rhythmic pace, her steps silent on the ground. A black veil almost covered her features, and a dark purple period dress gave her the sweetest of looks. She shouldn't have come, but how could she help herself, especially after that dream she had?
A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes
I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind
She was floating in a cloud of sparkling lights: outside that, only the dark of the Universe. She found she could move as she was immerse in a liquid, feeling safe and warm. She was not dressed in any fabric, only in luminescent stardust. Moving away the lights, she swam out of her cloud, moving in the vastness of outer space. She could see suns and planets, constellations and black holes. Everything was distant, yet reachable. All of a sudden, a big blue box came swirling into the landscape. She smiled, and her cloud rolled around her again.
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart
A moment later, she was in the box. She knew her name – it was not a box, but a spaceship, and ships of all kinds are female. Instead of the controls she very well knew, the room seemed to have expanded to gave her cloud shelter: around it, she could see familiar round things, books, a red armchair, and lots of odds and sods taken somewhere and somewhen. He approached the cloud, a naughty smile on his face, a dandy suit of the utmost elegance. His eyes were as deep as eternity.
And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat
I tried to find the sound
But then it stopped, and I was in the darkness,
So darkness I became
As he reached the cloud and touched it, it exploded: the lights nestled on the walls, between and inside the round things, and she felt like falling, as she was swimming in a soap bubble and someone had burst it. He caught her before she could fell on the ground. She suddenly felt too naked and too vulnerable, but he was still smiling.
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart
All became dark and infinite: she was alone again and curled up as to find solace in herself. The light was gone, so was he, and she woke up shivering, crying. She had to see him.
So she set her spaceship: he was somewhere in Victorian England, Earth. Dandy fashion, Dickensian memories... she smiled and let her vehicle bring her there. She took ages to prepare, and when she finally found her perfect outfit, her companion tried to persuade her not to go. Too dangerous, he cannot recognize you, and you know it: yes, of course I know, but... he won't recognize me, he can't remember me...
Her eyes filled with tears she didn't want her companion to see.
There he was, but he wasn't alone. A tall, chocolate-skin girl was accompanying him, they were running. So, he had found some other, it was to happen. But why was it so painful?
She followed them, of course. They saved the day, they were amazing, no doubt about that: who could not be amazing with him? They were invited to a great garden party, and she took her chance. Just some small talk, just...
I took the stars from our eyes, and then I made a map
And knew that somehow I could find my way back
Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too
So I stayed in the darkness with you
«A lovely evening, Sir, don't you agree?» she asked, as the other girl was swept away by a dashing gentleman for a dance.
«It is.» he replied, leaning on a stone balcony, watching the misty dusk with a smile that was half amusement half melancholy.
«Are regrets those that I read on your face?» she couldn't help herself saying. He looked at her for a moment: she felt a shiver down her spine. He did not reply, and turned to landscape again.
«I was trying to remember something, but I failed.» he said then. «I remember a night that lasted years. I was with my wife.»
She remembered his wife, of course, even if she had met her only in dreams: stubborn, feisty, kind, a warrior and a lover. She felt jealous, but only for a moment. That wife of his, she had been there since before she had met him, after all.
«But there was something else... I cannot grasp it. I can see the hole that memory has left, but I cannot recall it.» he continued.
«You can describe me that hole.» she encouraged him. He looked at her more intensely, and after a moment's hesitation, or perhaps study, he replied.
«I remember there was her scent on my skin. I cannot remember her perfume, but I remember it was there. I remember soft white sheets covering her hips, her arms covering her breasts, her hands under the pillow were her head and hair rested. I cannot say what was the shape of her body, what colour her eyes... but the feeling she gave me, the flesh and soul we shared, that one I almost sense it now.»
She could perfectly remember that night, and she could remember him, his hair wild, his lean body under the same sheets, the scent of him on her, the warmth of his love and the love they had just shared. She closed her eyes.
«I made you blush.» he stated. She smiled under the veil, opening her eyes.
«No harm done.» she murmured. He got closer to her.
«On the contrary, Miss. I believe there was harm on both our parts, in recalling or not recalling that moment.» he whispered at her ear.
Their eyes met. Did he know? A moment expanded into eternity. She remained speechless, and then he stepped back.
«You are entitled to your past, Miss. Don't let anyone take it away from you. We are all made of yesterdays, and if we forget them... we must only hope they become stories, or songs.» he said. She nodded, and after a few moments, he went away, looking for his companion.
Clara smiled so brightly her eyes were full of light, as the Doctor slipped in his TARDIS and ran away, out in the Universe. And so did she.
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart