calufrax

Story: All time is unredeemable
author: Brunhilde
rating: All Ages
word count: 1432
author’s summary: He's given up on second chances, she's given up on hope. But the Universe is cracking, and impossible things can happen.
characters/pairings: Romana II, Eleventh Doctor. (or Doctor/Romana if you really want it to be).
warnings: Time War angst?

Recced because:
This story combines all my favourite fic things in one story, and I cannot believe it has not been recced before:

Romana in any incarnation is quite possibly my favourite character of the entire show. I love what the audio's and books have done with her character after she left the series, and her being president of the High Council at some point is my favourite (head)canon. Another favourite of mine is the Time War. Aside from the obvious angst involved (I’m a sucker for angst) the whole concept of a war fought across all of time is utterly fascinating. The fact that we don’t know exactly how it ended or started, what the Doctor’s or Romana’s role was makes for an endless list of great stories. Many of them have already been recced here, and I would like to add this one to that list.

It probably isn’t much of a shock to anyone anymore now that Doctor/Romana is my favourite pairing, especially when set during the Time War. The beauty of this particular story however lies in that it doesn’t pair them together explicitly, but you can easily read it with shipping glasses on. The fic uses an interesting concept from the recent series to bring about a beautiful and sad conversation between two old friends (or lovers, however you want to read it), forming a bittersweet exploration of their relationship; how they influence and how they complete each other. A long time has passed since they said their goodbyes, and they have both grown and changed considerably. Yet Romana’s behaviour in the final day of the Time War as painted here feels very true to her character, and the Doctor’s babbling is so perfectly Eleven that it hurts. The ending haunted me for quite some time after I'd finished it.