Fic: To Warm The World

[rumpelsnorcack]

Title: To Warm The World
Rating: G
Genre: Gen
Word Count: 487
Pairings or Characters: Wilf, Donna
Summary: From the minute she was born, her red hair flashing out even as she took her first glance of her new world, this child had been the centre of his universe
Notes: Written for the who_contest 'sun' challenge (my first one, yay!). Title taken from John Dunne's 'The Sun Rising'

All her life he’d called her his little sun.  From the minute she was born, her red hair flashing out even as she took her first glance of her new world, this child had been the centre of his universe; his little granddaughter.  And he had been her centre too.  Her mother, a magnetic force in herself, but one which repelled her daughter rather than attracting her, had driven her tiny sun into his orbit.  She had circled him, gaining her strength and vivacity from his steady presence.  He had circled her, too, gaining his warmth and love from her glowing heart.  Their tiny galaxy had been their all.

Then she had been pulled away by another, more powerful, force; this one’s magnetism pulled her swiftly and irrevocably towards him.  And she had grown.  Oh, how she had grown.  At first, he had resented the pull – been concerned that such an overwhelming force would dim her own sun.  But soon he had come to realise that she was so much more when she was with her new magnetic star.  Her sun had bloomed, expanded, supernovaed as she played with the galaxies.  The more she had danced out there, the more she had become until the fire she held was almost impossible to take in.  Her sun had flared into the pinnacle of its power.

But a sun which supernovas must burn out, and so had hers.  She had returned home.  Fragile, dimmed.  How ironic that he’d been afraid she would lose something essential by being with her new star, when the opposite had happened.  The latent fire in her had exploded and given life to countless worlds, but now he felt she had lost her fiery warmth just by returning to him as the sun she had always been.  How bizarre that she now seemed dimmer, a mere ember, when before she had seemed to be raging heat and fire.  No fire was left now, just a fading memory of the burning, joyous, giant star.

Now they circle each other again, slowly.  They learn, between them, to become each other’s centre once more.  This time, her mother joins them.  The three of them, sheltered together, bask in what remains of her flames.  The sun, once so bright, now burns softly.  No longer blazing, but warm once more.  Soft.  Cosy.  Comfortable.  The memory of her sparks remain, however, and with it a shadow of her former glow.  The two of them circle her, drawing her into their orbit again, giving her the place at the centre of their small universe, even as they mourn the loss of her place in the greater.

She will never know, but they will keep her supernova burning in their hearts.  The universe will keep turning, uncaring of the loss of one more bright star, but in their microcosm that star will be celebrated.

Comments

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, lovie...this is a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL fiction. And I will not hear any differently...

*Hugs you fierce and tight*

[rumpelsnorcack.livejournal.com]

Thank you. You are always the very best cheerleader :)

*snuggles you back*

[paynesgrey.livejournal.com]

Lovely perspective of Donna through Wilf's eyes, especially how he sees her like a sun. Brilliant job!

[rumpelsnorcack.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I don't normally write Donna and/or Wilf but this just grabbed me when I saw the prompt.

[mollywheezy.livejournal.com]

I love Donna and Wilf! And I ADORE your drabble--such exquisite imagery that is so appropriate for them. :)

[rumpelsnorcack.livejournal.com]

Awww, thank you very much. I've never written either character before (or not that I've posted, heh), but this just hit me when I saw the challenge and it demanded to be written.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

This made me cry! so lovely and, which is so unusual with Donna, ending on an optimistic note. I love that her mother is included in the end. Thank you!

[rumpelsnorcack.livejournal.com]

Awww, thank you so much! That means a lot :) The one thing that actually made her ending even a little ok to me was Wilf's promise to remember for her, so I had to include it.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

Thank you for writing such lovely fic! And I agree, Wilf's promise makes it a little bit better.

[shivver13.livejournal.com]

Oh, now this was just beautiful! I love the way that you wove the metaphor of suns and galaxies and magnetism around the four characters - especially Sylvia's opposite pole, and the observation that Donna was just same as she'd always been but seemed so much less in comparison. You captured Donna's and Wilf's story so perfectly.

[rumpelsnorcack.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I really enjoyed taking this little look at Donna. Her story has always hurt me, but I've never managed to articulate my feelings on it before :) It's nice to know that people are enjoying this little take on it.

[dm12.livejournal.com]

That is a perfect description of Donna. She was so much more with the Doctor, as he was so much more with her. Both of their stars dimmed with her return home.

Beautiful imagery and well done!

[rumpelsnorcack.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. I enjoyed writing this one - Donna's story has always fascinated me.

[flowsoffire.livejournal.com]

Oh this is WONDERFUL. I just adore what you did with the sun analogy all throughout, it was so clever and really masterfully written. And the connection between Donna and Wilf was wonderfully portrayed, her more difficult relationship with her mother too. The ending, after her memory loss, was so very bittersweet, the way she returned so dimmed and they took care of her and gave her a centre again. It's so emotional and wonderful ♥ I just love it!

[rumpelsnorcack.livejournal.com]

Thank you, darling. You are, as always, the very best. I've been thinking of Donna a lot lately (whenever I discuss how people leave the sow I always, always mention her) and it just felt like it needed to be written.