A short while later the shepherds had left, bidding Rory a hearty farewell, and Balthazar and Melchior swore never to reveal the location of the child as they went to meet Caspar at a predetermined location some distance away. Amy and Mary spoke softly as the Doctor held the newborn babe. “I know who you are,” the Doctor said, and the baby cooed in response. “You know who these people think you are, but I know. I’m the Doctor. You and I are the last of us.”
The baby made a playful sound with his lips, and the Doctor shrugged and adjusted his bow tie.
“Oi, don’t knock it. Seriously, though, I…”
The baby raised a balled-up hand and opened it, and the Doctor took the little hand. The baby made several sounds and the Doctor went still. His lip trembled.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t save them. I failed everybody.”
The Time Lord opened his mouth to say more, but the baby made some more sounds that, to anyone else, would simply sound like laughter or baby sounds.
What the Baby Said
“Doctor, what’s wrong?”
“Amelia. Amelia, today is a great day indeed.”
“Why is that, then? Besides the birth of, oh, him.”
“Hold on a second. He spoke to Melody when she was a baby. What did he have to say?”
“He said that I’m forgiven.”
The light from above faded slowly, and a beeping began coming from the Doctor’s lapel. Joseph, seeing an opening, took the newborn from him, and the Doctor reached into his coat and took out the sonic.
“I almost forgot about you.”
Flipping it into the air, he pointed it outside and activated it. After a moment of whistling, the familiar thrum of the TARDIS engines heralded its arrival outside the stable.
“I thought it was broken.”
“Not broken, just stalled. She knew someone familiar was nearby.”
Before Rory could ask any more, the Doctor turned back toward Mary and Joseph.
“Now, you know what to call him, right?”
“I was told.”
“Of course. The escape vessel would have found a suitable host, informed of the arrival. Okay, hold on, one last thing. Joseph, might want to be somewhere else. Egypt, perhaps.”
He turned again toward the TARDIS.
“Come along, Ponds.”
The Genuine Article
Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor piloted without speaking. Amy and Rory stood to one side talking together, until finally Amy walked over.
“So, Doctor, what was all that about?”
“What, all that? We witnessed the birth of…”
“I know, I was there. But I mean, he’s just a baby, right? I mean, the truth behind the myth, that sort of thing.”
The Doctor gave Amy his best long-suffering glance.
“Oh, Amy. Sweet, innocent Amy. That was the genuine article. How history chooses to remember him is one thing. I know him as the last survivor of a race that was akin to the Time Lords.”
“Really?”
Rory took that moment to come stand beside Amy. The Time Lord sighed a deep, heavy sigh and sat down on the stairs.
The Gardeners
“A long time ago, at the dawn of my species, we’d only begun to understand the magnitude of what the Eternals had revealed to us. The space-time vortex was massive and powerful and terrible at the same time. Then we met a species called the Ophanim that, against their own people, chose to give us this.”
The Doctor opened his arms and stood up.
“I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t. You’re thick.”
He hit Rory in the forehead with his palm.
“The Ophanim were the gardeners of TARDISes. They grew these magnificent things. If not for them, we’d never have truly harnessed time travel.”
“But you said the baby forgave you.”
“No, I said that he said I was forgiven.”
“How could a baby know something like that?”
“Collective consciousness. The last of the Ophanim carries the collective consciousness of his entire species. But he will bring the natural Ophanim positive energy to your world.”
“And what about all the blood spilled in his name?” Amy asked, with a touch of bitterness in her voice.
Again the Doctor gave her those ancient eyes, so full of patience.
“What about all the tears wiped away in his name? I think you’ll come to realize what started here will culminate in about, let’s say, 33 years. That’s the average lifespan of the Ophanim anyway. Well, not really, but given Earth’s rotation around the sun, that sounds about right. Might need to stop back sometime before that and have a chat with the boy.”
He flipped the toggle, and the TARDIS engines roared to life.
“Next stop, everywhere.”
That’s Part 14, Loose Ends, and the end of First Christmas. Tell me what you made of where the Doctor landed. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
