Home

The Doctor stared at the painting with a slight smile on his face; the incredible fact that his home was alive still fresh and shocking and wonderful. It didn't feel real; almost like a dream fading fast from memory.

Behind him he heard Clara's footsteps mingled with the footsteps of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. He didn't turn around, or even shift his gaze. He didn't think he could move his eyes from the image – for so many years the thought of Gallifrey had invoked feelings of guilt and mourning so strong that they had overwhelmed all the happy memories he had.

He couldn't think of anything but the fact that it was still there, somewhere.

"It's beautiful," Kate said from behind him, so softly that he barely heard her. He answered anyway.

"It was," He replied out of habit, then paused, because now that statement was wrong. "It is."

With those words the overwhelming changes that the day meant overwhelmed him and he felt a tear slide down his face. A happy tear.

"There are two point six billion children on it who are still alive," he added, and his voice cracked. "All these years…" He didn't finish the sentence. His face was wet now, but he didn't wipe the tears away. There was a long silence in which nobody said anything, but it wasn't uncomfortable or oppressive. Finally he spoke up again. "My children, and their children, and their children's children, they could still be alive," He murmured. "One of my daughters, it's possible she was still alive at the time. I saw… I saw lots of them die, in battle, in battles…" He tailed off. Nobody said anything, so the Doctor finally looked up.

Clara and Kate both had tears on their cheeks to match his own. He met Clara's eyes and she smiled.

"Thank you," Kate suddenly said. "I nearly made a huge mistake and I'm sorry."

"I've spent hundreds of years repenting for mass murder. That gives you some perspective," the Doctor said slowly. He paused again. "All this time I thought I was being punished because I was allowed to live, but really it was so I could stop myself from needing to be punished."

"What will you do?" Kate asked.

"I'm going home," The Doctor said, and felt his smile widen as that word filled him. Home. He could go home, at long last.