Title: Call To Your Heart
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Giacomo Casanova
Fandom: Doctor Who/Casanova (Masterpiece Theater)
Rating: PG-13
Table: 50ficlets
Prompt: 15, Freedom
Author's Note: The character of Giacomo Casanova is based on the BBC version of Casanova starring David Tennant.
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Giacomo Casanova. Please do not sue.

***


The Doctor snuggled closer to Giac, heaving a sigh. He would have to leave soon, he knew; Giac had commitments that he couldn't be included in, and he'd been in Venice for nearly a week now. He couldn't stay here forever.

But it grew harder and harder to leave his lover each time they had to bid each other farewell. He'd known from the beginning that they couldn't be together all the time, but it tore at his hearts more and more to not know when they would meet again.

He could always come back whenever he chose. He told himself that all the time, and so did Giac. But that wasn't quite true; in actuality, the times that he could spend more than a day or two here in the past were becoming less frequent.

There was too much going on in the world, too much that he had to protect. He couldn't cast all that aside just to satisfy the call of his hearts.

Giac's arm tightened around him, drawing him closer to the other man's side. The Doctor had to force himself not to bury his face against Giac's shoulder; he didn't want to show that kind of weakness to the other man, not when he had to leave so soon.

"You must go very soon, yes?" Giac whispered, that soft voice washing over him like an ocean wave. There was something about Giac's voice that made him want to melt into the other man, to cling to him and never have to give him up.

But Giacomo Casanova wasn't of his world, the Doctor told himself sternly. They weren't meant to be together; it would have to be enough that they each held a part of the other's heart, that they'd had what little time together that fate could give them.

"Yes," he answered, his own voice hoarse. His throat tightened on the single syllable, not wanting to say it aloud. Saying it made it all the more real, more immediate.

"You know that I do not wish you to leave, my beautiful Doctor," Giac told him, turning onto his side and regarding the Doctor with a soft glow in his eyes. "But we have to be grateful for the time we have spent together -- and for the freedom that we can give to each other."

"Freedom?" the Doctor questioned, unaware that his tone sounded somewhat bitter. "I don't want freedom, Giac. I want to stay here, to spend my life with you. I know that isn't possible, but I've always had the tendency to want what I can't have."

"The only freedom that you want is the freedom to be with me, to do as you choose," Giac said softly, taking the Doctor's hands in his own. "But that is a freedom that neither of us can have, my love. We have to be content with the freedom to give our hearts."

The Doctor nodded reluctantly, knowing that Giac was right, but not wanting to admit it. He wanted more than they could have, even though he knew it was an impossible dream.

"We do have a certain freedom, my sweet one," Giac continued, reaching out to raise the Doctor's face to his own so that their eyes met. "We have the freedom to love each other. And the freedom to live our lives as we must."

"That isn't a freedom at all," the Doctor managed to say, tears starting to choke his words. He had to struggle to hold them back; there was no use crying about something he couldn't change. Time enough to cry in private, when Giac wouldn't be distressed by his tears.

"Yes, my love, it is," Giac murmured, leaning forward to kiss him. "My heart will always call to yours, even when we aren't together. And yours will always answer. That is a great freedom -- the freedom to love where we choose. So many do not have that."

Again, he was forced to nod his head in agreement. In Giac's time, too many people were forced to turn away from where their emotions led them.

"We have the freedom to be together, with only a few hindrances," Giac continued, taking both of the Doctor's hands in his own and looking into his eyes. "Even though we may give our bodies to others, they do not touch that place in our hearts."

"No, they don't," the Doctor murmured, feeling the tears start to recede. Giac was right. What they had was a sort of freedom -- the knowledge that they were free to live, to love -- and that they could always come back to each other.

How many other people in the world had that kind of freedom? Not many, he told himself silently. He was lucky to have a man in his hearts who would always be there, someone who would love him and accept him with no reservations.

And he would always love Giac, even if there were other people who also made their way into his hearts. There would always be a place reserved there for this man.

"I have no doubt that whenever I call to your heart, you will be there for me," Giac told him, pulling the Doctor into his arms. "And know that when your heart calls for me, my beautiful one, I will always be by your side, in spirit if not in body."

The Doctor nodded again, closing his eyes as Giac's mouth came down on his. A part of him would always be listening for that call -- and he only hoped that when it came, he would be able to answer it as quickly as he could.

***