Title: Light in Your Heart
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Table: 3
Prompt: 20, Fireflies
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own Ianto Jones or the Tenth Doctor. Please do not sue.

***

"It's so peaceful here," the Doctor murmured, leaning back against Ianto's chest and looking up at the night sky, the velvet darkness spangled with stars.

"It is, isn't it?" Ianto agreed with a smile, tightening his arm around the Time Lord's waist and stroking his fingers through the other man's hair. They were on the rooftop of Ianto's apartment building, leaning back on a blanket that the young man had brought with them, enjoying the balmy night air.

"If I didn't hate camping so much, I'd have taken you out to the country," Ianto murmured, bowing his head to brush a kiss across the Doctor's cheek. "But after my last experience with the country, I'd much rather stay away from that for a good long while.

"I can't say that I blame you," said the Doctor with a slight shiver. He'd heard about what had happened when the Torchwood team had spent some time in the country, and though it was over and done with, he didn't like to think about what could have happened.

Ianto pushed those thoughts out of his mind, leaning back slightly and looking up into the sky. This was something he still had to get used to, spending time out-of-doors, even if they were still in the heart of the city of Cardiff. But with the Doctor by his side, he had an easier time dealing with the misgivings he still harbored about open spaces in the dark.

He shouldn't be so jumpy, he told himself sternly. After all, the incident with the team had happened quite a while ago, and he'd gotten over it. He didn't even have the nightmares any more; that was another thing he could thank the Doctor's presence for.

That time of his life seemed so long ago, he thought, pressing his lips against the Doctor's throat and closing his eyes. Then, he'd been alone, still wounded from Lisa's death, feeling that he would never have anyone special in his life again.

Of course, Jack had happened after that -- and their relationship had gone a long way to making Ianto the person he was today. If he hadn't been with Jack, had that time with the immortal to mold and shape him and make him a stronger man, then he more than likely wouldn't have had the strength, or the courage, to be with the Doctor.

And here he was now -- with a man in his life who he knew in his heart that he was destined to be with, and a greater understanding of the universe and his place in it because of that man. It was a life he never would have thought he could have, but one that he wouldn't trade for anything else in the world that could possibly be offered to him.

Yes, life was good, he thought with an inward smile. He'd become a much stronger person since the advent of the Doctor in his life -- and that was only one of the positive things that had happened to him over the course of the last few months.

They'd had their bad times, too, he reflected, looking down at the man in his arms and instinctively drawing him closer. But they'd managed to make it through those rough patches, and become closer than ever. A testament to how strong their bond was.

The pendant around Ianto's neck glowed, as if his thoughts of the Doctor and their relationship were giving it strength. He could see that the Time Lord's identical pendant was doing the same, the two polished stones pulsing in time, much the same as the Doctor's dual heartbeats.

Ianto laid a hand over the pendant, closing his eyes for a few moments. If he concentrated, he could almost feel that the soft pulsing light of the stone was in time with the Doctor's heartbeats -- just as it had been when he'd let it lead him to the Time Lord.

"They glow when they're in harmony," the Doctor said softly, looking up at him. "You must be thinking pleasant thoughts. Or thinking about me."

"I'm always thinking about you," the young Welshman murmured, bowing his head again, this time tilting the Doctor's head up a bit so their lips could meet. He wanted to get lost in their kiss, to let himself drown in the Doctor's nearness and never come up for air.

"Those stones are what kept us connected when I was .... gone," the Doctor whispered when Ianto finally drew his lips away from the Time Lord's mouth. "If it hadn't been for them -- you might not have been able to find me. I don't think I realized how important those pendants would be to us when I gave it to you, love."

"I'm glad you did," Ianto told him, curling his fingers around the stone, surprised to find that it was warm to the touch. Of course, that could be from his body heat -- but the warmth seemed to come from within the polished crystalline surface. "More than I can say."

"So am I," the Doctor said, settling back against Ianto with a sigh. "We've been through so much together, haven't we? And yet it's only served to make us stronger. I suppose that old saying that humans have holds true. 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger,' or some such."

"I've never really believed in that saying," Ianto mused, looking up at the stars again. "But since I've been with you, it's taken on a whole new meaning. I feel as though I've been pushed to be a stronger person, and that's not a bad thing at all."

"No, it's not --" The Doctor sat up in his arms, eyes widening. "Ianto, look! Fireflies!"

The young man couldn't help laughing as he watched the Doctor reach out to capture one of the small, glowing insects in his hand. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd never seen a firefly before, love. They aren't any great phenomenon, you know."

"But they are," the Doctor breathed, opening his hand and regarding the insect poised on his palm. "They carry those lights with them everywhere they go -- lighting their way in the dark." He twisted around slightly to look at Ianto. "Just like our pendants did for us when I needed you."

Ianto swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat. "I hadn't thought of it like that," he said softly, leaning forward and slipping one arm around the Doctor's waist again. "But you're right. If I hadn't had that pendant to light my way ...." He stopped, not wanting to think of what could have happened to the Doctor if they hadn't been reuinted.

"Let's not think about it any more," the Time Lord whispered, turning and pressing soft fingertips against Ianto's lips. "It's over and done with. Time to put it in the past and move on."

"You're always going to light my way, you know," Ianto said, pulling the Doctor towards him so that the Gallifreyan was almost sitting in his lap. "You're like some sort of .... homing beacon. I'm always drawn to you, no matter where we might be."

"That isn't me," the Doctor told him, his voice soft and husky with emotion. "That's the light in your heart reaching out to mine."

Ianto was too overcome to be able to answer the Time Lord at first; his throat felt as though it was closing up, rendering him completely incapable of speech. The Doctor had said a lot of things to him since they'd first met that Ianto had thought were beautiful and romantic, things that he wanted to remember for the rest of his life.

But he'd never said anything like this. Ianto had never felt that his devotion to the Time Lord could be so perfectly summed in in no more than a few words -- but the Doctor had done it, succinctly, those few words saying everything that he needed to hear.

"I was the one who lost faith, Ianto," the Doctor whispered, looking away from him, focusing on those slender, elegant hands that Ianto clasped in his own. "I let myself lose hope too soon. You're the strong one, love. You're the one who wouldn't give up on me. On us."

In truth, Ianto had worried that the Doctor would still feel that the responsibility for the argument that had driven him away would rest with him -- after all, he'd been the one to push the Time Lord for what he didn't feel he was ready to give. But the Doctor was still blaming himself for that rift, for the separation that could have become something very permanent.

He had to stop that. He had to make the Time Lord realize that the failing had come from both of them, that one of them hadn't been stronger than the other. They were both at fault -- and they had worked together to heal themselves.

"You didn't lose faith, sweetheart," he murmured when he could speak again. "You lost sight of us for a while. It happens. I don't blame you for it, love. I'm just glad that you found your way back to me -- and that you're with me now."

"You pulled me back, Ianto," the Doctor whispered, nuzzling his cheek against his young lover's neck. "If you hadn't had faith .... but let's not think about it. It's over, and we're together. That's what we have to hold on to."

"We keep saying that, and yet we don't do it," Ianto said, wondering why that was so. Did they feel that they somehow had to hold on to what had almost happened, to remind themselves of how close they'd come to losing each other? Maybe that was it. Or maybe they were just afraid to let go of something that had become a milestone in their relationship.

"It's time that we did," the Doctor said firmly, shaking his head. "Let's make a pact, Ianto. And seal it with --" He looked around, his eyes alighting on a firefly that was poised on his knee. "Seal it with the light of a firefly."

Ianto almost wanted to laugh at the seeming solemnity of the Time Lord's words, but he didn't. The Doctor was in earnest, or so it seemed; and he was just as eager as the other man was to put this behind them, to move ahead with their lives and forget the bad bits of the past.

"All right, love," he said softly, laying his hand on top of the Time Lord's. "I swear that I won't bring this up again -- and that I'm going to let the past stay in the past, where it belongs."

"I swear, too," the Doctor murmured, those dark eyes meeting his own. Ianto couldn't look away; there was something about those eyes that always drew him in, like the proverbial moth to a flame. There were no other eyes he wanted to look into, no one else that he wanted to feel this drawn to. No one but his soul mate, the man he was destined to spend his life with.

The Doctor leaned his head back against Ianto's shoulder, closing his eyes with a contented sigh. "Let's sit out here a while longer. I don't think I could move at the moment if I tried. And it's not often that we get the chance to be this comfortable."

"We don't have to go anywhere, love," Ianto whispered into his ear. "Other than to bed -- and I think I could keep you rather comfortable there, too."

"You know, that might be a very good idea," the Doctor murmured, a small smile crossing his lips. "But not just yet. Let's enjoy the night for a while."

Ianto nodded, wrapping his arms around the Doctor and pulling the other man close. He didn't realize that the same small smile that curved the Time Lord's lips was on his as well -- and that their pendants were both glowing softly, the soft pulsing light of each one mirroring the other.

***