Title: Magic of Love
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Table: 4
Prompt: 34, Magic
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.

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Ianto propped his chin on his hand as he leaned his elbows on the console of the Tardis, smiling to himself and not realizing that his happiness showed on his face. He couldn't help feeling happy; he'd been like this ever since he and the Doctor had been here.

Yes, he'd had some reservations about leaving Earth for good, and about finally leaving Torchwood. It hadn't been easy for him to do; he did miss his friends, and the places he was used to that he'd left behind. But he could get used to that.

Truth be told, there hadn't been all that many friends left for him to leave. Mainly his teammates, and he really didn't spend much time with them when he was away from the Hub. He was a lonely man; he had been for a long time.

Jack had been in his life for a while, but even that hadn't lasted for long. Ianto didn't blame him for that; he could understand why they hadn't worked out in the long run.

And Jack hadn't been the man for him, anyway. He'd known that even before they'd ended, and he had been somewhat relieved when Jack had told him, gently but firmly, that it was best for them to end their relationship and remain friends.

He'd wondered if they'd be able to keep a friendship -- or even a working relationship -- between the two of them, after the intimacy they'd known. After all, Jack had been the first man he was with; he would be a memory that wasn't ever going to fade away.

But to his amazement, they'd actually ended by being better friends than lovers. Yes, they still cared for each other; their former relationship had made it easier for them to bond as teammates, and they would both lay their lives on the lines for each other.

All in all, he'd been glad to see that relationship end. It had gone as far as it could go, and it had been past time for he and Jack both to move on to the next phase in their lives. Only Ianto was sure that his life was now much, much better than Jack's could ever be.

In a way, he felt terribly sorry for the immortal. He'd had the Doctor at one time, and he'd made the decision to turn his back on this man, to walk away from him without a backward glance. Ianto was privately sure that it was the worst decision of Jack's life.

How could anyone want to leave the Doctor? he asked himself, shaking his head in wonderment. He knew that he'd never be able to do that; this man had gotten under his skin, worked his way into Ianto's heart, where he would always stay.

That was where he belonged. Ianto had clasped the Time Lord firmly to him, both emotionally and physically, from the first few days they'd spent together, and as each day went by, he was more convinced than ever that he and the Doctor had always been meant to be.

He might have thought at one time that he could fight destiny, but he'd never think that again. Now that he had the Doctor by his side, he had everything he wanted, all embodied in one man.

What they had together was magic. Pure magic, Ianto thought, his smile growing. He'd never felt like this with anyone else; there had never been this connection that permeated every fiber of his being, this bond that anchored him to the Doctor as though they were part of one entity.

With anyone else, that closeness might have felt stifling -- even frightening, in a way. But with the Doctor, it only felt natural. That was a kind of magic in itself, he mused, considering that before this, he'd always been wary about giving his heart.

Maybe that was because he'd always been the odd man out, the kid who kept himself apart from everyone else, growing into the lonely man who had a hard time reaching out and making friends. He'd thought that he would always be like that, the loner, the outcast.

Really, in a way, he still was. Traveling through time and space with a Gallifreyan Time Lord wasn't exactly a way to "fit in" with others. He almost laughed aloud at the thought. It wasn't something he would even have thought possible -- until he met the Doctor.

Even their meeting had been magical, Ianto reflected, the smile still on his lips. There might not have been anything about it that other people would regard as special -- but he'd taken one look at the Time Lord and known that this was the man for him.

If anyone had told him that he'd fall head over heels like this, he'd have scoffed at them, laughed, and told them firmly that he wasn't that sort of person. He'd never thought that he would be one to fall in love at first sight -- or even to believe in it.

That was yet another thing about him that the Doctor had changed. He'd never have thought he was the sort of person to indulge in flights of fancy, never thought that he would do anything outside of his work with Torchwood that was in any way fantastical.

And yet, here he was, traveling in space and time with the man who he'd vowed to be with forever -- well, at least as long a "forever" as he had. His life belonged to this man, more so than it ever had to anyone else -- even to himself.

The Doctor didn't believe in magic; he knew that very well. But even he had admitted that there was something about the way he and Ianto had discovered each other that wasn't quite explainable by any conventional means.

Ianto couldn't help smiling even more at that; having the Doctor admit to something like that was a huge concession for the Time Lord, and for some reason, he was proud that it was their relationship that had made him view his emotions in a new light.

He'd changed the Doctor's life, too -- the Time Lord had said as much, and he'd seemed happy when he'd said it. Ianto had worried about that at first, thinking that he might not be what the Doctor wanted, that somehow, they wouldn't fit with each other.

There had been no need for that worry; he knew that now. They had blended into each other's lives as seamlessly as they had into each other's hearts and souls.

He worried too much about things like that, the Doctor had told him cheerfully the last time he'd brought up the subject. He should just relax and enjoy the time they had together while they had it, and let the future unfold as it would.

Sometimes, that was hard for both of them to do, Ianto reflected. They both had their dark nights of the soul, the times when the future seemed to loom dark and frightening ahead of them, uncertain and unknown, seemingly forcing them apart at any time.

But together, they would combat that fear of the future, he told himself firmly, thrusting those thoughts away from him. There was nothing for them to be afraid of, not as long as they had each other and their bond kept growing stronger.

That could be seen as yet another magical thing about their relationship, he thought, straightening up and pushing himself away from the console. The fact that their relationship only grew stronger, and hadn't taken any backward steps for quite a long time.

He intended to keep that magic in their relationship, Ianto vowed, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders. After all, he was obviously doing something right. He'd never felt this happy with anyone -- and he was sure that the Time Lord felt the same.

All right, so maybe the Doctor was right, and magic didn't really exist, he thought, another smile starting to spread over his face. But he had a lifetime to prove that it did, and he was sure that he'd already convinced the Time Lord that there was magic in love.

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