He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers. He was so tired. So very tired of so much, and he wanted her to be Romana. If the illusion was weak enough for it to shatter with a breeze, the Doctor would've clung to it with every fiber of who he was. Romana would hold him up.

"I can't tell you," he said. "I can't have happen to you what happened to Adelaide, Romana."

Romana wouldn't understand, of course, but he had to explain. He had to have her understand, even if she didn't truly get it.

"I'm so sorry."