Act 11: Movies is Magic!
A deeply shocked and saddened Eight gathers the bodies of his two lost companions, carrying them one at a time up the steps, away from the Eye of Harmony, as the TARDIS continues its temporal orbit, going backwards in time all the way to December 29th. In the Cloister Room, a wonderfully aesthetic breeze blows as dead leaves surround the fallen Grace and Lee, and Eight kneels beside them, looking upward, the regret and sadness evident on his face. And then, suddenly, a golden shape of light wings up and out of the open Eye, settling on Grace and Lee like sparkling dust; Eight looks on, not quite sure what's happening or if it will be successful, until they breathe again.
Lee opens his eyes first and sees Eight. "Doctor," he says, as if nothing ever happened. "I have your things."
Eight, however, only has eyes for Grace in this moment, who is finally stirring awake. "Hello, Grace," he says as she opens her eyes. "Well? How does it feel, to hold back death?"
She sits up and they embrace--and then, they part for a moment as the Eye of Harmony begins to close on its own, a little noisily. "Incredible! Did you see that?" Eight says, grinning big. "What a sentimental old thing this TARDIS is." Then Eight looks at both of his companions, now wonderfully restored to life. "Well, congratulations," he says, as they all stand. "You've both been somewhere I've never been."
"There's nothing to be scared of, Doctor," Grace says, smiling.
"Oh, glad to hear it!" he answers.
"Did we go back far enough?" she asks as they descend the stairs.
"Either that or I'm talking to a couple of ghosts, and I don't believe in ghosts," Eight replies, grinning.
In the console room, Eight hums to himself as he adjusts a few more levers and switches; Grace and Lee look on, a bit bemused. After a moment, Lee asks, "So, uh...where's the Master?"
A rumbling gurgle in the TARDIS answers him; Eight merely says, "Indigestion." Lee and Grace exchange a look.
"So, let's see where we are," Eight says, opening the "ceiling" of the TARDIS to look out into space. "There. The future!"
"Wow," Lee whispers, looking overhead.
"Look over there," Eight says, pointing to one bright round spot, "on the other side of your galaxy--that's home!"
"Gallifrey!" Grace says, almost reverently.
"250 million light-years away," Eight says. Then he looks at Grace. "That's a good...10 minutes in this old thing." He grins and she laughs.
"So where are we?" she asks after a moment.
"December...29th," Eight replies, checking the clock. "Do you want to get off here?"
"I...don't think I could live through that again," Grace replies.
"Uh, I definitely wouldn't live through that again," Lee adds.
"Reason enough." Eight adjusts a dial or two as he speaks. He goes over to the other side of the console and fine-tunes a few more settings...and then, suddenly, inexplicably, the TARDIS stops functioning altogether, its characteristic wheezing engine stopping right in the middle. Lee and Grace look around, a bit fearful--and then Eight bops the console gently with one fist, and everything starts back up. Grace smiles with relief.
Now going forward in time again, the New Year's Eve parties conclude with the disparate crowds at the hospital and at the Institute counting down happily, finally, to midnight at last. Kazoos are blown, streamers are thrown, fireworks shoot off...it's good all around. "Happy New Year!" one of the news anchors says over the televised news network. "Happy--can you believe it?--2000!" Even Gareth gets a New Year's kiss from a random girl!
Meanwhile, the TARDIS materializes back on Earth in a spritzing rain, outside near a street, with sparkling city water features all lit up for Christmas in colorful strands of lights. Eight gets out of the TARDIS first and looks up at the sky. "Now that's as it should be!" he says in relief, seeing the fireworks as he and his new companions go down a couple of steps from the door.
"Your things," Lee says, a little sheepish as he hands the brown paper bag over to Eight at last.
Eight takes the bag and looks in it. "Oh! My sonic screwdriver, thank you!" he exclaims.
"And, uh, these too," Lee adds, handing him the two bags of gold dust that the Master had given him before.
"Please, keep them," Eight says, smiling.
"Really?!" Lee can't believe his luck. "I'd better go before you change your mind!"
He starts to run off, but Eight calls to him: "Lee! Next Christmas, take a vacation--just don't be here."
Lee nods, slowly, understanding that this is based on one of Eight's predictions. "Right! Thanks! Thanks, Doctor!"
Eight nods gently in reply, and Lee heads off. "See ya 'round, Grace!" he calls as he leaves.
Once it's just the two of them left together, Grace says fondly, "There you go, interfering again."
"Ah, Grace, something you should know..." Eight begins to say, but Grace stops him.
"Don't tell me."
"Why not?"
"I know who I am," she replies, with a smile, "and that's enough."
Eight returns the smile. "I'm glad." He pauses a moment. "Come with me."She shakes her head. "You come with me."
"Me, come with you?" Eight asks, furrowing his brow.
"Yes!"
"Me, come with you?" he repeats, puzzled. She laughs; he looks toward the sky and the beautiful fireworks. "Hmm. It's tempting," he muses.
"I'm gonna miss you," Grace says, with what sounds suspiciously like false cheer in her voice.
Surprised, Eight replies, "How can you miss me? I'm easy to find--I'm the guy with two hearts, remember?"
"That's not what I meant," Grace says, with a wistful half-smile.
Eight looks crestfallen, but they share one last kiss under the fireworks before they take a few steps away from each other. "Thank you, Doctor," she calls over her shoulder, turning back to him.
He turns back to her. "Oh, no, thank YOU, Doctor," he replies, smiling.
She laughs, and he turns back, heading up the few steps to the TARDIS. She watches him go, almost like she's not sure what she's seeing is real; at the door of the TARDIS, Eight pauses and looks back at her. She waves, mouthing "Goodbye," and he nods and goes on in...and the TARDIS slowly vanishes, leaving Grace alone, staring up at the spot where it was.
In the TARDIS, the music that Seven was listening to in the beginning is back on the record player again, and Eight is busily working underneath the console, putting it back together after its (mis)adventures. After a final whir of the Sonic Screwdriver, he gets up and listens to the engine a moment. "Sounds better," he says, half to himself. "Right...where to next?" He puts a few tools away, then grabs his cup of tea off the console and takes it over to the big armchair, settling in with his book as he did before the whole thing started. Then the record begins to skip on the word "time" (like before), and Eight is heard to exclaim, "Oh, no--not again!" before the scene of the TARDIS spinning through time fades to black.
Congratulations!
I can't believe you read through all that!
As a reward, here's the hilarious TVTropes article for this crazy hot mess of a movie, LOL