Title: Perfect Symmetry
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Table: 20_est_relships
Prompt: 16, Symmetry
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.

***

How had he managed to get so lucky as to find someone who was so in sync with him? And a human, at that. Miracles never ceased, as the saying went.

The Doctor smiled as he leaned his head back against the couch cushions, raising his arms over his head and stretching. He'd been sitting there reading a book while Ianto had been in the shower, for once declining to join his lover.

Even though they were as close as two people could possibly be, he felt that there were times when they both needed to have some private time to themselves -- and besides, he was usually in the bath or the shower with Ianto. It was time to let him have some privacy.

That was yet another thing that he loved about his young boyfriend, the Doctor thought as a smile crossed his features. Ianto seemed to know just when he needed to have a bit of time alone, and he was never intrusive, as some companions had been.

But then, Ianto seemed to meld into his life in a way that no one else had. There was such symmetry between them; Ianto slipping into his life, as his companion and lover, had been utterly seamless, as if he'd always been meant to be there.

No one else had ever been able to do that -- not even Jack when they'd been involved. With everyone else, there had always been a period of adjustment.

And, of couse, no one else had ever given him the same mixture of freedom and protection that Ianto did. His boyfriend not only knew when to back off a bit and let the Doctor have some time to himself, but he also knew when the Time Lord needed his presence.

Too many of his former companions had always been such intrusive presences into his life, pushing him to tell them things that he didn't wish to reveal -- and some of them, especially the younger ones, had pushed him to feel things that he never could.

A shudder went through him at the thought; the thought of someone who he'd looked at as a sort of surrogate daughter demanding that he have sexual feelings for her had been utterly repulsive. That would never have happened, no matter how much she wanted it.

Of course, he'd cared about every companion he'd ever had, even the ones who'd annoyed him at times. They had all been friends, all people that he'd been sorry to see leave his life. But Ianto was different from all of them.

He'd never loved anyone else with the intense emotions that he felt for Ianto. No one. Not even people of his own race, who he'd known when he was much younger.

He couldn't deny that he'd been in love before; one didn't reach his advanced age without having had some experience with emotional involvement. But there had never been anyone else like Ianto, and he knew in his hearts that there never would be.

It was surprising that Ianto had slipped into his life as easily as he had; that hadn't happened with any other companion, and he hadn't expected things to be like that this time. But Ianto fit with him as perfectly as a missing puzzle piece interlocking into place.

Ianto wasn't just a companion, so perhaps that was what made all the difference. He had been the Doctor's lover before the Time Lord had begun to bring him along every time he left Earth, once he'd decided that he couldn't be apart from his love any longer.

That had been a hard decision for him to make, he reflected, crossing his arms behind his head and stretching his long legs out in front of him. He'd been so worried that something would happen to Ianto out here, and that he would be responsible.

But Ianto had talked to him about his fears, and made him realize that though they weren't groundless, it was better for the two of them to be together than to always be parted. Ianto had made him see that if the two of them were going to face danger, they should do it together.

After all, if he'd stayed on Earth, he would still be working for Torchwood -- and no one knew better than the Doctor just what he could face while he was working with them. Ianto was in more danger with them than he would be anywhere else.

That had made it much easier for him to make the decision to bring his lover with him. And Ianto had wanted to come; he hadn't been coerced into coming along.

He'd made that very clear, that this was what he wanted. And he'd refused to listen to any of the Time Lord's protests, insisting that as an equal partner in their relationship, he had the right to make his own decision just as the Doctor did.

And he'd been right, of course, the Doctor reflected, another smile curving his lips. As much as he hated to admit that sometimes a human could use more logical thought than he could, Ianto was nearly always right -- at least concerning their relationship.

The perfect symmetry between them that he'd taken heed of the first time they'd been together had only grown since that time. He still couldn't quite believe that anyone could be so completely in tune with him, but he didn't want to question why.

The whys and hows of it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that he and Ianto had somehow managed to find each other, against all the odds against them. In spite of the problems they'd had at times, they'd beaten those odds.

And those problems hadn't really been so insurmountable, he thought, the smile still on his lips. No matter what situation might confront them, there was nothing that the two of them couldn't manage to work out as a team, as a couple.

He woudn't have believed that of any other relationship he'd ever been in -- but as he told himself all the time, this wasn't like any other relationship he'd ever had.

Ianto was his soul mate in every way, the man who was meant for him. He'd never been one to believe in destiny or fate, but the advent of Ianto Jones in his life had moved him more than a few steps closer to becoming more of a believer.

The Doctor couldn't help shaking his head at that thought; if anyone had told him even just a few short months ago that these sorts of ideas would cross his mind, and he'd find himself giving them credence, he would have scoffed and said that wasn't possible.

Yet here he was, telling himself that he'd been destined to be with Ianto, that this young human had been intended for him even though they'd been born centuries apart, on different planets. Miracles truly never ceased -- at least for him.

He'd never expected many of the things that had happened to him over his long life; so many of the most profound experiences he'd had came as a complete surprise.

But nothing could have been more of a surprise than finding out that his soul mate was a human, and that someone from that race could bond so intimately with him that they'd become, in a very short time, an integral part of his soul, of his very being.

Their lives had been anything by symmetrical; Ianto had grown up in a completely different way than he had. They really had nothing in common as far as their lives went; two people couldn't have been more different in so many ways.

None of that mattered. All that mattered was that they fit, that their hearts and souls had drawn them to each other, and that they belonged together. Under the outward differences, their lives had paralleled each other in surprising ways -- some that the Doctor was still discovering.

And he'd keep finding that symmetry, he told himself with another smile. Their lives together had been a journey of discovery so far -- and that journey was only beginning for them.

***