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Travelling with Ace and the Doctor truly is a strange experience. But, then again, it isn’t that much stranger than living under the anti-sadness regime of the Happiness Patrol. After all, it isn’t like she came from a normal life and then immersed herself into the bizarre life of travelling through space and time in a police box. Instead, she came from a dystopian society in which being anything but happy got you punished. And compared to that, life with Ace and the Doctor is practically normal.
Still, some of the things that happen to the three of them sometimes seem like a strange dream: she meets aliens that don’t look like what she thought aliens would look like, she visits planets with green skies and red oceans and such low gravity she can float through the air if she jumps. But they aren’t bad experiences; to be honest, anything she does with the two of them seems amazing when she never thought she would ever leave her old home and escape the Happiness Patrol. But it happened, and she still can’t quite believe it.
And then she considers her relationship with Ace. She fancied Ace the moment she met her, but their friendship only really blossomed after she decided to join her and the Doctor in the TARDIS (“Wicked!” Ace yelled). And in the few weeks they have been travelling together, the two young women have realised that are completely in love with each other. And so they shared their first kiss and confessed their feelings and told the Doctor (“I’m glad you two are happy,” the Doctor said, and Ace hugged him) and they all settled into one big, happy family. And she can honestly say that she never wants to leave the TARDIS – or Ace.
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It’s late at night, but Susan can’t sleep. After the adventures she had today, she’s still buzzing with adrenaline and feels far too jittery to sleep. But Ace seems to be in a similar situation; a few minutes ago, she got bored of lying here unable to sleep, and got up to get them both a midnight snack.
While she waits for Ace to come back, Susan sits up in bed and stares around the room she shares with Ace. This room used to just belong to Ace, and it shows, because her belongings cover the room; her posters all over the walls, her knick-knacks on the sideboards and her shoes strewn all over the floor. Although Susan’s collection of clothes is rapidly taking over the wardrobe, because she owns far more clothes than Ace.
Ace returns with a tray in her hands and a grin on her face. “I ran into the Professor in the kitchen. He told me off like he’s my dad for getting a midnight snack.”
Susan giggles. She loves the almost father-daughter relationship Ace has with the Doctor. “What did you get us?”
“Just some biscuits,” Ace says, sitting down beside her. “And some hot milk. It’s supposed to help you sleep.”
“Good idea,” Susan says, yawning. “I’m so tired.”
Ace bites into one of the biscuits and spills crumbs down her pyjama top. “I don’t blame you. It’s right knackering to go on these adventures with the Professor. It took me a fair while to adapt to all the exercise. No wonder you’re tired.”
Susan sips her glass of hot milk; it might just be the placebo effect, but she thinks she’s feeling drowsy already. “This milk is delicious. Do you know where the Doctor got it?”
“I dunno,” Ace says. “It just came out of the food machine.”
“This place is so weird,” Susan says.
Ace grins and nudges her. “Yeah, but you love it.”
“Of course I do,” she says, smiling. “And I love you.”
“You’re so sappy,” Ace says, blushing. She kisses her. “But I love you too.”