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There he lay before her with a new face, a new body, a new everything. A mixture of confusion, fear and a little bit of wonder raced through her. She had seen him burn before her eyes, her best mate, the man she had come to love, disappeared leaving this stranger behind. “Who is he now?” she wondered. In all the time they spent together and grown closer, she had forgotten how alien he was. She caressed his face and he seemed to turn toward where she touched him. A slight smile lit her face. It was so hard for her to process that the man, no not man, alien she had come to love could change so completely right before her very eyes.
Soon, she would learn exactly who he had become and who he still was. There were the Sycorax, a sword fight, Harriet Jones, Torchwood and six words that could topple a Prime Minister. Yes, he was her Doctor. That evening she nervously went through the motions of Christmas dinner but part of herself was still worried about him. Would he leave her here? Maybe he was hurt that she had not immediately accepted this change? She longed to continue traveling with him in the Tardis. He was so different from anyone else in her life and she felt so close to him. It was no lie when she called him a best mate. Alien or not, they understood each other and had connected at some intangible level. This was beyond the human friendships she had known in the past. Perhaps, it was even more intimate than any romantic feelings she’d had for anyone else as well.
The Door opened and in walked this new, warm and alluring Doctor, smiling broadly. The smile that bloomed across her face in response to his presence was genuine. It was odd having family dinner with him like this. His crusty “I don’t do domestic” exterior had disintegrated into this freckled face almost boyish charmer. The Doctor, her prior Doctor, always had charisma but it was different than the charisma this Doctor exuded. Her prior Doctor had a more steely commanding presence while this Doctor had more of a friendly, enchanting demeanor to put people at ease and then there was his gob. She thought her last Doctor could talk, but this one put him to shame. All the differences and similarities melded together and solidified her resolve to not lose him to her own self doubt.
Standing in the falling ash and listening to him talk about the spaceship breaking apart in the atmosphere and what this meant for the human race, she couldn’t help but feel a longing to run with him, to run anywhere as long as it was with him and they were together. With trepidation she asked him what he would do next and stared into his warm brown eyes almost feeling the vastness of the universe in them. He mentioned life on the Tardis but there was a hint of uncertainty and longing. Her heart beat a little faster as it soon became clear he still wanted to travel with her. Eventually, they stood together hand in hand as he pointed to a star. As she stood there with him side by side gazing at the stars, she inwardly gave thanks to whatever force in the universe had brought them together. Little did she know that he was giving the same thanks as he squeezed her hand and promised her the stars.