Chapter Text
Yaz couldn’t sleep. Though the emotionally charged time in Norway hadn’t directly impacted her, the events that transpired had sent her mind on some rather dark thoughts. Thoughts she couldn’t seem to escape. No matter how hard she tried to think about literally anything else, she was pulled back to the darkness again.
One day she would run out of time with the Doctor. As easy as it was to forget about the ravishes of time when you literally had access to a time machine, the harsh reality was that it would come for them all, like it had come for all of those who had travelled with the Doctor in the past.
The Doctor never talked about them, but Yaz knew they existed. The Doctor was absolutely useless at being alone. There’s no way in her 2000 years of life she hadn’t travelled with people. But, the pain behind the Doctor’s eyes let Yaz knew that she had lost them all. And, Yaz knew, that one day The Doctor would mourn her too.
Yaz sighed in frustration and rolled over on to her side in a futile attempt to short circuit the negative spiral. It didn’t work. Despite her attempt to think about her favourite TV show, her mind somehow drifted back to that moment in the Solitract and the look on Graham’s face when he saw the imitation Grace. He thought he had gotten what he had desperately longed for: more time with the woman he loved. Time that was viciously and prematurely ripped away from him.
It filled Yaz with dread. Dread that one day she would be in the same position. Dread of running out of time with the Doctor and having wasted it because of fear. Her previous worries of embarrassing herself seemed so trivial now. Not with what was at stake.
The Doctor was the best person Yaz had ever met. She wasn’t being hyperbolic when she had said that all those months ago, back when her feelings were just a budding crush. She had never felt this way about anybody before. The intensity of her emotions towards her friend were almost overwhelming.
She couldn’t just remain friends any more. Not with how every slight touch filled her entire body with electricity and made her forget to breathe. Not when her lips were so tantalising. Maybe she could have before she had this realisation, but now that she knew she was on a deadline she would have to do something. To make the most of what finite time they would have together.
And, if The Doctor didn’t like her back, then as much as it would hurt, as much as it would suck, she would have shot her shot and when the inevitable happened, she’d have no regrets.
The Doctor was probably still awake. She barely slept. She was probably tinkering with something in the console room, and most likely looking absolutely adorable as she did so.
Yaz made an executive decision. It was now or never. She didn’t know if the epiphany would last until the morning when a fresh perspective might make her less ride or die.
She got out of bed and padded her way to the console room, where, sure enough, The Doctor was hard at work, her head stuck in the console. She felt an immediate calm wash over in her presence.
“Tangled cables!” she heard The Doctor mutter. “How do cables get tangled? They don’t even move!”
Yaz walked over to the console. “Need a hand, Doctor?”
There was a thud and a yelp as the Doctor hit her head on the console.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you.” Yaz said. “Are you ok?” she asked as The Doctor removed herself from the console, rubbing her head.
“Yaz! I’m fine, this is nothing compared to the time I thought it’d be a good idea to headbutt somebody to use touch telepathy.”
“Touch telepathy?” Yaz asked.
“Long story. What are you doing up? It’s not morning already is it? Well, as much as you can have mornings when you’re not orbiting a sun.”
“I couldn’t sleep.” Yaz admitted.
The Doctor looked at her with concern. “Are you alright? Do you want me to tell you a bed time story?”
“If it’s any from Granny Five, I think I’ll pass, thanks.”
“Oi, don’t be disrespecting my Granny” The Doctor said with a smile.
Yaz laughed softly. “Sorry, but I’ve had enough craziness for one day.”
“It was definitely one of our more insane adventures.” The Doctor moved to lean against the console.
Yaz joined her, making sure that their hips and shoulders touched ever so slightly. She relished in the feel of her.
“So,” the Doctor said, “did you want to talk about what’s keeping you from sleeping? I know how you humans love to do that, so it has to be something important.”
Yaz breathed out. All of the bravado she had built up in her room alone was quickly dissipating, replaced by butterflies the size of vultures.
The Doctor, as if sensing her very obvious hesitation, quickly spoke. “It’s ok if you don’t want to talk about it. We can talk about something else instead. Or, we can go somewhere! A sneaky little trip, just the two of us. Maybe to the Dazzling Fields of Xanu?”
Yaz’s heart leapt at that idea. Alone. Just her and the Doctor, exploring some unknown magical place. Kissing under unknown stars. Her eyes flickered to The Doctor’s lips and desire began to win its battle against her nerves.
“Just been thinking about what happened with Graham and Erik.” Yaz said, deciding that was as good of a place as any to start. “About how they were willing to give up so much just for more time with the people they love.”
Heart beating out of control, she reached out and placed her hand on top of The Doctor’s and began to gently stroke it with her thumb. The Doctor looked down at their hands, uncharacteristically lost for words.
When Yaz saw that she didn’t flinch or move away, she was emboldened. Maybe she hadn’t imagined the chemistry between them after all. “It made me realise how precious time is. And how I should stop wasting it.”
She reached out with her free hand and gently cupped The Doctor’s cheek. The Doctor looked up at her, her eyes flicking to Yaz’s lips at least once.
“Can I kiss you?” The Doctor asked.
Yaz didn’t respond, choosing instead to immediately capture the Doctor’s lips with her own. They were impossibly soft and warm, and felt better than Yaz had dreamt of. She thought she was flying as the Doctor’s hand came to rest at her waist, pulling her closer.
Yaz was just about to move her hand to thread her fingers through the Doctor’s hair when she felt the ground shake and heard the unmistakable whirr of the TARDIS.
The Doctor grinned at her sheepishly as she broke the kiss. “Must have accidentally bumped the transport lever.”
Yaz smiled back. “So where’d we end up?”
The Doctor looked at the settings on the console. “Oh!” her grin grew even larger. “Oh that’s brilliant.” She grabbed both of Yaz’s hands. “Yaz, welcome to Lesbos in the height of the Hellenic Era.”
Yaz laughed. “You’re kidding!”
“Probably one of the TARDIS’ jokes. She does have quite the sense of humour.” The Doctor looked at the instruments. “Hmm. Midnight. Probably not the best time to see a brand new place for the first time.”
Yaz was actually pretty thankful that they had a few more hours before the boys joined them. “Back to bed then, I guess.” She said.
“Oh.” The Doctor’s face fell.
“Come on.” She let go of one hand and used the other to pull the Doctor along towards her room.
“Oh!” The Doctor said, finally realising what was happening. “Snuggles with Yaz! Brilliant.”
Yaz grinned. Time might be finite, but she planned to use every last second of it.