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"I knew you'd get us out of there," Yaz pants, out of breath after the dash for their lives. "I knew you'd come back."
The Doctor, similarly winded, takes a moment to respond. She's not so sure, herself; it had been her fault that Yaz and Ryan were captured in the first place. She shouldn't have let them wander alone around a market notorious for alien trafficking.
The Doctor watches Ryan disappear into the depths of the TARDIS, buying herself some time as she decides how upfront to be. More than anything she is glad that Yaz is alright but she had been terrified for a moment that she'd never see her again and the panic was new. New and, in itself, terrifying.
Yaz senses her hesitation.
"I trusted you to get us out," she amends, but her word choice just makes things worse and the Doctor shakes her head.
She can't help but think of Bill. Bill had trusted her. And Bill was dead. The thought of something similar happening to Yaz - of Yaz dying - makes her falter and nausea rolls through her stomach.
But Yaz is waiting for a response of some kind and Yaz deserves to know what she's thinking. It's only fair.
"I don't always," the Doctor admits. "Things can go wrong, Yaz. I can't always protect you the way I should."
She leaves it there; to expand on the numerous ways in which things could end in disaster would be to accept their reality and the Doctor isn't quite ready to do that yet. They have many adventures ahead of them. At least, she hopes they do.
The Doctor shrugs the thought off like an unwanted coat and her head dips imperceptibly in grief, both real and imagined, but Yaz, wonderful Yaz, notices. Of course she does.
A warm hand encounters her own and the contact stirs something deep inside her. Her hearts clench.
"You try your best, though. And that's all we can ask for. I'm not your responsibility, Doctor."
The sentiment is simple but effective. The Doctor often feels like she has borne the weight of the universe on her shoulders and it can be exhausting. But part of her wants to reply and say that Yaz very much is her responsibility. The part of her that feels something more than simply protective over Yasmin Khan. The part she has been ignoring for months, now.
She chances a look at Yaz's face and sees nothing but a beautiful, open honesty there. Before she can reply, Yaz is tugging on her hand and leading her to the kitchen.
"Come on, I know I could do with a cup of tea and I reckon you could, too."
Yaz does not let go of her hand and for the first time in many years, the Doctor willingly opens herself up to the cascade of emotions she has been keeping at bay. And she's glad that Yaz is doing the talking because she is speechless in their wake.