Chapter Text
Yaz rustled awake, a frown of sleepy protest on her face.
Her body had one idea in mind as a result; ten more minutes of sleep would do her good. With such a comfortable bed, how could she not feel that way? The arm draped across her was also a valid reason to stick around. But alas, her brain disagreed. As it always tended to be in these situations. Annoyingly so.
It reminded her that it was indeed time to wake up.
It wasn't an alarm, thankfully, but the sun's gentle rays glistening inside the bedroom that let her know it was time to get up. A peaceful reminder that it was, it was a reminder, nonetheless. One she knew she couldn't avoid any longer once she made the mistake of glancing at the time.
6 AM
Her Nani's birthday party would be in precisely five hours, forever punctual that she was. Even as she reached her nineties. With all she'd done over the years, it made sense, though. She instilled that mentality into her mum, who instilled it into her. Sonya didn't quite get it, however, but they didn't need to mention that.
Thus, it was a special one today. After everything her Nani had been through, the fact that she made it here was something to behold indeed. It wasn't a common thing to reach such an age, let alone after the life she'd lived to get here. Nani would call it her being stubborn, but Yaz saw it as her still having something to give to the world.
So, Yaz felt she had to help make this special.
"Happy birthday!"
"I said no fuss."
"You have to celebrate your birthday, Nani."
Honestly, she understood the hesitation; Yaz herself would prefer to celebrate her birthdays quietly too. But recently, that became a bit more difficult for her. But not out of anything negative, quite the opposite, actually. And it was the same for Nani. They wanted to celebrate her because they loved her, and that meant a lot of extra preparation.
Nani's birthday gift had to be retrieved from the jeweller – a lovely painting of her and Prem on their wedding day encased in a locket – and wrapped up in due course. She and her Nani had had a few conversations about Prem over the years, with Yaz learning she was only one her Nani talked to about him. She and her family were hosting so they had to prepare the food as well – the extended family decided to show up this time – which would take a while. And well, they needed to get Nani to the house as well. That was paramount, obviously.
It was a lot, yes, but she didn't intend to do this alone.
While the sun had graciously woken her up from her previously undisturbed slumber, there was one other person who wasn't as keen to get up. Still fast asleep, unaffected by the incoming light. Yaz cautiously removed the draped arm and placed it onto the bed, turning over to see the face of the other woman in bed with her. A sparkling grin etched across Yaz's face; all that time of being so allergic to sleep back in the day, and now she was one of the heaviest sleepers that Yaz knew. One of many ways things had changed for them.
"Sweetie." Yaz cooed, gently nudging her. "Sweetie, wake up."
She received something in between a groan and a moan in response. Yaz was unable to piece what it truly was, but she knew that it meant that she didn't want to be woken up. Again, something Yaz could sympathise with. Admittedly, she felt they both earned a break after the last few years with how hard they'd been working.
"Come on, we gotta start getting ready." Yaz continued, her tone a bit more urgent.
"...Five more minutes." came a mumble.
Yaz was tempted to give her that five minutes, but she knew that five minutes would inevitably turn into ten, which would turn into fifteen, etc. So, much as she knew it wasn't going to be appreciated, she had to nip that in the bud right away. One more go should do it, she reckoned.
"Doctor..."
That finally did the trick.
The Doctor wearily opened her eyes; her deep green irises staring directly into Yaz's deep hazels. Even in a state of half-consciousness, the Doctor still looked so beautiful. Yaz could truly stare at her forever and ever. It was enough to put a smile on the brunette's face, one which the Doctor repeated without hesitation. It also blunted the annoyed shot that would subsequently come Yaz's way.
"You know, weekends are meant for sleeping in."
Yaz felt she deserved that. Giving a "fair enough" head nod in response. "Any other weekend, I would. Hell, tomorrow I would. But not today. It's Nani's birthday."
The Doctor closed her eyes and sleepily beamed, her words softened by a prior yawn. "Love Umbreen."
Yaz smiled at that one too. Ever since their first encounter with Nani back in the day – and that's not even including time travelling to see her younger self – the Doctor had become very fond of her. She often would keenly come along on visits to see her at the care home she now resided in.
Nani equally appreciated the Doctor and was more than willing to give her blessing when the Doctor asked. Yaz did also try to explain to her that she didn't need to – since she already asked her parents – but the Doctor felt that since no Umbreen meant no Yaz, she had to go straight to the top to get permission.
"So, you know she'd really appreciate us getting there early to get everything ready."
"I do." the Doctor sighed.
Yaz rubbed her on the shoulder affectionately. One last moment before she’d get up out of bed to start the day.
"Big day today."
It was always great when a plan came together.
The Doctor did begrudgingly get out of bed and join Yaz in getting ready, much to her brief annoyance. Everything worked out in good time and the pair were able to get Nani's present and subsequently get everything done. The work at the flat was that of a well-oiled machine; everyone doing their part like they'd done it all before. Because they had, to be fair.
"Najia, you made a very awesome human."
The Doctor had got off on the right foot with her family from the start, well, as right a foot as one can do when dealing with mutant spiders. But in the years to come, things did get a lot simpler. The Doctor became just part of the family; something on which she initially wasn’t super keen. Nothing against her family, but she just wasn't a domestic person. The Doctor did kinda get forced into becoming one, but she adjusted quickly.
It wasn't uncommon to see the Doctor chatting conspiracy theories with her dad (though the ones she mentioned were true), attempting to help Sonya with dating troubles (though her advice of just be like Yaz was ignored) or just cooking with her mum. Thankfully, the kitchen didn't explode when she did that. Not recently, at least.
And of course, she was Nani's favourite granddaughter's favourite partner. It wasn't a long list, in fairness.
So, it was all worth though to see the look on her Nani's face when she came in with her dad; the way her eyes lit up once everyone greeted her. Everyone deserved to see how much they're loved, especially her. She was given pride of place, but to be honest, it was a general family get-together in a way. Cousins, aunts, and uncles that Yaz didn't see regularly, all wanting to learn about how she was doing.
Of course, she'd just mention that she'd been busy but that she was doing well. Then she'd introduce the Doctor, and she'd take over the conversation and allow Yaz to slip away.
There was naturally a hustle and a bustle to hang out with Nani – cousin Phoebe was particularly happy to see her, in fact – but Yaz knew she'd get her time with her eventually. She was the favourite granddaughter, after all, a fact she wished she could brag about more often. She didn't really see Sonya as often as much any more. Life just moved on, it happened. So, she knew as well that these days with her Nani will not be as frequent as they once were either.
She'd wait to see her, but she'd cherish the time she had.
As the mid-afternoon soon arrived and the extended family began to clear out, it was Yaz's family that were the last ones standing, so to speak. It was her parents' flat, after all. Overall, it was a really great party. Everyone had fun, Nani was given lots of gifts, and she managed to steer the Doctor away from any prolonged conversations. Yaz loved her, but she could go on and on. Sometimes, it was great, less so when it was an uncle who was clearly trying to duck out and head home.
By the time those family members had left, it'd just become like any other normal time the Khans would come together in recent years. Sonya was with her dad, the latter probably chatting her ear off about some conspiracy she found – she'd become very fascinated with aliens after the Hallamshire incident – and the Doctor was with her mum, doing the dishes and clearing up.
And Yaz?
Well, she was with the woman of the hour. Sitting alone with her as the TV slowly wittered on in the background. There was some football game left on by one of her cousins before they left, but neither were really paying attention to it. They had no need to. Yaz simply had her head gently rested on her Nani's shoulder, fiddling with the ancient watch that had brought them closer than Yaz ever thought possible.
"You want to know about the watch? Really?"
"No. Tell me another time."
She'd already learned about what it truly meant that day, but it'd only grown in importance as the years went on. A symbol of a love that had stayed strong for decades. She'd always kept her Nani and Prem in mind whenever thoughts of the Doctor came around. Well, thoughts that leaned a specific way. She never thought she'd ever find a love like that, but life smiled on her, just like it'd smiled on her Nani all those years ago. The fact that she was able to get more time was not something she looked on lightly, either.
"Are you enjoying yourself, bheti?" Umbreen queried.
A smile rolled across Yaz's lips. "I should be asking you that, Nani."
The nonagenarian batted the assumption away, with a meek hand gesture. "Bah, I don't need much to celebrate. Plus, I was told how hard you worked with all this. With the gift and everything."
The gift that now had pride of place in her Nani's hand; a gift that she'd informed Yaz would be right beside her bed every night. Truthfully, yes, she did work very hard. She spent a lot of time coordinating the efforts of preparation once she arrived at the flat, a force of habit due to her job. But naturally, she didn't complain, got to work, and made sure it all worked out. She wasn't one to brag either, so it made her wonder who told Nani this.
"Couldn't get her to shut up, really." Umbreen chuckled.
She came from two parents who didn't really go on a lot unless they had to, a trait she adopted as well. Plus, Sonya gushing about Yaz to anyone would be more difficult than getting blood from a stone. So, it only left one person and one person only.
The smile stuck around, alongside a scoff and a shake of the head from Yaz.
"Wonder how long she's been holding that in." the brunette noted.
Despite all the amazing things she'd done and said, the Doctor still felt Yaz deserved pride of place in her life. She'd sooner gush about Yaz making a good sandwich than about herself stopping a Dalek. Well, most of the time. The Doctor was still prone to the odd personal exaggeration from time to time. But she'd rather talk about Yaz than herself usually, which was something the brunette still couldn't believe.
How could the Doctor save the universe multiple times, but her biggest concern be whether she bought Yaz's favourite ice cream from the shop? She didn't know, but she was more than happy to indulge in it. She knew very much that she felt the same way about the Doctor.
"She really loves you, you know?"
Yaz nodded, a faint blush heating her cheekbones. "I love her too."
"That type of love is so...rare." Umbreen told her.
She then gently wrapped her hand around Yaz's forearm, attempting to get her attention. Though Yaz was already hanging onto her every word.
"Don't ever let it go."
Yaz shook her head. "I won't. I promise."
She nearly didn't get it five years ago; she wasn't ever letting go of it anytime soon.
As the sun began to hang lower in the sky, it was such a peaceful moment. No one could argue that. Yaz felt like she was a kid again. Hanging with her nani while her family was away doing other things. But this time, she was a lot older, a lot wiser and her future seemed a lot brighter. That Yaz took solace in her nani for all the nightmares that went round her head, but this Yaz could confide in her nani about all the dreams that had become reality.
It all seemed so lovely. Even the birds were chirping so sweetly.
Yaz couldn't suppress a yawn that soon came out, but she was okay with it, really. She had worked hard to get all this perfect for her favourite grandmother, and she felt she deserved a break. So maybe she could just take a little nap on her shoulder, just for a few minutes.
To dream of a job well done. To dream of times still to come. To dream of –
"What? No, yes, sorry, what?" the Doctor blinked in stunned confusion, her head on the console floor.
Not that she would ever begrudge anyone from taking naps, but they were usually for beds. Sofas and chairs could be included, but usually, beds. They tended to not be on the floor, let alone the floor of the console room. Well, not always. She and Yaz had the mattress there once upon a time, and it was made use of, but it wasn't here now. And even if it was, she was not on it. She was on the floor.
Why was she on the floor?
A question the Doctor did have experience asking herself, but it was usually after she'd been knocked out by an enemy. Or captured by an enemy. She assumed that the TARDIS would have warned her to that possibility, so she didn't expect that was why she was there. So that begged a more specific question then.
Why was she on the floor of the console room?
She quickly scrambled to her feet and looked around, immediately feeling woozy as she did so. She took a second to regain her balance and catch herself; the headache that invaded her brain didn't help either. Of course, she was feeling out-of-sorts. Why could she never just wake up completely fine when these things happened? It was really annoying when she was trying to figure out why the hell she was asleep. What wasn't as annoying – but still preventive for her task – was the arrival of one of the two other inhabitants of the ship.
"Doctor?" Yaz called out.
Yaz walked in, looking a lot less out-of-sorts than her alien friend but confused, nonetheless. The Doctor imagined her current state probably was a good reason for that. Which made sense with her next question.
"Are you alright? You look like you just woke up." Yaz continued.
"Funny you say that." the Doctor touched the base of her neck. "Because I just did. Only I don't remember falling asleep."
She wasn't likely to have taken a midday nap. It wasn't her style. Even sleeping in the night was a challenge most times.
Yaz's eyes widened in response. "Doctor, I –"
The Time Lord had already turned towards the console, though, facing the screen of the scanner. She neatened up her hair and gave her face a good vigorous rub to remove any kind of sleep that still remained. It wasn't pretty, but it'd do for now.
"I also had the weirdest dream!" the Doctor then commented.
"Doctor –"
That was somehow the weirdest part of this. Even more than her randomly falling asleep in the console room. Her dreams could get really strange, but this one? This one topped them. She didn't not like it, but it wasn't what she expected at all.
"And not to go all Wizard of Oz on it, but you were there too." the Doctor turned back to her, taking a second to glance around. "Your family was there too! And a bunch of people I didn't know. Honestly, I didn't know you had so many uncles, aunts and cousins."
Yaz scoffed, rolling her eyes. "We don't talk much." But she quickly turned her concerned eyes back to the blonde. "Doctor, wait, I –"
But the blonde walked away again, attempting to figure out what that was all about.
The Doctor always had dreams, of course. Some good, some bad. The latter more often than she'd like. But they'd always correspond to something in her life that made sense. A recent adventure, an encounter with someone, but this one was awfully different to what came before. It wasn't like it was something that had been affecting her, she thought.
…She was a terrible liar even to herself.
"She likes you."
"I like her, too."
"No, I mean... she likes you."
" I don't understand what you're saying, Dan."
"I think you do. But for some reason you pretend to me, and to her, that you don't."
She knew he was right, obviously. But it wasn't that simple, no matter how he felt it was.
It was times like this that humanity simply didn't understand. With all she had to deal with, the warning that was now over her head, how could she possibly focus on anything other than protecting those around her? She had to make sacrifices to protect the universe and those she loved, and if that meant losing out on being with someone that she felt so strongly about, then so be it. That's the way her life was. The team structure had remained mountainous with her at the summit, and the peak had only got that much higher since then.
But that wasn't something to focus on right now. Especially since it tended to take over her brain usually, and she didn't need that right now. There were more pertinent things in her life. Like whatever in the world that dream was or why she even had it in the first place.
"I don't usually just nod off like that. Well, I say nod off, last thing I remember was standing at the console, and then I was on the floor! If only I could figure out what happe –"
"Doctor!"
The blonde turned back towards Yaz, a frown settling over the brunette's face. The Doctor felt an immediate pang of regret, realising her mind had been on her own problems the entire time. She must look like a mad woman to Yaz right now. Well, more than usual. She quickly walked over towards her, her mouth drooping into an unintentional pout.
"Sorry, what's up?"
Yaz's face softened with the apology, which made the Doctor feel better. What didn't make her feel better was Yaz's subsequent question.
"Were we...together in the dream?"
It was a frankly astonishing assumption to make. Not because it was ludicrously untrue, but because it was quite the opposite, actually.
Scarily accurate.
The Doctor's mouth froze into a gape, unsure of what to say next. She had a good idea of what Yaz was going to say next instead, though; there weren't many sentence continuations you could get from her question. So, the Doctor braced for what was to come.
"Because...I think we had the same dream."
The Doctor closed her eyes and sighed. She couldn't say she didn't see it coming.
But maybe Yaz just thought she had the same dream, though. Maybe there were similar aspects but not being exactly the same. At least, she hoped.
"...What exactly was in the dream?"
"Well – " Yaz scratched at her skin, taking breath in between explanations. "— W-we woke up together in bed and then got ready. We did some errands after that and got a painting in a special frame of Prem and Nani for –"
"Her birthday?"
Yaz nodded quickly.
Okay, shared dreams. That was a new one for them. Considering what they'd just been through, that said a lot, too.
There was no way to investigate whether this was some kind of epidemic, however; Dan had stepped out for a bit to head home. Although, he wasn't involved in the dream. Was that because he also wasn't here? That she didn't know. There had to be a reason for this, but at the moment, she just didn't know what it was. She didn't know a lot about what was going on, actually. And she hated not knowing.
"Doctor, is that normal? Having the same dream?" Yaz inquired, her eyes evolving into a squint of curiosity.
"Well –" the Doctor scrunched, her eyebrows knitted in a wince. " – Scientifically, it's not. According to most human studies. Which might be ignoring one vital part in this."
"What's that?"
"I'm not human!"
Yaz gave a nod denoting "Fair enough." for that one.
The Doctor, however, wasn't quite finished. She walked over towards the console and began tapping into the TARDIS' database. Hoping that her girl could shine a light on what was going on. The TARDIS knew almost everything, so she had to know something about this. It would be a bit challenging, but it was better than not knowing.
"In the wider universe however, oh there's loads of ways to share dreams." the blonde noted, before landing on one example. Beckoning Yaz to watch. "Direct encounters with a Kantrofarri, for instance."
Yaz cringed, looking at the crab-like, unsettling looking alien. For good reason, in the Doctor's mind. Kantrofarri weren't a good sight in the slightest. But they did induce a dream state when they latched onto you.
Yaz would put forward a very pertinent point, however. "We've never met anything like that before, though."
"Really?" the Doctor questioned as Yaz nodded.
Maybe that was with another companion. Sometimes the adventures did bleed together more than she would like.
Okay, so change of plan then. She began searching through once again. Maybe it wasn't something with direct contact. Maybe it was exposure to something: like a gas or the atmosphere or even a liquid. She didn't always know the side effects of what they'd eat or drink.
"Ah!" the Doctor noticed, gesturing to the screen again. "Drars H2. Prolonged exposure can cause shared psychic visions. Usually kicks in after a few weeks."
That made sense. She definitely remembered them going there once and after a while, it finally kicked in and they shared the same dream. Simple explanation. You had to be thankful for the easy wins. Why that dream though, the Doctor still didn't know, but she was focusing on figuring out the cause rather than the effect right now. Now she just had to synthesise an antidote of some kind. Not that they were in trouble or anything, but just to be sure.
At least she would have, if Yaz didn't unfortunately drop cold water on that theory as well.
"But the last time we went there was with Ryan and Graham and that was –"
"Very much more than a few weeks ago...right."
The Doctor then gently bounced her head off the console keyboard. This was getting to be incredibly frustrating. Those two were the most obvious answers. Now, she had to go to the less obvious, which meant she needed to look a bit harder. Not how she wanted to spend her day, in all honesty.
There had to be something.
The universe was massive enough that at some point they would have run into something or someone that affected them like this. Her mind briefly reminded her of an issue with Amy and Rory that she’d rather forget, but she made sure the TARDIS would expel those crystals if they ever came back. There had to be an explanation, there was never not an explanation. She just hoped it be at least somewhat easy to find.
The Doctor rose up with a sigh and began to scroll through once again.
"Maybe I just need to make a note of where we've been recently. Shouldn't be too hard to remember, we've not gone a lot of places in the last couple weeks. But it would be a lot easier if there wasn't birds chirping in my head!"
They'd been getting louder and louder the last couple minutes, and it was beginning to distract her. Soon enough, she was sure it'd get to the annoying phase, too. If it wasn't already. She felt she had an idea of exactly what was making it, and that didn't help her mood either.
She looked up to the ceiling, her angered gaze set for one only. "I don't know why you thought we needed sound effects but –"
"Doctor, I don't think it's the TARDIS doing that."
The blonde stopped in her tracks, looking towards Yaz once again. The tone of her voice indicated fear, and that was never good. Never, ever, ever good.
"It's like it's in my head, like being played directly into it." Yaz continued.
"Same here..." the Doctor noted.
Shared dreams were one thing, but they were wide awake right now. And she was sure she had no birds in the TARDIS. Certainly, none whose calls were played directly into their brains. But that was the least of their problems in the Doctor's mind. As far as she knew, there were at least 11,000 species of bird on Earth alone and millions more across the known universe.
So how in the world was it that she was hearing the exact same bird call that she heard in the –
– dream.
The Doctor suddenly woke up again, this time in bed. But not her bed. Well, she wasn't sure. It felt a lot like her bed. But it didn't look anything like what she had on the TARDIS.
An ornate silver metal headboard, clean white linen sheets covering her and the bed. It looked a lot more normal, average, human. Not her style at all. So why did she feel a deep sense of memory with it? Like she was there picking it out. Like she was the one who made up the bed.
She confusingly ran her hand through her hair, trying to figure out what was bothering her so muc –
Why did she have so much hair?
She grasped a bit of it and brought it towards her face, her eyes now wide. Why was her hair now brown? And whose hand was now on her ches –
"Ah!" the Doctor screamed, as Yaz followed suit soon after.
Both women scrambled out of the bed they'd inhabited earlier on today; the Doctor taking time to catch her breath. But no, she wasn't on this earlier. She was on the TARDIS, in the console room. So why did she remember this place so vividly?
The Doctor remembered rolling out the grey rug on the floor with the purple flowery pattern, she remembered being there when the handyman installed that twinkly crystal chandelier above her head. She was there when that TV first arrived, and she caught hell trying to work out how to install it. She painted those walls TARDIS blue, she helped buy those brown curtains. Everything in this room had their moments with friends and family, all she could still recall.
But she never lived this life, right?
The Doctor looked towards Yaz for an answer, but she was looking outside at that very moment. Distracted, but the Doctor didn't blame her. Her answer when she turned round wouldn't help the Doctor's wayward mind either, however.
"I just dreamed we were back on the TARDIS." Yaz scratched her head. "It was so weird. It was like –"
Yaz's face quickly fell once she saw the look on the Doctor's face; a look that showed recognition that just made this situation even more complicated than it originally was. Because of course it would. Why wasn't anything simple for them?
" – You had the same dream, didn't you?"
The Doctor nodded slowly before beginning to pace up and down the room.
Okay, what was the dream then? It clearly had to be this. She hasn't been in this place before, and she certainly had never been in a situation where Yaz's hand has been...there. She can vividly remember being on the TARDIS, trying to figure out if what they'd been a part of was a dream. But this felt so vivid to her, too. Like she'd known it for ages.
Now, she was getting really annoyed, and she didn't like being annoyed. It made figuring things out harder because she couldn't focus, and she really needed to focus here. She also imagined it was making Yaz dizzy, hence why she suddenly stopped the Doctor in her tracks by grabbing her shoulders tightly.
"Doctor, stop!" Yaz took a deep breath, capturing the Doctor's eyes in a stare. Normally a lovely gesture, but it was a gaze filled with concern more than just love. "What's going on? Weren't we just saying the same thing?"
"We were." the Doctor spoke, her eyes on the bedside table.
She broke off from Yaz and picked up a framed photo of the pair of them, a photo she didn't remember ever taking. The Doctor had never worn that button-down black shirt and those blue jeans. She can't remember ever wearing jeans, period. She couldn't remember Yaz having her hair out like that.
And the Doctor certainly did not remember having brown hair on her head.
She'd thought about experimenting sometimes, but she never went through with it. Yaz would usually put a stop to it and remind her of what could happen. Things did tend to explode around her more than she'd like, she supposed. So why could she remember Yaz finally giving in? Why could she remember the smell of hair dye and Yaz's frustrated grunts as the Doctor insisted they do it on their own? Why could she then remember sheepishly wearing a hat as they went to the hairdressers to get it fixed?
Ugh, her head was beginning to hurt.
"Two sets of memories in my head. Making things confusing." the Doctor lamented, her lips pressing into a white slash.
"It's like two different lives." Yaz crossed her arms, equally frustrated. "I can remember doing things I never did, but I can feel what I felt doing them. Is this some kind of time travel thing?"
A valid theory, but not a correct one. Time travel could involve many things but hopping between different bodies was not one of them. They couldn't just shift into different versions like this. If they were time travelling, at least one of their selves would stay the same, and they'd just go forward as they were. Plus, what were they even time travelling with? The TARDIS never went off, and she wasn't wearing any vortex manipulator. And she was very sure that time travel didn't involve birds chirping.
No, this was something much, much more complicated. Unnervingly so.
"I wish it was. No, this is something completely different."
It didn't put Yaz in a better mood, but the Doctor didn't expect it to. She didn't feel better, either. In fact, she felt a bit worse in all honesty.
The Doctor rested the picture back onto the bedside table and walked towards a calendar, taking a glance at it. There was a date circled with hearts, entitled “Big Day!!!” Something about it seemed familiar but the Doctor couldn’t place it. All she knew was that it was six months from now. Even if she didn’t know how she knew when now was either.
The Doctor turned back to Yaz intently, her face a picture of seriousness. She walked towards her, taking her by the face, grasping her cheeks ever so kindly and lovingly. A gesture she'd never done before but felt like it'd been something she'd done hundreds of times.
"Trust nothing. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear or feel."
"But we're awake now, aren't we?"
"Yeah, we thought we were awake on the TARDIS too." the Doctor reminded.
"But we're home." Yaz spoke, with such conviction, such belief.
It sounded like someone who genuinely believed this was their home, their life. The Doctor could sympathise. Whatever this was, whatever forces were at play, she couldn't deny that part of her really did feel like this was her home too. That this was her life. Much as her brain knew this couldn't be real, her heart absolutely felt that it was.
Wait.
She placed a hand on the right side of her chest. She'd felt off since they came here, but she assumed it was just the transference from one place to another. It may still be, but the journey here relieved her of one vital thing.
She only had one heart.
The Doctor shook her head of it, the only thing she could do at that moment. She couldn't focus on that now; it'd just make things more complicated when they still had to deal with this problem. And she already had her issues with that problem!
"We're home, and we're also dreaming, trouble is, which is which?" the Doctor wondered out loud. "Are we flashing forwards...or backwards?"
She walked over towards the bedroom mirror as Yaz followed, the pair standing in front of it. Taking in the picture that was this reality, whether dream or not. Yaz looked down towards her hand and cautiously brought it up to the mirror, her eyes widened. The Doctor doing just the same at the same time. Because she noticed it too.
In fact, she wondered how they only just realised it now.
"Hold on tight...this is gonna be a tricky one."
They were engaged.