A/N - Many thanks to Rickmanlover24601; her comments on one of my other WIPs inspired this little ficlet.
Disclaimer - Nothing is mine...though I would like David Tennant for Christmas. Please.
It had been going on for centuries.
Without fail, every time he took on a new companion, the TARDIS, with all the enthusiasm of a small child, would ask The Question.
Barbara Wright, a schoolteacher from the sixties.
"Doctor, can I keep her?"
"No," he said with a small smile.
So the TARDIS waited.
Zoe Herriot, quick-witted enough to almost keep up with him.
"Doctor, can I keep her?"
"I don't think so," he replied, patting the console.
And the TARDIS waited.
Liz Shaw, from UNIT.
"Doctor, can I keep her?"
"No," he rolled his eyes.
Still, the TARDIS waited.
And so it continued, with all of the others to follow…Romana, Tegan Jovanka, Peri Brown, Ace, Grace Holloway; all of them. The Question never changed, nor did his answer.
Then Rose Tyler came aboard, and the TARDIS asked.
"Doctor? Can I keep this one?"
He seemed puzzled and somewhat uncertain when she asked him this time.
"I'm…I'm not sure."
And the TARDIS had hope. This one would be different.
After his regeneration, after Rose had saved them all, she asked again. "Doctor, can we keep her? Can we keep Rose?"
His answer finally changed. "Yeah," he said with an amused grin. "Yeah, I think we will."
But then, all too soon, Rose was lost to them. And the TARDIS wept with her Doctor.
ooOOoo ooOOoo ooOOoo
The atmosphere was very different when Martha Jones came on board. It was late at night, maybe a month after she'd become his companion, when the TARDIS spoke to him.
"Doctor?" she said quietly.
He braced himself for the inevitable question. "Yes?"
"I don't really want to keep them anymore. I want the other one back."
The Doctor inhaled sharply as his chest tightened, and he leaned against one of the bulkheads.
"So do I, Love," he whispered. "So do I."
A/N #2 - All together now..."AAAWWWWWWW". Reviews are crack. They keep me going, so please hit the little button!