Doctor Who: A Long Time, Quite Possibly Forever

Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all of its characters, locations, etc. belong to their respective owners; I'm just borrowing. No copyright infringement intended!

Author's Note: To honor the memory of Elisabeth Sladen, who lives on beyond her life in the hearts and words of those who loved her.

(unrelated to tribute-y things, praying for Boston today.)

ovo

"So, Doctor," Sarah Jane asked as he folded his long body into the seat opposite her, a tea-tray balanced on his hands, "do you think that I'll always be here with you, on the TARDIS?"

The Doctor poured their tea and popped a few jelly babies into his mouth while he contemplated this. "Now, that's a hard question, Sarah. I may know all of time and space, but I can't see my future, you know. You might decide to leave me!"

"Why I would never!" She took a dainty sip of her tea and smiled at him. "But I know; that's why I asked what you thought, not what you knew."

"Ah. Right." Another few jelly babies (this was definitely turning into a multi-mouthful problem). "I do think you're going to be here a while, for any rate," he said finally with a shrug. "Quite possibly forever."

Sarah Jane laughed, and it was a beautiful sound. "Forever?" she repeated. "Now that is quite a long time; are you sure I've packed enough?"

"Well, we can always go shopping," he reminded her, the corners of his mouth turned down in that way of his; the thoughtful grimace, she thought of it as. "I can take you to Paris in the twenties, or Rome at the height of the Roman empire, or the pleasure planet of Jaz in the year 8515."

"Jazz like the music?"

"No, Jaz! With only one Z, really Sarah. Must I explain every new planet that we visit?"

She let out another burst of laughter. "I believe that's part of the point, Doctor."

"Well, so it is. Silly me, forgetting that bit of things." He grinned at her. "But I do believe that you're going to be with me forever, or the closest thing to it."

And she was. Eventually she stopped her travels, lived on Earth, made a life and had a son, and the Doctor moved on. But his Sarah Jane was there in that little blue box until the end of days; because people never really leave the TARDIS, do they?

fin.