URGENT NOTE: As you may know, the BBC starts shooting the 50th anniversary special this week. If you'd like to see a proper tribute to Sarah Jane in the special, please consider signing the petition at www dot ipetitions dot com / petition/sarah-jane-smith-dr-who-tribute (automatic link removed because we don't want to break any rules) and passing it on to any groups you belong to. If we all pass it on, we can make a difference! Time (ironically) is of the essence! Thanks!

We wrote this story some time ago for ourselves, but it seemed appropriate to post it today in view of the sad, sad news.

In loving memory of Elisabeth Sladen.

You will be missed.

The Doctor stared out at the stars. The TARDIS console glowed, but just slightly. It wouldn't be long now.

Thirteen lives, twelve regenerations, 3528 years. He was tired, and for the first time since his first life, he was old, both in body and spirit.

He'd thought often about what he would do when he got to this point. Would he rail against fate? Would he be like the Master, trying always to get one more regeneration? Would he regret the things he'd done?

These thoughts had come more often lately. It was how he had known he was coming to the end. The Last of the Time Lords. It would all die with him. The laws of time. Who would flaunt them when he was gone? No-one.

He tried to tell himself to stop thinking about it now, because he knew what came next. After he stopped thinking about what would happen to the universe, he would start thinking about what would happen to him. And that was too frightening.

He'd been lonely all his lives, with the exception of one blissful period in his fourth. Never having anyone he could really connect with, never having anyone to really share with. Oh, sure, he'd tried. But there was no one like her.

His sweet, sweet, Sarah Jane. She was the only one who had ever really touched his hearts. When he was with her, all things were possible - and for a Time Lord, that was saying something.

He'd been truly happy with her. Now, eternity with her ... well, that would be heaven.

"Would it?"

He looked around. No-one was there. He wasn't, in fact, even sure he'd actually heard the question. What was he thinking about, again? Oh yes. Heaven.

He wasn't sure he believed in heaven. Wasn't sure what he really believed, actually, and he realized with a start it was a little late to be thinking about it. Or perhaps it was just the right time.

He'd been around humans so much in his lives that some of their spiritual concepts couldn't have helped but rubbed off on him. He wondered, idly, if there was a God who dealt out reward and retribution in the afterlife, which would he merit? He'd done some horrible things in his lives. He shut his eyes against the memories of them.

But Sarah Jane would have reminded him of all the good he'd done. There she was again. He smiled at the thought of her. She would remind him of all the people he'd saved, all the planets that were living in harmony because of him. Of the Earth, defended by him for so long. She'd tell him he deserved heaven.

He hoped so. Because if there was a heaven, surely, eventually, she would be there. And then ... oh, the places they would go! He thought about that. An eternity with Sarah Jane. Time to go anywhere with her. Without worrying about something happening to her.

"Would you want that?"

"Of course!" he shouted into the void. "More than anything," he said, more quietly this time. "I love her. She's my soul."

The TARDIS console finally blinked out. She was dead. And so, he realized, was he. The stars, the blackness of space faded to white, a blinding white, and then ...

A corridor. A long, long corridor, with doors at both ends. He could see no one, but he knew someone was with him. Was it the one he'd heard? "Are you there?"

"I am."

"What is this place?" he asked, looking for something, anything that would give him a clue.

"Eternity."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "A bit cramped for that, isn't it?"

"Through that door."

"This door here?" he asked, not touching the knob.

"That door."

This seemed too simple. "So I just ... step through this door into eternity."

"Yes."

"Alone?" He wasn't liking the sound of this.

"You have only what you bring with you."

He rummaged around in his pockets. Sonic screwdriver, Jelly Babies, a few assorted odds and ends likely to be useful at some point. But something important was missing. No, SOMEONE very important. "What about Sarah Jane?"

"You have only what you bring with you."

"I'm bringing Sarah Jane with me," the Doctor said, as though that were obvious.

"You have only what you bring with you."

"Well fine, then. I'm just going to wait for her!" he shouted, and sat down on the floor, cross-legged. Of course, he realized, that could be a very long time. Well, she was worth the wait.

A little while later, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He stood and started down the hall. "Sarah!" he called. "Sarah, where are you?" He could see the door to eternity. Beyond that door was a heaven full of opportunity - a heaven he wanted to share with Sarah, to show her.

That was it. He wanted to spend eternity showing her all the things he should have shown her before. He wanted to see joy in her eyes forever. To make her eternally happy. "Sarah!"

The other door. Could it be...? He headed down the corridor towards the other door. "Sarah!" he called again. Finally he reached the door and opened it.

Inside was heaven.

Sarah Jane Smith lay quietly in her bed. She was exhausted. In fact she couldn't remember when she had ever felt this tired before. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She could feel herself drifting off. She could hear some one calling her off in the distance.

The voice became clearer as she sat up to hear it. The door to her room opened and there smiling with an impossibly wide grin was the Doctor. "What? Still in bed," he said with a surprised tone in his voice. "Don't you know that I've been waiting for you?"

"You, waiting for me, don't be silly, Doctor. I'm the one who's been waiting for you all this time," she said as she got out of bed. "As a matter of fact, you have a lot of explaining to do. I want to know why it's taken you so long to come back to me."

"I haven't been gone that long, it just seems that way to you because you don't have the same concepts of time and space that I do," he said as he took her hand and smiled warmly into her eyes. "Fancy an adventure?" he asked, a challenge in his voice.

"With you, always," she smiled up at him. It felt so good to be with him again after all these years. Then she grew sad.

"Are you frowning? That's not like you Sarah Jane," he scolded her.

"Doctor," she asked him warily. "How long are you going to stay this time?"

"Oh, I don't know," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "How long would you like me to stay?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said teasingly. She rolled her eyes upwards and she seemed lost in thought. "How about always? That would suit me," she laughed.

"You know, always sounds just about right to me too. Yes, I think it sounds perfect." With his arms around her waist, he picked her up and swung her around for a moment. "Would you like that, my Sarah Jane," he said softly.

"Oh, yes, I certainly would," she replied. She suddenly felt warm all over. She loved it when he spoke to her like that. That soft deep voice of his could talk her into anything.

"Where would you like to go, name the place and I'll take you there," he said as he took her hand in his and they started out the door.

"Hmm, how about someplace warm with a beach and a soft sea breeze? Someplace with no bug eyed monsters where we could sit all day and just relax and enjoy each other's company. Where you can explain to me where you've been all these years and why you haven't come back before now. Bet you can't manage that," she wrinkled her nose at him.

He stopped and looked at her before they headed out the door. He stroked her head lovingly. "I promise you my dear sweet Sarah, from this moment on, we're going to spend all of our time together." He pulled her close to him as if he would never let her go. He kissed her gently but with such love that she was swept off her feet.

When he finally pulled away, Sarah was so moved that she almost fell down. She looked at herself in the mirror by the door. "Oh look at me Doctor, I'm a mess, my hair is all disheveled," she exclaimed. "I should go back and brush it."

The Doctor ran his hand through her hair and played with it. "Leave it Sarah, I promise you that in your entire life, you have never looked more beautiful than you do right now. In fact, you look positively radiant."

Sarah's eyes met his and she was filled with love for him. "I know I feel wonderful right now Doctor." She offered him her hand. "Lead on, and I'll go where ever you take me."

Smiling, he took her hand and led her out the door.

"I'm sorry Mr. Smith," Doctor Mantis told Luke. "We did everything we could for your mother. Considering her age, I have to say I'm surprised she managed to hang on as long as she did."

"She was waiting for someone," Luke said softly as he gently brushed a stray strand of hair from his Mother's face.

Luke's wife and children were crying, but Luke looked at his mother and smiled. The expression on her face was a happy one. In fact, she looked radiant.

"Oh Luke," said his wife as she looked over at Sarah Jane's body. "She looks so peaceful and happy."

"She is," Luke said as he carefully put the hand that he had been holding when she passed away down. "The Doctor finally came back for her. She's walking with him in eternity right now."