Disclaimer: Doctor Who (c) BBC.

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Peri felt lost.

They had left Jaconda and taken the twins home, then the Doctor had landed the TARDIS on some uninhabited planet and declared they were going fishing. The old Doctor hadn't seemed interested in this at all, and was just another thing that made her miss him so much.

It was however, quite nice to just be sitting around and relaxing after everything that had happened.

The Doctor's fishing rod had been neglected for a good five minutes now, and lying on the bank of the river with the TARDIS a few meters away, he seemed to be sleeping. Peri wondered if it had anything to do with what had happened, since she was still quite afraid he would have another one of those fits, or if he was just genuinely tired. Either way, watching him brought back memories of the last time she had seen him lying down, except then he had the face of the Doctor she knew, but was dying from the poison.

She started to cry softly.

It didn't wake the Doctor, who just slept on.

He was still there, but it was as if she was mourning for him.

A soft voice cut into her revere "Hello, my dear"

Sniffing, Peri looked up to see a man watching her. He had a panama hat, a long cream coat and trousers, and was smiling in a way that reminded her of somebody. The jumper he was wearing caught her eye, covered with question marks and resembled something her granny would have given her for Christmas, and the shirt collar peeking out from underneath had a question mark on each lapel.

"Who are you?" she swallowed, trying to force the tears back "T..This place is uninhabited"

"Indeed" the man smiled "And yet you are here, he is, and so am I"

"H..How did you get here?"

"The same way you did"

Peri frowned "You hijacked a ride on the TARDIS? But we didn't see you enter"

"No, no, not exactly that" the man corrected her, sitting down and placing an umbrella beside him. It also had a question mark, this time as the handle.

"I don't understand" Peri rubbed her eyes. They felt puffy from crying, but somehow she didn't feel bad that the man noticed "You got here the same way we did, but you weren't with us?"

"Exactly, now what would be the only way that could happen?"

Peri thought for a moment, then blinked in surprise "You have a TARDIS?"

"Very good, Perpugilliam" the man nodded "You have a fine mind in there"

"That's not what he said" she looked across at the Doctor, who slept on.

"And I am truly sorry for that fact"

"What do you..." Peri stopped "How did you know my name"

"Think, Peri, use that mind of yours and work out the answer" the man instructed with a grin.

There was something niggling at the back of her mind, and she struggled to catch it. This man had a TARDIS, he knew what her name was and the way the Doctor had behaved.

He had question marks all over his clothing.

She looked at him, startled.

"Doctor?"

He clapped his hands softly "Well done, Peri, well done!"

"But I still don't understand, I mean, you're him and he's you, right?"

The Doctor, not her Doctor, nodded "That's correct"

"If you remember me, does that mean he'll change into you"

"Not for quite a while, but that's correct as well"

"But how can this happen?"

"You've just dropped the twins off, correct?" the Doctor asked, to which she nodded "Well, did your Doctor explain what was happening to him?"

"He said something about change"

"And not a moment too soon?"

"Yes, that's right"

"That's a process called regeneration, Peri. All Time Lords can do it. When our bodies are too old, or injured, or ill, the cells rejuvenate and restructure into a different form, we become younger, all injuries are healed, all illnesses, including poison, are cured. He, or the body he was in before, had only enough of the bats milk to save you, he could have used it on himself but then you would have died. He, I, could regenerate, so the choice was easy"

"But why did he change inside!" Peri cried out "I could have coped with him looking different, but he doesn't act the same. Why did that happen?"

"Our personalities change, Peri, and that's something we can't control. It is a part of us, just as you change the way you think and feel as you progress from a child to an adult, we change with regeneration. I am truly sorry that he is no longer the same, but he is still there" the Doctor tapped his chest "All the things that made your Doctor himself are within the body he now inhabits, and the traits of both of them rest within me, just as the traits of all the bodies we have had are inside us as we progress. He still has his memories of how he treated you Peri, but you have to understand that regeneration is a very stressful and exhausting time for us. The Doctor you travelled with had a very difficult regeneration from the body he had before, but he had friends who helped him through. He might say that he's stable now, and yes that means you don't have to worry about him attacking you or having fits" Here, the Doctor stopped and looked almost ashamed of himself "But" he continued "Learning to cope with a new body, a new persona, new ways of acting and thinking, that's still something he needs to deal with, and I hope you can help with that"

The Doctor stood up.

"I was very proud to travel with you in that body Peri, you were a guiding beacon for my troubles"

"Were?" Peri frowned "Does that mean I don't travel with you now"

The Doctor looked embarrassed "Should have known I'd make at least one mistake" he composed himself "My race is very long-lived Peri, countless times more than a human could ever be. You would live out your life in what seems a twinkle to me, but we spent good times together Peri, and you'll know when the time is right to part"

"Thank you" Peri paused "Doctor?"

"Hmm?"

Peri stood up and without a moment's hesitation, hugged him.

The Doctor returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her tight.

Peri cried, again, but not for the same reason as before.

The Doctor, this Doctor, had helped her to understand that she hadn't lost him, he was just different, changing as he should. That he had saved her at the expense of his own life, and had to deal with this difference as a consequence.

She drew away, and with the long fingers of one hand he wiped away her tears "There, there, Peri"

He looked at the other Doctor, who had shifted position slightly to his side, the fishing pole almost fully submerged in the water.

"Not one of my better regenerations" he murmured "I must agree with you that he was quite rude"

Peri frowned again "You don't like him?"

"Didn't I, I mean he, complain about his last body?"

"Yes, he said he was too nice?"

"Perhaps a little, but good intentions are as much positive as they can be negative. He has to remember that it was good intentions that led to his regeneration to this body" the Doctor smiled wryly "But I, we - oh my the pronoun confusion" he chuckled "Us, we always have a little bit of disparagement about the body we resided in last. You have to understand, Peri, that we are now in a new body that fits us, and by that preference, the last body can seemed foreign in the look and actions it possessed"

"Sort of like hating the way you behave as a child?"

"On the spot, as always" the Doctor picked up the umbrella and hung it across one arm "Now, I really must be going. I wish I could stay, but I have only the dimmest recollection of seeing myself leave, and I just wanted to make sure you were alright" he watched her "Do you think you are?"

Peri nodded "I do, thank you so much, Doctor"

"Just remember that he isn't as bad as you think, Peri. Remember that some of the traits I possess are carried from him, and from the Doctor you knew before. If you think good of me, then it came from him" the Doctor tipped his hat at her, and went through the clearing to where his TARDIS stood hidden by the trees. Peri couldn't believe she hadn't seen or heard it arrive.

The other Doctor, her Doctor, was sitting up looking rather groggy, but his eyes cleared as he saw the figure just disappearing into the TARDIS.

"Peri!" he cried "How did you move the TARDIS, and who is..." he stopped, then rubbed at his face with a sudden realisation and shouted towards it "Breaking the laws of space and time are a very serious offence!"

"Like you are the pinnacle of upstanding intentions" the other Doctor called back "Take good care of Peri!"

Then he disappeared into the TARDIS, the door shut, and a few moments later both watched as it faded out of existence with that familiar noise.

The Doctor noticed the pole in the water and leapt for it, but watched as the movement sent it sinking into the depths.

He sat down again and looked up as Peri joined him.

"What did he want?"

"Just to talk" Peri replied.

"Ah, good" the Doctor nodded "So, um, I'm guessing a future me?"

Peri nodded.

"Do you know which one?" he waved his hands "No, no, don't tell me, might be catastrophic"

"You mean there's going to be more than another one?"

"Another..." the Doctor thought "seven, that's right seven"

"How many in total?" Peri asked "I mean, at least nine, if there's seven more to come, plus you and...him"

"Thirteen bodies, twelve regenerations, all part and parcel of who I am, Peri"

"Oh" Peri couldn't think of anything more to say "I don't think I could go through with that again"

"And why not?" the Doctor looked affronted "You don't seem at all happy with me as I am now, I would have thought another change might bring something you do like"

"I do like you Doctor!" Peri cried "It's just that I knew the person you were before so well, it's like I'm mourning for him. He told me that you'll act different as well as look different, but that the Doctor I knew is still inside there in a way..." she paused, sniffing "I...I'm just hoping that I'll be able to see that one day"

"Peri..."

"No, don't say it, don't say how horribly nice he was, or be mean about him. Just leave him alone!"

"Peri" he turned her to face him "I won't say any of those things, but if my future self explained what happened to you, then he explained that we often don't like what we were before. I admit there are quite a few things about him that were annoying, but you're right that there were just as many aspects that I admire, and which I hope to keep with me in this body"

"Oh, Doctor, I'm sorry...I'm just being silly again aren't I. This was my fault, if I hadn't been infected then you could have used the bats milk and still be here as you were. Instead you died and it's all my fault. You were right"

"Peri!" the Doctor frowned "What I said was in post-regenerative crisis!"

"Then you admit you weren't fine"

"Well, I, um..." he was momentarily lost for words.

"Your old self never liked to admit when something was wrong with him either" Peri considered "...something you share"

"See, maybe not the same face, but I'm still here. I still remember you and all the adventures we had" the Doctor smiled, not a huge beaming grin like she had begun to know, but a smile oddly reminiscent of the Doctor she had begun travelling with "And yes, I'll admit that this regeneration wasn't easy, but it has stabilised now"

"He did say that" Peri agreed, remembering the future Doctor.

"Well then, if I said that, then it must be true" the Doctor beamed "Now, come on Peri, I think I know of a nice little restaurant in the constellation Elsa Minor that serves a delicious fish that we won't have to catch"

Peri smiled and stood up with his help.

They walked towards the TARDIS, and through the doors. The control room was just as they had left it, though with slight changes made by the Doctor since the regeneration, which, she was surprised to remember had been less than a day before. Idly she wondered what the control room of the future Doctor looked like, he didn't seem as much to want the cold white starkness her Doctor's TARDIS possessed. Maybe she would see it some day.

The Doctor pushed a few buttons and levers, then watched as the time rotor began to move up and down.

Peri walked over to him "Doctor?"

"Hmm, what is it Peri?"

He seemed a little surprised when she hugged him, but relaxed and returned it.

Peri realised it felt a lot like the last Doctor and the future Doctor hugging her, that the latter had been right. He wouldn't change completely, she just had to look close for those familiar things.

She pulled away, a little reluctantly to see the Doctor's slightly bewildered face studying her.

"All right now, Peri?"

"Just fine, Doctor" she smiled.

"Oh, just one thing Peri"

"Yes?" she wondered what on earth he was going to say, but couldn't help but laugh when he did.

"I bet that future me had terrible taste in clothes"