Because you're lonely in your nightmare, let me in
and there's heat beneath your winter, let me in.
The TARDIS was lifeless, both inside and outside. It was simply floating in space, and the Doctor was slumped in one of the chairs, almost still. River had left a few days ago. Was it days? He'd lost track of time. That's what the TARDIS did, and what it was brilliant at. Amy and Rory had died a while ago, but it still hurt him. Both his hearts had been shattered into pieces. What could he do? Could he visit Jack? No. He had a new face. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey. That ruled out Martha and Mickey, and Wilfred too. Brian? No, too much of a heartache. He couldn't just sit there all the time, but he couldn't get hurt any more by hurting someone new either. Someone he had hurt before but knew his new face. Who had forgiven him...Then the name came. He jumped up and smiled. It had been a while since their last encounter. Quite a while for him, anyway. She had been seared onto his hearts a long time ago, and her face kept reappearing. Even with age, she still looked beautiful. She almost looked the same as she did all those years ago when she travelled with him. He danced around the console, pushing buttons, twisting parts of it and pulling levers, then entered the coordinates for 13 Bannerman road and pulled the lever, sending the TARDIS into the time vortex.
It was just a bleary day for Sarah Jane. Sky was at school, as were Clyde and Rani. She supposed she could call Luke, but it was still morning. Knowing him, he would get up at noon at the earliest, and that would be with a little help from K9. There were no interesting stories to investigate. There was nothing to do. That's when she heard it. She could recognise it anywhere. The wheezing sounds of the engines of the most magnificent machine in the universe. She looked out the window and grinned widely. She wasn't just imagining it, because there, standing proudly next to her little green car, was the blue box that belonged to an old friend of hers. A very old friend. She ran to the front door and opened it to see the Doctor jump out of the TARDIS. "Hello, Doctor!" She greeted happily. "Sarah Jane Smith!" The Doctor said as he hugged his former companion, "I thought I'd stop by. See how everything is going in that...big house of yours." He looked up at the huge house that belonged to Sarah Jane. He preferred the TARDIS, but it wasn't bad. "Come on in," Sarah Jane said, and let him in.
"Ooh! Tea! And jammie dodgers! My favourite!" The Doctor exclaimed as Sarah Jane brought in a tray with tea and biscuits, "We've not really been able to do this. Sit down, have tea and a chat. It's good to do new things."
Sarah Jane chuckled, "So how are things? You said last time you were travelling with a married couple."
"Oh yes! Amy and Rory! Well, um, they've...gone." He hung his head as sorrow overtook the joys of seeing Sarah Jane again.
Sarah Jane nodded in understanding as she watched him become solemn. "Oh, that sort of gone. I'm sorry, Doctor."
The Doctor looked back up to his friend and smiled, "They went together. That's the most important thing. That they were together and happy until the very end. So then, where's Luke? And K9?"
"Oh. Luke's at university now, and K9's with him," Sarah Jane replied.
"So you're all on your own in this big old house?!" The Doctor asked with a biscuit in his mouth, almost outraged at his friend being alone.
"No. I still have Clyde and Rani and-"
"Oh of course! Where are they then?"
"They're at school. And I adopted a daughter called Sky."
"Sky! That's a lovely name! Sky."
"We thought so too. She's not exactly human-"
"What? What is she then?"
"She was created in a laboratory by the um...the Fleshkind to kill the Metalkind."
"Ooh! Sounds nasty, but you changed her, didn't you?"
"Yes, she helps me when she's at school."
The Doctor grinned, "My Sarah Jane. Protecting the Earth and touching people's lives. Just a tiny bit, but a tiny bit's enough for an earthquake to take place."
Sarah Jane chuckled, "I learnt from the best."
"And who's that?" The Doctor asked, not seeing the obvious for a moment, "Oh right, me, good. Thank you."
Sarah Jane chuckled, "So you're travelling on your own then?"
"Yes."
"Then go and find someone to travel with. It's not a lot of fun being on your own all the time. I should know."
"Why don't you come with me?"
"As much as I'd love to, I'm getting old, Doctor. I have a job here, defending the Earth and looking after Sky. There are people out there who you haven't made an impact on yet, so do so now, before you go back to old memories."
The Doctor smiled sadly, "Maybe that's why I came. To relive old memories, to make new ones. Wise words, Sarah. I best be off. You know me, stuff to do." He stood up and hugged Sarah Jane again. "It was good to see you again, Sarah." Sarah Jane gave him a kind smile.
And with that, he left, giving Sarah Jane a wave before stepping into his TARDIS. Once it disappeared from Sarah Jane's drive, both were on their own again. The Doctor in his little blue box that was bigger on the inside, and Sarah Jane in her big house.