Authors Note: Got this idea out of the blue last night after binging some Who while doing homework. It will evolve into a long piece and might end up becoming part of a series. Too early to tell. Anyways, let me know if you like it. It's a short chapter, but I thought I'd start slow since I haven't written any fiction in a while. Of course, Whouffaldi and eventually rated M.

She rested her head against her beloved TARDIS as her legs dangled and lightly swished through the artificial air. Her gaze rested on Xanarok, a planet that she hadn't visited since her long scarf and jelly baby days. The TARDIS clanged a little and the Doctor looked at it accusingly.

"Don't judge me. I'm the Doctor. I'm a Timelord from Gallifrey. I've lived for 3000 years and not all of them good. I deserve a moment to be nostalgic." The Doctor hoisted herself up and walked to the console as she heard a grunt of skepticism. The TARDIS appeared as a holograph of Idris, resting directly in front of the Doctor.

"So you're nostalgic just because you haven't been here in centuries?" She crossed her arms and gave an amused smirk.

"Sure, why not? I've lived long enough. Why is it so unbelievable that I missed a planet?"

"Oh my dear Doctor. I believe you missed a planet, just not this one."

The Doctor made a glare that would even rival her previous incarnation.

"Now don't give me that look. Why must you do this anytime I bring up Earth? It's only natural to miss it."

"I don't,"

"Yes, you do." The TARDIS interjected. Her expression suddenly turned sad. "Doctor, you've been defending that planet since the day you stole me. You ran and you ran and you happened upon the blue-green rock - full of people and mystery. You always liked mysteries. Always wanted a problem to solve." Her voice softened. "Earth, home of the utterly ordinary and yet you met so much more. Ardent feminists, blonde shop girls, students willing to risk it all... an impossible girl..."

The Doctor visibly flinched and turned her head away.

"Why won't you go back?"

"I can't. You know that I can't. It would kill me." She swallowed the lump in her throat and walked through the projection. "She's gone TARDIS. I've watched her dot on this screen for 200 years. 200 years of planets, and narrow escapes, and adventure. Then it was gone - she, she was gone. And just like I told her, I have to run and run in case the pain ever catches up. Joke's on me." She gave a wry smile. "It does. Pain. Pain always catches up." She busied herself with the controls and pulled the lever.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a meeting with the King.

She turned on her heel, ready to stride out of there, stop the TARDIS from continuing this conversation. Her handmade it to the door.

"Doctor."

She rubbed her face tiredly and risked a glance backward.

"How do you know that she's gone? Maybe something happened to the sonic sunglasses. Maybe she's still out there."

The Doctor paused then continued quietly. "I could just feel it. I saw her dot vanish and could just feel it in my bones. It must have gotten too hard for her - seeing all her loved ones come and go."

"Me is still on the radar, Doctor."

"Well, of course she is," the Doctor said bitterly. "Always there, always alive. Mocking me."

It was then that the TARDIS really looked at her thief. She looked different. She had different preferences, different speech patterns, a different style. She even acted differently, depending on the regeneration. But the Doctor was the same person as always - the one forced to remember when everyone else was gone. Eternal in the void. No matter what her thief did, she always lost even when she won.

They did nothing. They just stared at one another in the silence.

"I'm sorry, Doctor," the TARDIS said regrettably. She gave a small smile and the Doctor seemed to acknowledge it. "Anyways, don't you have a meeting to attend?"

The Doctor opened the doors and gave a small nod. The scent of sea salt flooded through the console room and the Doctor left.

The image of Idris leaned her head forward and closed her eyes. "Oh Clara Oswald. If only you were here." She sighed, and the projection disappeared. The TARDIS gave a small hum and quieted, patiently waiting for her thief's return.