He'd meant it as a token gesture. Something simple. He'd done it, quite frankly, because he could. It was easy anyway. People on Earth often thought that those things they carried around were so sophisticated. To him they were a very basic piece of machinery.
He'd done it just because he could, he told himself. A small part of him was even showing off. Like in the TARDIS before - forwards or backwards? - it was a way to set him apart.
He'd expected it. Companions in the past (present/future) had almost always gotten "homesick". Missing the familiar. All he was doing was giving her a piece of that familiar.
Besides, he could empathise. He'd lost his home, she was on the verge of losing hers. He now had the Universe to play in, to explore.
With her.
She was something else. She was definately something, and he was more than happy to do this one thing for her. He never really thought about it either.
He'd gone back for her. He had sensed her need for something different and well, she'd more than proved herself. So yeah. Call it a thank you. Or a golden welcome bonus.
Whatever.
He watched as she dialled a number, then something he'd not excpected happened. A wave of emotion. As he listened to her voice waiver with the joy, sorrow, heartache and excitement, as he watched her face shine with the simple delight and wonder of speaking to her mother - not long left behind but also long gone - he felt it again.
That emotion.
As she ended the call he tried to reason with himself. This was not meant to happen. Well... there was Grace, but you could hardly compare her and...
Rose.
And he knew.
He'd not done it because he could, but because he'd wanted to. He'd not come back because of her needs but his own.
He wanted her.
In that moment after she finished the call, before his quip about the bill, he knew. Nine centuries had taught him enough to recognise the signs.
He stole a glance out of the window at the preserved planet below them. If she asked him, he resolved, he'd stop this... somehow. For her.
Because she would have asked him to.
For the first time in all his travels, he found himself in a new situation.
This companion was going to show him the Universe.
And with a smile, he allowed it to happpen.