A/N: This is my tribute to the wonderful Elisabeth Sladen. This is based off of/inspired by her final scenes in "The Hand of Fear", where the fourth Doctor says he's been recalled to Gallifrey and Sarah Jane says "I can't miss Gallifrey!" I know it's a bit late and probably a lot rubbish, but I felt like I should dash off something. It's my first time writing Sarah Jane and the second time I've written the eighth Doctor, so apologies in advance.
~~SJS~~SJS~~SJS~~
The TARDIS wheezed and groaned its way into reality on the corner of Bannerman Road. A tall man wearing a battered velvet frock-coat stepped out and trotted up to No. 13, rapping on the door.
"Sarah? Sarah Jane, it's the Doctor. Mind if I come in?" Without waiting for an answer, he opened the door and stepped inside. A boy who looked to be in his early teens was coming downstairs to answer the door.
"Are you here to see Mum?" the boy asked.
"I'm the Doctor. I want to speak with Sarah Jane. You are…?"
"I'm Luke, don't you remember me? She's in the living room."
"Thank you. And the living room would be…."
"Right through there. Mum, it's the Doctor."
Sarah Jane was sitting in an armchair, wrapped in a quilt and sipping a mug of tea. "Doctor, you've regenerated again. I'll need a spotter's guide if you keep this up."
"Four times since you left. Would you like one more trip in the TARDIS? Just a short one – I don't have much time."
"Doctor, you have a time machine. There's always plenty of time," Sarah Jane said, a bit puzzled.
"Not this time, I'm afraid."
"There won't be an absurd amount of running from alien menaces, will there? I'm not as young as I was," Sarah smiled, a bit sadly.
"No, there shouldn't be any running at all. I just want to show you something. Come on, you know you want to." The Doctor held out his hand to her.
"Of course I want to! Oh, all right." She took his hand and stood up. "What about Luke?"
"He'll be fine on his own for a few minutes, won't he? The TARDIS is just down the street."
"Luke, I'll be right back," Sarah Jane called as she followed the Doctor outside. "Where are you going to take me that we need to be in such a rush? Oh, my," she gasped as she stepped through the TARDIS doors. "You've drastically changed the décor, haven't you. Isn't it a bit, well—"
"Gothic? We all have our phases. Do you like it?" The Doctor quickly set the coordinates and pulled a lever, his mouth twitching into a faint smile as the time rotor started pumping up and down.
"It's lovely and very roomy, just not what I was expecting. Now will you tell me what we're doing, or will you make me ask yet again?" Sarah Jane joined the Doctor at the console, watching as he made adjustments to the flight.
"You had to leave all those years ago because I'd been recalled to Gallifrey," the Doctor said. "You wanted to come and see what my planet was like, but humans weren't allowed. Right now there's a chance for you to visit, even if only for a few minutes. There's a place in the Mountains of Solace I want to take you."
"Really? That's wonderful, Doctor!" A wide smile lit up Sarah Jane's face. "But if humans weren't allowed on Gallifrey, why can you take me now?"
"Things change when there's a war on." The Doctor didn't look at Sarah Jane. "Don't worry, we'll be perfectly safe. There's a break in the fighting right now. But the Daleks are massing a force near Arcadia, and I'll be needed soon. Ergo the haste. Ah, we've landed. Go ahead, take a look outside."
Sarah Jane ran to the door and opened it. "It's beautiful," she gasped, stepping outside and looking around. The Doctor stood next to her.
One sun was already overhead, but a second sun was rising. Its ruddy light caught the mountaintops, making their snowcaps seem to spark like autumn bonfires. In the valley below, a breeze Sarah couldn't feel shook the leaves of a thick forest. From a distance, it looked like a river of burning silver rippling towards a great domed city that reached toward the sky and commanded a wide view of the world below. Stiff red grass carpeted the rocky ground, running down the mountainside and up the opposite slopes, a darker reflection of the burnt-orange sky above.
"The Citadel of the Time Lords, between the Mountains of Solace and Solitude," the Doctor said softly. "I may dislike my people and their way of life, living in exile rather than becoming cold and indifferent like them, but this is my home in a way that Earth can never be."
He stood for a long moment, as if imprinting the scene on his memory, then took a deep breath and turned away. "It's time to go."
"So soon?" Sarah Jane asked reluctantly, but didn't protest when the Doctor took her hand and led her back inside the TARDIS. She took one last look before closing the doors behind her.
"I'm taking you home now, but I won't be able to stay and chat. I'm sorry."
"Thank you for bringing me here, Doctor. It means, oh, so much to me."
"Just promise me you'll remember what it was like, possibly write it down. Just don't forget, because something is only truly gone when it's been forgotten."
"What are you talking about, Doctor? How could I possibly forget what you showed me just now? I'll remember it for the rest of my life, just like I'll always remember you."
"Good."
The TARDIS landed back on Bannerman Road. Sarah Jane started to open the door and leave, then ran back to the Doctor and hugged him tightly. "Goodbye, Doctor."
"Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith."