'You would think that this would get easier, after all this time' the Doctor thought to himself. He'd just left his Clara, for probably the last time. She had aged so very much. His Impossible Girl, she'd saved his life countless times. He couldn't help but notice the similarities from their last Christmas together. That Christmas HE had been the old one that needed help with the cracker. While he'd have loved to have her with him, at her age it was just impossible. So he left her with a kiss on her cheek and a promise to look after himself, then he got into his TARDIS and left.
The Doctor went out into orbit for a while. To contemplate what he was going to do. Should he go find Gallifrey? He hated being alone. More and more he missed the Ponds, but he had changed so much. He wasn't Amy's Raggedy Man anymore, he was just an old grouch. Though she probably would have enjoyed the new Scottish accent he'd somehow acquired. The Ponds. Maybe he could find a way to get River out of the Library? She had told him once that she knew all of his faces. That had to mean this one too, right? The Doctor sighed. He set the coordinates for London and the TARDIS shot into the Vortex.
The TARDIS landed in 22nd century London, which was an odd choice, but the Doctor didn't think much of it since he'd forgotten to add a date when he'd punched in the coordinates. The TARDIS never took him somewhere that he wasn't needed. He decided to look around a little and went in search of a good coffee shop. He found a nice little book store that sold coffee and decided to go in. After a few cups of coffee and an armload of books to add to the library on the TARDIS, the Doctor walked outside. Rounding the corner to the alley where he had parked the TARDIS, he found a young woman, probably in her mid-twenties, slowly walking around the TARDIS, with a grin on her face. The Doctor sighed, 'Another pudding-brain' he thought to himself.
"Can I help you?" he asked, impatiently.
"Are you The Doctor?" she asked him, with the sound of awe in her voice.
"I am the Doctor. What do you want?"
"My Gran used to tell me stories of you, when I was a little girl. The Doctor and his TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space. I always thought she was just telling tales, but here you both are."
"Who are you?" The Doctor asked her, gruffly. He hated not knowing things.
"You can call me Tori, if you like, it's easier to pronounce that my given name, Arkytior."
The books in the Doctor's arms, fell to the ground. He could only stare at the young woman in shock.
"Arkytior?"
"Yes. I was named for my Gran, though she normally went by Susan."