"You know what else I've done?" No one answered. No one ever answered. "YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE I'VE DONE?" Still no answer. "I invented the banana daiquiri. I invented it. And slept with Madame du Pompadour to top it off." The TARDIS was silent. Silent as the grave. "Of course, that doesn't matter. Nothing matters. Nothing I do matters!" He was as alone as he could ever be. No one could possibly be more alone. "I AM NOTHING!" he screamed, and this time it echoed back to him.

"Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing…" It trailed off into silence, and he was alone again. And he broke down and cried.

He choked back the last of his tears with a final, stifled sob, and let himself smile for the first time in hours. He was still alone, as he so often was, but it was suddenly alright. He didn't need anyone. He never needed anyone. Oh, yeah, sure other people needed him. They needed him to rescue them or help them, or save their world from a multitude of terrible fates. Or they needed him to show them things, show them the truth. To open up their tiny minds to a plethora of possibilities. And sometimes, just sometimes, they needed his company. But he didn't need them. He was better off on his own. Loneliness? Ha, he laughed in the face of loneliness. In fact, he tried right then and there.

"Ha, ha, ha…" Hollow and empty, it wasn't a true laugh.

He stepped out of the TARDIS onto the bumpy ice land of a distant planet. So far from civilised life that it had never been named. Such a cold, unwelcoming place, yet it entranced him, captivated him even. There was a beauty about it, both hidden and showcased by the glassy ice mountains with their snowy peaks, the cold, distant sun, such a pale star, yellow in the midnight black sky, the freezing winds that sometimes whipped across the barren surface like knives, carving out grooves and trenches, but other times danced over a wintry wonderland whispering tales of long lost civilisations and hidden mysteries. He knew there weren't any, though. He knew that this planet would always be the one place where he would be truly alone. And, in a strange, twisted, almost perverted way, he liked it. The thought that he could do anything here, anything he liked, with little or no consequences. So he ran – a little uncertain at first, but gaining confidence quickly – slipping and sliding across the icy wilderness. He whooped and yelled like a child until his nose and ears were red, his throat sore and his whole body shivering with the chill. Then he left his playground and went home to the TARDIS.

He wanted a companion. Despite all that he had said, he wanted a companion. A beautiful, helpful, friendly companion. A… FANTASTIC companion. Despite everything he had just told himself, he needed a friend. Someone to share things with. Someone to love.

"Cardiff," he said out loud, and again, there was silence. But this time he didn't care. This time he didn't mind that he was talking to himself. "I'll go to Cardiff. I love Cardiff! It'll be like a holiday." So off he went. And maybe, just maybe, he'll find a new companion. Who knows?